|
|
||||
|
Sometimes the public finds itself inundated with imagery and innuendo. The following is a list of performers and their current status as determined by the public. (Important:
this is not a personal statement about quality, except where
mentioned. This is a sampling of public consensus of who is in and who
is out, based upon acts contributed to and/or inflicted upon popular
culture.) |
||||
| First, my favorite music criticism: "They sound too much like themselves". | ||||
|
Band |
Forgiven | Pending | Unforgiven | Comments |
| Counting Crows | Unforgiven | The Joni cover seals it. | ||
| Wilson Phillips | Pending | Media still tenaciously working on the "post stapled stomach" acceptance of Carnie Wilson. Chyna Phillips, the early favorite, currently all but forgotten. Amazing. | ||
| G E Smith | Forgiven | Chops and versatility overcome publics' early perception of smugness. Jazz should have been so lucky | ||
| A Ha | Forgiven | The cartoon video has that car in it. | ||
| Paul Weller | Forgiven | But the yearning continues............ | ||
| Paul Westerberg | Forgiven | Transcending "Dyslexic Heart". "Pleased To Meet Me" an unarguable add to anyone's Top Ten Cd's. | ||
| Beatlemania | Forgiven | Reclassification to "Kitch" tends to cleanse the sins of pop culture | ||
| Rick James | Forgiven | Casual unforgiveness by many outweighed by passionate forgiveness by few. Life is like that. | ||
| Ezra Pound | Pending | When do politics destroy Art? Talk this one over........ | ||
| Rollins | Forgiven | I don't think anyone really minds, as long as he puts out a music-type CD once every 10 years of so. | ||
| Bush | Unforgiven | Formerly understood, former fans now claiming ignorance. | ||
| Morrisey | Forgiven | Forgiven, even, for the pillow cases with his likeness. Could step forward now with full support. | ||
| Hansen | Forgiven | Not sure why, possibly by virtue of having gone away. Ever go out with someone you wanted to cool off with, and they said, "Uh, I think I need some time......" before you got the chance to? Then you miss them more than you thought you would? That's basically what happened. And don't even mention Bob Weir. | ||
| Linda Tripp | Unforgiven | "Not even if it would help the space program" - Woody Allen | ||
| Woody Allen | Pending | Oooooh, tough one...... | ||
| Alanis | Forgiven | Media cease-fire. | ||
| "Two For Tuesday" | Unforgiven | We are all lowered by this. | ||
| Enya | Forgiven | Quite talented. Lighten up out there! | ||
| Yanni | Unforgiven | Okay, you're right............... | ||
| Bobby McFerrin | Unforgiven | Public keeps the catch phrase and kills the messenger. I say he made out on the deal. Don't Worry, Collect Royalties...... | ||
| Bay City Rollers | Forgiven | The First Next Beatles. Scotland answers Badfinger with Plaid. "Our manager/label screwed us" an easy ticket back to the breast of the public. | ||
| Oasis | Pending | The Last Next Beatles currently in flux on this side of the Atlantic. "Brothers at each other" now tiresome. | ||
| Journey | Forgiven | Huge Journey camp, currently thriving off of the contemporary non-apology, "Now, I know this isn't a very popular thing to say.." which, of course, is a very popular thing to say. | ||
| Styx | Unforgiven | 3 decade violation. Tommy Shaw is over the limit. | ||
| "FreeBird" | Unforgiven | It's just not funny anymore............ | ||
| Kansas | Unforgiven | No current high budget publicist to initialize media re-education program. Check back on them. | ||
| Yes | Unforgiven | I blame Wakeman's cape specifically for this. No one is even allowed to discuss how good they were. | ||
| E.L.P. | Unforgiven | The trucks, the trucks, okay OKAY (touring excess often cited)!! These guys could play; the tunes were better than most people realize. Lake had one of the very best voices of the day. | ||
| Bad Company | Pending | Reunion in progress | ||
| That Fake Bad Company That They Had For A While But With The Same Drummer | Unforgiven | Not unlike the Baltimore Ravens/Cleveland Browns debacle. Does more damage to intellectual property law than can be rectified, in the end. | ||
| The 80's | Forgiven | Fulfills recurrent need for society to feign self-examination. | ||
| Guns & Roses | Pending | Staggering popularity. Mocked during 7 year hiatus, current lineup played their first warm-up gigs over a year ago for a tour that was recently cut in half . Tommy Stinson, however, not quite forgiven for joining the band (ex-Replacements). Brian Brain, however, lauded for joining the band (ex-Primus). Funny game, this.........what of the recently cancelled tour dates? Problems? Petulance? You make the call. | ||
| Heart | Forgiven | VH1's defining hour. Populace lulled into ignoring "Live by the sword, die by the sword" issue. | ||
| Fleetwood Mac | Forgiven | Audience goes in for "we get along" pitch. Secretly wishes for them to fight, but doesn't want to think about them all having sex with each other any more. | ||
| Phil Collins | Unforgiven | A full 15 years after "Sussudio", and it's still too soon. Still recognized as a brilliant drummer. | ||
| Paul McCartney | Forgiven | People want to. The 70's be damned. At the end of the day, he is Paulie. | ||
| Twisted Sister | Forgiven | Tell you what: lots of big bands would not want them opening for them, or if they did, would not allow them to use the PA at all. MFTS indeed!! | ||
| KISS | Forgiven | You would never have known that these guys ever had a cred issue with anyone. What VH1 never reported was the savage beatings administered to those who came into junior high the next day wearing a KISS shirt from the night before. Recent re-departure of Peter Chris mars current status. | ||
| Blink 182 | Pending | Jumped ship and stayed there. Need a good "Behind The Music" to help blame evil $$ rendering record label. Former accusers now lightening up......status change could occur. | ||
| Ted Nugent | Unforgiven | Recent rants drawing more curious onlookers than support. | ||
| King Crimson | Pending | Alliance with Tool forces embarrassing "Dinosaur" label on those who would a) put them down, or b) blame them for Yes. | ||
| Bon Jovi | Forgiven | VH1's "Aw, shucks...." style re-telling of life story minus well documented nepotism leaves doors open wider than ever. | ||
| Rod Stewart | Unforgiven | Rod's second stay in the dog house after initial acoustic re-credibility expedition. | ||
| Neil Diamond | Unforgiven | Clearly in the on deck circle, however. Recent focus on Brill Building years puts nay-sayers on the D. | ||
| The Carpenters | Forgiven | Puzzling rush to the defense from bands such as Sonic Youth. Where were they at Farm Aid? | ||
| MC Hammer | Forgiven | In a huge way. The King of Anti-Cred now hailed as a hero. Currently has a "re-establish your credit/buy a car from us" commercial. One would know. | ||
| Sebastian Bach | Forgiven | "Sorry, guys, couldn't get ya in." | ||
| Skid Row | Unforgiven | |||
| Kylie Minogue | Forgiven | Little known issue in The States. Mocking Kylie has been it's own industry in the UK for eons (empty Teen Tunes issue). Cash register now louder than snickers. Message to the NME, other bashers: "You're out, Fredo". | ||
| Cher | Unforgiven | Shame on the People for "forgiving" during post Sonny's death period. Shame also on the media for portraying her as the widow. Under attended-to actual widow snuck into Congress. More lights, please!! | ||
| Sting | Pending | Long struggle for all involved. Good tunes can't be ignored, PC hero status makes for bad chaser. Always a good musician. | ||
| Elton John | Pending | The Pope of Gay Bash Forgiveness makes it too difficult for everyone by bringing a product that he endorses (Diet Coke) onstage with him at the Concert for New York. Back to real issues, his last CD had some of the juice that made him who he is. Not enough attention paid to this, but enough to hold him in cred-lock for now. | ||
| Vanilla Ice | Unforgiven | Public wants to forgive. Blew VH1 forgiveness setup with well placed bat to MTV studio. Also lost decision to Todd Bridges, who is so forgiven...... | ||
| The Bee Gees | Forgiven | Saturday Night Fever now perceived as "important". I'd like one of my decades re-explained to the public. Legitimate songwriters in their day; lingering debate as to "Which day are we talking about, here?". | ||
| Cat Stevens | Unforgiven | Forget Rushdie, did you see his wardrobe in the 70's? | ||
| The 70's Wardrobe | Unforgiven | Did you see anyone's wardrobe in the 70's? | ||
| Rage Against The Machine | Unforgiven | Some oxymorons for you: "Corporate Anarchists" "Jumbo Shrimp" "Fox News" |
||
| AudioSlave | Forgiven | Chris Cornell is like the guy who took over as Clinton's press secretary halfway through Monica; tough spot........early sentiments favor this team. | ||
| David Lee Roth | Forgiven | By us, maybe, but not by them. | ||
| Sex Pistols | Pending | Exposed as "product", yet they delivered. "Return" tour sends jury back to hotel. | ||
| Adam Ant | Unforgiven | Afterwards, if you're not going to break the piggy bank for a publicist, you either have to be good in something, or in something that's good. | ||
| Marky Mark | Forgiven | He was in something good ("Boogie Nights"). He was also good in it. Bonus points for dropping out of music. Jury on call if necessary. | ||
| Blind Melon | Forgiven | Don't give me that. You know why, too. | ||
| Hootie | Forgiven | It's been long enough | ||
| Kingdom Come | Unforgiven | For those who don't know, this was a public mugging of Led Zeppelin. Kingdom Come were to Zep as Lunchables are to Le Cirque. | ||
| Spin Doctors | Pending | Actually, I'm leaning "yes" on this one for future. Those tunes are pounded into people's skulls. (Birth of new category: Forgiven, But Are They Allowed To Return? Original band back in place, we shall soon see.............) | ||
| Sinead | Forgiven | Especially now. Then, back to the music issue. Then, we'll see. |
||
| Wagner | Unforgiven | Took himself soooo seriously...... | ||
| Greg Kihn | Unforgiven | We'll never get to the music; jury wants to hear about the album titles first. No D. | ||
| Boston | Forgiven | "More Than A Feeling" now part of national DNA. Go buy a shrinking bootleg concert shirt. NOW!! | ||
| Peter Frampton | Forgiven | Big: read "very". Now that you have that shirt, get a lighter. Boy can play, BTW. | ||
| The Knack | Forgiven | "The Song" does it. Details of the day now untold, making current status possible (for those unfamiliar, research reactions to the artwork of the first album, where the band sought to imply comparison with a Liverpool group). | ||
| Elvis Costello | Pending | Never buckled once to threats of "tough love" from the mainstream. Did it have to be this hard? Come home, Declan! | ||
| REO Speedwagon | Unforgiven | Enormous "It never happened" style collusion being undertaken by the former faithful. Even vinyl put in "the other way" to avoid detection. | ||
| "Stairway To Heaven" | Unforgiven | Sadly, no. It's actually quite good, but a bit long for itself. This may help: start the tune from about 4:13, seconds before the drums come in. It moves along from that point. | ||
| Paul Robeson | Forgiven | Depends who you ask, really. | ||
| Mike Love | Unforgiven | Even after post Brian lawsuit songwriting acknowledgement, he is still seen as The Man Who Beat Up The Beach Boys. | ||
| more to follow | Got one? Let me know (mail) | |||
| Home | ||||
