The Thursday Thesis

Episode 002 - The Wisdom of The Clash

1/7/2016

The Wisdom of The Clash
The Thursday ThoughtCast - 23/6/2016

The Thursday ThoughtCast is based on my experience as a musical instrument retailer, guitar teacher, player, and guitar technician.

“It’s Better to Look Good and Play Shit, than to Look Shit and Play Good...”
So said Mick Jones of The Clash in an interview in the long-gone International Musician & Recording World, back in 1987, when he was leading Big Audio Dynamite (riding high at the time with the sample-heavy E=mc2 ).
That line really rang a bell in the back of my mind, and it stayed with me.
Back then it was a bold swing at the music business and the rise of video promos: today it feels like a prophecy.
Media Darling pop and rock stars live or die by their images and the illusions they create in your mind. But over the years of teaching people how to play, I’ve realised that most of what you hear is pretty basic, mostly formulaic, and dead-easy to play.
Looking a certain way is another thing entirely.
But if playing the music is the easy part, what’s holding you back?

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It's Like This...

The Thursday Thesis shares ideas which I think are worth spreading.

I'm Neil Cowmeadow, the Guitar Teacher and Guitar Technician, based near Telford, Shropshire.

My aim is to share some of the discoveries and cool stuff that took me a lifetime to learn - so you don't have to replicate the effort.

Along the way, I'm also going to debunk the mountains of nonsense and pretentious claptrap that put people off playing music, writing songs, and having more fun in their lives.

Along the way, some of these posts might challenge your assumptions and ideas.
Pick up a nugget of cool stuff, here, and throw it into the waters of your life.
The ripples you'll create will spread outwards...

I may also wander off into politics, literature, or any other place I damn-well please, but if you're cool with that, read on....