Yes, it turns out that the Roxy Music frontman, most recently found releasing an album of Bob Dylan (né Zimmerman) covers, has been giving remarkably ill-advised interviews to the German press in which he reveals, in decorous language, a certain amount of admiration for old Adolf and his crew. And the fact he calls his home office the Führerbunker. The quotes run thusly, translated from the German:


Article continues

Interviewer: Do you have a German work ethic?
Ferry: I want to be able to look back on a life in which I have accomplished things. That's why I call my West London studio... actually, wait a minute. I can't tell that to a German...
Interviewer: Fürherbunker?

Ferry: You caught me there. Normally I always make out to German journalists that I call my studio the HQ. That's less objectionable. But the way in which the Nazis stage-managed and presented themselves, my gentlemen! I'm talking about Leni Riefenstahl films and Albert Speer's buildings and the mass rallies and the flags - simply fantastic. Really lovely.

Sadly, Ferry seems to have chosen not to share his views on the aesthetic impact of Bergen-Belsen. But still, there's time. Here's his manager's response to the remarks:

"To suggest a certain appreciation of art and architecture that happens to be associated with the Nazi regime means condoning the actions of that regime is illogical."

havent artists always flirted with nazi imagery?

Nico doing 'Deutschland uber alles' (and working with Eno alot too), Bowie giving a nazi salute, the swastika pins of the early punks...

This story was a lot of trash.

Virtually every newspaper obituary of Leni Reifenstahl would have said that she was one of the most important and influential film makers in history. That's because it happens to be fact.

As for Albert Speer, I'd imagine that anyone who wasn't impressed by his architectural schemes (most of which remained 'planned' and were never built) would either be a liar or an ignoramus.

Ferry, as an artist, was saying he how he was impressed by the imagery and iconography of 1930's Germany. He wasn't giving the thumbs up to Kristallknact or Einstatzgruppen liquidation squads.

This wouldn't even have been a story if he had instead talked about Sergei Eisenstein and Constructivism. It's essentially the same thing.

as always, well informed and correct. They taught us this stuff in our art history/graphic design classes.

That above mentioned points are all well-and-good and I can certainly agree with them all.
But, the naming of his headquarters "Der Fürherbunker" doesn't sit quite right with me. That is a bit... queasy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6561177.stm

Singer Bryan Ferry has apologised for an interview in which he praised the iconography of the Nazi party.

The UK star is reported to have told a German newspaper that the "mass marches and the flags" of Hitler's regime were "just fantastic - really beautiful".

Jewish leaders in Britain condemned the comments, and called for Marks and Spencer to drop Ferry as a model.

"I apologise unreservedly," the singer said in a statement, adding he found the Nazi regime "evil and abhorrent".

According to press reports, the 61-year-old told the Welt Am Sonntag newspaper last month: "The way that the Nazis staged themselves and presented themselves, my Lord!

"I'm talking about the films of Leni Riefenstahl and the buildings of Albert Speer and the mass marches and the flags. Just fantastic - really beautiful."

'Deeply insensitive'

Riefenstahl was a German film-maker who became notorious for her Nazi propaganda films. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect and minister for armaments during World War II.

In a statement released on his behalf, Ferry said he was "deeply upset" by the publicity surrounding the interview.

"I apologise unreservedly for any offence caused by my comments on Nazi iconography, which were solely made from an art history perspective," he said.

"I, like every right-minded individual, find the Nazi regime, and all it stood for, evil and abhorrent."

"We do welcome the fact that he has issued a swift comment that there was no intention to condone the Nazi regime," said Jeremy Newmark, chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council.

"Nevertheless, his choice of language was deeply insensitive," he added.

Lord Greville Janner, vice-president of the World Jewish Congress, told Reuters news agency: "His apology was total, appropriate and absolutely necessary."



bbc.co.uk

is this a good place to mention that Hugo Boss designed the SS uniforms?

Uh, it just looked like he was waving/throwing shirts or something to the crowd.

The video is for shit, but that is what some of the argument was about. Bowie claims he was not giving the salute, while a photograph (one that I cannot find) shows him in the pose. He says that it was just caught in mid wave. Who knows. There was some hubbub about it though.