Thursday, July 13, 2006

Unintentionally funny

Babble on.

So it seems Blender has put together a list of what they think are "the most awesomely wimpy musicians of all time." Pat Boone, Air Supply, Christopher Cross - you get the picture.

But they put James Blunt on the list for his song You're Beautiful. Wimpy? Look, you might not like the music, and after hearing him interviewed, you might not even like the guy (he comes off a bit of a prick), but in the interests of credibility, you've got to give him his due:

Take "No Bravery", the song that closes his debut album, "Back to Bedlam", for instance: It was written in Kosovo in 1999, while James was a reconnaissance officer in the British army. On patrol around Pristina, he kept his guitar bolted to the outside of his tank.
...
From birth in a military hospital in Tidworth, to Harrow School, to Aerospace Manufacturing Engineering, to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, to The Household Cavalry, to Kosovo, to Buckingham Palace, to a recording studio in Los Angeles.


I know Blender was trying to be funny, and as it turns out, they were. By calling one of the few military veterans in the entertainment business one of "the 25 biggest wusses...ever!", they've showed just how little a bunch of music-industry hangers-on know about wussiness, despite their overwhelming daily exposure to it.

Way to caricature yourselves, boys. It takes a lot of guts to go for the laugh by shoving a foot that far down your own throat in front of an international audience of hundreds of thousands. You really pulled it off, though - funny, funny stuff, that.

Babble off.

6 Comments:

At 11:50 a.m., Blogger Chris Taylor said...

Okay so he's not a wimp. Still doesn't make him a good musician. =)

 
At 12:01 p.m., Blogger AJSomerset said...

If you read his PR copy, frankly, he comes off as the kind of officer who NCOs loathe: the guy brags about wandering down the street in Kosovo, wearing some kind of inappropriate headgear, singing "give peace a chance."

Yes, exactly the kind of Captain that a Sergeant loves to serve under....

 
At 12:15 p.m., Blogger Babbling Brooks said...

Actually, Dog, it was Carrie Fisher that wrote that line. She was his landlady - the one with the piano in her bathroom....but I digress.

You think he comes across as a prick on his website, you should hear him interviewed in person. One part ass mixed with two parts hole.

My point, however, was that whatever else he may be, he's probably not one of the 25 wussiest or most awesomely wimpy musicians of all time.

 
At 1:10 p.m., Blogger AJSomerset said...

Certainly not a wuss, but very likely what I think is known in specialized circles as a "typical fuckin' officer." :)

 
At 1:26 p.m., Blogger Dr. Strangelove said...

My nomination:

Al Stewart

Time Passages
The Year Of The Cat

 
At 6:40 a.m., Blogger trustonlymulder said...

Unless he is subliminally trying to get pre-teen girls to like him the rainbow, hula hoop, birds and flowers on his site are just a MASSIVE signal he SHOULD be on this list.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home