I'm not sure that Mike meant it in that way -- I agree that as I get older, I don't react in that emulation sort of way that Drew refers to. But albums and/or songs still have the power to, on ocassion, kick me in the ass and make me feel as excited about music as when I was buying those first Sweet, Queen and Elton John singles in the '70s. And, it doesn't have to be the new stuff. Sometimes it's listening to the first disc of J. Geils Band anthology, and realized how much they kicked ass (tip of the hat to the new Nick Hornby book for this one). Or The Streets ORIGINAL PIRATE MATERIAL, which I finally picked up a couple of weeks ago -- the record has such a vitality to it. I get the same charge in other areas -- just saw the movie CITY OF GOD last night (Brazilian movie about hoodlum/gangsters in the ghetto ('favela') -- while the story, when you get down to it, is kind of depressing, the filmmaking was exhilirating to the max. Or the first 60 pages of MIDDLESEX by Jeffrey Eugenidies (sp.?) -- when a novel hooks me instantly -- it's great. And I'm not so sure that there still won't be people that I hold in awe. I actually feel that way about Mr. Partridge, por ejemplo. Mike Bennett NP: Starflyer 59 -- EASY COME EASY GO, Disc 2 (most underrated band out there right now, IMO) Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com >From: "Drew MacDonald" >Reply-To: audities@smoe.org >To: >Subject: New Gods? >Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 20:31:52 -0800 > >Mike of "Mike and Roxy" closed his Big Five list with: > > I am always hunting for that new band that may be GOD. I'm very excited > > for the new Silver Sun, but I know another killer band is out there > > waiting for me... > >Not me. > >The thought first occurred to me when compiling my own contribution to that >thread: I'm not looking for gods anymore. I no longer expect any artist to >do for me what my "formative" ones did: knock me on my ass, thrill me to >the >core, make me want to adopt their worldviews, emulate their behavior and >consider everything they do to be the work of genius. Which is just as >well; >I'm a middle-aged man, and that level of fanaticism would be unseemly, to >say the least. > >Nah, I've lived too long and heard too much to respond that way to music. >But it's okay. I'm still on the lookout for "good stuff" --hell, that's >what >I'm on this list for-- but I'll take my epiphanies on a song-by-song basis. >I'll settle for XTC's "Easter Theatre" making every hair on my body stand >on >end; I don't need to deify Andy Partridge. > >Drew, >who wonders if Joe F., Carl C. or other comics buffs on this list saw the >subject heading and thought I was writing about Jack Kirby's characters... _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail