(EMI, 1978)
Review by Class Warrior
I am a public employee and a union member in the state of Wisconsin. I realize that this admission tells everyone out there where I am, but good luck finding out who "Class Warrior" is. I'm sure all of you know what's going on here. The cuts to our pensions and insurance hurt a lot, especially for someone who is trying to pay off a mortgage (what kind of class warrior has a retirement account and a mortgage payment?). The biggest sticking point for my brothers and sisters, however, is the curtailment of bargaining rights. Putting aside for the moment that union activity should go well beyond collective bargaining and donating to democrats, it's still an important right to have. We are in danger of losing these rights that we earned through years of effort, years of blood and struggle, because capitalists have been winning the class war.
Now we have proto-Fascists like Scott Walker trying to break unions once and for all. It doesn't work that way, you son of a bitch. Last Saturday, over 100,000 people were in Madison to protest this wanker's attempts to take away what we have earned. (I wanted to go, but it's a long drive for me - Mrs. Warrior was worried that the little Warrior would have an emergency or something while I was gone.) Walker's bill may pass, but he will pay a heavy price. Fuckin' prick.
Why bring up all of this in a music review? Because I love protest songs, and events like the one I'm living through make we want to listen to as much of it as I can! Tom Robinson Band's (henceforth TRB) first album is full of great left-wing political rock. This album came out in 1978 at the height of first wave punk's popularity, but it wasn't a punk album. TRB's sound falls somewhere between punk and pub rock with a big dash of 70s keyboard-powered funk (especially on the title track). Most of the time the keyboard (set to "organ" most of the time) fades into the background, but one notices it on all the songs. Otherwise, the music is the guitar-heavy stuff you'd expect someone inspired by the seventies punk scene would produce.
The lyrics are outstanding. Some people believe that politics and music should not mix, but some people are idiots. Tom Robinson writes the kind of lyrics that I love to hear. I wish I would hear them more often from other groups. Direct and powerful- there's nothing subtle here that requires figuring out. With song titles like "Up Against the Wall" and "Better Decide Which Side You're On", you know what you're getting. TRB includes some songs about driving ("Grey Cortina" and the classic "2-4-6-8 Motorway"), but most of them are uncompromising radical diatribes. Robinson sings about gay rights, class oppression, race politics, hatred for Thatcher and the Tories, youth rebellion, and many similar topics. If you don't sympathize with their political stance, you're not going to like this record!
My favorite song on this album is the title track "Power in the Darkness". This is the kinda funky danceable one. It has a strong bass line and the omnipresent organ laying down a groove for the guitar and Robinson's voice. He sings of freedom for all in a time of despair (hmm, sounds familiar...). The best part is a spoken word piece toward the end where Robinson plays the part of a conservative demanding freedom from certain elements of society:
"Freedom from the Reds and the Blacks and the criminals,
Prostitutes, pansies, and punks;
Football hooligans, juvenile delinquents,
Lesbians and left wing scum!
Freedom from the niggers and the Pakis and the unions,
Freedom from the Gypsies and the Jews;
Freedom from the long-haired layabouts and students,
Freedom from the likes of YOU!"
I love that part. It makes my spine tingle.
I listen to this album when I need a lift. When my will is low, when my spirits are flagging, TRB's songs rock me hard and the lyrics give me a good boot to the ass.
Power in the Darkness made me tickle my taint for eight minutes. More importantly, it lets me know that I'm not alone in the struggle for equality for all. Pay attention, plutocrats and would-be dictators - events in Wisconsin, revolutions in Egypt and other middle East countries, and continuing social change in Central and South America are the beginnings of a worldwide movement. You can't wish it away. We're going to win.
Some people think Power in the Darkness is too heavy on the sloganeering. If you agree, here are some slogans for you:
An injury to one is an injury to all.
The working class and Scott Walker have nothing in common.
No war but class war!
From each according to ability, to each according to need.
Now in Spanish (with apologies for lack of accent marks and upside down exclamation points):
La lucha continua!
El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido!
Venceremos!
p.s. Fuck Scott Walker!
Class Warrior, I am also a public employee - one of those perceived as over payed and under worked. In my state 20% of public employees qualify for public assistance. We are facing more of the same shit as other state employees in this time of expanding profit for many of the rich fucks and doom for the poor. Solidarity my brother.
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