After contacting Alan’s management group Sonic Entertainment and his agent on Twitter for a confirmation that the name was indeed changed I received no response. Lynda Here stated on her Twitter account after another fan raised the issue, that she was just following Alan Doyle’s lead. I don’t watch her bootlegs so if the name change was mentioned on stage I have no idea. However, after a search of official social media and fan sites I found there had been no discussion by Alan Doyle or the even the fans who went to recent concerts and may have heard this.
Some of the fans including myself and Lynda Here were involved in a discussion that was raised about the use of the word ‘Gypsies’ in the title of Alan Doyle’s band in connection with the cultural group Romani earlier this year. I agree that as an outsider when referring to the cultural group Romani that they should not be called ‘Gypsies’ out of respect. ‘Gypsies’ is considered a derogatory term when referring to Romani as they have been discriminated and persecuted throughout history.
However, as many fans including myself pointed out that using words that refer to cultural groups like ‘Gypsies’ and others appropriately context is everything. In a general search of the definition of the word ‘Gypsies’ from online dictionaries and reference material the term also refers to free spirited people that travel the world without a home. And this is the context in which Alan Doyle and the Beautiful Gypsies use the word ‘Gypsies’. The name of the band does not refer to anyone else other than the members of the band including Alan himself.
The social media discussion which I was a part of was interesting. There is evidence that some so called ‘fans’ love to cause trouble for a popular artist or musician when they see an opportunity. And this time some so called ‘fans’ latched onto the use of the negative stereotype of the word ‘Gypsies’. These ‘fans’ seem to take delight in speaking for cultural groups which they have no actual personal association with, little knowledge of and only a fleeting interest in.
To validate their causes these ‘fans’ shared material that does not come from in my opinion credible academic sources or from representatives of the cultural group themselves. They forget than anyone can write anything and post it on the Internet and because something is posted on the Internet doesn’t make it true or a valid and reliable source. On a lot of occasions theses ‘fans’ perpetuate the negative stereotypes they are allegedly challenging and make absolutely outright false statements. For example one fan who joined the discussion stated ‘Gypsies’ are indigenous to Europe, failing to realise the origins of Romani and many Romani are found in many countries including America and Canada. These ‘fans’ fail to recognise that identity is complex, multi layered and constantly changing.
For many of these ‘fans’ on social media who take on a particular cause like this, their social media accounts show their interest is fleeting and do not have a track record of being genuinely interested. For many social media users likes, favourites, retweets and shared posts provide many with a false sense of social activism that generally has no positive outcomes other than to make giver and receiver engage with the topic and feel good about themselves for a couple of seconds. The discussion may be evidence of trolling.
For many cultural groups there are negative stereotypes associated with them and the countries they come from including Newfoundland and my own Australia. That is not to dismiss the significance of the historical discrimination experienced by the Romani throughout the world. There is significant research and shared experiences from those cultural groups are available online for those wishing to explore them. As I am neither a Newfoundlander nor a Romani I will not attempt to try explain what their experiences are but briefly relate them to my own as an Australian. Not that my experiences can begin to be comparable to those two cultural groups.
In a recent Buzz Feed article titled “20 stereotypes Australians are tired of hearing” by Brad Esposito posted on the 27 August, 2014 discussed stereotypes by foreigners about Australians. I was surprised and horrified to read about the stereotypes that exist of ALL (not some) Australians. They ranged from the somewhat true to the outright ridiculous. I was surprised to think that some foreigners think ALL Australians are always drunk and horrified to think they think Australia has no culture. There are the ridiculous stereotypes that ALL Australians have pet koalas, ride kangaroos to work, live near the beach and surf. The list goes on. I realise that Buzz Feed is not the most reliable source and the information was collected from posts on social media but still it is frustrating these negative stereotypes exists of me and my fellow Australians which are just not true. Australia’s people and its environment are considerably diverse.
Recently Alan Doyle’s music partner and friend Russell Crowe changed the name of their group and the name of their new album. The new album is called ‘The Musical’ and the name of the group the Indoor Garden Party to be more inclusive of all the artists and musicians that contributed. Alan Doyle has provided a cover for his new single ‘Summer, Summer, Night’ for the song loaded up on to his official vevo account called ‘Alan Doyle. A Week At The Warehouse.’ There is no mention of the Beautiful Gypsies although this name continues to appear on posters advertising concerts. Alan Doyle seems to have decided that he is still maybe, very much a solo act with the full backing of the band. Fans seem to be able to adjust to name changes to be inclusive of those involved in the production, whenever they happen.
If Alan Doyle did make a casual reference to his band ‘as his beautiful band’ at a concert I am sure it wasn’t meant to be taken literally. Lynda Here seems to have taken this and changed their name literally. I believe the change she made to the name of the band started with the bootlegs she posted of the concerts in London and Germany on June 21, 2017.
Lynda Here has contacted Alan Doyle almost daily on his official social media accounts including Twitter and Instagram sharing comments, photos and bootlegs and did not raise the name change with Alan. Lynda Here has not been responded to by Alan for over two and a half years, although he has responded to fans who share her bootlegged videos of other people’s copyrighted material. Lynda Here’s actions on social media indicate to me the name change was allegedly due to being frustrated at not being acknowledged on social media rather than any genuine concern for any cultural group of discriminated and persecuted people.
Perhaps if Lynda Here was really interested in following Alan Doyle's lead then she should just refer to Alan Doyle by his name rather than make up some band name that might not really exist now or in the future. But in the meantime until I hear different I will refer to Alan Doyle and his band on my blog as Alan Doyle And The Beautiful Gypsies as he intended. There have been no complaints about me using the word ‘Gypsies’ in my blog in the context of this band.
