"Rock 'n' Roll might be over" - Geldof

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

"Rock 'n' Roll might be over" - Geldof

noelindublin · Loudmouth

I was reading this stuff yesterday and feel a bit perplexed.

I always thought angry bands came ten a penny if one bothered to try to find them. Surely Rage Against The Machine and countless other bands like them are to be found all over the place.

Think I'm generally losing faith in Geldof- a lot of what he says can be taken with a pinch of salt.

Scottie posted an interview yesterday with Geldof and Alan Cross [Good Geldof interview in 2 parts]

At the very start of the interview Cross asks Gelfof if he is still interested in music etc and Bob says that he gigs about "twenty, twenty five times per year". It is the very first question he answers so unless Bob has been having secret concerts that many times per year for the last ten years he is not telling the truth.

I try to relate to the songs rather than the person who writes them. If they strike a chord that's good but I really can't be too bothered to listen to every half baked opinion of Geldof nowadays. Maybe he's just being controversal for the sake of being controversal. Somebody once said, can't think who "Don't flatter yourself, nobody's listening...."

junkyard_smile · The Elephant's Graveyard

ArrGee wrote:

"Where are our Ramones or our Pistols today? Do we need them? Yes is the answer. Will they be found? Maybe not."

Err, wasn't that 30 years ago? STOP TALKING ABOUT IT! I think that if Geldof thought about it he would have found the last decade spwaned The Strokes and The Libertines who would be of a similar ilk.

ArrGee, he's saying today, not the last decade...the Strokes and Libertines are well and truly spent forces today. And then, atleast in my view, he's not saying he wants a pale modern imitation of the Ramones and Pistols, but that we need bands that will have a similar seismic shift on music. In the same way that those two bands helped blow away over indulgent prog rock we need something today that will blow away the X factor pop pap. Will it happen? Who knows, but if it does most of the readers of this forum, myself included, will probably hate this new sound as it will be nothing like the rock n roll that our ears have become attuned to over 40 odd years. The change is only ever likely to come from innovative disillussioned and rebellious youth making music for other youths and definitely won't come from a 59 year old...though in fairness to BG his last two albums have spawned more innovative music (albeit on not many tracks) than the last Strokes and Libertines albums.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
At the very start of the interview Cross asks Gelfof if he is still interested in music etc and Bob says that he gigs about "twenty, twenty five times per year". It is the very first question he answers so unless Bob has been having secret concerts that many times per year for the last ten years he is not telling the truth.

I try to relate to the songs rather than the person who writes them. If they strike a chord that's good but I really can't be too bothered to listen to every half baked opinion of Geldof nowadays. Maybe he's just being controversal for the sake of being controversal. Somebody once said, can't think who "Don't flatter yourself, nobody's listening...."

Well, there was an unpublicised gig in Libya.

Like you, the songs are the important thing. Geldof is interesting when he discusses the songs, the stories behind many of them are interesting, all the way from the debut LP. Some of the stories are untrue (e.g. Fingers in the dole queue wearing pyjamas), but are interesting.

The Ramones and Pistols one is funny because I don't see either band as revolutionaries making protest songs. They were almost cartoon at times (especially when Sid joined) in the same way Happy Mondays are. I like all of them, but I don't see any as particularly profound. Geldof is starting to sound like Rik in The Young Ones. He'll be telling us he likes Cliff next. (Oh fcuk me he does, see Under The Influence!)

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

junkyard_smile wrote:
...the Strokes and Libertines are well and truly spent forces today. And then, atleast in my view, he's not saying he wants a pale modern imitation of the Ramones and Pistols, but that we need bands that will have a similar seismic shift on music. In the same way that those two bands helped blow away over indulgent prog rock we need something today that will blow away the X factor pop pap. Will it happen? Who knows, but if it does most of the readers of this forum, myself included, will probably hate this new sound as it will be nothing like the rock n roll that our ears have become attuned to over 40 odd years. The change is only ever likely to come from innovative disillussioned and rebellious youth making music for other youths and definitely won't come from a 59 year old...though in fairness to BG his last two albums have spawned more innovative music (albeit on not many tracks) than the last Strokes and Libertines albums.

The seismic shifts don't happen very often (1976,1989,1993,2001 IMLT), and I would say that the blast from the start of the last decade from the Strokes, White Stripes and the Libertines had some impact which endured most of the way through the decade and has only just died out. Only Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand seem to be still hanging on in there. The Pistols were a spent force within a year, and the Ramones barely lasted longer. It was their legacy that was of interest.

If there is rebellion and disenchantment it is more likely coming from urban music than rock 'n' roll. Let's be honest Rock 'n' roll was always pretty phoney where rebellion was concerned. Most of its protagonists were well brought up middle class boys.

I think Rock 'n' Roll as a movement is long over. I think it's a good thing that people seek out what is particular to them, rather than been spoon fed by the mainstream radio as was the case 30 years ago.

-- Edited by ArrGee on Monday 21st of March 2011 04:49:17 PM

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Maybe the whole punk thing is a bit overrated. I knew an aussie guy and asked him did he like The Saints and he said no- he was too busy surfing at the seaside to notice when they were happening.

Not sure if being spat on by smelly teenagers with bo at most punk gigs was the way forward. Like the lines from Macbeth punk may have been "A tale told by an idiot/ full of sound and fury/ signifying nothing."

Most punk was just empty sloganeering passed off as political insight. Takes more than a few slogans to solve some of life's problems. Rock 'n' roll itself is probably overrated and I doubt if it will solve the problems in Libya at the moment or maybe some choice slogan from a rock band will be the solution, backed by loud guitars!

Geldof infuriates but like the proverbial car crash we cannot keep our eyes away.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
Maybe the whole punk thing is a bit overrated. I knew an aussie guy and asked him did he like The Saints and he said no- he was too busy surfing at the seaside to notice when they were happening.

Sounds like the eighties for me. Whenever people raved about bands, I was blissfully unaware. Apparently there was some bands called New Order and The Smiths who were supposed to be quite decent. smile

I don't think I went to any gigs outside university from 1982-1988, so all I tended to see where bands on their last legs doing the circuit for one last pay day, or new bands that fizzled into nothing (The Fixx, Scarlet Party and The Europeans come to mind but there were countless others).

noelindublin wrote:
Geldof infuriates but like the proverbial car crash we cannot keep our eyes away.

He keeps us going around here when we don't have suss's quizzes. I like reading what he says even though I seem to disagree with it more and more. It was never like that when he appeared on the Eamonn Andrews show back in the day.

JoanOfArc · The Fine Art of Surfacing

Ok well I couldn't resist this one.............

Yeh well some of you know that I don't like much music around these days. Its naff, timid, dull, boring.......hmmm. Basically music of today is gutless, pointless bollocks.

JoanOfArc · The Fine Art of Surfacing

Well done Arrgee though for having an opinion and stating your feelings. Can we have all that in a song?

JoanOfArc · The Fine Art of Surfacing

I'm sure it would ignite the passion, drive and determination in young people of today to embrace life including all its problems and to recognise that indeed not everything is bollocks after all except of course what Bob Geldof says about music. Hmmm I can feel a new musical movement coming on..........'we love music today lalalalala, Beyonce is the way.....and coldplay will save the day......'

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

JoanOfArc wrote:
Well done Arrgee though for having an opinion and stating your feelings. Can we have all that in a song?

Sure. Here's a few. 100s more in the vault. Just get me a record deal.

http://arrgee.blogspot.com/

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Maybe ArrGee could send his songs to Geldof to see if he is interested in recording some. We might see All Songs by Geldof/ArrGee except Geldof/Briquette on the next album!

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
Maybe ArrGee could send his songs to Geldof to see if he is interested in recording some. We might see All Songs by Geldof/ArrGee except Geldof/Briquette on the next album!

He wouldn't like them. I'm gonna get some angry young kids to record them. Sadly my 11-year-old son isn't showing much promise on the bass. However my 6-year-old daughter shows a lot of interest in guitar.

Angry Young Girls. That's the future of Rock 'n' Roll. Never been a truly great girl band, even if there are great bands with girls in them.

FWIW - Best girl band IMHO is The Bangles. Funny I forgot that one when thinking of albums from 1986, far better than Bon Jovi!

noelindublin · Loudmouth

ArrGee wrote:

noelindublin wrote:
Maybe ArrGee could send his songs to Geldof to see if he is interested in recording some. We might see All Songs by Geldof/ArrGee except Geldof/Briquette on the next album!
He wouldn't like them. I'm gonna get some angry young kids to record them. Sadly my 11-year-old son isn't showing much promise on the bass. However my 6-year-old daughter shows a lot of interest in guitar.

Angry Young Girls. That's the future of Rock 'n' Roll. Never been a truly great girl band, even if there are great bands with girls in them.

FWIW - Best girl band IMHO is The Bangles. Funny I forgot that one when thinking of albums from 1986, far better than Bon Jovi!

One good all female band is The Runaways which were around during the punk years. They had a great song called Hollywood which appeared on a Vertigo punk compilation which also featured Lookin' After Number One, which came out in 1977. One of the members was Joan Jett, the girl who loved rock 'n' roll.

Lots of good bands fronted by female members but I'm sure the search for all- female bands is only a quick google search away.

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:

Lots of good bands fronted by female members but I'm sure the search for all- female bands is only a quick google search away.

Lot of my favourite bands have girl members/collaborators (White Stripes/Pulp/JJ72/Happy Mondays/Blondie), but always amazed that there has never been a really great girl band. I'll get my daughter on the case.

JoanOfArc · The Fine Art of Surfacing

girl singers are pretty naff in general, i mean theyre not exactly very PUNK THESE DAYS are they? theyre more about crappy slushy creepy bollocks really arent they really?

amy winehouse is about the only cool voice about but she disapeared, dunno why, but then reckon she did right thing.........mind you htere is that JESSIE J who is pretty cool, apart from that they are all rubbish.

JoanOfArc · The Fine Art of Surfacing

what is this R&B bollocks anyway??? gripping the nation??? or already gripped the nation!! !how crap is it all???

i mean when i first heard the term 'ryhythm and blues' i sort of took it literally, how disappointed was i when i found it was totally non-bluesy and definitely no rythm to the music!

BTR · Tonight

I don't normally like rap music buy this is actually really good - it is very well researched and is of the moment:

Hopefully it will go viral, get released, and go to number one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl1jPqqTdNo

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

JoanOfArc wrote:
girl singers are pretty naff in general, i mean theyre not exactly very PUNK THESE DAYS are they?

The blokes ain't all that punk these days either. There have been a large number of really good girls/women singers down the years. The dearth of talent these days is right across the board. If Alex Turner wasn't making records I think I'd have tuned out of anything contemporary.

noelindublin · Loudmouth

BTR wrote:
I don't normally like rap music buy this is actually really good - it is very well researched and is of the moment:

Hopefully it will go viral, get released, and go to number one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl1jPqqTdNo

Like you I'm not a big fan of rap either but I agree it is quite good. At least the song is about something, ie future of the NHS rather than the usual self centered concerns of rap artists.

Could be a British Eminem, but with something to say.

noelindublin · Loudmouth

JoanOfArc wrote:
girl singers are pretty naff in general, i mean theyre not exactly very PUNK THESE DAYS are they? theyre more about crappy slushy creepy bollocks really arent they really?

amy winehouse is about the only cool voice about but she disapeared, dunno why, but then reckon she did right thing.........mind you htere is that JESSIE J who is pretty cool, apart from that they are all rubbish.

You should check out a band called The Noisettes who are pretty good and definitely give it loads. A good introduction is the wonderful Scratch Your Name which sounds like old school punk but is quite recent circa 2005 or thereabouts.

Indie band Broadcast are another good band worth checking out- the singer Trish Keenan unfortunately died in January, but the did really good music if one just bothers to look for it and ignores the pop rubbish.

One of the best ever songs from the punk era was Piss Factory by Patti Smith about working in a dead end factory in New York in the mid seventies . Its on Youtube and I think you would really like that song if you haven't heard it before. Its old school punk from 1977.

-- Edited by noelindublin on Monday 28th of March 2011 01:12:59 PM

noelindublin · Loudmouth

ArrGee wrote:
JoanOfArc wrote:
girl singers are pretty naff in general, i mean theyre not exactly very PUNK THESE DAYS are they?

The blokes ain't all that punk these days either. There have been a large number of really good girls/women singers down the years. The dearth of talent these days is right across the board. If Alex Turner wasn't making records I think I'd have tuned out of anything contemporary.

Is this the "contemporary" sound of the Walker Brothers Alex Turner is peddling or has he gone contemporary contemporary if you know what I mean?

Are Arcade Fire not contemporary? Which just reminds me of the line "Come on Alex you can do it...." from Neighbourhood No 2 !!

junkyard_smile · The Elephant's Graveyard

JoanOfArc wrote:
girl singers are pretty naff in general
Would go along with Noel's Patti Smith recommendation and suggest after that you try PJ Harvey - that girl doesn't half have some balls

-- Edited by junkyard_smile on Monday 28th of March 2011 04:15:24 PM

ArrGee · Back To Boomtown

noelindublin wrote:
Is this the "contemporary" sound of the Walker Brothers Alex Turner is peddling or has he gone contemporary contemporary if you know what I mean?
Are Arcade Fire not contemporary? Which just reminds me of the line "Come on Alex you can do it...." from Neighbourhood No 2 !!

Listen to the Submarine soundtrack, it's pretty good. Best thing I have heard this year.

Yes, they are. I apologise for forgetting about them!

Oh and The Vaccines, they are quite good as well.

noelindublin · Loudmouth

Hope to catch up with the Alex Turner album soon. The Last Shadow Puppets album was good in terms of tunes but I found the whole young man obsessed with love theme a bit trying to say the least. I just wished the lyrics would have had a wider thematic range than they had.

noelindublin · Loudmouth

junkyard_smile wrote:

Would go along with Noel's Patti Smith recommendation and suggest after that you try PJ Harvey - that girl doesn't half have some balls

I like PJ Harvey a lot. Always remember going into a so called cool indie record shop in Dublin in the early nineties looking for the first PJ Harvey album- only to be told by the assistant that he had never heard of her. To be fair she was just breaking around that time- but I try to be ahead of the curve, or I used to at one stage!
Love Dress by PJH - reminds me of the early nineties. Love the way music always brings back lost memories and feelings.
Think Joan would like PH Harvey too.

-- Edited by noelindublin on Tuesday 29th of March 2011 01:08:39 PM

-- Edited by noelindublin on Tuesday 29th of March 2011 01:09:08 PM