Hotmail
(Continued)
From Stephen Kindland, Tallahassee, Fla.:
From Elaine B.:
From Ann Riegle-Coursey:
From Jacqueline Howard, New York:
From Bruce Copsey:
From William J. Lugaila:
From Jay Rusovich, Houston:
From Tracy Dalansky:
From Kenn Jankowski:
There hasn't been a new original, worthy band since the '80s.
I find great relief that the garbage you call music these days is highly
perishable, completely forgettable, and the cheapest imitation of real music.
Your generation's music is a reflection of your generation's values: bogus,
weightless, dimwitted. You are getting exactly what you deserve: minimal image
and zero substance. From Jamie Chilcote:
A big thank
you to Sean Nelson for articulating what so many of us boomers have been
thinking for quite some time. I suppose many of the "comebacks" by the artists
Mr. Nelson wrote about were relatively successful -- at least for a short while
-- because they were novel at the time; but perhaps more so because there were
no viable musical alternatives for us Woodstockers. The pop music god was merely
helping us to survive the god-awful disco era and the likes of Chumbawamba until
real music and poignant lyrics by artists such as John Mayer, Coldplay and even Norah Jones had time to implement a daring rescue.
Now that we of the '60s generation finally have viable alternatives to satisfy
the musical addictions once fed by the Who, the Kinks and the Stones, it actually becomes painful to witness
the lack of dignity that comes with each "Barely Live" concert put on by pop
culture heroes who have forgotten their messages -- if not the lyrics
themselves.
... and you
are going to retire soon yourself, right?
Yo! Wasn't
Def Leppard known as "Menudo" originally? The article was 110
percent correct. Don't stop! SOMEBODY needs to be honest like the author of this
article!
You forgot
Paul McCartney!!! How could
you leave off Bob Dylan? Oh yeah, he was never great, and his music, or
noise, has always sucked. You should start a new list of all-time terrible music
(obviously rap would fill it immediately, so they need their own category of
noise). Bob Dylan could easily take the top spot in this new all-time terrible
music list.
Maybe it's
time for you to stop writing! If you want the rest to stop singing you can make
a deal to never write again. I think that is fair. Oh, by the way, you missed
your favorite band -- I know you have all their records and the bed sheets --
the New Kids on the Block! They need to just go off and die.
If your
point in writing the article was to highlight the demise of certain aging
musicians because they've stopped producing great music, so be it. Every dog has
its day. And that list might also include David Bowie, Pink Floyd and every other '80s hair metal band
currently on tour. But if your point was to knock them because they're getting
old ... or older, then we are in disagreement. I can't count the number of great
blues and jazz musicians who continued to produce great music well into their
70s and 80s. And while I know it's tough to stomach the visage of Keith Richards, he's still got chops, and I applaud him for
getting up there and hammering it out. If people thought he was a joke they
wouldn't pay thousands of dollars for Stones tickets. The same can be said for
the rest. It's always sad to see rock stars in their twilight when they're
supposed to be preternaturally young, but their age alone doesn't mean they
can't produce great music -- though a few of the musicians you mentioned indeed
burned out before they hit 30.
I totally
disagree about Def Leppard. I have been to a few concerts over the last few
years and they have all been pretty much sold out. There were people there of
all ages who were singing along with the band and just having a great time. The
young bands of today in my opinion are really pretty bad and totally have no
idea what they are doing. There is no dedication and the music they play makes
people's ears bleed! Just leave Def Leppard alone.
You shut
down the 1,000 bogus "artists" and imitators of your lame-arse generation and
we'll shut down these 10 proven and superior composers, singers and musicians
from my generation.
Hey! I've
been around for 58 years now and agree 100 percent. Time to move over for some
new stuff and listen to the old stuff when it's good for sweet memories.
From Jim Wells, Seattle:
The parents
should take the photos and auction them to the mags with no exclusive rights
after the first 48 hours. If the mags want the photos, let them buy the rights
for first publication then release them to the rest of the mags. That's a way to
benefit everybody who is interested. And those of us who think the mags are nuts
can ignore it. It will give the parents control and defuse the publicity.
