Stay With Me: Subcultures, sexism, Siouxsie and Rod Stewart

Growing up as a late-to-the-party punk kid, I didn’t have to think much about sexism in music.

I had Siouxsie, Viv and Poly bellowing in my ear. I had the anarcho-punk heroes of Conflict, Crass and Subhumans forming my delicate little sensibilities. They didn’t give a shit about cars and girls. They were into revolution, no matter what bits you had in your pants.

My dad - a rock ‘n’ roller with eclectic tastes - filled the house with Elvis, the Rolling Stones, Eddie Cochran, Suzi Quatro, Queen and, on one memorable occasion, Hank Williams on repeat for days. This continued until my mum, out of nowhere, sprinted into the living room and ripped needle from vinyl in exasperation.

Dad had briefly been the frontman for amateur Margate band The Secrets and was therefore the barometer of musical taste in our house. And Dad was contemptuous of the noddy-headed Beatles.

Never mind that Mum had screamed enthusiastically at George Harrison when they played Margate Winter Gardens in 1963. Mum wasn’t the boss of the stereo. She only owned four records and one of them was by Leo Sayer.

It must be noted though that even Mum despised the likes of John Denver, who was dismissed with a shudder as ‘wet’....

This is an extract from my essay for Under My Thumb: Songs that hate women and the women who love them.

Image credit: https://www.concertvault.com/features/6543-rod-stewart-and-the-faces-in-75.html