Guest Blog: Sam Knee on The Bag I’m In

Following on from A Scene In Between which set out to excavate the sartorial treasures of an era spanning Postcard Records, Creation, C86, shoegaze, and the multifarious sub-scenes that sprouted in between, Sam Knee has curated another collection of brilliant photographs in his new book.

The Bag I’m In is published by Cicada Books and is available to pre-order from Monorail Music

With a foreword from Bobby Gillespie The Bag I’m In: Underground Music and Fashion in Britain 1960-1990 sets out to excavate, explore, dissect and connect the evolution of 36 of Britain’s most radical, vital underground scenes from 1960 to 1990 – undoubtedly the most action- packed 30 years of UK youth history.

Ahead of publication we selected some of our favourite photos — it was hard because they’re all great— and chatted to Sam…

Bobby Gillespie photograph by Chris Davidson

The one of Bobby in a 60’s patterned anorak is from 85 and taken by Chris Davidson, who published the seminal indie fanzine Slow Dazzle out of Greenock.  I found Chris after putting a call out on the Television Personalities’ fan site for 80s pics of the band for A Scene In Between, Chris came through with a goldmine of period material of which I saved this shot for The Bag I’m In. It captures that fabled mid 80s indie look perfectly. Slow Dazzle was also the first publication anywhere to cover the Jesus And Mary Chain.

Slow Dazzle Artwork by George Miller

Photograph by Val Hicks: Plymouth 1985

I wanted the book to be like an extended family photo album – not some superficial, soulless survey. I channeled deep, contacting original scenesters and band members for unseen photos and titbits about their sartorial get-ups from back in the day. People were incredibly generous, contributing heaps of personal archive material – way more than I could end up using.

Creation Night Glasgow Flyer

We’ll have more images to share with you on tomorrow’s blog. The Bag I’m In is published by Cicada Books and is available to pre-order from Monorail Music.