Re: (TV) i mean cookies

[SCOTT ALDRICH <scott.aldrich@worldnet.att.net>]

I think the addition of the word "female" to "ranting artist" sounds
slightly patronizing, especially since we all enthusiastically go gaga over
countless other "raving artist"-types of the male persuasion, umm, Tom
Verlaine? Richard Hell? Iggy Pop? Lou Reed? Has the world ever seen such a
bunch of self-important, precious "artistes" revelling in their oh-so
artiness while still wanting to be rock stars, all the while showing disdain
for their fans? Yet I love all of their music and am an unashamed, outright
fan. How are they any different from Patti, a woman who grew up steeped in
rock-as-art culture and who contributed to that tradition just as
emphatically? Am I showing my pretentiousness by preferring her brand of
"ranting artist" to the 80's hook-laden pop of the Cars? You bet. I show my
phony-baloney art-punk-rock/avant-garage street cred at the door.

> From: eric s gregory <esgregory@uswest.net>
> Reply-To: tv@obbard.com
> Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2001 16:04:39 -0800
> To: tv@obbard.com
> Subject: Re: (TV) i mean cookies
> 
> all right.
> now i gotta pipe in...
> even if "horses" & esp. "radio ethiopia" hadn't slammed,
> shaped & enlightened my existence as profoundly as they did,
> i'd still argue that "horses" was a pathfinding lp of the
> highest sort...sure, she & the band (a crucial component)
> were contributing to a tradition already laid out, escalated
> & pretty much defined by a host of other (almost entirely
> testosterone-based) poets & would-be seers (dylan, morrison,
> reed, iggy, shit, even cats like serpent power)...but there
> was something so untamed, so unhinged, wild even...suppose
> you could call it "punk"...about those 1st 2 records...she
> eventually reified the schtick in to something more
> "traditional" (tho yr right, scott..."easter" &
> "wave"...hell, every one of her records has its moments),
> tho no less powerful than anything reed, morrison, et al
> (i'll keep dylan out of here as i'm becoming more & more
> convinced he's so far beyond everybody else at this point)
> have done.
> & to use the cars by way of analogy is a little silly....i
> mean, yeah the cars had some groovy little numbers but they
> never took as many risks, never stretched rock & roll's
> defining boundaries...christ, they never had such a
> libidinal explosiveness...
> 
> 
> "Philip P. Obbard" wrote:
>> 
>> I'm not bashing her. I just think she's overrated - that lots of other great
>> albums are actually more compelling but lack the "female ranting artist"
>> angle.
>> I like plenty of her songs, but I also like plenty of Cars songs, and I don't
>> think they deserve a Top 100 album, either.
>> 
>> BTW, "Break It Up" began life as a Television song - in the Richard Hell days
>> -
>> with a completely different set of lyrics (including the first line of
>> "Friction" before that song existed!)
>> 
>> --Philip
>> 
>> --- SCOTT ALDRICH <scott.aldrich@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>>> Before you all start bashing Patti Smith, Horses and Radio Ethiopia are
>>> great records, and Wave and Easter are very strong.  Break It Up is a
>>> beautiful Verlaine and Patti collaboration.  Ain't It Strange is pretty
>>> twisted, and "Free Money", is just glorious, as is "Land".
>> 
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