Posted by admin on 30 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: news, protest
The New York Times ran a short piece about the then 16 year-old Gail Renard who snuck into the bed-in organised John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Montreal in 1969. At one stage, she witnessed some 50 people sing “Give Peace a Chance”. Choirboys included Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg as well as Petula Clark. [...]
Posted by admin on 16 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: Eurovision, news, protest
I sometimes wonder if there’s a large book with complaints one can make about Eurovision entries that people pull out every year. French MP Jacques Myard is complaining that France’s Eurovision is partly in English. Post-modern dandy Sebastien Tellier’s “Divine” is in English (of sorts). Almost predictably, a number of politicians have taken it upon [...]
Posted by admin on 21 Dec 2007 | Tagged as: news, politics, protest
I’ve always been a little uncomfortable with the campaign against dancehall, as it has echoes of the thought police in action. But I’ve always been very uncomfortable with some of the extremely violent anti-gay lyrics as well. Now the British resort Brighton has become the first UK town to officially ban licensed venues from playing [...]
Posted by admin on 13 Aug 2007 | Tagged as: meanings, news, protest
Irish band Republic of Loose have found themselves on the wrong side of the fence in South Africa, where their single “Break” was picking up good airplay. According to a report in the Irish Independent, a DJ came to the conclusion that the song was about unprotected anal sex. I don’t think I’d come to [...]
Posted by admin on 14 Jun 2007 | Tagged as: meanings, protest
Remember all the fuss about the anti-gay songs coming from Jamaica? A step forward has been taken, with three of the best-known performers - Beenie Man, Sizzla and Capleton - actually signing a charter to renounce homophobia and condemn violence against gays. The “Reggae Compassion Act” now hopes to get the support of the other [...]
Posted by admin on 15 Apr 2007 | Tagged as: meanings, news, politics, protest
Who can and cannot call black women “whores”? Who can or cannot call coloured people “niggaz” (as if the z makes any real difference)? It’s funny that it took an aging loudmouth radio presenter to finally bring the issue of bling lyrics into the public arena. And since then, a lot of the debate has [...]
Posted by admin on 11 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: news, politics, protest
No, of course it’s not true. It wasn’t really Tony Blair. It’s a well-known fact that the British Prime Minister was in a band briefly in university. Ugly Rumours never went very far. But a British pressure group decided to record a version of “War” with a Blair lookalike and try and get in the [...]
Posted by admin on 04 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Eurovision, news, politics, protest
Eurovision wouldn’t be Eurovision without a good argument. Last year, Iceland provided the comic relief with a song that included the F word. This time, some people are questioning if Israel is not pushing the limit of humour a little with a topical comedy track called “Push the Button”… Who exactly should be pushing the [...]
Posted by admin on 22 Feb 2007 | Tagged as: politics, protest
As its policing role brings it to some of the world’s most violent areas, the UN is used to dealing with violence. But people in the impoverished island of Haiti are having a go at the UN using a more subtle weapon: lyrics. The country hosts some 9000 UN troops, charged with bringing stability and [...]
Posted by admin on 06 Nov 2006 | Tagged as: awards, protest
In some ways, it’s good to see Boy George back in catty form. Unless you are former members of Culture Club, that is. The singer and DJ has been scathing of his criticism of the band and its new singer, Sam Butcher, who are currently organising a 20th anniversary tour in the UK as Cultue [...]