Sinister: I was dreaming (barenaked ladies)

[petula]

At 12:28 PM 2/10/1999 +0000, Stuart Gardiner wrote:

>Henry Rollins isn't the only one. In this month's Q magazine there's an
>interview with the Bare Naked Ladies, and their singer defends himself
>against charges that his lyrics are overly clever by saying that he really
>likes Morrisey, the Divine Comedy and Belle and Sebastian, and that they
>all have great lyrics but don't get slagged off for it.

Oddly enough, as I read this the 'Ladies came on the radio (it's all I've
got in the computer room for music). I feel like laughing and crying at the
same time. I would say "cheeky loser" except that it's more laughable than
anything else. So he thinks he's the Canadian equivalent of Belle &
Sebastian, hmm. More like the Canadian equivalent of "vindaloo". Sure, their
lyrics are clever, if you like gibberish that sounds like it was made up one
night a an illicit party in their parents' basement in Scarborough. Coooool. 

For years, living in Toronto as I do, we have had to put up with the "clever
antics" of BNL. Ooooh, they got banned from performing at the city's New
Year party because the mayor found their name offensive. Rebels.

And years ago, when I was interviewing the owner of Fun-O-Rama (a store that
sells vintage toys, etc.), I asked him for a celebrity story. He thought for
a moment and said that the Ladies had come in and were obviously dying to be
recognized. Morris (owner) didn't want to give them that satisfaction, so he
sat tight. So the lead singer piped up, "I wonder if there's anything
barenaked in here?" Ewwwww. He also said he once over-charged Bryan Adams
$10 on purpose, because he figured he could afford it. :) 

More recently, I wrote a journalism ethics paper on the state of music
writing in Canada. From what my sources told me, you can write a scathing
review of anyone--but if you say anything bad about Canadian artists, the
companies freak out. You're not patriotic, you're not supporting Canadian
culture. And as one article I quoted said, "we should be allowed to
acknowledge the Barenaked Ladies' success in the US and still say their
music is tripe." Which it is. 

>And while I'm at it, in the new Select magazine there's a map of Glasgow
>showing all the B&S-related sights (the studio, the Church Hall etc) to
>help prospective stalkers find their way around.

Someone took me on a little tour when I was in Glasgow in May. We went to
the Art School to see where the "pastie de la bourgeoisie" was
spray-painted, but it had been cleaned off. Waaah! 

15 days until Pumpkinny gets here, I'm aglow.
love,
elisabeth xxx

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