Thursday, October 01, 2020

Johnny Rotten Lines Up With Ted Nugent, Scott Baio, Colby Covington And The Duck Dynasty Guy

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It's a truism that when people get old, they turn conservative. Not me. But Johnny Rotten... I met him a few times but never really got to know him; never really wanted to. As much as I was in awe of his songs, I always thought he seemed creepy. I mean I once found Sid Vicious in a closet at a party overdosing and took him to a clinic... but Rotten seemed way creepier than that. So, yeah, he's a Trump supporter. Emma Nolan did an update for Newsweek.

Lydon's an old man-- 64. So why not? I'm guessing he's got some money too. Rich old white guys... most of them are for Trump. And he's always been a contrary-for-the-sake-of-being-contrary kind of guy... looking for recognition for himself to boot. He backs Brexit and he backs Trump. Some Sex Pistols fans-- and Public Image fans-- are disappointed, yours truly not among them. I could care less.




A tweet showing the "God Save the Queen" singer wearing a pro-Donald Trump 'Make America Great Again' T-shirt has gone viral on Twitter this week, with one former fan decrying his idol's political views.

The tweet, which has been liked more than 18,000 times reads: "10 year old me is absolutely gutted that this is what his hero turned into. John Lydon, about as punk as a game of golf. Big fuckinging poser."

Podcaster and satirist Blindboy Boatclub of the Rubberbandits fame retweeted photos and asked: "How does this happen to a person? He was a working class Irish lad growing up in London. He's been vocally anti imperial. His fucking autobiography is called No Irish, No Blacks, No dogs. Is it money? Is it age? He's been an eejit for a while, but this is bad."

Another person quoted the tweet with a quote from Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong who has criticized Lydon in the past.

They wrote: "Billie Joe Armstrong had the best comment about the ethos of John Lydon and the Sex Pistols: 'I am the anti-Christ/Please buy our merchandise.'"


Ittttt'ssssssss... Johnny!

Many online are questioning whether Lydon is wearing the MAGA shirt to be provocative and not because he actually supports Trump.

However, in a 2017 NPR interview, Lydon called Trump "absolutely magnificent."

"I think he's absolutely magnificent. He's a total cat amongst the pigeons," he said at the time. "It's got everybody now involving themselves in a political way. And I've been struggling for years to get people to wake up and do that.

In the same year, during a Good Morning Britain appearance, Lydon said Trump was a "complicated fellow" who had been "smeared" by the "left-wing media."

"One journalist once said to me, is he the political Sex Pistol? In a way.

"What I dislike is the left-wing media in America are trying to smear the bloke as a racist and that's completely not true.

"There are many, many problems with him as a human being but he's not that and there just might be a chance something good will come out of that situation because he terrifies politicians.

"This is a joy to behold for me. Dare I say, [he could be] a possible friend."

Can you love someone's music and just ignore what they are-- (or have turned into)? Of course, you can. Absolutely; it's never been a problem for me and I was involved with musicians for almost as long as Lydon has been alive. Try it for youself. That first Pistols album is truly amazing.





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6 Comments:

At 9:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

We have the answer to the eternal question of "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?"

Once again the answer is evident. It has.

 
At 10:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

He and Morrissey should unite make their own PAC, if they haven’t already of course.

 
At 11:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Never Mind the Bollocks is a great album, but wasn't a lot of the Sex Pistols schtick essentially ripped from Richard Hell and the NY Punk scene?

Not surprised that Johnny Rotten has, or at least pretends to have, lame politics.

 
At 3:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You know, Howie, that "Spank Me While I Masturbate" fits nicely with the music from "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" by Ian Drury and the Blockheads.

 
At 3:48 PM, Blogger mainstreeter said...

He looks like one of David Lee Roth’s video characters from the 80s with extra padding

 
At 10:12 PM, Anonymous Chairman Ralph said...

I think it's ironic that a guy who made his name and reputation speaking truth to power ends up supporting one of the worst abusers of it.

But that's not the only groan-worthy maneuver to bear his name, as you'll see here:
https://www.theadvocates.org/2019/04/johnny-rotten-fumes-as-homeless-invade-his-venice-beach-house/

I don't think his wealth is the only reason for his newfound attitudes, though. The other keys lie in his contrarianism for its own sake, as you point out, and his relentless stress on individualism -- left unchecked, you come out the other side, and this is what often results.

He's not the first star to suffer from this syndrome, and definitely won't be the last -- though I don't remember him saying anything reactionary in the mid-'90s, when I interviewed him twice (on PiL's That What Is Not tour, and for NO IRISH, NO BLACKS, NO DOGS).

That said, I doubt I'll throw out my Pistols or PiL records, either, or for that matter, the scrapbooks I kept on both. It all goes back to one of my favorite Ian Hunter sayings: "Trust the message, not the messenger." And therein lies the dilemma.

 

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