When the BBC wanted to know more about the “sinister and evil cult” called music, they took to the streets to find out what ordinary shoppers thought about it all. Even though these interviews are not so old, we at the War on Music museum find them rather shocking. People seem to be denying music … Continue reading
The Harmonic Church of the Diminished Fifth used LSD as their holy sacrament. Even though a chemist will tell you that the chemical composition of LSD-25 cannot change, church leader Hi Rev Sonic Iconic claimed that the tabs used in church ritual had a special ability to create musical hallucinations. Despite the scientific absurdity over such a … Continue reading
The extract from the contemporary magazine article that has been reproduced below is a rare example of balanced reporting on the Church and its belief structure. The original piece by included an overview of several different churches that overlapped with popular culture but only the most relevant material is presented here. Just as music and … Continue reading
In January 1980 Russia was conducting military tests in the Barents Sea when a missile’s guidance system malfunctioned and sent it soaring off in the wrong direction over Norway, finally crashing through the ice of a frozen Lake in Lapland on the Finnish side of the border. This was a huge error for the USSR … Continue reading
This track is significant because even though there is a blatant use of music, it passed the censors without much trouble because its message unswervingly supported the prevailing neo-liberal ideology. The changes that the censors requested to the original version provide a unique insight into the workings of their collective mind – the percussion that featured … Continue reading
Below is a small sample of satirical cartoons by Niil O’Hara criticising the War on Music that were published in the national press. Continue reading
Гражданская Оборона – зомби (1986) . Гражданская Оборона were led by the Siberian punk poet Yegor Letov. The political climate made it very difficult for them to perform live but they recorded music on very basic lo-fi equipment in Letov’s bedroom. The KGB were soon alerted to the band and began to harass its members. In … Continue reading
Before being completely banned, music was more and more heavily censored. Below is an example of anti-censorship art that was used and disseminated by the Shifty record label. Continue reading
Kurash Sultan – Atlanduq. Kurash was born among the Uighurs of East Turkistan and his his songs supported his people’s fight for an independent homeland. He came to be seen as a symbol of the independence movement, and he fell foul of the Chinese authorities. His music was very popular but it was banned, and … Continue reading
Patterns were created on buildings by activating lights in a coordinated manner to show opposition to the War on Music. This form of passive resistance was most commonly organised on Humming Day (23 May) and Warthog Day (18 September). The crotchet pattern seen in the photo here was the most common as it was simple to create and … Continue reading
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