Rock stars and their personas

stratology

I've been watching the excellent PureMix YouTube series where Andrew Scheps interviews sound engineers.

The thread title may be confusing 'personas' with 'personalities'. 

Engineer Trina Shoemaker talked about Iggy Pop being a (stage) 'persona', when she worked with him in the studio, he was just James, a serious, hard working, dedicated musician.



Now when it comes to personalities:

Both Susan Rogers and Sylvia Massy describe Prince as an incredibly hard working, shy, kind person.
He would often give free concerts in places like children's hospitals in the afternoon before a gig - under the contractual condition that the press cannot be informed.


On the other end of the spectrum:
Last year, John Lydon came out publicly as a supporter of Trump and Brexit. So much for Anarchy in the UK...

manicguitarist

Crikey. Reading this....it would seem that diversity of political opinion isn’t allowed any more. And not following the accepted line makes you a pariah. Very rock and roll

stratology

manicguitarist said:

Crikey. Reading this....it would seem that diversity of political opinion isn’t allowed any more. And not following the accepted line makes you a pariah. Very rock and roll

No. Guys like Ted Nugent and Brian May are openly right wing, and stand by it. I've never heard an unkind word about Brian May. He wrote 'We Will Rock You', which is as rock and roll as it gets.

It's an entirely different ballgame when a musician pretends to be an anarchist or left wing icon, and turns out to be right wing.

manicguitarist

And Ted is endlessly mocked and berated as a loon. 
Curious though-what leads you to label May as right wing?

Neill

stratology said:

manicguitarist said:

Crikey. Reading this....it would seem that diversity of political opinion isn’t allowed any more. And not following the accepted line makes you a pariah. Very rock and roll

No. Guys like Ted Nugent and Brian May are openly right wing, and stand by it. I've never heard an unkind word about Brian May. He wrote 'We Will Rock You', which is as rock and roll as it gets.

It's an entirely different ballgame when a musician pretends to be an anarchist or left wing icon, and turns out to be right wing.

manicguitarist said:

And Ted is endlessly mocked and berated as a loon. 
Curious though-what leads you to label May as right wing?

Brian May's political allegiances change with the wind, over the years he has variously supported the Tories, Labour and the Green party.  I don't think you could pigeonhole him as "right wing".  

stratology

manicguitarist said:

And Ted is endlessly mocked and berated as a loon. 
Curious though-what leads you to label May as right wing?

That's how May describes himself. Also, see Wikipedia for details. Never on the far right, more of a centrist conservative. Although his animal rights activism has clashed with the party line.

 

Freebird

manicguitarist said:

Crikey. Reading this....it would seem that diversity of political opinion isn’t allowed any more. And not following the accepted line makes you a pariah. Very rock and roll

A common side effect of indoctrination is not knowing that you have been indoctrinated.

monquixote

manicguitarist said:

Crikey. Reading this....it would seem that diversity of political opinion isn’t allowed any more. And not following the accepted line makes you a pariah. Very rock and roll

You think Jon Bon Jovi is a "blow hard" because he's left wing

You are free to have whatever political opinions you want and people are free to think you are a cock if they don't like them.

poopot

Two pages in and no ones mentioned Lemmy?

SPECTRUM001

I get to meet a few famous names through my work. They are usually very pleasant and down to earth - perhaps because we have a reason to be in conversation.

On occasion if I reveal I am a fan, it can swing either way - either they are quietly pleased or can become distant. 

Two stories -

I had a really nice lunch with Neil Innes a few years ago. He was great - witty and engaging. Also very interested and inclusive - so not stand-offish at all.

My boss used to speak to Joe Strummer fairly regularly. She told me he was the epitome of good manners, and always wanted to know how her day-to-day was going, work etc. The opposite of self centred/oriented.

manicguitarist

monquixote said:

manicguitarist said:

Crikey. Reading this....it would seem that diversity of political opinion isn’t allowed any more. And not following the accepted line makes you a pariah. Very rock and roll

You think Jon Bon Jovi is a "blow hard" because he's left wing

You are free to have whatever political opinions you want and people are free to think you are a cock if they don't like them.

No, I think he’s a blow hard because he acts all way cool, party hard, yet then lectures people on how to run their lives.

manicguitarist

poopot said:

Two pages in and no ones mentioned Lemmy?

I like Lemmy. I’d forgotten him. A proper chap. Entirely honest with who he was.
Spent an hour with him at The Rainbow a few years back.