The Fascist Groove Thing: A History of Thatcher's Britain in 21 Mixtapes

The Fascist Groove Thing went by many names: Thatcherism, monetarism, neoliberalism, individualism, militarism, nationalism, racism, and anti-unionism, to name but a few. Popular music in Britain responded to this perceived monster in one of two ways: either by ignoring its existence or by deploying every weapon in its arsenal against it.

This book gathers five hundred noteworthy songs that addressed one alarming aspect of Thatcher's Britain or another. The notional mixtape 'Whistling in the Dark,' for instance, comprises songs tackling Thatcher's conflict with trade unions; 'Shopkeepers Arise' features songs about consumerism and the rise of so-called popular capitalism.

The chapters following each mixtape reconstruct the arguments these songs were having with Thatcher's vision of Britain (and, at times, with each other). These arguments are often polemical, frequently vitriolic, and consistently riotous, offering an alternative account of the decade. This alternative perspective held significance at the time because popular music articulated views that other media outlets were unwilling or unable to express. For example, when Thatcher led the country into what many saw as a completely unnecessary war in the South Atlantic, the television news and national newspapers largely offered dutiful support or remained silent. In this context, popular music provided a crucial national platform for critical dissent.

These songs retain their importance today as a documentary record of that dissent. The Fascist Groove Thing has been a dominant force for forty years now, and it's easy to forget that its ascendance was not necessarily inevitable.