Nick Clegg appoints Brian Eno as youth spokesman
by Jura Watchmaker, 20 December 2007
I thought Nick Clegg (40) was a sensible, forward-looking young man who would break the tired and musty mould of British politics. But within days of his elevation to the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, Clegg has shown himself to be as daft as a brush, thereby continuing in the great English Liberal Tradition.
Clegg has, the Telegraph reports, appointed former Roxy Music keyboardist, ambient doodler and all-round pain-in-the-arse Brian Eno (57) as his advisor on youth affairs.
I have no doubt that the Dave Hill lookalike knows more about popular music than his new boss. Clegg, when asked for his opinion on the Pogues/Kirsty MacColl Fairytale of New York furore, replied “Er, I don’t know the song.” He also claimed that his fave album is “Changes” by David Bowie. No such recording exists.
Yo, Clegg - respect, innit!
Hat tip: Dave Hill
Thursday 20 December 2007 at 17:54
There is the compilation ChangesOneBowie, which came out in 1976:
1. Space Oddity
2. John, I’m Only Dancing
3. Changes
4. Ziggy Stardust
5. Suffragette City
6. The Jean Genie
7. Diamond Dogs
8. Rebel Rebel
9. Young Americans
10. Fame
11. Golden Years
Also ChangesTwoBowie 1981/1998:
1. Oh! You Pretty Things
2. Life on Mars?
3. Starman
4. Hang on to Yourself
5. Aladdin Sane
6. Fame
7. Fascination
8. TVC 15
9. Sound and Vision
10. Helden
11. DJ
12. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
13. Under Pressure
14. Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
15. This Is Not America
16. Loving the Alien
17. Absolute Beginners
18. Strangers When We Meet
Thursday 20 December 2007 at 18:05
Hak - That point is made in the Torygraph article:
Maybe the years are wrong. I have no idea, and even less interest in such things. If I were a politician, and was asked to name my favourite piece of music, I’d probably say something like “Bartók’s second violin sonata”, and suffer the consequences. (It’s not, BTW.)
Thursday 20 December 2007 at 18:07
I was about to write the same. Still, it’s a crap choice for a favourite album, suggesting he probably hasn’t bought one in about 30 years. Not long afterwards, Eno collaborated with Bowie, which is possibly how he heard of him. He’s worked with U2 as well, so he’s bound to know where it’s at.
Thursday 20 December 2007 at 18:19
Anyway…wtf are ‘youth affairs’ and why should anyone give a fuck about what youth want or need as regards their ‘affairs’? They’re all ignorant tossers — that’s why they get sent to school in the first fucking place.
Thursday 20 December 2007 at 18:24
Is it me or are they thinking that Youth covers people who are 40-50? What… are the presenters for Blue Peter too smart to take the job or what?
Thursday 20 December 2007 at 18:34
Sorry hadn’t read the story when I wroted the comment–had to run away and peel tatties. Tim’s right about the 30 years thing … not that there’s anything wrong with a 30yr old record. But a compilation? Bet Clegg really likes Coldplay and James Blunt.
Thursday 20 December 2007 at 19:13
James Blunt? Clegg’s daft, but surely not that daft.
Friday 21 December 2007 at 0:35
Eno gets off with a lot as he wrote Baby’s On Fire, and had a hand in Talking Heads Once In A Lifetime, but politically he’s clearly a complete turnip. And I too was impressed by the Lib Dems appointing a youth spokesman some 10 years older than their party leader.
Friday 21 December 2007 at 1:12
Yeah fridgemonkey. On the one hand - early Roxy Music, the Bowie collaborations, Talking Heads & some great solo stuff - on the other hand U2, ambient, self-censoring of the great My Life In the Bush of Ghosts album and the Impeach Blair emarrassment.
Luckily I can still call him a cunt and listen to the good stuff.
More importantly, what the fuck is he wearing in that pic?
Friday 21 December 2007 at 3:41
Lest we forget, the albums he made with Cluster / Harmonia should be in the collection of every self-respecting head. At some point he made the decision to look less like the saxophonist from the Muppets, and more like Right Said Fred, and it seemed to have an adverse effect on his music.
Maybe Clegg could enlist Shane MacGowan as health spokesman.
Friday 21 December 2007 at 6:31
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno wrote the Microsoft ’start up’ sound–the most evil sound in the universe. Burn him! Burn him, I say!
Friday 21 December 2007 at 10:17
Attempting to relate to the yoof, as well as being toe-curlingly embarrassing is, as Will points out, always and everywhere a mistake. It can also cause brain-damage.
This, and the fact that along with posh boy Cameron there are now two party leaders younger than me, leads me inexorably to the conclusion that Nick Clegg must be killed at once.
Friday 21 December 2007 at 11:11
Friday 21 December 2007 at 16:25
This reminds me of the days when Putins mini-me Schröder was cancellor of Germany. When Schröders own mini-me Sigmar Gabriel, Ministerpräsident (roughly the equivalent of an American Governor) of Lower Saxony, lost an election and his job, Schröder had to find a new post for his cronie, and made him Bundespopbeauftragter (Federal officer in charge of popular cultur affairs). This was of course bluntly unconstitutional, the Länder (roughly the equivalent of an American state) rather than the federal authorities being in charge of cultural affairs under the German constitution, but of course such legal niceties count very little for a putinist. Poor old Sigmar (isn’t there a deity in the warhammer roleplaying system that wears the same name?) wasn’t very happy with his new job, however, for in German, “poppen” means “to fuck”, and “Bundespopbeauftragter” could be interpreted by a German listener as “federal officer in charge of fucking affairs”, wich has made Gabriel a loughing stock ever since. It also earned him the nickname Siggi Pop.
Friday 21 December 2007 at 16:34
But Johannes, every government has at least one ‘Bundespopbeauftragter’. Take John Prescott, for example.
Saturday 22 December 2007 at 3:39
http://shirazsocialist.wordpress.com/2007/12/22/in-support-of-clegg/
Saturday 22 December 2007 at 7:43
It reminds me of Alan Partridge, saying he liked the Beatles, and being asked which his favourite album was. He thinks for a moment, and says: ‘I think it would have to be ‘The best of the Beatles’
Saturday 22 December 2007 at 20:11
On the one hand - early Roxy Music, the Bowie collaborations, Talking Heads
And Nazi filth Nico.
Saturday 22 December 2007 at 21:09
Never given much thought to Nico - apart from her being on the most over-rated album by the most over-rated band in the history of the universe anywhere, anytime. What a vile piece of work.
Talking Heads were also shite, especially in their funk [hahahahahaha] period - yeah Dave, you’re proper edgy and quirky.
Sunday 23 December 2007 at 0:36
Aye. ‘tragic beauty’ my big fat brown arse.
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2034504,00.html
“Playing in Berlin, Nico triggered an audience riot by performing the German national anthem Das Lied der Deutschen, (also covered on The End), complete with verses that had been banned after 1945 on account of their Nazi associations (they referred to territories ceded at Versailles and eventually seized back by Hitler). This incensed the crowd of students and hippies, who started hurling plastic seat cushions at the stage, according to Williams. “[Brian] Eno making air-raid noises on his synth, Cale pounding his piano, Nico intoning ‘Deutschland, uber alles’, cushions flying - it was quite something.” “
Sunday 23 December 2007 at 1:07
“And Nazi filth Nico”
John Cale produced her solo albums not Eno. I don’t think Eno & Nico had too much to do with each other than appearing on a live LP with others in the 70s. I think also that her covering Deutschland Uber Alles is not an alignement with Nazism but more a reaction against it - like rubbing the faces of people into their history. She left Germany and lived abroad for the rest of her adult life - I have no idea if this was a political stance or not - she was a smackhead, I won’t attempt to try and understand her reasoning. Nazi filth? Nope. “A vile piece of work”? Nope. Just fucked up - like Shane McGowan x 10.
Sunday 23 December 2007 at 1:22
“Every once in a while there’d be something about Jews and I’d be, ‘But Nico, I’m Jewish,’ and she was like ‘Yes, yes, I don’t mean you.’ … Worse, on one occasion, she acted those beliefs out, explosively … suddenly she said ‘I hate black people,’ and smashed a wineglass on the table and stuck it in the girl’s eye. There was lots of blood and screaming. Fortunately she just twisted it around her eye socket, so the glass never reached [the eye] but it’s not like she was being cautious.”
Sunday 23 December 2007 at 1:28
Nico — Nazi filth.
Monday 24 December 2007 at 0:42
God that’s repulsive. I take it all back.