Part five of the ongoing Riot Grrrl series - brief, but my interpretation of events might still raise some hackles.
I'm happy to be contradicted but please remember. I was there.
5. What impact did the music press coverage of riot grrrl have upon the British riot grrrl movement?
Um, the British Riot Grrrl movement didn’t exist before the music press coverage of it. Or if it did, we’re talking matter of weeks: everything happened and was hatched at once, for better or worse. That’s why that recent Black Dog book was great – so many varying viewpoints – and ridiculously revisionist, especially when it came to discussing the British music papers role in Riot Grrrl (UK – not US). The two sides fed off each other. It was fucking great that tons of fanzines (and also places like Girl Frenzy and Ablaze!) saw Riot Grrrl as their own and sought to exclude the ‘mainstream’ music press. Good on them. Totally. That’s one of the many, complicated, reasons I withdrew myself from the dialogue in ’93 and ’94.
But if we’re talking about initial impact… well, I’d go as far as saying that – outside of a very small clique of hipsters based round London’s White Horse and Brighton – the music press coverage of Riot Grrrl defined the British Riot Grrrl movement. For better or worse. Of course, whatever Riot Grrrl turned into rapidly outstripped such beginnings.
You can find Part 1 of this series here.
You can find Part 2 of this series here.
You can find Part 3 of this series here.
You can find Part 4 of this series here.
You can find Part 6 of this series here.
You can find Part 7 of this series here.
You can find the follow-up interview in this series here.
You can find the entire series collected together here.
[...] comments Riot Grrrl 5 «… on Riot Grrrl 2Riot Grrrl 5 «… on Riot Grrrl 1Ben on Everett True vs Vivian Gi…everetttrue on Everett True vs [...]
ReplyDelete[...] 3 of this series here. You can find Part 4 of this series here. You can find Part 5 of this series here. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)A peek inside my head…Lettervignette, cont…My [...]
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ReplyDelete[...] Riot Grrrl 5 « Music That I Like Says: June 11, 2009 at 5:38 pm | Reply [...]
ReplyDeleteIt's not just Riot Grrrl, it's the entire difference between ALL MUSIC between the US and the UK. The UK is so small, the music scene such a tiny bathtub, that it was possible for a highly centralised mainstream press to get in on things early and create the illusion that they created and guided discourse with regards to new music scenes of all kinds.
ReplyDeleteThank fuck the internet put paid to that idea. It was a perverse bubble fueled by a geographical accident of size and not one I particularly miss.
Fuck the UK mainstream press, they were a bloated bubble that can't go down the drain fast enough, but have seemingly hung on like that disgusting vomit block in Miss AMP's bathroom sink, causing stink and belching up filth.
[...] 3 of this series here. You can find Part 4 of this series here. You can find Part 5 of this series here. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Riot Grrrl Retrospective Part 1: Tobi Vail On [...]
ReplyDelete[...] 3 of this series here. You can find Part 4 of this series here. You can find Part 5 of this series here. You can find Part 6 of this series [...]
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