Murder Mile UK True Crime Podcast - "one of the best British & UK True Crime podcasts"
  • PODCAST
    • About the Host
    • About the Music
    • About the Sound
    • About the Research
    • Legal Disclaimer
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • LIVE SHOW
  • TICKETS
  • Contact

Songs / Music Loved by Serial Killers, Murderers & Despots

29/6/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
If you love true-crime podcasts, subscribe to the Murder Mile true-crime podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud, Podbean, Pocketcast, Stitcher, Acast, Tune-In, Otto Radio or Libsyn
Picture
Music is an incredibly important part of almost everyone’s life, whether you’re a magically gifted maestro, an enthusiastic strummer, an avid listener, a liker of listening to a bit of background noise whilst bathing, or simply someone who loves to sing-along to Sinatra but is oblivious to how tone deaf they truly are. Music is essential for affecting your mood centre, whether to get you pumped, perked up, levelled off, or merely to bring you down.

But how do your musical tastes differ from your neighbours, friends or family? What does it say about you? And more importantly – for Murder Mile especially - how does the much-loved musical tastes of sadistic serial killers compare to those of the world’s most respected political leaders? Do mass murderers always prefer death metal, thrash and an impossibly painful wall of noise, compared to an impeccably performed aria?

What follows is a list of the world’s most powerful people (whether notorious killers, world leaders, or both – depending on your political leanings) and what music makes them tick?

​Serial Killers:​
Dennis Nilsen, prior to strangling each of his victims, Dennis used to get himself “in the mood” by listening to Tommy by The Who, Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Rick Wakeman, Royal Philharmonic’s Hooked on Classics, and – his personal favourite - Frankenstein by The Edgar Winter Group.*
* click on any red text for more information

John Wayne Gacy, dubbed the “killer clown” owing to his part-time job as a children’s entertainer, but when he wasn’t dismembering and stashing the bodies of young men underneath the floorboards, he sang along to Keep On Loving You and Take It On The Run by REO Speedwagon.
Jeffrey Dahmer, the “cannibal”, who once stored the decapitated head of one if his victims in his work’s locker whilst working in a chocolate factory, loved Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, The Wizard and Iron Man.
Peter Sutcliffe, the “Yorkshire Ripper” loved a truly eclectic mix such as reggae, Mozart’s Requiem, Better To Have Lost In Love and I Can’t Stand It by The Eurythmics, and - oddly for a man with such a hatred of women - Joan Baez’s album Feminine Touch.  
Charles Manson, cult leader of “Helter Skelter”, loved The Beatles’s White Album, which he said was a message to his followers about the upcoming race wars. Manson also supposedly was a big fan (and befriended) Dennis Wilson from The Beach Boys, the Mammas & The Pappas, and Neil Young.
​Hmm, quite an eclectic mix, wouldn’t you say? But how, you might be asking, do the tastes of serial killers and mass murderers differ from the world’s most dangerous despots and dictators? Ah, well, this is where things get very interesting.

​​Military Despots & Dictators
​As we know, Adolf Hitler, the “Nazi Nutjob”, the "Teutonic tit" and the "one-balled odd-ball" was a huge fan of Wagner and apparently carried around a copy of Tristan und Isolde in his knapsack.
Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad had his iTunes account hacked, which revealed that his favourite songs are I’m Sexy & I know it by the gold jock-strapped prancers LMFAO, I’m Too Sexy and Don’t Talk Just Kiss by the notoriously camp and openly homosexual songsters Right Said Fred, as well as Hurt by Leona Lewis, Look at Me Now by Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes and A Tribute to Cliff Richard.
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is not only a fan of plinky-plonky pop-synch pap such as Moranbong, who belt out such state-approved songs like Oh My Motherland Full of Hope, Our Father, We Think of the Marshal Day & Night, but apparently his favourite song is Excellent Horse-Like Lady by Hyon Song-Wol - click the red link, I defy you to watch it all. 
The former Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi reportedly paid out millions of dollars to celebrities to perform for him and his family. They include: Nelly Furtado for $1million for a 45min set (who has since donated her entire fee to charity), Mariah Carey in 2010 (who hasn’t), 50 Cent at a festival in Venice and Lionel Richie at a concert to mark 20 years since the US air raids on Libya. As well as Usher, Kanye West and Beyonce. But then again, all stars make mistakes…
…even the environmentally-friendly front-man and political flag-waver Sting is not immune to performing for despots. October 2009, he was paid £1million to perform for the daughter of Uzbek president – Islam Karimov – who has been denounced for serious human rights violations, the massacre of protesters and has a dreadful environmental record.
As well as Rapper (and self-proclaimed “creative genius”) Kanye West who was paid a whopping $3million to perform a mercifully short 30 minute set at the family wedding of Kazakhstan's tyrannical President Nursultan Nazarbayev. 
And Jennifer Lopez supposedly serenaded Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the President of Turkmenistan on his 56th birthday, entirely unaware of his truly appalling human rights record. That said, if she could actually manage to pronounce his name, even just a little bit, she deserves to keep every penny.
And just in case you’re wondering whether the musical tastes of Eastern despots to current and former Western leaders – who are supposedly less despotic and war-mongering according to western media, but then I have had to add Tony Blair and George W Bush into this list, so you decide – here’s what our boys and girls listen to.
  • President Barack Obama loves Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and his personal favourite is Ready or Not by The Fugees. That said, he also likes I'm Sexy & I Know It by LMHFAO
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel loves Yellow Submarine by The Beatles, Je t’aime by Serge Gainsbourg, and Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkle.
  • British Prime Minister David Cameron grooves to Mumford & Sons, although he previously stated he loved The Smiths, till lead guitarist Johnny Marr tweeted “David Cameron, stop saying that you like The Smiths, no you don’t. I forbid you to like it”.
  • French President Francois Hollande loves Pierre Yves Bocquet, so much so that he supposedly hired the French gangsta rapper as his political speech writer. 
  • Tony Blair digs anything by Free and 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson
  • Margaret Thatcher The Beverley Sisters with How Much is That Doggie in the Window
  • Lyndon B Johnson – Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head by B J Thomas
  • Jimmy Carter – Bob Dylan’s The Ballad of Hattie Carol
  • Ronald Reagan – Nancy (with a laughing face) by Frank Sinatra
  • George H W Bush Snr – any country music, especially Shelby Lynn
  • Bill Clinton – a huge jazz fan, his favourite was First Man of The United States is Bahia by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd
  • George W Bush – just like his daddy, he loves country & western, but once admitted that his favourite song was My Sherona by The Knack
 
And if you’re unsure which way to vote in the upcoming British General Election, Jeremy Corbyn loves House of the Rising Sun by The Animals and Boris Johnson like anything by The Rolling Stones, although here’s a video of bumbling Boris attempting to sing some Bob Marley.

Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten quirky & unusual things to do in London” and featuring 18 murderers, 3 serial killers, across 21 locations, totalling 75 deaths, over just a one mile walk.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a crime writer, podcaster & tour guide of Murder Mile Walks, hailed as one of the best "quirky curious & unusual things to do in London". 

    Become a Patron!
    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016



    Picture
    Subscribe to the Murder Mile true-crime podcast

    Categories

    All
    Adverts
    Assassinations
    Canalkillers
    Celebrities
    Curious-stuff
    Deadly-families
    Execution Sites
    Forgotten Disasters
    Head Injuries
    Killer Interviews
    Killer Profiles
    Killer's Books
    Killers By Age
    Killers By Birthday
    Killers By Birth Name
    Killers By County
    Killers By Diet
    Killers By Drink
    Killers By Height
    Killers By IQ
    Killers By Job
    Killers By Lunar Cycle
    Killers By Marriage
    Killers By Motive
    Killers By Music
    Killers By Nickname
    Killers By Star Sign
    Killers By Weight
    Killers = Dead Or Alive?
    Killer's Kids
    Killers Last Meals
    Killers Last Words
    Killers Mothers
    Killers Not Caught
    Killers On TV
    Killers & Pets
    Killer's Religion
    Local History
    Mass Graves
    Murder
    Murder Mile
    Podcast
    Poisoners
    Q & A
    Serial Killers
    Soho Murders
    The Dangers Of Booze
    The Innocent
    The Law

    Note: This blog contains only licence-free images or photos shot by myself in compliance with UK & EU copyright laws. If any image breaches these laws, blame Google Images. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

BUSINESS ADDRESS

ABOUT MURDER MILE UK TRUE CRIME

(c) Murder Mile Walks, P O Box 83
15 Ingestre Place, Soho, W1F 0JH
Murder Mile UK True Crime is a true-crime podcast and blog featuring little known cases within London's West End but mostly the square mile of Soho, with new projects in the works
  • PODCAST
    • About the Host
    • About the Music
    • About the Sound
    • About the Research
    • Legal Disclaimer
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • LIVE SHOW
  • TICKETS
  • Contact