Anarchist, iconoclast, pop culture icon, revolutionary, self promoter, egotist. All of those words have been used to describe the late Malcolm McLaren who passed away last week. Oh yes and never forget that he is also called the godfather of Punk Rock. The man who brought the Sex Pistols into our lives. The reality is that if McLaren wasn't all of those things he probably would never have managed to pull it all off and he wouldn't have nearly as interesting as he was.
It always strikes me when I see pictures of Malcolm McLaren that he is inevitably perfectly dressed. I would say perfectly groomed if weren't for the fact that he was crowned with a head of hair that seemed determined to go its own way and Mclaren had no intention of trying to make it do anything else. He is complete break from the look that came be associated with the music he helped usher onto the international scene and most especially the look of the seminal group that he championed.
His personal history was never very simple. In fact it was pretty much perfect for the iconoclastic movement that would become Punk. McLaren rebelled against his stepfather, left home as a teenager, drifted through a variety of jobs and a couple different art colleges. He got expelled from several of those. Along the way he discovered various cultural movements that specialized in absurd and confrontational actions. That style was to echo throughout the rest of his life. In the 1970's McLaren begins to make contacts with some pivotal music groups. His forays into fashion would bring him into contact with the New York Dolls and later with founding members of the group Television. But in the mid-70's he discovers the artists who he would form into the Sex Pistols. What's really astounding about the Pistols is that they only existed for two and a half years, put out a single studio album and four singles. Their concerts often ended in chaos. But Malcolm McLaren saw something before anyone else. The Sex Pistols have had a profound impact on music and challenged the status quo's sense of decorum and decency. Like them or not it was the perfect response to the self satisfied Western culture of the 1970's.
There couldn't have been a better stage for Malcolm McLaren. In the end he and the band split on very poor terms. He would go on to work with groups like Adam and the Ants, combine electronic music and opera, helped launch hip hop in the United Kingdom plus worked with New Age composer Yanni on an advertising campaign for British Airways. It's just a tiny fraction of an incredibly diverse career. Malcolm McLaren went his own way throughout his life. Fortunately for us he invited us along for the ride. Malcolm McLaren died from complications connected with mesothelioma at the age of 64.
Call that the View From the Phlipside.
"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY. You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010
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