Celeste Bell and Zoë Howe "DAYGLO: The Poly Styrene Story" Book (2019)

Details: Celeste Bell and Zoë Howe "DAYGLO: The Poly Styrene Story" Book (2019, Omnibus Press). 0.9" H x 11.3" L x 8.5" W, 208 pages. New stock, hardcover.

Short Description: "Poly Styrene was a singer-songwriter, an artist, a free-thinker, a post-modern style pioneer, and a lifelong spiritual seeker: a true punk icon. But this rebel queen with the cheeky grin was also a latter-day pop artist with a wickedly perceptive gift for satirizing the world around her. Based on interviews with those who knew and loved Poly (whether personally or through music) this honestly and openly explores her exceptional life, up until her untimely passing in 1991. It is about her growing up mixed-race in Brixton in the 1960s, to being at the forefront of the emerging punk scene with X-Ray Spex in the 1970s, to finding faith with the Hare Krishna movement, to balancing single motherhood with a solo music career and often debilitating mental health issues."

Grade: M (new stock)

Full Description: "Poly Styrene was a singer-songwriter, a free-thinker, a post-modern style pioneer, and a lifelong spiritual seeker: a true punk icon. But this rebel queen with the cheeky grin was also a latter-day pop artist with a wickedly perceptive gift for satirizing the world around her--her playful aesthetic sharply at odds with the stark monochrome style and nihilism of punk. Here, for the first time, the jigsaw of Poly's inspiring and often moving story has been lovingly pieced together by her daughter, singer-songwriter Celeste Bell, and writer-artist Zoë Howe. From growing up mixed-race in Brixton in the 1960s to being at the forefront of the emerging punk scene with X-Ray Spex in the 1970s, from finding faith with the Hare Krishna movement to balancing single motherhood with a solo music career and often debilitating mental health issues, the book openly explores Poly's exceptional life, up until her untimely passing in 2011. Based on interviews with those who knew and loved Poly whether personally or through music, this oral history book includes testimonies from Vivienne Westwood, Don Letts, Glen Matlock, Jonathan Ross, Neneh Cherry, The Slits' Tessa Pollitt, Thurston Moore, Jon Savage, and many others."

Authors: "Celeste Bell is the lead singer of Celeste Dos Santos and The Tabloid Queens, narrator and co-writer of the documentary I Am A Cliche, and Poly Styrene's daughter. Zoe Howe is a writer, musician, and visual artist based in Essex. Her books include Lee Brilleaux: Rock 'n' Roll Gentleman, Typical Girls?, The Story Of The Slits, How's Your Dad?, Living In The Shadow of a Rock Star Parent, and Wilko Johnson: Looking Back At Me."

Press: "The life and times of a true rebel, by those who knew her best… with a clear-eyed sense of honesty. She was a true artist and a genuine one-off, and Dayglo is the celebration she deserves." Classic Rock, 8/10

"A portrait of the singer-songwriter, visual artist, and spiritual traveler. A richly illustrated oral history of the woman and her singular work. A complex, inspirational, and moving story." Mojo

"Lovingly compiled." NME