|
IanB wrote:
Yes he has made a lot of terrible records but there were a lot of artists who made their name pre Punk who cashed in their chips in an undignified fashion in the 80s pandering to MTV in the worst way - Winwood, Palmer, Clapton for three. I would put Bowie in that category too. And Rod.
Pretty much agree there. Esp Winwood and Clapton. I've no doubt mentioned this before, but I remember seeing a programme about EC (South Bank Show I think?) where he said he preferred his demo's to his latest album. And whilst I admired his honesty I thought someone of his stature should have ensured they had some kind of artistic authority. Probably niave of me I know!
As for Winwood...never saw the attraction in those 80's records at all. It wasn't just the blandness - his voice was awful. Remove that peg off your conk, young man! It as certainly hard to reconcile with that great white soul singer reputation as far I was concerned.
Rod and Bowie seemed to lose the plot although at least one of them did at least recover - what do you mean which one? ; )
And in his (Bowie's) case I'll always defend Let's Dance - sure it was DB going pop after Scary Monsters (which still sounds pretty weird at times) but I thought he pulled it off on that one. And even after that he'd still pull off the odd great 45 - Absolute Beginners, Never Let Me Down, This Is Not America - even if the albums were pretty much toss till he started getting interesting again in the early 90's. And then there was that television collaboration with La La Human Steps where he did that noisy rendition of Look Back In Anger which sounded fab at the time.
But Palmer - I thought he started the 80's very well even though I'd never been a fan of his. I've got a lot of time for the Clues LP - some so-called old fart embracing technology and singing Gary Numan songs was rather novel at the time. And the singles Looking For Clues and Johnny & Mary were fab IMO. Even Julie Burchill liked J&M and she didn't like anything! ; )
And although I never bought it and I know a lot of people will consider it somewhat naff, but I've always had a soft spot for Addicted To Love. A fun pop single IMO that has admittedly suffered from over-exposure.
|
