A President with Good Taste

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is it impossible? my opinion of a candidate would be swayed so much, despite their views on any issue, if s/he had good music taste. and i mean more than al gore saying his favorite band is the beatles.

― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Friday, 7 May 2004 02:39 (twenty-one years ago)

George W. Bush could be the world's biggest fan of MBV, the Chameleons, Depeche Mode, the Smiths and the Cure COMBINED and my lower-than-low opinion would be unchanged.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 7 May 2004 02:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Vaclav Havel has great taste in music. Oh wait, you mean AMERICAN presidents. No, there are none.

― Bob McCarthy (Hecklerspray), Friday, 7 May 2004 02:46 (twenty-one years ago)

my opinion of him would then be lower-than-lower-than-low, ned. he'd be the girliest namby pambiest president ever.

― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Friday, 7 May 2004 02:50 (twenty-one years ago)

clinton never endorsed u2! clinton's a pete brotzmann freak

-- cinniblount (littlejohnnyjewe...), March 31st, 2004.

― Clarke B. (Clarke B.), Friday, 7 May 2004 03:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Clinton must have had a few good albums at home somewhere along the line.

Also, Harry Truman played piano.

And, yeah, Bush could be Jeff Beck in disguise and he would still be at the bottom of my list as chief executives.

― jim wentworth (wench), Friday, 7 May 2004 03:19 (twenty-one years ago)

yea, reading about clinton was what got me thinking. and gilberto gil is the "culture minister" of brazil right?

isnt havel best buds with lou reed?

― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Friday, 7 May 2004 03:21 (twenty-one years ago)

yes, but John Zorn hates him.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 7 May 2004 03:22 (twenty-one years ago)

If that Bush likes anything I like, I'm going to visit his house and burn it. Then I'm going to stab him in the neck.

― Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Friday, 7 May 2004 03:33 (twenty-one years ago)

When I was at school, I'd try to put as many lines from Fall songs as I could into essays. It didn't help my grades, but if a political candidate did this, I'd be more inclined to vote for them.

(assuming they didn't like, eat babies or like U2 or lobby for things that wouldn't be good for me. Actually if they ate babies I'd definitely vote for them no matter what)

― Sasha (sgh), Friday, 7 May 2004 03:38 (twenty-one years ago)

George W. Bush could be the world's biggest fan of MBV, the Chameleons, Depeche Mode, the Smiths and the Cure COMBINED and my lower-than-low opinion would be unchanged.
"I spoke to Kevin in the studio earlier today. People are wondering how much longer it's gonna take to finish the follow-up to "Loveless". How much longer do we have to be in that studio? I assured Kevin that we'll be there as long as it takes to get the job done. However much time it takes to finish the album, we'll be there. As long as it takes".
"Kevin also says he needs another $500K to finish the album. Well, if that's what he wants, then that's what he gets".

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Friday, 7 May 2004 03:38 (twenty-one years ago)

ive ended more than one essay with a neil young quote. and i just wrote an essay for my english class dissecting the psyche of brian wilson. and then i wrote another one describing how to fall in love with american folk music. the best thing is i can play with facts as much as i want because my audience wont know the difference.

this is only a little related, but am i the only one that thinks that "Fight Test" by the flaming lips is one of the best defenses for the war in Iraq (though almost definitely not meant for that purpose)?

― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Friday, 7 May 2004 03:49 (twenty-one years ago)

clinton had pretty ok, m-o-r taste for his generation

roosevelt (the second one) had good taste in fiddlers, and jug bands--he invited some interesting folks to the white house

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 7 May 2004 06:34 (twenty-one years ago)

at least you got the sense that clinton took music seriously, i mean, he had actual thoughts about it

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 7 May 2004 06:34 (twenty-one years ago)

it says something that no recent president i know of has shown much interest in classical music, which would be par for the course in many other countries

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 7 May 2004 06:35 (twenty-one years ago)

It's difficult to avoid classical music in Washington. Nobody actually listens to or appreciates it...but it *is* difficult to avoid.

I would like to nominate Alex from NYC for President.

a) he's got good taste in music (well, it *is* taste, at least);

b) he's from NYC; what with the Towers and all;

c) he's the straw that stirs the drink, and man does this country need some stirrin'.

― Evanston Wade (EWW), Friday, 7 May 2004 06:55 (twenty-one years ago)

clinton had pretty ok, m-o-r taste for his generation

Whatever. He liked Kenny G.

I wrote an entire essay once where basically every line was stolen from Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer."

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Friday, 7 May 2004 07:44 (twenty-one years ago)

How do you think it would go over with the public if the prez said he was a big Iggy fan? Well, lots of us wouold say 'rock on, muufucka' .. but most people would either say "who?" or "gross!". Ya know, because most people are morans. .. But I always thought it would be cool to have an inauguration party that made the old people want to leave early.

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 7 May 2004 10:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I would say Iggy Pop fandom would be a political liability.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 7 May 2004 11:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Whatever. He liked Kenny G.

that was just to appease the masses. As stated upthread, Bill's a Brotzmann man.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 7 May 2004 12:48 (twenty-one years ago)

appreciation of Iggy Pop solo is definitely a liability, but a Stooges fan would automatically get my vote.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 7 May 2004 12:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, Clinton had fucking fantastic taste for a U.S. president, check it out. Oscar Peterson, Miles, Coltrane, Billie Holiday. Big names, sure, but like he's going to drop Brotzmann or Ayler on USA Today.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 7 May 2004 12:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I read once that Gordon Brown (British Finance Minister, probable next Prime Minister) was taken to a Teenage Fanclub concert as part of some Get in Touch with Youth initiative. When journalists asked what he thought of them, he said 'I thought they were overly derivative of Big Star'

I would love this story to be true

― Joe Kay (feethurt), Friday, 7 May 2004 13:01 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't need a President with good taste -- I just want a President who tastes good.

― Monica L. (Mert), Friday, 7 May 2004 13:28 (twenty-one years ago)

so i see, kenny g isn't cool with the hipsters anymore, is that it?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 7 May 2004 13:36 (twenty-one years ago)

was he ever?

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 7 May 2004 13:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Quite a few of Major's cabinet had a serious interest in music - Mellor (classical), Ken Clark (jazz). Hague turns up in Ronnie Scott's from time to time. And of course Heath (ex Tory PM) could have been a classical musician if he hadn't decided to be a politician. He turned in a reasonable performance as conductor on one or two cds.

(A few years ago a couple of Heath's cds were reviewed in one of the glossy classical music mags. They used a star system to rate the discs, and smaller asterisks to indicate footnotes to the review. The cds were given respectable ratings, but the notoriously thin-skinned Heath misread asterisks (indicating footnotes) as denoting scathing one and two star rating for the discs. He wrote a hilariously pompous letter to the editor (published the following month) asking why it was that these discs, although favourably commented on by various eminent musicians elsewhere, had received such a poor ratings, and accused the reviewer of personal or political prejudice. I couldn't understand why this didn't receive more coverage at the time, one of the best examples of an eminent politician making a total arse of himself that I can think of, and the competition is stiff.)

― ArfArf, Friday, 7 May 2004 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I fully expect to see a Bill Clinton Quartet cd within five years. Maybe he and Andre 3000 can have a sax battle on a track.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 7 May 2004 14:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Didn't the Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, have Biz Markee DJ and Perform at his Inauguration ball? He's also been known to be seen out on the town at clubs with alleged strippers/escorts/prostitutes.

― tylero (tylero), Friday, 7 May 2004 15:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I did read a recent interview with Charles Kennedy, leader of the Liberal Democrats, where he spoke knowledgeably about Bowie's Berlin period as being his artistic pinnacle..... but Charles Kennedy will never be Prime Minister of the UK because he's a Liberal Democrat and an incorrigle boozehound to boot.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 7 May 2004 15:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Al Gore said his favorite Beatles album is Rubber Soul.

― Tim Ellison, Friday, 7 May 2004 16:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Didn't some MTV interviewer remark "And who was this loneliest monk?" after Clinton told her that he wished he could've played with Thelonious Monk? (Or is that story pure invention?...)

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 7 May 2004 16:27 (twenty-one years ago)

was he ever?
-- hstencil (hstenci...) (webmail), May 7th, 2004 7:39 AM. (hstencil) (later) (link)

i was being sarcastic

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 7 May 2004 17:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't tell anymore.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 7 May 2004 17:24 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.badcompany.com/Photos/tonyblair/PRPaulSimonTonyWife09.jpg

― Broheems (diamond), Friday, 7 May 2004 17:25 (twenty-one years ago)

maybe John Kerry likes Hanoi Rocks

― uh (eetface), Friday, 7 May 2004 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Nixon's taste in music reportedly fell a little south of "good" -- he was a big collector of Mantovani recordings.

I also read something long ago that there was White House record library, stocked with complimentary copies of EVERYTHING released by the major labels. Has anybody else heard of this. The mind boggles at all the unplayed old jazz, country and R&B stuff that must still be sitting around from the Eisenhower years.

― briania, Friday, 7 May 2004 17:49 (twenty-one years ago)

sorry hstencil, i wasn't trying to trump anyone or anything like that

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 7 May 2004 19:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I've heard John Kerry finds hip hop interesting.

― Leeefuse Old News (Leee), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Yea, he was caught rapping "The Nigga in Charge" with The Pharcyde at a show

― uh (eetface), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:27 (twenty-one years ago)

mingus and various others played at jimmy carters inaugeration as far as i know

― robin (robin), Saturday, 8 May 2004 02:19 (twenty-one years ago)

with apologies to amateur!st...

at least you got the sense that clinton took the world seriously, i mean, he had actual thoughts about it

― wetmink (wetmink), Saturday, 8 May 2004 02:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Wasn't Wesley Clark cheerleading for OutKast at one point in his campaign?

― ken taylrr (ken taylrr), Saturday, 8 May 2004 03:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Could a Smiths fan invade Iraq?

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Saturday, 8 May 2004 03:04 (twenty-one years ago)

People are dying overseas, the terrorists are delighted with our torture of prisoners, Bush would never have heard of MBV in his life and I cannot understand the purpose of this thread. If you'd vote for a candidate based on his musical taste, you're insane.

― bimble (bimble), Saturday, 8 May 2004 03:10 (twenty-one years ago)

'A rush and a push and the land
We stand on is ours....'

('I started something I couldn't finish...')

x-post

― de, Saturday, 8 May 2004 03:13 (twenty-one years ago)

He was bloodthirsty in the haze of a drunken hour, but heaven knows he's miserable now

― Sym (shmuel), Saturday, 8 May 2004 03:17 (twenty-one years ago)

all the politicians saying "hip hop is interesting" are just trying to appease the young electorate. i doubt any of them could speak about it knowledgeably.

that usatoday article makes me happy. and bimble, of course were being alittle facetious, but i think its important for the people in charge to have some sort of cultural education.

― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Saturday, 8 May 2004 23:11 (twenty-one years ago)

x-post

Re: the picture above. Why are the Blairs standing next to Siegfried and Roy?

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Saturday, 8 May 2004 23:13 (twenty-one years ago)

"People are dying overseas, the terrorists are delighted with our torture of prisoners, Bush would never have heard of MBV in his life and I cannot understand the purpose of this thread. If you'd vote for a candidate based on his musical taste, you're insane."

S'what's known as a joke.

― uh (eetface), Saturday, 8 May 2004 23:14 (twenty-one years ago)

dubya probably likes grand funk railroad, foghat, bad company, and other seventies buttrock.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Saturday, 8 May 2004 23:29 (twenty-one years ago)

he could probably also give mr. eddy a run for the money in defending some indefensible turd-rock acts -- like reo speedwagon!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Saturday, 8 May 2004 23:30 (twenty-one years ago)

What did coked-up fratboys like in 1966?

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Saturday, 8 May 2004 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I think the Simpsons shows the way here: "Louie Louie,
Oh no, me gotta go /Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah"

― de, Saturday, 8 May 2004 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)

the mysteries of dubya's musical tastes are resolved here. urgent & key portion therefrom:

The great exception to all this [beatles' love] is George W. Bush. He was at Yale from 1964 to 1968, and liked some of the Beatles first records. "Then they got a bit weird," he has said. "I didn't like all that later stuff when they got strange." Bush also told Oprah Winfrey his favorite song is the Everly Brothers' "Wake Up Little Susie" (1957), but overall he says he prefers country music.

no grand funk railroad?

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Sunday, 9 May 2004 00:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Lou Reed, for one, speculated on a president with good taste:

"I dreamed that I could do the job that others hadn't done
I dreamed that I was uncorrupt and fair to everyone
I dreamed I wasn't gross or base, a criminal on the take
And most of all I dreamed I forgot the day John Kennedy died"

― briania, Sunday, 9 May 2004 00:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I thoguht Clinton was all about the indefensible turd-rock

― Sym (shmuel), Sunday, 9 May 2004 04:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Anyways, Howard Dean wins this thread

― Sym (shmuel), Sunday, 9 May 2004 04:17 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah I read somewhere that Cecil Taylor played at the Whitehouse during the Carter administration.

― Daniel DiMAGGIO (Daniel DiMAGGIO), Sunday, 9 May 2004 04:39 (twenty-one years ago)

god, our president is a turd.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Sunday, 9 May 2004 05:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Didn't some MTV interviewer remark "And who was this loneliest monk?" after Clinton told her that he wished he could've played with Thelonious Monk? (Or is that story pure invention?...)

― tylero (tylero), Sunday, 9 May 2004 06:40 (twenty-one years ago)

That was Tabitha Soren ^^^^

― tylero (tylero), Sunday, 9 May 2004 06:41 (twenty-one years ago)

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