Jan 022011
Townsman Andyr, aka the Velvet Foghorn, aka “Velv,” suggested the following:
I’d say the banker in London who called the police and got the [Beatles’] rooftop concert stopped was the biggest douche!
He may have a strong case there. But how about other fan faves? Mike Love, anybody? Allen Klein? I’m not tossing my hat in the ring–yet–but I have some definite thoughts on the matter. For now, the question is: Who’s the biggest douche in rock history?
I look forward to your responses. For now, Velv has the belt!
HVB
Thanks for beating me to this, HVB!!! You ARE the Man. You too, Velv. I’ll give this topic some thought as well. For now, it’s hard to argue with andyr’s first entrant.
Here’s a challenger – I’ll let andyr and HVB decide whether he beats the London banker: the Elia Kazan of rock ‘n roll, Lovin’ Spoonful guitarist Zal Yanovsky, who narc’ed on his dealer to avoid deportation following a pot bust. That’s not cool, man!
Ray Manzarak
This reminds me of something andyr suggested on New Year’s Eve: Ray Manzarek and Stewart Copeland could join forces for the beginnings of the Biggest Band of Assholes in Rock.
I have to say that if any band of that era contained a member who would narc, the Lovin’ Spoonful was a prime candidate!
Badfinger’s Stan Polley!
Very few of the people mentioned thus far are all that douchey. Even Manzarek — he’s far too entertaining. Copeland’s just mouthy. C’mon he’s not even the biggest douche in The Police!
I humbly submit Billy Corgan.
The interview Oats just linked to should remind everyone that Lou Reed deserves at least a mention in this battle royale.
I was looking up info on notorious British manager/thug Don Arden and found this in wikipedia:
“In 1979, one of Arden’s successes, Black Sabbath, sacked their vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. Arden’s daughter Sharon began to date Osbourne, and took over his management from her father. Arden was livid. Reportedly, the next time Sharon visited Don, his vicious pet dogs savaged her. She was pregnant, and lost the child.”
Nice.
Personally, I feel that, following andyr’s entrant, the Biggest Douche in Rock and Roll History should be a douche for a specific act, not a Lifetime Achievement Asshole, such as Manzarek, Copeland, Corgan, or my man Lou. BigSteve’s Don Arden example, for example, is most douchey according to my understanding of the Battle Royale!
I vote for Morris Levy. He defrauded countless R & B acts through crappy contracts, plastered his own name as co-writer of early rock and roll hits just to earn songwriting royalties (including Why Do Fools Fall in Love? and California Sun), and famously sued John Lennon for the line “here come old flattop” because he owned the right to Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me.”
I suppose we could add lots of record company execs (such as Saul Zaentz), but this guy takes the cake (and anything else not nailed down in an iron-clad legal agreement).
Douche.
Good one!
Poison Dwarf Irv Azoff
Yeah, I think the title “Biggest Rock Douchebag” should go to the person who shows the least amount of personal *goodness* through his or her behavior. The true douchebag needs to display actual patterns of behavior — perform specific douche-baggy acts of assholishness — to qualify. That’s why I’m not down with Mike Love, or Ray Manzarek, or a few others that I’ve seen nominated.
But it’s a matter of degree. Paul McCartney pulled a HUGE douchebag move when he insisted that certain songs be credited “McCartney-Lennon.” But that particular episode doesn’t measure up to the Sabbath manager, or the dude who consistently ripped off America’s early rock and rollers.
For my money, Morris Levy’s in the lead.
Of course, there is really no arguing against Levy, but are you actually saying there is no pattern of douchebaggery in Love’s vaunted career?
My 1st thought was Gene Simmons but he is more of an asshole (in fact he named a solo album “Asshole”). I’ll watch practically anything rock related on TV but I just want to smack that guy. A douche is more of a weak, weaselly sort of thing, like the Lovin’ Spoonful guy.
How about Scott Stapp? He not only foisted Creed upon the world but after it comes to a sad end he picks a fight with the 311 guy’s wife and gets beaten up for his troubles. And then he insults Howard Stern’s wife. How hard must she be to offend?
Stapp is a good one, and I like the way you help define a douche, for the purposes of this thread.
Agreed. Weaselly *and* assholish, with specific acts of weaselly assholish-ness to prove their douche-itude. So a guy who routinely weasels his way into songwriting credit is a douche. An uptight, weaselly banker who calls the cops on the Beatles’ last concert is a douche. Gene Simmons is no douche.
Suge Knight is no douche.
As soon as I saw the title of the thread, Morris Levy jumped to mind. Glad to see others are thinking along the same lines: http://www.answers.com/topic/morris-levy
My vote goes to Chris Gaines. #1. He wasn’t even real. #2. It was grrrrrrreat to see/hear Garth Brooks finally fail miserably with his fans.