By Scary Barry Rodriguez August 26, 2011
Channel surfing to justify staying awake can result in cultural disaster. Just a couple of days ago it happened to me. One of the programs offered up for my viewing was " Sting In Berlin ". Backed by a large orchestra, complete with a big violin section, was Gordon Sumner AKA Sting getting his prodigious ego on. It was funky in the wrong way. Sting wearing some kind of black Bolero suit was posturing and smirking as only he can.
His pseudo jazz rendition of his Police era hit " Roxanne " was ridiculous. Holding a small guitar up and strumming for effect , Sting played to an audience that was enthralled with his Pop Icon image. If he sneezed in a dramatic way it would've been cause for an ovation. I wasn't impressed. Those old Police songs were catchy little tunes but Sting trying to channel Sinatra with such threadbare material was really stretching the meaning of entertainment.
Sting, Bono and to a lesser degree Elvis Costello come across as wannabe intellectuals,smog in their hipness and political awareness. I'm sure Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones has no time for such blatant ego tripping. Lucky for Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin that they passed on early and didn't have the chance to make clowns of themselves just to keep on the radar screen. Sting has done different things such as light opera but what I enjoyed the most was watching him play a hotel bellman in the Who movie Quadrophenia. That is the image of Gordon Sumner AKA Sting that I like. Humble and saying yes sir or right away sir ! All the way down to ground level. An actual human being. Yet he uses his celebrity to raise money for good causes so this I dig ! Anyone that is for the legalization of marijuana can't be all bad !
Courtesy of Scary Merlin Productions. BarryRodriguez (c) 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Channel surfing to justify staying awake can result in cultural disaster. Just a couple of days ago it happened to me. One of the programs offered up for my viewing was " Sting In Berlin ". Backed by a large orchestra, complete with a big violin section, was Gordon Sumner AKA Sting getting his prodigious ego on. It was funky in the wrong way. Sting wearing some kind of black Bolero suit was posturing and smirking as only he can.
His pseudo jazz rendition of his Police era hit " Roxanne " was ridiculous. Holding a small guitar up and strumming for effect , Sting played to an audience that was enthralled with his Pop Icon image. If he sneezed in a dramatic way it would've been cause for an ovation. I wasn't impressed. Those old Police songs were catchy little tunes but Sting trying to channel Sinatra with such threadbare material was really stretching the meaning of entertainment.
Sting, Bono and to a lesser degree Elvis Costello come across as wannabe intellectuals,smog in their hipness and political awareness. I'm sure Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones has no time for such blatant ego tripping. Lucky for Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin that they passed on early and didn't have the chance to make clowns of themselves just to keep on the radar screen. Sting has done different things such as light opera but what I enjoyed the most was watching him play a hotel bellman in the Who movie Quadrophenia. That is the image of Gordon Sumner AKA Sting that I like. Humble and saying yes sir or right away sir ! All the way down to ground level. An actual human being. Yet he uses his celebrity to raise money for good causes so this I dig ! Anyone that is for the legalization of marijuana can't be all bad !
Courtesy of Scary Merlin Productions. BarryRodriguez (c) 2011. All Rights Reserved.
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