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Who's pop's best interviewee?

Started by cilamc, September 06, 2004, 12:38:05 AM

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cilamc

I was going to start this thread about Pet Shop Boys' forthcoming "Battleship Potmekin" show at Trafalgar Square - sounds great, wish I could go, but I can't blub! Here are some related links...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1297371,00.html
http://www.petshopboys.co.uk

Reading The Observer one I was reminded of what a great interviewee Neil Tennant is, always has something of interest to say. Notice also the discussion of Smash Hits' influence on the UK media.

Who else is really entertaining when interviewed, then? Mark E. Smith, Morrissey, Stephin Merrit maybe? I really can't think of any others these days.

non capisco

It's an interesting thing, when was the last person in pop music that was guaranteed to give a great interview, no matter who was writing it up? Someone who gave as automatically good press as, say, the early Manics interviews, where no matter what you thought of their musical merits, their inbuilt promotional zeal made for great reading? Is the moribund nature of today's music press compared to six or so years ago entirely down to the press itself getting more revenue-led and less colourfully written or are there less bands with something eloquent to say?

I suspect in most cases most bands aren't natural interviewees and prefer to 'let their music do the talking', but the music press has most certainly seemed to get less essentially readable the older I've got. This isn't the case that I'm looking at my early teenage years lapping up Select and Melody Maker through rose tinted specs, and my passion for consuming music certainly hasn't dimmed, if anytthing I'm more rabid in my enthusiasm for new stuff now than I was at 16. But the fact remains all of the existing 'new' music weeklies and monthlies seem to mirror this enthusiasm to a far poorer extent now than they seemed to back in the day. So why is that?

I've gone off on a tangent here, I guess. I don't really wanna hijack this thread into a lamentation of the dearth of the music press. but, hey....how much of a good interview is down to the interviewee?

Many of Morrissey's interviews are better than some of his albums.

Tori Amos around the mid to late 90s was a great interviewee, mad as a brush, harping on about fairies, hallucinogenics, witch doctors and women's rights. Now she's actually very boring, continually going on about Native Americans and September 11th.

Thom Yorke often does fairly entertaining interviews. Again, he's fairly insane, a mixture of Chomsky references and Bagpuss.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

I suppose when you've got so many bands who just want to sound like old bands because that's rilly, like, kewl you'll inevitably have interviewees with nothing to say.  

99% of rock stars are unbelievably tedious as interviewees. Including the 'hilariously incoherent' ones.

Pilf

Morrissey usually gives good chat indeed. Ian Brown is good when he's on form.

In the past, I used to love Ian Svenonious's interviews [ex-Nation of Ulysses, Make-up] as he could talk forever about Marxist philosophies and the manifestos of his bands. NoU in 1990 sounded revolutionary to this impressinable teenager, claiming that they weren't a band but a terrorist organisation and removing all ages - 18 forever.

Rats

They always get their money's worth out of boy george.

Captain Crunch

I realise I may end up getting flamed for this but Justin Hawkins gives great interviews.  When someone showed him a photo of himself as a teenager he said "Oh yes I was a right porker when I was young but a combination of regular exercise and bulimia soon sorted that out".  And he described Jennifer Elliston as 'the poor man's Baby Spice'.  Not groundbreaking I know but better than all that "I'm really rich and famous but still not 100% happy" drivel that most come out with.

joFFeman

Quote from: "Ghost of Troubled Joe"Thom Yorke often does fairly entertaining interviews. Again, he's fairly insane, a mixture of Chomsky references and Bagpuss.
i enjoy early radiohead music, but thom yorke is a condescending, smarmy twat in interviews. he's not insane, he wants you to think he's special, oh-so-unique.... and shows genuine contempt for anyone who questions his motives or purity or whatever-the-fuck. god, he's a twat of the first order..

i agree tori amos gives shit interviews, though, that bitter, 'shit look how oppressed i am' feminist stuff doesn't work when you live in a mansion and make records that sell millions of copies. kudos to her for the rape and incest thing, though... but she's still got no reason to be so high-and-fucking-mighty.

bjork gives weird interviews, generally quite witty or at least silly... not so full of herself.

lou reed also has a sense of humour about himself. i dig that.

madonna gives interviews that make one lose more faith in her sense of reality by the second.

ewan mcgregor gives great interviews, even if he's not a pop artist or anything. he was in velvet goldmine with his cock out, so i think he counts. he's a sweetie. yes, i'm swooning.

lydia lunch gives typically bitchy interviews but doesn't overdo the angsty shit like she used to. very cynical and jaded. i dig it.

hank rollins deserves to be cockpunched for his ego.

jello biafra gives great interviews but always has to bring up the 'fake dead kennedys' and i think he should stop beating that dead horse and giving them publicity they don't deserve..

9

i agree Justin Hawkins has done some hilarious interviews.

Marilyn Manson did some great interviews too, but has gone off the boil a bit recently. I enjoyed that he believed his own hype for the early part of his career.

Casablancas did a really great interview in some mag a while back, I think Neil Strauss was interviewing.

For pure comedy value I don't think you can beat Craig Nicholls. The Kerrang interview where he lost it completely was hugely entertaining.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

Shane MacGowan must be the most terrifying interviewee, if you find dead air and unfinished sentences unsettling.

What's up with him by the way? Has he always been like that? Is it because he's usually pissed in interviews, or is it the after-effects of long-term alcoholism? Or is it nothing to do with the alcohol? How can he be such a great performer yet remain unable to speak?

Disagree about Lou Reed, in all of his interviews he usually comes across as an arrogant moody old tosser. There's that Guardian interview where he basically refuses to be interviewed about anything.

The Guardian's interview with Kevin Shields a few months ago was also highly entertaining, which is surprising considering he's done sweet fuck-all for ten years.

non capisco

Quote from: "Ghost of Troubled Joe"Disagree about Lou Reed, in all of his interviews he usually comes across as an arrogant moody old tosser. There's that Guardian interview where he basically refuses to be interviewed about anything.

.

Him going toe to toe with Lester Bangs is essential reading though.

Clinton Morgan

Quote from: "Emergency Lalla Ward Ten"Shane MacGowan must be the most terrifying interviewee, if you find dead air and unfinished sentences unsettling.
How can he be such a great performer yet remain unable to speak?

Aha! But he can be a good interviewee. It depends on the patience and intelligence of the talk show host.  I saw him on Dublin television in August and he was talking about John Lydon, WB Yeats and other things. As soon as he got comfortable he was ready to talk. Afterwards MacGowan and the presenter sang about Grafton Street afterwards. Grafton Street is not that amazing, Broad Street in Reading is miles better and even that's rubbish. I can't remember the name of the programme but trust me Lalla it is the kind of chat show we should be having here.

Rats