The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

[Strict31]

Good for her.

I'm trying to understand where you're coming from here, but I just don't.

[Cat-Scratch]

I think part of it has to do with it going from producing music for your own sense of purpose and just chugging it out for a buck.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

I'm trying to understand where you're coming from here, but I just don't.

Well, it's difficult to judge because I don't know what artist you're talking about and I what her ideals are or what kind of music she played. So instead, I'll give you another example (excerpts copied from wikipedia):

Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene.

Their music mixed the more experimental elements of British 1970s punk with the raw energy of the 1980s American hardcore punk scene. Dead Kennedys' songs mixed deliberately extreme lyrics with satire, sarcasm, and irony of social and political issues of the 1980s.


...


On March 25, 1980, Dead Kennedys were invited to perform at the Bay Area Music Awards in San Francisco to major record label artists to give the event some "New Wave credibility", in the words of the organizers. The day of the performance was spent practicing the song they were asked to play, the underground hit, "California Über Alles". In typically subversive, perverse style, the band became the talking point of the ceremony when after about 15 seconds into the song, Biafra said, "Hold it! We've gotta prove that we're adults now. We're not a punk rock band, we're a new wave band."

The band, who all wore white shirts with a big, black S painted on the front, pulled black ties from around the backs of their necks to form a dollar sign, then started playing a new song entitled "Pull My Strings", a barbed, satirical attack on the ethics of the mainstream music industry, which contained the lyrics, "Is my cock big enough, is my brain small enough, for you to make me a star?". The song also referenced The Knack's song "My Sharona". "Pull My Strings" was never recorded for a studio release, though the performance at the Bay Area Music Awards, which was the first and only time the song was ever performed, was released on the band's compilation album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.


...


In early 1980, they recorded and released the single "Holiday in Cambodia". Later that year, the band released their debut album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. The album reached number 33 on the UK Albums Chart. In January 1981, Ted announced that he wanted to leave to pursue a career in architecture and would help look for a replacement. He played his last concert in February 1981. His replacement was D.H. Peligro (Darren Henley).

Around the same time, East Bay Ray had tried to pressure the rest of the band to sign to the major record label Polydor Records; Biafra stated that he was prepared to leave the group if the rest of the band wanted to sign to the label,[5] though East Bay Ray asserts that he recommended against signing with Polydor. Polydor decided to not sign the band after they learned that the Dead Kennedys' next single was to be titled "Too Drunk to Fuck".

When "Too Drunk to Fuck" came out in May 1981, the song caused much controversy in the UK as the BBC feared the single would reach the Top 30; this would require a mention of the song on Top of the Pops. However, this never came to be as the single peaked at number 36.


...


In addition to the obscenity lawsuit and being ignored by the mainstream media (MTV and most radio stations gave such groups scant notice, not to mention airplay), the band became increasingly disillusioned with the underground scene as well. The hardcore scene, which had been a haven for free-thinking intellectuals and downtrodden nonconformists, was increasingly attracting hooligans who came to punk concerts looking only to slam dance and fight to violent music.[citation needed] In earlier years the band had criticized neo-Nazi skinheads for trying to ruin the punk scene, but just as big a problem was the increasing popularity of thrash metal and stereotypical macho "post-1982 hardcore" which brought the group (and their genre) an audience that had little to do with the ideas/ideals they stood for. In January 1986, frustrated and alienated from their own scene, the DKs decided to break up to pursue other interests and played their last concert on February 21. The band continued to work on songs, with Biafra penning songs such as "Chickenshit Conformist" and "Anarchy for Sale", which articulated their feelings about the "dumbing down" of punk rock.

During the summer they recorded these songs for their final album, Bedtime for Democracy, which was released in November. The artwork, depicting a defaced Statue of Liberty overrun with Nazis, media, opportunists, Klan members, corrupt government officials, and religious zombies, echoed the idea that the punk scene was no longer a safe haven for "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free". The album contains a number of fast/short songs interspersed with jazz ("D.M.S.O."), spoken word ("A Commercial") and psychedelia ("Cesspools In Eden"). The lyrical focus is more introspective and earnest ("Where Do Ya Draw The Line?""), with an anti-war, anti-violence ("Rambozo The Clown") bent, moving away from the violent imagery of their early records, while remaining as subversive as ever ("I Spy", "D.M.S.O."). In December, the band announced their split. Biafra went on to speak about his political beliefs on numerous television shows and he released a number of spoken-word albums. Ray, Flouride, and Peligro also went on to solo careers.


...


This dispute was hotly contested by all concerned who felt passionately for their cause, and the case caused minor waves within punk circles. Biafra claims that guitarist East Bay Ray had long expressed displeasure with Alternative Tentacles and with the amount of money he received from them, thus the original incentive for the discovery of the back payments. It was found out that Alternative Tentacles was paying Dead Kennedys less per CD than all the other bands, including Biafra himself, and not informing his other bandmates, which was the fraud. Biafra accused the band of wanting to license the famous Dead Kennedys song "Holiday in Cambodia" for use in a Levi's jeans commercial, which the band denied.[citation needed]

Biafra apparently pushed this issue in court, although there was no hard evidence and the jurors were apparently unconcerned with corporate use of independently produced political music. Biafra would later complain that the jury was not sympathetic toward underground music and punk culture. The song never appeared in a Levi's commercial, although in interviews Biafra described the situation surrounding the commercial in detail and was able to give specifics about the advertisement, including the name of the advertising agency that had created the commercial's script.[citation needed]


...


The reformed Dead Kennedys followed their court victory by announcing a number of tour dates, releasing reissues of all Dead Kennedys albums (except Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, to which they did not have the rights until 2005), releasing several new archival concert DVDs, and licensing several songs to The Manchurian Candidate remake and the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game. East Bay Ray claims he received a fax from Alternative Tentacles purporting Biafra approved the licensing for the game,[17] which Biafra denies happening.

The band claims on their website that they still pay close attention to an anti-corporate ideology, despite performing on September 5, 2003 at a festival in Turkey that was sponsored by Coca-Cola, noting that they have since pulled out of a show in Los Angeles when they found that it was being sponsored by Coors.[18] However, Biafra claims the above mentioned licensing deals prove otherwise.

So there is an example of a band, The Dead Kennedys, who were very anti-corporation, very leftist politically, and who viewed that kind of success as contributing to an authoritarian system which they ideologically despised. Compromise on this issue has led to band members hating each other for like 25 years (amongst other reasons). To some people, music isn't just entertainment for mass consumption. It's practically political activism. Now, does that apply to the artist who set you on this path of questioning? I dunno. But it's a very valid way of thinking, IMO.

Dead Kennedys were noted for the harshness of their lyrics, which generally combined biting social satire while expressing a staunchly left-wing view of contemporary America.[27][28] Unlike other leftist punk bands who use more direct sloganeering, Dead Kennedys' lyrics were often snide. For example, "Holiday in Cambodia" is a multi-layered satire targeting both yuppies and Cambodia's then-current Khmer Rouge regime.

[Strict31]

The artist in the interview was Feist, and she was talking about her latest album "Metals" vs. her previous album "The Reminder."

[S.F. Jude Terror]

The artist in the interview was Feist, and she was talking about her latest album "Metals" vs. her previous album "The Reminder."

Feist performed an alternate version of "1234" on Sesame Street during its 39th season, teaching children to count to the number four. She also sang with Elmo on the same episode.[14] She said working with the Muppets was a career highlight.

Yeah so, not the same thing. She's a cunt.

[Victorian Squid]

Guys, c'mon, the poor girl had been rendered emotionally deaf by this experience and had lost her curiosity altogether.

After touring for her previous album, The Reminder, Feist was "emotionally deaf". She stopped playing music for two years, saying that she "wasn't curious anymore".

[DMM]

Guys, c'mon, the poor girl had been rendered emotionally deaf by this experience and had lost her curiosity altogether.

LOL!

[Nacmir]

Damn Jude, now I'm listening to Dead Kennedys as my punk friends do. Love "too drunk to fuck".

[Anonymous62]

New hard rock bands have improved in the last 20 years due to the influence of Southern Rock groups like the Black Crowes and Collective Soul. This has resulted in good groups like Black Stone Cherry.

[Keb]

Everyone wants to claim something as their own personal thing. The minute other people start claiming it as their own, that person gets mad and lashes out emotionally because their taste is not unique. It explains Jude's whole "I did it first so I'm better" mentality.

I get annoyed when an artist makes shit music to do bigger numbers. Lupe Fiasco is the best example. Lasers was a write-off.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

Everyone wants to claim something as their own personal thing. The minute other people start claiming it as their own, that person gets mad and lashes out emotionally because their taste is not unique. It explains Jude's whole "I did it first so I'm better" mentality.

I get annoyed when an artist makes shit music to do bigger numbers. Lupe Fiasco is the best example. Lasers was a write-off.

It's difficult to be ahead of the curve because it's annoying to not be recognized as being so much better than everyone else.

[Greg]

I never really understood this mentality also, especially with the fans. If I was a fan of a band that weren't mainstream, I got excited when they started to get known. Finally other people could share my love for the band.

But the one time I got pissed off was Finger Eleven. Not because they got popular but because once they started to get popular, they changed drastically and got bland and very annoyingly commercial. Their first few albums were amazing to me then they got famous for "One Thing" one of their worst songs that got so overplayed. Then their next album was pretty horrid and now I've given up on getting back into them after hearing their output since then. I just agreed that their new stuff just aren't for me, let them please a new audience. I still have their older albums when people didn't care for them. (It always did piss me off too when people judged the band based on that crappy One Thing track. Their following singles didn't make it any better. )

[Keb]

What do you expect from a band that used to call themselves "Rainbow Butt Monkeys"?

A lot of Canadian bands/artists do that shit. Alexisonfire is another group, same with the Rascalz and Swollen Members.

I put it down to them having to compete in a market dominated by American artists and I really don't think our CanCon regulations help them at all.