Sticks and stones, almost a definition of rapper!
The mob mentality of the social media is not a norm we should be overly respectful of, not least because we have had to see new legislation to stop malicious trolling. Whilst recognising the possibility we are wrong, we also have the right and duty to explain why we are right, and argue the case, not something things like Twitter are good at: you cannot make a decent explanation of something as complicated as this in such a concise manner. It should not be a question of "liking", it is a question of deeper truth.

Mike Read's came up with that "Calypso" in the heritage of the 1960s work done by the likes of Willy Rushton and Lance Percival around the fringes of TW3. That was already in and of itself somewhat controversial at the time: Read reversed the sympathy, attacking what the 1960s crew were aligned with, and thereby causing "unintentional" offence. How he could have taken such to be "unintentional" beats me: he must have the cultural sensitivity of a rhino! I think I'd take it further: if you distort a heritage (and calypso is Carribean heritage, descended from African griot Kaiso - it's even associated with a form of Rapper, Calinda! I talk with the authority of the person who put Dembo Konte, the first griot to visit the country together with the Southbank, back in the late 80s - the real credit goes to the Edinburgh Harp Festival, who sponsored their visit) then you take double the consequences. It's one thing to develop it, another to abuse it. His defence is another form of the somewhat hypocritical debating method I criticised recently on the BS track, the use of "inappropriate" and the like forms of mealy-mouthed insincerity to slide out from the consequences of ones actions if you get it wrong. Social media can be a guide, but one must always take responsibility for ones actions, and if wrong, go further than simply disappearing into the undergrowth like this. The responsible solution is to repair the harm done, if possible.

I mention Dembo, because his subsequent work with John Kirkpatrick, the progenitor of Border Morris, in laying the foundations for the Global Village puts the absolute lie to these claims.