Politics and music make strange bedfellows, mainly because politics and musicians make even stranger ones. My beliefs on the idea can be encapsulated by a line in Mort Garson's "Wozard Of Iz", a takeoff on the "Wizard Of Oz" where The Lyin' Coward (guess who?) tells Dorothy-"though I'm listened to and trusted, those who listen all get busted". I was further reminded of this while we were opening for The Only Band That Thinks It Matters, The Clash. I was backstage when Joe Strummer came over and commemnted on a White Panther button I was wearing. I remarked that it had been given to me when music mattered. Strummer said American music hadn't counted for a while.
Angered, I asked why the Clash only sang about American politics and not their own. Further, I asked how they had the balls to sing "Jail Guitar Doors" when the MC5's Wayne Kramer went on right before them. He had more political honesty in his little finger, I further said, than the Clash had among the whole band.
As Strummer turned away I went on to ask that didn't they realize if they were regular English kids instead of stars, as in "Guns On The Roof", they'd still be in jail instead of on the road? The inspiration for the song was the band shooting live ammo off their recording studio roof.
The next day we were off the tour. Gee, was it something I said?
Um...you do mean WISTAHHH, don't you?
ReplyDelete