Music Thread

That's the Longpigs

 

NWA?

 

PS - I thought everything you liked was where they made an indecipherable scream, how do you know it's anti-Semitic? They might not be saying 'I hate all ******* Jews', it might be 'I'm on a Caribbean cruise'. In which case, problem solved.

 

It must also be remembered the Smiths were 4/5 people (5 with Craig Gannon). Their last LP & most Morrissey solo stuff has left me cold. Queen is Dead is just a complete classic. Not everyone digs it, but it is genius in my book. I bought it the day it came out & it still gets a spin. My band actually recorded in Chorlton, where they cut the demos & the single version of the Boy With the Thorn In His Side. I heard the original master of it. It was re-recorded for the LP. Sadly Paul Roberts left this planet some time ago. Whisky on his cornflakes...

 

Panic was directed towards Steve Wright. There is no racist message in it.

 

There is a difference between using language that becomes outmoded and making outright racist statements

 

When I was 20ish I wanted to be in a band. Unfortunately a complete lack of musical ability stopped that dead. I did however write the lyrics for a song called "White N####r" about white kids acting like they were black. Was I racist (I hope not)? Was I using language that is now inappropriate (definitely)?

 

Jay-Z & loads of people have "reclaimed" the word. As a white person & DJ I'm not massively comfortable with it. N.W.A. was OK, 'cause it was N.W.A., not the long form. We all knew what they were saying & respected it, but had not got the right to used the "word". That's how I see it. I have 5 black / ethnic DJs that work for me. We talk about this stuff, but we talk about a lot of stuff. Otis Redding wrote a song called "Respect". Was a great tune but, misogynistic. Aretha Franklin re-invented that song.

 

Always difficult to put modern day values on people/art/literature etc from another time. Good example being Churchill. Often cited as the greatest ever Briton. But you wouldn't have to delve too deeply into his personality and views to work out you might not want to have a beer with him! I suppose it's for each individual to make up their mind as to what's acceptable to them.

 

Out of interest, where do Sly and the family stone sit?



Or perhaps Janes Addiction and Ice T?



Same song nearly 2 decades apart. Both mixed black and white line ups.

 

You need a lyric sheet but the song titles give you an idea.

 

Music for me is 50% the tune, 50% the words. I can't like listening to something if it has a horrible tune and likewise I can't like listening to something if it has horrible lyrics.

 

I remember a dreadful Swedish rap metal band in the 90s called Clawfinger. They had an anti-racist song called "N****r". Don't think you'd get that these days. I sometimes watch their video for "War Fair" for comedy value.

 

More importantly, where does @YTBFC stand on this?

 

some of The Corbyns stuff is ok

 

Apart from Viva Hate, I think that most of Morrissey's solo stuff is an absolute pile of **** and balls. Morrissey's personal twattyness seems to have increased at a directly inverse rate relative to his musical ability, so drawing things to their logical conclusion, he was probably an ok bloke when The Smiths were recording what is in my opinion one of the most faultless canons of work by any band ever (rivalled only by REM, The Pixies and Nirvana).

By the way, on the subject of racist lyrics, has anyone ever listened to the second verse of "The Sun Has Got His Hat On"? If you haven't, I dare you to do it. Preferably tomorrow morning at work, just as the boss comes in.

 

While I'm on my high horse i would have to admit to quite a bit of irritation when history gets airbrushed. A small example is Paul Gambaccini’s pick of the pops. Runs down the top twenty but skips over anything by an artist now deemed to beyond the pale. I do understand the reasons why but if we’re being judgmental about an individual rather than the work they produced then we would be emptying a lot out of our galleries and about half of our libraries.