Cerati Who ???

“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.”
 
Why do Americans have to hate on things of which nobody else in the world can even think of anything bad to say
 
I'm not a big Rock Nacional fan. But I definitely get Cerati. Great guitar player, good voice (for rock n roll), excellent harmonic sense, and highly intelligent and articulate. He also seems to have been a genuinely nice person. He was very well-like by folks in the music community here.

His career really started to take off in the late 80s. From then on, his output was consistent, all the way up to 4 years ago. So Cerati was the referente for an entire generation (or two, or three) of Argentines and Latin Americans. For them this is a huge loss. The outpouring is beautiful and very much deserved. It reminds me of what I like about the Argentines.
 
I never heard of him before coming here, but during the World Cup I saw an interview to his mother who was regularly visiting him at the hospital. That's all.

Also, it doesn't surprise me that he is getting a big and heartfelt funeral even after spending 4 years in a coma. At a certain point, he had to be mourned, and this is the right moment to mourn. Argentina's modern history is made of musicians, politicians and football stars. The last twos divide, the first ones unite (I have never heard of music fans beating up their "opponents").
 
Musicman said:
Gustavo Cerati was the most influential Latin America artists of his time known all over the world won several awards in the USA and Europe - the music is superb. He was all over MTV for a long time - I guess ignorance can be bliss for some but you would have to live very isolated or just plain ignorant never to have heard of him. Then again when it comes to USA international knowledge is not one of the strong points
Click to expand...

It is not fair in this case to point to a lack of "international knowledge" in the US as the reason for Cerati's relative obscurity there. I agree that he was a superb musician. But it's a fact (and an unfortunate one) that he was pretty much unknown in the non-spanish-speaking, non-Latam-connected North American market. He might have been "all over" MTV in Latin America or Spain. But on MTV in the US he was pretty much non-existent. Therefore it shouldn't be surprising that some members of this forum have never heard of him. This says more about how the music industry works (both in Latin America and the US) than it does about North American cultural myopia. His brand of pop music (very much in line with Britain and the US - production and harmony wise), would end up getting lost in a market dominated by artists singing in English. He was mining the same vein as Sting and U2, only in spanish. He didn't stand a chance. It may also be that he was handicapped by being from Argentina, a country with a minor presence in the US in comparison to other Latam countries. According to the US Census Bureau, something like 85% of Latin Americans in the US come from 6 countries (in order: Mexico, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Guatemala). Between 1982 and 2010 (Cerati's active years) the US-MTV programmer would have been looking at that market and deciding that Ricky Martin, Gloria Esteban, or Maná was a much better bet.
 
The guy broke new ground for Latin America. Screw the Yanquis who never heard of him, they lost out on some good sounds. People....?

Rock had been popular in the '60s and '70s in various spots of Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Argentina). But within Latin American politics, rock 'n' roll had held a very awkward position. While the far left and the far right battled to stake a claim on folk music (and by proxy on "true national identity"), both extremes shunned rock — the left saw it as American cultural imperialism, and the right as debaucherous degeneration.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2014/09/05/345790353/gustavo-cerati-leader-of-latin-rocks-soda-stereo-dies-at-55
 
dennisr said:
The guy broke new ground for Latin America. Screw the Yanquis who never heard of him, they lost out on some good sounds. People....?

Rock had been popular in the '60s and '70s in various spots of Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Argentina). But within Latin American politics, rock 'n' roll had held a very awkward position. While the far left and the far right battled to stake a claim on folk music (and by proxy on "true national identity"), both extremes shunned rock — the left saw it as American cultural imperialism, and the right as debaucherous degeneration.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2014/09/05/345790353/gustavo-cerati-leader-of-latin-rocks-soda-stereo-dies-at-55
Click to expand...
Screw you also. The world is full of musicians, no one knows them all....or even cares.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top