TALKING 'BOUT MY G-G-G-GENERATION
(NOTE: The new, pinker site now allows for comments. So please feel free to post. It'll be interesting to see if anyone is even reading this fucker. And, this is especially for Beth, feel free to troll. I can take it!)
-I can't believe I worked this site up into a frenzy over the Morrissey show and then never wrote to report back. What a case of blue balls I have left you all with!! The show was amazing. The songs from the new album (which, though it came out last Tuesday, my broke ass has still yet to purchase.) are great and really show off his voice, which gets better with each passing year. It is totally unfair that woman who are beautiful and talented (women like Debbie Harry and Stevie Nicks) only get less so as they get older and men, like Moz, really grow into their looks and their voice. He is sexier and his rich croon is deeper and more confident than ever. Now, despite the fact that I just invited everyone to test out the new comment feature, please don't write in and tell me that I'm a sexist. No one is more of a feminist than I- and I've got the 12 year all-girl education to prove it- but the proof is in the pudding. Stevie, Debbie, Joni, Ricki Lee, Joan..... they all sound worse and look worse (and frankly haven't put out an album that moved me like their early stuff) recently. I mean Debbie Harry was my fucking idol. I wanted to grow up and be her- but now she looks like she's had too much plastic surgery. And Stevie? She can't even hit those not so high notes in Landslide anymore. But Moz sang "Hand in Glove" like I imagine it would've sounded when he came to NY with the Smiths in 1986- not that I would know (I was too busy being in third grade!). And, though he was always handsome, he really has grown into his manly face and his skinny, cardigin-clad body has filled out into the man that he has become. Even the few distinguished gray hairs in his pompadour look good. There are no words for what it is like to be sitting in the second row of the balcony (which basically puts you right on stage, all the way to the right) and seeing him, in the flesh, as he moves theatrically around the stage and plucks melodies like "Hairdresser on Fire" and "Everyday is Like Sunday" out of the ether with ease. It was a very low key show - what, with the totalitarian staff of the Apollo who wouldn't let anyone stand up or dance or rush the stage- which kinda made me wish that I had been born earlier and could have seen the madness of those early Smiths shows. Witnessed the special electricity between Johnny and "Steven". Heard songs like "Vicar in a Tutu" played live over a screaming throng of young dudes in pompadours and cardigans who threw gladiolas on the stage.
But, alas, I think that is the burden of our generation. Too young for the Smiths first hand. Too young to discover the greatest bands (Smiths, Joy Division, the Pixies, the Clash, the Cure, David Bowie) of our lifetime on their debut albums. Too young for New York when it was sleazy and real and kinda scary and you could see Television and the Talking Heads down at CBGBs instead of some terrible hardcore band. Too young for Studio 54 or Max's Kansas City or the Mudd Club or the Mercer Arts Center. Way too young for Woodstock or Monterey Pop or student protests at Berkeley and Madison. Jimi Hendrix will never be anything but a psychadelic dude on a black light poster for us. The Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin and the Beatles were never live bands for us. Ian Curtis and John Lennon and Janis Joplin and Brian Jones (you mean there were a Rolling Stones before Ron Wood?) have always been dead to us. Pink Floyd (who I don't even like) are just a band to play at a laser show or to listen to while 'shrooming and watching the Wizard of Oz.
There are good things about being part of our generation. We never had to think that Eagles or Foreigner or Kansas or Ted Nugent any of those other sucky Seventies bands were new or groundbreaking or good. We can just change the radio from the classic rock station when they come on. We had Kurt all to ourselves- he was our discovery. We had Beck (even though he is a Scientologist) and his musical experiments. We were there for the birth of brit pop and were able to discover bands like Blur and Pulp and Oasis on their first albums and love them enough to develop a severe case of Anglophilia and dream about having babies with little British accents. Big huge musical personalities like Courtney Love and Billy Corgan and Radiohead and Elliott Smith are ours alone- touchstones for our generation. If I liked rap more, I would be stoked that hip hop is pracically as old as we are. We grew up with it always. As far as I can remember there has always been LL Cool J and Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. We are lucky, especially us little girls, to have come of age with Madonna. I was singing "Like A Virgin" before I knew what it meant and, to me, it's always been alright for a girl to be stong and sexy and controversial (even if she couldn't really sing!)
I think I'd trade a million Justin Timberlakes and Beyonces and maybe even Jay-Zs just to be in the audience for the Beatles on Ed Sullivan or to wait in line for tickets all night to see Zeppelin at MSG or to be one of those disappointed ticket holders who didn't get to see Joy Division's US tour because of Ian's death or to have seen Ziggy Stardust live or Blondie at CBGBs or Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire live or to not have bought "Rumours" as a CD reissue or "Revolver" or "London Calling" or "Never Mind the Bollocks". Or to have seen the Smiths live when they were still together. But as a consolation prize, Moz at the Apollo was pretty bitchin.
-I can't believe I worked this site up into a frenzy over the Morrissey show and then never wrote to report back. What a case of blue balls I have left you all with!! The show was amazing. The songs from the new album (which, though it came out last Tuesday, my broke ass has still yet to purchase.) are great and really show off his voice, which gets better with each passing year. It is totally unfair that woman who are beautiful and talented (women like Debbie Harry and Stevie Nicks) only get less so as they get older and men, like Moz, really grow into their looks and their voice. He is sexier and his rich croon is deeper and more confident than ever. Now, despite the fact that I just invited everyone to test out the new comment feature, please don't write in and tell me that I'm a sexist. No one is more of a feminist than I- and I've got the 12 year all-girl education to prove it- but the proof is in the pudding. Stevie, Debbie, Joni, Ricki Lee, Joan..... they all sound worse and look worse (and frankly haven't put out an album that moved me like their early stuff) recently. I mean Debbie Harry was my fucking idol. I wanted to grow up and be her- but now she looks like she's had too much plastic surgery. And Stevie? She can't even hit those not so high notes in Landslide anymore. But Moz sang "Hand in Glove" like I imagine it would've sounded when he came to NY with the Smiths in 1986- not that I would know (I was too busy being in third grade!). And, though he was always handsome, he really has grown into his manly face and his skinny, cardigin-clad body has filled out into the man that he has become. Even the few distinguished gray hairs in his pompadour look good. There are no words for what it is like to be sitting in the second row of the balcony (which basically puts you right on stage, all the way to the right) and seeing him, in the flesh, as he moves theatrically around the stage and plucks melodies like "Hairdresser on Fire" and "Everyday is Like Sunday" out of the ether with ease. It was a very low key show - what, with the totalitarian staff of the Apollo who wouldn't let anyone stand up or dance or rush the stage- which kinda made me wish that I had been born earlier and could have seen the madness of those early Smiths shows. Witnessed the special electricity between Johnny and "Steven". Heard songs like "Vicar in a Tutu" played live over a screaming throng of young dudes in pompadours and cardigans who threw gladiolas on the stage.
But, alas, I think that is the burden of our generation. Too young for the Smiths first hand. Too young to discover the greatest bands (Smiths, Joy Division, the Pixies, the Clash, the Cure, David Bowie) of our lifetime on their debut albums. Too young for New York when it was sleazy and real and kinda scary and you could see Television and the Talking Heads down at CBGBs instead of some terrible hardcore band. Too young for Studio 54 or Max's Kansas City or the Mudd Club or the Mercer Arts Center. Way too young for Woodstock or Monterey Pop or student protests at Berkeley and Madison. Jimi Hendrix will never be anything but a psychadelic dude on a black light poster for us. The Velvet Underground and Led Zeppelin and the Beatles were never live bands for us. Ian Curtis and John Lennon and Janis Joplin and Brian Jones (you mean there were a Rolling Stones before Ron Wood?) have always been dead to us. Pink Floyd (who I don't even like) are just a band to play at a laser show or to listen to while 'shrooming and watching the Wizard of Oz.
There are good things about being part of our generation. We never had to think that Eagles or Foreigner or Kansas or Ted Nugent any of those other sucky Seventies bands were new or groundbreaking or good. We can just change the radio from the classic rock station when they come on. We had Kurt all to ourselves- he was our discovery. We had Beck (even though he is a Scientologist) and his musical experiments. We were there for the birth of brit pop and were able to discover bands like Blur and Pulp and Oasis on their first albums and love them enough to develop a severe case of Anglophilia and dream about having babies with little British accents. Big huge musical personalities like Courtney Love and Billy Corgan and Radiohead and Elliott Smith are ours alone- touchstones for our generation. If I liked rap more, I would be stoked that hip hop is pracically as old as we are. We grew up with it always. As far as I can remember there has always been LL Cool J and Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. We are lucky, especially us little girls, to have come of age with Madonna. I was singing "Like A Virgin" before I knew what it meant and, to me, it's always been alright for a girl to be stong and sexy and controversial (even if she couldn't really sing!)
I think I'd trade a million Justin Timberlakes and Beyonces and maybe even Jay-Zs just to be in the audience for the Beatles on Ed Sullivan or to wait in line for tickets all night to see Zeppelin at MSG or to be one of those disappointed ticket holders who didn't get to see Joy Division's US tour because of Ian's death or to have seen Ziggy Stardust live or Blondie at CBGBs or Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire live or to not have bought "Rumours" as a CD reissue or "Revolver" or "London Calling" or "Never Mind the Bollocks". Or to have seen the Smiths live when they were still together. But as a consolation prize, Moz at the Apollo was pretty bitchin.
1 Comments:
Verrrrrrry true....but what makes The Pixies "Surfer Rosa" (or countless other records that apply to this blog) great is not only that it is a great record but that it sounds so damn good 15 years later. That being the case, the time-test is always going to be a factor...the 'older' music is going to have the edge on the new stuff kind of like the seniors are cooler than the freshman. We've romanticized the past way too much. No one went to see The Velvet Underground live and no one bought their records. That they are one of the greatest bands ever is very very very true but it's also academic and all in hindsight. I'm in my twenties and I have to say, I think our generation is pretty cool. Prince is a genius and in one single ("When Doves Cry") he did something as cool as anything Sly, James and Jimi ever did. And we did have R.E.M.
I guess a big part of music is always going to come down to 'where were you when you first heard....?' and for that, every generation has sex and girls and boys so there's always going to be a reason to love and remember the music of your generation because there's always going to be some really funny or shitty or sad or sexy memory to associate with. Like the first time I ever prematurely ejaculated was to Johnny Gill's "Rub You The Right Way". What a great song!
Music criticism is a funny thing...it can make legends out of guys like Mission of Burma and it can take rock icons and make everyone rethink how great they really were (Jim Morrison and his goofy band). Those lucky bastards that saw the Velvet Underground back in the late '60's probably didn't even know they were seeing anything cool. So I guess we can just love the great records and bands of this generation because who the hell knows who the critics are going to praise twenty years from now. That shitty band that opened for that other shitty band at The Knitting Factory a few weeks ago might end up being the band that you are bragging about having seen when your kids are listening to Roboto 6500, the singing robot...and I'm still listening to Oaktown 357 talking about the glory days!
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