Wake Up! to the World of Bernard Rhodes

by Rhodes, Bernard; Armstrong, Kiersten; Warlow, Mike

• ISBN13: 9780997391633
• ISBN10: 0997391634
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2021-03-01
• Publisher: Kmw Studio

Summary

•Appeals to popular culture book buyers and collectors, especially those dealing in biographies and memoirs, popular music history, punk culture, or the Clash
•Published to follow the Clash's 40th anniversary in 2016, this is a testament to the man who both facillitated the band's formation and held it together

From the growth of punk and beyond, this visually rich collection of art, fashion and ephemera, accompanied by essays, draws from the archives and philosophy of one of the 'prime instigators' of UK punk - Bernard Rhodes. Wake Up! To the World of Bernard Rhodes is a first-hand account of the punk movement.

Bernard Rhodes shares his title of 'prime instigator of UK punk' with Malcom McLaren. Been there, seen it, done it hardly does Rhodes' story justice. Inspired by the avant-garde Situationist movement, and the designer of radical t-shirts for McLaren and the Vivienne Westwood Kings Road shop, it was Rhodes who introduced John Lydon to the Sex Pistols before engineering the formation of the Clash. With him as their manager, and the co-creator of their super-committed style, the Clash became and remains one of the biggest bands of the era, and a symbol of punk as a positive force. Alongside his two stints with them, Rhodes also nurtured the Specials and Dexy's Midnight Runners to huge success.

Author Biography

Fashion designer, record producer, songwriter, manager, impresario - Bernard Rhodes is a man of many talents. Closely associated with two of the UK's best known punk bands, the Sex Pistols and the Clash, his influence was integral to the development of the punk rock scene in the United Kingdom during the middle 1970s. Rhodes discovered John Lydon, and in arranging for him to join the Sex Pistols, helped make the band the icon it is today. He also introduced the primary members of the Clash, encouraging their formation. Rhodes' overseeing of the Clash extended both into business management but also the band's PR and creative direction. He was of vital importance to the band's success. In fact, after a short-lived exodus to pursue alternate opportunities (1979-1981) he was brought back specifically to help keep the band together, after internal tensions threatened a break. Rhodes' band management repertoire includes the Specials, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Subway Sect, Jo Boxers, the Lous, Black Arabs, Twenty Flight Rockers and Watts from Detroit.