(TV) Matter of Taste / Wrong / Can't Dance / Non-Musician-Angle

["Casey, Leo J" <CaseyL@VOLPE.DOT.GOV>]

I probably should leave well enough alone, but here goes.

I guess it all just comes down to taste--one person's food is 
another person's poison.  (Except the logical extension of 
that is that Television are no better than Kenny G.)

>Let's get some things straight here. Krautrock certainly 
>pre-dated Eno, but he's never downplayed his influences.

I am was indeed guilty of being ignorant and misinformed on Eno's acknowledgment of 
others (as B. Young also noted). 

I never realized how many of you are Eno fans.

>er... No! You see, you're a young man. 

If only that were so.

>You had to be there in 1972 to appreciate the sheer raw, vital, 
>breathtaking effect of that first album bursting out at you from 
>the morass of turgid blues rock, twiddly-diddly jazz-prog garbage ..

I was there. With the NY Dolls, the Stooges, the MC-5, etc.
(several times live whenever they came to Boston). I don't think 
the early glam incarnation of Roxy with futuristic/spaceman 
garb, and  Eno dressed up like an Ostrich wasn't anything 
The NY Dolls and others hadn't already done.  Eno reminded me of 
stupid posturing like Alice Cooper. 

>After he left, Roxy Music were a couple of albums away from 
>AOR Disco-Garbage. And they never got it back.

I think that's quite an exaggeration. You can put me in the category 
of life-long loather of disco--- but don't I believe Manifesto and Avalon 
are AOR Disco-Garbage, on the contrary, they contain some very beautiful, 
heart-felt songs. 
"Loneliness is a crowed room, full of empty hearts all turned to stone."

>All of Manzanera's interesting playing after "Stranded" appeared 
>on albums away from Roxy Music.

Gotta disagree here; his playing on the "Country Life" album is 
stupendous esp. "Praire Rose", Casanova", and "All I Want Is You".
Plus, when I saw them/him live for albums 4-7[?]Tours, his solos were 
great. Diamond Head has my all-time fave. record cover--but I thought 
without Ferry's song structures his tunes and playing wasn't as good.
Kinda like 'the Balanchine phenomenon'----when sidemen, e.g., Belew, 
Alomar, Verlaine, Stevie (I never met a clichi I didn't like) Vaughn, 
do their best work when playing on Bowie's records.  By the way, Eno's 
playing on "Low", "Heroes" and "The Lodger" is fantastic, so how can he 
have it both ways and call himself a "non-musician"? 

I don't appreciate Eno for many reasons--only a couple here: 
I hated (not strong enough) what he did to a great song such as 
"Virginia Plain"; at parties everyone would be dancing up a storm, 
to it, but when Eno's part came-in, he literally cleared the dance 
floor!  Also, when trying to woo future girl-friends and introduce them 
to some new, interesting music, e.g., early Roxy, Eno's parts were the 
kiss-of-death, and made me appear to have juvenile, foolish tastes. 
That's right, I blame freakin' Eno for screwing up my love life! :>) 
"There was I - many times a fool, I hope and pray, but not too much"

But the primary reason for being under-whelmed by the Roxy-Eno is that 
I do not belong to the School of Thought that believes that if someone 
can't play their instrument then that excuses them, or even more stupidly, 
their very amateurism is a badge of honor that makes them purer, superior, 
cool, etc. [cf. early-R.Hell fans]. 

I pogo-ed to many a punk band thru the 70s, e.g., The Ramones, The Buzzcocks, 
Suicide, ... (my bad back is testimony), and I realize 'Punk' reenergized 
rock music from its moribund state (and from bloated dinosaurs like 
Emerson Lake & Palmer, slick, soulless groups, and MOR radio). Yes, it had a 
passion and energy that almost made its lack of musicianship and chops unimportant 
and irrelevant (*almost*).  But after a year or so, (at least for me) it became 
predictable, boring, and I yearned for variety: people who could play their 
instruments and write songs.

Did Gary Tibbs of the Vibrators sell out when he joined Roxy's Manifesto tour? 
In an interview around the time of the Manifesto tour, Ferry said of 'Punk': 
(or use whatever word you choose--I agree 'Punk' is too vague). 
"You can't *pretend* not know." ([how to play]. 

Do people on this List honestly buy or listen to cds on which non-musicians 
'perform'?  Isn't one of the reasons people on the 2 Lists love Television  
because they can play their instruments with supreme skill, and write 
great songs? (Or maybe it's the more primitive, amateurish[?], cd-rs from 
1974-75 and early CBGB memories and not the 1977-2004 Television, that people 
prefer). I find the very early stuff, fun, funny, and interesting 
historically, to see the progression of their later songs. But I'll take the 
3 studio albums and the Blow Up and their other 1977-2004 live stuff any day.

	Leo
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