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Post by Rodimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 10:19:22 GMT
So.... I'm kinda bored by current music and have been picking up alot of greatest hits and the like. Kiss, Stevie Wonder etc.
Stevie Wonder is a tragedy for me. He was amazing back in his Mowtown days, but then the 80's hit him like a juggernaut and he went all... well, crap.
Same with Elton John, Deep Purple, Metallica.....
So, is it better to burn out than fade away? Marc Bolan burned out. Hendrix likewise. John Lennon.
What do you think?
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Ger Hankey
Emperor of Destruction
What are you lookin' at!?!
Posts: 610
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Post by Ger Hankey on Apr 15, 2009 11:15:11 GMT
Hard to argue with that. I had a think about all the musicians that have had long careers, and none of them stand out as doing quality stuff over a long term.
Paul McCartney hasn't done anything worth listening to since "Live & Let Die", Claptons been rubbish since he went all acoutsic...don't even want to think about U2. In fact, the only atist I can think of who has improved with age (in more ways than one) is...Kylie!
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 11:24:42 GMT
It seems like the shit ones get better and the great ones get shit!
Although, there are anomalies to this. David Bowie, Tori Amos.....and I've already run out. Des O'Connor? I dunno.
It just sorta sucks to see people go SO bad. I mean, Stevie Wonder... this is the guy who did "Pretty Superstitious"....and then went on to do "I Just Called(To Say...)".... It's a tragedy.
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Post by Danimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 11:26:03 GMT
Lennon didn't burn out, he got his ass shot. It's better to burn out OR fade away than it is to get your ass shot.
A man needs his ass unshot. A bullet-riddled bum ain't a good thing for a musical career.
Kylie's pure awesomeness though. I think it's coz she's so dang lovely. I can't stand her dance stuff from the 2000's but I still like her. She's got a power over us all...
Hope she doesn't get her ass shot.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 11:30:54 GMT
Fair point I re: Lennon. I guess what was getting at with him is that he could've gone to shit if the 80's had grabbed hold of him. But we'll never know.
You see my point though?
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Post by Danimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 11:38:23 GMT
Yah, totally. But I guess it depends how you look at it: Was John Lennon a great musician who would have turned to crap, or a regular musician who got a remarkable lucky streak?
The social and political scene was vastly different in the 50's, 60's and 70's to how it has been since the 80's onwards. I think if Lennon came out now he'd be doing advert jingles and pop songs. The times back then probably affected him and the other legends more than their own unique talent or skills did.
What we really need are new legends to pop up and take the place of the fading ones. More iconic superstars rather than pompous gasbags who sing other peoples' songs and pose all the time... *sniff*
Even our most iconic music stars right now are just flavour-of-the-months.
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Ger Hankey
Emperor of Destruction
What are you lookin' at!?!
Posts: 610
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Post by Ger Hankey on Apr 15, 2009 11:57:38 GMT
I think Lennon was definitely headed down that slippery slope towards crapness. Its hard to judge who or what is going to be considered legendary from our time now by future generations. I'm sure back in the 60s and 70s if you had asked people what records of the day people would still think were great 30 or 40 years down the road you might have gotten some strange answers, if pop charts are anything to go by. The problem now is that if anything stands out as different and good, its immediately copied by a shedload of other people. Amy Winehouse is a good example. Some of her stuff is great, but the fact that so many bloody soundalikes came along (and that the way things have gone with her in the press she's almost become a parody of herself) its hard to say if she will stand out in the future.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 11:58:27 GMT
What we really need are new legends to pop up and take the place of the fading ones. More iconic superstars rather than pompous gasbags who sing other peoples' songs and pose all the time... *sniff* Even our most iconic music stars right now are just flavour-of-the-months. Quoted for truth. We haven't had a new "legend" in a long old time. Maybe Kylie is the most recent, but she's not really even a legend of the calibre we're used to. I blame the rise of the internet and the decline of the record company. What goes on behind the scenes these days is WAY more cut-throat than it used to be. It's not all that hard to get a record deal these days. It's really effing hard to keep one. In my first "big" band, we were offered 2 contracts and both screwed us out of our songs(the management/lavel company could sell our songs to whomever they pleased and we got no royalties) and meant that they were not obligated to support us past a year. Which meant if we didn't have a record done within 12 months, they could stop funding. And if we couldn't stump up the cash ourselves to finish the deal, we'd get ditched and our songs would remain the company's property. Pretty mental. So many bands sign deals and get dropped. InMe...Franz Ferdinand I think. Even Morrisey was dropped and it took him like 7 years to get another deal that suited him. It's mental out there. Labels and such are only looking to make quick cash. Every record is a potential platinum release. But even then, it's not that hard to go double or triple platinum anymore. That used to mean something. Now, it means nothing.
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Post by Danimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 12:02:33 GMT
I think Lennon was definitely headed down that slippery slope towards crapness. Its hard to judge who or what is going to be considered legendary from our time now by future generations. I'm sure back in the 60s and 70s if you had asked people what records of the day people would still think were great 30 or 40 years down the road you might have gotten some strange answers, if pop charts are anything to go by. The problem now is that if anything stands out as different and good, its immediately copied by a shedload of other people. Amy Winehouse is a good example. Some of her stuff is great, but the fact that so many bloody soundalikes came along (and that the way things have gone with her in the press she's almost become a parody of herself) its hard to say if she will stand out in the future. Yeah. Winehouse is someone who burned out before she even really got started. Same with Pete Dogherty(sp?). On the flipside there's Madonna, who SHOULD have frickin' faded away already. She's totally lost it ever since moving to the UK, I think. She'd definately be better if she'd burned out ten years back and disappeared into the unknown rather than hanging on for dear life. Someone needs to shoot that woman in the ass.
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Post by Danimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 12:12:01 GMT
What we really need are new legends to pop up and take the place of the fading ones. More iconic superstars rather than pompous gasbags who sing other peoples' songs and pose all the time... *sniff* Even our most iconic music stars right now are just flavour-of-the-months. Quoted for truth. We haven't had a new "legend" in a long old time. Maybe Kylie is the most recent, but she's not really even a legend of the calibre we're used to. I blame the rise of the internet and the decline of the record company. What goes on behind the scenes these days is WAY more cut-throat than it used to be. It's not all that hard to get a record deal these days. It's really effing hard to keep one. In my first "big" band, we were offered 2 contracts and both screwed us out of our songs(the management/lavel company could sell our songs to whomever they pleased and we got no royalties) and meant that they were not obligated to support us past a year. Which meant if we didn't have a record done within 12 months, they could stop funding. And if we couldn't stump up the cash ourselves to finish the deal, we'd get ditched and our songs would remain the company's property. Pretty mental. So many bands sign deals and get dropped. InMe...Franz Ferdinand I think. Even Morrisey was dropped and it took him like 7 years to get another deal that suited him. It's mental out there. Labels and such are only looking to make quick cash. Every record is a potential platinum release. But even then, it's not that hard to go double or triple platinum anymore. That used to mean something. Now, it means nothing. Yeah! The media's (and by that I mean the record company's as well, as it's really the same people - the powerful Hollywood business guys who own the news syndicates AND the entertainment companies) really strangled a lot of the magic out of entetainment as a whole. You used to have guys like Elvis or The Beatles making music to escape a grim life of poverty and meaningless. Now the thing they're escaping too is the grim meaningless! It's all about posing and showing up in the charts, and if that doesn't get them famous they'll do celebrity fit-club or help i'm a tosspot, get me out of here. The scary thing is when you look at someone like Jade Goody being idolised in the same way Elvis was. It's a short term thing of course, but right now she's an entertainment goddess. The woman was an attention-grabbing eejit famous for being a racist bully on live tv and for generally being a twat. She got a horrible disease that was killing her and she STILL sought out attnetion from the press! They were in her fricking hospital ward taking photos as she lay dying! There's pictures of her smiling at them!!! The whole fame thing's gotten way out of control. It's meaningless drivel. We've all gone way beyond our 15 minutes of fame and into some bizarre alternate reality where you don't exist unless you've got your own fan club.
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Post by Danimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 12:18:25 GMT
Oh, the thing about the smaller labels being in it to get the money and run - I make and publish comics and I've seen that in the comics industry too. It's nasty. All these creepy wannabe entrepanuers showing up in entertainment and quickly starting up then selling out their businesses. It's purely spectator greed. It's like the extreme collectors market in comics from the early 90's. They go into an industry, make money/reputation off it then ditch it and go into something else, usually either films or porn.
It'd be okay if they actually left some lasting goodness. New long-term bands, new creators or characters or whatever. But usually they'll do a deal to tie everything up in their wake so that the people doing the actual work can't move forward with it so they have to start right back at square one.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 12:21:53 GMT
As Lily Allen says "I'll take of my clothes cos thats how you get famous!"
Aint that the truth.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 12:23:10 GMT
Oh, the thing about the smaller labels being in it to get the money and run - I make and publish comics and I've seen that in the comics industry too. It's nasty. All these creepy wannabe entrepanuers showing up in entertainment and quickly starting up then selling out their businesses. It's purely spectator greed. It's like the extreme collectors market in comics from the early 90's. They go into an industry, make money/reputation off it then ditch it and go into something else, usually either films or porn. It'd be okay if they actually left some lasting goodness. New long-term bands, new creators or characters or whatever. But usually they'll do a deal to tie everything up in their wake so that the people doing the actual work can't move forward with it so they have to start right back at square one. Media has become very abusive in that respect.
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Post by Danimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 12:25:32 GMT
As Lily Allen says "I'll take of my clothes cos thats how you get famous!" Aint that the truth. To be fair though, I'd tell Lily Allen she's a legend if it'd get her to take her clothes off. And I don't even like Lily Allen!
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Apr 15, 2009 12:27:01 GMT
I love Lily Allen. In many different ways.
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