White Stripes and Nissan Promos

[fwat]

I think I've said enough.

People like YOU and Ryan Adams are what's lame. Ass.

Damn straight.

[Alexander]

First, as a disclaimer, I should say that though I didn't come into the white stripes with the mtv wave, I've only been a fan for about a year. I live in a small town so you have to find things on your own here.

So it comes down to this for me. The first is: just because a group makes MTV doesn't mean they're selling out (though the Nissan sponser is odd). Then, sell-outs or not, ol' Jack and Meg here are damn good musicians. And, oh, they write theirr own songs which shouldn't be worth anything, but, in this day of telling 11-year-olds what to like for future pepsi sales, it is. A lot of groups would jump at the opportunity for commercial endorsements, sometimes it seems to be the only way to get a name spread around to more than just music geeks. Sure, our opinions are the only ones worth anything, but I don't see anybody putting up sponsorship money. I'd like to use Soul Coughing as an example. Great band. Doughty is a unique and astonishing singer and lyricist and above mediocre on the guitar. They definitely attempted commercialism but no one would really pick them up. No one complained, though.

That's all I have and I'm tired to boot.

Oh, wait! Originally I just wanted to say that I think the Jolene cover kicks ass. I don't think it's a joke and I don't think it's the ultimate in soul, but I do think it rocks. And one more thing since I may never read/post here again as I just happened upon this site this evening: something about Meg is really, really alluring.

[goingcoastal]

it is disappointing that the stripes name and nissan can be said in the same sentence. they are suppsoed to be from different worlds, representing different things and different kinds of people. sure sure sure, they have the right, they can do whatever the fuck they want to do, but that doesn't mean we have to respect it.

and to you people who say "yeah, get the money while you can" or "play the media" or "as long as theyt keep making good music, i don't care if they sell out" or any such other drivel, think about this: it is exactly our complicity with the corporate media that keeps music in the almost continual state of sucking that it does. all the poeple that are exposed to the stripes because of corporate sponsorship are fucking sheep that will leech onto the next act that comes along with a little monmentum and a lot of industry money. by supporting this kind of thing, you're contributing to a bleaker musical and cultural future.

that being said, the stripes are my favourite band in the world right now, which makes hearing about the nissan thing all the more painful. jack seems to be losing touch, and it's sad. besides, the media won't be friendly to him for long.

[thousandfold]

Since Jack White and Ryan Adams are bitch-slapping at each other over who was offered the role in "Cold Mountain" first, I'm wondering if the GloNo board is in a quandry. What to do....heads are spinning :-)


http://www.nme.com/news/103687.htm

I hadn't read this previously, but it's fucking funny. That is exactly why many hate Ryan Adams and I love him. If I was a rich rock star/great songwriter I'd have a major attitude like that, too. More power to him.

[Sugarcubes Forever]

It used to be that when a band pulled a publicity stunt, like a free show on a rooftop (attracting thousands of rabid fans), they were called rock stars and thought to be pretty damn cool.

Now a days they're called sell-outs by those who claim to care most about their music.

Oh how the times have changed.

Who cares if Nissan is using their music. Who cares who pulled the plug on a Times Square show. If their tunes rock you, what else matters. Much of this type of "diss the rock star" attitude is coming from the ranks of what I like to call the New Geek Irony Police. There was a time when some bands that had commercial success were cool at the same time. Where did the notion come from that making some cash makes you "uncool" with the kids?

For christ's sake, Sgt Pepper was one of the coolest rock albums ever, and at a time when the Beatles were superpop stars. The Clash used to be played on American Top 40. I recently went to a club where the DJ was spinning lots of 80s radio hits, and all the Alternapunks were really loving the old Madonna video being projected up on the wall. But at the same time I was overhearing conversations about why this or that Detroit band had sold out. Sold Out? What did they think Modanna's Lucky Star was?

Give me a break.

[D. Phillips]

Scotty, you're the John Stossel of rock.

Where did the notion come from that making some cash makes you "uncool" with the kids?

Sadly, punk rock. Funny but reading interviews with the Clash, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, et al they ALL mention that they wanted to be the Stones. As in The Biggest band in the World. Yep, that means selling records. What was different was the attitude. It's ok with me if you make money with your music. I think it gets a bit fuzzy when money is the motivating factor and you start to make decisions you're uncomfortable with for the sake of appeasing record execs and music programmers.

Give me a break indeed!

[goingcoastal]

jeezus, scotty, rise up against the fantasy in your head join the real world.

your rock star fantasies should be over - how juvenile that you think we should repeat the same cult-hero worship of rock stars. do you know the first thing about the mass media? the rock stars of the past were doing something NEW by having a spontanous free rock show on top of a building, and they were doing it at a time when the media and the corporate world were still reeling from being broadsided by rock and roll. for a short time, big business couldn't control public taste, but with the exception of the occasional minor uprising (like the stripes) they now have it down to an art. the rock star thing has been done and done and fucking done. the reason "kids" like me don't have the same rabid worship reaction to rock stars with wads of cash, is because it's an old fucking story. it's not exciting, or subversive, or even very interesting to aspire to be one of those people. it's just blatent and boring self-interest through complicity with capital.

the reason it's not cool isn't the money - it's because they're just repeating a charade that we've seen a thousand times before.

and damn it if i'm not bored stiff with the whole thing.

[Jake]

the rock stars of the past were doing something NEW by having a spontanous free rock show on top of a building, and they were doing it at a time when the media and the corporate world were still reeling from being broadsided by rock and roll.

Except for the fact that the whole "spontaneous" rooftop concert was being filmed to be released as a major motion picture. If we're talking about the same spontaneous rooftop, that is...

[sab]

the reason "kids" like me don't have the same rabid worship reaction to rock stars with wads of cash, is because it's an old fucking story. it's not exciting, or subversive, or even very interesting to aspire to be one of those people. it's just blatent and boring self-interest through complicity with capital.

the reason it's not cool isn't the money - it's because they're just repeating a charade that we've seen a thousand times before.

and damn it if i'm not bored stiff with the whole thing.

Jesus Hallelujah! There is hope for the world! Coastal, I just hope there are a few million more of you "kids" and you all register to vote and get involved in politics. I wish I had recognized the importance of political action before, say, last year. Or if you don't register to vote, you all smash some fucking Starbucks or something. Point is, I'm with you man.

What really sucks most about this is that "kids" today are pretty much getting robbed of the joy of honest emotions, simply because corporate marketing at adolescents has infiltrated everything to such an extent that there's no rebellion left, nothing to do to fight the status quo other than go shoot up your high school classmates, which is a very bad idea. If kids aren't allowed to define their own identity without feeling like that identity is being sold to them as a can of pop or a cell phone or a music video, how can they ever become real adults? Or worse yet, how can they even become whole human beings?

[Sugarcubes Forever]

I guess somebody thinks of themselves as a member of the New Geek Irony Police, and doesn't like being criticized.

Having been an avid follower of 80s so-called alternative music, I had only sometimes associated comercial success with "selling out". When U2's War was released and their songs were all over the radio, I loved it. When The Cure hit the top 40 in the lat 80s I thought it was 'excellent'. At the same time I loved bands like Black Flag, Minor Threat, etc. I had a lot of friends who shunned anything commerical, but all the alternateens that I knew didn't really worry when REM had their first hit single.

It's true that there's always been a strong thread of anti-commercialism amongst rock fandom, but a decade ago it seemed that a new anti mainstream fan emerged. 80s alternateens gave way to cardigan sweater wearing pre Emo geeks sometime just before Weezer came into beeing. Witness the current day arguements about Weezer's last two albums here on this web site. Did they sell-out or are they simply past their point of influence on rock n roll? When their first videos appeared on MTV, none of my friends called them posers or shunned their tunes. Now, when the White Stripes show-up on David Letterman, a thousand Detroit-Scene-Uber-Freaks turn their backs to the band and stare at the opposite wall in unison. Their protest instantly bleeds onto the net, and bulletin boards echo their anger.

I don't blame all of this on Punk. Punk was and still continues to be, in one shape or form, a protest against the establishment. But someone said it up above, when it was mentioned that the Clash wanted to be the next Rolling Stones.

I'll keep my copy of Elephant on my heavy rotation list, right next to Zwan, Fugazi, and that Foo Fighters disc I can't seem to put down. I'll let those pestky kids, all younger and wiser than old man Scotty, piss and moan the commercial bastardization of their cherished possessions!

Now, back to my local Clear Channel station.....

Peace Out
Scotty