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Looper's Delight
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This is a lengthy one, because of lyric content. Okay, I thought I'd respond a final time before people just start deleting this thread as it appears. Good Lord, whatta volume of messages! This hasn't happened in what, two years? Here goes.. I went to a benefit for The Kitchen (in NYC) waaay back in '81-82, a two-night event at a former Bond's store-turned-club. Billed as being there were David Byrne, Brian Eno, and a long list of avant-garde (do they still use this term?) luminaries and anti-luminaries. Well, Byrne wasn't there the night we went - they after all didn't say WHO was going to play on WHAT NIGHT - but Eno had a six-screen "vertical format" installation done after "On Land" which I thought was brilliant, and there were a ton of music people there. Hell, even Mick Jagger was able to cruise through the crowd unmolested. Well, about 12.30 a band came on that was sort of an anti-band if you will. It was DNA. I recall that I thought it was just f%%king awful, no, BEYOND that. I was appalled at the abuse that the 'guitarist' (quotes in context) hailed upon his guitar, just BANGING on it frankly. A wall of noise. Kind of like anti-music. It went on for oh, seemed like hours, but must've been just 30 minutes. I was so relieved and irritated when they were finished. I thought of it as a typical example of pretentious New York City pseudo-art. I wished I wrote a column so I could crap all over these guys. But you know what? Most of all, I wanted to go home and PLAY MUSIC. While I immediately succumbed to the common urge to just focus on the stuff I DIDN'T like, I DID get something out of it, whether I wanted to or not. When I got home, much to my parents' dismay, I plugged in and composed several pieces, now lost to the whims of tape degradation. But I never forgot that evening. Oh, and this bit from Ray Davies' "Look A Little On The Sunny Side": Look a little on the sunny side Even when they say you're on the slide, And for a while they'll say your records never make it, But in a while they're gonna be showering you with praises. They'll give you mediocre reviews And put you in the underground for a while, But look a little on the funny, sunny side of life, Look a little on the sunny side. You sing 'em the blues And then they ask for a happy tune, And when you start to smile they'll say gimme dat rhythm and blues, And when you give 'em dat rhythm and blues they'll simply smile and say We didn't want to hear you play, We didn't like you any way. It's very hard to please the people every single time, But look a little on the sunny side. Look a little on the sunny side Even when you feel you want to hide, You gotta laugh, don't let your critics ever upset you, 'Cos for a while the cynics will all be out to get you. You gotta be shrewd, you gotta be strong You've gotta convince yourself that you are not wrong, Whistle a tune and think of a catchy, happy, little song And look a little on the sunny side. It's very hard to please the people every single time, But look a little on the sunny side. They're gonna put you down for a while You've got to learn to grit your teeth and smile And look a little on the funny, sunny side of life, Look a little on the sunny side. ****************** Peace folks. Stephen Goodman http://www.earthlight.net/Studios * The free Loop of the Week! http://www.mp3.com/StephenGoodman * New MP3 Releases! http://StephenGoodman.iuma.com * Even more MP3s!