Dave Mustaine, Johnny Ramone, ZZ Top And A Few Other Right-Wing Rockers

Most people wouldn't associate right-wing conservative politics with dirty rock and rollers, but you would be surprised. Not all rock cats are card-carrying communists and lily-livered liberals trying to save the sacred animal of the week and converting their buses to biodiesel. In fact, many old-guard rock acts are dyed in the wool Republicans, and some are even known to play certain fundraisers and conventions for the Grand Old Party's $1000-a-ticket shindigs. Variety is what makes rock and roll the living, breathing thing that it is. It wouldn't be very interesting if everyone who picked up a guitar subscribed to one sole ideology. As far as Rocks Off is concerned, if they are still making solid music and aren't writing a concept double albums casting Rush Limbaugh as a marauding Viking in the 1300s, then let them do what they want. OK, a Limbaugh album would be kinda cool... we guess. Dave Mustaine, Megadeth: Megadeth lead singer Dave Mustaine has always treaded on the right side of the political spectrum, but his leanings became pronounced in the band's music just a few years ago. Recently, Mustaine hooked up with Austin radio host Alex Jones for a two-part interview detailing his views on the supposed New World Order. Kid Rock: Kid Rock has been a staunch supporter of our military's policies in Iraq, rallying behind the troops and touring extensively for the USO. Rock's politics land him on the right side of the fence, but not so far over that he is danger of becoming the 21st-century Ted Nugent. Johnny Ramone: Late NRA proponent Johnny Ramone was an anachronism in punk rock. Where his peers were leftists and skewed liberal in most social causes, Ramone was one of the sole right-wingers. He went to military school for most of his adolescence, and kept the same work ethic all the way through the Ramones years. Johnny was the reason the band toured so extensively, seeing the group more as a military operation than a band of punk-rock pioneers. Ted Nugent: Everything Nugent has done in the past 40 years of his career has pissed off someone, from becoming the legal guardian of his 17-year-old girlfriend in 1978 to being a bow-hunter to inflaming liberals everywhere he goes with his mountain-man logic. He currently lives in Crawford not too far from former president George W. Bush's own lodgings. Wonder if they ever hang out and knock a couple a deer off together... ZZ Top: If you think long and hard about it, under those bitchin' beards and shades, ZZ Top are at heart just a couple of Texas boys. In an alternate universe, they would be cleaning their guns on Saturday mornings and taking the wife to Golden Corral for a night on the town. It shouldn't be a surprise that the lil' ol' band from Texas supports various Republican causes. Alice Cooper: If you were to ask anyone during Alice Cooper's reign of parental terror in the early '70s if he would one day go on national television and proclaim himself a born-again Christian, they would have laughed at you. But in the past decade, Cooper has reverted back to his Christian upbringing in suburban Michigan. Joe Perry, Aerosmith: During the presidential election season of 2008, when most rockers were sporting Obama buttons and writing fiery songs in his honor, very few were coming out for Republican candidate John McCain. One vocal supporter was Aerosmith's Joe Perry, who took came out very vocally on McCain's side, citing his own right-wing working-class family history. Megadeth: With Testament and Exodus, 6:30 p.m. tonight at Verizon Wireless Theater, 520 Texas (Bayou Place), 713-230-1600 or www.livenation.com.

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