Alan McGee: Paul McCartney should retire

[Dusty Ayres]

McGee, credited as being one of the architects of so-called “Cool Britannia” and who managed such “Britpop” bands as Oasis and Primal Scream, has called on all rock stars to retire at 40 and singled out Sir Paul for particular criticism.
“Music should be like football,” he declares. “Once you turn 40 you should become a manager or get lost. You don’t have 66-year-old football players - there’s a reason for that. The man I was at 24 managing The Jesus and Mary Chain is not the same person at 49.“

Of the former Beatle, he says: “McCartney should retire. John Lennon is probably firing bullets from another dimension as we speak. Just give in, Paul.”

Alan McGee: Paul McCartney should retire

 

[jep316]

"John Lennon is probably firing bullets from another dimension as we speak"

Did he really want to phrase it that way?

 

[Marc]

Anyone want to wager that McCartney provdies more entaritainment and good concert that most of the acts that are around this days?

Does this Alan McGee think that people just want to britney spears clones mime along to their CDs?

 

[Dusty Ayres]

Anyone want to wager that McCartney provides more entertainment and good concert that most of the acts that are around this days?

Does this Alan McGee think that people just want to Britney spears clones mime along to their CDs?

No, he doesn't, which is why he came out against a couple of younger acts as well.

Before you diss him, this guy's done more for music than anybody else here on this board has as founder of Creation Records.

Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were also in the band Biff Bang Pow!, which was also the title of a The Creation song.

Creation was among the key labels in the mid-1980s Indie movement, with early artists such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream. The Jesus and Mary Chain went to record for Warner Brothers in 1985, yet McGee remained as their manager. With the profits he had made from the band, he was able to release singles by label acts such as Primal Scream, Felt, and The Weather Prophets.
McGee had enthusiasm and an uncanny ability to attract the weekly music media, and he was able to get a growing underground following. In their early days, he was able to project a notorious image of The Jesus And Mary Chain, which had often courted violence and loutish behavior.

Following an unsuccessful attempt to run an offshoot label for Warner Brothers, McGee regrouped Creation and immersed himself in the burgeoning dance and acid house scene starting in the late 1980s. Those scenes had influenced Creation mainstays such as Primal Scream and Ed Ball, as well as newer arrivals such as My Bloody Valentine.
While Creation Records' releases at this time tended to be critically acclaimed, they tended not to be major commercial hits. Creation had run up considerable debt that was only held off until he sold half the company to Sony Music in 1992. There were reports of McGee's escalating drug use, as well as numerous and conflicting reports of the label being nearly bankrupted after funding the two-year long recording of My Bloody Valentine's 1991 Loveless LP.

Creation Records


It's possible that Mr. McGee is tired of all the adoration (hype) that the Beatles are getting again, and have gotten over the past couple of years (which started with the 2004 release of the DVD The Beatles; The 1964 American Tour) and the way that the public think that there's nothing new under the sun musically. As much as I love the Beatles myself, I'm getting tired of it too; there is great new music out there, and if people tried to look for it instead of being lazy and assuming that the new pop divas are all that there is, they'd be a lot more satisfied and less willing to say that everything sucks today. But, they just want to be lazy and assume everything, and doing what the old saying about assuming something said.

 

[Aragorn]

Before you diss him, this guy's done more for music than anybody else here on this board has as founder of Creation Records.

Seriously? The "let's see you do it" defense? Since no one ON THIS BOARD is a film director, does that mean all complaints here about Michael Bay are invalid? Since no one ON THIS BOARD has played professional sports at the highest level, does that mean all criticisms in the sports forum are without merit?

By that same standard, no one here that isn't in the music industry can say anything GOOD about him either!

 

[Nerys Myk]

If he can still pack them in and more or less keep in tune I see no reason to stop.
Lennon released "Double Fantasy" when he turned 40. So I doubt he was intending to retire and become a manager or get lost. Which makes me think Mr McGee might not know what he's talking about.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

Before you diss him, this guy's done more for music than anybody else here on this board has as founder of Creation Records.

Seriously? The "let's see you do it" defense? Since no one ON THIS BOARD is a film director, does that mean all complaints here about Michael Bay are invalid? Since no one ON THIS BOARD has played professional sports at the highest level, does that mean all criticisms in the sports forum are without merit?

By that same standard, no one here that isn't in the music industry can say anything GOOD about him either!

More or less the people at places like BeatlesNews.com who think the the Beatles are everything in music, and that nothing else matters. Also for the people who think the same thing about the other '60's groups.

Say what you will about Mr. McGee, creating and running Creation Records puts him up there with Sam Phillips, Berry Gordy, Phil Spector, Ahmet & Nehushi Ertgun, and other record company founders in history.

If he can still pack them in and more or less keep in tune I see no reason to stop.

Not if Paul is making mediocre albums and songs, which many people have accused him of in the past and think that he's doing so now, like here;

The Worst Rock-And-Roller of All Time

Runner-up: Paul McCartney

McCartney’s solo career documents the increasing deterioration of a talent once thought to be indomitable. McCartney’s twenty-odd records slide down a slickly produced mountain of dumb fun. He still hasn’t hit rock bottom, but with each year he gets closer. If there’s one thing that characterizes McCartney’s wanderings in the solo wilderness, it’s his refusal to address issues of musical or lyrical substance unless he has no choice. In his search for trivial fun, Paul McCartney has trivialized himself.

Slipped Discs – the Worst Rock ’n’ Roll Records of All Time by Jimmy Guterman & Owen O’Donnell

 

[Caligula]

Alan McGee's a douche. I take anything he says with less than a grain of salt.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

He sounds like an idiot.

The reason you don't have 69+ year old football players is that their bodies literally cannot play without their bones being blown to smithereens.

While the travel a musician does for tours is not easy by any stretch, there's no reason a well-conditioned 40 year couldn't handle it.

 

[Snaploud]

McGee, credited as being one of the architects of so-called “Cool Britannia” and who managed such “Britpop” bands as Oasis and Primal Scream, has called on all rock stars to retire at 40 and singled out Sir Paul for particular criticism.
“Music should be like football,” he declares. “Once you turn 40 you should become a manager or get lost. You don’t have 66-year-old football players - there’s a reason for that. The man I was at 24 managing The Jesus and Mary Chain is not the same person at 49.“

Of the former Beatle, he says: “McCartney should retire. John Lennon is probably firing bullets from another dimension as we speak. Just give in, Paul.”

Alan McGee: Paul McCartney should retire

Football players don't play professionally at age 66 because it would result in their immediate deaths on the field. Nobody is harmed by a 66-year-old musician. They can continue to play professionally as long as people bother to listen.

 

[Nerys Myk]

If he can still pack them in and more or less keep in tune I see no reason to stop.

Not if Paul is making mediocre albums and songs, which many people have accused him of in the past and think that he's doing so now, like here;

The Worst Rock-And-Roller of All Time

Runner-up: Paul McCartney

McCartney’s solo career documents the increasing deterioration of a talent once thought to be indomitable. McCartney’s twenty-odd records slide down a slickly produced mountain of dumb fun. He still hasn’t hit rock bottom, but with each year he gets closer. If there’s one thing that characterizes McCartney’s wanderings in the solo wilderness, it’s his refusal to address issues of musical or lyrical substance unless he has no choice. In his search for trivial fun, Paul McCartney has trivialized himself.

Slipped Discs – the Worst Rock ’n’ Roll Records of All Time by Jimmy Guterman & Owen O’Donnell

Who goes to see Macca for the new stuff?

 

[byron lomax]

I don't really care about McCartney too much, but has anyone here ever read Alan McGee's twitter? ALRIGHT BIG MAN! ALRIGHT WEE MAN! LOVE YA DOLL! ALRIGHT BIG MAN!... into infinity.

 

[TheBrew]

Even if his stuff absolutely sucks (I haven't listened to any recent McCartney), nobody should ever tell a musician to stop performing his craft. People don't have to listen to it, but it is insulting for him to say that.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Why should McCartney have to retire just to make the young talent look good? Who died and made Alan McGee god? Fuck him.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Does he also think that Writers should stop writing and Artists should stop drawing at 40? Should Astronomers cease their research and Doctors stop treating patients? It's great that there's always someone young and innovative coming along, but talent knows no obsolescence. Shakespeare and Asimov can still be found in bookstores.

If Alan McGee still has something to contribute, he should do so; if he doesn't, he should take his jealousy and retire.

 

[Count Zero]

You don’t have 66-year-old football players - there’s a reason for that.

Yeah, they aren't capable of playing professional football, anymore, due to its enormous physical demands. However, there are 60-year-olds who still play football for fun.
I know from personal experience that Paul McCartney is still very much capable of shouldering the physical demands of his profession. I saw him in December and he put on an awesome show, rocking on for two and a half hours.

The man I was at 24 managing The Jesus and Mary Chain is not the same person at 49.“

No kidding, Sherlock. People evolve (hopefully) and that's a good thing. It's also possibly interesting. Older artists can bring perspectives into their work that young ones can't.

Of the former Beatle, he says: “McCartney should retire. John Lennon is probably firing bullets from another dimension as we speak. Just give in, Paul.”

Uhm, maybe not the most tactful thing to say in light of John Lennon's terrible fate...

More or less the people at places like BeatlesNews.com who think the the Beatles are everything in music, and that nothing else matters. Also for the people who think the same thing about the other '60's groups.

Well, they're fans. Fans tend to think that what they fancy is the best thing since sliced bread and that competing artists/series/movies are shit. People think that about plenty of bands and periods. Also, these things are quite subjective. Of course, it will matter most to them. Fans of anything can be annoying but I don't see how this reflects on McCartney himself. He seems to be quite interested in contemporary music.

If he can still pack them in and more or less keep in tune I see no reason to stop.

Not if Paul is making mediocre albums and songs, which many people have accused him of in the past and think that he's doing so now, like here;

Well, 'mediocre' is in the eye of the beholder. I think that McCartney's work in the last decade is anything but mediocre. Some people agree with me, other's don't. I don't think there's an ultimate authority on music. Why should McCartney care what others think of him? He really doesn't have anything to prove. As long as he's still enjoying it, why should he stop making music?

The Worst Rock-And-Roller of All Time

Runner-up: Paul McCartney

McCartney’s solo career documents the increasing deterioration of a talent once thought to be indomitable. McCartney’s twenty-odd records slide down a slickly produced mountain of dumb fun. He still hasn’t hit rock bottom, but with each year he gets closer. If there’s one thing that characterizes McCartney’s wanderings in the solo wilderness, it’s his refusal to address issues of musical or lyrical substance unless he has no choice. In his search for trivial fun, Paul McCartney has trivialized himself.

What? Was that written in the 70s? (And even then, it wasn't really true.) Sure, there's also more or less dumb fun present in his work (I don't think that's a bad thing, by the way, sometimes you want soemthing like 'Junior's Farm' or 'Girls School') but this is the guy whose albums tend to not sound alike, who's always trying out something new. There aren't many artists like that, I think.
Well, obviously, I'm a fan but I am critical. I don't think that everything that Paul has done is great. There are songs and albums I despise with a passion (perhaps unfairly). But I can't take anyone seriously who claims that stuff like 'Chaos and Creation in the Backyard' and 'Electric Arguments' is dumb fun. People may not like what he does, and that's fine, I don't like plenty of bands other people fancy, but absolute statements like that just make me laugh.

 

[CoveTom]

Since no one ON THIS BOARD is a film director, does that mean all complaints here about Michael Bay are invalid? Since no one ON THIS BOARD has played professional sports at the highest level, does that mean all criticisms in the sports forum are without merit?

By that same standard, no one here that isn't in the music industry can say anything GOOD about him either!

I wouldn't be so sure to assume that no film directors are lurking around the board or that there are no people here from pro sports or the music industry. We know that quite a few creative professionals from Trek, including writers and designers, frequent TrekBBS, and I suspect there's a lot more that we don't know about...

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Of course, this guy's profession is immune to such criticism. It's OK to *manage* after 40...

 

[Bad Bishop]

Radio already has a way of "retiring" older artists, by declining to play their new music at all. That should be enough to satisfy Alan McGee and his ilk.

 

[I Grok Spock]

1. Alan McGee can go fuck himself.

2. So can Jimmy Guterman and Owen O’Donnell.