This is not meant to be a flame, but it is something that I feel strongly about:
At 01:15 PM 2/28/96 -0600, Nathan Vanek wrote:
>I think there needs to be a distinction between the funk fan and the
>hardcore funkateer afronaut.
Why? what good does that do for anybody except making one person feel
superior to another based, of all things, on the percieved "depth" of
appreciation for a style of music. That's pointless.
Here's an example:
I live in the southwest United States. I like Mexican food (and there are
MANY varieties), and Tex-Mex, New Mexican food, etc. I am pretty well
versed in the different styles of burritos, tacos, and the like.
Let's say I meet a person from North Dakota, (having been there, I bear
witness to the weakness of the so-called mexican food) who tells me, " I
LOVE Mexican food!" Should I automatically think that that person is a
idiot, because he or she does not have the benefit of my knowledge of
burritos? of course not. That person undoubtably has some expertise in a
subject about which I know nothing.
This sort of thinking points to a clear fact: in all walks of life, even
those which are ostensibly more open than others, there is a clear and
present tendency to disregard, out of hand, the acceptability of difference.
Why should we divide up into sides? If I need to sneer at a kid who thinks
that funk ends with the chili peppers, Isn't that a pathetic way to validate
my own aesthetic principles? Whose to say that those people won't get
turned on to the broader range of funk and soul later on? who says that
they even should have to be?
I play funk music. I live for groovy horns and organs and funky beats. I
also listen to many other types of music, and just because I don't have the
entire country music genre down pat, doesn't mean anybody in the country
music world has the right to dis me for listening to Willie Nelson once in a
while.
>the casual fan has a best of James Brown disc
>in his collection and likes Sly when he(or she!) hears it and has a general
>appreciation. there is a definite rash of kids who hear "Give it Away" on
>the radio and think they are all down with funk.
You are right to the extent that this phenomenon exists. Yet I personally
know several AJ headz who came this way from punk to chili peppers to
Jamiroquai, believe it or not.
Anyway, sorry for the rambling, but I'm going to go take in some Solsonics.
Can't wait to get my hands on the Butterflow release, when it comes out.
Polliwog played with them when they were in Phoenix a few months ago, and
they were spectacular.
Peace,
T
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Just a Baby Frog...
Travis Brinster POLLIWOG
tbrinst@primenet.com 415 S. Wilson
Tempe, AZ 85281
http://www.primenet.com/~polliwog USA
"The first human being that hurled an insult instead of a stone
was the father of civilization."
-Sigmund Freud
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