When I wrote “A Pleasant Change From Politics”: Music and the British Labour Movement Between the Wars over a decade ago, the one thing I spent very little time thinking about was whether there was a strong case for Labour to still be using music today. It seemed obvious that we would be too busy analysing data, targeting swing seats and filling in voter ID records to hold an evening concert, or make sure we had a verse or two of the Red Flag at meetings. It seemed obvious that the early 21st century was a time when there was so much competition for people’s free time and leisure that the labour movement had to stick to its primary purpose. It couldn’t hold people’s attention for long enough to perform other roles.

In 2014 I’m no longer so sure. Continue reading →