The Velvet Underground's Moe Tucker is having a party: A tea party

I got deluged with e-mails this morning from old music biz pals who are (pick one) outraged, depressed or scandalized by the news that Velvet Underground drummer Maureen (Moe) Tucker, an undeniable icon of cool in the 1960s, is now a "tea party" zealot. According to the Huffington Post, whose story is basically a rewrite of a piece from England's Guardian newspaper, a woman identified as Tucker was interviewed on TV earlier this year, complaining that Barack Obama is leading the country toward socialism. (When the Huffington Post reached Tucker at her home in Georgia, she confirmed her identity but wouldn't discuss her political views.)

Of course, in the '60s, pretty much every rock musician was in favor of socialism, not just because he or she was a share-the-wealth style outsider and idealist, but because he figured that at least under socialism he'd get paid some money (under music industry capitalism, virtually all of the moolah went straight into the record company coffers). Still, it comes as a shock to imagine that someone like Tucker, whose band was the epitome of counterculture cool, could now reemerge as an angry protester being quoted as referring to the president as "King Obama," adding that "I have come to believe (not just wonder) that Obama's plan is to destroy American from within."

It's startling, just as it would be for people on the right if a staunch conservative such as former Reagan administration cabinet member Bill Bennett suddenly surfaced, advocating legalizing drugs and raising taxes on the rich. I mean, the horror! I'm sure that the right will embrace Tucker as one of its own, taking great pleasure in seeing such a lefty cult hero having joined the tea party ranks. But if I were a liberal, I wouldn't be so surprised. After all, Tucker fits the tea party profile, being older, white and living in a small town. It turns out that the people who lost faith in the system when they were young are just as likely to lose faith again now.   

Photo: Maureen (Moe) Tucker, second from left, with Velvet Underground members Sterling Morrison, Lou Reed and John Cale. Credit: Gerard Malanga / Polydor Records

Comments

[Richard Long]

Moe is a chick? whooda thought.

[Richard Long]

"It turns out that the people who lost faith in the system when they were young are just as likely to lose faith again now. "

great line. make sure the MSNBC lefties read it.

[Tim o'toole]

There is an old Japanese proverb that goes something like this, " A young man who is not liberal in thought does not have a heart, but an old man who is not conservative does not have a brain."

[thomco]

after the Velvet Underground, she ended up working at Wal-Mart. I'm sure that destroyed any remaining optimisim or faith she may have had in liberal democracy.

[hcwarden]

I only see 4 men in the picture. Which one is she?

[Luis]

This is an extremely stupid article. VU will always be great. Republicans and Democrats/ Right and Left are irrelevant - they are THE SAME. More money... Moe Tucker might be right, might be wrong - doesn't matter. VOTE FOR ANY THIRD PARTY.

[jack]

Do your homework before writing. Moe Tucker was right-wing back then, too. She's always been a kook.

[earl]

Well, the liberal left still has Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne. and I would rather listen to them then the velvet underground any day.

[Joe Bean]

And if you close the door
The night could last forever
Leave the sunshine out
And say hello to never

Cause if you close the door
I'd never have to see the day again
I'd never have to see the day again, once more
I'd never have to see the day again

[Kevin Dunsmore]

So Mo Tucker is assumed to be a turncoat former liberal just because she once played in a famous garage band?

That's absurd.

You see this stupidity more and more often these days. Everything is political. Dogs are conservative. Cats are liberal.