Old hippies never die, they just get a little mouldy round the edges
Tuesday, July 8th, 2003 02:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
robinturnerOne reason why MCM kicks MTV's ass, apart from the clever French pop, is that I have just been treated to AC/DC ("Hiiiiighway to Hell!"), Deep Purple and, best of all, the remnants of Led Zeppelin performing Kashmir with a bunch of Morrocan musicians. Two thoughts emerge from this.
1. All this stuff about Western music pillaging Third world traditions as a form of colonialism is about as convincing as accusations of demonic possession. Real musicians share music like real programmers share code. People who have nothing better to do than write for the NME (or whatever the current equivalent is) might think it awful that Western musicians are using Middle Eastern music, or that Turks are playing heavy metal ("Please, people, stay in your ghettoes, and we'll work out a Fair Trade deal with Oxfam") but I'm all for mixing it up. I remember doing a gig in a culturally diverse (read poor) part of Leeds, when a woman shouted up at me "How dare you steal Black people's music?" "Thanks," I shouted back, "that's the best compliment of my musical career" (the funny thing was, she wasn't black, just vaguely off-white - probably a wannabee Black).
2. Despite all the jokes about aging hippies and rock dinosaurs, the hippy/rock phenomenon managed one thing that no other youth culture achieved - it gave people a sustainable culture (that's not an original idea, by the way - it was told to be by an old hippy). Not only are Jimmy Page and Mick Jagger still strutting their stuff, they are doing it as well as ever, and people still go for it. The only difference is that in the 1970s, everyone was lapping it up, whether they understood it or not, whereas now it is for the more discerning. Cultural stuff aside, Kashmir will always rock because it goes
DUHduhduh, duhduhDUH, DUHduhduh, duhduhDUH, DUHduhduh, duhduhDUH, DUHduhduh, duhduhDUH!
1. All this stuff about Western music pillaging Third world traditions as a form of colonialism is about as convincing as accusations of demonic possession. Real musicians share music like real programmers share code. People who have nothing better to do than write for the NME (or whatever the current equivalent is) might think it awful that Western musicians are using Middle Eastern music, or that Turks are playing heavy metal ("Please, people, stay in your ghettoes, and we'll work out a Fair Trade deal with Oxfam") but I'm all for mixing it up. I remember doing a gig in a culturally diverse (read poor) part of Leeds, when a woman shouted up at me "How dare you steal Black people's music?" "Thanks," I shouted back, "that's the best compliment of my musical career" (the funny thing was, she wasn't black, just vaguely off-white - probably a wannabee Black).
2. Despite all the jokes about aging hippies and rock dinosaurs, the hippy/rock phenomenon managed one thing that no other youth culture achieved - it gave people a sustainable culture (that's not an original idea, by the way - it was told to be by an old hippy). Not only are Jimmy Page and Mick Jagger still strutting their stuff, they are doing it as well as ever, and people still go for it. The only difference is that in the 1970s, everyone was lapping it up, whether they understood it or not, whereas now it is for the more discerning. Cultural stuff aside, Kashmir will always rock because it goes
DUHduhduh, duhduhDUH, DUHduhduh, duhduhDUH, DUHduhduh, duhduhDUH, DUHduhduh, duhduhDUH!
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no subject
Date: 2003-07-08 02:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-08 02:32 am (UTC)Aghaghaggrrbagalkstateaghanarchygrrbviolencegrrr
Did you know Crass published a book of their lyrics, subtitled "for people who like the politics, but can't stand the music"?
Re:
Date: 2003-07-08 02:46 am (UTC)