Maybe he has similar experience to Kinky Friedman.
"In those days I was so high, I needed a stepladder to scratch my own ass.”
6 Likes
That would be a way to do it, although a lot of very recognizable names have been popping up as voices for animated characters in Disney-sized films, and some of those names have not been away long enough to be unrecognizable when out and about.
2 Likes
My favorite fading rockstar song. I love the strings:
3 Likes
He was on the faculty at UC Santa Cruz teaching math and theater to college kids
which seems like a sensible thing to do for anybody who gets offered a job like that
19 Likes
" The best fame is a writer’s fame. It’s enough to get a table at a good restaurant, but not enough to get you interrupted when you eat.
– Fran Lebowitz"
26 Likes
Did they interview that has been Grimes?
3 Likes
I saw George Thorogood and the Destroyers in a huge stadium once and spent the whole show thinking about how much better they would have been in front of 250 people in some smoky bar.
7 Likes
Not quite pop star, but John Hodgman’s book Medallion Status is about this same thing and it was fairly fascinating.
6 Likes
The thing that amazes me about Suzanne Vega’s snippet is that she’s describing her life in 1990, at which point her best work was still ahead of her - her masterpieces 99.5 F and “Nine Objects of Desire” were years later.
7 Likes
Well, that’s the thing - every generation needs a godmother. You do not have to be first to be one. There was a tonal shift around her time frame, yes she wasn’t unique or 100% new, but nobody really is and she had some groundbreaking songs and helped open the door a bit for a certain new style.
5 Likes
RIGHT?!?! I mean, Solitude Standing is a good album, but 99.9F and Nine Objects are on another plane.
2 Likes
i get what you are saying, but it seems like if every generation has a godmother, it dilutes the point of being called a godmother in the first place.
2 Likes
Do you think there is one godmother and she serves all humanity until the end of time?
1 Like
Thanks for saying this. I really like her still to this day and I think she deserves credit for her influence and the scene she helped create.
3 Likes
Now that’s impressive.
14 Likes
Most of the musicians I like are not “pop” stars, and have had long careers at the not-quite-megastar level. Such as: John Hiatt, Lucinda Williams, Ry Cooder, Neko Case.
They all seem to have done pretty well and stayed on an even keel.
7 Likes
It was just a pilot scheme.
13 Likes
Tangentially… I’m actually not sure anymore what “pop” even is. Seems like a kid that make the high score table. Like where on the pop charts does one have to be. I grew up listening to the artists you listed.
So your comment made me curious about Lucinda Williams I hadn’t thought about her in while.
LUCINDA WILLIAMS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company
Looks like her top position on pop charts was 68. What I don’t know is what the cutoff is that makes it not pop anymore.
And yeah… There’s something to be said for modest sustainable success for sure.
6 Likes
sure, why not?
I haven’t had a fuckin clue about who won the Grammys since about 1995 or so. Pardon me whilst I scrub my dentures now.
2 Likes
