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Unsung Forum » Failure to deliver - Hype let downs. |
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Moon Cat 9577 posts |
Jan 25, 2004, 00:25
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Recently m'colleague and I were relaxing with a brace of cognacs and some fine cigars following a hard days seal clubbing and we got to talking about what had been the biggest rock/pop letdowns in our memories following a campaign of mucho hype and press and all that gubbins. Many ideas were put forward but the one we clinked glasses on was......Sigue Sigue Sputnik. Soz to those that like 'em but I shall explain as to why they were such a let down. I remember being really intriuged by this mad looking bunch of loons in their proto cyber goth glam clobber. Plus there was the whole £4000 000 advance scam bollocks which was funny. And of course all the rhetoric and popular cultural references in the pre release interviews - the so called ultraviolence, the rock n roll armageddon, the clockwork orangeness of it all, the music industry buggering. This was gonna be the livin END! Cool! And when they released Love Missile F1-11 ( was that the 1st?) what form did this 21st century rock n roll apocalypse take? Well, you had the sound of a bontempi keyboard rhythm thing stuck on 'rock n roll beat 2', a riff from an Argos kiddies electronic 'real sounds' electric guitar, a small chihuahua yapping over the top and the occasional interjection of that noise you make when you twang a ruler on the end of a desk and move the ruler so the note goes up. dddddooiiinng! Empires did not crumble, rock n roll armageddon didn't ravish the land. And then the 2nd single came out and they did it again! Arse! Bah! What a swizz. Shame really 'cos the packaging was great fun. I loved that japanese toy record box they had. But they ruined it by putting records out. tsk. So what's your biggest post hype let down?
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Lugia 970 posts |
Jan 25, 2004, 01:13
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Two 80s acts in particular...in both cases, we were led to believe that these were the SECOND COMING OF THE GRRRRRREATEST GODDAMN MUSIC EEEEVAAARRR!!!! But no... 1) World Party. The ramp-up here was that this was the coolest, trippiest, neo-psych thing evvvvvvverrrrr! So when we finally got that first WP disc over here, I was quite bummed at what a snoozefest of mainstreamonality it was. I pulled out some genuine certified psychedelia to A-B it, and it didn't even match up. 2) The Cult. OK...this was supposed to be IT! THE BAND which would bring rock decadence and heaviness to our sodden lives over here, filled with mystical portents and ominous signifyin' sorts of signifyin' and so on. In short, I and others were expecting B.O.C. x 1000. But what we got seemed more like a retreaded Billy Idol x .0001. Ian Astbury just seemed like another Mr. Mojo Risin retread (which, later, he in fact became) and the band sounded flabby and dull. Mainstream types ate it up, of course, but those of us who crave REAL! FRENZY! were left feeling a little flat. Sputnik, tho....ahhhhh, Sputnik...no, the joke there was not on us, but on EMI. They sank MILLIONS into SSS, to only get a record which sounded like Suicide on nitrous oxide. Sure, they eventually turned on Mr. James et al, but quite a prank it was on corporate music, I thought.
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Moon Cat 9577 posts |
Jan 25, 2004, 01:24
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yeah I get the Sputnik fleecing the record industry thing, and that's always wheeled out as why they were so 'good' and subversive etc. But surely, as well as having a larf at the industry, they DID PROMISE a rock n roll apocalypse type thing to US the music fans. And they gave a tinny toy robot fart - very disappointing. Couldn't they have fleeced EMI and delivered as well?
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PaulMakesMusic 951 posts |
Jan 25, 2004, 01:27
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Stone Roses spike island
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Lugia 970 posts |
Jan 25, 2004, 01:29
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Well, yeah...they did sell us a bit short, true. Like I said, the album was a really odd piece of work when it emerged, with a number of songs that seemed to use the same backing tracks, the commercials between tracks, and so on. But...come to think of it...with the current situation we have now with the music industry and their intellectual property stranglehold attempts, and the quality of stuff we get, perhaps Sputnik was sending more of a warning...? Prescience?
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Moon Cat 9577 posts |
Jan 25, 2004, 01:37
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Maybe! Like I say, I thought the concept, the pacakage if you will, was great; and they certainly preempted high concept marketing in pop - it's just the music was so underhelming to me in comparison. They play mini cyber goth festivals from time to time - see 'em advertised here and there.
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Moon Cat 9577 posts |
Jan 25, 2004, 01:39
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should have read underwhelming. Underhelming sounds like I was complaining they couldn't drive a submarine very well. But they were shit at that too! haha
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Bess Keloid 348 posts |
Jan 25, 2004, 09:11
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Stone Roses, full stop.
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Beautiful Day 779 posts |
Jan 25, 2004, 11:14
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10 years of buying the NME from around 1990 to 2000 (what a mug) seemed to provide them on a weekly basis with their desperation to coin new scenes and next big things after Madchester and Seattle. Suede in 1993, NWONW in 1994, Campag Velocet in 1998 being some of the most memorable. BD
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Dog 3000 4611 posts |
Jan 25, 2004, 17:47
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Got to agree about World Party & The Cult . . . I'd say the Strokes are doing about the same today (that is, copping licks from the past and convincing the press that it's "the greatest new thing.") I can imagine some people think the same of the White Stripes, but I'll give them a pass (so far -- cuz the songs are good and they play them well.)
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