Who is Paul McCartney?

[John Flynn]

OK, I thought this was a joke, but it is being reported as true by ABC News and USA Today. Apparently, Kanye West has collaborated with Paul McCartney on a single “Only.” That's not the story. The story is it has generated some interesting Tweets, including:

"I don't know who Paul McCartney is, but Kanye is going to give this man a career w/ this new song!!"

"who tf is paul mccartney???!??! this is why i love kanye for shining light on unknown artists"

"Who is Paul McCartney? Why do people love him?"

"I still don't know who Paul MacArthur (sp) is"

"...Kanye West's Paul McCarthy (sp) collab is dope."

Has the Apocalypse begun?

[rubydubyr]

Gotta be teenagers doing the tweets.....

[John Flynn]

No doubt, but I knew who Louie Armstrong and Frank Sinatra were when I was a teenager listening to the Beatles.

[Bernie Daniel]

OK, I thought this was a joke, but it is being reported as true by ABC News and USA Today. Apparently, Kanye West has collaborated with Paul McCartney on a single “Only.” That's not the story. The story is it has generated some interesting Tweets, including:

"I don't know who Paul McCartney is, but Kanye is going to give this man a career w/ this new song!!"

"who tf is paul mccartney???!??! this is why i love kanye for shining light on unknown artists"

"Who is Paul McCartney? Why do people love him?"

"I still don't know who Paul MacArthur (sp) is"

"...Kanye West's Paul McCarthy (sp) collab is dope."

Has the Apocalypse begun?

No apocalypse just Kanye West fans -- enough said!

[journeybear]

That's like those bumper stickers: "Who are The Grateful Dead and why do they keep following me?"

On second thought, it's nothing at all like that.

Yes, it would have to be kids tweeting those. Kids with earbuds in, paying attention only to the latest, most current music, not looking into where it came from or even the origin of the samples being used.

BTW, The Beatles broke up nearly 45 years ago, or two generations ago. I guess one could cut these clueless kids a little slack. Maybe a little. Just a little ...

Reading the above paragraph, i feel older than before ...

[Ben Cooper]

No apocalypse just Kanye West fans -- enough said!

Yup!

[rubydubyr]

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.” Socrates
Seems every generation despairs of the generation that comes after.

[Pete Braccio]

More likely, they know who Paul is and are just screwing with us old folks a bit to see how many they get get a bit spun up.

[jaycat]

You can't rest on your laurels forever. Paul McCartney's best work is inarguably 45 years behind him.

The same cannot be said of Louie Armstrong and Frank Sinatra when John was a teenager listening to the Beatles.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

Totally missed this (I got off GMA a long while ago). It really won't surprise me at all if young people today don't know who The Fab Four is (I actually had to explain that term to a friend recently) but is it possible everyone is just kidding around?
http://www.billboard.com/articles/ne...cartney-joking

[fatt-dad]

OMG!

f-d

[crisscross]

After I read this thread, I googled "Kanye West".

[rubydubyr]

Actually, it IS all kinda funny

[DavidKOS]

Can this Kanye person even play a note or is he just another guy dragging samples around?

[journeybear]

No, and no, but he does have plenty of money, enough to hire people to put together beats, backing tracks, and procure and pay for all the samples he wants.

Hidden in this is Paul McCartney's motivation. I saw a couple of interviews he did on the occasion of the release of a vieo game to which he contributed a newly-written song. Seems he wants his music to be included in a medium to which his kids pay attention. I'm sure he was quite handsomely compensated, as well. The sales of these games is mind-boggling, comparable to the box office of Hollywood movies. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was something similar in his mind regarding a collaboration with Kanye West. Also, bear in min d that one way immortality, or at least, greater career longevity, is achieved is to produce something that appeals to a younger age group than one's previous demographic. Sir Paul is a smart feller, after all, and he's always thinking ahead.

BTW, I haven't heard it yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn the song sucks. Seems like a bad fit.

[northfolk]

Who is kanye west????????

[Bertram Henze]

"I don't know who Paul McCartney is, but Kanye is going to give this man a career w/ this new song!!"

...is but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. A tale told by an idiot: full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
(Shakespeare, Macbeth)

[John Flynn]

You can't rest on your laurels forever. Paul McCartney's best work is inarguably 45 years behind him. The same cannot be said of Louie Armstrong and Frank Sinatra when John was a teenager listening to the Beatles.

Yeah, he's a has been. Three Grammies last year and one each for the previous three years. Packed 41 shows in some of the largest venues in the country this past year.

Also, when I was a teenager, all my contemporaries knew who Benny Goodman was. We weren't fans, but we were familiar with who he was and his sound.

[Bertram Henze]

when I was a teenager, all my contemporaries knew who Benny Goodman was. We weren't fans, but we were familiar with who he was and his sound.

What has changed since is bandwidth (pun intended). Back then, there were only so many radio stations in your area and only so many vinyl records you could buy and swap with your friends. Nobody had a chance to avoid hearing everything.
Today, nobody has a chance to hear even a percent of everything going on in the virtual media. The musical universe has expanded and the local event horizon is shrinking - so the world is back in the 19th century.

[Larry S Sherman]

If you're curious what Paul's been up to here's a recent interview on the Nerdist podcast.



Larry

[Bernie Daniel]

Yeah, he's a has been. Three Grammies last year and one each for the previous three years. Packed 41 shows in some of the largest venues in the country this past year.

Also, when I was a teenager, all my contemporaries knew who Benny Goodman was. We weren't fans, but we were familiar with who he was and his sound.

Oh to be a has been!

I think with the electronic information flood and huge expansion options of things to do in life that historical perspectives on most aspects of the world are diminishing. Running on contrast is the ability to intensely focus on selected topics of interests. Like mandolins for this crowd for example.

Despite my comment about Kayne West fans it isn't just them.

Just click through many of the singing videos post by young folks (and some older folks as well) and you often find the song attribution given to the last person who got notoriety for performing/recording it.

Many (most?) of the current generation think that "I will always love you" is a Whitney Houston song for example --of course Dolly Parton wrote it and had a big country hit with it decades ago. "Will you still love me tomorrow" is often called an Amy Winehouse song despite the fact that the Carol King wrote it and the Shirelles first hit huge with it in the early 1960's.

Other examples abound.

[John Flynn]

What has changed since is bandwidth (pun intended). Back then, there were only so many radio stations in your area and only so many vinyl records you could buy and swap with your friends. Nobody had a chance to avoid hearing everything.
Today, nobody has a chance to hear even a percent of everything going on in the virtual media. The musical universe has expanded and the local event horizon is shrinking - so the world is back in the 19th century.

OK, Interesting point. What I've always heard about these "social bandwidth" theories is that old guys like me are less able to cope with all the information overload than the teenagers. But if that is true, I should be saying, "Who is this kid collaborating with Sir Paul? Yet I not only know who Kanye is, I know who he's married to, what his kid's name is and some of his nefarious exploits.

[Bertram Henze]

What I've always heard about these "social bandwidth" theories is that old guys like me are less able to cope with all the information overload than the teenagers.

Well, those theories are correct in my case at least, though I would not say it's ability that makes the difference, it's motivation. Even now I have no time to google Kayne...

[JEStanek]

Yo, guys I'm Happy for you and I'mma let you finish (posting), but Kanye had one of the best videos of all time.

Jamie

[nickster60]

I honestly wish I didn't know who Kanye West was.