Revolutionary Spirit: Music, Football, Politics

Revolutionary Spirit: Music, Football, Politics with Denise Christie, Pat Nevin and Paul Simpson.

Organised as part of Speak Oot: Dundee's Festival of Trade Unionism.

Ex-Footballer, broadcaster, author, trade unionist and sometime DJ Pat Nevin will be in conversation with musician, writer and artist Paul Simpson about Paul's new book - Revolutionary Spirit: A post-punk excorcisim.

Pat Nevin will also be in conversation with trade unionist and football fan Denise Christie (STUC) about Pat's time in football, his trade unionism and his own books - The Accidental Footballer and How to Survive Football.

Paul Simpson is a musician and artist. Across four decades in music, he has released critically acclaimed singles and albums with The Teardrop Explodes, Care, and The Wild Swans. In December 2023, Paul published his first book ‘Revolutionary Spirit: A post-punk exorcism’, which paints a powerful picture of the enthusiasm of young people in standing up to create, shape and determine their own futures.

Simpson’s career begins alongside fellow Liverpool luminaries Julian Cope, Ian McCulloch, Bill Drummond, Ian Broudie, Will Sergeant, Pete Wylie and Pete de Freitas at the infamous Eric’s club, where, in 1976, he finds himself at the birth of the city’s second great musical explosion. Along the way, he co-founds and christens the neo-psychedelic pop group The Teardrop Explodes, shares a flat with a teenage Courtney Love, and forms The Wild Swans, the indie band of choice for literary-minded teens in the early 1980s, who burn bright and brief, in the process recording one of the all-time great cult hit singles, ‘Revolutionary Spirit’.

Pat Nevin never wanted to be a professional footballer. His future was clear, he’d become a teacher like his brothers. There was only one problem with this – Pat was far too good to avoid attention.

Raised in Glasgow’s East End, Pat loved the game, playing for hours and obsessively following Celtic. But as he grew up, he also loved The Wild Swans, The Teardrop Explodes and Bowie, wearing his Indie ‘gloom boom’ coat and going on marches – hardly typical footballer behaviour! Placed firmly in the 80s and 90s, before the advent of the Premier League, and often with racism and violence present, Pat Nevin writes with honesty, insight and wry humour. We are transported vividly to Chelsea and Everton, and colourfully diverted by John Peel and nights out at the Hacienda.

Pat has now published two memoirs: ‘The Accidental Footballer’ (2021) and ‘Football and How to Survive It’ (2023).

Denise Christie is a recently retired Firefighter and Fire Brigades Union (FBU) official. Denise was one of the first women to be employed by the then Lothian & Borders Fire Brigade and was the first woman to be elected as Regional Secretary for the FBU in Scotland. Denise is a passionate trade unionist and a lover of music, especially Northern Soul which she listened to growing up in the East Lothian mining village of Ormiston.

Sport also played a huge part in Denise’s life, both playing and watching. At a very young age, Denise played for one of the first women’s football teams in Edinburgh, Edinburgh Dynamo’s and went onto play hockey for many years after that.

Football was also prominent in the family with her dad a staunch Hibs supporter and brother the other side of the city supporting Hearts. Pat will be glad to know that Denise took the same route as her dad but her interest is more in the women’s game.

There will be an opportunity to buy signed copies of both Pat and Paul's books.