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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Ralph Alfonso <ralph@nettwerk.com> |
| Subject | next beatles |
| Date | Tue, 3 Aug 2004 12:46:16 -0700 |
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ain't gonna happen...
previously, Vallee, Crosby, Sinatra & Elvis were interpreters, it was
the sheer power of their individuality
that over-rode everything else.... the Beatles were that magic combination
of interpreters AND creators (incredible when you consider they had
to crank two albums a year + a continual
stream of singles and EPs plus TOUR, movies, TV, etc....)....+ oh
yeah, cultural phenomenon transcending
just about everything else.... a kind of lightning rod for everything
new that was already bubbling under the radar... punk in the UK came
close in terms of cultural phenomenon but not in terms of going global
and subverting everything as the Beatles/beat boom had done... The
Beatles built their template on winners (Elvis,
Sinatra, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Peggy Lee, etc = commercial
success) whereas punk's template was losers (Iggy, Flamin Groovies,
glam, 60s punk, NY Dolls, etc = cult success) and thus self-awarely
pre-ordaining similar cult marginal longevity for themselves
musically - culturally, punk was a real lightning rod for
change that the new wave phase managed to ride and actually DID
infiltrate into the mainstream (the whole 80s
Brit pop thing).... it gets cloudy after that but Hip Hop culture is
a prevalent force as is the dance culture,
even tho there are no defining figureheads of the
hip/hop-dance-electronic (let's lump em all together) lifestyle,
that seems to be nature of it, kind of anonymous (considering no one
actually truly is a musician nor is musicianship a standard, there
are Eminem etc but no one is THE leader) BUT the cultural impact is
gigantic since that lifestyle is a major economic force that cuts
across everything, and in many ways, the new alternative because it's
simultaneously threatnening/non threatening at the same time...
grunge? hmmmm..... it was a facilitator for a radical re-think in
modern clothing :)
anyway, this is all off the top of my head but something to talk
about (or not)...
SUMER ROCK READS:
Nik Cohn's A Wop Bop Etc is a fantastic read - granted, I read it
when it first came out and never
looked at rock writing the same after that, but the sheer PASSION and
OPINION (like it or not) makes
this a riveting read... he basically runs through rock history with
all the stuff that only Brits can do...
easily found second hand or myriad of re-issues.... it really
affected how i wrote about rock after that...
also anything by Simon Napier-Bell - hilarious stuff by a MASTER
scammer..... he'd come to New York
and sell dud one-off records to gullible record companies looking for
"British" hipness and fly back
with sackfulls of money (anyone have the Fresh out of Borstal lp? one
of his many "productions")
Dig that crazy Bongo Beat!
Visit my web site
Http://www.bongobeat.com
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