I love the band Mansun. If you forced me to pick my favourite three musical acts I would almost certainly pick them to be in that list somewhere.
Admittedly my list changes moment to moment, but they would be in with a shot.
Why am I mentioning this? Well I am in something of a quandary, you see the lead singer Paul Draper has been outed as a bad ‘un. (I will link to the article below somewhere)
I am now asking that perennial question, how do you seperate the art from the creator? Some time ago I was bought the collection of archived Mansun material as a present (Closed For Business), prior to that I also bought Mr Draper’s solo output and had paid extra for the signed version.
Is it fair on the memory of the music, and let’s face it, the other members of the band to ignore what was created?
I am not for a second seeking to minimise the damage that he (alledgedly) has done. Absolutely the opposite. For the record I am also a fan of The Anchoress, aka Catherine Anne Davies, who is the victim in this awful situation. *1
Now while the situation is still sub judice, I would add that some of the lyrics from his latest solo album rather read like an admission of his abhorrent behaviour. I simply could not listen to that album again once I realised. If you wish to, you can listen to it on a streaming service so he makes very little money from it. It is called ‘Cult Leader Tactics’ which in itself is very telling.
I have seriously considered selling all of my Mansun discography, in the end I put it out of sight from some time. I am not a fan of getting rid of CDs or records. I threw away all of my cassettes some years ago and I still wish that I hadn’t.
I have just got it out of storage, which is a grand thing that internet collector/influencers say. I really got it down from the back of the tall bookcase where it was obscured by some other stuff. I am now playing Mansun’s second album ‘Six”, and singing along to each lamenting and depressing note, every soaring guitar wail and tapping my foot to the intricate mix of real and electronic percussion.
I mean it is as depressing as hell, but in some way it’s negativity (fans will get this reference) is cathartic for me. The only other band that really hit me in that same way is Depeche Mode. At least for a whole album, there are other single tracks from artists that have a similar feeling but rarely so completely*2. When I am feeling low sometimes the best remedy is to let myself bathe in other people clearly feeling the same way.
Let’s try and drag this back to the point shall we? I like Mansun, it looks like the main songwriter and frontman is a not nice person (This is an example of classic British understatement by the way.) what do I do? How does anyone reconcile the art with the troubled person that made it? We are going to have to have a proper and grown up discussion about this at some point. It is going to become more prevalent in the future. Why Trev? Are more creators and people in posiitions of influence behaving like entitled shit heads?
No, it is just becoming more clear in these days of over sharing on social media that lots of people have always been entitled shit heads, but we are gradually becoming a bit better at spotting them. I do mean only a small bit, but progress is progress I suppose.
Ignoring Gary Glitter’s work is not a problem for example. I have pretty much ignored him since I was about 6. When it is a person whose work you respected though? Where does that leave us? Are we complicit in their behaviour? (I can answer that: No, unless you knew about it all along.)
Can I draw any conclusions? Not really, I suppose we have to draw our own lines. Mine seem to be do not throw away, or sell, the recordings but do not buy anything new from that person. Is that right? I genuinely have no idea and I am troubled by that. I would be interested in hearing other peoples thoughts, not just about Mansun, but about art vs the creator and how we align ourselves morally.
I want to be morally fair, I am slightly obsessed with that, but that is a different issue right now. I hate people that abuse their position of power to manipulate, it makes me incredibly angry and upset.
I would add this, I am currently listening to the album knowing what I know now. Quite a lot of the lyrics in it are problematic in that light. I have a feeling that I may be answering my own question here.
And to get ahead of some of the comments: “You are only saying this to appear woke111!!!!!111…” and so on.
No, woke just means someone who has empathy and understanding for other human beings and their struggles.
You should try it some time, it isn’t always fun but it is much nicer for everyone involved.
“Innocent until proven guilty!!!” Absolutely agree with that point, genuinely.
I cannot imagine that the courts give out interim stalking orders against people with absolutely no proof, do you? (I actually know a bit about this, and I am afraid that the onus of proof required by the legal system from the victim is disturbingly high.)
Just be nice people. That is all you actually have to do.
I know this is an old cliche but it still holds fairly true: “If you have nothing nice to say shut the fuck up you self obsessed asshat.” I am paraphrasing it a bit, but the point stands.
Here is the article, as promised. You are not required to read it, I wish I had not done so.
- 1 If you look at his social media history, he seems to have been pretty unpleasant with several other individuals. Make of that what you will.
- 2 Turin Brakes – Pain Killer. Maximo Park – Books from Boxes (And several others), The The – Heartland. I could continue, but at some point this will no longer be healthy for me to think about and I will disappear down a depressing music wormhole only to reappear as an editor of a wildly unpopular 90’s music ‘zine. If you are too young to know what a zine was, it was kind of a blog that you could hold in your hands and then throw away.
- Remember to recycle kids.
I am going to be honest here and admit that I wrote this and then thought long and hard whether I should post it. Am I adding to problem by doing this? I hope not.
I am simply trying to address my feelings towards fallible human beings, and how I can best not exacerbate the situtation. If anyone feels that I am making things worse with this article then let me know, nicely please, and I will consider removing it.
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