Once great musicians who should now "hang 'em up"
Submitted by mario on Sat, 07/21/2001 - 03:10
Tags:
- David Bowie
- Rod Stewart
- Elton John
- Paul Simon
- Phil Collins
- Bruce Springsteen
- Paul McCartney
- Robert Plant
- Jimmy Page
- Neil Young
- Santana
- Duran Duran
- Aerosmith
- The Eagles
- The Rolling Stones
- Lou Reed
- Peter Gabriel
- Bob Dylan
Yes, I almost entirely agree. But not Neil Young, who continues to plough his own furrow. Basically, the dude can still rock.
And why no mention of the Rolling Stones?
Oops. Should have scrolled. Theer they are at No. 15. Their crime is worse than, say, the eagles because of their youthful genius.
I had no idea Duran Duran made any music beyond the 80s. I will now commence with the involuntary shuddering.
It's even worse than you could possibly imagine, Jim, even in your worst nightmare. Duran Duran did a cover version album in the 90's which included Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" and (I swear I'm not making this up) Public Enemy's "911 (Is a Joke)"
One last thought on the subject, from "Trainspotting" by Irvine Welsh:
"Some ae Lou Reed's solo stuff's no bad."
"Aye. But No bad's no good enough."
(Personally, I'm a Reed fan. But I could easily do without his last 2 albums.)
"Bind bong bing satellite of love"
Yes, I agree with Tarkhadal that Neil Young should not be on this list. He's one of the few that has refused to pander to nostalgia tours or appealing to the lowest common denominator just to sell records. I also must disagree highly with your inclusion of David Bowie. He is also another one who has made interesting album which were largely ignored by a public still demanding "Let's Dance" or some of his more top-40 material. If you would have added Pete Townshend to this list, I would have had to scream bloody murder...
Bowie's "Let's Dance" album was a warning sign that he's was quickly approaching "hang 'em up" status. Tin Machine, another. When he collaborated with Nine Inch Nails a few years ago -- that sealed the deal. In interviews, he would go on and on about how their music influences each other. Yeah, sure. On the list you go.
Townshend? Definately on the list. I just forgot to include him. Anybody that has a "farewell tour" when in fact it's not automatically gets on the list.
As for Neil Young... four words: This Bud's For You. So sad.
Mario, it seems to me that this list means that as long as you're over 50, retirement is mandatory, right? I can agree with the majority you've placed on your list, whose main goal in their careers nowadays is to milk whatever success they've had in the past and shred whatever semblance of respectability. To this day, the mere mention of the Eagles leaves a foul taste in my mouth. However, I strongly disagree with Bowie, Townshend and Young. I mean, let's look at your arguments closely:
Bowie could have easily turned into one of those nostalgia acts had he followed the "Let's Dance" path. He chose not to, and lost both a fan base he had recently earned and high positions on the charts. And what about Tin Machine? I think he gets unfairly maligned for his experiment in a band environment. As for his collaboration with NIN, why not? Let's face it, David Bowie is the rock from which Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson, even Madonna, have crawled from under. Their collaboration did indeed make perfect sense.
Townshend lost major points with me years ago for having taken part in get-rich reunion tours. And, yeah, lately a lot of Who songs have made it onto commercials. But the fact is within the past few years he has reinvented himself - just witness his successful resurrection of the Lifehouse project he began back in 1970. If you're not familiar with this project, look it up, and you'll definitely recognize all the ideas he presented, fantasy then, reality now. Oh, and if you didn't see the Who tour last summer, you missed a hell of a show. Sure, I went rather apprehensively, but the truth was it was just Townshend and his bandmates - no background singers, no horn section, no extra guitarists. Just three guys and loads of noise.
Finally, did you forget that Neil Young has an extreme anti-commercialization stance? What do you think "This Note's For You" is all about. Sorry, you're dead wrong about him. He never panders to nostalgia, doesn't go for the cheap collaboration a la Carlos Santana, and doesn't have to recycle past hits to seem relevent again. He's done his thing his way, and it's pissed a lot of people off, and for that I praise him.
Sorry, man, it just seems like you're properly slamming those who have milked their past, and slamming those who are still making respectable music, even if it doesn't sell millions or make the press. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
I'm not at all advocating mandatory retirement. Notice that I didn't mention U2. Those guys aren't getting and younger (Larry Mullen is starting to remind me of Charlie Watts!), but they are no where near the list. They were dangerously close with that "Pop" album, but fortunately redeemed themselves with "All That You Can't Leave Behind".
Yes, you make valid arguments for Bowie, Townshend, and Young. Maybe I'm too hard on them. I think what tends to put people on my list is a single dumb move "that breaks the camel's back". For example:
Bowie... He once declared "this is the last tour that I will be playing Space Oddity". Come on guy. You put your soul into that song, people love it and will pay money to see you play it, and now you're going to deny them? Shame on you. Too bad if you're sick of it. They're your FANS, remember?
Townshend... those reunion/farewell tours were unforgivable.
Young... I dunno, I always felt that the "This Note's For You" thing was a clever way to be a mainstream sellout without being a mainstream sellout. Maybe you can fault the radio and TV jocks for this (they played that damn video so much it made me sick).
I wasn't trying to be harsh on your opinion, if you must know. After all, opinions are encouraged here, whether you agree with them or not. But you know, if we're going to be harsh on musicians for one dumb move, then we should probably be including Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan and many more. Oh, and it's not written anywhere in stone that a musician has to play a song he hates just to please the fans. If you take that approach, you become Neil Diamond. But then again, if you take the I-don't-care-what-the-fans-think approach, you become Van Morrison. So, okay, I do think you have a valid point.
Some dumb moves are forgiveable. Some are so magnificently dumb that they speak volumes, leaving a bad taste in your mouth that can't be washed away. I guess it all depends on each individuals perspective and their expectation of the artist.
Oh, and check out numbers 16, 17, and 18. I forgot about those guys. Thanks :)