1. “The Top 500 Albums of All Time”—another name for the outcome of a questionnaire, a device derived from a nineteenth-century parlor game.2. Certain records—such as Led Zeppelin’s first album—are worth purchasing simply because of the album art; listening to the record is the buyer's choice.
3. Bubblegum is to psychedelic music what fat free Half and Half is to whole milk: the musical equivalent of non-alcoholic beer.
4. Writing rock criticism is both unfulfilling and self-defeating: no matter how much one says or does, the criticism can never be as fun or interesting as the record itself.
5. The Sixties phenomenon of the “Supergroup”: an example of a marketing ploy that is able to flourish exclusively in an age of commerce—and the Age of Warhol.
6. Sturgeon’s Law states that 90% of everything is crap, except in the case of rock and pop music—then it’s 95%.
7. CD bonus tracks are the aural equivalent of the cinematic sequel: another way of scraping the last bit of cream from the side of the jar.
Sturgeon always struck me as incredibly generous in his estimate. It's more like 99% of everything is crap - with pop music we would then have to add a decimal point...
ReplyDeleteBtw, it's clear that you've tapped into a vein here that flows stronger and stronger. Have you signed the book contract yet?