|
Just Like God - Roddy Frame Confesses
from "Alternatives to Valium" fanzine, May, 1982 (?)
by Alastair McKay
The last thing Roddy Frame said to me was "sorry for selling out". The last thing I said to Roddy Frame was "don't mention it". I wish I'd said "what a strangely archaic notion."
Selling out? When do you ever hear that accusation levelled at today's top popsters? Since the faceless corporation of BEF made big business fashionable again the old punk ethics have sounded decidedly quaint. Admirable maybe, but quaint. Try asking Spandau Ballet if they've sold out. Sold t-shirts yes, sold posters, sold badges, but sold out... is that the name of our new l.p. boss?
So Aztec Camera have sold out. Does this, I wonder, make them just like 'Gold'? The David Band sleeves are an ominous sign. The beginning of Back on Board sounds a bit like 'True'. The group's names are vaguely similar. But look, if you really want to know the difference between them it's the difference between "listening to Marvin all night long" and "faces of Strummer, they fell from your wall, and nothing was left where they hung."
But still I have my doubts. The live show was enjoyable but it was a bit too traditional for my liking. The guitar solo on 'We Could Send Letters', the screaming girls, the melodrama, the encores. Like a Christmas service or something, you have a good time, your emotions surge in the right places, and then you step out into the snow and remember you've got a hole in your shoe and the kiddies want a home computer from Santa. Not that I'm religious, of course.
Why am I telling you all this? I should be telling Roddy Frame.
|
Online Now!
