MovieChat Forums > Song for Marion (2013) Discussion > Veteran mods in bad pop music shocker

Veteran mods in bad pop music shocker

posted 11 years ago by Vashbul
6 replies | jump to latest

When Terence Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave were fresh unknowns, they helped make swinging London swing in daring pictures like "The Collector" and "Modesty Blaise", "Morgan!" and "Blow-Up".

Those days, you didn't have to go far to find a vital and astonishing music scene percolating in the clubs. On a given night, depending on their tastes, Terence and Vanessa might have dug any number of hot R&B combos, American jazz and blues players, folk singers or spotty-faced budding rock stars of enormous talent - maybe catch Hamish Grimes onstage at the Marquee, babbling about some "blueswailing" youngsters - what were they called - the Yardbirds? Or Bert Jansch or John Lee Hooker or Graham Bond or Nina Simone or the Animals or Dylan or...

Well, my point is, they may be old now but I guarantee you don't have to teach them or their generation about what's hip. They were there when it mattered. And to suggest that gathering them up in a chorus and forcing them to sing "Let's talk about sex, baby..." and other such sparklers from today's desiccated pop songbook is somehow doing them a favor is a bit ironic.

(I haven't seen this film, this is based solely on my reaction to the trailer, for all I know it could be a masterpiece, but my heart still goes out to Terence and Vanessa and any screen vet who has to take roles like this when you know they know better.)

[–] masterofallgoons 11 years ago

It's not masterpiece, but it's a decent enough film that doesn't patronize those characters. It's sort of a cheap gag, but it isn't overdone, and not embarrassing to any of the cast members.

And just because the are of the age when people listened to the Yardbirds doesn't mean they are very familiar with Salt n' Peppa and Motorhead. Those songs would still be foreign to them and they bluntness of the lyrics would be a bit of a surprise.

And there is no forcing about it. The group of seniors is quite willing and thrilled to be involved in their group.

Again, it's not a great film, but it's enjoyable and entirely harmless. I think if you see it you'll see that you contentions about it are far off base.

[–] billk1972 11 years ago

Careful with that skewer grampa. You dismissively refer to Let's Talk About Sex as an example of "today's desiccated pop songbook". Today's? Really??? By that crusty logic we should also lump it in with the 60's-era music you so clearly venerate - since it was released closer to that time than this. The cultural shame belongs to you, not those lucky enough to be born after.

[–] Vashbul 11 years ago

You are so right. I didn't mean to pick on "Let's Talk About Sex", bad as it is, but because it was used in the trailer, I had no choice. Believe me when I say, there's desiccated and there's desiccated, and at least they didn't have Auto-Tune back then to make it even worse.

My comment had less to do with music per se and more to do with how boring youth culture is now compared to how it was when Terence and Vanessa were part of it. Cold fact.

[–] bs008 11 years ago

Eh, no, Vashbul. This is not "cold fact". You may have this opinion, and I know many others will agree with you. I may or may not do so, that does not matter. The point, neither you nor anyone else has the right to tell anyone elso what is and what isn´t good music. Nothing gives you that right. To quote Dara O´Briain, how silly it is to quarrel about what sets of sounds are the "right" ones, the ones it is permitted to like. Good music is the music that you like. Bad music is music that you don´t. There is no objective truth about which is which.

[–] benman46 11 years ago

Let's Talk about Sex was released in 1991 so not closer to the sixties.

[–] billk1972 11 years ago

Might want to do the maths there.
Tempus fugit, eh?