Little Rex was 13 years old and sitting in the front room watching Newsround, that was when this whole nightmare began. Headlining was the revelation that boys of teenybop sensation Busted had come out in support of Michael Howard in the 2005 election. It struck me that I was watching a programme that felt that it was newsworthy that 3 vapid teenagers who I can conclusively say don't understand evolutionary biology (see living underwater within 1000 years) tell me about how great a low-tax economy would be. It was then followed up in the 6 o'clock news.
Its such a typical news story but it makes me cringe every time it happens. The most recent one is of course Primal Scream, who said that the Tories are "the enemy". Is this the war where one side dithers around on the economy and the other produces - year after painful year - boring "do you remember me?" music? How could anyone possibly care about who Primal Scream wants to be in power? Until they have a test at the HMV checkout on "Das Kapital", musicians like Primal Scream will have to accept that maybe even dirty Tories will be listening to their music. (Louise Mensch may have even run a PR campaign for it.)
The really sad stuff comes when a great artist is caught up in all this. I get it, no-one likes Sarah Palin, maybe sometimes in darker moments one could be lead to believe "well, if there was a candidate that I HAD to screw... (omitting Obama, obviously)" but on the whole she's generally disliked. So why oh why Diddy did you have to go onto youtube with your insane ramblings ("Alaska?! Alaska?!") and expect it to come off well? I listen to the music that he was involved in (not so much his solo stuff) and think he's a genius but then theres always his voice at the back of my head that says "John McCain, you are bugging the f%*k out" and I can't say it doesn't bother me.
The thing that scares me about it is that it could easily make a difference, So many people go through a vegetarian phase after listening to Meat is Murder so I think it may be interesting to see the swing-o-meter of the "Screaming Teenage Girl" voter bracket (I've forgotten what code that is in politico speak) of the 2005 election. Maybe Busted are political revolutionaries and have changed the face of Britain: James, Matt and Charlie have put us on the path to a brighter tomorrow and through their activism secured our place in the world of the year 3000, their avant garde concept albums seen as mere pop to us mortals. Thanks, but if any of you do touch my great great great granddaughter I will eviscerate you.
I'm glad musicians care about stuff like this, I genuinely am. But I really wonder why it is necessary for anyone who isn't involved in the political process to so vehemently stick for or against a party. I can't shake the feeling that the sentiment is like supporting a football team, the big 3 are essentially the same anyway, its just the media polish thats different.