X Ray Spex
It was on a rare English heat wave during the summer of 1957 when a punk-rock icon was born. Rock ‘n’ Roll and the Catford teddy boys terrorised the genteel streets of Bromley, a leafy post-war South London suburb. The headlines were dominated by Cold War, Korea and the Canal. British housewives had discovered Hoover, and the Empire docked in the harbours of Bristol, bringing with it a warm alien breeze of multi-culturalism.
Poly Styrene, was a product of this new and decidedly modern Britain.
Her mother was a young legal secretary from the seaside town of Hastings, who would seek out the bright lights of London, armed with an advanced knowledge of shorthand and a typing-speed of 60 wpm. Her life took a dramatic turn when she met Poly’s father, a young dispossessed Somaliland aristocrat who was a recent immigrant to Britain,
his English was poor and his income modest, but for Poly’s mother whose only contact with Africa had been through childhood trips to the local cinema, the lure of exotic proved irresistible.
When a teenage Poly Styrene encountered the notoriety of the tabloids,
much was made of her mixed-raced parentage and it was assumed
that songs such as ‘Identity’ were autobiographical.
In the 1970’s Enoch Powell’s River of Blood warning against a multi-cultural England still permeated the thought of much of white Britain and it was assumed that mixed-race meant ‘mixed up’.
Today Poly maintains, that despite the inevitable issues encountered as a mixed-race child in what was then a very much whiter London than it may appear today, Poly remains resolutely proud of her genetic heritage and ancestry:
I’ve always been happy, and well, rather intrigued, by a family tree that includes Spanish Princes, Celts, Imams, Ancient Bretons and Somaliland tribal chiefs that descend from Abraham and Sarah.
Just as Poly is quick to dismiss the stereotypes concerning race, so too does she view the tabloid obsession with her ‘tough’ life of hardships and her so-called ‘wild youth’, with similar disdain.
Poly grew up in a tenement block in Brixton, though these were days before the ghetto was fabulous, and unlike many of the young urbanites today, Poly never intended to play on her street cred:
Mum was forced to leave Bromley because she felt it was too white and judgemental for me to grow up in and that we could never be accepted. That’s why we moved to Brixton.
But although life was a bit austere, we were always well fed, clean and respectable mum was a legal secretary, and where we lived that was considered posh!
Indeed, from a very young age, Poly realised she was destined for an artistic life of non-conformity.
I was fascinated by Hollywood glamour. I went through a stage in my teens where I would model myself
on a golden era starlet. I always felt uncomfortable living in social housing it just wasn’t me, I was always fiercely independent.
Poly does accept however that her upbringing did install her with
what her public school educated manager would later describe as a ‘puritanical work ethic’.
Poly was a young woman with considerable ambition and worked very hard to get to where she wanted.
But just where did Poly Styrene want to be?
I wanted adventure, fame, financial independence, all the things a starry eyed young girl could wish for.
But unlike most teenage dreamers, Poly was determined to make her dreams a reality.
I was never happy at school. Playground politics always disturbed my concentration
and I wasn’t particularly good with authority.
Mum taught me to type and I soon realised that
it would be either school or the office. Neither option filled me with much enthusiasm.
Indeed when running away from home at the age of fifteen to tour the rock-festivals
that still lingered on in the forgotten corners of the post-hippie English countryside
it can be seen that Poly was escaping a future of mundanity
that she feared more than the dangers of the road.
Poly’s hippie adventure would last for over two years,
and when she finally returned home at the age of eighteen,
she was more determined than ever to establish her identity in the world.
She started by setting up her own boutique
in Beaufort Market, on the Kings Road, in Chelsea.
It was indeed the name of the fashion label that she used
for her home spun autographed couture, that would give her the art-i-ficial pseudonym
and punky-trade-marks that she would later adopt as front-woman of X-ray Spex.
Poly Styrene was born.
I started with nothing but a few melodic lyrics and a lot of determination.
I got a band together and within a very short space of time
we were internationally famous and in the charts!
Such overnight success was not just down to luck.
Poly and her band injected a much-needed burst of colour
and fun into a punk scene that was nihilistic and destructive.
Although not lacking with the necessary anger and energy to make it on the scene.
X-ray Spex never took themselves too seriously,
and soon distinguished themselves by their difference to the rest.
Poly herself wasn’t the archetypal pop princess.
This unconventionally pretty youth with short hair,
tooth-braces and a war-helmet perched cockily on her head was the tank-girl-rebel long before the Courtney Love/Kelly Osborne angry grunge queens of the present day.
Poly Styrene and the X-ray Spex have only made two albums to date.
The first, Germfree Adolescents, released in 1978, would be the only album they would produce for almost two decades.
This album saw X-ray Spex emerge as a commercially viable punk band.
They had cute catchy songs and enough wild edge to earn them respect from the scene. Poly Styrene especially found herself at the centre of much media attention and speculation. In a short time span Poly Styrene went from tearaway teen to pop-sensation, the journey may have been exciting yet overwhelming. Perhaps this may help explain why in a space of just three years Poly Styrene had yet again created a new alter ego for herself, abandoning Poly Styrene and fame for a life of eastern spirituality and seclusion.
Poly’s spiritual journey did not take her away from music completely.
In fact, Poly Styrene made a solo album during this period the nu jazz/electro ‘Translucence’, and the eastern inspired EP ‘Gods and Goddesses’. She remains adamant however that despite media rumour that she had abandoned her career to join the Hare Krishna movement, it was in fact the negative actions on behalf of her manager, the late Falcon Stuart that caused the breakdown of not only her band, but also of her health.
Falcon Stuart was to become well known on the scene
after his success with X-ray Spex, later going on to manage Adam and the Ants and Amazulu.
Poly’s relationship with Falcon Stuart was a complex one and
today she is reluctant to acknowledge the contribution made
on behalf of Mr Stuart to her bands success.
Instead she is quick to point out that he had cheated her out of her royalties for years after the band had split.
My biggest downfall was the trust and faith I put in my manager
to oversee my financial affairs.
It resulted in me being seriously ripped off,
and I ended up locked in a legal battle that would go on for six years.
I can’t even begin to tell you the effect this had on my health and happiness.
In the mid-nineties X-ray Spex would briefly reform for their second and, so far, final album, ‘Conscious Consumer’.
This album coincided with a concert in London’s Brixton Academy,
where Poly Styrene was resurrected, (if only for a short time) in all her glory. Although the concert was a success and Poly happy with her new album, the touring and promotional work suffered an abrupt end when she was run over by a fire engine in central London. Yes! That’s right! A fire engine!
Luckily Poly escaped with only a fractured pelvis,
but her injuries were severe enough to put the brakes on the promotion of her new album.
Today Poly remains committed, to not only, Bhakti Yoga, but also her music. I love the challenge of pushing boundaries in music”.
There is no doubt that whether as Poly Styrene or Marianne Elliott-Said,
she will continue to make music and push boundaries, both in art, and,
in her very unique, life.
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