March 21, 1978: 43 years ago, Mar 20 1978, punk bands including The Dils, Negative Trend, [...]

43 years ago, Mar 20 1978, punk bands including The Dils, Negative Trend, The Avengers, Mutants, The Nuns, Tuxedomoon, and The Sleepers put on “New Wave Against Black Lung”, a 2-night benefit for the British coal miners’ strike at the Mabuhay Gardens

The benefit was an attempt to “raise the consciousness” of the punk scene, which lacked a reputation for political action. The Dils drew connections between the media’s dismissive portrayals of the miners and the punks, and encouraged punks to combat racism and homophobia

While the event raised $4000 for the miners, it did not signal the change in scene consciousness its organizers hoped. Notable SF punk band Crime refused to play, declaring themselves “anti-union”, and similar events did not become the norm in San Francisco

Listen to Tuxedomoon’s set (“We’re anti-union, we’re anti-contract, and we’re anti-bosses; we’re here because 160,000 miners stood in defiance of the government”) here: https://t.co/aLxx0F0XIM

Listen to The Sleepers’ set here: https://t.co/pcSqHRcEDv

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