From: Automatic digest processor To: Recipients of SOMMS digests Subject: SOMMS Digest - 29 May 1999 to 30 May 1999 Date: Sunday, May 30, 1999 2:01 AM There are 8 messages totalling 292 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. not too SG related but anyway.. 2. age and change (2) 3. almighty dollar (2) 4. Can't Change Me (2) 5. captain hi-top the love commander To UNSUBSCRIBE from SOMMS, send email to LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU with the following in the body of your message: SIGNOFF SOMMS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 22:59:16 PDT From: The Koggle Subject: not too SG related but anyway.. The saying "Money can't buy you happiness" doesn't equate to "if you have nothing, you should still be happy".. If simply means that incredibly rich people aren't necessarily happier than your average Joe. Same goes for love.. The Beatles said it best. >would you be happy with no house to live in, no money to buy >food, no money to buy Soundgarden cd's, no money to survive on? I sure hell >wouldn't be. It's not ABSOLUTELY necessary, but in this crazy world of >ours, >I'm afraid you need some sort of wealth to be happy. Koggle ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 02:17:47 -0400 From: jenny grover Subject: age and change > You're not an angry youth forever, really. Maturity comes, and you understand > certain things better. spoken like someone old enough to know that, Niki ;) > Change is not always for > album sales, Change is not always for "selling out," and Change does not > always suit the radio listener. I get mighty tired of listening to young whippersnappers harping about whether or not someone is too old to play rock music. See how old you think 30-something is when you get there! See if you feel like you should lay down and die and quit and be some old boring fart just because someone young enough to be your kid thinks so. Believe it or not, the brain does not shut down when you reach the age of 40, nor do your fingers drop off or your sense of timing disappear. Voices change, true, but that's not always a bad thing. The measure of a vocalist's worth is not how high he can scream, but how he uses the quality of voice he has. The Rolling Stones aren't a drag because they're old, they're a drag because they haven't evolved beyond about 1972 with the exception of some production tricks. The reunion bands that suck suck because they either just do their old hits and nothing else, or add on "new" hits that are lame rehashes of the old ones, or some even lamer attempt to do something someone else "modern" is doing so that they look hip. People who do this have ceased to be artists. They have become nostalgia reviews. But this does not happen to every band, and there is no good reason why it should, other than that perhaps many of the bands who don't have artistic staying power (don't confuse this with popularity) didn't have the requisite talent to begin with, just a streak of luck. If you have talent and creative drive, do what you feel like doing. If you are an artist, creation is usually a compulsion more than a choice. Not expressing yourself kills things in you. An artist with integrity gets damned bored of doing the same things all the time, popular or not, and change and aging don't always mean going from loud to mellow! Ask anyone who knows me and knows my work. I go through phases, sometimes "soft" and sometimes "hard" and sometimes just an enigmatic kaleidescope of half-formed experimental ideas. All of these expressions are valid and experimenting and changing are how an artist grows. Some of the most boring work I ever did I did when I was young. (I needn't bore you with particulars- but look at Alice in Chains as an example. Should they have remained Diamond Lie???) And there is nothing wrong with taking a break, working with other people for a while, recharging and gaining new insights and skills. If SG choose to work together again, I would expect the results to be something new and different, and while that might be an unpalatable idea to some of you, I would be disappointed if it were not so at least to some degree. I would expect them to have learned new things, incorporated new experiences and ideas into their creative lives, and be able and willing to bring those new things to the table. There is a charm to raw novices with potential, make no mistake, but those of you who see not-quite-middle-age as some kind of stumbling block need to do some growing up of your own. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 02:39:16 -0400 From: jenny grover Subject: almighty dollar > >Money can't buy you happiness,< > > yes it can, would you be happy with no house to live in, no money to buy > food, no money to buy Soundgarden cd's, no money to survive on? I sure hell > wouldn't be. It's not ABSOLUTELY necessary, but in this crazy world of ours, > I'm afraid you need some sort of wealth to be happy. > > Peace > > Piece of Eat Burger I believe Ghandi was happy. The issue raised was not privation vs. minimal middle class comfort. The issue is whether or not excess wealth and reknown to a degree that constitutes fame necessarily increases happiness. I recently watched an old SG tv interview in which Chris stated (in Chris's typical convoluted, long way around the point manner) that some degree of success is necessary if you want to keep making music for a living, because someone has to pay for the expense of making and presenting the music, as well as the rent. However, many struggling bands are happy with what they do and with their lives. Many rich, famous musicians (or insert the occupation of your choice) are not. Money can buy diversions and entertainments, but inner happiness and inner health are very different matters. Jen ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 13:14:59 EDT From: Eric Odegaard Subject: Can't Change Me I've heard that one of Cornell's new songs, called "Can't Change Me" is being played on Radio 3 in Spain. Apparently, this is what it said in Kerrang! Magazine. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 19:38:38 PDT From: The Koggle Subject: Re: Can't Change Me >I've heard that one of Cornell's new songs, called "Can't Change Me" is >being >played on Radio 3 in Spain. Apparently, this is what it said in Kerrang! >Magazine. > Hey this is new news! NOT.. try reading your mail. Everyone's been going nuts about this for quite some time.. how could you miss it?!?! Kogg ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 19:59:08 PDT From: The Koggle Subject: Re: age and change Hey again guys! >I get mighty tired of listening to young whippersnappers harping about >whether or not someone is too old to play rock music. See how old you >think 30-something is when you get there! Here here Jen! i'm not old enough to know, but i can still imagine what is must be like.. 40 isn't OLD.. 70 and beyond is old. Geez.. they say women reach their sexual peak at 35 (men at 18).. five years later we're over the hill?? I should hope not! >The Rolling Stones aren't a drag because they're old, >they're a drag because they haven't evolved beyond about 1972 with the >exception of some production tricks. The reunion bands that suck suck >because they either just do their old hits and nothing else, or add on >"new" hits that are lame rehashes of the old ones, or some even lamer >attempt to do something someone else "modern" is doing so that they look >hip. AHA.. i never thought about it that way. I mean the Beatles never got on my nerves, even this Free As a Bird and Real Love stuff.. You're right. New material makes them refreshing. The stones bother me because i feel they're trying to be how they were years and years ago (because hey, they had lots of fame then), when they should be doing something different.. screw how much money you want to make, do it for the fact you're out there making music again. I just don't think the stones can be related to Soundgarden..... heheh.. no way. Chalk and cheese.. i'll be there when Chris comes out on stage with a walker and Ben needs a stagehand to come on and throw his guitar for him.. I can just see Kim drinking beer with a straw.. Somehow i would think Matt would retain his drumming skills no worries.. :) I wouldn't listen to young people criticising old performers. I think since the discovery of silverchair and Eve 6 and other 'young' bands, people assume that's where all the talent lies and no one else deserves attention.. that they're all expired or something. But as far as i'm concerned you need to have at least SOME life experience to inspire you to write.. I don't think a 15 year old can write a really good love song, or a really good sad song (unless they've had a hell of a life).. Speaking of silverchair, their new material is probably the best they've done, and i'm thinking this is because they're writing and playing from the heart, not "hey that sounds cool. People would buy that".. They've had time out to live a bit and it's probably been good for them. that's my 5 cents.. (no 2 cents in Australia, unless you kept some from before they phased them out.. hehe) Koggle ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 22:07:38 PDT From: Monnica Lewis Subject: Re: almighty dollar >From: jenny grover >Reply-To: sleeveless@citynet.net >To: SOMMS@MITVMA.MIT.EDU >Subject: almighty dollar >Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 02:39:16 -0400 > > > >Money can't buy you happiness,< > > > > yes it can, would you be happy with no house to live in, no money to buy > > food, no money to buy Soundgarden cd's, no money to survive on? I sure >hell > > wouldn't be. It's not ABSOLUTELY necessary, but in this crazy world of >ours, > > I'm afraid you need some sort of wealth to be happy. > > > > Peace > >Money can buy diversions and entertainments, but inner happiness and >inner health are very different matters. > >Jen I have to agree with Peace on this one. In a round about way, money does buy happiness. You need money to buy a nice place to live, a car, save for future financial security, take vacations, (hell, I would have been happy to have enough cash to get out of Indianapolis this weekend ;-}). Diversions and comfort items make life more bearable. I think that rich people who are unhappy either have some type of clinical depression (which can be treated if you have money to see a doctor and buy meds), or just don't know how to cope in some way. I do think that as musicians or writers etc become more successful, they lose some of that "edginess". It's hard to be bitter when your life is going well. Personally, it pisses me off when I hear well-off people lamenting the harshness of their lives, I would be willing to trade places with them. Enough from me on that. Has anyone heard anything about Chris maybe doing a little "mini-tour" or something this summer? _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 20:35:50 +1200 From: Graham Appleby Subject: captain hi-top the love commander hey people, i was wondering if there's ever been any coverage of Motherlovebone songs by other bands, esp. SG and maybe even pearl jam. it would have seemed logical for Temple of the Dog to do at least one of those songs, but i've never heard any mention of those songs other than on the motherlovebone album. wouldn't it be groovo to hear a voice like Chris's or Eddie's singong some of those lyrics? Graham ------------------------------ End of SOMMS Digest - 29 May 1999 to 30 May 1999 ************************************************