sherouse@unc.UUCP (George W. Sherouse) (05/19/84)
In a recent article I mentioned that I have noticed that music that I consider worthwhile comes in 7 year cycles. I mentioned several examples of bands who 'happened' in 1963, 70, and 77. Some of you seem to think that I meant those to be endorsements of the bands which carry those same names today. I certainly do not. Hence the rest of the cycle. It seems to me that the most interesting bands appear on the scene with a rough but promising debut album, produce a noteworthy album with the leftovers from #1, and then really come into their own with number three. Number four is controversial - maybe too experimental. Number five shows serious signs of decline and the band's best and brightest bail out. From there on it's downhill. This scenario gives a band a roughly 3-4 year worthwhile lifespan after which they merely become more and more pathetic, particularly if they are trying to get more 'commercial'. That of course implies a 4-3 year wasteland for us between peaks in the cycle. The examples are all too numerous and have been recently hashed through in this group. But not to worry. According to my tunewatch right now is the calm before the storm. There is life after death for the talented ones - usually solo careers and maybe eventually new bands. I am thinking in particular of Howard Devoto who rose above the death of Magazine, maybe (I still haven't decided) Peter Gabriel, Robert Fripp, Pierre Moerlin, etc. Unfortunately, there are also zombies - Phil Collins, Tom Verlaine, Dave Thomas (ex of Pere Ubu), Jon Anderson, and on and on. There are no great bands right now. But there are some that could go either way. Check the very first Genesis album to get an idea of what I mean. I personally am watching 10,000 Maniacs and Prefab Sprout expectantly. Others are hard to find these days. Does anybody know of anything that I ought to? BTW, there are groups/artists who live outside the law. The Residents, Elvis Costello, Fred Frith, and others are always right. Thank god for real art(ists). Good tunes to you, George W. Sherouse <decvax!mcnc!unc!sherouse> "I wish I was somethin'. I wish I was good. I wish I was made of mahogany wood."
paul@ism780.UUCP (05/24/84)
#R:unc:-728000:ism780:20500002:000:427
ism780!paul May 22 21:31:00 1984
(this line died for somebody's sins, but not mine)
I think you err in classifying Tom Verlaine as a zombie (but,
I'm not sure he has a record deal any more -- his 6th (counting TV) album is
rather overdue). He has his limitations, but he's enough of a musician to
be interesting for a long time.
Paul Perkins
...{uscvax|ucla-vax|vortex}!ism780!paul
...decvax!yale-co!ima!ism780!paul
[Nothing happens till it happens twice.]