Benjamin@his-phoenix-multics.arpa (Paul Benjamin) (04/11/85)
> First off, it really pisses me off that they did this first in > England, and the American artists copied the English and NOW the only > version you hear (not to mention that pit of video dreck, MTV) is the > USA for Africa one. Grrrr... The main reason that you no longer hear the British "version" (and version it's not as it is an entirely different song, is that the British disc was a Christmas song. It DID get a fair amount of airplay around Christmas and probably will again this year. > Secondly, and more to the point, I am not at all impressed by the fact > that these artists got together and pressed a disc - so that the poor > American consumer is left actually footing the bill for whatever aid > we send to Africa....why didn't these rich slobs (read especially > folks like M. Jackson Inc.) just GIVE some of their millions? Your glass is clearly half empty. What these people did, like it or not, is a positive thing, at least in that money will go to famine relief, and consciousness has been raised over the problem. So you are ticked off that they didn't do more. Clearly no one is forcing you to buy these records. > The worst thing is, the music is pretty pathetic...and the video > reminds me a lot of the self-indulgent Police junk - a 'gee, isn't it > neat to see us at work?' sort of attitude! Can't argue with that one, really. Obviously someone likes it though. > Anyone else disgruntled by this shit? The only way I'll feel disgruntled is if it gets played so often that it gets tiring, but that happens with a lot of stuff that is wholly commercial.
allred@AMSAA.ARPA (RAMD-STU) (04/11/85)
Did you stop to think that the English did a lovely Christmas song and it is now Spring. Noone listens to Christmas tunes at this time of year!
vanhall.wbst@XEROX.ARPA (04/11/85)
No, I'm not as disgrunteled as you D.T. Please flame me if I'm wrong (I know you will anyway) but isn't it possible to get some kind of tax break for charitable donations to a legitimate organization? I thought that this might be a more realistic reason for spending the time and money for USA for A video's and whatever else. The artists donate their time , the record companies donate the profits (which comes from you and me) and get the tax credits (money back from the govt... oh no now I've dragged them into it!), Africa gets their money, and every body is satisfied. Sounds like the record company has this all figured out, but then what did you expect. They're in that business to make money. Don
JRCooper.PA@XEROX.ARPA (04/11/85)
RE: {USA for Africa recording...} Anyone else disgruntled by this
shit?
Sure, it is objectionable, but I can't think of a better method of
fundraising than to get a bunch of media stars together behind some
cause. It seems like everyone in the promotion business uses this to
their advantage every day. This is no different than any other ad
campaign except this time a certain amount of the proceeds is going to a
potentially good cause. These days Rock/Pop stars carry more weight
(credibility) with more people than anybody I can think of, and they, as
entertainers, perform convincingly. It would be interesting to find out
if any of those "dedicated" artists also gave cash donations to
supplement the small portion of their time given. I believe that Time,
or the value of time donated, is not a tax deductible item. So, if you
consider some other peoples motives for making donations (tax
deductions) a skilled artisan's donations of those skills (and time) is
actually more charitable.
To me, it is really amazing how this recording has increased peoples
awareness of the situation, and, at the same time, it is sad that people
in general must be motivated by the actions of significant others before
they do the thing that they should (or might) have done in the first
place. I am sure that your money would be better spent by sending it or
something of value directly to a charitable agency( of course you might
wan't to check how they intend to utilize your gift) that is not also
trying to cover the "incidental" costs of producing and packaging a
record. Remember only the *PROCEEDS* will be sent to the Starving ones.
Jim Cooperdce@hammer.UUCP (David Elliott) (04/16/85)
Here's an idea for those of us that don't care for the music but would like to donate money to the cause. Go to the record store, buy a copy of the record, rip it to shreds, and give it to the clerk to throw away. That way, you donate money and get a kick out of it at the same time. David tektronix!tekecs!dce