Rolling Drone Gathers Little Class

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has confessed that he is “not a huge fan” of David Bowie.
Speaking recently to Uncut magazine, Richards said that ‘Changes’, which appears on Bowie’s fourth album ‘Hunky Dory’, was the only song by the artist that he could “remember”.

"It's all pose. It's all fucking posing. It's nothing to do with music He knows it too,” Richards said.
“I can't think of anything else he's done that would make my hair stand up."

Like anyone, Keith is entitled to think what he likes. As Bowie fan myself I cannot help but disagree with the 'glimmer twin', but since we're on the topic of knocking other artists, let me throw my hat into the ring. You know who I find to be an insufferable bore? Keith Richards!

I adore The Rolling Stones. They have made some of the greatest albums of all time. 'Let It Bleed' would always in my top ten and Keith was key to all that was good and great about The Stones. But lets cut the crap - the guy has been having the same conversation for the last thirty years and The Stones' last decent album came out in the early '70s, 'Exile on Main Street'.

Yes, they fill stadiums across the globe still to this day, but it's on the back of their past and not their present. If anyone actually took off the rose-tinted glasses at these shows they would see that it's a cabaret version of something that once burned so brightly. Jagger and Richards are mere parodies of their younger personas, dishing out the 'been around the block' 'I can't remember recording that, man' soundbytes that assist in creating a new persona easily sellable to those who embrace the mere superficial surface of rock n' roll and nothing more - hence the multi-million pound industry that is The Rolling Stones today - it stopped being about the music long ago. Richards argues it's just rock n' roll; he said that when the creative tap ran dry! Since then he's been no less a 'poser' than Bowie. Whether it's the glitz and glam of Scissor Sisters or the down to earth John Everyman persona of Bruce Springsteen, everybody has a pose that appeals to an audience. Keith's emaciated wrinkly whiskey swigging chain-smoker is no different...and he's selling but I ain't buying!

Keith is a witty soundbyte today and nothing more. "It's great to be here. Then again, it's great to be anywhere y'know," he said when I saw The Stones in Dublin five years ago. Turns out he said this EVERY night - hardly thinking on his feet these days, more a cliche on autopilot. I don't care if he did or did not snort his old man's ashes. I don't care if he had a complete blood transfusion. I don't care if he fell off a tree or slipped on a library ladder. I don't care if Johnny Depp modelled his Jack Sparrow character on 'Keef'. I heard these things once but Keith feels the need to remind us constantly and frankly, I'm bored.

Change the record, Keith! Here, try this one, it's called 'Heroes', or maybe this one, 'Station to Station', or perhaps 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Startdust' or maybe this interesting electro record called 'Earthling' or maybe this one released a few years ago called 'Reality'. They're all quite different, quite envelope pushing in some ways and all by one guy forever in the process of becoming...never bemoaning. It's never too late to learn a thing or two from him 'Keef'.