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From: jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Bad behavior and music criticism
Message-ID: <287@osiris.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 2-May-85 10:52:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: osiris.287
Posted: Thu May  2 10:52:24 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 4-May-85 07:27:37 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: Johns Hopkins Hospital
Lines: 47


>  
>  But your opinions are moosepoop!
>  
>  				"Go stick your head in a pig"
>  
>  				 Doug Alan
>  				  mit-eddie!nessus
>  				  Nessus@MIT-MC.ARPA
>  
>  

	Now, see ?  This sort of thing is not at all useful. Mr. Alan
blasts my opinions up and down and sidewise but cannot even manage to
be reasonable himself. Instead he carries on rather childishly in a way
that is not going to make me or anyone else take him seriously. Alot of
that goes on in the network - folks do alot of name-calling instead of
being rational and even-tempered.
	The one interesting thing about his message was the long quotes
from numerous music critics to support his views. I know too many rock
critics personally to take any of them terribly seriously, I'm afraid.
Some critics are good and fair-minded, and others are very prejudiced
(which they often don't admit). Robert Christgau has a particular
prejudice against the music of the Police, which appears to stem from
Stuart Copeland's dad having been in the CIA, and not because of anything
in their music. This obviously isn't fair. Critics aren't god, fer sher,
though they can give you at least some idea of what music is out there,
and what *they* think about it. The opinions of critics and popular 
opinion often diverges radically. R.E.M. (great group, by the way) was
the critic's number one pick the year their first EP (and later, their
album "Murmur") came out, but the listening public seems to have missed
them entirely. The same with Los Lobos. On the other hand, alot of
critics have panned Bruce Springsteen's last two albums, but that seems
to be more because it's become fashionable not to like Springsteen in
print than for any other reason. (I think some critics write more to
please or annoy other critics than for their readers, not to mention
those critics who lift whole sentences and paragraphs from their
colleagues !)
	Just out of interest's sake, what music publications do most
netters read ? And what critics do you put most stock in ? What would
you like to see different ?
-- 
  

jcpatilla

"'Get stuffed !', the Harlequin replied ..."