Comments on: John Lydon Is Controversial, Kraftwerk Is Not; So Why Ban The Latter? On China’s Whimsical Censorship Of Musical Acts

By: Liuzhou Laowai

Liuzhou Laowai — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:56:51 +0000

Apart, of course, from those who did electronic music decades before they did.

By: Archie

Archie — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 05:52:10 +0000

Largely a good article, but doesn’t take into account that Modern Sky have never in their history put up a decent guarantee for a big artist // production for any of their festivals. Kraftwerk cost a lot, their production even more. Do we think that an actual offer was made, or is this just good PR?

By: Gay Chevara

Gay Chevara — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:48:34 +0000

I saw PiL in Shanghai. Great show. And Johnny-Boy highly entertaining.

By: Jonathan Alpart

Jonathan Alpart — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 08:00:40 +0000

Great article, Pete. I hope this sets a new precedent for writing on BJC.

By: Jonathan Alpart

Jonathan Alpart — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 07:59:19 +0000

Right, unlike Elton John, he’s a total slice of cake.

By: Owain Lloyd-Williams

Owain Lloyd-Williams — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:35:20 +0000

I was there at the PiL concert in Beijing and apart from a few moans and groans about the pollution Lydon largely kept his mouth shut (though used it repeatedly to spit out whisky as soon as it touched his lips). Lydon has always distanced himself from the whole punk thing and as Jonathan said he is largely a caricature of a controversial person. Great show though, and yes I was certainly surprised to see PiL and Gang of Four in the space of two weeks which has left me mind boggled regarding the logic of China’s censors.

Regarding The Bearded One…I came across a photo the other day that should perhaps result in him being called The Cueball One.

By: RhZ

RhZ — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:27:22 +0000

Yeah that’s right, and its some great stuff. People are still dancing to Trans-Europe Express today.

By: RhZ

RhZ — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:25:40 +0000

Here is the offending lyric:

“Crime, travel, communication, entertainment”

Its a clear attack on the Chinese official lifestyle.

By: James

James — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:25:07 +0000

Kraftwerk = “mild-mannered neatniks who perform yawn-inducing electronic drone music “? Come on Pete, what is this crap? Even if you aren’t a fan they’re the fathers of electronic music, astonishingly important, etc.

By: RhZ

RhZ — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:24:17 +0000

Well what do you think rules are for? They certainly aren’t for following most of the time. They are great however for shaking someone down.

By: Chinachav

Chinachav — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 03:33:38 +0000

The bannings and permit grantings make so little sense that one wonders if it all just boils down to the right people getting greased.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 02:52:15 +0000

Or maybe the censors realized that John Lydon isn’t actually controversial? He’s just a caricature of a controversial person. To paraphrase Zappa, “He’s only in it for the money.”