Jimmy Page in Beijing

[Hang-man]

For someone who spouts off so much about National pride Del, you sure don't seem to understand it at all.

Hey-Up,

HERE HERE, Well said Knebby....

Hang-man

[BIGDAN]

Hi all,

Danke!

Am I hindering this disussion,by stating my worthless opinion?It's not blind worship,they could have asked anyone and there is alot to chose from.Is Sir Paul on tour,Elton(Vegas?)?Mick?Eric?Peter Framton,Bruce Dickerson,Tony Iommi,Ozzy,Jeff Beck?Shall I go on?

It wasn't a -preformance- it was a show,an Olympic closing.

KB

Hi KB,

Your opinion is never worthless, well not to me anyway.

I asume that because there was no Zeppelin tour this year then Jimmy was at a loose end musicaly. When asked to contribute he was overwhelmed and said yes.

The 2012 Olympics are about London, which is why Jimmy (Heston-Sutton-Kensington) Leona (Hackney) and Beckham (Leytonstone) were asked and thats why others weren't, it was about getting London personalities to do the performance rather than non-Londoners.

I remember when Robert did Big Log on Top of the Pops in the early eighties, and he mimed, it was not what I expected as he didn't need TOTP to sell records and get recognised, Jimmy is the same. But Jimmy I suppose has a big heart and would do anything for anybody if it helps them and he has the spare time. Good luck to him for doing it as it hasn't hurt him or anyone else, any maybe Robert now thinks he could do a better job than Leona did. And if Jimmys performance did anything to persuade Robert to get back together then all will be well as far as we are concerned, I hope you all agree?

Regards, Danny

[euro]

I am actually looking foward to it with great anticipation. Especially since I did not watch or endorse this 'fake' Chinese dislplay of what greatness is about. And as a 'cousin' to the British people, I will take pride as well in your Olympics in 2012.

You consider the annihiliation of US in terms of Gold medals fake and of course US never fakes its greatness?

[Aquamarine]

The US was annihilated?? It got bushels of gold medals.

[fuchsia]

You consider the annihiliation of US in terms of Gold medals fake and of course US never fakes its greatness?

[Aquamarine]

Hi Fuchsia! How are you?

You explain this annihilation thing to me, then.

Never mind. Perhaps it meant the US did the annihilating, which also doesn't make much sense since it didn't win the most golds, but I'm not really interested enough to be bothered!

Edited August 26, 2008 by Aquamarine

[Knebby]

I remember when Robert did Big Log on Top of the Pops in the early eighties,

I remember that too. One commentator said he "..had both hands in his pockets and appeared to be peeling an orange".

[fuchsia]

Hi Fuchsia! How are you?

You explain this annihilation thing to me, then.

Never mind. Perhaps it meant the US did the annihilating, which also doesn't make much sense since it didn't win the most golds, but I'm not really interested enough to be bothered!

Hello back, Aquamarine! I think the implication was the US would only be happy if it were top of the medals table, and I was indulging in an ill-mannered smirk. Very base behaviour.

Hope you're well!

[guitarmy]

You guys who didn't care for the event are going to have to explain this to me.

1. This was not a rock show, so I don't understand your expectations.

2. If it wasn't Jimmy Page and Leona Lewis, it would have been someone else and Leona Lewis. That would have sucked more. It's only fitting for Jimmy to do it.

3. He could have said no, right? He didn't have to do it. I have to trust him. I trusted him when I listened to his music and so I trust whatever decisions he makes. When Jimmy, John Paul, or Robert do anything Led Zeppelin related, I trust them.

Blind faith? Maybe. But I figure the members of Led Zeppelin are in the best position to know what is best for Led Zeppelin don't you? I surely don't have their sum of experiences stored in my brain--they do.

...

There are only 4 (maybe 5?) people who went to every Led Zeppelin show, and I trust that when 1 of them decides to go along with some positive reinforcement for their country, that they know what they're doing. You don't know, I don't know, we don't know, they probably have a better idea.

Or as someone mentioned, maybe this was bigger than Led Zeppelin. It's hard to imagine because Led Zeppelin is so big for most of us. We're talking about a world event here. We all know Led Zeppelin conquered the world but perhaps the rest of the world doesn't.

WTF is wrong with gossip culture? Is there nothing innocent in this world? Isn't "sounded like a good idea at the time" a good enough reason?

Let Jimmy Page be what his is and do what he does. I'd say it's worked out so far.

Any Jimmy Page is better than no Jimmy Page. He certainly won't be around forever. I'm gonna soak him up while I can.

[Knebby]

Any Jimmy Page is better than no Jimmy Page. He certainly won't be around forever. I'm gonna soak him up while I can.

[Aquamarine]

Hello back, Aquamarine! I think the implication was the US would only be happy if it were top of the medals table, and I was indulging in an ill-mannered smirk. Very base behaviour.

Hope you're well!

Shocking behavior.

I'm fine, thanks, and trust you are the same. Thanks for the explanation--still don't really get it but only one cup of coffee so far this morning!

[BIGDAN]

I remember that too. One commentator said he "..had both hands in his pockets and appeared to be peeling an orange".

But do you remember the jump suit? Awful or what?

If Robert was trying to "Find Himself" I think he failed here, but he managed it very well later in the eighties, what do you think Knebby?

[StringBender]

I don't see the problem with what Jimmy did one bit. Heck, at least Leona can actually sing, compared to some of the other pop tarts of the last few years.

Personally I think this was one of the biggest appearances ever in Jimmy's career. He wasn't just representing Zep but his country with the entire world watching. I'm sure he was proud as can be and honored to have been asked.

Just think, it wasn't a Beatle up there or Mick Jagger prancing around like a bird but LED ZEP folks. That speaks volumes to the impact they've had on music.

And if they release a recording of that version I'd buy it.

......and this performance echoes what I've said on here for months now, as much as I would like to see Zep together again, Jimmy should hook up (not necessarily with Leona) with a young, current, relevant band and go out and kick some serious butt. Show this generation of music lovers the same magic he brought to Zep and the rest of us for decades now.

[FireOpal]

More like Gandalf..

It's all in the eye of the beholder I guess. On another web site I visit, people thought it was a ... I can't repeat what they called it, but let's just say "a female symbol". Note the shape of Leona's costume and the towering goddess structure. wink, wink say-no-more

[Knebby]

But do you remember the jump suit? Awful or what?

If Robert was trying to "Find Himself" I think he failed here, but he managed it very well later in the eighties, what do you think Knebby?

I have to be honest and say that at the time I had no problem at all with the clothes ( except I think he also had an awful fluffy jumper slung around his shoulders on TOTP), I had more difficulty adjusting to the robotic hand gestures and the hair! But certainly there are a few 80s pics of myself I would rather keep hidden.

I loved all his solo albums - even Shaken and Stirred - so I wouldn't critcise his career progression from that standpoint, but I can see how it "settled down" in the later 80s.

[SunChild]

Huge phallic symbol (a big raspberry to censorship).

Oh. Yeah.

Whole lotta... you know.

As long as Gordon Brown doesn't actually perform, could be great.

LOL!

More like Gandalf..

Well, I do like that better...

[BIGDAN]

I have to be honest and say that at the time I had no problem at all with the clothes ( except I think he also had an awful fluffy jumper slung around his shoulders on TOTP), I had more difficulty adjusting to the robotic hand gestures and the hair! But certainly there are a few 80s pics of myself I would rather keep hidden.

I loved all his solo albums - even Shaken and Stirred - so I wouldn't critcise his career progression from that standpoint, but I can see how it "settled down" in the later 80s.

I just ment to say that me and many of my friends didn't think that his apperiance on TOTP's was Rock'N'Roll, to me he didn't need to do it, but that didn't stop me watching it, tapeing it and defending him for doing it. Rock on Robert.

Regards, Danny

[SunChild]

I wasn't sure that I would be able to see this on television but my husband and I did make it home in time to watch it. I'm glad we saw it and it was good to see that Jimmy seemed to enjoy performing in front of a worldwide audience. For me, because Jimmy's public (musical) performances are so infrequent, it's always a bit of a shock and somewhat surreal for me to see him.

After the performance ended, my husband asked, "Is that it?" I felt the same way - it went by so fast - we almost expected that Jimmy and Leona would descend back into the bus and then emerge through the doors to perform a few more songs together. I told my husband "That's it for now but who knows what's to come in the near future?"

This photo, posted by "3hrsoffluancy" on RO, shows Jimmy's harness:

My husband and I have visited London together more than a few times and we've always had a fantastic time there so it was fun to see the little show. On our trips to London, we've enjoyed West End theatre and the dancing characters reminded me of that.

Thanks for that. He looks like he's having such a good time. Glad you got to see it.

You're right, the dancers were very theatrical.

So, planning on going over the pond in 2012? I'm getting noises of assent from my husband, to my surprise and delight.

[SunChild]

Hi all,

Danke!

Am I hindering this disussion,by stating my worthless opinion?It's not blind worship,they could have asked anyone and there is alot to chose from.Is Sir Paul on tour,Elton(Vegas?)?Mick?Eric?Peter Framton,Bruce Dickerson,Tony Iommi,Ozzy,Jeff Beck?Shall I go on?

It wasn't a -preformance- it was a show,an Olympic closing.

KB

No, you're not hindering anything. How boring would it be if we all marched together? And there were elements of cheese to the thing.

It's just - it was bigger than the cheese, for some.

[zeptangerine]

What do people think they mimed to? This is bizarre to me - are people suggesting they got to China, were told they would have to mime, and threw together some music to mime to - or just called it up out of thin air? A recorded track was used obviously - recorded by Jimmy and Leona - recorded after rehearsals, and recorded in the UK.

I can only hope Jimmy didn't go into this arrangement blind-folded. But now, according to Steve's post...After he agreed to performing it live he was informed Leona Lewis would be singing. This honor of using WLL morphed from agreeing to its use, then into playing it live, into a re-write by the singer, then another re-write by the Chinese officials, and then a mimed performance slipped somewhere in between.

So why was the pre-recorded version used instead of a live performance if Jimmy agreed to playing it live in the first place? The pre-records are typically used as back-ups, right? Unless there was a malfunction somewhere with his equipment or hers, I see no reason why it couldn't be performed 100% live. It's not so bizarre for any of us to question the mime process when it is SO NOT Jimmy. Jimmy won't allow Zeppelin songs to get in the hands of those guitar software music geeks, but he "allows" WLL to be rewritten not once but twice, then faked in performance? That's what I find bizarre, if not downright disturbing. Please have some pity on us, will ya?

[Aquamarine]

According to the TV interview that was posted on Sunday, Jimmy just said he was asked to play on it, he didn't specify that it would be live. But I don't know Steve's source of info.

[ninelives]

I can only hope Jimmy didn't go into this arrangement blind-folded. But now, according to Steve's post...After he agreed to performing it live he was informed Leona Lewis would be singing. This honor of using WLL morphed from agreeing to its use, then into playing it live, into a re-write by the singer, then another re-write by the Chinese officials, and then a mimed performance slipped somewhere in between.

So why was the pre-recorded version used instead of a live performance if Jimmy agreed to playing it live in the first place? The pre-records are typically used as back-ups, right? Unless there was a malfunction somewhere with his equipment or hers, I see no reason why it couldn't be performed 100% live. It's not so bizarre for any of us to question the mime process when it is SO NOT Jimmy. Jimmy won't allow Zeppelin songs to get in the hands of those guitar software music geeks, but he "allows" WLL to be rewritten not once but twice, then faked in performance? That's what I find bizarre, if not downright disturbing. Please have some pity on us, will ya?

Given how they had the performance staged on a bus which wasn't that big, I'd imagine having a band and all their equipment would have been problematic logistically.

[zeptangerine]

According to the TV interview that was posted on Sunday, Jimmy just said he was asked to play on it, he didn't specify that it would be live. But I don't know Steve's source of info.

Yep I saw it, too, and yes Jimmy seemed honored by it all. Very nice, indeed. Maybe he said live then, maybe not. I'll review it later. Nevertheless, the man was bamboozled by the Olympic organizers. (hence my term disturbing 'cause I know that'll be a hot button ...)

[zeptangerine]

Given how they had the performance staged on a bus which wasn't that big, I'd imagine having a band and all their equipment would have been problematic logistically.

True- that double decked wouldn't have the room to hold 14 cello players so maybe not 100% live, but at least she could have sang it live and he could have played it live with the other instruments pre-recorded. It happens all the time at sporting events.

[Knebby]

I can only hope Jimmy didn't go into this arrangement blind-folded. But now, according to Steve's post...After he agreed to performing it live he was informed Leona Lewis would be singing. This honor of using WLL morphed from agreeing to its use, then into playing it live, into a re-write by the singer, then another re-write by the Chinese officials, and then a mimed performance slipped somewhere in between.

So why was the pre-recorded version used instead of a live performance if Jimmy agreed to playing it live in the first place? The pre-records are typically used as back-ups, right? Unless there was a malfunction somewhere with his equipment or hers, I see no reason why it couldn't be performed 100% live. It's not so bizarre for any of us to question the mime process when it is SO NOT Jimmy. Jimmy won't allow Zeppelin songs to get in the hands of those guitar software music geeks, but he "allows" WLL to be rewritten not once but twice, then faked in performance? That's what I find bizarre, if not downright disturbing. Please have some pity on us, will ya?

Well Jimmy has already allowed WLL to be re-written several times. As I said both CCS and Blonde on Blonde had top 10 hits with "versions" of it in the UK. So I can't see what is so odd about that.

Also you say you saw his pre-peformance BBC interview - he was clearly quite enthusiastic about it being a new version of WLL, and about performing it with Leona.

It is also possible to have a pre-recorded track and sing/play some of it live over the top of it - artists do that all the time.