The letter refutes the New York Times article, "Music of Hate Raises the Volume in Germany," which presented a misleading picture of Oi music as primarily neo-Nazi. The author argues that the article relied on a single source and failed to consider the broader history and diverse nature of Oi music.
The author recommends Garry Johnson's book, "Story of Oi: A View From the Dead-End of the Street," for a more accurate understanding of the genre.
To the Editor:
"Music of Hate Raises the Volume in Germany" (front page, Dec. 2) gives a misleading impression of Oi music, apparently based on a single source, the London writer Tony Robson. Any journalist knows the pitfalls of basing broad conclusions on a single source.
Oi music began in Britain at the end of the 1970's as an anti-Nazi fusion of punk and left-wing skinhead musicians and has remained leftist and anti-fascist in Britain and the United States. It has always been racially integrated. You note that Rock-O-Rama Records carries, besides Oi, reggae and ska -- both from blackest Jamaica, and that should have tipped you off that all was not as described by Mr. Robson.
There is today a lively Oi music movement here in New York, its most prominent band being The Radicts, and it is certainly anti-racist and radical in a left direction here, a far cry from the picture you draw of German Oi as seen by one Briton.
For anyone interested in the real story, I recommend a 1988 British book, Garry Johnson's "Story of Oi: A View From the Dead-End of the Street." STEPHEN DONALDSON New York, Dec. 7, 1992 The writer is a columnist for Under the Volcano as Donny the Punk. ILS>Drawing
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