Monday, July 11, 2005

Get off the Stage, a Late Live8 Post

If I have to hear The Who's Who Are You one more time, I may well go completely insane. Who needs The Who? Who Cares? Who Gives a Shit? Now, those are three albums The Who should have recorded. Why did they (and I mean the Live8 organizers) have to drag out the old washed-up acts whose only future prospects are concerts at Casinos?

I only saw about 30 minutes of Live8 - and maybe I saw the worst 30 minutes - but I can tell you that I was not impressed with what I saw. My viewing commenced with Our Lady Peace butchering a Leonard Cohen song. I'm sorry if I have offended the fans of Our Lady Peace (I know who you are).

It's not about age; it's about musical credibility. Neil Young still has it. Bruce Cockburn does too. But, certainly not The Who, a band, CG reminded me, who has released no new music in over twenty years. And, Elton John's best years, if one can apply the adjective best to anything Elton John has ever done, ended in 1975. I won't even start on Madonna et al.

I know there were some good moments, but U2 with Paul McCartney wasn't one of them.

(A spider just walked across my monitor screen - actually, he's hovering over Our Lady Peace).

So, I'm thinking that there ought to be a movement to ban certain songs from any public performance. If you want to hear Satisfaction, buy or download it. The Stones should be forced into retirement. And, thank God the Eagles have packed it in.

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11 comments:

Cooper said...

I love the Stones old music and the Who's as well but do think they need to leave well enough alone; as for McCartney and U2 I could care less. I think the whole thing was a sham anyway. A great big sham where all these
“ has beens” and” hope to be's” hang out pretending they are doing something for the world.

mister anchovy said...

Is it true that Cher is doing a comeback tour and playing Casinorama?

Critical Darling said...

I was overjoyed the first time I saw "The Big Lebowski"--not because it's a wicked movie (it is) or because the acting and writing was so sharp (it was) but because there was a moment where the dude says "I hate the fucking Eagles, man" and I'd had to endure people who felt like they had this weird obligation to respect them. I hate the fucking Eagles.
You really shouldn't apologize to the Our Lady Peace fans. They should know that they have bad taste in music and should therefore be confined in some kind of bad taste sanatorium.
Paul McCartney needs to get over himself and realise he's the bad Beatle. My boyfriend has a joke with the guitarist in his band--they argue about who "the Paul of the band" is.

kewpiedoll said...

I only know The Who through my dad's old records but I could well say that I'd gladly listen to them forever rather than subject my ears to Carri-oke Bot Version 2.0 Underwood's ugly, ugly song, "Inside Your Heaven"...

Pardon my outburst, I've just heard iy on the radio for the nth time today and it's making me want to hunt everyone responsible for that record...

running42k said...

I thought you would be behind the Who what with Roger Daltry's history show.

zydeco fish said...

Roger Daltry has a history show?

mister anchovy said...

Funny that it seems that only in the pop field do older musicians become silly self-parodies.....lots of interesting older jazz musicians, folk musicians from many different cultures.....I think it has to do with the fact that so much pop music is 'product' first. Where's the love, man? At the same time, pop musicians are promoted as "artists" all the time, not as musicians or singers or song-writers, or whatever. Once it occurred to me that I was way more interested in music than in product, it opened my eyes to all kinds of possibilities. The down-east notion of kitchen music, or what Michelle Shocked calls 'home-made jam' makes more and more sense to me.

Anonymous said...

So harsh you are with your words. The Who (didn't they have their farewell tour the first one in 1982?) have some classic songs. Those songs still stand the test of time. Eagles haven't quite packed it in. Paul and U2 didn't mix, but U2 still had a great set and I have to say, Madonna was pretty good. You're just not open minded enough to appreciate it all. Bruce Cockburn nearly put me to sleep. That was not his venue to play. But whatever, you listen to your stuff and we listen to everything else, it's what makes music....music. I was never really a Stones fan, a song here and there but not a fan. I rather the Who than Stones.

zydeco fish said...

Mister Anchovy, you are so right. There are some awesome and very aged Bluesmen out there making exceptional music. They seem to get better with age.

Critical Darling said...

Saying that everyone has different taste is one thing, but saying something so completely and utterly stupid as "you're just not open minded enough" is so uncool.

Super Happy Jen said...

I was there. It was fun. I agree about Our Lady Peace. What was the deal with that Leonard Cohen Song? "Like a baby, still born. Like Africa with no hope." That doesn't even make any sense.

It's a shame that they couldn't get all their mikes working at the end. Neil Young rules!