The Sun Online – News: Why we must close the net — The telling quote: “a bit behind the times.” I’d say.

POP legend Sir Elton John wants the internet CLOSED DOWN.

Never one to keep his opinions to himself, the Rocket Man has waded into cyberspace with all guns blazing.

He claims it is destroying good music, saying: “The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff.

“Instead they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn’t bode well for long-term artistic vision. It’s just a means to an end. We’re talking about things that are going to change the world and change the way people listen to music and that’s not going to happen with people blogging on the internet.

“I mean, get out there — communicate. “Hopefully the next movement in music will tear down the internet.

“Let’s get out in the streets and march and protest instead of sitting at home and blogging. I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span. There’s too much technology available. I’m sure, as far as music goes, it would be much more interesting than it is today.”

Multi-millionaire Elton, who turned 60 earlier this year, has admitted in the past that he is a bit behind the times.

found by Aric Mackey



  1. Slappy says:

    The fact that people stop going out and communicating with others has nothing to do with the Internet.

  2. sdf says:

    stop the presses — media quotes eccentric rock star and gullible public takes it literally — film at 11.

    http://tinyurl.com/2xyjhv

  3. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #8 – And talented. Very talented. How about you?

    Comment by Mr. Fusion — 8/2/2007 @ 7:33 am

    He WAS talented when he wrote Tiny Dancer… But Candle In The Wind and EVERYTHING to follow has been absolute hack work. He’s over, and like Jerk Face said, he’s been over for over 30 years now.

  4. Mr. Fusion says:

    #21, Michael,

    rich and famous does not make one right,

    If you read #8 again you notice I also wrote he is talented. Because of all those things, his talent, his money, and his FAME (which you brought up by the way), he does have a voice the public wants to hear. It doesn’t matter if he is wrong or right. Why? Because it is only his opinion which he backed up with reasons.

    He didn’t just throw out silly statements saying the RIAA is out to get everyone. No. He rationally thought it through. I don’t agree with all his opinions, but that is another matter. The point is he backed up his opinion which so few people here do.

    Maybe he is living on his past glories. So what? How many other artists could sell out a 20,000 seat concert when they haven’t had a hit record in years. How many other artists still play their 30 and 40 yr old hits. Geeze, Jimmy Buffet made a career out of ONE song and is still going strong.

    If you read the article you would have noticed he claims the music coming out today is vastly inferior to when he was on top. A point many, including myself, have made. He even believes the internet contributes to the poor quality of music today. BUT, he never suggested actually closing the internet. READ people !!!

    I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span.

    Now, where in that statement does Sir Elton say we should shut down the internet? He didn’t. It is merely a “what if” statement. A hypothetical idea. Just wondering what would happen. Mere musing. A supposition.

  5. Mr. Fusion says:

    #17, SN
    Love the pic.

  6. Jamie says:

    (shrug) He’s rich and famous. But not for knowing anything about society, the internet, or even for making well-informed observations. He got rich and famous for his music, and probably for being a wild and eccentric public personality. So if he was giving me feedback about music I had written, I might take him seriously.

    But if he’s giving the world feedback about the internet (about which he’s admittedly out of his depth), just shrug, give him a metaphorical pat on the head, and listen to his music, or don’t. To take the statement seriously gives it more credence than it’s worth.

    Now if he was a US Senator in a position to influence policy and made a similarly ignorant statement, then I’d be concerned. But that couldn’t happen, right?

  7. Jerk-Face says:

    39. “like when he cancelled some concerts in Asia not long ago because he didn’t like Asians. Classy!”

    That’s understandable, with all of those Asian men and their small penises. He probably had to get a jump start on his tour of the African continent, right away.

  8. Stephen says:

    Now even Elton John sounds like a facist. ban this ban that… how about banning his incredibly bad fashion hmm?

  9. Jägermeister says:

    Could it simply be that Elton John hates competition? Once upon a time it was the music industry’s marketing machine that set the trends… now it’s what people find on the Internet. I’ve found several bands online that are way better than anything pumped up by the big labels. And I’m not one of those “I listen to oddball music bands, because they make me elite” type of person. The Internet has been a blessing for music fans. I’ve never had the chance to listen to so many different bands before, either through legal or illegal downloads. And once I’ve found a band that is good, I do buy their CDs to show my appreciation and support.

  10. Licensed2Chill says:

    Pulled for violating comment guidelines.

    (Man of Leisure, AKA jim, AKA 0113addiv, and AKA david, you should know better!

  11. joshua says:

    #43….Anonymous…..THATS who he is….I knew I had read that style of stupidity before….***alia’s 0113addiv*** 🙂

    I like classic rock music, my parents played it all the time I was growing up, and I liked quite a bit of the very early Elton stuff. But a lot of his *talent* was called Bernie Taupin….not a lot of great stuff after Bernie left.

    I would agree with him if he just wanted kids to give up the internet for exercise….but not about music and creativity.

  12. Lauren the Ghoti says:

    #42 – Jägermeister

    “The Internet has been a blessing for music fans. I’ve never had the chance to listen to so many different bands before, either through legal or illegal downloads. And once I’ve found a band that is good, I do buy their CDs to show my appreciation and support.”

    I think few reasonable people who love music would disagree with that…

    But on this, I’m gonna call ‘bullshit’:

    “I’ve found several bands online that are way better than anything pumped up by the big labels.”

    BULL-SHIT

    Better than ANYthing?? I’d like to think you were just sloppily slipping into hyperbole that we don’t need to take literally – but you disprove that by continuing;

    “I’m not one of those “I listen to oddball music bands, because they make me elite” type of person.”

    Music snobs always start out by informing their listeners that they’re NOT music snobs… saying it doesn’t make it true.

    You mean to tell me that NO individual artist OR group that has found commercial backing can equal these others you’ve happened upon?

    You’ve found people better than Frank Zappa, Enya, the Supremes, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Bat for Lashes, B.B. King, Crowded House, the Beach Boys, Björk, Jimi Hendrix, Donna Lewis, Fleetwood Mac, Buddy Holly, Led Zep, Carole King, Elvis, Yes, Earth Wind & Fire, Feist, Faust, Procol Harum, Laurie Anderson AND Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young??? …just for starters…

    BETTER THAN ANY OF THEM??? pfffffffft.

    You’re telling us that somehow, a musician or group can’t be discovered and picked up by a major BECAUSE they’re already great (or have the potential to be great)??? That they’re actually all mediocrities, because they’re “pumped up” by their labels???

    Honestly, what you said amounts to declaring that every world-famous act is manufactured, like the Backstreet Boys. Come off it. Some are world-famous and sell millions because they’re actually that much better than most everyone else. And once people want their music, aren’t their labels SUPPOSED TO “pump them up”???

    Get real, d0oD. Must be some killer shit you’re smokin’…

  13. Ron Larson says:

    You’ll have to pry my internet from my cold dead fingers!!!

  14. tallwookie says:

    Elton john is dumb

    He’s worried because he is so broke & in debt that *IF* he did release any new music, he *MIGHT* lose money over it.

    As I remember, isnt the RIAA using this exact same argument?

  15. Lauren the Ghoti says:

    Joshua –

    You’re right; what the world thinks of as ‘Elton John’ really was Reg + Bernie, and after that ended nothing could ever measure up to the stuff they did together. Actually, IMNSHO, after Captain Fantastic was when the slide downhill commenced. Slowly at first, true, but downhill it was. Still, the great things they did will last.

  16. Lauren the Ghoti says:

    Yes, tallwookie, you’re right.

    Poor bastard, he’s down to his five or six hundred million dollars.

  17. Jerk-Face says:

    45. “Better than ANYthing?? I’d like to think you were just sloppily slipping into hyperbole that we don’t need to take literally – but you disprove that by continuing;”

    Jägermeister didn’t say that, he said

    “I’ve found several bands online that are way better than anything pumped up by the big labels.”

    There’s a difference between saying “better than anything” versus “better than anything limited by such and such.”

    And I have to agree with him too, I found new stuff online that’s way better than what’s pushed on the radio. E.g., Old 97s, Wilco, Pizzicato Five, Rich Creamy Paint, just to name a few.

  18. Lauren the Ghoti says:

    “…anything pumped up by the big labels” includes or included, at some time, some place, just about everyone I mentioned…

  19. Mister Mustard says:

    >>“…anything pumped up by the big labels” includes or included, at
    >>some time, some place, just about everyone I mentioned…

    There’s a difference between being “pumped up by the big labels” and having a contract with a major label. Think Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, K-Fed…. you think they wouuld have made it on an indie label?

  20. Jerk-Face says:

    51. ““…anything pumped up by the big labels” includes or included, at some time, some place, just about everyone I mentioned…”

    But if you read it in context clearly Jägermeister is talking the current state of music being pushed not going back to the beginning of time.

    If you’re going to attack what someone said you might as well attempt to understand what he said first. Attacking what someone did not say is basically a waste of time and makes you look stupid.

  21. flyingelvis says:

    he’s just a candle in the wind…. a burned out candle that is.

  22. Jägermeister says:

    #45 – Lauren the Ghoti

    Nice to see you all worked up. Must be pretty pissed today…

    #50, #53 – Jerk-Face

    Thanks. You understood my posting.

    #52 – Mister Mustard

    I’m not sure if they would be able make it big since they all are products of a PR machine.

  23. hhopper says:

    Lauren – You forgot James Taylor.

  24. Lauren the Ghoti says:

    Hop – I always forget him. It’s easy. He stopped doing anything new around the time he took up with Carly Simon. Guess that’s what Bongwater was talking about w/ ‘The Power of Pussy’…

  25. Mister Mustard says:

    Even this: http://tinyurl.com/356ytq is so much better than the last 30 years of drek from “Sir” Elton, he’s not even in the same ballpark. Not the same ballpark, not the same league, not even the same motherfucking sport.

  26. Ninja says:

    He’s a luddite. Which means he’s a relic who believes the world was best in his youth days, and has now lost its way.

    Dellusion, he probably thinks he’s saving us. Poor bastard can’t accept reality.

  27. hhopper says:

    Lauren – That’s what’s good about JT. He writes the kind of music his fans like to hear. I have every album he ever recorded. Hell, he could record Happy Birthday© and I’d listen to it.

  28. Glenn E. says:

    As some stated earlier, the real purpose of the internet is the “efficient distribution of and easy access to porn”. Now if porn queens were all multi-millionares, like Elton, they would be the ones complaining about all the free porn getting out there (mostly old pics, though) and they not receiving a dime for all their hard work at whoring in front of a camera.
    Perhaps artists like E.J. should realize that they’re not all that different from major league ball players. And they don’t deserve to get paid for life, for something they did only once in their lifetime. What they do get, is a matter of what they negotiated with record labels, to get. It’s not a right!
    Whenever a record label makes some money selling an E.J. song, they pass part of that onto E.J. But it’s not the public who owes E.J. anything for humming his tunes, or dubbing them only a YouTube vid.
    We’re not making any money, playing around with this moldy oldies. If anyone owes E.J. money, it’s Microsoft and Apple Inc, for making money from making it possible to xmit his tunes over the internet.


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