For 30 years Spencer Elder has endured, in his own words, being associated with the baby swimmer on the cover of never mind. But many things have changed in these three decades. People have become more sensitive. Child abuse is now recognized throughout the world as a problem to be taken seriously.
Today, no one would think of exposing a naked baby in public in such a way. 30 years ago, the sensitivity for this did not exist. And so Elder’s father allowed the photo of his four-month-old son, which would become one of the most famous album covers in music history.
no one thought of it
The then unknown band Nirvana had already tried to stage themselves underwater, but the photo with the baby swimming behind a dollar bill convinced everyone: the band, the record company and the photographer. Hardly anyone was bothered then by the fact that the baby’s small penis appeared in the photo.
Silke Wünsch, editor of DW
The record company suggested covering the boy’s genitals. But supposedly, Kurt Cobain would only agree if they covered them with a sticker that said, “If this bothers you, you must be a closet pedophile.”
But here is the crux of the matter: I would never claim that any of those involved at that time felt sexual arousal of any kind when looking at the image.
Today everything is different. There is currently a heated debate about whether and how to introduce children on Facebook. Will my son, sitting on the potty with such a pretty smile, ever slap me with the picture? Will my daughter, who is eight years old and splashes around in the lake without her bikini top, reproach me after her for using her childish looks to amuse my Facebook friends?
When “Nevermind” was released in 1991, Nirvana and frontman Kurt Cobain (center) were barely known.
Children can’t defend themselves
Of course, children have the right to complain. After all, when they are little they can’t resist being photographed and they can’t say to their parents: “I don’t want you to publish this picture of me!”.
Elder couldn’t defend himself when he was a baby either. He now he does. Of course, the question is: why does he do it now? After all, in recent years he has been photographed several times in exactly this pose for money, albeit clothed. It seems that now Elder is reaching for the dollar bill with the demand for him, as he appears on the cover of never mind. These issues are now being debated online.
However, the question raised here is another one that was not raised 30 years ago: is it permissible to photograph naked children and publish these photos? No. Because today we know that there are many people among us who take inappropriate pleasure in those images.
People need to be made more aware
If Elder now seeks compensation for pain and suffering, let him do so. The best thing about what’s happening here now is that an album cover from 30 years ago gives us a renewed reason to talk about child sexual abuse, to make people more aware of it. With the almost daily news about child pornography, pedophiles and victims of abuse, this can never be talked about enough.
(few/rr)
The 27 Club: Live on the Edge, Die Young
“I died a hundred times”
Amy Winehouse: musical talent without equal. She no longer took drugs, but no one can know why she drank so much that July 23, 2011, until she died of alcohol poisoning. This great diva of soul was one of the favorite victims of the paparazzi, who did not stop photographing her when she returned totally drugged from singing on a stage or in a club. Her fans still mourn her.
The 27 Club: Live on the Edge, Die Young
“I swear I don’t have a gun”
Kurt Cobain committed suicide in April 1994 with a shotgun. The stress of his career, drugs and illness were stronger than the love of his family. His death marked the end not only of Nirvana, but also of the grunge era, with music against the establishment and the colorful world of techno, in the 90s. Cobain is seen here in a scene from the documentary “Cobain: Montage of Heck”.
The 27 Club: Live on the Edge, Die Young
“Break on through to the other side”
Jim Morrison was the icon of an entire generation, at the end of the 60s. The leader of The Doors expressed in words what many could not, and he lived it, with frenzy and without taboos, and with consequences for his band, which finally had to leave. Morrison moved to Paris, where he died in July 1971 of a heart attack in a bathtub. “Cross over to the other side,” says one of his lyrics.
The 27 Club: Live on the Edge, Die Young
“You can’t always get what you want”
Brian Jones was one of the founding members of the Rolling Stones. While the other members of the band were limited to giving an image of insolent and playful boys, Jones consumed the full spectrum of hallucinogenic substances. His family kicked him out of the house because of it. He drowned in his own swimming pool in 1969.
The 27 Club: Live on the Edge, Die Young
“Purple haze on my brain”
Jimi Hendrix was a misunderstood icon of the generation that began to experiment with drugs, a symbol of hippieism and a god of the guitar. His career only lasted four years. At some point he stopped understanding each other on a musical level with his group. Frustrated, he began to live in isolation and continued to use drugs. One morning in September 1970 he took nine sleeping pills and choked to death on vomit.
The 27 Club: Live on the Edge, Die Young
“Don’t listen to me when I scream at night”
In Janis Joplin’s life, her singing career, alcohol and drugs went together. The bands he sang with were just support for his punchy voice and his bluesy. He went from party to party. However, “on stage I sleep with 25,000 people, and then I go home alone,” she once said. She died of a heroin overdose in October 1970.
The 27 Club: Live on the Edge, Die Young
suicide is painless
The Manic Street Preachers were a late response to ’70s punk. Garishly colored clothing, aggressive makeup and lyrics. If anyone doubted his art, the singer Richey Edwards (photo) cut his body with a knife. Few realized that these appearances on stage were symptoms of a mental illness. Edwards disappeared without a trace in 1995. He was 27 years old.
Author: Silke Wünsch (cp/ers)
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