tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post6364243528133169178..comments2024-03-28T14:41:03.787-04:00Comments on PowerPop: My Back Pages (An Occasional Series)NYMaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10863355110457910935noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-68683598177576710762013-02-02T12:54:23.732-05:002013-02-02T12:54:23.732-05:00There are some lights (dim, but lights nonetheless...There are some lights (dim, but lights nonetheless) at the end of the tunnel:<br /><br />On the music creation side: Computer technology has made it easier than ever to make a record. You can spend $1000 to buy a new Mac, and you get for free a program called GarageBand, which is a pretty-full-featured multitrack recording studio. Spend another $100-$300 (depending on features) for an audio interface, another $200-$400 for mikes, and you can have your own home studio with which you can record pretty much anything you want to play. If you sweat the details, you can make professional-quality recordings with this setup.<br /><br />On the music distribution side: The Internet has made it feasible to put your recordings out there for people to find without needing a major label. Physical media (records, tapes, CDs) are dying, in favor of purely digital distribution. And the prejudices against homegrown stuff are dying, just as they are in the digital book publishing arena.<br /><br />Not to say this is a panacea: you still have to work hard to write and record good stuff, and you won't have a label to do your marketing for you, but at least there are alternatives to the major labels now.<br /><br />But it would still be nice if actual music-loving people with good taste were in charge of the major labels...cthulhunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-22236666378063035362013-02-01T19:59:26.594-05:002013-02-01T19:59:26.594-05:00May I comment that I really dig Esquerita.
ROTP(l...May I comment that I really dig Esquerita.<br /><br />ROTP(lumber)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-42324568102879143252013-02-01T13:46:09.360-05:002013-02-01T13:46:09.360-05:00As compared to the Three Stages of An Actress'...As compared to the Three Stages of An Actress' Career:<br /><br />1. Babe.<br /><br />2. District Attorney<br /><br />3. Driving Miss Daisysteve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-91825658029821471312013-02-01T13:45:10.471-05:002013-02-01T13:45:10.471-05:00Pete:
The Five Stages of an Actor's Career:
...Pete:<br /><br />The Five Stages of an Actor's Career:<br /><br />1. Who is Hugh O'Brian?<br /><br />2. Get me Hugh O'Brian.<br /><br />3. Get me a Hugh O'Brian type.<br /><br />4. Get me a young Hugh O'Brian.<br /><br />5. Who is Hugh O'Brian?steve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-24520651280424798452013-02-01T13:22:46.269-05:002013-02-01T13:22:46.269-05:00Show business has has always been about, "Get...Show business has has always been about, "Get me a (name here) type!" Here in Seattle, of course, we can lay claim to "the kind of misfit/genius who has fueled rock from Buddy Holly and Elvis on down." What happens is that when that guy comes along, pretty much every other artist within earshot wants to do that, too, just like I wanted to write songs after hearing Bob Dylan, not because I wanted to be rich like Bob Dylan (although I wouldn't have minded) but because Bob Dylan invented something I wanted to be part of. Twenty years after his death Kurt Cobain still affects my students like that, the same way Elvis affected John Lennon. It's a fact that a huge corporate superstructure has grown up around that chain of inspiration, but I don't think it threatens the chain as much as it might have when you wrote the piece. The shoe that's too tight eventually wears out.petenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-17714354480893749872013-02-01T12:22:56.321-05:002013-02-01T12:22:56.321-05:00For what its worth, I mentally supplied the"_...For what its worth, I mentally supplied the"_______."<br /><br />:-)steve simelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13247393763004076992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-6008578742324752302013-02-01T11:27:13.631-05:002013-02-01T11:27:13.631-05:00Actually, that was supposed to say "You'l...Actually, that was supposed to say "You'll love 'em. They'll remind you of (insert name of beloved band from my younger days here)" but I used angled brackets instead of parens and Blogger treated it like bad HTML. But you get the idea, anyway.Blue Ash Fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-8900630082776770112013-02-01T11:06:30.515-05:002013-02-01T11:06:30.515-05:00I regret not buying the Esquerita promo copy I saw...I regret not buying the Esquerita promo copy I saw around the time you wrote this.<br /><br />"You'll love 'em. They'll remind you of ."<br /><br />No they'll just piss me in how they don't remind me of.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing the back page.<br /><br />buzzbabyjesushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09375127662096374324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-74900839027018108002013-02-01T09:02:46.026-05:002013-02-01T09:02:46.026-05:00I think you nailed it here:
"I suddenly noti...I think you nailed it here:<br /><br />"I suddenly noticed that just about nobody on MTV these days -- of any gender, in any genre, from dance pop to rap to heavy metal to college-radio rock -- seems to have the slightest shred of originality, personality, or any artistic ambition beyond getting stinking rich in a hurry."<br /><br />Especially that "personality" part.<br /><br />Twenty-three years later, that is even more spot on. When the band onstage looks like five Starbucks baristas got lost on their way to work, the excitement, allure and, yes, danger of rock 'n' roll are all but gone. When I was younger, I looked at my fave rockers and thought, "I wanna be that guy." For today's youngsters, it must be, "Hey, I AM that guy!" And where's the fun in that?<br /><br />As for the originality comment, I often receive band recommendations with this statement: You'll love 'em. They'll remind you of . Well, in that case, why not just go listen to the originals and not some half-baked pastiche? The point eludes me. <br /><br />Add to that the sad fact that the music by and large sucks and you're looking at one sorry state of affairs. And get off my lawn!<br />Blue Ash Fannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921382.post-79497190434867083332013-02-01T08:58:48.037-05:002013-02-01T08:58:48.037-05:00From the 1982 Catalog of Cool:
"Under the imp...From the 1982 Catalog of Cool:<br />"Under the impression that if a half-maniac like Little Richard could succeed then surely a total loon would do twice as well, Capitol in the late fifties signed Esquerita. They were wrong."<br />edwardnoreply@blogger.com