Roy Harper Charges Dropped

[JKL2000]

The remaining sexual abuse charges against Roy Harper were finally dropped, after nearly three years:

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2...y-court-battle

[bob_32_116]

I love how the article mentions the Led Zeppelin song in the headline to explain to readers who Roy Harper is.

[JJ88]

^Well most well-versed rock fans will know who he is perfectly well.

I can't begin to imagine what Roy went through with this. I'm pleased for him that it's over.

[bob_32_116]

Is he well known outside the UK? I had never heard of him until I joined a couple of music fora. Apart from the aforementioned LZ song.

[strawberrybrick]

Wow, that's a shame he had to go through this.

[PeterG]

Let's be honest here shall we, Roy Harper is hardly known in the UK, let alone outside it.

[Rune Blackwings]

it was sheer idiocy that he had to go through this.

[GuitarGeek]

Is he well known outside the UK? I had never heard of him until I joined a couple of music fora. Apart from the aforementioned LZ song.

I knew who he was through his connections to Pink Floyd, ie singing on Have A Cigar and his assorted collaborations with Gilmour.

[zombywoof]

Fantastic. Just played Stormcock last night. As always, I was totally blown away by it.

[StevegSr]

Glad to see old Roy get out of this. Harper's good buddy Jimmy Page had a long relationship with 14 year old Lori Maddox, from LA, CA, in the mid seventies and this, no doubt, did Roy no favors with this past series of allegations against him. Sometimes there is guilt by association and I wonder if this was the case with Roy.

Anyhow, you can read the details of Page's affair in the wonderful bio of Led Zeppelin, a book titled Hammer Of The Gods. Highly recommended for fans of Page and Zep.

[Trane]

^Well most well-versed rock fans will know who he is perfectly well.

I can't begin to imagine what Roy went through with this. I'm pleased for him that it's over.

I can only shudder if something like his happenned to me...

A forteriori if you're innocent of it...

[Rarebird]

I can only shudder if something like his happenned to me...

A forteriori if you're innocent of it...

Problem with these kind of things is, they tend to stick.

[Trane]

Problem with these kind of things is, they tend to stick.

yes, once the thing is on, the suspiscion remains...

Look at Pete Townsend, for ex...

[Scrotum Scissor]

Is he well known outside the UK? I had never heard of him until I joined a couple of music fora. Apart from the aforementioned LZ song.

He's even more "well known" than Steven Wilson.

[JJ88]

yes, once the thing is on, the suspiscion remains...

Look at Pete Townsend, for ex...

The Townshend story was a worry when it broke, but nothing was found on his computer and now I don't think for a minute he is a 'wrong 'un'.

People still do the 'well, where's the book' thing like it's original, ignoring the fact Townshend has indeed put out an autobiography a few years ago. And also there are songs in Tommy which tackle physical abuse that Townshend handed over to Entwistle to write ('Fiddle About', 'Cousin Kevin') because he couldn't deal with the subject as it was too close to the bone for him.

[moecurlythanu]

He's even more "well known" than Steven Wilson.

Oh come now! Hyperbole, sir. Hyperbole!

[Trane]

The Townshend story was a worry when it broke, but nothing was found on his computer and now I don't think for a minute he is a 'wrong 'un'.

People still do the 'well, where's the book' thing like it's original, ignoring the fact Townshend has indeed put out an autobiography a few years ago. And also there are songs in Tommy which tackle physical abuse that Townshend handed over to Entwistle to write ('Fiddle About', 'Cousin Kevin') because he couldn't deal with the subject as it was too close to the bone for him.

I read his book Who I Am, and I tend to disculp him at 95%, but still a doubt remains

[JKL2000]

I knew who he was through his connections to Pink Floyd, ie singing on Have A Cigar and his assorted collaborations with Gilmour.

There's also an acknowledgement of Roy in the liner notes for Kate Bush's Never Forever.

[JJ88]

^Way back in the 70s, Kate Bush was given a TV show like many singers were then. Alas, any hopes that she'd be a family-friendly, all-round-entertainer were killed when she did a duet of Roy Harper's 'Another Day' with Peter Gabriel!

Roy is in the video of 'Breathing' and sings backing vocals on it.

[JKL2000]

^Way back in the 70s, Kate Bush was given a TV show like many singers were then. Alas, any hopes that she'd be a family-friendly, all-round-entertainer were killed when she did a duet of Roy Harper's 'Another Day' with Peter Gabriel!

Roy is in the video of 'Breathing' and sings backing vocals on it.

I've seen that (it's a holy relic, IMO). If Roy is in it, I forgot that. (The KB Christmas Special, that is.)

[JJ88]

^He's not in that, I was talking about the later track 'Breathing'. Kate Bush was on Roy's 'The Unknown Soldier' album of the same period (1980), if I remember rightly.

[Oreb]

Kate Bush was on Roy's 'The Unknown Soldier' album of the same period (1980), if I remember rightly.

Yes she was. Dreadful album IMO, despite Kate. Only the title track and "The Flycatcher" save it.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Let's be honest here shall we, Roy Harper is hardly known in the UK, let alone outside it.

The "folky troubadour" singer-songwriter's wave here in Norway had Harper and Bert Jansch as its two main British influences, and was seminal in shaping modern popular music developments here. Harper was also a substantial name in West Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Holland in the 70s.

From Norwegian television in 1970:

[Digital_Man]

I love how the article mentions the Led Zeppelin song in the headline to explain to readers who Roy Harper is.

They could have as easily mentioned that he sang lead vocals on a well known Pink Floyd song.

[JKL2000]

^He's not in that, I was talking about the later track 'Breathing'. Kate Bush was on Roy's 'The Unknown Soldier' album of the same period (1980), if I remember rightly.

Got it. You're right, Kate is on Unknown Soldier, as is David Gilmour - they do Short and Sweet off Gilmour's solo debut, plus a few other songs they co-wrote. That's a great, under-mentioned album.