Each generation of punk-loving music fans bemoans that the previous decade’s bands better embodied the spirit of the movement.
Bickering, for example, that the likes of forthcoming Soundwave headliners Green Day pale in comparison to the thorny temperaments and anti-establishment attitudes of, say, The Sex Pistols.
While the rock myth goes that the fiery anarchy of the Pistols’ debut 1976 gig nearly singlehandedly invented the punk movement and inspired a decade’s worth of new bands (except The Smiths, Morrissey was not a fan), they may have to bow down to a lesser-known British outfit when it comes to the honours of the most punk act ever.
Crass may not be as well-known as the Sex Pistols or their 70s contemporaries, but they are responsible for an amazingly subversive act to get the establishment out of power at any cost, even if it meant kickstarting World War III.
The story begins in 1982, a couple of short years before Crass will officially call it quits but were putting together a recording that would make their mark on history, as VICE details. Crass may not be as well-known as the Sex Pistols… but they nearly kickstarted World War III.
Crass pieced together tapes from edited recordings of then-British PM Margaret Thatcher and US President Ronald Reagan to construct a false phone conversation between the two leaders discussing Europe being the target of nuclear warfare by the Soviet Union following the terse Falklands war.
As official government documents that have just been released point out, the spoof was enough to fool MI6 and spook Margaret Thatcher herself into believing British intelligence had stumbled across some secret propaganda campaign, as Buzzfeed reports.
Much like The Sex Pistols clash with the monarchy over ‘God Save the Queen’ a decade earlier, the newly unveiled documents show that by 1983, the Iron Lady was even doing some light reading of her own on the punk band in response to what was an illusionary threat, even seeking advice from from the foreign secretary about going public with the Crass hoax.
All the more amazing considering that the original Crass tape doesn’t sound particularly authentic, but was enough to nearly spark a Cold War.
Discussing the recording, which came to be known as the ‘Thatchergate tapes’, to VICE back in 2004, Rimbaud explains: “We wanted to come up with something which might get rid of Thatcher. It was just after the Falklands charade, when she was about to get re-elected.”
“We were told something we knew could seriously dent the Thatcher Empire. Allegedly, the Navy had allowed HMS Sheffield to be blown out of the water by not informing them that an incoming Exocet missile had been picked up on the radar. The other three boats in the grouping were informed and took defensive action. Why? Because one of the ships was the Invincible and on board was Prince Andrew,” continues the punk drummer/vocalist.
“Given that the information was classified, we decided the only way to make it public was to fake a telephone conversation between Thatcher and Reagan,” he says.” We edited bits and pieces from speeches made by the two of them, creating a conversation which included all the details of the Sheffield. We then sent out tapes to all the major European newspapers, but nothing happened.” “It was frightening… A bunch of anarchist jokers sparking off a world war?”
Though Thatcher was re-elected six months later, the Crass tapes eventually became the centre of a US State Department investigation citing KGB tapes “produced to destroy democracy as we know it,” which were in fact the fabricated release.
“It was frightening,” admits Rimbaud. “A bunch of anarchist jokers sparking off a world war? Anyway, the same KGB story eventually broke in the British press and it wasn’t long before The Observer got in touch with us, asking whether we knew anything about the tapes. It was unbelievable. The whole operation had been carried out in absolute secrecy, but somehow or other they’d managed to pin it onto us,” he adds.
“After a gruelling day of negotiations, we agreed to admit responsibility if they would print the Sheffield details in their article, which, true to their word, they did. We did our best to expose the story but even now it’s an issue which has never really been given full and proper investigation.”
Meanwhile, former Crass singer Steve Ignorant tells Buzzfeed that even now, nearly 30 years on from the incident, he’s “quite stunned” that Thatchergate went so far.
“It makes me a bit worried about governments because if they could be fooled by something so ridiculous… well, someone told us that there was an MI5 dossier on us but we didn’t take it that seriously,” he says.
Of course, punk is in the eye of the beholder, but kickstarting a global conflict from a bedroom prank far outstrips is a far more punk act than becoming a face to sell dairy products, as The Sex Pistols frontman John ‘Rotten’ Lydon did. Never Mind The Bollocks… here’s Country Life butter.
You can read the full document report here and read the full Penny Rimbaud interview over at VICE, it’s well worth the time.
