THis is a thread where you try and remember the soulless pap from the eighties

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Dude, I went to college with the lead singer of Anything Box. She was already rocking the fan haircut even then.

mike a (mike a), Friday, 18 April 2003 15:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

Thompson Twins do not deserve to be classified as "pap". Their "Sidekicks" album still sounds less dated to me than most 80s pop.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 18 April 2003 16:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

Shit! Fucking Pimba is after me! Arghhhhhhhhhhhh! Pimba at ILM?! Nothing is sacred anymore.

André Fontes (André Fontes), Friday, 18 April 2003 17:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

That rules, Mike. All I remember about Anything Box were a ton of 12"s my friend had... I guess his friend's older sister gave them away.

Aaron W (Aaron W), Friday, 18 April 2003 17:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Living In Oblivion" was great

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 18 April 2003 17:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

i confess a secret fondness for Peter Cetera. "you're the inspiration" brings memories of vacationing in florida and being strangely attracted to the smell of Panama Jack suntan lotion.

Dave M. (rotten03), Friday, 18 April 2003 17:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

thompson twins is THE most naff band evah!

Jay K (Jay K), Friday, 18 April 2003 22:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

I totally second/third/fourth Thompson Twins and Go West, but I have no problem remembering "Shattered Dreams." Haven't heard any other Johnny Hates Jazz.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 18 April 2003 23:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

Waitaminute.....you're discrediting the Thompson Twins yet defending Johnny Hates Jazz?

Such a flagrant skewing of all semblance of logic boggles the mind.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 18 April 2003 23:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

see, Alex. I'm simply judging song against song rather than haircut against haircut (I'm certainly not taking into account whether they "earned" that haircut). I definitely like "Shattered Dreams" over any of the boring-as-hell-and-surprisingly-plenty Thompson Twins songs I catch on VH1 Classic. That's all I'm saying.

Though I liked their song on Red Hot & Blue when I last heard it.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 18 April 2003 23:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

What, even "Hold Me Now"? You pain me.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 18 April 2003 23:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

(a) You're an ass, Anthony.

(b) Who is talking about haircuts? I'm talking about SONGS! Fuckin' "Lies," "Love on Your Side" and, yes, fuckin' "Hold Me Now" are LIGHT YEARS better than fuckin' "Shattered Dreams".

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 18 April 2003 23:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

Soulless pap from the eighties??? I will defend to my grave the merits of "Shattered Dreams," "Don't Dream It's Over," "Hold Me Now," and "Glory of Love." Maybe it's because I grew up with 'em.

Evan (Evan), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

Right. So, I'm off to watch VH-1!

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

re-looking at the title, I don't think I could call the Thompson Twins soulless. Just pappy (or at the very least boring). I don't like calling things I don't like soulless. It's just too Jim DeRogatis-like. Plus I just realized how good Devo is this month, so I don't think willful soullessness is necessarily a bad thing anyway.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

evan is otm, this music is great.

michael wells (michael w.), Saturday, 19 April 2003 00:44 (twenty-one years ago) link

So we're letting
Hue and Cry
The Blow Monkeys
Danny Wilson and
Deacon Blue
off the hook are we?

Kim Tortoise, Saturday, 19 April 2003 12:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

Blow Monkeys yes

stevem (blueski), Saturday, 19 April 2003 12:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

Johnny Hates Jazz was actually kind of underrated. Nice melodies and actually the lyrics were quite good too. The production was kind of slick and boring, but not any worse than most pop productions from 87-88 anyway.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 19 April 2003 13:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

So we're letting
Hue and Cry
The Blow Monkeys
Danny Wilson and
Deacon Blue
off the hook are we?

-- Kim Tortoise

I posted Deacon Blue a bit further up the thread and I think someone else mentined Hue & Cry. They were execrable, as is Peter Kane's music writing, which raises an interesting question: I have no musical talent whatever beyond being a reasonable DJ, yet have no problems seeing my opinions on music as being worth enough to be published. However when someone like Kane writes, I have trouble seeing his work as being worth anything, partly because I find him incredibly turgid to read, but largely due to the fact that he made abysmal music and this colours his opinions for me... is this wrong? By the way Johnny Hates Jazz were irretrievably crap and the Thompson Twins are categorically soulless! Dreadful bilge of the lowest order!

Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Saturday, 19 April 2003 14:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

Uh, Animotion anyone? Anyone?

Matt Maxwell (Matt M.), Saturday, 19 April 2003 14:49 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ooops ... major amendment to my Hue & Cry post I meant PAT Kane not Peter Kane ... dunno why I typed that, put it down to my hangover!

Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Saturday, 19 April 2003 14:55 (twenty-one years ago) link

Animotion ruled, in that 'Obssession' was SO Human League

stevem (blueski), Saturday, 19 April 2003 15:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

probably in the 'too obvious' category, but for me the unholy trinity has always been mike and the mechanics, mr. mister, and cutting crew.

made me livid to hear that stuff dominating u.s. radio airwaves in the mid to late eighties.

robert palmer also made me want to kill, particularly "she used to look good to me, but now i find her...simply irresistable". AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm trying not to mention don henley "all she wants to do is dance"...like the way pious folk are terrified to even think of the names of demons

i used to loathe phil collins' eighties output like all other decent human beings, but now i have come to appreciate what i see as the weird sort of extreme repetition in a few of his songs...it's almost spiritualized-like or something... that "take, take, me home ('cos i don't remember)" song seems to repeat that bit for a really, really, really long time, and it's not just the fact that it's a crap song that makes it seem never-ending. weird production too, even by eighties too-many-lines-of-coke-laid out-on-the-mixing board standards. he's the jason pierce for your mom and dad?

Dallas Yertle (Dallas Yertle), Sunday, 20 April 2003 03:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

People people, DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS MAN!!! All those songs are great (except for "All She Wants to Do Is Dance" which is just okay).

Evan (Evan), Sunday, 20 April 2003 03:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

The narrator in Phil Collins' songs always sounds like some kind of secret agent. I'd like to get inside Phil Collins' head and see how he imagines himself.

I really like "Follow You Follow Me" by Genesis for all the same reasons Geir probably does.

Kris (aqueduct), Sunday, 20 April 2003 03:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

there ain't nothing 'okay' about "all she wants to do is dance". it's pretty much satanic.

phil collins' song persona is definitely freaky. remember the urban legend inspired by "in the air tonight"?

is it genesis or just phil who do that 'lonely man there on the corner' song? that song's kind of strange. especially the part where he starts shouting the lyrics. and the he goes to the quietly sung bridge...the lyrics are like a weird mish-mash of 'fool on the hill' and 'nowhere man', if you think about it.

i just remembered another unforgiveable one. that "future so bright, i gotta wear shades" thing by timbuk2 or whatever they were called.

Dallas Yertle (Dallas Yertle), Sunday, 20 April 2003 04:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

remember the urban legend inspired by "in the air tonight"?

Actually, no. Do tell.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Sunday, 20 April 2003 04:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

snopes.com (they have a music category) or one of the other urban legend sites will fill you in better than i can, but here goes...(without referencing it myself before writing this, in true urban legend style i doubtless will further distort and twist and embellish the tale)

a rumour started that the lyrics referred to some guy who had stabbed a friend or ex-lover of phil collins or some nonsense like that. i don't even recall the lyrics very well, so i can't remember if they even refer to the exact nature of the deed. maybe the villain pushed the victim off of a cliff...or it was a hit-and-run or something...a drowning, maybe?

anyway, supposedly phil wrote the song in an effort to get the baddie to confess to his dirty deed...the idea being that hearing this crap phil collins song played on the radio constantly would just overwhelm the guy with guilt. (the rest of us, of course, were overwhelmed with emotions of a different sort...)

there is an especially ludicrous/insanely dramatic thread to the tale, or possibly this is the main point of the story, wherein, supposedly during a performance one evening, phil had the spotlights strategically shine on the bad guy (who for whatever bizarre reason, was in attendance) during the most accusatory lyrical moment in the song. and then the music stopped or something...maybe he was pretty much doing it acappella by this point for dramatic effect...and then presumably the local authorities were on standby to shackle the guy and lead him off to the hoosegow. it's like a fucking twisted scooby doo episode or something. (in my revisionist version, they also haul off phil for assorted crimes against music...)

sorry for being too lazy to do the research right now. i was hoping everyone already knew the story/someone else would chime in with it. go to the snopes site and check it out. it's really pretty funny. (as are some of the other music urban legends there. like the one about ohio players 'rollercoaster' being a 'snuff song')

has there been a music urban legends thread on here? guess i should search.

Dallas Yertle (Dallas Yertle), Sunday, 20 April 2003 05:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

since i very vaguely remember some Blow Monkeys song being on the dirty dancing soundtrack but don't remember at all how it went, i guess they qualify as "soulless eighties pap." the only thing that would make the Blow Monkeys exceptional is that AMG makes she was only a grocer's daughter a "recommended pick" for just about everything. i mean, what the fuck? did Dr. Robert (or whatever the fuck that ponce lead singer's name was) have butt-sex with some "lucky" AMG staffer or something?

other mentions -- information society; wild wild west; all of those third-rate late-eighties Madonna wannabes; winger.

Tad (llamasfur), Sunday, 20 April 2003 05:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

has there been a music urban legends thread on here?

Looks like snopes has it pretty much covered.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Sunday, 20 April 2003 05:27 (twenty-one years ago) link


I don't think the Blow Monkeys qualify 'cause they were kinda political, as were Hue and Crap. I actually like Pat Kane's journalism, he does get RATHER pompous at times though. Johnny Hates Jazz don't really qualify as they were so bland that it makes one wonder if they ever actually existed.

My favourite Phil Collins'urban legend' is about when he wrote that pissawful mawkish Moter Teresa effort about the homeless, and then announced that he would leave the UK for Switzerland if Labour got in and dared to raise taxes to address social problems.

Having said that, I have a very good older friend who still listens to his music. Some people have NO SHAME.

Gatinha (rwillmsen), Sunday, 20 April 2003 06:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

I don't judge music by politics anyway. After all, I'd certainly never have voted for Rick Wakeman or Neil Peart as a prime minister or president, but those two still make excellent music.

On the other hand, Rage Against The Machine would probably make great US presidents, while their absolutely terrible "music" is just tuneless noise and completely unlistenable.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 20 April 2003 12:57 (twenty-one years ago) link


What I meant was that there was a discernable reason for their existence, so they are very slightly more, er, laudable (?!?) than the likes of Then Jericho etc.

Gatinha (rwillmsen), Sunday, 20 April 2003 13:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

THE ALARM!!!!!!!! how could we forget that welsh disaster of a band!!!!?

Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Sunday, 20 April 2003 13:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

Worst thread ever!

the pinefox, Sunday, 20 April 2003 14:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Alarm were brilliant - one of the best bands of the 80s. Catchy choruses that you can sing along to in the pub is what makes a good song.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 20 April 2003 17:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

The word "pap" papers over a whole complex of unexamined knee-jerk stereotypes, I tried starting a thread about it one time but I think it went nowhere.

I think the Pinefox missed one of I Love Music's very first FAPs in order to see a Johnny Hates Jazz reunion concert (if I recall correctly)??

Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 20 April 2003 18:00 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Alarm were brilliant - one of the best bands of the 80s. Catchy choruses that you can sing along to in the pub is what makes a good song.

Why did I have some vague idea that you might just pop up and say that Geir? The alarm were most definitely not brilliant! I have decided, on the strength of this comment, that you are making all of this up and I don't believe you.

Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Sunday, 20 April 2003 18:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

I didn't mind the Alarm at first (circa "the Stand" and even "Strength"), but by the time they limped out with "I Love to Feel the Rain in the Summertime," they were making Simple Minds sound like the greatest band in the universe.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Alarm were only great on their first two albums, after that they got very bad. But those two albums (particularly "Strength") are still incredibly great albums. The choruses of "The Stand", "68 Guns", "Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke", "Strength" and "Spirit Of '76" were all among the best choruses of all time.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

As for 80s music that was actually bad:

Public Enemy
De La Soul
Run DMC
Beastie Boys
Europe
Cinderella
Poison
M/A/R/R/S
Bomb The Bass
Bros
New Kids On The Block
Breathe
Curiousity Killed The Cat
Samantha Fox
Sabrina

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

There's nothing wrong with the song "Hold Me Now". That is all.

Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

Assessing Geir's List:

Public Enemy - You're a cloth-eared IDIOT if you can't hear the brilliance in Public Enemy's first three albums.

De La Soul - Not my favorites, but had some decent moments.

Run DMC - Ditto.

Beastie Boys - Fuck you. Beastie Boys are brillaint.

Europe - Crap.

Cinderella - Embarassing, yes, but had the odd decent track.

Poison - Utter crap.

M/A/R/R/S - Why are you picking on a one-hit wonder? You're a jackass.

Bomb The Bass - Produced at least two tracks worth hearing.

Bros - Never heard'em over here.

New Kids On The Block - Crap, of course.

Breathe - Don't know'em.

Curiousity Killed The Cat - Meaningless.

Samantha Fox - Crap.

Sabrina - Crap.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

Geir you already mentioned you think the rap and dance stuff is bad so i dont know why you bother here as well. most of the acts in your little list made fine or even GREAT records at some point

stevem (blueski), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:44 (twenty-one years ago) link

Bros were nobheads but 'When Will I Be Famous' isnt too bad for shallow 80s pop

New Kids - pretty dross, but no worse than N Sync

Breathe - one hit wonder, dreary ballad

Curiosity Killed The Cat - Misfit and Down To Earth were big childhood faves, they can stay

Sam Fox and Sabrina - a modicum of camp and humourous value at least

stevem (blueski), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's really funny to imagine Vince Gill singing Alex's post.

The 80s Beastie Boys were about 8 trillion times better than the 90s Beastie Boys, and anyone who doesn't at least like "Fight For Your Right" is completely insane. That song ruined my life and I still love it. Geir in not liking rap music shockah, etc.

Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

How the hell can anybody hate Public Enemy??? They're so much better than any rap group around today that it's sad.

Evan (Evan), Monday, 21 April 2003 09:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

The choruses of "The Stand", "68 Guns", "Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke", "Strength" and "Spirit Of '76" were all among the best choruses of all time.

Geir, this statement coupled with your list makes it clear that you do not mean any of this. You cannot possibly use the words "best" and "of all time" in conjunction with The Alarm! Then saying that Public Enemy, Run DMC and De La Soul made bad music further reinforces the plain idiocy of this statement - if you are joking, then you are getting close to comedy genius, but if you're not I am quite frankly lost for words.
You are so wrong a deaf person could tell you so. I would venture to say that Run DMC were THE most important band of the past three decades, that Public Enemy made music that changed my life and De La Soul went on to make it even better.
While I don't normally set much store by notions of "taste", you obviously do and, I'm sorry to say, yours is truly abysmal! How do you place the aforementioned bands in a list with Curiosity Killed The Cat and Bros? Utterly dumbfounded...

Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Monday, 21 April 2003 10:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

Someone please club Geir with a sizeable frozen sea bass.

Eric Idle to thread, then!

Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 21 April 2003 22:21 (twenty-one years ago) link

as per geir's request, in the future please kindly remember to keep all rhythm in the background, so as not to 'harm' the music. we all know how delicate music is, especially when confronted by nasties such as percussion instruments...may we never forget the tragic case of the beatles, whose brilliant chord progressions, melodies, and harmonies suffered great casualties as a result of ringo's drumming, paul's bass playing, john's rhythm guitar parts, and the insistence of george on using rhythmic cues to guide his lead parts.

even mere handclapping, finger-snapping, toe-tapping, or head-nodding could be deadly to the harmonic and melodic components. ideally, all rhythm, and hence all notion of reference points regarding constructs of time, should be obliterated from music. the best music is silence, since the vibration of the air that is involved in any aural phenomenon inherently partakes of the non-european disease of rhythm.

i was going to post a question to ile along the lines of "who is at the vanguard of comedy these days?...who is coming up with the most indisputably hilarious shit? absolutely essential yuks?" but i guess i've found my comedic saviour in geir's unrelentingly gut-busting deadpan shtick. he does it so well; never dropping character for a second, never skipping a beat...oops, didn't mean to upset him with that blatant reference to rhythm...

i wonder if he has initiated a campaign to rid the norwegian white supremacist black metal bands of any rhythm that exists in that sadly corrupted european artform. we all know that any overprominent rhythmic elements in the neo-nazi black metal stuff are the result of a sinister infiltration by non-europeans, or people trying to piss off their white supremacist parents, or some such conspiracy. heil hongro, etc.

Dallas Yertle (Dallas Yertle), Monday, 21 April 2003 23:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

Yet another example of an idiot who likes to put skin colour on music.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 21 April 2003 23:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

that you are sir that you are

James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 21 April 2003 23:41 (twenty-one years ago) link

Hey Geir, the Greeks invented logic and rhetoric too, you might wanna check those out.

hstencil, Monday, 21 April 2003 23:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

No, I am not putting skin colour on music. There is no such thing as "white" or "black" music. The only difference is between good music and bad music. The good music is the melodically and harmonically complex one, and the most head music oriented one.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:04 (twenty-one years ago) link

Geir - when you state european music=good music, african music = bad music, you're putting a skin color on music.

James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

I don't. If Africans make melodic music, then they make good music. If Europeans make rhythmic music, then they make bad music.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:07 (twenty-one years ago) link

oh, so if africans make music that belongs to a white tradition it's good music and if europeans make music that belongs to a black tradition it's bad music?

James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:14 (twenty-one years ago) link

There is no such thing as "white" tradition or "black" tradition. Forget about skin colour. Skin colour isn't important.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

is death metal european?

RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

No rock is entirely European. However, the melodic and harmonic traditions are European, and should be forever kept alive in rock music and all other popular music forms.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm confused why melodic and rhythmic are being used as opposite ends of the spectrum. I know plenty of songs where great melodies are played over pronounced and repetitve rhythms.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

Sure, I know what you mean. When I say "rhytmic", I mean rhythmic as in "no or little emphasis on melody/harmony"

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

geir has great, repetitive beats but no variation in the foreground.

RJG (RJG), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

haha!

James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

if melody is a european tradition how is it not a white tradition? if rhythm (your definition) isn't a african tradition how is it not a black tradition? if you're saying european (ie. white) traditions should be kept alive in all popular music forms how is that not putting a skin color on music? how are your arguments any different from the standard 'defending our culture' white supremacists tropes (he asks for the third time today)?

James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

if melody is a european tradition how is it not a white tradition?

Why does it matter where the tradition comes from anyway?

The point is that melody has proved superior to all other musical forms. And as such, it should be used universially. Never mind about ethic origin, because that isn't important. Music in itself is the only important thing here.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Geir, you don't actually exist do you? No-one can be that wrong, that consistently. There must be some fiendish computer somewhere programmed to endlessly issue absolutist piffle till the end of time."
(comment by dadaismus from another thread)

i've been forced to revise my take on the geir-as-comic-genius theory, after further viewing of these beyond-inanities that he keeps spitting out like clockwork. (oops, there i go again with the rhythm thing)

he is definitely a comic genius, but "he" is also in reality a computer program, as propounded above. the program is not fiendish, though, but is part of extremely successful AI research attempting to simulate absurd comedic personas. it's not unlike those computers that blow away the russian chess grandmasters. the geir program demonstrates a more consistent and speedier absurdist wit than any human would be capable of doing. the 'absolutist piffle' is not an earnest attempt to put forth a coherent argument but rather is meant to tickle the funny bone in a most sublime fashion.

Dallas Yertle (Dallas Yertle), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

Geir may be right that he doesn't practice discrimination based on skin color--he's on to a different form of bigotry.

Amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

but it has not 'proved superior to all other musical forms' (and besides - isn't melody the only musical form by definition?). if it has it wouldn't be europe wouldn't be losing the war to africa. oh, and nice dodge. and the way you only have five (maybe six) different responses to any stimulas makes me think you really are a computer program in which case I'm not going to wast my time arguing with cryptofacist eurocentric computer programs.

James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

"As long as the melodic and harmonic qualities of European music remain untouched, it doesn't matter whether other things are added in addition. There is nothing wrong with a drum pulse as long as it is kept in the background and doesn't disturb the overall total dominance of the melody and its belonging harmonies" sez Geir.

This is really funny. I read quite a few websites and newsgroups which are full of extreme right-wingers - keeping an eye on the enemy, all that sort of thing. I can *easily* imagine these (mostly British) far-right apologists writing *exactly* those words as an explanation of why the Beatles are acceptable to them but hip-hop is not.

I wonder if Geir votes for the Norwegian far-right party (is it called the Popular Party? Populist Party? Peoples' Party? whatever ...)

robin carmody (robin carmody), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

I actually belong to the left. Music isn't politics. Music is music and should be valued exclusively as music in itself.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

Melody isn't losing to rhythm. Grunge happened, Britpop happened, and other reactions will happen too. They will all win in the long run, causing fans of rhythm-oriented music to write nasty threads filled with hatred of Oasis, Coldplay, Travis, or even The Beatles.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 00:50 (twenty-one years ago) link

Geir - I wasn't trying to suggest that music was politics, more that your attitude has some nasty correlations with the worst aspects of your country's political past and present.

I hate the three contemporary bands you mention (although I love the Beatles, precisely because they have more than one influence, more than one song, more than one emotional mood etc, whereas the other three are one-trick ponies). But I don't feel the need to rant against them on here. Suckers who relate to the plodding emotional nothingness of "Clocks", "In My Place", "Sing", "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" and the like can appreciate it if they like - I genuinely couldn't give a shit if they do. So why do you feel the need to rant against the music that *you* dislike?

robin carmody (robin carmody), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 01:19 (twenty-one years ago) link

But I don't feel the need to rant against them on here. Suckers who relate to the plodding emotional nothingness of "Clocks", "In My Place", "Sing", "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" and the like can appreciate it if they like - I genuinely couldn't give a shit if they do.

Obviously, a lot of people think differently than you.

Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 22 April 2003 08:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

Oh no! Hongro vs Carmody: ILM's final chapter has begun! Oh no!

the pinefox, Tuesday, 22 April 2003 10:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

eighteen years pass...


Pythagoras (dunno if that is the correct English spelling) was definitely among those who worked with this. He may not have been the first one, but he was the one that was closest to the harmony system still used in the West today.
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 21 April 2003 21:23 (eighteen years ago)

Actually Pythagoras' tuning system is closer to Arab/african arab and asian tunings. You see dear old chap, the problem is Europe itself in a way killed melody by inventing equal temperality. An absolute development of harmony means absolute melody as pure unmodulated expression is radically underdeveloped (this is why The Beatles had to crib tips from Indian classical.) Terry Riley only half understood this, tablas are also melodic instruments. cordal counterpoint is the original sin, which was absolutely not invented by 'them Africans.' Bach's music only makes sense on harpsichord and nothing else! everyone who adapted his music for piano is to blame here. You killed melody Geir, you really did, chief.

RobbiePires, Thursday, 14 October 2021 20:28 (two years ago) link


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