Pop stars talk about what it's like not to be famous anymore

[bferrell]

Maybe the “lesson” is that is you “hit a motherload” it may not go on forever… Be ready to not be a gazillionaire. Stop expecting to be a forever rock star.

I’m looking at you software developers

[QuickBrownFox]

I think ICE-T had the best take on this…" they all seek power, fuck the fame" I mean honestly, what kind of person wants to be constantly followed by cameras and potential psycho stalkers? Hard pass.

[FGD135]

motherlode

[Radoncat]

@Gendun

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.

I enjoyed 99.5, but felt it wasn’t quite on target. I believe it was first album with Mitch Froom producing. Then she released Nine Objects and I still love that album. For me, you can see the collaboration coming together on 99.5, but Nine Objects brought it all to fruition. Freaking wonderful.

[Radoncat]

@MBrody

On the other side, it’s fun to hear about musicians like Thomas Dolby who excelled in other endeavors after his pop music career slowed down

Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was still in the music business playing studio sessions, etc after his stints with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, but he also worked as a defense contractor focused on missile defense systems.

[sdmikev]

@BakerB

Once Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize Lehrer said “political satire is now dead.”

Ain’t that the truth…

[sarc]

that just reminded me I had not listened to this number in some ages… love it!

Tanita Tikaram - Twist In My Sobriety (Official Video)

[Shazsta]

Thanks, I’ll read the book when I get a chance. Seems sad but really interesting.

[semiotix]

Speaking from experience, it’s a real roller coaster. Sometimes it’s amazing, to be free from a million expectations that people had of you. Like, you go a whole day without some stranger hassling you about what your next big thing is and it’s like, whoa, that actually feels great!

But then the self-doubt creeps in. If people aren’t thinking about me, who am I really? Maybe they don’t care because I was never great, maybe I’ve always been one of the “little people.” And then you recoil because that’s pretty obviously a toxic way of thinking about it, but those toxic thoughts creep in all the same.

I can only imagine how surreal it must be for someone who was famous.

[Tamsin_Bailey]

“Motherload” is when you really pissed off your mum and she empties the entire can of Woop-Ass in your direction.

[DonatellaNobody]

Comments section reminds me a little more of this:

Harlem Roulette

EtA: The loneliest people in the whole wide world are the ones you’re never gonna see again.

[PPK]

I’m sure you will enjoy it - saw her at the Barbican in February on her mini-warmup for the new tour, as far as I’m concerned she just gets better every time.

The Queen and The Soldier always brings me close to tears, just sublime.

[zuludaddy]

Timbuk3, whom everyone knows from “Future’s So Bright…” - which is a deeply, deeply cynical song from the get-go - had a great little pop song about “The B Side Of Life:”

B Side of Life by Timbuk 3

[BakerB]

They had lots of great songs!

[BethanyAnne]

I haven’t heard Nine Objects. Gotta grab that, I loved 99.9°F.

[Radoncat]

Let me know what you think. As I said, Nine Objects just pulls it all together for me

[milliefink]

Thanks for the rec, i listened to it again on Spotify. Still great indeed, but also a lot… thinner or something than i remembed. The sound, i mean. Made me wonder how much of the full range of sound got compressed out or whatver. Made me a little sad.