Bah - just when I thought it was a pretty good decision they made in relation to The Smiths at number 1 (not to mention The Stone Roses at number 3) they go and bollocks it all up (again).

First of all, can someone please please please explain to me how U2 warrant the word 'important' in any way shape or form and let me know if they have a) influenced anyone. Ever. b) Appealed or sold records to anyone who is not a middle aged, middle class, 'New Labour' voting, Elton John fan.

Secondly - if they must go on bantering about Moz the racist (hahahahaha, you'd think they'd have wised up to this by now) then why put Public Enemy at number ten and fail to mention they're rancid, and utterly offensive, ON TAPE attack on Jews?????

Hypocrits.

But then we all knew that.

> First of all, can someone please please please explain to me how U2
> warrant the word 'important' in any way shape or form and let me know if
> they have a) influenced anyone. Ever. b) Appealed or sold records to
> anyone who is not a middle aged, middle class, 'New Labour' voting, Elton
> John fan.

This U2 thing bothers the crap out of me, too. Did you see Bono on the cover of (I think it was) Time Magazine with the American flag?

WTF???

They're a rock band with political views and a generous wallet - that's it.

If you're going to applaud U2 for their opinions that 'war is bad' and 'peace is good,' then I want to see Michael Stipe on the cover, too!

And hey, why stop there? Self-important rockstars who think that their every word seriously influences world political affairs are a dime-a-dozen in the music world; why not give all them them equal recognition?

I'm not against artists showing their support for certain causes - whether financially or merely verbally - but it truly bothers me that people like Bono truly think they're somehow more 'important' than they really are.

> And hey, why stop there? Self-important rockstars who think that their
> every word seriously influences world political affairs are a dime-a-dozen
> in the music world; why not give all them them equal recognition?

i agree with you here.

anyway... i do think bono is a sincere guy.

don`t ask me why i think so because i simply don`t know!

Talking of nationalist politics; and guesses as to the significance of Moz picking "Isle of Dogs '99" as his forthcoming UK Tour banner?

> This U2 thing bothers the crap out of me, too. Did you see Bono on the
> cover of (I think it was) Time Magazine with the American flag?

> WTF???

> They're a rock band with political views and a generous wallet - that's
> it.

> If you're going to applaud U2 for their opinions that 'war is bad' and
> 'peace is good,' then I want to see Michael Stipe on the cover, too!

> And hey, why stop there? Self-important rockstars who think that their
> every word seriously influences world political affairs are a dime-a-dozen
> in the music world; why not give all them them equal recognition?

> I'm not against artists showing their support for certain causes - whether
> financially or merely verbally - but it truly bothers me that people like
> Bono truly think they're somehow more 'important' than they really are.

> Self-important rockstars who think that their
> every word seriously influences world political affairs are a dime-a-dozen
> in the music world; why not give all them them equal recognition?

In between drinks and gigs, could it be possible that these people actually ask themselves "What could I do to make the planet a better place?" Could it be they're bored with the status quo of hunger and war and disease? Maybe they're not so shallow after all.

Give them recognition if they are due it. If they are not, ignore them.

....I agree wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, people just CANNOT get their heads round black people being racist. Blacks will holler and scream about racism this, racism that... yet they are often the most gutterlife racist pricks I've ever met. But, because they're black, well, ok then, we won't mention it. Well fuck political correctness - let's be honest about racism.... in my experience, racism DOES still exist... but it's from the blacks/Asians/whatever against the whites - and prejudice from ANYONE, I was always brought up to believe, is WRONG. And talkking of prejudice.... has anyone here been to Jamaica?My God, the Rastafari faith is INCREDIBLY prejudiced - against women AND gays.

As much of a puffed-up plonker I think Bono is, I think we have to rememeber that in Britain, Will Young, the Bruce Forsythe-jawed idiot who won Pop Idol received more votes in the Pop Idol final than the Labour Party at the last election, where they won...... so whatever we may think, pop stars really DO have more clout than politicians nowadays.

And let's not forget how many vegetarians we have here who have given up meat not because of the genuine animal suffering but solely because Morrissey thinks it's a good thing..... answers the question pretty well, I reckon...

> In between drinks and gigs, could it be possible that these people
> actually ask themselves "What could I do to make the planet a better
> place?" Could it be they're bored with the status quo of hunger and
> war and disease? Maybe they're not so shallow after all.

> Give them recognition if they are due it. If they are not, ignore them.

> ....I agree wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, people just CANNOT get their
> heads round black people being racist. Blacks will holler and scream about
> racism this, racism that... yet they are often the most gutterlife racist
> pricks I've ever met. But, because they're black, well, ok then, we won't
> mention it. Well fuck political correctness - let's be honest about
> racism.... in my experience, racism DOES still exist... but it's from the
> blacks/Asians/whatever against the whites - and prejudice from ANYONE, I
> was always brought up to believe, is WRONG. And talkking of prejudice....
> has anyone here been to Jamaica?My God, the Rastafari faith is INCREDIBLY
> prejudiced - against women AND gays.

> As much of a puffed-up plonker I think Bono is, I think we have to
> rememeber that in Britain, Will Young, the Bruce Forsythe-jawed idiot who
> won Pop Idol received more votes in the Pop Idol final than the Labour
> Party at the last election, where they won...... so whatever we may think,
> pop stars really DO have more clout than politicians nowadays.

> And let's not forget how many vegetarians we have here who have given up
> meat not because of the genuine animal suffering but solely because
> Morrissey thinks it's a good thing..... answers the question pretty well,
> I reckon...

I agree with you wholeheartedly about your point on racism and prejudice by some Black and Asian people, it really throws up a whole range of questions about certain faiths, but you shouldn't overlook the racism issue regarding white people on Asians either, which is still around in a range of forms.

As for your point about pop stars I think it is more of an indication of the material society we live in that more people voted for the Pop Idol thing than in the last election. Generally people are not interested in political and social issues anymore. The overt Tory obsessive Capitalist approach in the 80s practically killed this of, materialism is the core of Western societies today.

As a vegetarian myself I will overlook the last remark :>), needless to say I gave up eating meat in 1980, more as a result of my mother and brothers influence than any rock icon.

You'd need to be blind to fail to see that racism comes from everywhere. White people are still racist - and whether you like or not the MAJORITY of racism in the UK comes from white people. Hence Satpal Ram is still locked up.

Of course you get racist coloured people too... but I think the white race has made this understandable with their centuires of enslavement, colonialisation and prejudice. Not that I approve of ANY racism though, and black, white or purple we should all get along.

And coloured bands make silly, racist slurs too - a classic example is Cornershop calling The Manic Street Preachers 'white trash' or Asian Dub Foundation interpreting Blur's music as a call for white supremecy simply because it 'dared' to equate itself with the heady days of UK pop back in the 60s. Ultimately the views of both bands bother me.

Morrissey is obviously not a racist though, that is for sure. Anyone who claims he is must be as thick as shit and as NME supports Public Enemy (anti-Jew), Eminem (misogynist, homophobic), Shaun Ryder/ Ian Brown (both having made homphobic slurs) and harbours a Steven Wells (who hates vegetarians) I'd say they're a bunch of hypocritical tossers. All these things are forms of prejudice and to single out Morrissey for ambivalent songs, since explained fully in other publications, reeks of bitterness.

Don't forget that the black kings made much of it possible by selling millions of their own black people into slavery for profit. Also that the longest lasting form of slavery is Islamic Slavery, which has been going on for thirteen centuries now - you can still buy black slaves in places like Sudan and the slave traders aren't white. It isn't just a white guilt burden.