Ray Lowry - Rock Satirist

RIST I T A S K C O R

The artist who captured the zeitgeist of the seventies

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FoRewOrd

ELCOME to a snippet of the weird and wonderful mind and creative flow that inhabited the soul of the late, great Raymond Lowry. He happened to be my father, by the purest of accidents.

His anti-establishment edge made him the perfect and only fit to accompany The Clash on their second tour of the USA in 1979, as they attempted to plug into the psyche of the ‘United States’. What resulted here was a creative snapshot of an energy hard to capture.

Using his weapons of choice; sketchbooks, pen and ink, my father managed to do just that.

Of course growing up your dad is your dad.

It is not until after his untimely departure from this realm that I began to learn so much more about the other side of him. Granted I knew he was an artist, but to me growing up that was normal and the only point of reference I had.

My father had his demons and walked a fine line between the realm of the sane and insane. A somewhat tortured artist, which in a strange way seems to pave the way for genius. A man obsessed with Rock ‘n’ Roll from an early age. An obsession that he lived and breathed throughout his 64 years and which oozed from his pours.

Vinyl records never far from the deck.

An eccentric pa who splashed paint around and could often be found hunched over his work desk drawing cartoons with little jokes underneath. However, peer a little further and focus the lens and you discover so much more.

The multifaceted social commentator/activist who used his creative edge to hammer home his views on the establishment that shackles the average man from ‘getting ahead’. He used his talent to reflect and connect with folk who felt/feel exactly the same, and even now his cartoons from the 70s are as contemporary as this very moment and I feel a duty to share his work with a new generation and give the older generation a dose of what’s missing.

He was prolific in his creation and on reflection, and having thoroughly delved through the archive, I sit and wonder how it was possible for one man to create such a plethora of tremendous work. God bless him for it.

Raymond Lowry; father, son and holy spirit.

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“I sold my soul to rock ‘n’ roll before it sold its soul to the major multi-nationals.”

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“This was bound to happen sooner or later: You’re dismantling the rig while I’m still putting it up!”

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“This must be our most ideologically sound gig ever.

Those are genuine pieces of the Berlin Wall they’re hurling at us!”

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“So what does HE know about being a crazy mixed up kid?

I was a crazy mixed up kid before he was born!”

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“I’m going to write a sort of personal odyssey. A searing, tripped out journey to the wild heart of the rock ‘n’ roll dream! As soon as I’ve thoroughly researched my sources here, of course.”

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“I don’t remember any of this – I must have been there!”

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“How was it for you – Miami?!!”

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“Life, is just a bowl of fucking cherries!”

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“It’s my new, rationalised storage system. The CDs are stacked on top of my tapes, which balance on the redundant vinyl collection, that’s gathering dust on a pile of old 78s I’ve had for years…”

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“What the hell are you wrecking your room for? We own the hotel chain!”

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“This song’s about a subject that means an awful lot to me and I hope that it does to you, too.

It’s about fish-farming in Scotland.”

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“If music be the food of love, I think somebody’s throwing up over there on the stage.”

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“OK, let’s agree to like this in retrospect.”

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“Looked at another way dear, we’re not really a pair of sad old farts.

We’re actually at the cutting edge of contemporary rock nostalgia.”

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“That’s it for now, folks – we’re all out of lachrymose self-pity, cloying sentimentality and phoney jingoism”

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“This is all your fault. Half the audience knocked together decoy dummies and escaped during your interminably boring guitar soloing!”

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“Do you ever long to escape from mundane hyper-reality and get back to something challenging like hideous normality?”

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“He’s absolutely pathetic. He says he’s a conscientious objector to the class war!”

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“Search me – it’s something to do with the New Positivism that’s sweeping the nation’s youth.”

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“The chairman has decided to make a complete break with tradition this year. Instead of reading the annual report and statement of accounts, he’s going to hit you all with a company rap.”

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“Now – here’s another of those timeless, classic teen-anthems that all of us forty-five year olds know and love…”

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“My wife’s been cheatin’ on me, I lost my job at the factory, and I’m a throbbing fluorescent lobster floating high above the electric, neon light.”

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“They’re really out to shock and nauseate this time – look at that sirloin-shaped guitar!””

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“That’s what I like to see–all round entertainment with something for every member of the family.”

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“We want you to put together a series showing how popular music has contributed to revolutionary changes in attitudes, assumptions and ideas and made for real progress in altering the social structure.

Concentrating on the 60s so that we don’t knock the existing status quo, of course.”

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“Can I have your autograph? It’s not for me, it’s for my pocket calculator.”

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“Of course they’re sincere about their stated aim of demolishing the traditional rock structures and establishing a genuine dialogue with their audiences. I’m the lead singer!”

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“There’s all the pent-up fury and aggression of several years of excessive toilet training by a beastly nanny, a sheltered upbringing in the home counties and a minor place in an obscure public school, coming out here.”

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“We’re utterly sick of the double-dealing hypocrisy, bogus morality and phoney, venal values of the music industry. And we’ve made a record to prove it.”

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“It’s an extremely rare late-period recording made when he was totally obsessed with food.”

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“I hope we’re not in for another exhibition of guitar-hero posturings tonight, Simpkins.”

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“Remember when we were going to work within the system to destroy capitalism?”

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“This next one’s about a subject very close to my heart. Me.”

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“I like this city – it’s honest.”

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“Rockin’ Ted, alias Mersey Mervin, alias Protest Pete, alias Peace and Love Ron, alias Laid Back Len, alias Mutilated Bill Horrible, alias No Future Norm, I’m arresting you for persistently posing as a spokesman for your generation.”

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“This is the vital ingredient that’s been lacking – the Jerry Lee Lewis of the synthesiser!”

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“Search me, it’s either a call to action or it’s a new band.”

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“My record company felt I was becoming elitist and out of touch with the street, so I got my manager to buy me this one.”

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“Would it be asking too much for you bouncers to use a bit more bloody common sense.”

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“I think it’s a damning indictment of modern consumerism.”

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“Oh man, give me the simple life away from big city hassles and the mechanised hum of the plug-in, turn-on computerised existence.”

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“We’re a crossover band. We work in the area between a fairly competent garage outfit and a bunch of brainless poseurs with rich parents and friends in the business.”

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“This one can simulate the sounds of guitars, bass, drums and a wildly enthusiastic audience response.”

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“I guess I’m an old greaser at heart.”

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“This next one’s a protest song – it’s about the bloody stupid image you have to project to get a hit record nowadays.”

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OWN AN ORIGINAL RAY LOWRY CARTOON HAND DRAWN BY THE MASTER

S you have just seen, Ray Lowry was an amazing cartoonist. He was also a brilliant satirist, commentator and a wonderful artist with his own unique style. If you are quick, you might be able to buy an original Ray Lowry Cartoon. Just pop

along to raylowry.com and you can grab yourself a piece of rock history, hand-drawn by the great man himself. There is also an amazing selection of limited edition numbered prints featuring his fantastic artwork. Don’t miss it, you’ll love them.

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Coda records If it’s rock and roll your after, you need to get along to stylusgroove.com As you may know Ray toured extensively with The Clash and soon became famous as the Clash ‘war artist’. On the road with the Clash, Ray was to be found hard at work sketching and capturing, in his own archetypal style, an amazing series of drawings and watercolour impressions of the sights and scenes of some of the most legendary concert tours by The Clash. The work which the ebullient Mr Lowry created during his assignments with the Clash is commemorated in four unique 10 Inch Double Albums.

Each Deluxe Collector’s Edition also includes a full-length Ray Lowry book: ‘The Clash – The Only Band That Matters’.

MEET RAY LOWRY As a little gift from stylusgroove.com we proudly present a free download of a documentary film featuring some excellent interviews with Ray Lowry himself. This is your chance to meet Ray Lowry. Just scan the QR code opposite on your smart phone and you will have your own copy of the amazing documentary which captures the memories of life on the road with the Clash.

He may be gone, but when it comes to his wonderful work, Ray lives on forever.

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Scan me

raylowry.com A prolific artist, a body of work, a dedication to be of service to others and a plan to catapult a legacy. This site celebrates the life and work of an artist, satirical commentator and all round madman. With a unique and unmistakable style his cartoons are world renowned, having had work published in the likes of NME, private eye, the Guardian and many more. His energetic ink sketches whilst on tour with the Clash are now collectors’ items and his fine art and abstract work has gained recognition in the art world. Here you can delve a little deeper into the workings of the late, great Raymond Lowry.

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060918 812121

ISBN 978-1-913574-07-9

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