Episode 13 — Defending Your Shitty Taste

[JulyDiaz 2797]

Cracked Head Writer Dan O'Brien grabs the reigns of the podcast and invites Cracked's Soren Bowie and Riot's Liana Maeby to the show to defend their terrible taste. Dan and Soren defend their love of 'Space Jam' and 'The Saint,' while Liana maintains her stance that The Beatles are terrible.

[TruePedant 20]

Before the Beatles George Martin was producer for the Goon Show with Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe which Monty Python credit as their inspiration, I personally don't think silly is a negative thing.

[PuncturedJesus 354]

Yeah, I don't think hating the Beatles is a big deal, but I don't think being 'silly' is a good argument.

[robinsbruce 4985]

Just want to agree with you guys, two people in this episode said "silly is the worst" or something close to that and I think that is really a weak stance to take, even on a subjective matter. That also seemed strange since this is being distributed through Earwolf which is undeniably silly.

 

To say imagine is condescending and then say "the stones did cool drugs and the beatles did lame drugs" is equally condescending. I feel like Liana could have made a better argument by saying that the beatles later albums suffered from in-fighting, the fact that they were starting to focus on their solo careers instead of the beatles, and that people now are over-romanticizing the quality of the music because of who they were at the time.

 

Good choice on opening and closing tracks. Interesting episode.

[hugLife 492]

I think that Liana justified why she didn't like the beatles, but she did not in any way prove that they sucked. Millions of people don't like things that suck, those many people like it for a reason, even if the reason is super simplistic. The same goes for Bieber and any other performer who appeals to young people. His appeal was very specific, but he obviously didn't suck at appealing to tweens.

Music tastes grow and evolve over time. There are timeless songs from most artists, but in general some music won't be as appealing as it was when you listened to it years ago. In conclusion, the beatles are not terrible, just terrible to Liana.

[StevenRanselMills 2]

Liana's opening point, that people tend to think better of bands they grew up with, rings true to me - I discovered punk rock in my twenties, and a lot of the friends I made in that scene are crazy about the Ramones, the Misfits and Black Flag, bands they listened to as teenagers but never really "clicked" with me.

 

(and then when Soren calls They Might Be Giants, one of my all-time favorite bands from the age of 15 on, "a kids' band" I was like OH HELL NO, further reinforcing Liana's point...)

[Johnny Unusual 525]

I think Liana has some interesting arguments, but some of them are a bit lazy. There's the aforementioned complaint that simply labeling something as "silly" is a weak argument (especially since you work for a comedy website, where you should embrace silly. Of course, I suppose that's a different context, but still). After all, I think some of my favourite stuff is silly and there is nothing wrong with that. After all, there are movies and TV shows and music that I think I would like a LOT better if they weren't so self-serious (I think people would be a lot more forgiving of the Walking Dead if there were moment were people were reminded that they WANT to live and have some form of joy.)

 

But I actually have more of an issue with her throwing around stuff like "kid's music" and "simple". Both are things that are not bad things. Now for the argument that it isn't as deep as a lot of people think it is gets no argument from me and I like that, but I hate the idea that simplicity or even immaturity is inferior to complexity and adult themes. There is beauty in both. Also, I think that you can find both in Beatles music and in some cases there is weakness in making something overly complex. And for the record, I love Maxwell's Silver Hammer. I always put Malcolm McDowell as Alex de Large in the Maxwell role. I even like Octopus' Garden. It's not a great song, but I like it. And I actually discovered the Beatles as I've gotten older. I'm actually not that fond of the stuff I heard as a kid ("Oh Blah Di" is a song that I was never that fond of).

 

Still, I get where Liana was coming from. My opinion is certainly less controversial, but I think a lot of people would object to me thinking the Who is overrated. To me, they only have a handful of good songs ("My Generation", "See For Miles", much of Quadrophenia), but I have a very hard time with some of their other stuff (the music that was used on CSI openings that go on forever, half of Baba O'Riley, their Summertime Blues cover) and find it rather dull.

 

But I did really like the episode. I hope they do another one like this, but next time please make more notes that aren't just the plot. Soren makes some good points, but I feel too much of it is explaining the plot and then naming one or two elements they like instead of how those elements make the whole of it worth watching.

 

Oh, and my shitty taste (besides Octopus' Garden?). There's probably a better example I'm forgetting, but I really like the forgotten and low rated horror film P2: The Next Level in Terror. It's silly, but every time I watch it, I am invested.

 

Oh and They Might Be Giants as a "kid's band"? DON'T. EVEN.

[StevenRanselMills 2]

I can see how people get the impression of TMBG as a "kids' band" - even setting aside the theme song for Malcolm In The Middle, the three albums they made specifically for kids, and the wide exposure they got in 1991 on Tiny Toon Adventures, they still have a superficially upbeat and cheerful sound that kids respond to.

 

I would ramble on about the frequently dark tone to their lyrics, as well as all the literary and cultural references they touch upon, but that runs straight into the juxtaposition of "high" and "low" culture that Liana is complaining about with the Beatles. It can be done well, and it can be done badly, but I have to recuse myself concerning TMBG as I've loved them since my teenage years...

[VinsanityV22 500]

"Their ability to cheat was inside them the whole time" - lol. I loved this discussion. And I totally agree with the genuine Space Jam love - I do really, really love it when movies get made that, by all accounts, shouldn't have. I mean, something like Bill & Ted is the same way. No way in hell would that movie get made today, unless it was somehow based on a "popular" young adult/tween novel series, ugh.

 

Btw, very glad to hear that addition about Lola. The original Lola Bunny - all sexy-sounding here, voiced by Kath Soucie - actually DID use fundamentals and played Basketball well. None of that dynamite lighting, hammer smashing, black hole dropping toon antics. That really bugged me that it wasn't included in the actual discussion, but glad it came out eventually.

 

Nowadays though, she totally would pull some looney antics, since she got redesigned a few years ago and is now plenty wacky and airheaded enough to hang with the rest of them. She's voiced by Kristen Wiig now, too! But back in '97, she was the only one on that team besides Jordan who could capably sink a basket in that game

 

Great show this week, all! I liked this crew and their energy; this was a fun group of guys & gals. A little more comedy than usual (which was good). Even though the thinking from the "superior endings" episode seems to be becoming a throughline; that all Cracked writers/contributors/friends are only happy when stuff is "sad" or "deep" and (Space Jam being the lone example so far) only enjoy good-hearted, simple stories very sparingly.

 

Though, for the record, I've never liked The Beatles much either for the exact reasons listed here. Used to flat-out hate 'em, but since I'm a gamer and could not escape the gravity of The Beatles Rock Band a few years ago, I'll give 'em that they have a few great songs. Well that, or I was so entranced by Harmonix's art for some of the videos in that game that I just assumed the songs were good to match the dreamy visuals. I'm very much 1:1 with Liana there and have been trying to articulate that to friends for years. So thanks for giving me a new way to ruin friendships! Can't wait for the next Beatles discussion/argument!

[VinsanityV22 500]

Oh yeah, I believe this is 100% relevant to the conversation. Behold, a fake "30-on-30" produced for Space Jam. Y'know, since it's only the most important game of all time. Foghorn Leghorn died in this game, you guys. He died.

 

Link: http://screen.yahoo.com/30-30-space-jam-game-155008766.html

Embed(?): http://screen.yahoo.com/sketchy/30-30-space-jam-game-155008766.html

[mobo 116]

I'm sure the Cracked gang knew that there would be some strong feelings from listeners on this episode, so I'm trying to keep my thoughts concise. I had to mostly laugh off The Beatles argument because there were many unspoken arguments to a majority of the points brought up (due, I'm sure, to the fact that it can't be a 2 hour podcast arguing if The Beatles are good or not). That being said, I can listen to The White Album on a loop, but can't turn off "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" fast enough. I think that some of the "silliness" can speak to their artistic interests at the time. Much how their later work had the strong Indian influence that some people can't stomach. But then, I guess not everyone can be Brother Ali and write brilliant, thought provoking music that will last and maintain popularity (as well as cause emotional discussions) for over 60 years.

[NickPalladino 5]

If you think the Beatles are a bit silly, check out the parody "The Rutles" featuring Eric Idle of Monty Python. Funny stuff.

[ocean_machine 56]

I was sure this was going to be filled with people naming their favorite Beatles songs in defiance. I had my list ready and everything :/

 

I'll concede that their lyrics generally weren't very sophisticated but the music sure was. They used a lot of weird chord progressions and a lot of their later stuff is basically proto-prog rock.

[Lando 2019]

I decided to start listening to this podcast from the beginning, so I am a bit behind, but I am not too surprised that an episode where The Beatles are called overrated is one of the hotter topics on this board. I just wanted to throw in my thoughts on the subject.

I have been saying that they have a handful of great songs and a lot of bad and mediocre songs for a while too. I think that Come Together is an awful song, but In My Life is amazing, yet you're 30x more likely (probably 60x more likely if you were to include the Aerosmith cover) to hear Come Together than In My Life.

[Cameron H. 23786]

Before the Beatles George Martin was producer for the Goon Show with Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe which Monty Python credit as their inspiration, I personally don't think silly is a negative thing.

 

 

It is also important to mention that producing comedy was just a job he did. This is not to say it was outside his wheelhouse or interests, but to say "He produced comedy albums and therefore injected the Beatles music with silliness" is sort of ridiculous. Not to mention a specious argument.

 

George Martin went to the Guildhall School for Music, I am sure he didn't do this in the hope that he would one day be producing comedy albums. It was The Beatles who were fans of those comedy shows. It was their inherent silliness that drew them to him when they discovered his background. If anything he was a producer who helped their talent shine brighter.

 

If you don't like The Beatles, that's fine, I know a few people who feel the same way, but be honest about it. Instead of cheap arguments and cursory research, just admit: "You know what? The Beatles just don't do it for me" and pick another topic.

 

Also, to call them a "kids band" just because kids respond to their music is lame. Is music exclusionary now? Oh, kids like it so it must be bad? That's such a strange thought. I know kids who hate Creed, does that make them awesome? 'Cos I refuse to live in a world where that is the case.

 

Otherwise, as always, great podcast!

 

Oh! and The Saint is the shit. I can't believe they are having trouble getting a copy. I have had mine for years and I am so glad I do.