Paul Noonan, the lead singer for Ireland's Bell X1, drops by 20 Questions and tells us why the Beatles killed music.
1. The latest book or movie that made you cry?
I tend to be moved to tears by movies or TV shows a lot more easily in the last couple of years than I used to. I’ve only recently watched The West Wing, at which I cried a lot at the moving speeches -– it was practice for the real thing I suppose. I cried at a recent movie about the hunger strikes in northern Ireland called Hunger. And I cried at The Wrestler.
2. The fictional character most like you?
Oh man, I dunno… maybe a little Ignatius J. Reilly, mostly because I love his name.
3. The greatest album, ever?
Is not Sgt. Pepper’s... In fact, this record killed music. Before this, bands knew what they were doing before going into the studio, and laid it down quick, bish bash bosh. These upstarts decided “to use the studio as an instrument” and spawned decades of bands fluting around, sticking microphones in toilets…and no songs. Ergo, the Beatles killed music.
4. Star Trek or Star Wars?
My only interest in Star Trek is for those armpit-hugging tops. I enjoyed Star Wars pre ’84, as they were an integral part of my early cinema going and all the joy that this has brought. I had an audio tape of The Empire Strikes back, as it was apparently “too scary” for me to see.
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—PopMatters Staff