The Music Vs. The Personal Lives Of Musicians

I figured we'd take a Wednesday off from the 90s Rock thing because I'm running out of bands to talk about and I have another music related topic to talk about.  I was listening to Colin Cowherd (bad start- I know) and he was talking about how he could care less about the Miami and Ohio State scandals in relation to his enjoyment of College Football.  His comparison was that if you "loved your favorite ice cream, then found out the CEO was a crook, would the ice cream taste worse?"  His conclusion was "no, it would not."  But does this really hold up? 

I have always wondered about this scenario while thinking about my favorite musicians.  Here are some examples:

- My former boss at Tower Records (I worked there in college) once freaked out at me for putting on a brand new Cake record.  We had a 6-Disc changer than played music throughout the store.  We could put on anything we wanted as long as the swearing was edited out.  I would usually just load up the player with Beck's "Midnight Vultures," Radiohead's "Kid A," Bob Marley's "Exodus," and three other records of choice- probably new albums that would sell if customers heard them.  Cake had released a new album and being that we were close to their home town of Sacramento, I figured it would be a good idea to promote the CD. 

My manager, who was kind of a douche, came out from the back and jumped down my throat. 

"What is this?!" he asked with disdain. 

"The new Cake album," I replied innocently. 

"Turn it off.  Never put this on again."

"Cake is from Sacramento.  I thought it would be good to promote their new album."

"Just turn it off."

"Uhhh... OK."

So I did as instructed, still confused about what just happened.  A little while later, I was in the back of the store and my manager came up to me and gave me this nugget of information. 

"Hey, just so you know, my ex-girlfriend used to go to lots of Cake shows back when they were just a local band.  She ended up cheating on me with the lead singer.  I don't want to hear their record played in store at all." 

If this was my boss, she would not have cheated.

Outwardly, I gave sympathy.  Inside, I laughed to myself.  From then on, I would occasionally sneak the Cake record into rotation when my manager was on break.  It would randomly come on and he would try to control his anger.  I was careful to make sure he didn't know I had put the CD in there. 

So I think we can strongly conclude that if a band's lead singer sleeps with your girlfriend, you will ignore the quality of the music and end up hating them.  (Side note: In no way am I saying that Cake has great music- I like a few songs, but that's about it.) 

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Next up- My former roommate and best man at my wedding liked a local musician who currently tours the country.  His girlfriend at the time, who also lived with us, enjoyed the same musician and became friends with him on Myspace (yes, this was a few years ago.)  She was also taking guitar lessons from one of this musician's friends.  She had told the guitar teacher how much she liked the guy's music, word got around, and from what I understand, the musician attempted a Myspace booty call at some point. 

And booty calls.

Now, I don't think anything happened, but in the long run, my friend and his girlfriend ended up breaking up- which was best for all parties involved.  A year or two later, my other friend, also a musician, opened for the popular booty-calling musician and I was able to hang out backstage with everyone.  In fact, I had let my friend borrow my guitar, and the popular musician took a look at it, played it, complemented my instrument (haha- that sounded funny) and the whole time I was thinking about how he tried to booty call my friend's girlfriend. 

My best man probably doesn't listen to this guy's music much any more, but I think he holds less of a grudge because nothing actually happened and because he and his ex were on the way to break-up city anyway. 

The conclusion here is a bit more muddled.  I still don't necessarily mind listening to this guy's music, but it definitely gave me some background info that was not favorable to me being too big of a fan. 

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Amy Winehouse. 

I am unsure if this is before or after her death.

Well, I never really liked her music, so this isn't a very fair example, but I can't stand her and apparently she can't stand herself any longer.  I have zero sympathy to a drug addict that was given chances to fix themselves in order to live a long, prosperous, and talented life.  I was shocked that she had any fans left who gave a shit about her.  She hadn't released music in quite a while due to her drug addiction, so I figured everyone would just give up on her the way she gave up on herself. 

Maybe a more fair comparison is Kurt Cobain.  I enjoy Nirvana as much as the next guy from my generation, but I'm sure him killing himself put a damper on the overall utility that his music provides to my ears. 

Conclusion, drug addiction and suicide probably put a damper on the fan experience, but it is still possible to enjoy the music. 

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I'm sure there are many more examples to investigate, but my overall opinion is that musicians' work and their personal lives are mostly separate.  It is possible to like the music of a shithead and ignore their personal shortcomings.  The line usually gets drawn if a musician sleeps with your girlfriend or punches you in the face (i.e. does something negative and personal to you.) 

What do you think?  Hate any bands solely due to their actions that get fleshed out in the tabloids?  How about Kings Of Leon?  They seem to be the douchiest of the douchy these days, but there music is still pretty decent. 

There may not be a steadfast rule on this, but it is interesting to think about whether musical enjoyment can be affected by an artist's personal actions.  I mean, really- do their actions have anything to do with the music they produce?  The more depressed and screwed up they are, the better songs they may write anyhow!