John Sinclair (1941-2024) Last of the Beatnik Warrior Poets and Cultural Revolutionary has passed away at 82. The work must go on

“Rock N Roll music is a weapon of cultural revolution. There are not enough musicians around today who are hip to this fact” John Sinclair is best known as the Sixties "marijuana" activist who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for giving two joints to an undercover policewoman. He was eventually freed when John Lennon and Yoko Ono spoke out on his behalf. Less understood is his role as the founder and chairman of the radical anti-war group, The White Panther Party, an offshoot of the Black Panthers. The Black Panther Party was a militant political organization formed after the brutal murders of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Robert…

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John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop

Not many people can say that John Lennon wrote a song about them, but John Sinclair is among that select bunch. Viewed by the powers-that-be as a dangerous revolutionary for his involvement with the White Panther Party, Sinclair was handed a ludicrously harsh sentence – “they gave him ten for two” – for marijuana possession after a police sting. In 1971, Lennon, along with Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Phil Ochs and Archie Shepp played a freedom rally in Michigan and three days later Sinclair was freed. Sinclair is probably best known in the music world for managing riotous proto-punks The MC5 and imbuing them with a radical zeal. But Sinclair is…

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John Sinclair – Kick Out The Jams Limited Edition T-shirt

This is the first in a series of Limited Edition John Sinclair T-shirts featuring a White Panther design on the FRONT and a quote from John Sinclair on the BACK. Strictly Limited to 50 Shirts including a download code for Beatnik Youth. When these T-shirts are gone, they're gone. The T-shirts are Gildan Extra Tees. A black shirt with a white print on the front and back, with a Green Cannabis Leaf design. The T-shirt is a heavy weight shirt, available in Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large and Extra Extra Large. Also available in Ladies Small. When you buy or pre-order this shirt you also get a download code for John…

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John Sinclair – Beatnik Youth (Double CD) 2018

John Sinclair - “Beatnik Youth" on Double CD Released 2018 by Iron Man Records. All Press enquiries to Sean Newsham Catalogue Number: IMB6032 Release date: 2018 Label: Iron Man Records Distribution: Cargo Disc 1 Testify (9.10) Good Stuff (4.32) Everybody Needs Somebody (7.09) Change My Life (5.14) Ain't Nobody's Business (3.36) My Buddy (5.13) That Old Man (3.53) Disc 2 Brilliant Corners (11.29) Culture Cide (11.38) Red Dress (Ruby My Dear) (6.25) Sitarrtha (6.16) Do It (6.16) War On Drugs (6.18) Read a brilliant review of Beatnik Youth by Gus Ironside for Louder Than War here Saby Reyes-Kulkarni interviewed John Sinclair and Youth and wrote a fantastic piece for Bandcamp here…

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Yvette Cowles

"Love yourself, love life, be kind to others, laugh, be silly… dance! Having cancer, or any illness, does not stop you from following your heart and being as alive as you can be in each moment."  Yvette Cowles Former non-fiction marketing director at Harper Collins, Yvette Cowles, has passed away. Yvette was a good friend to me, and a supporter of Iron Man Records. The quote “Beauty is not in the face, beauty is a light in the heart” by Kahlil Gibran makes me think of Yvette. Yvette studied French and Italian at the University of Exeter and subsequently taught English in the South of France. She was diagnosed and treated…

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Samuel Fry

Sam Fry Passed away this weekend. He was the second drummer with Last Under The Sun from 2001 to 2002, he played many gigs and played the drums on the the 30 second 30 song first demo called "Defect" and the 8 songs that made up "Windfall" that the band produced around the same time. If anyone has any more photos of Sam when he was in Last Under The Sun with Rhys and myself, please send a copy across. I didn't have a decent camera in those days so i have no photos of him at all that I can find. He was a good drummer and a kind, caring,…

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