SPeX SAVERs

Punk survivor Poly Styrene looks back on some tough times. Interview by Ivan Macquisten

Hers was one of the biggest – and best – names in punk: Poly Styrene. As lead singer and songwriter of XRay Spex, with a voice once described as “powerful enough to drill holes through sheet metal”, she belted out hits such as The Day The World Turned Day-Glo and Oh Bondage Up Yours!.

Now, 30 years after her band split up, the gal with the rebel yell and outrageous outfits is a demurely-dressed 52-year-old living a quiet life in a modest terraced house in Hastings, Sussex, under her real name Marianne Elliott-Said.

A divorcee who’s been single for many years, Marianne has financial challenges with a big mortgage, having signed bad deals during her career, and recently had the stock of a shop she opened (selling Indian artefacts) stolen in a burglary. She gets by on disability benefits which she receives due to suffering from bipolar disorder.

“In September last year I did an X-Ray Spex gig at London’s Roundhouse, which was recorded for CD and DVD release this November,” she says. “Thank goodness we did record it too, because I trained for a year for that and found it very stressful. My doctor has told me that if I continue to do live work I will relapse.

“Bipolar means severe mood swings – you …

by Ivan Macquisten
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