The Fascist Groove Thing

Meer over het boek

The Fascist Groove Thing encompasses various ideologies such as Thatcherism, monetarism, neoliberalism, and more. In response, British popular music either ignored this phenomenon or fiercely opposed it. This collection features five hundred songs that highlight alarming aspects of Thatcher's Britain. For instance, the mixtape "Whistling in the Dark" showcases songs about the war on trade unions, while "Shopkeepers Arise!" focuses on consumerism and popular capitalism. Each chapter reconstructs the debates these songs engaged in with Thatcher's Britain, often presenting polemical and vitriolic arguments that offer an alternative narrative of the decade. This perspective was significant at the time, as popular music voiced critiques that mainstream media often overlooked. For example, during the unnecessary war in the South Atlantic, while TV news and newspapers remained silent or supportive, popular music became a vital platform for dissent. These songs serve as a documentary record of that resistance and continue to resonate today, reminding us that the current state of affairs was not an inevitable outcome.