Newspaper Page Text
February 21, 1990
Flagpole Magazine
Page 5
Letter #3
Week Two
Hello Fellow Pollsters,
The recent Dan Matthews controversy, which has now appeared
in all of the local press except the daily newspapers, has been
fabulously entertaining, and I hope that the publications involved
have realized a subsequent boost in circulation. Having followed
the situation word-for-word, I would now like to make a contribution.
Before Dan Matthews, Esq. ever betrayed Flagpole, resulting in
the editorial exchange between Flagpole and Classic City Live, the
whole controversy got started when Dan The Man opened his mouth
and took a large helping of shoe leather with his column in the
Observer in which he begged his loyal readers to call the Telephone
Poll to publicly support his plea for a raise. Well, needless to say,
the resulting Telephone Poll comments were overwhelmingly nega
tive, by a margin of better than five to one. However, my guess is
that Mr. Matthews, ABJ, was not the least bit concerned by that re
sponse, as he seems to be thoroughly convinced that the silent
majority of Athenians loves him dearly. Well, Danny Boy, the only
silent majority in Athens is the over-40 bible-thumping set, and I
seriously doubt that they read you.
All of the recent comments seem to concur on two points:
1) Dan, wielder of the flaming pen, is competent as a reporter
of the Who, Where, and When in the local music scene.
2) Dan, bearer of the dull pencil, is incompetent as a critic.
Dan “what a guy" Matthews has never written anything that I
found to be thought provoking, philosophical, or abstract in any
way, shape, or form. The extent of his critical analysis is to compare
a band to another band that he thinks has a similar sound. Isn’t that
something that the listener should decide for him/her self — who or
what a band sounds like? A critic should relate how a performance
or a sound makes him feel; or what a song makes him think about,
a la David Barbe, who, in a very short time, has established an
excellent reputation as a critic, but he has made no attempt to be a
reporter. Is that because the two are incompatible?
Another lesson for Daniel Johnson Matthews, Jr. could be
learned from that monument to prose in Athens, William Orten
Carlton = Ort. Ort is, in my opinion, the best writer around that is
regularly published. He has an uncanny gift for expression; relating
his feelings, as well as the facts. Most notably, Ort has never made
a public appeal for money, either in his home rag, or in a letter to
another rag. Super Critic Dan has done both. Ort writes for the love
of writing and of Athens. If he was in it for the money, I’m sure he
would’ve retired his old manual typewriter long ago, and we Athe
nians would be less stimulated from a literary perspective. Ort is a
celebrity in Athens. Dan is notorious in Athens.
Perhaps Dan could recover his respect if he let his id do more
writing than his superego does. The only reason his self-proclaimed
esteem is intact is because his abundant ego has nine lives. Dan-
about-town could further curry the favor of his readers by not writing
with the obvious attitude that ha knows more about the local music
scene than anyone else. What a snide perspective. I would
encourage Dan to seek greener pastures; someplace perhaps
where he would be paid handsomely for his self-righteous verbos
ity; someplace that has significant music scene (he doesn’t think
Athens does — see his Flagpole letter). Athens wouldn’t miss him.
I’m sure the Observer could replace him—he wasn’t the first person
to write about the music in Athens, and he won’t be the last.
Continued Next Pag*