[kj] Thoughts on Raven

[T.B.]

"B. Oliver Sheppard" wrote:



>I never met Paul Raven, but he was the sort of person I always thought 

> I'd end up meeting sooner or later. I friended his MySpace profile 

> awhile back and noticed he was pretty hands-on with it, that he was not 

> distant and unapproachable like a lot of musicians. Down to earth, in 

> other words. This is probably why I always thought I'd meet him some 

> day. Those of you who've met him are lucky! Now the chance to ever meet 

> him face to face is gone.

> 

> From a musical legacy standpoint, I also think he was really cool 

> because he was a living link between the classic '77 phase of punk and 

> newer music that was spawned from that era. A lot of musicians who start 

> out in '77-era Brit punk bands either live in the past and stay in that 

> rut eternally, like The Exploited doing tours over and over again, or 

> they go on to try to make slick pop and have a Top 40 career, like the 

> Billy Idol types. I like Raven because progressed from '77 punk (Neon 

> Hearts) into newer music, like Ministry and Prong, and was willing to 

> evolve, even drive that evolution, but never try to do what would appeal 

> to Top 40 masses -- he was always in projects that were pushing musical 

> evolution and without being the frontman or trying to hog the limelight. 

> He was never trying to steal anyone's fire, but he was busy creating his 

> own!


Well said.

T.B.