Elon Musk seems to think The Sex Pistols were a real punk band

Having your status as a punk band questioned is the mark of a true punk band.

6 Likes

One of my favourite band, but what about them if there wasn’t Pistols before ?
We have to accept that everything started with them (no, not the Ramones, no British punk movement with just the Ramones)

Not just the neo‐nazis, that was the nazi’s shtick too.

1 Like

PiL?
Quoting one the biggest fraud in the history of art is not a good idea I think.

1 Like

Why are my dreams void of any music.

1 Like

Anger is an energy, and I hope you can use yours productively. :+1:

6 Likes

The BB forum is NOT monolithic and someone who’s been here since 2013 should know that.

13 Likes

I think he’s an idiot. But I enjoy his vocal style in the Sex Pistols. “Good” is relative. David Byrne would probably fail American idol (or dancing with the stars, LOL) if no one knew who he was and yet the talking heads are one of my favorite bands. I think I just like voices that are unique and expressive, which Johnny Rotten very much was.

I too, get a little annoyed with the idea that talent and skill are indicators of how good of a person you are and that somehow only bad artists have bad points of view. Very talented people are often idiots, and sometimes very good people make awful art. That’s not to say you have to like the sex pistols. It’s all a matter of personal opinion.

And I have very much had the experience where an artist being awful has made me feel uncomfortable about their art that I once enjoyed. Ren and Stimpy was one of my favorite cartoons and I think the animation is revolutionary and influential to this day. but I feel uncomfortable shouting that from the hilltops or buying merch anymore after I heard about it’s creator being a creep.

5 Likes

PIL was always a case of Wobble,Atkins,Levene, and even Laswell providing the innovative.
Lydon just continued his tried-and-true contrarian ranting shtick on top of it all.

1 Like

In all fairness, much of Flowers of Romancne was just Levene & Lydon. But, yeah, I didn’t care much for PiL’s music after Levene left – and I came to see Album as yet another Laswell project, like Material with guest vocalist John Lydon (& now I’m remembering Time Zone & Golden Palominos).

Wait until the writer learns Johnny Ramone liked Reagan and the Ramones made a high school musical movie.

2 Likes

Nobody is celebrating with Morrisey because, sadly, he disappeared in 1994.
It was truly tragic that he was never seen or heard from again after “Vauxhall and I,” but perhaps for the best.

7 Likes

Bill Morrissey died over a decade ago.

1 Like

…thus revealing the politically motivated reason he wanted to buy Twitter.

Everything? It’s almost as if Iggy & the Stooges never existed.

3 Likes

Saying, “I don’t want to listen to or buy X’s music because of their abhorrent views” is one thing. Saying, “X is completely without talent because of their abhorrent views” is another. I think Clapton and Lydon (and Van Morrison and others) should be raked over the coals for their views, but it does a disservice to music history to minimize their contributions.

Also, it helps people’s adjustment to the real world to acknowledge that people are often mixed bags, and many of them have extreme gifts and extreme flaws. And that people can be good at their jobs while being stupid in other areas.

2 Likes

From what I’ve seen, people here are not saying Clapton is without talent. I have only seen people criticize him for his abhorrent views and not even bring up his music.

8 Likes

I think I’m more disappointed by the idea that the Sex Pistols weren’t “punk” when they came out because Lydon is now some kind of right-wing or libertarian asshole. Yes, they were more based on shock value than musical ability, but that shock value and the angry and politically charged tone defined British punk for decades (especially considering how apolitical and apathetic much of say, the Ramones’ early work was).

I agree with you that some people are multiple things at once, some good and some terrible. My whole point was that much of the content here likes to put people into a “good” and “bad” camp on all things they’ve done in their life.

Yeah, if they’re giving the finger to the establishment, it’s only because the establishment isn’t being brutal enough for them; if they’re ruffling the establishment’s feathers, it’s only because they’re rudely taking over from the genteel bigots.

I’ve been reading about the “Proud Boys” taking over Republican political machines in different parts of the US. They’re pushing out the old establishment Republicans who seem most upset about how crude, rude and violent they are (to other conservatives) rather than their politics per se.

4 Likes