I would say that the point about hippiedom merging with the far-Right on some occasions and over some issues was being made longer ago than you say, often in NME/Melody Maker in the 1980s & 90s where it fitted with those papers' "post-punk consensus" and with a general belief - influenced obviously by punk and its aftershocks, but also by their championing of Black pop - that Left-wing ruralism was really the same thing as the openly Tory variety, and by myself in online writings almost 20 years ago. It is also worth noting that the Mosleyite author Henry Williamson liked Incredible String Band songs when they were played to him by a young admirer in 1969.
On a related matter, the bit in the recent HnH report about far-Rightists dressing themselves up in terms and language that would appeal to Left-leaning types - devolution of power in England, opposing KFC outlets and suchlike - reminded me of a storyline in The Archers over a quarter of a century ago, where what appeared to be a harmless preservationist group turned out to be actively racist, which was attacked by Peter Hitchens in 'The Abolition of Britain' and by a former Radio 4 news/current affairs reporter/presenter, Michael Vestey, in the Spectator at the time, because it showed the shadow side of their own politics in a way that deeply unsettled them and which they saw as proof of the "BBC bias" they are obsessed with.
I know Swingler better than anyone else on this planet. I think the truth of the situation and her actual life history to date, not the one she presents online, might surprise you. But not as much as it’d certainly surprise the PA community and all her new ‘friends’……
I don't think either of these articles are on Rock's Backpages or anywhere else online, but David Bennun's Melody Maker review of the Levellers' 'Zeitgeist' (September 1995) and Simon Price's general assessment of pop and politics over the Thatcher-Major years (April 1997) both make the general point that you say has only been made much more recently.
I would say that the point about hippiedom merging with the far-Right on some occasions and over some issues was being made longer ago than you say, often in NME/Melody Maker in the 1980s & 90s where it fitted with those papers' "post-punk consensus" and with a general belief - influenced obviously by punk and its aftershocks, but also by their championing of Black pop - that Left-wing ruralism was really the same thing as the openly Tory variety, and by myself in online writings almost 20 years ago. It is also worth noting that the Mosleyite author Henry Williamson liked Incredible String Band songs when they were played to him by a young admirer in 1969.
On a related matter, the bit in the recent HnH report about far-Rightists dressing themselves up in terms and language that would appeal to Left-leaning types - devolution of power in England, opposing KFC outlets and suchlike - reminded me of a storyline in The Archers over a quarter of a century ago, where what appeared to be a harmless preservationist group turned out to be actively racist, which was attacked by Peter Hitchens in 'The Abolition of Britain' and by a former Radio 4 news/current affairs reporter/presenter, Michael Vestey, in the Spectator at the time, because it showed the shadow side of their own politics in a way that deeply unsettled them and which they saw as proof of the "BBC bias" they are obsessed with.
I know Swingler better than anyone else on this planet. I think the truth of the situation and her actual life history to date, not the one she presents online, might surprise you. But not as much as it’d certainly surprise the PA community and all her new ‘friends’……
I don't think either of these articles are on Rock's Backpages or anywhere else online, but David Bennun's Melody Maker review of the Levellers' 'Zeitgeist' (September 1995) and Simon Price's general assessment of pop and politics over the Thatcher-Major years (April 1997) both make the general point that you say has only been made much more recently.