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RE: (TV) OT: Johnny Thunders



> Wasn't this the TV appearance that got him into so much trouble in Sweden?
Started a big anti-drug fervor.
>

Indeed it was, and it was the starting point for his troubled relationship
with Sweden that continued throughout the 80's. Not only did he collaborated
with Swedish musicians, he also had a girlfriend here (and possibly a child
with her), so he resided for a while in Stockholm, but also came back
frequently on tours, like something of a "rock'n'roll boogey man" to horrify
concerned Swedes. Sweden was then even more of a "nanny state" than it is
today, and it didn't took much to get concerned citizens riled up for this or
that during that decade. Targets were not only rock singers, but also
commercials in radio and TV, video nasties, and pornography. More often then
not, critics of such things suggested total bans. Serious-looking Social
Democrats could be taken seriously when they demanded parabolic antennas to be
prohibited to protect Swedes from damaging advertisments in commercial TV for
Germany or elsewhere, for instance.

In the case of Johnny Thunders, some concerned Swedes thought it would not
only be a good idea to close the border for him, but also to lock out foreign
rock'n'rollers which could be suspected of having drug-habits. This never
became reality, but the outrage was genuine. No wonder the much more liberal
and anti-authority-minded Danes often referred to Sweden as a "Communist
nation".

I saw him twice here in Malmv in the early 80's, once at a disco, once in a
rock club; at the former, he was in excellent form, in the latter, he was
execrable, pretty much as in this TV show. This was when we had only two TV
channels, and only one televised weekly rock show -- so pretty much everyone
with an interest in modern music sat glued to "Mendagsbvrsen" and the
nationwide scandal was inevitable. A summary of the spectacle can be seen
here, in a clip from one of all these talk shows about the latest threat
against the Swedish youth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNOXiPS07Gk

Leif J, Sweden
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