Michelle Shocked has seen her fanbase all but disappear this week after apparently issuing stridently homophobic remarks onstage (she rejects the claims).
The Guardian article below looks at other cases where this happens (they could also have mentioned Megadeth, whose vocalist Dave Mustaine has taken to issuing right-wing statements since becoming 'born again', but then they're not a very
Guardian band!).
Useful to consider in the light of theories such as McQuail's uses and gratifications, and the whole idea of fans forming part of their identity through their musical allegiances.
Dixie
Chicks, Morrissey, Donna Summer, Moe Tucker and Eric Clapton all faced a
backlash when they surprised their audiences with unexpected views
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Michelle Shocked: and she did. Photograph: Rex Features/Startraks Photo
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Guitar-strumming Michelle Shocked used to be beloved by beardy
folk fans and granary lefties. So it came as a curveball at a gig on
Sunday night when she put down her acoustic guitar, pushed aside the
mung beans and delivered an astonishingly anti-gay rant
that claimed "same-sex marriage will be the downfall of civilisation".
And which city did she choose to air these "robust" views? Only gay
capital San Francisco.
Yet Shocked isn't the first musician to, well, shock her fans by revealing surprising views ...
Dixie Chicks
Dixie Chicks performing in 2003, when they were monstered by the US
right for gently criticising George Bush. Photograph: Mb Charles/Retna
UK
The mild-mannered Texan country trio were monstered by the US
rightwing and blacklisted by American radio after gently criticising
George Bush in 2003. On tour in London shortly before the invasion of
Iraq, lead vocalist Natalie Maines said:
"Just so you know, we're on the good side with y'all. We don't want
this war, this violence, and we're ashamed the president is from Texas."
Public protests
saw their CDs bulldozed into the ground. The band later posed naked for
the cover of Entertainment Weekly with slogans such as "Traitors",
"Saddam's Angels", "Dixie Sluts", "Proud Americans" and "Free Speech"
daubed on their bodies. To their further credit, they named their
subsequent documentary after one criticism: Shut Up and Sing.
Morrissey
Morrissey: has tested the patience of even fanatical devotees in his solo years. Photograph: Christie Goodwin/Redferns
The Smiths frontman was a figurehead for the shy, soft, disaffected
and bed-wetting back in the 80s. However, his solo career and advancing
years have tested the patience of even fanatical devotees. His
controversies started with early solo tracks including Bengali In
Platforms and National Front Disco. He came onstage at Madness' 1992
Madstock! gig in Finsbury Park carrying a Union flag – with two female
skinheads pictured on his stage backdrop. The quiffy contrarian has
since contended that "the Chinese are a sub-species"
for their treatment of animals, that Beyoncé's handbag choices are
partly responsible for endangering rhinos and Anders Breivik's mass
murder in Norway was "nothing compared to what happens in McDonald's and KFC every day". Oh, Moz, you mad old muppet.
Donna Summer
Donna Summer: alleged to have said Aids was a punishment from God at a 1983 gig. Photograph: Dave Hogan/Getty Images
The Queen Of Disco had a devoted gay following but proceeded to
alienate them after she became a born-again Christian in her 30s. At a
1983 gig, she was alleged to have said Aids was a punishment from God
for the lifestyles of homosexual people but later angrily denied making such comments. However, she seemed to admit some blame in 1989 when, in a letter to campaign group ACT UP, Summer wrote that it was "a terrible misunderstanding ... If I have caused you pain, forgive me".
Moe Tucker
Moe Tucker (third from left): the Velvet Underground drummer turned up at a Tea party rally in 2010. Photograph: Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis
Maureen Tucker used to stand up and pound the drums in the Velvet
Underground, one of the coolest bands of all time. So beatniks, hepcats
and chin-stroking musos were stunned in 2010 when she turned up to a Tea
party rally in Georgia because she was "furious about the way we're
being led towards socialism". The footage went viral and Tucker, now 66, felt moved to respond:
"I'm stunned that so many people who call themselves liberal yet are
completely intolerant … Peace, love, bull! You disagree and you're
immediately called a fool, a Nazi, a racist. That's pretty f***ed up!"
Um, OK. We were only going to make an "All Tomorrow's Tea Parties" gag …
You'd
think Old Slow-Hand would be a liberal kind of dude, after scoring his
first No 1 with a 1974 cover of Bob Marley's I Shot The Sheriff. Two
year later, though, Clapton made a drunken declaration of support for
Tory minister Enoch "Rivers Of Blood" Powell, telling a crowd in
Birmingham that the country had "become overcrowded" and they should
vote for Powell to prevent Britain becoming "a black colony".
In
case anyone was unclear, Clapton added that Britain should "get the wogs
out" and shouted the National Front slogan "Keep Britain White". His
comments inadvertently did some good, as they inspired the founding of
the Rock Against Racism campaign. Clapton is also somewhat anti-Brian
May, supporting the Countryside Alliance and publicly opposing the
fox-hunting ban. Perhaps he and May could settle it with a guitar solo
battle.
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