Songwriting legend Joni Mitchell says it was the industry machine that made her famous that eventually drove her away from her passion.
“I will not go through that process again,” Mitchell admits to interviewer Rosanna Arquette in the rock documentary “All We Are Saying.” “I don’t think there’s anybody in the industry that likes the music. … I think there’s a general policy of ‘hate the artists.'”
It’s no secret that traditional touring rockers hate the way media conglomerates, MTV and pop music have changed the face of music. But Arquette’s film, which airs on Showtime on March 8, gathers together an overwhelming collection of testimonials on the subject by artists like Sting, Elton John, David Crosby, Steven Tyler, Peter Gabriel and Tom Petty.
“There was a time when our catalogue was worth $24 million, now it’s worth like 12 cents,” moans Tyler, Aerosmith’s lead singer. “Why? Because anybody can download anything on the Internet. The only thing an artist today is worth is his happiness, integrity and hard tickets.”
“When I look at it now, it looks like professional wrestling to me,” whines Petty. Fans “know it’s fake, but they don’t really care.” Arquette, who also interviewed younger stars like will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas, Macy Gray and Gwen Stefani, said part of what she wanted to look at in her film was this sense of despair for the industry.
“Most true artists care about music as a pure, passionate art form, but can get caught in the trap of the business,” Arquette explained. “Which, sadly, has now become more important than the artist or even the music itself.”
The big media companies who run the labels “haven’t a clue,” lamented Crosby, of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. They “wouldn’t know a song if it flew up their noses and died … . That’s what puts Britney Spears, who is about as deep as a birdbath, in front of Joni Mitchell.” As for Pretenders lead singer Chrissy Hynde, she has her own problems with modern rock.
“Fashion has destroyed everything I like about rock and roll,” she laughed. “It was a blow to me when I got pregnant and had to wear a nursing bra on stage.”
That, Hynde says, she got over quickly.
“[Bleep] it, if I wear it, it’s rock!”
All this from NY Daily News.
