OFF: Rev. Jim Jones assimilated into mainstream shock!

[Nick Medford]

Further to recent discussion here regarding recordings of the Jonestown
mass suicide, I was amazed to see them on sale in my local Virgin Megastore
the other day. Nothing to do with Psychic TV, certainly not "Thee Last
Supper" album, but a double CD of recordings from Jonestown. The first CD
looked like it had Rev JJ sermonising, second CD was "the mass suicide
symphony" or similar. The whole presented in lurid packaging with a tacky
"warning" (i.e. a come-on) as to the nature of the contents.

There is even now a section in the shop marked "Jonestown", presumably in
honour of this release.

I didn't buy it and found it considerably more offensive than the PTV
album, which didn't really offend me at all..

A question: does it really make a difference that it's now in
sensationalist packaging in a mainstream store? It seems to me that I could
defend it when it was an obscure release by an underground, counterculture
type band, but now it feels completely different. But is it, really?