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Thursday, January 25, 2007

Donnie Davies: UNMASKED! No, Really!

posted by on January 25 at 15:45 PM

DonnieForReal.jpg

A band named “Bobby Conn” appears on the list of “gay bands” at LoveGodsWay—and “Bobby Conn,” needless to say, is an awfully obscure group compared to Erasure, The Doors, Queen, Scissor Sisters, etc. Here’s the website for Bobby Conn and the Gypsies. “Davies” is one of the Gypsies and not Mr. Conn himself. The pic in the center above is of Donnie Davies. The pics on either side are from the Bobby Conn website. Looks like a better match than poor Todd Quillen, who can now return to total obscurity—and fire his agent, who utterly failed to capitalize on the web’s momentary interest in her client.

Good As You broke the Bobby Conn angle. Congrats, GAY. This looks like it might be the end of the road for Donnie Davies. As for my theory—that Davies could a fundy asshole hoaxer—I hereby withdraw it. No one in a band as queer as Bobby Conn and the Glass Gypsies could be an actual fundy.

Newspeak has a review of Bobby Conn and the Glass Gypsies—apparently the band specializes in glam rock political satire, which Newspeak considers the clincher.

And here’s a Bobby Conn video—at the 1:08 mark of you get a good look at someone in the band who looks exactly like Donnie Davies. Bobby Conn is a Chicago band—and the gay director busted earlier today by Radar Online is based in Chicago.

Oh, and there’s this. Not sure what to make of it. Click the up and down buttons to change Donnie’s hair. Don’t know who the dude on the right is supposed to be.

RSS icon Comments

1

Looks like him alright. Someone has got to squeal on this...

Posted by Jonathan | January 25, 2007 3:44 PM
2

Be sure to go to bobbyconn.com and watch the "Never Get Ahead" video. They're as brilliant as Donnie Davies if they are, in fact, "behind" him. I believe it.

Posted by Noel Black | January 25, 2007 3:55 PM
3

Be sure to go to bobbyconn.com and watch the "Never Get Ahead" video. They're as brilliant as Donnie Davies if they are, in fact, "behind" him. I believe it.

Posted by Noel Black | January 25, 2007 3:55 PM
4

This may explain the who, but not the why.
I'm still confused! What's his game?

Posted by Misty Brown | January 25, 2007 5:11 PM
5

they're major xtian haters. read all their propaganda.

Well that was fun. It's all one big denouement from here.

Posted by Noel Black | January 25, 2007 5:44 PM
6

Yeah. Still no.

Posted by Patrick | January 25, 2007 5:53 PM
7

uuuuhhh, could it be? If I were the lead singer of an obsure political satire band would I get one of my band to pretend to be a southern ex-gay fundie for publicity or would I do it myself? If it's Bobby Conn and the Glass Gypsies, wouldn't Bobby Conn play Donnie Davies? And if so, Bobby Conn and the Glass Gypsies will need to unmask the hoax soon or continue to be totally obscure because people are getting tired of the guessing game pretty fast.
Perhaps this is some kind of Andy Kaufman/Tony Clifton thing....
I don't know.

Posted by Dee in SF | January 25, 2007 6:19 PM
8

TLDR please sum up

Posted by Silvertail | January 25, 2007 6:40 PM
9

I put together a little image of Donnie and Colby (from Bobby Conn) taken from connfest.bobbyconn.co.uk.

You be the judge - Is this the same man?
http://www.beforeiforget.co.uk/images/colby.jpg

Posted by Simon Jones | January 25, 2007 7:47 PM
10

From the UK Bobby Conn web site: Understandably, many people are threatened by Bobby Conn, and are eager to discredit his ideas and criticize his performances. Generally, the older and wealthier a person is, the more he or she has to lose by adopting the "Continuous Ca$h Flow System", but the opportunities are there for everyone, no matter what their financial status. Fundamentalist Christians, with their moralistic and authoritarian interpretation of Christianity are particularly offended by Bobby's work. Bobby knows Christ to be a free-wheeling mystic revolutionary, who foretold of the destruction of his people's oppressors, not the neo-fascist, sexually repressed moralizing martyr orthodox Christians portray him as. And Bobby debunks the myths of the Resurrection and Immaculate Conception as lies designed to enhance the power of the Church. But even the most hardened evangelical could benefit by allowing Bobby Conn, the likely Anti-Christ, to replace the distorted version of Jesus accepted by most so-called Christians.

Posted by mcg | January 25, 2007 8:54 PM
11

I've been busy the last couple days, but following some of the posts on this.

So, if this were real, then the guy is seriously fucked up, obviously a total closet case, and unaware of the ironies in the song. A stretch, but possible.

If this is satire or parody, it falls flat. It is too close to reality, as is evidenced by several days and hundreds of slog comments debating "is it real or is it satire?". It fails as comedy. In order to succeed as comedy, at least some people have to get the joke. Colbert succeeds because we all get that he's faking it, that he isn't really the conservative that he mocks. "God Hates a Fag" fails as comedy because too few people can tell if he's for real or not. Or, I suppose it might be funny to a handful of people who know him, and know that he's kidding. But it isn't funny to the rest of us who can't figure out if he's for real or not.

And while there are a bunch of us on Slog who hope this is all a sly joke, you can bet there are a whole bunch more people in the Bible Belt and Colorado who totally buy into this as real. Thus, it might be funny to some people, while doing a fair amount of damage in the process. A dangerous joke.

So, real or parody, I'm not laughing.

Posted by SDA in SEA | January 25, 2007 9:24 PM
12

Dan, Dan, Dan! Your Fund-dar is rusty. You need a few friends who are in the ex-fundamentalist Christian community. We could have told you that this was *totally* a send-up of fundamentalists, and saved you the embarrassment of dissing one of the cleverest anti-fundamentalist moves I've seen in a long time.

To SDA -- you know that Colbert is a comic because of the context. If you aren't in (or familiar with) a Christian context, then I can see how you wouldn't see Donnie Davis as satire.

I can tell you that Christians will fall into two sharply divided camps on this video: those who understand the satire & love that it ridicules gay-bashers; and those who understand it is satire and hate that it is Anti-gay bashers.

Posted by Paul | January 25, 2007 10:16 PM
13

i.t.y.s.

Posted by micah | January 26, 2007 1:14 AM
14

I have to disagree with SDA, when he says "it falls flat because it's too close to reality."

Should Stephen Colbert turn and wink at the camera after he spews his "hateful" comments about the left? What about Borat for that matter? Neither of these guys EVER break character.

I would argue that the fact that it's so hard to tell the difference makes the satire even more clever.

Just becuase YOU didn't catch the double entendres and homoerotic imagery in the video doesn't mean it falls flat as satire. It just means you didn't get the joke!

Posted by CarlR | January 26, 2007 1:26 AM
15

I found the video horrible but I really liked the song "The Golden Age" on BobbyConn.com lololololololol

Posted by JessB | January 26, 2007 6:23 AM
16

dan savage, i love you, but i love colby from the bobby conn band more. anyone who knows him will attest that if ever he was involved in a hoax, it would surely involve some sort of star wars wookie/ewok love. please see his rebuttal at: http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/01/drummer-denies-hes-gaydissing-donnie-davies.php

Posted by hornrimsylvia | January 26, 2007 8:05 AM
17

Dan's judgement isn't quite reliable. He's also a fan of Mika.

Posted by ..... | January 26, 2007 8:22 AM
18

looks like the band "bobby Con" in which he played is gonna do a comeback album in february...
coincidence, or buzz marketing ?!!!
http://www.thrilljockey.com/artists/index.html?id=10007

see "The beats are courtesy of Bobby Conn Band touring veteran Colby Starck, new Wilco ace Glenn Kotche, and U.S. Maple drummer Pat Samson. And Josh Abrams, etc."

Posted by Lionel | January 26, 2007 10:38 AM
19

This website is for the band Head of Femur, which Colby Stark is listed as member. Go to the pictures page and scroll down to the 17th picture and it looks very much like Donnie Davies.
http://www.headoffemur.com/

Posted by Dennis | January 26, 2007 7:09 PM
20

if i am not mistaken, "donnie" is the alter ego of joey oglesby, a fine local dallas, texas, actor. can't find a pic of him online, but check him out.

Posted by Bob Stoller | January 27, 2007 3:31 PM
22

Clearly a hoax from the start - except for (shudder) Fred Phelps, you almost never hear fundies say things like "god hates fags". They all want to reassure you how much they, and 'god', *love* homosexuals - it's all about hating the 'sin'.

If that didn't tip you off, Donnie's tangent about not being able to control his weight because he was 'born that way' seals the deal.

I've got to hand it to this guy, he sure does capture that squeaky-clean-not-quite-right-possible- sociopath creepiness exuded by youth pastors.

Posted by K. | January 28, 2007 12:49 AM
23

The Oscar Wilde comments are a subtle hint.

Posted by taraniscain | February 2, 2007 10:16 PM
24

I knew it. I knew it. I knew it.
Actually I was starting to believe that he was truly insane. Jesus freaks have been known to be far more nuts than Donnie.
I'm just surprised that he hasn't tried harder to capitalize on all the publicity.

Posted by T. Furgeson | February 4, 2007 10:40 PM
25

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