Yeah, it's a weird one - because i cannot in any way justify what he did, but i still feel sad for the fact that he was something of a soft target compared to the great many notorious creeps in the British Establishment.
Not that he is a victim - but seeing his fall from grace in his 80s was a shock.
He also grew up in my hometown, and all his art was taken from public display, plaques from buildings and so fourth in the city and the suburb he was raised in.
It raised a lot of questions to me about the nature of "art" and "the artist". Some people say "rot in hell, paedo" - but i really wonder if there is something in our culture that cannot deal with these kinds of perversions, in that artists who murder people are still respected - and not wiped out of history books for their transgressions.
Unlike (seriously, seriously evil) fuckers like Jimmy Savile, Rolf is a fucking talented guy (love him or hate him). But Savile had a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Again, i'm not trying to downplay or excuse Harris' crimes.
I didn't know about Louis CK...that's sad to hear.
Bit of a digression - but tbh i don't expect artists i respect (as artists) to be saintly people.
That's the trouble with celebrity culture - and tabloid media. I mean, some of my favourite rock stars (and rock'n'roll people generally - John Peel comes to mind) had dubious sexual histories, but this is (or i should say 'was'?) more accepted.
Having said that, a good friend of mine who was the victim of sexual abuse as a child was horrified that i have a bunch of Rolf Harris LPs. And that's fair.
Back on topic, i'll add another +1 to ABBA. Not all to my taste, but brilliant pop compositions, to be sure.
Speaking of disco, what about this one?
[video=youtube_share;96s-VXldymI]http://youtu.be/96s-VXldymI[/video]