Top 5 grumpiest old men in music
Live fast, die young. The archetypal formula applying to generations
of rock stars, where it appears that to remain immortally cool, maintain an
aura of mystique, and be an extensive topic of fascination, it is best to either
expire by the age of 27, or become a recluse. Some stars however appear to have
ignored this determinist formula and have remarkably somehow survived the
strains of the rock n roll life (the hardships of unlimited money, women, booze
and drugs) and either become the first pensioners to regularly playing in front
of an audience of 40, 000 people, or retreat into rock retirement, occasionally
popping up to give their elusive take on why everything’s rubbish these days,
and to rudely knock back the fans who bought their records which and made them
the wealthy men they are today. This is the top 5 of the grumpiest of grumpiest
of old rock stars, the ones who only smile when they receive another huge
royalty cheque. By default the list excludes cringe worthy ‘self-proclaimed’
grumpy old rock stars, so the list doesn't include Rick Wakeman.
5) Gary Moore
Sadly passed away in
2011, no doubt a legendary guitarist, who doesn't love Parisienne Walkways http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyTHJ40pasM,
and amassed an impressive discography of high quality blues albums. A respected
musician as he was however, Moore was renowned for being miserable in his later
years and being especially cold towards fans in his last days, barely
communicating with his audience when performing live and often seen rudely dismissing
fans that tried to approach him.
4) Bob Geldof
You can only applaud
his efforts for trying to 'make poverty history', but the notoriously grumpy
Geldof seems to sometimes forget his musical efforts with the Boomtown Rats
aren't exactly held with the same acclaim as his poverty fighting efforts, with
the release of The Best of the Boomtown
Rats in 2003 making a very unflattering number 43 in the UK album chart. Often
slagging off fellow musicians in a Noel Gallagher esque fashion, here he is
calling Russell Brand a C*** at the 2006 NME awards- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwzDyQRARE0.
3) Lou Reed
Legendary songwriter and Velvet Underground front man Lou
Reed is a notoriously difficult man to interview, once describing journalists
as “disgusting. Mainly the English. They’re pigs.” He’s been known to answer
questions in monosyllables, give blatant lies as answers and reduced
interviewers to tears. He’s also been
known to be rude to fans who approach him, and to those around him in public
such as this exchange in a Starbucks once- http://gizmodo.com/5856630/so-lou-reed-walks-into-a-starbucks
2) Ginger Baker
Arguably one of the greatest drummers of all time, who was
in one of the first so called 'super groups' in Cream, you can watch hours of
footage of Baker in awe of his incredible ability on the kit. These days
however, Baker is known for being incredibly grumpy, and almost seems to
embrace such a tag in recent media appearances. Fellow musicians who worked
with Baker such as Jens Johansson claimed that Baker complained about
everything, disliked touring and is extremely hostile to journalists.http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=16489.
During an interview appearance on the Jools Holland show in 2010, after his
interview where he had little to say other than that he was no longer involved
in the music industry, Baker simply walked off the set rather stay for the rest
of the show, which caused confusion when Holland went to talk to Baker again
later. Some have speculated that Baker's heavy drug abuse of the past caused
him to become extremely grumpy and have a short fuse.http://thecollectivereview.com/harry-shapiro/ginger-baker-born-under-a-bad-sign.html.
Whatever the reason, don't expect Baker to start a career in children's
entertainment anytime soon.
1) Ringo Starr
Here is a video of Ringo Starr in his twenties in the
Beatles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-EAvTCZV50,
here is a video of Ringo in his sixties telling his fans he wants no more
fan-mail http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpd24yVy5C4.
Ringo Starr encompasses all that is the grumpy old rock star. He's not the
blueprint, or the prototype, he’s the finished article. Seen as the 'funny' one
in the Beatles, the cheeky chappy who everybody liked despite not being the
most gifted member in the band musically, the one who lit up in interviews with
witty responses and funny stories, has turned into a grumpy, almost bitter old
man who appears to simply wanting to be left alone, and even slating his own
home City Liverpool by claiming he didn't miss anything about it, angering
local Liverpudlians http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-13509119,
all at the same time that fans were fighting to stop the bulldozers turning the
home he grew up in Madryn Street in Toxteth being turned into rubble. Starr's
grumpy nature is a particularly difficult pill to swallow for music fans
considering that in the UK especially his most significant contribution to the
world in the past 30 years has been his narration of Thomas the Tank Engine,
only die-hard Ringo fans would be able to list Starr's last 10 albums off the
top of their head. Whereas his fellow Beatles compatriot Paul McCartney, who
unlike Starr is a true living musical genius, still comes across with a cheery
and hospitable attitude to the press and fans despite being asked the same
questions for the last 50 odd years, Starr, who used to wing-it with his lovable and
charming personality shielding his average musical ability, just seems like he
wishes he'd never been in the Beatles at all. His fan-mail video just sums it
up- asking the fans "with peace and love" to STOP SENDING ME
F*&%£NG FAN MAIL.
