Sorry folks, Lynsey can’t be here this week as she’s currently sunning herself in the south of Spain, so I’ve been asked to hold the fort whilst she’s away.
Unfortunately, I’m neither as intelligent nor good-looking as Lynz, and I’m definitely not as Scottish as she is (!), so if you can all be a little patient with me, hopefully normal service will be resumed next week!
Anyways, here goes…
Amy Winehouse, Pete Docherty, Britney Spears – nearly everyday there will be some media dissection of their latest antics, with not just the tabloids, but broadsheets, websites, and broadcast news outlets all having their two-penneth-worth.
Are these characters really the bogeymen (and women) of society? Do they deserve the mass vilification? Not wishing to trivialise their alleged misdemeanours, but shouldn’t public and press outrage be targeted at more deserving sources?
Call me old-fashioned, but I want “rock and roll stars” (to use a catch-all term) to take drugs, get into fights, and generally be “eccentric” – to me, that is how they are supposed to behave!
There are so many examples throughout recent history, such as the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, pulling a shotgun on someone for having the audacity to use one of his toilets. How about Ozzy Osbourne biting the heads off bats? Or the Who’s legendary days of hotel trashing days?
The late, great comedian and philosopher Bill Hicks, sums up these sentiments far more eloquently than I can ever dream of doing, so I urge you to check out his take on the subject.
But do we really want a succession of X-Factor drips, with zero personality clogging up the airwaves? Do we want to let the evil empire of Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh win? Do we really want more “sensible” rock stars like Coldplay’s Chris Martin – we all know how dull their music is!
No thank you – let’s have a lot less of Cliff Richard, and lots more Keith Richards!
Encourage the wild, the crazy, and yes, even at times, the downright naughty.
And don’t let the tabloids get away with their lazy excuse that “these people are supposed to be role models to kids”. No they are not, and neither are Premiership footballers for that matter. Role models are parents, teachers, other leaders in the community. Celebrities, musicians, sports stars – sure, they can be idols, but it’s not their responsibility to teach people the rights and wrongs of life.
So, now it’s over to you – what do you think? Do you agree with my crackpot ideas? Let me know. And if you disagree, even better – come on, set me straight!
Or just for a bit of fun, why don’t you send me your own fantasy musical supergroups? Off the top of my head, and loosely linked to what I’ve written about today, hows about this to start you off:
Vocals – James Brown
Lead Guitar – Jimi Hendrix
Drums – The Who’s Keith Moon
Bass Guitar – Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott
