It's always all about the drugs
The new Word podcast made me think this morning, as they were discussing Amy Winehouse's fall from grace and how 'interesting' that made her.
Why is always about the drugs? There hardly seem to be any examples of successful artists/groups who don't dabble/haven't dabbled with illicit substances.
From Ray Charles, through the Beatles and on into the 70s, 80s, 90s and to the modern day, they've all done it.
Hell, even some of the kids from SClub7 were caught smoking spliffs before they split up.
I'm not being preachy or all po-faced here, but would love to think that at least some acclaimed musicians have got through their career without becoming a regular user of illegal narcotics.
Are there any examples - perhaps the lovely Chris Difford could admit to a clean life?
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I've never been quite certain...
...but I know Frank Zappa had a strong anti-drug stance. Same with Ted Nugent, believe it or not. I've heard Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull and Rick Wakeman express similar strong anti-drug sentiments.
Since when did a Prawn Vindaloo
not count as a dangerous narcotic?
Zappa
I believe he was partial to booze 'n fags though
Zappa was HEAVILY into
Zappa was HEAVILY into cigarettes and coffee.
He hated drugs. Not sure if he drank wine or the likes, but he also strongly disapproved of beer.
I studied with his former drummer Terry Bozzio for a little while. He told me that when you were on tour and Zappa knew that you'd had a night out boozing the previous day, he'd be extra demanding on stage, and that you'd not have a good time if you did not meet his (very high!) standards.
It's always all about the drygs
Broooooooooooooooooooooooce........
The biggest one I know of is...
...that nice Mr Springsteen who once admitted to me that he was part of the counter-culture, but the conservative part and as such had never taken any drugs at all.
The 2
Apart from an honourable mention for Adam Clayton getting arrested in the boot of a car for a bit o' hash, U2 have always claimed to be fairly clean in this regard.
I wouldn't even go as far
As "fairly clean" Pat. From what I know!
Hoi-Hoi!
More details if you please, I've heard a few rumours.
Use your imagination!
I mean, what DID you think The Edge kept under that hat?
Hat?
Surely it's the worst wig ever
Their drug hell
Can you name any artists who've been heavy drug users, then cleaned up, then proceeded to make better records than they did before? I don't think there's many - Nick Cave, perhaps. Any more?
Steve Earle!!
Steve Earle!!
....and
John Hiatt!!
and....
Stevie Ray Vaughan!!
James Taylor
Good records before, during and after.
And another
Nick Lowe
And...
PJ Harvey.
And, Correct me if I'm wrong, Flaming Lips.
And Primal Scream?
we are not counting Booze
we are not counting Booze here? as Rick WaKemen is reformed alcoholic I believe.
Umm...
...David Bowie, maybe? The albums of the Berlin period was done during the period where he was cleaning up his act (though I've read varying accounts on the success of that). Certainly, though, Bowie definitely looked a lot healthier during that 1978-80 time than he did when he was in his Young Americans/Thin White Duke phase. Bowie went on record as saying he doesn't remember a thing (save shouting a playing instruction at Earl Slick) about recording 'Station To Station'!
I've mentioned this before, but that 1976 interview with Russell Harty he did via satellite link is one of the most bizarre interviews I've ever seen, with Bowie looking ever so slightly out-of-it and rather on edge.
They don't call 'em Jazz Cigarettes for nothing you know.
Got any skins?
If literature is a guide,
..the theory is that you always feel that you are producing your best work when under the (any) influence, which is only seen to be erroneous when and if sobriety is established. I guess with mind altering chemicals, the better stuff may be pre-"recovery", if only because of the damage done. The best can only then be fantasised as in what if Syd/Sly/Arthur had been well.
I think...
Neil Young has always been clean.
I'm sorry....
Have you never heard about the money spent cleaning up The Last Waltz to hide Mr Young's clear evidence of cocaine use; have you never heard the story about him flushing a vast amount of cocaine down the toilet because of its supposed inferior quality only later to accuse his friends the next day of stealing his stash; download or get some kind person to lend you the Citizen Kane Junior Blues bootleg where you can hear Neil extolling the pleasures of "honey slides"; do you seriously think someone could spend a lot of time in the company of Messrs Crosby and Stills without indulging in a bit of "nose ningle" (© Mark Ellen) or something stronger?
No, Mr Young used to like something stronger than a cup of tea.
I didn't know about any of that.....
....thanks for the information!
I read something very recently about Neil hating the drug scene which is why I posted his name here....obviously it's a more recent opinion he has.
Now that The Last Waltz has been mentioned a couple of times, I remember watching this when it was first broadcast on tv and my memory tells me that Neil was off his face when he went onstage. I bought the DVD when it came out and Neil looks fine.....is this what you are talking about? I thought when I watched it recently that my imagination had been running wild all those years ago(which is very possible).
Um,
It seems probably not.........
Alleged to have been quite a coke hoover at one time, with a tale of being disallowed onstage when being filmed, Last waltz perhaps, due to the size and crystalline nature of a prominent "bogey".
also
something called honey slides which are hash related I understand - it's in the excellent biography Shakey.
no no no!
It's a fallacy! (Categorical syllogism? Not sure!)
Some people who make interesting music take drugs
Therefore drugs are what makes the music interesting
Surely it is the money & boredom around the music industry that makes drugs seem appealing. Drug habits don't stop musicians from functioning, but once a habit is formed we cannot know if they are better or worse for it. As for better/worse music after coming off drugs, again we cannot know if this is true because it assumes that their form is not subject to any other influence. Most artists have about 10 years of peak form if they are lucky and then the inspiration dries up.
John Hiatt is a great example in some respects, but I'd say that his recent run of excellent records is down to working in a smaller industry where he can do what he wants without record company pressure.
Music is the drug most of us here are addicted to
People who are attracted to drugs because they enjoy the transcendent, altered-consciousness "outside yourself"-ness of them also tend to be very interested in music - for exactly the same reasons. Because, just like drugs, music (with apologies to the drug-free Staples Singers) takes you there.
Ah Don't Feel Like Ahcid
Like Zappa, Captain Beefheart always bridled at people who assumed his music was merely the product of drugs. He often claimed that drugs never interested him, and remarked that smoking pot "...makes me feel like a fly with its wings stuck in honey."
Tom Waits has got more weird and original the further he gets from his drink (and drugs) years. Personally I think Nick Cave was far, far more interesting when smack-addled.
don't forget
pete docherty
There's always straightedge
but the Wikipedia article makes it sound fantastically joyless and unappealing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_edge
and I speak as someone who has never smoked or taken drugs and is allergic to alcohol. (Please, no pity, I make up for it by consuming industrial quantities of really good chocolate.)
That wasn't the point was it....
All I heard was Mark Ellen saying that he thought that the reason that Amy Winehouse was so popular was that she wrote songs about her real experience. Nobody said her 'fall from grace' made her interesting.
If you listen to Back To Black that experience is of a twenty something Londoner in and out of love. Nothing more nothing less...on the periphery there are some mentions of smoking weed, drinking and lying on the kitchen floor. That's what makes it real, everyone can relate to being in that state, can't they??
OK, so I was possibly being a little poetic
with my licence, but the inference was that people are buying the album, because she has become such a 'car crash' and they want to know what all the fuss is about.
It doesn't make up for the fact that she has apparently got mixed up in drugs now.
Kraftwerk?
Surely one of them had to be compos mentis to turn the computer on in the morning?
They are all keen cyclists
They are all keen cyclists so will be chockful of steroids, speed etc if the tour de france is anything to go by!
Keef
did drugs. And did music. And the world was good.
Mark E Smith
Enjoys a drink and a tab, but I suspect he views other drugs as symptomatic of soft Southern dilettantism and has very little truck with 'em.
erm
he was rather fond of Nazi crank at one stage.....
Lame joke alert
He would drop an E but then his name would be so dull.
Nazi crank?
What???
Mark E Speedfreak
I think with the exception of Lemmy, M.E.S has ingested more `council coke` than anyone in the biz since the 1979 mod revival. He eschews more `poncey` persians considering the old whizz and (baking)soda cocktail more `working clarse`.
I`m a bit lost on PJ Harvey, do jazz ciggies still count as worthy of `drug addiction`? I think she gave up when she got a craving for a four bar Kit Kat, a two bar being her daily diet.
good one...
Council coke. Ha ha...
PJ and Drugs?
Did someone mention PJ Harvey as a drug user? I know she has been known to have a drink or 3 but I've never heard of any drug use. She is a very private person though.
Morrissey?
i doubt he's ever taken much in the way of drugs pre or post his peak.
Also, Johnny Cash did pretty well on the wagon