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Attila the Stockbroker |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007) |
Attila the Stockbroker (born John Baine, October 21, 1957 in Southwick, West Sussex, England) is a punk poet, and a folk punk musician and songwriter. He performs solo and as the leader of the band Barnstormer. He describes himself as a "sharp tongued, high energy social surrealist poet and songwriter." He has performed over 2500 concerts, published five books of poems, and released 29 recordings (CDs,LPs and singles).12 His latest book of poems, 'My Poetic Licence' was published in May 2008.
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Baine started performing in 1980 after being inspired by the spirit and do it yourself ethos of the punk subculture, particularly The Clash's overtly socialist stance. At first he performed poems and songs in between bands at punk rock concerts, accompanying himself on the phased electric mandolin. After this was smashed over his head by fascists during a fight at a performance in North London in May 1982, he got a mandola (an octave lower) and has played this ever since. He has performed in 19 countries, playing venues ranging from the Oxford Union in England to squatted punk clubs in Germany, and has performed over 100 shows every year. He toured East Germany four times before the Berlin Wall came down, and once did an illegal performance in a hotel basement in Stalinist Albania.
In the 1980s, he was often the support act for punk bands, including The Jam, The Alarm, New Model Army. Manic Street Preachers once supported him at a performance at Swansea University. In the 1990s, he toured with John Otway as Headbutts and Halibuts, and together they wrote a surreal rock opera called Cheryl. It was an everyday tale of Satanism, trainspotting, drug abuse and unrequited love. He has performed at every Glastonbury Festival since 1982, and continues to write topical, satirical material on all kinds of subjects.
Notable works from his 1980s heyday include the biting poem Contributory Negligence; various Russians-themed poems, satirizing the alleged Cold War Russian threat in the context of Margaret Thatcher's Britain (such as "Russians in the DHSS" and "Russians in McDonald's"); and the surreal Nigel series, such as Nigel wants to go to C&A (with the lines "...but I don't understand why / 'cos they don't sell nerve gas in C&A / not even to SDP members in cashmere sweaters"). He recently wrote the poem "Asylum Seeking Daleks", which satirises the right wing press's attitudes to immigration, and the song "Hey Celebrity", which rejects the need for the concept of celebrity.
Attila the Stockbroker formed the band Barnstormer in 1994. Their music combines punk rock and medieval music. The band released its debut album The Siege of Shoreham in 1996. They perform regularly all over Europe. The band features Attila the Stockbroker on vocals, violin, crumhorn and recorders; Dan Woods on guitar (also a member of The Fish Brothers); M. M. McGhee on drums (also a member of The Fish Brothers); and Dave Beaken on bass (also a member of The Fish Brothers).
He is an ardent supporter of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., and for at least 14 years, has been heavily involved in the battle to save the club and secure a new stadium, after Goldstone Ground was sold to property developers behind the fans' backs in 1997. He has been the team's poet in residence since 2000, and is the stadium announcer and DJ at the club's temporary Withdean stadium. As the main member of the one-off band Seagull Ska, he had a single reach #17 in the UK charts in 2005, "Tom Hark (We Want Falmer)". In 1989 he appeared on the Kickback segment of The Channel Four Daily, reflecting on Liverpool F.C.' 9-0 win over Crystal Palace.34
+2007 Live In Norway (Crispin Glover)
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