are you OK with Rick Astley doing Smiths songs?

[Mr. FOLLARD]

Well?

[fonz]

Couldn’t give two shits

[loveless]

It's hard to have any feeling about it.

[DayoRemix]

Rick never gives up on expanding his sound and he never let's down his audience. Rick never deserts The Smiths or makes them cry, which would happen if he said goodbye to them. When Rick says he loves the band, he's not telling a lie and hopes that doesn't hurt you.

[davey]

Can’t be worse than Morrisey.

[Mr. FOLLARD]

I can't say there's steam coming out of my ears either. But I dislike the kind of sentiment (definitely more prevalent today) that says that if the intention is honourable, then let's give them a slap on the back and turn a blind eye to the flaws. Not having that. Bit tired of hearing it. Let's have some standards.

In 1987 Rick Astley was the actual precise fucking target of lyrics like 'it says nothing to me about my life'! and today? he was up there singing it 'to a rapturous audience'.

AND - his voice isn't up to much.

[davey]

It’s just the same thing as Peter Cetera wearing a Bauhaus t-shirt. He’s trying to steal a little bit of credibility by associating himself with a more admired act.

It’s all fine. Funny that anyone would look to The Smiths for street cred, given how tapioca they were. But all things are relative.

[Charlie O.]

We lived through Paul Young singing Joy Division and Robert Palmer singing Hüsker Dü. I'm confident we'll weather this storm, too.

[Mr. FOLLARD]

Thanks fellas. I'll sleep better tonight now. 🙄

[loveless]

Jun 24, 2023 20:49:52 GMT Mr. FOLLARD said:

I can't say there's steam coming out of my ears either. But I dislike the kind of sentiment (definitely more prevalent today) that says that if the intention is honourable, then let's give them a slap on the back and turn a blind eye to the flaws. Not having that. Bit tired of hearing it. Let's have some standards.

Sure - it's how you end up with the likes of Dave Grohl.

Maybe there's something so inherently meme-like about Astley (he's like Weezer or something, really - has already reached peak "Will drop pants for food" infamy) that speaks to my own apparent apathy here. I can't imagine anyone mistaking him for much of anything, right?

[Mr. FOLLARD]

It's specifically HIM doing THIS. SAW's best boy, epitomised the whole synthetic 80s soul(less) scene, UK Smiths' fans positioned themselves directly opposite him; it's what they objected to. He was everywhere, and it wouldn't surprise me if Morrissey had 'Never Gonna Give You Up' in mind when he wrote 'hang the DJ'.

But yeah, right, nobody died.

[loveless]

I was just telling you why I couldn't work up much of a hate on for Astley at this point in my life (despite fully understanding the mechanics of the issue). Has as much to do with me as him.

The idea that you can probably put any old shit on at a huge music festival MIGHT be its own issue, but...there may be some co-mingling of problems.

[Stacy Heydon]

it's all part of "the society of the spectacle" of Glastonbury isn't it? If you want authenticity then look elsewhere.

[Mr. FOLLARD]

[Stacy Heydon]

The thing is you can tell the crowd aren't enjoying it on an "ironic" level, for them it's the real thing because we live in a pop culture with no context at all now.