They probably don't care, but I need to say it
So today I'm bothered by the words of a couple of sixty-something rocks stars. I suppose if I can spare the brain cells to be bothered by Elton John and Eric Clapton, I must be doing all right, but that's beside the point. Sir Elton raised a few eyebrows a couple months back when he chose to play Rush Limbaugh's fourth wedding for a cool million bucks. This is seen as problematic because, well, ol' Reg is an outspoken supporter of gay rights, while Rush Limburp is a disgusting little pustule who should be popped for the good of the American body politic vocally opposed to gay rights. In an interview with Rolling Stone Elton said that Limbuagh "wasn't like that" and encouraged him to bring his husband, David Furnish, and yada yada yada.
This reminded me of the controversy surrounding Eric Clapton. I didn't know this as a teen, but the Rock Against Racism movement that sprang from the two-tone ska movement at the end of the '70s was in large part inspired by some ill-chose words by Mr. Clapton. Ol' Slowhand got likkered up and interrupted a show in '76 or '77 to complain about the "wogs" "infesting" England and how they should all go home and leave England to the white people God intended it for. He want on to say that Enoch Powell was a great man. Powell, a Tory MP at the time, had got his tighty-whiteys in an uproar because Parliament had proposed a law preventing the English from discriminating against non-whites in housing and education. In his autobiography, Clapton said something like, "I must have been shitfaced to start talking politics on stage. Everyone knows I'm the lest political rock star out there, and everyone who has heard my music knows I'm not racist. I don't see color at all." But in the same book, he goes on to say that he still thinks Powell is a great man.
See I can see where they're coming from: Politics shouldn't interfere with friendships and people should be judged by their actions as well as their words. So maybe it should be enough for me that Eric Clapton says he's not a racist, giving the kind of music he played and the musicians he admired. And maybe Elton John was right to play where he played. But then Clapton supported, and never recanted his support for, explicitly racist views, while John made nice with one of the worst enemies of the American homosexual and transgender community. So should we know them by their words or the company they keep. After all, he who lieth down with dogs gets up with fleas..., or at least a deserved reputation for consorting with assholes.
This reminded me of the controversy surrounding Eric Clapton. I didn't know this as a teen, but the Rock Against Racism movement that sprang from the two-tone ska movement at the end of the '70s was in large part inspired by some ill-chose words by Mr. Clapton. Ol' Slowhand got likkered up and interrupted a show in '76 or '77 to complain about the "wogs" "infesting" England and how they should all go home and leave England to the white people God intended it for. He want on to say that Enoch Powell was a great man. Powell, a Tory MP at the time, had got his tighty-whiteys in an uproar because Parliament had proposed a law preventing the English from discriminating against non-whites in housing and education. In his autobiography, Clapton said something like, "I must have been shitfaced to start talking politics on stage. Everyone knows I'm the lest political rock star out there, and everyone who has heard my music knows I'm not racist. I don't see color at all." But in the same book, he goes on to say that he still thinks Powell is a great man.
See I can see where they're coming from: Politics shouldn't interfere with friendships and people should be judged by their actions as well as their words. So maybe it should be enough for me that Eric Clapton says he's not a racist, giving the kind of music he played and the musicians he admired. And maybe Elton John was right to play where he played. But then Clapton supported, and never recanted his support for, explicitly racist views, while John made nice with one of the worst enemies of the American homosexual and transgender community. So should we know them by their words or the company they keep. After all, he who lieth down with dogs gets up with fleas..., or at least a deserved reputation for consorting with assholes.