ABSTRACT
The word ‘politics’ appears in the title of only two articles written by Simon Frith, and neither were deemed sufficiently important to appear in his ‘greatest hits’ collection, Taking Popular Music Seriously (Frith, 2007). They are not among his most cited works, but both provide insights into the inherently political nature of Frith’s work. The first appears in an edited collection on the 1960s and is entitled ‘Rock and the Politics of Memory’ (Frith, 1984b). In it he outlines his problems with rockist theory, concluding that the 1960s was full of ‘good music but bad theory’ (ibid., p.62). He continues:
Rock was certainly important to my life then, but to my private life not my public one. Rock didn’t cause me to be political but rather confirmed my politics as background music, as a permanent sound track of anger and hope and joy. (Ibid., p.67)
