Glastonbury, Amy Winehouse in Particular.

I totally disagree that Winehouse’s music appeals to adolescent girls, it’s far more sophisticated than that. With it’s jazz and blues roots it certainly has an appeal for old gits like me, in fact I think that all my friends and relatives of a similar age have at least one of her albums.
Oasis were one of the originators of the so called ‘Brit Pop’ movement in the 90’s, I was an old git even then. I remember going to a New Years Eve party in Manchester in the early 90’s hosted by the editor of the Guardian and being introduced by him to their first album, we were all pretty ancient, but could relate to their style by their obvious influences from the Beatles and the fact that guitar bands were blatantly back. Rather like the Beatles, Oasis were able to cross many age boundaries, those old ones who remembered the good old days, and the younger ones who were looking for something which in their eyes was new and different.

Anyway, if you wanted to see some rebellious class, it had to be Nigel Kennedy’s performance on The Proms on saturday.
Following up his incredible performance of Elgars Violin Concerto, he took up his wierd 5 string electric violin and played some jazz. Now jazz doesn’t impress me that much, but he did, even bringing on Jeff Beck to duel with him on guitar.
He finished with a version of Jimi Hendrix’ Third Stone from the Sun, mindblowing, he may also be somewhat eccentric, but can he play, and deliver the goods.

If there is a problem I can’t say if it’s a big one or not, but it’s surely not one that’s going to give me sleepless nights. What I see is that youngsters pic up what their idols do, and there is a possibility of some these youngsters doing exactly the same and getting into the same trouble. If someone’s daughter ends up in the same mess as Winehouse is only because Winehouse did it too then someone’s parents have problems that I can do without.

Banning music is of course impossible and wouldn’t make much sense. The media might be better off simply ignoring some artists but this too won’t work because people like Winehouse and Docherty are in the center of attention and people just want to know. We have radio-stations here in Germany that will not play Michael Jackson (for obvious reasons).

Peter

I think the average Oasis fan might be a great deal older than the average Winehouse fan. I’m not an expert and I’m not in the music business, all I do is listen to the radio and form my own opinian. It might be wrong. To me the average Winhouse fan would be female and somewhere between twelve and eighteen years old. Those who would buy every Oasis cd would be male and range between sixteen and way beyond thirty. Thus I think Winehouse’s influence as a role-model is something that the media might want to think about whereas Oasis’ isn’t. To me this is what makes the difference, but like I said: I might be mistaken. I believe the risk of a 13 or 15 year-old being equally as foolish as their idol is a great deal larger than that of a 23 or 27 year-old.

I’m not entirely convinced by what you’re trying to say but even if it’s correct, how do you rectify what seems, from what you say to be a large problem? Ban music altogether? Ban everything that isn’t trad jazz or classical? Ban everything that expresses even a hint of individuality or personality of any kind? I’m not saying Amy Winehouse being a total waste of space is expressing anything other than her own spectacular idiocy, but then again, how far would you take it?

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

Paul

I think the average Oasis fan might be a great deal older than the average Winehouse fan. I’m not an expert and I’m not in the music business, all I do is listen to the radio and form my own opinian. It might be wrong. To me the average Winhouse fan would be female and somewhere between twelve and eighteen years old. Those who would buy every Oasis cd would be male and range between sixteen and way beyond thirty. Thus I think Winehouse’s influence as a role-model is something that the media might want to think about whereas Oasis’ isn’t. To me this is what makes the difference, but like I said: I might be mistaken. I believe the risk of a 13 or 15 year-old being equally as foolish as their idol is a great deal larger than that of a 23 or 27 year-old.

Peter

They will be soon. The other day I saw a teenage girl in town with the same beehive, the same make-up and even the same clothes. Crikey! that junkie is this girls idol? I felt like wanting to shake her. How long will it take before this girl puffs the same **** that Winehouse did?

Every cyclist taking part in the “Tour de France” who gets caught taking drugs (for whatever reason) gets fired and is sent back home in disgrace. Every popstar doing the same gets the best air-play they can dream of. It’s high time that Winehouse is banned from every radio-station until she gets herself sorted out.

I think you’ll find that if every band or artiste was banned from the airwaves for taking whatever, there wouldn’t be much music on the radio.
It’s not a modern phenomena either, it goes back a long way, look at what happened to Billy Holiday in the 40’s.
They did ban certain Beatles records in the 60’s for so called drug references, however ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ was a perfectly innocent reference to one of Julian Lennons drawings, it had nothing to do with acid, it was just a coincidence.
By their own admittance, the Gallaghers took just about every nasty thing going, but the point is, Oasis were able to get up and perform, apart from a few arguments among themselves of course.
The problem with Amy is that she can’t perform, if it wasn’t for her magnificent backing band, she would really be in trouble, but as Renfrew suggests, her entourage are encouriging the problem, they are the one’s at fault, but then again, they are on the gravy train aren’t they.

Eh? Her problems are hardly typical of ‘todays youth’, are they?!

Paul

They will be soon. The other day I saw a teenage girl in town with the same beehive, the same make-up and even the same clothes. Crikey! that junkie is this girls idol? I felt like wanting to shake her. How long will it take before this girl puffs the same **** that Winehouse did?

Every cyclist taking part in the “Tour de France” who gets caught taking drugs (for whatever reason) gets fired and is sent back home in disgrace. Every popstar doing the same gets the best air-play they can dream of. It’s high time that Winehouse is banned from every radio-station until she gets herself sorted out.

Did you know that the only reason that Cohen is performing is because his agent stitched him up and left him with no money. Unfortunately, the silly man refused to let the BBC show his performance, why, I don’t know, perhaps he had doubts about himself, who knows, it was a bit of an own goal methinks.
I was fortunate enough to see him in his heyday nearly 40 years ago, mind you, he was a miserable sod on stage even then, but thats what you expected of him in those days, it was all part of his ‘charisma’.

There are plenty of pirate clips on YouTube if you look for them.
Saw him twice in the early 70s myself, and I’ve got tickets for the NEC in November.
My recollection is that on stage his melancholy was relieved by a persistent streak of self-mocking humour.

Did you know that the only reason that Cohen is performing is because his agent stitched him up and left him with no money. Unfortunately, the silly man refused to let the BBC show his performance, why, I don’t know, perhaps he had doubts about himself, who knows, it was a bit of an own goal methinks.
I was fortunate enough to see him in his heyday nearly 40 years ago, mind you, he was a miserable sod on stage even then, but thats what you expected of him in those days, it was all part of his ‘charisma’.

Saw him last Friday for the fourth time, a fabulous show with an audience of 5000 in the market square of Lorrach. He did a great show for a 74 year old and he really enjoyed the atmosphere, at times dancing on the stage. A three hour show with two encores and he is in the middle of his summer tour to be followed by a fall tour!

A friend who went reckoned it was worth the admission price just to catch up with Leonard Cohen – 70-something and still had the audience in the palm of his hand.

Did you know that the only reason that Cohen is performing is because his agent stitched him up and left him with no money. Unfortunately, the silly man refused to let the BBC show his performance, why, I don’t know, perhaps he had doubts about himself, who knows, it was a bit of an own goal methinks.
I was fortunate enough to see him in his heyday nearly 40 years ago, mind you, he was a miserable sod on stage even then, but thats what you expected of him in those days, it was all part of his ‘charisma’.

And on a more serious note, I find it incredible that anyone aged 24 can contract emphysema !

The long goodbye, suicide by bungee cord…? Outrageous behaviour, and she has my entire sympathy. I sincerely hope she comes good, but I have my doubts…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7530099.stm

According to reports, she was suffering from fits due to her ‘medication’, other reports suggest a 3 day long binge party, which sounds the most likely cause, but who knows, an innocent reaction may well be the case, she’s gone to far down the line for anyone to believe that, unfortunately.

And on a more serious note, I find it incredible that anyone aged 24 can contract emphysema !

The long goodbye, suicide by bungee cord…? Outrageous behaviour, and she has my entire sympathy. I sincerely hope she comes good, but I have my doubts…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7530099.stm

A friend who went reckoned it was worth the admission price just to catch up with Leonard Cohen – 70-something and still had the audience in the palm of his hand.

Back in the 80’s as a petulant teenager, I was often compared to a Leonard Cohen record… No one ever listened to me !!!;)

A friend who went reckoned it was worth the admission price just to catch up with Leonard Cohen – 70-something and still had the audience in the palm of his hand.

Can you recall an Afro Rock band called ‘Osibisa’, they were cool at the time during the early 70’s. Things just used to fall into place in those days, I ‘accidentally’ wandered via a back door on stage and was instantly jumped on and given some maracas by one of the drummers, didn’t expect that. I spent the whole concert looking out on a sea of faces shaking these bloody things and crapping myself.
Happy days, where have they gone.

Saw them just last week! ARTE TV are doing a series of re-runs of TOTP and they were on it, sure you don’t need the initials explained!

Same place as the ten bob note, thruppenny bit and the farthing.:D

Remember their promotion symbol of the winged, flying African elephant, their performances were real fun, even without me!!

Can you recall an Afro Rock band called ‘Osibisa’, they were cool at the time during the early 70’s. Things just used to fall into place in those days, I ‘accidentally’ wandered via a back door on stage and was instantly jumped on and given some maracas by one of the drummers, didn’t expect that. I spent the whole concert looking out on a sea of faces shaking these bloody things and crapping myself.
Happy days, where have they gone.

Saw them just last week! ARTE TV are doing a series of re-runs of TOTP and they were on it, sure you don’t need the initials explained!

Same place as the ten bob note, thruppenny bit and the farthing.:D

Matey, it isn’t the old days anymore! It has to be said though, the 60’s was a time I’d love to have experienced, both for music and aviation. 🙂

Paul

P.S. Just out of curiosity, who was the band?

I know it ain’t the old days anymore, theres no way I could get away now with some of the things I did in the 60’s and 70’s, if you had the front and a bit of skill, in my case tuning up guitars by ear, or once even helping Rick Wakeman set up his Leslie cabinet. You could just wander over then and get involved with anyone, as long as you had something to offer and didn’t act like a starstruck pillock, it was a lot of fun in those days. It didn’t always turn out right though. I once ended up helping out on the mixing desk for Procul Harum in their heyday and the sound engineer, an American I recall, had been consuming such a cocktail of dope and whisky, that he passed out, leaving me in charge. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, and when Gary Brooker pointed at me to put on the seagull sound for the start of ‘Salty Dog’, all I could do was look at him and shrug, I just ended up staring at a sea of buttons with constant black looks from the band.
The sound engineer eventually woke up with the words, ‘Well, I guess thats the end of my contract then’.
Some of my experiences were legendary, and a little sad as well, remember a great potential band called ‘Stone the Crows’. I ended up handing out the towels for them to wipe themselves down with between songs, it was a hot humid summer that year, the week after, the poor old lead guitarist got electrocuted and killed during a concert, his guitar shorted out on to the mike stand, bloody upset me, he was such a nice bloke.

The band? They were called Heaven, very popular on the festival front in the 60’s/70’s, they had an album out called ‘Brass Rock’, I’ve checked on Amazon and it’s available on CD, I bet it sounds naff now.

Can you recall an Afro Rock band called ‘Osibisa’, they were cool at the time during the early 70’s. Things just used to fall into place in those days, I ‘accidentally’ wandered via a back door on stage and was instantly jumped on and given some maracas by one of the drummers, didn’t expect that. I spent the whole concert looking out on a sea of faces shaking these bloody things and crapping myself.
Happy days, where have they gone.

P.S. Just out of curiosity, who was the band?

My guess is The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park, and he played harmonica on ‘Not Fade Away’….;)

Matey, I was probably going to major festivals before you were born, in the old days, it was possible to use a bit of subtlety and end up on the stage

Matey, it isn’t the old days anymore! It has to be said though, the 60’s was a time I’d love to have experienced, both for music and aviation. 🙂

Paul

P.S. Just out of curiosity, who was the band?

Welcome to the wonderful world of festivals, Pete! Why do you think I avoid them? I’ve been to hundreds of festivals of all kinds across Europe but I’ve either been behind a mixing desk or on stage playing. I’ve been to (I think) one serious festival as a punter and it was years ago, and free. I avoid them simply because for the most part in an 80 band lineup there are only maybe 3 bands I’m actually half interested in seeing. If you go to a festival and have to sit through something you don’t really like… Tough. Have another beer or whatever and get over it! 🙂

Paul

Matey, I was probably going to major festivals before you were born, in the old days, it was possible to use a bit of subtlety and end up on the stage, I even got to play harmonica on stage with a famous band once, I’m sure that they thought I was a pain in the bum and decided it was a good way of getting rid of me, mind you, I thought I was quite good then, they seemed to think so too, but no-one ever complained, thats the way it was in the 60’s.

Go to the beer tent when she’s on. Simple!

Paul

I like the way you think!!