Michelle Shocked: Search & Destroy.

as discussed earlier here's what she put in the liner notes of Arkansas Traveler:

My early intention was to present this record with a cover
photo of myself wearing blackface. Aside from providing
controversy for hatemongers or offending the delicate sensibilities
of the politically correct, my sincere intention was that it would
provide a genuine focus on the real 'roots' of many of the tunes
included; blackface minstrelsy. It's my contention that a blackface
tradition is alive and well hidden behind a modern mask. I believe that
'blacking up' should be done correctly; as an exploration for the source
of that hollow ring we mistakenly believe was immaculately conceived in
Las Vegas, and in a context of true respect for the cultures we ape.

iirc the label had to tell her "we're not putting out a record with a white woman in blackface on the cover, Michelle"

I believe that 'blacking up' should be done correctly; as an exploration for the source of that hollow ring we mistakenly believe was immaculately conceived in Las Vegas

I think this is where the weed kicked in?

the soundcloud makes pretty clear that she's saying what _she_ thinks. "from their vantage point. well i shouldn't say their because i also mean mine. from our vantage point." etc. the "god hates" thing was said ironically/jokingly though.

my parents listened to a fair bit of michelle shocked in the early 90s, i wonder if they've heard about this.

also never knew any of that stuff abt arkansas traveler, a record i had more than a passing familiarity with when i was 9.

wow. at 7:30 in or so, things turn ugly.

has anyone suggested that she was doing a significant amount of drugs before the show?

at 17:00 or so they shut down the show and take her mic while people heckle, and she keeps trying to sing and play guitar even as everyone leaves.

"i just want y'all to know that i did not ask for a deposit for this performance. and i'm pretty sure i'm going to be told, when i leave here tonight, that i did not give anyone their money's worth. and so now i would like to pass the hat, and ask if you wouldn't mind putting a dollar in."

this is amazing.

And my statement equating repeal of Prop 8 with the coming of the End Times was neither literal nor ironic: it was a description of how some folks - not me - feel about gay marriage.

this is pretty lol because she literally says the opposite of this from stage.

I think this is where the weed kicked in?

if I end up spending the whole time thinking about American race relations next time I blaze up I'm going to be really mad you afterwards

"...and in a context of true respect for the cultures we ape."

Hmmm . . .

Michelle Shocked should start a Kickstarter campaign. For ... something.

if I end up spending the whole time thinking about American race relations next time I blaze up I'm going to be really mad you afterwards

if this happens ask for a rebate from yr dealer imho

this whole thing makes me sad
i first saw michelle in abt '89 or so opening up for billy bragg, the campfire tapes had given buzz but short, sharp, shocked had not hit yet. all of us were there to see billy but this solo acoustic performer made him work to get the audience back and i became a fan through following albums, live shows
(the arkansas tapes blackface idea was ...... umm. complicated, it was a whole idea of how to address blackface and minstrelsy in american music and was a half-baked idea but not racist) (now seems more compliacated)
andit is heartbreaking to hear her lose her shit this way and is def fucking with a lot of the audience that supported her over the years

"when did you stop flogging that dead horse?"

"when it was sold to Tesco"

ask for a rebate from yr dealer

lol I'll let you know how this shakes out but I am not hopeful

This is the first time I've thought about Michelle Shocked in like twenty years so clearly she's doing SOMETHING right

the written explanation is just...it's so full of handwaving it's almost unreadable.

oy:

http://www.xojane.com/issues/on-my-confrontation-with-homophobe-michelle-shocked

“Hey, can you hold on a second? I need to talk to the sound guys.”

bring your ball of yarn
http://www.xojane.com/files/800px-Wild-Goose-Festival.JPG

wow @ that article, great stuff glad the writer found the notes

Leroy says shut the fuck up, girl.

puppet show
michelle shocked

She's due on Nicole Sandler (never heard of her)'s talkshow which has just started
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/radio-or-not?utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=667764&utm_medium=social

I am kinda gobsmacked that people find a charitable reading of what happened here -- in which she is just kinda fucked up about religion and homosexuality and tried to talk about it and fucked up shit came out -- is so difficult for some folks to believe. There's kind of a "gotcha" thing going on that I find a little ugly -- notoriously overwrought and weird singer with a history of saying dumb shit spontaneously is having her ill-thought-out words analyzed at a great level of grammatical precision to prove her homophobia. Who the fuck wants to win that game and why?

this is so weird, she said she would speak on the phone to the talk show host but is not picking up the phone.

Oof

http://www.spin.com/articles/michelle-shocked-gay-rant-apology-interview

Is anybody listening to this radio interview? weirdness

listening. she came on briefly and didn't sound at all well tbh. the host is being unnecessarily aggressive in my view

From that Spin piece:

Then, about 45 minutes into the interview, Shocked asked me to write down "verbatim" what she'd said the previous night at Yoshi's. I said that I didn't need to write it down, that I was taping with a digital recorder. Again, because I had specifically mentioned "interview" in my two messages earlier in the day, messages that she had responded to, I assumed that we were already in the middle of an interview. Shocked disagreed and accused me of recording her without consent, and insisted that I hold up my recorder to the camera while I deleted the audio file. I did so. Then, since she couldn't tell that the file I had just deleted was the audio file of our conversation, she dictated into her own recorder the date and time that I had recorded her, and asked that I verbally confirm that I had deleted the file in question. I did so. Shocked then asked me to restart my recorder and ask for her permission to record our conversation. I did.

XP - Yea the host is kinda flapping and becoming more shrill as she goes on.

host likes saying hashtag

kinda assuming she's on a "no such thing as bad press" high here... I mean, I haven't thought about Michelle Shocked in 20 years, so she's done something right.

her Twitter this morning is ugh. I mean...I'm not a doctor obv but what she sounds like is a person in a manic state headed for a giant crash.

^^^ this. Feel like in between God Hates Fags, Occupy Wall Street and matdors this exchange is telling:

I mean, this is a meaningful thing to me, and I hear you listening very carefully.

I'm trying. I really am.

But I don't…If it's inexplicable…

The whole interview seems to tie together.

I don't know if that exchenge is 'telling', it's a stumble over the start of a sentence..

The whole recording thing is a more insane version of what Jello Biafra does during phone interviews, or at least did with mine. He asks me if I am recording and when I affirm he asks me to stop, rewind and play a little back to him so he can confirm it is being recorded. Once I did that the interview continued.

/tangent

i can't believe i just listened to that whole audio. yikes.

The whole recording thing is a more insane version of what Jello Biafra does Charlie Sheen in his state did during phone interviews

Not to excuse, but worth noting she said way back that she took the name Shocked after running away from home as a teen, then being caught and brought back to Texas for electroshock, at the behest of her Christian mother. The version of Christianity I've heard her portray/represent ect. on some live tapes seems comfortably fervent and liberal enough, in terms of early Bobby D./Arlo-type passing zingers and some passionate peacenik gospelizing. But the long and winding paper trail 'o' quotes does indeed indicate gayness as xp "a thorn in her side"; Christianity too, in terms of Old Testament fine print vs. the kind of community spirit she used to bring on stage. She follows this whole disaster (none of which *sounds* ironic; mostly amounts to "bite me", when they don't appreciate the spirit of LOVE in which her words are supposedly offered) with a aong about "trying to live without a past", and meeting a guy who's real bad at keeping it all hid, as she unnecessarily explains.

this happened

intense!

"bands Beaver Fever and Frootie Flavors"

You're no Yoko and writing on your suit is no "cut piece," lady.

word

The tape across her mouth said "Silenced By Fear."

So silenced that she's in the fucking newspaper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA3JUpQzOekShare

Supposedly she's on Piers Morgan Live, on CNN in a bit.

"We will not be bashing Michelle Shocked," he said. "Rather, we will celebrate music, diversity and send some healing Santa Cruz energy her way."