When I was a little kid, I kind of liked Cher. I especially gravitated to the darkness of Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves. (But then I turned 8.)
Sonny and Cher together? I did not like that at all. That was mostly syrupy mush.
Then Cher hooked up with Greg Allman. Uggh. Greg Allman wasn't much better than Sonny Bono musically. (Quit shrieking at me about Allman's "genius." He was a dirty, overrated, junkie.) Cher and Greg Allman had a son named Elijah Blue Allman.
Other than Cher's solo work between 1966 and 1971, I really did not like Cher.
I did not like Sonny at all.
I did not like Greg Allman at all.
Both men did a mountain of drugs and mostly put out pablum for music.
Elijah Blue Allman formed the band Deadsy in 1995 and released 3 albums in 28 years before blowing apart this year due to Blue's Drug Problems. Deadsy was mostly forgotten by time by the year 2000. (I actually liked the single Keys to Gramercy Park.)
But the point is, Elijah Blue Allman got that first contract because his name was Elijah Blue Allman. If Cher didn't kidnap her own son to get him into rehab a few weeks back, I wouldn't have even remembered that Deadsy existed.
Just last week: Cher files for Conservatorship for Elijah Blue
A few months after Deadsy released their first album, Limp Bizkit released their first album. Limp Bizkit was Fred Durst's vision from the start. Guitarist West Borland joined the band, and quit the band, even before that first release.
But it could be argued that the two were meant for each other. Durst's Limp Bizkit being the biggest band in Jacksonville, Florida and Borland being, arguably, the city's most talented guitarist. By 1999, Limp Bizkit was on top of the world.
But Limp Bizkit's music wasn't timeless and Wes Borland was restless.
As of this writing, Borland is in his fourth stint with Limp Bizkit. He's also been in the bands Big Dumb Face, Eat the Day, The Damning Well, Black Light Burns, and Queen Kwong. He also tinkers with solo work.
In the year 2007, Black Light Burns released one of my favorite songs "Mesopotamia."
Watch Borland's stage presence. It's light years away from what he was doing for the Nookie. I thought Black Light Burns was a really good band.
Here's the problem though, did Limp Bizkit fans follow him to his side projects? Not really. Other than writers noting his stage fashion, Wes Borland's never generated much publicity.
I have listened to his new solo album Mutiny on the Starbarge a few times now, and that has a real cosmic/post-metal feel to it.
But other than a few obscure reviews, that album disappeared into the ether.
What's my infatuation with Wes Borland? In the last few months, it's been Blue that's been given millions in free publicity by both the tabloids and legitimate news organizations.
All I could think of was "what artist could use millions in free publicity?" And Wes Borland was the first name that popped in my mind.
Blue, at best, is a Nepo Baby.
Borland is an underrated genius.
P.T. Barnum once said, "There's No Such Thing as Bad Publicity."
What artist do you think deserves a wheelbarrow full of free publicity?
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