tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post4865760484889933930..comments2024-03-27T23:24:02.731-04:00Comments on PowerPop: Another Triumph of Late CapitalismNYMaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10863355110457910935noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-73524043557415802372012-10-18T16:43:49.249-04:002012-10-18T16:43:49.249-04:00My only experience like that was at the U of S pap...My only experience like that was at the U of S paper "The Sheaf" we wrote our "Year in Music" with contributions from everyone in about 1996. The letters we got back were so hilariously negative that we published them, I wish for the life of me I could remember them, the general perception was we were "music snobs" and we were and proud of it, to an individual. I ran into one of the co-editors about a decade later at a show and we had a laugh about it. This tale makes me glad I worked at a University paper not Stereo Review<br /><br />olexiconnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-89430783363463451322008-12-10T11:16:00.000-05:002008-12-10T11:16:00.000-05:00"How dare you! This is the No. 1 selling album! Yo...<I>"How dare you! This is the No. 1 selling album! You will get no more freebies from us!"</I><BR/><BR/>Payola never dies. It just becomes "promotional consideration."geor3gehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18382136451663610951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-45827825011740960772008-12-10T10:47:00.000-05:002008-12-10T10:47:00.000-05:00I'm guessing it was not so much the letters but th...I'm guessing it was not so much the letters but that she probably got leaned on by Reprise. I dated an editor who got an earful from a record flack after she ran a derogatory review of Queen's "News of the World" - "How dare you! This is the No. 1 selling album! You will get no more freebies from us!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-26058572025199592342008-12-10T09:20:00.000-05:002008-12-10T09:20:00.000-05:00Sorry about the Grand Hotel thing...funny you shou...Sorry about the Grand Hotel thing...funny you should mention, I listened to it for the first time in decades last month and you're right -- not their best by a long shot.<BR/><BR/>Although the record release party I went to at the Plaza was vintage music business excess and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. But that's another story....<BR/>:-)steve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-78661982666800100802008-12-10T03:46:00.000-05:002008-12-10T03:46:00.000-05:00I would say you were poaching on Mark Peel's turf,...<I>I would say you were poaching on Mark Peel's turf, not the late Noel Coppage's...</I><BR/><BR/>Wow, that name I do not remember. I was reading SR before Simels showed up (mainly because I liked looking at pictures of electronic equipment and you could fill out that card in the back and all the stereo companies would then send you neat-o tech brochures). I'd look through the record reviews, but they seemed to always be talking about Cleo Laine. Then one day this Simels character shows up and he was talking about groups I'd actually heard of! I'm still a little miffed at him, though, for convincing me to run out and buy "Grand Hotel" by Procul Harum - not exactly their best effort.dave™©https://www.blogger.com/profile/15303249276504183167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-17189268443826659112008-12-10T02:07:00.000-05:002008-12-10T02:07:00.000-05:00Steve had zero moral obligation to quit on the spo...Steve had zero moral obligation to quit on the spot, imho. "Life is sad, life is a bust; all you can do ..." If anyone had a moral obligation to quit without lining up another decent job first, it was the editor and the person who hired her.Who Am Us Anyway?https://www.blogger.com/profile/08260586634760800759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-8024749308594009282008-12-09T22:41:00.000-05:002008-12-09T22:41:00.000-05:00I started reading your stuff in Stereo Review in -...I started reading your stuff in <I>Stereo Review</I> in - no kidding - high school during a family vacation of death to Acapulco. I think I dropped the magazine sometime in the early '90s. I remember several negative reviews you wrote (and was glad you steered me away from some real turkeys), and sometimes looked forward to them even more than the positive reviews (my favorite has to be your review of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's <I>In Concert</I>, as you can probably guess from my handle here). Sure, the perfect journalist would have quit right then. But I certainly wouldn't disagree with you staying, and you didn't sell out to the extent of writing positive reviews of stuff you disliked. Plus perfect journalists probably don't eat all that regularly :-/<BR/><BR/>And I would say you were poaching on Mark Peel's turf, not the late Noel Coppage's...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-3084294456402027952008-12-09T22:20:00.000-05:002008-12-09T22:20:00.000-05:00And while I never encountered an editorial hand th...And while I never encountered an editorial hand that blatant, I've known the type: Just transfered from "Lifestyles," know nothing about music, but want to make the section "peppier." (Which usually degenerated<BR/>into a "don't you like anything normal?" debate after one month.)<BR/><BR/> Look at the bright side, Steve. "Duets II" is even worse... :)-<BR/>buckna againAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-14887107550500437542008-12-09T22:12:00.000-05:002008-12-09T22:12:00.000-05:00Fuck that shit. What was she going to do, take you...Fuck that shit. What was she going to do, take your thumbs?<BR/> When I was young and full of beans, I used to review shows for the local Gannett fishwrap. I had lots of fun making fun of various genres, but they never censored anything, and I only got in trouble once: Panned an awful, Branson-ish Lettermen reunion.<BR/>Trouble was that nobody told me that it was a benefit for the Children's Hospital. Ooops... :) - bill bucknerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-18587963403971625032008-12-09T21:47:00.000-05:002008-12-09T21:47:00.000-05:00TJWood:The short answer to your question is that t...TJWood:<BR/><BR/>The short answer to your question is that through the 70s and 80s I had just about carte blanche -- I could write and say anything I damn well pleased, short of libel, as did all my writers and colleagues.<BR/><BR/>Which is why this whole episode took me up so short. I really didn't understand that those days were over, largely because I pretty much literally hadn't gotten the memo.steve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-35736784679602346032008-12-09T20:50:00.000-05:002008-12-09T20:50:00.000-05:00First of all, to answer your morally obligated que...First of all, to answer your morally obligated question: I'm sure you wanted to quit right then and there, and I'm sure if it had happened to any of your fellow reviewers at <EM> Stereo Review</EM>, they would have wanted to quit right then and there. You didn't for the same reason they wouldn't have--you needed the income from this gig. But had that same offer you left <EM>Stereo Review</EM> for been on the table at the time, you certainly wouldn't have thought twice about leaving.<BR/><BR/>Otherwise, well, where to begin? As editor, didn't she have the power to pull that review if her opinion was what she says it was, or if she felt that the review would get a reaction that would disturb the higher-ups at the mag? Apparently, the music journalism business had changed by then. I was a regular subscriber to <EM>Stereo Review</EM> in the late 1970's and I can remember numerous negative reviews (by all reviewers, not just yourself) that resulted in some interesting vitriol from your readers. (The ones that stick out for me--Lester Bangs' review of the Stones' <EM>Some Girls</EM> and yours of Crosby, Stills & Nash's <EM>CSN</EM>). Do you remember yourself or any other reviewer getting stick from your editors for those?<BR/><BR/>I did some record reviews in college, and was fairly complimented for them I must say, but never professionally, and I guess this piece tells me that it was just as well.TJWoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00312890704167853988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-88450222607558594152008-12-09T19:10:00.000-05:002008-12-09T19:10:00.000-05:00"It's your job to make people feel good about what..."It's your job to make people feel good about what they've just bought or are about to buy!. <BR/><BR/>This is one of the scariest quotes I've ever read about music criticism. How do you respond to that except to throw up on the floor. (Hopefully in her office)<BR/><BR/>ROTP(lumber)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-47794591599782402642008-12-09T17:01:00.000-05:002008-12-09T17:01:00.000-05:00dave™© said... Weren't you intruding on Noel Coppa...<I>dave™© said... <BR/>Weren't you intruding on Noel Coppage's beat, anyway?<BR/><BR/></I>Noel had passed away, at that point.steve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-59762177900159340442008-12-09T16:57:00.000-05:002008-12-09T16:57:00.000-05:00Weren't you intruding on Noel Coppage's beat, anyw...Weren't you intruding on Noel Coppage's beat, anyway?dave™©https://www.blogger.com/profile/15303249276504183167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-79936985587736841762008-12-09T16:31:00.000-05:002008-12-09T16:31:00.000-05:00Makes me glad that the vast majority of my writing...Makes me glad that the vast majority of my writing was done for publications with less motivation for profit.<BR/><BR/>And yes, I've self-censored - which had made me somewhat of an aesthete about blues and "retro" rock music - to the point where my ever-narrowing perspective has a potential audience of 3/100,000.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-37452913942385506432008-12-09T15:08:00.000-05:002008-12-09T15:08:00.000-05:00Anonymous said... whatever happened to that idiot ...<I>Anonymous said... <BR/>whatever happened to that idiot editor ..?<BR/><BR/></I>She retired right after I left, with a very nice pension.<BR/><BR/>In her defense, I think she was under enormous pressure from the suits and feared for her job. At the time, the business was in almost as bad shape as it is now...steve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-22978746182288612132008-12-09T14:34:00.000-05:002008-12-09T14:34:00.000-05:00Art and commerce are often strained bedfellows. It...Art and commerce are often strained bedfellows. It was a great review, and it was spot on though. I hope you remember that till your deathbed!<BR/><BR/>I was worried that you would get some threats from The Chairman's connections!<BR/><BR/>TreyTMinkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07221261635305430323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-31859108051636897942008-12-09T14:24:00.000-05:002008-12-09T14:24:00.000-05:00whatever happened to that idiot editor ..?whatever happened to that idiot editor ..?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-84636857590313521892008-12-09T12:21:00.000-05:002008-12-09T12:21:00.000-05:00Gummo said... As to your moral obligations, well -...<I>Gummo said... <BR/>As to your moral obligations, well --<BR/><BR/> Did you turn in nothing but puff pieces from then until you left?</I><BR/><BR/>No, but from that point I reviewed nothing but things I was actually enthusiastic about or at least mildly interested in, which is to say I self-censored myself.<BR/><BR/>I also began to drink heavily, although frankly I'm amazed in retrospect that I didn't turn to heroin.<BR/>:-)steve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-47318087241600427562008-12-09T12:11:00.001-05:002008-12-09T12:11:00.001-05:00I've never heard of an editor demanding nothing bu...I've never heard of an editor demanding nothing but good reviews. She sounds unusually assholish, even for the magazine business.<BR/><BR/>As for the review itself, you were 100% right on. The Duets album and its follow-ups were embarrassments for everyone involved. Mechanical, passionless and utterly phony in a way none of the participants' best work ever was.<BR/><BR/>As to your moral obligations, well --<BR/><BR/>1. The review was published the way you wrote it.<BR/><BR/>2. Did you turn in nothing but puff pieces from then until you left?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-50887521959730242662008-12-09T12:11:00.000-05:002008-12-09T12:11:00.000-05:00And your editor was a sell-out asshole.And your editor was a sell-out asshole.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-82498081021769493812008-12-09T12:10:00.000-05:002008-12-09T12:10:00.000-05:00a Wagnerian apotheosis of the celebrity musical nu...<I>a Wagnerian apotheosis of the celebrity musical numbers from old Fifties TV variety shows, the kind of show-biz exhibitionism that regularly matched up Odd Couples From Hell like Dinah Shore and Tennessee Ernie Ford</I><BR/><BR/>Once again, you captured the real essence of the album. i can close my eyes and see them sitting on stools with some cheesy, minimalist, pseudo-hep set behind them ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-74375439122010605472008-12-09T12:00:00.000-05:002008-12-09T12:00:00.000-05:00"DOOBIE, DOOBIE, DON'T" -- thats hilarious -- grea..."DOOBIE, DOOBIE, DON'T" -- thats hilarious -- great storyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com