Over at The Bizarre Pavilion we stumbled upon Taurus Trakker, complete with a New York Dolls drag artist bassist, funny seeing the reaction on faces of people as they realised it was actually a bloke, and I myself was hoodwinked for a good 5 seconds, which is about as long as Boy George fooled me when he first sprang onto Top of The Pops.
Panto aside, Taurus Trakker made a great noise – rock ‘n’ roll, foot tapping rock and roll. A bit like Primus in parts, Tears Don’t Fall In Out Of Space was a ‘new one’ – they’re all new to me, and it’s a delight to stumble on a new discovery that’s really primal bluesy quality stuff, ‘I’m waiting for a rocket ship to take me to the planet hip.’ Yeah!

This post was edited by Former Member at August 20, 2013 11:30 PM BST

not fit to call himself a journalist..complete scumbag and knob end x

Hi Debs! Howsyabeen? Yeah, no such thing as bad publicity really. We got the review, the photo, and mentioned in the same sentence as The Dolls! Not a bad days work really! This choob is doing it all for us!

What kind of life must you be leading if you think figuring out Boy George in only 5 seconds is an achievement! I mean his name is a bit of a give away is it not! Thats almost too dumb to live! Aw, I feel all sorry for him now.... He doesn't stand a chance!

When you say he called you "a panto", Maggie, I think that may be just panto or pantomime being referred to, maybe a reference to men dressing up as women in pantomime. I think being called a drag artist is worse, maybe? Either way, very derogatory. Maybe he's an MCP?

45 years of musicianship reduced to a pantomime is what it is Donna. It's completely and utterly unnecessary. What he should be saying, if anything, is trans bassist. End of story. Why even mention panto and 5 seconds to suss out Boy George? What on earth does that have to do with anything?
The thing is, the guy expects a wee snigger at his dazzling cleverness and no doubt a round of applause for his manliness! He'll probably get them in some circles too. But, you know what? The review is actually better than the performance was!
I'm pretty bemused cos I quit them the minute we got home from the gig! Never a dull moment!

It's not about me or the review being good or bad Chrissy. Its about the same tired old cliches they wheel out every time they have to deal with one of us. Why does the trans musician have to be a panto? And what the hell does Boy George on top of the pops have to do with the price of tea?
One day soon making dumb cracks like that will be very very uncool indeed.

I think comments like that are already uncool - very immature of him. Congrats on teh good review though! well done ; )

It's not only the tired old cliches, as you say, but the complete innacuracy. I don't know how far out of nappies this boy is, but I suggest you keep that review and produce I if he ever attempts to become a grown-up journalist! It's a timely addition though Maggie, for every positive press image we get, there are many more negative, sneering ones. It says a lot about the lack of imagination and knowledge many people have about trans people, that "drag queen" is the outer limit of their vocabulary. Maggie, I know ( and so do you) that you are a brilliant musician. I would pay good money to see you perform. If you were attempting to be a drag queen, I wouldn't :-)
As a serious point though, there has been debate here about inappropriate and deliberately hurtful use of terminology. It is clear that this guy (although he must have been p***ing himself at how funny he thought he was being), was deliberately hurtful. Hate crime? Not sure, but a complaint wouldn't go amiss. Imagine if he had said " the black bass player had me fooled for 5 seconds, but like all of them, he couldn't play a note....". Would that have been racist? Of course it would. Personally, I don't see a world of difference between the comments. Xx

I know this is small potatoes and the review is actually pretty good, I'm not bitching about that. If I were a manager I'd be chuffed to bits and most probably already coercing the lead guitarist to stop being so butch and get a tartan mini skirt on PDQ! The boy has done a fabulous job of separating us from the herd and that's publicity you just can't buy.
Of course my initial reaction was 'Panto? The cheeky wee P****! Im going to hunt this boy down like a dog, screw both his hands to a door and beat him to death with his own iPad! But you know me, I am prone to such fantasies! It passes fairly quickly!
The panto remark is a deliberate attempt to belittle the band and their bassist. It is completely unnecessary. It's not about clothes either, this is a major punk festival, there were people there who made even the hardest of hardcore jaws drop. It's supposed to be a celebration of outsider culture. Our guy is clearly hanging out with the wrong crowd!

Over at The Bizarre Pavilion we stumbled upon Taurus Trakker, complete with a New York Dolls drag artist bassist, funny seeing the reaction on faces of people as they realised it was actually a bloke, and I myself was hoodwinked for a good 5 seconds, which is about as long as Boy George fooled me when he first sprang onto Top of The Pops.
Panto aside, Taurus Trakker made a great noise – rock ‘n’ roll, foot tapping rock and roll. A bit like Primus in parts, Tears Don’t Fall In Out Of Space was a ‘new one’ – they’re all new to me, and it’s a delight to stumble on a new discovery that’s really primal bluesy quality stuff, ‘I’m waiting for a rocket ship to take me to the planet hip.’ Yeah!

 

 

This post was edited by Former Member at August 21, 2013 11:23 AM BST

Chalice, I don't see anyone telling you, or anyone else, what to think. However, this alleged journalist is, by his  carefully chosen language.

 

You are entitled to your opinion. In mine, you are adding to an implied desire for recognition,  a licence for anyone to have a free shot to deliberately, and with malice aforethought (oh yes, this guy knew exactly what he was doing by using that terminology), insult and foster prejudice.

 

I will leave Maggie (if she wishes) to explain how she wishes to present herself. My guess is that she wants to present herself as....herself, which is exactly how most of us, including you I am sure, would like it. Others will use whatever label they feel is appropriate. This guy, as Julie Birchill, Littlejohn et al  did some months ago, deliberately chose language to hurt and offend- or, at least to provoke ridicule.

 

I am not suggesting that we all go around crying when someone says something, directly or indirectly, to hurt or offend.. I haven't yet, when I have been laughed at in the street; but, just because someone puts themselves, at whatever level, in the public eye, does not set them up  to be insulted with impunity.

Didnt I just say that chalice? The review is good and the guy has done an excellent job of separating our band from the crowd. A manager couldnt ask for more.

The point is this, and trust you to miss it, Ive played seriously for 45 years. I am no F****** pantomime. Nor do I go begging and appealing for anything. 

Glad to have cleared that up for ya Slick!

I stand by my first comment and no amount of verbal posturing will make me change my mind. If everyone saw an orange and all agreed it was an orange, chalice would call it an apple.

Oh dear.
Apologies Chalice but I don't agree with your work mates.

Maggie MacDonald said:

Didnt I just say that chalice? The review is good and the guy has done an excellent job of separating our band from the crowd. A manager couldnt ask for more.

The point is this, and trust you to miss it, Ive played seriously for 45 years. I am no F****** pantomime. Nor do I go begging and appealing for anything. 

Glad to have cleared that up for ya Slick!

So you take offense at the Panto reference, that's your prerogative. I hope talking about it has helped you.

Personally, I think it goes with the territory. I wouldn't expect any better from the knuckle dragging troglodytes that we share the Planet with.

Why don't you write to the journo yourself, and let him know that you thought it was unnecessay. For my tuppence worth, the review, like all literary pieces, was written for a particular audience. In this sense, I feel he has nailed it (for the reasons I've already outlined). Afterall, it is simply naive to expect everybody to bow down and serve us, or even at best, be considerate and emphatic. 

Lasting, I think, equating the review with the Lucy Meadows incident, and such like, is simply absurd.

 

Regards

This post was edited by Former Member at August 22, 2013 11:53 AM BST

Use of similes is a good way to quickly identify a connection in people's minds Chalice. You think it is absurd, but experience shows us that deliberate use of language can fan the flames of intolerance- and perhaps lead others to extreme action. Neither you or I know the specific audience this guy was targeting, but I know what picture he was trying to paint. What disappoints me about your argument Chalice is that you use a TG social network to excuse intolerance. I am also big enough not to expect anyone to "bow down" as you say. Part of our job, as I see it though, is to offer support, guidance and, yes, a reality check sometimes to others in the TG spectrum. At least those reading your belligerence can all see that the argument is not always just on the outside. 

This post was edited by Emma Gee at August 22, 2013 1:11 PM BST

That's the difference between me and you then chalice. You don't expect it. I demand it.
Good luck with those knuckle dragging trogs sweetie! They must have a ball with you!

People, let us not have this discussion drift across the, dangerously close, line to personal attacks on each other.  Perhaps the "journalist" was just ignorant and, unfortunately for him, he has let the entire world know that...forever.

and I myself was hoodwinked for a good 5 seconds, which is about as long as Boy George fooled me when he first sprang onto Top of The Pops.

I think he has some issues regarding Boy George,  I think it's a classic case of the journalist over compensating for some unresolved feelings based on the first time he saw Boy George on TOTP.

maybe he still has those 'night-time' dreams re: George.

I think you've cracked it Antonia!

Maggie, that was was possibly what he was in the process of when it dawned on him all those years ago.

or maybe cracking one off has a different meaning elsewhere in the world.