Some Chinese newspapers have voiced their complaints over the closing Olympic festivities in Beijing, and Jimmy Page's name is caught up in it all.Not that his name actually means anything to millions of people, apparently.
One of several quips printed by the state-owned media in the People's Republic of China is one that blasts the selection of Page to perform Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" at the Aug. 24 closing.
The Titan Sports Daily, China's top sports newspaper, said both singer Leona Lewis and Page "are absolutely not famous enough to be known or recognised by millions of the Chinese audiences."
I guess it is possible that in a remnant of Communism, even Led Zeppelin goes unheard of among many of the 1.3 billion citizens, of whom 111 million are users of a heavily censored Internet due to a restrictive government.
Come on, China. Do you want to know who's really not famous? Try Cameron Crowe. There's "almost famous" for you! (Is this thing on? Please, people, cultural refrences! Keep up with me here.)
In another Chinese piece, columnist Hi Yang for the Daily First newspaper criticized the combination of Lewis and Page, writing that they "were so incompatible, considering the singer is from our time while Jimmy Page is from the 70s."
Admittedly, Page did look a bit weary from having been cryogenically frozen for 28 years and then carted off immediately from London to Beijing. (I'll be here all week, folks. Try the moo shoo veal.)
See the Chinese comments for yourself, as reprinted by the British media.
I'm shaking my head here. Leona Lewis is fairly new on the scene and although I don't really like or listen to her style of music, I have heard her name and seen her on TV. But JIMMY PAGE??!! How deprived they must be to not know Led Zeppelin. Most of the athletes & crowd knew though. You could tell by the huge cheer at the opening riffs. All that aside, I very much enjoyed it. I think Jimmy is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteImagine how different your life would be if the only time you ever heard Jimmy Page on guitar was on an LP of the Death Wish 2 soundtrack your brother smuggled in from outside the country back in the '80s.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you played that one record everyday and swore Jimmy Page was your favorite guitarist -- not that you had heard any other rock guitarists to compare because of how secluded you are in your part of the world.
Hey Steve,Give the chick a break.
ReplyDeleteNuvo911