Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!tekecs!dce
From: dce@tekecs.UUCP (David Elliott)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Re: Why my favourite group broke up
Message-ID: <2001@tekecs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 1-Sep-83 10:16:34 EDT
Article-I.D.: tekecs.2001
Posted: Thu Sep  1 10:16:34 1983
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Sep-83 04:07:25 EDT
References: mit-eddi.688
Lines: 57


Already taken enough of a beating? I got more agreement than a beating.
The only beating I got was for mentioning that Henry Fonda (I meant
FORD, dammit) was old, when he is actually dead.

As for the Who : Yes, they have all made good solo efforts, but there
is no way you can tell me that any of their solo albums are one-tenth
as good as any of their pre-Tommy albums.

In addition, you are touting their solo works, when we are talking
about "groups". The article I originally answered asked why groups
like the Who and the Stones stayed together so long, not why the
individuals are still making music. I stand by my original reason :
It's a job. How many of these guys could get a job in "The high paying
field of data processing"? I know they aren't idiots, but what else
can they do?

There is so much competition in the music business today
that they have to keep going on the strength of their names.
How many people do you know that could say "I think I'll make a
top 10 album" and actually do it? I know a number of people that
are as talented as any member of the Who, or the Stones, or the
Beatles, but could put out a record with twelve songs that
are better than anything on any of Townshend's solo albums
and not sell 10 copies.

I am also a Who fan, but only of their music that came before "Tommy".
I feel that they died when they made that album. I admire all of those
superstar groups of the '70s, because if it were not for the fact
that they put out bland albums once a year and charged $15 to see
uninspired shows (I've seen the Who 3 times and the Stones twice),
The Ramones and Sex Pistols would never have existed.

All in all, your letter is what I would expect from someone who
listens to his friends and the radio instead of looking for
something enjoyable to suit his individual tastes.

I was like that, too. I owned Beatles albums and couldn't wait
until Foghat came to town. I decided that I was a clone and
sisn't like that. I hear some of my old favorites on the radio
and think "how could I have been so excited about that boring
music?". I found enjoyment by looking for albums by groups
that are so obscure that I still can't find them. I began
playing my own music, which is no longer an act of ripping
off riffs from rock stars, but is an act of combining things
that I've heard before in ways that they haven't been combined
before. I like to listen to groups that do different things,
not the same thing they, and a lot of others, have been doing
for years.

			David Elliott
			tektronix!tekecs!dce

PS - "Rock is dead".

PPS - Welcome to the net, where your opinion is subject to being
ripped to shreds by the best.