Letters to the Editor
sunspot
Published Letters: 306 Editor's Choice: 38
-
Godawful music
[Read the article: "Rent"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's a relief I'm not the only one who noticed the Rent emperor isn't wearing any clothes. I was unlucky enough to be subjected to at least half a dozen ear splitting selections from Rent, sung by members of the San Francisco cast, about 5 years ago at an open mike bar. It had all the whiney, nasal whitebread charm of most contemporary Christian music, only with a stagy twist.
The reference to Up With People nails it. Rock had R&B as an inspiration. The music from Rent is so soulless it makes Amy Grant sound like Aretha Franklin.
-
Liberals need their own Wal*Mart
[Read the article: Targeting Target]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Seems to me that billionaire libs like Soros and Buffett, not to mention a constellation of millionaire entertainment libs like Streisand and Oprah, could make some real money and make a real difference by opening their own socially-responsible alternative to Rethuglican machine operations like Target, Home Depot and Wal*Mart.
www.buyblue.org has some information on corporations and their campaign contributions, among other things. It's interesting to see how much some outfits you'd assume are liberal - like say Amazon.com - support the radical right and their America-wrecking agenda.
-
Trite?
[Read the article: Camille Paglia's disco playlist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Exactly why should we care about Paglia's lame preferences in trite music?
Trite, labradog? I'd hardly call The Undisputed Truth's funk freakout on "Ball of Confusion", or Moroder's hypnotic, technologically unprecedented "I Feel Love", or The Bee Gee's nihilistic social commentary "Stayin' Alive" trite. By any pop standard all of those tracks - and many others on Paglia's list - were anything but trite. In fact they were all quite sophisticated and unique at the time of their release, and like many tracks on Paglia's list they remain iconic to this day.
You can criticize disco in general for a lot of things - crappy lyrics and a slew of copycat records for starters - but the same largely holds true for any other popular form of pop music. I'm familiar with many of the tracks on Paglia's list though, and most of them were either entirely novel at the time of release ("Shaft") or exceedingly well executed examples of contemporary dance music (Madonna's "Vogue").
Like Debbie Harry, I've never been able to understand the animosity rock fans feel toward disco. I could see not caring for it, but the hate and derision I don't get, especially from fans of a genre that strains out sound-alike excrement like Creed or Hootie and the Blowfish.
Most good disco, like most good rock, exhibits high standards of musicianship and production. In fact disco records were routinely recorded using the very best players in the business, and with exceptionally talented producers (Quincy Jones, Moroder, Barry Gibb, Nile Rogers). From a technical standpoint they eclipse any genre save perhaps jazz and classical. Many disco records also feature stunning, memorable melodic content, from the sweeping strings of Love Unlimited Orchestra's iconic "Love's Theme", to ABBA's country-esque harmonies on "Dancing Queen", Yvonne Elliman's airy, Bee Gees-penned "If I Can't Have You", and especially the soaring choruses of Pet Shop Boys songs like "What Have I Done To Deserve This" and "Domino Dancing", made all the more dramatic by the comparatively unmelodic, rap-inspired verses from which they take flight.
These tracks may not rival Joni Mitchell when it comes to their lyrics (although Pet Shop Boys occasionally come pretty damn close), but then again neither does much rock. And most rock is rhythmically infantile in comparison to disco - not that it prevents me from enjoying plenty of rock music in spite of the fact. After all, it isn't always about the rhythm any more than it's always about the lyric.
Maybe the disco haters all just moved like dorks out on the dance floor, and got tired of being wallflowers.
-
Paglia's List
[Read the article: Camille Paglia's disco playlist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I guess I don't get the people savaging Paglia for failing to include certain artists (EW&F, Chic, etc.). Nowhere does she claim that this is a complete list of notable disco records - she only labels it a playlist, and I think it's fairly representative of good, important disco and shows well the influence soul and funk (and even new wave) had on the genre. It scratches the surface well, but any playlist that tried to span disco's roots through disco's results would have to be hundreds of songs deep before it could hope to present a representative sample of the most innovative, influential and commercially successful tracks the genre had to offer.
I especially don't get this criticism:
Was Camille Paglia actually paid to compile this list, which simply includes a bunch of big, obvious disco hits?
The Undisputed Truth's "Ball of Confusion" is a big, obvious disco hit??? Cheryl Lynn's "Star Love" is a big, obvious disco hit??? Grace Jones "Demolition Man" is a big, obvious disco hit??? Sorry - many of those tracks are fairly obscure, although they each represent a good sample of less-obvious funk & disco hits most casual listeners would definitely not be familiar with.
I think in their desperation, many of Paglia's critics take cheap shots and end up making ridiculous assertions in the process - crazier than anything Paglia occasionally spews. I certainly don't always agree with what Paglia has to say, but it's refreshing to hear her make an eloquent stand for an unconventional but factually supportable viewpoint. She stands in sharp contrast to dittohead groupthink blowhards like Limbaugh, especially in her willingness to revise her stance in light of new evidence (such as her reassessment of Hillary Clinton a year or two ago).