YOUTUBE, I’M AS MAD AS HE’LL AND I’M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE
- The FastTracker
- Nov 9, 2013
- 5 min read
On one hand the tributes for Lou Reed still keep pouring in and on the other hand, the world- or is it only a paid-for perception?- is all-twitter about the wedding of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.
I can’t say I was a huge fan of Lou Reed though respected what he brought to rock and roll and am fascinated by how he chose to leave us: Staring at a tree while practicing tai chi.
Lou Reed was a tai chi master, but when I met him for the first and only time was many years ago when an aspiring Rock journalist who had an exclusive interview set up with the musician, the man was a mess.
My then-girlfriend and future wife-and now ex-wife- were waiting for him at Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong. And there he came outta Customs carrying a silver case and accompanied by a she who was a he. And all the colored girls went, Doop da doop…
After a brief introduction, he opened up his case and showed us a false bottom where he had hidden his stash before asking if I knew where he could purchase some syringes. He had four hours to kill and wanted me to take him somewhere to get these goddamn syringes.
When he and “she” left for a nature call, my girlfriend and I bolted from the airport.
It was just too creepy. Hanging with Lou Reed even for those few minutes made us anxious and the feeling of being surrounded by evil.
This was a very different Lou Reed who was to marry his soul mate and fellow musician Laurie Anderson, find himself, be himself, make the music he wanted and damn the rest.
So while we still say our different goodbyes to Lou Reed whose association with David Bowie reminds us of how relevant the latter continues to be as we watch his self-made $12.28 new music video, there is this twattering about the KK wedding and which, for some reason, like the relentless news reports of Simon Cowell’s ability to make some woman pregnant and all his past girlfriends, is filed under “music news.”
This is where one misses the days of Crawdaddy, Creem, the NME and when Rolling Stone was a Rock bible with real music journalists led by writers like Dave Marsh, Lester Bangs, below, Ben Fong-Torres, the kid that was Cameron Crowe, Greil Marcus, Jann Wenner, Nick Kent etc.
They ate and slept music, knew the musicians, knew the stories behind the music, traveled with musicians and were trusted allies, everything that Cameron Crowe wrote into his semi-autobiographical film, Almost Famous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qn3tel9FWU
Today, “music news” is as fluffy as reality shows and all manner of “entertainment” have merged into one blob like that man-eating plant from the Little Shop Of Horrors.
Earlier today, from what is termed, “Music News,” one leapt from something about Sharon Osbourne apologising to Babara Walters to two pieces on the very good Lorde.
More on this 15-year-old from New Zealand another day, but all the publicity and quotes attributed to her are suddenly starting to ring hollow to me.
Perhaps I have worked with too many artists from New Zealand and Australia and seen way too many of them- and some extremely talented- make it fast and blow it faster through bad management and an American music industry that gets hot and cold over “outsiders” very quickly.
Remember all the hype about that great Aussie guitarist Orianthi and her association with Michael Jackson and the huge build up for the release of her debut album?
What happened to the record? Nada, zilch, kaput. What happened to this incredible guitarist? Nothing much.
Getting back to “music news”, there was also a piece on Selena Gomes dissing Lorde- see what I mean about Lorde overkill?- and then the most exciting “music news” of all- the Kardashian Klan leaving the Mothership- though matriarch Kris Jenner plans to produce a new faked out reality series about her kids with Bruce Jenner- who’s already separated from her.
Get all that? And if you didn’t, it’s because it’s all clutter- too much and so much worthless information that priorities like Youtube’s nonsensical policies and ignorance about musical publishing and what constitutes “copyright infringement” in the online world, play second or third fiddle to entertainment fluff.
Where’s there a “voice” to ask YouTube for some answers? Twitter? Facebook?
Sure, this all helps- and must grow instead of “trending” for a few days. It must be relentless, it must be genuine and it must take no prisoners.
But what’s missing in music today and how to make it relevant again are the real gonzo journalists with huge balls who ask the tough questions and have the power to have their questions answered.
Power might corrupt, but Power also breaks down doors and gives Power to the people.
If here today, John Lennon would agree with that and thank gawd for the likes of Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder who are old souls in younger bodies with a deft understanding of the past, a respect for musical history and how and where music has been devalued.
Apart from being a musician, David Grohl, especially, is a rock journalist. We need more and don’t mention St Bono to me.
We sure as hell can’t depend on TMZ or E! etc to do any of that and go for the jugular. TMZ and E! are, simply put, PR outlets for the management of celebrities and have no editorial clout.
People magazine or Hello can start up their own channels and they’ll be just as vapid as Ryan Seacrest.
It’s all fast food fixes for those in a hurry who really don’t want to think about anything too deeply- which is also a reason why relationships today are so fleeting, false and fucked up.
Commitments- real commitments- are few and far between and which is why marriages today are an endangered species.
They’re simply flimsy pieces of paper built on convenience. Working to make a marriage work is a dated concept.
Working to get music to work again suffers from this same problem: non-commitment and the thinking that someone else will fight the battles.
This is where, we should all go back and watch “Network” again and watch the mad honesty of character Howard Beale begging his audience on ‘live’ television to open their windows and yell that they’re mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGiX5tbLKiY
It’s a classic scene from a classic film and a speech and line more relevant than ever before.
We MUST get SO pissed off that it becomes catching- and becomes part of a movement that will never EVER settle for weak arguments and roll over and have our music stolen or careers being fucked around by those who THINK they have the power to be a law unto itself- like YouTube which NEEDS you, me and everyone else.
WE are the new music journalists and the Hunter S Thompson of these times and ONLY us can make that commitment to fight for our rights like the Beasties gone bonkers- in a very smart way.
We owe this to ourself and the respect we have for music- old music, new music and the music to come.
Comments