Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Wed, 29 Jul 1992 15:08:55 EDT
From:         "Michael H. Bloom" <MHB@MITVMA.BITNET>
Subject:      Just found a big pile of religion, is it yours?

From:         Michael <MASUDA@SJSUVM1.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

> Yes, they play his stuff on the radio.
> "Sledgehammer", "Big Time", and "Shock the Monkey" are staples of the
> airwaves.  But realise that the stuff they don't play on the radio
> is what we're referring to when we talk about his music.

I disagree to the extent that I think his radio hits are likewise terrific.
"Big Time" is a clever and sarcastic observation on yuppie success worship,
"Shock the Monkey" packs a real emotional wallop (which makes much more sense
once you know the story), and although I can't explain "Sledgehammer" to save
my life, I have grown to like it just as much as "Red Rain" (which also got
its share of FM airplay). Don't you want to sit every diplomat in the world
down and force them to listen to "Games Without Frontiers?"

> I need not mention that "Lamb Lies Down" by early Genesis
>   is one of the most articulate
>   statements in the music world, as far as concept albums go.

Articulate yes, comprehensible no. (And I've been a big fan of that album for
years, even saw the tour twice, especially the time in Providence where Steve
Hackett broke a guitar string in the middle of "Carpet Crawlers" and left the
stage to replace it, then they got to the beginning of "Chamber of 32 Doors"
and he hadn't come back yet, so Gabriel grabbed his flute and played Hackett's
part-- so Gabriel's a real musician in my book, even if he does dick around
with drum machines all the time nowadays :-).

From:         AISARMSTRONG%IST%VMI@IST.VMI.EDU
Subject:      re: re: sins and sinners

> I did not say that Country Music singers were perfect! I only said that they
> were not as bad of an influence as rock n' rollers & heavy metel.  There is a
> difference.

Nuts. I don't think this statement is even defensible. The bulk of the message
conveyed by your typical rock'n'roller is "Hey all you nubiles in the audience,
come on up and gimme a blow job," which is obviously absurd because the singer
is wearing so much makeup you can't even guess his/her gender. Let's look at
some of the more upstanding country lyrics: "I turned 21 in prison serving
life without parole," "Swinging doors, a jukebox and a bar stool," "Feeling
single, seeing double," "Shot a man in Reno just to watch him die," "Tonight
the bottle let me down," "I'm going down to Mexico in a glass of tequila,"
"Four on the floor and a fifth down under the seat," and the ever popular
"We need a whole lot more of Jesus and a lot less rock'n'roll."

From:         Russ Gelinas <R_GELINAS@UNHH.UNH.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Losing My Religion
X-To:         ALLMUSIC@AMERICAN.EDU
To:           Michael Bloom <MHB@MITVMA.BITNET>

> Pretty cynical view, and could very well be wrong in a lot of instances.
> How do you know that people like Michael Stipe or the singer for Midnight
> Oil didn't get into music for the exact reason that they could "do some
> good"?  It's certainly an aspect of art that should not be overlooked,
> I*My*HO.

That's exactly right. You want a rooftop to shout from, they don't come much
bigger than MTV or the Lollapalooza stage. Part of Dylan's decline happened
IMHO because he didn't have a cause worthy of his talents any more-- although
I must admit I thought his Christian period was pretty silly, the stuff he was
doing immediately prior to that sucked even worse (_Street Legal_-- yucko).

Of course, it works both ways. There's a band in England called Skrewdriver
that plays songs about white supremacy. They used to help suck impressionable
youth into the ultra-rightist National Front, although I am told they decided
they were being used and have since disassociated themselves from the party.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU