women

Similarly, as a student booker who ultimately represents Oberlin by booking college-funded acts, I must be aware of Oberlin’s history as a progressive and highly conscious institution with an important legacy of social justice and action that needs to be upheld to this day. This legacy is seen notably in the student protests, demands, and direct action that took place on our campus during the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the spring of 1970, in response to the Kent State shootings and President Nixon’s decision to send troops into Cambodia as part of the war against North Vietnam, Oberlin College ended the semester two weeks early. Time reported: “Oberlin College President Robert Carr simply canceled final exams, gave all his students credits for their courses and turned over the campus to antiwar planning.” Students today commonly and falsely believe that Oberlin does not require its graduating students to don traditional commencement regalia simply because Oberlin is “quirky”; the truth is that the cap and gown was first rejected by students in protest of the Vietnam War and the United States’ involvement in it. As detailed in “Academic Regalia at Oberlin: the Establishment and Dissolution of a Tradition,” a monograph written by S.E. Plank and published in the Northeast Ohio Journal of History, “The abandonment of cap and gown by the senior class was multivalent in its effectiveness. The refund money from the gown rental could go to the student, to the Strike Fund (in support of the antiwar activities), or to a class gift fund in support of local community projects.

The dramatic contrast from traditional expectation vividly underscored that given the extraordinary circumstances of May, 1970, ‘business as usual’ was an impossible response. Certainly the innovative dress brought wider attention to the issues of the day and to the school itself.” To allow a band called “Viet Cong” to play a show and make money at Oberlin College would be in complete disregard of Oberlin’s radical history and of the values it professes to uphold.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fgomHGSQHEaVNrkIWmCGH1-wO61VoGhLnpr9NGCLyWY/edit

Imo the student was completely in the right to do this, and shows an awareness of genuine anti-war principles. Funny that most music sites writing about this don't talk about the activist history of Oberlin - for instance an alumni being arrested as one of the Chicago Seven - but surprise surprise at lack of anti-war stuff in media. /s

It seems like undercutting antiwar politics was just as big a part of the decision to cancel as the blog-headline worthy "offensive name? appropriation?" reasons.

http://pitchfork.com/news/58874-viet-cong-release-statement-regarding-name-controversy/

Our band, Viet Cong, has existed for a little over three years now. When we named ourselves, we were naive about the history of a war in a country we knew very little about. We now better understand the weight behind the words Viet Cong. While we don't take any concerns about the name lightly, we feel it is important to let you know that we never meant to trivialize the atrocities or violence that occurred on both sides of the Vietnam War. We never intended for our name to be provocative or hurtful.

We truly appreciate the seriousness of the feedback we've received, and we will continue to be open to listening to issues and concerns from all perspectives.

With love from the band Viet Cong.

I have reportage from their performance in Chicago on Friday night:

I wasn't there, but a friend was. He said that the festival crowd was definitely there to see VC and then there was a mass exodus before the headliner. That's all he had to say about the band Viet Cong.

what was the reaction to the band joy division at the time? was there an outcry?

I am officially on board with Viet Cong, unfortunate name notwithstanding. Joy Division comparisons are there, but there's a sinister edge to the proceedings, and an artistry that makes me shrug off the pretension as an asset rather than a curse, and some dark psychedelia as well.

http://pitchfork.com/news/61277-viet-cong-are-changing-their-name/

About time, love their pass agg "we were gonna do this anyway" part at the end.

these guys are good at playing rock music (or at least they were as Women - caught a really good set from them in the Public Strain era) but vv bad at picking names, they should let someone else come up with the next one

'Ruff-Puffs' would be a good band name

I stand by this

is the s/t any good? i've been listening to public strain recently and liking it. byrds + this heat ??

it's good, same sound/vibe but much less developed songwriting.