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Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

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    Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

    I meant to post this up on the Kurt's sneakers thread but forgot. It's perhaps the worst piece of writing I have read in many months (though some of the blame must be attributed to those quoted) ;

    I'm with the band

    From the Clash to the Kaiser Chiefs and Blondie to the Beatles, Converse have been the musician's footwear of choice. Krissi Murison wonders how a sports shoe - now owned by Nike - came to symbolise the spirit of rock

    Friday March 21, 2008
    The Guardian

    When Dr Martens launched an advertising campaign last year featuring dead rock stars wearing its perennially anti-fashion boots, the music world was apoplectic. "Outrageous," screeched Courtney Love, whose late husband Kurt Cobain could be seen swinging from a cloud in ivory robes and six-holed AirWair DMs in the digitally manipulated pictures. "Sick!" was what the bloggers almost unanimously deemed it, in a rare act of messageboard unity. Meanwhile, in a statement begging Dr Martens to remove the ads, Mickey Leigh, whose brother Joey Ramone also featured, called them "inappropriate, inconsiderate and contemptible". A few days later, Dr Martens bowed to Leigh's request, sacking ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi in the process.

    Shoe companies will try almost anything to woo the music-buying public. Earlier this week, Puma announced a new partnership with Scottish singer-songwriter Paulo Nutini and his record label Warners Music International. Nutini will be called upon to make a documentary for the brand, show up for instore appearances and have his single New Shoes advertising the trainers across TV, radio, online and mobile, in return for what one can only imagine is a very large sum.

    Now, Converse has become the latest brand to join in, unveiling its latest print advertising offensive starring - yeah, you guessed it - more belly-up musical icons. But the Converse campaign, which marks 100 years of the canvas shoes, is getting an altogether different reception from Dr Martens. The adverts bring together Sid Vicious and Joy Division's Ian Curtis with still-pumping musical blood, including Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong and soundclash experimentalist MIA. Non-musical legends, from Hunter S Thompson to NBA star Dwyane Wade, also appear in the ad, which, according to marketing director Neil Stevens, is intended to drive home the message that Converse has "always been about inspiring originality and the spirit of optimistic rebellion".

    The reason Converse appears to be succeeding where Dr Martens failed is that, marketing crap aside, it is true that Converse and rock'n'roll are one of the snuggest fits there has ever been between art and commerce. When news broke of the Connectivity campaign, even the most cynical music fans couldn't ignore the undeniable link. Love, so vocal in her denunciation of the Doc Martens' commercial, sanctioned the use of her husband's lyrics and signature on a new limited edition "Kurt Cobain" Converse trainer. And still-living rock stars involved in the Connectivity advert jumped on to the end of a phoneline to exalt their favourite sneaker.

    "Converse have been my staple stage shoe from pretty much the beginning of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs," says Karen O of her unusual decision to put her face and feet to the campaign (YYYs have been known to turn down corporate sponsored tours in the past because it devalued their art). "They have become as much a part of my image as the bright red lips and torn fishnets. I'm happy to endorse a shoe that my feet have known so intimately throughout my rock'n'roll exploits."


    Even MIA - aka Maya Arulpragasam - whose eponymous song MIA includes the line, "Trendsetters make things better/Don't sell out to be product pushers", says she couldn't find a valid reason not to do the ad. "I was wearing Converse on tour when they approached me so it just seemed to go together," she says.

    Originally conceived as an athletic shoe in Massachusetts 100 years ago, the Converse All-Star was refined after US basketball player Charles "Chuck" Taylor collaborated on the design in 1921 - adding his "Chuck Taylor" signature to the Converse tag on all subsequent pairs. The musical associations of the shoe began soon after when African/American basketball teams of the 20s played in music halls rather than traditional gyms, friends and family coming together after the game for a dance. Later, as rock'n'roll and consumer culture swept the US in the 50s, the black-and-white Chuck Taylor hi-tops became the chosen footwear of rockabillys. And when a young James Dean was photographed wearing a T-shirt, blue Levi's and white Converse sneakers, their counter-culture, rebel status was sealed for ever.

    Yet, for all their forays on to the big screen, it is in music - and specifically the rock and punk scenes - where Converse have become so omnipresent that they are practically a uniform. And hence why, out of the nine icons featured in the ad campaign, six are musicians and another a former music journalist. Think of some of the most enduring rock'n'roll images ever captured and many will involve Converse, from the Ramones' All-Stars sticking out like canvas clown shoes at the ends of their drainpipe jeans, to the Blondie boys wearing them for their chic, monochrome line-up behind Debbie Harry on the cover of Parallel Lines. When the Strokes announced themselves to the world from the front cover of NME via a moody, black-and-white Pennie Smith portrait taken on the streets of New York, they did so in hi-tops. When Cobain committed suicide in 1994, the photograph that hit the hardest was the one taken of his body through an open door in the spare room where he shot himself. Sticking out from behind the door, all you can see of him are his lifeless legs - his feet clad in black Converse One Stars. The Clash, The Replacements, Green Day, Amy Winehouse, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Fall Out Boy ... it would probably be quicker to write a list of musicians who haven't worn Converse.

    "The Strokes were the reason I started wearing Converse," says Lightspeed Champion, aka London music genius and style legend Dev Hynes. "I was 16 or 17 and there was a photoshoot in either Dazed or ID. They were all on a bed and all their legs were intertwining and they all had Converse on, all different kinds. I was just like, 'Oh my God, that's unreal!'" Why does he think indie bands have had such a long and monogamous relationship with them? "I guess the rock world has never been that big on lavish trainers. Converse are just easy. They look good new and completely battered - in fact, probably better completely battered. It's such a strong look.

    A good pair of dirty Converse says so much." Karen O agrees: "My theory is that Converse are a no-bullshit shoe that look better the more you use and abuse them."

    Both Karen and MIA also hit upon another reason why many believe Converse have become so popular among artistic communities: how conducive they are to customisation. Even once you've tired of the countless different colours and styles on offer - everyone from Kaiser Chiefs to Giles Deacon has designed their own ranges, while Marc Jacobs once famously sent high-heeled versions down the catwalk - they're still plain (and cheap) enough to experiment with yourself. "I used to customise them when I was at college - write on them, spray them. I even had Mowgli ones made," laughs MIA. "I put fringe on my suede ones to make cowboy Converse that looked like moccasins."

    However, those who perceive wearing Converse as an act of rebellion against the global trainer giants are misguided: Converse are owned by Nike. By the late 1970s not even cult endorsement by bands such as the Ramones or the Clash could help the pared-back Converse brand compete with the souped-up styles and new trainer technologies with which Nike and Reebok were dominating the market. Although links between grunge musicians and the shoe helped to boost Converse sales in the early 90s, the debts were already too high and in 2001 Converse allowed itself to be bought out by Nike - who promptly closed its American factories and outsourced its trainer production to Asia. Threats from many Converse-wearers that they would boycott the trainer turned out to be largely empty, and - thanks in part to the increased marketing spend Nike were able to pump into the brand - Converse is now more ubiquitous than ever.

    "I was in a Mexican flea market the other day," says MIA, "and they had all varieties of Converse. Over there you've now even got reggaeton [a style of urban music originating in Latin America] girls all wearing Converse. It's just something in the design that's really universal. Y'know how you've got Reebok pumps with like 350 million things attached to them? All that extra stuff makes me want to rebel and put a pair of Converse on because it's just a blank canvas."


    Converse can only hope the families of Ian Curtis, Sid Vicious and Hunter S Thompson feel the same way.

    · Krissi Murison is deputy editor of NME.

    #2
    Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

    MIA is such a wanker.

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      #3
      Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

      Jesus, I hadn't realised quite what a moron MIA was.

      I had realised what a moron Karen O was.

      The writer too. How is tosh like "soundclash experimentalist" supposed to get across what MIA sounds like to people who don't know? It's a completely meaningless phrase.

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        #4
        Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

        I'm presuming that the quotes must have been lifted direct from a Converse press release. I can't see even the dimwits above spouting such rubbish to someone who is meant to be a real journalist in an actual interview situation.

        The layout of the actual printed piece appeared to confirm that it was basically an advertorial.

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          #5
          Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

          Of course, nothing puts across how shit those Converse Chuck Taylors are. They are fine in LA where it never rains but otherwise...

          I always thought Nicky Wire wearing (pre-fashionable) Dunlop Green Flash was cooler

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            #6
            Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

            Comment


              #7
              Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

              I didn't know Converse were owned by Nike. I'll have to think about chucking my One-Stars. Which is a shame, because they're a real no-bullshit shoe.

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                #8
                Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

                The Guardian/NME/Fashion interface nauseathon continues. This from Friday's fascinating (and not at all reminiscent of Private Eye) "What's in your manbag?" feature ;

                Conor McNicholas
                Editor of NME

                What's in your manbag?

                Unopened post, cab receipts - I spend half my life in cabs - BlackBerry, cheque book, RayBans, lighter, keys, business cards, foldaway umbrella, pencil, Snickers bar, striped mini-notebook, super-fast-acting Nurofen because you never know how bad the hangover is going to be, pen, two-way connector for my iPod, bottle opener and phone charger. My bag is a key to being able to do my job. I would like to travel light but there are so many bits that I just need to have with me. Sennheiser CX300 headphones - they are amazing, they cut out all the other sound and the bass is wonderful. God forbid I leave my iPod at home or in the office - I couldn't bear the thought of not listening to music when I'm out and about.

                Where did you get your bag?

                Selfridges. It's entirely functional. I couldn't even tell you what make it is, but it had to be leather or rubber. My bag spends a lot of time on the floor in pubs and clubs. I needed something bright, so I could find it immediately. I think there is even still some Glastonbury mud on the clasp and there are badges on the bag that I think have lasted longer than some of the bands' careers.

                How do you feel about the term manbag?
                It's really derogatory, isn't it?

                Phew, rock and bleeding roll, eh?! Joe fucking Calzaghe!

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                  #9
                  Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

                  Certainly some odd choices in that Converse ad campaign. Not least Jefferson Hack - editor of social-climbing style mag Dazed, which sells about 30 copies a month and exists solely to profile members of his social circle. Not sure where the 'rebellion' aspect comes in.

                  Not sure I'd blame any of those people for endorsing a product that they probably wear already, but you're right about MIA. I loved that last record, but every single time she opens her mouth in an interview I just want to never, ever hear her music again. Probably because she's normally saying something about how "we recorded the backing vocals with some glue sniffing street kids in India, because they're like, so much more real..."

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                    #10
                    Adjunct to that Converse thread in the other place

                    I always thought that Converse were popular because they are so damn cheap, comfortable and look quite nice. Maybe I don't try to add so much thought to adding shoes.

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