[NewMusic] wayne county shape-shifters

[Phillip Greenlief]

-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Travis C. Johns
Subject: Re: [NewMusic] wayne county shape-shifters

nope, no bunched panties here, just an irresistible urge to push a
button or two before I conk... in DC - convinced this city has no
nightlife outside of the societal horror known as Georgetown... the
usual more experimental haunts have neglected to book anything zesty,
possibly in a fit of patriotic fervor... It's funny, you never quite
realize exactly how much of a bay area hippy you actually are until
some beltway divebar turns you away for not adhering to their dress
code... even better - a lot of the places we've gone to refused to
serve most of the artists I've been working with this week because as
non-citizens, they failed to provide a passport ala official
"identification" - I mean c'mon, barring behavior that borders on
outright intentionally moronic, one of the stupidest things you can do
when traveling internationally is take your passport out on a bender...
common sense and all that... i digress.

PG:
DC is one of my least favorite destinations. Rampant racism, oppressive
heat, and that vibe that seems to permeate everywhere: "don't look at me
or I'll kill you" seems to be hanging on the faces of just about
everyone you meet on the train or subway. Scary place...

I remember playing in a nearby suburb called Lincoln Park (I think
that's what it's called). Slightly less oppressive vibe.

Travis:
though for argument's sake, what I was trying to say was that bitches
tends to act as somewhat of a musical gateway for further weirdness -

PG:
I've already read Weasel's response to your post, so I will say (not
particularly in your defense - you can defend yourself...) that I agree
with you. At least a certain demographic...no, I don't have any
statistics, but I think the fact that Bitches Brew was the first "jazz"
record to go gold and reach a large "rock" audience (excuse the lame
terms here...a symptom of the industry) justifies your claim: a lot of
people that listened to rock (at that time in particular) were
introduced to Miles and "jazz" via B.B.
 
Travis:
kind of a moot point to argue about it - sure, it's boring in
comparison to some of the more out shit floating around in the
digi-ether, but at the same time, can you imagine some tweaky little
bandgeek middleschooler getting into anything deeper ala the freespazz
idiom without having some really cool older siblings, to say the
least...? shit, I'd love to nab a polaroid of a 6th grader's facial
expression following their first listen to a Luttenbacher's disc - you
know, why argue the musical validity of the gateway when we've all been
there already... instead of waxing the mainstream nostalgic, why not
dig our spurs in, throw on our snorkels and dive deep - here's
hoping...

PG:
There's hope in this statement, a hope I once subscribed to. But as
someone said recently, people seem to remember "stars" more than
"music". Miles became a bit of a rock star. That's why people remember
him. I doubt if any of those stoned out kids back in 69 really remember
what BB sounded like, although they are still likely to toss his name
out hoping the association will continue to make them hip. Obviously
this is the wrong reason why you would want people to think or remember
BB - and I think that also argues Weasel's point - if it did make him
popular, why? And did that popularity have anything to do with music, or
expanding his listeners to a wider range of sounds/styles...

I used to hold an opinion much like yours. Now I'm not so optimistic. I
wish you and your optimism a long and healthy life. It can be painful
when you lose it.