Ian Stuart Donaldson

Ian Stuart Donaldson (11 August 1957 - 24 September 1993), aka Ian Stuart (he apparently felt that "Donaldson" didn't exactly fit his persona[1]) was a British neo-Nazi bonehead shithead skinhead musician most known as the frontman for the white power rock band Skrewdriver and as one of the founders of Rock Against Communism.[2] While his singing and Skrewdriver's music sounds like someone threw a radio into a concrete mixer generic 1980s hardcoreFile:Wikipedia's W.svg, they are, nonetheless, very influential in the white power, and specifically neo-Nazi skinhead, movements.[3]

A lunatic Chaplin imitator
and his greatest fans
Nazism
First as tragedy
Then as farce
v - t - e

Skrewdriver began life in 1976 as a regular punk band with no political agenda. Although Skrewdriver did draw on contemporary skinhead fashion, skinheads of the mid-1970s had yet to become associated with the white power movement and were by-and-large a non-partisan (and multi-ethnic) sub-culture of British working class youths. The band's guitarist, Phil Walmsley, would later recall that Donaldson had an aggressive streak during this period, but was not politically active. This incarnation of Skrewdriver lasted until 1980; two years later, Donaldson revived it as an overtly racist band.[1] The first album released by Skrewdriver mark II was 1982's Hail the New Dawn;[4][notes 1] Later releases from the band featured cover art showing a distinct fondness for muscly blokes in their undies.[5][6]

Donaldson's life later came crashing down upon him (literally) and he died as a result of injuries from an automobile crash in 1993.

Blood & Honour

Outside of Skrewdriver, Donaldson's dubious legacy lies in founding the bloody dishonorable "Blood & Honour" in 1987. Originally an umbrella group for various white power bands, this organisation began to mutate into something more militant following Donaldson's death, with links to neonazi group Combat 18.[7] The American branch, set up with the help of Tom Metzger, seems particularly violent.[8]

Legacy

American hardcore group MDC wrote "Nazis Shouldn't Drive" in his memory.

Notes
  1. One of the tracks from Hail the New Dawn is a cover of Tomorrow Belongs to Me, a faux-Nazi song from the musical Cabaret, which has become something of a Neo-Nazi anthem. The song's authors, John Kander and Fred Ebb, are both Jews.
gollark: It is not in memeCLOUD™.
gollark: It's in memeCLOUD™.
gollark: Isn't it an Option, not a Result, too?
gollark: You should return `x` from the first branch, at least.
gollark: What? No.

References
  1. Punk77: Phil Walmsley Sets the Record Straight — Skrewdriver 1976-78
  2. Ian Stuart: Zero of the White Race
  3. Hate on Display:Skrewdriver
  4. Discogs: Skrewdriver
  5. Wikipedia: Blood & Honour cover
  6. Wikipedia: The Strong Survive cover
  7. I Hung Out with the Neo-Nazis Who Hoped to Set Up an Aryan Homeland in Essex, Vice, 5 Nov 2016
  8. Southern Poverty Law Center: Blood & Honour
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