Jane Suck

Jane Suck aka Jane Solanis aka Jane Jackman was another freelance punkette who wrote for Sounds music paper giving invaluable column space to the growing underground Punk bands of the first wave. She made no effort to be objective; hers were often impassioned, amphetamine-driven pleas for bands (Siouxsie & Adverts)  and a scene she obviously felt an affinity for. She wore her heart on the sleeve and was a welcome change from the calculated backstabbing of Burchill & Parsons. Click for larger images below.

She was also living the life of late nights, drugs, confused sexuality (almost certainly had a thang for Siouxsie and Vermilion whose naked breasts she threw beer over at a gig) and punk rock and her articles reflect all of this in a tumble of mixed emotions.  She even flirted with singing for the Moors Murderers for a few weeks and made their tape single of the week in 1978 but that was it band-wise.

Moors Murderers  – Photo credit Sheila Rock – Eve Goddard, Steve Strange, John Harlow, Egan, Jane Suck & Chrissie Hynde at Alaska Studios late 1977.

In keeping with the times she too had a punk alias which was useful for freelancing at the music papers and also for signing on at the dole. However, the alias had its drawback as she explains in Jon Savage’s ‘Englands Dreaming’

 ” …all I remember were the endless blowjobs; when you have a name like mine you have to live up to it.” 

That’s one way of looking at it!

As someone with so much vested personal interest in Punk she took it personally as the scene grew and fragmented becoming disillusioned and fading out of the picture. Or perhaps she just grew up. She later wrote for the NME as Jane Solanas (a nod to Valerie Solanas author of S.C.U.M – Society Of Cutting Up Men and who had shot Andy Warhol) and later under her real name of Jane Jackman.

In 1996 Denim wrote and released a rather excellent track called Jane Suck Died In 77.

In 2023 Jon Savage posted the sad news on Twitter that she had died. At Punk 77 we had a lot of time for the legend that was Jane Suck.

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