I can't stop thinking about...
Nov. 30th, 2013 02:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baratronI'm a little wary of saying this, and certainly wary of how I say this, but I feel really sorry for all the ex-Lostprophets members who aren't Ian Watkins. I mean, they made five radio-friendly albums and could have expected royalties from record sales and radio plays for years to come.
Then it turns out that their lead singer is a pervert of the kind that doesn't believe in safe, sane, and consensual. Now that back catalogue is worth nothing. Who the hell is going to play songs with lyrics written by - and sung by - a predatory paedophile?
Becoming a fan of a band as an adult is different to when you're a teenager. I couldn't have honestly named any of the members of Lostprophets before this news story broke. I didn't really know what they looked like or anything like that, but I was quite a fan of their music and played Liberation Transmission a lot. Now I can't listen to any of it.
I keep thinking it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't the singer. As it is, I find myself wondering if there were hidden meanings in any of the lyrics. I just don't want to go there.
I can imagine there are a lot of fans who did get into them as teenagers and who are now devastated. And of course, I feel sorry for the victims. But my strongest feelings are for the rest of the band. Those guys - not only have they lost their income, but there's always going to be a question mark over them in some people's eyes. Even when news stories relate how Ian Watkins started to travel separately from them and stay in different hotels, as if he was hiding his activities. Will they ever be able to get back into the music business? Will they ever want to?
If you, e.g. live outside the UK and have no idea what I'm talking about, this is the BBC's news story. But I do put serious trigger warnings around that. Even discussed in matter-of-fact BBC style, what he's pleaded guilty to is disgusting. I certainly wouldn't recommend searching for tabloid stories.
Then it turns out that their lead singer is a pervert of the kind that doesn't believe in safe, sane, and consensual. Now that back catalogue is worth nothing. Who the hell is going to play songs with lyrics written by - and sung by - a predatory paedophile?
Becoming a fan of a band as an adult is different to when you're a teenager. I couldn't have honestly named any of the members of Lostprophets before this news story broke. I didn't really know what they looked like or anything like that, but I was quite a fan of their music and played Liberation Transmission a lot. Now I can't listen to any of it.
I keep thinking it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't the singer. As it is, I find myself wondering if there were hidden meanings in any of the lyrics. I just don't want to go there.
I can imagine there are a lot of fans who did get into them as teenagers and who are now devastated. And of course, I feel sorry for the victims. But my strongest feelings are for the rest of the band. Those guys - not only have they lost their income, but there's always going to be a question mark over them in some people's eyes. Even when news stories relate how Ian Watkins started to travel separately from them and stay in different hotels, as if he was hiding his activities. Will they ever be able to get back into the music business? Will they ever want to?
If you, e.g. live outside the UK and have no idea what I'm talking about, this is the BBC's news story. But I do put serious trigger warnings around that. Even discussed in matter-of-fact BBC style, what he's pleaded guilty to is disgusting. I certainly wouldn't recommend searching for tabloid stories.
no subject
Date: 2013-12-01 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-01 04:49 pm (UTC)http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2013/11/_this_is_ian_watkins.php
no subject
Date: 2013-12-02 02:17 am (UTC)I was reading the band's official statement (https://www.facebook.com/lostprophets/posts/10152052641728516) (warning, involves Facebook) and for every maybe 8 or 9 positive messages there's one really negative, nasty one. It reinforces what I was saying - his friends almost certainly had no clue, but now they're being tarred with the same brush.