Author:Cosey Fanni Tutti
Cosey is of course best known as a founder member of COUM/Throbbing Gristle and it is appropriate that this book coincides with her native Hull being City of Culture 2017 with COUM/TG being heavily featured – rightly so. One of the most fascinating aspects of this book is her vivid description of the truly weird art/music/squatter netherworld that existed in Hull in the late 60s/early 70s (who knew?!) and provided an escape from her unsettled home life – although when COUM and fellow squatters are not busy being ‘wreckers of civilization’ they are less than revolutionary with their attitude to women’s liberation and so she is is also required to cook, clean and push a pram full of clothes several miles from their deserted dockland HQ to the nearest laundry.
She soon falls in with one Genesis P.Orridge both as a lover and art/musical collaborator. Suffice to say she doesn’t speak highly of GPO who comes across a manipulative, childish, needy misanthrope with a penchant for hurling domestic animals, breeze blocks and whatever else comes to hand. Cosey, it has to be said, is used to handling herself in the rough and tumble of post-war Hull – she sounds ‘a bit handy’ and frankly hard as nails – she’ll need to be. She eventually leaves GPO for her life-long partner Chris Carter, who comes across a sweetly quiet, electro-boffin and in a large part the book is the rather touching love story of the two of them – domestic bliss contrasting with the intensity of the music, and of course her extreme forays into performance art. As is well documented, Cosey infamously ventured into the murky world of 1970s Porn and strip clubs – deliberately to use the results in her own ‘life as art’ experiments. There is nothing salacious or racy about her accounts of this which are all long-raincoats and furtive fumblings as she comes into contact with some properly dangerous characters – again her streetwise tough hide comes in handy here.
In spite of breaking away fromn TG to form the more electro-pop orientated Chris & Cosey, inevitably even TG can’t resist a 21st century reunion and this section is particularly interesting – as GPO reappears on the scene. The friction between them all makes The Kinks or The Smiths looks like bosom pals but somehow they manage to get through a few gigs and some quite decent new recordings. Old troubles soon re-emerge though….
It’s a long book, and at times it’s a confusing read and I lost track of all the different characters that come and go – nevertheless it’s a fascinating account of a fairly under-documented scene, and from the perspective of someone who was literally up to her eyes in it. Bits of it are pretty grim and unsettling and it’s sometimes hard to understand the motivation for some of the more transgressive stuff that Cosey and crew get involved in – not least because Cosey pays the price of being excommunicated by her parents who die before they get to meet Chris and their grandson. It’s also a warm, human story of everyday folk, trying to make ends meet, battling health and family problems when not creating sonic mayhem with modular synthesisers or putting on exhibitions of bloody tampons.
Length of Read:Long
Might appeal to people who enjoyed…
Wreckers of Civilisation by Simon Ford (currently out of print) is a detailed account of the COUM/TG story and there are parallels also with ‘Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys’ by Viv Albertine (indeed Cosey crosses paths with some rather ‘refreshed’ Slits at an early TG gig and suffice to say there is no real affinity between them or indeed the punk scene in general). If you like Rock Biogs from people on the murkier edges of the music scene, or interested in a woman’s perspective on being part of the music and arts scene of the late 60s onward this is for you regardless of whether you are familiar with the music of TG, C&C or Cosey’s other musical and art works.
One thing you’ve learned
At one point, emerging from her suburban home – dressed up to the nines on her way for a night out in Hull- Cosey is wolf-whistled by a handsome blonde fella, stripped to the waist busily mowing a lawn – it’s only Mick Ronson of the Spiders from Mars!
While not fussed about TG’s music, Ms Fanni Tutti has always struck me as a very interesting character. Indeed the whole ‘scene’ around TG looks interesting, in a car crash sort of way. Tempted to give this book a read, based on that review.
They were bloody brave to do what they did in Hull in the early seventies. According to my Dad it wasn’t exactly San Francisco.
All manner of weirdness is now tolerated here and, in City of Culture year, actively encouraged. I was amused earlier in the year to see Coum posters put up on council information boards alongside sober notices about recycling and voter registration. Times done changed, even in Hull.
Ordered – I need something long to read on holiday. What are the chances of it raining during a fortnight in Scotland?
Heh. We did a fortnight in Skye about fifteen years ago; glorious sunny weather every single day. Haven’t dare set foot north of the Trossachs ever since, anticipating inevitable rain and midge hell to spoil the memory.
They seem to exist in that weird hippy/punk no man’s land occupied by Gong, the Pink Fairies and Hawkwind.
However, I’m greatly enthused by the “no real affinity” with punk comment (if they had, I wouldn’t buy it), and remember an interview where Genesis P. went overboard in his admiration of Brian Jones.
I might get this.
In the early days to some extent yes – COUM shared a bill with Hawkwind on occasion. Cosey sees Hendrix in 1968 who makes a huge impression on her, as do Cream and later the Pink Floyd, Zappa, Velvets, Beefheart etc.
In fact Genesis P. is enthused by Punk (he’s involved with ATV) much to the chargrin of Cosey and the rest of T.G. who want no part of it.
Just finished reading it. Fantastic . Stripper, porn model and musical innovator What a life.
Just like Mrs Mills, then.
Have you heard her pub piano version of 20 Jazz Funk Greats……Nice. And her interpretation of convincing People(utilising the spoons) kicks the original into touch.
As a young man in London, reading both NME and, um, being shown copies of Whitehouse and other magazines of a jazz tendency that were pushing open what was allowed to be seen, it was intriguing to see more of her in the one than the other.
Pushing open…. hur
Thank christ I deleted the first draft: coming over copies of, nope, pouring over copies of, NOOOOO. Pulliing open the flaps of what , better not etc etc. Thank christ indeed. I am so not that juvenile.
She’s on a sort of tour at the moment, doing readings/interviews about the book – e.g. at Edinburgh in August being interviewed by Ian Rankin. Well worth checking out.
@dr_volume captures the book very well – it’s an engrossing mix of transgression and personal relationships. One interesting point is how, despite chunks of this being similar on the face of it to a lot of “misery lit” (her suffering abuse of various sorts from various people) this book is nothing like those others – it simply never occurs to Cosey to be a victim, nor does she come across as one.
Someone who has done pretty much exactly as she damn well pleased throughout her life, but instead of being selfish or hedonistic about it, has used that attitude to delve into areas none of us would dare to.
I rushed to the Book Festival programme to check the date… and I already have tickets for Letters Live. Which I’m looking forward to but still. Bah.
I keep seeing this title as “Ant Sex Music” expecting it to be a biography of Adam Ant!