... But plenty of artists with obnoxious personalities become huge anyway. It just takes a certain kind of obnoxiousness, I guess.
I think we should be reticent about attributing obnoxiousness to any artists. I'd say that often, the bigger the name, the more reasons they have for being annoyed, impatient, obnoxious, if just for a second, though it may be widely reported.
I'm reminded of being in a music shop a couple of weeks ago. I picked out a couple of CDs and went to the counter to pay for them (yes, I still take pleasure in doing that old-fashioned thing). There were a few other people in the shop and one man came to the counter alongside me, talking to staff members. I glanced at his face and recognized him immediately; it was Bruce Springsteen.
He was just doing his thing like anyone else, interested in music, talking about music, finding new music. When I was younger and bolder, I'd probably have said something to him, or asked for an autograph. (And of course, you want to say to your friends "Y'know who I met...") Anyway, I've done that before, with, among others, Tom Verlaine and Kate Bush. I'm sure even Bruce doesn't have limitless patience for such intrusions; it has to be annoying.
For what it's worth, I lingered in the shop after Bruce had left and asked the woman behind the counter what he had bought: he got the Robert Plant & Alison Krauss album and a Waterboys album.
--JoeT -------------- To post: Mail tv@obbard.com To unsubscribe: Mail majordomo@obbard.com with message "unsubscribe tv"