Elton John: Stupider Than A Wet Brick

TehBorken · Aug 02 07 04:48

Elton John says the [a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007350453,00.html"]internet is bad and should be shut down[/a]. LOL! What a &*$^^! idiot. Some of his brilliant statements are quoted below. Mine are in [span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 191);"]blue[/span].
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"][span class="norm12"]He claims it is destroying good music, saying: "The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff. [span class="norm12"][span class="norm12"][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"](Horsecrap. Since the net became available I've seen a wealth of amazingly creative stuff come from it, including music. There are [/span][/span][/span][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"]entire networks of people who, using only their computers, instruments of choice, and the internet, make great music between each other. Yeah, they use that intarweb thingy to do it.[/span][span class="norm12"][span class="norm12"][span class="norm12"][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"] [/span][/span][/span][/span][span class="norm12"][span class="norm12"][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"]-tb)
[/span][/span][/span][/p] "Instead they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn't bode well for long-term artistic vision. [span class="norm12"][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"](Heaven forbid they make their own music and not rush right out to buy yours- that would just be wrong! [/span][/span][span class="norm12"][span class="norm12"][span class="norm12"][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"]And as he complained about above, doesn't making your own music count as "[/span][/span][/span][span class="norm12"][span class="norm12"][span class="norm12"][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"]creating stuff"? [/span][/span][/span][/span][/span][span class="norm12"][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"]-tb)
[/span][/span][/p] "We're talking about things that are going to change the world and change the way people listen to music and that's not going to happen with people blogging on the internet.[/p] "I mean, get out there — communicate. [span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"](Ummm, that's what blogging is all about, Elton. -tb)[/span]
[/p] "Hopefully the next movement in music will tear down the internet."[span class="norm12"][span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"] (Hopefully the next movement will ignore your silly pop-music ass completely, you old fart. -tb)
[/span][/span][/p][/span][hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"][span class="norm12"][/span]
Elton John is just a lamer who fancies himself an expert on something he clearly knows next-to-nothing about. And lets not forget that Elton John writes almost NONE of his own stuff- a fellow named [a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 191);" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Taupin"]Bernie Taupin[/a] writes the lyrics and Elton sets them to music.

A comment from /.: "Check out [a href="http://www.theforeignexchangemusic.com/" title="theforeign...emusic.com"]The Foreign Exchange[/a]'s album [a href="http://www.amazon.com/Connected-Foreign-Exchange/dp/B0001ZMWWI" title="amazon.com"]"Connected[/a]". North Carolina-raised MC Phonte, one-third of Little Brother, and Dutch producer Nicolay formed the duo and crafted the ethereally lush hip-hop album without ever meeting face-to-face. Using the marvels of modern technology, the group traded verses and tracks over the Internet."

From [a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007350453,00.html"]http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007350453,00.html[/a]

Russ · Aug 02 07 07:44

I tend to agree TB.. he's got his head in the sand.

The internet is ruining communication and creativity? That quote is what makes his whole statement a laughing joke.

People can go anywhere in the world and see anything now with the internet.. and share ideas with people they never would have met otherwise. Thats is called communicating, and other ideas breeds creativity...

His statement makes me angry for some reason.. lol. What an idiot. I think this ties into PC's thread topic.. Im not going to listen or buy (not that I would have in the first place!) any of his music anymore.

Lise · Aug 02 07 08:37

Wow. Maybe y'know... he's getting a bit soft in the head with old age.

Schadenfreude · Aug 02 07 09:11

I agree with what Elton John is saying.

Much of todays music is electronically generated. There will be no more Eric Claptons, Jimmy Pages, or Carlos Santanas because so-called musicians are making cheap, bad music with samplings of these greats and people are buying it. American Idol shoots people to the top of the charts without them earning their way there. It is why bands like the Stones continue to be successful. They play their own instruments and they have earned their way to the top.

I find it funny that when someone as accomplished as Elton John voices his opinion on music today, you, who has yet to make any top selling music, thinks he is "Stupider Than A Wet Brick".

If you think he is stupider than a wet brick do you consider yourself as smart as a wet brick?

Schadenfreude · Aug 02 07 09:14

Anyone thinking communicating with people on blogs is the same thing as chatting with someone face to face is probably not very good at the latter.

It is not the same.

Schadenfreude · Aug 02 07 09:27

Elton John is just a lamer who fancies himself an expert on something he clearly knows next-to-nothing about. And lets not forget that Elton John writes almost NONE of his own stuff- a fellow named [A style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,191)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Taupin"]Bernie Taupin[/A] writes the lyrics and Elton sets them to music.

Elton John is just a lamer? And your opinion carries more weight than his?

You are a Jackass! Go back to your Clay Aiken fan club.

[img id=img style="BORDER-RIGHT: black 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: black 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: black 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: black 1px solid" alt="TinyPic image" src="http://i9.tinypic.com/4lo1wm9.gif" border=0]

P.C. · Aug 02 07 09:47

On some level I have to agree with some of the things that Elton has said (very poorly). Getting 'rid of' the internet because the music world is being affected is a pretty stupid comment.

But I too think we have substituted many aspects of living a 'real' life for a more one dimensional experience.

I agree with Russ, that 'seeing the world' through the internet, may be the closest some will ever come to really seeing the world....but I could never fool myself into believing that I've had a real experience (and yet I'm thankful to at least SEE it). Watching the world and living in the world are two separate things.

I too fear the loss of REAL musicians as Schad is saying. Take for example, animation. Back in the days of Walt Disney, when each frame was painstakingly drawn by an artist, is now replaced by a different art form altogether. No less enjoyable or no less spectacular......but in the process, an art form has died.

TehBorken · Aug 02 07 10:55

Schadenfreude wrote:
There will be no more Eric Claptons, Jimmy Pages, or Carlos Santanas because so-called musicians are making cheap, bad music with samplings of these greats and people are buying it.

I bet you're wrong. I bet there will still be plenty of great musicians, and we'll probably have an easier time finding them. I don't believe that the internet prevents people from becoming "great musicians". Yes, there's a lot of crappy music out there, but there's always been crappy music...long before the internet existed.

American Idol shoots people to the top of the charts without them earning their way there.

No argument there. I don't watch it, but I know enough about to be certain it sucks.

It is why bands like the Stones continue to be successful. They play their own instruments and they have earned their way to the top.

And so will other groups and artists.

I find it funny that when someone as accomplished as Elton John voices his opinion on music today, you, who has yet to make any top selling music, thinks he is "Stupider Than A Wet Brick".

I don't have to be a weatherman to know when it's raining and I don't have to be a top-selling artist to know when a top-selling artist's opinion is flat-out wrong.

If you think he is stupider than a wet brick do you consider yourself as smart as a wet brick?[/div]
[div]
I do. And I think Elton John is flat-wrong. wrong. For example, I never would have heard of [a href="http://discoverseattle.net/forums/index.php/topic,5323.0.html"]these guys[/a] if not for the internet.

Just a few thoughts, not all my own:

1) Sir Reginald is totally displacing here. The Internet is not the problem with modern music; on the contrary, it's the only thing keeping music alive. The large record companies are killing music by providing an endless supply of "marketable" pop claptrap. All of the musical innovation today comes from independent artists who have virtually no chance of ever getting a lucrative record contract. Guess where these indies distribute their music? Guess where they collaborate?

2) Elton John has the gall to say there's a breakdown between artist and audience when he's charging $150 per ticket to see him? Doesn't that seem a little ballsy?

3) He's stuck in his ways, and the internet is a threat to those ways. Lets be clear - the internet is helping new artists make music and distribute it (for free and for money) without requiring a restrictive contract with a record company.

4) Maybe Elton John just doesn't get the new ways to create, play, and distribute music? To be fair, Elton John's generation and those before destroyed live music in the household, as who needs Joe-Fred johnson to strum his banjo when you can hear professionals first on record, then radio, then TV, etc... So why shouldn't we move the music to another "space"?

TehBorken · Aug 02 07 10:58

Schadenfreude wrote: [div style="font-style: italic;"]Elton John is just a lamer? And your opinion carries more weight than his? [/div]

No, but my opinion carries as much weight as his.

Come back in a few years and tell me I'm wrong.

The internet is no more "killing music" (or creativity) than television "killed" radio.

TehBorken · Aug 02 07 11:02

P.C. wrote:
But I too think we have substituted many aspects of living a 'real' life for a more one dimensional experience.

I don't disagree with that, but I also think it "widens up" a great deal more than it "narrows down", so to speak. For example, I wouldn't be able to have this conversation/discussion/whatever with any of you if not for the net. We all come from very different backgrounds and are spread all over North America, if not the world. What's the chance we would all meet in one place to be able to discuss this any other way? About a kabillion to one, I'd guess.

The net doesn't force people to make bad music, although it might make it easier. Just like cars- they don't force people to rob banks and make fast getaways, although they make it easier. But the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, in my opinion.

Russ · Aug 02 07 11:02

I dunno Schade.. I think we interpreted what was written by TB and Eric Clapton from different viewpoints. LOL

I agree 'communicating' over the net is not the same as face to face.. I complain about that 'cause people take things differently reading something I wrote then what I expressed it as <in my mind anyhow>. communicating can be many different things.. im still of the opinion that you will meet, read, and reply/email to many more topics and ideas than if you just speak to people you meet. But like what you said, people could take it different than what you mean it as...

Schadenfreude wrote:

Anyone thinking communicating with people on blogs is the same thing as chatting with someone face to face is probably not very good at the latter.

It is not the same.

Russ · Aug 02 07 11:04

Blast it! TB has said what I was trying to say much faster and better than I could.. lol.

In the time it took me to formulate and hit reply, he had two posts already! lol.

'bless'

Schadenfreude · Aug 02 07 11:18

Schadenfreude wrote:

There will be no more Eric Claptons, Jimmy Pages, or Carlos Santanas because so-called musicians are making cheap, bad music with samplings of these greats and people are buying it.

I bet you're wrong. I bet there will still be plenty of great musicians, and we'll probably have an easier time finding them. I don't believe that the internet prevents people from becoming "great musicians". Yes, there's a lot of crappy music out there, but there's been crappy music...long before the internet existed.

American Idol shoots people to the top of the charts without them earning their way there.

No argument there. I don't watch it, but I know enough about to be certain it sucks.

It is why bands like the Stones continue to be successful. They play their own instruments and they have earned their way to the top.

And so will other groups and artists.

I find it funny that when someone as accomplished as Elton John voices his opinion on music today, you, who has yet to make any top selling music, thinks he is "Stupider Than A Wet Brick".

I don't have to be a weatherman to know when it's raining and I don't have to be a top-selling artist to know when a top-selling artist's opinion is flat-out wrong.

If you think he is stupider than a wet brick do you consider yourself as smart as a wet brick? I do. And I think Elton John is flat-wrong. wrong. For example, I never would have heard of these guys (http://discoverseattle.net/forums/index.php/topic,5323.0.html) if not for the internet.

You and I agree on one thing. We both think you are as smart as a wet brick.

TehBorken · Aug 02 07 11:21

Schadenfreude wrote:
[em style="font-style: italic;"][/em]You and I agree on one thing. We both think you are as smart as a wet brick.

And that I'm a jackass, lol.

P.C. · Aug 02 07 11:24

TB wrote: I don't disagree with that, but I also think it "widens up" a great deal more than it "narrows down", so to speak. For example, I wouldn't be able to have this conversation/discussion/whatever with any of you if not for the net. We all come from very different backgrounds and are spread all over North America, if not the world. What's the chance we would all meet in one place to be able to discuss this any other way? About a kabillion to one, I'd guess.

It DOES widen the scope of what we can see or with whom we can have some communication with...as long as it's clear that it IS a substitution for real life.....and that there is some degree of loss in participating in life. I'm not even sure if I'm necessarily saying it's a bad thing, but I am sure it requires a different perspective.

We may have the opportunity to communicate with someone on the far side of the world...but there always is the reality that the person you're communicating may only be who he says he is.....not who he really is....rendering the time spent a possible waste. However, I suppose that can happen in real life too, can't it....hmmmm.

But to get back to topic....it IS somewhat odd, that a person who doesn't really know MUSIC....can produce music because he is skilled with a computer. Something has to be lost there.

EDIT: ps. I like 'kabillion'. May I use it? [img style="CURSOR: pointer" onclick=url(this.src); src="http://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/smilie/froehlich/c020.gif" border=0]