I spend way too much time blogging and not enough on "Surviving Retail", my tome of retail anecdotes and my unique brand of amateur sociology filtered through the lens of Capitalism.
But I can't quit you baby, so I've made myself a deal:I can only post a blog after I've written 5 pages for the book. This means it will be a while between posts, but the book will get done faster (hopefully) and make my blogs better(maybe).
I'll leave you, for now, with this one.
First, I have to clarify the title. "Hate" is probably too strong a word, replace "don't have much in common with". And now that I think about it, "Love" is too strong a word for some of these bands and/or solo acts, I'll use "Have at least a decent amount of respect for," instead.
Fugazi- I'll just get this out of the way. Fugazi is undoubtedly and deservedly a monumental band in the history of Indie Rock, as much for how they did (do?) things as their music, which is influential on it's own. But,the reverence paid to them, in DC, borders on worship. If you don't believe me, go to the Black Cat with a friend and start talking shit. You can talk shit about Jesus while your friend can talk shit about Fugazi , your friend is far more likely to get beat up than you are.
Led Zeppelin- All the kids with long hair and jean jackets that stank of a piney scent loved 'um, but to me, they were part of the group of unscary bands that kinda scared me as a tyke. I was just going by t-shirts, but Kiss, AC/DC, even the Grateful Dead seemed like "the Dark Side" to me.
But little did I know I was missing the Beatles of heavy metal, one of the exalted few acts that has made a almost fully listenable double album. I read "Hammer of the Gods" at 15 and it rocked my double wide trailer dwelling world. Classic rock radio filled in the blanks, as I started realizing how many Zeppelin songs I had heard before I knew who they where.
They are also like the Beatles in that a band can be Beatles or Zeppelin "esqe" but never capture the rhythm that makes them so unique.
Justin Timberlake- I probably have the least in common with JTÍs fans, not being a teenage girl prone to hysterical screaming, but I loved his album "Justified." The lion's share of the credit goes to his producers, The Neptunes (their album "in search of" as N.E.R.D. is one of my all time favorites). He's the closest thing I have to a guilty pleasure but I don't believe in the concept, it goes against the Popagenda.
Marilyn Manson and My Chemical Romance- I've always said that if you hate a band because of their image it's the same a loving them for it, but both of these bands put this to the test. But I'm talking about the songs, because I'm a song guy, and they both have a decent amount of great ones. It's just that I only had to wear all black once to know it wasn't for me and I wouldn't relive my teenage years for anything.
Some videos I love:
Henry Rollins letter to Ann Coulter (Bad Language!)
Tom Waits and Iggy Pop in coffee and cigarettes
1 comment:
I remember when I was little, I sed to be afraid of KISS. When I was home alone (being the latchkey kid that I was it was quite often) I used to freak myself out by thinking Gene simmons and Paul Stanley would come down the stairs and kill me. It used to freak me out.
But today I'm all grown up and realize that it was silly. Okay, Gene Simmons, I can understand. but PAUL Stanley!!! what was I thinking.
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