Bramble wrote:Are you are just way too fucking jaded to have a good time ?

This is exactly why I dislike the music. I am the Whistler's fucking Mother of music selection.

Bramble wrote:At the very least his work as co-producer with his wife over the past 20 years should be enough to gain your respect. He knows what he wants, he hears it in his head and he makes it come to life.

So what.

The dude from Coldplay does this. Don Henley does this. Jimmy Buffett does this. Dave Matthews does this. Etc. etc.

I don't actively dislike Tom Waits as a guy, but I do avoid his music.

The fact that it's just the way he likes it probably means a lot to him, and it should, but it means nothing to me.

tmidgett wrote:
The dude from Coldplay does this. Don Henley does this. Jimmy Buffett does this. Dave Matthews does this. Etc. etc.

I don't actively dislike Tom Waits as a guy, but I do avoid his music.

The fact that it's just the way he likes it probably means a lot to him, and it should, but it means nothing to me.

You have to admit (or maybe you don't) the sounds in Tom's head are way cooler then the sounds in those other dudes heads. I mean come on Buffet, Matthews ? They may self produce but their production doesn't make you go hmmmmm the way Tom and Kathleen's does.

This provides all too much support for the "His Fans" argument.

oops.

You have to admit (or maybe you don't) the sounds in Tom's head are way cooler then the sounds in those other dudes heads. I mean come on Buffet, Matthews ? They may self produce but their production doesn't make you go hmmmmm the way Tom and Kathleen's does.

jimmy buffet puts out sincere-ly bad music for the 40 year olds that want to get drunk on stadium margaritas, in the sun, near their home so they can tail-gate without much effort and relive their college days when they had less responsibility. now i can't come up with a reason why someone would listen to dave mathews, but i believe he is definitely sincere and terrible.

tom waits not only has a shtick, but one that represents the hard-working guy who is having a hard time. that dude is rich! slumming it is a bummer to witness. he should pick another character, maybe he wouldn't be so bad. that closing time record is pretty good if you like 70's am- like i do. i also recommend early hall & oats. daryl halls voice is amazing! tom waits reminds me of that one-man show the fever
http://www.graphesthesia.com/ws/plays/fever.html
i think wallace shawn is probably a great guy, but that monologue...

Over the years, (and pre-internet days), Tom's mystique always seemed to work in his favour in my case because you rarely got the chance to see him exposed in any way apart from his albums or occasional films etc. Nowadays I find my respect for the guy taking a sharp downturn because of this sort of thing. It's a shame, because he's about to become the age he's always wanted to be, and if he relaxed the whole PR character it could be so good.

My girlfriend bought me the collected interviews and its same thing. He's really got something of a superiority complex going on, which is utterly paradoxical for his would-be hobo persona. Seems like the guy is totally unwilling to interact with other humans at a basic level and attempts to steer every encounter in the same direction i.e. him calling the shots because he is Tom Waits. One day some interviewer might just turn round to him and say "Go fuck yourself Tom! If I'd wanted a list of irrelevant facts, I'd be playing Trivial Pursuit, not sat in front of you like a dog while you refuse to talk about your record."

heather wrote:

You have to admit (or maybe you don't) the sounds in Tom's head are way cooler then the sounds in those other dudes heads.

jimmy buffet puts out sincere-ly bad music for the 40 year olds that want to get drunk on stadium margaritas, in the sun, near their home so they can tail-gate without much effort and relive their college days when they had less responsibility. now i can't come up with a reason why someone would listen to dave mathews, but i believe he is definitely sincere and terrible.

You have to admit (or maybe you don't) the sounds in Tom's head are way cooler then the sounds in those other dudes heads.

I'm not saying Tom is more/less sincere about his schtick.I 'm not concerned with schtick. I want to be entertained. I want to hear cool sounds, good lyrics.

I'm just saying the sounds that come out of Tom's schitck are way cooler then the sounds that come out of those other dudes schtick. You honestly don't hear a difference in the level of creativity between Buffet's music and Wait's music? I think Tom has had a few more good ideas come out of his scull then Buffet has, and I, sadly, own Havana Day dreaming, on vinyl. Big Rig Baby.

For a bunch of nice people, you're all batshit crazy. This hobo schtick everyone keeps talking about, did he end this about twenty years ago? I thought his schtick was "I'm a happily married family man that like to keep my private life private."

He doesn't like interviewing and makes a joke out of it. He steers the interview away from his personal life and pretentious question about the why's of his music and tells a humorous anecdote. It's funny.

Maybe batshit crazy was a bit harsh