The Day The World Turned Day-Glo

Album: Germ Free Adolescents (1978)
Charted: 23
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • X-Ray Spex were a British UK Punk Rock group formed in 1977 by vocalist Poly Styrene (born Marianne Elliott-Said), bassist Paul Dean, guitarist Jak "Airport" Stafford, drummer Paul "BP" Hurding and saxophonist Lora Logic. This song was the first of their three UK Top 40 hits. The band dissolved in Autumn 1979 and Poly Styrene temporary pursued a solo career before giving up music to pursue her interest in Eastern mysticism. Stafford and Hurding went on to form the new wave band Classix Nouveaux together with Mik Sweeney and Sal Solo with whom they achieved some chart success.
  • Dean told Mojo magazine September 2008 how the band did their songwriting: "Poly wrote the songs with the top line melody and the lyrics sung into a tape recorder. Then Jak and I worked out the riffs. Listening now I think, Bloody hell Jak, you liked The Stooges! Lora worked out the bass lines and we all had a free rein to experiment. It was quite collaborative."
  • Poly Styrene explained this song to Mojo magazine: "Most people thought the song was about tripping, but I was using images of artificiality. I grew up in a generation where all we had was brown paper bags in the local store, but gradually everything became more colorful. Day-Glo symbolized the shift from natural to synthetic. We weren't buying cotton any more but Bri-Nylon. It was a great time, people were discovering things with technology. Bri-Nylon you could wear to school and your mum didn't have to iron it."

Comments: 2

  • Supermanfriday from Wigan, United KingdomRIP Poly
  • Zabadak from London, EnglandX-Ray Spex' UK singles on EMI had their own label design.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Subversive Songs Used To Sell

Subversive Songs Used To SellSong Writing

Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in Rock

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in RockSong Writing

We ring the Hell's Bells to see what songs and rockers are sincere in their Satanism, and how much of it is an act.

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.

Graham Parker

Graham ParkerSongwriter Interviews

When Judd Apatow needed under-appreciated rockers for his Knocked Up sequel, he immediately thought of Parker, who just happened to be getting his band The Rumour back together.

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.