In 1972, Mick Farren published his first book, a comic-book style polemic that traces the development of the youth subculture from the 1950’s; the subtitle on the back cover is “How Elvis gave birth to the Angry Brigade”. The co-writer with him is Edward Barker, a cartoonist who designed the covers on the second and third albums by the Pink Fairies. The title is Watch Out Kids and is probably adapted from the lyric “Look out kids” in “Subterranean Homesick Blues” by Bob Dylan.
The online review of the book in funtopia.com – a website devoted to the work of Mick Farren – states: “Farren argues how the establishment soon co-opts any youth phenomenon that is remotely threatening and repackages this rebellion into something more wholesome and saleable to the masses. Therefore, ‘the man’ would always attempt to find a way of sanitising a movement and taking its threat away (still true of today). In a wider political context an ever increasing theme throughout the book is that the system oppresses us by means of exploitation at work, censorship, and indoctrination by the dominant establishment media, to name a few.”
As described on the funtopia.com website: “On his return to England in 2009, he [Mick Farren] reconvened his band the Deviants along with his long time friend and musical collaborator Andy Colquhoun and original 1960s era Deviants and later Pink Fairies, Russell Hunter and Duncan ‘Sandy’ Sanderson. They played a number of well received gigs since reforming, including The Spirit of ’71 stage at Glastonbury [Festival] in 2011, as well as the Sonic Rock Solstice Festival in Wales, June 2013. The Deviants also released a new single on Shagrat Records in July 2013 called ‘The Fury of the Mob’. Mick collapsed on stage whilst the Deviants were performing at the Atomic Sunshine Festival at the Borderline Club on Saturday 27th July 2013. He never regained consciousness.”
