Members Anderton Posted July 25, 2015 Members Share Posted July 25, 2015 This is a spinoff of the live or onstage thread so it wouldn't get highjacked. A lot of posters said they would not want to be famous. But let me make a case that there are varying degrees of fame, and some aren't so bad. At the peak of my non-MI "fame," I got a couple death threats and found people camped outside my house. Not cool, and I wasn't even anywhere near the level of someone who was a household name. I remember going into a bar in New York back in the 60s with Eddie Brigati of the Rascals. He had on a fake mustache, big hat, jacket pulled around him...no way you could recognize him. He could pretty much go wherever he wanted. He didn't want to be "a famous person" but he was "famous." I think he managed to reconcile the two quite well. Fame is also not digital, where either you're famous or you're not. As pointed out in the other thread, you can be respected by your peers, and (at least IMHO) that counts for more than mindless adulation but it's still a type of fame. I also think there's a big difference between fame and recognition. This might be excessive word parsing, but to me recognition doesn't include the craziness of fame, and fame often doesn't include the more nuancedl reasons that go into obtaining recognition. Overall, I think it's relatively easy to manage your level of fame. It's the people who are seduced by it, and to whom it becomes an addiction, who suffer the most from being famous. A good analogy is wine...you can have a glass of wine, and it goes great with meals and gives a nice little lift. Or you can become an alcoholic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folder Posted July 25, 2015 Members Share Posted July 25, 2015 When I was growing up famous people were usually famous because they accomplished something or had some special talent or skill. Now we have people who are famous for being famous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted July 25, 2015 Members Share Posted July 25, 2015 Recognition, sure; respect, definitely. These are things that seem desirable. But being famous so that one must do what your friend Eddie did? No thanks. Now, this isn't something that I'm worked up about. You don't (usually) become famous without working really hard at it. And I don't wish to be an alcoholic. But this isn't something that concerns me either. I have a failsafe mechanism, apparently. I actually will get sick if I drink too much, so I can't keep drinking and drinking. So I enjoy that beer with dinner or hanging out with friends. But not that twelve-pack. Now I could launch into a monologue about the Buddhist Middle Path approach and whip everyone into a lather about what great logic that seems to have, but I won't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted July 25, 2015 Members Share Posted July 25, 2015 And I'm pretty sure this means all the panpots are centered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted July 25, 2015 Members Share Posted July 25, 2015 Hello Friend,I am having lots of interest in these things,but I m not concern about this one,but I will advice u to visit this site,here you can find a lot of information related to your question,because this site is having much more informational data which u are searching for.......i hope..... here .....you will get your answer in a proper way..... ----------------------------- Top Ten classified website My family in Nigeria is very wealthy. Please PM me your home address so I can send you $30,000,000.00 today. Please provide me with your SS#, home address, and valid credit card information to validate your age. Thank you my friend… Back to the thread... Once again, I choose the quiet and solitude of the studio and the recognition of my peers. Fame always has a price to pay. For me, even mild recognition gets annoying. I would prefer to write novels that sell like hotcakes, live in the Adirondacks year round, minimal contact with "civilization", have the royalties sent directly to my checking account, avoid interviews and book signings all together. The ability to go to a museum or out to dinner and not be recognized: priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 25, 2015 Author Members Share Posted July 25, 2015 The ability to go to a museum or out to dinner and not be recognized: priceless. I wonder how much of an issue that still is. As Andy Warhol said, someday everybody will be famous for 15 minutes and given social media, where a video can go viral and someone can be exposed to millions of people, it seems we've reached that point. The tuba player who broke up a KKK rally is a good example. I also think people have gotten pretty blase about fame. Think of screaming girls and the Beatles; that doesn't happen any more. Or the various stars walking around NAMM where no one really cares. Then again, I bet a lot of celebrities aren't recognized as much any more because their public images are so photoshopped no one knows what they really look like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 25, 2015 Members Share Posted July 25, 2015 I knew fame would ruin me. I cut to the chase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted July 26, 2015 Members Share Posted July 26, 2015 10+ billion hybrid anybodies. Knock yourself out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted July 26, 2015 Members Share Posted July 26, 2015 Having never been famous, I cannot speak to it. Being successful is another thing entirely. Everyone wants to be successful. Everyone has different ideas about what that is. For most of the world I think just getting dinner on the table is their definition of success. For me, getting a kid to 20 years of age, healthy, happy and well adjusted, free of alcohol and drug issues, and with some good attainable goals is my Oscar, my Grammy. In this I have all the success I ever needed. That was not my viewpoint earlier in my life. I'm lucky and glad I lived long enough to realize that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 26, 2015 Author Members Share Posted July 26, 2015 You bring up a very important point - fame and success are not the same thing. Who's more famous, Amy Winehouse or you? But who's more successful - Amy Winehouse or you? I think the answers are obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted July 26, 2015 Members Share Posted July 26, 2015 I think that fame would be a double-edged sword. With fame would come a lot of benefits not available to the majority of us, not to mention the money. But I'm sure it comes with that price. Having to disguise yourself to go places, having a lot of your time and location dictated to you by your fans-promotions-interviews, having to dodge the paparazzi and other invasions of privacy, people will post lies about you to sell tabloid papers, and so on. I've talked to some musicians who said they had more fun when they were up-and-coming than they do now that they are famous. And if you are famous, you always have the pressure to be better than you were on the last recording. In addition, you can't change your style too much at one time without losing your fan base. Sometimes you can't change it at all. So there is a price. But there are benefits. When I was young and in a warm up band for major stars, I wanted to be famous. The large audiences we played for were a taste of what it would be like if we were the headliners. When thousands of people are screaming in appreciation after a song, it's a great feeling (although a little embarrassing). The money isn't bad either. I remember talking with a member of The Association when we warmed up for them in concert. "Cherish" was number one on billboard then, so I suspect it was in the late 60s. Our 5 piece band made $2,000 for the gig. Not bad in the 1960s when journeymen electricians made about $100/week. The guy in The Association said they made $2,000 each for the gig. That's will buy a lot of disguises. And for the single young person with raging hormones, being famous, or even warming up for the famous guys meant you didn't have to chase the girls, they chased you. We warmed up for a famous group in a show club in Miami Beach, and in order not to give them off-color publicity I'll call them a fictitious name, the "Starmen". Anyway, one of the background singers, who I didn't think was good looking (although I'm no judge of male beauty) would out in the audience between their early and late set, pick the most beautiful single woman in the audience and say "How'd you like to F*** a Starman". That was it. If she said "No" he'd move on to the next. He always left with a stunningly gorgeous female. But most of all, the approval for what you worked so hard to do, for the skills you worked so hard to develop, and for putting your mind and soul on the line is something to be appreciated. Would I like to be famous? I'd like to give it a try. Would I be a live musician again if I knew I was going to be able to make a living gigging but never get famous? Most definitely YES. So I guess it would depend on your personality whether or not you would want to be famous. Insights and incites by Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted July 26, 2015 Members Share Posted July 26, 2015 You bring up a very important point - fame and success are not the same thing. Who's more famous, Amy Winehouse or you? But who's more successful - Amy Winehouse or you? I think the answers are obvious. I think Amy Winehouse had enormous talent, but was unable to avoid the pitfalls that fame brings to some. I never had nearly that much talent. She soared while I walked. The Icarus thing...soar too high you forget how high you are. Damn shame about her. Enormous talent...... Glad I never had all that talent really. I would have ended up like her I think. And never known the Lad..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted July 26, 2015 Moderators Share Posted July 26, 2015 Well, disclaimer up front, there's famous and then there's FAMOUS. I've never been the latter but I've been the former a few times. Having said that, it's absurd what small things can now cause temporary "fame." Case in point, this thread: http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/...lla-54/403134- It's not MY thread, and many people posted in it, but it got over a million views driven to some extent by my little mini-novel "Groupie Stories." As a result of that, I had several hundred people email me and about a dozen stalkers, all women. They googled me up, called me at work, wrote poetry for me, sent me brownies, and in one case a bag of white powder at the office that got me under suspicion for a while. It turned out to be protein powder, she saw my picture online and decided I looked too skinny. This was quite silly for a middled aged scientist guy. Terry D. P.S. I removed my content long ago as it was PG-13, bit much for the current forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted July 26, 2015 Members Share Posted July 26, 2015 Then again, I bet a lot of celebrities aren't recognized as much any more because their public images are so photoshopped no one knows what they really look like Yup, I walked past you 3-4 times last time at NAMM before I recognized you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted July 26, 2015 Members Share Posted July 26, 2015 Having never been famous, I cannot speak to it. Being successful is another thing entirely. Everyone wants to be successful. Everyone has different ideas about what that is. For most of the world I think just getting dinner on the table is their definition of success. For me, getting a kid to 20 years of age, healthy, happy and well adjusted, free of alcohol and drug issues, and with some good attainable goals is my Oscar, my Grammy. In this I have all the success I ever needed. That was not my viewpoint earlier in my life. I'm lucky and glad I lived long enough to realize that. Amen Brother! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted July 27, 2015 Members Share Posted July 27, 2015 Well, disclaimer up front, there's famous and then there's FAMOUS. I've never been the latter but I've been the former a few times. Having said that, it's absurd what small things can now cause temporary "fame." Case in point, this thread: http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/...lla-54/403134- It's not MY thread, and many people posted in it, but it got over a million views driven to some extent by my little mini-novel "Groupie Stories." As a result of that, I had several hundred people email me and about a dozen stalkers, all women. They googled me up, called me at work, wrote poetry for me, sent me brownies, and in one case a bag of white powder at the office that got me under suspicion for a while. It turned out to be protein powder, she saw my picture online and decided I looked too skinny. This was quite silly for a middled aged scientist guy. Terry D. P.S. I removed my content long ago as it was PG-13, bit much for the current forums. LMAO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted July 27, 2015 Members Share Posted July 27, 2015 You bring up a very important point - fame and success are not the same thing. Who's more famous, Amy Winehouse or you? But who's more successful - Amy Winehouse or you? I think the answers are obvious. I've thought about that. Who's more successful Ami or I? Me Elvis Presley or I? Me Tony Bennett or I? Tony Paul McCartney or I? Paul Otis Redding or I? Me Brian May or I? Brian I think fame and success are not mutually inclusive. Insights and incites by Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I also think people have gotten pretty blase about fame. Think of screaming girls and the Beatles; that doesn't happen any more. Or the various stars walking around NAMM where no one really cares. It may not rise to the level of the Beatles, but I do think it depends on who the musician is, and how big of a "star" they are. Not many people are as famous, or stars at the level the Beatles were, or Elvis, or Sinatra... They stand out like Antares, Vega, Rigel or Sirius in a galaxy consisting of countless "stars" of much less notable luminosity. I saw Roy Thomas Baker at a trade show once, and I had to walk up and thank him for all the work he'd done - I'm a huge fan of his work as an engineer / producer... but I doubt a lot of folks on the street would recognize him, even as successful as he's been. On the other hand, I've seen people like Stevie Wonder and Brian Wilson at NAMM, and every single time, they seem to draw huge crowds around them. Not because they are trying to (at least it didn't look to me like they were trying to ) but simply because they're so recognizable and their work is adored by so many people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted July 27, 2015 Members Share Posted July 27, 2015 I think Phil Palmer is an example of a highly successful guitarist who is recognized by his peers but not so much by the general public. I read an interview with him where he was commenting on touring with Eric Clapton then Dire Straits. He said something to the effect of at the level he was playing at, one doesn't audition for the gigs, it's about reputation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted July 27, 2015 Moderators Share Posted July 27, 2015 I also think people have gotten pretty blase about fame. Think of screaming girls and the Beatles; that doesn't happen any more. Or the various stars walking around NAMM where no one really cares. It DOES still happen. When I was George Strait's soundguy (back when he had his first hit, "You Look So Good in Love," there were tons of screaming girls. I don't know if it still happens to him, and, if it does, probably the "girls" are older now. But yeah, every show, screaming girls at the front of the stage, clamoring to get their boots signed, tossing keys (and other, more intimate things) on the stage, it was insane! How many girls? How crazy? George's hit "You Look So Good in Love" has a talking part, where the music comes down and he says something. What does he say? I have no idea because at every show I worked all I ever heard was "Darlin, I...." and then the massive screaming drowning out the rest no matter the venue and the sound system. The power of human voice cannot be overestimated. A little story, I swear it's true, I wish it wasn't. One night I was working his show at Silver Wings Ballroom in Brenham Texas. A big venue (skating rink) in a small town, packed with people from all around. After the opening act finished, and the stage roadies were working to take down their gear (and I was doing line checks) a very pretty young woman showed up back at the mixing board. She asked me if I was friends with George. I said, "Well, we're not friends. Obviously I know him, I work for him." She smiled. She held up a large, brown paper bag, open at the top, with a handle. I could see it contained hundreds (?) of envelopes. She told me she had written letters to George and she would do ANYTHING if I would just make sure he got them. Yeah, that "anything." I could see that she meant it and she didn't appear to be drunk or high. I'm telling this story and I could make myself look good. But I won't, I'll tell the truth. If I'd been single, I don't know what I might have done. Even so, she was really pretty. My brother-in-law was standing there on the platform with me, so any thoughts either of us might have had about her canceled each other out. Even though I had no idea how bad her fate was going to be at that moment, I'm still not proud of what I did. I sent her backstage to talk to one of the guys in the opening act, a single guy I was friends with. I figured, well, I can't do this anymore, I'll pass the opportunity on to the next generation. Mixing a big, important show is 45 seconds of absolute terror followed by 45 minutes of abject boredom. The PA held up, I made no serious mistakes. George absolutely killed it, as he always does. The girls rushed the stage and screamed in all the usual spots. Great. Take a short break, then tear it all down and move it to the next town. After the show, I went out back to get some air and take a break before tear down, and the pretty young woman was sitting on one of the hall's huge AC compressors, sobbing, her makeup smeared and a look of pure horror on her face. Some irate guy who seemed to be her boyfriend was yelling at her. Several large men were holding him back and warning him to lower his voice and step back or get an thorough ass kicking. I won't say what happened to that young lady in between the smiling bag of letters and the tears, but it was really, really bad and I still think about what I should have done differently to avoid what happened to her. So yeah, foolish young women, screaming, fame, Beatles, George Strait, still happens. I could tell you more stories but this is enough for now. Terry D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted July 27, 2015 Members Share Posted July 27, 2015 I think the screaming girls has always come with the youth market. They screamed for Sinatra when he was young, and not when he got old. They threw lingerie at Tom Jones when he was young, but not by the time he was middle aged. They screamed for Elvis Presley when he was young and just swooned when he got middle-aged. The scream thing also is only by girls and for male sex/singer stars - I think the men just salivate over the female sex/singer stars We're not allowed to get that demonstrative. So I'm out of touch. Who are the newest male sex/singer stars? Do they have screaming girls at their concerts? That would be a fair comparison. Or have DJs so replaced live music in the youth market that it's no longer a big deal to see the singer? Insights and incites by Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted July 27, 2015 Members Share Posted July 27, 2015 So I'm out of touch. Who are the newest male sex/singer stars? Do they have screaming girls at their concerts? That would be a fair comparison. A boy band named One Direction is the latest flavor. Justin Bieber is already old news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted July 27, 2015 Members Share Posted July 27, 2015 I don't want fame. I want more than a handful of people to listen to my work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted July 28, 2015 Author Members Share Posted July 28, 2015 I don't want fame. I want more than a handful of people to listen to my work. Post some links, and your wish will come true We like to listen around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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