why all the cool middle class musicians of the world should beat a hasty path to beautiful symes avenue, hartcliffe, south bristol

Come rain or shine, Hartcliffe's fine!


Why is it that all the best music has been inspired by the urban 'degradation' of places like symes avenue, in beautiful Hartcliffe, south Bristol? And why is it that most of the members of the bands that made the music have always originated in the much posher suburbs of the very same cities? What is it about upper-middle-class boys and lower-working-class joys?

From the 80s industrial visions of Joy Division, Clock DVA, Einsturzende Neubauten and the Comsat Angels, through 90s Pulp to current faves the Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs, all these good middle-class (and often catholic) boys used the run-down bits of their respective cities to inform and inspire their music.

Hell we even did it in Littlehampton, early 80s, in Fossil Monkeys.

I suppose the really rough kids who actually grew up in these places were too busy fighting rickets, tapeworms and each other to sit down and write about the beauty of their surroundings? Or did they spend all their hard-mugged cash on crack cocaine and Dr Pepper?