Storming The Studio :: 40 Years of the Future Worlds of Jack Dangers (Part 2)

Igloo Magazine presents a serialized, long-form oral history of the work of Jack Dangers, front man for Meat Beat Manifesto, Perennial Divide, Tino Corp, The JDs, and countless other monikers. These monthly installments will hopefully provide a definitive insight into the works of the man (originally) from Swindon, underrated genius of the last 40 years, and pioneer of three distinct musical genres of the late 20th and early 21st century. Chang Terhune’s interviews take twists and turns as he seeks to plumb the depths of this musical mind in a series we’re calling “Storming The Studio: 40 Years of The Future Worlds of Jack Dangers.”

The perfect ingredients which together created the explosion of punk

When last we left off Jack Dangers, founder and chief instigator of armed audio warfare in Meat Beat Manifesto, was describing growing up in Swindon, a working class town outside of London, England. Swindon, a major artery in the venerable British Rail system, was known for little else outside of working on, with, inside, or for the trains.

In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s there was little work in (Margaret) Thatcher’s Britain in the major cities let alone the second tier cities such as Swindon. And the work there was for the rails. “My granddad worked for them,” says Jack, “My dad worked for them. And my brother and me for a bit, too.”

The late 70’s were a strange time for youth in England. With little hope of a future seemingly locked down and made inaccessible by Thatcher’s Conservative policies—it’s little wonder that punk would emerge after a fallow period of music in the early to mid 70’s. A mixture of a struggling economy, boredom, lack of opportunity, and an oppressive, out of touch government were the perfect ingredients which together created the explosion of punk. This wasn’t exactly what thrust young Jack Dangers into music but it was a step towards that path.

“I had a little radio I’d be listening to Radio Luxembourg underneath my bed clothes at night with a torch,” says Jack. “But you know, even then I wasn’t old enough to appreciate John Peel or stuff like that. You know, like all that sort of stuff in ’79.

“I was too young to even appreciate punk when that was happening,” says Jack. “When I’d see on the front of the newspaper, you know, Johnny Rotten just swore on live TV and I was offended. I was an offended 11 year old.” Still, the new music was intriguing to him, beckoning a young fertile mind towards something different.

Jack continues: “Yeah. You know, I remember being at school and there was a kid who wore an XTC badge, the drums and wires one. We talked and got on well and he taught me about the music. And you know, I didn’t have a record player or anything like that so I couldn’t even get into their music. I’d have to go ’round—when I started buying records. I’d have to go around to my friend’s house ’cause they owned a record player, then record it onto cassette. Then I’d borrow his tape to play it cause I didn’t have one of those either (laughs).”

But there was another Swindonite who’d have a major influence on Jack’s decision to storm the studio: Andy Partridge, singer and founding member of the legendary post-punk and pop band XTC.

Next month: Synthesizer Test

meatbeatmanifesto.com

Graphic by Digital Chemist