13.06.1996
Rave’s social explosion
First Alabama 3 single out on August 23 on Elemental Records. Appearing at Phoenix and Reading festivals
When I first met Irvine Welsh two years ago to start work on a devised show titled Headstart, we shared the conviction that punk and the Miners’ Great Strike had been the biggest movements to change our lives. But Irvine told me about a more recent force that had had such an effect on him - the rave scene, as it was known.
The dance/drug/club scene has been a haven for many who have been involved in revolutionary politics. In these reactionary times, the glimmers of hope in the club scene (anti-establishment/renewed confidence for working class youth/communality/anti-commercialism/combining new technology with old wisdoms/overcoming generational, sexual, racial differences/organising underground activities) have offered an alternative to the defeats and collapse of the trade union and revolutionary movements. For me, introduced to the scene, it has been nothing short of a social explosion.
It is a movement that has some roots in punk, the last great youth rebellion, but far outstrips it in power, effect, sophistication and resilience.
The deeper roots in earlier dance culture have meant that the emphasis on the live band format has gone and very few can shake it within the DJ-dominated club environment.
The Alabama 3 are one of that very few and what should particularly interest communists is their explicit political stance. Their stage set uses images of Lenin and their songs are peppered with big and small ‘p’ politics.
But as well as making statements, Alabama 3 fulfil what Ewan MacColl, this country’s greatest ever communist artist, identified as the criteria for all worthwhile art: namely, asking questions and solving problems; and by doing so raising bigger questions and problems.
For example, their song ‘Mao Tse Tung said’ uses his famous dictum, “Change must come through the barrel of a gun”, as its main refrain, but it is sampled from recordings of the apocalyptic cult leader, Jim Jones, who led his followers to mass suicide. This throws up a whole series of questions and problems about late 20th century social forces and ideologies.
Because of their understanding of their own social position - white boys in Brixton - they are able to make connections and observations that highlight the dilemmas felt by many who in better times would be involved in revolutionary politics. Take these lyrics from ‘Twisted’:
“... he don’t know if he’s a communist, a hedonist or a whore...
... we got ecstasy/we need company/we need mystery/we need a plan/all we got is a compromise and a bagful of alibis/empty as a bottle of whisky in a broken hand...
... we’re just waiting for the light to shine on a brand new day...”
They take musical influences like country and blues and give them a techno beat, have a great shambolic stage presence and are on the verge of making it big. They are aware of the pressures on them, now they are involved in the commodity world of record companies and publishing rights. But, like Irvine Welsh, Alabama 3 should have enough experience and suss about what really matters to keep the faith, find bigger questions to ask and to continue as a source of inspiration for those of us who believe change must come.
Tam Dean Burn