utterly forgotten but NOT OBSCURE

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

by terming david byrne "obscure", alexmacpherson touches the exact, interesting nerve i think -- maybe even more than with his legendary "why SHOULD i have heard of john wayne?" argument

which is that in every generation (wait, that's how BUFFY starts!! -- er er focus) in every generation there are figures very well-known to all who have just VANISHED from mainstream radar by the next cycle

it's not that they're still popular but currently unfashionable; it's more that "what they meant" is no longer part of the pop discussion -- is that right?

so why has byrne vanished this way? or is it just not making "the right kinds of records" any more?

(disclaimer: i LOVED LOVE LOVED early TH and have i think every record they made --- BUT i went off them INCREDIBLY fast, round abt "true stories", and it took me years to rediscover any fondness)

Comments

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but he only howls and wriggles when it's music stuff, he really doesn't give a fvck about his lack of knowledge of eg computer games. Or rather he+his audience (which of course was ILM, biased to the other end of the spectrum).

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Well I don't really give a fuck about my lack of Old Popstar knowledge either, though I'm more likely to rectify it. I do give a fuck about people laying into me on the basis of it though especially when they are as awful as Jess/Blount/Jed. Like, yeah Blount, come back and hold a conversation with me about Gabriel Ananda and THEN you can accuse me of ignorance, until then shut the fuck up bitch.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

but why should Blount care who Ananda is? Ananda will never be as famous worldwide as Byrne (for better or worse).

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Well he doesn't have to care, but he shouldn't shoot his fucking mouth off about my 'ignorance' when there are entire areas of current pop music he knows 0 about.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

But my point remains: saying X is off the radar for the kids when yr sole datapoint member of the kids is the Lex is vvv dubious. I hope he won't mind me saying that he has patchy knowledge of all pop cult including most music in the charts right now.

Not that I disagree that T.Heads are off the Radar for yr average 16 year old now, mind.