Quote:
Originally Posted by aleuzzi
Definitely. Lindsey’s attitude was punk-adjacent. He was listening a lot to The Clash and Elvis Costello. He was also, like many punk bands, deliberately thumbing his nose at slick studio polish and crass music biz capitalism. However, unlike the punks, Lindsey’s irreverence came from an existential nausea: he was tired of being affiliated with West Coast Rock, didn't want to “compete with Christopher Cross” (from an interview). Like many punks, he adored early rock-n-roll and garage rock, but he also was obsessed with The Beach Boys and elaborate Brian Wilson-style production methods. So half his Tusk songs are zany rock-n-roll parodies; the other are elaborate choral folk tunes. What all of his songs have in common is a decidedly anti-commercial stance and his prioritization of process over product.
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That’s exactly how I see his mindset, Tony. The movement was a liberation movement to him, and Brian Wilson setting out on
Smile was also a liberation movement. The fact that it never materialized in its time seems to have inspired Lindsey even further, not less, as if a failed project were the ultimate statement in personal musicmaking.
I have no doubt he was listening to many of the punk bands in 1977, and despite what he said, he probably borrowed bits and pieces of the music as groundwork. But
Tusk doesn’t remind one musically of the 1977
Clash album, unless you’re looking for individual grunts and patches. The punk bands in 1977 were heavily political, and maybe that’s what made Lindsey decide not to rehash their sound — that, and the fact that he knew asking Fleetwood Mac do to that would have been a grotesque fiasco. The movement was (British) working class rebellion. Lindsey characterized Chrissie Hynde in 1981 as having no professional discipline, which I always thought was odd coming from him, given his admiration for musical rebellion (this was in an interview with Jim Ladd for
Law and Order when they were discussing the title). That could be his epithet: spontaneous discipline.