Danish Invasion...Again. But Less Bloody This Time.
Rage was a weekend music show and they would play heavy music in the middle of the night. As a result, I spent a lot of Friday and Saturday nights in the living room waiting, hoping, that they would play the good stuff (when they did, it was usually after midnight). I was introduced to loads of Metal bands that way. Thanks Australia!
Anyway, this post got me thinking about how underrated DAD are and how few people in the US even know they exist. But that also reminded me of an interview I heard years ago with some record exec who happened to be Danish. He was asked about the music scene in Denmark, and his response was that it was rather poor. Most people don't know much about the Danish music scene and, while Sweden is lucky, they have Abba, poor little Denmark has...Aqua. (Up until then I didn't even know Aqua was Danish...way to go record exec.) And that's just sad. I can hear my Danish ancestors freaking out, "We used to be a force to be reckoned with. People actually feared us!" Well, yeah, I'm thinking they still do...
So, thinking about that got me to thinking about all the great music that's come/is coming out of my little ancestral homeland (well, one of them anyway) and I felt the need to redeem Denmark musically. So, here's a smattering of the best that Denmark has/has had to offer, musically.
We'll begin with the obvious.
Credited with being one of the creators of the Black Metal sub-genre, Mercyful Fate was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1981 and contains one of the most well-known figures in the Metal world, King Diamond (Kim Bendix Petersen). I first came across the band in the late 80's thanks to the old Metal rag, Rip, when they did an article comparing the beliefs of King Diamond (self-professed Satanist) with those of the Sweet brothers from Stryper (self-professed Christians).
Moving along chronologically...
Pretty Maids is not a chick band. There are no females in it. They are also not wimpy. But they are epic. Also formed in 1981, in Horsens, Denmark, Pretty Maids is a bit Hair Metal, but not entirely. Some of their early stuff invokes images of Ratt and Dokken, but they are an entity unto themselves. I don't remember exactly when I first heard of them, but I remember where I was...my parents living room. I've been racking my brain to remember the exact song that made me an instant fan, but there are so many epic songs that it doesn't really matter which one it was. I'm posting here the one that I think it was.
BELOW: Epic, epic, EPIC! Pretty Maids. "Hell On High Heels," from Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Overdoing. Did I mention that Pretty Maids is epic?
Formed in Copenhagen in 2001, Volbeat is a bit hard to classify...I first heard of them about 3 years ago from a former Finnish acquaintance who was constantly talking about them. I'm glad he did, otherwise I would've missed out! Another criminally underrated Danish band...
BELOW: Volbeat. "Maybelenne I Hofteholder," from Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood. I could have posted the official video...but it's a bit risqué and I want more people to listen.
Also formed in Copenhagen in 2001, the Raveonettes are an indie rock duo. I used to think I didn't like them, but as I'm listening to postable options I find myself reevaluating my original opinion. Maybe I'm mixing them up with some other band...
BELOW: Raveonettes. "Heart of Stone," from In And Out Of Control.
Obviously these aren't the only great bands from Denmark; if you're at all into Metal then you already know this; but this is a nice primer. So, if you heard anything you find interesting, that you've never heard before or had just forgotten about (or, like me and the Raveonettes, you notice you no longer find annoying) then check them out!
It's okay Denmark, you don't suck musically.
Troll Hunting
And what I'm going to blog about are the people over at Find A Grave who are gunning for prestige through dead people (I've ranted about this type of thing before, if you haven't read it, you can find it here).
Some time ago, I noticed that seconds after the newspaper came out each day, the people whose obituaries were in the paper for the first time were already in FAG...and since the memorial creator for each one is the same person I know it can't possibly be that some family member has posted the memorial (seriously, unless you live in a dinky community where everyone is related to everyone else then one person is not going to be related to 5-10 different people listed in the newspaper). I then started to notice that as soon as some "famous" person showed up dead in the news they were immediately put up on FAG...and I mean, immediately!
Steve Jobs is no exception. After reading that he had passed away I checked FAG to see how many people had created memorials for him -- there were three (for the record, FAG got right on that and now there is only one).
So what's my point here? I have created over 1,000 memorials in just over 1 year (if I would get my act together it would be even higher) and I have created memorials for several people that are known. I have not created any memorials for "famous" people, however, and do you know how I know that I haven't created any memorials for "famous" people? I know because I had to create the memorials for them. Trust me, if any of these people were "famous" then I never would have gotten the chance to create their memorials because there would have already been one thanks to the Obit Trolls.
An Obit Troll is a person who creates memorials for everyone in the paper (or online obituary sites) before anyone else has an opportunity to do so. Obit trolling is super tacky. It's super tacky for three reasons:
1) It means you are trying to be "First," which is always tacky, regardless of the forum.
2) It means you are trying to get on the Top Contributors list or want your name associated with someone "famous" because you're a greedy bastard who needs validation/recognition.
3) It means that family or friends of the deceased cannot create the memorials themselves and must then request to have them transferred (which can be a colossal pain in the ass when an Obit Troll manages loads of memorials).
Obit Tolls are not cool, helpful people, they are annoying glory hounds.
And so are the Photo Request Trolls who claim every photo request in their area and then let them lapse. There is absolutely no reason for this. You are given up to two weeks to fulfill a photo request but it should never take you that long! If you don't know that you are going to be able to fulfill that request within the first three days (first week maximum) then don't claim it; especially if you live in this state. There are loads of other people around here who would happily fulfill that request that you are just sitting on. If you do claim it and then something comes up and you are not able to fulfill it (within the first three days-week) then unclaim it! Let someone else have it so the people who are waiting on the photos don't have to wait on you! You don't have to volunteer if you are a member of FAG, but if you choose to volunteer then actually do it.
FAG trolls are not in it for anyone but themselves. If, after reading this, you discover that you are a troll, make a change! Do it for the people you are creating memorials for, both living and dead, not for yourself.
