Who is the most offensive band 20th Century popular music?

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Milli Vanilli, cuz they got caught or Britney Spears because she didn't do anything worth getting caught doing.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 23 January 2003 04:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Is that offensive or just stupid?

Both? Although after reading "The Lords of Chaos" I was left with the impression that Varg Vikernes (basist/murderer) is reasonably intelligent.

I can't imagine a band who's ever broken more taboos...suicide, canabalism, murder & burning churches all with in a small social circle? And thats just the surface...they (or alteast Vikernes) has worked closely with various neo-nazi groups, Euronymous (murdered guitarist) owned a record shop that also sold black magic & satanic paraphernalia, hosted satanic rituals etc. There's basically nothing truly offensive that one of them didn't do....surely this is MUCH worse than Eminem using the word "fag" ?!?

― CretanBull (CretanBull), Thursday, 23 January 2003 04:24 (twenty-three years ago)

surely this is MUCH worse than Eminem using the word "fag" ?!?

In principle, yes of course, but this only works if Mayhem have/had the huge global (pop-)cultural impact as Eminem. Which they don't, obviously.

― Charlie (Charlie), Thursday, 23 January 2003 04:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Who is the most offensive band in 20th Century ~~popular~~ music?

Philip Glass Ensemble, hands down.

― hstencil, Thursday, 23 January 2003 06:24 (twenty-three years ago)

2 Live Jews

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 23 January 2003 07:57 (twenty-three years ago)

The Beatles. Until there's mass record-burnings of any other band, I think they win

― dave q, Thursday, 23 January 2003 08:00 (twenty-three years ago)

the Peter Brothers used to do mass record burnings all the time though, didn't they?

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 23 January 2003 08:02 (twenty-three years ago)

whoever did the version of 'gloomy sunday' that caused all the hubbub maybe

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 23 January 2003 08:05 (twenty-three years ago)

I've got a picture of the Peters Bros. burning copies of the Cars' 'Candy-O'! I wonder what they objected to? Perhaps the Manichean heresy of "Double Life", or the cavalier handling of predestination in "Dangerous Type"?

― dave q, Thursday, 23 January 2003 08:12 (twenty-three years ago)

'Candy gives you cavities! The Cars are trying to pervert our childrens teeth!'

Is Candy-O the one with the Vargas cover, because that probably would've been enough

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 23 January 2003 08:48 (twenty-three years ago)

The Cars are trying to pervert our childrens teeth!'

See: R. Kelly, Chocolate Factory

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 23 January 2003 08:50 (twenty-three years ago)

No-one's yet mentioned Throbbing Gristle, "the wreckers of civilisation".

― Jason J, Thursday, 23 January 2003 10:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Granted, disco is not a "band", but with Disco Demolition Night in 1979, about 10,000 or more disco records were blown up at Comiskey Park.

Who gets to decide what's offensive? Appealing to all genders, races, classes and orientations was definitely too much for a lot of people to handle.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Thursday, 23 January 2003 15:46 (twenty-three years ago)

...so clearly my vote goes to K.C. & the Sunshine Band.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Thursday, 23 January 2003 15:47 (twenty-three years ago)

HA, R. Kelly is a great answer as far as his kiddy-fiddling is concerned.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 23 January 2003 16:07 (twenty-three years ago)

GnR at the peak of their bombast? Otherwise I'm with Q on the Beatles drop.

― Roger Fascist (Roger Fascist), Thursday, 23 January 2003 16:24 (twenty-three years ago)

kiddy-fiddling

I get this image of him putting strings on a kid and playing it with his bow. *hides*

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 23 January 2003 16:25 (twenty-three years ago)

GnR at the peak of their bombast?

That was offensive?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 23 January 2003 16:26 (twenty-three years ago)

I was thinking in particular of the rioting. There were one or two offended people around at that time I reckon. And all that shit about the lyrics to 'Patience'.

― Roger Fascist (Roger Fascist), Thursday, 23 January 2003 16:29 (twenty-three years ago)

"One in a Million."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 23 January 2003 16:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah. That's the badger.

― Roger Fascist (Roger Fascist), Thursday, 23 January 2003 16:41 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't think they ever came close to pissing off as many people as the Rolling Stones have (though admittedly they had much less time to do it in), but the Sex Pistols seem like the obvious answer. I can't think of many bands that were attacked and slashed with razors on the streets because of one of their songs. In The Filth and the Fury they show that London councilor who says that "most of these punk groups would be vastly improved by sudden death" and calls the Pistols "the antithesis of humankind." I think my jaw literally dropped when I saw that. Eminem may offend a lot of people, but I can't imagine any U.S. politician calling for his death.

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Thursday, 23 January 2003 17:09 (twenty-three years ago)

disco - the ChiSox had to forfeit the game.

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 23 January 2003 17:11 (twenty-three years ago)

"I can't think of many bands that were attacked and slashed with razors on the streets because of one of their songs."

It wasn't just the band, Sex Pistols *FANS* were attacked in the streets; and not even just by young hard cases either - I was even spat at in broad daylight in the middle of the high street of my home town in 1977 by some sweet little old dear who could have been my grandmother, just because I had a GSTQ T-shirt on.

Not the most offensive band in 20th Century music maybe, but they sure did seem to upset an awful lot of people at the time.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 23 January 2003 17:22 (twenty-three years ago)

How about Stravinsky's _Rites of Spring_ (assuming it's post-1900)? It caused riots when first performed...

― mike a (mike a), Thursday, 23 January 2003 17:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Causing riots and pissing off politicians and old ladies is too easy to qualify

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 23 January 2003 17:53 (twenty-three years ago)

the pistols of course dissed the queen ("they called our sovereign a moron" etc etc) which plays well in the UK but raises not a murmur outside

stewart his name was BERNARD BROOKE-PARTRIDGE: age 16 i committed it to the black book of my year-zero mind as a capital offence against punk — he actually died very shortly after (though not i hasten to add as a result of anything i had done...)

the story of the rites of spring riots is very questionable: there was definitely a big noisy fuss at the first performance (at a vanue notorious for its let's-fuck-stuff-up audiences), but strav himself always noted that this was the ONLY ruckus it ever caused in performance, and in fact attributed it more to nijinsky's choreography (which was apparently somewhat michael clark-ish!!) (ie peasant-y and lewd)

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 23 January 2003 18:26 (twenty-three years ago)

"...plays well in the UK but raises not a murmur outside"

Seems to me the Pistols didn't get much shock-reaction from the US press until the Sid/Nancy murder thing. There is something peculiarly British about the Sex Pistols offensiveness. The Stones cut a wider swath (as did, I would guess, Elvis and NWA).

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 23 January 2003 18:30 (twenty-three years ago)

they'd split by then anyway, and lydon was already attacking mclaren for wrekcing everything < / kneejerk pistols pundit/bore >

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 23 January 2003 18:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm sure Madonna would like to be mentioned in this thread.

― Curtis Stephens, Thursday, 23 January 2003 20:48 (twenty-three years ago)

If a Pepsi video with burning crosses* doesn't count, what the hell does?

*which is "offensive" if you take it out of context etc etc

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:01 (twenty-three years ago)

gg allin if no-one has said it

― g (graysonlane), Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Patrin: the thing that freaked people out about "Like A Prayer" at the time is that she fucked a black Christ figure in a church. Plus her tits were practically heaving out of the dress which was the real root of the ga ga.

― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:25 (twenty-three years ago)

GnR at the peak of their bombast?

That was offensive?

Around that time Axl made some comment about AIDS that pissed off a lot of people.

― j.lu (j.lu), Thursday, 23 January 2003 22:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Sure you're not thinking of Sebastian Bach there, Julia?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 23 January 2003 23:02 (twenty-three years ago)

How about Stravinsky's _Rites of Spring_ (assuming it's post-1900)? It caused riots when first performed...

...and I'm told that people still walk out on it today.

― Christine "Green Leafy Dragon" Indigo (cindigo), Thursday, 23 January 2003 23:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Did they ever burn Hall and Oates records? I know that a number of fundie types hated them (of all people) because of "Winged Bull."

― Christine "Green Leafy Dragon" Indigo (cindigo), Thursday, 23 January 2003 23:34 (twenty-three years ago)

G.G. Allin

It's offensive to eat your own poop.

― Evan (Evan), Friday, 24 January 2003 11:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Evan, what did you think of 'Caddyshack'?

― dave q, Friday, 24 January 2003 12:48 (twenty-three years ago)

the brazen hussies, ha ha!

i think GG is prob. far from the most offensive

― geeta (geeta), Friday, 24 January 2003 12:53 (twenty-three years ago)

i have never been offended by musical content. i have been offended by blatant dullness, but i'm not sure that counts.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 24 January 2003 13:17 (twenty-three years ago)

I guess, if you don't find self-defecating nazis offensive

― g (graysonlane), Friday, 24 January 2003 23:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Again, I ask you...was anybody NOT offended by the existence of Professor Griff?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 24 January 2003 23:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I vote for Skrewdriver, Anal Cunt (I became a therapist to tell you it was your fault you were raped), Pitboss 2000, and maybe Boyd Rice because i find him rather offensive in a hilarious way.

― mallory bourgeois (painter man), Friday, 24 January 2003 23:29 (twenty-three years ago)

If 'most offensive' means offending the most number of people then it's probably one of the bigger acts because more people have heard them, t/f more people could be offended by them.

If it means most morally objectionable I'd have to guess Skrewdriver or Mayhem, though it would be a total guess because I've never heard either band. Why would I want to?

If we're talking social impact - i.e. Their obscenity had an effect on people whether or not they had heard the record - I'd suggest Prince or 2 Live Crew for kickstarting the PMRC stickering nonsense.

― richard stacey (analog75), Saturday, 25 January 2003 00:47 (twenty-three years ago)

The Prodigy got a lot of people's dander up with "Smack My Bitch Up."

I've always loved how Lennon weasled out of the apology he gave to the press: "...It was wrong, or it was taken* wrong..."

* It was a joke about how popular we are, haven't you stupid Americans heard of hyperbole?

― nickn (nickn), Saturday, 25 January 2003 00:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Isn't that the standard response nowadays whenever a celebrity says something they regret? 'It was taken out of context', subtext: 'don't blame me for saying something stupid, a slimey-asshole-journalist-type made it all up'.

The only example I can think of right now is Charlotte Church for those 9/11 remarks that were discussed round here a while back. Could it be that she is the most offensive person in popular music?

― richard stacey (analog75), Saturday, 25 January 2003 01:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Are Skrewdriver or Mayhem any good, given that you could ignore the behaviour of the people in those bands (and maybe the lyrics too)?

― mei (mei), Sunday, 26 January 2003 09:09 (twenty-three years ago)

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