What makes a WORLD famous musician?

by The Rebel 16 Replies latest jw friends

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  The Rebel

  
  

  My brother attended a college for those who " f..led" up at school and got a second chance to do the exams. Anyway George Michael and Andy Ridgley, were two of those fu..k ups, and my brother was quite friendly with both. As a result I met George and Andy before they found fame with Wham.

  Geri Hallaway ( spice girl) also came from Watford when she grew up and was a friend of my sister ( her mum a J.W) and I once spoke with Geri on the phone when she rang asking to speak with my sister. (These were the days before mobiles)

  I met Elton John when i was about 14 and returning home from the football match . I stopped in at the local chippy ( fish and chip shop) Elton a life time Watford fan got out of his chauffeur driven car and accompanied by two bouncers came in and ordered his take away chips. He was brilliant and spent time talking with the fans about the game, ( I guess when he was 14, like me after the game he bought chips, wrapped up in newspaper and covered in malt vinegar from the same chippy)

  What struck me as interesting was my brother attending college with George Michael and my sister being friends with Geri Halliway before they became famous. I have concluded this wasn't so amazing, it was simply a question of opportunity because:-

  A) Talented singers have greater opportunity of making it if they live in London rather than other places in the world.

  B) When talented people appear on shows like " The X factor" or " American has Talent" we rarely find " Super Stars" because the people that produce the show and the judges aren't interested in discovering talent, and so throw the talent away like toilet paper.

  So my questions are :-

  A) Who has known those that have become famous?

  B) Who has known those that have talent but without opportunity to become famous?

  The Rebel.
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  krejames

  I love these stories! I find the whole subject interesting (as a frustrated music producer/songwriter myself). I have never really known anyone before they were famous. I met Bananarama in Northampton about ten years ago if that counts 😂 (They were lovely btw. Sometimes it's not only about talent, it's also about presence and they certainly had it in spades)
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  The Rebel

  Krejames " I met Banannarama in Northampton if that counts"

  The Rebel :- it makes my point wonderfully:-

  " Robert De Niro's Waiting" was the bands big hit.

  This is a song about a girl who goes into a fantazy world where she meats the actor Robert De Niro.....yet if you meet De Niro in real life he is supposed to be nervous and shy.

  My wife and I once shared a beer with Gilby Clarke former guitarist of guns and roses.He and his wife were the most wonderful people. And although never a member of the origional band, I think Gilbys opportunity came about because he was well behaved (his dad was a doctor) and they bought him in the band when the band needed that ....mind you they kicked him out 2 years later, and that's why all these years later his doing small shows and how come me and my wife had the opportunity to meet him and his partner for a beer.

  I also have a friend who got on the Swedish version of Americas got talent, he did good and progressed but the judges still treated him as shit in the quarter final, and that says everything to me about reality T.V and talent shows. Humiliation rather than let's make this talent happen.

  The Rebel.
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  krejames

  The Rebel: This is a song about a girl who goes into a fantazy world where she meats the actor Robert De Niro.....yet if you meet De Niro in real life he is supposed to be nervous and shey.

  Yes they said that they wrote the song after watching his film Taxi Driver. After hearing the song he phoned them at the council flat they we're living in at the time and took them out ...and, exactly as you state, it was all a bit awkward.

  Nice story about Gilby Clarke. I often wonder about these people that have a brush with fame in that way.

  As for shows like the X factor. They're about tv more than anything. I like watching them but they have ruined creativity. Bowie for example would never have made it through the first auditions...sorry I think I've probably gone off topic but I could talk about this kind of stuff for hours! Love it! :)
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  talesin

  I knew one famous musician, Kevin MacMichael, UK band Cutting Crew, and collaborated (writing, producing, performing) with Robert Plant for one album. (on the ax in the vid below). He was my friend's (abusive) husband. Are the rich different? Hell yeah - convicted of wife beating 3 times, and never spent an hour in jail.

  My best friend is uber talented. He can play over 4,000 songs and has written close to 140. He is anti-establishment, and has never 'worked for the man'. After obtaining his BA Hon. in American History, decided to travel. He is a busker, and went to every province & territory in Canada, and every state in the continental USA, by playing his guitar.

  [EDIT: the music business - says it all; it's all about who you know, and do they find you 'marketable' - occasionally, real talent breaks through.]

  I like artists, and know a lot of talented people who are musicians, visual artists, writers.

  Oh, and speakig of writers, I knew Spider Robinson, who has won Hugo and Nebula awards. He was a draft dodger, and landed here in the Maritimes in the 1970s. I worked with him for a couple of years. Super guy, and I wrote him an email about 5 years ago. We had a brief correspondence. Nice guy, and I love my hippies!

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_Robinson

  There are many gifted people. Few become rich or famous. xx tal

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  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5vs6bMkkrE
  
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  krejames

  Thanks Talesin. Interesting insight into Macmichael. I just died in your arms tonight and been in love before will never be the same again for me now!

  so true that there are many talented people and most don't become famous. In the town where I live we have a well known music academy and some of the buskers we get are amazing.
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  The Rebel

  Krejames " in the town I live we have a well known musical academy and some of the buskers we get are amazing"

  The Rebel. Not sure how to relate that comment to my post, but Brian Connolly lead singer of the Sweet born in Glasgow Scotland ended up a drunk in every pub in Rickmansworth until his death. For the record "The Sweet" had 3 consecutive number ones in the Uk, and sold over 5 million albums. I grew up in Rickmansworth just outside Watford, and Brian Connolly was a permanent fixture in the local pubs, or crashed out on a park bench. I know he lived in a council house in Mill- End for a few years, and I know from many of the people that drunk in the pubs he drunk in he was a great guy who had an alcohol problem.

  I also remember when I was 6 or 7 Anne Clementson my first puppy love offering to pay me 1 penny for each of my collection of magazine pictures of the band, and I wish I had suggested a kiss instead.

  The Rebel.
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  Gorbatchov

  I know Fred Mandel, main keyboard player of Elton John from 1984 - 1990.

  Great guy!

  Gorby
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  talesin

  We have a lot of buskers, too. And there's an International Buskers Festival in the summer. It's been around for a long time, love it. : )

  As for Kevin, yeah. Money sure doesn't buy you happiness. : (
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  The Rebel

  Not sure why "talesin" got a red thumb, but it kind of reminds me of "Juke Box Jury" a T.V music show where songs were judged and given a " hit" or " miss" by the jury. It's interesting to note the jury that gave misses were often so wrong.

  The Rebel.