Made in the UK: The Music of Attitude 1977-1983 – by Janette Beckman, Powerhouse Classics

Photographer Janette Beckman has assembled her images from the forefront of the British punk movement, to which she was an active participant. Beckman was never an outsider, working at Melody Maker and The Face chronicling the explosion of teen popular culture that grew out of Thather’s oppressive politics. With images of Teddy boys, mods, skinheads, punks, and rude boys, Beckman crafts a visual history of one of the most vibrant eras in popular music. Along with a foreword by fashion designer Paul Smith and essays by Vivien Goldman (ex-Melody Maker journalist and all-around punk expert) and Paolo Hewitt (equally respected ex-Melody Maker journalist and biographer), this little book does a lot to capture the essence of the time, which is great for those who don’t want to or have the time to read many of the extensive books on the era. The photos do a great job of telling the story, with gritty realism and rich with detail. Besides all the usual subjects (Sex Pistols, The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Police), you get a heavy dose of Two-Tone ska and the mod scene. Plenty of women are featured from the scene, such as The Marine Girls, The Belle Stars, Annie Lennox, Siouxie Sioux, Blondie, Lydia Lunch, Bananarama, The Raincoats, and The Mo-Dettes. As much as I love the images of the mod guys and gals, my personal favorite image is of a teenage Paul Weller standing on a Soho sidewalk with Pete Townshend. Paul Smith agrees, as he writes “the photograph of Paul Weller and Pete Townshend completely sums up my teenage years – self conscious and fanatical about details”. I couldn’t have said it better myself.