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Sunday, August 13, 2017
Elvis Costello and The Attractions: All This Useless Beauty
There has been a meme going around Twitter inviting people to confess their unpopular opinions.
I was going to tweet that I regard the Beatles as no better than half a dozen other British bands of their era, but I am not sure how unpopular that would be today.
So let me say instead that "The Beatles" was a really lame name for a band.
I could also say that I listen to Elvis Costello often but never list to Elvis Presley, but I suspect I am not alone in that in my generation.
And people much younger than us probably don't listen to either.
When walking around, don't you find yourself listening to car stereos trying to identify the performers? Aren't you surprised at what you hear?
ReplyDeleteSome performers are mysteries to me. I've never met anyone who has The Red Hot Chilli Peppers on their CD shelves but they are a massive band. I'm not sure how that fits in with the Long Tail theory of consumption.
Young people -- mostly white middle class lads, I nominate, if only to perpetuate a stereotype -- still applaud Genesis and Led Zep. Pre-punk, there was a great pub rock/pop/blues "movement" -- Brinsley Schwarz, Graham Parker, Dr Feelgood -- which was a lot more fun. Like the best punk era music, it still makes me smile.
I can't listen to the first Rolling Stones album. I learned all of the songs from performers like Willie Dixon or Howling Wolf, so whilst I can cope with one Stones cover version, I quickly need the real thing.