What is the VU fan's Holy Trinity of Music?

Elvis Plebsley · Post by **Elvis Plebsley** » 30 Sep 2006 15:05

I've got to say that I like that "Secular Rock Triangle" solution to the holy trinity

iaredatsun · Post by **iaredatsun** » 30 Sep 2006 15:37

Elvis Plebsley wrote:As for Pere Ubu, I've listened to them and my response has tended to be, "so what?". I keep thinking that one day I'll hear what ubu fans are banging on about, but so far no good. And not having the band on the cover is hardly revolutionary is it? It's just marketing and it's the stuff that's inside that counts.

Maybe it depends on which Ubu album you listen to. The later ones were really not to my taste and give a very different picture. I didn't mean to imply that Ubu were revolutionary in not using band photos - I was illustrating your point that 'it's the stuff inside that counts' and that it was a part of their overall approach to working in the business on their own terms. For a band that signed to Chrysalis for two uncommercial Lps they did manage (at their cost) to avoid much in the way of marketing and image manufacture but of course they had LP covers which are product packaging like any other and acknowledged as such - but they were designed to the band's brief ('get on with it') by their life-long designer and collaborator John Thompson

Anyway, I know plenty of rock, punk and new wave fans who dont like them either. I wont say that 'its a religious thing' but its always personal and philosophical. I just wanted to draw attention to what I think was an equally seminal band (to VU) and now this ubu fan is going to stop 'banging on' about them.

MJG196 · Post by **MJG196** » 30 Sep 2006 17:14

Elvis Plebsley wrote:I've got to say that I like that "Secular Rock Triangle" solution to the holy trinity

I have a feeling a new thread needs to be started on this topic, but...

Oh boy...is that was this board is coming to? A forum for a group that played about drugs, S&M, homosexuality and death...solo artists that came up w/ great tunes like I Wanna Be Black...people are offended at a "Holy Trinity" metaphor? This is ridiculous.

"Secular Rock Triangle" is a solution to what? By saying something is a solution, that implies that something needs to be solved. I don't even know what that means. It also implies a closed loop. That is the exact opposite of what the "Holy Trinity of Rock" metaphor means - something to be aspired to...that has followers...that people believe and have faith in.

Are people offended at songs like Alice In Chains "Main In A Box" or the superb rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar?" Did you throw away your hip-hop records when they slandered Jews and Asians and gays? Do people burn Moz records because they are calling for the death of politicians...or mocking religion? After all, Moz wore a minister's collar for part of his You Are the Quarry Tour. He even had the balls to FORGIVE JESUS! Imagine that?!

Did people throw away their Jim Carroll "Catholic Boy" LP when they heard these lyrics:

I was a Catholic child
The blood ran red
The blood ran wild
I make angels dance and drop to their knees
When I enter a church the feet of statues bleed
I understand the fate of all my enemies
Just like Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane

I think this forum is the very last place for political correctness. The bands we listen to sing about the wonders of smashing Commandments in a thousand different ways, and I am cool with that.

OK..rant over...

GroovyMusic · Post by **GroovyMusic** » 30 Sep 2006 18:17

All you guys and talking about all this stuff I've never heard of...

LCB · Post by **LCB** » 01 Oct 2006 07:13

mg196 wrote:
LCB wrote:....August 23rd, 1989 was the day "College Music" became "Alternative"....
LCB, where was that label given? Rolling Stone Rag...er...Magazine?

Oh, the greatest pop-song never heard? "Here Comes Your Man"

Nah...it was the first day I heard Soundgarden....

Elvis Plebsley · Post by **Elvis Plebsley** » 01 Oct 2006 15:42

he he he...

mg196 I wasn't the least bit offended by the "holy trinity" thing; I thought the "secular rock triangle" was a funny response to it. That's all.

As far as I'm concerned, you can say whatever you like, however you like

MJG196 · Post by **MJG196** » 01 Oct 2006 23:16

Elvis Plebsley wrote:he he he...

mg196 I wasn't the least bit offended by the "holy trinity" thing; I thought the "secular rock triangle" was a funny response to it. That's all.

As far as I'm concerned, you can say whatever you like, however you like

Phew! Alright...I thought the crew was getting a little soft in here! Thankfully everyone is normal!!

waldo jeffers · Post by **waldo jeffers** » 03 Oct 2006 00:54

Bit late in coming to this thread, so bear with me as I chime in with my 2 cents worth regarding Ubu.

For me, The Modern Dance is a great LP; I think much of that may have to do with the fact that there's still something of Peter Laughner within its grooves. As long as Laughner was in the band there was someone to keep David Thomas from getting his head too far up his own asshole. Of course, Laughner's self destructive tendencies pretty much wrote his ticket out of Ubu for him but chances are the Laughner/Thomas alliance was pretty much doomed to a short lifespan right from the start. A band with 2 such strong personalities is bound to fall apart in some way, shape or form, and there will be a casualty. Just look at Reed/Cale in the VU.

Doctor Bob · Post by **Doctor Bob** » 11 Oct 2006 20:41

My holy trinity of music is Velvets/Lou Reed solo/John Cale solo

Is that cheating?

Kink Floyd · Post by **Kink Floyd** » 17 Oct 2006 23:37

Well for an average Velvet Underground fan, I would suspect that their holy trinity of music would be something like...The Velvet Underground/David Bowie/The Stooges.