Nugent laughs off 'army of haters'

Ted Nugent says an "army of haters" has been briefed to badmouth everything he says – but it's never going to stop him saying it.

He insists that speaking out is an important democratic act, but also hopes that, one day, people will see past his strong political views and realise how many musical “masterpieces” he’s written.

Nugent, who’ll release latest album Shutup&jam! on July 7, tells Ultimate Classic Rock: “MoveOn.org, the Huffington Post and the Liberal Democrat think tanks have an army of haters assigned to monitor everything I do. Does it cause me to alter what I do? Not one bit.

“In fact, knowing they’re monitoring me, I make sure I’m more verbose and more upfront. I’ve eliminated all hesitancy in my partipation in the sacred experiment of self-government – so let them mirror my statements.”

He argues that “there’s never been as much talking as there has been music” in his career, but adds: “I think if you’re not participating in this very important critical experiment, maybe you should just move to France, where you’re not allowed to.”

Nugent describes himself as simply “a concerned, engaged citizen” and believes that if people read everything he’s written about his views, they’ll come to understand that.

But he hopes it’ll always come back to his music. “I love songwriting,” he says. “Someday, when somebody gets past the politics, somebody’s going to wake up and go, ‘Holy shit, look at these songs this crazy Detroit guitar player wrote – they’re masterpieces, going back to 1967 when he was a teenager!’”

“These are monster compositions. And if it wasn’t for my politics, someone would probably admit it.”

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.