Tuesday, December 30, 2008

A Letter

Dear Denizens of VH-1 Classic, Sirius, XM, etc.,

Shocking I know, but there are some of us who went to considerable lengths to avoid the whole Morrissey/Smiths nexus during the 80's and are less than delighted with having it shoved down our throats now in the name of nostalgia. If I wanted to hear adenoidal whining, I'd assign 25-page papers to my freshman English classes. I do not, and I do not.

Please repeat above paragraph in re: the case of Robert Smith/Cure.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Best,
NYMary
Posted by at

17 comments:

steve simels said...

You're a tough audience, kiddo.
:-)

12/30/2008 4:10 PM
NYMary said...

steve,
It's really over the top. In any given hour of programming on either of these mediums, you can absolutely count on at least two pieces of music from the brain of either Robert Smith or Morrissey.

I recognize their importance historically, but I attended far too many parties where hipsters of indeterminate gender with too much eyeliner blew clove cigarette smoke into my face while expounding passionately on their genius.

Frankly, nerdcore couldn't come soon enough for me.

12/30/2008 6:06 PM
Anonymous said...

goodness! people still care about this sort of crap? that's funny. i have, um, a hard time fully recalling all of my 80s highlife, and i was smack in the middle of a lot of these 'controversies,' iirc. the benefit of musician/homeless club/band circuit lovers, i guess.

and yet- i still love robert. and siouxie. and i was just in Vauxhall, really! just last week! um, can i bring in the great Depeche Mode controversy? that was great: it involved the french, gaii sex, hair, and the plus/sans side of industrial pop. and um, wait, i'm pretty sure if i sober up, i could remember the details of the "Nick isn't Gay!" tirade when he got married, realized by People magazine as he leaped above his '32 classic car in white silk before his "str8" bride in one of their photoshoots, or some shit...

if the 70s aren't actually remembered by those who were there, the 80s aren't either because, well, what happened in that sad reaganite decade made the 70s look erudite and intellectual by comparison and is thus worth forgettting in truth/reinventing in style. soldier on, Millenials. and thank you, for making me happy to be too old for you to um, perceive properly. have at it; the Rust Belt aesthetic is yours for the reinventing.

/last not meant for Molly, of course/

12/30/2008 7:12 PM
steve simels said...

Acually, I seem to recall 80s radio stations that were like All Depeche Mode All the Time, which was far more annoying than the Cure or Morrissey.

Plus, Depeche Mode themselves were like translucent. If you went to one of their concerts and you were near the stage, the klieg lights would be so bright you could literally see the band's internal organs.

I personally agree with Tom Petty about the 80s -- better than the 70s, not as good as the 60s -- but I don't miss them, either.
:-)

12/30/2008 7:23 PM
NYMary said...

I'm actually speaking more about "packaged 80's" cheese food product, such as 120 Minutes or !st Wave Alternative on Sirius. And they routinely use Morrissey/Cure as filler, which, come to think of it, works just fine for me.

12/30/2008 7:37 PM
MBowen said...

It seems like in particular that The Smiths have gotten more popular in hindsight.

After reading the British music papers exclaiming that Moz & Co. were the greatest band ever, I went out and bought their first album. I sold it to the used store within a week. It took me years before I could come to terms with Morrissey's warble.

12/30/2008 8:04 PM
steve simels said...

M.Bowen:

Two words.

Johnny. Marr.

12/30/2008 8:41 PM
Anonymous said...

I attended far too many parties where hipsters of indeterminate gender with too much eyeliner blew clove cigarette smoke into my face while expounding passionately on their genius.

I gravitated toward rootsier music early, partially for this very reason. Wanna piss off a room full of Goths? Play 'em some Merle Haggard! :) - bill buckner

12/30/2008 8:48 PM
steve simels said...

Hey -- I like hipsters of indeterminate gender!
:-)

12/30/2008 8:53 PM
Who Am Us Anyway? said...

Which reminds me: They are going fast (seriously). Only seven copies of Gender Chameleons are now left (from $30 to $238.82) (gotta love the 82 cents) over at Amazon.com

12/30/2008 11:47 PM
steve simels said...

Who Am Us Anyway:

If there is actually somebody out there motivated for whatever reason to spend two hundred plus for that book I would like to meet them, if not perhaps to shake their hand.
:-)

I mean -- wow.

12/30/2008 11:53 PM
Who Am Us Anyway? said...

It's a spectacularly well-written book. My copy isn't for sale.

12/30/2008 11:58 PM
Anonymous said...

What's that old song from the sixties:

"Crap is Crap, I want my radio back!"

ROTP(lumber)

And need I quote Elvis C. from "Radio Radio"

Thank god for my IPOD!

12/31/2008 12:19 AM
Noam Sane said...

Two words.

Johnny. Marr.

One word.

Over. Rated.

12/31/2008 11:06 AM
dmarks said...

Elvis C. ....shudder.

1/01/2009 7:39 AM
MrQwerty said...

The 80's - the decade music where pop music decided to have a day off (or ten years off). Shoddy productions, dreary cult bands, indie amateur twangles, some fizzy synth pop and a yearning for the decade to roll on to the much more pleasing 90's.

1/01/2009 11:27 AM
shrimplate said...

Morrissey and Robert Smith are OK, but neither of them is any Robyn Hitchcock.

Fegmania made them obsolete.

1/03/2009 12:11 PM

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