Counterculture UK

EditorsCHERYL ROBSON is a producer of several short independent films, most recently Rock ‘n’ Roll Island, selected for Raindance Film Festival. She worked at the BBC for several years and then taught filmmaking at the University of Westminster, before setting up a theatre company producing and developing women’s plays. She also created a publishing company where she has edited over fifty books including co-editing Celluloid Ceiling: women film directors breaking through. She has published over 150 international writers and won numerous awards. As a writer, she has won the Croydon Warehouse International Playwriting Competition and has had several stage plays produced.www.cherylrobson.netREBECCA GILLIERON is an editor with over 15 years’ experience working on fiction and non-fiction titles for independent publishers. Also a musician, she has played guitar, keyboards, drums and sung in a number of bands (Subway Sect, The Ghosts, Private Trousers), releasing three critically acclaimed albums on high profile UK and US labels with her band Wetdog and touring Europe and the US. Her next move is to start a record label ‘Southend Records’ in the town where she now lives.

• INTRODUCTION 7Rebecca Gillieron and Cheryl Robson1. ART 16How the Rebels Got RichMark Sheerin, arts journalist and blogger2. BLACK AND MINORITY ETHNIC ARTS 38Whose Voice is it Anyway?Coco Khan, writer and culture editor3. COMEDY 52The Changing Landscape of ComedySusan Murray, comedienne and MC for two of east London’s best comedy clubs4. DANCE 75Anarchy from the Margins and Free ExpressionMark Edward, performance artist and writer5. DISABILITY ARTS AND ACTIVISM 95Subversion within the Secluded – A Personal JourneyPenny Pepper, performance artist and activist6. ENVIRONMENTALISM 107A Way of LifePaul Quinn, writer and editor7. FEMINISM 128Feminist Activism and its Achievements so FarHayley Foster Da Silva, digital broadcaster, F-word contributor and spiritual healer8. FILM 147Beyond the Mainstream: Counterculture CinemaEllen Cheshire, writer and lecturer specialising in film, TV, media and cultural studiesSubversive Cinema: Cult Film and the Rise of Film Fan CommunitiesDr K. Charlie Oughton, academic and author9. GAMING AND THE INTERNET 187Online Culture Leaking OfflineSimon Smith, editor and software technical writer10. LGBT CULTURE 200What’s Wrong with Being a Freak Anyway?Jack Bright, freelance writer and editor of various LGBT publications11. LITERATURE 214Underground Publishing: Blast and BlessBen Graham, author, music critic and poet13. MUSIC 239Mainstream Countercultures: The Ultimate MixEm Ayson, freelance writer and cultural commentator12. NEGATIVE SPACE 257Subculture in Boom-time LondonTim Burrows, writer, editor and musician14. THEATRE 271A Radical Loosening of the Fabric of Drama: Countercultural Performance from the 1960s to Contemporary Experimental TheatreDr Tim Garrett, academic and journal editor15. YOUTUBE AND SOCIAL MEDIA 296New Media: YouTube and Online BroadcastingBella Qvist, freelance journalist, editor and bloggerENDNOTES 318INDEX 332

‘Informative and entertaining, this provides a whipsmart and affectionate analysis of a subculture that stands at a critical point.’ Jonathan Hatfull, SciFi Now Magazine‘Oughton delivers a thorough contemporary investigation into the cult movie-going scene... with the passion and knowledge of a genuine insider...’Marcus Campbell Sinclair, theatre and film producer‘Susan Murray’s insightful overview of the alternative comedy scene is both informative and illuminating, shining a bright light on one of the UK’s most important cultural movements in the late 20th Century.’Bruce Dessau, British arts critic