We've all seen this quote a thousand times, usually attributed to Hunter S. Thompson:
"The Music Business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
While I fully agree that this sounds like something that Hunter S. Thompson could have said, there's no evidence that he actually did so. He did, however, make a similar comment about TV journalism that was published in his book Generation of Swine. It goes like this:
"The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.
Which is more or less true. For the most part, they are dirty little animals with huge brains and no pulse."
I believe someone took the TV quote, streamlined it a bit, added the "negative side" tagline, and rode off into anonymity. Somewhere along the way, the similarity to the Hunter quote was noticed and the association was made.
All that said, it's a pretty accurate assessment - just not one made by Hunter S. Thompson.
"The Music Business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
While I fully agree that this sounds like something that Hunter S. Thompson could have said, there's no evidence that he actually did so. He did, however, make a similar comment about TV journalism that was published in his book Generation of Swine. It goes like this:
"The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.
Which is more or less true. For the most part, they are dirty little animals with huge brains and no pulse."
I believe someone took the TV quote, streamlined it a bit, added the "negative side" tagline, and rode off into anonymity. Somewhere along the way, the similarity to the Hunter quote was noticed and the association was made.
All that said, it's a pretty accurate assessment - just not one made by Hunter S. Thompson.
