My attention has been drawn to a holier-than-thou piece by John Harris in today’s Guardian.
Harris is the latest in a line of commentators and activists to get wound up by David Cameron’s fondness for the Smiths and other eighties bands who positioned themselves very much on the left of the political spectrum.
Personally I don’t see what the fuss is about. You can enjoy and appreciate the music without having to nod along to the political views of the artist. Cameron is the right age to be a Smiths fan in his younger days. What’s the big deal?
Anyone care to tell me what the political significance of my Green Day albums is…?
Thing is you probably actually like your Green Day album Iain, Cam surely just burbles on about things he thinks others will be impressed by? Famously so. Kind of like the strategy that goes on in creating a Desert Island Discs list. Mostly for show and positioning in many cases. Cam scam.
John Harris mentions my gigs with fondness. Which I like.
There are simply too many people who make a living from commentating on others. Questioning the significance of someone’s taste in music is scrapping the bottom of the barrel in my view.
Right, I’m off to listen to Wagner
Chris, what evidence do you (and Harris, for that matter) have that Cameron doesn’t like the Smiths? I mean, real evidence, other than the fact you don’t like him much because he’s the leader of the Conservative Party.
Well, I am a fan of Vaughan-Williams who was effectively an atheist. I don’t think any of my friends at the Salvation Army would be likely to think any the less of me for that…