The Who (band)

[FuckOffGroundhog]

Does anyone know why The Who are still playing concerts? I thought after Saville we were collectively becoming less accepting of sexual abuse against children? Have we just conveniently forgotten about Pete Townshend paying for child sex abuse images thing because they play a good tune? Or do people believe it was really "research"

Bit surprised some of you didn't know about Mandy Smith. Even in the less questioning era it happened I recall most people , including the press, being astonished.

Artistic reputation does seem to bestow a a get out of jail card . I'm always puzzled by the way Eric Gill for example attracts so little criticism.

You may not be aware of the current trial of Roy Harper. Harper is , if you don't know, a musician who has had considerable critical acclaim and a long career from the late 60s. Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins) are fans. His music is gentle, English pastoral, sensitive and very beautiful.

He's famous also for being friends with Led Zeppelin. The song on LZIII "Hats off to Harper" is about him.

It has been suggested that he is dammed by his own words in a song called "Forbidden Fruit" which is about exactly what the title suggests. On the other hand Nabokov wasn't a paedophile and Eminem isn't Stan so one should not assume it is autobiographical.

Personally I will be very saddened if he is found guilty and will not stop listening to his music. I appreciate I am contradicting myself.

I've not posted links as Google is your friend if you want to know more.

So far as his music try YouTube for videos of his own version of his song "Just Another Day" and covers by Gabriel and Bush and Elizabeth Fraser which will give you an idea.

Bit surprised some of you didn't know about Mandy Smith. Even in the less questioning era it happened I recall most people , including the press, being astonished.

It might be an age thing? I didn't even know who she was. Obviously know who he is, but if it's still talked about much I've missed it.

The Mandy Smith story was absolute dynamite at the time. Pretty much the Savile story of its era. How Wyman has never been investigated for it is beyond me but he claims the police are 'not interested' (DM link):

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301867/Bill-Wyman-Police-interested-Rolling-Stones-affair-13-year-old-Mandy-Smith-claims-slept-14.html

His attempts at justifying the relationship make quite nauseating reading.

Former Rolling Stone admits he does not talk about relationship with Smith as it upsets wife and three daughters aged 14 to 18

I wonder why his teenagers would not want to talk about it...

One of the comments actually says "she married him and they were together for 5 years...so it's not like he was a sex offender". Really? All you have to do is marry someone to make it OK? Fucking hell. He said she was a woman at 13.

I mean fucking hell really. Why are the police ignoring that whn it's one case they could actually win?

I would imagine also that there would be the question of why was nothing done at the time or in the intervening decades. Unlike the other people, this relationship was out in the open. Everyone knew and nothing was done, so realistically it would be difficult to explain why the police are suddenly interested.

She would need to make a complaint and testify. I'm guessing she hasn't done so.

She's spoken to the media (from the articles I've looked up) and fully states they had an inappropriate relationship that was basically grooming. And he says in the article up thread, that he went to the police. How can they ignore it because she didn't complain?

In that case then you could have a 13 year old now who is in a "consenting" relationship with a 50 year old where she feels she is in love... She's not going to make a complaint either.

Everyone knew and nothing was done, so realistically it would be difficult to explain why the police are suddenly interested.

Maybe, but they could come at it from the angle that we have ignored past abuse before (Saville/.Rotherham etc) and we realise now that this happened and it needs to be dealt with. I'm just completely shocked by it tbh as he just is happy to say it happened and she was a "woman" at 13. How the fuck could someone who has only been out of nappies for 10 years be an adult.

At least in the all other cases..the guilty person was denying it (doesn't make it OK..but this just seems so EASY)

YY agree you don't need anyone to make a complaint if something illegal has happened and there is evidence / witnesses then it can and should be pursued even if the main person is not saying anything.

I imagine though in a case like this with it being so well known and everything they might have asked her if she wanted to pursue it and she's said no I imagine she wants it all to go away. That's a guess though.

One of the awful things about it was the justification that her mother was OK with it. That DID NOT MAKE IT RIGHT.

Weirdly his son married her mother.