Monday, 2 November 2009

Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing

Last weekend I inadvertently caught on TV a performance by what was left of the BeeGees (a couple of weird old men doing bad karaoke) and a dreary, massively self-important documentary promoting (god help us) a Fleetwood Mac reunion, and I thought to myself, as usual, Why do they do it? Or rather, why do people flock to see acts who long ago lost their mojos, pay a small fortune to sit somewhere in the same huge arena as their idols? Perhaps they're somehow unable to move on musically, locked into the once exciting music of their youth and therefore loyal to the performers who made it, regardless of their decline into inept self-parody. Equating the performers with the music is the problem, I think. If you want to relive the excitement of a great band in its heyday, remind yourself of what it was all about, you'd be better off with a good tribute band, rather than the survivors themselves, as like as not merely going through the motions for the sake of their pension pots. Ah but a tribute band is not the 'real thing'. Isn't it? In the sense that it gives a more authentic idea of what a band could do at its best, I'd say it is closer to the 'real thing' than the dismal spectacle presented by the 'dead but don't known it' originators of the music. Or of course you could just stay at home with your vinyl...
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14 comments:

  1. malty2 November 2009 at 19:14

    The pages of the ST "Culture" never ceases to amaze, concert after concert of names from the distant past, I keep muttering "move on, move on why don't you" Did anyone see Andy Williams last week, for goodness sake, reminded me of the final days of Yeltsin.
    The Germans love 'em, the names, the names.
    When Johhny Hallyday announced his retirement they were devastated.

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  2. Nige2 November 2009 at 21:40

    Johnny Hollyday's retired!? Malty, you might have broken it more gently. I'm off to a sanatorium to recover from that blow...

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  3. Susan3 November 2009 at 00:11

    The fact that Johnny Hallyday and the Bee Gees are both mentioned here amuses me. I first saw Saturday Night Fever at a cinema in Le Havre. Hearing snake hips Travolta over-dubbed in French was a curiously unforgettable experience. Some things are worth remembering - and even posting on the net - though maybe not this (with apologies to Viktor Mayer-Schonberger).

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  4. Nige3 November 2009 at 09:39

    I once saw Victor Mature and Heddy Lamar in Samson and Delilah dubbed into Serbo-Croat. (I think this was the one where some wag remarked that Mature's poitrine was bigger than the heroine's.)

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  5. Recusant3 November 2009 at 10:08

    Ah, Heddy Lamarr. Now there was a woman: 'The Most Beautiful Woman in the World' (Copyright: MGM); a brainy scientist -a co-inventor of spread spectrum communications technology and radio-guided torpedoes; and the first depiction on-screen of, err, hem, hem, female ecstacy.

    She probably dubbed it into Serbo-Croat herself, Nige.

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  6. Recusant3 November 2009 at 10:21

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Recusant3 November 2009 at 10:21

    On a tangent, is anybody keeping an eye out for Elberry? http://ghostofelberry.wordpress.com/

    He worries me, that boy.

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  8. Brit3 November 2009 at 11:03

    But what can you do, Recusant? He's banned us.

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  9. Anonymous3 November 2009 at 11:06

    Nige, somehow I'm hoping that when you do finally reach that seventh decade mark, your kids celebrate by giving you a trip to Vegas to see Wayne Newton or Barry Manilow.

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  10. Brit3 November 2009 at 15:31

    Recusant - do you want to email me re Elberry? Address is on my sidebar.

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  11. malty3 November 2009 at 17:28

    Peter, now you are on an archaeological dig, Wayne Nooton, remember him on the Lucy show, may Zog have mercy on us all,he's not still alive is he.

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  12. Anonymous3 November 2009 at 18:39

    malty, the Hendrix's, Cobains, Morrisons, Jacksons, etc., may depart unexpectedly and tragically, but the Wayne Newtons of this world croon forever.

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  13. Susan3 November 2009 at 21:43

    Not forgetting David Cassidy - Could It Be Forever?

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  14. 22023 November 2009 at 21:59

    Off to see Steve Earle tomorrow, I take it that he does not count in your (quite rightly)disgust at the singing dead.
    Trouble is, have seen this year Little Feat,Lucinda Williams,and EMH and none of them are spring chickens, and in Lucinda's case, only a few days older than me, Leaving aside LF who could have been adding to their pension pot, All the others are coming out with new material that is not a rehash of earlier times. With Red Dirt Girl, EMH pushed the boundaries out somewhat and it remains my favourite.

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