Bobby Gillespie, the vocalist of Scottish rock band Primal Scream, has hit out at Blur bassist Alex James for his association with figures such as David Cameron and Jeremy Clarkson.
The singer recently addressed the subject of class in a statement accompanying the announcement of Primal Scream’s latest album, Come Ahead, which was released this week.
“I find myself in the strange position of being both inside and outside of [class],” said Gillespie, admitting that it was something he “wrestles with”.
Speaking to the i, Gillespie expanded on the comments, and discussed the “social climbing” that other wealthy musicians engage in.
“‘Wrestles’ might be overstating the case but if you’re in a successful band, you get invited to things, know people from different classes, you’ve experienced things,” he said.
“It’s not like you’re trying to be like the guy from Blur [Alex James] hanging out with David Cameron and what’s his name, the guy that does the driving? [Jeremy Clarkson].”
“That’s obviously social climbing going on there, right? I don’t mean it like that. It’s just being aware. You’ve got nice houses and are doing alright. And you think, ‘Well, not everyone else is doing alright.’”
In 2015, James made headlines when former Tory PM Cameron was seen attending his New Year’s Eve party. James, Cameron and Clarkson all own land in Oxfordshire, and have been described as part of the “Chipping Norton Set”, a loose group of acquainted high-profile public figures who live in and around the market town of Chipping Norton.
James has, however, pushed back against the idea that he is friends with Cameron. In 2015, he described a photograph of himself, Cameron and Clarkson – taken at a food festival he held in 2011 – as “a weird one”.
“I think you have to be careful who you get photographed with. You know, bedfellows,” he told the Sunday Times, stating that he simply did not want to be rude at the time. He added: “That photo was a weird one. I should have moved to Wales.”
Gillespie was then asked whether he felt any working class guilt following Primal Scream’s commercial success.
“No, not really,” he said. “We wanted to be rock’n’roll stars so that we don’t have to work in a factory or be told what to do. There was no guilt. My dad always said to me, ‘While the money’s there, you’ve got to take it, because you’re not promised tomorrow.’”
In a four-star review of the new album, The Independent’s Helen Brown described it as “a ridiculously funky stew of a record that all but laces your Gazelles, flops your fringe over your eyes and drags you onto the dance floor for a baggy-limbed boogie”.
She continued: “The shapeshifting indie-dance combo’s first album in eight years (and their first since the death of former keyboardist Martin Duffy) arrives fully loaded with flute, horns, bongos, maracas, a banging gospel choir and bulletproof bass lines as tight’n’rubbery as Batman’s bodysuit. Bobby Gillespie’s surly-slurry vocal snakes through the mix, rekindling your own inner sneer of resistance.”
