Quote of the Week

It’s weird enough that Eric Clapton’s recent radio hit, his remake of “After Midnight,” began life as a beer commercial. But what’s even more disturbing is that Clapton is a recovering alcoholic. As many commentators have pointed out--isn’t serving as a beer spokesman a pretty dismal message for a celebrity ex-addict to send to his fans? Kudos to Rolling Stone interviewer David Fricke for posing the question to Clapton in the course of a lengthy cover-story interview in the current issue. Here’s Clapton’s reply:

“Listen, I was a practicing alcoholic when I made that commercial. By the time it came out (December, 1987), I was actually in treatment in Minnesota when it came on the TV. I was in a room full of recovering alcoholics, myself being one of them, and everybody went, ‘Is that you? ‘ I said, ‘Yep.’ What was I going to say? It was me when I was drinking. I don’t know if it was offered to me now whether I would do it. But then again, I’m not a preacher. I’m not one to say whether people should be drinking or not. . . . I can only speak for myself. I don’t drink anymore, and I’d rather not drink ever again.”