Brit Wits

Iain Ellis

Description

Humour, as much as any other trait, defines British cultural identity. It is 'crucial in the English sense of nation,' argues humour scholar Andy Medhurst; 'To be properly English you must have a sense of humour,' opines historian Antony Easthope. Author Zadie Smith perceives British humour as a national coping mechanism, stating, 'You don’t have to be funny to live here, but it helps.' Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten concurs, commenting, 'There’s a sense of comedy in the English that even in your grimmest moments you laugh.' Although humour invariably functions as a relief valve for the British, it is also often deployed for the purposes of combat. From the court jesters of old to the rock wits of today, British humorists – across the arts – have been the pioneers of rebellion, chastising society’s hypocrites, exploiters and phonies, while simultaneously slighting the very institutions that maintain them.

The best of the British wits are (to steal a coinage from The Clash) 'bullshit detectors' with subversion on their minds and the jugulars of their enemies in their sights. Such subversive humour is held dear in British hearts and minds, and it runs deep in their history. Historian Chris Rojek explains how the kind of foul-mouthed, abusive language typical of British (punk) humour has its antecedents in prior idioms like the billingsgate oath: 'Humour, often of an extraordinary coruscating and vehement type, has been a characteristic of the British since at least feudal times, when the ironic oaths against the monarchy and the sulfurous ‘Billingsgate’ uttered against the Church and anyone in power were widespread features of popular culture. Rojek proceeds to fast forward to 1977, citing the Sex Pistols’ 'Sod the Jubilee' campaign as a contemporary update of the Billingsgate oath. For Rojek, the omnipresence of British caustic humour accounts for why the nation has historically been more inclined toward expressions of subversive rebellion than to violent revolution. 'Protest has been conducted not with guns and grenades, but with biting comedy and graffiti,' he observes.

As an outlet for venting and as an alternative means of protest, Brit wit, not surprisingly, has developed distinctive communicative patterns, with linguistic flair and creative flourishes starring as its key features. Far more than American humour, for example, British humour revels in colourful language, in lyrical invective, in surrogate mock warfare. One witnesses such humour daily in the Houses of Parliament, where well-crafted barbs are traded across the aisle, the thinly veiled insults cushioned by the creativity of the inherent humour. Such wit is equally evident throughout the history of British rock, where rebellion has defined the rock impulse and comedic dissent has been a seemingly instinctual activity.

Sujets

• Musique
• Musique
• Humour
• Media
• Pop (musique)
• Music
• Rock
• General
• Pop music
• General officer
• Music industry
• History of architecture
• Multiple signal classification
• Popular music
• Performing Arts

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 30 juin 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781841506715
• Langue: English

Extrait

First published in the UK in 2012 by Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the US in 2012 by Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2012 Intellect Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover designer: Holly Rose Copy-editor: Macmillan Typesetting: Planman Technologies
978-1-84150-565-7
eISBN: 978-1-84150-671-5
Printed and bound by Hobbs, Tatton, Hampshire, UK.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: British, Rock, Humor
MANIFESTATIONS ACROSS THE NATION
HOME IS WHERE THE HUMOR IS
COORDINATES AND DETERMINANTS
THE INS AND OUTS
1. STARTING POINTS
MUSIC HALL COMEDY
George Formby
2. THE FIFTIES
AMERICAN DREAMING
Lonnie Donegan
3. THE SIXTIES
ACCENT-UATIONS
The Beatles
The Kinks
WACKY WHIMSY
Pink Floyd
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES
David Bowie, Part One
4. THE SEVENTIES
GLAM BAM!
David Bowie, Part Two
Roxy Music
GOIN’ DOWN TH’ PUBS
Ian Dury
NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE’S BRITISH PUNK
Sex Pistols
The Slits
PUNK POETRY
John Cooper Clarke
THE NUTTY SOUND
Madness
5. THE EIGHTIES
NEW ROMANTICS
ABC
NEW TRADITIONALISTS
The Smiths
Billy Bragg
POP GO THE SCOTS
The Proclaimers
MANC LADS
The Macc Lads
Happy Mondays
6. THE NINETIES
GIRL POWER!
Spice Girls
COOL BRITANNIA
Blur
Pulp
TECHNO-SHOCK THERAPY
The KLF
7. THE NAUGHTIES
2-STEPPIN’ OUT
The Streets
LONDON’S ANTI-DIVAS
Lily Allen
BRITPOP’S UP AGAIN
Arctic Monkeys
Art Brut
WELSH WITS
8. CLOSING POINTS …
NOTES
 
INTRODUCTION: BRITISH, ROCK, HUMOR
H umor, as much as any other trait, defines British cultural identity. It is “crucial in the English sense of nation,” argues humor scholar Andy Medhurst; 1 “To be properly English you must have a sense of humor,” opines historian Antony Easthope. 2 Author Zadie Smith perceives British humor as a national coping mechanism, stating, “You don’t have to be funny to live here, but it helps.” 3 Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten concurs, commenting, “There’s a sense of comedy in the English that even in your grimmest moments you laugh.” 4
Although humor invariably functions as a relief valve for the British, it is also often deployed for the purposes of combat. From the court jesters of old to the rock wits of today, British humorists—across the arts—have been the pioneers of rebellion, chastising society’s hypocrites, exploiters, and phonies, while simultaneously slighting the very institutions that maintain them. The best of the British wits are (to steal a coinage from The Clash) “bullshit detectors” with subversion on their minds and the jugulars of their enemies in their sights. 5 Such subversive humor is held dear in British hearts and minds, and it runs deep in their history. Historian Chris Rojek explains how the kind of foul-mouthed, abusive language typical of British (punk) humor has its antecedents in prior idioms like the billingsgate oath: “Humor, often of an extraordinary coruscating and vehement type, has been a characteristic of the British since at least feudal times, when the ironic oaths against the monarchy and the sulfurous ‘Billingsgate’ uttered against the Church and anyone in power were widespread features of popular culture.” 6 Rojek proceeds to fast forward to 1977, citing the Sex Pistols’ “Sod the Jubilee” campaign as a contemporary update of the Billingsgate oath. For Rojek, the omnipresence of British caustic humor accounts for why the nation has historically been more inclined toward expressions of subversive rebellion than to violent revolution. “Protest has been conducted not with guns and grenades, but with biting comedy and graffiti,” he observes. 7
As an outlet for venting and as an alternative means of protest, Brit wit, not surprisingly, has developed distinctive communicative patterns, with linguistic flair and creative flourishes starring as its key features. Far more than American humor, for example, British humor revels in colorful language, in lyrical invective, in surrogate mock warfare. One witnesses such humor daily in the Houses of Parliament, where well-crafted barbs are traded across the aisle, the thinly veiled insults cushioned by the creativity of the inherent humor. Such wit is equally evident throughout the history of British rock, where rebellion has defined the rock impulse and comedic dissent has been a seemingly instinctual activity.
MANIFESTATIONS ACROSS THE NATION
The most genre-distinctive aspect of rock humor—and of rock music itself—is its youth orientation. Less an issue of age than of attitude, rock humor reflects the content, tone, and style attending much youthful expression. Andy Medhurst calls the preadult rebellion that often constitutes young humor “the playground’s subversive delights.” 8 Society regards such articulations as “low discourses,” he says, and its inevitable vulgarities are generally dismissed as “disreputable.” 9 But such ways of speaking have always featured in British humor, whether in the raw drama of William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson or in the vernacular of rock lyricism. Northrop Frye could well have been referring to rock humor when he said of dramatic comedy that it pits the “society of youth” against “the society of the old.” 10 Humor scholar John Morreall identifies the “imagination, playfulness, and curiosity” that come from youthful humor and bemoans how adult society overtly thwarts and censors this burgeoning creativity. 11 Critic Charles E. Schutz goes further, arguing that children are “preview revolutionar[ies]” that offer us “a glimpse of the critically realistic function of comedy.” 12 These critics all find rare values in the kind of youthful humor that rock wits express. For them, youthful insolence, escapism, and dumb articulations can signify freedom, inquisitiveness, and resistance; they should not just be automatically dismissed or denounced at face value.
Youth orientation can also help explain how rock humor relates to or differs from the humor histories of other art forms. A product of post-1945 western society, rock humor parallels the growth of the baby boomers and their subsequent offspring. Rock humor has therefore been part of the same social awakening that young people have affected upon society over this period, one in which prior taboos have been erased, new freedoms have been attained, and increasingly provocative artistic voices have emerged. “Going Too Far” was the telling title that Tony Hendra gave to his book on the satire and spirit of this post-war era. 13 Humor scholar Humphrey Carpenter offers further historical context to developments of humor in recent decades. He points to the decline of the British Empire after World War II, and to the subsequent years “when value systems have collapsed, or are being reassessed and challenged,” as responsible for creating the cultural milieu within which subversive humor has flourished. 14 Rock humorists, particularly, have been on the cutting edges of these developments, and their alternative voices and perspectives have both effected and molded the contemporary world in which we live.
Like any cultural expression, rock humor cannot and does not function alone or in isolation. It may have its distinctions, but it is not uniquely separate or disconnected from other humor expressions, and just as humor from other art forms has influenced rock humor, so rock has often returned the favor. Humor examples found in literature, fine arts, stand-up, TV, and film are all cited throughout this text because many of the Brit wits studied here have either openly or discreetly admitted their influence. For example, The Beatles often spoke of how The Goon Show informed their wacky wit, while John Lennon’s surrealistic wordplay clearly owes much to the linguistic whimsy found in the works of Lewis Carroll and Edmund Lear. Morrissey from The Smiths has candidly acknowledged the huge influence Oscar Wilde’s elevated satire has had on his writing, and both the Sex Pistols and Ian Dury have often cited music hall routines and comedians as inspirations for their own craft. Some, like the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, have oscillated between genres, their key players comically active in the worlds of rock, TV, and film.
The range of styles of humor one finds in rock history is equally broad and eclectic. Satire, parody, sarcasm, wordplay, innuendo, surrealism, absurdism, whimsy, blue, physicality, and irony are but some of the humor types evident across British rock humor history, sometimes with multiple techniques combined at once. There is no one style of rock humor, only styles, and this variety has made rock humor history constantly dynamic, its rich tapestry ever changing and mutating with interesting new threads and weaves.
Humor analysis historically has largely revolved around three main explanatory models: the superiority, incongruity, and relief theories. All of these are operational amongst and relevant to the rock humorists of Brit Wits . Superiority theory is the oldest and most enduring humor model, dating back to the philosophical musings of Plato and Aristotle. These thinkers regarded humor as a form of derision, but one that could ideally serve as a social corrective. The kind of critical satire one sees in the lyrics of Billy Bragg would be defined as superiority humor, as its purpose is to castigate those in power who misuse their authority. In the act of satirizing his targets, Bragg literally assumes a moral high ground or “superior” position. Incongruity is a more cognitive, less emotional, theory of humor developed by the philosophers Kant and Schopenhauer. They