Irresponsible Commenting Leads to ‘Baker Street’ Revival
‘Brett Guthrie’ commented on our Robert Hilburn vs Bill O’Reilly item:
Back in 1978 Hilburn gave a glowing review to Gerry Rafferty’s “City to City” album. He called Rafferty “McCartneyesque” and since I was way into McCartney, I bought the album. What a downer that piece of vinyl was.
Guthrie probably thought no more of his complaint, but he did not take into account the power of Google’s adbots. They ruthlessly absorbed his comment into the collective mind and started spitting out this ad on Independent Sources:
That ad has since been seen by thousands of people. Now, like a butterfly flapping its wings causing a storm half a world away, Guthrie’s throwaway comment has had real consequences.
“Right Down The Line: The Best of Gerry Rafferty” has risen to #11,255 on Amazon’s music bestsellers list — with a bullet. While no “The Very Best of England Dan and John Ford Coley” (#886, with “Nights Are Forever Without You” and “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight”), he’s moved ahead of “Best of the Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright. Talk of a Broadway show a la “Abba: The Musical” is in the air. An iPod commercial is rumored. Rafferty is cited as an inspiration for the nascent singer-songwriter revival (”Old Wave”), which has led to discussions for a reality show tentatively titled “Search for David Soul.” All in 24 hours.
So Guthrie has created a world in which his nightmares become reality; in which “Right Down the Line” is played hourly on every “The Jack” format station in North America. If only he had thought before he typed. We leave him with this haiku:
What were you thinking;
by seventy-eight, “like Paul”
was no compliment
Similar Independent Sources posts:
- Robert Hilburn leaving the LA Times: L.A. Observed reports that: Sacramento columnist George Skelton opted out of the L.A. Times buyout at the last minute. But a more prominent name put ...
- FNC’s O’Reilly Calls LAT’s Robert Hilburn a Liar and Dishonorable: On Friday evening's Bill O'Reilly show, O'Reilly said he was duped by Robert Hilburn, the music writer for the Los Angeles Times.By O'Reilly's account ...
- Album cover performance art: Wondering what to do with your collection of old LPs. How about posing with them? I'm not sure if this is an art project or just a guy with way too mu ...
- Looking for “Worst Liberals”? Google will send you to us: If you type "Worst Liberals" into Google, you'll end up here at Independent Sources. We hope you are not disappointed. At least we're #1. ...
- Worst TV Idea Ever Award Gets New Entry: While it's a little too early for April Fool's Day, UPN is rumored to be developing a show that can only be described as unambiguously and totally lam ...











October 6th, 2005 at 9:43 pm
[…] pointed. At least we’re #1. While you’re here perhaps you’ll enjoy: Irresponsible Commenting Leads to Baker Street Reviv […]