Randall isn't the first to write about music, politics and protest, in fact, you could say that, following on from Dorian Lynskey's 33 Revolutions Per Minute in 2011, and his blog of the same name, Matthew Collin's collected works (most recently Pop Grenade, a series of essays from 2016) and Daniel Rachel's Walls Come Tumbling Down (also from 2016), that it's a growth area, publishing wise.
But Sound System is different.
Firstly, it was published as part of the Left Book Club, a new initiative in left wing publishing stemming (as is so often the case these days) from an initiative that began life in 1930s Britain.
Secondly, it is quite a slim book, which is particularly remarkable given the complex nature of the subject matter, and the timescale covered.
Thirdly, it is written by someone who is a professional musician (Randall has been a member of Faithless, records his own music under the name Slovo, and has also played with Sinead O'Connor and Dido) as well as a writer and activist, and who isn't afraid to be candid about the realities of life as a working musician, including some of the more surreal, absurd, damaging and exploitative bits. For example, he outlines some interesting statistics as regards those working in his profession:
US government statistics recently revealed that 11.5 per cent of adults working in the 'arts, entertainment and recreation' sector report heavy drinking in the last month. That's above all the other sectors except 'accommodation and food services' (11.8 per cent), construction (16.5 per cent) and mining (17.5 per cent). I suspect that if our category was narrowed to 'touring musicians and crew', we would top the chart.What's interesting about this quote is that it's not being used to promote some stereotype of the freewheelin', binge drinkin', coke snortin', shag anything with a pulse rock'n'roll god, instead it is being used to support Randall's claim that music is often about conveying feelings of estrangement and alienation.
He eloquently explores the idea that everyday life for the touring musician can be a dichotomy. On one hand there is a clear expectation that the performer will go out on stage and make the audience feel fantastic every night, whether they happen to feel fantastic themselves or not, and that connected to this is the twin expectation that the performer will make it all look easy, desirable, alluring and a lifestyle to be coveted and envied, even if they are dreadfully homesick, suffering from flu and their house is about to be repossessed.
As Randall points out, the day to day reality of the touring artist is often lonely, repetitive, involves a lot of waiting around, exiles you to a weird bubble for two years at a time, which in turn separates you from your friends and family for two years at a time, and is not the glamorous fairytale mythologists and propagandists would have us believe.
Which is not to say he's moaning, because he is equally eloquent when it comes to discussing the amazing highs and giddy moments of joy attached to being a working musician and makes it clear that it's worth doing. His point is more that what can make you a really great musician and garner success can also be what really screws you up as a fully functioning human being.
Randall isn't the first to discuss the downside, but he's probably the first to say it so eloquently and explicitly while still living that lifestyle. (It's different if you're a retired rock star because, as with any profession, once you've retired you can say what you like about your former employers and profession) The suggestion that Randall doesn't belong to the mythology school of rock'n'roll writing is refreshing and gives his book an edge it wouldn't have otherwise.
It's also worth pointing out that, despite covering a certain amount of critical theory and a dizzying range of geography and history, Sound System is always coherant, concise and readable and that this is not a book that treads the well trod narrative of Phil Ochs, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan to The Clash and Billy Bragg, The End. Not only does he go right up to the present day, he also begins his tale centuries back, pre Peasants Revolt and, as with Lynskey's book, doesn't focus purely on the western world.
From the origins of carnival in Trinidad and Tobago and how what began as resistance music led, ultimately, to the Notting Hill Carnival, to the co-option and censuring of previously radical musical styles and subcultures by the state (rave and disco being but two comparatively recent examples), to the subversive impact of the Beatles in Cold War era USSR, to soul in 1960s West Africa, colonialism, apartheid in South Africa and todays cultural boycott of Israel. He also pinpoints particular radical flash points, such as Rock Against Racism, Beyoncé and Black Lives Matter, and the impact of social media and smartphones as regards the spread of the music of the Arab Revolutions.
In a more wide reaching and insidious sense, he also discusses the role of advertising and sponsorship as regards musicians and decisions about personal integrity, as well as the acknowledgement that, particularly in the UK, musicians are not operating on a level playing field in the first place, with issues such as racism, sexism and classism having an impact on who gets the breaks, who gets to be heard, who is promoted and pushed.
The book concludes with what can be regarded as an open letter to fellow musicians: The Rebel Music Manifesto, which I won't spoil by trying to summarise.
It is to be hoped that this book will be read by as many musicians and music fans as possible, because it has a lot to say about music and the social-cultural scene in 2017. There may be a lot of history in this book, but it wears it lightly without treating it lightly. It's also a book that speaks very much of, and to, now. As such, it should be devoured enthusiastically and be much recommended.
Dave Randall made a visit to Salford's Working Class Movement Library in July to talk about Sound System and the the political power of music. Not only did he charm the audience, but he was engaging, interesting and energetic. He will next be appearing at Louder Than Words, "the UK's biggest music based literature festival", in Manchester over the weekend of the 10th-12th November at the Principal Hotel on Oxford Road. Both of these visits might suggest Dave to be a northern boy but he is in fact resident in Brixton.
