Neil Young, a scared twit

[johnr]

Neil Young, a scared twit

Bored of Education wrote: Where did Phil Collins move to in the end?

Switzerland, because his (then) wife was Swiss.

[G-Man]

Neil Young, a scared twit

johnr wrote:

Where did Phil Collins move to in the end?

Switzerland, because his (then) wife was Swiss.

Was it that wife?

[Guy Profumo]

Neil Young, a scared twit

johnr wrote:

Where did Phil Collins move to in the end?

Switzerland, because his (then) wife was Swiss.

Yeah. Right. Switzerland. Wife lived there.

[WOM]

Neil Young, a scared twit

Carnivorous Vulgaris wrote:

Probably more people said they didn't vote Tory and did than people who said they saw the Pistols at the Manchester Free Trade Hall and didn't.

...

I dunno. I think it's too easy to assume that people in the arts are lefties/liberals. It just wouldn't surprise me if many paid lip service, but then voted for their (perceived) best interest once they're in the voting booth.

You're basically stating here that an awful lot of people, punters and artists, are more right-wing or self-motivated than they profess publicly, WOM. You're free to believe that but it seems to me to be an utterly groundless accusation. The only evidence you've put forward for the conviction is that U2 moved their accounts to The Netherlands to avoid tax and that Neil Tennant seems a bit posh. That's not nearly enough to go on.

Yes, this is a pretty good summation of what I'm saying. I disagree with "an awful lot of people, punters and artists"; but would replace that "probably more than you'd think". If what I've said (but not implied) isn't nearly enough to go on, that's fine. It's one man's opinion. I don't think I'm maligning an entire country's artists but stating the rather specific belief (with supporting examples) I've stated.

[WOM]

Neil Young, a scared twit

MsD wrote: That seemed to be what you were implying. That artists adopted a leftwing stance as a pose.

And to this; no, not at all. Perhaps to Lucia's comment, in North America we get the British music, but not so much their politics. Unless you dig deep, or it's someone like Billy Bragg where it's part of the program. But no, I wasn't digging that deep into PSB's '80s politics because I liked Actually.

[WOM]

Neil Young, a scared twit

Also, to clarify the Pistols comment: people are probably less likely to wear unpopular politics on their sleeve. That's all.

I mean, how many people do you think scraped Bush/Cheney election stickers off the back of their cars after a couple of years?

[WOM]

Neil Young, a scared twit

Mainly the U2 thing, I guess. And the belief that, on the face of it, it's highly unlikely that they're the only ones.

Why do we believe so thoroughly that artists (broadly categorized) have to be lefty and hold universally lefty principles? I mean, you can be lefty in your social views (gay marriage, etc) and still think you're paying too-high taxes. In both the US and the UK, from what I've seen, it's still 'news' when you find out someone in the arts is right-wing. Isn't that a bit odd? Clearly enough of a fuss is made that other righties would just keep their traps shut, earn their keep, and quietly vote in their own self-interest.

Great swaths of the population does this; why would it be shocking to imply that this might extend to artists too?

[johnr]

Neil Young, a scared twit

G-Man wrote:

Where did Phil Collins move to in the end?

Switzerland, because his (then) wife was Swiss.

Was it that wife?

Nah, the later one (or I think even the one after that); that parody is beautiful, and I think it came out not long after Spitting Image did the Genesis Land of Confusion video, so even better.

Oh, blimey, I'm in full Phil-defence mode - not an easy place to be - but yes, Guy, she did live in Switzerland. Ole Phil baby, as I like to call him, was adamant at the time that that's why he moved; despite being an obscenely rich man (I'm one of those who'd happily go for much higher tax rates on rich people however they've made their money), he doesn't strike me (as somebody who has followed him a bit too ardently for some tastes, despite his largely execrable solo career and dreadful hair mistakes) as ever having done anything just for money, and the earlier tax comment was just a statement of his general (wrong) belief about taxation levels.

[WOM]

Neil Young, a scared twit

He wouldn't be alone. A wiki page of lefty/artist tax exiles. Probably incomplete.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_exile

[Fussbudget]

Neil Young, a scared twit

WOM wrote: Great swaths of the population does this; why would it be shocking to imply that this might extend to artists too?

They do? It seems to me that most right-wing people these days are more than happy to air their backwards political beliefs at length to anyone within earshot (as I've found out far too often.)

Also, U2 might not be all that representative of 80s British bands, what with being several orders of magnitude more successful than most of them, and also not British.

[sw2borshch]

Neil Young, a scared twit

lefty in your social views (gay marriage, etc) and still think you're paying too-high taxes

That sounds like a description of the liberal right.
They need their own party...

[Lucia Lanigan]

Neil Young, a scared twit

I feel a bizarre cocktail of pride and shame at my ignorance regarding Phil Collins, johnr. If the internet's taught us anything, it's that everything we knew was wrong.

WOM: I haven't taken this remotely seriously, I just thought you might want the insights of a pop fan from these people's home turf. I wouldn't be as ready to guess about about Canadian pop culture, class and politics off the back of seeing Bryan Adams, Alanis Morissette or, well, Neil Young videos – I'm happy to admit I don't have the least understanding of their, if you will, milieu.

The Pet Shop Boys didn't wear bowler hats because they were accountants from 1956. It was fancy dress, in the pantomime tradition, with a dig against rock star orthodoxy stitched in. I wouldn't expect anyone from abroad to clock all of that, but there it is.

MsD: loincloths?!

[Lucia Lanigan]

Neil Young, a scared twit

Just Googled. Bold.

[MsD]

Neil Young, a scared twit

They weren't looking to line their pockets there.

[Lucia Lanigan]

Neil Young, a scared twit

Heehee

[Heliotrope]

Neil Young, a scared twit

MsD wrote: I don't know how anyone can not like Only Love Can Break Your Heart (original or cover)

I play that and a few other tracks of his occasionally. Not shit.

As the resident Mission fan around here, I'll defend "Like a Hurricane."

Also the memorable love scene in Coming Home is backed by Buffalo Springfield's "Expecting to Fly."

[G-Man]

Neil Young, a scared twit

The Republican Beach Boys -- Mike Love, Bruce Johnstone and some other guys -- have cancelled their November concert in Tel Aviv. No reason given. If it's political I shall be pleasantly surprised.

Whereas Nina Hagen is giving me even more reason to dislike her by being all set to play in Tel Aviv.

[Guy Profumo]

Neil Young, a scared twit

WOM wrote: He wouldn't be alone. A wiki page of lefty/artist tax exiles. Probably incomplete.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_exile

Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker spent 1979 in Australia to avoid taxation on their previous year's income.[6]

Crikey!

[Satchmo Distel]

Neil Young, a scared twit

G-Man wrote: The Republican Beach Boys -- Mike Love, Bruce Johnstone and some other guys -- have cancelled their November concert in Tel Aviv. No reason given. If it's political I shall be pleasantly surprised.

Whereas Nina Hagen is giving me even more reason to dislike her by being all set to play in Tel Aviv.

One hypothesis (not confirmed) is that the absence of Brian Wilson from the event seems to have damaged ticket sales.