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I was busy working on a project at home the yesterday (I still am), listening to music using a free online service that plays a random selection based on my preferences.

I was jamming along with a particular favorite from way back in the days, and suddenly found myself jamming with Zack de la Rocha, "Fuck you, I won't do what you told me!" and said to myself, "Hey! Isn't that the song that..."

You know. THAT song. It really hit me at that second just how anti-radio, anti-pop, anti-machine that song really is, and just what kind of sentiment was expressed by U.K. people in the so-called "Rage Against the Machine Storm" I noticed some of you wrote about.

Gee, what can I say? I'm just so darned proud of you guys over there for telling the powers that be exactly where they can stick it.

Hats off to you all.

Great song, great stand.

Hi SFO

And a very Merry Christmas to You!

Rage Against The Machine hit the Christmas number one spot here in the UK.

And rightly so in my opinion.

Head and shoulders above manufactured formulaic Simon Cowell claptrap.

Don't be surprised by our musical tastes though.

We did give you The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Oasis, and The Bonkettes

Just kidding there with the last one.

Have a great Xmas

Regards

Skoob.

Skoob,

Merry Christmas to you too!

It's not that U.K. musical tastes surprise me.

What surprises me is that, in the U.S., where everyone acts like they're so "individual" and different, every time an "artist" releases a song with the same old tired, worn out chord progression, people eat it up, it sells millions, and the "artist" gets hailed as some kind of frigging musical genius at awards shows.

I was in the minority - I actually thought it was hilarious that Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift, who was about to get an award for even more pure shite. Say what you want about Kanye, but he's fresh at least. I'm nearly as offended by Swift's music as she was by his interruption.

I was hopeful at the advent of Seattle "grunge," but the whole "alternative" movement was actively appropriated by the mass market, and things went right back to claptrap.

Your U.K. "Rage Against the Machine Storm" is the best thing to happen to music in 2009, as far as I'm concerned.

Regards,

SFO

SFO

Nice thread.

Back in the day, I thought we'd invented Punk and New Wave with The Pistols and The Stranglers.

Then I found out about the Lower East Side of New York scene with The Ramones, The New York Dolls, and Blondie.

Seems you guys invented that scene after all.

We just had Top Of The Pops on BBC. It's a traditional Christmas Day staple. The sad thing was though, that on today's show, there were only two acts that stood out from the dross - dance troupe, Diversity, who won Britain's Got Talent, and who are great to watch, and Rage Against The Machine.

Makes little difference anyway really, because Simon Cowell has his grubby fingers in every pie these days. It did make a point though about his choices. He picked the X-Factor song for Joe McElderry to record. Bad choice.

Nothing against the kid, but manufactured crap never stands a chance against innovation. Or at least, it shouldn't.

Have a great day on the West Coast.

From across the Pond

Skoob.

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Quote: Skoob1999

Back in the day, I thought we'd invented Punk and New Wave with The Pistols and The Stranglers.

Then I found out about the Lower East Side of New York scene with The Ramones, The New York Dolls, and Blondie.

Seems you guys invented that scene after all.

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Skoob,

I was 14 in 1983. We had no cable TV in our trailer park. There were only 4 radio stations in the area to choose from - country, country, country and western, or "adult contemporary."

The adult contemporary station didn't play punk, so I was virtually unaware of its existence, save for a trip to Salt Lake City in 1985.

They also didn't play any soul, R&B, or any black artists to speak of until Michael Jackson's Thriller hit.

I went the "Headbanger" route when I hit the streets in '86, but not so much Death Metal as some of my friends. Over the years, my musical mind has opened greatly, and I like lots of kinds of music. I also play several instruments.

Nevertheless, I am no music history buff, but I have developed an impression over the years that any time something interesting musically comes out of the U.K., American bands are quick to imitate it, and record companies are quick to sign them.

Maybe it started with the Beatles/Monkeys thing, I don't know, but it's annoying. I would say Coldplay is having a fairly profound influence on our music right now. There's a band called Ours that should be called Yours, because they are like a watered down version of Radiohead. Etc.

Like I said, I don't know much about punk, but as far as rock is concerned, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, later Judas Priest or even Def Leppard, and others, as well as bands like AC/DC from Australia and the Scorpions from Germany, were driving forces, while many American acts merely followed trends.

I was a huge Van Halen fan. There's an influential musician. Too influential. Everybody wanted to sound like him, so in a few years, every single song had a solo with random tapped arpeggios, whammied harmonics, and other wild fretboard antics. Unfortunately, most of these imitators failed to really get the blues undertones Eddie instinctively wove into his solos, so in effect, he basically polluted rock music for years.

Grunge was something new and American. It was "anti-Van Halen" - gone were the flashy solos and poppy hooks. I went to school with a guy who got a degree in drumming in the mid 90's. He was a badass. But when he tried to get gigs, people were like, "That's great. But, can you sound like you're in a garage band?"

Grunge polluted everything too.

These are all opinions, but all things considered, I stand by my assertion that the U.K. knows how to rock.

Screw all these people with their Hitler mustaches and Nazi banners. I think it's time we have a Rage Against the Machine Tea Party Express and get something good on the radio for a change!!

That's change we can believe in.

Regards,

SFO

SFO

Later on this topic. It's 3:30 am here and I'm tired. Full of Christmas dinner and a fair deal of amber nectar. Hopefully we'll continue this conversation.

Today's boxing day. Hope I don't bump into a boxer in a bad mood.

Kindest Regards

Skoob.

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Quote: Skoob1999

Later on this topic. It's 3:30 am here and I'm tired. Full of Christmas dinner and a fair deal of amber nectar.

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Sounds like you've had a pretty good Christmas, Skoob.

I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts on this subject.

Take care,

SFO

Hey, Skoob,

If you're still there, I'm thinking about working The White Stripes into a story.

Curious to see what you and others on the other side of the pond feel about this no-nonsense American band.

SFO

Promised I'd get back to you on this.

I saw Marvin Gaye twice live in Manchester. Unforgettable.

Love Motown.

Debbie Harry was 'to die for' back in the 80's.

Hendrix was blinding.

Eagles, Elvis, Sinatra,

Your country blessed us with these people.

And you guys started it.

Thanks.

Skoob.

Skoob,

Black people basically invented blues and therefore rock and roll, Elvis merely popularized it with whites.

Black people also created Jazz, not my favorite, but certainly the most interesting music to come out of 20th century America.

I also like hip hop, rap and r&b, but especially from the late 80's and early 90's, before gangsters, thugs, and aldulterers took over the charts. Neneh Cherry and Soul to Soul - a couple of faves from across the pond.

I guess, all things considered, America and the U.K. have both made incredibly important contributions to music, especially in the English speaking world.

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