Fingering the Fame

Sometime ago, I started to get bored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rituals and inductions and such... in fact, there is only the highlight in my mind of Prince purposefully and fantastically upstaging Tom Petty during a performance of "As my guitar gently weeps" at the induction ceremony with Jordan Zevon laughing next to him. It was an iconoclastic moment--and by the very concept of rock and roll, there should be many more. Every so often, something in music shakes the monotony, in 1978, it was the Sex Pistols and in 2006, it is them again. They are "refusing" their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. For the official, handwritten announcement regarding the urine-like state of the Hall of Fame and the astute proclaimation, "Your not paying attention" check Johnny Rotten's Official Site.

I may have to tune in this year, if only to see what they do say about the Pistols... how good would it be if John Lydon (aka Rotten) did show up... unannounced, ensuing his own brand of anarchy on the ceremony? It would be entertaining, but sad. I think the handwritten note is enough, with its bad spelling and form and all... the absence is noted. But it isn't just the absence at the ceremony--there is a general absence in the music industry of rebellion. Early rap and hip/hop provided that in the much needed way that punk had... but that is gone, lost in commericalism and sales and MTV.

Sid Vicious threw on a Swastica and an Anarchy symbol never clearly understanding what either meant politically, but just knew that it would piss people off. We are too heightened to sensitivity now for that--so when someone like Eminem comes out and sings about how he fantasizes about killing his wife, it shakes people's sensibilities to the core. Em paid the price for creative license and injecting the music industry with acrimony; but no where near the price Vicious paid. And isn't that always how it goes...?

We can never have another truly punk moment, but Lydon's statement is as close as we will ever get. It doens't matter what any of the remaining Pistols do--if they tour again or what have you, they can never re-gain what they did in the late 70s. It is the plague that has been many an artists downfall. Look at Michael Jackson (and I cringe at having to mention him in this discussion), he is the poster boy for you can never go back again, but he has never come to that realization. Prince and Madonna--who were part of that big 1983/84 scene as well realized it very quickly and moved on. They knew that kind of cataclysmic event was a once in a lifetime deal: a Purple Rain or a Like a Virgin were a one time deal and they both quickly moved passed it in order to save their creative selves. Since, they have both had the chance to provide some critically and commerically susccessful work, but nothing that stirs the masses and ignites people.

Certainly they have both challenged the status quo... everyone joked about "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" when he changed his name to an unpronoucable symbol and scrawled "Slave" across his cheek during performances. And the joke was the irony that he'd been paid well, he shouldn't fight the system that allowed him his creative freedoms. But it wasn't funny... Prince was contending the system that did not allow him to own his creative renderings... Isn't that the same fight the recording industry is having with illegal downloading and music sharing right now? At the core, it is. The artists want to own and be paid fairly for their work. It was a industry joke when it was at a personal level between the Artist and Warner Bros. but no one is laughing now.

There will be time for an awakening again soon... in the meantime, we are stuck with the likes of K-Fed putting out an album and the raucous silence from New York this year as the Sex Pistols finger the industry once again.