"Oh Bondage Up Yours!" is the debut single by English

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

X-Ray Spex X-Ray Spex were an English punk rock band formed in 1976 in London. During their first incarnation (1976–1979), X-Ray Spex released five singles and one album. Their 1977 single " Oh Bondage Up Yours!" and 1978 debut album '' Germfree Adol ...

. Released in September 1977, it is regarded by critics as a prototypic example of British punk, though it was not a chart hit.

Background

A version taped on 2 April 1977 at one of the band's earliest public performances had already been issued on a live compilation album, '' The Roxy London WC2'', in June. The song attracted wide notice and led directly to the band's first record deal—a pact with the

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

label for one single.Tyler (2005), n.p.

Poly Styrene Marianne Joan Elliott-Said (3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011), known by the stage name Poly Styrene, was an English musician, singer-songwriter, and frontwoman for the punk rock band X-Ray Spex. She was recognized as rock's original Riot grrrl, t ...

, X-Ray Spex's songwriter as well as lead vocalist, had been motivated to join the punk scene like many others as a result of attending a

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

concert—her first encounter with the band, when she still went by Marianne Elliot-Said, was in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

in early July 1976. Concerned with issues of

consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...

and disposability, reflected in the name she soon adopted, she wrote "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" shortly after seeing the Pistols for a second time the following month.Heylin (2007), p. 201. The lyrics combine a depiction of contemporary capitalist materialism as a brand of servitude with a "feminist ..rallying cry".Dougan (2002), p. 1250. Styrene later described it as "a call for liberation. It was saying: 'Bondage—forget it! I'm not going to be bound by the laws of consumerism or bound by my own senses.' It has that line in it: 'Chain smoke, chain gang, I consume you all': you are tied to these activities for someone else's profit." X-Ray Spex' instrumental lineup featured a saxophonist, unusual for a punk band.Raha (2005), p. 89. What made the woodwind player particularly stand out was that she was a girl, Susan Whitby (known as

Lora Logic Lora Logic (born Susan Whitby 1960) is a British saxophonist, singer and songwriter from Wembley, London. Logic was a founding member of London punk band X-Ray Spex, and wrote the saxophone parts for their debut album, '' Germfree Adolescents ...

), just 16 years old as of mid-1977. Band manager Falcon Stuart had helped convince Styrene that the presence of a second woman in the band would be a boon to their marketing.

Content

Whitby's "freeform" style on her horn, writes Maria Raha, often yielded "staccato wails that faded quickly, like those of a sax player whizzing by in a car". Redubbed

, her signature "rough rasp" would feature prominently in "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" Richie Unterberger describes the single version's brief setup and raucous payoff:

"Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard," Poly Styrene solemnly intones. ... "But I think"—and then the voice suddenly rises to a scream—"OH BONDAGE UP YOURS! 1-2-3-4!" Then the band kicks in with all the immediacy of a custard pie in the face. Fuzzy power chords and careening saxophone bleats fight it out with Styrene's half-chanted, half-sung vocals, a mixture of glee and rage that periodically trails off into caterwauling shrieks.Unterberger (1998), p. 280.

Steve Huey describes it as "one of the most visceral moments in all of British punk", though Al Spicer considers the studio single recording a "fairly lacklustre" version. In Gillian G. Gaar's analysis, the song "eagerly steamrolled over the idea of objectifying women by confronting the notion head on".Gaar (2002), p. 200. Raha writes, "Styrene and Logic were joyfully angry, liberated by the freedom punk afforded them." In Lauraine Leblanc's view, Styrene's compositions, and "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" in particular, exemplify the emphasis female punk artists placed on parody and paradox. As she describes, the first verse goes

"Bind me, tie me, chain me to the wall / I wanna be a slave to you all!" Paradoxically, the chorus uns "Oh bondage! Up yours! / Oh bondage! Come on!" As Styrene continue on to the second verse, she reveal that the song is not about sex, but about consumerism: "Chain store, chain smoke, I consume you all / Chain gang, chain mail, I don't think at all!" In this one utterance, Styrene transformed a seemingly masochistic plea into an indictment of consumer culture, denouncing the blind impulses of the mainstream shopper. In depicting herself as both an agent of and resister to her submission, she created a parody of both positions, juxtaposing them powerfully against each other.

Logic later gave her view of the band leader's vision: "I think Marianne felt that everyone was in a type of bondage—restricted, crushed, and alienated by modern materialistic society. The goal of our society is sense gratification—that is the only prize on offer. But one can never satisfy the senses; it is an impossible goal."

Release and reception

Banned by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, the single was very well received by critics, and though it failed to register on the charts, it made the band a subject of extensive media interest. According to Gaar, among punk aficionados the single "quickly became an essential item that found its way into every self-respecting" collection. Retrospectively, John Dougan identifies it, alongside the early recordings of the

and

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

, as "one of punk rock's defining moments".

Jon Savage Jon Savage (born Jonathan Malcolm Sage, 2 September 1953) is an English writer, broadcaster and music journalist, best known for his definitive history of the Sex Pistols and punk music, ''England's Dreaming'' (1991). Early life and educati ...

similarly calls it a "deserved press sensation" and a "definitive punk snapshot". Within a few weeks of its release, Logic departed the band, apparently sacked because Styrene wanted to be the exclusive focus of attention. The band, now with a male saxophonist, signed with

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

for its debut album, '' Germfree Adolescents'', on which "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" did not appear. In 2021, it was ranked at No. 120 on ''Rolling Stone''s "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".

Personnel

(Marianne Elliot-Said) – vocals *

(Susan Whitby) – saxophone *

Jak Airport Jak Airport (born Jack Stafford; 22 February 1958 – 13 August 2004) was the guitarist of 1970s punk band X-Ray Spex and new wave band Classix Nouveaux. Born and raised in Catford, London, Jak Airport is best known and remembered for being a ...

(Jack Stafford) – guitar * Paul Dean – bass * B. P. Hurding – drums

References

Sources * Dougan, John (2002). "X-Ray Spex", in ''All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul'', 3d ed., ed. Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, and Stephen Thomas Erlewine (Backbeat). * Gaar, Gillian G. (2002). ''She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll'', 2d ed. (Seal). * Heylin, Clinton (2007). ''Babylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge'' (Canongate). * Huey, Steve (2002). "''Germ Free Adolescents''", in ''All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul'', 3d ed., ed. Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, and Stephen Thomas Erlewine (Backbeat). * Leblanc, Lauraine (1999). ''Pretty in Punk: Girls' Gender Resistance in a Boys' Subculture'' (Rutgers University Press). * Raha, Maria (2005). ''Cinderella's Big Score: Women of the Punk and Indie Underground'' (Seal). * Savage, Jon (1992). ''England's Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond'' (St. Martin's). * Spicer, Al (2003). "X-Ray Spex", in ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', 3d ed., ed. Peter Buckley (Rough Guides). * Tyler, Kieron (2005). Liner notes to ''Germfree Adolescents'' -Ray Spex(Castle 36202–2). * Unterberger, Richie (1998). ''Unknown Legends of Rock 'n' Roll: Psychedelic Unknowns, Mad Geniuses, Punk Pioneers, Lo-Fi Mavericks & More'' (Backbeat). {{X-Ray Spex 1977 debut singles X-Ray Spex songs Songs with feminist themes 1977 songs Virgin Records singles Songs banned by the BBC