OK so I figured I ought to find a video that took a harder look at the "good guys" in the Cold War and thought immediately about one Billy Bragg, punk/socialist/folk singer.
Mr Bragg lets the US have it with both barrels and truth be told he scores a lot of hits with his shot gun splatter. I figure a little introspection and self criticism never hurt anybody, but lets face it I'd have taken the West over the East any day. A lot of the points made in the 80s still hold true in 2014 - for instance with in the last 2 years PBS had a special on efforts to replace Evolution with Creationism in school biology texts. So yes it may be land of opportunity but there's still a monkey trail on TV!
This video was filmed in the USSR in 1987 (well before the USSR ceased to exist)! There's cool shots of Billy in neat looking hats and T-shirts, interacting with regular Ruskies and a steam train with a genuine Commie Red Star on it (how cool is that). And my god Billy looks young and innocent.
And for all those young kids who wanna be rock'n'rollers:
- Forget about overproducing and never underestimate the impact of one guy on a rhythm guitar.
- Passionate singing trumps auto tune every time.
Now here's the song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTneVU-E7Jo
There's a great interview with Billy on Q here. He ranks on the list of rockers that I would like to chat with over tea in this case!.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa_LLnZ_qcA
Agreed on the autotune and overproduction in the studio. So much music made in 2014 sounds so sterile and lacking in soul because of over-reliance on them. And Canada has had, and continues to produce, scads of great rock artists of all kinds.
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes