Occasionally I come across a song that just is "wrong". I'm not talking about Crazy Frog sort of wrong, the wrongness I mean is of something deeper. Sometimes it's the subject matter, the lyrics and occasionally the artist themselves.
Here's an example: Peter Wyngarde was famous as the wonderfully camp lounge lizard detective, Jason King back in the late 60s and early 70s. As was common then (and now I suppose) these actors are offered recording contracts for one-off albums. More often than not it's a chance for the actors to do karaoke cabaret classics but Wyngarde took the contract very seriously and recorded what is one of the most bizarre albums I've ever heard. Believe me, I've listened to Arab Strap, Captain Beefheart, that album Bjork did when she was 11 but Wyngarde's album blows all those into the water. One of the tracks is him reading out a letter to the Times in around 1968 by a young skinhead girl of 15. Others are equally as barking but there is one track that hits the gutter and keeps crawling. No wonder the record company withdrew the album.
It's sensitively called 'Rape'. The song title really is the least of the song's worries. It starts with Peter W ruminating on the different types of rape as if he's telling you over a dinner table. To add to the nastiness there's also a female backing singer screaming 'rape'. Then we get not so casual racial stereotyping and just downright bigotry. I know we need to consider the historical context of prevailing attitudes before judging but was rape ever a subject for cheap laughs?
Compare and contrast with the Rhoda Dakar song 'The Boiler'. This deals with the same subject matter and pulls no punches but you know where they are coming from with the song (harrowing though it is) and they're not doing it for the giggles.
Another wrong song is this one by Charles Manson (yes, THE Charles Manson). The title doesn't help either! The reason I feel really uneasy about this is that I actually quite like the tune. Now, Manson did have a minor musical career and (I think) had links with Dennis Wilson so he obviously had musical talent. A documentary I saw on the Manson Family made a big deal of how music was an important part of bonding within their cult. The Manson Family Singers recorded 'Family Jams' whilst Manson was on trial for the Tate murders. It was recorded secretly with several members still on the run from the FBI at the time. The lyrics are littered with macabre and sinister references to their crimes. The album itself is a typical post-hippy, choral affair with the all the cynicism of its contemporaries. It's not too bad if you're looking for artistic merit but you can't help but think about the people behind those voices and what they had done.
I find it strange that certain artists are so toxic nowadays that their music is never played. Case in point is Gary Glitter. No-one listens to his music, it really is that cut and dried but when you consider Pete Townsend is still rocking with the Who (aren't they down to play Glastonbury this year?), R Kelly, Ike Turner, Chuck Berry, Phil Spector and a whole host of wife-beaters still have mass appeal then I have to wonder what the rule is. Should we disassociate Gary Glitter the artist with Gary Glitter person? Should Pete Townsend be told that he is not welcome at Glastonbury? As you might have guessed, I don't have any answers to these questions.
The will of God, whatever you wanna call it call it Jesus, call it Mohammed, call it your heart call it whatever you wanna call it. It's still music to me. It's there. It's the will of life." - Charles Manson
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