Wrong

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

What have you been most wrong about?

(This is one of those questions I feel I have asked a million times but the answers are almost always interesting)

Comments

Apologize to her

[koganbot]

WRONG
--The Vietnam War (supported it originally)
--The Beatles (thought they were the epitome of stupidity; changed mind in late '66; mind change also rehabilitated their earlier work, most especially "She Loves You," which I'd originally taken to epitomize their being the epitome of stupidity)

JURY STILL OUT
--Sometime in early 1988 I wrote in Swellsville that girl-twirl stuff like freestyle and Stacey Q* was the only possible future for punk; this statement can be taken in several ways, but what I meant was a bit metaphorical, that only something rooted totally outside of punk and new wave but inside the dance-joy-party of disco (or something like it) could possibly be the future of punk; that is, eventually dance-party-music would grow within itself something punk-like without actually deriving at all from anything called "punk rock." One could argue that a number of things prove me very wrong, e.g., that Guns N' Roses were punk rock and so was Hole; at least it's easier to argue for that than to argue that Guns N' Roses and Hole were actually freestyle/disco bands that didn't derive at all from punk rock.

Of course Britney may turn out to be more punk rock than all of 'em. I'm still astonished and enthralled by her Name My Album poll.

*Actually, I don't think I'd heard Hard Machine yet, and am pretty sure I didn't mention Stacey Q by name, but she gives you an idea of the sort of thing I meant.

Re: Apologize to her

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Of course Britney may turn out to be more punk rock than all of 'em. I'm still astonished and enthralled by her Name My Album poll.

I was wondering what you'd think about that. I love how everyone's like 'BRITNEY IS MENTALIST REALLY THIS TIME' and it seems like one of the sanest things I've ever witnessed her doing, right up there with the head-shaving.

Re: Apologize to her

[koganbot]

Well, AOL decided she was mocking Lindsay, which is totally wrong: she's actually mocking AOL media types (and Hilary). I think she was being flat-out smart, totally nailing and satirizing a kind of sensibility... not even sure how to describe what it is that she's satirizing. I tried to talk about this on the teenpop thread but didn't really know what to say, was only able to enthuse. But she nailed everything - the fact that it's a poll so supposedly the fans can choose (oh, we are so in touch with our fans) and let's watch celebs crack up (isn't it weird that these strange celeb beings behave in such freaky screwed-up ways), and then, finally, at the end, INTEGRITY! DIGNITY! I can't explain it, why those titles are so brilliant, but it's like watching a basketball player pull a perfect fake, freeze the opposing players in their tracks, glide right by them for an emphatic basket.

Matt Armstrong on Rolling Teenpop is also with us on this, but like me is essentially speechless: "I'm still struggling to process the brilliance of that Britney poll. All would be great song titles too."