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Post by Arthur Figgis on Jun 21, 2021 19:10:14 GMT
If my granny had a beard... oh wait, she does.
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sirbenjamin
IFP
True fame is reading your name written in graffiti, but without the words 'is a wanker' after it.
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Post by sirbenjamin on Jun 24, 2021 12:14:46 GMT
I realise as a bass player I'm biased but...
Queen could have survived the death of Mercury. George Michael, Paul Rodgers or possibly even Adam Lambert could have filled the void. Sort of.
What Queen couldn't survive was the concurrent retirement of John Deacon, which effectively reduced a band to a duo. He held them together both musically and egotistically, being the only member without a big fuck-off ego to manage.
I went to one of the Q+PR gigs in the mid-Naughties wearing a 'bring back John Deacon' t-shirt as a kind of protest. The actual concert was ok but massively overproduced and heavily dependent on half a dozen auxiliary musicians at the back of the stage doing the hard work and not getting the credit or limelight.
In contrast I'd seen a Queen tribute band a few weeks earlier and they were far more convincing as a four-piece with no additional faffery.
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iang
Lib Dem
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Post by iang on Jun 24, 2021 12:57:54 GMT
First band I ever saw. Do slightly wonder how this is alternative political history mind
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Post by Defenestrated Fipplebox on Jun 24, 2021 14:06:07 GMT
First band I ever saw. Do slightly wonder how this is alternative political history mind
The politics of music is a minefield!
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sirbenjamin
IFP
True fame is reading your name written in graffiti, but without the words 'is a wanker' after it.
Posts: 4,979
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Post by sirbenjamin on Jun 24, 2021 16:51:50 GMT
Interestingly, three of the four members of Queen were pretty right-wing at one point. Roger Taylor was the only real leftie.
Brian May has entirely lost the plot in the last few years, choosing bizarre hills on which to die like the hunting ban, which has been law for years anyway. His idea on Question Time for a 'first AND second past the post' system was a particular highlight.
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sirbenjamin
IFP
True fame is reading your name written in graffiti, but without the words 'is a wanker' after it.
Posts: 4,979
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Post by sirbenjamin on Jun 24, 2021 16:57:48 GMT
The memory of watching Q+PR in Cardiff will always be inextricably linked to the 2005 Election for me. I think it was on the Saturday after, and concluded a fortnight of traveling all over the place and trying to position myself for candidacy in 2010 or whenever, strategically networking under the guise of 'campaigning'. While trying to impress a girl. Hmm...
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Post by finsobruce on Jun 24, 2021 17:01:03 GMT
The memory of watching Q+PR in Cardiff will always be inextricably linked to the 2005 Election for me. I think it was on the Saturday after, and concluded a fortnight of traveling all over the place and trying to position myself for candidacy in 2010 or whenever, strategically networking under the guise of 'campaigning'. While trying to impress a girl. Hmm... The question is - was Adam in Stroud at that game? |
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Post by heslingtonian on Jun 24, 2021 18:29:12 GMT
Interestingly, three of the four members of Queen were pretty right-wing at one point. Roger Taylor was the only real leftie. Brian May has entirely lost the plot in the last few years, choosing bizarre hills on which to die like the hunting ban, which has been law for years anyway. His idea on Question Time for a 'first AND second past the post' system was a particular highlight. I'd say Queen would vote in the following way: Mercury - possibly didn't vote as imagine politics weren't a massive priority to him which in itself proves he probably wasn't Left wing. He didn't appear bothered about performing in South Africa in the 1980s either. Fairly libertarian I would reckon and may have voted Conservative. May - has been quite upfront about having voted Conservative in the past and now hates the Party. Presumably now votes for whichever Party has the best chance of beating the Conservatives. Taylor - as others have said, probably a Left winger. His Nazis song is about the only overtly political thing I've seen from him and hating Nazis just makes you a decent person not necessarily on the Left. Deacon - I strongly expect he votes Conservative. Lives in Putney and reads the Daily Mail as his newspaper of choice. Supposedly his biggest interest in the Group in recent years is managing the finances. |
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Merseymike
Independent
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Post by Merseymike on Jun 24, 2021 18:43:41 GMT
Interestingly, three of the four members of Queen were pretty right-wing at one point. Roger Taylor was the only real leftie. Brian May has entirely lost the plot in the last few years, choosing bizarre hills on which to die like the hunting ban, which has been law for years anyway. His idea on Question Time for a 'first AND second past the post' system was a particular highlight. I'd say Queen would vote in the following way: Mercury - possibly didn't vote as imagine politics weren't a massive priority to him which in itself proves he probably wasn't Left wing. He didn't appear bothered about performing in South Africa in the 1980s either. Fairly libertarian I would reckon and may have voted Conservative. May - has been quite upfront about having voted Conservative in the past and now hates the Party. Presumably now votes for whichever Party has the best chance of beating the Conservatives. Taylor - as others have said, probably a Left winger. His Nazis song is about the only overtly political thing I've seen from him and hating Nazis just makes you a decent person not necessarily on the Left. Deacon - I strongly expect he votes Conservative. Lives in Putney and reads the Daily Mail as his newspaper of choice. Supposedly his biggest interest in the Group in recent years is managing the finances. I recall interviewing an author who knew Freddie Mercury well - they were good friends - it wasn't long after his death and he later went on to write a book about him. Yes, I recall him saying to me that Freddie Mercury wasn't at all political. |
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Post by heslingtonian on Jun 24, 2021 19:05:21 GMT
I'd say Queen would vote in the following way: Mercury - possibly didn't vote as imagine politics weren't a massive priority to him which in itself proves he probably wasn't Left wing. He didn't appear bothered about performing in South Africa in the 1980s either. Fairly libertarian I would reckon and may have voted Conservative. May - has been quite upfront about having voted Conservative in the past and now hates the Party. Presumably now votes for whichever Party has the best chance of beating the Conservatives. Taylor - as others have said, probably a Left winger. His Nazis song is about the only overtly political thing I've seen from him and hating Nazis just makes you a decent person not necessarily on the Left. Deacon - I strongly expect he votes Conservative. Lives in Putney and reads the Daily Mail as his newspaper of choice. Supposedly his biggest interest in the Group in recent years is managing the finances. I recall interviewing an author who knew Freddie Mercury well - they were good friends - it wasn't long after his death and he later went on to write a book about him. Yes, I recall him saying to me that Freddie Mercury wasn't at all political. Certainly believable although I do wonder in the entertainment industry whether "wasn't at all political" is a polite way of saying wasn't Left wing as that's the default position of most artistic celebrities. Incidentally I understand George Michael was quite political. A friend of mine who worked in Democratic Services at Camden Council once told me that George Michael always voted including once in a council by-election when turnout was very low. I would assume he was a Labour or Green voter. |
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J.G.Harston
Lib Dem
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Post by J.G.Harston on Jun 24, 2021 20:29:00 GMT
Interestingly, three of the four members of Queen were pretty right-wing at one point. Roger Taylor was the only real leftie. Brian May has entirely lost the plot in the last few years, choosing bizarre hills on which to die like the hunting ban, which has been law for years anyway. His idea on Question Time for a 'first AND second past the post' system was a particular highlight. We have that already in multi-member all-up council seats. |
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Merseymike
Independent
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Post by Merseymike on Jun 24, 2021 20:56:41 GMT
I recall interviewing an author who knew Freddie Mercury well - they were good friends - it wasn't long after his death and he later went on to write a book about him. Yes, I recall him saying to me that Freddie Mercury wasn't at all political. Certainly believable although I do wonder in the entertainment industry whether "wasn't at all political" is a polite way of saying wasn't Left wing as that's the default position of most artistic celebrities. Incidentally I understand George Michael was quite political. A friend of mine who worked in Democratic Services at Camden Council once told me that George Michael always voted including once in a council by-election when turnout was very low. I would assume he was a Labour or Green voter. George Michael was Labour. Publicly so. He gave away a lot of money to different causes. So did Elton John - I recall a friend of mine who was HIV+. He went to a big gig in London, and everyone who was HIV+ got a free ticket paid for by Elton. I recall the conversation being about why Freddie never came out, and he talked about it in that context - that he just wasn't a political person. I don't think he was being polite. |
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carlton43
Reform Party
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Post by carlton43 on Jun 24, 2021 23:54:34 GMT
John Rhino Edwards has been in Status Quo for longer than Alan Lancaster I suppose that must mean something, but I cannot imagine what? |
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slon
Non-Aligned
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Post by slon on Jun 25, 2021 8:53:40 GMT
John Rhino Edwards has been in Status Quo for longer than Alan Lancaster I suppose that must mean something, but I cannot imagine what? In this context Status Quo is the name of a popular music ensemble, not a Latin phrase meaning the established order. |
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The Bishop
Labour
Down With Factionalism!
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Post by The Bishop on Jun 25, 2021 10:02:45 GMT
Interestingly, three of the four members of Queen were pretty right-wing at one point. Roger Taylor was the only real leftie. Brian May has entirely lost the plot in the last few years, choosing bizarre hills on which to die like the hunting ban, which has been law for years anyway. His idea on Question Time for a 'first AND second past the post' system was a particular highlight. His falling out with the Tories was more to do with badger culling I thought. |
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Post by gwynthegriff on Jun 25, 2021 11:45:19 GMT
Interestingly, three of the four members of Queen were pretty right-wing at one point. Roger Taylor was the only real leftie. Brian May has entirely lost the plot in the last few years, choosing bizarre hills on which to die like the hunting ban, which has been law for years anyway. His idea on Question Time for a 'first AND second past the post' system was a particular highlight. His falling out with the Tories was more to do with badger culling I thought. Could we have a cull of celebrities who think their political views are of any more significance than those of any other member of the public? |
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sirbenjamin
IFP
True fame is reading your name written in graffiti, but without the words 'is a wanker' after it.
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Post by sirbenjamin on Jun 26, 2021 10:53:17 GMT
Interestingly, three of the four members of Queen were pretty right-wing at one point. Roger Taylor was the only real leftie. Brian May has entirely lost the plot in the last few years, choosing bizarre hills on which to die like the hunting ban, which has been law for years anyway. His idea on Question Time for a 'first AND second past the post' system was a particular highlight. We have that already in multi-member all-up council seats.
No we don't.
The 'post' in 'first past the post' refers to 50% of the seats plus one, signalling the overall majority required to govern. By definition it isn't possible for more than one party to get past the post.
Brian May had a high profile slot to express a political opinion and demonstrated that he didn't have a fucking clue what he was talking about. Even being generous, his idea would amount to: when a party achieves an overall majority they should be forced to govern in coalition with the party that comes second.
The whole point of a post is that it's immutable. People use FPTP to mean 'whoever gets the most votes', as if there was some sort of infinitely moveable post existing in every seat are silly. It's a post FFS.
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Post by greenchristian on Jun 28, 2021 3:28:34 GMT
We have that already in multi-member all-up council seats.
No we don't.
The 'post' in 'first past the post' refers to 50% of the seats plus one, signalling the overall majority required to govern. By definition it isn't possible for more than one party to get past the post.
Brian May had a high profile slot to express a political opinion and demonstrated that he didn't have a fucking clue what he was talking about. Even being generous, his idea would amount to: when a party achieves an overall majority they should be forced to govern in coalition with the party that comes second.
The whole point of a post is that it's immutable. People use FPTP to mean 'whoever gets the most votes', as if there was some sort of infinitely moveable post existing in every seat are silly. It's a post FFS.
I have literally never heard anyone use "FPTP" to mean "a system where a party has to get 50%+1 seats in order the be the government". By that definition AMS and STV are variations of FPTP, rather than alternatives to it. |
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Post by greenchristian on Jun 28, 2021 3:30:43 GMT
His falling out with the Tories was more to do with badger culling I thought. Could we have a cull of celebrities who think their political views are of any more significance than those of any other member of the public? In this case, his support for this cause (combined with another Brian) gave us this: Which, in my opinion, actually justifies the celebrity involvement.
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Post by gwynthegriff on Jun 28, 2021 11:38:55 GMT
Could we have a cull of celebrities who think their political views are of any more significance than those of any other member of the public? In this case, his support for this cause (combined with another Brian) gave us this: Which, in my opinion, actually justifies the celebrity involvement.
I assume the mushroom refers to the magic diet of whoever put that together? The inclination of animal righters to anthropomorphise is one reason I find it difficult to join them in common cause. |
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