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Journalism of Courage
The Black Lips,an indie rock band that played in Chennai late last month,was allegedly chased out of the country by the local police. The reason was the garage-rockers raunchy act onstage. A US magazine quoted Black Lips drummer Joe Bradley on the Chennai show. He said that bassist Jared Swilley got the crowd riled up with his commentsweak ass and bitchbefore guitarist Cole Alexander mooned the audience,kissed guitarist Ian Saint Pe and then dove into the crowd.
This stage act would hardly raise eyebrows elsewhere for there have been other vile acts abroad. Forty years ago,a man got on stage and took off his pants. The long-haired,bearded,25-year-old singer exposed himself,briefly rolling down his leather pants and gyrating lasciviously. The above mentioned concert was a lousy one according to many Jim Morrison fans,but it is remembered till date. The poet-rockstar who had young America high with his piercing screams and helped his fans break on to the other side felt that a concert was involving many people into the world of private thought.
And if you want something fleshier,how about celebrating a new record deal with some bloodshed? After signing his first solo career record deal Ozzy Osbourne bit off the head of a dove at a record company meeting in New York. He did spit the head out. And once bitten was no reason to be shy for Ozzy,who on January 20,1982,bit the head off a bat,which he claims he thought was made of rubber,while performing on stage. While a Rolling Stone article said the bat was alive,some say it was brought to the show dead. Ozzy himself said,in the booklet to the 2002 edition of his album,Diary of a Madman,that the bat was not only alive,but also managed to bite him.
Giving the ladies their due,who can forget Madonnas pointy bra,to her almost recent lip lock with a commercially successful on the weird list friend,Britney Spears. And if showing up at an award show with a swan for a dress is in,Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk wins hands down.
But the list can hardly be complete without a mention of Brian Hugh Warner. Warner was born in 1969,the same year that Jim Morrison was arrested for lewd and lascivious behaviour in public. Warners stage nameMarilyn Mansonwas formed from the names of actress Marilyn Monroe and convicted murderer Charles Manson. The artist has one of the scariest faces in the business,white pupils in a chalk-white face framed with jet black lank hair,not to forget the black lipstick. His onstage antics have shocked and rocked many.
In the same category is the artist formerly known as Prince,for now he is a symbol,a twist between the male and female gender signs,the love symbol. Prince has worn high-heeled shoes and flaunted an intense sexuality onstage. In an opening act for a show in 1981,he was pelted with garbage for wearing bikini briefs,leg warmers,high-heeled boots,a necklace of raw bacon and a trench coat.
These rock acts may have been real showmanship,but sometimes they were just a celebration of liberated individuals or even the only saving grace for music gone bad.
