#livingcolour — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #livingcolour, aggregated by home.social.
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Living Colour demuestra su categoría, una vez más | vía #iRock
#atenea #funkreggaeska #internacional #livereviewinternacional #livingcolour #teatroteletón
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Living Colour demuestra su categoría, una vez más | vía #iRock
#atenea #funkreggaeska #internacional #livereviewinternacional #livingcolour #teatroteletón
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In the wake of Prime Minister Mark Carney's well-received speech in Davos, Switzerland recently, I thought it prudent to highlight one of the greatest rock songs ever written about political speeches and the politicians who utter them..."Cult of Personality" by Living Colour. This banger of a song won the 1989 Grammy for Best Rock Recording and the MTV award for Video of the Year. Click for the history or for the song, I'm just pleased to have you stop by. Enjoy. have a great rest of your day.
Reader’s Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes…Song #78/250: Cult of Personality by Living Colour https://tommacinneswriter.com/2026/02/09/readers-choice-toms-top-tunessong-78-250-cult-of-personality-by-living-colour/ ##CultOfPersonality, ##DavosSpeech, ##LivingColour, ##MarkCarney, ##Music, ##NikitaKhrushchev, ##ReadersChoice/TomsTopTunes
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In the wake of Prime Minister Mark Carney's well-received speech in Davos, Switzerland recently, I thought it prudent to highlight one of the greatest rock songs ever written about political speeches and the politicians who utter them..."Cult of Personality" by Living Colour. This banger of a song won the 1989 Grammy for Best Rock Recording and the MTV award for Video of the Year. Click for the history or for the song, I'm just pleased to have you stop by. Enjoy. have a great rest of your day.
Reader’s Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes…Song #78/250: Cult of Personality by Living Colour https://tommacinneswriter.com/2026/02/09/readers-choice-toms-top-tunessong-78-250-cult-of-personality-by-living-colour/ ##CultOfPersonality, ##DavosSpeech, ##LivingColour, ##MarkCarney, ##Music, ##NikitaKhrushchev, ##ReadersChoice/TomsTopTunes
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In the wake of Prime Minister Mark Carney's well-received speech in Davos, Switzerland recently, I thought it prudent to highlight one of the greatest rock songs ever written about political speeches and the politicians who utter them..."Cult of Personality" by Living Colour. This banger of a song won the 1989 Grammy for Best Rock Recording and the MTV award for Video of the Year. Click for the history or for the song, I'm just pleased to have you stop by. Enjoy. have a great rest of your day.
Reader’s Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes…Song #78/250: Cult of Personality by Living Colour https://tommacinneswriter.com/2026/02/09/readers-choice-toms-top-tunessong-78-250-cult-of-personality-by-living-colour/ ##CultOfPersonality, ##DavosSpeech, ##LivingColour, ##MarkCarney, ##Music, ##NikitaKhrushchev, ##ReadersChoice/TomsTopTunes
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In the wake of Prime Minister Mark Carney's well-received speech in Davos, Switzerland recently, I thought it prudent to highlight one of the greatest rock songs ever written about political speeches and the politicians who utter them..."Cult of Personality" by Living Colour. This banger of a song won the 1989 Grammy for Best Rock Recording and the MTV award for Video of the Year. Click for the history or for the song, I'm just pleased to have you stop by. Enjoy. have a great rest of your day.
Reader’s Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes…Song #78/250: Cult of Personality by Living Colour https://tommacinneswriter.com/2026/02/09/readers-choice-toms-top-tunessong-78-250-cult-of-personality-by-living-colour/ ##CultOfPersonality, ##DavosSpeech, ##LivingColour, ##MarkCarney, ##Music, ##NikitaKhrushchev, ##ReadersChoice/TomsTopTunes
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Reader’s Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes…Song #78/250: Cult of Personality by Living Colour
When was the last time you heard a really good speech? I’m talking about a speech so good that it has gone down in the annals of history? A speech like Winston Churchill’s “Never Surrender” or JFK’s “Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You…” or MLK’s “I Have a Dream” or even way back in time for Abraham Lincoln’s “Four Score and Seven Years Ago…” speeches. A truly historic speech is one in which the speaker helps their listeners to feel seen and understood by demonstrating a thorough grasp of whatever crisis happens to be unfolding at the time and then, most importantly, by providing a road map for everyone to follow so that they will feel safe and protected and, if luxury provides, even victorious in the end. A great political speech causes us to strive to be better versions of ourselves in a time of need. It steels our resolve and stiffens our backbone. It provides hope when things are at their bleakest. Regardless of what is going on, a truly great speech meets the moment.
In my lifetime, I haven’t heard a truly great and historic political speech authored in real time.. The closest I have come to hearing a great speech may have been Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau talking about the notion of a “just society” when I was still young or N.D.P. leader Jack Layton’s final opus before his tragic death where he intoned “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” But, generally speaking, the great mass of politicians in power during my lifetime have been mostly forgettable when it comes to the speeches they have delivered. They all blather on and on, making promises they have no power and/or intention of keeping. They speak to taking points and internal polling numbers rather than from the heart to our hearts. As such, as citizens we have become disinterested spectators in our own democratic process. Nowadays, when forced to listen to a political speech, we do so with expectations so low as to be almost non-existent.
That’s why Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent speech at the World Economic Forum Conference in Davos, Switzerland is so noteworthy. P.M. Carney is more a financial expert than he is a regular politician so when he approached the podium in Davos, he brought a lot of credibility with him before uttering a single word. As the former head of the Bank of Canada during the stock market crash of the early 2000s and as head of the Bank of England during Brexit, Carney has developed a sterling reputation as being someone who can keep a cool head in a crisis and, most importantly for those financiers in attendance in Davos, he is someone who can shelter assets during turbulent financial times. In his speech, Carney managed to meet the moment by talking about the “rupture” of the old, rules-based world order led by the United States and of the importance, as middle powers like Canada, of charting our own course in the world. Carney spoke about the fears and uncertainty that had been paralyzing financial markets around the world in light of the unpredictable and increasingly predatory behaviour coming out of Washington. By acknowledging the fears of those in that conference room and by providing a roadmap for the future, Carney took on the appearance of a leader that the world needed at that exact moment in time. His Davos speech was met with near universal acclaim, earning a standing ovation from those who were present. The Carney-Davos speech has been deemed as an important speech, one that will be remembered when the history of this era is written. Time will tell if that, in fact, turns out to be true but, for now anyway, it ranks as one of the best speeches I have ever heard from a politician in my lifetime. *(You can listen to it in its entirety here. You can read the full text, if you prefer, here and judge for yourself).
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaking in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum.However, I am not the only person who enjoys a good speech. Did you know that there is a Grammy-winning song that stands as a repository of some of the greatest political speeches of all time? It is true. In 1988, a band called Living Colour released their debut album Vivid. Living Colour was a very unique rock band because it was made up entirely of musicians who were black. Now there are plenty of all-black R&B, Soul or Hip Hop bands but Living Colour are one of the very few to have broken the colour barrier as a complete band in the genre of rock. The lead track on Vivid was a song called “Cult of Personality”. That song has become one of the most popular rock songs in the past forty years. It was awarded the Grammy for Best Rock Recording, as well as the MTV Video of the Year award, too. What makes that accomplishment ever more unusual is that “Cult of Personality” is a song that uses many snippets from famous political speeches, spoken by the politicians who initially uttered them. In fact, if you listen to this song in the links below, I challenge you to try and identify the speeches and the speakers as the song goes along. According to lead guitarist Vernon Reid, the idea behind the song was to examine what it was that drew ordinary people to political leaders of all stripes, regardless as to whether the leader was popular or feared. In the end, the band decided that the ultimate factor was the charisma that the leader exuded. Some leaders are just a perfect match for their moment in history whether that results in someone like Adolf Hitler coming to power or someone like Martin Luther King. Regardless of how unusual the subject matter of this song may seem, the end result is a song that is an absolute banger! While Living Colour still perform today and have plenty of strong songs, “Cult of Personality” is, by far and away, their signature song and, like I said, it is easily one of the most recognizable and popular songs of its generation.
American Rock band Living Colour in a hotel room in London, 1990. (Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns)Ironically enough, the title of the song “Cult of Personality” comes from a famous speech itself. In the 1950s, Russian dictator Joseph Stalin died. A few years later, in the political vacuum that followed, a man named Nikita Khrushchev made a play for power by giving a speech entitled On The Cult of Personality and Its Consequences. In that speech, Khrushchev publicly criticized Stalin’s reign. He did so by, among other things, pointing out that Stalin ruled by fiat or, by what pleased him, rather than what was necessarily good for the country of Russia. According to Khrushchev, Stalin eliminated political enemies and surrounded himself with sycophants who all learned to only tell Stalin what he wanted to hear and to always enthusiastically endorse his policies, no matter what the impact was on ordinary Russian citizens. He called this slavish devotion to one man, rather to the needs of the country above all to be something called a “cult of personality”. That speech became famous within Communist circles and helped to inspire an earnest group of rock n’ rollers a half century later to create their biggest hit.
Nikita Khrushchev delivers his “Cult of Personality” speech denouncing Stalin.I think it goes without saying that we are seeing a terrific example of the cult of personality in real time right now in our world. Prime Minister Mark Carney certainly has come to that conclusion and alluded to it in his famous Davos speech. In some ways, when a leader of a country that for many decades has been regarded as a leader of the free world begins a transformation into the realm of a cult of personality, he may end up being easier to deal with from an outsider’s perspective. In Stalin’s time, he demanded political acquiescence and public fawning or else. In Carney’s speech, he mentioned the folly of trying to appease someone like that. In his words, “there is a strong tendency for countries to go along, to get along, to accommodate, to avoid trouble, to hope that compliance will buy safety. Well, it won’t.” Carney also authored memorable and important lines such as “If we’re (as a middle powers) are not at the table, we’re on the menu”, as well as the kicker, “Nostalgia is not a strategy”. No, it certainly is not. We will see in time if Mark Carney’s words provide a template for other leaders to navigate their way through a world in which several of the most influential leaders are in full-blown “cult of personality” mode. For now, I trust our Prime Minister to know best how to chart the proper course for Canada during these turbulent times. In the meantime, I will crank “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour and will play it on repeat. Not every hit song needs to be about finding true love or breaking up with the one you thought was the love of your life. Sometimes a song needs to shake us out of our dazed and charmed state so we can accurately and knowledgably reassess the merits of those leaders that we entrust with our future. Personally, I’m not sure what the red hats see in the orange one but, then again, I am Canadian. I have a smart Prime Minister who is able to give a good speech when he needs to.
The link to the video for the song “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour can be found here. The lyrics version is here.
The link to the official website for Living Colour can be found here.
The link to the official website for The World Economic Forum can be found here.
***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2026 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com
#CultOfPersonality #DavosSpeech #LivingColour #MarkCarney #Music #NikitaKhrushchev #ReadersChoiceTomsTopTunes -
Reader’s Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes…Song #78/250: Cult of Personality by Living Colour
When was the last time you heard a really good speech? I’m talking about a speech so good that it has gone down in the annals of history? A speech like Winston Churchill’s “Never Surrender” or JFK’s “Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You…” or MLK’s “I Have a Dream” or even way back in time for Abraham Lincoln’s “Four Score and Seven Years Ago…” speeches. A truly historic speech is one in which the speaker helps their listeners to feel seen and understood by demonstrating a thorough grasp of whatever crisis happens to be unfolding at the time and then, most importantly, by providing a road map for everyone to follow so that they will feel safe and protected and, if luxury provides, even victorious in the end. A great political speech causes us to strive to be better versions of ourselves in a time of need. It steels our resolve and stiffens our backbone. It provides hope when things are at their bleakest. Regardless of what is going on, a truly great speech meets the moment.
In my lifetime, I haven’t heard a truly great and historic political speech authored in real time.. The closest I have come to hearing a great speech may have been Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau talking about the notion of a “just society” when I was still young or N.D.P. leader Jack Layton’s final opus before his tragic death where he intoned “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” But, generally speaking, the great mass of politicians in power during my lifetime have been mostly forgettable when it comes to the speeches they have delivered. They all blather on and on, making promises they have no power and/or intention of keeping. They speak to taking points and internal polling numbers rather than from the heart to our hearts. As such, as citizens we have become disinterested spectators in our own democratic process. Nowadays, when forced to listen to a political speech, we do so with expectations so low as to be almost non-existent.
That’s why Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent speech at the World Economic Forum Conference in Davos, Switzerland is so noteworthy. P.M. Carney is more a financial expert than he is a regular politician so when he approached the podium in Davos, he brought a lot of credibility with him before uttering a single word. As the former head of the Bank of Canada during the stock market crash of the early 2000s and as head of the Bank of England during Brexit, Carney has developed a sterling reputation as being someone who can keep a cool head in a crisis and, most importantly for those financiers in attendance in Davos, he is someone who can shelter assets during turbulent financial times. In his speech, Carney managed to meet the moment by talking about the “rupture” of the old, rules-based world order led by the United States and of the importance, as middle powers like Canada, of charting our own course in the world. Carney spoke about the fears and uncertainty that had been paralyzing financial markets around the world in light of the unpredictable and increasingly predatory behaviour coming out of Washington. By acknowledging the fears of those in that conference room and by providing a roadmap for the future, Carney took on the appearance of a leader that the world needed at that exact moment in time. His Davos speech was met with near universal acclaim, earning a standing ovation from those who were present. The Carney-Davos speech has been deemed as an important speech, one that will be remembered when the history of this era is written. Time will tell if that, in fact, turns out to be true but, for now anyway, it ranks as one of the best speeches I have ever heard from a politician in my lifetime. *(You can listen to it in its entirety here. You can read the full text, if you prefer, here and judge for yourself).
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaking in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum.However, I am not the only person who enjoys a good speech. Did you know that there is a Grammy-winning song that stands as a repository of some of the greatest political speeches of all time? It is true. In 1988, a band called Living Colour released their debut album Vivid. Living Colour was a very unique rock band because it was made up entirely of musicians who were black. Now there are plenty of all-black R&B, Soul or Hip Hop bands but Living Colour are one of the very few to have broken the colour barrier as a complete band in the genre of rock. The lead track on Vivid was a song called “Cult of Personality”. That song has become one of the most popular rock songs in the past forty years. It was awarded the Grammy for Best Rock Recording, as well as the MTV Video of the Year award, too. What makes that accomplishment ever more unusual is that “Cult of Personality” is a song that uses many snippets from famous political speeches, spoken by the politicians who initially uttered them. In fact, if you listen to this song in the links below, I challenge you to try and identify the speeches and the speakers as the song goes along. According to lead guitarist Vernon Reid, the idea behind the song was to examine what it was that drew ordinary people to political leaders of all stripes, regardless as to whether the leader was popular or feared. In the end, the band decided that the ultimate factor was the charisma that the leader exuded. Some leaders are just a perfect match for their moment in history whether that results in someone like Adolf Hitler coming to power or someone like Martin Luther King. Regardless of how unusual the subject matter of this song may seem, the end result is a song that is an absolute banger! While Living Colour still perform today and have plenty of strong songs, “Cult of Personality” is, by far and away, their signature song and, like I said, it is easily one of the most recognizable and popular songs of its generation.
American Rock band Living Colour in a hotel room in London, 1990. (Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns)Ironically enough, the title of the song “Cult of Personality” comes from a famous speech itself. In the 1950s, Russian dictator Joseph Stalin died. A few years later, in the political vacuum that followed, a man named Nikita Khrushchev made a play for power by giving a speech entitled On The Cult of Personality and Its Consequences. In that speech, Khrushchev publicly criticized Stalin’s reign. He did so by, among other things, pointing out that Stalin ruled by fiat or, by what pleased him, rather than what was necessarily good for the country of Russia. According to Khrushchev, Stalin eliminated political enemies and surrounded himself with sycophants who all learned to only tell Stalin what he wanted to hear and to always enthusiastically endorse his policies, no matter what the impact was on ordinary Russian citizens. He called this slavish devotion to one man, rather to the needs of the country above all to be something called a “cult of personality”. That speech became famous within Communist circles and helped to inspire an earnest group of rock n’ rollers a half century later to create their biggest hit.
Nikita Khrushchev delivers his “Cult of Personality” speech denouncing Stalin.I think it goes without saying that we are seeing a terrific example of the cult of personality in real time right now in our world. Prime Minister Mark Carney certainly has come to that conclusion and alluded to it in his famous Davos speech. In some ways, when a leader of a country that for many decades has been regarded as a leader of the free world begins a transformation into the realm of a cult of personality, he may end up being easier to deal with from an outsider’s perspective. In Stalin’s time, he demanded political acquiescence and public fawning or else. In Carney’s speech, he mentioned the folly of trying to appease someone like that. In his words, “there is a strong tendency for countries to go along, to get along, to accommodate, to avoid trouble, to hope that compliance will buy safety. Well, it won’t.” Carney also authored memorable and important lines such as “If we’re (as a middle powers) are not at the table, we’re on the menu”, as well as the kicker, “Nostalgia is not a strategy”. No, it certainly is not. We will see in time if Mark Carney’s words provide a template for other leaders to navigate their way through a world in which several of the most influential leaders are in full-blown “cult of personality” mode. For now, I trust our Prime Minister to know best how to chart the proper course for Canada during these turbulent times. In the meantime, I will crank “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour and will play it on repeat. Not every hit song needs to be about finding true love or breaking up with the one you thought was the love of your life. Sometimes a song needs to shake us out of our dazed and charmed state so we can accurately and knowledgably reassess the merits of those leaders that we entrust with our future. Personally, I’m not sure what the red hats see in the orange one but, then again, I am Canadian. I have a smart Prime Minister who is able to give a good speech when he needs to.
The link to the video for the song “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour can be found here. The lyrics version is here.
The link to the official website for Living Colour can be found here.
The link to the official website for The World Economic Forum can be found here.
***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2026 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com
#CultOfPersonality #DavosSpeech #LivingColour #MarkCarney #Music #NikitaKhrushchev #ReadersChoiceTomsTopTunes -
Reader’s Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes…Song #78/250: Cult of Personality by Living Colour
When was the last time you heard a really good speech? I’m talking about a speech so good that it has gone down in the annals of history? A speech like Winston Churchill’s “Never Surrender” or JFK’s “Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You…” or MLK’s “I Have a Dream” or even way back in time for Abraham Lincoln’s “Four Score and Seven Years Ago…” speeches. A truly historic speech is one in which the speaker helps their listeners to feel seen and understood by demonstrating a thorough grasp of whatever crisis happens to be unfolding at the time and then, most importantly, by providing a road map for everyone to follow so that they will feel safe and protected and, if luxury provides, even victorious in the end. A great political speech causes us to strive to be better versions of ourselves in a time of need. It steels our resolve and stiffens our backbone. It provides hope when things are at their bleakest. Regardless of what is going on, a truly great speech meets the moment.
In my lifetime, I haven’t heard a truly great and historic political speech authored in real time.. The closest I have come to hearing a great speech may have been Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau talking about the notion of a “just society” when I was still young or N.D.P. leader Jack Layton’s final opus before his tragic death where he intoned “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” But, generally speaking, the great mass of politicians in power during my lifetime have been mostly forgettable when it comes to the speeches they have delivered. They all blather on and on, making promises they have no power and/or intention of keeping. They speak to taking points and internal polling numbers rather than from the heart to our hearts. As such, as citizens we have become disinterested spectators in our own democratic process. Nowadays, when forced to listen to a political speech, we do so with expectations so low as to be almost non-existent.
That’s why Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent speech at the World Economic Forum Conference in Davos, Switzerland is so noteworthy. P.M. Carney is more a financial expert than he is a regular politician so when he approached the podium in Davos, he brought a lot of credibility with him before uttering a single word. As the former head of the Bank of Canada during the stock market crash of the early 2000s and as head of the Bank of England during Brexit, Carney has developed a sterling reputation as being someone who can keep a cool head in a crisis and, most importantly for those financiers in attendance in Davos, he is someone who can shelter assets during turbulent financial times. In his speech, Carney managed to meet the moment by talking about the “rupture” of the old, rules-based world order led by the United States and of the importance, as middle powers like Canada, of charting our own course in the world. Carney spoke about the fears and uncertainty that had been paralyzing financial markets around the world in light of the unpredictable and increasingly predatory behaviour coming out of Washington. By acknowledging the fears of those in that conference room and by providing a roadmap for the future, Carney took on the appearance of a leader that the world needed at that exact moment in time. His Davos speech was met with near universal acclaim, earning a standing ovation from those who were present. The Carney-Davos speech has been deemed as an important speech, one that will be remembered when the history of this era is written. Time will tell if that, in fact, turns out to be true but, for now anyway, it ranks as one of the best speeches I have ever heard from a politician in my lifetime. *(You can listen to it in its entirety here. You can read the full text, if you prefer, here and judge for yourself).
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaking in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum.However, I am not the only person who enjoys a good speech. Did you know that there is a Grammy-winning song that stands as a repository of some of the greatest political speeches of all time? It is true. In 1988, a band called Living Colour released their debut album Vivid. Living Colour was a very unique rock band because it was made up entirely of musicians who were black. Now there are plenty of all-black R&B, Soul or Hip Hop bands but Living Colour are one of the very few to have broken the colour barrier as a complete band in the genre of rock. The lead track on Vivid was a song called “Cult of Personality”. That song has become one of the most popular rock songs in the past forty years. It was awarded the Grammy for Best Rock Recording, as well as the MTV Video of the Year award, too. What makes that accomplishment ever more unusual is that “Cult of Personality” is a song that uses many snippets from famous political speeches, spoken by the politicians who initially uttered them. In fact, if you listen to this song in the links below, I challenge you to try and identify the speeches and the speakers as the song goes along. According to lead guitarist Vernon Reid, the idea behind the song was to examine what it was that drew ordinary people to political leaders of all stripes, regardless as to whether the leader was popular or feared. In the end, the band decided that the ultimate factor was the charisma that the leader exuded. Some leaders are just a perfect match for their moment in history whether that results in someone like Adolf Hitler coming to power or someone like Martin Luther King. Regardless of how unusual the subject matter of this song may seem, the end result is a song that is an absolute banger! While Living Colour still perform today and have plenty of strong songs, “Cult of Personality” is, by far and away, their signature song and, like I said, it is easily one of the most recognizable and popular songs of its generation.
American Rock band Living Colour in a hotel room in London, 1990. (Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns)Ironically enough, the title of the song “Cult of Personality” comes from a famous speech itself. In the 1950s, Russian dictator Joseph Stalin died. A few years later, in the political vacuum that followed, a man named Nikita Khrushchev made a play for power by giving a speech entitled On The Cult of Personality and Its Consequences. In that speech, Khrushchev publicly criticized Stalin’s reign. He did so by, among other things, pointing out that Stalin ruled by fiat or, by what pleased him, rather than what was necessarily good for the country of Russia. According to Khrushchev, Stalin eliminated political enemies and surrounded himself with sycophants who all learned to only tell Stalin what he wanted to hear and to always enthusiastically endorse his policies, no matter what the impact was on ordinary Russian citizens. He called this slavish devotion to one man, rather to the needs of the country above all to be something called a “cult of personality”. That speech became famous within Communist circles and helped to inspire an earnest group of rock n’ rollers a half century later to create their biggest hit.
Nikita Khrushchev delivers his “Cult of Personality” speech denouncing Stalin.I think it goes without saying that we are seeing a terrific example of the cult of personality in real time right now in our world. Prime Minister Mark Carney certainly has come to that conclusion and alluded to it in his famous Davos speech. In some ways, when a leader of a country that for many decades has been regarded as a leader of the free world begins a transformation into the realm of a cult of personality, he may end up being easier to deal with from an outsider’s perspective. In Stalin’s time, he demanded political acquiescence and public fawning or else. In Carney’s speech, he mentioned the folly of trying to appease someone like that. In his words, “there is a strong tendency for countries to go along, to get along, to accommodate, to avoid trouble, to hope that compliance will buy safety. Well, it won’t.” Carney also authored memorable and important lines such as “If we’re (as a middle powers) are not at the table, we’re on the menu”, as well as the kicker, “Nostalgia is not a strategy”. No, it certainly is not. We will see in time if Mark Carney’s words provide a template for other leaders to navigate their way through a world in which several of the most influential leaders are in full-blown “cult of personality” mode. For now, I trust our Prime Minister to know best how to chart the proper course for Canada during these turbulent times. In the meantime, I will crank “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour and will play it on repeat. Not every hit song needs to be about finding true love or breaking up with the one you thought was the love of your life. Sometimes a song needs to shake us out of our dazed and charmed state so we can accurately and knowledgably reassess the merits of those leaders that we entrust with our future. Personally, I’m not sure what the red hats see in the orange one but, then again, I am Canadian. I have a smart Prime Minister who is able to give a good speech when he needs to.
The link to the video for the song “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour can be found here. The lyrics version is here.
The link to the official website for Living Colour can be found here.
The link to the official website for The World Economic Forum can be found here.
***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2026 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com
#CultOfPersonality #DavosSpeech #LivingColour #MarkCarney #Music #NikitaKhrushchev #ReadersChoiceTomsTopTunes -
Reader’s Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes…Song #78/250: Cult of Personality by Living Colour
When was the last time you heard a really good speech? I’m talking about a speech so good that it has gone down in the annals of history? A speech like Winston Churchill’s “Never Surrender” or JFK’s “Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You…” or MLK’s “I Have a Dream” or even way back in time for Abraham Lincoln’s “Four Score and Seven Years Ago…” speeches. A truly historic speech is one in which the speaker helps their listeners to feel seen and understood by demonstrating a thorough grasp of whatever crisis happens to be unfolding at the time and then, most importantly, by providing a road map for everyone to follow so that they will feel safe and protected and, if luxury provides, even victorious in the end. A great political speech causes us to strive to be better versions of ourselves in a time of need. It steels our resolve and stiffens our backbone. It provides hope when things are at their bleakest. Regardless of what is going on, a truly great speech meets the moment.
In my lifetime, I haven’t heard a truly great and historic political speech authored in real time.. The closest I have come to hearing a great speech may have been Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau talking about the notion of a “just society” when I was still young or N.D.P. leader Jack Layton’s final opus before his tragic death where he intoned “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” But, generally speaking, the great mass of politicians in power during my lifetime have been mostly forgettable when it comes to the speeches they have delivered. They all blather on and on, making promises they have no power and/or intention of keeping. They speak to taking points and internal polling numbers rather than from the heart to our hearts. As such, as citizens we have become disinterested spectators in our own democratic process. Nowadays, when forced to listen to a political speech, we do so with expectations so low as to be almost non-existent.
That’s why Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent speech at the World Economic Forum Conference in Davos, Switzerland is so noteworthy. P.M. Carney is more a financial expert than he is a regular politician so when he approached the podium in Davos, he brought a lot of credibility with him before uttering a single word. As the former head of the Bank of Canada during the stock market crash of the early 2000s and as head of the Bank of England during Brexit, Carney has developed a sterling reputation as being someone who can keep a cool head in a crisis and, most importantly for those financiers in attendance in Davos, he is someone who can shelter assets during turbulent financial times. In his speech, Carney managed to meet the moment by talking about the “rupture” of the old, rules-based world order led by the United States and of the importance, as middle powers like Canada, of charting our own course in the world. Carney spoke about the fears and uncertainty that had been paralyzing financial markets around the world in light of the unpredictable and increasingly predatory behaviour coming out of Washington. By acknowledging the fears of those in that conference room and by providing a roadmap for the future, Carney took on the appearance of a leader that the world needed at that exact moment in time. His Davos speech was met with near universal acclaim, earning a standing ovation from those who were present. The Carney-Davos speech has been deemed as an important speech, one that will be remembered when the history of this era is written. Time will tell if that, in fact, turns out to be true but, for now anyway, it ranks as one of the best speeches I have ever heard from a politician in my lifetime. *(You can listen to it in its entirety here. You can read the full text, if you prefer, here and judge for yourself).
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaking in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum.However, I am not the only person who enjoys a good speech. Did you know that there is a Grammy-winning song that stands as a repository of some of the greatest political speeches of all time? It is true. In 1988, a band called Living Colour released their debut album Vivid. Living Colour was a very unique rock band because it was made up entirely of musicians who were black. Now there are plenty of all-black R&B, Soul or Hip Hop bands but Living Colour are one of the very few to have broken the colour barrier as a complete band in the genre of rock. The lead track on Vivid was a song called “Cult of Personality”. That song has become one of the most popular rock songs in the past forty years. It was awarded the Grammy for Best Rock Recording, as well as the MTV Video of the Year award, too. What makes that accomplishment ever more unusual is that “Cult of Personality” is a song that uses many snippets from famous political speeches, spoken by the politicians who initially uttered them. In fact, if you listen to this song in the links below, I challenge you to try and identify the speeches and the speakers as the song goes along. According to lead guitarist Vernon Reid, the idea behind the song was to examine what it was that drew ordinary people to political leaders of all stripes, regardless as to whether the leader was popular or feared. In the end, the band decided that the ultimate factor was the charisma that the leader exuded. Some leaders are just a perfect match for their moment in history whether that results in someone like Adolf Hitler coming to power or someone like Martin Luther King. Regardless of how unusual the subject matter of this song may seem, the end result is a song that is an absolute banger! While Living Colour still perform today and have plenty of strong songs, “Cult of Personality” is, by far and away, their signature song and, like I said, it is easily one of the most recognizable and popular songs of its generation.
American Rock band Living Colour in a hotel room in London, 1990. (Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns)Ironically enough, the title of the song “Cult of Personality” comes from a famous speech itself. In the 1950s, Russian dictator Joseph Stalin died. A few years later, in the political vacuum that followed, a man named Nikita Khrushchev made a play for power by giving a speech entitled On The Cult of Personality and Its Consequences. In that speech, Khrushchev publicly criticized Stalin’s reign. He did so by, among other things, pointing out that Stalin ruled by fiat or, by what pleased him, rather than what was necessarily good for the country of Russia. According to Khrushchev, Stalin eliminated political enemies and surrounded himself with sycophants who all learned to only tell Stalin what he wanted to hear and to always enthusiastically endorse his policies, no matter what the impact was on ordinary Russian citizens. He called this slavish devotion to one man, rather to the needs of the country above all to be something called a “cult of personality”. That speech became famous within Communist circles and helped to inspire an earnest group of rock n’ rollers a half century later to create their biggest hit.
Nikita Khrushchev delivers his “Cult of Personality” speech denouncing Stalin.I think it goes without saying that we are seeing a terrific example of the cult of personality in real time right now in our world. Prime Minister Mark Carney certainly has come to that conclusion and alluded to it in his famous Davos speech. In some ways, when a leader of a country that for many decades has been regarded as a leader of the free world begins a transformation into the realm of a cult of personality, he may end up being easier to deal with from an outsider’s perspective. In Stalin’s time, he demanded political acquiescence and public fawning or else. In Carney’s speech, he mentioned the folly of trying to appease someone like that. In his words, “there is a strong tendency for countries to go along, to get along, to accommodate, to avoid trouble, to hope that compliance will buy safety. Well, it won’t.” Carney also authored memorable and important lines such as “If we’re (as a middle powers) are not at the table, we’re on the menu”, as well as the kicker, “Nostalgia is not a strategy”. No, it certainly is not. We will see in time if Mark Carney’s words provide a template for other leaders to navigate their way through a world in which several of the most influential leaders are in full-blown “cult of personality” mode. For now, I trust our Prime Minister to know best how to chart the proper course for Canada during these turbulent times. In the meantime, I will crank “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour and will play it on repeat. Not every hit song needs to be about finding true love or breaking up with the one you thought was the love of your life. Sometimes a song needs to shake us out of our dazed and charmed state so we can accurately and knowledgably reassess the merits of those leaders that we entrust with our future. Personally, I’m not sure what the red hats see in the orange one but, then again, I am Canadian. I have a smart Prime Minister who is able to give a good speech when he needs to.
The link to the video for the song “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour can be found here. The lyrics version is here.
The link to the official website for Living Colour can be found here.
The link to the official website for The World Economic Forum can be found here.
***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2026 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com
#CultOfPersonality #DavosSpeech #LivingColour #MarkCarney #Music #NikitaKhrushchev #ReadersChoiceTomsTopTunes -
Living Colour, Cult of Personality (Official Live Bootleg), 1988 on Epic
Living Colour in their prime, recorded live at T.T. The Bear’s in Cambridge (right outside central square), and including a cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution.” I’m not sure what an “Official Live Bootleg” is – this was put out by Epic apparently – but this is a promo edition with five tracks where many of the singles of “Cult of Personality” only have three.
My copy—via A1 Records in NYC—is a demonstration only copy pressed at Carrollton with a generic sleeve and a hype sticker with catalog number EAS-1265-S2 (there’s a version with a different hype sticker but the same tracks and runout etchings).
#1988 #A1Records #Bootleg #CambridgeMA #Epic #Live #LivingColour #TTTheBearSPlace #TracyChapman #vinyl #vinylcollection #vinylfinds
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G-Nitro’s Daily Music Wrap-Up – 8/29/25
I revisit a classic by Living Colour, and check out the latest releases from Belinda Carlisle, and John Oates.
Favorite Videos include Min Jiwoon's Beyond The Studio, MILCK at Aspen Ideas Festival, and more!
https://g-nitro.com/g-nitros-daily-music-wrap-up-8-29-25
#Music #MusicVideo #1001Albums #LivingColour #BelindaCarlisle #JohnOates #MinJiwoon #BeyondTheStudio #Milck #AspenIdeasFestival
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G-Nitro’s Daily Music Wrap-Up – 8/29/25
I revisit a classic by Living Colour, and check out the latest releases from Belinda Carlisle, and John Oates.
Favorite Videos include Min Jiwoon's Beyond The Studio, MILCK at Aspen Ideas Festival, and more!
https://g-nitro.com/g-nitros-daily-music-wrap-up-8-29-25
#Music #MusicVideo #1001Albums #LivingColour #BelindaCarlisle #JohnOates #MinJiwoon #BeyondTheStudio #Milck #AspenIdeasFestival
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G-Nitro’s Daily Music Wrap-Up – 8/29/25
I revisit a classic by Living Colour, and check out the latest releases from Belinda Carlisle, and John Oates.
Favorite Videos include Min Jiwoon's Beyond The Studio, MILCK at Aspen Ideas Festival, and more!
https://g-nitro.com/g-nitros-daily-music-wrap-up-8-29-25
#Music #MusicVideo #1001Albums #LivingColour #BelindaCarlisle #JohnOates #MinJiwoon #BeyondTheStudio #Milck #AspenIdeasFestival
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G-Nitro’s Daily Music Wrap-Up – 8/29/25
I revisit a classic by Living Colour, and check out the latest releases from Belinda Carlisle, and John Oates.
Favorite Videos include Min Jiwoon's Beyond The Studio, MILCK at Aspen Ideas Festival, and more!
https://g-nitro.com/g-nitros-daily-music-wrap-up-8-29-25
#Music #MusicVideo #1001Albums #LivingColour #BelindaCarlisle #JohnOates #MinJiwoon #BeyondTheStudio #Milck #AspenIdeasFestival
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G-Nitro’s Daily Music Wrap-Up – 8/29/25
I revisit a classic by Living Colour, and check out the latest releases from Belinda Carlisle, and John Oates.
Favorite Videos include Min Jiwoon's Beyond The Studio, MILCK at Aspen Ideas Festival, and more!
https://g-nitro.com/g-nitros-daily-music-wrap-up-8-29-25
#Music #MusicVideo #1001Albums #LivingColour #BelindaCarlisle #JohnOates #MinJiwoon #BeyondTheStudio #Milck #AspenIdeasFestival
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Today marks the 35th anniversary of this awesome album. It's one of my definite desert island picks.
Living Colour - Time's Up
(1990 – Europe, Epic – 466920 1)
#nowplaying #nowspinning #90s #hardrock #funkrock #vinyl #vinylrecords #vinylcommunity #livingcolour
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Living Colour - Cult Of Personality (1988)
#45vinyl #livingcolour #cultofpersonality #1988 #1980s #80smusic #alternativemetal #hardrock #funkmetal #alternativerock #7inch #gxml
Wordpress - https://genxmusiclover.wordpress.com/2025/07/16/living-colour-cult-of-personality/
Blogspot - https://genxmusiclover.blogspot.com/2025/07/living-colour-cult-of-personality.html -
Look in my eyes. What do you see?
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My buddy #DJShaxx had a special #AfroPunk edition of #LeftOfTheDial on #WMPG in honor of #BlackHistoryMonth! Includes #XRaySpex, #LivingColour, #ESG, and more!
Setlist:
https://spinitron.com/WMPG/pl/20215451/Left-of-the-Dial -
Mejor disfrutemos lo que realmente vale la pena 🤘🏻
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🚀 ¡Arrancamos el viaje todoterreno en #4x4 de radio @rockaxisoficial! Prepárate para escuchar los nuevos trabajos de #GodIsAnAstronaut y #BrantBjork, mientras calentamos motores para los próximos shows de #TheMission y #LivingColour.
🎧 Lunes 10 y 22 Hrs en http://Rockaxis.FM / Conduce @PabloCerda1
#Rockaxis #NuevosLanzamientos #Conciertos #Radio
🐦🔗 https://farside.link/x.com/rockaxisoficial/status/1843275452569276758#m
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#BraveWords
Today In Metal History 🤘 August 22nd, 2024🤘
ALICE IN CHAINS, LIVING COLOUR, RATT, DEICIDE, LAMB OF GOD#AliceInChains #LivingColour #Ratt #Deicide #LambOfGod #LayneStaley #JuanCroucier #VernonReid #DCCooper #LAGuns #EnuffZNuff #TheGathering #Gorod #TheHumanAbstract #MiserySignals #Terrorizer #Unexpect #WallsOfJericho
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#BraveWords
Today In Metal History 🤘 August 22nd, 2024🤘
ALICE IN CHAINS, LIVING COLOUR, RATT, DEICIDE, LAMB OF GOD#AliceInChains #LivingColour #Ratt #Deicide #LambOfGod #LayneStaley #JuanCroucier #VernonReid #DCCooper #LAGuns #EnuffZNuff #TheGathering #Gorod #TheHumanAbstract #MiserySignals #Terrorizer #Unexpect #WallsOfJericho
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#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
Today In Metal History 🤘 August 22nd, 2024🤘
ALICE IN CHAINS, LIVING COLOUR, RATT, DEICIDE, LAMB OF GOD#AliceInChains #LivingColour #Ratt #Deicide #LambOfGod #LayneStaley #JuanCroucier #VernonReid #DCCooper #LAGuns #EnuffZNuff #TheGathering #Gorod #TheHumanAbstract #MiserySignals #Terrorizer #Unexpect #WallsOfJericho
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#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
Today In Metal History 🤘 August 22nd, 2024🤘
ALICE IN CHAINS, LIVING COLOUR, RATT, DEICIDE, LAMB OF GOD#AliceInChains #LivingColour #Ratt #Deicide #LambOfGod #LayneStaley #JuanCroucier #VernonReid #DCCooper #LAGuns #EnuffZNuff #TheGathering #Gorod #TheHumanAbstract #MiserySignals #Terrorizer #Unexpect #WallsOfJericho
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#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
Today In Metal History 🤘 August 22nd, 2024🤘
ALICE IN CHAINS, LIVING COLOUR, RATT, DEICIDE, LAMB OF GOD#AliceInChains #LivingColour #Ratt #Deicide #LambOfGod #LayneStaley #JuanCroucier #VernonReid #DCCooper #LAGuns #EnuffZNuff #TheGathering #Gorod #TheHumanAbstract #MiserySignals #Terrorizer #Unexpect #WallsOfJericho
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Festival Review: Maid of Stone 2024 Part 2 – Sunday 21st July
And so, on to Sunday’s festi
#GigReviews #AsDecemberFalls #BlackRoze #BrakeLoose #DrewDixon #GianniScaleraAndTheJury #JaredJamesNichols #LarkinPoe #LivingColour #MaidOfStone #MassiveWagons #MrBig #OliBrownAndTheDeadCollective #PhoenixLake #PreacherStone #SeethingAkira #SkarlettRiot #TheKarmaEffect #Twister
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A strange mix of two things I dig, music and political analysis, but in a weirdly fascinating, specific way: " #VernonReid and #CoreyGlover from the band #LivingColour join us for a discussion with NYU fascism and propaganda professor, Dr. #RuthBenGhiat, about the #fascism playbook, how #authoritarian regimes end, fascism and the illusion of authenticity, modern examples like #Trump, and Billy Joel’s smashed piano."
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#Loudwire
Rockers Tell Their Wildest Tattoo Stories
What are the real stories behind the ink of Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody, Godsmack's Sully Erna and others? Find out inside.https://loudwire.com/rockers-wildest-tattoo-stories-video/
#Rockers #Tattoos #InkCarcerationFestival #FiveFingerDeathPunch #Godsmack #LivingColour #Fozzy #Sevendust
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Tune Tuesday is "For Rocks Sake" this week. Songs that rock, have rock in the title, etc.
Because hashtags like this need some diversity, let's do this!
Sade "Lovers Rock"
https://song.link/us/i/193533249Aaliyah "Rock The Boat"
https://song.link/us/i/1579620554KYT "I Love Rock & Roll"
https://song.link/us/i/1541594027And an actual Rock song:
Living Colour "Cult Of Personality"
https://song.link/us/i/171097566#TuneTuesday #ForRocksSake #Music #Sade #Aaliyah #KYT #Koyote #LivingColour
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MC5’s first album in 50+ years finally coming out, will feature Tom Morello, Slash & more
#music #punk #MC5 #TomMorello #Slash #RiseAgainst #WayneKramer #DennisThompson #LivingColour #AliceInChains
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Living Colour regresa a Chile en octubre
https://www.nacionrock.com/living-colour-regresa-a-chile-en-octubre/
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#BLABBERMOUTH
SONIC UNIVERSE Feat. LIVING COLOUR's COREY GLOVER And ADRENALINE MOB's MIKE ORLANDO: 'It Is What It Is' Music Video Released#SonicUniverse #CoreyGlover #MikeOrlando #LIVINGCOLOUR #ADRENALINEMOB
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#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BLABBERMOUTH
LIVING COLOUR's COREY GLOVER: 'If It Weren't For' Success Of 'Cult Of Personality', 'I'd Be Working For UPS'#LivingColour #CoreyGlover #CultOfPersonality #VividAlbum #GrammyAward
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#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BLABBERMOUTH
LIVING COLOUR's COREY GLOVER And ADRENALINE MOB's MIKE ORLANDO Launch SONIC UNIVERSE#LivingColour #CoreyGlover #AdrenalineMob #MikeOrlando #SonicUniverse
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#BraveWords
Today In Metal History 🤘 2023🤘 SCORPIONS, CRAIG GOLDY, PAUL GILBERT, LIVING COLOUR, KREATOR
HEAVY BIRTHDAYS Happy 56th Paul Gilbert (MR. BIG) - 1966 (photo credit James Chiang) Happy 62nd Craig Goldy (DIO) - 1961 (photo credit: James Garvin) Happy 77th George Young (AC/DC, EASYBEATS) 1946 Happy 73rd Christopher Thomas 'Chris' Glen (MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP) 1950 Happy...#Scorpions #CraigGoldy #PaulGilbert #LivingColour #Kreator #TodayInMetalHistory
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#MetalInjection
LIVING COLOUR Slams JANN WENNER Over Recent Comments About Black & Women Artists
Wenner made some pretty terrible comments.#LivingColour
#JannWenner
#BLM
#BlackWomenInMusic
#DiversityInMusic
#InclusionInMusicIndustry
#MarginalizedVoices
#SocialChange
#CelebrateBlackMusic -
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#BLABBERMOUTH
COREY GLOVER 'Hopes' LIVING COLOUR Will Release New Music Soon: 'We Want It To Be Right'#CoreyGlover
#LivingColour
#NewMusic
#RightOutcome
#ExcitingTimes -
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#BraveWords
COREY GLOVER Recalls How THE ROLLING STONES' MICK JAGGER Helped LIVING COLOUR In The Early Days; Video
For Canada's The Metal Voice, Kenny Kessel spoke to Living Colour singer, Corey Glover, on May 3 at the Newburgh Vintage Emporium in New York in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the band's debut album, Vivid, which...#CoreyGlover #RollingStones #MickJagger #LivingColour #Bands #Music #Help #Artist #EarlyDays
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Take #BernieWorrell (P-Funk, Talking Heads), Will Calhoun (#LivingColour, Wayne Shorter), Doug Wimbish (Sugar Hill Rap house band, Living Colour), Dr. Know (#BadBrains) and #mosdef and you have one helluva heavyweight ensemble.
Black Jack Johnson.
A band that had impeccable pedigree and so much potential never got to do their own thing beyond a handful of live shows (and ostensibly they all played on Mos Def's solo album The New Danger).
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The sound quality is great.
#BadBrains fronted by Corey Glover (#LivingColour), John Joseph (Cro-Mags), #Murs, Jesse Royal and supported by Jamie Saft on organ playing live at #AfroPunk Fest at Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn, New York City on August 23, 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnpRPeOTUa0
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"It was like he was performing sleight of hand with a full deck of cards and short sleeves." 🎸
An Appreciation of Jeff Beck, by Living Colour’s Vernon Reid: ‘He Went Forward in a Way That Would Frighten Normal People’
#RIPJeffBeck #JeffBeck #Virtuoso #Rock #VernonReid #LivingColour #WhereWereYou #GuitarSlingers #Guitar #Yardbirds
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Looking for #music #recommendations or #MusicRecommendations for the new year. Ideally stuff released in the last few years. Been falling back on my tried and trues a bit too much.
A partial list of my likes:
#ConcreteBlonde, #PJHarvey, #TomWaits, #NickCave, #EllaFitzgerald, #OrnetteColeman, #GodModule, #MotleyCrue, #DangerMouse #EgoLikeness, #DresdenDolls, #BikiniKill, #Nas #Rammstein, #Apocalyptica, #LivingColour,
