University of South Carolina Libraries
The 'royal we' with Rob and Kevin Wfe are not strangers to popular culture these days. We just choose to ignore and, quite often, lash out against it. For example, we do not particularly care for 98.9 percent of the stuff that is played on popular ra dio. No sir, we just don’t like it. MTV? Give us a break. It has been out of the pic ture since they started endorsing krap like Kom and Limp Bizkit. Rolling Stone is now a loss. It hasn’t been worth the trouble or money recently. If you have a sub scription, you can easily document the decline of the once-illustrious magazine. It isn’t because the staff of these mediums have gone.to hell, it’s just the pop cultrue. Let’s face it, it sucks right now. Those kids had a reason to set fires at Woodstock. They realized they had just paid too much money to see crap. It wasn’t a cry for help. It was a cry for their money back. We’re right on this one. Trust us. That fire, though nearly a year old, might have been a sign that these kids are fed up with the cook ie-cutter crap on the radio these days. Maybe they aren’t so sure that Kid Rock is the rebel they were looking for. Maybe Lou Bega is just asking for too much. Maybe Smashmouth have worn their welcome. Even MTV is showing signs of uncertainty and dis comfort. It might realize the mess it have gotten itself into, because we have seen signs that.it are trying to dig itself out. MTV has been working on a mock boy band called 2together. There has been a mock video, and we be lieve a mock movie is on the way. The band is very stereotypical of boy bands, with the older brother, the cute one, the shy one, the heartthrob and the rebel. There are plenty of preview and teaser commer 11015 llldl IldVC 1I1ULK llllCl V1CW5 Willi LI1C UdIIU dliU 115 members. All seem to fit the proverbial boy band bill to the exact detail. While MTV is trying to be funny, it is frighteningly close to the truth, and we doubt it realizes it. The mock single “You + Me = Us (Calculus)” is another stab at cheesy love songs boy bands are so good at producing. Mixed with choreography and sweater vests, the video is a carbon copy of everything else you see on Total Request Live. It seems that MTV is trying to win back some of the fans that jumped ship when it started sinking into the sea of today’s pop culture. First of all, how can MTV start making fun of this teen-pop phenomenon when it was one of the main contributing factors to its initial success? That would be like Woody Harrelson telling people that marijua na is bad. It doesn’t add up. For MTV to support and endorse groups like The Backstreet Boys, N’Sync and 98 Degrees only to take a tongue-in-cheek stab at them is ridiculous. It doesn’t add up. Why would it turn its back on the same people that are making it money right now? Is it smelling the inevitable in the air? Maybe MTV is starting to re alize what we’ve known from the beginning: that this craze will crash and burn as these fans grow older and these teen idols go through puberty. Fads change with the seasons, and so does popular opinion. You’ll be looking at this stuff in the same manner that you i_i. _r__i \t_:ii_ t__ luurv ui jiuui Jiiuw cuiva luiimu iwv. uiuumo. Second, the whole mock boy-band idea was our friend Pete’s. He wrote a column on it last year. We think he has a legitimate copyright infringement case on those swine. Is there no originality in the world any more? Did we just ask that in the face of such an un original pop culture? Finally, we would just like to encourage you, Joe Bob Consumer, to not fall for this outrageous attempt at redemption. MTV just thinks that because most of you fell for it in the first place, you’ll come crawling to this cube of salt lick, as well. Prove them wrong and, more importantly, prove us right. WUSC-FM spring 2000 schedule Time slot * 12-2 a.m. Oc 2-4 a.m. 4-6 a.m. 6-8 a.m. 8-10 a.m. 10-noon 12-2 p.m. 2-4 p.m. 4-6 p.m. 6-8 p.m. 8-10 p.m. 10-midnight MONDAY Tug, with Dasional Music Peter A. Jim village u Variety Trent Niffer The Wasteland Breakneck. Punk Rock Radio Riot Hardcore HARDTIME LoudRock TUESDAY Audio Assault Mandy k'ovin Heard It Auditory Simulation The Girl Show Marquee Music Blues. Moor w/ DeLune Big Band Show The Connection WEDNESDAY Imperial Theater Audio XTC Adam C. & Bek. M rejuiumu s Revenge Supertwins Action Hou Scar Radio Richard H. The Revolution Revolution/ Wed. Shag Wed. Shag THURSDAY Chris F. The Dead Cow Show DJ Mclaine Justin DJ Smiley Russ B. Afterlight" Free Format Nonstop Hip-Hop FRIDAY Nonstop Hip-Hop Louis St. Jacques Matt R The Catacombs Late Nite with JMAC TGIF Ska mageddon La Voz Latina Locals Only SATURDAY Andy’s T Onslaught Red Bank Bar & Grill Onnl/ * UUi MX Bar & Grill Nate the Great Ghetto Hymns Easy Skanking Nick & CK Textures Dark Entries SUNDAY ug, with Occa sional Music Sunday Mom. U.AVU1 v>IVl Iv? Lone Gunman Radio Clash Radio Inferno Electric Podium Digital Dis tribution Heads Down wusc top 30 for week ending Feb. 4 1. Sex Mob- Solid Sender 2. Robert Pollard- Speak Kindly of your Volunteer Fire Department 3. Tim ORourke- Halfway to Three way 4. Mos Def- Black on Both Sides 5. DJ Spooky- Subliminded 6. Camper Van Chadboume- Re venge of... 7. Enigma- The Screen Behind the Mir ror 8. Charles Gayle- Ancient of Days 9. Blame- Two Revolutions 10. Kismet- North Atlantic Balkan Ex press 11. raLdima- s\oi 12. Songs:OHIA- The Lioness 13. Russel Mills- Pearl and Umbra 14. Crooked Fingers- S/T 15. Briggan Krauss- Descending to End 16. Kid Loco- DJ Kicks 17. Green Pajamas- 7 Fathoms Down and Falling 18. CaB/Flarence/Pow- These Are The Plans 19. Sadia- XpanderEp 20. Frigg- Brecht 21. Mogawi-EP+2 22. Snapcase- Designs For Automation 23. NOFX- The Decline 24. The Jesus Lizard- Bang 25. Black Heart Procession- SfT 26. The Kingsbury Manx- SfT 27. Knodel- The White Hole 28. Terry Calher- Lifetime 29. Richie Hawkins- Decks, Sets, and FX 30. V/A- Delicious Vinyl ADDS For Feb. 7 and 8 1. Gunga Din- Glitterati- JetSet 2. Ryuichi Sakamoto- Cinemage- Sony Classical 3. The Handsome Family- In the Air Carrot Top 4. Nick Cave- And the Ass Saw the An gel- Mute 5. Chip Taylor- The London Sessions