Reading this was like a kick in the gut:
A three-minute news clip from a local TV station in Georgia went viral on Friday, evoking alarmed responses from Velvet Underground fans that the band’s drummer, Maureen ‘Moe’ Tucker, may have joined the ranks of Tea Party followers.
The clip showed a Tea Party rally in Tiftin, Georgia, and included a 20-second interview with a woman going by the same name, who says: “I’m furious about the way we’re being led towards socialism. I’m furious about the incredible waste of money when things that we really need and are important get dropped because there’s no money left.”
geg6
I didn’t comment on this when it was mentioned here the other day because I was so stunned by it that I simply couldn’t believe it was true.
Looks like I was right. Good to know the instincts are still pretty good.
stuckinred
I had a similar feeling at the REM show in Atlanta the summer before the last presidential. Stipe made a quick comment asking people to vote for Obama and the boo’s were incredible. I kept thinking, “who the fuck are these people and why would they come here in the first place”?
hilzoy
OT: I assume it’s only a matter of minutes before John Cole defends the honor of his state:
New Yorker
Eh, that sucks, but whatever. I hope I’m not offending anyone when I suggest she was even more Ringo than Ringo. Now tell me John Cale is a big Sarah Palin fan, and I might get upset….
biff diggerence
The VU’s drummer?
Didn’t realize they even had a rhythm section.
Talk about insignificance.
When Lou Reed starts mumbling shit like this, then I’ll pay some attention.
Zifnab
I mean, if you’re working a minimum wage job in a hell-hole like Georgia, it doesn’t shock me that you get a little brain washed.
I’m saddened, but not entirely in disbelief. Twenty years in a deep red state surrounded by ignorance and poverty will change a person. You think Tea Party activists just sprout from the ground?
Luthe
I suppose it is too much to hope that she was referring to the DoD as “the incredible waste of money”?
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
I have a friend who pays zero attention to real politics, and so all he gets is what he hears at work. I only see him about every six months now, but because of his inattentiveness, he sounds almost exactly like her.
These are the kind of people that should not be allowed to vote.
goblue72
Considering her post-Velvets life has been as a single white mom working at Walmart as a cashier, she’s the core demographic of a tea partier.
JohnR
So what? By what right do you think your favorite celebrity has to believe what you believe? I still like Victoria Jackson in UHF even though she apparently has gone completely loopy about Obama and has been filmed spouting the most revolting crap. I deplore her beliefs, but they’re not going to make me stop enjoying her past work.
Gordon Guano
Can’t come as a total surprise, this stuff happens. The guy who took over the Misfits after Danzig left is a total rightard.
The Underground’s themes were S and M and heroin, make it hillbilly heroin, and you’ve got the makings of another Limbaugh.
ts
before anyone starts badmouthing Tucker’s abilities, can we at least agree her vocals on ‘After Hours’ are amazing? I would like that song to have my babies.
David
I saw Grace Slick on QVC hawking her silk screen prints. The image was a simple horizon line with a flat, cartoonish White Rabbit© in the foreground.
geg6
@geg6:
Well, duh. That’ll teach me to click on the link. I though it was someone going by the same name.
Lou Reed must be so proud.
middlewest
Why do people keep forgetting that “tea party” republicans are mostly well-off suburbanites? Their blue-collar shtick is as fake as pretending they aren’t republicans.
bkny
via Raw Story:
A Mississippi judge ordered an attorney to spend several hours in jail Wednesday after the attorney chose not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in court.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported that Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn told a court audience to rise and say the pledge. People in the courtroom said Danny Lampley of Oxford stood but did not say the words. Records show Lampley was booked into the Lee County jail at 9:40 a.m. and released about 2:30 p.m. on the judge’s orders.
Nicole
Now I have the song stuck in my head. The David Bowie live one where he starts off saying, “That’s Mick Ronson on guitar.”
tomvox1
Gotta separate the art from the artist. A lot of artists are loathsome people. But what they produce can be beautiful and that’s the more important part of the equation.
New Yorker
@JohnR:
I don’t. I mean, I can still enjoy much of Mel Gibson’s movies even if he’s a racist, fascist loon. Robert Duvall is one of the all-time greats even if he’s a winger too.
Ted Nugent, on the other hand…..
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@bkny: I cannot wait for that judge to get busted since the Supreme Court has already ruled that you are not required to say the pledge.
Not holding my breath, though.
Linda Featheringill
If you are actually working a minimum wage job, how much do you pay in taxes? FICA, yes. Taxes, not so much.
If you are pissed off about property taxes, get involved in the local political process. Washington doesn’t set property taxes.
Besides, they have elections about local tax rates.
Mike from Philly
Whatever. Everybody knows, the things she does to please. She’s just a little tease. See the way she walks? See the way she talks?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Meh. My favorite actor, Robert Duval, is a Confederacy romanticizing pal of Bill O’Reilly. Old counter-culturalists Dennis Hopper and Rip Torn both supported Bush, and if I let politics get in the way of entertainment, I’d have to give up on the NFL.
Comrade Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
White Light/gonna mess up my brain
White Light/its gonna drive me insane.
Well, looks like maybe it did.
Friends don’t let friends do Tea Party.
New Yorker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Yeah, I forgot about sports. Not too many DFHs among my favorite baseball and football players.
Citizen_X
Oh well. DRUMMER. What can you say?
Legalize
I saw this the other day but didn’t want to bring it up anywhere. Anyway, Moe’s like the 4th or 5th most influential member of the Velvet Underground? The Velvets had a drummer at all because drum machines hadn’t been invented yet,
Mike in NC
I’m kinda furious reading all the crap from elderly white folks on Social Security and Medicare who are so worked up about the dreaded S-word.
Apparently they already got theirs, so screw everybody else.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@hilzoy:
I saw that on MSNBC the other day and laughed my ass off at the phoniness of the whole thing.
Now I learn that it was phony. Not. Surprised. One. Bit.
tomvox1
@New Yorker:
@biff diggerence:
Ummm…can’t have the Velvet Underground sound without Moe Tucker’s backbeat-less thumping. It’s integral. Not to mention that her little girl speak singing is pretty much the template for half of all female punk & indie vocalists that came after her.
I think you are both confusing “musicianship” with groundbreaking Rock ‘n Roll. The Velvets were punk before punk and Tucker was their secret weapon.
redoubt
Tifton, Georgia. I-75, exits 59-64, back 100 years.
Dr.BDH
@Citizen_X: Why are banjo jokes so stupid? So the drummer will understand them. Thanks, try the fatback…
Kerry Reid
Heard this from a music-critic friend of mine the other day. Oh well. Maybe she’s just angling to be the touring drummer with Ted Nugent.
Tom Hilton
Good lord, 30 comments and not one single person mentions Life in Exile After Abdication? Or the song Spam Again (which happens to be about working at Wal-Mart, and the plight of the working poor)?
Before y’all get all dismissive about Moe Tucker, you should try knowing what the fuck you’re talking about.
Marc
The drugs weren’t kind to Nico either.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
OT: I just got the call from the vet with the pathology report on Eddie’s toes. It’s malignant lymphoma, which is what he had two years ago. So now it’s just a matter of putting him on steroids and waiting until he’s sick enough that it’s time to put him to sleep.
Citizen_X
@tomvox1: Agreed, but then VU was kind of the Swiss Army knife of secret weapons.
You couldn’t have had their sound without Sterling Morrison’s droning rhythm guitar, either. But then he had the coolest post-band career path: went to UT Austin to get a Master’s and Ph.D. in Medieval English lit, and then went to Houston to become…a tugboat captain!
Don’t know if that inspired the Galaxie 500 song, “Tugboat Captain,” though.
Zach
Dunno why the Guardian story is so, um, guarded. She looks exactly like Tucker and looks exactly the right age in addition to being in the right location. Perhaps it’s just a put-on on her part because she’s not shown evidence of being a totally stupid person that I know of.
daveNYC
Ouch, that sucks.
p.a.
Mo Tucker is 66 yrs. old, and she looks like the youngest teatard in that clip.
hilzoy
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): That’s awful. I’m so sorry.
cleek
same shit happens with writers, too.
Mark Helprin (“Memoir From Antproof Case”) is a great author, but a wingnut.
Orson Card (“Ender’s Game”) is a homophobic wingnut lunatic.
James Lileks is pretty funny, but i soured on him when he decided to go full wingnut early in the Iraq war.
New Yorker
@tomvox1:
I’ll give you her vocals being massively influential on female indie and punk, but anyone could have done her drumming. True, it was integral to the VU sound, but anyone could have done it. I don’t think you could have replaced Reed, Cale or Morrison quite as easily (they did replace Cale, and the albums dropped off in quality, IMHO).
foxhunter
@redoubt:
Mmmmmm…..peanuts!
WereBear
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): I’m so sorry.
Death Panel Truck
I wonder what Sister Ray says?
debit
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): I am so sorry.
Sly
What do you do when a drummer knocks on your door?
Hand them some cash and take the pizza.
Ba-dump-chhhh.
Omnes Omnibus
@Death Panel Truck: I bet she says “Whip it on.”
damn good mr. jam
Don’t forget Johnny Ramone was a wingnut.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN)
@hilzoy: @daveNYC: @WereBear: @debit:
Thanks. I’m not taking it as hard as I thought I would. Hard, yes, but not as hard. It spares me what was my nightmare scenario: that I would have to put him down while he was still active and full of energy. My finances were getting kind of stretched, and I’m not sure how many more times I could have paid for something like amputating his toes, but you can’t just let him go on with an infection eating away at his paw, no matter how lively he is. Unless something else comes up in the time left, that’s not going to happen. Check out time will be when he decides it is.
Citizen_X
@Sly: Q: What does a stripper do with her asshole before work?
A: Drops him off at band practice.
I know, not a drummer joke, but still…
ruemara
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
I’m sorry.
Omnes Omnibus
@damn good mr. jam: Johnny was a full on fascist, but he was balanced by Joey.
JoePo
I’m almost positive Lou Reed says stuff like this just to be a dick.
I would say Andy Warhol is spinning in his grave, but his body was placed into a giant balloon and shot out of a cannon into the stratosphere, where he will float forever.
slimslowslider
I wonder what Angus MacLise thinks of all this…
stuckinred
@New Yorker: they all suck
JoePo
@New Yorker: I’ve always preferred the self-titled and Loaded to the first two. And I’m a huge fan of Cale’s solo work.
Mnemosyne
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
Oh, man, that sucks. I’ll tell you what my very good vet told us when Natasha had a malignant tumor: as long as his quality of life is still good (still interacting with you, still eating/drinking/peeing/pooping) you don’t need to rush into any decisions. If he stops doing any of the four or starts hiding (or hiding more than usual), that may be when you have to decide.
I would call your vet and ask them to recommend a mobile vet who will come to your house when it’s time. Poor Eddie has had so much vet trauma that I think everyone will be better off if you can have it done at home.
Comrade Mary
Yeah, that’s Moe.
Comrade Mary
Nothing on the News page of her site yet, but then, she hasn’t updated for a while.
EDIT: Oh, poor Eddie! This really sucks, but keep him comfy and spoiled rotten as long as you can. People keep saying you’ll know when to let him go — and you will — but you may also second guess yourself a lot. Trust your gut. You know your little guy.
Brighton
Drummers. Whattaya gonna do? The tea party has its place in the history of fascism in the US over the last 50 years.
Sp correx – “Tifton” which is pronounced: ‘middle of fucking nowhere.’
Jane2
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Poor Eddie….enjoy the time you have left with him and give him all the treats he wants.
Jay B.
There is a kind of perfect symmetry here — at once bemoaning “socialism”, but also making a perfectly valid point in the second sentence. Maybe the anti-socialism shit was to get on TV where then the second part “things we really need get cut” was to kind of point out the end result of this insane rhetoric.
I think it’s advanced hippie-punching, but way better than the way you guys think you do it.
kindness
Maybe Mo & Victoria Jackson can get together and wage a campaign. Hmmm, what could we call a couple of haz beens?
The ‘I used to haz cheezeburger’ duo? Please feel free to run with this one.
tomjones
@Zifnab: Hey wait a second!
I’ve spent thirty-one years in that deep red state and … oh, damn. I resemble that remark. :)
Dave
@Gordon Guano:
Don’t want to alarm you, but Danzig’s the same kind of tool.
4:24 for relevant
satby
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): so sorry to hear that.
Menzies
@Sly:
Heard the same joke about Ph.D.s myself.
benjoya
what happened when the drummer locked his keys in the car?
he had to break a window to get the bass player out.
JZ
@biff diggerence: Seriously. Moe Tucker was the Meg White of the Velvet Underground.
stuckinred
It’s Tifton not Tiftin
Steve
The real VU drummer was Angus MacLise, and he was keeping it real until the day he died…
Church Lady
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): Michael, I’m so sorry about Eddie’s diagnosis. I know how much you love that cat.
asiangrrlMN
FYWP, Part I.
@New Yorker: I love the two versions Cale did of Cohen’s Hallelujah. Everything goes better with cellos!
asiangrrlMN
FYWP, Part II.
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN): I’m so sorry to hear that–both for you and for Eddie. I send him a white light to guide him on this difficult journey.
Mike B
@tomvox1: Agreed.
And she hasn’t been totally absent from the music scene since the Velvets. She can be heard on Five Points Crawl from the Kropotkins. A somewhat uneven album, IMO, but I like it — and I love the song Forever Motel.
GaBuck
@Zifnab: 46 years in this “hell-hole” hasn’t changed me a bit. Last time I looked the tea-party was a national phenomena. But go ahead and kick Georgia around by all means if you must.
Silver
@asiangrrlMN:
Cale’s version is the only one I like better than the original.
Tom Hilton
@Mike B: Also, as I pointed out about 40 comments ago, she did a solo album. A really good solo album. Which apparently I’m the only person here who has ever heard.
Sigh.
Here’s a live version of Spam Again (starts around 4:00; Goodnight Irene is kinda skippable), which she introduces as “a song about working for rich jerks’.
Sad that she now seems to have unlearned everything she knew then.
Mike B
@Tom Hilton: Well, now two people have heard it. ;-)
Thanks for the link.
BombIranForChrist
They misspelled Tifton, for what that is worth. I grew up near there. Our team kicks their ass in football on a regular basis.
tworivers
Too bad. I liked her drumming and her singing on After Hours and and I’m Sticking With You.
But an ignoramus is an ignoramus.
Cale and Reed I’m guessing don’t share her views
skippy
i am reminded of what coolio (i believe) said when told that george harrison was disparaging rap music: if it was john lennon or paul mccartney, i’d pay attention.
let me know when lou reed turns teatard, otherwise, what do you call the guy that hangs out with musicians?
the drummer.
John Bird
I try not to invest myself in the politics of people who would naturally know less about the subject than I do.
Jebediah
@Mnemosyne:
Second that, absolutely. We did that with Daisy and I wouldn’t do it any other way.