Track 30 - Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche
02/01/22 • 24 min
1 Listener
LINER NOTES:
Kris sits down with filmmakers Paul Sng & Celeste Bell to talk about their film Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche, a documentary about Celeste's Mom, Poly Styrene.
For more on the film and to keep up to date on Celest and Paul, visit the website.
Follow the film on Social Media: @PolyStyreneFilm on Twitter & Instagram.
About the film:
Poly Styrene was the first woman of color in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements. But the late punk maverick didn’t just leave behind an immense cultural footprint.
Poly was survived by a daughter, Celeste Bell. Celeste became the unwitting guardian of her mother’s legacy and her mother’s demons. Misogyny, racism, and mental illness plagued Poly’s life, while their lasting trauma scarred Celeste’s childhood and the pair’s relationship.
Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows Celeste as she examines her mother's unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.
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About the Podcast:
‘TEXT PROSE AND ROCK N ROLL’- is the only podcast dedicated to the written account of musicians. From artist memoirs to band bios, and anything in between. You'll hear first accounts from those who lived the lifestyle; a Book Club that rocks - literally.
It was Created, Hosted & Executive Produced by Kris Kosach.
It was Produced & Edited by Charlene Goto of Go-To Productions.
For more on the show, visit the website.
Or follow us on Instagram and Facebook @Textproserocknroll
Follow Kris on Social Media: @KrisKosach
Follow Producer Char on Social Media: @ProducerChar
LINER NOTES:
Kris sits down with filmmakers Paul Sng & Celeste Bell to talk about their film Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliche, a documentary about Celeste's Mom, Poly Styrene.
For more on the film and to keep up to date on Celest and Paul, visit the website.
Follow the film on Social Media: @PolyStyreneFilm on Twitter & Instagram.
About the film:
Poly Styrene was the first woman of color in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements. But the late punk maverick didn’t just leave behind an immense cultural footprint.
Poly was survived by a daughter, Celeste Bell. Celeste became the unwitting guardian of her mother’s legacy and her mother’s demons. Misogyny, racism, and mental illness plagued Poly’s life, while their lasting trauma scarred Celeste’s childhood and the pair’s relationship.
Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows Celeste as she examines her mother's unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.
--
About the Podcast:
‘TEXT PROSE AND ROCK N ROLL’- is the only podcast dedicated to the written account of musicians. From artist memoirs to band bios, and anything in between. You'll hear first accounts from those who lived the lifestyle; a Book Club that rocks - literally.
It was Created, Hosted & Executive Produced by Kris Kosach.
It was Produced & Edited by Charlene Goto of Go-To Productions.
For more on the show, visit the website.
Or follow us on Instagram and Facebook @Textproserocknroll
Follow Kris on Social Media: @KrisKosach
Follow Producer Char on Social Media: @ProducerChar
Previous Episode
Track 29: Dawn Raid with Andy Murnane & Brotha D
LINER NOTES:
This week, Kris chats with Andy Murnane & Brotha D, and they discuss their untold story of acclaimed New Zealand music label Dawn Raid Entertainment.
About the film:
Dawn Raid is the story of two Manukau Polytechnic students, Andy Murane and Tanielu Leaosavai'i (aka Brotha D) who turned a bootleg t-shirt business and Hip-Hop night at a local bar in Otara into the influential Dawn Raid Entertainment empire. From humble beginnings to fame and fortune, Andy, Brotha D and the Dawn Raid artists gave voice to a disenfranchised Pacific community, for which the violence of the dawn raids, twenty years previously, was still raw. But the bravado and contempt for the status quo that drove Andy and Brotha D to the top, was also the unravelling of their empire. Unpaid tax debts, rifts between artists, and a feeling of betrayal and failure underpinned the downfall of Dawn Raid Entertainment, though not before they had created an immeasurable musical legacy that would pave the way for future New Zealand artists to reach international audiences.
More from Dawn Raid:
Learn more about the movie and watch the Trailer here. and watch the film here.
Watch the film on Apple iTunes.
Dawn Raid on Social Media:
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About the Podcast:
‘TEXT PROSE AND ROCK N ROLL’- is the only podcast dedicated to the written account of musicians. From artist memoirs to band bios, and anything in between. You'll hear first accounts from those who lived the lifestyle; a Book Club that rocks - literally.
It was Created, Hosted & Executive Produced by Kris Kosach.
It was Produced & Edited by Charlene Goto of Go-To Productions.
For more on the show, visit the website.
Or follow us on Instagram and Facebook @Textproserocknroll
Follow Kris on Social Media: @KrisKosach
Follow Producer Char on Social Media: @ProducerChar
Next Episode
Track 31 - Richard Hell
1 RecommendationsLINER NOTES:
On this track, Kris has a candid conversation with punk legend Richard Hell, to talk about his recently published memoir, Chronicle. Which is described as "Hell muttering to himself in 88 parts, very fun—lyrical, perceptive, and also somewhat sobering."
To get a copy of the Richard's memoir, you can purchase here.
For more on Richard Hell, you can visit his official website.
More about Richard Hell:
Richard Hell is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer.
Hell was in several important, early punk bands, including Neon Boys, Television and The Heartbreakers, after which he formed Richard Hell & the Voidoids. Their 1977 album Blank Generation influenced many other punk bands. Its title track was named "One of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock" by music writers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listing and is ranked as one of the all-time Top 10 punk songs by a 2006 poll of original British punk figures, as reported in the Rough Guide to Punk.
Since the late 1980s, Hell has devoted himself primarily to writing, publishing two novels and several other books. He was the film critic for BlackBook magazine from 2004 to 2006.
--
About the Podcast:
‘TEXT PROSE AND ROCK N ROLL’- is the only podcast dedicated to the written account of musicians. From artist memoirs to band bios, and anything in between. You'll hear first accounts from those who lived the lifestyle; a Book Club that rocks - literally.
It was Created, Hosted & Executive Produced by Kris Kosach.
It was Produced & Edited by Charlene Goto of Go-To Productions.
For more on the show, visit the website.
Or follow us on Instagram and Facebook @Textproserocknroll
Follow Kris on Social Media: @KrisKosach
Follow Producer Char on Social Media: @ProducerChar
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