Art News

Britain’s National Trust Releases Punk Charity Album

LONDON (AP).- Punk rockers once wanted to smash the state. Now they’re helping preserve stately homes. The National Trust charity, which oversees Britain’s castles and historic houses, has released a fundraising album of punk classics. “Never Mind the Dovecotes” — a play on the title of the Sex Pistols album “Never Mind the Bollocks” — includes tracks by the Pistols and other vintage noise merchants, including GBH, Siouxsie and the Banshees and X-Ray Spex. It means Mod band The Jam — which has two tracks on the album — will sit alongside jars of jam in gift shops at the Trust’s 300 properties, which range from Roman-era structures like Hadrian’s Wall to ruined abbeys, medieval castles, grand country mansions and Victorian pubs. The album is a collaboration between the trust and Decca Records, and a change from previous joint efforts such as “Celtic Collection,” ”Classic Voices” and “Land of Hope and