Marianne Elliott-Said, AKA Poly Styrene, 1957-2011

She was a Scottish-Somali teenage Brit who was inspired by The Sex Pistols and the decline of consumer culture civilization. Her band X-Ray Spex put out one flawless album of singles, but Poly was the obvious star with her cat-in-heat caterwaul, signature day-glo fashion sense, and feminist anthem "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!" that kicks down the patriarchal door with Lora Logic's call-to-arms saxophone wail followed by Poly's defiant fuck you to anyone getting in her formidable way. And she did it all with an adorable, chubby, brace-faced smile that nobody could forget. Sadly Poly lost her battle with cancer this week, the same week that saw her new solo album Generation Indigo hit the stores. But having been out of the musical spotlight for quite some time doesn't make her any less missed. She was inspirational to me in my 20's. Death can't take her away from us. RIP Marianne.