I read with interest the two recent ‘Beatles’ threads and the playful dispute between HPS and Johnny C. One of the more intense moments (though still playful, I think) was the remark from HP about caring: ‘who cares’. The obvious rejoinder was issued: clearly HPS did and does. It is always fascinating (to me, at least) about why we care about these matters. I have rarely posted here; I used to do a little at the old place and I had a habit of making negative remarks about the Australian cult band The Go-Betweens; I did so partly out of bewilderment about intensity of the love for the GOBs and the intensity of my own dislike. My dislike reached fever pitch when Robert Forster was a guest on the Podcast and delivered one of the most embarrassingly inept performances I had ever heard from a highly regarded professional (tuneless non-singing, the most rudimentary guitar playing and bad lyrics). My post about this certainly resonated with some and before long the standard complaints were out: it was ‘my opinion’ and that ‘there are more important things’.

I have wondered about this notion of importance for a while. People who speak » Continue Reading.