SALON

Wednesday, Feb 20, 2013 2:09 PM UTC

David Cameron defies Smiths ex-guitarist, Johnny Marr

The rocker refuses to allow the British prime minister to declare his devotion to the Smiths VIDEO

By

Topics: Video, David Cameron, Hilary Mantel, England, U.K., The Smiths, Music, Politics, pop music, entertainment news, Paul Ryan, Rage Against the Machine, BBC, Chris Christie, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Marr, ,

David Cameron defies Smiths ex-guitarist, Johnny Marr(Credit: AP)

The British prime minister is on a tear: First, he has gone after Hilary Mantel for her comments about Kate Middleton. Now, David Cameron has made a vow to defy Smiths ex-guitarist Johnny Marr, who has “banned” the Tory from listening to music by the Smiths, reports BBC News.

In a story that recalls Paul Ryan’s uninvited and unrequited declaration of love for Rage Against the Machine (and, for that matter, Chris Christie’s obsession with Bruce Springsteen), the prime minister is a longtime fan of the new wave band — who split in the 1980s, and are perhaps best known for their songs “How Soon Is Now” and “Heaven Knows (I’m Miserable Now) — and has said so on many occasions. Marr has voiced his disgust, telling the BBC that this is “not allowed.” But Cameron, who was on a visit to India, declared he’d ”go on and listen,”anyway. In 2006, Cameron chose the Smiths song “This Charming Man” on Desert Island Discs.

This isn’t Marr’s first ban imposed on the prime minister — he repeated the warning in an interview with BBC Radio 4′s Today program — but this time he was specifically ruling that “This Charming Man” is off-limits. ”I think he likes the song,” Marr told the BBC. “That’s probably sadder than if he didn’t know it, really. He’s entitled to like whatever he likes, as long as he doesn’t say it. It’s a good song,” adding, “I do forbid him to like it. He shouldn’t like us because we’re not his kind of people. ”

Marr isn’t alone in publicly decrying Cameron’s fandom. In 2010, Morrissey has also called on him to please stop proclaiming his admiration: “David Cameron hunts and shoots and kills stags — apparently for pleasure. It was not for such people that either ‘Meat Is Murder’ or ‘The Queen Is Dead’ were recorded; in fact, they were made as a reaction against such violence.” But Cameron, who was a teenager in the 1980s and grew up listening to them, can’t resist expressing his devotion, once even making a fleeting mention of the 1984 song “William, It Was Really Nothing” during Prime Minister’s Questions.

During a diplomatic and trade-building mission in Delhi, Cameron remained defiant, telling the BBC, “I’ve now got Johnny Marr and other members of the band saying I’m not able to listen to the Smiths. When I’ve got the complete and full set, even then, I’m afraid, I will go on and listen to the Smiths.”

The Smiths’ “This Charming Man”

Kera Bolonik is a contributing writer at Salon. Follow her on Twitter @KeraBolonik More Kera Bolonik.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 16 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations