After punk's arrival in 1976 many art students in the northern English city of Leeds traded
their paintbrushes for guitars and synthesizers. In bands ranging from Gang of Four Soft Cell
and Delta 5 to the Mekons Scritti Politti and Fad Gadget these artists-turned-musicians
challenged the limits of what was deemed possible in rock and pop music. Taking avant-garde
ideas to the record-buying public they created Situationist antirock and art punk penned
deconstructed pop ditties about Jacques Derrida and took the aesthetics of collage and shock
to dark brooding electro-dance music. In No Machos or Pop Stars Gavin Butt tells the
fascinating story of the post-punk scene in Leeds showing how England's state-funded education
policy brought together art students from different social classes to create a fertile ground
for musical experimentation. Drawing on extensive interviews with band members their
associates and teachers Butt details the groups who wanted to dismantle both art world and
music industry hierarchies by making it possible to dance to their art. Their stories reveal
the subversive influence of art school in a regional music scene of lasting international
significance.
