Tag Archives: Walls Come Tumbling Down

Left politics and music events – the 1980s and now

Music culture & history, , , , , ,

With all the twists and turns in the build-up to the Labour Live event (problems with tickets sales, problems with attracting headliners, rows with the brewery over whether crowd numbers would justify draft beer at the bar etc. etc.) it got me reflecting on Daniel Rachel’s book about the coming together of music and left politics back in the late 70s/early-mid 80s. His book ‘Walls Come Tumbling Down’ covers the era of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone, Red Wedge etc – which I reviewed last year, saying:

“In terms of how well popular music and political activism can mix the main message I came away with from this book is that it can be a great force for change on particular issues at particular moments in time (Rock Against Racism, Free Nelson Mandela) but it all starts to get a bit complicated and a bit messy when you try and combine it with party politics and a long-term programme (Red Wedge).”

Looking back to these movements in the 1980s though it’s clear from the book how much more the artists were in the driving seat back then, compared to the politicians. If you are announcing a date for a festival and you’ve given far more thought to the speaking slots for the party leader and the shadow chancellor than you have to the headline music acts, it’s reasonable to predict you are likely to run into a fair few problems along the way – even if, one way or another, you manage to get a fairly reasonable crowd in the end.

Book Review: ‘Walls Come Tumbling Down’ by Daniel Rachel

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Book Review: ‘Walls Come Tumbling Down’ by Daniel Rachel

Book reviews, Music culture & history, Rock music, , , , , , ,

‘The music and politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge’

For someone like me who has long had a burning passion for both music and a range of progressive causes ‘Walls Come Tumbling Down’ was an interesting read. It is written as an ‘oral history’ which means that you don’t necessarily want to read it continuously for hours on end, given it is just one long succession of quotes from key players rather than being wrapped up into an overarching narrative and analysis. Nevertheless, it is an absolutely fascinating read. It covers the period from the late 70s to around 1990 with insights into the Rock Against Racism movement, the bands brought together under the 2 Tone label and finally the Red Wedge initiative which worked to try and build support for Labour in the run-up 1987 General Election.

In terms of how well popular music and political activism can mix the main message I came away with from this book is that it can be a great force for change on particular issues at particular moments in time (Rock Against Racism, Free Nelson Mandela) but it all starts to get a bit complicated and a bit messy when you try and combine it with party politics and a long-term programme (Red Wedge). There are real parallels here with John Harris’s ‘The Last Party’ which covers Britpop’s flirtation with New Labour a decade later.

Published 2016 Picador

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http://danielrachel.com/