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Jan. 7th, 2015
We’re only a few days into 2015, and we’ve already seen what will undoubtedly the most controversial news story of the year that will polarize America for at least another ten years.
I’m talking, of course, about that new Kanye West single that features a guest vocal from Paul McCartney, whom most Kanye fans apparently have never heard of.
Which may be genuine, or it may (mostly) be the usual internet snark. Some music fans are highly unamused and indeed despondent that American pop culture has decayed to the point that these kids today know nothing of the Beatles and what is the world coming to?
Which reminds me of a joke Billy Crystal once told back in the 80s, in which he realized how old he was getting when his daughter asked him, “Dad, is it true that Paul McCartney was in another band before Wings?”
Anyway.
Over on The Quietus, Ned Raggett has a lot to say about fake outrage and music snobbery vis a vis Kanye and Macca. I don’t know that the outrage is all that fake – I know a lot of music fans who get genuinely irritated at things like this. “Dude, how can you NOT know who the Beatles were?”
The answer is simple: the same way that most people my age had no idea who Glenn Miller was, or Bobby Darin, or Frankie Laine, or Peggy Lee, or Billie Holliday, or Neil Diamond, etc, when we were kids.
First of all, not everyone has an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture. Second, the knowledge you have at a given time is based on whatever yr current interests are. The Kanye/Macca thing is just a contemporary illustration of how "old" music doesn't matter to young people focused on what's out there now.
Most of my generation were no different as kids, depending on what our parents may have had in their record collections (assuming they had a collection at all, and you’d be surprised how many didn’t). I didn’t really know who the Beatles were until I was maybe 12, even though I’d heard some of their songs. But I had no reference point in terms of their importance until at least the late 70s. I knew Macca via Wings before I started checking out his Beatles material.
Here’s something else to consider regarding record collections: a lot of the people who are Kanye fans? Their parents’ record collections (which will be on CD, not vinyl) probably don’t go back much further than the early-80s. Yr more likely to find Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Duran Duran and Nirvana than anything by a Beatle (with the possible exception of George Harrison’s Cloud Nine album, or maybe the Traveling Wilburys).
Granted, the main difference between my generation and the current one is the sheer size and ubiquity of the media bubble, especially regarding entertainment news. Between cable TV and the interwub, people know more about Mrs Kanye’s ass than they do about how the US govt works. With that level of saturation, it’s admittedly hard to believe that the Beatles or even solo Paul never registered on these people’s radar before now.
Which is why I suspect many of the “Who the hell is Paul McCartney?” tweeters were probably kidding.
Even if they weren’t, though, I don’t think it matters. If Kanye fans didn’t know who Macca is, they know now. And maybe some of them will be encouraged to investigate his back catalog. That’s a good thing.
Also, it’s worth remembering that it’s all a matter of subjective taste. There’s no technical requirement for anyone to revere or even like The Beatles, much less know who they were. So overall, I’m not all that bothered.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have never heard a Kanye West song in my life. I have heard of him, of course. But I can’t name a single song by the guy.
Who are you,
This is dF
I’m talking, of course, about that new Kanye West single that features a guest vocal from Paul McCartney, whom most Kanye fans apparently have never heard of.
Which may be genuine, or it may (mostly) be the usual internet snark. Some music fans are highly unamused and indeed despondent that American pop culture has decayed to the point that these kids today know nothing of the Beatles and what is the world coming to?
Which reminds me of a joke Billy Crystal once told back in the 80s, in which he realized how old he was getting when his daughter asked him, “Dad, is it true that Paul McCartney was in another band before Wings?”
Anyway.
Over on The Quietus, Ned Raggett has a lot to say about fake outrage and music snobbery vis a vis Kanye and Macca. I don’t know that the outrage is all that fake – I know a lot of music fans who get genuinely irritated at things like this. “Dude, how can you NOT know who the Beatles were?”
The answer is simple: the same way that most people my age had no idea who Glenn Miller was, or Bobby Darin, or Frankie Laine, or Peggy Lee, or Billie Holliday, or Neil Diamond, etc, when we were kids.
First of all, not everyone has an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture. Second, the knowledge you have at a given time is based on whatever yr current interests are. The Kanye/Macca thing is just a contemporary illustration of how "old" music doesn't matter to young people focused on what's out there now.
Most of my generation were no different as kids, depending on what our parents may have had in their record collections (assuming they had a collection at all, and you’d be surprised how many didn’t). I didn’t really know who the Beatles were until I was maybe 12, even though I’d heard some of their songs. But I had no reference point in terms of their importance until at least the late 70s. I knew Macca via Wings before I started checking out his Beatles material.
Here’s something else to consider regarding record collections: a lot of the people who are Kanye fans? Their parents’ record collections (which will be on CD, not vinyl) probably don’t go back much further than the early-80s. Yr more likely to find Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Duran Duran and Nirvana than anything by a Beatle (with the possible exception of George Harrison’s Cloud Nine album, or maybe the Traveling Wilburys).
Granted, the main difference between my generation and the current one is the sheer size and ubiquity of the media bubble, especially regarding entertainment news. Between cable TV and the interwub, people know more about Mrs Kanye’s ass than they do about how the US govt works. With that level of saturation, it’s admittedly hard to believe that the Beatles or even solo Paul never registered on these people’s radar before now.
Which is why I suspect many of the “Who the hell is Paul McCartney?” tweeters were probably kidding.
Even if they weren’t, though, I don’t think it matters. If Kanye fans didn’t know who Macca is, they know now. And maybe some of them will be encouraged to investigate his back catalog. That’s a good thing.
Also, it’s worth remembering that it’s all a matter of subjective taste. There’s no technical requirement for anyone to revere or even like The Beatles, much less know who they were. So overall, I’m not all that bothered.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have never heard a Kanye West song in my life. I have heard of him, of course. But I can’t name a single song by the guy.
Who are you,
This is dF
