V02-T08 The Day The World Turned Day-Glo

.....For any readers who have not lived in England and who are not certain what a "Wimpy Bar" is, the photo on the right is an example of one. It's a fast food restaurant chain, probably the first in England and inspired by the character Wimpy ("I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today...") from the Popeye cartoons/comic strip. Now, before I inadvertently contribute to the mountain of online misinformation out there, I should point out two things: (1) the owners of the Wimpy restaurants don't license or use the cartoon character and (2) they're not affiliated with the Popeye's Fried Chicken restaurants.

.....Oh, and if anybody asks, the photo (assuming it reproduces properly) was uploaded to Flickr by somebody named 'Sumit'. They either are meticulous at cropping digital photos or have a wonderful sense of composition when snapping shots of discount diners.

Volume 2: "WE'RE ALL GOING TO JAIL FOR THIS, AREN'T WE?", track 8

• 02:50 "THE DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO" (Poly Styrene)
• performed by X-Ray Specs
• original source: A-side, 7" EMI INT553 (UK) April, 1978
• and my source: CD GERM-FREE ADOLESCENTS Caroline CAROL 1813-2 (US) 1991

.....Poly Styrene was actually Marion Elliott, whose half-English, half-Somali heritage made her stand out when punk swept London in 1977. She definitely belonged in a key spot in punk as a cultural movement; this song was not her only one that showed a keen eye for society's acquiescence and capitulation to the artificial. But in punk as a scene that became increasingly filled with Northern skins and pale, disaffected Mancunians, being afro'd, Arabic, teenage and female was a combination that made her a demographic of one. At the beginning of the year merely being in a punk band gave you an extended family of sorts, but by the end of 1977 there were so many people identifying as punks that the scene was factionalizing under its own weight.

.....This song really dates from at least as far back as the summer of 1977. A studio demo from that time nearly reproduces the live set they performed at the Roxy in April, adding "OBSESSED WITH YOU" and "THE DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO". It's worth seeking out that version because it includes original saxophonist Lora Logic, who only appeared on the first of their studio singles, "OH BONDAGE, UP YOURS!" for Virgin that October, before quitting the band to complete high school. (Let me repeat that: she didn't quit high school to join a band in the hopes of becoming famous; she was in a band that was already famous and quit to go to high school. She later formed the band Essential Logic.) Poly Styrene and the rest carried on with Rudi Thomas (Steve Thompson) on sax. They signed to EMI right after New Year's and demo'd all new material plus new takes of "OBSESSED..." and "THE DAY...", which became their label debut in April.

.....Marion dissolved X-ray Specs (who all went on to other bands) and experienced a deeply felt religious conversion. She didn't give up music categorically but only performed or recorded when she could write or find material consistent with her faith. She had one solo album and reconvened X-Ray Specs in the 1990's for the album "CONSCIOUS CONSUMER".

.....I probably picked this song to follow "BATMAN" because there had been an issue of the comic book Doom Patrol named after "THE DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO". The writer Grant Morrison was like many other Brits writing American comics in that he incorporated song titles into character names and story titles. Anyway, I'm getting tired and I'm going to need to rest. Tomorrow I exchange social commentary for something more philosophical.