The NME Historical Re-Enactment Society
Regular ChartBlog readers will be familiar with the idea of the rocksnob. That's someone who only likes music if they are sure it has been entirely written and performed by the boys (and it's always boys) in the band (and it's always a band), and no-one else, using only guitars, in a time-honoured fashion which has been handed down from generation to generation ever since the days of the Beatles.
Not that there's anything wrong with boys and guitars and writing your own songs, it's more the utter disdain your average rocksnob has for music which is not made in this way which is troublesome...
In many ways, the bible of all things 'rock' and 'snob' is the NME (even though Kerrang! is nominally more about rock, and guitars and boys and all that stuff, as a magazine it tends to just celebrate the music it likes and sneer a little less about the music it doesn't). And, as if to prove my point, last week's issue contained just about THE most rocksnobby thing in the world ever.
We all know that, to the average rocksnob, the two most important things in the world are MUSIC OF THE PAST and whether music of the present will stand THE TEST OF TIME like MUSIC OF THE PAST has done. This is because rocksnobs like to be on the winning team more than they like playing the game. To extend the sports analogy a bit longer, if you've ever found yourself in the company of someone who would clearly prefer to talk about the World Cup in 1966 to watching the World Cup in 2010, that, in football form, is yer rocknob.
So, in tribute to this deliberate avoidance of all things NOW-ish, I was reading last week's NME (which really has stood the test of time rather well, IMHO), in particular a feature about the 30th anniversary of the Sex Pistols' still jaw-dropping 'God Save The Queen'.
Now, I've no problem with people writing historical features about brilliant old songs from yester-year. It's good to know where musical ideas have come from, and how certain songs were received when they were first put out. And there's no doubt that the rock era has seen some amazing musicians come and go. People really need to know about this stuff.
Where I do draw the line is whenever people attempt to right some perceived historical wrong, as if today and yesterday were interchangeable. A good example of this is the tireless tiresome work by the people who run Elvis Presley's estate to re-issue one of his old hits at every anniversary of anything that ever happened ever. There's a new run of Elvis singles due next week - for 18 WEEKS!! - and there seems to be a suggestion that what the Presley estate really needs is some more No.1s, this time for singles which never made it to No.1 in the first place.
This, clearly, is like belonging to a historical re-enactment society who attempts to re-create some major battle of the past - the Norman invasion of England in 1066, for example - but changes the outcome, so that actually William The Conqueror gets sent away with a spear in his bum or something.
The NME's Sex Pistols feature had a very similar idea. 30 years ago this month, the band released 'God Save The Queen', to deliberately coincide with, and undermine, the country-wide celebrations which were going on to mark Queen Elizabeth's silver jubilee (25 years on the throne, y'see). Now, during the week of the actual jubilee itself, it's widely believed that the song was kept off the No.1 spot by scheming record company people, because you just didn't make mocking references to the royal family back then. It was scary.
Now the NME wishes to wade in, some 30 years too late, to sort out this shameful state of affairs by demanding that everyone download 'God Save The Queen' at the same time, and send it to No.1 for the anniversary of the week when it should have been No.1 in the first place.
They claim that this would be a major victory over...something, and would prove...something else...once and for all. Possibly they wish to enact some kind of smug 'situationist prank' to prove that the charts are meaningless (unless they show that an NME band has done well, in which case they are THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE).
Whatever the inspiration behind this campaign, this kind of deliberate chart-rigging is cack for a lot of reasons. Here's just a selection:
One Reason: It's a 30-year-old single, the success of which threatens exactly NOTHING. Making it a hit again would be like spending 1977, the year of punk rock, campaigning for the re-release of some George Formby song or other. You do the math(s).
Another Reason: If this shows that the charts are meaningless, why bother doing it? The charts are meaningless, therefore the success of one song is...yes, you've guessed it...ALSO MEANINGLESS.
A Third Reason: 'God Save The Queen' at No.1 in 2007 is NOT the same as 'God Save The Queen' at No.1 in 1977. Especially not since John 'Rotten' Lydon appeared on I'm A Celebrity... The man's a national treasure now. In 1977 he was public enemy No.1 (and they didn't even knock him down to No.2 for the jubilee week).
A Final Reason: Surely there are enough exciting new bands to write about without getting in a froth about a record which, to be fair, has already been talked up a LOT. It's not like it's some lost classic, after all. People have heard it.
To summarise, if you're at all unsure as to the definitive ChartBlog position on historical re-releases (or co-ordinated downloading to make a historical point), here's a clue...
Thank you verrmuch...GNIGHT!
Comments
HELLO! my internet is broke :'( i havnt had internet access since tuesday night *dies*.. tiscali is STILL is broke but we've reconnected our pay as you go.. phew. i hope i havnt missed any good blogs. i came to realise just how much i cant live without a computer.. ive been SO bored. that and doing bad in the circket has put me in a really bad mood, i need cheering up :(
[Well I'm slagging off the indie Bible, Kerri, what more do you want? ;-) - Fraser]
continue the good work.. scratch that.. the GREAT work :D
Your point that 'God Save The Queen' has been talked to death already is totally spot on- what the heck more could be said about a record that had a fairly basic premise in the first place ('p**s of the queen') and the musical merit alone of which isn't high calibre. The Sex Pistols were a manufactured boyband just as much as (in fact, more than) Busted were and NME never ceases taking the mickey out of the various ex-members of that.
NME et al are such self-glorificating f***s these days. Not that I'm wholly convinced NME ever was good but the attitude that indie still has victories to make or that it is in any way sidelined and judged against is such a total sham. People don't judge Pete Doherty because he's indie and we don't understand his art, we judge him because he can't release a record and yet insists he's a tortured musician and seemed to derive his inspiration from crashing posh cars whilst pretending to be non-materialistic... In comparison (although actually they ran a vaguely obnoxious piece about the Warped Tour this month but that could have been seen as excitable more than anything else) Rock Sound's genuinely barriers-down journalism towers over NME, whereas I know that lore accords the better writing etc. to the latter whereas the former is a nu-metal hangover. The justification of literally anything by the grounds that it's indie and therefore "genuine" is appalling. That and good god how pathetically neurotic does a magazine have to get to be, as NME was a few years ago the last time I drunkenly bought a copy, embarassedly thrilled to like a Girls Aloud album. Be thrilled and surprised, maybe, if it's not your thing but drooling over their own daring in advocating a pop cd was just repulsive.
I've lost track of my indie-bashing now. Probably the time to stop.
I like the Sex Pistols and everything but their elevation to the status of Gods Of Punk, when really they were little more than poster boys a lot of the time is bad enough without magazines continuing to perpetrate it so long after the fact.
On the other hand I absolutely love John Lydon and Public Image Limited are my rocksnob pleasure. :D
What the f***? The blog on der ROCKschnnnnoobbbb was such a knob, couldnae even leave their namen!! Sheeshh - - well jarka****, when y'all know what yer writin' about, log on again - - meanwhile, keep yer erstwhile s**** up yer own gob, will ya???
Your blog? A BLOODY STOOOPID IDEA AND CERTAINLY AN ENTIRE LACK OF ZIP TO GIT YER BALL IN THE NET - - - TO USE A SPORTS ANALOGY!!
[Er. See the name at the top of the blog, under the title? That's who wrote it, brainiac. Also "erstwhile s****"? I think you mean "bang up to the minute s****", don't you? - FRASER WHO WROTE THE BLOG]
Hi,
This is all marketing issue and making more money from the back of old Artists, groups, etc...
Old tracks can be released, but there must be reason for that. Releasing same old tracks on and on don't make good remarks and i do not think people go and download these songs because they already have them.
If there are alternative version of those giant songs then it is quite possible to buy those songs.
I still don't understand why old Beatles songs with remastered and/or alternative versions never ever available for digital download. This is not just for such a giant band. Their sound still better than nowadays music. Even "Take That" with the song "Shine" have The Beatles sound.
I also dislike the idea of releasing same old songs of Elvis at the end of this month. As far as I know Elvis has some songs never ever appeared on any of his albums. Releasing them can be good idea. May be house/trance version of Elvis & The Beatles songs can make good impact on young generation.
Well Sex Pistols Issue, I am with you...
Regards,
Ozzy !!!
I agree totally why do we need to release songs again to prove meaningless points? There is plenty of new talent, take Robyn, what a fantastic song and style and Kate Nash.
Why on earth do we need more Elvis songs, is he not already noted as the king of pop? Do we all need a reminder of him?
Lets have some new songs PLEASE!!!!
hello mr chart blog sir, long-time reader first-time commenter...fair play to you for all that you've written above though its not just the rockists who seem bent on inflicting upon the unsuspecting ears of the innocent young the classics of yesteryear. a few years back the popists committed a henious crime by rehashing an old b-side of elton john's and just because it had a bit of a touch up by some big name remixer it got to the top. if it wasn't good enough to be an a-side when the likes of the bay s***y rollers were doing what they did worst then why was it good enough to assault our senses in 2003??? by the by, rocknob at the end of paragraph 4, intentional typo or not? lovin your work ;)
[I'm going to pretend I did that on purpose. Don't tell anyone... - Fraser]
GRRRRR! ok. so there are plenty of other AWESOME new bands to write about, but NME do that in the other 79 pages! God save the Queen never got to the top stop just cause its a "bit" controversial, so give it a chance!
[Give it a chance to do what? By any measurement God Save The Queen is a massively important song. It doesn't NEED to be at No.1 to make anything better, does it? C'mon it's 'GOD SAVE THE QUEEN' by THE SEX PISTOLS. Making it No.1 in 2007 is beyond pointless. - Fraser]
Well, isn't it a lovely day, my patio's on fire. Brilliant!
[Rather good, innit? - Fraser]
hello, I think you've made a good point, but I have some points to make. You've said the charts are already rubbish, but you have to prove it, haven't you? and I think that the pistols would make a point in releasing the song again after the queens extra 30 years on the throne. It's very ironic, I think.
I agree with you that it's a bit useless, but it's still a point to be made (after 30 years) and I hope they will still reach No. 1..
Jelmer (from the Netherlands)
God Save the Queen going to number one instead of Beyonce can not EVER be a bad thing!
to be fair, the monarchy is somewhat obsolete now anyway so all they're doing by re-releasing "God Save The Queen" is cashing in further on a song that has made all the pistol's rather wealthy, despite how much malcolm mclaren ripped em off!
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