Peter Frampton was not the only unheralded rock star to break through with a live album in 1976. But unlike "Frampton Comes Alive," Bob Marley and the Wailers' live LP was a single disc and it had little initial impact, it was not the end of the band's career, but only the beginning.
You've got to understand, Chris Blackwell did an incredible job of beating the reggae drum, in the press that is. Not an outlet extant did not do a story on "Catch A Fire."
But it didn't.
Nor did its two follow-ups, "Burnin'" and "Natty Dread." It seemed as if the gravy train of stardom was passing Bob Marley by.
Johnny Nash had the biggest reggae hit, with the indelible and incredible "I Can See Clearly Now."
And Marley was nowhere to be seen on authentic reggae's breakout film, "The Harder They Come." That was Jimmy Cliff's moment, not only on screen but on wax. Even Toots and the Maytals were bigger than Marley.
But then Eric Clapton cut his execrable cover of "I Shot The Sheriff." If you were familiar with the original, you cringed when you heard Clapton's comeback hit. It was white reggae at its worst. But the public ate it up. Proving once again that authentic reggae had no place in the mainstream, not in the USA.
But in the U.K?
It was making inroads there, although it was the English ska bands that ultimately crossed over to America.
But Marley played in England. And with the Rolling truck Stones mobile parked just outside the Lyceum, Danny Holloway caught the band's July 19, 1975 performance on tape.
And when you dropped the needle...
Now the release was akin to an afterthought, no one in the press would buy the hype, it was just a routine release that the faithful purchased and couldn't stop playing and talking about, because when you heard what came out of the speakers your jaw dropped.
ALL THE WAY FROM TRENCHTOWN JAMAICA, BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS, COME ON!
Is there a more memorable intro? Not if you know this album.
Then the music lays down in that reggae groove, subtle, not overpowering, just right, and you're locked right in.
And then Bob utters those magical words...
"One good thing about music
When it hits you feel no pain"
Dedicated fans knew the song, but this live version swings in a heretofore unknown way, you're utterly entranced. It's like being initiated into a secret society, one that anybody can join if they've got the LP and an open mind.
Suddenly, anybody could get it. Instantly. If Bob Marley were still alive and played this at the Apple iPhone/Watch introduction everybody would have been on their feet moving back and forth. Yup, you cannot listen to "Trenchtown Rock" without moving your body.
And there's not a bummer on the album, but the next absolute killer closes the first side, "Lively Up Yourself."
You're already in the groove, and then Bob and the band levitate the entire venue. You're staring at the speakers with the simple desire to jump inside, you want to get closer to this music.
And on the second side, there is a good version of "I Shot The Sheriff," with all the gravitas lacking from the Clapton cover.
But the piece-de-resistance opens side two, the single best recorded performance of Bob Marley and the Wailers, "No Woman, No Cry."
Sure, the version on "Natty Dread" was good, but the live take, although the same song, is a completely different performance. It's slowed down, it's smoky, it's as if everybody's so high they've lost touch with the outside world and only inhabit this song, it's church, even for nonbelievers.
I defy any music fan of any genre to not be hooked. "No Woman, No Cry" is just that powerful, just that right.
That's what we're looking for in our performances, a religious soul that we can embed ourselves in and let the velvet goodness wash over us.
And suddenly, Bob Marley was a star.
No, it didn't really happen that way at all. It didn't happen overnight. But over the course of a year everyone agreed that the hype was real, that reggae was a new sound here to stay, and that the apotheosis was Bob Marley and the Wailers.
And Marley is one of those few performers whose legend would endure even if he hadn't died prematurely, because Marley was so much himself, he brought people to him, not the opposite. He was not a player in the game, he was the game itself.
And you might know what I'm talking about. You may be throwing your hands in the air right now, crying hallelujah!
Or maybe you're a casual reggae fan, you know some Marley, but you've never actually heard this live album.
Or maybe you're someone who grew up on boy bands and melisma mamas, and you're positively clueless.
Well, be prepared to have your mind opened.
This is everything music is supposed to be. Catchy and unique and demanding of constant play.
This is what made Marley a legend.
But he would have become one anyway. Because you can't keep someone this great down.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/1qHvbi7
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Friday 12 September 2014
Thursday 11 September 2014
Hysteria
"I gotta know tonight
If you're alone tonight"
I wanted to hear "Hysteria" in hi-def. So I fired up my Wimp app and searched, but didn't find it, other than in its live iteration.
That's right, Def Leppard is at war with Universal.
"Can't stop this feeling
Can't stop this fire"
The album is twenty seven years old, the band's barely had a hit since. They're too old for classic rock and they're too old to die. But if you were there, back before the internet, back before MTV became all pop, you remember the utter joy of listening to this album.
I too lament the passing of the good old days. The at least weekly journey to the record store to finger the new releases, planning what to buy based on what I could afford. Replacing key albums with CDs, and then doing it again with remasters. Being able to comprehend the music scene. Buying the latest release by your favorite because you believed they had something to say, and that they would deliver, when the bands were unique and the producers were secondary.
Then again, here we're talking about mid-period Mutt.
He's not in the R&RHOF, but he's more worthy than most of the recent inductees. Because he could not only twirl the knobs, but play and write. He put his heart and soul into these records, when music was a calling, when it wasn't just a vehicle to become rich.
Oh, don't protest. You're not in that slot. You don't have major label support, you're not on the radio, you don't have eight figures of YouTube views. Because up there the air is rarefied and the game is completely different. Inequality reigns in music as it does in economics. You're either a winner or a loser. Some cross over. But most are kept down. But an exalted few ascend into the stratosphere, and are hated for it, just listen to Taylor Swift, but when you get up there it's all about lifestyle, who you hang with, where you vacation, when it used to be about...
Better drugs. Better sex. Multiple partners. More frequent sex. Remove sex from the equation and almost nobody wanted to be a rock star. Yup, you could be homely, you could barely be able to have a conversation, but if you were responsible for a chart topper the world was your oyster. And there were no cameras. At best your behaviors were a rumor.
And we all truly wanted some of that.
And in the late eighties, fresh-faced Def Leppard was at the peak, they were the apotheosis, the biggest rock band in the world, and they partook of all the warm and moist goodness.
That's one thing we loved about them, they didn't deny it, they were in it for the perks.
And those perks were nothing without the music.
And the music was great.
Sure, it all started with "Photograph." The "Royals" of its day. Something so indelible you couldn't wait to hear it again. Melding metal with the Beach Boys? Who came up with that?
And "Pyromania" was huge, seven times platinum in the U.S., a peak neither Adele nor Ms. Swift can reach today. And sure, the game was different, today we stream, but with so much less music at our fingertips we spun it again and again.
And then came "Hysteria."
Fraught with trouble, going through multiple iterations, at first listeners were nonplussed, there was no obvious hit, no "Photograph."
But then you played it.
And the first cut that stuck out for me was "Animal." And then came "Armageddon It" and "Rocket," but after I knew the album by heart the one I always came back to, the one that became my favorite, was the title track.
The intro is like a walk in the park, with a bounce in your step.
And then Mutt adds accents in each speaker.
And then Joe starts to sing:
"Out of touch, out of reach, yeah
You could try to get closer to me"
And there you have it. The rock star giving the green light.
"I'm in luck, I'm in deep, yeah
Hypnotized, I'm shakin' to my knees"
Where his pants were.
"Hysteria" is like sex. Intercourse doesn't work unless you build up a rhythm, get in the groove and sustain. And that's what so special about this track, it locks on and keeps going. More like a ship than a freight train, with no system sticking out, but all firing together, sliding together, through the water, up the canal.
"Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria
Oh can you feel it, do you believe it?"
That's what it was, hysteria, and we were all hysterical, music ruled the world, you just had to tune in to Live Aid for proof, sound ruled.
"When you get that feelin', better start believin'
'Cos it's a miracle, oh say you will"
Belief. We believed that music could change our lives, if not the world. That if we just cranked the tunes up loud enough not only would we squeeze out the rest of the universe, our lives would work while we bonded with the sound. That's why we wanted to meet our heroes, that's why we wanted to screw them, because they were the makers of the magical mysteria, the elixir that thrilled us and made our lives complete.
So, say you will. Buy my record. Not because I told you but because it's irresistible, because you heard one track and needed to hear more, because without it not only would you not be a member of the group, you'd be incomplete.
"Hysteria when you're near"
That's what we're all searching for. Used to be you had to go outside to get it, preferably to the gig. But now technology has put the world at our fingertips, music is not the only connection, everybody with a device is a star, of their own movie even if they're not internationally famous, and the people who make music are trying to compete. But that's a fool's game. Anybody will tell you you get attention by following your dream, by being yourself, by being unique. It was what drew us to not only the Beatles, but Bowie, never mind Def Leppard.
"Out of me, into you, yeah"
Out of their mouths, into your...
"Open wide, that's right, dream me off my feet
Oh, believe in me"
That's why Justin Bieber was so successful, people believed in him. Unfortunately, he believed in himself. And then the public turned against him. The truth is he was just a vessel. A channel to our hopes and dreams.
But Justin was more about image than music, one step away from the Kardashians.
But Def Leppard was different.
An average band without Mutt Lange, they were the best in the world with him.
So I gotta know...
Are you alone tonight?
You know loneliness, don't you? The incredible urge to connect? To feel part of humanity, to hopefully be listened to and be rubbed up against.
Can't stop that feeling of loneliness easily. It builds into a fire.
And said combustion is the opposite of connection. That's life, it's all about the yin and the yang. You can't be happy without being sad, you can't be fulfilled without desire.
And in the interim, you put on a record. To get you through.
And if you're lucky, and we all get there, just wait, you'll get older, you'll get wiser, you'll learn how to play the game, you'll bump into someone who gets it, who understands you, who feels the power too. And just like a rock star, you'll strip down to your skivvies, you'll put your hands on them and then...
"You get that feelin', better start believin'"
Don't stop. The world's a crazy confusing place. But there are some constants. These tracks may be decades old, but that does not mean they've lost their power.
"'Cos it's a miracle, oh say you will"
Say yes! Not to Bono and the money machine, but to that exquisite feeling of having your favorite track playing not only through your earbuds, but your mind.
Because at the end of the day that's what it comes down to, the hysteria of listening.
You remember listening, don't you?
Close your eyes. Picture it in your mind. It's built into your DNA. Let the blood rush. Feel your power. Come together. In and out.
"Ooh babe
Hysteria when you're near
COME ON!"
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If you're alone tonight"
I wanted to hear "Hysteria" in hi-def. So I fired up my Wimp app and searched, but didn't find it, other than in its live iteration.
That's right, Def Leppard is at war with Universal.
"Can't stop this feeling
Can't stop this fire"
The album is twenty seven years old, the band's barely had a hit since. They're too old for classic rock and they're too old to die. But if you were there, back before the internet, back before MTV became all pop, you remember the utter joy of listening to this album.
I too lament the passing of the good old days. The at least weekly journey to the record store to finger the new releases, planning what to buy based on what I could afford. Replacing key albums with CDs, and then doing it again with remasters. Being able to comprehend the music scene. Buying the latest release by your favorite because you believed they had something to say, and that they would deliver, when the bands were unique and the producers were secondary.
Then again, here we're talking about mid-period Mutt.
He's not in the R&RHOF, but he's more worthy than most of the recent inductees. Because he could not only twirl the knobs, but play and write. He put his heart and soul into these records, when music was a calling, when it wasn't just a vehicle to become rich.
Oh, don't protest. You're not in that slot. You don't have major label support, you're not on the radio, you don't have eight figures of YouTube views. Because up there the air is rarefied and the game is completely different. Inequality reigns in music as it does in economics. You're either a winner or a loser. Some cross over. But most are kept down. But an exalted few ascend into the stratosphere, and are hated for it, just listen to Taylor Swift, but when you get up there it's all about lifestyle, who you hang with, where you vacation, when it used to be about...
Better drugs. Better sex. Multiple partners. More frequent sex. Remove sex from the equation and almost nobody wanted to be a rock star. Yup, you could be homely, you could barely be able to have a conversation, but if you were responsible for a chart topper the world was your oyster. And there were no cameras. At best your behaviors were a rumor.
And we all truly wanted some of that.
And in the late eighties, fresh-faced Def Leppard was at the peak, they were the apotheosis, the biggest rock band in the world, and they partook of all the warm and moist goodness.
That's one thing we loved about them, they didn't deny it, they were in it for the perks.
And those perks were nothing without the music.
And the music was great.
Sure, it all started with "Photograph." The "Royals" of its day. Something so indelible you couldn't wait to hear it again. Melding metal with the Beach Boys? Who came up with that?
And "Pyromania" was huge, seven times platinum in the U.S., a peak neither Adele nor Ms. Swift can reach today. And sure, the game was different, today we stream, but with so much less music at our fingertips we spun it again and again.
And then came "Hysteria."
Fraught with trouble, going through multiple iterations, at first listeners were nonplussed, there was no obvious hit, no "Photograph."
But then you played it.
And the first cut that stuck out for me was "Animal." And then came "Armageddon It" and "Rocket," but after I knew the album by heart the one I always came back to, the one that became my favorite, was the title track.
The intro is like a walk in the park, with a bounce in your step.
And then Mutt adds accents in each speaker.
And then Joe starts to sing:
"Out of touch, out of reach, yeah
You could try to get closer to me"
And there you have it. The rock star giving the green light.
"I'm in luck, I'm in deep, yeah
Hypnotized, I'm shakin' to my knees"
Where his pants were.
"Hysteria" is like sex. Intercourse doesn't work unless you build up a rhythm, get in the groove and sustain. And that's what so special about this track, it locks on and keeps going. More like a ship than a freight train, with no system sticking out, but all firing together, sliding together, through the water, up the canal.
"Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria
Oh can you feel it, do you believe it?"
That's what it was, hysteria, and we were all hysterical, music ruled the world, you just had to tune in to Live Aid for proof, sound ruled.
"When you get that feelin', better start believin'
'Cos it's a miracle, oh say you will"
Belief. We believed that music could change our lives, if not the world. That if we just cranked the tunes up loud enough not only would we squeeze out the rest of the universe, our lives would work while we bonded with the sound. That's why we wanted to meet our heroes, that's why we wanted to screw them, because they were the makers of the magical mysteria, the elixir that thrilled us and made our lives complete.
So, say you will. Buy my record. Not because I told you but because it's irresistible, because you heard one track and needed to hear more, because without it not only would you not be a member of the group, you'd be incomplete.
"Hysteria when you're near"
That's what we're all searching for. Used to be you had to go outside to get it, preferably to the gig. But now technology has put the world at our fingertips, music is not the only connection, everybody with a device is a star, of their own movie even if they're not internationally famous, and the people who make music are trying to compete. But that's a fool's game. Anybody will tell you you get attention by following your dream, by being yourself, by being unique. It was what drew us to not only the Beatles, but Bowie, never mind Def Leppard.
"Out of me, into you, yeah"
Out of their mouths, into your...
"Open wide, that's right, dream me off my feet
Oh, believe in me"
That's why Justin Bieber was so successful, people believed in him. Unfortunately, he believed in himself. And then the public turned against him. The truth is he was just a vessel. A channel to our hopes and dreams.
But Justin was more about image than music, one step away from the Kardashians.
But Def Leppard was different.
An average band without Mutt Lange, they were the best in the world with him.
So I gotta know...
Are you alone tonight?
You know loneliness, don't you? The incredible urge to connect? To feel part of humanity, to hopefully be listened to and be rubbed up against.
Can't stop that feeling of loneliness easily. It builds into a fire.
And said combustion is the opposite of connection. That's life, it's all about the yin and the yang. You can't be happy without being sad, you can't be fulfilled without desire.
And in the interim, you put on a record. To get you through.
And if you're lucky, and we all get there, just wait, you'll get older, you'll get wiser, you'll learn how to play the game, you'll bump into someone who gets it, who understands you, who feels the power too. And just like a rock star, you'll strip down to your skivvies, you'll put your hands on them and then...
"You get that feelin', better start believin'"
Don't stop. The world's a crazy confusing place. But there are some constants. These tracks may be decades old, but that does not mean they've lost their power.
"'Cos it's a miracle, oh say you will"
Say yes! Not to Bono and the money machine, but to that exquisite feeling of having your favorite track playing not only through your earbuds, but your mind.
Because at the end of the day that's what it comes down to, the hysteria of listening.
You remember listening, don't you?
Close your eyes. Picture it in your mind. It's built into your DNA. Let the blood rush. Feel your power. Come together. In and out.
"Ooh babe
Hysteria when you're near
COME ON!"
--
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Attention
We're all fighting for it.
Welcome to 2014. The Internet is two decades old, at least in the mind of the consumer, we're all wired 24/7 and the primary feeling is one of exhaustion. We're at an endless buffet and we can't stop grazing even though we're full and after a while everything looks the same, nothing tastes that good.
Contrast this to the eighties, when music was expensive, everybody was watching MTV and we knew what was a hit and were familiar with it.
Now not only is SoundScan irrelevant, it's a chart we might see in the paper within which the records change seemingly every week and we're unfamiliar with most of them. Kind of like the movies. Don't like this week's offerings? Wait until next week!
So how do you capture my attention and keep it.
Old schoolers believe it's about a publicity campaign. But I hate to tell them it took years for "Breaking Bad" to break, despite so many testifying it was the best television show ever. Because it takes a lot to get us out of our comfort zones, to partake of something new, because so much disappoints and we've got no time and because of the opportunity cost...if I sample this, I'll have no time to sample that.
It's why people drop out of social media. They believe people are listening. That if they keep doing it their audience, their personal brand, will grow. But seemingly everybody I follow on Twitter rarely tweets anymore. Albert Brooks used to be a constant. Michael Moore had a presence. Now it's more like beating your head against the wall and so many huge players have given up because they don't believe it pays career dividends.
They're worn out.
I'm worn out too.
And so are you.
Which is why we turn to filters. Which is why radio is still the most powerful medium to break music. Despite Pandora and Spotify and YouTube and the ability to pick and choose exactly what you want to hear the greatest mass flocks to the oldest medium, because it's comprehensible. You only play a few tracks over and over again, you believe these are the ones I want to hear, so I listen.
And those not on radio hate this. Because they believe they're entitled to equal attention, they actually believe they're entitled to radio airplay. So we've got people yelling louder and the rest of us just tune out, we can't stand the noise.
Where are we going?
To greater concentration. That's what the future looks like. Sure, you're going to drive down deep into the niches that stimulate you, but in most categories you only want the guaranteed hits. Not only do you only want Google and Amazon, you only want a few tracks, a few outlets, you want your world to be made comprehensible.
So you've got techies looking to make coin shoving endless websites and apps down our throat. Many just a me-too variation on what's come before.
And we've got old wave media producers lamenting that the old days are gone. They acknowledge the game has changed, ironically they continue to play in the same damn way.
So don't invade my yard if I don't ask you to. I don't want anything that looks like spam. Because cleaning the crap out of my digital life is already taking too much time. This is how it is for everybody.
So the question is how do you get my attention and keep it?
Either very quickly or very slowly, usually the latter.
That's how you get it.
Keeping it?
It's all about the relationship. The friendship. This is how FM radio blew up, each station had a culture. It's one of the reasons radio is faltering today, there is no culture, in a world where honesty is king, they're positively false.
My friends respect me. My friends keep in touch. My friends don't overload me. My friends don't abuse the connection, asking for too much too soon, never mind all the time. My friends are there for me through thick and thin. I trust my friends. The bond runs deep.
Do you have a relationship with those who you are selling to? Do they even know who you are?
It's a complicated process, but it's today's reality.
Yup, everybody purveying must maintain a relationship with those who are consuming, continually. It's maintenance no different from making your art.
Sure, there are phenomena, that sell themselves.
But now, in an era where you can reach everybody with a click, it's even harder to get their attention and to keep them focused.
That's your challenge.
--
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--
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--
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Welcome to 2014. The Internet is two decades old, at least in the mind of the consumer, we're all wired 24/7 and the primary feeling is one of exhaustion. We're at an endless buffet and we can't stop grazing even though we're full and after a while everything looks the same, nothing tastes that good.
Contrast this to the eighties, when music was expensive, everybody was watching MTV and we knew what was a hit and were familiar with it.
Now not only is SoundScan irrelevant, it's a chart we might see in the paper within which the records change seemingly every week and we're unfamiliar with most of them. Kind of like the movies. Don't like this week's offerings? Wait until next week!
So how do you capture my attention and keep it.
Old schoolers believe it's about a publicity campaign. But I hate to tell them it took years for "Breaking Bad" to break, despite so many testifying it was the best television show ever. Because it takes a lot to get us out of our comfort zones, to partake of something new, because so much disappoints and we've got no time and because of the opportunity cost...if I sample this, I'll have no time to sample that.
It's why people drop out of social media. They believe people are listening. That if they keep doing it their audience, their personal brand, will grow. But seemingly everybody I follow on Twitter rarely tweets anymore. Albert Brooks used to be a constant. Michael Moore had a presence. Now it's more like beating your head against the wall and so many huge players have given up because they don't believe it pays career dividends.
They're worn out.
I'm worn out too.
And so are you.
Which is why we turn to filters. Which is why radio is still the most powerful medium to break music. Despite Pandora and Spotify and YouTube and the ability to pick and choose exactly what you want to hear the greatest mass flocks to the oldest medium, because it's comprehensible. You only play a few tracks over and over again, you believe these are the ones I want to hear, so I listen.
And those not on radio hate this. Because they believe they're entitled to equal attention, they actually believe they're entitled to radio airplay. So we've got people yelling louder and the rest of us just tune out, we can't stand the noise.
Where are we going?
To greater concentration. That's what the future looks like. Sure, you're going to drive down deep into the niches that stimulate you, but in most categories you only want the guaranteed hits. Not only do you only want Google and Amazon, you only want a few tracks, a few outlets, you want your world to be made comprehensible.
So you've got techies looking to make coin shoving endless websites and apps down our throat. Many just a me-too variation on what's come before.
And we've got old wave media producers lamenting that the old days are gone. They acknowledge the game has changed, ironically they continue to play in the same damn way.
So don't invade my yard if I don't ask you to. I don't want anything that looks like spam. Because cleaning the crap out of my digital life is already taking too much time. This is how it is for everybody.
So the question is how do you get my attention and keep it?
Either very quickly or very slowly, usually the latter.
That's how you get it.
Keeping it?
It's all about the relationship. The friendship. This is how FM radio blew up, each station had a culture. It's one of the reasons radio is faltering today, there is no culture, in a world where honesty is king, they're positively false.
My friends respect me. My friends keep in touch. My friends don't overload me. My friends don't abuse the connection, asking for too much too soon, never mind all the time. My friends are there for me through thick and thin. I trust my friends. The bond runs deep.
Do you have a relationship with those who you are selling to? Do they even know who you are?
It's a complicated process, but it's today's reality.
Yup, everybody purveying must maintain a relationship with those who are consuming, continually. It's maintenance no different from making your art.
Sure, there are phenomena, that sell themselves.
But now, in an era where you can reach everybody with a click, it's even harder to get their attention and to keep them focused.
That's your challenge.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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Wednesday 10 September 2014
How U2 Blew It
NEWS FOR A DAY
No different from a rape or a murder, but with even less legs. In today's world it's not about making an impact, but sustaining. Could it be that Bono's been living too long in the echo chamber, hanging with forty and fiftysomethings who think they rule the world but truly don't? Yes, older people build the tools, but it's young people who utilize them. The older bloke will lament the loss of the record shop, the younger person has never been. If you want to make it in today's marketing culture you must be online 24/7, picking up the nuances. Because it is about cred and it is about cool but if you think the old rules apply, you probably can't name a YouTube star.
EVANESCENCE
This is an analog of the above. Here today, gone tomorrow. How could the band be so stupid as to believe anybody would actually play their music, especially the 500 million it was pushed to. Where's the afterplan? Nonexistent.
PUSH
We live in a pull economy. Nothing pisses off the audience more than pushing something they don't want and didn't ask for to their devices. Even if you don't download the album, it's sitting there in your purchases, pissing you off.
HOW TO
Did you have iCloud turned on in iTunes? Even those who wanted the album weren't quite sure how to get it.
ALBUM
How many tracks did PSY have? One!
OVERLOAD
No one's got time to listen to a complete album, especially when it's pushed upon them, that's just too much material. Yes, a nascent artist on his way up might have people check out more tracks on his album out of curiosity, but no one's curious about U2, they already know everything about them. One must factor in that we're all overloaded with stimuli and you must point us to the paramount item and make it digestible in a matter of moments. If we love it, we'll want more. If we don't, we're never going to get to the rest of your opus that you spent years creating.
ALBUM TWO
Make it an EP. Four tracks. People haven't finished Piketty's tome. It would have been better off as a magazine article. People bought it, they just didn't read it, who's got the time?
ENGAGEMENT
Now what. Where's the game, where's the jaw-dropping viral video? Where's the element we can all point to and talk about. If anything, we're talking about the stunt, not the music.
WRONG SERVICE
They'd have been better off releasing it on YouTube, that's where the digital generation goes for music. iTunes is a backwater. It may be the number one sales outlet, but it's not the number one music platform, not even close.
UNHIP
Put it on Spotify. Try to look cutting edge. Meanwhile, having the quality of your music trumpeted by Tim Cook is like having Ed Sullivan say your tunes are good.
CLOSED DOORS
This is the problem vexing filmed entertainment/video, there's not one platform with everything. But in music we've solved this problem, Spotify and YouTube have all the tracks and you can access them for free, but putting hype over practicality, U2 failed to see they were playing in a walled garden, to their detriment.
This was a stunt, poorly executed. Everybody forgets that despite all the hoopla about naming your own price, "In Rainbows" was a disaster, with only hard core fans familiar with the material. Yup, Radiohead may be independent, but they've done a good job of marginalizing themselves.
And at least Beyonce had the videos, somewhere to click to.
And Weird Al had videos too, but after a week, few cared.
Because at the end of the day we only care about the music. And U2 didn't cut that one indelible track that stops us in our tracks, that we want to listen to again and again and pass on. Sure, the song they played at the Apple soiree was good, but good is no longer good enough.
Furthermore, when Bono talked he lost all charisma.
This looked like nothing so much as what it was, old farts using their connections to shove material down the throats of those who don't want it. It's what we hate so much about today's environment, rich people who think they know better and our entitled to their behavior.
Don't listen to the press. Rock writers are antiques who are underpaid who are in it for access and free tickets.
And the business press doesn't care about the music.
And the old fart fortysomethings who talk about this music should be ignored. It's no different from a Jason Isbell fan testifying about his tracks. No offense, but it's a tiny world. Sure, U2's is bigger, but until U2 cuts a track that makes the rest of us care, we don't.
Meanwhile, Jason Isbell had a hit today, he tweeted: "U2 PHONES IT IN."
Yup, that's Internet culture, where someone who raises their head above is fodder for criticism.
But it gets worse.
Cultofmac said:
"But trotting out aging Irish rockers after you've wowed the world with the first glimpse of the glorious Apple Watch? That's not thinking different. That's a pity-f__k for a band that's lost its edge, and an unfortunate bum note for a company that's rarely perceived as tone-deaf."
http://www.cultofmac.com/295084/u2-apple-event/
Whew!
All over the web people are criticizing U2. And that's where music now lives, online.
So, so long Bono and crew. You'll continue to sell tickets, but you're no longer au courant.
So long rock that does not break through on Top Forty. U2 would have been better off cutting a country track, that would have been a better fit with a fighting chance of airplay.
So long albums. If you've got an hour to listen to once that which must be listened to ten times to get you've got no life, but everyone does, and they're the center of it, glued to their devices, and to distract them you've got to be pretty damn good and the talk of the town for an extended period of time, U2's new music is not.
So long stunts with no aftermath. If you're not in the news every damn day, you're getting it wrong. The biggest pop stars are the Kardashians. Ever notice not a day goes by without them in the news? Bono, et al, would be better off hanging with the sisters than heads of state, at least if they want to have a hit.
And so long the fiction that Guy Oseary would do a better job than Paul McGuinness. There might be a patina of new school, but this album release is positively old school.
Here's how it goes:
Make everyone aware.
Put tickets on sale.
Make it an event, a la the Stones, i.e. if you don't come now, you may never be able to experience it again.
Trump up traditional press so wankers believe there's something happening.
But there's not.
Because "I Will Follow" was inspired. It sounded like nothing else. It had urgency. It had attitude. You needed to hear it again. It was so good you wanted to hear what else the band was up to.
The new album is paint-by-numbers disposable.
Today we have to pull you into our world. And we only hold you in our bosom if we believe your music is repeatable and deserves our time.
Bono's on top of the world, he'll reject everything I say.
Rapino and Oseary will keep shoveling, hoping to keep this alive.
And you and me?
WE'RE ALREADY OVER IT!
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No different from a rape or a murder, but with even less legs. In today's world it's not about making an impact, but sustaining. Could it be that Bono's been living too long in the echo chamber, hanging with forty and fiftysomethings who think they rule the world but truly don't? Yes, older people build the tools, but it's young people who utilize them. The older bloke will lament the loss of the record shop, the younger person has never been. If you want to make it in today's marketing culture you must be online 24/7, picking up the nuances. Because it is about cred and it is about cool but if you think the old rules apply, you probably can't name a YouTube star.
EVANESCENCE
This is an analog of the above. Here today, gone tomorrow. How could the band be so stupid as to believe anybody would actually play their music, especially the 500 million it was pushed to. Where's the afterplan? Nonexistent.
PUSH
We live in a pull economy. Nothing pisses off the audience more than pushing something they don't want and didn't ask for to their devices. Even if you don't download the album, it's sitting there in your purchases, pissing you off.
HOW TO
Did you have iCloud turned on in iTunes? Even those who wanted the album weren't quite sure how to get it.
ALBUM
How many tracks did PSY have? One!
OVERLOAD
No one's got time to listen to a complete album, especially when it's pushed upon them, that's just too much material. Yes, a nascent artist on his way up might have people check out more tracks on his album out of curiosity, but no one's curious about U2, they already know everything about them. One must factor in that we're all overloaded with stimuli and you must point us to the paramount item and make it digestible in a matter of moments. If we love it, we'll want more. If we don't, we're never going to get to the rest of your opus that you spent years creating.
ALBUM TWO
Make it an EP. Four tracks. People haven't finished Piketty's tome. It would have been better off as a magazine article. People bought it, they just didn't read it, who's got the time?
ENGAGEMENT
Now what. Where's the game, where's the jaw-dropping viral video? Where's the element we can all point to and talk about. If anything, we're talking about the stunt, not the music.
WRONG SERVICE
They'd have been better off releasing it on YouTube, that's where the digital generation goes for music. iTunes is a backwater. It may be the number one sales outlet, but it's not the number one music platform, not even close.
UNHIP
Put it on Spotify. Try to look cutting edge. Meanwhile, having the quality of your music trumpeted by Tim Cook is like having Ed Sullivan say your tunes are good.
CLOSED DOORS
This is the problem vexing filmed entertainment/video, there's not one platform with everything. But in music we've solved this problem, Spotify and YouTube have all the tracks and you can access them for free, but putting hype over practicality, U2 failed to see they were playing in a walled garden, to their detriment.
This was a stunt, poorly executed. Everybody forgets that despite all the hoopla about naming your own price, "In Rainbows" was a disaster, with only hard core fans familiar with the material. Yup, Radiohead may be independent, but they've done a good job of marginalizing themselves.
And at least Beyonce had the videos, somewhere to click to.
And Weird Al had videos too, but after a week, few cared.
Because at the end of the day we only care about the music. And U2 didn't cut that one indelible track that stops us in our tracks, that we want to listen to again and again and pass on. Sure, the song they played at the Apple soiree was good, but good is no longer good enough.
Furthermore, when Bono talked he lost all charisma.
This looked like nothing so much as what it was, old farts using their connections to shove material down the throats of those who don't want it. It's what we hate so much about today's environment, rich people who think they know better and our entitled to their behavior.
Don't listen to the press. Rock writers are antiques who are underpaid who are in it for access and free tickets.
And the business press doesn't care about the music.
And the old fart fortysomethings who talk about this music should be ignored. It's no different from a Jason Isbell fan testifying about his tracks. No offense, but it's a tiny world. Sure, U2's is bigger, but until U2 cuts a track that makes the rest of us care, we don't.
Meanwhile, Jason Isbell had a hit today, he tweeted: "U2 PHONES IT IN."
Yup, that's Internet culture, where someone who raises their head above is fodder for criticism.
But it gets worse.
Cultofmac said:
"But trotting out aging Irish rockers after you've wowed the world with the first glimpse of the glorious Apple Watch? That's not thinking different. That's a pity-f__k for a band that's lost its edge, and an unfortunate bum note for a company that's rarely perceived as tone-deaf."
http://www.cultofmac.com/295084/u2-apple-event/
Whew!
All over the web people are criticizing U2. And that's where music now lives, online.
So, so long Bono and crew. You'll continue to sell tickets, but you're no longer au courant.
So long rock that does not break through on Top Forty. U2 would have been better off cutting a country track, that would have been a better fit with a fighting chance of airplay.
So long albums. If you've got an hour to listen to once that which must be listened to ten times to get you've got no life, but everyone does, and they're the center of it, glued to their devices, and to distract them you've got to be pretty damn good and the talk of the town for an extended period of time, U2's new music is not.
So long stunts with no aftermath. If you're not in the news every damn day, you're getting it wrong. The biggest pop stars are the Kardashians. Ever notice not a day goes by without them in the news? Bono, et al, would be better off hanging with the sisters than heads of state, at least if they want to have a hit.
And so long the fiction that Guy Oseary would do a better job than Paul McGuinness. There might be a patina of new school, but this album release is positively old school.
Here's how it goes:
Make everyone aware.
Put tickets on sale.
Make it an event, a la the Stones, i.e. if you don't come now, you may never be able to experience it again.
Trump up traditional press so wankers believe there's something happening.
But there's not.
Because "I Will Follow" was inspired. It sounded like nothing else. It had urgency. It had attitude. You needed to hear it again. It was so good you wanted to hear what else the band was up to.
The new album is paint-by-numbers disposable.
Today we have to pull you into our world. And we only hold you in our bosom if we believe your music is repeatable and deserves our time.
Bono's on top of the world, he'll reject everything I say.
Rapino and Oseary will keep shoveling, hoping to keep this alive.
And you and me?
WE'RE ALREADY OVER IT!
--
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Tuesday 9 September 2014
Tuesday
My tires are falling apart.
This is not how it was supposed to be, I was supposed to be having lunch with Steve Barnett, but he canceled, he was going out of town. So I figured I'd use the free time to get my oil changed.
I'm a dealer guy. Save me the feedback. Yes, I know it's expensive, but they see my car every damn day, and therefore they can diagnose the problems, and I want my automobile in tippity-top shape. Hell, Daryl even diagnosed the whine, which the car stereo shop could not, even though I'd dropped a grand on a new amplifier. Yes, you can hear the sound even though the stereo is off, it's a grounding problem.
And surveying my car in toto, they said I had an unrepairable flat.
Oh god, I've been through this. You don't want to put a brand new tire on a car with three at the end of their lifespan. I figured the nail was in the outer wall. But it turns out in the wake of the Explorer explosions, Subaru and other manufacturers are afraid to repair tires, even if the nail is in the tread, they consider the tire history unless the puncture's dead center, Darryl told me it could be fixed.
So I went to Pep Boys. It didn't used to be Pep Boys. It was Discount Tire, and I frequented it because it's convenient, I can walk home while they're rotating and aligning, which are free under my contract.
But I couldn't walk home today, I sprained my ankle.
Did I tell you that? I was at the beach, wearing my shoes, and someone yelled that the tide was coming in and my body twisted and my foot did not and I heard a pop and the only good thing is the ER doctor said the bone was not broken, I've been hobbling ever since, actually, for a couple of days I could barely do that.
So I can't walk home from Pep Boys. So I go to lunch across the street, where I can see my car untouched for hours. And I'm just about to e-mail Pep Boys HQ to complain when they finally decide to take a look.
Yes, there's a nail in the left rear. But what they can't get over is the way the tires are chipping away, falling apart, Michelins are not supposed to do this!
You're telling me. I mean a thousand dollars and twenty thousand miles? That's no deal.
And they agreed. They said they'd give me 25% off a new set. But, since the warranty is 45,000, why not half off? I don't want to be a schnorrer, but if you're admitting fault.
And that's when they tell me I've got to call the manufacturer if I want more. No, I don't want to spend my life getting a deal, I already spent most of the day addressing minor b.s. with my automobile.
And that's when my service writer told me he needed a new kidney. Yup, in response to when he'd be working, well, not next Tuesday, you see he can't pee and he sees this specialist in Glendale and they're lining up surgery.
Suddenly we're bonding.
And then there's the white-haired guy chatting up the young Asian woman with the nice ass. Dirty old man. Now I'm back in the waiting room waiting to see what the problem is with the nail in the front tire, flipping out, reading the "New Yorker" after downloading it on the free wi-fi, and then this guy stumbles over to me.
Oh-no. Not quite like being next to a talker on a plane, but how am I gonna get out of this one?
Well, he's 66. He's got one more year teaching English as a second language and then he's retiring, he needs the health care, for himself and his 43 year old Korean wife he met teaching ESL.
And now the conversation segues to income inequality and immigration and here's a guy who's not famous but he's compassionate and knows what's going on and why is it we only listen to rich people? As if rich people knew more about life than the rest of us.
And it's after 7, and even this dude is marveling that it's taking so long to repair my tire, when the service writer from West Africa comes in and tells me that the nail didn't go all the way through, they pulled it out and the tire was fine.
Voila! Victory!
I reached over to shake his hand and asked him his name.
Monday!
How do you spell that?
Like the day of the week.
He's eager to go back to Nigeria. He came to America for an education.
And now I'm completely confused. I was hating on Pep Boys but the guys were so nice and helpful, however slow.
And I can't believe I wasted the whole day futzing with my car. I mean I got to watch the Apple presentation on Subaru's free wi-fi, but don't I have more important things to do?
Maybe not.
Maybe life is lived best when you slow down and do what you shouldn't. When you cast aside plans and converse with the people. When you realize we're only here for a short time, everybody's reasonable, everybody's struggling, and we're all trying to get along.
When you realize life is not like TV. And Washington, D.C. is disconnected from us.
And what life is really about is warmth and conversation.
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This is not how it was supposed to be, I was supposed to be having lunch with Steve Barnett, but he canceled, he was going out of town. So I figured I'd use the free time to get my oil changed.
I'm a dealer guy. Save me the feedback. Yes, I know it's expensive, but they see my car every damn day, and therefore they can diagnose the problems, and I want my automobile in tippity-top shape. Hell, Daryl even diagnosed the whine, which the car stereo shop could not, even though I'd dropped a grand on a new amplifier. Yes, you can hear the sound even though the stereo is off, it's a grounding problem.
And surveying my car in toto, they said I had an unrepairable flat.
Oh god, I've been through this. You don't want to put a brand new tire on a car with three at the end of their lifespan. I figured the nail was in the outer wall. But it turns out in the wake of the Explorer explosions, Subaru and other manufacturers are afraid to repair tires, even if the nail is in the tread, they consider the tire history unless the puncture's dead center, Darryl told me it could be fixed.
So I went to Pep Boys. It didn't used to be Pep Boys. It was Discount Tire, and I frequented it because it's convenient, I can walk home while they're rotating and aligning, which are free under my contract.
But I couldn't walk home today, I sprained my ankle.
Did I tell you that? I was at the beach, wearing my shoes, and someone yelled that the tide was coming in and my body twisted and my foot did not and I heard a pop and the only good thing is the ER doctor said the bone was not broken, I've been hobbling ever since, actually, for a couple of days I could barely do that.
So I can't walk home from Pep Boys. So I go to lunch across the street, where I can see my car untouched for hours. And I'm just about to e-mail Pep Boys HQ to complain when they finally decide to take a look.
Yes, there's a nail in the left rear. But what they can't get over is the way the tires are chipping away, falling apart, Michelins are not supposed to do this!
You're telling me. I mean a thousand dollars and twenty thousand miles? That's no deal.
And they agreed. They said they'd give me 25% off a new set. But, since the warranty is 45,000, why not half off? I don't want to be a schnorrer, but if you're admitting fault.
And that's when they tell me I've got to call the manufacturer if I want more. No, I don't want to spend my life getting a deal, I already spent most of the day addressing minor b.s. with my automobile.
And that's when my service writer told me he needed a new kidney. Yup, in response to when he'd be working, well, not next Tuesday, you see he can't pee and he sees this specialist in Glendale and they're lining up surgery.
Suddenly we're bonding.
And then there's the white-haired guy chatting up the young Asian woman with the nice ass. Dirty old man. Now I'm back in the waiting room waiting to see what the problem is with the nail in the front tire, flipping out, reading the "New Yorker" after downloading it on the free wi-fi, and then this guy stumbles over to me.
Oh-no. Not quite like being next to a talker on a plane, but how am I gonna get out of this one?
Well, he's 66. He's got one more year teaching English as a second language and then he's retiring, he needs the health care, for himself and his 43 year old Korean wife he met teaching ESL.
And now the conversation segues to income inequality and immigration and here's a guy who's not famous but he's compassionate and knows what's going on and why is it we only listen to rich people? As if rich people knew more about life than the rest of us.
And it's after 7, and even this dude is marveling that it's taking so long to repair my tire, when the service writer from West Africa comes in and tells me that the nail didn't go all the way through, they pulled it out and the tire was fine.
Voila! Victory!
I reached over to shake his hand and asked him his name.
Monday!
How do you spell that?
Like the day of the week.
He's eager to go back to Nigeria. He came to America for an education.
And now I'm completely confused. I was hating on Pep Boys but the guys were so nice and helpful, however slow.
And I can't believe I wasted the whole day futzing with my car. I mean I got to watch the Apple presentation on Subaru's free wi-fi, but don't I have more important things to do?
Maybe not.
Maybe life is lived best when you slow down and do what you shouldn't. When you cast aside plans and converse with the people. When you realize we're only here for a short time, everybody's reasonable, everybody's struggling, and we're all trying to get along.
When you realize life is not like TV. And Washington, D.C. is disconnected from us.
And what life is really about is warmth and conversation.
--
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U2/Apple
Loyalty counts.
Jimmy Iovine delivered. For U2 that is. Some things never change, it all depends on who you know and establishing long term relationships.
But that will not make U2's new album a hit.
Why weren't tour tickets on sale today too? Why didn't Guy O. harness the momentum? Because the music business is always a couple of changes behind tech.
And in tech, nerds are cool.
Come on, did you see that guy Kevin Lynch demonstrating the watch? They let that guy out of the back room?
But the truth is most of us are uncool, so many of us are nerds, and today we inherited the earth. Apple's nerds blew away U2.
Not only were the nerds themselves cooler, without dyed hair and backup recordings, they realized it all came down to the product. U2's song was very good, but not good enough for more than fans.
The Apple Watch is for EVERYBODY!
Yup, analysts say Switzerland is in trouble, that no one needs a wristwatch anymore, and Apple recreates the category instantly!
If you don't want one you're blind.
And to use one you've got to have an iPhone.
Mmm...
Talk Samsung, talk Android all you want, but you're now left out of the coolest device on the planet, and will be locked out for years, until Google and Samsung and the rest of the competitors catch up.
I've seen too many of these Apple presentations. I'm waiting for a new art form to steal the mantle from tech the way tech stole it from music. But at least these guys in Cupertino listened to Bob Dylan, they know that he not busy being born is busy dying.
U2 still couldn't write a hit, after all those years. I feel sorry for them.
But at least they got maximum publicity. But that Super Bowl giveaway faded overnight.
But this is the new world. I want it now, today. The publicity run-up is so antique. Either you've got to be new and great, like Sam Smith, with your music selling itself, or you've got to play the Beyonce/U2 card, put out all your new music in one day, and ride the impressive tsunami of publicity.
As for physical product, as for $10 plus CDs...once U2 jumps ship, it's over.
Not that is not a stunt, not that it can be replicated, but...
We're finally living in a new era. Not only are CDs behind us, but Napster too. This new U2 album may be given away as files, but it's the last one, you can stream it on Beats.
So what did we learn today?
Despite years of rumors, despite tons of leaks in the last week, Tim Cook and his troops managed to wow us nonetheless. Sure, I want a watch, but I'm also eager to pay with my phone.
And that now Apple Stores will become jewelry stores. You think they were crowded before...
And that the watch was reasonably priced.
And that as good as the hardware is, it always comes down to software.
Yup, that's what U2 should be selling.
Unfortunately, Apple's software is better than Bono's.
So once again, the techies, the nerds, the people we made fun of in high school, have proven that popularity is for pussies, that being a BMOC is secondary to studying, that ultimately we're gonna live in their world.
Yup, today it's all bout being SMART!
And smart takes education, and vision, and execution.
And you may use their tools, their mobile phones, and Facebook and so many apps, but there's a huge line between the purveyors and the hoi polloi.
And if you want to cross over you've got to not only be good, but great.
So, despite it being tiny, despite it being unnecessary, Apple convinced me I need one of their watches. Not as a fashion item, that's what music has been selling for far too long, but because of its utility.
And I say to myself one more time what a wonderful world we live in, where people truly want to change the world and they do.
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Jimmy Iovine delivered. For U2 that is. Some things never change, it all depends on who you know and establishing long term relationships.
But that will not make U2's new album a hit.
Why weren't tour tickets on sale today too? Why didn't Guy O. harness the momentum? Because the music business is always a couple of changes behind tech.
And in tech, nerds are cool.
Come on, did you see that guy Kevin Lynch demonstrating the watch? They let that guy out of the back room?
But the truth is most of us are uncool, so many of us are nerds, and today we inherited the earth. Apple's nerds blew away U2.
Not only were the nerds themselves cooler, without dyed hair and backup recordings, they realized it all came down to the product. U2's song was very good, but not good enough for more than fans.
The Apple Watch is for EVERYBODY!
Yup, analysts say Switzerland is in trouble, that no one needs a wristwatch anymore, and Apple recreates the category instantly!
If you don't want one you're blind.
And to use one you've got to have an iPhone.
Mmm...
Talk Samsung, talk Android all you want, but you're now left out of the coolest device on the planet, and will be locked out for years, until Google and Samsung and the rest of the competitors catch up.
I've seen too many of these Apple presentations. I'm waiting for a new art form to steal the mantle from tech the way tech stole it from music. But at least these guys in Cupertino listened to Bob Dylan, they know that he not busy being born is busy dying.
U2 still couldn't write a hit, after all those years. I feel sorry for them.
But at least they got maximum publicity. But that Super Bowl giveaway faded overnight.
But this is the new world. I want it now, today. The publicity run-up is so antique. Either you've got to be new and great, like Sam Smith, with your music selling itself, or you've got to play the Beyonce/U2 card, put out all your new music in one day, and ride the impressive tsunami of publicity.
As for physical product, as for $10 plus CDs...once U2 jumps ship, it's over.
Not that is not a stunt, not that it can be replicated, but...
We're finally living in a new era. Not only are CDs behind us, but Napster too. This new U2 album may be given away as files, but it's the last one, you can stream it on Beats.
So what did we learn today?
Despite years of rumors, despite tons of leaks in the last week, Tim Cook and his troops managed to wow us nonetheless. Sure, I want a watch, but I'm also eager to pay with my phone.
And that now Apple Stores will become jewelry stores. You think they were crowded before...
And that the watch was reasonably priced.
And that as good as the hardware is, it always comes down to software.
Yup, that's what U2 should be selling.
Unfortunately, Apple's software is better than Bono's.
So once again, the techies, the nerds, the people we made fun of in high school, have proven that popularity is for pussies, that being a BMOC is secondary to studying, that ultimately we're gonna live in their world.
Yup, today it's all bout being SMART!
And smart takes education, and vision, and execution.
And you may use their tools, their mobile phones, and Facebook and so many apps, but there's a huge line between the purveyors and the hoi polloi.
And if you want to cross over you've got to not only be good, but great.
So, despite it being tiny, despite it being unnecessary, Apple convinced me I need one of their watches. Not as a fashion item, that's what music has been selling for far too long, but because of its utility.
And I say to myself one more time what a wonderful world we live in, where people truly want to change the world and they do.
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Monday 8 September 2014
Mailbag-Christopher Cross+
Subject: from Christopher Cross
Bob,
Thank you for the kind words recently in your column. I'm a big fan, so it meant a lot to me coming from you, in particular the comparison to Carl, my vocal mentor and dear friend.
You navigate the paradigm shift in our business through a nice combination of reality and artistic conscience. For artists like me from an earlier era your insights are helpful.
I know Rob Meurer has been in touch with you, and over all these years, while relatively unnoticed, Rob and I have strived to continue to grow as writers and to make quality albums. I have a new one, Secret Ladder, coming out Sept 12th.
Thanks again for the mention and validation.
Christopher
_______________________________________
Hi, Bob --
What a lovely surprise to see your piece on Christopher Cross and all those records I played on with my friend I'd known since we were 17. Although I wish I didn't need to, I must correct one fact in your primer.
The piano solo in "Sailing" was played by our producer Michael Omartian. It is a timeless and iconic performance that I have duplicated in concert with Christopher countless hundreds of times and that I would love to take credit for. I was also on the track, but on electric keyboards. We had a long-standing band (named Christopher Cross) which essentially made that sound that was the first album, but there is no question that Omartian came in and put on the crowning touches, such as this solo and the glorious string arrangement on the same song.
Thanks for acknowledging Chris, and do check out his about-to-be-released album SECRET LADDER. No old-guy laurel-resting going on here. Of course, I'm a bit prejudiced since I wrote ten of the songs with Christopher.
Ever onward!
Rob Meurer
_______________________________________
I played with Christopher for a few years, and we're still friends.
You're right, he's a bad ass, I used to sit at the stage side in the middle of the set when he would go out and do a few songs by himself, (and then I would go out and sit with him and do a duo on guitar with him for a few more songs), and I would turn to anybody next to me and say "if you saw somebody doing this these days in like Genghis or something like that, your head would explode!". He can really bring it, sitting there by himself with a guitar... A lot of people don't know that he came up shedding with Eric Johnson at Eric's apartment back in the day… he can actually play.
Wade Biery
_______________________________________
He should also be remembered for beating Pink Floyd "The Wall" for the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1981. The band couldn't attend and I was asked to go to New York for the ceremony (that was back when they used to alternate coasts). Everyone around them said it was pretty well a lock. I mean, look at the competition….Hell, I even bought a tux! And then they announced the winner and there I was - all dressed up with nowhere to go. At least James Guthrie won for engineering. As for me: I was so disillusioned that I left the business and retired to a small Lama farm in the wilds of Saskatchewan where there is a forlorn and dusty spot on my mantle where the Grammy for Album of the Year 1981 ought to have been.
Love
Bob Ezrin
_______________________________________
A little known fact except to guitar geeks is that Christopher Cross was the former owner of Stevie Ray Vaughan's Number One Fender Stratocaster.
Michael Hoffman?
Orinda, CA
_______________________________________
Pretty good segment about him on Sunday Morning this past week. Lots of stuff a young guy like me (34) couldn't possibly remember even though I definitely was entranced by the music when I was a kid.
CBS Sunday Morning: http://youtu.be/aeEe9W8wayw
Jeremy C.
_______________________________________
Also worth mentioning is how hard Chris wanted HIS dream to come true (Warner bros being his 1st choice). The back story to all those hits? He was turned down 5 times, always with positive encouragement and an invitation to keep knocking on the door by WB 4 or 5 times. He collected nearly 30 rejection slips from the majors and big Indies. He persevered and kept improving. The payoff was a magical debut record. Btw besides being a great guy he's another underrated Texas guitar player, he can play his ass off. Surprised he didn't make the transition into modern country. The man has talent.
Ricky Schultz
_______________________________________
Another of Cross' unknown / forgotten pop masterpieces was the title track from the movie "Nothing In Common."
Robert Paris
_______________________________________
People look at me cross-eyed when I tell them that "The Flamingo Album" this is still one of my favorite albums of all time. Then I play Ride Like The Wind for them on a great pair of speakers and they get it. There are drums on this song that I promise you've never heard if you've only listened to an MP3 through earbuds. My only complaint about this album is that there are only 9 songs, and it's only 38 minutes long...
Michael Betterton
Morris Higham Management
Dale Morris & Associates
_______________________________________
Hi Bob,
I'll never forget it...April 25, 1980. Eight high school girls from the San Gabriel Valley drove over to the Roxy to see Christopher Cross. In the car, we all eagerly discussed if he would look like Jackson Browne, Kenny Loggins or Dan Fogelberg. This was back in the day when the Roxy had tables right at the stage and we snagged a great one right at center stage. We were all exploding with anticipation! Imagine our seventeen-year-old reaction to Christopher Cross walking out onstage! We all kept our composure, but gave each other looks of, "What?!" He was right in front of us and we had all been playing that first album 24/7. Within a matter of minutes, the shock wore off and that voice took us all to heaven and back. It is one of my favorite Roxy shows of all time (and I have seen many there). Just had to share! Thanks for the primer and the reminder!
Much Peace,
Deb Sparks in Azusa
_______________________________________
Don't forget his first album had a stunning array of guitar players on it.—"Minstrel Gigolo" was the first time I heard Eric Johnson, and that guitar sound and technique sound stopped me dead in my tracks; I became an Eric Johnson fan immediately, way before "Cliffs of Dover."
In fact, the credits on the album are astounding for what was an unknown artist primarily known for having the best cover bar band in Austen. It was like recording an album with Steely Dan's band: Larry Carlton and Jay Graydon on guitar, Lenny Castro on percussion, Chuck Findley on trumpet, Larry Horn on sax, and Michael McDonald, Don Henley, JD Souther, Nicolette Larson, Valerie Carter singing harmonies.
Pretty incredible.
Best,
jim
James K. Willcox
Senior Editor/Electronics
Consumer Reports
_______________________________________
Hi Bob,
You left out that Chris' furious outro guitar solo on Ride Like the Wind rivals anything Clapton played on any Live Cream album and it seals the deal for the boys too! A much cooler outlaw song than Desperado...
Kev
_______________________________________
Omartian's career is a thing of wonder. I was engineering for a few days while he was writing the "She Works Hard For The Money" album with Donna Summer. Not too many players reach that level.... I've been to his Nashville house a few times recently and I don't think I've ever seen that much platinum at one time before. Serious chops!!!
Thomas Whitlock
_______________________________________
Giant props on the Wilsonic perception. Carl and I loved to write & record whenever schedules provided (zero career plans - protected our friendship). Just us, up here at my place where he could get away and test SF Italian food joints.
I recall he mentioned we should add Chris to our next go…that plan and many others gave way to Plan C.
Miss him every day…
Scott Mathews
_______________________________________
Nice piece on Christopher, Bob.
I'll tell you one other thing about him. He was the biggest mensch out of anyone I ever opened for.
In 2005, I opened for him to his sold out crowd of 600+ people in New York City.
The first thing he said after my set to his audience was, "How about it for Jon Regen? He was great!"
He didn't know me. He didn't have to give me a shot in the arm. But he did.
It's something I think about still.
Nearly a decade later I ran into him in London (we were sharing an agent at the time). I told him how much his acknowledgement meant to me. He then asked to me support him again!
In the era of the egomaniacs, Christopher Cross is still all talent and class.
Jon Regen
_______________________________________
From: Phil Brown
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Fillmore-The Last Days Primer-Final
Well, I was there for a lot of this. I mastered the set-I was an engineer at Columbia in San Francisco-and before that I was a roadie for, among others, The Sons Of Champlin. I think the set gives you the flavor of the place, right down to acts like Lamb, a frequent opening act. BTW, Lamb was signed to Graham's label so that explains that.
The movie perfectly captures what the Fillmore West-I still call it the Carousel-was about, right down to Bill's explosive temper. The scene with Mike Ferguson of The Charlatans trying to get the band-or what was left of it-onto the bill was classic Graham. All of us experienced Bill's temper at one time or another, frequently over nothing. That was Bill.
I think I'll haul it out and listen to it.
If you want to buy the set make sure it still has the poster, handbill and ticket.
Phil Brown
_______________________________________
From: kim bullard
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Tumbleweed Connection Primer
"The way it goes from slow to fast and back again (a trick Zeppelin also employed so well!)"
he was trying to copy Laura Nyro when writing Mission; the tempo changes, etc. Funny, huh?
_______________________________________
From: AL KOOPER
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Tumbleweed Connection Primer
I can't believe you didn't mention one of the greatest things about Tumbleweed Connection.
Herbie Flowers !
Who ??????
The Bass player.
Most people don't pay attention to the bass player but this guy played so uniquely and masterfully on this album that he was soon playing on recordings by Lou Reed, Harry Nilsson, David Bowie, Cat Stevens and OF COURSE, yours truly. I have NEVER played with a bassist this unique and he made all the tracks he played on soooo much better. He also influenced a handful of bassists in many ways.
But that album was a very NOTICEABLE collection of his genius.
Sorry you missed it.
BTW he also played on Space Odyssey, Walk On The Wild Side, Jump Into The Fire, I Love My Dog, Matthew & Son, New York City (You're A Woman) and my cover of Come Down In Time. Eat a gummy bear and relisten to Tumbleweed Connection and just listen to Herbie.
_______________________________________
From: Phil Hood
Subject: Re: Chopped Teen Tournament
Right on. For the past twenty years, every week someone has sent me a note about some seven year-old drummer who is "going to be famous someday."
It almost never happens. Fame depends on hard hard work. If you're a sideman you have to be great just to get in the game and then the toughest thing is being someone that the bandleader can stand to live with on the bus. The seven-year old and ten-year old phenoms are never actually that good. They aren't Neil Peart. They aren't Jeff Porcaro. Listen closely and their groove isn't that good.
_______________________________________
From: Chris Blackwell
Subject: Re: Tommy Ramone
Gary Kurfirst who never had a word printed about him deserves a lot of credit for his guidance and management of the Ramones amongst others like Mountain, Talking Heads etc etc
_______________________________________
Subject: Re: Income Inequality
Hi Mr. Lefsetz,
I've been reading your email blasts for a few years now, but never wrote until this one. I'm a 40-something working musician in NYC. I make a very modest living playing weddings, corporate events, and, of course, mitzvahs. Much of my work is for the 1%. (I also have my own band which is not the subject of this email to you.)
I live month-to-month with almost no savings due to the ever-increasing cost of living. I'm happy to play music for a living even if the music occasionally blows.
However, and here's the rub, the musicians who do the same job but are a generation older than me all have houses, pensions, health care, etc. The union has become a shadow of what it was, and the money has evaporated. Or rather, it has trickled up. The old-timers marvel at how much richer the rich seem to be these days. A 16 year-old's birthday party with Circ du Soleil, multiple Billboard-topping acts, and $100,000 in flowers is not unusual.
But the guys (and girls) in the house band still get our $350 and no benefits.
Wages are basically the same as they were 20 years ago, and far lower if you factor in cost of living and lack of benefits.
I've started to see it plainly as I play week after week for the rich. We get paid the same if playing at The Plaza or playing a fireman's wedding in Queens. The difference: the richer the client, the more likely we are to not get fed on the gig and to not get tipped. To them we are just the help, same as their maids and drivers. To the firemen, we're the same dudes and we are treated with respect.
I may be getting a bit long in the tooth to sharpen my pitchfork, but when the day comes, I'll sure buy a few for the younger guys.
-Please withhold my name if you should want to circulate this.
_______________________________________
Subject: Re: SXM The Highway
Bob,
I do regular, contract work for Sirius/XM Nashville, home base for The Highway. I wanted to take a minute to tell you a bit more about the heroes behind this community.
Firstly, John Marks, the program director of which you spoke, and the figurehead behind the recent press the station has seen. John deserves every bit of credit that he has been given. Even I, as a freelance audio engineer, am treated with extreme respect and general interest by John, and, so much more so, are the new artist that he is finding. He creates a personal relationship with each one; he roots for them. He has created a unique community for artist/radio as well as audience/radio. The gratitude these artists have for him, for the station, is that of a real friendship, of something they believe in and rely on. He approaches his tasks delicately and with personal investment, and it shows in any interaction you have with him.
Beyond John, however, are several other crucial figures. Morning show host, Storme Warren, maintains personal relationships with many artists of The Highway, as well as many fans, that go beyond the scope of his air time. Daily, I watch him take extended phone calls--he takes his own, unscreened phone calls--which he quickly knows are unairable by nature of their conversational content. But he allows fans, many of whom he knows by voice recognition, to speak with him at length, like old friends shooting the s**t. He can tell you as much about the lives of some of these long-time fans as he can about the lives of the artists he knows. He's also gone sky diving with Brett Eldridge as a completion of a dare they made to commemorate his number one single, had a parody song written about him by Lady Antebellum, and arranged for Dierks Bentley to visit his diehard fan intern at the studio before her internship term ran out.
And perhaps the most unsung hero of the station is channel director Joyce Rizer, who helps to manage the social media and the many live-audience-attended events that the Highway puts on. Most citizens of Nashville would be surprised to know that Sirius/XM has a Nashville branch, despite the 60+ free, live events we do in our performance theatre. And that's because it isn't for them, it's for the fans. I've seen people drive hundreds of miles to attend these private, intimate shows, and they are able to do so because Joyce and the Highway crew have the fans of the channel in mind with every event, giving away tickets to those who truly want to go, not just to those who live closest. It's difficult to compare that aspect of the station to other radio entities, because so few others have a comparable reach. So, I will just leave it at, I have seen people from everywhere from New York to Wyoming to Wisconsin in attendance at these shows, yet most of my local peers have no idea that the
branch is there at all.
There are many other influential figures in this story: host Buzz Brainard, who has an unparalleled passion and excitement for music and who has put out an open invitation to fans to swarm his studio during his Friday broadcast, The Music Row Happy Hour; Brittany Goudie, Storme's co-host, who is regularly expanding the shows personal touch--check out their adopt a school initiative for this season's high school football season; and my boss, chief engineer Jonathan Burtner, who would treat every live recording we do on site like the Beatles at Abbey Road, if he could.
I appreciate the words you've said about my peers, and I know that for the foreseeable future, they will continue to strive to impress. It's a common goal, shared by a genuine team, all of whom follow the cornerstone principle that the audience is king. Everyone here is tuned into them, and the power of the station comes from this group of earnest listeners.
All the best to you, Bob.
Aaron Dethrage
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Bob,
Thank you for the kind words recently in your column. I'm a big fan, so it meant a lot to me coming from you, in particular the comparison to Carl, my vocal mentor and dear friend.
You navigate the paradigm shift in our business through a nice combination of reality and artistic conscience. For artists like me from an earlier era your insights are helpful.
I know Rob Meurer has been in touch with you, and over all these years, while relatively unnoticed, Rob and I have strived to continue to grow as writers and to make quality albums. I have a new one, Secret Ladder, coming out Sept 12th.
Thanks again for the mention and validation.
Christopher
_______________________________________
Hi, Bob --
What a lovely surprise to see your piece on Christopher Cross and all those records I played on with my friend I'd known since we were 17. Although I wish I didn't need to, I must correct one fact in your primer.
The piano solo in "Sailing" was played by our producer Michael Omartian. It is a timeless and iconic performance that I have duplicated in concert with Christopher countless hundreds of times and that I would love to take credit for. I was also on the track, but on electric keyboards. We had a long-standing band (named Christopher Cross) which essentially made that sound that was the first album, but there is no question that Omartian came in and put on the crowning touches, such as this solo and the glorious string arrangement on the same song.
Thanks for acknowledging Chris, and do check out his about-to-be-released album SECRET LADDER. No old-guy laurel-resting going on here. Of course, I'm a bit prejudiced since I wrote ten of the songs with Christopher.
Ever onward!
Rob Meurer
_______________________________________
I played with Christopher for a few years, and we're still friends.
You're right, he's a bad ass, I used to sit at the stage side in the middle of the set when he would go out and do a few songs by himself, (and then I would go out and sit with him and do a duo on guitar with him for a few more songs), and I would turn to anybody next to me and say "if you saw somebody doing this these days in like Genghis or something like that, your head would explode!". He can really bring it, sitting there by himself with a guitar... A lot of people don't know that he came up shedding with Eric Johnson at Eric's apartment back in the day… he can actually play.
Wade Biery
_______________________________________
He should also be remembered for beating Pink Floyd "The Wall" for the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1981. The band couldn't attend and I was asked to go to New York for the ceremony (that was back when they used to alternate coasts). Everyone around them said it was pretty well a lock. I mean, look at the competition….Hell, I even bought a tux! And then they announced the winner and there I was - all dressed up with nowhere to go. At least James Guthrie won for engineering. As for me: I was so disillusioned that I left the business and retired to a small Lama farm in the wilds of Saskatchewan where there is a forlorn and dusty spot on my mantle where the Grammy for Album of the Year 1981 ought to have been.
Love
Bob Ezrin
_______________________________________
A little known fact except to guitar geeks is that Christopher Cross was the former owner of Stevie Ray Vaughan's Number One Fender Stratocaster.
Michael Hoffman?
Orinda, CA
_______________________________________
Pretty good segment about him on Sunday Morning this past week. Lots of stuff a young guy like me (34) couldn't possibly remember even though I definitely was entranced by the music when I was a kid.
CBS Sunday Morning: http://youtu.be/aeEe9W8wayw
Jeremy C.
_______________________________________
Also worth mentioning is how hard Chris wanted HIS dream to come true (Warner bros being his 1st choice). The back story to all those hits? He was turned down 5 times, always with positive encouragement and an invitation to keep knocking on the door by WB 4 or 5 times. He collected nearly 30 rejection slips from the majors and big Indies. He persevered and kept improving. The payoff was a magical debut record. Btw besides being a great guy he's another underrated Texas guitar player, he can play his ass off. Surprised he didn't make the transition into modern country. The man has talent.
Ricky Schultz
_______________________________________
Another of Cross' unknown / forgotten pop masterpieces was the title track from the movie "Nothing In Common."
Robert Paris
_______________________________________
People look at me cross-eyed when I tell them that "The Flamingo Album" this is still one of my favorite albums of all time. Then I play Ride Like The Wind for them on a great pair of speakers and they get it. There are drums on this song that I promise you've never heard if you've only listened to an MP3 through earbuds. My only complaint about this album is that there are only 9 songs, and it's only 38 minutes long...
Michael Betterton
Morris Higham Management
Dale Morris & Associates
_______________________________________
Hi Bob,
I'll never forget it...April 25, 1980. Eight high school girls from the San Gabriel Valley drove over to the Roxy to see Christopher Cross. In the car, we all eagerly discussed if he would look like Jackson Browne, Kenny Loggins or Dan Fogelberg. This was back in the day when the Roxy had tables right at the stage and we snagged a great one right at center stage. We were all exploding with anticipation! Imagine our seventeen-year-old reaction to Christopher Cross walking out onstage! We all kept our composure, but gave each other looks of, "What?!" He was right in front of us and we had all been playing that first album 24/7. Within a matter of minutes, the shock wore off and that voice took us all to heaven and back. It is one of my favorite Roxy shows of all time (and I have seen many there). Just had to share! Thanks for the primer and the reminder!
Much Peace,
Deb Sparks in Azusa
_______________________________________
Don't forget his first album had a stunning array of guitar players on it.—"Minstrel Gigolo" was the first time I heard Eric Johnson, and that guitar sound and technique sound stopped me dead in my tracks; I became an Eric Johnson fan immediately, way before "Cliffs of Dover."
In fact, the credits on the album are astounding for what was an unknown artist primarily known for having the best cover bar band in Austen. It was like recording an album with Steely Dan's band: Larry Carlton and Jay Graydon on guitar, Lenny Castro on percussion, Chuck Findley on trumpet, Larry Horn on sax, and Michael McDonald, Don Henley, JD Souther, Nicolette Larson, Valerie Carter singing harmonies.
Pretty incredible.
Best,
jim
James K. Willcox
Senior Editor/Electronics
Consumer Reports
_______________________________________
Hi Bob,
You left out that Chris' furious outro guitar solo on Ride Like the Wind rivals anything Clapton played on any Live Cream album and it seals the deal for the boys too! A much cooler outlaw song than Desperado...
Kev
_______________________________________
Omartian's career is a thing of wonder. I was engineering for a few days while he was writing the "She Works Hard For The Money" album with Donna Summer. Not too many players reach that level.... I've been to his Nashville house a few times recently and I don't think I've ever seen that much platinum at one time before. Serious chops!!!
Thomas Whitlock
_______________________________________
Giant props on the Wilsonic perception. Carl and I loved to write & record whenever schedules provided (zero career plans - protected our friendship). Just us, up here at my place where he could get away and test SF Italian food joints.
I recall he mentioned we should add Chris to our next go…that plan and many others gave way to Plan C.
Miss him every day…
Scott Mathews
_______________________________________
Nice piece on Christopher, Bob.
I'll tell you one other thing about him. He was the biggest mensch out of anyone I ever opened for.
In 2005, I opened for him to his sold out crowd of 600+ people in New York City.
The first thing he said after my set to his audience was, "How about it for Jon Regen? He was great!"
He didn't know me. He didn't have to give me a shot in the arm. But he did.
It's something I think about still.
Nearly a decade later I ran into him in London (we were sharing an agent at the time). I told him how much his acknowledgement meant to me. He then asked to me support him again!
In the era of the egomaniacs, Christopher Cross is still all talent and class.
Jon Regen
_______________________________________
From: Phil Brown
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Fillmore-The Last Days Primer-Final
Well, I was there for a lot of this. I mastered the set-I was an engineer at Columbia in San Francisco-and before that I was a roadie for, among others, The Sons Of Champlin. I think the set gives you the flavor of the place, right down to acts like Lamb, a frequent opening act. BTW, Lamb was signed to Graham's label so that explains that.
The movie perfectly captures what the Fillmore West-I still call it the Carousel-was about, right down to Bill's explosive temper. The scene with Mike Ferguson of The Charlatans trying to get the band-or what was left of it-onto the bill was classic Graham. All of us experienced Bill's temper at one time or another, frequently over nothing. That was Bill.
I think I'll haul it out and listen to it.
If you want to buy the set make sure it still has the poster, handbill and ticket.
Phil Brown
_______________________________________
From: kim bullard
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Tumbleweed Connection Primer
"The way it goes from slow to fast and back again (a trick Zeppelin also employed so well!)"
he was trying to copy Laura Nyro when writing Mission; the tempo changes, etc. Funny, huh?
_______________________________________
From: AL KOOPER
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Tumbleweed Connection Primer
I can't believe you didn't mention one of the greatest things about Tumbleweed Connection.
Herbie Flowers !
Who ??????
The Bass player.
Most people don't pay attention to the bass player but this guy played so uniquely and masterfully on this album that he was soon playing on recordings by Lou Reed, Harry Nilsson, David Bowie, Cat Stevens and OF COURSE, yours truly. I have NEVER played with a bassist this unique and he made all the tracks he played on soooo much better. He also influenced a handful of bassists in many ways.
But that album was a very NOTICEABLE collection of his genius.
Sorry you missed it.
BTW he also played on Space Odyssey, Walk On The Wild Side, Jump Into The Fire, I Love My Dog, Matthew & Son, New York City (You're A Woman) and my cover of Come Down In Time. Eat a gummy bear and relisten to Tumbleweed Connection and just listen to Herbie.
_______________________________________
From: Phil Hood
Subject: Re: Chopped Teen Tournament
Right on. For the past twenty years, every week someone has sent me a note about some seven year-old drummer who is "going to be famous someday."
It almost never happens. Fame depends on hard hard work. If you're a sideman you have to be great just to get in the game and then the toughest thing is being someone that the bandleader can stand to live with on the bus. The seven-year old and ten-year old phenoms are never actually that good. They aren't Neil Peart. They aren't Jeff Porcaro. Listen closely and their groove isn't that good.
_______________________________________
From: Chris Blackwell
Subject: Re: Tommy Ramone
Gary Kurfirst who never had a word printed about him deserves a lot of credit for his guidance and management of the Ramones amongst others like Mountain, Talking Heads etc etc
_______________________________________
Subject: Re: Income Inequality
Hi Mr. Lefsetz,
I've been reading your email blasts for a few years now, but never wrote until this one. I'm a 40-something working musician in NYC. I make a very modest living playing weddings, corporate events, and, of course, mitzvahs. Much of my work is for the 1%. (I also have my own band which is not the subject of this email to you.)
I live month-to-month with almost no savings due to the ever-increasing cost of living. I'm happy to play music for a living even if the music occasionally blows.
However, and here's the rub, the musicians who do the same job but are a generation older than me all have houses, pensions, health care, etc. The union has become a shadow of what it was, and the money has evaporated. Or rather, it has trickled up. The old-timers marvel at how much richer the rich seem to be these days. A 16 year-old's birthday party with Circ du Soleil, multiple Billboard-topping acts, and $100,000 in flowers is not unusual.
But the guys (and girls) in the house band still get our $350 and no benefits.
Wages are basically the same as they were 20 years ago, and far lower if you factor in cost of living and lack of benefits.
I've started to see it plainly as I play week after week for the rich. We get paid the same if playing at The Plaza or playing a fireman's wedding in Queens. The difference: the richer the client, the more likely we are to not get fed on the gig and to not get tipped. To them we are just the help, same as their maids and drivers. To the firemen, we're the same dudes and we are treated with respect.
I may be getting a bit long in the tooth to sharpen my pitchfork, but when the day comes, I'll sure buy a few for the younger guys.
-Please withhold my name if you should want to circulate this.
_______________________________________
Subject: Re: SXM The Highway
Bob,
I do regular, contract work for Sirius/XM Nashville, home base for The Highway. I wanted to take a minute to tell you a bit more about the heroes behind this community.
Firstly, John Marks, the program director of which you spoke, and the figurehead behind the recent press the station has seen. John deserves every bit of credit that he has been given. Even I, as a freelance audio engineer, am treated with extreme respect and general interest by John, and, so much more so, are the new artist that he is finding. He creates a personal relationship with each one; he roots for them. He has created a unique community for artist/radio as well as audience/radio. The gratitude these artists have for him, for the station, is that of a real friendship, of something they believe in and rely on. He approaches his tasks delicately and with personal investment, and it shows in any interaction you have with him.
Beyond John, however, are several other crucial figures. Morning show host, Storme Warren, maintains personal relationships with many artists of The Highway, as well as many fans, that go beyond the scope of his air time. Daily, I watch him take extended phone calls--he takes his own, unscreened phone calls--which he quickly knows are unairable by nature of their conversational content. But he allows fans, many of whom he knows by voice recognition, to speak with him at length, like old friends shooting the s**t. He can tell you as much about the lives of some of these long-time fans as he can about the lives of the artists he knows. He's also gone sky diving with Brett Eldridge as a completion of a dare they made to commemorate his number one single, had a parody song written about him by Lady Antebellum, and arranged for Dierks Bentley to visit his diehard fan intern at the studio before her internship term ran out.
And perhaps the most unsung hero of the station is channel director Joyce Rizer, who helps to manage the social media and the many live-audience-attended events that the Highway puts on. Most citizens of Nashville would be surprised to know that Sirius/XM has a Nashville branch, despite the 60+ free, live events we do in our performance theatre. And that's because it isn't for them, it's for the fans. I've seen people drive hundreds of miles to attend these private, intimate shows, and they are able to do so because Joyce and the Highway crew have the fans of the channel in mind with every event, giving away tickets to those who truly want to go, not just to those who live closest. It's difficult to compare that aspect of the station to other radio entities, because so few others have a comparable reach. So, I will just leave it at, I have seen people from everywhere from New York to Wyoming to Wisconsin in attendance at these shows, yet most of my local peers have no idea that the
branch is there at all.
There are many other influential figures in this story: host Buzz Brainard, who has an unparalleled passion and excitement for music and who has put out an open invitation to fans to swarm his studio during his Friday broadcast, The Music Row Happy Hour; Brittany Goudie, Storme's co-host, who is regularly expanding the shows personal touch--check out their adopt a school initiative for this season's high school football season; and my boss, chief engineer Jonathan Burtner, who would treat every live recording we do on site like the Beatles at Abbey Road, if he could.
I appreciate the words you've said about my peers, and I know that for the foreseeable future, they will continue to strive to impress. It's a common goal, shared by a genuine team, all of whom follow the cornerstone principle that the audience is king. Everyone here is tuned into them, and the power of the station comes from this group of earnest listeners.
All the best to you, Bob.
Aaron Dethrage
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Sunday 7 September 2014
WIMP Comes To America
Are you willing to pay twice as much to stream in lossless?
Late last night doing my back exercises I decided to compare streaming services. Spotify is my default, I recreated a playlist in Beats Music and then I did the same thing in WIMP, and I was wowed.
Now let's be clear, getting lossless music from Norway ain't that easy, there are streaming interruptions, which is why I decided to sync/download the tracks, and they were a REVELATION!
I'm a big believer we get the music we deserve, that the reason compressed beat-driven music dominates is it's the only thing that sounds good on the listening devices we're employing. In other words, you're not gonna get a new James Taylor if you've got to listen to compressed music on your phone via earbuds. But if you improved the quality of the sound would that not only make people take more care in the creation of sounds, but also branch out and put an effort into that which today is so often a second-class citizen?
Now I'm not talking 256kbps, never mind 320. Lossless is equivalent to CD. And we can debate all day long the difference between analog and digital, whether vinyl is superior to CDs, but the truth is despite being tactile, vinyl is not portable, unless you're at home it's a pain in the ass, and even there...
You hear instruments you didn't know were there when you listen in lossless. They become rich, three-dimensional.
Are you willing to pay for this privilege?
In other words, if you're refusing to pay for Spotify Premium, making a ton of excuses about the sound, are you willing to pay double for WIMP? Despite so few investing in Pono, despite you trumpeting it as the solution, it's really not, because files are already dead, we live in the land of streaming, get over it.
And when one entity pushes the ball forward, it forces all competitors to follow in their footsteps, because so much in tech is a commodity, and if you're substandard, you fail.
So this is less about WIMP and more about music in general. Who knows what streaming service will survive, but if WIMP lifts all boats sound-wise that's good for everybody.
In other words, the techies are not our enemy, don't listen to the Luddites and the wannabes who want to believe that music will only be healthy when we return to the days of yore, when you paid ten bucks for an album in a physical format and there was a middle class of acts, despite most music makers being unable to participate.
Remember that canard that Napster meant no one would make any music, it would drive all players out? What a bunch of crap that was. Our problem is too much music, even if something is good, oftentimes you cannot find it under the tsunami of product.
Boomers will remember buying behemoth stereos to get closer to the sound, bringing their friends over to see their jaws drop, seeing that Maxell ad in every magazine.
The song remains the same. Quality sound is a revelation.
Once you've got WIMP lossless, you want better headphones, you want to spread the word, all the while having a smile on your face.
From MusicAlly Daily Bulletin:
"WiMP takes its high-def streaming service to US and UK as Tidal
Scandinavian streaming music service WiMP is launching in the US and UK, and sensibly, has come up with a new brand that has less connotations of weakness. The new service will be called Tidal, and it launches in the autumn. The key selling point will be audio quality: 25m tracks at lossless quality, with 75,000 HD videos and editorial content thrown in too, like the WiMP HiFi service in Scandinavia. This will come with a price to match: $19.99 / £19.99 a month for subscribers, who'll be able to access Tidal through web browsers and iOS / Android apps. 'Initially, streaming was all about access to everything, everywhere, which many services now provide. Tidal is not just another one of those providers,' said CEO Andy Chen. 'Rather than remaining in background to some other activity, music deserves to take center stage with quality at its heart.' The key question now is how Tidal will be marketed. With established rivals already battling for telco deals, entering the US and UK with
a splash may require some clever partnerships on Tidal's part.
Link – http://www.tidalhifi.com/"
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Late last night doing my back exercises I decided to compare streaming services. Spotify is my default, I recreated a playlist in Beats Music and then I did the same thing in WIMP, and I was wowed.
Now let's be clear, getting lossless music from Norway ain't that easy, there are streaming interruptions, which is why I decided to sync/download the tracks, and they were a REVELATION!
I'm a big believer we get the music we deserve, that the reason compressed beat-driven music dominates is it's the only thing that sounds good on the listening devices we're employing. In other words, you're not gonna get a new James Taylor if you've got to listen to compressed music on your phone via earbuds. But if you improved the quality of the sound would that not only make people take more care in the creation of sounds, but also branch out and put an effort into that which today is so often a second-class citizen?
Now I'm not talking 256kbps, never mind 320. Lossless is equivalent to CD. And we can debate all day long the difference between analog and digital, whether vinyl is superior to CDs, but the truth is despite being tactile, vinyl is not portable, unless you're at home it's a pain in the ass, and even there...
You hear instruments you didn't know were there when you listen in lossless. They become rich, three-dimensional.
Are you willing to pay for this privilege?
In other words, if you're refusing to pay for Spotify Premium, making a ton of excuses about the sound, are you willing to pay double for WIMP? Despite so few investing in Pono, despite you trumpeting it as the solution, it's really not, because files are already dead, we live in the land of streaming, get over it.
And when one entity pushes the ball forward, it forces all competitors to follow in their footsteps, because so much in tech is a commodity, and if you're substandard, you fail.
So this is less about WIMP and more about music in general. Who knows what streaming service will survive, but if WIMP lifts all boats sound-wise that's good for everybody.
In other words, the techies are not our enemy, don't listen to the Luddites and the wannabes who want to believe that music will only be healthy when we return to the days of yore, when you paid ten bucks for an album in a physical format and there was a middle class of acts, despite most music makers being unable to participate.
Remember that canard that Napster meant no one would make any music, it would drive all players out? What a bunch of crap that was. Our problem is too much music, even if something is good, oftentimes you cannot find it under the tsunami of product.
Boomers will remember buying behemoth stereos to get closer to the sound, bringing their friends over to see their jaws drop, seeing that Maxell ad in every magazine.
The song remains the same. Quality sound is a revelation.
Once you've got WIMP lossless, you want better headphones, you want to spread the word, all the while having a smile on your face.
From MusicAlly Daily Bulletin:
"WiMP takes its high-def streaming service to US and UK as Tidal
Scandinavian streaming music service WiMP is launching in the US and UK, and sensibly, has come up with a new brand that has less connotations of weakness. The new service will be called Tidal, and it launches in the autumn. The key selling point will be audio quality: 25m tracks at lossless quality, with 75,000 HD videos and editorial content thrown in too, like the WiMP HiFi service in Scandinavia. This will come with a price to match: $19.99 / £19.99 a month for subscribers, who'll be able to access Tidal through web browsers and iOS / Android apps. 'Initially, streaming was all about access to everything, everywhere, which many services now provide. Tidal is not just another one of those providers,' said CEO Andy Chen. 'Rather than remaining in background to some other activity, music deserves to take center stage with quality at its heart.' The key question now is how Tidal will be marketed. With established rivals already battling for telco deals, entering the US and UK with
a splash may require some clever partnerships on Tidal's part.
Link – http://www.tidalhifi.com/"
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Frances Ha
I'm blown away. Where was this movie when I was that age?
Then again, if this were 1979 "Frances Ha" would be famous. It was expensive to make a film, going was the national pastime, we retreated from the theatre to bars to discuss them and we still believed art, if it couldn't change our lives, could make them worth living.
I didn't expect much. I love Greta Gerwig, but I expected something a cut above mumblecore. And the problem today is we have too much data. You can triangulate everything. Check out the ratings on not only Rotten Tomatoes but IMDB and Netflix and if something gets less than four stars it can't really be that good, can it?
With life moving so fast we've got no time for not only sergeants, but anything less than perfection. Which leaves us not going to the theatre at all, because what was the last perfect movie? "Pulp Fiction."
But although "Pulp Fiction" was dazzling, it was not fully comprehensible. And I get "Frances Ha," only too well.
We've got expectations. Not only ourselves, but our parents and our peers. We graduated from elite institutions and we're gonna set the world on fire, our lives are going to mean something, but what exactly is the path?
Forget the bank. That's playing it safe. But personal fulfillment, achieving your artistic goal, that's nearly impossible.
But in California everybody's upbeat and sunny. They're winners. And if they don't emerge victorious, they retreat home or move to where the real estate matches their bank account.
But on the east coast... You don't want to be a failure. And living is expensive. And everybody's got attitude. And everybody's in your business. What do you do?
Lie. That's something people do everywhere. If you want to get ahead you have to earn your decoder ring, which takes about two years, to decipher who is real and who is not.
Or have a rich father. This is another skill, the ability to realize when income doesn't match the lifestyle that means there's a rich relative somewhere.
Or sell out and give up. Join the bank. Get married.
Because life is really scary and everything you counted on is resting on quicksand.
You think you know your best friend, you think you can depend upon them, but then they make choices you don't believe they believe in and in order to survive you've got to make all new friends, and that's hard.
Your parents don't want to send a check.
And you're so lonely! You want someone to talk to, someone to understand you. You want love, you see couples everywhere, but you're in a relationship free zone.
And then you find out your dream isn't gonna come true. What do you do then?
Hopefully you get practical. Realize that waiting for Mr. or Ms. Right is wrong and life is about settling, and if you've got regular sex and companionship and a roof over your head and kids who look up to you you've won at the game of life, even if it bears no resemblance to what you thought it was when you graduated from college.
And I don't want to be in my twenties again, with more questions than answers, but I understand everything in this movie that most people can't watch because if they slowed down that much and thought about things they'd be on suicide watch.
That's what America has turned into, a bunch of somnambulant rats who believe if they just get on reality TV or create an app their lives will be complete.
But whether this is true or not, few people can achieve these goals, what about the rest of us?
It's in black and white, no one's beautiful and so much of it is depressing.
Frances is awkward. Watching her you wince.
But if you're honest with yourself you get it.
That's what art used to be, before it became about box office and climbing the financial totem pole. Yup, if I make a popcorn flick that plays around the world maybe I can fly private. And then there are those pooh-poohing ambition, because they're too scared to look in the mirror and wonder who they could have become, if they only tried.
So I'm not recommending "Frances Ha." Because you don't want to watch it. You want to believe if you're smart enough and work hard enough and want it enough you'll get it.
But it don't really happen that way at all.
http://www.franceshamovie.com
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Then again, if this were 1979 "Frances Ha" would be famous. It was expensive to make a film, going was the national pastime, we retreated from the theatre to bars to discuss them and we still believed art, if it couldn't change our lives, could make them worth living.
I didn't expect much. I love Greta Gerwig, but I expected something a cut above mumblecore. And the problem today is we have too much data. You can triangulate everything. Check out the ratings on not only Rotten Tomatoes but IMDB and Netflix and if something gets less than four stars it can't really be that good, can it?
With life moving so fast we've got no time for not only sergeants, but anything less than perfection. Which leaves us not going to the theatre at all, because what was the last perfect movie? "Pulp Fiction."
But although "Pulp Fiction" was dazzling, it was not fully comprehensible. And I get "Frances Ha," only too well.
We've got expectations. Not only ourselves, but our parents and our peers. We graduated from elite institutions and we're gonna set the world on fire, our lives are going to mean something, but what exactly is the path?
Forget the bank. That's playing it safe. But personal fulfillment, achieving your artistic goal, that's nearly impossible.
But in California everybody's upbeat and sunny. They're winners. And if they don't emerge victorious, they retreat home or move to where the real estate matches their bank account.
But on the east coast... You don't want to be a failure. And living is expensive. And everybody's got attitude. And everybody's in your business. What do you do?
Lie. That's something people do everywhere. If you want to get ahead you have to earn your decoder ring, which takes about two years, to decipher who is real and who is not.
Or have a rich father. This is another skill, the ability to realize when income doesn't match the lifestyle that means there's a rich relative somewhere.
Or sell out and give up. Join the bank. Get married.
Because life is really scary and everything you counted on is resting on quicksand.
You think you know your best friend, you think you can depend upon them, but then they make choices you don't believe they believe in and in order to survive you've got to make all new friends, and that's hard.
Your parents don't want to send a check.
And you're so lonely! You want someone to talk to, someone to understand you. You want love, you see couples everywhere, but you're in a relationship free zone.
And then you find out your dream isn't gonna come true. What do you do then?
Hopefully you get practical. Realize that waiting for Mr. or Ms. Right is wrong and life is about settling, and if you've got regular sex and companionship and a roof over your head and kids who look up to you you've won at the game of life, even if it bears no resemblance to what you thought it was when you graduated from college.
And I don't want to be in my twenties again, with more questions than answers, but I understand everything in this movie that most people can't watch because if they slowed down that much and thought about things they'd be on suicide watch.
That's what America has turned into, a bunch of somnambulant rats who believe if they just get on reality TV or create an app their lives will be complete.
But whether this is true or not, few people can achieve these goals, what about the rest of us?
It's in black and white, no one's beautiful and so much of it is depressing.
Frances is awkward. Watching her you wince.
But if you're honest with yourself you get it.
That's what art used to be, before it became about box office and climbing the financial totem pole. Yup, if I make a popcorn flick that plays around the world maybe I can fly private. And then there are those pooh-poohing ambition, because they're too scared to look in the mirror and wonder who they could have become, if they only tried.
So I'm not recommending "Frances Ha." Because you don't want to watch it. You want to believe if you're smart enough and work hard enough and want it enough you'll get it.
But it don't really happen that way at all.
http://www.franceshamovie.com
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