In a message dated 3/9/00 5:12:38 AM EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< I'm just amazed that any foreigners can connect with The Jam, or the kinks
or Blur or Bowie et al for that matter (witness the fact that Bowie 'broke'
the US with the shite Let's Dance with his good stuff almost totally
ignored). This is almost totally essentially English musically and
lyrically. >>
Well, we're not all complete idiots, though. I mean, an American can still
buy an Evelyn Waugh book, right? Besides, you Brits get all our stupid bands
and crappy TV shows and seem to do alright. Bruce Springsteen doesn't exactly
play pubs in the UK, does he? In fact, one of my core beliefs about rock &
roll is that part of it's appeal is cross-cultural envy. Like (very roughly):
the Beatles and the Stones wanted to be black American R&B singers which
informed their music which inspired thousands of anglophile American teens to
pick up a guitar. And it goes on and on like that, that's part of the whole
deal. I have had roast beef on Sundays, I get what Ray means. And Bowie broke
the world with that "Let's Dance" shite, it had more to do with MTV and the
pop aspects of that record than any sort of geography. If you investigate,
you will find that Bowie's earlier work was actually more successful in the
States than in Europe. Even now, I daresay that his earlier work is more
revered here than in the UK. As far as the people I know are concerned,
"Aladdin Sane" is a current release.
Corin
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