RE: Thugs know thugs; lumpens as wanna be capitalists >>Ian Curtis The lead singer of Joy Divison - who is currently depicted in Anton Corbijn's biopic Control - helped Margaret Thatcher into power by voting Conservative in 1979, reportedly as a protest against the Labour government of James Callaghan.>>
Curtis appears a character in 24 Hour Party People. Most Americans wouldn't know who he was, so that is an interesting choice to show up on the list. He died a young man, from suicide, despondent over a failed relationship, so I'm not sure how much development there was in his political thought. I remember at the time Thatcher got elected some thought it progress simply because Margaret is a woman. If I recall, I think Paul Weller, singer/songwriter/guitarist for the Jam (and prime influence on Noel and the rest of Oasis, indeed he seems to have arranged and played on some of their best songs) started out pro-Thatcher or at least anti-Callaghan. Or that was the way he was presented in some of the press. He ended up being a very anti-Thatcher 'pop star' in the late Jam and then Style Council. But really, saying that you are right wing because you choose Thatcher over Callaghan is rather silly. It would be like saying you supported militarism and imperialism in Afghanistan because you voted Reagan instead of Carter. Perhaps Curtis delved into the right wing of politics and social organization, I don't know. There was some talk that the group's name, 'Joy Division' was some sort of reference to the prostitution in concentration camps. Hence allegations of anti-semitism. The group seems to have chosen JG Ballard as a literary inspiration, though (who is about as incoherent as Philip K. Dick). It's always easier to connect with the right than anything left in the US and the UK. A lot of punk was just unformed and anarchic--and really just wanted to make big bucks like Queen or Phil Collins, as the Sex Pistols would tell you. They went on TV and swore at a whole nation simply because the host started it--and they were last minute fill ins for Queen. But the banning of 'God Save the Queen' from the pop charts, even though it was selling better than anything else, well, the establishment did see them as threatening. And much of what was calling itself punk by the early 80s was entrenched as racist and anti-foreign and politically fascist. But there were also groups like Crass, which were considered enemies of the state in Thatcher UK. And there were lots of anti-racist, totally left groups in the US, too. Perhaps being in a rock group is a lousy political platform, in retrospect (about as useless as most political discussion lists). I'm not even sure about Elvis's racism. The famed 'shine my shoes' remark appears to be urban legend. He shifted back to doing country and gospel in his last years, to some extent, because he identified that as his main potential audience. Also, remember, he didn't go over well in Vegas til he started dressing like Liberace (or was he trying to copy Wayne Newton?) And much of country is--or had been--southern white man's blues. If you listen to Hank Williams you can hear a lot more calculation and professional approach to his music than his crafted image of a poor white man reveals, but you can also hear the same appealing heartache as you hear in blues. What does it say, though, for someone who is so troubled and drugged up as Elvis writing that letter to Nixon (who apparently was troubled and drugged up himself?)? More likely Elvis resented the Beatles for replacing him as rock idols everyone wanted to copy. I also think Eric Clapton gets undeserved bad press. I'd like to hear a recording of what he actually said in that drunken (and probably drugged up state) because some claim it wasn't that bad, even if it was politically right wing. Surely a lot of his actions since then reveal a pampered often over rated celebrity rock star, but they also indicate that he doesn't hate people of color. In every interview I've ever seen (and I have to admit I don't go out of my way to see them), he has done nothing but praise the blues men who were his main influences. But again, you have to remember, he is doing rock music for a mostly white audience. And as marketers and many performers know, its white audiences that are the most eclectic in what they listen to and buy. CJ _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
