Cathi with Jordan
"IF YOU'VE NEVER READ A BOOK ABOUT PUNK, THIS IS THE ONLY ONE YOU'LL EVER NEED"
– Julie Burchill, The New Statesman
"I WAS ENTIRELY ABSORBED. POP-CULTURAL HISTORIANS HAVE BEEN COMBING THE DEBRIS OF PUNK FOR DECADES, BUT JORDAN AND HER RESOURCEFUL AMANEUSIS CATHI UNSWORTH HAVE BROUGHT ALL KINDS OF UNEXPECTED GEMS TO LIGHT."
– DJ Taylor, author of Orwell: The Life
"JORDAN'S EXTRAORDINARY GOSPEL IS HERE TO SET YOU STRAIGHT"
– Ian Fortnum, Classic Rock 9/10
"THE LAST GREAT PUNK STORY BEAUTIFULLY TOLD"
– John Robb, Louder Than War
"THE MOST INSIGHTFUL PUNK BOOK SINCE ENGLAND'S DREAMING. IMPECCABLE STYLE BUT SUBSTANCE TOO"
– Jim Wirth, Uncut 8/10
“Jordan created punk rock. She was selling it on the front line” – Adam Ant
“Jordan was the original Sex Pistol” – Derek Jarman
With her white beehive and Mondrian make up, Jordan’s look helped shape a revolution and has continued to be an iconic part of pop culture ever since. In Defying Gravity, published on 25th April by Omnibus Press, Cathi talks to key faces of the punk scene including Vivienne Westwood, Paul Cook, Marco Pirroni, Holly Johnson and Michael Collins – Jordan’s partner behind the SEX counter – to reveal the true story of a life at the eye of punk’s storm. How did a ballet mad girl from sleepy Sussex make her way – via the gay clubs of Brighton and London – to 430 King’s Road and the eye of punk’s storm? Jordan finally reveals her outrageous life story as she shares her adventures with McLaren and Westwood, The Sex Pistols, Adam and The Ants, Derek Jarman and Andy Warhol. Complete with specially commissioned cover art by Graham Humphreys, Defying Gravity also features a wealth of previously unseen images from Simon Barker, Sheila Rock and Harri Peccinotti .
Jordan explains. “I had been asked a few times if I would embark on writing my memoir but either felt it self indulgent or simply not the right time, and it took a series of events, unexpected meetings and inspired people to make me want to do it. I needed encouragement to put my thoughts into writing and thank goodness I was introduced to Cathi. We both wanted this book to be a social comment on the times with serious historical content, and we made the many marvellous contributors feel at ease to speak freely and candidly”.
ORDER THE BOOK HERE
ORDER THE DELUXE BOXSET HERE, HERE OR HERE
ORDER THE DELUXE SLIPCASE HERE OR HERE
GET UPDATES ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE HERE
PRESS ENQUIRIES: debra@greatnorthernpr.co.uk
EVENT ENQUIRIES: David.Stock@musicsales.co.uk
Cathi and Jordan pic by Robert Shiret
Book cover by Graham Humphreys
– Julie Burchill, The New Statesman
"I WAS ENTIRELY ABSORBED. POP-CULTURAL HISTORIANS HAVE BEEN COMBING THE DEBRIS OF PUNK FOR DECADES, BUT JORDAN AND HER RESOURCEFUL AMANEUSIS CATHI UNSWORTH HAVE BROUGHT ALL KINDS OF UNEXPECTED GEMS TO LIGHT."
– DJ Taylor, author of Orwell: The Life
"JORDAN'S EXTRAORDINARY GOSPEL IS HERE TO SET YOU STRAIGHT"
– Ian Fortnum, Classic Rock 9/10
"THE LAST GREAT PUNK STORY BEAUTIFULLY TOLD"
– John Robb, Louder Than War
"THE MOST INSIGHTFUL PUNK BOOK SINCE ENGLAND'S DREAMING. IMPECCABLE STYLE BUT SUBSTANCE TOO"
– Jim Wirth, Uncut 8/10
“Jordan created punk rock. She was selling it on the front line” – Adam Ant
“Jordan was the original Sex Pistol” – Derek Jarman
With her white beehive and Mondrian make up, Jordan’s look helped shape a revolution and has continued to be an iconic part of pop culture ever since. In Defying Gravity, published on 25th April by Omnibus Press, Cathi talks to key faces of the punk scene including Vivienne Westwood, Paul Cook, Marco Pirroni, Holly Johnson and Michael Collins – Jordan’s partner behind the SEX counter – to reveal the true story of a life at the eye of punk’s storm. How did a ballet mad girl from sleepy Sussex make her way – via the gay clubs of Brighton and London – to 430 King’s Road and the eye of punk’s storm? Jordan finally reveals her outrageous life story as she shares her adventures with McLaren and Westwood, The Sex Pistols, Adam and The Ants, Derek Jarman and Andy Warhol. Complete with specially commissioned cover art by Graham Humphreys, Defying Gravity also features a wealth of previously unseen images from Simon Barker, Sheila Rock and Harri Peccinotti .
Jordan explains. “I had been asked a few times if I would embark on writing my memoir but either felt it self indulgent or simply not the right time, and it took a series of events, unexpected meetings and inspired people to make me want to do it. I needed encouragement to put my thoughts into writing and thank goodness I was introduced to Cathi. We both wanted this book to be a social comment on the times with serious historical content, and we made the many marvellous contributors feel at ease to speak freely and candidly”.
ORDER THE BOOK HERE
ORDER THE DELUXE BOXSET HERE, HERE OR HERE
ORDER THE DELUXE SLIPCASE HERE OR HERE
GET UPDATES ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE HERE
PRESS ENQUIRIES: debra@greatnorthernpr.co.uk
EVENT ENQUIRIES: David.Stock@musicsales.co.uk
Cathi and Jordan pic by Robert Shiret
Book cover by Graham Humphreys
Site last updated: 25/11/2019
NEW PUBLICATION: CATHI IN
INVISIBLE BLOOD
Cathi is delighted to be joining 17 stars of noir, including Christopher Fowler, Denise Mina, Ken Bruen and John Harvey, for this new anthology edited by Maxim Jakubowski. Cathi's story Black Dog is based on a true crime connected to the Bella in the Wych Elm mystery – the full scoop is in this month's Fortean Times. To get a copy of the book, go HERE
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
VIVE LE PUNK! SAVE THE HORSE HOSPITAL!
Cathi and Jordan join Roger K Burton for a rare screening of his film
FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER, 7.30PM THE HORSE HOSPITAL
FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER, 7.30PM
THE HORSE HOSPTIAL, COLONNADE, LONDON WC1N 1JD
TICKETS £20 FROM HERE
Vive Le Punk (1993) Dir: Roger K. Burton – duration 60mins
Please join us for a rare screening of Vive Le Punk, an exclusive documentary featuring Malcolm McLaren & Vivienne Westwood talking in depth about their extraordinary collaboration together, the evolution of their Kings Road shops and those groundbreaking punk designs that took the fashion world by storm between 1971 and 1980. The couple were captured on film at the Horse Hospital on the eve of our very first exhibition, Vive Le Punk.
We believe this is the only known footage of the them talking together about that time.
The film will be screened in the presence of punk icon Jordan, who will join Cathi Unsworth co-author of Defying Gravity Jordan’s Story, and Roger K. Burton for a special Q&A after the film. THIS EVENT IS A FUNDRAISER FOR THE HORSE HOSPITAL'S FIGHTING FUND TO KEEP THIS VENUE OPEN
LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE, BOOK NOW TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT HERE
THE HORSE HOSPTIAL, COLONNADE, LONDON WC1N 1JD
TICKETS £20 FROM HERE
Vive Le Punk (1993) Dir: Roger K. Burton – duration 60mins
Please join us for a rare screening of Vive Le Punk, an exclusive documentary featuring Malcolm McLaren & Vivienne Westwood talking in depth about their extraordinary collaboration together, the evolution of their Kings Road shops and those groundbreaking punk designs that took the fashion world by storm between 1971 and 1980. The couple were captured on film at the Horse Hospital on the eve of our very first exhibition, Vive Le Punk.
We believe this is the only known footage of the them talking together about that time.
The film will be screened in the presence of punk icon Jordan, who will join Cathi Unsworth co-author of Defying Gravity Jordan’s Story, and Roger K. Burton for a special Q&A after the film. THIS EVENT IS A FUNDRAISER FOR THE HORSE HOSPITAL'S FIGHTING FUND TO KEEP THIS VENUE OPEN
LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE, BOOK NOW TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT HERE
DEAD FASHION GIRL: CATHI TALKS TO
FRED VERMOREL FOR SOHEMIAN SOCIETY
MONDAY 9 DECEMBER,
7PM, THE WHEATSHEAF
THE SOHEMIAN SOCIETY
MONDAY 9 DECEMBER, 7 FOR 7.30PM
UPSTAIRS AT THE WHEATSHEAF, 25 RATHBONE PLACE, W1
Cathi will be talking to Fred Vermorel about his stunning new book Dead Fashion Girl: A Situationist Detective Story, published by Strange Attractor Press. In it he investigates a crime from his childhood and its subsequent six-decade cover-up: the death of a fashion designer and the lives of three very different women who lived in the cesspit of vice and violence that was 1950s-60s London. Dr Vermorel is the author of a number of books with subjects including The Sex Pistols, Kate Bush, Vivienne Westwood and Kate Moss, as well as the classic Starlust: The Secret Fantasies of Fans, and Queen Victoria’s Lovers: Erotomania & Fantasy.
MONDAY 9 DECEMBER, 7 FOR 7.30PM
UPSTAIRS AT THE WHEATSHEAF, 25 RATHBONE PLACE, W1
Cathi will be talking to Fred Vermorel about his stunning new book Dead Fashion Girl: A Situationist Detective Story, published by Strange Attractor Press. In it he investigates a crime from his childhood and its subsequent six-decade cover-up: the death of a fashion designer and the lives of three very different women who lived in the cesspit of vice and violence that was 1950s-60s London. Dr Vermorel is the author of a number of books with subjects including The Sex Pistols, Kate Bush, Vivienne Westwood and Kate Moss, as well as the classic Starlust: The Secret Fantasies of Fans, and Queen Victoria’s Lovers: Erotomania & Fantasy.
NEW AUDIO: THE LAST DAYS OF DEREK RAYMOND
On 10 July, Cathi, together with JOHN WILLIAMS, GEOFF COX and BRIAN O'NEILL hosted a tribute evening to the late, great DEREK RAYMOND to honour the marking of 25 years since he took his leave. The event, which took place at the Fiztrovia HQ of the SOHEMIAN SOCIETY was recorded by TRAVIS ELBOROUGH and included readings from correspondence that has never been shared before as well as John's moving account of the last days he shared with his friend, fellow writer and mentor. You can listen in to it HERE
READ JORDAN IN YOU MAGAZINE HERE
NEW! JORDAN AND CATHI ON LONDON LIVE
Cathi and Jordan were interviewed by London Live about Defying Gravity, The King's Road and Punk's past and future. Tune in to the full interview HERE
