The Beatles and the Comintern Leadership

[Zanthorus]

The only old Bolsheviks who died natural deaths that I can think of were Kollontai, Lenin and Stalin. Kollontai died in 1952 and Stalin in '53. Gramsci died in an Italian jail cell. Luxemburg and Liebknecht were bunked off by the freikorps and Paul Levi died in 1930. Andreu Nin was killed by the NKVD in 1937.

All of which means that of all the early leaders of the various Communist parties affiliated to the Comintern that come instantly to mind, the only one to have lived to see the rise and fall of the Beatles was... Amadeo Bordiga :D

[HEAD ICE]

This was way too high brow for Chit Chat

[Lenina Rosenweg]

I have to look up the dates but did Bordiga live though any of John Lennon's solo career? If so what did he think of "Working Class Hero"? Would this tie in at all with his theory of agriculture? What would he have thought of the Green Day version?

I suspect Bordiga would have preferred the Beatles but Gramsci would have gone w/the Stones.Andrew Oldham and Mick Jagger could be regarded as "organic intellectuals" and "Street Fighting Man" seems to be about a "war of position" versus "a war of maneuver".

Didn't Paul Mattick and Karl Korsch live though most of the Beatles career?

EDIT: Not Comintern leaders, my bad.

[Os Cangaceiros]

What did Bordiga like to listen to? What were his hobbies?

Did he like to get drunk and go out dancing?

[StalinFanboy]

i like bordiga

[NoOneIsIllegal]

I always thought of Bordiga as a person that died many moons ago, like in the 40s. I guess I should bother myself with some knowledge.

[Blackscare]

I always thought of Bordiga as a person that died many moons ago, like in the 40s. I guess I should bother myself with some knowledge.

No, sadly he lived on and Gramsci rotted away and died in a fascist prison.

[Savage]

Bordiga killed and replaced Paul McCartney

[manic expression]

Molotov remembers...the Beatles.

[Zanthorus]

I have to look up the dates but did Bordiga live though any of John Lennon's solo career?

No, wiki records his death as being the 23rd of July 1970, two months after the release of Let it Be and the announcement of the band's break up.


Didn't Paul Mattick and Karl Korsch live though most of the Beatles career?

EDIT: Not Comintern leaders, my bad.

My point was more to point out Bordiga's longevity compared with the other figures in Communist politics at the time than make any point about the Comintern leadership. Korsch died in 1961 so he would have most likely been unaware of them. Mattick died in 1981 so he would have lived to see John Lennon's death.


What did Bordiga like to listen to? What were his hobbies?

Did he like to get drunk and go out dancing?

I only read political stuff on Bordiga so I only know general facts about his life like he was born in 1889, worked as an engineer and was kept under house arrest throughout the 30's. Although, if Bordiga was serious about the concept of invariance, it's almost certain that he was a drunk who liked to trawl the streets of london throwing stones at street lights and getting chased by the police.

[Devrim]

No, wiki records his death as being the 23rd of July 1970, two months after the release of Let it Be and the announcement of the band's break up.

Died of a broken heart?


EDIT: Not Comintern leaders, my bad.

I think we could include Jan Appel, who was one of the the KAPD's delegate to the Comintern. He died in 1985 at 95 and as such would have witnessed not only the Beetles and the Stones, John Lennon's solo career and murder but also punk rock in the mid to late 1970s.

My grandfather, who whilst obviously not a comintern leader, joined the party at its foundation, and died in the 1990s, thought the beetles were an awful noise.

Devrim

[Lyev]

Molotov remembers...the Beatles.Kaganovich would have also survived to see the rise and fall of The Beatles, and for Led Zeppelin etc. too; the only other old Bolshevik to have survived through all the purges and stuff. He died a natural death in the early '90s.

[coda]

Interesting PBS documentary to watch online:

How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin
http://www.thirteen.org/beatles/video/video-watch-how-the-beatles-rocked-the-kremlin/36/

[Lenina Rosenweg]

So if there had been a successful worker's revolution in Britain, how would classic rock of the 60s/70s have been different?

[Weezer]

So if there had been a successful worker's revolution in Britain, how would classic rock of the 60s/70s have been different?

There would be no classic rock. The only music that would be played would be L'Internationale and God Save the Premier.

[Tomhet]

I expected lighthearted stuff... :(

[Chambered Word]

What would he have thought of the Green Day version?

:lol:

[black magick hustla]

My grandfather, who whilst obviously not a comintern leader, joined the party at its foundation, and died in the 1990s, thought the beetles were an awful noise.
it reminds me of that day i talked with some people in the icc while i was staying in nyc. they were railing off about classical music and some shit. and i was like wat. i grew up with punk rock, hardcore, and metal. i guess my cultural sensibilities arent very communist

[black magick hustla]

i always wondered how amadeo bordiga was in real life. i dont know if he was a blast to drink with. i mean some of his writings seemed awfully dogmatic and pedantic - pedantry with drinking buddies is a big no no. it always seemed to me that pre-30s anarchists seemed like better drinking buddies than the old left communist militants.

[black magick hustla]

generally communists are good to drink with though. the icc folks were pretty good and bcbm was p. good too. the one i didnt like was when i drank with an old slp deleonist militant. he was insane and he hated gay people and mexicans. but from what i been gathering the slp in generally became a bunch of kooks after the 50s because they were so insular and lived in 1922

[Devrim]

it reminds me of that day i talked with some people in the icc while i was staying in nyc. they were railing off about classical music and some shit. and i was like wat. i grew up with punk rock, hardcore, and metal. i guess my cultural sensibilities arent very communist

I don't think it is really down to a 'communist cultural sensibility'. My grandfather didn't like it because he was an old man by then, and just didn't like modern music. I like lots of sorts of music including punk, but not classical. I even went to see the Clash once.

Devrim

[black magick hustla]

I don't think it is really down to a 'communist cultural sensibility'. My grandfather didn't like it because he was an old man by then, and just didn't like modern music. I like lots of sorts of music including punk, but not classical. I even went to see the Clash once.

Devrim
there is a strange link between communists and classical music. i swear to god ive met more classical music fans in my red adventures than outside them. in my small group there is this kid who only listens to that. there is some math person who i knew who knew a lot about the ultraleft etc and he was also into classical music. in my small group though, it seems people just really like dirty dubstep and electronic music in general though.

[Sasha]

sadly there is no translation but a few years ago an social historian released an awesome thesis on the early "free radical" socialist movement in amsterdam (up to the formation of the socialist democratic party).
there are tons of good bits about window trowing expeditions into the bourgeois neighborhoods, assassination attempts on the policechief and other stuff but one of my favorite bits is how around the 5th congress of the first international in the hague not many dutchies are really interested in what that marx fellow had to say. Drinking red wine with the dynamite trowing italian anarchists on the other hand got the place packed....

[black magick hustla]

Drinking red wine with the dynamite trowing italian anarchists on the other hand got the place packed....
some anarchists are alright at partying. i heard the french insurrectionary communists throw some interesting parties. i've known some insurrecto kids from detroit and they were alright. they just throw a lot of screamo/hardcore shows. sometimes some of the anarchists are too much of hippies and are too much into weed. i've always been more a partisan of beer.

probably the early illegalists were a blast to hangout with

[Il Medico]

Devrim's post in this thread have once again cemented him as one of the most badass people on this forum.



it reminds me of that day i talked with some people in the icc while i was staying in nyc. they were railing off about classical music and some shit. and i was like wat. i grew up with punk rock, hardcore, and metal. i guess my cultural sensibilities arent very communist
Was this when I was there? I don't remember a discussion about classical music.

I happen to like classical btw, but most of what I listen to is 'hipster music' and Punk, so.

[Devrim]

Devrim's post in this thread have once again cemented him as one of the most badass people on this forum.

Thanks, I think. I am not quite sure what 'badass' actually means.



I happen to like classical btw, but most of what I listen to is 'hipster music' and Punk, so.

At the moment I am listening to a lot of stuff like this:

http://youtu.be/i0XBbxiE-1U

Devrim

[black magick hustla]

lol that reminds me of the stuff my cousins across the pond listen to

[Devrim]

lol that reminds me of the stuff my cousins across the pond listen to

I would imagine that they go more for stuff like Khaled, which is pretty cool too:

http://youtu.be/g93odzEUXg8

Devrim

[Zanthorus]

it reminds me of that day i talked with some people in the icc while i was staying in nyc. they were railing off about classical music and some shit. and i was like wat. i grew up with punk rock, hardcore, and metal. i guess my cultural sensibilities arent very communist

I only really like classical music when it's played like this:

pn0JxTiiGDE

Don't know if that counts.

[Il Medico]

Thanks, I think. I am not quite sure what 'badass' actually means.
It means 'cool', 'awesome', etc.





At the moment I am listening to a lot of stuff like this:

http://youtu.be/i0XBbxiE-1U

DevrimThat stuff is badass.