Ramones, AC/DC, Motorhead

[Steven Skane]

I mentioned nothing about the way Lemmy looks. It is irrelevant.

Dumb people make dumb music which is fine for other dumb people I suppose.
Smart people make smart music and the music is far better for it. I like the
Calvert era most with Hawkwind and it is because he had a planet sized brain
that really made the difference. His wild eccentric mind gave the band
breathtaking concepts and ideas and his intelligent and articulate lyrics
are just wonderful. Lyrics matter. The smarter and artier the lyricist the
better the lyrics.

 I have seen the Ramones and I could jump straight in and do it just as
well. I dont dislike them but I can't take them seriously (they aren't meant
to be taken seriously). They made a career out of dumb music and good luck
to them.

If it wasn't for smart musicians realising after hearing Dylan in the early
sixties that song writing can be much more
than silly love songs we would be stuck with dumb music. Intelligence and
the turbocharging effect it has on imagination are a major part of the music
of people like Hawkwind, Dylan, Hendrix, The Beatles, The Stones, Sex
Pistols, Pink Floyd, Syd Barret, Cream, Neil Young, the Doors etc. All these
bands have at least one smart person and it makes a big difference. I may
not be into all of them as my preference is hard rock but they are well
above the Ramones and AC/DC. I should mention that Lemmy is actually a very
bright boy too.I think I would go as far to say that you need at least one
very bright person in the band to be truly great. They are the ones that
have the imagination to make major breakthroughs and have a good
understanding of music history to draw from. They dont really need to be
great musicians but that helps too.

Technical proficiency is another matter. The problem is these people might
practice,scales, vibrato and tapping 20 hours a day but they have absolutely
no idea how to apply their skills and are too dumb to write a decent song. A
perfect example would be Malmsteen. That guys music really sux. Much rather
listen to the Ramones or AC/DC.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert C. Mayo" <RMayo19761 at AOL.COM>
To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 3:11 PM
Subject: Re: Ramones, AC/DC, Motorhead


> In a message dated 6/12/2002 12:48:16 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> sskane at BIGPOND.NET.AU writes:
>
>
> >
>
> who could play a Ramones song better than Johnny? NOBODY!!! Nor could
Johnny
> play a Highway Star...so who's 'Better'? (also please remember:
everybody's
> better than somebody...)
> and:
> about Angus being 'dumb'--so what? He's a musician, not a scientist.
> about Lemmy 'really looking old'--dude's 56!!! How's he supposed to look?
And
> again--he's a musician, not a fashion model.
> Looks and smarts simply DON'T MATTER; it's music, for f**kssake.
> -BobM
> an ugly dumb musician