Is Rolling Stone racist?

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just billboard's take on who's more popular (which is generally a fairly accurate take)
The Billboard Hot 100TM
1 This Is The Night, Clay Aiken
2 Flying Without Wings, Ruben Studdard

Felcher (Felcher), Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:12 (twenty years ago) link

But those chart statistics arrived after the decision to put Clay on the cover. Ruben won -- for all intents and purposes, he was the most popular before the issue came out.

Rich, Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:21 (twenty years ago) link

remember folks, Clay has the flick coming out. Ruben's won't be out for a while.

Kingfish (Kingfish), Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:29 (twenty years ago) link

someone please explain Clay's appeal to me

s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:35 (twenty years ago) link

well, he's gay, so gay men like him, but he hasnt come out of the closet, so straight girls can delude themselves, and he was one of the stars of one of the biggest TV shows of the year. and he's gay

Felcher (Felcher), Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:37 (twenty years ago) link

The 21st century needs it's own Barry Manilow.

ham on rye (ham on rye), Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:38 (twenty years ago) link

I'm just not sure what kind of pop star he is exactly. Who would you compare him to?

s1utsky (slutsky), Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:39 (twenty years ago) link

I think I read something (maybe the AI website?) where Clay listed his two musical heroes as Peter Cetera and Jon Secada. I think that says it all.

Rich, Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:42 (twenty years ago) link

My mom thinks Clay looks like:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000002NG2.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Charles McCain (Charles McCain), Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:43 (twenty years ago) link

I don't see it.

Charles McCain (Charles McCain), Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:43 (twenty years ago) link

Clay is Erlend Oye

Did Ken Stabler not see Cliff Branch? Or is he a racist? YOU MAKE THE CALL.

Andy K (Andy K), Thursday, 26 June 2003 19:55 (twenty years ago) link

good call on erlend oye, never noticed it.

Felcher (Felcher), Thursday, 26 June 2003 20:06 (twenty years ago) link

I'm sure Rob is a fine writer, but his review of Cobain's writings was a hysterical and gushing rave over what was essentially literary excrement. I don't recall the exact quotes, but what he used as examples of Cobain's forward-thinking genius actually derailed his argument, since they were on a sub-Jewel level.

ham on rye (ham on rye), Thursday, 26 June 2003 20:06 (twenty years ago) link

I suspect that most music magazines are not as racist as the A&R divisions of the record companies that said magazines are created to serve, particularly in the case of Rolling Stone. It's impossible to even imagine that Ruben would sell as many or more copies than Clay. When you come right down to it, white people have a larger share of the gross domestic magazine/album budget than blacks do, and identifying with/wanting to identify with the person is the first step in selling a personality. Hence: Put the skinny white boy on the cover.

Millar (Millar), Thursday, 26 June 2003 20:35 (twenty years ago) link

Ruben won -- for all intents and purposes, he was the most popular before the issue came out.

Actually, there's a lot of dispute about Ruben actually winning. Conspiracy theories abound, as with most reality shows. As someone who was really into American Idol for no possible reason I can imagine, I can tell you that they were a fuck of a lot more Clay fans online than Ruben fans.

My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Thursday, 26 June 2003 22:20 (twenty years ago) link

Isn't Ruben fat, though? One could claim this was a size thing just as much as a race one (Blind Melon got on the cover but Blues Traveler never did).

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 26 June 2003 22:22 (twenty years ago) link

Well, at least by including Clay on their cover, Rolling Stone isn't homophobic. :)

maria b (maria b), Thursday, 26 June 2003 22:31 (twenty years ago) link

haha - "Clay Straight"

James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 26 June 2003 22:33 (twenty years ago) link

ruben is mo vaughn

keith (keithmcl), Thursday, 26 June 2003 22:47 (twenty years ago) link

clay is brady anderson?

Yanc3y (ystrickler), Thursday, 26 June 2003 22:49 (twenty years ago) link

yes!

James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 26 June 2003 22:50 (twenty years ago) link

OMG!!! Simon is Lou Pinella!!!!
Paula = Bobby Valentine

Yanc3y (ystrickler), Thursday, 26 June 2003 22:51 (twenty years ago) link

Clay is actually pre-super veteran Kent Tekulve

Andy K (Andy K), Friday, 27 June 2003 00:29 (twenty years ago) link

I'd love the very much out now Jann Wenner to start running a homophobic magazine, that would be hysterical! (haha actually it wouldn't)

M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 27 June 2003 00:47 (twenty years ago) link

But Rolling Stone isn't a niche mag like Vibe. It's, for all intents and purposes, a pop magazine

Do you seriously think that Vibe is a "quote" niche magazine? Is that a more inherently racist assumption than any guess around Rolling Stone's covers?

Not that I think you're racist, Yanc3y, but I think the assertion that Vibe is "niche" is one of the silliest things I've ever seen on ILM.

hstencil, Friday, 27 June 2003 03:01 (twenty years ago) link

Rich: I think they mention the fact in the article that Clay's single had gotten four times as many pre-orders as Ruben's.

todd burns (toddburns), Friday, 27 June 2003 03:11 (twenty years ago) link

Vibe largely tries to cover r'n'b and rap, with a small reggae column and occasional articles about other musicians generally linked to music styles identified with the African diaspora. Compared to the range of genres and performers Rolling Stone tries to cover, that is a niche, albeit a very big one.

Steve Kiviat (Steve K), Friday, 27 June 2003 03:30 (twenty years ago) link

Haha rich continues to confirm his status as my archenemy.

Justin, Em, and Xtina are fucking great you guilty-liberal fuck.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 27 June 2003 03:48 (twenty years ago) link

Sterling shut the fuck up.

Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 27 June 2003 04:03 (twenty years ago) link

for serious yanc3, how played is the "ooh ripping off black music" shit and how wrong has it proven to be EVERY TIME. Or fuck it lets go one better -- how is it that nearly every artist accused historically of "ripping off black music" has proven to be vital important and ultimately the birth of something DIFFT!!!

Like okay yeah throw xtina out then elvis then the beatles then the yardbirds then ALL ROCK EVER and then um, all euro-rave, all techno not made by mills & co., all punk that's dub inflected and etc. coz that's all "stealing" and et fucking c. Then what do you have? Boring bland motherfucking segregationist seperate-but-equal cultural "purity"!!! Yeah white boys and girls can stop jacking hip-hop and R&B when rappers stop sampling music that's written using the 12-tone scale. Step, fool.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 27 June 2003 04:10 (twenty years ago) link

at least when trife race-baits its in the service of good music.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 27 June 2003 04:11 (twenty years ago) link

sterl i agree that the "ripping off black music" card is trite and faulty very fucking often. however, i snapped at you cuz:

1) rich is a close friend of mine ("guilty-liberal fuck" you called him)
2) his argument above (he and i talked about this earlier today) has nothing to do with the elvis-chuck d beef or any of the rest of that tired shit, all he's saying (and correctly, i believe) is that it seems like when rs is faced with the choice of putting a black artist on their cover or their white counterpart, 120 times oughtta 100 rs picks the honky. so why is that? is it for the same reason that a million hacks have said elvis made rock big ("white america felt safe with mr. presley, unlike the dark-toned folks from which he stole his stylings")? is it cuz black faces, for some reason, don't sell?

anyway, my point is i'm not about to argue with what you say above cuz ofuckingcourse that's the case. but rich (if i can speak for him) wasn't trying for something that broad.

Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 27 June 2003 04:46 (twenty years ago) link

is it cuz black faces, for some reason, don't sell? - this is the reason usually given when they're called on it. I know the Biggie and Outkast covers for Spin supposedly sold for dick.

James Blount (James Blount), Friday, 27 June 2003 04:54 (twenty years ago) link

earlier i was trying to think of the last time spin did a black cover. i couldn't think of it.

Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:01 (twenty years ago) link

i wonder if the natalie imbruglia cover is their worst selling iss ever? i hope not cuz one of the articles in there was about how my old roommate has huge balls (he does!).

Yanc3y (ystrickler), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:03 (twenty years ago) link

no way - I can guarantee you one of their eighties issues (maybe even one with a black artist, though I'd put my money on either Nick Cave or Sa-Fire) is their least selling evah.

James Blount (James Blount), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:12 (twenty years ago) link

I'm sure it's nostalgia and seeing the world thru twelve year old eyes, but God I loved eighties Spin.

James Blount (James Blount), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:13 (twenty years ago) link

Yanc3: rich an i have a, ahem, history which i was mildly clowing on/playfully acting overagressive becuz of. not that i agree with him 99% of the time anyway, but thats slightly seperate. anyway he's flamed me enuf that i know he can stand up for himself.

more to the point if asking for the "black counterpart" of em or xtina wasn't so stupid i'd dare you or him to put a credible one up. i doubt i could, just like i doubt i could find a "white counterpart" to 50 cent or haha ms. dynamite or george clinton or deltron or michael jackson (haha not and JT does NOT count. yet.). (oh and actually guilty-liberal etc. has probably been one of my #1 gripes with rich since backintheday)

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:30 (twenty years ago) link

I heard their worst-selling recent issue was the Fatboy Slim cover, actually

M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:35 (twenty years ago) link

what about Usher, Sterl?

M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:37 (twenty years ago) link

surely the Fatboy isn't worst all time though?

James Blount (James Blount), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:41 (twenty years ago) link

usher's not adorable enough. like would he do that bit at the end of Senorita? or would he even go for hopped-up timba and neps productions or only their smoother stuff?

the neps went all silly-funk and chickenscratch (and timbo ripoff) for JT but for usher they just gave him these gnarly orchestrated decays. okay usher can dance better but since when has RS EVER cared about that? (also asirecall we had the usher vs. jt debate some ages ago and perry stood nearly alone)

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:42 (twenty years ago) link

(can't link right now but the thread was This Is Another Thread To Wonder What People See in Justin Timberlake and finney mopped the floor saying sorta what I said but better)

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:45 (twenty years ago) link

usher's not adorable enough?!!! you better not say that shit in atlanta sterling!

James Blount (James Blount), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:47 (twenty years ago) link

also, it should be noted that usher's and jt's motivations in working with the neps/timba (and vice versa) are decidedly different

James Blount (James Blount), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:49 (twenty years ago) link

i mean i (you, one, whoever) might want to get rubbed up and down by him, but not exactly to tussel his hair and bring him home to mama.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 27 June 2003 05:52 (twenty years ago) link

I don't feel particularly guilty about anything, except maybe that riding my dick takes up some of your time, Sterling. Yancey explained what didn't even need to be explained in the first place.

But, hey, if I were a judge on America's Next Top Model, I'd give you points for extrapolating.

Rich, Friday, 27 June 2003 05:53 (twenty years ago) link

glad to know that if rs isn't going homophobic SOMONE is keeping up the good work. anyway i still dare you to explain to me how Xtina "co-opts" and why this is bad.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 27 June 2003 06:06 (twenty years ago) link

and anyway i mean guilty liberal is the kind way to put it. the other would be neo-con in multicult clothing.

Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 27 June 2003 06:09 (twenty years ago) link

I'm not afraid to admit that your words rarely make sense to me, Sterling, particularly when you're flying off the handle.

Bad? Did I say bad? I don't buy Aguilera's homegirl routine. I don't think she's particularly soulful, and that's what I'd say she's shooting for. But that doesn't mean her music isn't entirely unenjoyable.

Me homophobic? Never, queer.

Rich, Friday, 27 June 2003 06:21 (twenty years ago) link

"Grandma's lousy at baseball" -- Bob Saget

Larcole (Nicole), Friday, 18 July 2003 17:49 (twenty years ago) link

haha!

James Blount (James Blount), Friday, 18 July 2003 18:02 (twenty years ago) link

So, the NEW issue of Rolling Stone has Ruben on the cover. Now, this begs a couple of questions:

(1) Is Rolling Stone simply bowing to critiscism and backpeddling furiously by putting him on the cover in an effort to save face?

(2) *WHO*GIVES*A*FUCK*ABOUT*AMERICAN*IDOL*ANYWAY?

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 31 July 2003 22:49 (twenty years ago) link

maybe they are racist towards caucasians too.

keith (keithmcl), Thursday, 31 July 2003 22:52 (twenty years ago) link

wtf - they shoulda just done multi-covers like I assumed they did in the first place

nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Thursday, 31 July 2003 23:07 (twenty years ago) link

Question is: Will RS print a swath of vacuous, arse-lickingly sycophantic letters by Ruben fans? Or would cater "catering to a fringe group"* not be "cost-effective"

*=This was an actual comment made by the owner of MTV, re "black music" before they bought out by Viacom.

Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Friday, 1 August 2003 11:59 (twenty years ago) link

sixteen years pass...

Bump for Twitter's trip back into the time machine to Dec. 2010.

Pauline Male (Eric H.), Monday, 21 October 2019 15:00 (four years ago) link

People don't like Elvis?

☮ (peace, man), Monday, 21 October 2019 15:06 (four years ago) link

^I mean, I don't really either, but that seems to be what people are upset about the most.

☮ (peace, man), Monday, 21 October 2019 15:08 (four years ago) link

people seem to be mad at dylan at #7 best singer ever.

but all my favorite singers couldn't sing

flopsy bird (voodoo chili), Monday, 21 October 2019 15:10 (four years ago) link

this thread is so good actually

dyl, Monday, 21 October 2019 16:08 (four years ago) link

We need to bring TNC back to ILM.

Mr. Snrub, Monday, 21 October 2019 17:24 (four years ago) link

"bob dylan can't sing" is the most boring and eternal of takes

american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, 21 October 2019 17:26 (four years ago) link

otm

flopsy bird (voodoo chili), Monday, 21 October 2019 17:28 (four years ago) link

Is Vibe racist? They only put black people on their cover.

Post #4, lol... very efficient thread

drunk on hot toddies (morrisp), Monday, 21 October 2019 17:30 (four years ago) link

I am done

I agree 100%.... I love Tom Waits, but he is NOT a great singer.

— The Rev (@revchristopher) October 21, 2019

flopsy bird (voodoo chili), Monday, 21 October 2019 17:54 (four years ago) link

how can you like tom waits and also think that he's not a good singer? he can do things with his voice that absolutely nobody else can, or would even think to do. you don't need to have to sound like a pure angel to be a good singer, fergodsake.

flopsy bird (voodoo chili), Monday, 21 October 2019 17:59 (four years ago) link

he can do things with his voice that absolutely nobody else can, or would even think to do

Thank God.

Michael Oliver of Penge Wins £5 (Tom D.), Monday, 21 October 2019 18:19 (four years ago) link

Anyway, he said great singer.

Michael Oliver of Penge Wins £5 (Tom D.), Monday, 21 October 2019 18:20 (four years ago) link

agreed. is mike patton a good singer? I'd say so.

akm, Monday, 21 October 2019 18:22 (four years ago) link

he is a great singer. learn to embrace your fellow tom!

thicc elizabeth (voodoo chili), Monday, 21 October 2019 18:22 (four years ago) link

"bob dylan can't sing" is the most boring and eternal of takes

Also the truest.

Pauline Male (Eric H.), Monday, 21 October 2019 18:23 (four years ago) link

i’ve spent a lot of time listening to bob dylan and it isn’t remotely true

american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, 21 October 2019 18:31 (four years ago) link

crazy to see Ta-Nehisi Coates in an ILM thread

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 21 October 2019 19:22 (four years ago) link

"Joe ****er"

Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 21 October 2019 22:35 (four years ago) link

xp. imagine the direction his life could have taken if he had gotten really into having back and forths with geir or deej on here all day

Seany's too Dyche to mention (jim in vancouver), Monday, 21 October 2019 22:48 (four years ago) link

lol

"Couldn't agree with you more, Coates."

(this is a good thread, btw)

drunk on hot toddies (morrisp), Monday, 21 October 2019 22:54 (four years ago) link

"bob dylan can't sing" is the most boring and eternal of takes

― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, October 21, 2019 5:26 PM (five hours ago)

^^^ so true

it is frustrating how ppl who would probably recognize what dumb reactionary bullshit the "you have to sing a certain way to be a GOOD singer" attitude is if they heard it applied to, like, bjork or yoko ono or joe strummer or howlin' wolf or whoever -- these same ppl will turn around and insist that dylan "can't sing," rather than just "i don't like bob dylan" (which is totally fine). never stops being incredibly fucking annoying.

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 21 October 2019 23:06 (four years ago) link

people who think bob dylan can't sing should hear me sing "sara" in the shower

Seany's too Dyche to mention (jim in vancouver), Monday, 21 October 2019 23:09 (four years ago) link

people who think bob dylan can't sing should hear bob dylan sing "sara" in the shower

Michael Oliver of Penge Wins £5 (Tom D.), Monday, 21 October 2019 23:15 (four years ago) link

I'd have to go back and figure out how this relates to the thread title, but: up to and including 1966, Bob Dylan couldn't sing brilliantly, then he couldn't sing exceptionally well up until 1974, and after that, a lot of the time, he couldn't sing.

clemenza, Monday, 21 October 2019 23:18 (four years ago) link

lol xp

Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 21 October 2019 23:19 (four years ago) link

bob dylan is obviously one of the best singers in the history of sound recording; didn't know there was still a contrarian school on this.

difficult listening hour, Monday, 21 October 2019 23:22 (four years ago) link

it's because he's such a good singer that it's okay he's such an uneven writer.

difficult listening hour, Monday, 21 October 2019 23:24 (four years ago) link

i screamed at joe ****er

dyl, Monday, 21 October 2019 23:51 (four years ago) link


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