Great Pop Things

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Was "Great Pop Things" by Chuck Death (Jon Langford from the Mekons) and Colin B Morton entirely the best thing about the NME ever? Rereading it this morning (as I'm bored)I'm beginning to think so. Any thoughts?

― commonswings, Thursday, 25 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It was pretty great, one of the only things about said rag that was consistently funny. Intentionally funny, anyway.

― Nicole, Thursday, 25 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

So, so brilliant. We got it over here in LA via the LA Weekly for many years -- they might still have it, but I don't read it as often. Picked up one of the collections a couple of years back, insanely funny stuff. Doesn't have everything in it that I'd want -- the Manics demolition in particular -- but otherwise, hurrah. Fave strips: their Morrissey visions. Beautiful.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 25 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It's the best example of pop criticism anywhere ever, let alone the NME, Record Mirror or LA Freesheet. They treat the mythologisation and over-analysis of pop music with the respect it truly deserves, i.e. none.

― Snotty Moore, Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

God Record Mirror was fab - i wish it was still with us.

― , Friday, 26 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

three years pass...

I've been re-reading this again. God I love it. Maybe the funniest book about music ever.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 08:24 (twenty years ago)

did they ever continue it in some form after the Verse Chorus Press book?

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 08:26 (twenty years ago)

Never heard of it before. Wow, just the two examples cited here make it the best thing ever. I must own this.

― naranjito (Koens), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 08:36 (twenty years ago)

the "fantastic steve morrissey joke":

"knock knock."
"who's there?"
"morrissey."
"morrissey who?"
"...see, i told you i didn't have any friends."

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 08:45 (twenty years ago)

http://www.ellipsis.com/pop/madonna.02/images/p1.gif

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 08:57 (twenty years ago)

Wow, just the two examples cited here make it the best thing ever. I must own this.

Be warned that the repro on that edition was so poor as to make the strips, while not actually unreadable, at least unenjoyable.

― kit brash (kit brash), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 11:39 (twenty years ago)

I'd been meaning to get the collection of these for a while, so is there a definitive edition to go for if the one above is dodgy?

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 11:44 (twenty years ago)

The above one isn't dodgy at all, it's perfectly readable.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 12:01 (twenty years ago)

What did you find unenjoyable about that edition, Kit Brash?

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 12:36 (twenty years ago)

The print quality is grayed-out and the lines are fuzzy, as though scanned at low-res, and pre-press done by people with no experience of reproducing line-art for print. It's not as bad as, say, the Ray Lowry cartoons in the reissue of Johnny Green's Clash book (they look like ten-year old faxes), but if you're used to seeing Langford's blacks and brush-lines hold up on newsprint, it's appalling to see them look so poor in an actual book where you're actually paying to read them.

There's no definitive collection, sadly - there were two nice, if slim, Penguin collections in the early '90s, and the VCP edition obviously didn't do well enough to warrant more volumes.

(above comments based on memory, I'll try and find one in a bookshop tomorrow to confirm or refute my impressions.)

― kit brash (kit brash), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 14:12 (twenty years ago)

the "fantastic steve morrissey joke"

I have quoted that one more times than I can count.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 15:04 (twenty years ago)

I especially love "Dumb Questions in Rock (They tried to change the world with a bunch of dumb questions)":

Bob Dylan: "How many roads must a man walk down before they call him a man?"
Answer: "12"

The Three Degrees: "When will I see you again?"
Answer: "3:45 p.m. next Tuesday afternoon in Batley, West Yorkshire"

String: "Do the Russians love their children too?"
Answer: "Yes, very much (source: suppressed C.I.A. intelligence report circa 1982)"

Rod Stewart: "Do you think I'm sexy?"
Answer: "Don't be so ridiculous you dirty old bugger you're lucky I don't come round your mansion and unplug your bloody life support machine!!!!"

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 12 January 2006 10:47 (twenty years ago)

Works better w/the pictures obv. Plus I love others more but that one translates just as words better than most.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 12 January 2006 10:47 (twenty years ago)

Whatever happened to cartoonists in the music press? NME had Lowry, Benyon, Steven Appleby and all the other inkies had some at one time or another. Time for a revival I'd say.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Thursday, 12 January 2006 11:00 (twenty years ago)

i like the "they tried to change the world" running gag:

on hendrix: "he tried to change the world with his teeth."

on madonna: "she tried to change organize religion with her underwear outside her clothes."

on pj harvey: "she tried to change the world in her fake-leopard-fur fifty-foot invisible-bunny costume."

on oasis: "they tried to change the world with their eyebrow music."

on frank zappa: "he tried to change the world with this sort of square beardy thing in the middle of his chin."

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Thursday, 12 January 2006 11:05 (twenty years ago)

another classic: the story of "herb j goodman," (name changed to protect the guilty) author of "elvis: voodoo sex zombie!" and "mother teresa: hot bimbo from hell" as well as a book about gandhi which claimed he "gave hitler the idea to start WWII."

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Thursday, 12 January 2006 11:05 (twenty years ago)

I looked again: washed-out not as much of a problem as I thought (though the blacks really don't hold in non-camera repro) but I was OTM re scanning - all the lines have wee jaggies, and it's especially bad on the lettering which makes reading FUCKING PAINFUL

― kit brash (kit brash), Thursday, 12 January 2006 11:46 (twenty years ago)

Is there a better quality edition I could get (that you can link to)?

― naranjito (Koens), Thursday, 12 January 2006 12:21 (twenty years ago)

"Whatever happened to cartoonists in the music press?"

Damn straight! I can't imagine an NME cartoon would be too great, cos even if they managed to get a big name like Pete Bagge Steve Sutherland wouldn't allow them to make fun of the NME bands.
The first few issues of Plan B had some wonderful Jeffrey Lewis strips in 'em, but no more! It's been downhill all the way for them since.

Great Pop Things is the daddy of music press strips and probably gave me a better musical education as a teenager than anything else.
Savage Pencil used to have good strips in Vox, but his three panel job in Wire is a bit lame.

Brain Emo! Bongo!

― stew!, Thursday, 12 January 2006 12:37 (twenty years ago)

Naranjito: here.

Great Pop Things so not the daddy, as B. Dods notes above - The Lone Groover and Lowry's panel were in the NME from the '70s, and Sounds used to be strip-packed (if not always very musicy). If anything, GPT and Dr Crawshaft's World Of Pop are the gay scions with whom the family line ended.

― kit brash (kit brash), Thursday, 12 January 2006 19:54 (twenty years ago)

steve albini feeds his cat!!!

"EAT THIS PUSSY!!"

― jim p. irrelevant (electricsound), Friday, 13 January 2006 01:39 (twenty years ago)

I know there have been other earlier GPT-style cartoons; maybe someone should do a collection. (Fantagraphics?)

Last night I refound my fave GPT panel: Henry Rollins reading from a book: "GET A LIFE PUSSY!" Made me laugh for five minutes, again.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 13 January 2006 05:40 (twenty years ago)

I need this NOW. I cannot stop laughing at that Madonna panel.

― disco violence (disco violence), Friday, 13 January 2006 06:54 (twenty years ago)

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