"I don't know what happens when people die
Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try"
"For A Dancer"
Jackson Browne
I'd just been thinking that I hadn't heard from Bob in a while...
We're fans. And when we hear from celebrities, the objects of our affection, we get a little thrill inside, especially when they're artists, who unlike so many today aren't famous for nothing, but are known because of talent, because of works they seemed to have concocted out of thin air. So when I got e-mail from Bob Welch, my heart was set a-flutter. It's a long way from Fairfield, Connecticut to the Rolling Stones Mobile they used to cut some of the Fleetwood Mac records he was involved in.
I know, I know, Bob went on to have solo success thereafter. But Bob was the glue that keep Fleetwood Mac together. The bridge between their old manager putting a fake band on the road and the ultimate merger with Buckingham Nicks that resulted in superstardom. The fact that they wouldn't let him be a part of their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction is heinous, just petty. But if you think rock stars are gracious, you just haven't hung with enough of them. It's so hard to make it, they're always fearful of being misperceived, being brought down a notch, being replaced by someone younger and of the moment. But what does the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame mean anyway... We've all got our personal Halls of Fame. From playing those records. And listening back then was a solitary experience. It wasn't about bumping asses and going to the club, but having your soul saved in your bedroom, as the glorious sound emanated from your speakers...
My favorite from the Welch era Fleetwood Mac is "Heroes Are Hard To Find"... An exuberant romp that never ceased to put a smile on my face and make me feel like my life was worth living. And, of course, there was "Hypnotized"... Which hearkened back to the band's blues roots, its heyday with Peter Green. Bob wrote that. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention "Sentimental Lady", which went almost unnoticed on "Bare Trees" and became a hit when covered faithfully by Bob himself, after he'd left the band, after his compatriots had their success. A great song can languish without the right presentation, especially back then, when radio airplay was everything.
And Bob had his solo success and...
That's the nature of music. Except for a very few, your time comes, and then it goes. And even those few, even McCartney and Elton...are imprisoned by their past, most people don't want to hear their new music. But oh what a glorious past it is, it's our history, the fabric of our identity, evoking more emotion and truth than any photograph or videotape.
"A woman I knew just drowned herself
The well was deep and muddy
She was just shaking off futility
Or punishing somebody
My friends were calling up all day yesterday
All emotions and abstractions
It seems we all live so close to that line
and so far from satisfaction"
"Song For Sharon"
Joni Mitchell
When "Song For Sharon" came out, I was closer to that line than satisfaction. Joni's music helped me hang in there, until the worm turned and I ended up in my first serious relationship. But that's the nature of the human condition. We bounce from exhilaration to despair and it's a wild ride and some of us can't hang on, we're thrown from the roller coaster.
I don't know what caused Bob Welch to take his life. There was a note, it might explain it. And despite knowing nothing I'm pissed that we live in a country where everybody must be macho and buck up and internalize and cope with their own problems. You've got to be able to ask for help and receive it. Without being described as weak. We've all been down that low. We've all needed a hand to lift us up. And too often, we need a professional hand. I have no idea if Bob had that available to him. But we all should. In a country that's done a one eighty and is all about self-reliance, but even if you're a famous rock star that's sometimes hard to do. Jason Mraz had a number one yet still was on the verge of suicide.
But that won't change history. Bob's gone.
And I'm creeped out. Because it's sad enough when someone goes. When they take their own life you wonder... Could you have helped? Am I capable of doing the same thing?
We go to school and everybody cares about us, what we do. We graduate and instantly you're on your own, nobody's paying attention. What a crazy country we live in where people want to regulate bedroom activities but don't want to spend a dime to help those in trouble.
Not that I want to use this as a soapbox for my political beliefs, but the problem with suicide is it leaves so many questions. Which usually don't ever get answered, they just slowly fade. Bob must have been in a lot of pain. But now we are too.
_________________________________________
From: Mike Lawson
Subject: Bob Welch
Bob Welch was my best friend the past 22 years. He and Wendy threw the baby shower for my middle child Kelly 18 years ago. I can't express how much I love this man and his wife Wendy. Why am I writing? Bob loved the Lefsetz Letter. He turned me on to you. We had countless calls on the heels of a newsletter from you, and he always was delighted when he saw you publish one of his replies.
It's all over the news before we even got the blood cleaned up. I am devastated he was my best friend.
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Friday 8 June 2012
Rhinofy-Some Beach Boys You Might Have Missed
"Angel Come Home"
"L.A. (Light Album)"
If you start with "Pacific Ocean Blue", you won't get it. But this delivers the pure Dennis Wilson essence, even though he didn't write it. Doesn't it sound just like a surfer past his prime who's been abandoned by his honey who got tired of his slacking ways?
Meanwhile, it was written by Carl (and Jeffrey Cushing-Murray), and his background vocals add sweetness to his brother's rough...whew!
I've played this record after every breakup, whether initiated by myself or my ex-significant other. Now you will too.
"I Was Made To Love Her"
"Wild Honey"
Speaking of Carl Wilson...
Yes, this is the Stevie Wonder song, but with Carl out front it's more than a cover.
"Girl Don't Tell Me"
"Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
You know how we've all got a favorite track, even though it wasn't a hit? Like "Every Little Thing", my favorite Beatles cut. This is my favorite Beach Boys cut. It reminds me of summer, of regret, it's wistful, it brings me right back to what once was and will never be again.
When I was twelve, I went to Camp Laurel-wood, the t-shirt spelled it with a hyphen, but we always wrote it as one word, "Laurelwood". It was run by the New Haven Jewish Community Center, and being from Fairfield, half an hour away, I was new blood. And I'm good in those situations. It's when my 360 degree personality comes out most. Not often enough today.
Actually, this was my third and final year at Laurelwood. I was well-established. And in that music-mania era, I brought along my Beatle and Beach Boy records, and at the very first social, I dropped the needle on "Do You Wanna Dance?", the opening cut on "Beach Boys Today!" and I stole Jimmy's girlfriend Jill just like that. Really.
And it lasted all month. But when I called her that December, the rumor was true, she'd gone back to him. Which on one hand was o.k., on the other when I hear "Girl Don't Tell Me" I remember one of the best summers of my life.
"Come Go With Me"
"M.I.U. Album"
Yes, the Del-Vikings song. But I hardly knew it, it was a hit in the fifties.
Get past the nonsense intro, stay until you hit the vocals... You just want to join in. Al Jardine makes this track, the same way he did with "Help Me Rhonda".
"Farmer's Daughter"
"Surfin' USA"
My first Beach Boys album was "Today!" And then "Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) I became so enamored of the band, became such a fan, that I then went back and bought what came before, which is quite a chore when you're twelve and cash-challenged.
My first catalog album was "Surfin' USA". I'll spare you the tale of trying to comb my hair like Dennis Wilson's on the back cover, but will tell you my father used to make fun of me, singing ""Tell the teacher we're surfin'..." at opportune moments, having heard me play it ad infinitum. Then again, when we did get to Los Angeles the following summer he did drive me to Malibu on a cloudy day and rented me a board.
But that summer, of '65, we went on vacation with the Sheketoffs to Atlantic City. And one night, on Steel Pier, we did go to see "Girls On The Beach", where Brian Wilson sat by a campfire and...
Didn't sing "Farmer's Daughter". But every time I think of this song, which I can sing note for note in my head, I remember that evening, all of the above.
Yes, there were tons of farmer's daughter's jokes. But I was too young to either hear them or understand them.
People think Barry Gibb has the most famous falsetto in rock. But really, it's Brian Wilson. It's just that Brian's is so natural, they don't realize it.
"It's About Time"
"Sunflower"
"I used to be a famous artist
Proud as I could be
Struggling to express myself
For the whole world to see
I used to blow my mind sky high
Searching for the lost elation
Little did I know the joy I was to find
In knowing I am only me"
"Sunflower" is the album where the rest of the boys stepped up. Especially Dennis, it includes his composition "Forever" and the opening cut "Slip On Through" and "Got To Know The Woman" and he even had a hand in writing this.
But so did Carl. And Al. And Bob Burchman, whoever that is.
And Carl sang it.
You're famous, successful, THEN WHAT?
But as insightful as the lyrics are, when "It's About Time" breaks down at 1:18, you'll experience the sheer joy of music. That airy feeling with the music swirling inside your head when you believe you've just experienced the most beautiful thing in the world.
"Funky Pretty"
"Holland"
Not as good as an album, "Holland" gained notoriety and success as a result of the afterthought hit, "Sail On Sailor". Still, "Holland" was very satisfying.
And by this time, Carl Wilson had become the glue that kept the band together. He built his reputation on these later albums, where his voice soared. Listen at 2:42, you'll get it.
"It's O.K."
"15 Big Ones"
From the comeback that was not.
It was painful listening to this album, except for this. Which is the legendary Beach Boys sound, Mike Love shines.
"Marcella"
"Carl and the Passions - "So Tough""
After "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up", this album could not have been more of a disappointment. "Pet Sounds" was packaged with it to try to give value, divert attention. But then, just when you were wincing, at the end of side one, came this.
You've got to listen on the big rig, experience the stacked choir. It's truly the voice of the angels. You listen in awe.
"Feel Flows"
"Surf's Up"
Brian Wilson has brought "Marcella" back from obscurity by featuring it regularly in his concerts. His fans resurrected "'Til I Die". First Don Was, and then everybody else. But if you bought this album back then, it was clear "'Til I Die" was the masterpiece. But you had no one to discuss it with. It was not a hit single and despite the hype, I never found another person who owned the album. It was my own secret treasure. But now it's everybody's, and that's fine with me.
Yes, "Surf's Up" was seen as a comeback. There was an article in "Time". I loved it, but it was not as good as "Sunflower" and most people still thought the Beach Boys uncool, sixties relics, this was just before their live show gained traction and became a major attraction.
But many have never heard this gem. Once again propelled by a Carl Wilson vocal.
In the album era, it wasn't a hit and then filler... Hell, despite the label trying, there was no hit at all from "Surf's Up", but here I am talking about it forty years later.
I drove to E.J. Korvette in blistering heat. I stopped at the Merritt Canteen for a hot dog thereafter, stashing the album in its bag under the seat so it wouldn't warp.
And then got home, broke the shrinkwrap and dropped the needle.
Today's music is hard and edgy. Maybe it's apropos for the times. Where everybody's fighting for a piece of the pie. Where you have to mortgage your future to go to college. But even though the sixties had ended by time "Surf's Up" was released, we were still in an era of personal development, of exploration. You'd put on this record and drift...
I'm drifting right now.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz
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"L.A. (Light Album)"
If you start with "Pacific Ocean Blue", you won't get it. But this delivers the pure Dennis Wilson essence, even though he didn't write it. Doesn't it sound just like a surfer past his prime who's been abandoned by his honey who got tired of his slacking ways?
Meanwhile, it was written by Carl (and Jeffrey Cushing-Murray), and his background vocals add sweetness to his brother's rough...whew!
I've played this record after every breakup, whether initiated by myself or my ex-significant other. Now you will too.
"I Was Made To Love Her"
"Wild Honey"
Speaking of Carl Wilson...
Yes, this is the Stevie Wonder song, but with Carl out front it's more than a cover.
"Girl Don't Tell Me"
"Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
You know how we've all got a favorite track, even though it wasn't a hit? Like "Every Little Thing", my favorite Beatles cut. This is my favorite Beach Boys cut. It reminds me of summer, of regret, it's wistful, it brings me right back to what once was and will never be again.
When I was twelve, I went to Camp Laurel-wood, the t-shirt spelled it with a hyphen, but we always wrote it as one word, "Laurelwood". It was run by the New Haven Jewish Community Center, and being from Fairfield, half an hour away, I was new blood. And I'm good in those situations. It's when my 360 degree personality comes out most. Not often enough today.
Actually, this was my third and final year at Laurelwood. I was well-established. And in that music-mania era, I brought along my Beatle and Beach Boy records, and at the very first social, I dropped the needle on "Do You Wanna Dance?", the opening cut on "Beach Boys Today!" and I stole Jimmy's girlfriend Jill just like that. Really.
And it lasted all month. But when I called her that December, the rumor was true, she'd gone back to him. Which on one hand was o.k., on the other when I hear "Girl Don't Tell Me" I remember one of the best summers of my life.
"Come Go With Me"
"M.I.U. Album"
Yes, the Del-Vikings song. But I hardly knew it, it was a hit in the fifties.
Get past the nonsense intro, stay until you hit the vocals... You just want to join in. Al Jardine makes this track, the same way he did with "Help Me Rhonda".
"Farmer's Daughter"
"Surfin' USA"
My first Beach Boys album was "Today!" And then "Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) I became so enamored of the band, became such a fan, that I then went back and bought what came before, which is quite a chore when you're twelve and cash-challenged.
My first catalog album was "Surfin' USA". I'll spare you the tale of trying to comb my hair like Dennis Wilson's on the back cover, but will tell you my father used to make fun of me, singing ""Tell the teacher we're surfin'..." at opportune moments, having heard me play it ad infinitum. Then again, when we did get to Los Angeles the following summer he did drive me to Malibu on a cloudy day and rented me a board.
But that summer, of '65, we went on vacation with the Sheketoffs to Atlantic City. And one night, on Steel Pier, we did go to see "Girls On The Beach", where Brian Wilson sat by a campfire and...
Didn't sing "Farmer's Daughter". But every time I think of this song, which I can sing note for note in my head, I remember that evening, all of the above.
Yes, there were tons of farmer's daughter's jokes. But I was too young to either hear them or understand them.
People think Barry Gibb has the most famous falsetto in rock. But really, it's Brian Wilson. It's just that Brian's is so natural, they don't realize it.
"It's About Time"
"Sunflower"
"I used to be a famous artist
Proud as I could be
Struggling to express myself
For the whole world to see
I used to blow my mind sky high
Searching for the lost elation
Little did I know the joy I was to find
In knowing I am only me"
"Sunflower" is the album where the rest of the boys stepped up. Especially Dennis, it includes his composition "Forever" and the opening cut "Slip On Through" and "Got To Know The Woman" and he even had a hand in writing this.
But so did Carl. And Al. And Bob Burchman, whoever that is.
And Carl sang it.
You're famous, successful, THEN WHAT?
But as insightful as the lyrics are, when "It's About Time" breaks down at 1:18, you'll experience the sheer joy of music. That airy feeling with the music swirling inside your head when you believe you've just experienced the most beautiful thing in the world.
"Funky Pretty"
"Holland"
Not as good as an album, "Holland" gained notoriety and success as a result of the afterthought hit, "Sail On Sailor". Still, "Holland" was very satisfying.
And by this time, Carl Wilson had become the glue that kept the band together. He built his reputation on these later albums, where his voice soared. Listen at 2:42, you'll get it.
"It's O.K."
"15 Big Ones"
From the comeback that was not.
It was painful listening to this album, except for this. Which is the legendary Beach Boys sound, Mike Love shines.
"Marcella"
"Carl and the Passions - "So Tough""
After "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up", this album could not have been more of a disappointment. "Pet Sounds" was packaged with it to try to give value, divert attention. But then, just when you were wincing, at the end of side one, came this.
You've got to listen on the big rig, experience the stacked choir. It's truly the voice of the angels. You listen in awe.
"Feel Flows"
"Surf's Up"
Brian Wilson has brought "Marcella" back from obscurity by featuring it regularly in his concerts. His fans resurrected "'Til I Die". First Don Was, and then everybody else. But if you bought this album back then, it was clear "'Til I Die" was the masterpiece. But you had no one to discuss it with. It was not a hit single and despite the hype, I never found another person who owned the album. It was my own secret treasure. But now it's everybody's, and that's fine with me.
Yes, "Surf's Up" was seen as a comeback. There was an article in "Time". I loved it, but it was not as good as "Sunflower" and most people still thought the Beach Boys uncool, sixties relics, this was just before their live show gained traction and became a major attraction.
But many have never heard this gem. Once again propelled by a Carl Wilson vocal.
In the album era, it wasn't a hit and then filler... Hell, despite the label trying, there was no hit at all from "Surf's Up", but here I am talking about it forty years later.
I drove to E.J. Korvette in blistering heat. I stopped at the Merritt Canteen for a hot dog thereafter, stashing the album in its bag under the seat so it wouldn't warp.
And then got home, broke the shrinkwrap and dropped the needle.
Today's music is hard and edgy. Maybe it's apropos for the times. Where everybody's fighting for a piece of the pie. Where you have to mortgage your future to go to college. But even though the sixties had ended by time "Surf's Up" was released, we were still in an era of personal development, of exploration. You'd put on this record and drift...
I'm drifting right now.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz
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Thursday 7 June 2012
Sales
1. John Mayer "Born and Raised"
Sales this week: 65,432
Percentage change: -70
Weeks on: 2
Cume: 285,370
I love the opening cut, "Queen Of California":
"Goodbye cold
Goodbye rain
Goodbye sorrow
And goodbye shame"
http://spoti.fi/JFCj9g
That's the L.A. experience. Leaving the oppression behind for a land of opportunity. And the track sounds as fresh and optimistic without being dumb as the sounds emanating from Laurel Canyon forty years ago, without being a retread.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album is in the same groove. I wish John could do what those seventies artists did, be mellow and rock on the same album.
Alas, his fans don't mind. These are pretty good numbers for someone who's been on a self-imposed hiatus. Not that I know why.
Oh, I understand the health/throat issues, those are unfortunate. But I saw no reason for Mayer to fall on his sword. Despite the wimpiness of half his music, Mayer's been on the cutting edge, he's been inventing the social/online/new publicity paradigm. He did a cruise before everybody got onboard, and even had his own TV show and "Esquire" column. And he was playing with the interviewer in "Playboy" and all of the nuance got lost on the cutting room floor. So he was pilloried. Unjustifiably so.
As for him being self-centered/narcissistic... Hate to tell you, but they all are, that's what it takes to be successful.
But the real story here, the reason I'm writing at length, is because of Mayer's comment re Taylor Swift's song "Dear John" in "Rolling Stone". Unlike me, I thought Mayer had the good sense not to comment. But now he's broken his silence. One could say he's doing so to help sell his record, but the tonality is such that he seems really hurt. "Humiliated" is a strong word to use.
But what's most interesting to me is the impact this will have on Taylor Swift.
In case you didn't notice, like that old Pursuit Of Happiness song, she's an adult now. Shirley Temple was cute as a kid and a nonstarter when fully grown. That confessional bite you in the ass game Taylor played as a youngster just doesn't go down that well as an adult.
I can take it. My main problem with Taylor Swift writing about me is the fact that she couldn't take it. Hell, if I wanted to respond to the hatred coming into my inbox I wouldn't have time to do anything else. It goes with the territory. Never feels good, but Bob Dylan had it right...
"While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in"
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
So now the onus is on Ms. Swift. Mayer put the hot potato in her lap. He didn't sling any dirt, and said quite honestly that if she had a problem with him, he never got an e-mail or a phone call. The way human beings communicate. Hell, don't we all hate hearing about our foibles from third parties? As for she being nineteen and innocent... Give me a break, it takes two to tango. Mayer is a well-documented lothario/ladykiller, if Swift didn't know what she was in for, she's got a clone who does all the writing and performing.
Expect Swift to blink. Because she's sensitive. She's not gonna double down, not after being called out.
And she lost in all her categories at the CMT Awards last night, hell, she didn't even go, she watched the Kings.
And that's totally fine with me. The CMTs are a joke.
But we'll only be interested if Swift gives us new music that's straight and from the heart and not vindictive, yet still honest. I'm not sure she has it in her.
But we'll find out.
John Mayer in "Rolling Stone": http://bit.ly/JJP8eU
2. Adele "21"
Sales this week: 57,840
Percentage change: +4
Weeks on: 67
Cume: 9,264,442
The game here is to diminish expectations for what comes after.
And not to wait until this album drops off the chart to release new music.
As for being too soon, that window has already closed.
Many people have still not heard "21". It's this generation's "Tapestry". She's the anti-star. Even if she ends up the new Alanis Morissette, this one album was enough. And really, Adele's had two already, Alanis really only had one.
4. One Direction "Up All Night"
Sales this week: 41,433
Percentage change: +12
Weeks on: 12
Cume: 739,186
In case you missed the memo, One Direction's video outsold Mayer's album. They sold 76,000 copies of their DVD "Up All Night: The Live Tour".
And the only people who truly care are the little girls with crushes and the oldsters getting paid.
This is boy band mania, nothing more, nothing less. We've seen this movie before and we'll see it again.
But what's most interesting is the generation buying it. One not beholden to the old norms of MTV and overpriced CDs. Who in the music business is going to follow the new audience, throw out the CDs and play on their level?
14. Eric Church "Chief"
Sales this week: 15,073
Percentage change: -2
Weeks on: 45
Cume: 839,586
He's selling what used to be Nashville's stock in trade... Authenticity.
But with everybody on the country chart a fake, ass-kissing, megachurch-going sellout, Church looks like Bob Dylan.
Maybe his success will beget more of him.
But that would require all those naysayers complaining the game is phony and rigged to actually get inside and take over the empty carcass that country music has become.
18. Jack White "Blunderbuss"
Sales this week: 13,716
Percentage change: -27
Weeks on: 6
Cume: 284,036
He just can't write a memorable song. I love the penumbra, the vinyl, the viewpoint. But I just don't want to go home and put on his records. Isn't there anybody in his camp who can tell him to go for greatness with his songwriting?
Jack is for fans only. The fact that he's the poster boy for mainstream media's new music business model does not change what's in the grooves. Unlike Adele, you can't spread Jack's music far and wide.
You can shoot the messenger now.
22. Of Monsters And Men "My Head Is An Animal"
Sales this week: 12,042
Percentage change: -35
Weeks on: 9
Cume: 168,617
This is both a testimony and a condemnation of radio. The reason this album is number 22 is because of radio. But if radio meant anything, if it wasn't a circle jerk perpetuated by the players in it and dependent upon it, Of Monsters And Men would be far bigger. Hell, in the heyday of MTV the band would be gigantic.
There's something here. It ain't completely clear.
Is Of Monsters And Men a fad or here to stay?
Ask Mumford & Sons, which is using its success as a springboard to stretch and change the paradigm, to excite its audience.
Please read this: http://www.gentlemenoftheroad.com/
This excitement is about music, not about grosses. It's been such a long time since live has been anything but complaints you can't get an overpriced ticket. Mumford & Sons is trying to increase its longevity by using its newfound power to titillate and bond with the audience.
Funny, for all its innovation, you don't see Radiohead doing this.
And you certainly don't see the old farts doing it.
Play to your active fans. Satiate them. They're your best bet for spreading the word.
49. Garbage "Not Your Kind Of People"
Sales this week: 7,704
Percentage change: -65
Weeks on: 3
Cume: 49,151
Proof that press doesn't sell records.
Is there anybody truly excited about the return of Garbage? An incredible first album that the band couldn't even follow up, which is why they went away.
You can work the intermediaries, but that does not mean the end players, the public, those who count, will care.
Press doesn't buy music or tickets. Please play to those who care.
And it's all been print. The music has had no footprint.
Then again, without the media campaign, this album would have been completely dead on arrival.
53. Katy Perry "Teenage Dream"
Sales this week: 7,297
Percentage change: +1
Weeks on: 93
Cume: 2,226,888
There's so much to hate here. Then again, she's not playing to me.
But she doesn't stop playing to those who care.
Perry's a star, and she's acting like a star. Not complaining. Constantly in your eye. Releasing new music off album cycle. She's doing everything right, she's a twenty first century diva.
And she's the anti-diva. She's accessible. Little girls believe if she stopped by their house they could go into their mother's closet and have a blast playing dress-up.
Do you go away from your regular friends? Of course not, you talk and text constantly. Now that stars are creatures of the public, it's best to get in bed with the public. Katy does that so well. I applaud her for it.
74. Zac Brown Band "You Get What You Give"
Sales this week: 5,520
Percentage change: +7
Weeks on: 89
Cume: 1,502,913
It's not hit dependent. It's about Zac's bond with his audience, delivering. Not hits so much as an overall music experience. Zac doesn't have the charisma or looks of Eric Church, but he's even more of an outlaw, yet winning at his own game.
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Sales this week: 65,432
Percentage change: -70
Weeks on: 2
Cume: 285,370
I love the opening cut, "Queen Of California":
"Goodbye cold
Goodbye rain
Goodbye sorrow
And goodbye shame"
http://spoti.fi/JFCj9g
That's the L.A. experience. Leaving the oppression behind for a land of opportunity. And the track sounds as fresh and optimistic without being dumb as the sounds emanating from Laurel Canyon forty years ago, without being a retread.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album is in the same groove. I wish John could do what those seventies artists did, be mellow and rock on the same album.
Alas, his fans don't mind. These are pretty good numbers for someone who's been on a self-imposed hiatus. Not that I know why.
Oh, I understand the health/throat issues, those are unfortunate. But I saw no reason for Mayer to fall on his sword. Despite the wimpiness of half his music, Mayer's been on the cutting edge, he's been inventing the social/online/new publicity paradigm. He did a cruise before everybody got onboard, and even had his own TV show and "Esquire" column. And he was playing with the interviewer in "Playboy" and all of the nuance got lost on the cutting room floor. So he was pilloried. Unjustifiably so.
As for him being self-centered/narcissistic... Hate to tell you, but they all are, that's what it takes to be successful.
But the real story here, the reason I'm writing at length, is because of Mayer's comment re Taylor Swift's song "Dear John" in "Rolling Stone". Unlike me, I thought Mayer had the good sense not to comment. But now he's broken his silence. One could say he's doing so to help sell his record, but the tonality is such that he seems really hurt. "Humiliated" is a strong word to use.
But what's most interesting to me is the impact this will have on Taylor Swift.
In case you didn't notice, like that old Pursuit Of Happiness song, she's an adult now. Shirley Temple was cute as a kid and a nonstarter when fully grown. That confessional bite you in the ass game Taylor played as a youngster just doesn't go down that well as an adult.
I can take it. My main problem with Taylor Swift writing about me is the fact that she couldn't take it. Hell, if I wanted to respond to the hatred coming into my inbox I wouldn't have time to do anything else. It goes with the territory. Never feels good, but Bob Dylan had it right...
"While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in"
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
So now the onus is on Ms. Swift. Mayer put the hot potato in her lap. He didn't sling any dirt, and said quite honestly that if she had a problem with him, he never got an e-mail or a phone call. The way human beings communicate. Hell, don't we all hate hearing about our foibles from third parties? As for she being nineteen and innocent... Give me a break, it takes two to tango. Mayer is a well-documented lothario/ladykiller, if Swift didn't know what she was in for, she's got a clone who does all the writing and performing.
Expect Swift to blink. Because she's sensitive. She's not gonna double down, not after being called out.
And she lost in all her categories at the CMT Awards last night, hell, she didn't even go, she watched the Kings.
And that's totally fine with me. The CMTs are a joke.
But we'll only be interested if Swift gives us new music that's straight and from the heart and not vindictive, yet still honest. I'm not sure she has it in her.
But we'll find out.
John Mayer in "Rolling Stone": http://bit.ly/JJP8eU
2. Adele "21"
Sales this week: 57,840
Percentage change: +4
Weeks on: 67
Cume: 9,264,442
The game here is to diminish expectations for what comes after.
And not to wait until this album drops off the chart to release new music.
As for being too soon, that window has already closed.
Many people have still not heard "21". It's this generation's "Tapestry". She's the anti-star. Even if she ends up the new Alanis Morissette, this one album was enough. And really, Adele's had two already, Alanis really only had one.
4. One Direction "Up All Night"
Sales this week: 41,433
Percentage change: +12
Weeks on: 12
Cume: 739,186
In case you missed the memo, One Direction's video outsold Mayer's album. They sold 76,000 copies of their DVD "Up All Night: The Live Tour".
And the only people who truly care are the little girls with crushes and the oldsters getting paid.
This is boy band mania, nothing more, nothing less. We've seen this movie before and we'll see it again.
But what's most interesting is the generation buying it. One not beholden to the old norms of MTV and overpriced CDs. Who in the music business is going to follow the new audience, throw out the CDs and play on their level?
14. Eric Church "Chief"
Sales this week: 15,073
Percentage change: -2
Weeks on: 45
Cume: 839,586
He's selling what used to be Nashville's stock in trade... Authenticity.
But with everybody on the country chart a fake, ass-kissing, megachurch-going sellout, Church looks like Bob Dylan.
Maybe his success will beget more of him.
But that would require all those naysayers complaining the game is phony and rigged to actually get inside and take over the empty carcass that country music has become.
18. Jack White "Blunderbuss"
Sales this week: 13,716
Percentage change: -27
Weeks on: 6
Cume: 284,036
He just can't write a memorable song. I love the penumbra, the vinyl, the viewpoint. But I just don't want to go home and put on his records. Isn't there anybody in his camp who can tell him to go for greatness with his songwriting?
Jack is for fans only. The fact that he's the poster boy for mainstream media's new music business model does not change what's in the grooves. Unlike Adele, you can't spread Jack's music far and wide.
You can shoot the messenger now.
22. Of Monsters And Men "My Head Is An Animal"
Sales this week: 12,042
Percentage change: -35
Weeks on: 9
Cume: 168,617
This is both a testimony and a condemnation of radio. The reason this album is number 22 is because of radio. But if radio meant anything, if it wasn't a circle jerk perpetuated by the players in it and dependent upon it, Of Monsters And Men would be far bigger. Hell, in the heyday of MTV the band would be gigantic.
There's something here. It ain't completely clear.
Is Of Monsters And Men a fad or here to stay?
Ask Mumford & Sons, which is using its success as a springboard to stretch and change the paradigm, to excite its audience.
Please read this: http://www.gentlemenoftheroad.com/
This excitement is about music, not about grosses. It's been such a long time since live has been anything but complaints you can't get an overpriced ticket. Mumford & Sons is trying to increase its longevity by using its newfound power to titillate and bond with the audience.
Funny, for all its innovation, you don't see Radiohead doing this.
And you certainly don't see the old farts doing it.
Play to your active fans. Satiate them. They're your best bet for spreading the word.
49. Garbage "Not Your Kind Of People"
Sales this week: 7,704
Percentage change: -65
Weeks on: 3
Cume: 49,151
Proof that press doesn't sell records.
Is there anybody truly excited about the return of Garbage? An incredible first album that the band couldn't even follow up, which is why they went away.
You can work the intermediaries, but that does not mean the end players, the public, those who count, will care.
Press doesn't buy music or tickets. Please play to those who care.
And it's all been print. The music has had no footprint.
Then again, without the media campaign, this album would have been completely dead on arrival.
53. Katy Perry "Teenage Dream"
Sales this week: 7,297
Percentage change: +1
Weeks on: 93
Cume: 2,226,888
There's so much to hate here. Then again, she's not playing to me.
But she doesn't stop playing to those who care.
Perry's a star, and she's acting like a star. Not complaining. Constantly in your eye. Releasing new music off album cycle. She's doing everything right, she's a twenty first century diva.
And she's the anti-diva. She's accessible. Little girls believe if she stopped by their house they could go into their mother's closet and have a blast playing dress-up.
Do you go away from your regular friends? Of course not, you talk and text constantly. Now that stars are creatures of the public, it's best to get in bed with the public. Katy does that so well. I applaud her for it.
74. Zac Brown Band "You Get What You Give"
Sales this week: 5,520
Percentage change: +7
Weeks on: 89
Cume: 1,502,913
It's not hit dependent. It's about Zac's bond with his audience, delivering. Not hits so much as an overall music experience. Zac doesn't have the charisma or looks of Eric Church, but he's even more of an outlaw, yet winning at his own game.
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Slow
Have you seen the Mary Meeker slides?
She showed them at last week's D Conference. But a tech entrepreneur friend of mine tweeted about them today, a week later.
Or how about David Lowery's screed about the new boss being worse than the old boss? That was posted on April 15th, but almost ever day someone still forwards it to me. They're just getting the message.
When I was in high school, everybody watched "Laugh In" on Monday night, discussed it in school on Tuesday and that was it. In the twenty first century, Adele has the number two selling album week after week even though it was released in excess of a year ago. The new buyers just got the message.
We believe in the new online media world, with everybody connected, all the time, that it's easier to spread the word. It's actually harder. Sure, there are phenomenons that explode overnight. Interestingly, most of them are just as quickly forgotten, like that band from Canada playing Gotye's track on one guitar. Or the guy who said United broke his guitar, where's that guy today? Chances are, instant notoriety will be just that. Rebecca Black is already a "Where is she now?" question, the only person who doesn't realize that is her. It's all about the long haul now, that's how long it takes you to get noticed!
And don't count on the media infrastructure to help you out. Television is all about today's ratings, how can we goose them right now, TV doesn't want to develop anything, it wants an instant splash or to cancel your ass.
And record labels are almost as bad. If you can't break immediately, they don't want to sign you. But as delineated above, the only thing that cuts through the clutter is lowest common denominator train-wreck, empty calories.
So, the higher your expectations, the harder you push, the more you're working against yourself. Now, more than ever, it comes down to substance. Because marketing is passe. You can gain eyeballs initially with money and press, but you can't keep them. For that you rely on word of mouth and media adoption after the fact. Hell, Amanda Palmer's been making music in excess of a decade, but only when she won the Kickstarter sweepstakes did the mainstream media finally become interested.
So it's counterintuitive. With everybody reachable, instantly, you think you can make everybody pay attention, fast. But with so many choices available, frequently deep niches that super-serve a narrow slice of fans, your message is not only ignored, it's not even heard.
We even see this in tech. Everybody knows what turntable.fm is in a matter of weeks. Now, the site is dying without ever having made any money. FourSquare just redesigned itself in the hopes of gaining revenue. There are so many apps released that you don't even bother to scan the store, you just wait until you hear about the hip one from friends. And then you use it for a while and abandon it. Madonna gets everybody to pay attention for fifteen minutes at the Super Bowl, but almost no one wanted to hear her new music, never mind buy it. She's still living in the eighties, where promotion is everything and scarcity rules.
It's kind of like Mt. Everest. Once upon a time, it was headline news when a human being scaled it. Now there are so many people climbing that there are traffic jams, with people dying as a result. If you make it to the top, it's not news. But if you die, you get a bit of ink. But you won't ever see it, you're already gone.
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She showed them at last week's D Conference. But a tech entrepreneur friend of mine tweeted about them today, a week later.
Or how about David Lowery's screed about the new boss being worse than the old boss? That was posted on April 15th, but almost ever day someone still forwards it to me. They're just getting the message.
When I was in high school, everybody watched "Laugh In" on Monday night, discussed it in school on Tuesday and that was it. In the twenty first century, Adele has the number two selling album week after week even though it was released in excess of a year ago. The new buyers just got the message.
We believe in the new online media world, with everybody connected, all the time, that it's easier to spread the word. It's actually harder. Sure, there are phenomenons that explode overnight. Interestingly, most of them are just as quickly forgotten, like that band from Canada playing Gotye's track on one guitar. Or the guy who said United broke his guitar, where's that guy today? Chances are, instant notoriety will be just that. Rebecca Black is already a "Where is she now?" question, the only person who doesn't realize that is her. It's all about the long haul now, that's how long it takes you to get noticed!
And don't count on the media infrastructure to help you out. Television is all about today's ratings, how can we goose them right now, TV doesn't want to develop anything, it wants an instant splash or to cancel your ass.
And record labels are almost as bad. If you can't break immediately, they don't want to sign you. But as delineated above, the only thing that cuts through the clutter is lowest common denominator train-wreck, empty calories.
So, the higher your expectations, the harder you push, the more you're working against yourself. Now, more than ever, it comes down to substance. Because marketing is passe. You can gain eyeballs initially with money and press, but you can't keep them. For that you rely on word of mouth and media adoption after the fact. Hell, Amanda Palmer's been making music in excess of a decade, but only when she won the Kickstarter sweepstakes did the mainstream media finally become interested.
So it's counterintuitive. With everybody reachable, instantly, you think you can make everybody pay attention, fast. But with so many choices available, frequently deep niches that super-serve a narrow slice of fans, your message is not only ignored, it's not even heard.
We even see this in tech. Everybody knows what turntable.fm is in a matter of weeks. Now, the site is dying without ever having made any money. FourSquare just redesigned itself in the hopes of gaining revenue. There are so many apps released that you don't even bother to scan the store, you just wait until you hear about the hip one from friends. And then you use it for a while and abandon it. Madonna gets everybody to pay attention for fifteen minutes at the Super Bowl, but almost no one wanted to hear her new music, never mind buy it. She's still living in the eighties, where promotion is everything and scarcity rules.
It's kind of like Mt. Everest. Once upon a time, it was headline news when a human being scaled it. Now there are so many people climbing that there are traffic jams, with people dying as a result. If you make it to the top, it's not news. But if you die, you get a bit of ink. But you won't ever see it, you're already gone.
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Wednesday 6 June 2012
Eric Carmen On The Beach Boys
Bob,
Your review gave me chills!
I, for one, have discussed, many times, with many people, the idea that Brian is, perhaps, the Mozart of our generation. I love the Beatles. I love the Stones. I love the Who and the Byrds. But "Pet Sounds" and "Sunflower" blew my mind. There are moments on those albums that transcend anything I have ever heard before.
My Dad's sister was the first woman George Szell ever hired. She retired, after forty-three years, as the senior member of The Cleveland Orchestra. I grew up as their "mascot." I got to sit on stage while the greatest symphony in the world rehearsed at Severance Hall. Very heady stuff. I hid in a cello case, one day, and caused the entire orchestra to stop rehearsing to look for me. It was a very special childhood.
I had the great honor to tour with The Beach Boys, both as part of The Raspberries in 1974, and as a solo act in 1976. I can remember standing in the back of the hall listening to them play "Surfer Girl" every night, and, literally, getting tears in my eyes every time they came to a stop after... "Do you love me, do you surfer......." Then the spotlight would hit Al Jardine as he would sing ...."girl." It was really an odd feeling to be brought to tears, almost every single night by such a simple song.
We stayed in the same hotels, on tour, and I remember walking past one of the Beach Boys hotel rooms, and hearing them rehearsing acapella vocal parts. It stopped me in my tracks, and I walked backwards, literally stunned, listening to the complexity and beauty of those vocal harmonies. To this day, I have never heard anything that could compare.
McCartney has been very generous in his admission that "Pet Sounds" inspired him to push the Beatles to create "Sgt. Pepper." He thought the Beach Boys were kicking his ass. He's also acknowledged the fact that he thinks "God Only Knows" is, perhaps, the greatest pop song of all time. As a huge fan of both the Beatles and the Beach Boys, I can only say that it is surely genius.
Anyone who has ever listened to the "outtakes" of Brian directing the studio musicians during the "Pet Sounds" sessions knows what a genius Brian was. He took instruments that never had been heard on "pop" songs" and blended them into the vocals, unlike anything we had ever heard before. Clarinets, bassoons, french horns, baritone saxes. Every singer in the Beach Boys was an instrument. Mike Love was a baritone sax. Carl Wilson, a french horn, Al Jardine occasionally a banjo, or a trumpet.
No other band in history has ever influenced me as much as the Beach Boys. Brian stands alone as the genius of my generation, even though I, like many others, was late to catch up with him.
I challenge ANYONE to listen to "This Whole World" ( which changes keys every 8 bars ) or "Until I Die" and find anything comparable in pop music. But you don't have to delve into the "modern" Beach Boys to find pure genius. Just listen to "Warmth Of The Sun, " circa 1966. I had to go back and do my homework to hear the genius stuff Brian created BEFORE "Pet Sounds."
To me, there has never been anyone, not even The Beatles (and I LOVE The Beatles) that could match the sophistication and brilliance of Brian Wilson in 1966.
I've always loved John and Paul, and Burt Bacharach, and Goffin and King, and all the other great songwriting teams that churned out hit after hit during the time I grew up. But nobody, and I mean NOBODY, could match the brilliance of Brian Wilson, who not only wrote the songs, but arranged and produced them. He didn't have a George Martin to help. It was all Brian.
I met Darian Sahanaja, when I was living in L.A. He's the leader of the Wondermints, who are now Brian's backing band, and prominently featured on the current Beach Boys tour. I heard a demo tape he had made, that included a song called "Tracy Hide", which, to me captured the essence of what Brian was doing during the "Pet Sounds" era. It was startling to hear Darian nail Brian, right down to the bass sound.
It's no coincidence that Darian ended up being Brian's musical director, and a driving force on the "Smile" album. I've also had the supreme pleasure of having worked with Mark Linnet, the superstar engineer who has been archiving every Beach Boys recording, and turning analog to digital for two decades. If you haven't heard the "40th Anniversary Pet Sounds" recording that Mark remixed, you have a real treat in store for you. I heard things in that remix that I had NEVER heard before, not even after listening to "Pet Sounds' a thousand times.
The world takes its toll on very sensitive people. I've seen it many times in my forty years in the music business. The more brilliant and sensitive, the more likely you are to be a basket case by the time the managers, agents, record labels, etc., get done with you. Very few people I have known have escaped being bludgeoned by "the business." Brian is no exception.
All I can say is I've never met a serious songwriter or musician that doesn't understand that Brian is a genius of the highest magnitude in a time of multiple geniuses. Mick and Keith. John and Paul. Page and Plant. Clapton and Bruce.
To me, there will never be anyone that can compare with him, and, by the way, that in no way diminishes my esteem for Mike Love, who, truth be told, was HUGE, and underrated in the whole Beach Boys paradigm. And Bruce Johnston, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine are not exactly "chopped liver", either. I've known all of them and each one possessed more talent than anyone I hear on the radio these days.
I've got my tickets to see them next Wednesday. I wouldn't miss it for the world. You don't often get the chance to hear genius these days.
Eric
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Your review gave me chills!
I, for one, have discussed, many times, with many people, the idea that Brian is, perhaps, the Mozart of our generation. I love the Beatles. I love the Stones. I love the Who and the Byrds. But "Pet Sounds" and "Sunflower" blew my mind. There are moments on those albums that transcend anything I have ever heard before.
My Dad's sister was the first woman George Szell ever hired. She retired, after forty-three years, as the senior member of The Cleveland Orchestra. I grew up as their "mascot." I got to sit on stage while the greatest symphony in the world rehearsed at Severance Hall. Very heady stuff. I hid in a cello case, one day, and caused the entire orchestra to stop rehearsing to look for me. It was a very special childhood.
I had the great honor to tour with The Beach Boys, both as part of The Raspberries in 1974, and as a solo act in 1976. I can remember standing in the back of the hall listening to them play "Surfer Girl" every night, and, literally, getting tears in my eyes every time they came to a stop after... "Do you love me, do you surfer......." Then the spotlight would hit Al Jardine as he would sing ...."girl." It was really an odd feeling to be brought to tears, almost every single night by such a simple song.
We stayed in the same hotels, on tour, and I remember walking past one of the Beach Boys hotel rooms, and hearing them rehearsing acapella vocal parts. It stopped me in my tracks, and I walked backwards, literally stunned, listening to the complexity and beauty of those vocal harmonies. To this day, I have never heard anything that could compare.
McCartney has been very generous in his admission that "Pet Sounds" inspired him to push the Beatles to create "Sgt. Pepper." He thought the Beach Boys were kicking his ass. He's also acknowledged the fact that he thinks "God Only Knows" is, perhaps, the greatest pop song of all time. As a huge fan of both the Beatles and the Beach Boys, I can only say that it is surely genius.
Anyone who has ever listened to the "outtakes" of Brian directing the studio musicians during the "Pet Sounds" sessions knows what a genius Brian was. He took instruments that never had been heard on "pop" songs" and blended them into the vocals, unlike anything we had ever heard before. Clarinets, bassoons, french horns, baritone saxes. Every singer in the Beach Boys was an instrument. Mike Love was a baritone sax. Carl Wilson, a french horn, Al Jardine occasionally a banjo, or a trumpet.
No other band in history has ever influenced me as much as the Beach Boys. Brian stands alone as the genius of my generation, even though I, like many others, was late to catch up with him.
I challenge ANYONE to listen to "This Whole World" ( which changes keys every 8 bars ) or "Until I Die" and find anything comparable in pop music. But you don't have to delve into the "modern" Beach Boys to find pure genius. Just listen to "Warmth Of The Sun, " circa 1966. I had to go back and do my homework to hear the genius stuff Brian created BEFORE "Pet Sounds."
To me, there has never been anyone, not even The Beatles (and I LOVE The Beatles) that could match the sophistication and brilliance of Brian Wilson in 1966.
I've always loved John and Paul, and Burt Bacharach, and Goffin and King, and all the other great songwriting teams that churned out hit after hit during the time I grew up. But nobody, and I mean NOBODY, could match the brilliance of Brian Wilson, who not only wrote the songs, but arranged and produced them. He didn't have a George Martin to help. It was all Brian.
I met Darian Sahanaja, when I was living in L.A. He's the leader of the Wondermints, who are now Brian's backing band, and prominently featured on the current Beach Boys tour. I heard a demo tape he had made, that included a song called "Tracy Hide", which, to me captured the essence of what Brian was doing during the "Pet Sounds" era. It was startling to hear Darian nail Brian, right down to the bass sound.
It's no coincidence that Darian ended up being Brian's musical director, and a driving force on the "Smile" album. I've also had the supreme pleasure of having worked with Mark Linnet, the superstar engineer who has been archiving every Beach Boys recording, and turning analog to digital for two decades. If you haven't heard the "40th Anniversary Pet Sounds" recording that Mark remixed, you have a real treat in store for you. I heard things in that remix that I had NEVER heard before, not even after listening to "Pet Sounds' a thousand times.
The world takes its toll on very sensitive people. I've seen it many times in my forty years in the music business. The more brilliant and sensitive, the more likely you are to be a basket case by the time the managers, agents, record labels, etc., get done with you. Very few people I have known have escaped being bludgeoned by "the business." Brian is no exception.
All I can say is I've never met a serious songwriter or musician that doesn't understand that Brian is a genius of the highest magnitude in a time of multiple geniuses. Mick and Keith. John and Paul. Page and Plant. Clapton and Bruce.
To me, there will never be anyone that can compare with him, and, by the way, that in no way diminishes my esteem for Mike Love, who, truth be told, was HUGE, and underrated in the whole Beach Boys paradigm. And Bruce Johnston, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine are not exactly "chopped liver", either. I've known all of them and each one possessed more talent than anyone I hear on the radio these days.
I've got my tickets to see them next Wednesday. I wouldn't miss it for the world. You don't often get the chance to hear genius these days.
Eric
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Sillerman
http://nyti.ms/KNaP1Q
You've got to sell to somebody. Just ask Zappos. Or Groupon!
Zappos sold to Amazon, otherwise the online retail giant would have gone into competition with the sassy shoe sales site. As for Groupon... It should have sold to Google. It made the mistake of believing couponing was forever.
Is electronic music forever?
Yes.
But at this level of attention and attendance?
Unclear.
What EDM (and I know insiders hate that term) has going for it is it's not like what came before. And it's dedicated twenty years to becoming what it is. Arguably, even longer. You may not have been paying attention, but soon after those Kraftwerk and Donna Summer records came out a scene was born, which has grown into a behemoth in Europe and is now burgeoning in America. It's paid its dues. And the promoters tend to be of the people, paying attention to the people. It's not corporate. It's about the experience. Attendees feel they own the scene. Which is completely unlike going to the shed or arena to see a corporate show.
So far, EDM has not even penetrated arenas. Its fans like outdoor sites. Or tents. Culture, venue, is all important to them.
So wouldn't the promoters want to stay independent?
Just ask John Scher. The fiercely independent promoter would probably still defend his decision not to make a deal with Sillerman fifteen years ago, but that was a mistake. He could have taken the money, chafed under management and gone independent again, all the richer.
So the indie EDM promoters have to sell out.
First and foremost, because they don't have enough money. You can't compete with deep pockets. And once Sillerman or someone else collects competitors it gets ever harder to book talent and put on an event. Yes, talent goes where the dollar is. Not only the offer, but the guarantee you get paid. Loyalty gets lip service, but ultimately you go with the dough.
So who do you make a deal with?
You could go with Live Nation. But that would be problematic. First and foremost there are two majordomos, Azoff and Rapino, and they oftentimes don't see eye to eye. One can ask who's in charge...
Or, you could go with AEG. Which runs a haimish, family-style organization, but it's built on rock, on pop, EDM is something new.
That's the fascinating story here. That Live Nation and AEG missed it. Like Microsoft missing tablets and Facebook missing mobile. You can be the biggest behemoth on the block, and if you're not looking towards tomorrow, you're ultimately doomed.
Furthermore, Sillerman is willing to overpay. Live Nation is a public company that has never made a profit and has debt on its balance sheet. AEG is ultimately a real estate play. Phil Anschutz doesn't want to overpay for bragging rights.
But Sillerman does.
Yes, Bob Sillerman doesn't mind paying too much. Because unlike his competitors, he's not in the concert business. He's in the money business. The goal is to build an asset and sell it. It's just that simple. How do you roll up something so shiny on the surface that those not in the know will overpay you for it.
That's what Sillerman did with Clear Channel. He sold the original SFX to the radio giant. Ultimately, there was a huge write-down and a spin-off. And as stated above, Live Nation is still not profitable.
So who do you go with if you're an independent? The guy who'll overpay you who will let you do it your way, because there's no infrastructure, no central management to get in your way?
Expect this to change. As it did at the original SFX. But for now, you make a deal with Bob, you get a huge check, and it's the same as it ever was. Furthermore, the more promoters he rolls up, the greater his and your leverage. As for the long term... That's about acts, not promoters, if you don't know you're fungible, get out of the promotion business immediately.
And is all this good for the music, good for the public?
Looking at SFX/Clear Channel/Live Nation, one would have to say no. Someone has to pay that bill, someone has to justify giving all those promoters millions, and it's the public. And with more competition in the field, the price of acts goes up, they play promoters off each other, and shows become even more expensive to produce, and attend.
So for those of you who were against the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger... It seems not to have eliminated competition one bit. There are more ticketing companies than ever and Live Nation is not the only promoter in the game, there appears to be no barrier to entry other than a deep pocket.
As for Live Nation itself... Maybe Azoff ultimately signs all the deejays to Frontline. Irving may not be first, but his charisma and financial skills often put him in the catbird seat. But where does that leave Azoff vis a vis Rapino? And if Live Nation were private, would it overspend to keep Sillerman out of the market, playing for a very long term that Wall Street doesn't respect or understand?
The times they are 'a changing.
And the reason they are is because of the music.
All of the old players missed it. Oh, established promoters will protest they own this and that, but if there weren't successful independents, which they could have purchased for a song way back when, they wouldn't be in this pickle.
It's very exciting. For business.
On a musical level?
Not so much.
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You've got to sell to somebody. Just ask Zappos. Or Groupon!
Zappos sold to Amazon, otherwise the online retail giant would have gone into competition with the sassy shoe sales site. As for Groupon... It should have sold to Google. It made the mistake of believing couponing was forever.
Is electronic music forever?
Yes.
But at this level of attention and attendance?
Unclear.
What EDM (and I know insiders hate that term) has going for it is it's not like what came before. And it's dedicated twenty years to becoming what it is. Arguably, even longer. You may not have been paying attention, but soon after those Kraftwerk and Donna Summer records came out a scene was born, which has grown into a behemoth in Europe and is now burgeoning in America. It's paid its dues. And the promoters tend to be of the people, paying attention to the people. It's not corporate. It's about the experience. Attendees feel they own the scene. Which is completely unlike going to the shed or arena to see a corporate show.
So far, EDM has not even penetrated arenas. Its fans like outdoor sites. Or tents. Culture, venue, is all important to them.
So wouldn't the promoters want to stay independent?
Just ask John Scher. The fiercely independent promoter would probably still defend his decision not to make a deal with Sillerman fifteen years ago, but that was a mistake. He could have taken the money, chafed under management and gone independent again, all the richer.
So the indie EDM promoters have to sell out.
First and foremost, because they don't have enough money. You can't compete with deep pockets. And once Sillerman or someone else collects competitors it gets ever harder to book talent and put on an event. Yes, talent goes where the dollar is. Not only the offer, but the guarantee you get paid. Loyalty gets lip service, but ultimately you go with the dough.
So who do you make a deal with?
You could go with Live Nation. But that would be problematic. First and foremost there are two majordomos, Azoff and Rapino, and they oftentimes don't see eye to eye. One can ask who's in charge...
Or, you could go with AEG. Which runs a haimish, family-style organization, but it's built on rock, on pop, EDM is something new.
That's the fascinating story here. That Live Nation and AEG missed it. Like Microsoft missing tablets and Facebook missing mobile. You can be the biggest behemoth on the block, and if you're not looking towards tomorrow, you're ultimately doomed.
Furthermore, Sillerman is willing to overpay. Live Nation is a public company that has never made a profit and has debt on its balance sheet. AEG is ultimately a real estate play. Phil Anschutz doesn't want to overpay for bragging rights.
But Sillerman does.
Yes, Bob Sillerman doesn't mind paying too much. Because unlike his competitors, he's not in the concert business. He's in the money business. The goal is to build an asset and sell it. It's just that simple. How do you roll up something so shiny on the surface that those not in the know will overpay you for it.
That's what Sillerman did with Clear Channel. He sold the original SFX to the radio giant. Ultimately, there was a huge write-down and a spin-off. And as stated above, Live Nation is still not profitable.
So who do you go with if you're an independent? The guy who'll overpay you who will let you do it your way, because there's no infrastructure, no central management to get in your way?
Expect this to change. As it did at the original SFX. But for now, you make a deal with Bob, you get a huge check, and it's the same as it ever was. Furthermore, the more promoters he rolls up, the greater his and your leverage. As for the long term... That's about acts, not promoters, if you don't know you're fungible, get out of the promotion business immediately.
And is all this good for the music, good for the public?
Looking at SFX/Clear Channel/Live Nation, one would have to say no. Someone has to pay that bill, someone has to justify giving all those promoters millions, and it's the public. And with more competition in the field, the price of acts goes up, they play promoters off each other, and shows become even more expensive to produce, and attend.
So for those of you who were against the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger... It seems not to have eliminated competition one bit. There are more ticketing companies than ever and Live Nation is not the only promoter in the game, there appears to be no barrier to entry other than a deep pocket.
As for Live Nation itself... Maybe Azoff ultimately signs all the deejays to Frontline. Irving may not be first, but his charisma and financial skills often put him in the catbird seat. But where does that leave Azoff vis a vis Rapino? And if Live Nation were private, would it overspend to keep Sillerman out of the market, playing for a very long term that Wall Street doesn't respect or understand?
The times they are 'a changing.
And the reason they are is because of the music.
All of the old players missed it. Oh, established promoters will protest they own this and that, but if there weren't successful independents, which they could have purchased for a song way back when, they wouldn't be in this pickle.
It's very exciting. For business.
On a musical level?
Not so much.
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Tuesday 5 June 2012
The Beach Boys Album
Paul McCartney should be quaking in his boots.
This record should be unlistenable, a complete waste of time, Brian hasn't done anything good since 1998's "Imagination". That's the only time he recaptured the original Beach Boys sound, when he worked with Joe Thomas.
He worked with Joe Thomas again.
I had zero hopes for this album. The last two times I ran into Brian Wilson:
1. He hung his head on the table at the BMI dinner, even though he was the one being honored.
2. He wouldn't reveal a single detail about this album, as if he worked for the CIA and would be shot if anything came out.
And seeing him live is almost creepy. It's really the Jeffrey Foskett show. Sometimes I think it would be better if Brian didn't even show up.
As for this reunion and tour... If you don't think it's about the money, you've got enough. Brian's played it out live, he can do clubs at best. So, he buried the hatchet with his "brothers" and is on a tour that I refuse to attend, to see Brian catatonic at a keyboard he doesn't even play. As for the Grammy performance...who knew Mike Love couldn't hit the notes either?
But there are elements on "That's Why God Made The Radio" that are so right, so perfect, so melodic, so joyous, they transcend not only Top Forty radio, but everything in the marketplace.
You see Brian still hears the sounds in his head. And with the right interpreter, in this case Joe Thomas, he can lay them down on tape.
Ignore most of the Mike Love stuff, about half the album is disposable. But drill down to certain tracks and you'll become speechless. How did they get such beauty, how did Brian Wilson concoct a timeless sound that would fit perfectly on the Beach Boys' sixties albums yet doesn't seem dated today?
I'd start with "Pacific Coast Highway".
Those multi-voice harmonies, I don't know anybody who can still do this, and make it sound so rich.
And what is that, a french horn?
And then Brian starts to sing... And his imperfect voice finally works, it's found its space. His age and inability to be as sweet as he used to reminds us all that we age, and even though we may be pushing seventy, that doesn't mean we have nothing to say...
"Driving down Pacific Coast..."
Have you ever done this? With the top down and the wind blowing in your hair? You feel like the rest of the world doesn't matter, you feel utterly happy to be alive. Brian captures this, along with the bittersweet feeling that it won't be forever.
Isn't this what music's supposed to do? Touch our hearts and souls, set our minds free, so they can reflect on times gone and yet to come?
No one else could even write these changes, never mind make them work.
And be sure to stay until the 1:20 mark, when the above words are sung... It's like an angel, the voice of God, has come out from the wings to reveal truth. Utterly astounding. "Pacific Coast Highway" may only be 1:47, but that's enough, it's not too short, it's not unfinished, it's just right, you want, you need to hear it again and again and again.
After "Pacific Coast Highway" I'd go to the top of the album, "Think About The Days". The Eagles tried this with their last album, opening up with a rich, quiet a cappella number, but now you know where Henley gets it, Brian Wilson doubles down and trumps the band that owns the biggest selling album of all time. It's like you're lifted from your chair and carried over the landscape, in a bubble, only you and the music, no one else. There are no distractions, you can only observe. The human condition is a lonely one, it's a search for connection. Music, when done right, does this better than any artistic medium, even better than conversation. You feel touched by Wilson's magic wand.
And now we go to the third cut, "Isn't It Time", whose title is so close to the superior "It's About Time" from "Sunflower", and it's not as good as what comes before, but the chorus, harmonies and changes beginning just before forty seconds in...this is the Beach Boys sound, something we've given up on hearing again. But the piece de resistance comes at 1:15, I ask you, who else can concoct such a satisfying vocal blend?
And speaking of vocal blends... When you hear the band sing the chorus of "Beaches In Mind", which starts this song, you'll smile. It's just a snippet of the song, but it's so great it puts a smile on your face and makes the rest of your record collection irrelevant.
And I'll throw in "Strange World", maybe because it mentions the Santa Monica Pier, and unlike too many tracks today, the verse actually has a melody. "Strange World" is one of those strange songs where the elements are better than the whole. There are bite-sized nuggets spread throughout. So many songs today are unfinished. But it's the change at the end of the verse that grabs you. Who else takes such risks? NO ONE!
And then there's the single, "That's Why God Made The Radio". Yes, Brian Wilson wasn't made for these times, who listens to the radio anymore? They're talking on the phone, texting... The sixties are done. Or are they?
I bought every Beach Boys album until "Friends". I kept waiting for them to recapture the magic, but Brian faded away and the albums became uneven. Then there was a resurgence with the aforementioned "Sunflower" and I've never given up hope. Kind of the same way you always believe your best days are in front of you, despite all the evidence to the contrary. You see we run on hope. And music. And somehow, Brian Wilson has regained hope, which has allowed him to bestow such great music upon us once again.
There's no "California Girls", not even a "Help Me Rhonda". But there are so many snippets, little pops and crackles of Brian Wilson genius, that not only are you thrilled, you too have hope, that our best days are ahead of us. Hell, if Brian Wilson can deliver, come back from the dead and show that not only has he not lost it, he's still better than just about everybody else, what can you do?
Skip the live show, ignore the reviews, if you were never a Beach Boys fan, move right along. But if you bought the albums, if you lived for more than the hits, your jaw will drop, you will be absolutely stunned. That sound is still there. Brian is still here.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/NFTpDV
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This record should be unlistenable, a complete waste of time, Brian hasn't done anything good since 1998's "Imagination". That's the only time he recaptured the original Beach Boys sound, when he worked with Joe Thomas.
He worked with Joe Thomas again.
I had zero hopes for this album. The last two times I ran into Brian Wilson:
1. He hung his head on the table at the BMI dinner, even though he was the one being honored.
2. He wouldn't reveal a single detail about this album, as if he worked for the CIA and would be shot if anything came out.
And seeing him live is almost creepy. It's really the Jeffrey Foskett show. Sometimes I think it would be better if Brian didn't even show up.
As for this reunion and tour... If you don't think it's about the money, you've got enough. Brian's played it out live, he can do clubs at best. So, he buried the hatchet with his "brothers" and is on a tour that I refuse to attend, to see Brian catatonic at a keyboard he doesn't even play. As for the Grammy performance...who knew Mike Love couldn't hit the notes either?
But there are elements on "That's Why God Made The Radio" that are so right, so perfect, so melodic, so joyous, they transcend not only Top Forty radio, but everything in the marketplace.
You see Brian still hears the sounds in his head. And with the right interpreter, in this case Joe Thomas, he can lay them down on tape.
Ignore most of the Mike Love stuff, about half the album is disposable. But drill down to certain tracks and you'll become speechless. How did they get such beauty, how did Brian Wilson concoct a timeless sound that would fit perfectly on the Beach Boys' sixties albums yet doesn't seem dated today?
I'd start with "Pacific Coast Highway".
Those multi-voice harmonies, I don't know anybody who can still do this, and make it sound so rich.
And what is that, a french horn?
And then Brian starts to sing... And his imperfect voice finally works, it's found its space. His age and inability to be as sweet as he used to reminds us all that we age, and even though we may be pushing seventy, that doesn't mean we have nothing to say...
"Driving down Pacific Coast..."
Have you ever done this? With the top down and the wind blowing in your hair? You feel like the rest of the world doesn't matter, you feel utterly happy to be alive. Brian captures this, along with the bittersweet feeling that it won't be forever.
Isn't this what music's supposed to do? Touch our hearts and souls, set our minds free, so they can reflect on times gone and yet to come?
No one else could even write these changes, never mind make them work.
And be sure to stay until the 1:20 mark, when the above words are sung... It's like an angel, the voice of God, has come out from the wings to reveal truth. Utterly astounding. "Pacific Coast Highway" may only be 1:47, but that's enough, it's not too short, it's not unfinished, it's just right, you want, you need to hear it again and again and again.
After "Pacific Coast Highway" I'd go to the top of the album, "Think About The Days". The Eagles tried this with their last album, opening up with a rich, quiet a cappella number, but now you know where Henley gets it, Brian Wilson doubles down and trumps the band that owns the biggest selling album of all time. It's like you're lifted from your chair and carried over the landscape, in a bubble, only you and the music, no one else. There are no distractions, you can only observe. The human condition is a lonely one, it's a search for connection. Music, when done right, does this better than any artistic medium, even better than conversation. You feel touched by Wilson's magic wand.
And now we go to the third cut, "Isn't It Time", whose title is so close to the superior "It's About Time" from "Sunflower", and it's not as good as what comes before, but the chorus, harmonies and changes beginning just before forty seconds in...this is the Beach Boys sound, something we've given up on hearing again. But the piece de resistance comes at 1:15, I ask you, who else can concoct such a satisfying vocal blend?
And speaking of vocal blends... When you hear the band sing the chorus of "Beaches In Mind", which starts this song, you'll smile. It's just a snippet of the song, but it's so great it puts a smile on your face and makes the rest of your record collection irrelevant.
And I'll throw in "Strange World", maybe because it mentions the Santa Monica Pier, and unlike too many tracks today, the verse actually has a melody. "Strange World" is one of those strange songs where the elements are better than the whole. There are bite-sized nuggets spread throughout. So many songs today are unfinished. But it's the change at the end of the verse that grabs you. Who else takes such risks? NO ONE!
And then there's the single, "That's Why God Made The Radio". Yes, Brian Wilson wasn't made for these times, who listens to the radio anymore? They're talking on the phone, texting... The sixties are done. Or are they?
I bought every Beach Boys album until "Friends". I kept waiting for them to recapture the magic, but Brian faded away and the albums became uneven. Then there was a resurgence with the aforementioned "Sunflower" and I've never given up hope. Kind of the same way you always believe your best days are in front of you, despite all the evidence to the contrary. You see we run on hope. And music. And somehow, Brian Wilson has regained hope, which has allowed him to bestow such great music upon us once again.
There's no "California Girls", not even a "Help Me Rhonda". But there are so many snippets, little pops and crackles of Brian Wilson genius, that not only are you thrilled, you too have hope, that our best days are ahead of us. Hell, if Brian Wilson can deliver, come back from the dead and show that not only has he not lost it, he's still better than just about everybody else, what can you do?
Skip the live show, ignore the reviews, if you were never a Beach Boys fan, move right along. But if you bought the albums, if you lived for more than the hits, your jaw will drop, you will be absolutely stunned. That sound is still there. Brian is still here.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/NFTpDV
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Monday 4 June 2012
Joe Walsh On Howard Stern
http://bit.ly/Ksyoie
I play "So What" all the time.
I know, I know, you're supposed to play "The Smoker You Drink" or "But Seriously Folks", not the disappointing follow-up to the hit. But I drop the proverbial needle and it makes me feel so good!
Now I was there at the beginning. Well, close to it. A girl I had a relationship/crush on turned me on to "Yer' Album" by the James Gang. Way past the peak of our connection, I stopped by her house to play mini-pool and while she and her girlfriend just about ignored me she spun the James Gang's debut. Which gets no love today. Then again, that was forty years ago, more than that.
But the big hit came on the follow-up, "Rides Again". "Funk #49" was a staple in the bedrooms of wannabe guitarists, you know, the kids who grimace when they play air guitar. And then Joe made a third album with the Gang and went solo, to...nothing.
"Barnstorm" was a complete stiff. Barely had any airplay, just a bit for "Turn To Stone", and Joe's living in Colorado, mowing the lawn thinking he's got to have a hit.
And that's when it hit him. The riff. For "Rocky Mountain Way". He wasn't sitting in the studio, trying to eke out a bowel movement. But when he was distracted, inspiration hit, but what were the lyrics, what was it he had to say? He looks up at the snow-capped mountains in the distance and the song starts to write itself, with lyrics about his old band, about their manager, suddenly his career was jump-started, when the track came out he was JOE WALSH!
That's the story Joe told on Howard Stern. I just took an hour out of my life to listen to the interview. You see I'm that big of a fan. I don't send him e-mail, I don't press his music upon friends, I just play it.
Which is why I gave his new album a chance. Maybe I was intrigued because it was his first one sober. It'd been so long since he'd done something good. "The Confessor", back in the eighties. And lo and behold, the title track, "Analog Man" was good...
I cruised YouTube for a live version.
I listened to the entire album four times, "Analog Man" was not the only good track. But I wasn't sure where Joe should go from here.
And the Stern interview was not helpful. Because Joe was not forthcoming. He wouldn't say a single negative thing about Don and Glenn, hell, he wouldn't gossip whatsoever. But when he told the tale of "Rocky Mountain Way" it made the whole hour worth it.
Pete Townshend told Rush it was worthless to make an album:
"Waste of time, making albums these days."
http://www.neilpeart.net/news/index.html
Joe Walsh said rock was dead. Or close to it.
And you can either be a baby boomer, resting on your laurels, dreaming of the good old days, or reinvent yourself.
First you've got to realize no one's paying attention. To just about anybody or anything. We're down so low in our niches we can't see anything surrounding us unless we're tapped on the shoulder. So if it doesn't really matter to you, if you don't really need it, don't even start. If you're not willing to play at least 100 dates a year, maybe 200, for at least five years, give up, just go on the oldies circuit and play your hits. But you can reinvent yourself. If you care, if you're really damn good.
Second, you've got to have good music. There's enough on "Analog Man", but unless you're me, no one's gonna listen to a whole new album of Joe Walsh stuff. Better to build up the live business and go on the promotional victory lap after you've gained a head of steam. You can do it the old way, get a bit of ink, sell five digits of albums, but it's almost like you never even played. Whereas if you go on the road and give away the one or two or three good tracks, you've got a chance.
Third. You do have to play live. But where is a whole 'nother thing. Your best option is to play festivals. If you're a rocker you need to do Bonnaroo. Forget about the oldsters, they're too stuck in their ways, you've got to appeal to newbies, who care more about music and performance than their mortgage or car payments. They're looking for something new, they want to spread the word. I'm not saying Joe Walsh should have played Coachella, that festival's more about eighties rock, but imagine if he did, imagine if he swallowed his pride and played a tent and blew everybody away. Then he'd have a chance of spreading the word.
Fourth. You build it live now. The album, the new music comes last. Instead of announcing from the stage that you've got a new tune from a new album that people should buy, just play it. And if it's not as good as what came before, leave it out of the show, which is why you don't need an album, because most of your new stuff is nowhere close to your classics, and when you're a star, no one wants to hear your work tapes, your crap.
Joe's done so much right. Tied in with ESPN, made YouTube clips, even gone on the Stern show, but all that's peripheral to where the rubber meets the road... Yes, he's got to go on the road. And do his damnedest to play to young people. I'd forget the old people almost completely. Are you dead?
P.S. "Analog Man"
The problem with this track is the riff isn't quite memorable enough, and the verse ain't either. But then the song changes and reveals its magic...
"The whole world's glued to the cable TV
It looks so real on the big LCD
Murder and violence are rated PG, too bad for the children
They are what they see"
And then the track makes way for a break with a Walsh solo better than any of the guitar work that came before...
I'd recut this track, emphasizing the lyrics and the changes more than the riff, because the hook is the changes and the lyrics.
In other words, this track is gonna make no headway, but if it sounded closer to "Life's Been Good", people would laugh in concert, it might gain some traction.
http://bit.ly/GOE2Ih
P.P.S. The second track is supposed to suck, but in some ways "Wrecking Ball" is even better than "Analog Man", once again, it's the changes. They're unexpected. And since the second track was so good, I continued to play the album.
http://bit.ly/Kze3XW
P.P.P.S. "Lucky That Way"... This is closest to the magical seventies sound that broke Joe Walsh so big. If you haven't got a magical riff, don't build a song around it. This is the kind of track that fans love, then again, how many fans are gonna actually know about this album, never mind listen to it?
http://bit.ly/JkTSYb
P.P.P.P.S. "Band Played On". The problem with Jeff Lynne productions is they're thin, whereas Joe's best records were rich and fat. Still, the Eastern-sounding instrumentation is so inviting.
One of the reasons rock died is it sounds so bad on digital. CDs or files. Rock, when done right, is rich. It occupies a spectrum from low to high. The only music that sounds good compressed is the crap you hear on Top Forty radio. This record sounds like it was made without wood, and it was that wooden sound that added so much naturalness and believability to all of Joe Walsh's music.
"Analog Man" entire album: http://bit.ly/GEcSPs
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I play "So What" all the time.
I know, I know, you're supposed to play "The Smoker You Drink" or "But Seriously Folks", not the disappointing follow-up to the hit. But I drop the proverbial needle and it makes me feel so good!
Now I was there at the beginning. Well, close to it. A girl I had a relationship/crush on turned me on to "Yer' Album" by the James Gang. Way past the peak of our connection, I stopped by her house to play mini-pool and while she and her girlfriend just about ignored me she spun the James Gang's debut. Which gets no love today. Then again, that was forty years ago, more than that.
But the big hit came on the follow-up, "Rides Again". "Funk #49" was a staple in the bedrooms of wannabe guitarists, you know, the kids who grimace when they play air guitar. And then Joe made a third album with the Gang and went solo, to...nothing.
"Barnstorm" was a complete stiff. Barely had any airplay, just a bit for "Turn To Stone", and Joe's living in Colorado, mowing the lawn thinking he's got to have a hit.
And that's when it hit him. The riff. For "Rocky Mountain Way". He wasn't sitting in the studio, trying to eke out a bowel movement. But when he was distracted, inspiration hit, but what were the lyrics, what was it he had to say? He looks up at the snow-capped mountains in the distance and the song starts to write itself, with lyrics about his old band, about their manager, suddenly his career was jump-started, when the track came out he was JOE WALSH!
That's the story Joe told on Howard Stern. I just took an hour out of my life to listen to the interview. You see I'm that big of a fan. I don't send him e-mail, I don't press his music upon friends, I just play it.
Which is why I gave his new album a chance. Maybe I was intrigued because it was his first one sober. It'd been so long since he'd done something good. "The Confessor", back in the eighties. And lo and behold, the title track, "Analog Man" was good...
I cruised YouTube for a live version.
I listened to the entire album four times, "Analog Man" was not the only good track. But I wasn't sure where Joe should go from here.
And the Stern interview was not helpful. Because Joe was not forthcoming. He wouldn't say a single negative thing about Don and Glenn, hell, he wouldn't gossip whatsoever. But when he told the tale of "Rocky Mountain Way" it made the whole hour worth it.
Pete Townshend told Rush it was worthless to make an album:
"Waste of time, making albums these days."
http://www.neilpeart.net/news/index.html
Joe Walsh said rock was dead. Or close to it.
And you can either be a baby boomer, resting on your laurels, dreaming of the good old days, or reinvent yourself.
First you've got to realize no one's paying attention. To just about anybody or anything. We're down so low in our niches we can't see anything surrounding us unless we're tapped on the shoulder. So if it doesn't really matter to you, if you don't really need it, don't even start. If you're not willing to play at least 100 dates a year, maybe 200, for at least five years, give up, just go on the oldies circuit and play your hits. But you can reinvent yourself. If you care, if you're really damn good.
Second, you've got to have good music. There's enough on "Analog Man", but unless you're me, no one's gonna listen to a whole new album of Joe Walsh stuff. Better to build up the live business and go on the promotional victory lap after you've gained a head of steam. You can do it the old way, get a bit of ink, sell five digits of albums, but it's almost like you never even played. Whereas if you go on the road and give away the one or two or three good tracks, you've got a chance.
Third. You do have to play live. But where is a whole 'nother thing. Your best option is to play festivals. If you're a rocker you need to do Bonnaroo. Forget about the oldsters, they're too stuck in their ways, you've got to appeal to newbies, who care more about music and performance than their mortgage or car payments. They're looking for something new, they want to spread the word. I'm not saying Joe Walsh should have played Coachella, that festival's more about eighties rock, but imagine if he did, imagine if he swallowed his pride and played a tent and blew everybody away. Then he'd have a chance of spreading the word.
Fourth. You build it live now. The album, the new music comes last. Instead of announcing from the stage that you've got a new tune from a new album that people should buy, just play it. And if it's not as good as what came before, leave it out of the show, which is why you don't need an album, because most of your new stuff is nowhere close to your classics, and when you're a star, no one wants to hear your work tapes, your crap.
Joe's done so much right. Tied in with ESPN, made YouTube clips, even gone on the Stern show, but all that's peripheral to where the rubber meets the road... Yes, he's got to go on the road. And do his damnedest to play to young people. I'd forget the old people almost completely. Are you dead?
P.S. "Analog Man"
The problem with this track is the riff isn't quite memorable enough, and the verse ain't either. But then the song changes and reveals its magic...
"The whole world's glued to the cable TV
It looks so real on the big LCD
Murder and violence are rated PG, too bad for the children
They are what they see"
And then the track makes way for a break with a Walsh solo better than any of the guitar work that came before...
I'd recut this track, emphasizing the lyrics and the changes more than the riff, because the hook is the changes and the lyrics.
In other words, this track is gonna make no headway, but if it sounded closer to "Life's Been Good", people would laugh in concert, it might gain some traction.
http://bit.ly/GOE2Ih
P.P.S. The second track is supposed to suck, but in some ways "Wrecking Ball" is even better than "Analog Man", once again, it's the changes. They're unexpected. And since the second track was so good, I continued to play the album.
http://bit.ly/Kze3XW
P.P.P.S. "Lucky That Way"... This is closest to the magical seventies sound that broke Joe Walsh so big. If you haven't got a magical riff, don't build a song around it. This is the kind of track that fans love, then again, how many fans are gonna actually know about this album, never mind listen to it?
http://bit.ly/JkTSYb
P.P.P.P.S. "Band Played On". The problem with Jeff Lynne productions is they're thin, whereas Joe's best records were rich and fat. Still, the Eastern-sounding instrumentation is so inviting.
One of the reasons rock died is it sounds so bad on digital. CDs or files. Rock, when done right, is rich. It occupies a spectrum from low to high. The only music that sounds good compressed is the crap you hear on Top Forty radio. This record sounds like it was made without wood, and it was that wooden sound that added so much naturalness and believability to all of Joe Walsh's music.
"Analog Man" entire album: http://bit.ly/GEcSPs
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The Power Of One
Now that Steve Jobs is dead, are we going to enter the dark ages of user interfaces?
Pick up an Apple product. Usability is intuitive. You don't need to employ a manual, it just works.
But even though Apple has been making products like this for over a decade, no other company has mastered this seemingly simple paradigm. Remote controls still come with a plethora of buttons. And setting up a TV usually requires a visit from an outside contractor.
Apple is the world's most valuable company because it makes insanely great products that are easy to use. And we can attribute this to Steve Jobs.
I just finished reading this book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking". It posits that he who speaks loudest is not always right. And that great creativity is often fostered alone. Which is why our rush headlong into collaboration is so wrong. I refuse to get on conference calls. They're a complete waste of time. Not only do they go on too long, nothing is accomplished, some blowhard bloviates ad infinitum, snide jokes are made and anybody with a left field, innovative idea is shut down, if he or she even bothers to mention it.
So many of our great achievements were made by one person, acting alone. Films by committee ruined the movie business and you can argue this same groupthink has ruined the music business. What's the first thing the label wants you to do? Cowrite! And when you visit the cowriter's house does he stimulate you to do something new and different or does this usual suspect drive you to create me-too music?
Which leads me to a fascinating article in yesterday's "Los Angeles Times", by Neal Gabler, which asks why all our sitcoms and films are endless repeats of what came before. Gabler posits "Puttnam's Law":
"It is more acceptable to fail in conventional ways than in unconventional ways. And its corollary: The reward for succeeding in unconventional ways is less than the risk of failing in unconventional ways. In short, you can screw up with impunity so long as you screw up like everybody else."
http://lat.ms/L69HWD
In other words, sign a boy band or a melisma shrieker and fail and everybody shrugs their shoulders and you keep your job. But sign an unattractive madcap balalaika player and stiff and not only do you lose your gig, no one returns your phone calls.
Everyone's playing it safe. And all innovation comes from the outside, usually as a result of the efforts of a single individual.
Like Elon Musk.
Read up on him, he doesn't seem to be an easygoing guy, hell, he's got that in common with Jobs. But not only did he make mega-millions with PayPal, he went on to start Tesla and SpaceX.
Tesla might still fail, it's literally living on borrowed time, deposits on future vehicles, but it's already lasted longer than any new car company in decades. Usually, they launch and fail, like DeLorean. And it looks like Fisker. But not only did Tesla produce its first model, it's well on its way to delivering its second.
And SpaceX had a successful launch.
Musk seems to be doing the undoable.
In other words, there was no Doors without Jim Morrison.
And Elektra could not have been successful without Jac Holzman the first time and Bob Krasnow the second. Krasnow broke every rule, he operated in every genre, but not only did he triumph, his acts were perceived to be paragons of excellence in their field, whether it be Metallica (which an indie did develop), or the headscratchingly successful Gipsy Kings.
In other words, one man or woman can make a difference.
But these people who do make a difference, they listen only to themselves, they categorically can't work for someone else, unless that person gives free reign, which is incredibly rare.
If we're looking for breakthroughs, we need to look outside the system. Don't expect the usual suspects to deliver them. And sure, many obtuse ideas will fail, but enough will succeed to change the paradigm.
20th Century Fox was not a believer in "Star Wars", I saw the trailer multiple times and the audience laughed, it was so cheesy. Not only did "Star Wars" become the biggest grossing movie of all time, it spawned sequels and imitations and created the merchandising paradigm.
Capitol refused to release the first Beatles album.
And Apple fired Steve Jobs. Because he just couldn't get along, he was a troublemaker.
Now ultimately these people needed help to succeed. But they didn't share power, they were dictators, it went down their way, their vision was unsullied.
There's no safety net when you're trawling the far reaches of creativity. But that's where the next big thing is gonna come from.
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Pick up an Apple product. Usability is intuitive. You don't need to employ a manual, it just works.
But even though Apple has been making products like this for over a decade, no other company has mastered this seemingly simple paradigm. Remote controls still come with a plethora of buttons. And setting up a TV usually requires a visit from an outside contractor.
Apple is the world's most valuable company because it makes insanely great products that are easy to use. And we can attribute this to Steve Jobs.
I just finished reading this book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking". It posits that he who speaks loudest is not always right. And that great creativity is often fostered alone. Which is why our rush headlong into collaboration is so wrong. I refuse to get on conference calls. They're a complete waste of time. Not only do they go on too long, nothing is accomplished, some blowhard bloviates ad infinitum, snide jokes are made and anybody with a left field, innovative idea is shut down, if he or she even bothers to mention it.
So many of our great achievements were made by one person, acting alone. Films by committee ruined the movie business and you can argue this same groupthink has ruined the music business. What's the first thing the label wants you to do? Cowrite! And when you visit the cowriter's house does he stimulate you to do something new and different or does this usual suspect drive you to create me-too music?
Which leads me to a fascinating article in yesterday's "Los Angeles Times", by Neal Gabler, which asks why all our sitcoms and films are endless repeats of what came before. Gabler posits "Puttnam's Law":
"It is more acceptable to fail in conventional ways than in unconventional ways. And its corollary: The reward for succeeding in unconventional ways is less than the risk of failing in unconventional ways. In short, you can screw up with impunity so long as you screw up like everybody else."
http://lat.ms/L69HWD
In other words, sign a boy band or a melisma shrieker and fail and everybody shrugs their shoulders and you keep your job. But sign an unattractive madcap balalaika player and stiff and not only do you lose your gig, no one returns your phone calls.
Everyone's playing it safe. And all innovation comes from the outside, usually as a result of the efforts of a single individual.
Like Elon Musk.
Read up on him, he doesn't seem to be an easygoing guy, hell, he's got that in common with Jobs. But not only did he make mega-millions with PayPal, he went on to start Tesla and SpaceX.
Tesla might still fail, it's literally living on borrowed time, deposits on future vehicles, but it's already lasted longer than any new car company in decades. Usually, they launch and fail, like DeLorean. And it looks like Fisker. But not only did Tesla produce its first model, it's well on its way to delivering its second.
And SpaceX had a successful launch.
Musk seems to be doing the undoable.
In other words, there was no Doors without Jim Morrison.
And Elektra could not have been successful without Jac Holzman the first time and Bob Krasnow the second. Krasnow broke every rule, he operated in every genre, but not only did he triumph, his acts were perceived to be paragons of excellence in their field, whether it be Metallica (which an indie did develop), or the headscratchingly successful Gipsy Kings.
In other words, one man or woman can make a difference.
But these people who do make a difference, they listen only to themselves, they categorically can't work for someone else, unless that person gives free reign, which is incredibly rare.
If we're looking for breakthroughs, we need to look outside the system. Don't expect the usual suspects to deliver them. And sure, many obtuse ideas will fail, but enough will succeed to change the paradigm.
20th Century Fox was not a believer in "Star Wars", I saw the trailer multiple times and the audience laughed, it was so cheesy. Not only did "Star Wars" become the biggest grossing movie of all time, it spawned sequels and imitations and created the merchandising paradigm.
Capitol refused to release the first Beatles album.
And Apple fired Steve Jobs. Because he just couldn't get along, he was a troublemaker.
Now ultimately these people needed help to succeed. But they didn't share power, they were dictators, it went down their way, their vision was unsullied.
There's no safety net when you're trawling the far reaches of creativity. But that's where the next big thing is gonna come from.
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Robert Johnson
"I went down to the crossroads..."
Or did he?
I didn't think I liked Christopher Titus. But after hearing him tell his story on Marc Maron's WTF I loved him. Because he was honest and forthright in a world of complete b.s. He stood up to power, Gail Berman, the Fox exec who wanted him to insert a love triangle in his TV show. Titus asked if she watched his show. What made it work was the fact that the couple stayed together, in light of all the shenanigans surrounding them.
As a result of this, his sitcom got canceled.
You see suits need to teach talent a lesson.
But talent, real talent, is in search of truth, nothing can alter their art, it's got to be pure, because that's when the public can relate.
And when the podcast ended I was disappointed, I wanted an extension, I wanted to know more. But there was none. So I dialed up Radiolab, to hear a short, for I only had a little listening time left.
I went to the live Radiolab show, at UCLA, about a month ago. I loved it. Interwoven into the stories was the comedy of one Demetri Martin, who was utterly fantastic, he radiated intelligence, which is not something you experience much in music. I paid for my ticket. I felt like I was a member of a club, of geeks, who weren't looking to get rich, just to be thrilled.
And I was thrilled with the Radiolab podcast on Robert Johnson I just finished listening to.
You know Robert Johnson, the most famous blues musician of all time, who sold his soul to the devil. Or did he..
Jad Abumrad went down to the crossroads, at midnight, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, looking to find out.
Nothing happened there. But upon returning to New York, he found out that John Hammond discovered Robert Johnson. That in 1938, Hammond was putting on a Carnegie Hall show of the history of black music, "From Spirituals To Swing". And he wanted an authentic backwoods bluesman, so he sent one of his people to Mississippi to discover one. And at a record store he did. Upon hearing Robert Johnson's music, Hammond insisted the young bluesman perform at his show. But it turned out Johnson was poisoned by a jealous husband whose wife Johnson consorted with, and had died.
At least that's the legend.
But now everything's in question.
It turns out that crossroads story, of selling his soul to the devil...was about a different Johnson, a musician who yodeled. A UCLA graduate student went to Mississippi to interview Tommy Johnson's brother, who told this student that Tommy said he got so good by selling his soul to the devil. That's how he could write songs on the spot, satiate all the white people.
And when he got back to UCLA, this graduate student told the tale, there's actually an audiotape, you can hear it on the podcast. But his buddies were disappointed, because it was the wrong Johnson!
But that didn't deter a friend in the room, who tracked down Son House and asked him if it was possible that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil...after all, everyone knew he sucked, then disappeared and returned fully-formed, better than everybody else. Son House said it was possible, and eureka, the legend was born. That's how everybody came to believe that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads, it wasn't even the right Johnson! But the story was repeated endlessly and now it's considered fact. Or at least well-known myth.
But then it gets even better. Turns out Johnson married at age eighteen, he was planning to retire from music and become a farmer. But when his new wife died in childbirth, he was so distraught, he became the Robert Johnson we all know, composing "Love In Vain"...
But they track down the man who told this story, the big Robert Johnson historian Mack McCormick, and he won't confirm it, he doesn't even want to talk about it. And when they finally open him up, he now believes it's a different Robert Johnson. That there were many Robert Johnsons. And further research revealed that many people had seen "Robert Johnson" long after 1938, even at a rodeo. As for dying of poison, at the hand of a jealous husband, had they seen the back of the death certificate? It said this Robert Johnson died of syphilis!
So maybe the death story isn't even true. Maybe all we've got is the music.
And although everyone agrees how fantastic it is, that almost never broke through. You see you get really good, and then your success comes down to luck. Robert Johnson didn't knock on John Hammond's door, he was an itinerant musician, playing gigs. An intermediary told the story.
And from 1938 until the early sixties, Johnson was meaningless, until Hammond decided to release Johnson's music in the middle of the early sixties folk/blues revival and all the English musicians popularized his music.
This was riveting radio about a subject I thought was exhausted.
That's what we live for. Excellent entertainment.
There's very little of it.
But this Radiolab podcast about Robert Johnson is exceptional!
http://wny.cc/HOar3J
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Or did he?
I didn't think I liked Christopher Titus. But after hearing him tell his story on Marc Maron's WTF I loved him. Because he was honest and forthright in a world of complete b.s. He stood up to power, Gail Berman, the Fox exec who wanted him to insert a love triangle in his TV show. Titus asked if she watched his show. What made it work was the fact that the couple stayed together, in light of all the shenanigans surrounding them.
As a result of this, his sitcom got canceled.
You see suits need to teach talent a lesson.
But talent, real talent, is in search of truth, nothing can alter their art, it's got to be pure, because that's when the public can relate.
And when the podcast ended I was disappointed, I wanted an extension, I wanted to know more. But there was none. So I dialed up Radiolab, to hear a short, for I only had a little listening time left.
I went to the live Radiolab show, at UCLA, about a month ago. I loved it. Interwoven into the stories was the comedy of one Demetri Martin, who was utterly fantastic, he radiated intelligence, which is not something you experience much in music. I paid for my ticket. I felt like I was a member of a club, of geeks, who weren't looking to get rich, just to be thrilled.
And I was thrilled with the Radiolab podcast on Robert Johnson I just finished listening to.
You know Robert Johnson, the most famous blues musician of all time, who sold his soul to the devil. Or did he..
Jad Abumrad went down to the crossroads, at midnight, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, looking to find out.
Nothing happened there. But upon returning to New York, he found out that John Hammond discovered Robert Johnson. That in 1938, Hammond was putting on a Carnegie Hall show of the history of black music, "From Spirituals To Swing". And he wanted an authentic backwoods bluesman, so he sent one of his people to Mississippi to discover one. And at a record store he did. Upon hearing Robert Johnson's music, Hammond insisted the young bluesman perform at his show. But it turned out Johnson was poisoned by a jealous husband whose wife Johnson consorted with, and had died.
At least that's the legend.
But now everything's in question.
It turns out that crossroads story, of selling his soul to the devil...was about a different Johnson, a musician who yodeled. A UCLA graduate student went to Mississippi to interview Tommy Johnson's brother, who told this student that Tommy said he got so good by selling his soul to the devil. That's how he could write songs on the spot, satiate all the white people.
And when he got back to UCLA, this graduate student told the tale, there's actually an audiotape, you can hear it on the podcast. But his buddies were disappointed, because it was the wrong Johnson!
But that didn't deter a friend in the room, who tracked down Son House and asked him if it was possible that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil...after all, everyone knew he sucked, then disappeared and returned fully-formed, better than everybody else. Son House said it was possible, and eureka, the legend was born. That's how everybody came to believe that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads, it wasn't even the right Johnson! But the story was repeated endlessly and now it's considered fact. Or at least well-known myth.
But then it gets even better. Turns out Johnson married at age eighteen, he was planning to retire from music and become a farmer. But when his new wife died in childbirth, he was so distraught, he became the Robert Johnson we all know, composing "Love In Vain"...
But they track down the man who told this story, the big Robert Johnson historian Mack McCormick, and he won't confirm it, he doesn't even want to talk about it. And when they finally open him up, he now believes it's a different Robert Johnson. That there were many Robert Johnsons. And further research revealed that many people had seen "Robert Johnson" long after 1938, even at a rodeo. As for dying of poison, at the hand of a jealous husband, had they seen the back of the death certificate? It said this Robert Johnson died of syphilis!
So maybe the death story isn't even true. Maybe all we've got is the music.
And although everyone agrees how fantastic it is, that almost never broke through. You see you get really good, and then your success comes down to luck. Robert Johnson didn't knock on John Hammond's door, he was an itinerant musician, playing gigs. An intermediary told the story.
And from 1938 until the early sixties, Johnson was meaningless, until Hammond decided to release Johnson's music in the middle of the early sixties folk/blues revival and all the English musicians popularized his music.
This was riveting radio about a subject I thought was exhausted.
That's what we live for. Excellent entertainment.
There's very little of it.
But this Radiolab podcast about Robert Johnson is exceptional!
http://wny.cc/HOar3J
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