Grammy Suckdom
Grammies, Oscars, Tony’s, it’s just a fun way to pass the winter after the holidays. The more troublesome aspect is the commercialization of an art form by those in powerful positions who have historically decided what is art and what isn’t, what is taste and what isn’t, and by extension, who reaps the financial rewards and who doesn’t. I’m sure Bono will die a far wealthier man than did the actual founders of Rock ( and Roll ).
bono and U2 were pioneers in music and you can’t get much better than some of their earlier stuff. They stick together, care about their fans, keep trying to make music and well, they’ve sort of done just a little charity and awareness work 
Bono has done so much good for the world- I think he’s earned his wealth. Now he’s a “class act” lol
“Groundbreaking”? Only in the sense that the group became an early face of the charity concert movement. Musically I don’t think so.
that’s cool, you don’t have to agree. Even with no music, Bono’s charity work and political activism alone gets him to “class act”
conandrob240 said:
bono and U2 were pioneers in music and you can’t get much better than some of their earlier stuff. They stick together, care about their fans, keep trying to make music and well, they’ve sort of done just a little charity and awareness work
Bono has done so much good for the world- I think he’s earned his wealth. Now he’s a “class act” lol
I'm with you up to around the Joshua Tree but, since then, it has been nothing but crass commercial suckage. As for the bucks Bono has been squirreling away in the Caymans, to be fair, he got them by selling a perfectly good soul so I don't begrudge him that.
I still can't expunge that album that came preloaded on my iTunes......
Totally agree. I said "earlier stuff". I'd agree up to Joshua Tree. You don't have to sell your soul if you make crappy later music. If the original stuff was good enough, you get a pass.
Klinker said:
conandrob240 said:
bono and U2 were pioneers in music and you can’t get much better than some of their earlier stuff. They stick together, care about their fans, keep trying to make music and well, they’ve sort of done just a little charity and awareness work
Bono has done so much good for the world- I think he’s earned his wealth. Now he’s a “class act” lol
I'm with you up to around the Joshua Tree but, since then, it has been nothing but crass commercial suckage. As for the bucks Bono has been squirreling away in the Caymans, to be fair, he got them by selling a perfectly good soul so I don't begrudge him that.
I still can't expunge that album that came preloaded on my iTunes......
Not pioneering but more than respectable. They could do soaring rock anthems with the best of them. For my two cents, Achtung Baby was the album. Not as sweet or easily accessible as The Joshua Tree but a fine interesting album.
My Kid A maintains that rock is not a happening thing for 20 somethings now. This too shall pass. Soon I hope, because I'm team rock guitar. i wish they had played Chuck Berry for an hour.
My kids, 20 somethings, listen to rock as well as rap/hip hop. I don't think that's so unusual. There's no doubt that rock has taken a back seat to rap/hip hop/dance stuff.
The stagnation of rock for decades is a worthy thread subject unto itself. I still keep my ears open for new artists but when good ones come along, they are invariably reworking the same old building blocks and rarely generate the "wow that's something different!" reaction. Perhaps the whole rock thing is a closed room by now. No place for progress, just more of the same.
brealer said:
My Kid A maintains that rock is not a happening thing for 20 somethings now. This too shall pass. Soon I hope, because I'm team rock guitar. i wish they had played Chuck Berry for an hour.
I hate to say it but it seems like rock aficionados long ago drew a circle in the sand that foreshadowed it’s own demise in a more diverse America. From the Intro to the book“Just Round Midnight”: “ ...at the time of his death (Hendrix) the idea of a Black man playing electric lead guitar was literally remarkable- “alien”- in a way that would have been inconceivable for Chuck Berry only a short while earlier...rock and roll music- a genre rooted in African American traditions, and many of whose earliest stars were Black-came to be understood as the natural province of whites”
The appropriation pattern has repeated itself throughout our cultural history. I am very aware that the rock era made itself white-centric, and its a shame. Nonetheless, even accepting that as true, "white" rock was pretty dynamic and evolving for many years. From Dylan through the Beach Boys and the Beatles and then into the Woodstock era and beyond, sh*t was happening. There was a brashness and conscious one-upmanship that led to a whole lot of interesting stuff. Now, I think young white rockers and folkies think "creativity" is being the first one to pick the bones of some past artist or album. Sometimes they do it well but it ain't new.
annielou said:
I hate to say it but it seems like rock aficionados long ago drew a circle in the sand that foreshadowed it’s own demise in a more diverse America. From the Intro to the book“Just Round Midnight”: “ ...at the time of his death (Hendrix) the idea of a Black man playing electric lead guitar was literally remarkable- “alien”- in a way that would have been inconceivable for Chuck Berry only a short while earlier...rock and roll music- a genre rooted in African American traditions, and many of whose earliest stars were Black-came to be understood as the natural province of whites”
While being dynamic and creative, white rockers made substantial fortunes(squandered or not) and, more importantly, had their creations elevated to the level of “art” by a rock critics and publications. In the video era of MTV, they then had 100% access to sell their music to the masses in a forum that was ,for many years, segregated. The racial tainting of rock was a lost opportunity for a generation of young musicians of color (Prince not withstanding) to want to perform breathtaking and memorable guitar solos , (which I love btw) until very recently.
I could insert "rappers" into your first sentence and would be a true statement about the last 20 to 30 years.
annielou said:
While being dynamic and creative, white rockers made substantial fortunes(squandered or not) and, more importantly, had their creations elevated to the level of “art” by a rock critics and publications. In the video era of MTV, they then had 100% access to sell their music to the masses in a forum that was ,for many years, segregated. The racial tainting of rock was a lost opportunity for a generation of young musicians of color (Prince not withstanding) to want to perform breathtaking and memorable guitar solos , (which I love btw) until very recently.
Bub, your logic escapes me. White rappers and others have been part of the hip-hop/rap movement all along and not isolated from its forward movement as was the case during the racialization of rock. In fact, one of raps most prodigious performers is white. Secondly, the past 30 years is not a long time compared to the incredible earnings of white rock musicians that both substantially preceded that 30 year ago mark and continues to this day. Lastly, African American rappers are finally reaping the rewards of a legitimate musicical heritage. I say it’s about time. So no, you can’t just insert the word “rappers” into my first sentence without a tiny bit of clarification.
I don't think we're talking about the same thing. The two points of your first sentence were (a) white rockers made fortunes (what's wrong with that btw?) and (b) had their creations elevated to the level of "art" by critics. Both of those statements have been true about rappers for many years now. Rappers have long made staggering fortunes - not just recently as you suggest - for which I don't begrudge them at all. The art form also has a self-serious sometimes fawning critical and intellectual supporting chorus just like the white rock gods of yore did. The above observations has nothing to do with and is in no way a defense of musical segregation, which I acknowledged and bemoaned in my earlier message, but you seem to want to set me up as a defender of it somehow or read my comments as suggesting rap is the flip side of the segregation that marred the white rock world.
annielou said:
Bub, your logic escapes me. White rappers and others have been part of the hip-hop/rap movement all along and not isolated from its forward movement as was the case during the racialization of rock. In fact, one of raps most prodigious performers is white. Secondly, the past 30 years is not a long time compared to the incredible earnings of white rock musicians that both substantially preceded that 30 year ago mark and continues to this day. Lastly, African American rappers are finally reaping the rewards of a legitimate musicical heritage. I say it’s about time. So no, you can’t just insert the word “rappers” into my first sentence without a tiny bit of clarification.
Seems to me that a grammy is what you get as you roll to a stop having jumped the shark.
annielou said:
Frankly, I’ll be glad when the rock fans board their trolleys and stop harping on this year after year. That era is done. And good riddance.
Yeah, to me, music is at its best when it expresses a thought or idea that strikes home. I gave up rock after I heard my life's condition expressed in "Me So Horny."
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