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The Best Show on WFMU => Show Discussion => Topic started by: senorcorazon on June 01, 2010, 09:15:40 PM

Title: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: senorcorazon on June 01, 2010, 09:15:40 PM
Possible topic: which rock musician would be most disappointed by what he/she has become? Which would freak out the most if a time machine dropped music from the present into 1972? My guess is Eric Clapton -- Layla-era coked out Clapton hearing Tears in Heaven? Things would be smashed.

FOT PScan has a good guess: Rod Stewart.

I await your response in 2015 when your queue for topics opens up, Tom Scharpling.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: DJ Clem on June 02, 2010, 12:18:55 AM
Ozzy.

Concurrently, Ozzy is my top candidate for "lifetime pass." The phrase was seemingly invented for that guy.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Rhea from Winnipeg on June 02, 2010, 12:30:05 AM
Jefferson Airplane devolving into Starship. Too obvious?
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Stupornaut on June 02, 2010, 12:58:45 AM
Ice Cube?
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Bryan on June 02, 2010, 08:07:25 AM
John Lydon
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: senorcorazon on June 02, 2010, 08:19:38 AM
Ice Cube?

Oooo, good one. The real question is which point would make him most disappointed -- the car trip movies?
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: masterofsparks on June 02, 2010, 09:20:05 AM
Brian Wilson (though his name will immediately be removed from contention should Pleasure Island: A Rock Fantasy become a reality)

Rod Stewart's probably the best choice, though.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: JonFromMaplewood on June 02, 2010, 09:23:20 AM
Elton John.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Spalding on June 02, 2010, 09:58:04 AM
Black Francis
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: dave from knoxville on June 02, 2010, 11:47:32 AM
Black Francis

Great one.

I would suggest Courtney Love.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: cavorting with nudists on June 02, 2010, 12:00:33 PM
It pains me to say it, but: Elvis Costello.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Hugman 3.0 on June 02, 2010, 12:04:09 PM
Dylan. Obviously.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Big Plastic Head on June 02, 2010, 12:09:55 PM
Sting
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: cavorting with nudists on June 02, 2010, 12:35:35 PM
Dylan. Obviously.

Yeah.  If the young Bob Dylan could look forward 50 years and see himself a revered cultural institution, continuing to put out commercially and critically successful albums and touring to ecstatic, sold-out crowds around the world at age 69, he obviously woulda checked out a long time ago.

Also, Sting?  How is Sting not exactly where he wanted to end up back when he pretended to like New Wave music?
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: mackro on June 02, 2010, 12:36:53 PM
Quote
which rock musician would be most disappointed by what he/she has become?

Which one wouldn't be disappointed?  Youth is kinda programmed to defy elders, especially rock youth.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: namethebats on June 02, 2010, 12:56:34 PM
Can we require that they have to experience their horrible solo project with the rest of the group there? I'm torn between Soundgarden listening to Chris Cornell's Timbaland collaboration and Public Enemy watching a "Flavor Of Love" marathon.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Pat on June 02, 2010, 01:42:04 PM
Jerry Only, Dez Cadena and Robo
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Bryan on June 02, 2010, 01:53:44 PM
Dylan. Obviously.

Yeah.  If the young Bob Dylan could look forward 50 years and see himself a revered cultural institution, continuing to put out commercially and critically successful albums and touring to ecstatic, sold-out crowds around the world at age 69, he obviously woulda checked out a long time ago.

Yeah, I think Dylan's doing OK. He's turned into the guy he was pretending to be when he was starting out.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: dave from knoxville on June 02, 2010, 03:06:46 PM
Think Townshend's pissed off that he's not dead?

Think Gram Parsons is pissed off because he is?

Also, how about Brett Michaels?
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Big Plastic Head on June 02, 2010, 05:49:28 PM
Dylan. Obviously.

Yeah.  If the young Bob Dylan could look forward 50 years and see himself a revered cultural institution, continuing to put out commercially and critically successful albums and touring to ecstatic, sold-out crowds around the world at age 69, he obviously woulda checked out a long time ago.

Also, Sting?  How is Sting not exactly where he wanted to end up back when he pretended to like New Wave music?

Yes, Sting. This Sting...

 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvijz_5fGGQ)

would hate this Sting...

 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3lWwBslWqg)

...whether he was pretending to like New Wave or not. Even though I think he's pleased as punch as to where he ended up, I don't think that was the plan. Same with your offering of Elvis Costello.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: mackro on June 02, 2010, 10:09:03 PM
I always thought the first Police album got a bum rap (mainly because of the snooze-worthy "Roxanne", so understood.) While I'd take any Minutemen over any Police, there are some songs on Outlandos that sound prototypical of the more anthemic straight-forward Minutemen classics, especially the bass playing. So Sting gets a +1 there.

The other +1, which may count as a -1000 for a reason I will soon explain, is "Voices Inside My Head" from the Zenyatta Mondata album.  Why was this song not released as a hit single?  What an amazing Eno-esque dirty sparse funk groove!

Remember how Michael Jackson apparently told Freddie Mercury to put out "Another One Bites The Dust" as a single?  Where was Michael to advise Sting to put out "Voices Inside My Head" as a single? (Well, probably hangin' with Freddie Mercury.)
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: fonpr on June 02, 2010, 10:12:14 PM
Dear Hug and Nudie,

Check out the May 24th show here.  http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/TI

You have my word, you'll find it thought-provoking.

Sting and Dylan are advanced artists we don't get. Yet.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Hugman 3.0 on June 02, 2010, 11:34:49 PM
Dylan. Obviously.

Yeah.  If the young Bob Dylan could look forward 50 years and see himself a revered cultural institution, continuing to put out commercially and critically successful albums and touring to ecstatic, sold-out crowds around the world at age 69, he obviously woulda checked out a long time ago.

Also, Sting?  How is Sting not exactly where he wanted to end up back when he pretended to like New Wave music?

Yea, that young crusading folk singer wouldn't have a problem at all with singing in an underwear ad and driving a hummer, you dunce.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: cavorting with nudists on June 03, 2010, 12:56:30 AM
Actually, DUNCE, everything one can discern about the young Bob Dylan's motives would indicate that even when he was writing incendiary songs about what his conscience told him was wrong, he also wanted to make a lot of money and fuck a lot of hot chicks.  As for the Hummer I have no idea, but I don't recall him ever having written a single song about energy conservation.

He may have made some compromises along the way, but I am not convinced that, of all the competition, he's the one who's "obviously" sold out on his early vision of himself.  Dick.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: cavorting with nudists on June 03, 2010, 01:05:12 AM
As for Elvis Costello:  Who the hell knows what's in these people's hearts?  I just have a hard time believing that the young "I won't stick around for my artistic decline" EC (with whom I identified, or thought I did, pretty much more than with any rock guy ever) believed he would end up a talk show host slobbering over the likes of James Fucking Taylor and married to the most boring, bogus faux-jazz chantoozey ever.  (and he threw over Cait O'Riordan for that bimbo???)
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: dave from knoxville on June 03, 2010, 07:49:28 AM
Could we tamp down the intentional unpleasantness? It's really possible to disagree with someone without calling them a "dick". It's OK just to think it to yourself, then make your point.

Of course, it's just a request; my opinion doesn't count anymore than anyone else's, but one of the great pluses of this forum is intelligent people engaged in passionate debate without giving into monosyllabic hate-baiting.

Thanks
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: senorcorazon on June 03, 2010, 08:19:50 AM
Could we tamp down the intentional unpleasantness? It's really possible to disagree with someone without calling them a "dick". It's OK just to think it to yourself, then make your point.

Actually Dave, I think as a PowerCaller your posts count as two. Thems the rules. And yes, it's a place to bring a box of wine and engage in classy discussions about intelligent topics like Jazzfarting.

Recentering topic -- I think Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth would both be pleased with their outcomes.   
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: JonFromMaplewood on June 03, 2010, 09:39:50 AM
I think Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth would both be pleased with their outcomes.   

With the exception of the failed DLR radio show, I think you are right. 

Gene Simmons too.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: cavorting with nudists on June 03, 2010, 11:25:16 AM
Sorry.  It was late, and I'd had a few drinks, and being called a "dunce" set me off a bit.

but I Went Too Far, and Now It's Me Who's In the Wrong!
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: gravy boat on June 03, 2010, 11:44:40 AM
Quote
which rock musician would be most disappointed by what he/she has become?

Which one wouldn't be disappointed?  Youth is kinda programmed to defy elders, especially rock youth.

That is a good question. I think David Byrne would be really okay with the where and how of it.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Bryan on June 03, 2010, 11:59:45 AM
Yeah, David Byrne, and David Bowie have both aged pretty gracefully. Brian Eno, too. And as I said before, I think Bobby Dylan has done pretty well.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Bernard on June 03, 2010, 01:40:50 PM
On a personal level, it's Ben Folds all the way.  Ben Folds Five came along at JUST the right time for me in my adolescence, and I fervently decided that they were My Favorite Band.  Ben Folds' solo stuff, though, has - for me, anyway - turned into bad-to-mediocre adult contemporary music that just sounds, for lack of a better word, lazy.  There have been a few bright spots ("You Don't Know Me" was a pretty solid single) but overall it's been disappointing to watch the fall. 

Also, I'm not a fan of all the "collector's editions" and multiple pressings of CDs and vinyl.  When I start collecting an artist on vinyl, 9 time out of 10 I'll try to pick up everything they've released.  I mean, $99 for a "collectors edition" of the "Way To Normal" release?  That's absurd.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: dave from knoxville on June 03, 2010, 02:12:24 PM
Sorry.  It was late, and I'd had a few drinks, and being called a "dunce" set me off a bit.

but I Went Too Far, and Now It's Me Who's In the Wrong!

At least in my mind, you are now officially awesome. Of course, that may work against you.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Boogdish on June 03, 2010, 06:30:33 PM
I think that stories about famous rockers who've changed their ways are good, but the real tragedies are the guys who haven't changed at all and are doomed to play the hits of their youth well into their golden years.

I just finished reading the autobiography of Johnny Barbata, who drummed for The Turtles, CSN&Y, Jefferson Airplane/Starship and some other bands.  I got the book from a coworker of mine whose band opened for him at a crappy sports bar a couple towns over and Barbata gave it to him as a gift.  I can't imagine that when he was laying down "So Happy Together" that he was thinking to himself "I sure hope that in 40 years I'll STILL be playing this song but with a cover band in the middle of nowhere."
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Gilly on June 04, 2010, 01:43:01 AM
Dave Grohl
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: not that clay on June 04, 2010, 01:56:26 AM
Dear Hug and Nudie,

Check out the May 24th show here.  http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/TI

You have my word, you'll find it thought-provoking.

Sting and Dylan are advanced artists we don't get. Yet.

Freds, do you think that guy was serious? I thought he was kidding at first, then I thought he was for real, and by the end I was pretty sure he was kidding.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: dave from knoxville on June 04, 2010, 05:44:39 AM
Frankly, if you get to 65, and you're overly worried about whether what makes you happy squares with the warped sense of what constituted integrity when you were 25, you've got bigger problems than Dylan.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Bryan on June 04, 2010, 08:18:14 AM
Very well put, Dave.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: fonpr on June 04, 2010, 11:39:33 AM
Dear Hug and Nudie,

Check out the May 24th show here.  http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/TI

You have my word, you'll find it thought-provoking.

Sting and Dylan are advanced artists we don't get. Yet.

Freds, do you think that guy was serious? I thought he was kidding at first, then I thought he was for real, and by the end I was pretty sure he was kidding.


Kidding?   What am I gonna do with this mullet?
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: amiright?? on June 04, 2010, 01:50:49 PM
Freds, do you think that guy was serious? I thought he was kidding at first, then I thought he was for real, and by the end I was pretty sure he was kidding.

That thing about appearing at the superbowl making you advanced... Seriously?
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: Paul DePhiladelphia on June 04, 2010, 02:04:33 PM
Is this thread about the original reaction a young artist might have to seeing an older version of themselves? If not, I think guys like Dylan and Elvis Costello might be able to take into consideration the effects of various influences/family/life changes that will surface over the years.
Of course I wish the My Aim is True Elvis Costello would have never changed. But it seems like he's loving what he is doing now.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: fonpr on June 04, 2010, 02:33:56 PM
Freds, do you think that guy was serious? I thought he was kidding at first, then I thought he was for real, and by the end I was pretty sure he was kidding.

That thing about appearing at the superbowl making you advanced... Seriously?

Party in the front; business in the rear?
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: amiright?? on June 04, 2010, 03:53:11 PM
Freds, do you think that guy was serious? I thought he was kidding at first, then I thought he was for real, and by the end I was pretty sure he was kidding.

That thing about appearing at the superbowl making you advanced... Seriously?

Party in the front; business in the rear?

Of course. That's why Lou Reed was advanced, apparently.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: NJL on June 04, 2010, 05:33:03 PM
Freds, do you think that guy was serious? I thought he was kidding at first, then I thought he was for real, and by the end I was pretty sure he was kidding.

That thing about appearing at the superbowl making you advanced... Seriously?

Party in the front; business in the rear?

Isn't it the other way around?
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: fonpr on June 04, 2010, 07:35:18 PM

Party in the front; business in the rear?

Isn't it the other way around?
[/quote]

Nuts.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: dave from knoxville on June 04, 2010, 08:57:28 PM

Party in the front; business in the rear?

Isn't it the other way around?

Nuts.
[/quote]

Fashion trailblazer!
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: fonpr on June 04, 2010, 09:59:43 PM

Party in the front; business in the rear?

Isn't it the other way around?

Nuts.



(http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp311/nancyfredericks/George.jpg)

Fashion trailblazer!
[/quote]
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: cavorting with nudists on June 07, 2010, 12:04:40 AM
He may be fine with it himself for all I know, but WTF has this bozo become? (The rock star I mean, not the groom)

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20391620,00.html
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: waltkellysghost on June 07, 2010, 03:08:24 AM
I think if Chuck D of the past met Flava Flav of the present, he would punch the hell out of him.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: JonFromMaplewood on June 07, 2010, 01:45:48 PM
He may be fine with it himself for all I know, but WTF has this bozo become? (The rock star I mean, not the groom)

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20391620,00.html

Ergo my recommendation last week of Elton John...

Elton John.

But then again, this leads to another question.  Does the opinion of the younger you really matter if the younger you was living in a blur of chemical dependency?  Like so many others, Elton John did his best work when he was in horrible shape. 

That being said, there is no excuse - not a single one - for playing Rush Limbaugh's fifth wedding.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: cavorting with nudists on June 07, 2010, 06:30:14 PM
I guess if he were to donate his full million-dollar paycheck, in Limbaugh's name, to some pro-gay-marriage group there would be some justice in that.  But still, a revoltin' business.
Title: Re: Topic for the show: What Have I Become, Rock Edition
Post by: nec13 on June 08, 2010, 01:31:53 AM
RE: this topic, Rod Stewart is the first name that came to mind for me. His work with Jeff Beck was great. The albums he recorded with Faces are some of the best rock records of all time. And his first three solo albums are amongst the very best albums of the 1970's, or any era for that matter. However, his work, post-1977, has varied from middling to downright awful.

I think Greil Marcus hit the nail on the head when he said of Stewart, "Never has there been a more naturally-gifted rock singer than Rod Stewart and never has a singer betrayed his gift more completely."