Michael Jackson Why Wait ’till he’s Dead?
Jun 30, 2009 Rants
That MJ was a tremendous recording artist is beyond doubt, although popularity does not guarantee quality – just remember the Spice Girls phenomena.
What really annoys me is that lots of people are going out and buying MJ records. Let me explain that a bit better. It is not that people are buying his records per se. It is that they are buying them just because he is dead. If they liked MJ’s music then why didn’t they buy the CDs when he was alive? Dieing is a good career move.
Tags: deaths, michael Jackson, rock music
Little Feat’s Lowell George Died on this Day 1979
Jun 29, 2009 On This Day
Lowell George died of a heart attack on this day in 1979.
George founded Little Feat at the suggestion of Frank Zappa in 1969 after Zappa heard some of George’s songs. George was in the Mothers at the time and he took Roy Estrada Zappa’s bass player into Little Feat. The line up for Little Feat was completed by drummer Richie Hayward and Bill Payne (who had failed an audition to join the Mothers).
After a couple of albums Estrada left to work with Beefheart (strange how most posts seem to have a Beefheart/Zappa connection, well, maybe not too surprising) There were another 5 or 6 albums the most successful of which was 1978’s Waiting for Columbus. The band finnally split in early 1979.
At the time of his death George was on tour in the USA promoting his solo album Thanks, I’ll Eat it Here.
Tags: classic rock music, love rock music, loweel george, lowell george, On This Day
More Records That Changed The World
Jun 28, 2009 About and things
I have published an article about records that changed the world of music. You can read it here.
I was quite happy with the list but now I have my doubts, where is Dylan, Wreckless, Jimi? That is the trouble with lists, 10 may be a convenient number but it is not big enough and I am sure that any arbitrary number would not be right either. If I just kept adding more and more records (and I could) then nothing would make it to the blog.
If I could add just one record I think that it might just be Sun RA’s Pictures of Infinity. That, however, to acknowledge his ground breaking body of work rather than just for that one record.
Don’t ask…
Jun 28, 2009 Uncategorized
Thisa is just one of those things that you have to do when you have a site.
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That Brought a Smile to their Faces
Jun 27, 2009 On This Day
What’s in a name? The band Smile was just not cutting it, perhaps a new name?
After much deliberation they decided on the new name and in 1970 gigged with it for the first time. Queen was the name, and it seemed to work for them – or it might have had more to do with the talent within the band.
Rocked Around the Clock
Jun 26, 2009 On This Day
In 1955 on this day Decca Records (remember them?) announced that Billey Hailey had sold More than 3 million records, in just 13 months.
These days, when new sensation follows new sensation, it would be unusual for the sale of a single to continue for so long, or to sell so many copies. Formats have changed of course. LPs were not the format of choice then being more aimed at jazz and classical music rather than pop. That did not really change until the 60s.
Michael Jackson
Jun 26, 2009 Departures
MJ died overnight as I slept in the UK. While I am not going to go into details of his life (follow this link to WikiP if you want that stuff) his contribution to music is worth comment.
MJ is significant to Real Rock and Blues for 2 reasons. Firstly, it is difficult for many (younger) people to appreciate that in the early 60’s there was white music and there was black music, certainly in the USA – less so in the UK. The Jackson 5 used rock guitar (white rock guitar) on some of their (black) pop music. For association with that action that helped breakdown racial divides in music MJ is worthy of mention. Not that as a young boy he would have been the main decision maker, but he was there.
Secondly, when I was asked to write an article about 10 records that changed the world of music Thriller was in there. Until Thriller each album spawned one or two singles. With Thriller the paradigm changed. 7 of the tracks were hits in the USA. All around the world singles taken from Thriller were hits, and lots of them. Post Thriller, music companies were looking for albums to be mere collections of hit singles rather than somewhere where an artist could breath (alright getting carried away a bit there).
One thing is for sure Thriller is the biggest selling album of all time. It is likely to remain so as so many people now download their music.
High Heels, Legwarmers, Bikini Pants – Yes Its Prince.
Jun 25, 2009 On This Day
On this day in 1984 the person that used to like to be known as an artist who once had a name before going a bit strange released a successful album. Purple Rain was the first album that acknowledged the band and called them the Revolution and supported the film.
Why the band was acknowledged on the album as prince played the vast majority of the parts on the album and the band was only ever a touring band I do not know, and could hardly care less to be truthful. Oddly this album was voted number 72 in the Rolling Stone list of top 100 albums. The album supporteed the film of the same name and both made suiddilians of dollars, so someone liked it…… but not me.
Tags: live music, love rock music, On This Day
EC beats Kiss hands down
Jun 24, 2009 On This Day
EC sold 100 of his guitars to raise money for his drug rehab clinic on this day in 1999. He raised almost $5,000,000
Kiss sold off some of their memorabilia on this day a year later in 2000. They raised $876,000. (first day of a 2 day sale).
I am no fan of EC but surely this does illustrate the gap between where he stands in popular culture and Gene Simmons’ position.
Tags: classic, classic rock music, love rock music, On This Day
Commercial Radio Stations the End of Civilisation?
Jun 23, 2009 Rants
This is not as stupid a question as it first appears. At least, not if you think that music is important. I believe that music is one of the foundations of society. It predated written communication and probably the spoken word. Rhythm and melody is with us before we are born. Babies in the womb respond to music. They respond to the rhythms of the heartbeat of their mothers. We assimilate basic rhythms as we grow up, music becomes part of us.
Our lives are dominated by sounds and music almost as much as they are by light and images. We pay musiciansand singers a fortune to use their skills and talents to reflect and sometimes change our lives. Well, some of them get paid a fortune. In history balladeers were feted and valued, and this is how it should be. Music has developed from the streets be it Blues, rock and roll, Punk, Folk etc. In the modern world there is a disease. It is that growing and spreading scourge of all thinking human beings, disposable, irrelevant, musical pap.
Bubblegum for the ears has always been around. One of the main culprits responsible for the growth of this rubbish has been the MOR commercial radio stations. These radio stations use music is the filler between inane quizzes and adverts. These stations provide a diet of extended jingles and tell us that it is music. They demand shorter tracks to play, they ignore any music that may make us think (they do not want us to do that). They ignore any music that may make us upset. Their prime requirement is to have a safe platform for their adverts.
Music, real music, must challenge and excite. The purpose of music, of all art, is to reflect, challenge and change. The growth and development of civilisation goes hand in hand with questioning. One of the prime sources of that questioning is music. Real music exists but it is under threat from the dumbing down of the broadcast media. That way lies the end of civilisation as we know it.
Tags: classic rock music, live music, love rock music, real rock and blues, rock music
