# Dayglo! - Hardcover

by **Celeste Bell** (Author)

**Poly Styrene was many things: a pop star, a punk, a songwriter, a single mother, a woman of colour, a Hare Krishna convert and an artist, but she is best known as the singer of X-Ray Spex. _Dayglo!_ is the definitive statement on Poly Styrene as an artist.**

Poly Styrene was a singer-songwriter, an artist, a free-thinker, a post-modern style pioneer and a lifelong spiritual seeker: a true punk icon. But this rebel queen with the cheeky grin was also a latter-day pop artist with a wickedly perceptive gift for satirising the world around her - her brightly coloured, playful aesthetic sharply at odds with the stark monochrome style and nihilism of punk.

Here, for the first time, the vibrant jigsaw of Poly's inspiring and often moving story has been lovingly pieced together by her daughter, singer-songwriter Celeste Bell, and writer/artist Zoë Howe.

From growing up mixed-race in London in the 1960s, to being at the forefront of the emerging punk scene with X-Ray Spex in the 1970s, to finding faith with the Hare Krishna movement, to balancing single motherhood with a solo music career and often debilitating mental health issues, the book honestly and openly explores Poly's exceptional life, up until her untimely passing in 2011.

Based on interviews with those who knew and loved Poly whether personally or through music, this oral history book includes testimonies from Vivienne Westwood, Don Letts, Glen Matlock, Jonathan Ross, Neneh Cherry, The Slits' Tessa Pollitt, Thurston Moore, Jon Savage, and many others.

Heavily illustrated throughout including personal photographs, flyers from the punk scene and hand-drawn artwork and lyrics for X-Ray Spex and beyond the book beautifully captures Poly Styrene's creative and personal legacy, reminding us that if anyone had the power to turn our worlds dayglo, it was her.

### Author Biography

**Celeste Bell** is the lead singer of Celeste Dos Santos and The Tabloid Queens, narrator and co-writer of the documentary _I Am A Cliche,_ and Poly Styrene's daughter. **Zoe Howe** is a writer, musician, and visual artist based in Essex. Her books include _Lee Brilleaux: Rock 'n' Roll Gentleman_, _Typical Girls?,_ _The Story Of The Slits,_ _How's Your Dad?_, _Living In The Shadow of a Rock Star Parent_, and _Wilko Johnson: Looking Back At Me_.

**Number of Pages:** 208

**Dimensions:** 0.9 x 11.2 x 8.3 IN

**Illustrated:** Yes

**Publication Date:** September 12, 2019

## Details

- **Price:** 36.99 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 36.99 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Dayglo! - Hardcover

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