June 17
WHERE HAVE ALL THE LOONIES GONE?
Screaming
Lord Sutch is dead.
For those of us who are old enough to remember, Lord Sutch was a
British peer who picked some very unlordly peers, such as Keith Moon,
Brian
Jones and the Bonzo Dog Band. Yes, all Brit rockers -- and crazy, even
by
60s crazy standards, if "standard" is the right term.
Years ago, I covered an "Anarchist Convention" in San Francisco.
How's that for an amusing contradiction in terms?
Lord Sutch fronted rock bands during the Carnaby Street days and
maintained a political party called the Official Monster Raving Loony
Party. One of his innovative ideas was to breed fish in a lake filled
with
wine so they could be caught pre-pickled -- just like many of Lord Sutch's
colleagues.
Dashing about like a dedicated follower of outrageous fashion in
furs, silks and veleveteen, the good Lord espoused a social tract that
was
distilled into, "Vote for Insanity, You Know It Makes Sense."
At times, it seems the fringe people are the only ones who seem
rational.
San Francisco has had a long list of lovable loonies like Emperor
Norton, who traversed the streets in a grandly-appointed military uniform
with two dogs, Bummer and Lazarus. You see, like Lord Sutch, the Emperor
was a real character -- not just a crazy, not a street person in the
conventional sense, but a man filled with madness, a purposeful kind of
insanity. The purpose, perhaps, was simply fun.
San Francisco is fortunate to have a poet laureate, Lawrence
Ferlinghetti, who rejects any pretensions of the office and requests that
cars be banned from downtown, the Golden Gate Bridge be painted gold and
Coit Tower be tilted.
"Just an inch," Mr. Ferlinghetti suggests. "Look what it
did for Pisa."
In this deadly serious culture, it's hard to find characters. Just
the other day, I saw the remnants of the Jefferson Airplane performing
on
television -- with Donny and Marie.
The counter-culture was co-opted a long time ago.
Even the Prime Minister of England, Tony Blair, paid homage to the
late Lord Sutch: "He made a unique contribution to British politics."
What
happens to old loonies? They get installed into the system. No wonder
Lord
Sutch committed suicide. There was no one left to annoy anymore.
Ray Davies, of the Kinks, muses:
"I wonder what became of all the Rockers and the Mods?
"I hope they're all making it and they've all got steady jobs."
May the saints preserve the friendly, fringe folk. May they know
what sustainable joy they leave us. And may the despair and the screaming
be over for Lord Sutch.
Bellingham by the Bay, June 17, 1999
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