PRIMAL SCREAM’S BOBBY GILLESPIE submits to Part 2 of the Fan-ish Inquisition…
What’s all this Abba business?
(Ken Wells, Bath)
“I like a couple of Abba singles, but I’m not an expert. I know that when I was younger I liked the blonde one and when I was older I liked the dark-haired one. ‘Dancing Queen‘ and ‘Knowing Me Knowing You‘ are fantastic records. But ‘Super Trooper‘ – I’m not having it. It’s bad. I don’t think I should say any more.”
If you had to be either Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher in your next life, who would you pick?
(Bob Thompson, Canada)
“Neither. I couldn’t. I’d rather be in purgatory, a lost soul in perdition. Scum. That’s a hard question, though. I ain’t gonna get any sleep tonight, wake up with two heads.”
I’ve read in a couple of interviews that you have no intention of ever getting married. Why not?
(Jacky Chun, Leeds)
“I don’t believe in marriage. It’s not my thing. I’m not that insecure that I need to go to the church and have my love for somebody else blessed by a priest. If anyone else wants to do it, fine – for some people, it’s the biggest day of their whole lives, and that’s alright. But it’s not for me. I’m married to rock’n’roll, man.”
What do you mean by ‘no civil disobedience’?
(David Exley, Stoke-on-Trent)
“What I mean is that there seems to no civil disobedience anymore. Up into the ’70s there was strong trade unionism and people wouldn’t let the boss or the government fuck them over, they’d fucking stand up for themselves, fight back, organise, join together. There was a sense of community and strength that just doesn’t exist anymore. Conservatism under Thatcher destroyed the working class movement. The Miner’s Strike was set up purely to destroy the working class movement, when the Miners went down the whole fucking Trade Union movement when down. Civil rights have been eroded in the last twenty years. And there doesn’t seem to be any organisation – people get fucked about, slapped about, and they just take it. That’s what I’m saying, there is no civil disobedience. I’d like to see some civil disobedience. Some controlled anger, some organisation. Because the government are like the company that you work for. They want you to be disorganised, they want people to be separate and apart, because when you’re organised and educated then you can fucking fight the system. It’s a worldwide thing, it’s multinational fucking fascism. They’ve successfully torn people apart, but I think we can come together again. People work longer hours for less pay in Britain than in any other country in Europe. It’s fucking backwards, man. Things are getting so bad that civil disobedience has got to come back.”
Why did you get your hair cut?
(Helen McBain, London)
“I’m glad someone asked me that. I just got bored with long hair and I felt like cutting it short. Simple as that.”
Have you ever thought of playing ‘Velocity Girl’ again?
(Chris Thomas, Kent)
“Nah. We used to play it live about eleven years ago. We never played it in the way that we recorded it, though. We did it really slow, like the Velvet Underground’s ‘Pale Blue Eyes‘. At least, we thought it sounded like ‘Pale Blue Eyes‘. I think we’ll leave it at that.”
Why have you stopped using vowels? Do you find them oppressive?
(Bartholomew McDonagh, London)
“Yeah, vowels are fucking fascist. You gotta take ’em out, man. They’re like a virus. A Judeo-Christian controlled virus. Exterminate! We’re gonna cut up the English language. Destroy it. Rebuild it. Create our own language.”
What are your thoughts on Radiohead? Do you judge bands by their class?
(Mira Sundberg, London)
“I don’t really know Radiohead, I don’t know their music, so I can’t say. Do I judge by class? No way. Not at all. That would be bad.”
What do you think of Mogwai?
(Matthew Frost, Warwickshire)
Mogwai are a great band. I like them as people and I like their music. I saw an interview by the guy from The Cure, Robert Smith, and he said his new record is influenced by Mogwai. He said he could hear The Cure in Mogwai, and that now there’s Mogwai in The Cure. I thought that was a really cool thing to say.”
What are your current drugs of choice?
(Daz Utting, Oldham)
“Dexedrine and vegetables and water. I’m on a health kick, baby.”
You talk about real rock – sex, drugs and rock’n’roll – but I think Guns N’ Roses are the only band to ever lived up to that mantra in lifestyle and quality of tunes. What are your thoughts?
(Jonny Mangia, USA)
“Dude, that’s fair enough. I fucking love Guns N’ Roses. Alan McGee nearly threw me out of the Creation offices in ’88 for having a Guns N’ Roses badge on. He was going, ‘They’re fucking shite! The House of Love are where it’s at!’ and I was going, ‘Fuck off, man!” I love ‘Appetite For Destruction‘, I think it’s fantastic. And Axl’s just fucking crazy, isn’t he? But I don’t know about this comeback, because the band don’t really exist. Axl got rid of the fucking band. And what a great band. Duff McKagan, right. Steven Adler on drums, the junkie drummer, I loved him. Slash. Izzy fucking Stradlin‘. I met Izzy once, he was great. Axl fucking Rose. I know Ian Astbury from The Cult, who were fucking out there, and when they took Guns N’ Roses on tour with them he said Axl was fucking insane. You know, Astbury, dressed up in that uniform, thinking that he was Jim Morrison – and he thought Axl was insane. So he must have been pretty bad.”
If ADF are your proteges, carrying on in your mould, who do you see as your contemporaries?
(Samir Mathur, Mill Hill)
“They’re not our proteges, they’re not carrying on in our mould. It’s derogatory to say that, really. And as far as our contemporaries go, I don’t know.”
How did you take Damon’s apology to you around the time of ‘Tender’, when he said he felt he’d finally written a song you’d like?
(Howard Riley, Dublin)
“I don’t have a problem with him. I’m okay with him. It’s nice that he apologised, that’s cool. And I’ve met the guitar player, Graham, he’s a nice guy. So if I met them now, I’d probably get on with them. There’s no animosity there.”
How come a load of old blokes like you lot are making some of the most vital rock’n’roll music around at the moment. What’s happened to the kids?
(Tim, London)
“The kids just can’t get it up.”
If you could remove one world leader from power, who would it be? Who would you replace him/her with, and why?
(Jennie Wren, USA)
“I’d take Bill Clinton, bring in George Clinton, and paint the White House black. So we’d have one nation under a groove.”
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
(Joe Schalk, PA)
“I don’t know what the best one I’ve ever been to is, because I’ve seen a lot of really great things. But the last great one I saw was Iggy Pop in Hamburg. Mani, for once in his life, was speechless. Afterwards, he said, ‘I feel like I’ve been struck by fucking lightning!’ We were both fucking levitating. Iggy was a master, man. It was holy.”
What is your interest in syphilis? It’s mentioned on four tracks on the new LP. Is this a personal thing?
(Gareth Dobson, Canterbury)
“I think syphilis is good angry fucking word. It’s just like a piece of fucking scum, it’s full of fucking hate. You can die from syphilis, it’s an evil fucking disease. So it’s a great description for policemen and politicians. But no, I haven’t been down the clinic.”
Why the hell did you let Rod Stewart cover one of your songs?
(J. Jackson, Rotherham)
“It was an honour. We’re all big Facesfans. We love Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart. I thought it was a great version, because that song was pretty much inspired by The Faces and The Stones in the first place. So when Rod covered it, I thought it was fantastic.”
What do you think of Noel Gallagher moving to the countryside, and what do you think of Oasis’ new album?
(Hugh Smith, Kennington)
“It must to be too hectic in London for Noel, I guess. I’ve been to his house, and there’s always a lot of people there. I don’t think he gets much sleep. It must be pretty crazy being so famous. It’s very intense. So I think it’s probably good for his head to get out. I love Noel Gallagher. But I can’t comment on the album, because I haven’t heard it. The only song I’ve heard is ‘Little James‘ because Liam used to always play it when he came to our studio last year, and I liked it. I’m looking forward to hearing the album. Liam Gallagher’s the only real rock’n’roll star we’ve got, isn’t he? He’s incredible.”
Where would you be if Andy Weatherall hadn’t produced ‘Loaded’?
(Steve Brennan, Preston)
“That’s a good question. Because if we hadn’t met Andy Weatherall and we hadn’t have made ‘Loaded‘, then Creation wouldn’t have ever gotten bigger, and they would never have signed Oasis. It’s a weird one. Lots of things would never have happened. ‘Screamadelica‘ would never have happened if we had never collaborated with Andy Weatherall and The Orb and Jimmy Miller – we could never have done it without these amazing people. So if we had never met Andy, things might be very different. And he would probably never have been a producer if he had never met us.”
The Scream Party enters the next General Election and, swept along on a national mood of Socialism, gets elected. Upon arrival in Number 10, what are your first country-saving policies?
(MG, Stoke Newington)
“Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, George Jones and Merle Haggard.”
How would Primal Scream like to be remembered?
(Jon Roseman, Hull)
“With a lot of love.”
So there you have it, the Primal Scream directive, straight from the lips of Bobby Gillespie. Kill all hippies. Engage in organised resistance. Challenge the system. Xtrmnt vwls. Let yourself be moved by the raw visceral power of rock’n’roll, but don’t be afraid to love Abba. Keep the faith, brothers and sisters, keep the faith.