Rock Stars

Test limits. They do the unexpected. They make our jaws drop.

Have you seen "Book Of Mormon"? There's a tribal chief with a name so OUT THERE, so OFFENSIVE, so SWEAR WORD, that I cannot use it in this e-mail, or you won't get it.

Yup, I love to use the F-word. But I can't. Because too many of you work for uptight corporations with spam filters that won't let that word through. Yup, you think you're so hip, that you're not like your parents, that you're open-minded and accepting. But the truth is so many are still on the treadmill of life, working for the man, and we depend upon artists to show us the light, to question convention, to stretch our minds, to show us the POSSIBILITIES!

In other words, there's a market for imitation, but what we're truly interested in, what truly lasts, is ORIGINALITY!

Where is it in music, come on, all you tattooed and pierced knee-jerkers, point out all those acts doing the unexpected, wowing us.

No, we've got a veritable plethora of me-toos.

And for those who are different, they're too often not good. The trick is to be different and mainstream, whether it be the Beatles, with "Sgt. Pepper," or the "South Park" boys, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, with "Book Of Mormon."

A Broadway play? It doesn't SCALE!

That's the first thing a wannabe rock star tells you, he's going for world domination, he's the next Madonna. Well I hate to tell you, but the reason you know Madonna's name is because there's only one. Forget the lost, dieted-down-to-nothing woman parading on stages today, once upon a time Madonna was a head-twisting paragon of the new, whose flock was developed by not only excellent music, but a belt that said "Boy Toy" and a song about being a virgin. If you don't think that shook up the establishment, you never saw the video for "Like A Prayer." This wasn't manufactured controversy, it was the real thing!

And where do we see it today?

Maybe with Amy Winehouse. She tragically died, too many of the greats just weren't made for this world, but her music didn't sound quite like anything that came before, never mind since. Sure, she had influences, but she took them and concocted something new.

Bruno Mars?

Where's the originality?

And I'm saying that because he's talented, he's vaunted, he's one of the good ones!

As for rock acts, it seems they're all stuck in the seventies or eighties, whether they be metal acts imitating Zeppelin and Metallica, or rock bands in jeans and hats who seem to be nothing but Ronnie Van Zant's children.

And rock stars are always resisted at first. I didn't watch "South Park," it was a cartoon! A herky-jerky concoction with high-pitched voices. But word of mouth became deafening, over years! And they never backed down, they'd skewer someone, never the safe target, and never apologize.

And they did a successful movie.

So did they repeat the formula?

NO!

They moved on, to Broadway.

Want to be inspired? Want to see the real deal? Want to see what it's all about?

Go see "Book Of Mormon."

Sitting in the audience for that play is like watching "Springtime For Hitler" in "The Producers." You're shocked, you just sit there with your mouth agape.

It's a long hard path to stardom. But it's on the road not taken. And the reason we've got such a mediocre music scene is because nobody wants to do something different, they just want to go on a TV show or imitate someone who's already made it, thinking if they do a good job singing someone else's hit on YouTube, they're entitled to worldwide notoriety.

NO!

Write your own damn song. Make it completely different.

There was no Talking Heads before the band emerged. And there's been none since.

And in the classic rock era, the greats all sounded different.

And that's why it was classic. It was a hotbed of innovation. Everybody inspired each other to innovate.

Today artists just inspire each other to sell out. Have a clothing line. A perfume with their name on it.

And if you don't think I'm speaking the truth, you can't handle the truth!

Peace out.


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