Sunday 31 January 2010

(swift)Cover your eyes kids... The man got to Iggy.

So... first of all, this is a Blog I wrote last year which was up on my band's blog. I thought I'd import it over since I haven't had much time to post new stuff.

It's about the effectiveness of capitalism.


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Does anyone else think that Iggy Pop doing those insurance TV adverts is a little bit like the death song for the ethos of punk rock?


I mean, here was a guy who, in the past, was almost the physical embodiment the vitriolic spirit of punk ethics and credibility. Even telling death to get bent by spitting fire well into his old age, and doing it WELL! And now.... He's on TV in the ad breaks using some of his lyrics to help shift insurance policies.

WHAT?!?

Can someone please explain to me how this all happened? This is madness on quite an astounding scale! I mean, who wants to see/responds well to/can stomach former punk icons trying to shift units of anything for big business? The reason people liked them in the first place was for their two-fingers up to the establishment, their gritty 'in-the-dirt' realism. But now they are just props on a screen to encourage 'alternative' people to get a great new phone or toothpaste that "stands out from the crowd".

Gimme a break.

So.... the Iggy thing, coupled with Johnny Rotten's recent foray into butter (???) advertising has just really hurt me on quite a deep personal level.


Look, I'm not saying music has no place in advertising. By all means put cool music in adverts... it makes the time in between TV shows more bearable... But selling your actual image to a company is pretty dark, and verging on a cardinal sin. That's all I'm saying. Just ask Bill Hicks.



I mean... yeah for ages you've been able to buy Sex Pistols and Motorhead shirts in TopShop etc... but I don't expect Lemmy to knock on my damn door with an Avon booklet and try to sell me tupperware. You know? It's just wrong.


Apologies, but I felt I need to vent on this issue. No disrespect to Iggy's past work as some of it has been incredible. I just wish he'd continued his work as an artist rather than persuing this particular choice of revenue generation.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

John Lydon did the advert to fund a reunion of Public Image Limited and hopefully pay for a new record - nobody in the music industry would fund him, or at least not without him giving over complete control. So 'the man' is paying for a new PiL record - pretty cool?

Iggy's view is that he would rather people see him in advertising rather than some bland nobody - the same for use of his music. He'd rather you heard his music, than be sickened by some bland boy band.

All this stuff about selling out is guff. As soon as it leaves your imagination - and you seek a wider audience, whether via a recording contract or your own blog - you make compromises.

the great thing about Iggy and Johnny is that they have done it under their own terms and, quite frankly, don't give a toss about what you, I or anyone else thinks.

After all, you're using blogger - which is owned by one of the biggest companies in the world, who are using your data to sell more stuff to you and others.

So, do you feel like a sell-out?