It’s funny how we can forget so much. Until “Volcano Girls” came on the radio just a moment ago, the part of my brain that retains the knowledge that Veruca Salt is (was?) a band had been looked away in the dark, dank recesses of my mind (for some reason, I’m picturing a sad, lonely mushroom, animated like a Disney cartoon, locked away in a dungeon like prison cell – I know, I’m concerned for me too).
Anyhoo, whatever happened to Veruca Salt?
One quick Google search later….
OH MY GOD, THEY STILL EXIST AND ARE PERFORMING!
Oh boo. It’s not the original line up (not that I know or care who they are) but still, as soon as one member defects, doesn’t the group then seemed hackneyed and washed up? It’s like your uncle trying to recreate his high school garage band by recruiting his bowling buddies to jame with him. No matter how good their rendition of “Smoke on the Water” is, you can’t look past the spare tires and solar panels.
As Lainey of laineygossip.com would say, it smacks of TRY HARD.
But who am I to judge? These people found a way to be paid to do what they love for a living and they’ve found a way to continue to be paid for what they love even though their heyday is long over. Really, they should be applauded for stumbling upon exactly what everyone else in the world dreams of doing, being paid to pursue their passion (alliteration is fun!).
I had this same revelation the other week when about to voice my embarrassment for Steven Tyler, having stooped so low as to be a judge on “reality” TV. Midsentence I stopped myself–the man’s a rock star and by rights allowed to do whatever the hell he wants (which is the very essence of a rock star), if he wants to appear on TV twice a week to say yay or nay to aspiring singers’ performances and take home millions of dollars as a result, more power to him. Really, it is the ultimate rock star move. He literally just has to sit down, throw together a few barely intelligible phrases (Paula Abdul left the bar really low) and receive tons of money. Plus, by being on a weekly show aimed at tweenagers (I hate myself for writing “tweenagers’) Steven has introduced himself to an entirely new potential fanbase– a group whose grandparents may be more familiar with the music of Aerosmith than their parents are.
Good on ya, Steven. And good on you too, Veruca Salt.
Tags: Aerosmith, American Idol, Has-been, Mushrooms, Rock Star, Sell Out, Steven Tyler, Veruca salt
