Crush

So why do fookin rock bands have to get political these days?

You would think that it's fashionable or something. U2, radiohead, now Coldplay are at it, who were quite rightly damned by Liam Gallacher for ranting about the war at a Charity gig.

Why don't they just play their fookin set & rant about the 3rd world & war in their own time? who the hell wants to pay to hear that?

I'd be demanding my money back if they did that! I would go to a peace march for free if i wanted to hear about politics.

[Edited by Crush - 3/31/2003 2:56:35 PM]

unclebuck

They think they're at Woodstock maybe?

malvinas

rock bands have always been "political"- since the 60's, through the 70's,80's and 90's and now in the noughties (I hate that term and I just used it!). Its nothing new.

Jodster

This is the first time I have agreed with Liam Gallagher's views and he was right to speak out against the Coldplay front man and his Free Trade statements written on his hand.

Bono and Sting know people of real power, have been around a while, have seen all sides to arguments and I think are entitled to a degree of public opinion. Chris Martin doesn't.

paulr

I thought it was funny what Liam said,....."Why does Chris Martin write on his *ucking hand,if he's short, i'll lend him a notepad".......

...

NotoriousREV

For the same reason that Scoobynet members do.

mattstant

The two biggest offenders in my opinion.
rock stars who get "political" are just attempting another way of getting noticed.
funny how sting seems to have dumped his amazonian mate when his album sales dropped as people finally realised what a w anchor he is

And I attended Bonos Zooropa tour at wembley never before have i heard so many trite turgid half baked ideas churned out with such dim witted abandon.
I went with an open mind expecting to see one of the so called best live bands in the world with two died in the wool fans.
we all left the stadium feeling thoroughly cheated.
The music was overblown bollocks trading on past glorys (what little there was between Bonio strutting around spouting 6th form politics to look trendy and some hideous graphics wall pounding out tacky slogans).

I always cringe when any popstar(or movie star for that matter) expresses a political opinion.

people can have been around for 50 years without learning jack **** so that doesnt wash either

one exception is sir Bob of course but he didnt care about the politics he just wanted some people to stop starving to death and actually got off his **** and did something


[Edited by mattstant - 4/1/2003 2:40:07 AM]

zax

Henry Rollins has a few good Bono quotes:

"The Clash is what U2 really wanted to be."
"I'd like to see Bono's life span shortened."

...and:

"I think if the guy is doing something, it’s better than nothing, but I just wonder if he’s following through. Like he’s "Mr. Africa Third World Debt Guy," which is a huge issue. You’re talking about the continent of Africa--a huge piece of real estate with imminent ****ing danger to human life. Now, I hate this guy’s music, but I like the idea of absolving third world debt because otherwise these people are gonna die, so if he’s using all that rock star power, well ****in’ right on. But now he’s "Mr. AIDS Guy"…well, wait a minute, how did you go from third world debt to AIDS? It starts to sound like he leaves a lot undone. So when I see Bono doing this I think gee, is this a crusade or really good promo for U2’s new greatest hits album? How can you go on tour and be "Cause Guy" to the level that he’s purported to be? Seems to me you’d have to quit the band to do that. I dunno, I have to think his heart’s in the right place – I think he’s a boring singer but I don’t think he’s a bad man."

Bring back Jello Biafra!

malvinas

Jello Biafra top man- hes probably on holiday somewhere in the far east, like cambodia for example ;-)

Dizzy

Sorry but Bonno is a grade A prat
however I dont see any reason why bands shouldn't spout their views? They have a huge fan base and tbo anything that gets some of these sheep thinking about real problems the better. Granted pop stars arn't generally the quickest of cats but neither are some of our politicians

he's singing to me atm

I think some people sound genuine and others dont, some are more subtle than others (Rage against the machine? ). Simple as that

Badger Stuffer

Saw Coldplay in Paris on Sunday night. Chris Martin changed the lyrics to some songs to rant about the "Meaningless war in Iraq" and there were Keep trade fair cards on all seats and monkey going round collecting cash for keep trade fair.

This did taint the evening a bit but fooking hell were they great. Feeder were a class support act too.

daiscooby

Bands start getting political when they start believing there own publicity.
Bono is a good example. Saw him in 82, not a political quote in his wee Irish middle class brain. Saw him in 84, ok we had the sh*te about the troubles, but that was it. Saw him on the Joshua Tree tour, god almighty, Bullet for a Blue Sky was about the suffering in Nicuragua and so on, and so on blah blah blah.
Sting the same, Springsteen has always spoken out about the American Blue Collar guy so I'll forgive him.
I listen to music to be entertained, not be informed of the state of the world and get all miserable. F*ck if I wanted to be depressed by sound I'd listen to the Mrs' Boyzone and Westlife CD's.

NotoriousREV

I must admit, it jarred slightly that Radiohead spout on about capitalism and urging you to read Naomi Klein's godawful No Logo then they charge you £15 for a t-shirt with a Radiohead logo on it. I wouldn't have minded if they could have made 1 decent album from the 3 piles of dross they released (Kid A, Amnesiac and I Could Be Wrong or whatever they were called).

springbok

A feeling of self importance, once they get a bit of fame they think that everyone wants to listen to them rant on and on.
WRONG

Leslie

They are just trying to prove they are not airheads!

Les

brickboy

Liam G's point was, Coldplay shouldn't start spouting about the war in the middle of a benefit concert for kids with cancer.

As he rightly said: "if he wants to organise a benefit against war then **** off and do it but don't spout off about it here ..."

Like when Bob Dylan said some of the money raised during US Live Aid should go to US farmers ... stick to the bloody job in hand.

Fatman

Why do they get political? Simple - it's due to ego. They start thinking they're important, and they forget that they're in the entertainment industry.

Crush

Spot on. Honestly, they make 3 good LP's and think that anyone will listen to anything they have to say. I think they have this idea that it's contemporary & cool, by being what they think is artistic. The last couple of LP's have been utter tosh, a total waste of time & money. They should stick to what they did best. U2 nearly did the same thing with that experimental rubbish. Had they not made those last few LP's & kept their worthless political drivel to themselves, then I might have bought a t-shirt or record from them, but i'm sick of the ******* now.

Speaking of Feeder, They have the right idea. They release a great LP, then have a small note inside about sponsoring a forest , I think everyone could benefit from that.