The same reviewer in The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music sums up the band's 1970s contribution as "one of the most inventive, original and genuinely exciting groups to emerge during the punk era". [33] Reformation [ edit ] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.344. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Without Styrene, the group lost its momentum and split up. Hurding and Airport went on to form Classix Nouveaux, while Paul Dean and Rudi Thompson went on to form Agent Orange with Anthony "Tex" Doughty, who would later become a founding member of Transvision Vamp.

Du Noyer, Paul (1998). Encyclopedia of Albums: 1,000 Best-Ever Albums . Bristol: Dempsey Parr. p.89. ISBN 1-84084-031-5. They aimed their fluorescent bile at the vapidity and sterility of the modern world, specifically the increasingly consumerist nature of society, in classic sax-drenched anthems Murray, Charles Shaar (1978). "No Pop, No Style Poly Styrene is Still Strictly Roots". NME (published 13 May 1978). Archived from the original on 27 October 2009 . Retrieved 19 January 2008. In an interview after being shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, British artist FKA Twigs named Germfree Adolescents her favourite album of all time [25] Gardner, Steve (1996). "Hiljaiset Levyt: 100 Best Punk singles". Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Revolt-in-plastic punk. Weird arty stuff with saxophone Larkin, Colin (1994). All Time Top 1000 Albums . Enfield: Guinness Publishing. p.236. A colourful explosion of soundHiljaiset Levyt: PUNKNET 77 - X-Ray Spex". Hiljaiset.sci.fi. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012 . Retrieved 29 June 2014. The Day the World Turned Day-Glo" / "I Am a Poseur" (March 1978: EMI International, INT 553) – No.23 UK Singles Chart [41]

Oh Bondage Up Yours!" / "I Am a Cliché" (September 1977: Virgin Records, VS 189); also released as a 12" single (VS 189–12) Poly Styrene died of spinal and breast cancer on 25 April 2011 in East Sussex, England, at the age of 53. [38] Documentary and biography [ edit ] Germfree Adolescents (November 1978: EMI International, INT 3023) – No. 30 UK Albums Chart, [41] No. 56 AUS [42] The moment I heard that Marianne Elliott-Said, AKA Poly Styrene, had died, I was at band practice. We put on X-Ray Spex and jumped around, screaming along to Identity, Oh Bondage Up Yours! and Germ Free Adolescents. On that day in 2011 we lost one of punk’s greatest heroes and one of the few who really looked and sounded like me. She broke the mould of UK punk stereotypes. She was brown, chubby, weirdly dressed and had braces on her teeth. Even in an era when quirky, abrasive style was all the rage, she stood out. Styrene was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year, and was told it had spread to her lungs and spine. Despite undergoing treatment, she gave numerous interviews in recent months to promote her latest solo album, Generation Indigo. In an interview with the Guardian in March, she was described as "ironically upbeat" in spite of her health.

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In July of 1976, Marianne Joan Elliott-Said, a Scottish-Somali girl from London’s inner-city Brixton district, celebrated her 19th birthday by going to see the Sex Pistols. Marianne dropped out of school at age 15, and had spent the last few years drifting between music festivals, crash pads, and recording studios in an attempt to get her music career off of the ground. She had even released a single, a novelty reggae song called “ Silly Billy,” with Donna Summer’s U.K. distributor, GTO Records. But she was frustrated—frustrated with not being taken seriously as a musician, and frustrated by the racism, sexism, and classism that seemed to make achieving her dreams impossible. a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.612. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

In keeping with its subject, the new film Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliche is not your average music documentary. It shows Poly struggling to deal with fame at a young age, disbanding X-Ray Spex and abandoning the limelight to live in a Hare Krishna commune. It thoughtfully reflects on themes of creativity, identity, spirituality, motherhood, loss and mental health. The central voice is that of Poly’s daughter, Celeste Bell, confronting the difficulty of mourning the loss of a mother who had been so loved, yet so complicated. Through archival footage and interviews, the film examines the uneasy line between how the music press categorised and celebrated Poly Styrene as a rebel and a figurehead, overlooking the vulnerability of Marianne Elliott-Said. X-Ray Spex: Germfree Adolescents". Uncut. p.132. [T]he heat and intensity of this debut has never been repeated. Nearly 30 years after it was recorded, Germfree Adolescents is as timely as ever. Dolan, Jon (May 2001). "The 50 Most Essential Punk Records – 5. X-Ray Spex: Germfree Adolescents". Spin. Vol.17, no.5. p.108 . Retrieved 23 October 2020. Long-running California punk band NOFX has performed a cover version of Germfree Adolescents live. [24] In late September 1977, a studio recording of "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" was released as a single. Today, the 45 is regarded as their most enduring artefact, both as a piece of music and as a sort of proto-grrrl catchphrase. [26] [27] Opening with the spoken/screamed line, "Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard but I think— oh, bondage, up yours!", the song could be interpreted as a premonition of the riot grrrl movement 15 years later, although Styrene herself insists it was more intended as an anti-consumerist/ anti-capitalist jingle, and was not exclusively feminist in nature.

Germfree Adolescents - 2023 Reissue

In 1994, The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music named Germfree Adolescents the eighth best punk album of all time. [19] Seven years later, in May 2001, Spin magazine ranked the album at number five on its "50 Most Essential Punk Records" list. [20] In March 2003, Mojo magazine ranked the record at number 19 on its "Top 50 Punk Albums" list. [21] Germfree Adolescents is listed in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. [22] Her inspiring story encapsulates what should be the legacy of punk: not simply spiky rebelliousness, but a self-aware sensitivity to the world that can help shape how we navigate the music industry and our lives as a whole. I Am a Cliche shows how Poly’s innate sensitivity was often misunderstood and exploited – yet for me she remains a radiant symbol of defiance, luminous rage and joy. I believe that she dreamed of reaching a higher level of consciousness through art and wanted to examine a more spiritual route to identity. Her music and lyrics transcended the everyday, stretching the limits of the imagination. Christgau, Robert (26 April 2011). "Poly Styrene, Punk Pioneer, Dies at 53". NPR . Retrieved 23 October 2020. When we first did the RS 500 in 2003, people were talking about the “death of the album.” The album —and especially the album release — is more relevant than ever. (As in 2003, we allowed votes for compilations and greatest-hits albums, mainly because a well-made compilation can be just as coherent and significant as an LP, because compilations helped shaped music history, and because many hugely important artists recorded their best work before the album had arrived as a prominent format.)