WRECKERS OF CIVILISATION:
The story of
Coum Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle
- Simon Ford (Black Dog Publishing)
Much has been written
about the phenomonen that was briefly, Throbbing Gristle. Indeed, it
was the (eventual) accompaniment of quality information to their activities
which justified their depth of vision (and general existence to be honest).
Whilst their cacophonous observations made some ears bleed, journalists
rant and pseudo-art-set-wankers grovel, there was a genuine aesthetic
there, missed by most, revered by those with a challenged sense of appreciation
and a sick mind. And although you didn’t actually have to be a
freak to appreciate the wonderful industrial soundtrack they created,
it helped, as that’s what you would most likely be referred to
as anyway.
What eventually
became TG was the art group Coum, the spawn of an era blessed with Zappa
& Beefheart, retarded by the concept that almost anything was
open to presentation as an artform. With this, 6-7 years of Coum Transmissions
may have excited a hierarchy of anarchist art snobs, but its actual
worth, properly collected and exposed for the first time in “
Wreckers Of Civilisation “, is highly questionable. If nothing
else, the tracing of the mindset which matured to become TG is interesting.
With everything so painstakingly recorded, the descriptions of Coum
performances appear to range from passively interesting to useless assmongery,
and although information was always the focal point (rightly so), whether
we are supposed to derive knowledge of any sort from Genesis P-orridge
syringing blood from his testicle and injecting it back into his arm
is a matter open to debate, and more humanly so, ridicule. Maybe a brave
feat, but a useless one. Personally, I think that the entire Coum Transmissions
escapade was an almost painfully forced attempt to be a polar negative
of anything considered art, and it shows. It seems that they were as
busy making declarations and claims for themselves. In the early 70’s
this may have been edgy and anarchic, now it’s simply known as
being a wanker.
The Throbbing Gristle
era of course was a completely different story, Coum redirected themselves
towards a wreckless energy propelled by the foetal London punk movement
and found their nest-egg. Here, their worth is measurable for the first
time as Arts council grants are revoked and lawful investigations made.
I always thought that Jon Savage could have unravelled more of TG’s
activity in ENGLAND’S DREAMING, as it seemed possibly the only
balance to Pistols copyists at the time (I guess he knew it was worth
a book in itself). Where Simon Ford does excel is in meticulous detail,
particularly with regard to the disintegrating relationship between
Gen and Cosey, and her affair with Chris Carter. Other accounts have
suggested that it happened in the later stages of the group, not at
the beginning as Ford unveils. And far from this being a tabloid element,
it is something which had considerable bearing on the behavioural aspect
of TG. Also from the viewpoint of a TG believer like myself, the humane
side was never present in the REsearch series of books. When someone
is hellbent on pushing ideas and doctrine, its nice to know in retrospect
that they’re far from perfect. It seems to have taken them almost
20 years to admit that to themselves.
The physical appearance
of “Wreckers Of Civilisation” is that of an academic manual
or textbook, visually and informatively meticulous, more than befitting
the history of its subjects. For the archivist it’s an important
and essential document - another vital link in the history of subversive
music, and one which was previously scattered and incomplete.
- BOZ
