Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: Notesfiles $Revision: 1.6.2.16 $; site ada-uts.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!cca!ada-uts!wayne From: wayne@ada-uts.UUCP Newsgroups: net.music Subject: The Best This-ism, Bush-Mania, Frip Message-ID: <22300026@ada-uts.UUCP> Date: Wed, 23-Oct-85 20:29:00 EDT Article-I.D.: ada-uts.22300026 Posted: Wed Oct 23 20:29:00 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 26-Oct-85 04:44:17 EDT Lines: 49 Nf-ID: #N:ada-uts:22300026:000:2732 Nf-From: ada-uts!wayne Oct 23 20:29:00 1985 This'll be the first note I've ever sent, so be gentle... I've never believed the way to judge a group or a particular artist is by counting the number of hits he/she/they has : pop music is for pop minds. The way I've judged groups is by listening... Not the superficial listening most teenagers or most PMRC members do, but real listening, with earphones, and most of all sober, without being under the influence of certain illegal/legal chemicals. What amazes me is the reasons some people like the music they do. Why people actually pay money for a Phil Collins record instead of waiting for it to be (over) played on the "easy listening" station is beyond me. But I'm not totally knocking Phil Collins...he is probably the most prolific pop music generator around today ("In The Air Tonight" is in my opinion one of his best songs...why can't he do more like them? The obvious answer: pop music listeners don't want them). But I ask myself when I listen to one of his songs: what is missing? The answers, which are my criteria for categorizing music, is the feeling and the originality of the music. The feeling is very important. That is why I will side with the pro-Bush (Kate, not George...definitely not George) side anyday. She IS her songs... she feels her songs. And I feel what she's trying to communicate. I do not get any sense of real feeling is many of today's pop hits. Kate Bush, therefore, beats out Barbara Streisand or Sheena Easton (sp?). Originality with feeling is also important, but originality can't stand alone. That is why I my preference for guitarists will be Robert Fripp and Jimi Hendrix, among a host of others, over any heavy metal axist. They are truly original, and they play with feeling, unlike the heavy metal guitarists who can't be told apart without a score card. I firmly believe this about Robert, so much so that I attend one of his seminars in West Virginia. He is true musician, and above all, a true artist.("Sheltered Sky" is chilling...especially in concert) Music is classified as an art. Art has always had its unappreciated innovators. It is a shame these innovators will rarely see glory in their lifetime, but I can guarantee twenty years from now the next group of musicians, be they singers or guitarists or armless harmonica players will look back and say their influences were these unappreciated heroes and not the hit makers of today. The moral of this story: Don't pay attention to pop charts or "Ten Best" lists. Pay attention to what's in your heart and in your mind. Wayne Wylupski Speaking off the cuff and will probably regret it...