Arbogast wrote:I'm with you, Ymag... I love EC no end, but that doesn't mean he doesn't infuriate me sometimes (accepting RARHOF induction and the OED; the endless, money-grabbing reissues and "collectible" merch, to name a few e.g.s).
It's worth remembering that this is a fan site (fan = short for "fanatic"); as such, many of the people here simply won't countenance criticism of our hero. Right now, though, I'm just utterly pumped for live shows this summer!
Me too, but FWIW I'll weigh in and say a couple of things (for the sake of lively debate, always). For one thing, I'm definitely not a person who 'won't countenance criticism of our hero'. I went through a lengthy phase of thinking his music was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but that personally I really didn't like him much at all. That lasted for twenty years or more, but has mellowed in the last two or three years, when I've come to regard him with a lot more warmth. And even my like/dislike for him as a person is an artificial construct, as I've never even met him, so, as with all media personalities, we're reacting to the media construct and not the actual person.
I think he's made a few terrible records, which I won't name for fear this discussion descends into 'which are your worst five EC LPs?' and all that. Which is obviously a fun discussion to have, but not what this thread is about. Plus it's entirely subjective anyway. But yeah - perfectly happy to 'countenance criticism' of him and to make those criticisms myself. IMHO he's made some bad records, and sometimes he's come over as a bit of a knob.
On the other hand, I really rate most of the stuff he's producing at the moment!
And the one thing I would take exception to is the accusation of 'money grabbing' and producing expensive 'collectible merch'. 'Money grabbing' and producing 'collectible merch'...that's his job! That's how he makes a living. And at the risk of repeating an endless cliche...you don't think it's worth the money? Don't buy it! We all have that totally free choice. Every novel, TV show, 45rpm single, CD, DVD, painting, sculpture, cinema movie, poem and play ever published has one primary aim: to grab your money. It's not 'show charity', it's 'show business'. So to accuse EC of 'money grabbing' seems fantastically pointless - of course that's what he's doing. Like everybody else!
I recall Bowie being interviewed (can't remember when or by whom, and I'm paraphrasing from memory), but it was something like - 'you must be worth millions...you don't have to carry on unless you really want to?' And Bowie said (something like) 'yeah, but at the back of your mind is always 'can I stash away a bit more for the kids after I'm gone?' Pop stars do what they do for the love of what they do, but they also all do it to 'grab money', that's a fact of life. And, as noted, we each have a perfectly free choice to say 'that's just a reissue or a pointless bit of merch. I'll save my money and wait for the next LP of actual new material'. We can all do that.