Poly Styrene, the singer for iconic punk band X-Ray Spex, died of cancer in April but she also released a new album, "Generation Indigo," that same month. "Ghoulish" is the latest single from that disc and its a really beautiful dark pop song written about another fellow musician that was gone much too soon. Styrene penned the song about Michael Jackson, his physical appearance late in life, and the coverage that surrounded him. Before her death she said: "I never met him but he seemed soft spoken and gentle. It was all over the media and I thought I would write that song, but it could be about any goth."
The above video featuring a cast of mostly mediocre Jackson impersonators was released today. I found it and the song both really charming. It's funny to think the same ethereal vocalist singing "Ghoulish" is the same one screaming the classic punk anthem "Oh Bondage! Up Yours!" It makes me want to run right out and get the rest of the record.
You're absolutely right. My first exposure to X-ray Spex was when I bought the single The World Turned Day-glo. I probably still have it somewhere. As big a "punk rocker" I was at the time I made it through the first verse of the song never to play it again.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's, um, quite the testimonial.
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