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

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

I suppose David Byrne is still pretty well known in ways, but definitely not in the 'household name' way.

I'm finding it interesting to think over who the '90s/'00s equivalents might be - Bjork, Jarvis Cocker maybe? I imagine a lot of people today and in the future would be pretty unaware of them, and yet ten years ago they were household names. Also, they were famous as much for their personalities (okay, for being a bit weird) as they were for their music, bit like Byrne.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Jarvis in 10 years time = Mark E Smith according to the Damascene revelation I had at the dull start of the Fall gig yesterday.

Mark E Smith in 10 years time

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Re: Mark E Smith in 10 years time

[the-roofdog.livejournal.com]

You can almost see Mark E Smith, lead singer of the Fall, rolling down a hillside in a bath.

it is surely only a matter of time...

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

... before bert kwouk plays guitar in the fall

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Hehe. But no, I think Mr Fish is more accurate.