So I’m sitting here, minding my own business this week, when all of the sudden something I wrote back in February rears up and bites me in the ass.
Right around that time, MTV was in the process of airing tributes to Lisa “Left-Eye†Lopez of the now-defunct TLC, and it rubbed me the wrong way… so, I had a little something to say about it… and it gained a decent amount of e-mail. So much so that I randomly got TWO letters last week based on it… so, I’m wondering if this got linked to a TLC fan site or something… regardless, to take a line from Eric S, we’re going to hit up, You’re a Moron, the TLC edition.
Mailbag
So, first the basis… here is the passage that started it all:
I was a fan of Alice in Chains after the Unplugged album came out. I hadn’t followed them very much, other than to listen to their radio tracks and think “damn, they’re pretty good.†It took the Unplugged show and album to get me to realize how good I thought they were, and they were pretty much the only Seattle band I never gave a fair shake… just for no other reason as they weren’t overexposed like Pearl Jam and Nirvana. For some reason, MTV dubbed Nirvana the band of Seattle, even though Layne and Jerry were possibly five thousand times more talented than Kurt… and the music? The musical talent of Alice in Chains left Nirvana in the dust. However, in fairness, the depth of sound you can get with five guys is much more three dimensional than you can get with three.
I had been hoping to see AIC at some point before I died… and they are now officially the only band on the “see before I die†list that will never come to pass. I still hold out hope for Pink Floyd and some good assembly of Van Halen. Yeah, AIC songs were 99% of the time about drugs… but you write what you know, I guess. And Layne’s lyrics were just part of the experience. Jerry’s guitar’s and Mike’s bass were just amazing most of the time. You could feel Layne when he sung… the emotion was just in the voice. You could feel his struggle. Listening back on the Dirt album, as I did quite a bit right after his death, you could almost feel the same problems that he must have been going through right before he died, as he was when he wrote the song. Heaven Beside You for example, was one I listened to quite a few times… and Would? was another one.
Which is why it kills me to see all the news outlets just pass off Layne’s death as nothing while f*cking Left-eye is treated like some kind of martyr who died for music. She was a f*cking criminal who kept herself in the news by torching her husband/boyfriend/whatever’s house. Somehow, MTV has deemed her “more important†to music, so you get T-Boz and Chilli on there every few weeks saying how “they’re moving on for Left-eye†and they’re “doing this for Left-eye.†THEY FUCKING HATED EACH OTHER 99% OF THE TIME. I’ve read articles over the years on how Alice in Chains kept up with Layne and tried to get him through his problems. So who do you pimp? The pop-musician who was partially insane and burned down houses and hated her bandmates… or the innovative rock musician who sang about his demons, tried to keep his demons out of the media, and was brought down by those self same demons?
Well, OBVIOUSLY, MTV picked the African American pop-star, because OBVIOUSLY TLC contributed far more to music than AIC ever could have. You know, TLC innovated something new… er no, wait, that wasn’t them… They were great role models for…. Err, no that wasn’t them either. Oh wait… they sung POP and made VIDEOS.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Fuck MTV and everything they stand for. Fuck them for putting Old Dirty Bastard on TV and show him cashing his welfare check like it’s something to laugh at. Fuck them for this barrage of shit music that invades the airwaves today. Fuck them for giving Eminem and 50 Cent (the ex-crack dealer) and Ja Rule air time and making them out to be role models, when the world should see them for the criminals they are. Fuck them for making Left-Eye out to be something more than the unstable trash she was. AND FUCK THEM FOR NOT RELEASING A DVD OF “THE STATE.â€
If you want real music news… come to this site. It’s the only place you’re going to see news without an agenda. Remember that. You know what? Aaron Cameron likes Rap, but he’ll give you a straight up review. Jones digs on rock… but someone isn’t paying him to say something is good. Evocator and Cankaya will tell you how it is… now how they think you should think it is.
The moral: 411 is god… all others want to be.
So, lo and behold, here come the AOLers.
Part 1
Lisaslilbabygirl@aol.com writes: So she has to be a crazy bitch so this person can make Layne look better?
No, she was a crazy bitch because she burned down her boyfriend’s house, disappeared for a week at a time, and got famous wearing condoms on her hat.
Lisa was never understand I guess maybe Layne and Lisa had that in common but so do the rest of the people of the world.
What. The. Fuck? I get a lot of poorly written mail… and usually I can decode it… but this… this takes the taco. Are we trying to say that Layne Staley and Lisa Lopez had the fact that they weren’t understood in common? No, I think Layne Staley was understood just fine… and Lisa Lopez was a crazy mofo who died violently in a car accident and, luckily, didn’t take anyone innocent with her.
She was getting too much attention about the bad stuff she did not really any of the good stuff so that is a same the media only focused on that
What good stuff? Seriously… what good stuff did she ever do that warranted being covered. I’ll give TLC fans open forum next week to tell me good things that she did. And, again, fuggin horseshit. MTV will bend over backwards to show hip-hop stars in a positive light for the Youths of the Nation.
OK so taking it out on Lisa and her fans make this person feeling better?
Yes, it gives us great pleasure to revel in the stupidity of people that would equate TLC with anything more than a five year blip on the face of musical history. Much like the New Kids… much like Debbie Gibson… the next generation of music fans will never remember them. Do you know why? Because while Rock stations will still be playing Would? and Man in the Box in ten years… not a damn pop station in the world will be playing Waterfalls. THAT’s when you know you’re part of music history.
How do this person know how it is to be a fan of this group anyway?
How is being a TLC fan different from being an Alice in Chains fan? Other than the fact one has a clue and one doesn’t… I’ll leave it to the reader to guess which is which.
don’t tell me how this group is when the person has no idea what they are talking about she is not replaceable and if you noticed TLC album ain’t doing to well because people want to see all 3.
I don’t have to bring up that the new album is shitty. In fact, I’ll let someone who knows much more about hip-hop do it for me. To quote Aaron Cameron’s Review of 3D: this is not a good album.
And don’t even get me started on how f*cked up it is to compare TLC to Destineys Child they are nothing alike just the fact they are all female groups and are black so it’s not the TRUTH
If Beyoncee and Crew sang Waterfalls tomorrow, it wouldn’t baffle me. If they sang No Scrubs it wouldn’t surprise me either. Would Destiny’s Child sing Ain’t 2 Pround 2 Beg? Probably not… but it doesn’t change the fact that most members of the two groups are interchangeable. And, if Kelly Rowland died tomorrow, no one would care, and Destiny’s Child would be equally as useless to music history as DC is now.
and this person is cold hearted and bitter that layne is dead maybe this person should just accept that he is gone
We have accepted it… but it doesn’t mean we like the fact that his contribution to music is belittled by mainstream music for the contributions of an insane pyromaniac who was lucky enough to have died so she could be remembered for something greater than she was.
i know i have to deal with the fact Lisa’s gone too but don’t take it out on the group I found it f*cked up to even talk about Lisa and Layne in the same sentence
Here, here.
to tell you the truth they got nothing in common to just that they are both dead. And this is just my opinion but I think they are both important to music and it’s history
Well, you’re half right… I’ll let the individual decide which half.
So, with that, I think I’m done. Just one letter from a column from months ago. But no, a couple days later, I get ANOTHER one… this one from DamagedTLCFan@aol.com
Part 2
I would like to point out this email arrived in one huge paragraph. Up to a point, this person also presented a reasonable argument… then he/she/it had to go and call me ignorant… so…
Hey Daniel, I’m writing you on your comments on Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC. First of all I would like to say I respect your opinion and understand your opinion
It started off reasonable.
because I honestly felt as though Lisa didn’t get enough media attention and not as much attention as Aaliyah who I felt she did more for music then.
And then just went to hell. Again, I ask… what the hell did Lisa Lopez do for music? She was in the first all black girl group… err, no wait a second that wasn’t her. She was the first black artist to hit it big? Umm, hellooooo, Whitney Houston…. Tina Turner? TLC did nothing for music that handn’t 1) been done before or 2) will never be done again.
The difference between me and you though is your speaking from pure ignorance. I know Aaliyah’s history, I have all her CDs, and I’m somewhat a fan. You on the other hand seem like you know nothing about Lisa or TLC.
Aaliyah’s history? She had what, like three singles and then died in a plane crash so she could move out to the Island that Biggie and 2-Pac are living on so she can be remembered as something more than she was. This is the pop world. One dies or retires… 12 more are created to take their place. The ones who die are remembered much more fondly than the ones who retire. Aaliyah will always be remembered as the chick who died. Monica, Brandi, and Mya will eventually fade away and people won’t remember who they were in ten years.
Easily replaceable ? Please. Lisa was one of a kind so there is no way she could be replaced which is why T-Boz and Chilli have decided not to replace her.
See, this is what we call the Recording Industry. TLC is not marketable without the “bad girl†of the group. If their label thought they were, they would replace her in a heartbeat. Notice the group is retiring after the last album was selling shitty.
You brought up Destiny’s Child as if they were like TLC. Yes Destiny’s Child has replaced countless members but TLC and Destiny’s Child are totally different. As long as Destiny’s Child has Beyonce their fine. Beyonce sings all the songs, writes, and producers. The other two are basically back up singers (Kinda like Diana Ross and the Supremes) which is why Beyonce is still doing good on her own.
Yes, Beyonce is the group… for the simple reason that she is 1) the hottest and 2) the most marketable. The only reason I know Kelly Rowland’s name is because she’s on the “I Love the 80’s†thing on VH1. Is there a reason for that? Yes, because Beyonce is the NAME of the group. Would N’Sync survive without Justin? Probably not. The main reason you couldn’t replace Beyonce is because she is Destiny’s Child.
TLC on the other hand has three leads. T-Boz brings the funk. She has a unique raspy/deep voice that is unusual on a female. Chilli basically brought the R&B edge. T-Boz’s voice in most R&B fans opinion was ugly so Chilli filled that void. Lisa was the rapper. She was a different kind of female rapper though. Most female rappers have a deep voice and talk about things like sex and money.
If I need it in the morning or the middle of the night… I ain’t 2 proud 2 beg. That sounds like sex to me. Maybe I’m just a white boy, dunno.
Her lyrics were very poetic and she was very unique, you could never find another Left Eye.
Sure you can. How much did she have to do with writing those lyrics, by the way?
Now your group (I forgot their name sorry) not getting as much attention is no reason for you to disrespect Lisa. Why is media attention so important to you ? Let me quickly explain to you why Lisa’s death got more attention. She passed April 25, 2002. Her group TLC had just finished promoting their last album Fanmail in mid 2000. They had came off a HUGE tour and Fanmail sold 10 million copies. After that countless look alike groups came out. TLC had just announced they were back together working on another album so fans like me were excited, pumped, and ready for new music. So it was a SHOCK to us that she passed.
Is that so? Thank you so much for enlightening me.
TLC have also been THE BEST SELLING FEMAlE GROUP IN MUSIC HISTORY since 1995.
WOW… since 1995? A whole EIGHT YEARS?! No wonder they are so massively popular.
Now your group is basically not that famous, how do you expect for them to get more media attention ?
How old are you?
Also about your comparision to N’Sync. TLC is an innovative and groundbreaking group so that comparison was staight disrespectful.
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH
Before TLC female groups were glamerous and all about harmonies. TLC kicked down the door and did something different. Instead of tight fitting dresses and skirts TLC came in with baggy pants and wore condoms TO PROMOTE SAFE SEX (I see you tried to diss that without knowing the meaning behind it too). They were the first group to mix Funk, R&B, and Rap. They hit on issues such as AIDS, gang violence, the way the media makes people insecure, rape, and sex.
And they successfully marketed them. I will grant you that. See, TLC did well in 1995 for the same reason that Avril Lavigne is doing well now. Because they we’re something different in a mired shithole of same/same. Let me break this down for you. Dr Dre is innovative. Public Enemy is innovative. The Seattle Grunge Bands were innovative. Faith No More and, God help me, Limp Bizkit, were innovative. TLC is not. As I recall, C&C Music Factory was combining styles about 5 years before TLC was ever thought of. If you think TLC did anything first, I got two words for you… Salt n Pepa. SnP was doing TLC’s act in the late 80s and early 90s, right down to the Safe Sex schtick… if you want to argue about their innovativeness, I’ll give you points. TLC… nah.
So before you try to go and run your mouth on an issue make sure you know what your talking about. Please don’t be biased, post my e-mail just like you posted the rest of those peoples. Don’t be unfair and ignore mines just because I don’t agree with you. Oh yeah and pick up TLC’s Greatest Hits September 15th so you won’t be as ignorant as you are on the best group ever existing on this planet
Best group ever existing on this planet? Good lord. I can’t even grace that with a response. When you can release a greatest hits album thirty years after you stopped making music, then come talk to me about being the greatest group of all time.
Justified and Stripped
The Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake tour has reached an unplanned hiatus as the stage rigging came crashing down this past Saturday in Atlantic City. There were no serious casualties as, Thank God, it didn’t happen during the show.
Actually, if it hit Christina, they might have saved the rest of the crowd.
I wasn’t sad as it meant I didn’t have to deal with Pepsi Arena traffic last night when I got out of work.
Score One for the Downloaders
US District Judge Joseph L Tauro ruled last Friday that MafRIAA filed subpoenas issued in Washington cannot be served in Massachusettes, granting a stay of execution to some students at Boston College and MIT who the MafRIAA is gunning for. The subpoena’s seek the names of four students, one from MIT and three from BC who alleged illegally obtained songs online.
I got a copyright notification on Kazaa last night. I responded by downloading enough Foo Fighter’s songs to make a greatest hits CD.
Which is a shame, because I was thinking about buying the albums.
In Conclusion
If I’m more bitter than normal this week, it’s because work sucks and I’m tired.
Of course, I go to Cancun in two weeks… so I’ll either die on the plane, or it’ll get better.
