Defying Gravity - Jordan's Story

 

Jordan was, of course, one of the Faces of the London punk scene - an installation at McClaren and Westwood's shops, and a part of the Sex Pistols clique (kinda goes hand'n'hand, doesn't it?). While not a musical performer herself, she was a performance artist simply by being herself at a time when it was actually dangerous to do so.

I tend to dread reading the inevitable family history in any biography - the parts before the person's life became interesting - but Jordan's family was quite a tale in itself and far from boring! She came along in the mid-50's and as a child she was a ballerina, infatuated with classical music - an unexpected twist, although I would say that most everyone in the punk scene started off very differently than they ended up! That said, as a teen, Jordan was a Star Trek fanatic, which is not out of place with her later proclivities. 

Her style developed with the help of David Bowie and Roxy Music - as did so many punk rockers - and she starts working with Malcom McLaren and Vivien Westwood at their King's Road shop shortly after it became SEX. Of course, there are an infinite number of stories about the characters revolving around that shop - from actual fetish folks to the kids who would eventually become the punk rockers. And, of course, she was around when the Sex Pistols were formed by McLaren as an accoutrement to the shop. 

Jordan does also recount plenty of historical information and context about the areas and people and she is quick to credit other folks' research, as well. She gives a pretty complete history of the Pistols as well as those around them. Naturally, she tells the story of the making of the movie Jubilee, that she stars in (as well as some of her other film work), and recounts the violence of the Teds beating up the punks (and terrorizing the store, Seditionaries), as well as the rise of Adam and the Ants, who she managed briefly (due to Adam's crush on her) and remained part of the contingent until she slept with the bassist! A great story about the store is one in which Thunderclap Newman (yes, that Thunderclap) helped design the lighting in the store and scared everyone at the opening to death when a circuit blew with a loud explosion! Vivienne and Malcolm moved into pirate-themed wear after the success of Adam and Bow Wow Wow and there's a funny comment about punk being "black and white" until then! As if the Jam didn't sing "wear any clothes just as long as they're bright" and Poly sang about turning the world day-glo!

She tries to help her boyfriend's oddly named band, but that didn't click with the people and drugs caused them to go through an insane amount of money. Once she left him she started into a more "normal" life and while she moves back'n'forth from interacting with her old friends and working as a vet's assistant and helping on her sister's farm, her life becomes less captivating. 

I wasn't sure how she was going to fill this fairly massive tome, but she does a great job, overall, and while her use of British slang can be a bit over-powering for a Yank like me, it's a terrific read. Certainly recommended for fans of the time!