Never liked the term acoustic rock (apart from the obvious mild pleasure in ARSS sounding like arse, which is the point, I suppose). It makes me think of those horrible interludes when chest-bearing, caterwauling, poodle-wearing, gurning monsters of rawk decide to get all sensitive and 'soulful' on us: a close relative of the 'rock ballad'... Total Eclipse of the ARSS, if you like.

I wonder why we can't have a simple new term for singers who write their own songs and songwriters who sing what they've written? I dunno, how about 'singer-songwriters'? It also has the added bonus of not muddying the waters by using the 'f' word.

There's no shame in being a singer songwriter, you know. Think 'Riverman', 'The Needle and The Damage Done', 'Time of The Last Persecution', for instance: some of these songs and the singers who've written them are marvellous. These particular songs also demonstrate the fact there's also no clause saying it's compulsory for the songs to be about the detailed examination of the contents of one's navel or any of the 57 varieties of emotional self flagellation, either. In fact such traits are to be positively discouraged - perpetrators would have to go in a seperate category called RSSS (really shit singer songwriters)... trouble is, until people have to sign a compulsory non-introspection clause when they buy a guitar, the mawkish will always be with us...

Cheers

Nigel