Friday 23 November 2012

Tell It, Tubby


I’ve never known an artist or group (with the possible exception of the abominable Coldplay) generate as much bile and downright hatred as Meade Skelton. Google him: it won’t take you long to find people issuing death threats towards the country singer and self-proclaimed ‘good ol’ boy’, such as ‘That fat racist f***ing piece of self-absorbed inbred hillbilly redneck pigwoman dog s**t…I hope he smothers his fat f**k ass with his own bosoms in his sleep’. Phew! Mead’s music actually isn’t that bad: naïve, perhaps; mediocre certainly, but not point-blank horrible. But what makes this outsider musician so fascinating is his personality. Self-righteous and obsessed with junk food, the man who wrote an ode to a cuppa (Sweet Tea) is fanatical about protecting his image – so much so that should anyone dare to criticise his work online (at, say, Amazon or any one of a number of online forums) he will appear under the guise of one of his many alter egos to remonstrate with them. He’s also rather fond of posting four and five star reviews of his own albums to try and kid people into believing that the release they’re purchasing is in fact the work of the next Elvis.
 

I’m sure he’s not the only ‘artist’ doing this, but he’s been caught out time and time again and yet still does it: E P Haufe, RVACountryLover, RVACountrySinger and Elvis Fan are his favourite pseudonyms, but he’s used a number of different ones over the years.  So infamous are his attempts at self-aggrandisement that he now appears in the Urban Dictionary as an example of an internet troll.
 

Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Meade Skelton has released a handful of albums over the 11 years since his debut, Songs by Meade Skelton, appeared in 2001, his self-composed songs distinguished by his florid piano style, pleasant baritone voice and odd – some might say downright weird – lyrical inspiration. Take a look at some of his song titles: They Called Me Porker, Proud to be a Square, It’s Hard to Love Yourself (When Everybody Hates You), I Love to Eat (and it Shows) and the brilliantly-titled Hipsters Ruin Everything among them.
 

But just who is Meade Skelton? Meade Skelton Haufe grew up in Virginia and began playing music at an early age. After his mother died (when he was just 11), Meade became a born-again Christian. He moved to Richmond when he was 18 and it was here that he became involved in music, playing with local bands, in coffee shops and at his local church. According to his website (www.meadeskeltonsplace.com) Meade’s ‘heartache meets humor style puts pop, country, jazz, Americana and gospel music into a blender’. As a member of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, Meade often performs as part of the The Meadow Street Band – their rather overwrought presence provides the back up on his latest release, Meade Music (re-recorded versions of 10 Meade Skelton classics) - and he plays a large part in his church’s music ministry.
 

He had his own Tumblr blog for a while but this appears to have been taken down – probably as a reaction to such semi-racist posts as ‘I enjoy going to Kroger’s and getting a 2 pc chicken dinner. I get baked, not fried. (I eat healthy!). So then I had macaroni and cheese, and collard greens with it, and a dinner roll. It was very good in my mouth. I just love going there. The people that work there are really nice. Except some of them have a more uppity attitude. I notice its worse with the middle aged Negroes, than the younger ones. I guess they were taught to hate white people. Oh, well. I certainly don’t hate them.’ Responding to Meade's rant about the Kroger supermarket’s African-American employees, Regional Manager Scott O'Connell informed employees that Meade would now be banned from four local Kroger locations: "Kroger is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and strongly condemns any bias based on race, creed, sexual orientation or religion," said Scott. "Our employees are proud to work for Kroger and our decision to ban a customer does not come lightly. We stand behind our employees." Although Meade later apologised for his comments he managed to force his own foot further down his throat by referring to the now non-uppity Negroes as ‘of the colored race’….oops! ***The Krogers' ban story may be a hoax; although the Fairfax Underground forum claims the Richmond Times-Dispatch as its source there is no news story currently indexed at the R T-D site which mentions the ban***
 

Meade has some odd opinions about gay people too: ‘I think that many lesbians are usually women that were treated poorly by men. They might have been raped or abused. They fear men, and seek solace in other women. Homosexual men are usually under something more demonic, that controls them to lust after men. Which is sinful and unnatural.’ I can see where he’s coming from here: I often find it hard to control the outrageous overflowing of lust I have for every single man on the planet.
 

He’s no time for the Beatles either (although that is not why I’m including him here): ‘I think Rock music is bad music, and the only Rock artist I can tolerate is Elvis Presley. But most of it is really evil. I think that the Beatles had a deal with Satan, and also you can clearly see that when people are at Rock shows they go under a trance almost and its like pandimonium for a long time - they are under some kinda witch craft. The beat in Rock music comes from African (sic). The Africans used this beat to conjure up evil spirits when they did their tribal dances. But the Illuminati is mostly to blame, because when they made Rock albums, they dedicated them to Satan.’
 

It’s been suggested on various message boards that Meade may be autistic, which would certainly explain such lacks of tact as this, and he’s said himself that he suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome. But as everything in Meade’s life is shrouded in mystery, confused by his multiple personalities and exacerbated by his outright lies, who knows for sure? It's a shame, because some of his material is not without it's own innocent charm. Maybe if he spent less time trying to market himself as a country star, embraced his outsider status and quit the bad-mouthing people might be a lot less inclined to hate him so much. Mind you, he detests Obama and supports the Tea Party, so maybe not.
 

I am indebted to an anonymous benefactor for introducing me to the rather strange Mr Skelton; now you take him! Here’s Fat No More from his latest album, Meade Music and, from his earlier release They Can’t Keep Me Down, the track They Called Me Porker

 

32 comments:

  1. Just to clarify, the story about Meade being banned from Kroger's is most likely untrue, although I haven't bothered to check its veracity myself.

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    1. Hi Chuck. As far as I can make out the Kroger's story is indeed true: I've found copies of Meade's blog post online, copies of his apology 9and other comments he's made about the incident) and a news report from a local paper which is where I got the quote from Kroger's Regional Manager Scott O'Connell.

      Like everything to do with Meade's life it's probably wise to take it with a huge pinch of salt though!

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    2. Darryl,

      Could you post a link to the actual news report that you saw?



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    3. It's already linked in the update (above), but here it is again: http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/40/1032246.html

      It looks like this may not be entirely true

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  2. To be fair, Skelton's releases are not "vanity" releases". They are marketed for sale and sold online and in stores. Vanity releases are albums made out for family and friends with no commerical production or value. His albums are professionally made, and they are marketed. They are Indie Country albums. To say its a "vanity release" is like saying any record made without a record label would be vanity- which would include some well known Indie artists.

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  3. "Fat No More" actually has a GREAT melody, and would appeal to prettymuch anyone who loves oldskool country, if it weren't for the fact that the lyrics are so terrible.

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  4. Darryl, I can tell you from firsthand experience - Since Skelton whines about anyone who writes about him in a less then glowing way, prepare for comments and emails from the man hisself. In 5...4...

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  5. The "Banned from Kroger's story " was a hoax. It was coughed up on a website known as "Fairfax Underground". Skelton did make the comments about the employees. He later apologized and removed his blog. The story about being banned from Kroger's never happened. That would also be illegal in the state of Virginia, unless he had violated property rights, which of course, he did not.

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  6. I heard that Skelton actually has somewhat of a cult following amongst hipsters, for his eccentric and ironic value in his persona and music. Also, he seems to be liked by the gays as well possibly due to his over the top and "camp" element -although Skelton, himself is heterosexual.

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    1. I would venture that he's heterosexual only in theory. I've interacted with Meade for years on various message boards, and from what I gather, he lives at home with his elderly dad and has never so much as had a girlfriend.

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  7. He does seem to have lots of talent. I certainly wouldn't say his music is "medicore". A bit cheesy, yes. But its the good kind of cheese.

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  8. He doesnt appear to be that overweight to me. In fact, he's kind of handsome. Im not really a Country music fan, but if I were I'd buy it!

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  9. Meade has a new music video out for his hit single "fat no more"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJUEGjUuG3Q&feature=share&list=UUQGymtl-iTXLpLJqG1QNZEQ

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  10. As advertised, Meade himself shows up as "Anonymous"

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  11. He readily admits posting positive reviews for his own albums and calling the employees at Kroger, uppity negros.

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  12. Meade Skelton is horrible and he is a racist singer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkkcSykPIu0

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  13. Your stilted speech indicates a fondness for jackboots and swastikas.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ5hXwo4De0

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  14. Thank you so much for your profile of Meade. I like to think of him as "Designing Women" meets "The Shags." Although the "Designing Women" were certainly more tolerant of people unlike themselves. But I guess you can't blame Meade, being such a confirmed heterosexual and all.

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  15. Meade's a fat, worthless, narcissistic loser. He thinks he's a star but he's really his only fan. He dresses up like a child, thinks he's a stud muffin, and what makes me more upset is the fact that he is a flaming racist. He thinks it's ok and justifies it with his southern heritage. He is most likely a closeted homosexual. He's never even kissed a girl nor has he ever tried to kiss a girl.

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  16. I have met Meade in person,and I must say he is none of those things you describe. He puts on a really good show and took time to see us in person. He was very nice and a bit shy. I never got the feeling about him. He is not gay or racist. And he is very handsome looking man with a charisma that is very rare in this age of auto tune.

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    Replies
    1. ForeverAnalog = obvious Meade sock puppet ( he hates digital and loves analog recording).

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  17. The guy is a pro's pro. One of the most talented, foucused, and driven artists in the music scene. He is a master on the keyboards, harp, guitar, and the triangle. His style reminds me of Keith Emerson when he plays the piano, synthesizers, and keyboards.

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    1. ^^^^Sounds like a Meade sock puppet post.

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  18. The panic that Meade causes is amusing. For that, I love him.

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  19. Meade is one of the most gifted musicians on the East coast today. Catch a show and see the man himself spreading the gospel of Meade.

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  20. Wayyy back I initially thought the Hipsters song was kind of clever, but man this guy is a piece of work. And I'm gonna go wayyyy out on a limb and say Mr. 40 year old virgin-waiting-for-the-right-girl is very likely gay as a goose since the closet cases are the ones who rant and overcompensate trying to throw people off the trail.

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    1. If someone really is a "closet case" wouldn't they want to be less obvious? Staying quiet about everything. Ranting about the gays would only draw attention to themselves more. So that theory is kind of dubious.

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    2. No it’s not dubious in the mind of the slow witted. I’ve seen it many times. Look at all the politicians who voted against gay rights and were later outed. Same kind of idea.That said, I can’t imagine anyone male or female actually sleeping with this caterwauling attention whore.

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