Listening: The Sugarhill Gang! Genuinely, that's my current phase. Oh, the expansive choices that music holds. Eclecticism! Also, "Then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals. A lot funk too, and soul... My friends attempted to sum up what I listen to most these days and came up with, "The Clash, Led Zeppelin, and black music." Yes. So basically, Sly Stone, P-Funk, Curtis Mayfield, and a bit o' Smokey Robinson! I need to download new music, I just haven't had the time to sit down and do it...
Reading: Working my way through Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, the infamous collection of some of Lester Bangs' work. I've only read his Clash piece for NME (dating from '77, I do believe), but it was fucking fantastic. I think Lester Bangs is kind of over-excitedly labeled, but I may have to revoke that thought. This piece is marvelous. It genuinely made me laugh. Its funny, but not condescending. His compassion for others surprised me. His gradual discovery of each musician's character is striking, and each individual depiction is warm and delightfully told. You feel as if you're getting a genuine feel for this band, that this is who they truly are. That authentic quality has really filtered out of music journalism. And how genuine the band seem to be! This is really in the early stages of the band's career, so if any of them went on to be moody bitches, then they have yet to take that turn. I mean, Lester Bangs says that he is in love with them, and this piece - more than anything else, excluding the music - does such a mesmerizing job of making the reader love them too. I'm just skimming it now, to just pull out the funny bits. I feel like I can't grab them all! He says of Simonon, "It is undoubtedly this combination of mischievous boychild and Paleolithic primate which has sent swoonblips quavering through feminine hearts as disparate as Patti Smith and Caroline Coon - no doubt about it, Paul is the ladies' man of the group without half trying, and I doubt if there are very many gigs where he doesn't end up pogoing (earlier Bangs talked of the punks' obsession with pogoing) his pronger in some sweet honey's hive. Watch out, though, Paul - remember, clap doth not a Muppet befit." Oh wow, I concur. Bangs deems Strummer the band's soul, while Jones possesses "voluble wit and twinkle of eye", and Simonon has that "loony toon playfulness", earlier comparing him to that of a Muppet. Glen Matlock makes a cameo in the piece, when Bangs raves about Matlock's skill for grinding out Monkees tunes. The band interact with Bangs on a refreshingly peer-to-peer basis, though at this time Bangs was probably the more notorious. They come off as such a down-to-earth bunch, with Bangs noting how smoothly their no-frills, egoless camp runs - compared to the brutal, egotistical operations of the Stones and Zeppelin, deeming his jaunt with the Clash a "pilgrimage to the Promised Land". He notes the drugless environment and the absence of groupies, with Jones confessing, "We don't get into all of that much. You saw those girls out there - most of 'em are too young. But groupies... I dunno, I just never see that many I guess. I've got a girlfriend I get to see about once a month, but other than that... When you're playing this much, you don't need it so much. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing interest in sex entirely. Don't get me wrong, we're a band of regular blokes. Its just a lot of that stuff you're talking about doesn't seem to... apply." By most accounts, as the Clash's popularity grew, their ability to be faithful to girlfriends dwindled. But Jones' statement led Bangs into another raving tangent about the Clash's unsexist attitude, and its all quite endearing. Bangs frequently talks of the "new wave", with the title not yet equated with synth-pop of the eighties, but a new wave of music led by punk. He notes that mission of the new wave is to, "REINVENT YOURSELF AND EVERYTHING AROUND YOU CONSTANTLY." And how fucking marvelous were the Clash at that? I can't find a particularly poignant passage, but in it Bangs basically compares punks to hippies, and sides with punks. He says hippies were unrealistic, but the punks realized all of the "No Future" bullshit with open eyes, and took it on headstrong, realizing if they wanted change, they had to do themselves - which is the best goddamn way to go about life. This piece is a perfect crystallization of this time in the band's career, go read it! Even if you don't particularly favor Bangs or the Clash. Its just damn good writing.
