My friend, Sue, posted about this on SMOG. To be honest, it was the only way I would be alerted to it. I used to do all the super enthusiastic fan stuff….trawl through social media each morning to see what new morsels of things about the band and Jim were on offer. Even when I was vigilant like that, some things would pass me by and slip through the net.
Something like this would because – I can’t say I’m a fan of Letsetz (see previous post, re: his ‘qualifications’ and the argument of being ‘born with it’) and I listened to this under some duress.
Did I enjoy it? For the most part, yes. Jim obviously went into a nearby studio to record his part of it as the audio was crystal clear – as if he was sitting in the studio with Lefshitz…ahem, I mean Lefsetz. There were some, frankly, very crass and impertinent questions thrown at Jim that I felt should NOT be up for discussion. Mostly about finances. What that has to do with Jim’s artistic career I cannot fathom and they certainly would NOT be questions I would ever throw at him!
“Are Scots really tight with money?” Seriously? That was a question! Glad to hear that Jim highlighted the philanthropic ways of Andrew Carnegie (still need to go and have a day trip to Dunfermline!) as just one example of Scots definitely NOT being tightwads.
After a short while, I did find myself playing “Jim Kerr interview bingo”: “The world was in monochrome until I went to Italy” – HOUSE; “We wanted to be in a great live band and take it all round the world” – HOUSE; “We went to Arista HQ and instead of seeing portraits of Iggy, Lou and Patti, there was a massive portrait of Barry Manilow” – HOUSE; “I sang with Iggy Pop and David Bowie at Rockfield Studios” – HOUSE; “Jimmy Iovine is a legend” (Don’t get me started on that one, either!) – HOUSE! The whole story of Don’t You all over again – fucking REALLY?!
To be fair, there were a couple of things that were new to me. Probably about the last 15-20 minutes of an over 2 hour interview gave me some new insight. For that I was thankful, especially when it came to a certain aspect of how Jim spends his time. That made sense, at last. It was good to hear that.
I would ask different questions, for sure. But it’s never going to be me. It’s NEVER going to be me…which sucks ass. Because I feel I could ask some really great questions. I can put the adulation, infatuation and general awe aside – given enough exposure to him in which all becomes pretty blasé. It was getting there (I think), until Covid and it all came crashing down.
I have much more to say on this, but so little time to discuss it. Mostly the interview with Lefsetz, ONCE AGAIN, left me wishing I could have my own chance to interview Jim. It also left me wondering – will there actually be anything that he’ll have for his “Self Help” memoir that will genuinely be new information to me, or be a revelation?
At the end of it…it is a fascinating story and it IS awe-inspiring. He had the courage of his convictions to succeed and look where he is. He was prepared to play the long game and he reaps the rewards as we speak.
Enjoy the interview. I have more philosophy to do!
To be fair to Jim he’s probably tired of answering the same questions over and over but the way he approaches it is he imagines that the listener is someone hearing his responses for the first time.Fair play to him for that.
True enough, I guess. I?m just turning into a bitter old bag because I want it to be me and it?s never gonna happen.