The Stand Down Margaret

The funniest thing I read today appeared in an article about 80s Anti-Thatch pop in this month’s Uncut:

It’s 1980, and The Beat are scheduled to play “Stand Down Margaret” on the early evening kids’ TV show, Cheggers Plays Pop.

“We had to get the song on by stealth,” laughs lead singer Dave Wakeling. “Our genial old Jamaican saxophonist, Saxa, explained to presenter Keith Chegwin that The Stand Down Margaret was an old Caribbean dance. ‘Come now, Cheggers,’ he was saying. ‘Let me show you how to dance The Stand Down Margaret…’ and he invents some ridiculous little dance routine. Then we start playing the song and unzip our jackets and we’ve all got T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of Maggie Thatcher…”