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Johnny Marr is not amused

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    #26
    Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View Post
    I really don't follow. Astley & Blossoms are, to all intents, a Smiths tribute band. Are they playing the songs wrong? On recorders and ukuleles? Does the guitarist not have a Johnny Marr Fender Jaguar?

    Or are they just not cool enough?
    I just don't think they're up to it. Just my opinion. Others - such as yourself - may disagree.

    The fact that they didn't even mention it to Marr is not only a bit 'off' in terms of etiquette, but suggests that they themselves didn't have a great deal of confidence in the project.

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      #27
      I think Jah has confused the Smiths with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

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        #28
        Is it possible that Blossoms decided to cover TCM after meeting Johnny Marr?

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          #29
          Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View Post
          I think Jah has confused the Smiths with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
          Are you suggesting that Marr is not an excellent and innovative guitarist? Watching that video there must be at least one more guitarist out of shot as the one that we can see is only playing half of Marr's part (at most)

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            #30
            Originally posted by ad hoc View Post

            Are you suggesting that Marr is not an excellent and innovative guitarist?
            No. But being able coming up with those guitar parts (and sounds) is not the same as playing them. (I'm a very average guitar player, but even I can play This Charming Man and What Difference Does it Make?)

            Watching that video there must be at least one more guitarist out of shot as the one that we can see is only playing half of Marr's part (at most)
            He's not playing half of Marr's part. He's playing rhythm guitar on an acoustic. As he's the Blossom's lead singer, it gives him something to do.

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              #31
              Not the point at all.

              Paul Young worked with some very competent musicians, but both he and they absolutely murdered Love Will Tear Us Apart.

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                #32
                Love Will Tear Us Apart and This Charming Man are so closely tied to the artists and their time* that covering them is bound to fail, but even moreso when in Young's case you're trying to do a (pound shop) Marvin Gaye over a song totally unsuited to that over-emoting style.

                *Curtis and Morrissey wrote them for their own unique voices and mannerisms; even if cover acts could pull off the guitars and arrangements (especially Hannett's) they'll never come near the vocals; even if you think the vocals were flawed by some measure of pure tone, they were perfect in expressing what was intended.
                Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 23-09-2021, 20:09.

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                  #33
                  Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
                  *Curtis and Morrissey wrote them for their own unique voices and mannerisms; even if cover acts could pull off the guitars and arrangements (especially Hannett's) they'll never come near the vocals; even if you think the vocals were flawed by some measure of pure tone, they were perfect in expressing what was intended.
                  There are a lot of Smiths tribute bands out there. And presumably punters who pay to see them.

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                    #34
                    Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View Post
                    There are a lot of Smiths tribute bands out there. And presumably punters who pay to see them.
                    I have largely managed to avoid the whole tribute act thing, except when I was going out with someone who was really into it (she even went to a whole festival of the things, which I managed to avoid by going to Leeds Festival the same weekend). One of the things I got dragged to was The Smyths, who not only have paying punters, but sell out our local indie venue whenever they play there (I think they've even been known to do two nights). It's "only" c.350 capacity but a lot of real bands with reasonable profiles can't sell it out.

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                      #35
                      I think I might have seen a Smiths tribute band, on my 40th birthday, but I don't remember.

                      I checked, there was one playing at the same venue (Kingsmeadow) that night. Still no idea if I saw them, mind. Seems it was The Smyths.
                      Last edited by DCI Harry Batt; 24-09-2021, 09:36.

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                        #36
                        Originally posted by Stumpy Pepys View Post
                        There are a lot of Smiths tribute bands out there. And presumably punters who pay to see them.
                        There are, and that's fine for those who like that kind of thing. 'Bloke you don't otherwise know aping the mannerisms of an old hero' - works for some.

                        There's something deeply, deeply awry about other 'name' artists going out on tour and doing it, however.

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                          #37
                          It's a shame if Marr is upset about it. I thought the Astley thing was great. I've no idea who The Blossoms are, never heard of them. Covers bands are odd, tribute bands even odder, but they can be fun. That's about it, isn't it?

                          I've always liked Rick Astley. Always.

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                            #38
                            I've no issue with Rick Astley - he seems a decent-enough egg.

                            But he was put on this Earth to sing Whenever You Need Somebody, rather than Barbarism Begins at Home.

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                              #39
                              I'm sceptical about tribute bands but went to see a David Bowie tribute a few years back and found it very enjoyable. They were one of several DB tributes seemingly able to make a full time living at it pre-Covid. Lots of effort and attention had gone into the music and visuals. The element of theatrical performance wasn't inappropriate for the subject. Crucially, when they spoke to the audience they strongly emphasised that they were doing it as fans themselves, rather than second hand rock gods. Afterwards I saw "David" without his wig but otherwise still in full costume, which was a bit disorienting.

                              A friend's 70th birthday was at a venue with a singer billed as a Diana Ross tribute. She had a great voice and did some non-DR stuff in her second set. I briefly spoke to her after the show and, as Walt Flanagans Dog suggests, she said that she could get many more bookings at a much higher fee presented as a DR tribute rather than as herself.

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                                #40
                                If you're a fan of a band who are never going to play live again then a tribute band means you get to hear the songs played live. Gigs are shit events anyway. There's always some tall gigtwat who comes and stands in front of you, people talking, sticky floors. You're not actually going to be able to see the performers. So hearing the music is all that matters.

                                Plus the tribute band are playing the big hits because they want to. I've seen enough gigs where the songs people have gone to hear are relegated in the set below newer stuff that nobody knows and is often not as good. Some artists seem to hate playing their biggest hits and resent having to perform them. Tribute bands give people what they want and generally do it with a bit of humility.

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                                  #41
                                  I've no problem with tribute bands at all, as long as they're good.

                                  My dad and I are both music fans, but our record collections barely converge at all (he's a big jazz fan). But one of the very few times we went to a gig together was to see Nearly Dan in Wigan, as we both like Steely Dan. Who were very good indeed. They also had the advantages that (1) we're highly unlikely to see Steely Dan live and (2) my dad reckons Nearly Dan are a better live act than the one they're paying tribute to.

                                  But this is the future. In fifty years, people will think nothing of seeing musicians perform the Abbey Road medley* or Dark Side of the Moon, even though the original musicians are long dead. In the same way people are happy to go watch The Marriage of Figaro without Mozart conducting the orchestra.

                                  * which, lest we forget, the Beatles never played live

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                                    #42
                                    Originally posted by TonTon View Post
                                    Covers bands are odd, tribute bands even odder, but they can be fun.
                                    And we shouldn't forget, both the Beatles and the Stones started out as covers bands.

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                                      #43
                                      My sister persuaded me to join her for a Nearly Dan gig - and very good it was too. (A significant part of this is down to the fact that Steely Dan were always 'all about the music' anyway and were barely seen in public in their heyday.)

                                      I just wonder how I'd have felt going to see the Jesus & Mary Chain and they'd decided to employ Seal to sing a bunch of Suede hits.

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                                        #44
                                        Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                                        I just wonder how I'd have felt going to see the Jesus & Mary Chain and they'd decided to employ Seal to sing a bunch of Suede hits.
                                        I'd definitely pay to see that...

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                                          #45
                                          Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                                          I just wonder how I'd have felt going to see the Jesus & Mary Chain and they'd decided to employ Seal to sing a bunch of Suede hits.
                                          How's that analogous to Astley & Blossoms doing a few gigs playing Smiths songs?

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                                            #46
                                            Yeah I don't know what Jah is on there. That sounds quite compelling. Although the choice of covers lets it down. JAMC & Seal covering James songs? I'm there.

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                                              #47
                                              Bastille and Florence Welch covering Guns 'n' Roses would be even better.

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                                                #48
                                                I went to see JAMC two or three years ago and entire stage was backlit, so that the band just appeared as shadows. Might as well have been a tribute band to be honest.

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                                                  #49
                                                  Originally posted by Benjm View Post
                                                  I'm sceptical about tribute bands but went to see a David Bowie tribute a few years back and found it very enjoyable. They were one of several DB tributes seemingly able to make a full time living at it pre-Covid. Lots of effort and attention had gone into the music and visuals. The element of theatrical performance wasn't inappropriate for the subject. Crucially, when they spoke to the audience they strongly emphasised that they were doing it as fans themselves, rather than second hand rock gods. Afterwards I saw "David" without his wig but otherwise still in full costume, which was a bit disorienting.
                                                  I went to see Earl Slick playing Station to Station in full a few years ago, with Bernard Fowler on vocals (and therefore very much not in persona), and while I didn't exactly agonise about it, it did feel borderline as to whether it was a tribute act, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. I was half planning on going to the Visconti/Woodmansey thing but it's been moved that many times that it now clashes with something else.


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                                                    #50
                                                    A few years back I saw a flyer for the bloke who bills himself as "the UK's number one Eric Clapton tribute" and it said he also did CD signings in the venue foyer after the show, which struck me as being very weird.

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