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Bad news. The last honest man in rock isn't doing any more interviews

David Hepworth's picture

ImageJust when I was about to devote a column to celebrating the fact that there was at least one rock star with the balls to tell the truth and the wit to know which words to use, John Mayer gets shown the red card for using the n-word in an interview with Playboy and announces "I'm out of the media game."

I can't tell you what bad news this is. It was Mayer who pointed out only the other day that the only problem Tiger Woods had was being married. "I send dirty texts to girls all the time," he said. "But nobody's interested because I'm not married."

He was known for actually writing his blog himself and not getting some PR to do it. He described his ex-girlfriend Jessica Simpson as "sexual napalm". He's slept with Jennifer Aniston. He's handsome and talented. Whether you like his music or not, we're all the poorer for the silencing of the voice of the last man in rock prepared to speak as he found.

0

wasn't he

the bass player in Buzzcocks?

1
James Blast | 11 February 2010 - 7:00pm

NO

That was Maher, wasn't it? But he does look him. John Maher was dead handsome, too. Johnny Marr's real name is Maher. Wonder are they related. By the by, if you were being smart - I was too dim to see it.

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HudD | 11 February 2010 - 7:20pm

also

is sexual napalm a good thing? Won't the sheets get awfully sticky?

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HudD | 11 February 2010 - 7:23pm

Yes!

what does this rather baffling expression mean - does she burst into flames, or does she reduce him to a charred lump of wood? I don't think i am envious.

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ian | 11 February 2010 - 7:36pm

She smells nice

in the morning.

Or, she's practically a diesel.

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Captain Underpants | 11 February 2010 - 7:54pm

well something would smart

it was a semi genuine question BTW

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James Blast | 11 February 2010 - 7:37pm
spinoza013 | 12 February 2010 - 9:24am

Yes....

.....but he loved the smell in the morning...........

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marsonator | 12 February 2010 - 11:24am

Pendant Alert

John Maher was the drummer
Bassists were: Garth Smith replaced by Steve Diggle (who switched to guitar) replaced by Steve Garvey

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Rigid Digit | 11 February 2010 - 8:46pm

You are quite right,

by the way, Pete Shelley has some cracking yarns about that Garth fella.

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HudD | 12 February 2010 - 12:42pm

A Smiths obsessive writes...

Johnny Marr is also called John Maher, but altered his name to avoid any confusion with said Buzzcocks sticksman. They aren't related.

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Spartacus Mills | 11 February 2010 - 9:04pm

Ta.

I didn't think so,

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HudD | 12 February 2010 - 12:44pm

MaximBloke

Last honest man in rock?
Depends what you mean by honest. Plenty of Max Clifford's clients are 'honest'. But it's not necessarily a noble thing.
Just seems like a MaximBloke to me.

1
Richard Lowe | 11 February 2010 - 8:02pm

He seemed

refreshingly untouched by the typical media PR whitewash, if a bit overexposed and indiscreet. All in all made a pleasant change.

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fortuneight | 11 February 2010 - 8:35pm

I have no idea who John Mayer is.

He seems to be rather hirsute.

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Philip Stout | 11 February 2010 - 9:05pm

One man's straight-talker

Is another man's boorish braggart.

1
Spartacus Mills | 11 February 2010 - 9:11pm

Yeah

I agree with DH, in text/tweet/blog/interview Mayer is funny, interesting, and, up to now, pretty open. However, his music is curiously none of these things, although he is undeniably a mighty fine guitarist. It reminds me of the book reviewer who, after reading John Lennon's first book, wondered why his lyrics (at the time) displayed none of the playful ability of his prose.

In January 2007, MrsDrJ & I were in NYC on honeymoon and we went to a typical NYC comedy club called the Comedy Cellar: Late show, six comedians, two hours, we're sitting about a foot from the stage. In the middle of all this the MC goes: "We have an unannounced guest who'd like to do an extra set for you all tonight. Ladies & gentlemen, John Mayer!" It was bizarre, because it was JM, doing stand-up comedian schtick. The only joke I can remember on the night was when he held up a small Etch-a-sketch and said "I've written a joke on this, it's about... stairs." I might have been the only person in the room who found this funny.

Further point of interest: Jessica Simpson is now napalming Billy Corgan.

1
DrJ | 11 February 2010 - 9:17pm

like it

Good gag that

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Sour Crout | 12 February 2010 - 9:21am

Yeah right...

In the interview, Mayer also explained why he didn't date black women, comparing his genitals to "a white supremacist".

My first reaction? He was having his Elvis Costello moment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8510427.stm

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Beany | 11 February 2010 - 9:20pm

Jah Wobble

has a habit of telling it like it is (or at least how he sees it).

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McLongWhiteCloud | 11 February 2010 - 9:21pm

Who is he?

Never ever heard of him before so his honesty has clearly passed me by.

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Uncle Wheaty | 11 February 2010 - 9:43pm

he used to play bass for

PIL ;D

1
James Blast | 12 February 2010 - 9:14am

I've read this interview..

..(online..ahem..)
He's a dickhead, and his music ain't good enough to carry that.
Honest? If you must, but I read more artifice in that than, say Guy Garvey's interview in Word.
I can think of at least 50 more honest rock stars than him.

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shane pacey | 11 February 2010 - 11:33pm

No, he's not a dickhead

And music's got nothing to do with it.

1
David Hepworth | 12 February 2010 - 10:37am

Well.I beg to differ Mr H..

..He's not being interviewed because of his nice hair, and anyone with any class would have left intimate details like that well alone.
"My dick is a white supremist"?
That's dickhead talk..maybe Lennon could have gotten away with it, but he had talent.

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shane pacey | 12 February 2010 - 10:58am

I don't know if he's a dickhead...

But I will say that his apology for using the "n-word" was both genuine and heartfelt, indicating that he was trying to make a point, but (and how often does this happen in the booming celebrity apology bonanza?) actually taking responsibility for what he said and admitting he'd screwed up. I hate it when weaselly mea culpas are issued containing the words "I'm sorry IF anyone was offended..."

2
Theo Zoffrok | 12 February 2010 - 12:31pm

I thought he was a bit of a dickhead way before this..

..partly due to his mannered acoustic songs and his lukewarm Stevie Ray Vaughan knock offs, but mainly because of his slightly unctuous stage persona.
Can't say if he is for sure, of course but the contents of this interview only re-affirm it for me.

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shane pacey | 12 February 2010 - 1:48pm

Never 'eard of 'im...

Doesn't sound like a great loss to the column inches of the world's media.

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Adman | 12 February 2010 - 8:54pm
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