Ahead of a European tour next month, Melbourne’s surf-rockabilly party animals La Bastard have a string of shows in Brisbane this weekend.
Before they jet off, the band have selected their five favourite off the wall political leaders.
Saparmurat ‘Turkmenbashi’ Niyazov (Turkmenistan)
There was no doubt that number one spot belonged to the guy that decided to give Turkmenistan a national identity by giving it his own. This guy renamed the month of April and bread after his mother, made it a legal requirement for his face to appear on every clock in the country, banned beards, and named a meteorite which landed in Turkmenistan after himself. He even declared reading the book he wrote a requirement to get into heaven.Rafael Trujillo (Dominican Republic)
This guy made his three year old son a colonel in the army and spent a third of the country's budget on a festival to crown his daughter queen that ran for a YEAR! He also campaigned for his wife to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, despite the fact she couldn't read.Larry Kilgore (Texas)
An honourable mention given he doesn't actually hold office, but boy, if he ever got the chance! A vocal advocate of Texan secession from the United States, Kilgore legally changed his middle name to ‘Secede’ in 2012. He also takes policy cues from the Old Testament of the Bible, advocating flogging for drunkeness or sexually suggestive clothing, and believes that Abraham Lincoln was the American equivalent of Adolf Hitler.Francisco Macías Nguema (Equatorial Guinea)
This guy made the use of the word ‘intellectual’ illegal and dressed up one of his death squads in Santa Claus costumes. The son of a witch doctor, he also banned the use of lubricants in a power plant because he believed his magic powers could keep the place running. Suffice to say, they didn't.Rob Ford (Mayor of Toronto)
This dude's mostly known for numerous crack smoking scandals and stints in rehab, but who could forget his other crazy antics, including writing reference letters for convicted murderers and getting caught reading while driving on the expressway. Our favourite story has still gotta be when he had former NHL coach Don Cherry hang the chains of office around his neck, wearing a hot pink suit "for all the pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything".La Bastard play Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall (Paddington) August 22 & 23 as well as The Bearded Lady (West End) August 24.
