David Byrne is no psycho killer

Who knew.

Who knew there were artists out there with not only opinions, but thoughts.

Sure, there are plenty of artists with opinions. Hell, their agent/manager/momma told them what opinion to have, and they blithely shared it with ET/Hollywood Access/TMZ or even Perez Hilton. But who really cares what LiLo thinks, or whether Jeremy Piven really has inflated levels of mercury in his system, or whether Kanye West really believes the pablum he raps.

There are a couple of real deals out there, and I'm pleasantly surprised to see that one old time anti-rock star has gotten involved (if only through one blog post) in the debate over media consolidation and the spate of cutbacks that have parsed America's newsrooms of some of the best and most informed reporters of this day. (not to say made this gig as a blogger that much more challenging, given the talent flowing in to this daily routine)

David Byrne hit the pop world right between the eyes over thirty years ago by donning LaCoste and playing at CBGB's on gigs with the Ramones, Blondie, Richard Hell, Television, and other seminal 70's bands. The Talking Heads went on to reasonable fame, and certainly great popularity, thanks in large measure to the taut writing of Byrne, the smart musicianship of Jerry Harrison, and the rythmic pairing of bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz. The Heads were very cool, and Jonathan Demme captured them in my favorite rock movie of all time, 'Name of this band is......" back in the early 80's.

Now Byrne continues to perform, and also paint, and write, and collaborate with artists across the globe. He seems to be back with Brian Eno for his latest album, something I promise to pick up over the holidays. But beyond performing, Byrne seems to pay attention to the world we all live in, not the insulated world inhabited solely by celebrity.

So it's pretty remarkable to see his most recent post, from December 18th, http://journal.davidbyrne.com/ captures the problems the newspaper industry is facing, and contextualizes it by noting that the recording business went through the same crisis 25 years ago. He doesn't suggest it will all get better, but to have the person behind the lyric 'same as it ever was' from Life during Wartime noting with detail and interest that we need to have papers, and news, more than certain styles or tastes that we receive from art, is to me quite revealing, and refreshing.

Regrettably, what has happened in the music business, with the commodification of artists, and the drive for hits, and the dumping of artists and bands who don't create immediate profit, is precisely what we're seeing in the news business today. Oh, to be a swindler or cheat or liar on a grand scale these days, and know that the local paper no longer has an investigative reporter, or no longer has a reporter with tentacles spread throughout the community, let along a manager who recognizes that there's more to coverage than just an update on weather winter is cold, summer is hot, and other obvious points that have become the standards by which we gauge reporting today.

David Byrne, you still have it, and it's good to see you hold a hankering for news and information in our compressed twitter-centric media environment.