Rock critic Greil Marcus once wrote of Rod Stewart, “Rarely has a singer has as full and unique a talent as Rod Stewart; rarely has anyone betrayed his talent so completely.”
Replace singer with DJ and Marcus could've easily been talking about Howard Stern. Like Rod and Vanity Fair honcho Graydon Carter, Howard fooled us for many years. Once a down to earth satirist of the rich and famous, Howard has become what he used to mock. This is not a news flash. Howard long ago turned his back on his Long Island roots in favor of Nobu's and the fast lane. But the fait accompli was his wedding the other day to second tier model Beth Ostrosky at Le Cirque with Barbara Walters and Kelly Ripa (the exact type of celebrity that Stern used to mock) among those in attendance.
This is not about begrudging a man his success. He entertains millions and deserves his. This is about the disappointment when one sees what was really motivating the drive for that success. I miss the guy who ranted about his in-laws and who made fun of celebrities who left their first wives for bimbos. Howard would always express disdain towards them, which seemed real and envy, which seemed fake. Who knew we had it all backwards.
Marcus also wrote of Rod (and I'm paraphrasing here), that it appears all Rod wanted to do was fuck models and hang out with celebrities and if he had to become a great artist to do that, he was willing.
Sad to say the same can be said of Howard these days.
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A friend from Atlanta took his wife to NY for the first time. They dined at Nobu, and Howard and his acolytes were nearby. Jeff's wife is very traditional, and so the unending moronic stream of crudities masked as "satiric" or "parodic" got Jeff upset and asked them to pipe down. They greeted his legitimate protest with insults about where he was from and who did he think he was, questioning their demi-god.
So lets take our rhetoric down as many steps as possible, since he's such a voice of the common workingman.
Stern is disgusting, hateful, not funny at least 80 percent of the time, childish, and a voice for the idiocy he claims to hate. He would do better in ancient Rome, stirring up the plebians. Nothing he does or says is admirable in the least, and those who think he is "taking on society" are pathetically deluded, as he is doing the exact opposite. Mass culture in this country is debased, moronic, and repulsive. Denouncing this thoroughly crude and vulgar American culture is the only legitimate thing Al-Queda has ever said and done that has the ring of truth about it. All Stern has ever done is to be a further megaphone for these same characteristics. Anybody who thinks he is some kind of couragous free-speech rebel should wonder how it is he promotes the culture of know-nothing idiocy he claims to dislike or ridicule. If that fucker was hit by a truck it would be a huge improvement for society.
Had enough?
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