# What mainstream artists were once accused of being creepy extremists? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166 "2016-08-27T18:00:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/1 "2016-08-27T18:00:35Z")
Which mainstream artists were once accused of some creepy extremist views (rightly or wrongly) but then managed to get past it so it never affected their overall legacy? I’m not counting artists into things like hardcore rap or death metal (where the controversy is the whole point) or Michael Richards types whose reputation may have never recovered. The ones I can think of (all musicians) are: Guns 'n Roses for “One in a Million” Rush, for “The Trees”, which does sound like it was written by William F. Buckley David Bowie had some kind of fascist phase in the 1970s, and I think Morrissey was accused of something or other about skinheads and British nationalism Elvis Costello for using the n-word in an interview ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/2 "2016-08-27T19:22:07Z")
The Beatles ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/3 "2016-08-27T19:23:43Z")
Rush took more heat for their Ayn Rand stuff early on than The Trees. Doesn’t seem to have slowed them down, though. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/4 "2016-08-27T19:55:04Z")
Gary Numan took a lot of flak for supporting Maggie Thatcher. He claims to be more middle-of-the-road today. > [@](#): > > from [Gary Numan - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Numan) > In a 2001 interview, he said: “Polite conversation has never been one of my strong points. Just recently I actually found out that I’d got a mild form of Asperger’s syndrome which basically means I have trouble interacting with people. For years, I couldn’t understand why people thought I was arrogant, but now it all makes more sense”.[36] Judging by his Wikipedia page, his career seems to be in good shape. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/5 "2016-08-27T20:34:27Z")
Well, there was the time in 1976 when Eric Clapton got pissed and told a concert audience: > [@](#): > > Britain is becoming overcrowded and Enoch will stop it and send them all back. The black wogs and coons and Arabs and fucking Jamaicans and fucking [indecipherable] don’t belong here, we don’t want them here. This is England, this is a white country, we don’t want any black wogs and coons living here. We need to make clear to them they are not welcome. England is for white people, man. We are a white country. I don’t want fucking wogs living next to me with their standards. [{Link}](http://rockaliser.blogspot.co.nz/2010/12/eric-claptons-evil-speech.html) Basically, fuck Eric Clapton. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/6 "2016-08-27T22:32:44Z")
Once upon a time there was a Satanic rock band named Coven. Their first album was called _Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls_. Another album featured a 13-minute cut of chanting and prayers to Satan. Of course, if anyone remembers Coven at all these days, it’s for[their one hit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YafJSUpr7t8). ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/7 "2016-08-27T23:31:50Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Well, there was the time in 1976 when Eric Clapton got pissed and told a concert audience: > > [{Link}](http://rockaliser.blogspot.co.nz/2010/12/eric-claptons-evil-speech.html) > > Basically, fuck Eric Clapton. Well, you just ruined my day. Not that I idolized him, but it’s very disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/8 "2016-08-27T23:37:56Z")
Plenty of artists have been branded with the scarlet letter of homosexuality, back when that was a socially acceptable or even expected form of bigotry. A: I’m a Bowie fan. B: Bowie’s gay. A: No he’s not: he’s bi. B: [**…**] Also Oscar Wilde. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/9 "2016-08-28T01:38:02Z")
Except that Bowie’s bisexuality was actively promoted by the time _Hunky Dory_ came out. He based much of his act on it, and it was very accepted by the rock world at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brad_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/10 "2016-08-28T02:22:31Z")
Ozzy Ozbourne was once seen as one of the madmen of rock and roll, a possible satanist who had puppies killed before he would perform (yeah that was a real rumour at my Jr high school). Worries of his drug use and debauchery were legendary. Now, he’s heavy metal’s whacky godfather, with a goofy family and a travel show on History Channel. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/11 "2016-08-28T03:38:57Z")
Satanism is not a creepy extremist view. It is and was all over the place. Is everyone going to be listed here. Why is sexuality an extremist view? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/12 "2016-08-28T08:21:35Z")
[For a time during the late 1940s and 50s there were quite a few “mainstream artists” who were accused of being “creepy extremists.”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/13 "2016-08-28T11:14:45Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Well, there was the time in 1976 when Eric Clapton got pissed and told a concert audience: > > [{Link}](http://rockaliser.blogspot.co.nz/2010/12/eric-claptons-evil-speech.html) > > Basically, fuck Eric Clapton. This makes the rounds and I wonder about it, like Elvis Costello’s arrogant, racist use of the N word in describing Ray Charles (and getting punched for it by Delaney Bramlett). In both cases they get skated past. In his Autobio-Drunkalogue, Clapton points to his substance abuse as the cause of his racist behavior, IIRC. I think same with Costello, young, drink and stupid - hey I was more arrogant than racist. I have no dog in either hunt - neither needs or deserves an apologist. With Clapton, man - you read his book and there is such a thick layer of 12-step programming that you can barely get a sense of the man. But, in general, there is a sense of a deep anger in him - towards his family (given his hidden-mom upbringing; his brother accidentally breaking his guitar) people controlling him in bands, etc. I can see that anger broken loose by drinking too much, but there’s something in there. I’m not a fan of blaming what you chose to put into your body. As for Elvis Costello, he is one of the best songwriters around, but to use the British term, he really is a cunt. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/14 "2016-08-28T14:35:57Z")
Correction: I am pleased to report that _ **Bonnie** _ Bramlett was the smacker of Elvis Costello, as reported at the time in People Magazine: [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20073464,00.html](http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20073464,00.html) > [@](#): > > Bramlett, a longtime paladin of rhythm-and-blues whose backup bands once included heavies like Leon Russell, Duane Allman and Rita Coolidge, kept cool until, she says, Costello “called James Brown a jive-ass nigger.” Next, according to an onlooker, “Bonnie said, ‘All right, you son of a bitch, what do you think of Ray Charles?’ He said, ‘Screw Ray Charles, he’s nothing but a blind nigger.’ That did it. Bonnie backhanded him, slapped him pretty hard, because she’s a healthy chick.” > > The ensuing scene erupted like a bench-clearing but punchless hockey brawl. Stills’ road manager, Jim Lindersmith, was grabbed by two of Costello’s roadies but he threw them to the floor. The spindly Costello then brandished an empty beer bottle but was hurled into a wall. It took a bartender named Eddie to stop the fracas. He really is a cunt. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/15 "2016-08-28T15:41:47Z")
[QUOTE=People Magazine] Bramlett, a longtime paladin of rhythm-and-blues whose backup bands once included heavies like Leon Russell, Duane Allman and Rita Coolidge, kept cool until, she says, Costello “called James Brown a jive-ass nigger.” Next, according to an onlooker, “Bonnie said, ‘All right, you son of a bitch, what do you think of Ray Charles?’ He said, ‘Screw Ray Charles, he’s nothing but a blind nigger.’ That did it. Bonnie backhanded him, slapped him pretty hard, because she’s a healthy chick.” The ensuing scene erupted like a bench-clearing but punchless hockey brawl. Stills’ road manager, Jim Lindersmith, was grabbed by two of Costello’s roadies but he threw them to the floor. The spindly Costello then brandished an empty beer bottle but was hurled into a wall. It took a bartender named Eddie to stop the fracas. [/QUOTE] > [@WordMan](#): > > He really is a cunt. You take that back! Eddie the bartender is NOT a cunt. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/16 "2016-08-28T15:43:15Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Satanism is not a creepy extremist view. It is and was all over the place. Sure. On every album cover and t-shirt for miles. I think the church of Garfield has it beat out, though. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/17 "2016-08-28T15:44:29Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > As for Elvis Costello, he is one of the best songwriters around, but to use the British term, he really is a cunt. Really. Is this a “still,” or based on his image back in 1980? I can probably report back first-hand, soon. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/18 "2016-08-28T16:37:35Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Really. Is this a “still,” or based on his image back in 1980? > > I can probably report back first-hand, soon. How the heck should I know? He has loads of famous friends who regard him well and married Diana Krall, so it’s fair to say he contains multitudes. But if the arrogant meandering of his memoir is any indication, yeah, still cunt-ish. I will await your first-hand report breathlessly. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/19 "2016-08-28T16:50:08Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > But if the arrogant meandering of his memoir is any indication, yeah, still cunt-ish. Meh. Too many of these people fit the dictum about not sitting too close to the dancers. > [@](#): > > I will await your first-hand report breathlessly. Keep breathing. It’s over three weeks off. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-artists-were-once-accused-of-being-creepy-extremists/764166/20 "2016-08-28T17:02:48Z")
Yep, if you hear whooshing, some of it is me still breathing. The OP asks who’s a creepy extremist. Most any artist who says racist bullshit like that, even if being young, stupidly arrogant and drunk is part of it, aren’t going to look that great up close.