When did it become OK to celebrate mass murder? If The Sun is to be believed, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher is planning to mark his upcoming 40th birthday – 29 May – with a “tyrants and despots” party. He’ll be dressed as Joseph Stalin, while his mate, Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno, is planning to go as Genghis Khan, the bloodthirsty conqueror who enslaved Asia in the 12th/13th Century.
What larks.
Meanwhile, and more troublingly, Bryan Ferry has been praising the achievements of the Nazis. Speaking to German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag, the former Roxy Music star said he was inspired by the aesthetic accomplishments of the Third Reich.
“My God, the Nazis knew how to put themselves in the limelight and present themselves. Leni Riefenstahl’s movies and Albert Speer’s buildings and the mass parades and the flags – just amazing. Really beautiful.”
Ferry, who is currently starring in a high-profile ad campaign for Marks & Spencer, also admitted that he calls his West London studio his “Fuhrerbunker”.
The singer’s remarks drew instant criticism. Labour peer Greville Janner said: "It is deeply offensive when people think they can joke about the Nazis. Riefenstahl was part of the Nazi movement and the Nazis were murderers.”
On a broader level, it’s always unsettling when musicians reveal right-wing tendencies. There’s something about the act of performing and creating that seems inherently liberal – and when you discover evidence to the contrary, it’s a shock to the system. Remember when The Spice Girls pledged their support for John Major’s Conservative Party in 1997? Or when Busted’s Charlie Simpson – just 21 at the time – said he admired the “Tory way of doing things”?
Then again, rock has always flirted with the trappings of totalitarianism – think of David Bowie’s 1976 Thin White Duke persona (an image recently reprised by Velvet Revolver’s Scott Weiland, who wears a Nazi SS hat onstage). Similarly, Marilyn Manson’s live shows during 2000-2002 deliberately mimicked the fearsome scale and grandeur of the Nuremberg rallies.
However, there’s a crucial difference between toying with the iconography of a brutal regime – as guests will no doubt be doing at Noel’s birthday bash – and explicitly praising it, as Bryan Ferry has done. It’s doubtful whether his comments will be enough to damage his career. But, for a star whose debonair sense of style has made him an icon of sophistication, the controversy is likely to leave an indelible stain on Ferry’s reputation.
12:07 PM | 16/04/2007
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**OASIS ROCK’n’ROLL**
WELCOME OUT INTO THE SUNSHIIINNNNNNNNNEE.
“I live my life in the CITTYYYY with just the party way out” HAV’IT.
**OASIS ROCK’n’ROLL**
Posted by Zola-Holly Valance-Magic at 1:36 PM | 18/04/2007 | Report Abuse
You say Bowie Flirted with 'Nazism'... No Bowie openly supported facism and Nazism and quotes from him and Enoch Powells House Guitarist "Eric Clapton" Actully led to the formation of Rock against Racism.
Posted by Paul at 6:07 PM | 29/04/2007 | Report Abuse
This Bryan Ferry character isn't in Kula Shaker by any chance is he?
Posted by Bran at 7:36 PM | 29/04/2007 | Report Abuse
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