| ARTS & STYLE |
Boys and girls wear their political hearts on their sleeves |
| LUDOVIC HUNTER-TILNEY |
| POP |
| Last week Busted, a toothsome British boy band with a potent hold over the hearts and |
| hormones of the nation’s teenage girls, outed themselves in an interview as supporters of the |
| Conservative party. Band member Matt Jay homed in on taxation as the reason, explaining |
| succinctly: “Yeah, actually, you know what, I am not going to be ripped off any more. From |
| the [id:38701] position I am in now, I am a f***ing Tory boy too.” |
| Young Matt’s forthright endorsement is good news for the Conservatives, who are in dire |
| need of rejuvenation - the average age of its membership is almost 60. But it’s not such good |
| news for Busted’s handlers, who have to digest the consequences of their boyish charges |
| hitching themselves to [id:38702] so uncool that few pop careers survive contact with it. In 1979, |
| for instance, Gary Numan’s reputation as an enigmatic synth-pop pioneer evaporated after he |
| backed Margaret Thatcher. Rick Wakeman’s presence at last week’s Tory party conference |
| would have proved fatal to his [id:38703] had the former keyboard player with prog-rock bores |
| Yes actually possessed any. |
| Pop’s values are overwhelmingly liberal, as shown by the bands now performing in the Vote |
| for Change tour in the US and the jeers that greeted Bryan Ferry when he spoke in support of |
| his fox-hunting son at a recent awards ceremony. |
| But there are [id:38704] for Busted’s lurch to the right. The Spice Girls claimed the |
| conservative PM Margaret Thatcher as a “girl power” role model and backed her successor |
| John Major. George W. Bush danced with Ricky “Living la Vida Loca” Martin at his |
| presidential inauguration and was serenaded by MTV starlet Jessica Simpson, who crooned |
| “George Bush, I think I’m in love with you” at him. |
| In 2000 an Abba-soundalike pop group called Steps were forced to deny being racist after a |
| newspaper published an interview in which one of their members complained about asylumseekers |
| in the UK. Another spoke approvingly of capital punishment. Dannii Minogue, Kylie’s |
| less talented younger sister, also made some [id:38705] remarks about immigration in an |
| interview, which she later claimed were taken out of context. |
| What these acts have in common is a background in [id:38706] pop. This is popular music at its |
| most commodified, with performers rolling off an assembly line singing songs precisely |
| calibrated to appeal to an audience of kids. Amid fierce competition, bands like Busted have |
| to put the hours in to stand out from their peers and keep their fickle fans from deserting |
| them. |
| Mel B., speaking after the Spice Girls were nominated for the new UK Music Hall of Fame, |
| described their life as one of constant work and travel: “The record company and our |
| management weren’t silly. Things like the Spice Girls didn’t have [id:38707] and they milked it |
| for everything they could.” |
| Boy bands and girl groups are subjected to the pressures of the market in a way that liberal |
| rock stars like R.E.M. and Bruce Springsteen aren’t. So it’s [id:38708] that Busted should call for |
| lower taxation and announce their allegiance to the Conservatives. Whether their fans will |
| [id:38709] when they’re old enough to vote is a moot point, however - by then they’ll probably all |
| be listening to Radiohead and protesting against globalisation. |
| Financial Times |