Cornelius Cardew on David Bowie

After Bowie appeared to give a Nazi salute in 1976, the composer Cornelius Cardew – a member of the Marxist-Leninist breakaway Communist Party of England – put up a motion at his Central London branch to expel Bowie from the Musicians Union.

The Cardew motion (all misspellings from the original):

This branch deplores the publicity recently given to the activities and Nazi style gimmickry of a certain artiste and his idea that this country needs a right wing dictatorship. Such ideas prepare the way for political situations in which the Trade Union movement can be destroyed, as it was in Nazi germany. The spreading of such ideas must be considered as detrimental to the interests of the Union and any necessary steps should be taken to prevent such ideas from gaining credence in the community. We propose, therefore, that any member who openly promotes fascism or fascist ideas in his/ her act or recorded performance should be expelled from the Union.

According to the MU historian, the vote was a 12-12 tie.

A second, more radical motion, below, was carried by 15-2:

When a pop star declare that he is ‘very interested in fascism’ and that ‘britain could benefit from a fascist leader’ he is influencing public opinion through the massive audiences of young people that such pop stars have access to. Such behaviour is detrimental to the interests of the Union,since it prepares the ground for a political system in which the Trade Union movement can be smashed, as it was in Nazi Germany. This Central London Branch therefore proposes that any member who uses his professional standing or stage act or records to promote fascism should be expelled from the Union.

More here from the MU historian.