Toronto Mike

Bad Charlotte

Edgefest 2004

I'm still stewing over the fact Good Charlotte is headlining this year's Edgefest.  Last year we had The Tragically Hip, Our Lady Peace, Sloan and Finger Eleven.  Good Charlotte simply doesn't cut it.

I could go on a rant here, but I thought I'd post something I posted to the Smells Like Sour page last week.  On the "Hold On" page, I mentioned the fact that every time I read the Good Charlotte pages on SLS I die just a little.  Kelli responded with this "why do u die "just a little bit" when u see the gc pages?"  Below is my response.

Kelli, I'm glad you asked that question.

I love music. One of my favourite genres of music is rock. I love The White Stripes, System of a Down, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, The Tragically Hip, Nirvana, Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine, whatever. You get the idea.

A few years back, a song entitled "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" began getting heavy airplay both on the radio and Muchmusic, our national video station here in Canada. My ears immediately decided this sound was weak. It sounded like pretend rock - far more pop than punk. What really irked me is I accidentally caught a special on Muchmusic about this band and they wore black and makeup and acted like they were punk when they were clearly coming across as punks.

I respect people's rights to listen to whatever the hell they want, but I'm the dude who actually performs administrative duties on this very website. That means I'm the dude who has to go on here every few days to sort through the dozens of Good Charlotte submissions and copycat bands that make my ears bleed.

That's why I die just a little each time I read this page or the thousand other Good Charlotte pages on this site. I cringe reading the praise you pre-teens heap on this crapola band. Chris Rock said it best following a pathetic Good Charlotte performance on the MTV Music Video Awards. "Good Charlotte? More like mediocre Green Day".

That's my two cents about this band - why they're so popular I'll never understand. Then again, the Backstreet Boys and N*Sync were extremely popular too, so maybe it does make sense.

The people at CFNY Edge 102 should be ashamed of themselves.

Author image
About Toronto Mike
Toronto
I own TMDS and host Toronto MIke'd. Become a Patron.