So the Olympics opening-ceremony soundtrack is radical? Yeah, right

So the Olympics opening ceremony isn't just going to be Teletubbies Land with sheep? Albion will rise, for the Queen will spontaneously combust when she hears God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols.

Yet this playlist is not really controversial because, let's face it, it is that of the dreaded "50-quid bloke". The man who spends that much in one hit, as he can't get out to gigs like he used to. He hates The X Factor and likes bands that remind him of bands he used to like when young.  


Look at all the punk nostalgia around the Jubilee. Peculiar and sad. Not because Westwood now loves the Queen or John Lydon does butter ads but because we can't move on

What I can't forgive though is the pretence that punk was the pure source. Even at the time it was the most mediated, dissected and goadingly self-conscious of subcultures – and very quickly commodified. Most people who were part of it never ever wore bondage trousers or mohicans or any of the uniform. We were messing about with loads of makeup, silly "sexy" clothes while listening to loads of dub. We did want to upset people. But mainly just people at the bus stop. We wore synthetic nan dresses from charity shops and stuck toothbrushes in our hair. That was enough to look different.


read the full article by Suzanne Moore :
So the Olympics opening-ceremony soundtrack is radical? Yeah, right | Suzanne Moore | Comment is free | The Guardian