VIVIEN GOLDMAN
Bio
No-One’s More Punk than Vivien Goldman,” pronounced Pitchfork Magazine. In that freewheeling spirit, the boundary-busting Vivien Goldman is a writer, educator, broadcaster -- and a musician who has contributed to The Slits, X-Ray Specs and of course Flying Lizards, too. A Londoner, she has lived in Paris and Jamaica and now bounces between Jamaica and New York where she teached "Punk" at NYU. The child of 2 Holocaust survivors, she finally found herself at home in the emerging UK punk scene. She soon became a vital part of the vigorous British rock press of the 1970s, working soon after for years with Bob Marley as his biographer.
She considers Bob, Fela Kuti, Ornette Coleman, Flying Lizards, The Raincoats and The Slits her mentors and greatest personal influences, and in fact made writing about them in NME such a priority that she had to make herself a ghost-writer and behind-the-scenes in many of these projects to avoid a conflict of interest. The band Flying Lizards in particular had to make themselves such a mysterious band due to the fact that she was secretly so involved and was in fact the singer and songwriter of many of their most-known songs. Known as a pioneer of music journalism, music television, modern musicology, experimental recording, and most recently for the first time in her long career - the stage - she has stunned New York and beyond with her new very Jamaican-influenced live band.
As of late, she has 2 LP's, a 7-inch, and a re-press of her hit book & musical compilation 'Revenge of the She-Punks' on vinyl as well as new editions of the book in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Her latest books 'The Black Chord' and 'Scribe on a Vibe' are out now on Hat & Beard in the US and White Rabbit in the UK. Cadiz Music, Youth Records & Crass Lips are currently working on a remix album that includes remixes of her songs from friends Denardo Coleman, Marius DeVries, Jordan Bovell, Joaquin Claussell, Nathaniel Eras, Roderick Edens, Admiral Grey and many more. Her music was also recently used on HBO The Deuce and a song she co-wrote appears several times throughout the closing episode of the massively popular globally TV series 'Murder in Paradise'. The remix album will be accompanied by 5 new music videos, which can be previewed by the press upon request.
RECENT PRESS
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X- Ray Spex
Vivien Goldman is related to X-Ray Spex primarily as a key chronicler, supporter, and contemporary critic of the band during the70s punk era. It was not known until very recently, thanks to the 'I am a Cliche' documentary directed by Poly Styrene's daughter, how closely they worked together.
The Slits
Vivien Goldman is closely associated with The Slits as a friend, collaborator, and early chronicler of their career. She provided backing vocals for Slits vocalist Ari Up in their later performances, as a soft-reveal that she was a ghost-writer on some songs.
The Flying Lizards
Vivien Goldman was a core-member of the enigmatic group The Flying Lizards. It has been revealed by many non-fiction books that the group hired actors to play them on TV to avoid a conflict-of-interest for Vivien who was the first woman writer for NME and wrote about all of her collaborators.
The Raincoats
Vivien Goldman is a pioneering British post-punk musician, journalist, and author who was a close contemporary and collaborator of The Raincoats during London’s late '70s/early '80s punk scene. She recorded music with Raincoats member Vicky Spinall, shared a creative, social circle with Gina Birch, and documented their era as an influential music writer.
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