CRASS WAS AND IS AN AMAZING BAND THAT STARTED IN 1977. OH AND PLEASE WRITE ME, I WANT TO KNOW YOUR OPINION ON MUSIC OR BASICALLY ANYTHING. CRASS HAS INSPIRED ME SO MUCH AND SO LIKE SOME OTHERS I MADE THEM A PROFILE. UNFORTUNATELY AFTER HAVIN IT FOR A WHILE THAT GUY TOM I GUESS DELETED IT I ASSUME BECAUSE IT WAS NOT REALLY CRASS AND I DO NOT OWN ANY RIGHTS TO THESE SONGS. BUT FUCK IT. I REALLY WANTED PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO HEAR DIFFERENT SONGS EVEN IF THEYT WEENT CRASS BUT I FEEL IT ALL STARTED WITH CRASS. I THINK THEYVE DONE MORE FOR PEOPLE THAN BANDS BACK THEN LIKE THE CLASH OR SEX PISTOLS. I WOULDNT THINK ANY OF THE BANDS SONGS ON HERE WOULD GET PISSED SO I FIGURE THEYD BE COOL WITH IT, WITHOUT ALL THAT LEGAL BULLSHIT. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE SHIT ON HERE EVEN IF YOU DONT ADD ME I HOPE YOU LIKE THE MUSIC. PLEAS PHIL FREE TO MESSAGE ME ABOUT ANYTHING. IF YOU HAVE ANY SONG REQUESTS OR ANYTHING.WELL KEEP THE PEACE AND KEEP IN TOUCH. HOPEFULLY THIS ONE WONT BE DELETED.
THANK YOU
-ANONYMOUS CRASS (HAHA!)
LONG LIVE CRASS!!!!
Crass are remembered as the most notorious agit-propsters of the 70s and 80s, for being founders of the Stonehenge festival, to having questions raised in Parliament regarding their various pranks, including a spoof tape of a telephone conversation between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, to their instigation of the ’Stop The City’ marches, and many many more activities. They are also remembered for being the leading protagonists of the genre know known as anarcho-punk, for being the first band to make their records available at little more than cost price, and to print a "Pay No More Than." price on their record sleeves to stop fans being ripped off. And although many will remember the Crass sound as being ’unlistenable cacophony’ and their lyrics as ’shock slogans and mindless token tantrums’ (copyright: The Sun), listen to these records now and what you hear may surprise you, as what went on the studio was actually quite revolutionary in more than just the political sense.
Crass gigs were more like events, encompassing music, poetry, film and performance. There were often stalls from various political organisations and the members of the band would wander around the audience handing out leaflets and lyric sheets. The incredible backdrops which covered the walls were created by G Sus (latterly Gee Vaucher) who also designed the band’s terrifying, humorous and highly acclaimed artwork. The films Crass projected at shows were also created by Gee and another filmmaker, Mick Duffield.
In recent years Crass fought and won a long battle against property developers to keep hold of Dial House. In November 2002, the original members of the collective performed at the "Voices and Music Against War" event at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank, though they did not appear on stage at the same time. Crass will never reform.
The Spin Alternative Record Guide wrote that Crass were "probably the first rock band whose liner notes are not only indispensable, but often better reading than the records are listening." Rather more cheekily, British lo-fi pop prodigy Martin Newell (Cleaners From Venus) once commented that "they did actually sound like two lathes buggering each other on an elevator in an aircraft hangar." And Crass drummer Penny Rimbaud noted, "I don't think we were in the least bit involved in developing as a band. It would have been nice to have had that time to think, 'it would be nice to use a C sharp there.'"
So why did Crass matter? It's more down to the method of their rebellion than their actual buzzsaw punk records. The Crass were not Rage Against the Machine, delivering metalish rants against the system on Epic Records. Unlike most bands delivering rebellious diatribes, they actually lived out the uncompromising politics of their songs. They lived in a commune, debated the Falklands War with a conservative politician on the BBC, helped fund an anarchist center, and refused to dilute the confrontational, explicit lyrics and sleeve designs in the face of enormous legal pressures. That helped give their songs-- articulate, if blurrily delivered, attacks upon war, organized religion, sexism, and social injustice of all sorts-- more weight.
The struggles inherent in doing things their way, on their own label, may have led to their breakup in 1984, although they note that they had planned to disband in that infamous year all along. Their legacy lives, however, in the countless hardcore punk bands that emerged in Crass' wake, who found inspiration not only in their lyrics and lifestyle, but also in their striking black-and-white album graphics, which were emulated by countless other releases, albeit without as much style as the fold-out posters designed by Crass' G Sus.
There was a lot of mystique built up around Crass in the United States, where their records were only available as imports, and where vague rumors circulated about this bizarre hippie-punk commune in the country that was getting harassed by the British authorities. Unconcerned about building up American sales figures, Crass nonetheless aren't all that hard to contact today, with various ex-Crassers still involved in music, art, literature, and political activism in the late 1990's.
