I haven't un_s_u_b_bed but I've been deleting whole digests for awhile now. During that time, I've been ruminating about some topics.
Like "fame". It's funny how I have an attitude towards people who are "supposed" to be good. I'm talking here about the phenomenon of hearing the "buzz" about someone's music before I've heard the music. Like, for me, a good example is Bob Dylan. Dylan was "supposed" to be good (according to my best source of intellegence at the time, Rolling Stone.) Now, for me, Bobby lives up to his rep but others, who will remain nameless, have not. Like there are some very highly praised folkies in particular whom I just don't "get". Significantly, it seems to me to be a deficiency in me. That is, since people who's opinion I value, like "x", I have adopted an attitude that not everyone agrees on everyone. Remarkably, even on the JMDL, not everyone appreciates, say, Bruce Springsteen as highly as I do. I struggle with this: If you get "Amelia", how can you NOT get "Thunder Road"? Failed opportunities (Joni), last chances (Bruce), the road (Both). When I see so many, many similarities, how can someone else like one and abhor the other? And why is it that some bands like the Cowboy Junkies garner a familiar kinship similar to pride? Why do I use the word "proud" to describe how I feel about the Junkies' "lay it down". (?) Certianly they didn't go to my high school or live on my block. So in what manner do I feel 'pride' for people I've only met fleetingly and superficially? These relative values shift even further. If I hear a voice on the radio, and pay attention, trying to catch a name when the announcer comes on, I trust my instincts on that, whether or not everyone else thinks that, say, "Night Moves" is a trite. Complicating things further, there's the perspective of corresponding with or hearing a JMDLer, then purchasing a disc. Now that's a wierd one. Cause when at work, I say, "I'm listening to my friend's disc", people think I'm a name droppper. It's so wierd. It's completely different listening to a JMDLer's work than learning about it from the radio. I'm automatically PROUD of them. The most extreme example of this was when I found out that my friend Niki, the dj, had toured with her own band, supporting a disc of her own originals. Suddenly, my friend became one of the hallowed and illustrious "Songwriters" (caps intentional). On the obverse, I went round back during the loadout and chatted with Michael Timmins after a Junkies' show. That was wierd. He's just a bloke who's made some money at music. So why did I feel out of place talking music with a musician? What is it about Success that puts a barrier between listeners and players? What is it about Airplay that distinguishes Famous from Local Talent? I suppose that the Junkies can walk in and out of 24 hour gas stations all across North America without being recognized. Isn't that inconguous? So what does it mean to be a "Star"? What does it mean to be a former member of a serious band like the Police? A former member of a silly band like Three Dog Night? Are they forever Public Persons or do they cross over into just being a face in the crowd? What's it like to be Furry, singing the blues? Lama
