| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8748 Registered: 05-2005 |
A sad day. He was far too young. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-a rts-46476369 | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 564 Registered: 08-2005 |
Shocking news. I saw the Buzzcocks for the first and only time a year or two ago and they were very, very good. And 62 is no age at all these days. Ever Fallen in Love With and What do I Get? were two examples of perfect pop/punk/post-punk songwriting. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4016 Registered: 03-2005 |
I first heard the Buzzcocks in about '79 or maybe '80 when the teenage kid living below my apartment bedroom would blast out "I Believe." I loved it from the get-go, even hearing it through the floorboards and the open window. My first purchase was "Singles Going Steady." We all have our favorites. For me it's always been "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" in the Buzzcocks catalog. And it was a thrill when the clueless retrograde gay clubs in Los Angeles picked up on "Homosapien." Suddenly I had something to dance to, along with his old pal Devoto's great "Rainy Season." Interesting that he was living in Estonia. A partner there maybe? Super depressing to see him go this soon. I'm only one year younger. | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 447 Registered: 05-2005 |
Non di dju! Gone… Real World has the best intro in music history! | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1249 Registered: 04-2005 |
"It's the aim of existence to offer resistance to the flow of time..." Bugger. So many great records. "Singles Going Steady" is such a wonderful compilation. I only saw the band once, in 1979, when they played the Loch Lomond Rock Festival. They were great and I remember that when we arrived the evening before the festival, and set up our tent, it was Buzzcocks that were sound checking...which was lovely to hear. A lot of banter between Shelley and Diggle. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1250 Registered: 04-2005 |
Lovely piece by John Robb of the Membranes about the loss of his friend. https://louderthanwar.com/pete-shelley-a -personal-appreciation-by-john-robb/ | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4017 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks for that link Andrew. I wonder when Howard's going to say something. I wonder if he's completely shocked into silence. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1251 Registered: 04-2005 |
Randy, Have you seen the '78 documentary that Tony Wilson did on the 2 bands ? It's split into several parts on YouTube and unfortunately seems to be missing the live clips but remains a fascinating watch. Between Shelley's openness and the enigmatic replies from Devoto there is such a huge gulf ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hox93DET bGo | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4018 Registered: 03-2005 |
No Andrew, I never saw that! Thank you very much. The removal of the live bits is frustrating but it's fun to see Devoto speaking as a young man. Pete was so simple and direct and Devoto so, well, yeah Pete got it right: he has a "cordon" around himself. He had this carapace of ennui--maybe anomie--and yet my 62 year old eyes tell me that it was just that: a strategic protection. Until either you or Spencer Roberts set me right years ago I always ASSUMED that Howard Devoto was gay and I thought that was the reason he was so cagey and mordant. I didn't know anything about Linder Sterling or Ludus at the time. I loved, loved, LOVED Magazine once I finally heard them (after they broke up, natch, when "After the Fact" was released). A band with the both of them as creative poles would seem such a great thing. Pete sneakily tucked little nuggets of philosophy into his cheery pop tunes while Devoto turned over rocks to show us the wriggly slimy creatures immediately underneath. In some ways Pete Shelley seems like a Robert Forster type of person and Howard Devoto seems like a male Lindy Morrison: never at ease with his surroundings or probably himself. I get why people shrugged him off as pretentious but I loved it. He was a punk dude who read lots of books. Pete was more low key about that and I didn't catch it at the time. He read the same books but didn't flash them in your face. From that contrast we have to conclude that Pete was much more secure in his own skin. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8752 Registered: 05-2005 |
I just looked up carapace, ennui and anomie. I was relieved to see I was correct in what I thought ennui means, but the other two were previously beyond my understanding. I intend to use them often now I know what they mean, though. I'm going to be all carapace this and anomie that till at least mid-January. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1502 Registered: 10-2006 |
Well, exactly - I mean, isn't it the whole point of internet to extirpate such a ridiculous level of literacy? LOL! BWL!! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8753 Registered: 05-2005 |
I had to look up extirpate and BWL. I was OK on LOL, btw. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4019 Registered: 03-2005 |
Ok, I had to look up BWL (and get past Black Women Lawyers association) and make sure my memory was right about extirpate. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1503 Registered: 10-2006 |
I had to look up both extirpate and BWL in order to get you both to look them up. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4020 Registered: 03-2005 |
It's good to let the words out to play now and then. Btw, a new word (for me) that's been making the rounds among commenters on the New York Times is kakistocracy. If you look it up you'll readily see why it's become so useful. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8754 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy, I've previously written an article saying the Australian government had become a kakistocracy in many people's eyes. I learned the word from a book review written by a friend of mine and, after I'd looked it up, thought "damn, that's a good word, I'm going to use that". | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4021 Registered: 03-2005 |
A 1991 interview by Dave Henderson with Pete and Howard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_o2mmwS xHA | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1254 Registered: 08-2004 |
I know the meaning of ennui but the pronunciation is still baffling. Like with hyperbole and chutzpah it gets lost in the translation. Sad news of Pete Shelley is somehow compounded by the obvious love for him. Being genuinely nice doesn't get you anywhere. Never more true that you don't truly miss anyone until they are gone. | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 565 Registered: 08-2005 |
Kakistocracy - it's the UK personified! Rees-Mogg, Johnson (serial liar; adulterer), Raab (doesn't realise that Dover is a busy port), Davis (imbecilic quotes by the day), Patel (thinks we should starve the Irish to achieve our political aims)... the list goes on... and on... and on |