The Marsh Family sings 'Stormtroops and Freikorps Again'

I watched "Stormtroops & Freikorps Again" - Marsh Family parody of "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror Picture Show, so I'm taking a break from awards show coverage today.

We wanted to pick a song from The Rocky Horror Show in tribute to the wonderful Tim Curry (who sadly died last month) – who, among other stellar credits across his amazing career, played Dr. Frank-N-Furter. So this is our live attempt at parodying “Time Warp” – the hit song from 1975 with lots of spoken word, weird energy, dark intent and suggestion, and loony choreographed dance moves. The glam rock and roll song was written by Richard O’Brien and Richard Hartley, and in the stage show, served as an encore (led by Dr. Frank-N-Furter).

The choreographing of loonies brought us to this week’s headline stories in Europe, where gangs of masked men have appeared (especially in port cities) under a new banner – calling themselves “Patriot Platform” and intimidating the general public with their black costumes and menacing paramilitary vibe and chants. They disrupted the ferry port at Dover, have made life miserable for the Royal National Lifeguard Institution and its incredible volunteers (who put their lives on the line to save those at sea), and in midweek also targeted the offices of journalists (well, the Daily Mail). At the moment it’s a rather pathetic operation, but with millions of dollars of (largely American) funding pouring into all sorts of organisations, there is a sense of a new watershed in how the Far Right are mobilising. In very-much linked news, the German AfD party also just won a notable election – celebrated by their supporters Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

The comparison in the title and chorus links back to the developments in Europe/Britain in the 1920s and 1930s, when in Germany, Italy, and here, roaming paramilitary groups were coordinated to link militarism, nationalism, fascism, masculinity, and intimidate their enemies and those they blamed for decline.

The situations the Marsh Family are referring to remind me of the conclusion to Vox explains why 'Gen Z is done with both political parties'.

Now that fascism is back, the people who remember are mostly gone and today's young people see World War II as ancient history; they don't understand the relevance. That's one of the reasons why history, even if it doesn't repeat, certainly does rhyme, as Theodor Reik wrote, then had his line attributed to Mark Twain. The history is forgotten, then it returns. Cue George Santayana: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

That's a gloomy thought...

It still is, but laughing at it through song and dance helps.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for a short post tomorrow, followed by more awards show coverage.