tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post975711721522042295..comments2024-02-12T23:25:09.583-08:00Comments on Overweening Generalist: Aldous Huxley, H.L. Mencken and My (Our?) Consumption of Trashmichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-12920029737986891162012-08-25T07:34:29.055-07:002012-08-25T07:34:29.055-07:00Years ago, when a crummy rock band would inexplica...Years ago, when a crummy rock band would inexplicably become successful, I used to assume that the record company had succeeded in getting the band airplay through the application of ad dollars, cash payments to the "right" radio executives or DJs, etc. In the 1980s, no doubt getting MTV to play your song on TV helped. I'm not sure what the mechanism for success would be now. Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-20487962463386337252012-08-25T07:30:18.543-07:002012-08-25T07:30:18.543-07:00Michael,
Perhaps those rock critics were unimpres...Michael,<br /><br />Perhaps those rock critics were unimpressed by title of the album the song came from, "All the Girls of the World Beware!!!"<br /><br />I would argue -- and maybe it's because I am old -- that rock and pop music is mostly terrible these days, and that your aesthetic judgment is correct. Rock music hit its high point in the 1960s, and at this point the decline cannot be denied. Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-39266427186032860052012-08-25T00:23:06.443-07:002012-08-25T00:23:06.443-07:00Thanks, Tom.
re: whether today's artists will...Thanks, Tom.<br /><br />re: whether today's artists will be revered as Great Art someday? I've wondered about that since punk rock. As the years have gone by, I've been surprised over and over when seeing some artists I thought "great" sort of disappear, while others I thought not all that good at all become huge. The more time goes on, the less I understand this sort of thing. Even in areas I know a lot about - rock guitar players, for example - I'm amazed at who is HUGE and who I think ought to be huge, but seem to be less-known every year.<br /><br />I'm with you: it seems unlikely that Bieber will be like the Beatles, but who knows? <br /><br />I just hope there IS a "humanity" in the 22nd century.<br /><br />Funny: earlier today I drove to San Francisco Airport to pick up a friend. I was cruising down the freeway, listening the radio, and when a commercial comes on, I simply find something else. I landed on "oldies radio" and heard Grand Funk Railroad's "Some Kind of Wonderful," which sold a lot in the 70s, but was universally panned by critics. I remember the tune well from my childhood and never was all that crazy about it. But I listened to it anew - a sort of hard rock version of gospel music - and I thought, "This seems so much BETTER than almost all the stuff that's in the Top 10 these days!" But then, I guess I'm olde.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-18326581369877094222012-08-24T20:20:50.697-07:002012-08-24T20:20:50.697-07:00Michael,
The bit about Philip K. Dick, Raymond Ch...Michael,<br /><br />The bit about Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and H.P. Lovecraft was my favorite in your post.<br /><br />What do you suppose out of today's trash will be revered as great art by future aesthetes? Do you suppose that rap music of the thug school and Top 40 singles by "pop tart" female singers will attract the same sort of critical attention in the 22nd Century as Beethoven and Bach do today? It seems unlikely to me, but who know?Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-53872651509872748622012-08-21T14:06:56.085-07:002012-08-21T14:06:56.085-07:00I have Aldous's essay "Best Picture"...I have Aldous's essay "Best Picture" in _Along the Road: Notes and Essays of a Tourist_.<br /><br />I think maybe textbooks are one thing, while remaining in print, being anthologized, having Hollywood make films from your work, and generating scholarship is another?<br />michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-50583031588864057372012-08-21T10:32:50.142-07:002012-08-21T10:32:50.142-07:00I love Huxley's essay "The Best Picture&q...I love Huxley's essay "The Best Picture" on Piero della Francesca.<br /><br />Following Crowley, I suspect all of us have talents and potentials unguessed at. What strikes one person as trash might strike me as genius, as you comment in your blog.<br /><br />Please note that for all the attention Lovecraft, Chandler and Dick have received, I don't see them in any textbooks at any schools I teach at (except for the Maybe Logic Academy).<br /><br />Your fine blog (and thanks for the shout out) makes me think once again of Paul Schrader's essay on the film canon - http://paulschrader.org/articles/pdf/2006-FilmComment_Schrader.pdf - and the recent responses to the Sight and Sound Greatest Films poll - http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sightandsoundpolls/2012 . I read a comment about John Waters last night.Eric Wagnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04312033917401203598noreply@blogger.com