WHY IS ANDY WARHOL SHITE?
FOREWORD:
Sunday the 9th of November 2025
Dear Concerned Parties,
To mark the construction of the Coventry Soup Line on the 14th of November 2025 we have commissioned William E. Drummond to construct a novella to be published by Penkiln Burn Books.
William E. Drummond has informed us that this novella will be made from all of the negative and naive questions that nagged and gnawed their way around the former Bill Drummond’s head as he laid awake between 3:07am and 5:17am each morning from the 28th of October to the 9th of November 2025. As in, each morning before the first light crept into his bedroom and the Questions scampered and scuttled away to wherever they hid for those daylight hours.
But in those early hours...
As these questions scrambled for attention, there never seemed any Answer to them that satisfied the Questions. It was as if his inner self never wanted an Answer, but just wanted the circular insecurity provided by those Questions scratching at his unfocused thoughts.
Anyway...
But however banal these questions might seem through the lens of the rationality of daylight, they would return each night when he awoke again at precisely 3:07am. With the soundtrack of a distant train and a fox toppling a bin in the road outside.
Thus...
In an attempt to close these Questions down, once and for all, William E. Drummond has decided to document all, or at least as many, of these Questions as he can find hiding in the corners of the former Bill Drummond’s head and present them to the outside world for others to answer in whatever way they want.
Some have already offered answers to these questions as part of the lead up to the construction of the Coventry Soup Line.
But...
William E. Drummond has instructed us to stipulate a Forty Day period between and including the 15th of November and the 24th of December 2025, where others in distant lands and shifting time zones can respond to these questions. Questions that continue to provoke the mind of the former Bill Drummond in the early hours when he is not too sure if he is awake or still on the edges of troubling dreams.
He has also insisted that all those that have offered Answers to the Questions will be credited within the novella. Where those credits appear in the novella are as yet not clear.
As for editorial control, we are as yet unsure if lack of control, is the control that is required.
Also...
What form this novella might take in the physical world is also as yet unknown.
But...
As the Managing Director of Penkiln Burn Recordings I would like to insist that an audio version of this novella is recorded within the confines of the Delia Derbyshire Building.
We will see.
Yours Faithfully,
W. E. Drummond
The Managing Director of Penkiln Burn Recordings
Post Script:
This missive to you might also act as a Foreword to this said novella.
And...
We have also just been contacted by William E. Drummond asking us (insisting) this novella should have the title Why is Andy Warhol Shite?. He then tried to tell us why he has carried a variant of this title as a burden for over 52 years. Something to do with a history of art thesis that the former Bill Drummond was supposed to write but never wrote, when he was studying painting at the Liverpool School of Art back in early 1973. But we were not listening properly as we had more important things to be doing.
Part One:
QUESTIONS ONE TO ONE HUNDRED...
Tuesday the 28th of October 2025
BLAME:
What is blame?
THE CONVENIENCE OF SOCIOPATHS.
Mr. Gell - 26/10/2025
Undoubtedly. Probably more than most.
Pete Boardman - 3/11/25
In my world - yes. Obviously, ultimately and for reasons of harmony.
Tim Pearson - 30/10/2025
Were you born to blame?
When I was born a Roman Catholic with Original Sin (not the remix).
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
When were you last to blame?
Yes absolutely. I’ve always thought so.
Pete Boardman - 3/11/25
The Cult of Vanity.
Dominic Parker - 5/11/25
Someone stole a curling stone decorated with a ship from my grandparents’ scrubbed step, circa 1988. Nobody confessed. My mother still talks about it.
Graham Mackenzie - 29/10/2025
If we are all part of a deeply connected system - which I think we are - then none of us are blameless. So "all" are to blame, but are we "all to blame"? As in, "are we all to point the finger?". We don't have to, I don't think, though if we did - I wouldn't blame us
Mr. Hopkinson - 29/10/2025
If we can blame the past, can we blame the future?
"We must abandon, completely, the notion of blaming the past for any kind of situation we’re in, and reverse our thinking and see that the past always flows back from the present; that NOW is the creative point of life" - Alan Watts said that, in the past.
Mr. Hopkinson - 30/10/2025
Is there more to be learnt from blaming others or blaming oneself?
Without others, blame would be functionless.
Mr. Hopkinson - 31/10/2025
If it is acceptable to blame our parents, is it acceptable to blame our children?
Epictetus said “What upsets people is not things themselves but their judgments about things.”
Epictetus lived a life of great simplicity, with few possessions. He lived alone for a long time, but in his old age, he adopted the child of a friend who otherwise would have been left to die, and raised him with the aid of a woman. It is unclear whether Epictetus and she were married.He died sometime around AD 135. After his death, according to Lucian, his oil lamp was purchased by an admirer for 3,000 drachmae.
Mr. Hopkinson - 29/10/2025
CHILDREN:
What are children?
For teaching us that the “meaning of life“ or a sense of purpose cannot be found via having children. And that those who say “my children are my world” are idiots“.
Ellen Shobrook - 4/11/25
When were you first a child?
MAY 8TH 2018.
Mr. Gell - 26/10/2025
If you could, would you choose to be a child again?
Do you learn more from your children than they might ever learn from you?
Yes, for they teach us how to love unconditionally.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
LEARNING:
WHEN YOU STOP LISTENING.
Mr. Gell - 26/10/2025
When you stop caring.
Tim Pearson - 30/10/2025
When do you think you have learnt enough?
When you know you’ve learnt nothing.
Tim Pearson - 30/10/2025
When do you accept that what you learnt in your youth has no value in the modern world?
When the air filter needs cleaning, your wife is experiencing something called the "menopause", no one cares you can recite "Ant-rap" in its entirety, and you still haven't seen an Oxbow fucking Lake.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
MODERN WORLD:
What is the Modern World?
What is the Modern Word for?
Does Paul Weller know what the Modern World is?
HE DID THEN.
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
Of course! What kind of fool do you think he is to know nothing of the modern world?
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
Has the Modern World always existed?
Or does the Modern World only exist in the now?
EXISTANCE:
What is existence?
At a systemic viewpoint merely to act as a vehicle for our DNA. Anything else is just a fancy. Thankfully we love fancies.
Pete Boardman - 3/11/25
Why do you exist?
TO LURE ANSWERS OUT OF CAVES.
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
To prove we do.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
SHAME:
Regret on steroids.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
It is societally constructed to keep us afraid of ourselves - our own possibilities and potential, and of our capacity to connect.
Ellen Shobrook - 4/11/25
When were you first shamed?
When were you last shamed?
Are you ashamed?
Should I be ashamed?
Is there more to be learnt from shaming others or shaming oneself?
If ‘pride comes before a fall’, what does shame come before?
FIG LEAVES
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
An insight or a spiral.
Tim Pearson - 30/10/2025
Should there be a movement called SHAME?
Should I start a movement called SHAME?
Yes you definitely should.
Pete Boardman - 3/11/25
What would the SHAME flag look like?
Grey with a twist of yarn symbol in black.
Tim Pearson - 30/10/2025
FLAGS:
What is a flag?
IDENTIFYING PIRATES
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
Fostering an identity.
Tim Pearson - 30/10/2025
More like a blinkered focus.
Tim Pearson - 31/10/2025
Division creates flags.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
Do flags unite against the other?
OTHER:
There are no others – otherness is an illusion (see response to ‘SHAME’).
Ellen Shobrook - 4/11/25
Sex in a 70s sitcom.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
What are others for?
YES, AND I’M GLAD I FOUND THEM
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
Can I be one of the others?
FOOTBALL:
EAST FIFE 4 FORFAR 5
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
Lubricating the world.
Tim Pearson - 30/10/2025
A random excellent reason.
Tim Pearson - 31/10/2025
Should the owner of a football team pay you to be a supporter of their football team?
No – that’s nuts! It’s an abusive one-sided relationship.
Tim Pearson - 01/11/2025
The question is flawed and shows a lack of understanding about football. There is rarely agreement with the owner of the team you support. They are often despised. Furthermore, you don't choose to support a particuar team like you don't choose your sexual orientation.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
Would you rather be a football of a goalpost?
A goalpost.
Tim Pearson - 30/10/2025
POWER:
What is Power?
What is Power for?
Is all Power abusive?
Is there only a finite amount of Power in the world at any one time?
If so...
Does that mean, if you gain more Power, someone else has less Power?
If so...
Does that mean the act of Empowerment is the act of stealing Power from others?
YES, HELPING OTHERS TO PUNCH UP
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
Is Male Empowerment worse than Female Empowerment?
Why are people drawn to other people that have Power?
Why do we spread our legs for people who have Power?
Why do we say ‘Yes’ to people who have Power?
Why do we let those that have Power be the winners?
Or...
If an individual’s Power can be measured in their looks, charm, height, charisma, strength, wit, intelligence, fame, strength, talent, wealth, creativity, is it our job to destroy their Power over us?
Yeah but...
WHEN YOU’RE HAPPY TO STOP PLAYING THE GAME
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
What is Winning for?
Is there any Winning without someone else Losing?
Are you a Loser?
Does Losing taste different to Winning?
TASTE:
What is Taste?
What is Taste for?
Can trees Taste the wind?
YES, IT TASTES OF A WHITBY CHIPPY
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
No, the opposite; the sky tastes the sea, and surreptitiously, silently sucks it up.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
Do you have Taste?
Why is your Taste better than my Taste?
BEAUTY:
Why do we keep telling ourselves the lie that beauty is in the eye of the beholder when all the algorithms know this to be false?
When and where was the Algorithm first invented?
Are we all just spending our lives making content for the Algorithms?
Should you tell someone they are Beautiful when you don’t think they are?
No, or tell them they are ugly when you think they are.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
QUESTIONS:
Is ask questions or answer questions?
"Overall I think it is better to ask questions rather than answer them. This is because questions imply possibilities whereas answers tend to shut down possibilities other than the answer given. I am conscious I am answering a question here. Am I shutting down possibilities?
One thing I don’t like about asking questions is the power relation — what gives you the authority to choose and ask the questions? I’m progressing here — grassroots, democratic question generation and question answering are where it ought to be at? In my line of work, I tend to choose and ask the questions — too often, no doubt. It's worse in my case. People can choose to not engage with your questions, whereas I usually have a captive audience."
Glenn Skelhorn -
The two are the same thing.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
Why does two and two always make four?
FINGERS
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
Who said it does?
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
Are we trapped forever in causality?
Is freedom of choice just an allusion?
Are we all just dominos waiting for our turn to fall?
WE ARE THE FALL
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
We are actually rubber dominos; we bounce back.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
GOD:
Did we create God?
Or...
Chicken...egg, innit?
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
I mean...
What is the point of Atheism when you can create a God at the same time as a God can create you?
FEAR:
What is fear?
What is fear for?
When did you first feel fear?
When did you last feel fear?
What were you last in fear of?
If fear exists to help animals survive, why do plants not feel fear to help them to survive?
THROUGH SEED, THEY ARE IMMORTAL
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
I mean...
Why don’t trees run away when they see the lumberjack approaching with his axe?
Why do people not run away when they see the Grim Reaper approaching with his scythe?
For the same reason the ‘d’ of ‘The End’ doesn't run from the full stop. It’s how it's meant to be.
Kirk Field - 30/10/2025
PEOPLE:
I love people and I’m an optimist but I also think we’re just weird mutant mammals whose brains have evolved too quickly.
Stuart Huggett - 28/10/2025
Selfishly as a species, to make each other happy. Unselfishly, to improve the wellbeing of other species, even if that’s simply giving love to our domestic pets.
Stuart Huggett - 29/10/2025
Would the world be better off without people?
Yes but we have to fix the damage we’ve done to the rest of our planet’s inhabitants first, as best we can. Then step back and let them thrive. We may have to allow ourselves to die out naturally first.
Stuart Huggett - 30/10/2025
If so...
Should we get rid of all the people on the earth so that life on earth could survive?
NATURE HAS IT COVERED
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
We should probably allow nature to get rid of us gently.
Stuart Huggett - 28/10/2025
MEN:
Are men born to be baddies?
Or...
Are men just better at being baddies than women?
JUST BETTER AT GETTING CAUGHT
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
WOMEN:
Is the word ‘women’ short for ‘men with wombs’?
When did the last women scrub her doorstep with a Donkey Stone?
My maternal grandmother used to scrub her porch and front doorstep daily in the 1980s. She lived on a busy road in north Edinburgh, with exhaust fumes from lorries turning the hedges black. I have come across the precise smell of pollution and detergent again recently, for example when seeing elderly patients during home visits. I think therefore that there are some women, and perhaps men, who are still cleaning their doorsteps with Donkey Stones. ()
Graham Mackenzie - 29/10/2025
I mean...
WAR:
DISTRACTION
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
Who starts wars?
Would you start a war?
What would make you start a war?
I mean...
Is it men that start wars?
If the answer to the above questions is ‘yes’ should we kill all men?
If we killed all men, would there be no more wars?
HUMANS Versus TREES:
Are humans the worst thing that ever happened on this Earth?
JUST BEHIND THE CRETACEOUS PALEOGENE EXTINCTION EVENT
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
Would you rather be a Human or a Tree?
Why would you rather be a Tree than a Human?
Why would you rather be a Human than a Jellyfish?
Do Jellyfish believe in God?
WRITERS Versus AUTHORS:
Are Writers the people that write the words in their head?
Are Authors the people who want to see their name on the cover of books?
Would you rather be a famous Writer or a failed Author?
A FAILED BUT FULFILLED WRITER
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
PAINTERS Versus ARTISTS:
Are Painters people who paint pictures?
Are Artists people who want to have exhibitions that change the course of Art History?
Are these the wrong questions to ask?
I THINK SO
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
Or...
Would you rather paint pictures or change the course of Art History?
HISTORY of ART:
What is the History of Art for?
To maintain the illusion that some people are ‘artists’ and some are not – that art isn’t the essence of being human. To convince us that there is still something pure that is worth aspiring to.
Ellen Shobrook - 4/11/25
Why does a trout need a hairdryer?
Aidan O’Keefe - 28/10/2025
Is History different to Herstory?
"Herstory is gentle and gives hope. History is fat, white men being pricks. History is happening now in the USA – Terribly obvious, bland answer.
Next!"
Aidan O’Keefe - 28/10/2025
Have you ever told a good story?
I’m pretty confident that this is ‘Yes’
Aidan O’Keefe - 28/10/2025
Do you believe my story?
BELIEF:
Why do we believe?
Why do we not believe?
Why do we believe that one and one will always make two?
Do Jellyfish know they are alive?
DOING GOOD:
Is it good to be Good?
Is it Good to be an Activist?
Are Activists better if they are famous Activists?
Or...
Can Activists become famous for being Activists?
Is being an Activist something that looks good on your CV?
Should all Activists have to work in a local charity shop for 12 months before they are allowed to call themselves an Activist?
Are you Good?
SHARE WITH FRIENDS:
How has the meaning of the word ‘share’ evolved in your lifetime?
FROM SOCIALISM TO THIS ISM
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
How many meanings does the word ‘with’ have in your head?
How has the meaning of the word ‘friends’ evolved in your lifetime?
Who was your favourite member of the cast of Friends?
What are friends for?
WORLD WIDE WEB:
If I had the switch to switch off the World Wide Web, how much would you pay me not to switch it off?
If you had the switch to switch of the World Wide Web, how much would you charge me not to switch it off?
One Last Question (for the moment):
Do the Questions I am asking say more about me, than the answers you may give say about you?
A LITTLE BIT
Mr Gell - 26/10/2025
Part Two:
THOSE MORE QUESTIONS
Wednesday the 29th of October 2025
GOD Versus ART:
Does God exist in your head?
Does Art exist in your head?
Why did humans invent God?
Why did humans invent Art?
Did God exist before Humans existed?
Did Art exist before Humans existed?
Will God exist after Humans have died?
Will Art exist after Humans have died?
Why do Cats not appreciate God?
Why do Cats not appreciate Art?
I think the answer to this might be related to the question, ‘Does Art exist in your head?’, and is an empirical observation of our cat walking over our daughter’s Christmas card competition entries. It is not that she doesn’t appreciate art, rather that she is fortunate enough not to perceive every single mark made by, word spoken or sung by, our offspring as potentially interesting and therefore necessary to preserve, and occasionally even commodify.
As long as my wife, myself and our cat successfully share parenting responsibilities we can all have full and exciting lives, and make some art.
rh morgan - 9/11/25
If God was made of fish would Cats appreciate God?
If Art was made of fish would Cats appreciate Art?
If God was not curated by Man, would God be better?
If Art was not curated by Man, would Art be better?
Which of the following two statements would you rather wear on a t-shirt...
GOD IS DEAD or ART IS DEAD?
MERCHANDISE:
What is Merchandise?
What is Merchandise for?
Why sell Merchandise?
Why buy Merchandise?
Bill Drummond attempts to see how long a daily streak he can have of seeing somebody wearing a Nirvana t-shirt (and it can never be the same person twice).
Should he stop doing this?
Should he attempt another band’s t-shirt daily streak?
Slipknot?
What band T-shirt would you choose?
And if so...
Would you choose to make it a weekly streak, or monthly streak, or even a yearly streak, so that your choice of band t-shirt can be more niche?
I mean...
Who needs to see another Nirvana or Slipknot t-shirt?
COMMODIFICATION:
What is Commodification?
What is Commodification for?
Have you been Commodified?
Have you Commodified others?
Has Community been Commodified?
Has Friendship been Commodified?
Has Love been Commodified?
And...
Now that the inevitability of Death has been commodified, what is there left in Life to be Commodified?
Birth?
I mean...
If you could pay to be born straight, how much would you pay?
If you could pay to be born other, how much would you pay?
If you could pay to be born white, how much would you pay?
If you could pay to have wealthy parents, how much would you pay?
If you could pay to be born here, there, or wherever you choose, how much would you pay?
Does entitlement come at a cost?
Which genocide what you choose to be a survivor of?
Does Genocide inspire Great Art?
ART Versus DEATH:
Would you rather die today as an unknown artist but be recognised as a great artist in a future?
Or...
Would you rather live into the future and never be recognised as a great artist?
Or...
Would you rather be a good parent but lead an empty and boring life?
Or...
Would you rather live a full and exciting life but be a bad parent?
And lastly...
What would you be prepared to chop of your hand for?
That will do for today, as I have to go and catch a train to Coventry to have a meeting about what will be happening on Friday the 14th of November.
Part Three:
QUESTION OF THE DAY
Friday the 31st of October 2025
Are these questions trading on the death of those that died in the Coventry Blitz?
Do we reject Answer that adopt the style of answers created by The Artificial Intelligence?
Or...
To answer I'll say : I purposefully avoided what I was aware of as AI in my previous answers, but I did use the internet - consulting Wikipedia in particular.
I wonder if this is the way of another particular Modern World? One between our current AI Modern World and the other Modern World celebrated by Paul Weller?
Though person to person exchanges, I've become aware that if one wishes to use the internet without AI being presented in search results, you can add the phrase "-ai" (including the quote marks) and it should be AI free.
Someone else told me that if you add a swear word, or any phrase that might be linked to piracy (e,g, mkv, which is a popular video format for ripped copyrighted material) the ai answers will also be stripped.
I heard on the radio the CEO of cybersecurity giant Cloudflare talking about how he believed Search Engines being a thing of the past. He described the modern thing to be AI driven 'Answer Engines'
This was on a radio programme in the modern sense - i.e. no radio was involved - so, if interested, you too can listen it the programme on the device you are using now via this link
Mr. Hopkinson - 29/10/2025
Part Four:
THE LAST QUESTIONS
Tuesday the of October 2025
COMMODIFICATION:
What is Cultural Imperialism?
What is Cultural Imperialism for?
In what ways are you complicit in Cultural Imperialism?
In what ways could you advise the former Bill Drummond escape his being complicit in Cultural Imperialism?
I think that we can take it as a given, the two things that British Cultural Imperialism ‘gave’ to the world was the necktie (Castell & Son, Oxford 1870) and Football (You chose the date, but Victoria was on the thrown). And to a lesser extent Cricket, Rugby, Tennis & Golf.
But...
British Cultural Imperialism died when the United States of America won World War Two and saved the UK from the Nazis winning the said war. That being the moment that any culture that these islands produced, had to first be validated by those in the USA, before it had any sort of global impact.
The prime examples being The Beatles.
But first...
PROFILE:
What is a Profile?
What is a Profile for?
Do you have a Profile?
Should your Profile be ‘curated’ by others?
Should your Profile be ‘curated’ by His/Her-Story?
Does your Profile only exist in the eyes of others when you turn your head?
Or...
Does your Profile only exist online?
How would you go about deleting your Profile?
ONLINE:
What is Online?
What is Online for?
How could you murder the Online World?
Why would you want to murder the Online World?
Has the Online world totally commodified the Real World?
Should there be a war between the Online World and the Real World?
How would that war take shape?
What would that war look like?
Would you want to be a foot soldier in that War of The Worlds?
SELF-HARM:
What is Self-Harm?
What is Self-Harm for?
What is your Self-Harm of choice?
How could you go about overcoming your use of Self-Harm?
How do you judge others by their choice of Self-Harm?
JUDGEMENT:
What is Judgement?
What is Judgement for?
What started you Judging others?
What would stop you Judging yourself?
PUNISHMENT:
What is Punishment?
What is Punishment for?
What was the reason you were first Punished?
What was the reason why you first Punished others?
I mean...
Does Punishment work?
Does Punishment stop people being Angry.
ANGER:
What is Anger?
What is Anger for?
What motivates the Anger in you?
I mean the real Anger, in your real life, not just the Anger about wars on the other side of the World, that you can indulge yourself in feeling angry about.
Should that last sentence be edited out of this list of questions?
What would stop you from being angry?
And don’t say ‘When world peace breaks out’.
Do people commit Crime because they feel Angry?
If you had more self-control, could you stop yourself feeling Angry?
SELF-CONTROL:
What is Self-Control?
What is Self-Control for?
How do you measure the amount of Self-Control you have?
How would you like to free yourself from the Self-Control that you constrict yourself with?
COERCIVE CONTROL:
What is Coercive Control?
What is Coercive Control for?
How have you used Coercive Control?
How have you been Controlled Coercively?
In what ways has the Electric Guitar not only symbolised but globalised American Cultural Imperialism in the second half of the 20th Century?
In what ways has the Electric Guitar commodified the ideas of Rebellion and Freedom and all the chicks you want to shag and all the money you want to spend all at the same time as all those brandishing an Electric Guitar up on a stage think they are expressing themselves, but in fact just expressing the dominance of American Cultural Imperialism, at the same time as telling their audience about the size of their cock?
You might be Billy Bragg, but you are still holding a Fender Telecaster.
You might be Bob Dylan, but you are still selling your catalogue for way more than the Devil would ever offer you for your soul.
You tear off the wrapping paper and inside it is all still doing the same thing, the same job...
We make those two statements knowing full well that the former Bill Drummond is a complete fan boy of both Billy Bragg and Bod Dylan.
But...
I mean...
Back in 1962 Bob Dylan asked us the following questions...
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
Yes, and how many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
Yes, and how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?
Yes, and how many ways was Dylan the perfect poster boy, without us ever being aware there was all this small print on the back of the poster?
Did Dylan know then, that answer to the above questions he was asking us, was not only blowing in the wind but the asking of these questions was the perfect bait to ensnare the former Bill Drummond’s generation into an addiction for that American Cultural Imperialism, while at the same time as we thought we were ‘giving it to the man’?
Is this how the trick works?
Tell a boy in your class, how interesting you think his music taste is, and he might fancy you back, even if you don’t want his hand down your knickers.
Forget that last sentence...
And back to Dylan.
We were literally giving it to the man, as in Bob Dylan was able to sell his music publishing catalogue to Universal Music Group in 2022 for $300,000,000.
I mean who owns Universal Music Group?
Where do their profits go?
Are they involved with a global arms industry?
Does the fact that there are still wars in the world mean that the above quoted words from Bob Dylan in 1962, still make shed loads of cash for Universal Music Group in 2025?
Does that matter?
Am I losing the plot?
Who am I?
Who are we?
Who are us?
I mean...
What state of mind are these words you are reading coming from?
Anyway...
As for Fender Telecaster as used by Billy Bragg...
For my generation the use of a Fender Telecaster is a dog whistle that the user of this guitar is ‘for real’ and is speaking for ‘the people’. That is why it has been the guitar of choice for both Joe Strummer and Bruce Springsteen and of course Wilko Johnson. As in the Fender Telecaster is another way that American Cultural Imperialism can sneak through the back door, creep up the stairs, without our parent hearing, and slip themselves into our bedroom and then crawl into our mind.
I mean...
You don’t even have to know what a Fender Telecaster is, or its history, or it is the guitar of choice of the aforementioned troubadours of the working man, for it to achieve its aims.
I mean...
Were The Beatles just something that American Cultural Imperialism allowed us to have, in our now fast fading British Empire, to keep us in line as a vassal state?
And everything that followed from The Beatles?
And when did the Electric Guitar’s power to entrance a global audience start to slip?
As in...
When did those scales begin to tip?
Was it in the 1980s with the rise of Female Empowerment and Rap / Hip Hop?
Did that rise of global Female Empowerment begin with Madonna, then make its way through Hole and arrive at where we were now with the likes of Taylor Swift?
Or is Taylor Swift so last year, along with Charlie XCX, and now it is all Lily Allen?
Or is Lily Allen being used, just like The Beatles were used to keep the UK in tow with the USA?
I mean...
Is there now more money, thus global control, to be had by American Cultural Imperialism with the marketing and selling of Female Empowerment, than...?
I mean...
When did the last teenage girl scream at a band up on a stage brandishing electric guitars?
Or even...
When did the last teenage girl scream at a boy band who had learnt all their moves?
I mean...
What teenage girl would lower themselves to hand over hard earned cash to just scream at young men up on a stage doing whatever those young men might do?
When did the last teenage girl scream at Harry Styles?
I mean...
Why would a teenage girl, or young woman, or woman of any age want to do any of that screaming stuff, when there are so many female artists to choose from that can deliver them pre-packaged Female Empowerment to the door via whatever delivery service they choose?
I mean...
Would you rather have been a Directioner or a Swifty?
Anyway...
Back to Rap / Hip Hop...
But before that...
Back to the Black Power movement in the late 1960s and early 70s. It was then that the former Bill Drummond became a fan of Gil Scott-Heron. This to his then 18-year-old mind seemed far more real than anything that Bob Dylan was doing, or any of those other rock bands from the left over dried up and shrivelling 1960s were doing. This was more threatening. And hard hitting. And alternative. And then he started reading about Marcus Garvey and the whole Back to Africa movement. The reclaiming of roots. Of lost culture. Of finding one’s soul.
But...
It was getting complicated in Bill Drummond’s head.
Why was Fela Kuti...
I mean...
You do know who Fela Kuti is?
I mean...
Why was this Fela Kuti the ultimate African music maker back in the early 70s, using the tools of American Cultural Imperialism at the time – the Electric Guitar?
Was not this the total opposite of what should be happening?
Was not Fela Kuti’s appropriation of American music exactly what that American Cultural Appropriation would want?
I mean...
You do have your tickets for Olamide at the Wembley Arena on this coming 23rd of November?
I mean...
Was not the Black Power movement of the late 60s and early 70s about rejecting all of the American Cultural Imperialism in favour of re-connecting the art and music of Africa?
Whereas...
Almost the reverse has totally happened.
I mean...
Has the music and art of Africa over these past 55 years been bit by bit rejecting itself and its heritage, to worship at the feet of American Cultural Imperialism?
I mean...
Is this just what we did when we rejected our musical selves and heritage, to worship at the feet of the likes of Elvis, Dylan, Cobain and every other young man up on a stage wanking his Electric Guitar in public?
And don’t get me started on blue jeans and t-shirts.
Or should you?
Anyway...
Is it these unknowing ways that Cultural Imperialism always works?
When did the spreading of Cultural Imperialism switch from the spreading of the Empires religion to control its global reach, to the spreading of the ‘creative cultures’?
But of course...
All that was yesterday.
As of today...
Should we...
Discuss?
Debate?
Turn the other cheek?
Give unto Ceasar?
Or...
Overthrow the tables?
Set the Doves free?
Or do we wait until the Chinese have got all their Cultural Imperialism up and running and we all start genuflecting in an Easterly direction?
But in the meantime...
Is Social Media the last hurrah of American Cultural Imperialism.
I mean...
What is a Gate Keeper?
What is a Gate Keeper for?
Have all the Gate Keepers been made redundant?
If so...
Can we all stand on the stage that is getting more and more crowded, and attempt to shout louder than whoever is standing next to us, in the hope that someone out there will be listening?
Or...
Do we burn that stage to the ground?
I mean...
What the fuck?
COMPLICIT
Sunday the 9th of November 2025
What is complicit?
What is complicit for?
What makes you complicit?
What makes me complicit?
How could you stop being complicit?
How could I stop being complicit?
Is being complicit always bad?
If I smoke a cigarette, am I complicit in all of the deaths caused by the tobacco industry?
I mean...
Now that the former Bill Drummond has drawn a line under the Elvis in his life, is it now time to draw a line under The Beatles in his life?
I mean...
He knows that if America, as in the USA, did not exist The Beatles would not exist. And that if The Beatles had not been embraced by the USA, the rest of the world would not have given a shite about them.
But seeing this is about questions, we should be asking you...
In what ways would The Beatles not have existed if the USA had not existed?
I mean...
In what ways would the rest of the world not have given a shite?
And...
In what ways would the rest of the world not have given a shite?
Which brings us to the title of the novella...
Why is Andy Warhol shite?
The cultural capital of the Western World has shifted through time. That said it was usually pretty close to where the military and political power lay. From Rome to Constantinople to Vienna, then to Paris or maybe even London. But by the late 1940s that power base had very much crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the United States of America. Washington might have been the city that had the military and political power in the USA, but the cultural power was split between those two rival siblings of Los Angeles and New York.
And so to Andy Warhol.
Or the former Bill Drummond relationship with Andy Warhol. And something he has written about before. As in the memory of running up those steps of the Tate (as in the now Tate Britain) sometime in the early March of 1971. And the mind shattering impact the then Andy Warhol retrospective exhibition had on his then fertile imagination at the time. That was the moment in his life that he knew he did not want to just be...
Whatever it was that he did not know what he wanted to be...
But instead be an Artist. And feeling that feeling that he has been fighting against ever since.
The former Bill Drummond’s internal war against whatever it was he assumed that Andy Warhol represented, has evolved over the decades into a war against the ‘Wow Factor’. As in any art that relied on its size, volume, success, horror, amazement, glamour or even threat, should be dismissed along with all the dictators and religions that relied on such things.
‘Wow Factor’ needed to be eliminated by any means necessary.
Over the past 31 years, the former Bill Drummond has almost achieved his aims at making work that does not use size, volume, success, horror, amazement, glamour or even threat. While also existing under any radars that might be scanning those far horizons.
But...
But since the 30th of August 2025, when he watched a film where a puppet of Elvis was seen to be buried, his thoughts have returned to the American Cultural Imperialism that has polluted his thought waves ever since he watched the Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier film at the Newton Stewart Picture House back in 1957.
What if Andy Warhol was not American?
What if Andy Warhol was from say France or Pakistan or Bolivia or Uganda?
What if Andy Warhol had made his art using the film stars or rock stars or president’s wives or local tins of soup or forms of execution as the content and inspiration for his art?
Would any of us been bothered?
I mean...
What if Andy Warhol was just as talented but came from one of those countries referencing the local popular culture, would anyone of us give a shite?
Or if The Beatles were from somewhere back in the USSR, and were just as talented, but sang in Russian and played balalaikas, but for whatever reason were on the Ed Sulivan Show on the 9th of February 1964, being watched by over 73 million people, would anyone of us have really given a shite?
Or if Bob Dylan came from the Philippines?
Or Kurt Cobain came from Albania?
Or Taylor Swift came from Zimbabwe?
And none of them could sing in English?
It is easy to be a Vegetarian, or even a Vegan
Or...
Give up alcohol for November.
But...
How easy would it be to give up American Cultural Imperialism for just one day?
Or...
One week?
Or...
One month?
Or...
A whole year?
Should that be his last and final attempt to make a lasting work of art of any worth?
I mean...
And anyway, what does ‘art of any worth’ mean?
I mean you do know one of his favourite slogans?
IF YOU CAN BUY A WORK OF ART...
IT IS NOT A WORK OF ART WORTH BUYING
Anyway...
After he has completed The 25 Paintings twelve year world tour at the end of 2026, could he spend the 365 days of 2027, seeing how far he could get without engaging with any of that American Cultural Imperialism.
Thus...
Nothing from Silicon Valley.
No Amazon.
No Netflix.
No streaming.
No social media.
No WhatsApp.
No jeans.
No t-shirts.
No trainers.
No White Ford Transit Vans
No music that has been influenced by any music from the USA ever.
And...
No films either shot in the USA or financed by American companies.
Do you think he should keep a note book every day, listing all the times he has broken the rules?
Crossed the unseen lines?
Does taking a ride on a bus with advert for latest MARVEL movie or any other Hollywood film on the side mean you are in some way complicit?
Should these 365 days in 2027 be considered as a work of art that goes by the title of 365 DAYS?
And we are back to that word ‘complicit’ again.
And here lies the rub.
The safety net has holes in it.
As in...
The financial safety net in the former Bill Drummond’s life over the past fifty years has been what he has earns from Zoo Music. As in the music publishing company that he set up with his colleague Dave Balfe back in 1979 or early 1980. Not that it has ever earnt a substantial amount, but there has always been a trickle that has meant that he has never had to go back on the site as a chippy or even sign on.
Which sounds good but...
Zoo Music is administrated for life of copyright by Warner Chappell Music, which in turn is owned by Warner Music Group. And Warner Music Group is one of the Big Three. Now if that is not bad enough, Time Warner sold off Warner Music Group to Access Industries in 2005. Access Industries was set up and basically owned by a Leonard Blavatnik, who although born in the USSR, is one of the world’s richest men. Both a Russian Oligarch and a supporter of anyone who he thinks might be the next president of the USA. At the same time as supporting other regimes, that might make him complicit in your eyes in a genocide.
So...
The fact that the former Bill Drummond is aware of this, does that make the former Bill Drummond also complicit in said genocide?
Thus...
If what helps finance what you do, has also helped facilitate genocide, what should you do?
How much should you be paid to turn a blind eye?
I mean...
Can working on an allotment for 12 months while attempting to ignore the world of American Cultural Materialism be commodified?
Is this The End?
Post Script:
The content of the history of art thesis that the former Bill Drummond never got to write back in the spring of 1973, was not about the content included in this novella. It was supposed to reflect his then rage at being duped by the artwork of Andy Warhol at the Tate in March 1971.
As in...
Back March 1971, former Bill Drummond had assumed that Andy Warhol was tearing down the gates.
As in the gates that prevented all but the intellectual elite from engaging with the art of the now.
As in by Andy Warhol tearing those gates down he was allowing us, the proletariat, to engage with the art of the now.
As in making art for everyone.
But...
By those early months of 1973 the former Bill Drummond had a minor epiphany.
As in the type of epiphany a 19-year-old art student might have in the early months of 1973. This epiphany being that in reality Andy Warhol was doing nothing more than making populist art for rich American bankers to display on their walls.
And...
Andy Warhol’s Factory was nothing more than a factory built to print money for himself to wallow in.
That said...
When this novella is finished, he will hand it in to the Liverpool School of Art as his somewhat late thesis, in the hope he can then complete final year and get his Diploma in Art & Design.
And...
So to the final question...
Would the work 365 DAYS be the work that he does for that missing final year at the Liverpool School of Art, in the hope he would then get his Diploma in Art & Design, leaving him free to get on with the rest of his life.?
BACKWORD:
Tuesday the 11th of November 2025
Dear Concerned Parties,
We here in the Pressing Plant of Penkiln Burn Recordings would like to thank all those that have contributed answers to the questions that continue to trouble the mind of the former Bill Drummond between 3:07am and 5:17am each morning. Thus made the narrative ark of this novella possible.
But...
We have just been contacted by him asking us to include some more questions that were troubling the former Bill Drummond in the early hours of this morning. We agreed, as long as there would be a cap on no more than ten questions.
These are the ones we have just received...
What is an Enemy?
What is an Enemy for?
Who is the Enemy?
Are you the Enemy?
Am I the Enemy?
Are we the Enemy of the People?
Who are the People?
Are we the People?
What do the People want?
Should the People get what the People want?
And now that is all done it is time to construct FOOT NOTE in readiness for it to start unfolding on the 1st of January 2026.
Yours Faithfully,
W. E. Drummond
The Managing Director of Penkiln. Burn Recordings
The End
