Elton John: "Close the Internet"

[corianderstem]

I wonder which album will marry the supermodel, and which will marry someone 500 years younger?

 

[Inner El Guapo]

Most of the reason the 70's albums (and 70's music in general) are/were more respected than the music of today is most of the music critics and the musicians themselves grew up with it, they are nostalgic about it.

For those of us who grew up in the 80's, they said the same thing about that music, all of a sudden U2, The Police, Blondie, Talking Heads, and REM are going into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, those albums are making Rolling Stone-type 'Greatest' lists etc. All of this happened when the culture of the music itself got older because the fans followed it. Same thing with the 90's.

People were saying that music was shit in 1991, I could list a half dozen legitimate universally lauded 'classic' albums that were released over a two or three month period in 1991. The fans of that music carry it on today.

Sure, you'd be a moron to say things haven't changed over the years but if one thing is static, it's that previous generations will always claim those that follow aren't living up. It's as cyclical as anything else in popular culture.


On the subject of Elton John and writing/not writing his songs:

Take any group of 100 people.
How many of these people could write lyrics?
Anyone who can read and write. Probably the vast majority (maybe even all 100) of that group could write lyrics to a song. Sure, maybe it's a terrible set of lyrics but they could do it.

Take the same group of 100 random people.
How many of these people could write and perform the music to those lyrics?

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

There were dozens of records that are now considered classics released in the first 7 years of the 70's alone. How many classics have been released so far this decade?

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Kid A
Sea Change
Funeral

..............?

Nah. 70's win.

Frank Sinatra's #1 fan (AKA Corianderstem) is right dude...

We havent even finished this decade and you're already writing it off...

Give them 30 years and the Pussy Cat Dolls wil become an institution like The Beatles and Elvis combined!!!

 

[CTU2fan]

This decade's music sucks ass...but that doesn't change the fact that Elton John is a kook for wanting to shut down the internet.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Dude...If you had to live through it.....

Exactly! As a woman born in the 60s who survived the 70s music scene, I cannot fathom anyone thinking it's the best music era. Maybe to discover it now it's different somehow.

 

[Butterscotch]

There was a lot of good music in the 70's, it's a pity that it's become known mainly for disco which sucked. Think of all those great guitar bands, art rock, real rock and not packaged. CLASSIC. I 'grew up' with it because that's what my parents played all the time and we always had the classic rock station on in the car. The 70's were the most solidly good decade, if you throw out the lowest score, disco.

 

[toscano]

My own pet theory which no one i know agrees with but I'll say it anyway, is not that there were more "classic" albums pre-internet, but it was pre-vinyl-phaseout

As long as albums were released on vinyl, they were more limited in length, only the best cuts made it on there.

Now, in the name of "value", the albums are a lot longer typically. 13/14 songs instead of 8-10. More filler, more weaker songs dragging down an albums potential "classic-ness"

Also listening habits were different. Because vinyl was a pain in the butt to only play certain songs, you almost HAD to listen to every song evry time you played it, they got more of a chance ot burn into your consciousness even though first listen might have been not so great.

 

[CTU2fan]

^ You might have something there.

But you want to know what's really a bitch to listen to individual songs on? 8-tracks. For those who never experienced these, these big ol' tapes had 4 tracks (so why weren't they called 4 tracks you ask? good question) with 2-3 songs on each. And sometimes, the track division might be in the middle of songs. But anyway once you heard a song you liked you had to wait for it to come 'round again, or else hope there was a song you liked on one of the other 3 tracks that you could listen to while waiting. Even worse was if your 2 fav songs on the album were in the same spot - then you had to alternate as both played at the same time.

Jeez I'm not that old, I shouldn't remember 8-tracks this vividly

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Portions Censored From Pearl Jam Webcast
2007-08-08
Story by: Conor McKay

According to Pearl Jam's website, portions of the band's Sunday night set at Lollapalooza were missing from the AT&T Blue Room live webcast. Fans alerted the band to the missing material after the show. Reportedly absent from the webcast were segments of the band's performance of "Daughter," including the sung lines "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush find yourself another home."

After questioning AT&T about the incident, Lollapalooza was informed that material was indeed missing from the webcast, and that it was mistakenly cut by AT&T's content monitor. Tiffany Nels of AT&T told CMJ that they are working the matter out with the band. "We regret the mistake," she explains. "This was not intended and was an unfortunate mistake made by a webcast editor." She went on to explain that AT&T has a policy for any excessive language, and that it was set up because of its all-ages audience.

"This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media," the band wrote on their website. "AT&T's actions strike at the heart of the public's concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media." The band went on to point out that "most telecommunications companies oppose 'net neutrality' and argue that the public can trust them not to censor."

The full version of Pearl Jam's performance of "Daughter" at Lollapalooza will be available on the band's website in the near future.


From their site

08.08.07

After concluding our Sunday night show at Lollapalooza, fans informed us that portions of that performance were missing and may have been censored by AT&T during the "Blue Room" Live Lollapalooza Webcast.

When asked about the missing performance, AT&T informed Lollapalooza that portions of the show were in fact missing from the webcast, and that their content monitor had made a mistake in cutting them.

During the performance of "Daughter" the following lyrics were sung to the tune of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" but were cut from the webcast:

- "George Bush, leave this world alone." (the second time it was sung); and

- "George Bush find yourself another home."

This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media.

AT&T's actions strike at the heart of the public's concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media.

Aspects of censorship, consolidation, and preferential treatment of the internet are now being debated under the umbrella of "NetNeutrality." Check out The Future of Music or Save the Internet for more information on this issue.

Most telecommunications companies oppose "net neutrality" and argue that the public can trust them not to censor..

Even the ex-head of AT&T, CEO Edward Whitacre, whose company sponsored our troubled webcast, stated just last March that fears his company and other big network providers would block traffic on their networks are overblown..

"Any provider that blocks access to content is inviting customers to find another provider." (Marguerite Reardon, Staff Writer, CNET News.com Published: March 21, 2006, 2:23 PM PST).

But what if there is only one provider from which to choose?

If a company that is controlling a webcast is cutting out bits of our performance -not based on laws, but on their own preferences and interpretations - fans have little choice but to watch the censored version.

What happened to us this weekend was a wake up call, and it's about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band.

The complete version of "Daughter" from the Lollapalooza performance will be posted here soon for any of you who missed it. We apologize to our fans who were watching the webcast and got shortchanged. In the future, we will work even harder to ensure that our live broadcasts or webcasts are free from arbitrary edits.

If you have examples of AT&T censoring artist performances around political content, it's a good thing for everyone to know about. Feel free to post examples on the official Pearl Jam Message Pit.

 

[indra]

Reportedly absent from the webcast were segments of the band's performance of "Daughter," including the sung lines "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush find yourself another home."

...She went on to explain that AT&T has a policy for any excessive language, and that it was set up because of its all-ages audience.

Well...I think of George Bush as a profanity too!

 

[martha]

Accidental, my ass.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Accidental, my ass.