Editing X-Ray Spex (section)

==Career==
Initially, the band featured singer [[Poly Styrene]] (born Marion<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/obit/2011-04-26-poly-styrene_N.htm|title=X-Ray Spex singer Poly Styrene dies at 53|website=USA Today|access-date=21 June 2021}}</ref> Joan Elliott-Said, alternatively spelled Marian<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-poly-styrene-singer-51-811129.html|title=My secret life: Poly Styrene, Singer, 51|newspaper=The Independent|date=19 April 2008}}</ref> or Marianne<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-13193968|title=Punk icon Poly Styrene dies at 53|date=26 April 2011|publisher=BBC}}</ref>) on vocals, [[Jak Airport]] (Jack Stafford) on guitars, Paul Dean on bass, Paul 'B. P.' Hurding on drums, and [[Lora Logic]] (born Susan Whitby) on saxophone. This last instrument was an atypical addition to the standard punk instrumental line-up,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/179200/mixtape-madness-great-indie-rock-sax-solos/|title=Mixtape Madness: great indie rock sax solos|work=Death and Taxes Magazine|date=2012-02-24|access-date=2015-10-20}}</ref> and became one of the group's most distinctive features.  Logic played on only one of the band's records.  As she was only fifteen, playing saxophone was a hobby and she left the band to complete her education.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.x-rayspex.com/x_ray_spex/activity3.html|title=x-ray spex official site/x-ray spex history|publisher=X-rayspex.com|access-date=2014-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019235054/http://www.x-rayspex.com/x_ray_spex/activity3.html|archive-date=19 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

X-Ray Spex's other distinctive musical element was Poly Styrene's voice, which has been variously described as "effervescently discordant"<ref>{{cite web|author=Dave Thompson|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-anthology-mw0000658579|title=The Anthology – X-Ray Spex &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards|publisher=AllMusic|date=2002-03-19|access-date=2014-06-29}}</ref> and "powerful enough to drill holes through sheet metal".<ref name="rina">[http://www.comnet.ca/~rina/poly.htm] {{dead link|date=June 2014}}</ref> As Mari Elliot, Styrene had released a [[reggae]] single for GTO Records in 1976, "Silly Billy", which had not charted. Born in 1957 in [[Bromley]], Kent, to a [[Somali people|Somali]] father and a British mother, Poly Styrene became the group's public face, and remains one of the most memorable front-women to emerge from the punk movement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2003/may/09/artsfeatures|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218133519/http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0%2C12102%2C951567%2C00.html|url-status=dead|title=Are you ready to fly?|date=9 May 2003|archive-date=18 February 2006|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=21 June 2021}}</ref> Unorthodox in appearance, she wore thick [[dental braces|braces]] on her teeth and once stated that "I said that I wasn't a [[sex symbol]] and that if anybody tried to make me one I'd shave my head tomorrow".<ref name="NME">{{Cite news|last=Murray|first=Charles Shaar|author-link=Charles Shaar Murray|publication-date=13 May 1978|year=1978|title=No Pop, No Style Poly Styrene is Still Strictly Roots|periodical=[[NME]]|url=http://www.geocities.com/vintageinterviews/xrayspex.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027102504/http://www.geocities.com/vintageinterviews/xrayspex.html|archive-date=27 October 2009|access-date=19 January 2008}}</ref> She later actually did at [[Johnny Rotten]]'s flat prior to a concert at [[Victoria Park, East London|Victoria Park]]. Mark Paytress recounts in the [[liner notes]] for the 2002 compilation, ''The Anthology'', that [[Jah Wobble]], Rotten's longtime friend and bassist for his [[post-punk]] venture [[PiL]], once described Styrene as a "strange girl who often talked of [[hallucinating]]. She freaked John out."<ref>''Cinderella's Big Score:  Women of the Punk and Indie Underground'' by [[Maria Raha]]</ref> Rotten, known more for his outspoken dislikes and disdain than for praise and admiration, said of X-Ray Spex in a retrospective punk documentary, "Them, they came out with a sound and attitude and a whole energy—it was just not relating to anything around it—''superb''."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJmvaPdPG5Y|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306163656/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJmvaPdPG5Y|archive-date=2012-03-06|url-status=dead|title=YouTube|via=YouTube|access-date=2014-06-29}}</ref>

Styrene was inspired to form a band by seeing the Sex Pistols in [[Hastings]] and, through their live performances, she and X-Ray Spex became one of the most talked about acts on the infant punk scene.<ref>{{cite book|title=''Alternative Rock''|last=Thompson|first=Dave|year=2000|publisher=Miller Freeman Books|location=San Francisco|isbn=0-87930-607-6|page=730}}</ref> The band played twice at the punk club [[The Roxy (London)|The Roxy]] during its first 100 days. In March, the band played with [[The Drones (British band)|The Drones]] and [[Chelsea (band)|Chelsea]]. In April, they shared the bill with the [[Buzzcocks]], [[Wire (band)|Wire]], and [[Johnny Moped]].<ref>{{cite book|title=''Punk''|last=Thompson|first=Dave|year=2000|publisher=Collector's Guide Publication|location=Ontario|pages=61–62}}</ref> Their first Roxy gig was only their second live appearance. It was recorded and their anthem "[[Oh Bondage Up Yours!]]" was included on the influential ''[[Live at the Roxy WC2]]'' album. Styrene was nineteen years old at the time of the recording.<ref name="Thompson 2000 102">{{cite book|title=''Punk''|last=Thompson|first=Dave|year=2000|publisher=Collector's Guide Publication|location=Ontario|page=102}}</ref> The publicity from this gig led to a "near residency", particularly on Sunday nights, at 'The Man in the Moon' pub, [[King's Road]], [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], and record label interest.<ref>{{cite book|title=''Alternative Rock''|last=Thompson|first=Dave|year=2000|publisher=Miller Freeman Books|location=San Francisco|page=730}}</ref>

In late September 1977, a studio recording of "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" was released as a single. Today, the [[single (music)|45]] is regarded as their most enduring artefact, both as a piece of music and as a sort of proto-grrrl [[catchphrase]].<ref>Michelle Lee, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20051224213701/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3693/is_200211/ai_n9126077 Oh bondage up yours! The early punk movement—and the women who made it rock], Off Our Backs, Nov/Dec 2002</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/04/08/bofh_oh_bondage_up_yours/|title=BOFH: Oh Bondage Up Yours! (article demonstrating the use of the song title as a catchphrase)|work=The Register|access-date=2008-05-23}}</ref> Opening with the spoken/screamed line, "Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard but I think—''oh, bondage, up yours!''", the song could be interpreted as a premonition of the [[riot grrrl]] movement 15 years later, although Styrene herself insists it was more intended as an [[anti-consumerist]]/[[anti-capitalist]] jingle, and was not exclusively [[Feminism|feminist]] in nature.

Lora Logic left the band aged 16 in late 1977 to form a new group called [[Essential Logic]]. She was replaced on saxophone, first temporarily by John Glyn (who later joined [[Wreckless Eric]]'s band), and then permanently by Rudi Thompson (also known as Steve Rudi).<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=Germ Free Adolescents Expanded|title-link=Germ Free Adolescents|last=Tyler|first=Kieron|type=CD liner|year=2005}}</ref>

In November 1978, the band released their debut album. With the exception of "Identity", which was partially based on Styrene witnessing [[Bromley Contingent]] member Tracie O'Keefe slash her wrists in the restroom of the Roxy, the rest of ''Germfree Adolescents'' dealt with the anti consumerist theme.<ref name=FirstLady/> Indeed, ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper described the album as containing "unrivalled anti-consumerism anthems".<ref name=albums>{{cite book|last=Dimery|first=R.|title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die|publisher=Cassell Illustrated|series=1001 Series|year=2005|isbn=978-1-84403-392-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1x6WQAAACAAJ}}</ref>

X-Ray Spex played at 'Front Row Festival', a three-week event at the [[Hope and Anchor, Islington]] in late November and early December 1977.<ref name="Thompson 2000 102"/> This resulted in the band's inclusion, alongside the likes of [[Wilko Johnson]], [[999 (band)|999]], [[The Only Ones]], [[The Saints (Australian band)|the Saints]], [[The Stranglers]], and [[XTC]], on a double album of recordings from the festival. Then, in February 1978, before the release of their second single, X-Ray Spex recorded the first of two sessions for [[John Peel]] at [[BBC Radio 1]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/artists/x/xrayspex/|title=Radio 1 – Keeping It Peel – X-Ray Spex|publisher=BBC|date=1978-02-20|access-date=2014-06-29}}</ref> Their profile was further enhanced by playing a fortnight's residency at New York's [[CBGB]]'s, even though the album ''Germ Free Adolescents'' was not released in America until 1992.

On 30 April 1978, the band appeared at the [[Rock Against Racism]] gig at [[Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets|Victoria Park]], [[Bow, London|Bow]], [[London Borough of Tower Hamlets|Tower Hamlets]]. Also on the bill were [[Steel Pulse]], [[The Clash]], [[The Ruts]], [[Sham 69]], [[Generation X (band)|Generation X]] and [[Tom Robinson Band]]. Later in the year, to promote the album, X-Ray Spex embarked on their first, and only, full UK tour. Exhausted by touring, Poly Styrene left the band in mid 1979. Footage of her performing with the band was later included in the 1980 film, ''[[D.O.A. (1980 film)|DOA]]''. She released a solo album, ''Translucence'', before joining the [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness|Hare Krishna]] movement (as did Logic, after she left the band).

Without Styrene, the group lost its momentum and split up. Hurding and Airport went on to form [[Classix Nouveaux]], while Paul Dean and Rudi Thompson went on to form [[Agent Orange (UK band)|Agent Orange]] with [[Anthony Doughty|Anthony "Tex" Doughty]], who would later become a founding member of [[Transvision Vamp]].

The first incarnation of X-Ray Spex existed from mid-1976 to 1979, during which time they released five singles—"Oh Bondage Up Yours!", "Identity", "The Day the World Turned Day-Glo", "Germfree Adolescents", and "Highly Inflammable"—and one album, ''[[Germfree Adolescents]]''.<ref name="rina" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hiljaiset.sci.fi/punknet/xraysp_e.htm|title=Hiljaiset Levyt: PUNKNET 77 – X-Ray Spex|publisher=Hiljaiset.sci.fi|access-date=2014-06-29|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304135338/http://www.hiljaiset.sci.fi/punknet/xraysp_e.htm|archive-date=4 March 2012}}</ref> One retrospective review described the singles as "not only riveting examples of high-energy punk, but contained provocative, thoughtful lyrics berating the urban synthetic fashions of the 70s and urging individual expression".<ref name=larkin>{{cite book|title=''Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music''|last=Larkin|first=Colin|year=2002|publisher=Virgin Books|location=London|isbn=1-85227-947-8|page=503}}</ref>

The same reviewer in ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' sums up the band's 1970s contribution as "one of the most inventive, original and genuinely exciting groups to emerge during the punk era".<ref name=larkin/>