Letter: Jarvis Cocker's popular protest

From Mr Robert Gilles

Sir: Though Pulp received no award for their musical achievement in 1995, Jarvis Cocker and friend are certainly worthy of a plaudit, not least of all for providing a rare moment of real entertainment at a largely dull Brit awards ceremony ("Brits brawl as Cocker `pulps' Jackson chorus", 22 February).

Michael Jackson's performance as the "Messiah", another near-perfect exercise in self-adulation and self-promotion, will have seemed distasteful to anyone with moral or religious conviction.

It is particularly disappointing that only Mr Cocker and Brian Eno were prepared to make any kind of protest against Mr Jackson. This does not augur well for the supposedly "rebellious" British music industry. And if the much vaunted "Britpop" really is flourishing, Mr Jackson's appearance should not have been necessary.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Gilles

Barking, Essex