Are Brit School jokes off-limits?
Alex Turner was in understandably boisterous mood at the Brits on Wednesday when his band Arctic Monkeys won two top awards. I would have liked to hear his volley of jibes at the Brit School. But as soon as he started, his words were muted on the live TV coverage that I was watching. I gather that the sound was also turned down at the ceremony itself, so no one had the pleasure of Turner’s wit. How pathetic. Not of Turner, but of the Brit Awards organisers. What with Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash and Adele, the Brit School has had plenty of favourable coverage. I’m sure it’s big enough to swallow a few light-hearted insults from the Arctic Monkeys. Is it really a rule now that the close links between the school and the awards ceremony means that jokes about it are outlawed? It doesn’t sound very rock’n’roll to me. I hope that next year every acceptance speech contains at least one Brit School joke. * The phenomenon that was the cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas performed by Daniel Barenboim
