She-Punks

In 2015, Gina and me were chatting about my book The Lost Women of Rock Music and a film she was in the process of making about The Raincoats. Gina had shot extra footage of many of the women she'd interviewed, and we talked about maybe collaborating on a DIY film loosely based on that footage and possibly more interviews with the musicians I'd spoken to for the original book.I'd been teaching entrepreneurship at the University of East London, and as quite often happened when I was lecturing, I decided to put into practice what I'd been preaching.'Let's go to see Andy Linehan at the British Library and ask him if he'll show our film'.Andy was the music librarian there. Very sadly, he died a few years ago: this was a great loss because not only was he very funny, but he was also brave enough to take a punt on an idea. He told us that in 2016 the British Library would be celebrating the 40th anniversary of punk, and he's be prepared to show even 20 minutes of film and build an evening…