--------------------------------------------------------------------- T H E G A R Y N U M A N D I G E S T (by subscription only - to unsubscribe, see bottom of this message) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (#2002-88) - Topics This Issue: 1) I'm growing scared of everything you could say ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 01 Jul 2002 22:20:55 -0500 From: "Mark V. Anderson" Subject: Re: I'm growing scared of everything you could say >Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 09:50:22 -0500 >From: "Val & Ben Iglar-Mobley" >Subject: I'm growing scared of everything you could say > > > "I wore make-up because I had bad skin when I was 21. > > I didn't smile on stage because I was nervous and I didn't > > want anyone to see my Bugs Bunny teeth and my floppy > > lower lip. And people would say to me afterwards, 'Oh, > > this is a really stern, robot-like person who never smiles > > and is really alienated.'. Much more of it was made than > > ever intended and I played along with it for a bit - maybe > > too much, for now it comes back to haunt me." > > >Yeah, okay, Gary. > >Some time ago I joked that Gary was going to denounce his entire 'machine' >era in his self-effacing modesty as he turns a harsh critical eye to his >own >artistry. At least, I THOUGHT I was joking. I couldn't agree more. I really hate to seem like I'm bashing Gary, because I'm not, so I'll call this rant constructive criticism. I've seen, over the past few years, a marked attempt from Gary to deny his past and to grow consistently more in line with modern images and nearly politician style public relations. The move is motivated by positive intentions, but is riddled with disingenuity and flawed thinking. Now, I've got absolutely nothing against going for a more modern image. I think he would be foolish to convert to one of his 80's styles. As he has said many times, going retro is "the kiss of death". However, I think he can stay modern without bashing his former self. I strongly believe he does a massive disservice to himself by mocking the same images and musical ideas that propelled him into stardom. One can move on artistically without loathing the past. This attitude only serves to bother or confuse fans and to propel non-fans to bash "machine era Numan" even more. Now, one also must seriously question Gary's credibility when he says things like, "[The sugababes vocal track is better than my original]".. ..(I'm paraphrasing, but I have seen this sentiment in several interviews during the promotion of the "Exposure" album.) Personally, I do not believe for a second he made this statement to reflect his own views. After reviewing interviews for the first 15 years of his career, I seriously doubt our delightfully, refreshingly arrogant Gary believes some overproduced hip-hop vocal is "better" than his own work. This transformation from self-confidence to a loathing-former self attitude happened somewhere around the Sacrifice-Exile period and the only question I can ask now is "Why did he make the switch?" I certainly do not believe Gary woke up one morning and decided he did nothing but rubbish in the 80's. I can understand him questioning the 86-92 period, but denying the power and the awesomely, carefully conceived nature of his earlier works is just silly. It seems to me that Gary sees some benefit in attracting a new audience by denying the value of his past works. By further separating himself from old Gary he may even capture the positive attention of former Gary bashers, who will feel confident buying a new cd that is clearly not the work of an 80's synth popper. I think this PR move is very misguided, but I can see how one could find potential value in it. Now, this very obvious politician work is coming from the same guy who said he's given up on trying to please the general music consuming populous. Does anyone else see some inconsistency? I think he should come clean, admit that he loves himself, both past and present, and get back to work on his new album. His strategy is not only disingenous, but it won't work. People who don't like old Gary probably won't like the new version and there is no use in trying to please them. Did he not learn this during his previous attempts at emulating Prince and Janet Jackson? I know he's in the music business and he needs to pay the bills and buy expensive cars, but that is no reason to trash himself. I say Gary should embrace his past but plow wholeheartedly into new territory. -Sincerely, Mark V. Anderson _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx ------------------------------ End digest@garynuman.info Digest [07/02/2002 18:01] --------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- T H E G A R Y N U M A N D I G E S T is produced, moderated, and distributed by Derek Langsford, Dave Datta, and Joey Lindstrom dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu, davdat@allmusic.com, Joey@GaryNuman.Info Back Issues: http://digest.garynuman.info ------------------------------------------------------------------- To reply to the messages in this list, email: digest@garynuman.info If you want to be removed, or someone wants to be added, email: listserv@GaryNuman.info and include this line as the first line of your message body: SUBSCRIBE digest@garynuman.info (email address) or UNSUBSCRIBE digest@garynuman.info (email address) (email address is optional but useful if you have multiple addresses) If you want to switch between receiving Digests or individual posts, again send to listserv@GaryNuman.Info and include either of these in your message body: NORMAL digest@garynuman.info or DIGEST digest@garynuman.info ------------------------------------------------------------------ Please note: this mailing list is configured to automatically unsubscribe you if mail to your mailbox goes undeliverable for any reason. 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