Let Rock Stars rule the world....

With the current financial and political crisis engulfing Britain and most of the world, you’d have to think that some of your favourite rock n roll heroes couldn’t do any worse than some of the clowns in charge of our lives at the moment? Would Ozzy Osbourne be any worse than Gordon Brown or would Angus Young be the man to lead the education department to higher levels of success. Perhaps the school uniform leads you to think that Angus Young will have an affinity with the needs of the kids but rock n roll is full of music school heroes and influences like Sid Vicious or Keith Moon. One musician putting himself in the running to have a say in governing public office is Krist Novoselic, a blast from the past from the 90s grunge world. Novoselic may not be as famous as former bandmates Kurt Cobain or Dave Grohl but he was an instrumental part in the success of Nirvana but he has already admitted his signing up for this role is nothing but a publicity stunt to advertise his displeasure at the flaws in the local political situation. The name of his party, the Grange Party, will bring to mind the era of grunge and the true impact that Novoselic made on the world.
The after Nirvana career of Novoselic may not be as rock n roll as Dave Grohl, the leader of the Foo Fighters a band who have probably outsold Nirvana and positioned themselves as stadium rockers alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2 and AC/DC. Yes, Grohl is as much of an enigmatic front man as Anthony Keidis or Brian Johnson and would probably be guaranteed of enough votes if he ran for political office to sweep to power.
That said, the early 90s grunge band had a huge sway over their fans and have political ideas and this was shown perfectly by Pearl Jam, who are still railing against the injustices in the world. The biggest thing that Eddie Vedder and the boys managed was their campaign and Ticketmaster and the extortionate fees which means that even if Alive or the vocals of Eddie Vedder meant nothing to you, they are deserving of at least some of your respect. Singers like Layne Stayley may have burned out rather than fading away but Pearl Jam have hung around and even though Cobain will be forever linked with Neil Young for citing his lyrics to ‘Hey, Hey, My, My’ in his suicide note, it was Pearl Jam who recorded and played live with Neil Young in the mid 90’s.
Music has always had a strong link to politics with one of the most popular folk rockers and protest singers being Bob Dylan, a strong contemporary of Neil Young. Bob may no longer be the angry young man railing against the ills of the world but his influence still lives on and his views on life back then are still valid today. Many are concerned about the anti social behaviour shown by the youth of today and the lyrics of Subterranean Homesick Blues where Bob wails about the fact that “the pump don’t work cause the vandals took the handles” is as relevant today as it was when His Bobness first launched the track onto the world.