Phil Anselmo can't be a Nazi because he's not clubbable

Phil Anselmo's Nazi salute and "white power" cry during a Dimebag Darrell memorial hasn't gone down well - and perhaps the best thing about this whole story has been the way metal fans have called him out on it.

Phil has tried two approaches now to try and explain what he might have been doing.

Attempt number one was to try and claim he was making a reference to the wine being served backstage:

He claimed at first he had been making a joke about the white wine served to performers at the event, who included Dave Grohl and members of Metallica, and said: “I fucking love everyone, I fucking loathe everyone, and that’s that. No apologies from me.”

In a lot of ways, that's probably a worse claim than the original - everyone expects Anselmo to spout Nazi bollocks, but suggesting that he was organising a protest against the backstage spritzers paints a picture of what happens when entitlement collides with too much time on a person's hands.

Still, he's realised that "I was taking wine" wasn't going to work, and he's now issued a statement:

Philip H Anselmo here, and I’m here to basically respond to all the heat I’ve been getting that I deserve completely.

“I was at the Dimebash, and it was extremely late at night. There was heavy-duty talk between myself and those who love Dime. And heavy emotions were flowing, jokes were made backstage that transpired upon the stage, and it was ugly. It was uncalled for. And anyone who knows me and my true nature knows that I don’t believe in any of that; I don’t want to be part of any group. I’m an individual, and I am a thousand percent apologetic to anyone that took offence to what I said because you should have taken offence to what I said. And I am so sorry, and I hope you just … man, give me another chance to … just give me another chance. I love all of you. And anyone who’s met me, anyone who knows me knows that I love all of you. Bless you.”

This might have worked if he'd not tried to pass it all off as vinicultural humour a couple of days earlier.

Two great problems lurk in this apology, though: the first being that jokes from backstage were "transpiring" on stage, which suggests that other performers might have been having a third-reich yukfest and only Anselmo was gauche enough to take his Hitlerian hijinks the wrong side of the curtain.

The second is that he seems to be pleading with us to believe he couldn't be a Nazi because he's not the sort of guy who joins things.

No, Phil. We'd want to know you're not a Nazi because Nazism is an odious skunk of a political ideology, not because you'd find it a faff to have to turn up to meetings and maintain your membership fees.

The Manics against the fascists

It doesn't seem to be any heightened sense of irony, and just plain-old ignorance, that led to the English Defence League using the Manics' If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next to promote one of their hatey-hate rumble marches.

Someone clearly didn't get as far as the "then I can shoot fascists" line when they came up with idea.

the NME claims at first that the Manics are taking "legal action" as a result, although further down the article the "legal action" starts to sound a bit watery:

A spokesperson for the Manics told NME that the band were "horrified" that their track was being used in the promo and that the label requested the video was taken down immediately.

Which is action, but hardly the full force of the law.

Fascist party sues Madonna over being linked to fascists

The Front National in France is claiming it intends to sue Madonna after a backdrop video for her new tour superimposes a swastika on Marine Le Pen's forehead:

Contacted by the 20 Minutes freesheet, the FN said that Le Pen had not had time to watch the video on Friday because she was writing a speech for a rally in Paris that evening.

But a party official called it “incredible” and said that the party’s lawyer, Wallerand de Saint-Just, had been asked to look into what legal action could be taken over it.

“We’ll make money with the case we’re going to bring,” an anonymous source told 20 Minutes.

Le Pen said on Sunday that the party would be watching very closely to see if Madonna uses the video when she performs in Paris on the 14 July national holiday and in Nice on 21 August, without saying whether she will be taking legal action.

In other news, the ghost of Adolf Hitler, whose face appears seconds after Le Pen's, said that he is considering legal action at being associated with her.

Spotify: Now with added Nazis

Unpleasantly lurking in the belly of Spotify is hard-right band Skrewdriver and their Live At Waterloo album.

I'm sure the advertisers who keep Spotify afloat would be thrilled that you might hear their spot after listening to White Power or When The Boat Comes In (Nigger Nigger). How many companies would feel that doesn't hit their brand values spot on, eh?

You might like to suggest to Spotify they drop the race hate.

... but then he realised they didn't have a thought in their heads

It turns out that Alan McGee's first impressions of Oasis were that they were fascists:

"My little Manchester mate, Debbie Turner, shared a practice space with this band that had a Union Jack on the wall," McGee told Uncut.

"I remember looking at the Union Jack and asking, 'Are they fascists?' and she said, 'Yes'. She was taking the piss, of course."

He continued: "It was a psychedelic Union Jack, sitting alongside pictures of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

"But it was still a Union Jack – and back then, before the whole Cool Britannia bollocks, a Union Jack meant you had to be right-wing. I truly didn't have a clue."

Of course, it's still possible to be right-wing and not actually so extremely right-wing that you're shading into fascism; it seems McGee was comfortable enough with Noel Gallagher's more reactionary stances. At least he didn't see the flag and panic that they were Morrissey fans.

What's actually fascinating about this little insight, though, is what it actually means for the great Oasis myth - that McGee discovered them in a club in Glasgow and more-or-less signed them on the spot. What an astonishing coincidence that the band he discovered at King Tut's were sharing a rehearsal space with one of Mcgee's mates.

Ferry drifts further rightwards

This is a tricky one for Marks & Spencer - the company has a long tradition of supporting Israel, something which has brought it into conflict with pro-Palestinian groups in the UK. Now, it turns out, one of the faces of its current advertising campaign is just as enthusiastic in his admiration for the Third Reich:

"My God, the Nazis knew how to put themselves in the limelight and present themselves," he said. "Leni Riefenstahl's movies and Albert Speer's buildings and the mass parades and the flags - just amazing. Really beautiful."

Ferry's management is desperately trying to limit the damage:

"To take offence here is to confuse the aesthetic with the ideological," Steven Howard said. "To suggest that a certain appreciation of art and architecture that happens to be associated with the Nazi regime means condoning the actions of that regime is illogical."

This might - just about - wash if Ferry had only co-opted Riefenstahl and Speer; but when Bryan starts to get all misty eyed about the "parades and flags" the "I was only admiring the paintings, guv" defence just crumbles.

The propaganda machine - the marches, the flags, the films - were all part of how the Nazis governed, and Bryan is intelligent enough to know that you can't really separate the Nuremburg Rallies from Kristalnacht.

You could, perhaps, imagine someone reviewing Mein Kampf on the quality of prose alone - but it would be a profoundly dishonest review that could elevate Adolf's way with the bon mot above the content.

We expect an official example of how Bryan isn't a right wing sympathiser to be winging its way to the press before the week is out.

Up the Hatch

I don't know what makes me queasiest about this Desert News report on Orrin Hatch's musical aspirations - he's the real life Bob Roberts, it seems.

Is it that the crypto-conservative's "lullabies" are currently serenading Stuart Little? Could it be that Bono is not only hanging out with people like this, but offering them advice on how their lyrics sound? (Not that that should be a surprise - watching Bono dance for Bush Jr's photo-op in return for a miserable few quid tossed in the poor box earlier this year showed exactly where Vox's heart lies - he loves the hard-on that the powerful gives, and doesn't care what direction it points).

But, no, the worst part is surely the discovery that, even away from the camera, Bono speaks like that - "the brothers won't sing them"? Jesus, the man is such a cliche it's amazing that he hasn't arranged his own tragic death and candlelit vigil.
Oh, and Hatch? Don't listen to Bono. If your songs are any good, get yourself a snazzy pseudonym, and send them off to Geffen. Being a right-wing fuck has never been a stumbling block to music business success. Ask Eric Clapton.