Entertainment For Lively Minds
Sourpusses in rock...
Posted by Doug B on 23 July 2011 - 1:51pm.
Van Morrisson, Lou Reed and Richie Blackmore have to be three of the most miserable buggers ever to grace a stage.
Any other musicians who look as if they'd rather be a Murdoch at a parliamentary committee than pursuing their chosen profession?
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Teddy Thompson
bit of a miserable git - good singer though.
To be fair...
if my dad had written End Of The Rainbow for me when I was born I doubt that I'd have grown up to be a little ray of sunshine.
Don't do it if you don't like it
Phosphorescent (Matthew Hough), though brilliant, not a cheery chappy. Maybe if more of us go to see him it'll cheer him up. At least the demeanour matches the slightly angsty alt-country music.
But second only to VM must be the (also great) Stephen Merritt, aka Magnetic Fields. His interviews are minimalist poems of stone-walling baritone negativity, but his songs, though usually dark in content, are light, fresh, witty, buoyant even in their cynicism.
Jeff Beck
I love the man and his music, but Jesus he's a miserable git. Try getting an autograph out of him and he'll grunt "So, this is for eBay, is it?"
And what did you say?
And er - is it on eBay?
He didn't say it to me, thankfully
2 or 3 years ago I was interviewing Jeff in a hotel cafe when a fan nervously (and politely, it must be said) approached our table requesting an autograph. As described above, he received exceedingly short shrift for his trouble.
Beck did eventually sign, grudgingly, after much pleading and reassurance from the fan that he had absolutely no intention of selling it on eBay. Oh no. Not at all.
I can absolutely see Jeff's point, though. There are groups of professional autograph hunters who scour the airports and hotels whenever a name band is in town. I see the same faces over and over again and I expect they make a fair packet out of selling the signatures online. The bands all know this and some of them now refuse autographs. That's exactly why Ringo stopped signing, of course.
Meanwhile, here's what I came away with (he said smugly):
Stephin Merritt
is by no means a bundle of laffs...
Steven Patrick
Morrissey?
Have to say I met him
(at a petrol station in Hale) and he was absolutely spot on. Chatty, friendly and signed me an autograph.
That never went on ebay, its pinned up in my office here.
Meeting Morrissey
at a petrol station in Hale.
It could almost be the title of a Smiths' song.
Elliott Smith
wasn't a laugh a minute by all accounts.
But that goes into mental problem domain.
Dave Grohl...
BASTARD!
The Laughing Policeman....
....for Pete's sake cheer up.
Badly Moody Drawn Boy
Never seems happy even when he's winning 20K
Fans.
"Stars" are just ordinary people with moods, feelings, vices, hopes, needs etc and all the fans want is for them to live up (or down) to some dopey image. Give 'em a break and say something nice for a change.
That's true
Fancy having to be pleasant, charming, friendly, in a good mood etc. etc. all the time. I know I couldn't manage it!
But
that's why I love the sourpusses! They make no effort to fit in with this expectation.
Can I add Roger Waters and Bert Jansch to the list?
I can believe Roger Waters, but
I've met Bert Jansch several times and while he's always quiet and withdrawn - shy, even - I've never seen him be rude or obnoxious. Can you elaborate?
No, not having that!
I was lucky enough to be sat for an hour at Roger Waters' table at the recent O2 show VIP afterparty:he was charm personified and a real gent. I think maybe he went full-circle.
Can't agree with that
There's never any excuse to be downright rude or abusive to the very people who adore you and buy your records and concert tickets.
Adulation may become tiresome after a while, but it's a whole lot better than working in McDonald's.
Indeed
It's about place and time.
I heard the late Fred Trueman talking about it once. If he was at a cricket ground he was happy enough to give autographs, but if he was out with his family in a restaurant, he wasn't interested.
I agree
I don't want see them happy with all the money I've given them over the years. I want them to resent it
Paul Simon
hardly ever raises a smile.
A friend of a friend met his tour manager once, asked what he was like.
"Beyond c***".
Love his new album, by the way.
Add Paul Weller to the list.
Like most of rocks miserable gits I just think they see through the bullshit and do not suffer fools gladly.
When all is said and done they know the washing up has to be done.
Mark E Smith
Has been known to have his mardy moments.
Smith? No!
...Surely not, Gibmeister, surely not. I met him in a bus station once and he, er, well.... yes, on reflection...
Hold The Front Page!
Two or three years ago, during one of Dave Rowntree's failed attempts to stand for election as a Labour candidate, a friend of mine was dispatched by one of the news wire services to photograph him during the count. "Britpop star contests council by-election" I imagine the story would have run.
Rowntree was meant to be at the location at 8.30pm for the photocall, but he was nowhere to be seen and eventually showed up at 11pm. For some reason he then declined to be photographed, saying "No photographs. If I win, you can take my picture. But you cant take any photographs until then.”
By this stage tt was already 11.30pm and the count looked like dragging on into the small hours, so my pal decided the game wasn't worth the candle, especially as it seemed like Rowntree was likely to be trounced in the poll yet again (which is exactly what happened). So he packed up and went home without that vital snap of the self-important drummer out of Blur.