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Rebel Musix, Scribe on a Vibe by Vivien Goldman review – hanging with the punks and the Rastas

From Bob Marley embracing the Clash to Brian Eno hurling his phone against a wall, this wide-ranging collection of music writing evokes an era in which journalists and musicians existed side by side

Rebel Musix is packed full of interesting encounters and memorable details, and begins in the late 1970s, when the London music scene was small enough for friendship and work to completely overlap. It’s shocking to be reminded of some of what went on: the prevalence, in the punk movement, of the swastika as a token of rebellion; the rampant sexism and racial stereotyping that led even someone as strong as Grace Jones to be found in a corridor crying, saying that she was sick of being portrayed as “an animal”; how often Ari Up, lead singer of the Slits, was shouted at in the street for being white and having dreadlocks. Eno getting irritated by his phone always ringing and chucking it against a wall; Johnny Rotten starting an argument with Goldman at a press conference because she had not allowed Sid Vicious into a party; marching into CBGB and reporting that the punters “look like they’re in a time warp from a Middlesbrough Poly gig circa 1969”.

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