2001-01-21 - Night
Just how many Top 100 lists does VH-1 have, anyway? This weekend they�ve counted down the Top 100 Albums of Rock �n Roll, the Top 100 Artists of Rock �n Roll and the Top 100 Women in Rock �n Roll. I�m guessing they didn�t have time to count down the Top 100 Rock Stars Who Choked to Death on Their Own Vomit and will be doing that one next weekend.
I�d give VH-1 a GOYA, but what�s the point? They are what they are and are totally unashamed of it: a capitalistic enterprise spoonfeeding prefab nostalgia to self-involved Boomers (and to older GenXers who are turning into Boomers as they approach 40). If I gave VH-1 a GOYA, I�d have to give one to everybody who claims to have been at Woodstock and that would just cheapen the whole thing.
I love rock �n roll, but I hate analyzing it and I hate Top 100 lists about it. I gave up the idea of being a Gonzo Rock Journalist(tm) in my early 20s when, after writing a handful of reviews for various zines, I discovered that I sounded just like every other bullshit artist who didn�t know what the fuck he was talking about and tried to make up for it with lots of verbiage about this album�s "significance" or that band�s "vision." I thought about where I�d be 30 years later and saw a cross between Robert Hilburn and my high-school AP English teacher, and it scared me.
But enough of me ranting about music. At least the VH-1 thing showed me Hanson--Hanson!--talking about Paul Simon, and that made me laugh for a good 15 seconds. And they showed lots of promos for "Behind the Music: Grease" (which showed Eddie Deezen talking about how he lost his virginity to a hooker on the set--a big steaming lump of TMI if there ever was one), so I knew when to shut the TV off.
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