Rant #2

[beasley]

These things have been on my mind lately so I may as well put those thoughts in 'print' (what used to be called putting "pen to paper" back before the internets).

Taylor Swift: I'm sure she's a fine lass, etc. I'm sure she sings quite well though I'll admit I don't think I've ever heard her (that is, I've never heard one of her songs being back-announced on the radio which would at least clue me in). However, her PR and marketing guru's can use a few lessons about how to NOT make their current charge irritating. Without benefit of even knowing her sound, I'm already turned off by how she's paraded about in front of the camera.....flowing Venus-like hair and, most annoyingly, her signature squinty-eyed scowl through heavily kohled eyes. Given her young age, I blame her agents for that one. I sure hope she's not being manipulated but, well, I'm wondering if she'll fall into the same track as Leanne Rimes and after a couple of years she'll be on the back-burner after her agents squeeze out the last few drops of creativity the gal might actually have before they leave her in the dust for "the next big thing".

Having said that, I felt truly awful for TS after seeing how the asswipe "rapper" (?) Kanye West stole her thunder (and microphone) during the MTV music awards when he effectively posited that Beyonce should have won the "best video award". I mean, WTF?! Has the world of popular music-as-entertainment turned into some sort of bizarre soap opera?! No wonder those "rapper-types" (both black and white) always seem to be shooting at each other.

Kanye West: I don't give a crap if people from the 'hood see him as being "talented". Hitler was also a talented artist. 'Nuf said. It's time that this guy starts getting ignored.

Beyonce: I hate to put her into the mix but, regarding the KW 'dissing of TS issue, that she came across to TS as being the one to "save her" from KW and "allowed" her to shine later on....to be sure she had her time in the spotlight at the awards show....is totally screwed up. I can't even put it into words other than to ask when the heck KW's form of "music" (or, as the father in the "Curtiss" strip would call it "rap junk") is gonna finally give up the ghost once and for all.

Some people come off as being classy and others do not. TS, for all her squinty-eyed-ness, has the chops which I hope outlive her agents. I felt bad when I saw her in utter muteness after KW stole her mic right out of her hands. She showed class by not shoving it up his ass (on camera) afterwards. (My first thought was that she should've whacked him upside the head with it).

KW would be better suited peddling mix-tapes on the street....the 'hood he tries to make people think he actually came from.

I'm not qualified by experience to comment on Beyonce other than to wonder if she's styling herself after another self-important diva, Diana Ross.

[beasley]

Here's an interesting take on it:
Rap is dead (like disco), only it doesn't know it yet.

Kayne's crack-induced outburst reminded me of a patient that convulses after a heart failure and is hit with a defibrilator. Rap is laying on a stretcher and the only thing it can do at this time is fight the inevitable doom that awaits it. Time is not on it's side. These events (and there will be more) are to be expected from babies that have their bottles (public support and $$$) taken from them. Expect more rappers to throw tantrums to try to get some (any kind of) publicity. They cannot embrace the fact that musical tastes change over time.

That's my dark comment on the topic.

[Some Guy Here]

Don't you know? Kanye is the voice of a generation! He's a genius lyrical wordsmith! The most talented musician in the WORLD! And he is certainly not a fish!


But seriously...the whole "George Bush doesn't care about black people" incident wasn't a big deal for me, probably because I consider myself a Free Speacher and I honestly do believe it was just a moment of extreme frustration for him. But...yeah, he certainly as hell is full of himself.

[Nom du Jour]

My take, is that the whole thing was a set up.

The VMAs always seem to have something "unscripted" happen.

Had Kayne not followed his instructions, nobody, and I mean no bod eeeeee, would be talking about the VMAs.

[Barbed-1]

Responsibility for this incident is shared by all the silly fans who have enabled such anti-social idiots to become stars during the last 30 years or so.

It's time for the sun to set on a genre of music (if that's what it is) that elevates useless street criminals into billionaire celebrities.

"Mary" of Peter, Paul, and Mary died a day or two ago. The group was before my time, but they were real, they had talent, they thought beyond themselves, and they're still worth a listen. Quite a contrast to Kanye West and all the rest of his self-absorbed ilk; may they just pass into oblivion without generating another tabloid headline.

The Barbed One

[Some Guy Here]

"Mary" of Peter, Paul, and Mary died a day or two ago.

Wait, seriously? Even I know they were big enough of a band that this should've been big news.

[Barbed-1]

"Mary" of Peter, Paul, and Mary died a day or two ago.

Wait, seriously? Even I know they were big enough of a band that this should've been big news.

See http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090917/ap_ ... ry_travers

TB1

[gnome de blog]

"Mary" of Peter, Paul, and Mary died a day or two ago. The group was before my time, but they were real, they had talent, they thought beyond themselves, and they're still worth a listen.

Peter, Paul & Mary weren't before my time. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they were a group manufactured to take advantage of the folk-pop boom of the early '60s. They were put together by mega-agent Albert Grossman (Dylan's agent) to cash in on ground broken by Canadian duo Ian & Sylvia. Noel Stookey had to change his name to Paul to make it fly. That's not to say they weren't an enjoyable, thoughtful group, and I liked them a lot back in the day (though IMHO they - especially Peter - took themselves a little too seriously, but that may have been marketing too).

I'm not normally a conspiracy theory guy, but count me in on the Kanye West-Taylor Swift thing being a set-up. Nothing that happens in front of a television camera is real.

And I don't see where Kanye West is so great either, but my parents' generation didn't see much in PP&M - or Dylan for that matter.

And one more thing, since this seems to have turned into an all-purpose counter-rant: point taken, Beasley, about LeAnn Rimes. Now she's had to resort to the old marital discord gig to jump-start her career again. It's too bad. I think she's a terrific singer in spite of the syrupy pop-country crossover stuff she does. Taylor Swift isn't even in the same ballpark. She's more the heir apparent to the Faith Hill-Carrie Underwood line of country divas.

[beasley]

A bit harsh, but fair nonetheless. I will echo the whole Paul took himself a bit too seriously observation. And besides, PP&M helped pave the way for John Denver's success, first as a songwriter, recording his "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and later as a singer (though he, too, was part of that 60's folk/pop wave, having served time in the Chad Mitchell Trio). And jeez--lately, PP&M had become stalwarts of PBS pledge specials.

One thing I wonder--I know that Paul put out solo LPs (and I'm pretty sure Peter Yarrow did, too)--wonder if Mary ever did? I'd almost think she had to at some point.


Totally right on with the comment about Rimes and Swift. Couldn't agree more.