The Face No. 8
John Lydon at Large / Ian Dury / The Slits / Poly Styrene
First-year issue of The Face centred on John Lydon during the Public Image Ltd period, with substantial features on Ian Dury, Poly Styrene and The Slits, plus Paul Weller, the Manchester 'Bowie' scene, badge culture and gossip magazines. The opening photographic spread features Pauline Murray and Robert Blamire, photographed by Pennie Smith.
Read the catalogue note →- Publication
- The Face
- Condition
- Good to Very Good−
- Completeness
- Complete — all pages present
- Date
- December 1980
Catalogue note
First-year issue of The Face centred on John Lydon during the Public Image Ltd period, with substantial features on Ian Dury, Poly Styrene and The Slits, plus Paul Weller, the Manchester 'Bowie' scene, badge culture and gossip magazines. The opening photographic spread features Pauline Murray and Robert Blamire, photographed by Pennie Smith. The issue captures The Face at a formative point where punk and post-punk music, style, photography, street culture and media criticism were already being treated as one connected visual-cultural field.
Why this object matters
Substantial Poly Styrene and Slits coverage, Pennie Smith imagery and badge/media material make this a concentrated primary record of punk’s broader visual and gendered culture. Award Gold at 9.0 for that documented content.
Evidence limits: No new physical inspection or collation was performed. Copy-specific conclusions remain limited to the retained catalogue and accession evidence.
Score and assessment method
Archive Importance: 9 / 10 · Gold Star.
This is a curatorial judgement, not a measurement accurate to one tenth or a market valuation. Read the explanation and its evidence limits together.
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