Nothing Can Stop Us: Anti-Thatcherism and Anti-Conservatism in Music, 1980 – 1987

Posted in Music, Retrovirus |

Another act associated with gleeful synth pop around this time was Heaven 17; the group consisted of two ex-members of the Human League and a new vocalist, Glenn Gregory. In early 1981, Heaven 17 released a song called “We Don’t Need This Fascist Groove Thang,” marrying funky dance beats (which remain remarkably undated) to commentary about the popularity of conservatism in the US and the UK in the early 1980s. The song’s “good times” bounce almost distracts the listener from the lyrics, which warn of a “Fascist thang advancing” across the Atlantic (at the time, Reagan was President-elect) and entices people to “grab that groove thang by the throat/and throw it in the ocean.”

Johnny Marr and Billy Bragg
Photo from Mojo Magazine

Heaven 17 were from Sheffield, a city which was widely associated with Leftist political views. Their politics influenced their first and second albums (Penthouse and Pavement and The Luxury Gap); this was most obvious in the songs titled “Let’s All Make a Bomb” and “Crushed by the Wheels of Industry.” Heaven 17 also poked holes in the image of early 1980s “yuppies” by presenting themselves as yuppie “movers and shakers” on the cover of the album Penthouse and Pavement. The band members are seen variously making businesslike handshakes brokering “deals” and answering phones, images associated with early 1980s stockbroker excess. (Apparently the album cover was influenced by a corporate flyer, which contained similar images.) Heaven 17′s output became increasingly less Leftist during the 1980s, but their earlier songs capture a feeling of sarcastic, subtle rebellion.

The most vocal group opposed to Prime Minister Thatcher’s policies during the 1980s remains the musical collective known as Red Wedge. Red Wedge (named after a poster by Russian lithographer El Lissitzky) was not a Communist group and was not officially aligned with the Labour Party; however, the group did organize tours with artists firmly allied to the Left such as Billy Bragg, The Style Council, and The Smiths. Red Wedge’s aim was to motivate English youths to vote for Labour Party candidates in the 1987, effectively ending the influence of Margaret Thatcher’s policies.

Members of Red Wedge were also active in the media in order to further educate youth about politics. The group was ultimately unsuccessful in their goal to oust Conservatives from office in 1987, but the music generated by artists associated with the movement gave youths who were disgusted with the state of the nation their very own forum. Red Wedge ultimately disbanded after the 1987 election.

While the protest movements associated with anti-conservatism died out in the late 1980s, the music still remains, relatively undated. Perhaps Billy Bragg’s song “A New England” best emphasizes the feelings of the time (notwithstanding Wyatt’s “Shipbuilding”), containing a mix of barely controlled desperation tinged with resigned apathy:

I don’t want to change the world
I’m not looking for a new England
I’m just looking for another girl
I don’t want to change the world
I’m not looking for a new England

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