Perry's evil is lessened for me by the fact that I, unlike you, do not listen to Celine Dion.
I will cop to him being a harbinger of the blue-eyed soul plague that made the tragedy of Michael Bolton possible, but I won't lay Bolton's insults to my ears (and Otis Redding's legacy) at Perry's tiny little gnome-like feet.
If imitation were the responsibility of the imitated, we would blame Sam Cooke and Otis for Steve Perry and Michael Bolton. And that's just wrong.
I'm not saying Steve Perry is Otis Redding, I'm saying Steve Perry is not Michael Bolton.
[You know the weirdest thing? Redding's widow said Bolton's cover of Dock o' the Bay was something Otis would have loved. She endorsed it, personally, as her favorite cover of the song. It's moments like that when pieces of the world fall out and audibly "clunk" onto the floor. That particular chunk hit my foot.]
I believe my blindspot here, which I admit to having, is that I'm seeing Perry not in Journey, but as he may have been if in a decent band where he didn't have to howl and yawp. I think, actually, I'm imagining him in The Faces. For this and other sins, I will have a long stay in Hell.
But I do think he had some talent. Just badly-realized. That shouldn't count for anything, and doesn't. But I don't go so far as to let his crap ruin Sam Cooke.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 09:11 pm (UTC)I will cop to him being a harbinger of the blue-eyed soul plague that made the tragedy of Michael Bolton possible, but I won't lay Bolton's insults to my ears (and Otis Redding's legacy) at Perry's tiny little gnome-like feet.
If imitation were the responsibility of the imitated, we would blame Sam Cooke and Otis for Steve Perry and Michael Bolton. And that's just wrong.
I'm not saying Steve Perry is Otis Redding, I'm saying Steve Perry is not Michael Bolton.
[You know the weirdest thing? Redding's widow said Bolton's cover of Dock o' the Bay was something Otis would have loved. She endorsed it, personally, as her favorite cover of the song. It's moments like that when pieces of the world fall out and audibly "clunk" onto the floor. That particular chunk hit my foot.]
I believe my blindspot here, which I admit to having, is that I'm seeing Perry not in Journey, but as he may have been if in a decent band where he didn't have to howl and yawp. I think, actually, I'm imagining him in The Faces. For this and other sins, I will have a long stay in Hell.
But I do think he had some talent. Just badly-realized. That shouldn't count for anything, and doesn't. But I don't go so far as to let his crap ruin Sam Cooke.