Songs about the bad things about fame.

[Blazer]

As all famous people will tell you, fame comes at a price and that price is that one has to abandon their chances of having something of a private life. Fans will find out your private phone number and go to far lengths to meet their idol.

Worse still are the paparazzi, they exploit every means to get a scoop and are not afraid to resort to tresspassing and even burglary to get the stuff that will end up in the magazines.

Needless to say, there are a lot of Artists who wrote songs about that and I figure it to be fun to show those songs.

First up, here's John Lennon's "I found out" in which he speaks his disdain towards the Beatles' Fans who kept on showing up on his property seeing him as some kind of a saint.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7hdXZTm4Qk

If there's one artist who has had to deal with the media in the worst way over and over again then I guess it would be Michael Jackson. In the eighties he was featured almost daily in the tabloids and most of the stories printed were not true, so as a final request for a little peace he issued the single "Leave me alone" and the music video that came with him shows him as a living theme park.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So-kNWU02QY

And to close it off here's the man who's fax machine was tapped by the tabloid press which gave them an unwanted carte blanche look into his maritial problems, which became a bestseller and damaged the man's reputation in his own country to such an extend that when he won an Oscar for the score of Disney's "Tarzan" it wasn't even mentioned on Brittish news broadcasts or in the paper. This man also had to endure indecent proposals from female tabloid journalists, searching for some dirt they could publish. Finally Phil Collins had enough of it and wrote a song in which he told thise pesky tabloid reporters the truth. In "Wear my hat" he basically tell them "try living my life being pestered and see how long you can last." Also have a look at who appears in the music video that came with that song...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlklbPvKfb4

[OnlineStageGear]

Most artists can lead a very private life if they choose to. When you date people like Tommy Lee did, then the paparazzi will have a field day with you. I don't seem to remember seeing Mick Mars or Nikki Six being followed every day by the paparazzi. If you lead a somewhat normal life, that is boring from the tabloid's point of view and you probably won't see much of the paparazzi.

Matt

[VitaminG]

yup. I've seen quite a few interviews with actors over the last few years where they've stated that unless they have a new movie to promote, they stay away from red carpet events, awards nights, movie premiers, noted celebrity nightspots/restaurants/cafes, etc. and are able to lead fairly normal lives. Not living in LA or NY helps too, apparently. Travelling to a ranch in Idaho to get pics of a lone celeb shovelling pigshit on their farm apparently limits the number of other celebs a paparazzi can photograph, so they are loathe to do it. They'd much rather hang out in a metropolis where they can photograph a bunch of different celebs in one day. More chances to earn more money

[Cygnus X1]

Just look at the sarcastic meaning behind "Life's Been Good", by Joe Walsh.

A lot of people didn't "get" that song for what it really was.

[AlexL]

Not living in LA or NY helps too, apparently.

It does.

Bob Dylan's summer home was 3/4 mile down the road from me when I was growing up (Hanover, MN, population about 650 at the time). I knew his kids (Jessie, Jacob, etc.) and used to play softball with them in our town's summer softball program. I even traded beer cans with them (remember the 70s?), and would have them over to my house.

Bob used to jog along county road 19 in a blue windbreaker with the hood pulled over his head, with the drawstring on the hood face pulled tight so he only had a small hole to see out of, no doubt trying to hide his identity. He would do this during some of the damn hot days that we have during our Minnesota summers.

But the reality is, no one cared. I don't mean that in a mean-spirited way; we just weren't fussed that Bob Dylan lived by us ("we" meaning the whole town). We respected his privacy, and we would have considered it rude to bother him. He could have avoided the whole windbreaker thing and worn a t-shirt, and still no one would have bothered him. And it would have been the same for any other celebrity that lived by us.


- E.

[Bri]

Maybe it's because I'm a former Minnesotan, but I don't think people in L.A. are any different. I've seen celebs countless times and I don't bug them and I don't see anyone else bugging them either. I think most people who get hounded by the paparazzi are asking for it by their actions. Not saying it's right. L.A. is whatever you make it. Those that think L.A. is all "Hollywood" and fake boobs need to get out and explore.

[Rsmacker]

Michael Jackson. In the eighties he was featured almost daily in the tabloids and most of the stories printed were not true, so as a final request for a little peace he issued the single "Leave me alone" and the music video that came with him shows him as a living theme park.

Yep, and we all know which part of him was the kiddies' playground. Fucking loon.

Finally Phil Collins had enough of it and wrote a song in which he told thise pesky tabloid reporters the truth. In "Wear my hat" he basically tell them "try living my life being pestered and see how long you can last."

Fuck Phil Collins, there's a reason he was targetted to be shown up as the arrogant prick that he is - namely the way he insulted his homeland, the ordinary people who buy his records and how completely up his own arse he became when he fucked off to Switzerland to become a tax exile. Absolutely no sympathy for him, I'm afraid, they didn't just pick him at random because he was one of the most successful artists at that time, if he'd just quietly slithered off to his tax haven no-one would have given a toss.
Anyone who tells his wife he's divorcing them by sending her a fax is a cunt anyway in my book, not to mention the way he portrayed a low-life petty thief as some kind of Gor-blimey folk hero when that scumbag should really have swung for murder (Buster).

I don't like Phil fucking Collins.

[Musician78]

Wow, I never knew that about Phil Collins. I know that back in the day when people would ask him for money, he would send them some, which is pretty cool.

He was a hell of a drummer back when Gabriel fronted Genesis.... too bad that lineup had to change.... I haven't liked them since Steve Hackett left. > One of the greatest prog rock bands turned into one of the worst pop bands..... >

[Endrik]

LA has its share of nutjobs, many celebs (mostly those who are known for something else than talent) call or let their agents/managers call to certain folks so the paparazzi would know where they are... lame ass self-exploitation. The celebs are everywhere, the normal/talented ones act like decent folks and don't bring the whole paparazzi-mafia along with them, they don't need to show off themselves, they do it through their art. If the art side is not strong then I guess people do all kinds of shit to let their name to be heard. Also, not that I'm into it but most of the celebs are cool if you want to take a picture with them.

[Blazer]

Fuck Phil Collins, there's a reason he was targetted to be shown up as the arrogant prick that he is - namely the way he insulted his homeland, the ordinary people who buy his records and how completely up his own arse he became when he fucked off to Switzerland to become a tax exile. Absolutely no sympathy for him, I'm afraid, they didn't just pick him at random because he was one of the most successful artists at that time, if he'd just quietly slithered off to his tax haven no-one would have given a toss.
Anyone who tells his wife he's divorcing them by sending her a fax is a cunt anyway in my book, not to mention the way he portrayed a low-life petty thief as some kind of Gor-blimey folk hero when that scumbag should really have swung for murder (Buster).

I don't like Phil fucking Collins.

Heh, the reasons you name him for here is a direct result of his treatment in the papparazzi, he was so succesful that people were getting tired of him and they craved dirt on him so they could set him aside, so they tapped his house and got an unwanted carte blanche into something he and his ex would love to have kept behind closed doors. He deflected to Switserland because of the unwanted attention.

And as for condemning him because of him playing a crook in a movie... Tch that says more about you as a person than about Phil Collins as a person.

Hey let's be honest, you probably would love being in his place, wouldn't you? Think of it, he played on a dumpload of legendary rock records, has produced records for the royalty of rock, is a multi millionaire, what's not to envy about him?

Rock on Phil!

[Blazer]

Wow, I never knew that about Phil Collins. I know that back in the day when people would ask him for money, he would send them some, which is pretty cool.

He was a hell of a drummer back when Gabriel fronted Genesis.... too bad that lineup had to change.... I haven't liked them since Steve Hackett left. > One of the greatest prog rock bands turned into one of the worst pop bands..... >

Oh come on, "the worst of pop bands", that's like comparing them to the Backstreet boys. And even on their most pop sounding record "Invisible touch" there's two incredible Prog songs "Domino" and "the Brazillian"

[Musician78]

Maybe not the worst pop bands... but seriously after producing such awesome musical masterpieces as Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and Selling England by the Pound.... I cringe..... Without Hackett and Gabriel, I really don't feel it.... I don't care how proggish it may be... although Trick of the Tail was pretty good... but alas... Steve Hackett was on it...

Just my opinion.

[Rsmacker]

Heh, the reasons you name him for here is a direct result of his treatment in the papparazzi, he was so succesful that people were getting tired of him and they craved dirt on him so they could set him aside, so they tapped his house and got an unwanted carte blanche into something he and his ex would love to have kept behind closed doors. He deflected to Switserland because of the unwanted attention.

And as for condemning him because of him playing a crook in a movie... Tch that says more about you as a person than about Phil Collins as a person.

Hey let's be honest, you probably would love being in his place, wouldn't you? Think of it, he played on a dumpload of legendary rock records, has produced records for the royalty of rock, is a multi millionaire, what's not to envy about him?

Rock on Phil!

No, the reason he went to Switzerland was to avoid paying his taxes, fuck all to do with the pap, purely and simply a financial decision.

Now that's fair enough, I can't say that I'm exactly over the moon about paying my taxes, but then I didn't have a smash hit called "Another Day in Paradise", all about homeless people. The taxes on the £130million that slapheaded cunt is worth would help a lot of people at the bottom of the social spectrum, and wouldn't exactly cramp his style either. He wouldn't even miss it. That makes him a cunt.

You are spot on, I would trade places with him in a heartbeat, but I like to think I wouldn't be such an arrogant prick. His musical output is, to me, bland and uninspiring. But, he managed to sell the records, so fair play to him. I can't see why he sells so well, but that's not my problem with him. It's because he's a cunt.

As for his portrayal of Buster Edwards. Well, it's not the fact he portrayed a crook in a film, it's the way the Great Train Robbers are made out to be chirpy, salt-of-the-earth folk heroes, when in fact they clubbed a 58 yr old unarmed, co-operating train driver with a cosh, leaving him with injuries from which he never recovered, never went back to work. (Yep, my grandad was a train driver at that time, and I believe he had driven mail trains, so it could have been him clubbed unconscious by a shower of thieving vermin).

If he'd have made a serious film about the event, fair enough, but to make it into a lighthearted comedy/drama affair, well that makes him a cunt, in the same way that if Mick Jagger had done Ned Kelly as a slapstick film, he'd have been a cunt too. Perhaps you are right, it does say something about me that I find violent thuggish thieves to be the scum of the earth. I'm looking forward to Phil Collins' light-hearted bio-pic of Ian Brady, with the cunt doing bland cover versions of Brady & Hindley's favourite hits playing in the background. Cunt.

"Bob Geldof's put Phil Collins on a plane to Philadelphia. There's nothing going on there this year, we just wanted the cunt out of the way" - Ricky Gervais about the 20th Anniversary of Live Aid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NesjvRihbEg&feature=related

Phil Collins: Nonce Sense - gullible twat!

[Blazer]

If there's any to blame about the movie "Buster" blame the the one who wrote the screenplay, Collins was just doing what an actor does: say the lines and play out his role. He wasn't gloryfying the life of a criminal, the ones who wrote the screenplay of the movie did.

And if Geldof really wanted Collins away from Wembley then why did he praise Collins for setting up his drums and getting his sound right in under five minutes when "Do they know it's Christmas?' was recorded, Geldof was worried that when he called Collins up and Collins insisted on playing drums that it would take him at least a week to get the miking done exactly right and all the other bullshit drummers do to get their sound going in the studio. But Collins surprised him by not only doing all that in no time whatsoever but also by bringing the song to live with his drumming, Geldof had nothing but praise about Collins' professionalism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L3OP4MkWW8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbWz2Z6TAJQ

[Rsmacker]

If there's any to blame about the movie "Buster" blame the the one who wrote the screenplay, Collins was just doing what an actor does: say the lines and play out his role. He wasn't gloryfying the life of a criminal, the ones who wrote the screenplay of the movie did.

I remember the smug cunt when the film came out, he turned my stomach, I don't recall him ever condemning the Train Robbers (the film-makers did refrain from releasing the film to cinemas in Crewe, home town of the driver, "out of respect".)
The only reason Collins did the film was because that other "genuine" cock-er-nee Gor-Blimey salt-of-the-earth character actor Dick Van Dyke was busy. Or something. Probably.

And if Geldof really wanted Collins away from Wembley

Dude, Ricky Gervais is a comedian, Geldof didn't actually say that, it was a joke.