Ah, the bond between English boys and California girls. For those of us who arent either, its a bond that fascinates and mystifies. So much of the worlds favorite music comes out of that relationship. – Rob Sheffield
It was R.E.M. who showed other Eighties bands how to get away with ignoring the rules – they lived in some weird town nobody never heard of, they didnt play power chords, they probably couldnt even spell spandex. All they had was songs. – Rob Sheffield
Movies for adults sucked in the 1980s, and music for adults sucked even worse whether were talking about Kathleen Turner flicks or Sting albums, the decades non-teen culture has no staying power at all. – Rob Sheffield
Big Star invented a vision of bohemian rock & roll cool that had nothing to do with New York, Los Angeles or London, which made them completely out of style in the 1970s, but also made them an inspiration to generations of weird Southern kids. – Rob Sheffield
I usually write for the individual reader -though I would like to have many such readers. There are some poets who write for people assembled in big rooms, so they can live through something collectively. I prefer my reader to take my poem and have a one-on-one relationship with it. – Wislawa Szymborska