Rolling Stone: A Rape on Campus is ok but a bad Hootie And The Blowfish review will get you fired
What gets you fired from Rolling Stone magazine? A story that wrongly branded a frat house violent gang rapists will not get your fired. But a bad review of Hootie and the Blowfish might.
When Senior Editor Jim DeRogatis reviewed the band’s 1996 album Fairweather Johnson, he called it ‘bland’. Lowlights include:
All of the songs overflow with generic jangly guitars that evoke denatured versions of edgier Southern popsters like R.E.M. and the dB’s, whose Peter Holsapple is reduced by the need for health insurance to serving as fifth Hootie on organ, piano, and accordion…
These comfy, cozy sounds–the musical equivalent of Mom’s chocolate chip cookies and a big glass of milk–are paired with lyrics that reek of Hallmark-card sentimentality…
To these ears, Hootie are the blandest extreme of a wave of bands…
His review was spiked, replaced with more favourable review by contributor Elysa Gardner.
DeRogatis told the New York Observer.
The Observer quoted a spokesman for Rolling Stone saying the review swap was a matter of writing quality and not opinion, and DeRogatis saying Rolling Stone Editor and Publisher Jann Wenner is not necessarily a Hootie fan, but “a fan of bands that sell eight and a half million copies” of a record. The day after the piece ran, DeRogatis was fired. (A follow-up piece in the Observer said Rolling Stone would not discuss DeRogatis’s departure for reasons of employer-employee privacy.)
Rolling Stone employment policy might change if the frat house sues…
Posted: 7th, April 2015 | In: Music, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
