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defrogThere’s been a number of famous-person deaths in the last week, but I’m hard pressed to say much about them.
Levon Helm: Sorry, but I’ve never been much of a fan of The Band. Talented guy and all, but musically The Band never meant much to me.
Charles “Tex” Colson: There’s a post in that, but it would violate my Three-Week rule of speaking ill of the recently deceased. Suffice to say that all he ever proved to me about being born again is that it doesn’t necessarily make you a nicer person.
Jonathan Frid: You’d think I’d have more to say, but honestly, I never saw Dark Shadows. It went off the air when I was six, and I was aware of it by reputation later on but never saw any episodes. Yes I know they’re on DVD. The thing is, to be honest, a soap opera full of ghosts, vampires and the supernatural is still a soap opera, which is a format that’s never really interested me.
Dick Clark: Well, like a lot of Americans my age, I grew up seeing Clark on American Bandstand and the New Year’s Eve show. But I can’t say I’m particularly sentimental about either. Granted I’m not that sentimental about NYE anyway. But honestly, it was only after I stopped watching AB that I learned about Clark’s role as tastemaker. Even in terms of Top 40 music, I got more of my leads from Casey Kasem than Clark.
Still, personal connection or not, I do give Clark credit not only for trying to turn America on to the latest musical sensation, but also for at least trying to explore new music that wasn’t obviously geared for chart success, like Captain Beefheart, Public Image Ltd and X.
Also, credit to Clark for taking a stand for the youth side of the generation gap in the 60s, responding to the novelty record “An Open Letter To My Teenage Son” (a spoken-word patriotism-fest in which Victor Lundberg says that it’s far more important to love America and free enterprise than yr teenage offspring who criticize it, especially during wartime) with his own novelty record saying its unfair to blame the kids for being upset with the f***ed up world their parents built for them.
Not in so many words, obviously. But the spirit was there.
Would Ryan Seacrest do that? I wouldn’t bet on it.
Tell it to the kids,
This is dF
Levon Helm: Sorry, but I’ve never been much of a fan of The Band. Talented guy and all, but musically The Band never meant much to me.
Charles “Tex” Colson: There’s a post in that, but it would violate my Three-Week rule of speaking ill of the recently deceased. Suffice to say that all he ever proved to me about being born again is that it doesn’t necessarily make you a nicer person.
Jonathan Frid: You’d think I’d have more to say, but honestly, I never saw Dark Shadows. It went off the air when I was six, and I was aware of it by reputation later on but never saw any episodes. Yes I know they’re on DVD. The thing is, to be honest, a soap opera full of ghosts, vampires and the supernatural is still a soap opera, which is a format that’s never really interested me.
Dick Clark: Well, like a lot of Americans my age, I grew up seeing Clark on American Bandstand and the New Year’s Eve show. But I can’t say I’m particularly sentimental about either. Granted I’m not that sentimental about NYE anyway. But honestly, it was only after I stopped watching AB that I learned about Clark’s role as tastemaker. Even in terms of Top 40 music, I got more of my leads from Casey Kasem than Clark.
Still, personal connection or not, I do give Clark credit not only for trying to turn America on to the latest musical sensation, but also for at least trying to explore new music that wasn’t obviously geared for chart success, like Captain Beefheart, Public Image Ltd and X.
Also, credit to Clark for taking a stand for the youth side of the generation gap in the 60s, responding to the novelty record “An Open Letter To My Teenage Son” (a spoken-word patriotism-fest in which Victor Lundberg says that it’s far more important to love America and free enterprise than yr teenage offspring who criticize it, especially during wartime) with his own novelty record saying its unfair to blame the kids for being upset with the f***ed up world their parents built for them.
Not in so many words, obviously. But the spirit was there.
Would Ryan Seacrest do that? I wouldn’t bet on it.
Tell it to the kids,
This is dF
