The recent article Ranking the songs of David Bowie’s ‘Scary Monsters’ in order of greatness has led to this posting on RF's Facebook today:
Should anyone believe for a moment that RF is a featured guitarist on Scary Monsters, even Heroes, they should be reminded by Mr. Peter Leathem, Big Cheese of the PPL, "the type of further evidence that PPL would need in order to be able to link Robert to the recordings in question as an Other Featured Performer. Any evidence would need to satisfy at least one of the three categories for the published Other Featured Performer classification in PPL’s Distribution Rules. We have not received any such evidence".
I note that given the PPL rules, there is no evidence that could be admissible. The opinions of Eno, Tony Visconti, arguably Bowie himself, and just about any one who has ever heard Heroes and Scary Monsters - they're all wrong! because the PPL rules are right.
An alternative approach, one too radical for Mr. Leathem to contemplate, is that PPL rules are wrong, and may therefore be changed to accommodate what is clearly an error. Alternatively, an error to all those not committed to maintaining the sacrosanctity of a rulebook created with mistakes, which continues to generate errors and consequences of the stinky variety.
Dear innocent audients, please know: this is one example of how institutions perpetuate inequity, and discriminate between (in this specific case) an artist and those who act to maintain the benefits they derive from the institution.
There are more telling, and tragic, very recent examples of institutionalised failures. I do not put my position above these clear injustices and savage outcomes. Nevertheless, this is my life, and a life in which I am an authority.
If anything here strikes you as worthy of attention, discussion, correction, addressing and re-dressing, perhaps you will share this post and my comments.
The good news: the music is ace, continues to speak, and is still well able to get me up and bopping.
