i was watching the rock and roll hall of fame thing last night

[Baliset]

kudos to bono for basically telling the music business that they suck.

 

[FuSoYa]

what did he say?

 

[minxnim]

was he wearing those awful shades?

 

[Baliset]

he basically said that without their manager having a long-term vision for the band then they probably would have been dropped after their second album.

and he basically told the music business that they need to change they way they are doing things now because they don't believe in artists the way they did when U2 was signed.

i could be interpreting that wrong. i'll have to find a transcript of his speech.

ps. minx he was wearing shades of some sort but i am not sure which ones are the awful ones you speak of.

 

[Baliset]

"Chris Blackwell, what an incredible man he was to have looking after you. Can you imagine your second album -- the difficult second album -- it's about God? Everyone is tearing their hair out and Chris Blackwell says, "It's okay. There's Bob Marley and Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, it's a tradition. We can get through it. And I think about what Frank Barselona said earlier about long-term vision because you know without the long term vision of Frank Barselona, Barbara Skydell and Chris Blackwell, there would be no U2 after that second album. It would have been cut. No "Sunday Bloody Sunday," no "Unforgettable Fire," no "One," no "Where the Streets Have No Name," no "With or Without You."

That's what I'd like you to take away from tonight. I would like to ask the music business to look at itself and ask itself some hard questions. Because there would be no U2 the way things are right now. "

 

[mindspell]

I am pretty sure she refers to any shades he sported since the bug-eyed ones circa Achtung Baby.

 

[Helm]

Hi. My name is Bono. I will adress a tired issue in a condescending, obnoxious manner and you'll be suprised that a pop singer like me can adress tired issues in such a condescending, obnoxious manner. Then you'll give me a nobel peace prize. Thank you.

P.S. Did you know that my second album - the difficult second album - is about God? Better go back and listen to it.

 

[FuSoYa]

helm what's your problem? Bono rules.

 

[Helm]

I agree that it's good that he's trying to do something positive with his status as a music star, and I am not of the opinion that 'music people need to shut up about politics' but that doesn't excuse the way he does some things. I'm not gonna try to change your mind or anything, but listen to how he gets on his self-made moral highground when he adresses the world's powerful about this or that problem. I get the impression that he thinks people in power will do the right thing if you explain what that is, because hey, it's the truth, and just and right.

In a way, him getting the nobel peace prize is a very effective way for him to be made redundant.

Also, although it might not be fair to hold people to previous bad judgements, bono should have been more careful when he endorsed the bombing of serbia in that whole milosevic fiasco. Many people don't remember this, because back then, most countries were ok with the bombing anyway, but when I read that bono said that "we have to help the poor albanians! by bombing serbs! It's the right thing to do!" I felt sick.

 

[0sm0se]

Concerning serbs, where is Azal? and Body Remover? Did Bono kill them? Are they now tragedies like Stultus?

 

[capeda]

I wish I was in a dark alley with Bono and he had his back turned to me and I had a aluminum t-ball bat. I'd totally knee-cap him and run like hell.

 

[lizard]

I don't think people so much have a problem with what Bono says as the way he says it. he can come off as very condescending. But the "War" album rules.

 

[mindspell]

I love what he tries to do, hate the way he does it. I always have the feeling that the only reason he does things is that he thinks it is a competition and he will win a Nobel prize at the end...

 

[avi]

someone needs to be saying that stuff - that's the most important thing

 

[mindspell]

True, that doesn't make him 'awesome' though.

 

[Helm]

A lot of people are saying that stuff. In more thorough and less condescending ways. Bono is just in a different position, where what he says may appeal to an audience who would not otherwise consider the subjects. That is better than nothing, but we should be caring more about how to increase overal awareness directly, than on how to use existing cultural icons to subversively introduce these concepts.