What won't they think of next? A Swedish band, the Shout Out Louds, have released their new single, "Blue Ice" in a new format: a playable record made out of ice.
I'd love to follow up by saying it's available in the refirgerated section of your local record store, but you'd see through that particular joke. First of all, most record stores don't have a refrigerated section. Second, the ice version of the single is an extremely limited edition. Only ten were made. And technically, when you get it (assuming you are one of the chosen few), what you get is a mold, a bottle of water and instructions. You pour the water in the mold, freeze it, remove the record from the mold and then play it. Cool! For more details, here's the article I saw.
Yeah, it's obviously a gimmick. Keeping the record as part of your collection is not an easy thing to do. I would assume it's not great for your record player, and I doubt the ice would survive many playings. Heck, even the first play seems to be pretty porr quality. But it is a clever idea and good for some attention.
In a similar vein, I recall reading about a record that came with a cardboard turntable that -- if memory serves -- had to be folded together. And I also recall reading about a digital record that has some kind of software built in to change it in small random ways so that it never sounds the same twice. Don't ask me for details. I don't recall.
A bunch of questions come to mind: Do you have to use the water provided in the bottle, or does plain old tap work? Will the music sound bubblietr if you use seltzer? Can the mold be used more than once? I would hope so. I'd hate to think that you can use it once and that's it. But I could see the possibility that the plastic mold is damaged beyond reuse when the frozen disk is removed.
What I will admit is that it shows how far gimmick releases have come. I remember some gimmick releases from my youth, but they were all simpler. There were some singles that came in odd shapes. I particularly remember a specially released single by the turtles that was shaped like a turtle. Split Enz' first album came with some kind of laser etching so that if you held the record at the right angle you could see the album's logo on it. I also had a 5-inch single (Jona Lewie's "I'll Get By in Pittsburgh") and a 6-inch single (Squeeze' "Another Nail in My Heart"). And, of course, there were picture discs, and albums released on clear or colored vinyl.
My favorite gimmick, though, was a flexi-disk produced by Mad Magazine. It was for a song called "It's a Super Spectacular Day." The gimmick was that it had eight different endings, and you didn't know which one would play any given time you listened to it.
"Work" isn't the noun I wanted to end the title of this post with. But discretion is the better part of valor
One of the stories out of Hollywood, and I'm assuming it's true, centers on Gene Roddenberry and how he managed to snag (unethically, in my opinion, 50% of the royalties for the theme from Star Trek.
I assume you know the theme. ethereal music with a wordless female vocal. To my ears, it sounds like a theremin. It's aired without lyrics, but there were lyrics to it:
Beyond the rim of the star light My love is wand'ring in star flight. I know he'll find in star-clustered reaches Love, strange love a star-woman teaches. I know his journey ends never. His star trek will go on forever. But tell him as he wanders his starry sea Remember, remember me.
The things about it is that Alexander Courage wrote the music for the theme. Afterwards, gene Roddenberry added his lyrics. Roddenberry never expected to air the lyrics. But by writing lyrics he could claim credit as co-author and get half the royalties for the song. Courage (rihtfully) considered this unethical, but Roddenberry defended it by saying "Hey, I have to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not gonna get it out of the profits of Star Trek."
Today the family went to see Trout Fishing in America (TFiA) at the Long Island Children's Museum (LICM). Before talking about the concert, I'd like to go off on a couple of tangents and talk about the band and the venue.
Band first. Trout Fishing in America (Ezra Idlet and Keith Grimwood) are far and away the best children's band out there. Their songs are catchy and entertaining, and accessible for children. But the songs are structuired like regular songs. What I mean by that is that they have all the musical complexity of pop songs aimed at an adult audience, so they don't bore ears trhat have spent decades listening to music. Another thing that I like can best be described in terms of what it's not. A lot of other performers of children's music are very self-conscious about being educational. And they make the music educational at the expense of the music itself. TFIA don't do that. The music is the music. And it's damn good. In one song they're counting the wheels on a truck, and the kids are enjoying it. But it's so catchy that adults are going with it too. Another song is about a space alien that made it's way into the singer's nose. The kids are amused (OK -- some are grossed out), but the song sounds like something from the early new wave (circa 1980), and adults are loving it. I'll note that TFIA is not strictly a children's band. They do "serious" "adult" music as well, and their CDs are generally split into the adult and children's categories. I tend to like their kids music much more. But that's just me.
Now for the venue. The theatre at LICM, in Garden City, New York, is one of those underappereciated and underattended gems. They have some great shows there (not all music, mind you) by great performers. Off the top of my head, I can remember shows by Chinese Theatre Works, Ken Waldman, Nappy's Puppets, and Chip Bryant. There have been others. These are high quality shows by great performers in an intimate environment. There's not a bad seat in the house. Today was the first time that TFIA played there. Theatre manager Jim Packard told my wife that getting TFIA to the theatre was on his bucketr list. Another thing that I appreciate about the theatre at LICM is the price point. The show was $3 per ticket. Admittedly, that was the member price. I think the nonmember price was $4. Having a family of 5, I really appreciate that. There's lots of activities where the price seems reasonable until you multiply by 5. We' have seen TFIA in other venues where the cost for the whole family runs in the $100 neighborhood. Jim, if you're reading this please don't take it as encouragement to raise the prices.
As for the show, It was a good assortment of their favorites. There was "18 Wheels on a Big Rig" (see video below, which was not from today's show, but pretty well captures the spirit of what we saw), "100 Little Ducks" and "My Hair Had a Party Last Night" and others. They played these with the usual good humor that I've come to know. At one point, Keith talked about how they recognize some people who have been to their shows before, and I would swear that Ezra was looking straight at my wife. We were, by the way, in the front row. OK, we (along with the other family we went went) were the front row.
The only thing that seemed out of place was one of the new songs, "Don't Touch My Stuff," a musical reaction to theft last year of their van with all their musical intruments in it. TFIA is, if nothing else, a playful band. And even in their few angry songs ("Mine!" is the only one that comes to mind) the anger is offset by playfullness. But "Stuff," from the starting thundering bass riff, is angry. And it didn't sound right at a TFIA concert. I understand the motivation, but still...
There were a couple of other new songs. "Creepy Dead Bug" is one I look forward to hearing on an upcoming album. And " You've Got a Funny Name" from theuir latest album, Chicken Joe Forgets Something Important. The album is a CD with a book around it -- they call it a book with a CD, but I prefer my description.
One thing that's difficult when I talk about TFIA is that I have to avoid talking about a favorite song or even a short list of favorites. I may come up with a list of three songs that come to the top of my head. Maybe "We Weary Deer," "Alien in My Nose" and "Chicken Joe." But then you ask me about "No Matter What Goes Right," and I think Yeah! That's one of my favorites too!. But what about "King of My "Mountain"? Yeah, that too! And it keeps going.
At any rate, following are some videos:
"18 Wheels on a Big Rig." This was not from today's performance, but it is of recent vintage, and captures a lot of the same feel. I note two things about the song: 1) At the end, when Ezra recites digits of pi, he does it wrong. I once mentioned that to him after a show. He said he knows. I don't know why they still do it that way. 2) I would love for them to add a bit where one of them notes that most wheels are round. But some of the wheels are perfect squares, and now we're gonna count the perfectly square wheels. They would then sing "Oh, there's 1, 4, 9, 16 wheels on a big rig." I suppose that would go over too many heads.
"Alien in My Nose," which they did not perform at today's show. It sounds like it should have been a new wave / powerpop song thirty-five years ago. I remember the first time I heard it. It blew me away.
"16 or 17 Hours of Sleep." This is a new song I hadn't heard before today. It's from the new album, whcih comes with a book wrapped around it.
Do you remember the background music when Captain Kirk first faces the Gorn? Or when he and Spock go at it with Lurpas? How about when he almost found himself in a fast draw with Morgan Earp? If you're a Star Trek fan -- or even if you're not -- you're probably familiar with the music. You may not know exactly which piece plays when, but it probably brings the show to mind.
Now, you can listen to these -- and other Star Trekian musical gems to your heart's content. The Wall Street Journalreports that La-La Land Recotrds has just released a fifteen-volume set of CDs featuring all the music from the original series. The WSJ reported described it better than I could (I wish I could write like this):
Even non-Trekkies will likely recognize some of the more memorable passages—like the tyrannical horn motif of the treacherous Romulans in the episode "Balance of Terror." Or the screaming trumpet threat of the mindless, planet-destroying berserker in "The Doomsday Machine."
Now, not all Star Trek music was brass-heavy and foreboding like the pieces cited above. There were the playful bits, like when Kirk and Spock are caught stealing clothes back in the 1930's, or when Scotty drinks an alien (from the Andromeda galaxy) under the table. Whatever good and bad there was in that show, the soundtrack music was arguably the best in television.
The downside to this is that the CD set is priced at $225, which places it out of the realm of impulse purchases. I suspect that the good folks at La-La Land are simply taking advantage of Trekkies. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- I believe in the free market, and recognize that we don't have any kind of fundamental right to cheap Star Trek music. But I won't be buying this collection unless the price comes down a lot. No matter how much they begs.
So I've had a chance to listen to and digest the Strangely CD, Hot Air Boat Lune.
I like it, though it's not what I expected. Of course, I'm not sure what I expected. Strangely is an iconoclast, and his music, based on what I can find on Youtube, doesn't fit the conventional molds. In fact, it's probably more accurate to call him a performance artist than a musician, though music is part of said performance. For examples, here are some videos:
There's a bit of old-timey spirit and some hillbilly influence. My favorite track on the album (sadly, not depicted above) is "Hey Lady," a kind of louldly touching tribute to a woman in New York.
The only musical issue I have with the CD is that there's a certain intensity on it that I haven't seen in his earlier music. Some of tracks sound very angry as a result. It's almost as if Strangely felt he had to come through big time and was just trying too hard.
The packaging is, of course, a real DIY job. The disk is a Verbatim CD-R designed to resemble a record (you know, those big black vinyl thingies they used to make). No one bothered even to write the name of the album, or artist or anything on it. The CD case is brown cardboard with minimal black ink. The song titles are on a paper insert.
Strangely did write (on the inside of the case), "To Marc, My only fan in (Jamaica) New York..." and he signed it. He also inserted a paper with a handwritten note expressing his hope that we got through superstorm Sandy OK. I don't have the heart to tell him that my wife is also a fan of his, and she's in Jamaica, New York. I suspect that his Kickstarter money was almost exclusively from his Bellingham fan base, and there were very few contributors from elsewhere. So he was tickled to see a New York address.
I finally got the album in the mail. It came some time in December while I was away on vacation. I haven't really had a chance to listen to it yet, but I'm looking forward to it...
I learned a few things from the experience. HP pointed out that the bridge of a song doesn't need a melody that resolves itself. It can be good if the bridge ends with some tension leading into the verse that follows. And I did change my melody for the bridge in order to achieve that effect.
I've also been thinking about the lyrics in choruses. I tend to think of choruses as static -- each verse has different lyrics, but the choruses are all the same. That's the way I think of it, anyway, even though I know it's not always the case. There are songs where the choruses all differ in a line or two. But what I did with "Five Missing One" is keep all the choruses the same, except for the last one, which has one different line. I like the way it kind of creates an expectation that the choruses will be the same and then throws a curveball at the end. Of course, I'm throwing another curve at it. That one line that changes? I decided on a different different line for the final chorus. Problem is HP and I already recorded it the way I had it. So when I register the copyright I'll just have the lyric sheet reflect the new line. That should cover me.
After I register the copyright I'll write a post in which I reveal the lyrics, and I'll address that final change. Of course, if I can figure out how to embed a ReverbNation widget in this blog, I can make my demos available to anyone who reads this.
I am still planning to record a track with wreckless eric and amy rigby. That will probably happen some time next month. At least now I have the song to record.
I had three songs that were complete. But I also already have servicable demos of each of them. So rerecording with Amy and Eric would, in a sense be a lost opportunity. Sure, I'd have a recording of Wreckless Eric doing one of my songs. But it wouldn't increase the number of sonmgs I could put on a demo disc to send to producers, etc.
So my plan was to write a new song. Which I did. The song, "Five Missing One," is meant to be an old-time western-style song. I've been kind of sitting on the idea for a while, letting it gestate. I asked my friend, HP (whom I'm visiting and about whose music I have blogged before), if he would be interested in collaborating on it when I was visiting him on vacation. I ended up writing pretty much the whole song in the week or two before vacation, and tonight sat down with HP to finish it up and record a rough demo. In the event, it didn't need much more songwriting. There were a couple places that I had alternate lyrics that I was choosing between, and HP helped me decide. There were places where I wasn't sure that I had the right chord, and HP helped me with that as well. There were a few places where he helped me improve the melody. But HP said he doesn't think he contributed enough to justify sharing the songwriting credit. So, even though I offered to register the copyright in both of our names, he said to do it in just my name.
And we recorded a rough demo. It's three tracks -- me on guitar, HP on lead vocals, and HP doing harmony. It'd not a perfect demo. There's some distortion on the guitar track, and it's definitely too fast. But I think it's good enough to take to Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby.
It's interesting how I get a thrill when a song I love comes on the radio. Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind" or Dave Edmunds' "I Hear You Knockin'" are two good examples. It doesn't matter that I have the song in my CD collection and I can pretty much listen to it whenever I want. Somehow it's a special thrill and I have to hear it all the way through. I think it's somehow about my taste being validated.
Nighttime. We're driving through the Nevada desert. The kids are drowsy and starting to fall asleep. I'm flipping through radio stations to stay awake. Pink Floyd's "Hey You" comes on, and I stop flipping. Then Sharon, my middle child asks me to change stations. "This song is creepy," she informs me.
This past Saturday night I went upstate to Catskill, NY. Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby were giving a house concert to raise money for victims of hurricane Sandy. Or was it superstorm Sandy? Anyway, it was the best concert I ever went to. No. Not the "best" concert, whatever that means. But of all the concerts I have ever been to, it was the one I enjoyed the most.
Kids notwithstanding, I went to the Nick Lowe concert that I'd been so looking forward to.
Downside first: Apparently Nick doesn;t come out to sign autographs. That was a dissapointment. One of the nice things about being a fan of musicians who are, to be polite, not at the peak of popularity, is that getting autographs or a simple handshake is relatively possible. Oh well.
I was in the tenth row, near the center, in a venue that doesn't really have any bad seats. I wasn't as close as I was at the recent Wreckless Eric concert, but I was close enough to see Nick's expressions, and to feel that I was truly seeing him (as opposed to ants at a distance or an image on a jumbotron. Nick performed solo. Just him and an acoustic guitar. For some reason I thought he'd have a band behind him. No matter.
Predictably, Nick concentrated on songs from his cronner era, which is generally placed at The Impossible Bird and everything since. Disagreeing with conventional wisdom, I don;t think of Bird or his subsequent album, Dig My Mood, as part of that era; they were kind of transitional. I think the crooner stuff began with The Convincer. That would mean it currently consists of that lbum, At My Age and The Old Magic.
He opened with "Stoplight Roses" from Magic, and also did "Sensitive Man," "Somebody Cares for Me," "I Read a Lot" and "House for Sale." from that album. There may have been others -- I wrote down titles as he played the songs (there were 21 in all, including two encores), but I am writing this from memory. There was also "I Trained Her to Love Me" from Age, "Lately I've Let Things Slide" from Convincer and "Soulful Wind" and "I Live on a Battlefield" from Bird. About the latter song, Nick told the audience that Diana Ross did a cover of it. It wasn't her finest hour, he said, but it did buy him a new bathroom.
But along with the new, he did play some older Rockpile-era (and even pre-Rockpile-era) songs. The second number he performed was "Heart" from the Rockpile album, and he did "When I Write the Book" from that album as well. At other points he performed "I Knew the Bride," "Raining Raining" and "Without Love."
"(What's So Funny 'bout) Peace Love and Understanding," another of his early numbers kind of annoyed me. He has explained in many interviews that it was written as a sarcastic piece, poking fun at hippies. When he did it with Brinsley Schwarz it had a certain acerbic bite. That was accentuated when Elvis Costello covered it turning it into a real snarling thing. But after 9-11 it has been retrofitted as a serious plea -- sort of Nick's answer to John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance." And, of course, in this day --when we are at war, with the situation worsening in post-war Iraq, and talk of possible forays into Syria or Libya or Iran -- such a song goes over quite well in deep blue area like Port Washington. But I see the plea as very simplistic. I would prefer the sarcastic version of the song.
After performing his one US hit, "Cruel to Be Kind," Nick noted that some of his contemporaries feel trapped by their lone hit -- they have to keep playing it over and over, and they don't like it. (Was that, BTW, a jab at opening act Jim Keller who didn;t play "867-5309/Jenny"?) But he still loves to play his hit. And that was a good example of Nick's charm with the crowd. His between-song patter was relaxed. He talked about how this was his first time playing in the area (Port Washington specifically, nit the whole New York metro area). He then went on to note that the mayor of some town in the upper west -- he named the town, but I don't recall -- picked him up at the airport, that some other town in Nebraska is the home of the Nick Lowe sub sandwich. But here he is unrecognized and can walk down the street undisturbed. He hopes, he said, to change that.
I will say that I thought Elvis Costello's "Allison" was an odd choice to end the show. Why such a downbeat vinegary close?
Writing yesterday's post about concert venues reminded me of the first concert I attended back in 1983. It was Nick Lowe at the Nassau Coliseum. For those who don't know, that's the arena on Long Island where the Islanders play. So we're talking about a big venue, though not the monster venue that is the Meadowlands. I should note that it wasn't really a Nick Lowe concert. It was a Tom Petty concert, and Nick Lowe was the opening act.
And, of course, I went for the opening act. Nick was supporting his then-new release, The Abominable Showman. I remember the thrill when he took the stage. I remember shouting "We want action!" at several points, in a vain attempt to request the opening track on the new album (which was titled "We Want Action"). I remember being dissapointed that he didn;t play that song, although he did play "Ragin' Eyes" after pointing out that he had a new album out. I don't really remember what else he played. I do remember that I couldn't really see him clearly, because of the distance. But I didn't really mind. I was at my first rock concert and I was thrilled.
I left after Nick's set, so I didn't see Tom Petty's performance, though I saw a few bits as I was walking trying to find the exit. If I had it to do over, I'd probably stay to see his act.
After I went to see Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby perform, and anticipating the upcoming Nick Lowe show (which is this coming Sunday, by the by), my wife found a deal on Bruce Springsteen tickets. Half price to see him at the Meadowlands (technically, Met Life Park, or whatever it is that they call the big football stadium where the Giants and Jets play their home games).
I passed.
$60 for a ticket to see a concert at a huge venue like that doesn't really appeal. The problem with huge venues is that I don't really feel like I'm seeing the musician live. I'm so far away that all I can see is specks on the stage. I knowthat that speck in the middle is Bruce Springsteen (or whoever, depending on the show), but I can't really see him. There are lots of big screens to help out, but I may as well be watching a screen at home. Never mind the traffic and other logistics of getting to such a show -- although I'll admit that that is particular to the show. A concert at Shea Stadium Citifield would be easy for me to get to but still has the other drawbacks.
Now, don't get me wrong. I don't mean to diminish Springsteen. I know he's a great performer and showman. I'm told he puts on four hecks of a show. And I even like a godd bit of his music, though I could hardly be classified as a rabid fan. But the downsides of such a show are just too much.
In that sense I am lucky that my favorite musicians aren't exactly household names. My ticket to see Amy and Eric was $15. I was sitting maybe ten feet from the stage -- and I could've been closer if I'd wanted. I could feel the vibrations when Eric jumped. And it's not because the sounds were amplified. I could see the strings on his bass quivering. I could see his face squished in concentration. When Amy broke a guitar string I could see it dangling from the headstock. I could see it getting in the way of her fingers on the frets. And I don't mean that I could see it in an image projected on a Jumbotron. Looking directly at her guitar I could see the strings and the fingers and the frets themselves. That's more esciting than anything I'd see at the Meadowlands. And I talked to Eric and Amy before and after the show. I got to connect with the performer.
And the upcoming show... $45 for my ticket -- yes that's significantly higher than the Eric and Amy ticket, but Nick Lowe is a bigger draw for a variety of reasons. At any rate, it's still cheaper than the Springsteen ticket would have been, and that would have been half price already. My ticket is in the tenth row, just off-center. As with the Eric show, I'll be close enough to see everything. It won't be quite as intimate -- this is a real theatre with seats -- and assigned seats at that -- while the other was the basement of a bar. but it'll still be good
One thing that causes my anal-retentive self a bit of agita is when bands either change their namess or are inconsistent in their spelling.
I like to organize my music alphabetically by band or artist. Admittedly, my CDs haven't been organized for quite some time, but that's another story -- and even so, there's still the database that I'm forever trying to complete. But my organizational efforts are hampered by a few bands that don't have the decency to be consistent.
Now, when a band records under a completely different name (e.g., Brinsley Schwarz recorded and released some tracks as "The Knees"), that's fairly straightforward. I enter those tracks as recorded by the band under whose name they were recorded. In the example cited, I list those tracks as being by The Knees.
But there are other cases where things aren't quite so easy for anal-retentive me. Following are a few examples:
The Toy Dolls
The British punk rock group's tenth album, Orcastrated, has their name on the cover spelled as "Toy Dollz." Note the "Z" at the end. I could ignore the missing "The" at the beginning -- lots of bands add and remove "the" all willy nilly without regard for the anal-retentive among their fans. But the "Z" bothered me. Alphabetically, keeping the album separate wasn't a big deal, since "Toy Dollz" comes right after "Toy Dolls." But part of me wants to list them as a different band, and list all the tracks as by the "other" band. Of course, many of those tracks also appear on compilation albums, so those albums would show tracks by both "Toy Dolls" and "Toy Dollz." I've resisted the urge, but it does bother me.
Squeeze
There was a contemporary American band called "Tight Squeeze." So to avoid confusion this British group was, early on, billed as "U.K. Squeeze" in the States. And their first album was released as U.K. Squeeze. For the longest time I filed that album under U (while all other releases were filed under S. And my database reflected tracks from that first album were reflected as being by U.K. Squeeze instead of Squeeze -- even when they appeared on compilations. A friend (who is a bigger CD collector than I am (though he doesn't keep a database on computer) summed it up succinctly when he found out. "That's mental" he sneered. Perhaps so. What made me change it and file everything under S? Some epiphany that it was mental? No. When I found out that, in Great Britain, the band was always billed without the "U.K." in front of its name and the album was released as Squeeze. Of course, even though my copy of U.K. Squeeze went back to S with the other Squeeze albums, I kept it after Sweets from a Stranger because the album title still had "U.K." in it even if the band name didn't. I have also since learned that the band was also known as U.K. Squeeze in Australia. That was because of an Australian band called Squeeze, and lasted much longer.
The Flamin' Groovies
The Flamin(' -- ?) Groovies made some great music, but for some reason they couldn't decide whether their name had an apostrophe in it. Or maybe they simply changed their minds after three punctuation-less albums. Part of me really wants to reflect two different bands in my database. I also never really know whether to use the hyphen when I write their name. I tend to prefer to include the apostrophe, since it just doesn't look right without it. So the one band in my database has the apostrophe in its name. I'm guessing that if I were to ask Roy Loney or Cyril Jordan about the name, and whether the apostrophe should be there, they'd look at me like I was nuts. Or maybe anal-retentive. Did I mention that I'm anal-retentive?
Lynyrd Skynyrd
When the band reformed in the late '80s after the airplane crash-induced hiatus, here were legal battles over use of the name Lynyrd Skynyrd. As a result, the 1991 album was released as Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991, and the album notes made it clear that the band was also known by that name. I find it interesting that, while Wikipedia mentions and briefly discusses the legal battles, I can't find anything about the band being billed under the expanded name.My database still reflects it as being a different band. I suppose if I liked them better and became a completist when it came to their music I would have to do the resaerch and decide how to reflect them. But I don't and I'm not so I probably won't.
John (Cougar) Mellencamp
When he first started out, John Mellencamp reluctantly agreed to use the stage name "Johnny Cougar" because his manager felt that "Mellencamp" was too difficult a name to market. He went back and forth between John and Johnny. Eventually, when he had had some measure of success he was able to add his real surname to the mix, so several albums were released as "John Cougar Mellencamp." It wasn't until 1991 that the "Cougar" was gone and he started releasing albums as "John Mellencamp." It makes me glad that Jason Ringenberg had a band behind him so his last name didn't become an issue.
One of Nick Lowe's recent songs is "Lately I've Let Things Slide." It's off the 2001 akbum, The Convincer. It's a really good song of depression. One of the better works from his reinvented phase. I have been having trouble recently getting it out of my mind. I do, however, have one complaint about the lyrics. There's a passage:
I go to the bin I throw the laundry in And pick out my cleanest shirt
The singer is explaining that, having failed to do the laundry, and having no clean clothes he has to go to his dirty clothes and do the best he can with them. But because of the meter of the song, my mind keeps hearing it as if he is describing a series of thee actions: 1) he goes to the bin; 2) he throws the laundry in; and 3) he picks out his cleanest shirt. That's not what Lowe was trying to convey in the song, but I can't help hearing it that way.
Stephin Merritt is not a household name*. That's fine. Some of my favorite musicians never quite made it to "household name" status. Many had brushes with it, but are long past it. So that's not a big deal. Merritt is the lead singer and main songwriter for The Magnetic Fields. I'd never heard of him or the band before I met my wife. When she and I met, she was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was a big fan. Se used to go to Magnetic Fields concerts and sit on the side of the stage. And he'd make fun of the way she dressed. That from a man who only wears brown.
I've tried listening to their music, but never quite got into it. Merritt's voice is haunting, a fact that's enhanced by his deadpan delivery. I sometimes find it fascinating to listen to, but I never got into it.
But over the years, there have been what I will, for lack of a better phrase, call the intrusions of his existence into my consciousness. Given his stature in the music world, it would be easy enough to go through life rarely if ever hearing of him and not taking note when I did. But because my wife is a fan, that doesn't happen.
Another time, I listened to one of his songs and found it kind of good. But then when I went to Amazon and listened to samples from the album, I just didn't like it.
This time it was a film screening hosted by The Modern School of Film. The school is having a series of film screenings. In each, a musician (Neil Finn of Split Enz is up next) is asked to pick one movie to screen. Then, after the screening, there's a conversation and Q&A between the musician and the host. Last night, the musician was Stephin Merritt.
As a film, Merritt chose The Black Lizard, an odd Japanese mystery from 1968. In case you want to see it, here's part 1 (of 9 on Youtube -- I have not checked to make sure all 9 are there, so watch at your own risk):
When asked why he chose that movie, Merritt explained that he picked it because he wanted to see it -- he hadn't seen it in 18 years and it's not available on DVD.
But getting away from the movie pick, after the film, they showed a Magnetic Fields video for "Andrew in Drag," from their latest album. That was great. Here it is:
I also found the Q&A interesting. Merritt, while not unfriendly, seemed kind of uncomfortable onstage. I couldn't tell if he was angry or bored (after the fact, that's my guess). But at times, he almost seemed to be daring the host to ask him a question.
At one point, and I forget what question prompted this, he said that he's incredibly bored when he sings. He purposely does take after take until he's wooden, because he doesn't believe singers should emote. This, by the way, explains what I observed above about his deadpan delivery. At any rate, he wants to get the emotions of a song from lyrics and the melody -- not from a singer emoting. I was amused by his observation that one of the problems in music is that everyone wants to be Aretha Franklin. He clarified that Aretha Franklin is a good thing, but everyone wanting to be her is a bad thing.
The point here, if there is one, is that with each Merritt encounter I find myself drawn more and more to liking his music. Maybe someday soon I'll be buying his albums?
*A note on my "household name" comment. Originally I wrote "big star." My wife disputed that by noting all the stuff he's done, and at venues like Lincoln Center. He is, she argues, a big star. It's just that he's a big star who few people would recognize. Rather than split hairs or argue semantics, I figured I'd change it to "household name."
Rolling Stone magazine has yet another interview with Bob Dylan. I should note at the outset that I haven't read it -- it seems to be behind some subscribers-only firewall. So my comments are based on an article, in Reason, about the interview.
Interviewer Mikal Gilmore devotes an inordinate amount of energy to trying to get Dylan's endorsement of President Obama. To his credit, Dylan demures. Telling quote:
This gives Gilmore his hook: didn't Obama change all that? And
isn't it so that people who don't like him don't like him because
of race? Gilmore takes five different swings at getting Dylan to
agree. Some of Dylan's responses: "They did the same thing to Bush,
didn't they? They did the same thing to Clinton, too, and Jimmy
Carter before that....Eisenhower was accused of being un-American.
And wasn't Nixon a socialist? Look what he did in China. They'll
say bad things about the next guy too." On Gilmore's fourth
attempt, Dylan just resorts to: "Do you want me to repeat what I
just said, word for word? What are you talking about? People loved
the guy when he was elected. So what are we talking about? People
changing their minds?"
It's particularly ironic given that Dylan made his name in political music.
The thing for me is that I get tired of hearing the show business crowd pushing their opinion as if they know better than anyone else. I even remember reading of one star (I can't remember who) going so far as to say that actors know better because they are trained to play roles and so have more empathy. Now, accepting that claptrap for the sake of argument, it says nothing about understanding whether policies are likely to work or what the unintended consequences may be.
But I digress.
Certainly, celebrities can endorse politicians or policies. But at some point I find it a turn-off. One of the reasons that I lost interest in Christine Lavin (New York-based singer/songwriter who was, in the 1980's, one of the cool breed of "new" folksingers) is that I got tired of her adding politics to her act.
I'll admit that, to some degree, my feelings are a matter of whose ox is being gored. I'd be less bothered if the Hollywood set were endorsing views that I shared. Hey, I'm only human. But even so, when I hear about Hank Williams Jr.'s latest diatribe, I roll my eyes and wish he'd shut up. And I tend to be more sympathetic to his views than to, say, Peter Yarrow's.
I just want to add, with regard to the above quote, that I was particularly glad about Dylan refusing to blame opposition to Obama on race. There are lots of political arguments that I think are wrong. But that one -- that opposition to Obama is about race -- isn't just wrong. It's aggressively wrong, and offensive to boot. Remember, half a decade ago, when we were told that dissent is the highest form of patriotism? Now, judging from some of the rhetoric from some prominent left-wing celebrities (including Dylan's interlocutor), it's the lowest form of racism.
I have now come across a second instance of a pop song rhyming "spoil it" with "toilet."
Not earth-shattering, but an odd enough rhyme that I find it interesting that I';ve come across two instances by very different artists.
The second instance is from "Weid Al" Yankovic's "Wanna B Ur Lovr:"
You're absolutely perfect Don't speak now, you might spoil it. You're eyes are even bluer Than the water in my toilet
The first instance, as all will recall, is from Ian Dury & the Kilburns' "You're More Than Fair:"
A tender moment, Don't let nothing spoil it. I shall caress your clitoris As we reach the toilet.
I'll note that the above video is of an Ian Dury tribute band performing the song. Every video I could find of Ian Dury performing this, or of a studio version contains a (slightly cleaned-up version with the clitoral reference replaced by something slightly less risque. But I still have the original 45 with the lewd version.
I'll be sseing Nick Lowe in concert next month. He's performing at a small theatre in Port Washington, on Long Island.
It's kind of fortuitous that I found out about it. A few weeks ago I was having dinner at a diner on Long Island with my family and another family. For some reason (probably because I was being a smartass) I mentioned Nick Lowe twice during the dinner conversation. Caryn, the other mother, noted it in puzzlement since she'd never heard of him. Well, my smartassery paid off. Caryn and her husband are mebers of the small theatre in Port Washington, so when the calendar came out and she saw Nick Lowe on the schedule, she called my wife to let me know.
So I have ticket to the show -- sadly, I don't know anyone who is interested enough in Nick Lowe to go as well. But I'll be in seat J109. That's tenth row, near the center. Not bad. I'll be close enough to see his face in detail as he performs.
Maybe I'll be able to nick an autograph after the show.
Funny thing is that I had a chance to see Nick earlier this year. He was opening for Wilco. I didn't bother, since the tickets were kind of expensive, and I have no interest in Wilco. I've had mixed feelings, since one never knows how much longer he'll continue to tour. But now I feel better. These tickets are a little cheaper, the venue is more intimate, I'll be closer, and I won't have to sit through an act that I'd rather not bother with.
I am, as of this moment, a very happy boy.
To give a flavor, here's some recent vintage Nick:
Like a lot of people, if I'm alone I'll absent-mindedly sing lyrics to songs I know. The other night, for example, I was waiting for the bus, and started singing "I Still Miss Someone." But for some reason I have a habit of replacing the lines with assertions about evil chickens ruling the world. So pretty soon I'm singing sopmething like
I never got over those blue eyes And evil chickens rule the world
But gradually I start replacing more and more of the lines with the evil chicken references. Eventually, I'm just singing:
Evil, evil chickens Evil chickens rule the world Evil, evil chickens. Evil chickens rule the world.
I had gotten to the Wreckless Eric concert early. The information I had said 7:00, and even though I didn't expect the show to start at 7 on the tick, I didn't realize that the doors weren't scheduled to open until then. So I left and came back a few slices of pizza later. At 7:00 the doors still weren't open, but I was free to hang out at the bar for happy hour. At 7:15 I was kind of lurking around the entrance to the stairs to the show, wanting to be the first (or nearly the first) to go down so I could secure a good spot. There was another guy obviously having the same thoughts. My new nemesis. I sized him up -- about my age. Not as bald as me (damn him!), but his hair was grayer (Ha ha!). Then the doorkeeper explained to us that they were still doing soundchecks and the downstairs bartender still hadn't shown up, but he'd let us down when he could.
So my nemesis and I started chatting. His name was Stuart. It still is, I suppose. He lives in Washington and had come to New York specifically for this show (and was therefore staying around for the Saturday show at Hastings on-Hudson).
What I found interesting is that his interest in Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby had a different origin than mine. I had been a longtime Wreckless Eric fan. So when he started recording with Amy Rigby (whom he had, by that time, married), I bought those albums. I'll note that I may or may not have heard of Amy Rigby before that. She had been married to Will Rigby of the dBs. I think (though I'm not sure, and I'm too lazy to chack) that he recorded for Diesel Only Records, which put out a bunch of great truck-driving singles a couple of decades ago. In my own little music cocoon, it had never occurred to me that others might have started as Amy Rigby fans. But that's what Stuart's story is. He had, he volunteered, listened to Eric in the eighties. But not beyond that. He was a big fan of Amy's and had attended many of her concerts.
In fact, Stuart was enough of a fan that Amy recognized him and chatted with him. And he had gotten to know Eric through the association. So once we were downstairs discussing music before the show. Eric came over for a little chat. I stood up dumbly not knowing what to say, or if I hould say anything. Hummina hummina hummina. Here's one of my big musical idols standing right here in front of me for a conversation. OK, it's not like he's Justin Bieber and I'm some 16-year-old-girl. But still -- Wreckless. Eric. Talking to me.
Actually, it's not the first time we'd talked at one of his shows. About 20 years ago, when Le Beat Group Electrique was still new, I saw him perform at The Knitting Factory. I remember being so proud in my Stiff Records T-shirt. I didn't know at the time that there had been acrimony when he left Stiff. So I asked him to autograph my copy of the new album. He looked at my T-shirt, and said "Oh, you're one of them." I felt really embarrassed. He signed the album, inscribing "Hope I live up to it all," which I thought was clever. That copy of the album is now in Somerville, where my wife's friend Patti lives. She borrowed it a long time ago. Maybe I'll get it back someday. In the meantime I bought another copy used on the British version of Amazon (for like $100).
The second time I talked to Eric was during the early or mid oughties. I'm not sure what year. But he was playing in New York. During that show I was chatting with Amy Rigby (though I didn't know who she was). She simply described herself as his girlfriend. The two of them talked for a while. I talked to him briefly and put my foot in my mouth.
So, what could I do? I had to follow tradition. Stuart and Eric greeted each other with a brief hug. I said something like "I take it you've met?" Then proceeded to gtell Eric that he and I had met but he wouldn't remember it. Damn, I have a way with words.
During and before the show, Stuart and I talked a bit about music. We agreed that Nick Lowe is still putting out good music, and that a Rockpile reunion would not be a good idea. We agreed that Kaye's opening opening act was a bit odd, and that Rebecca Pronsky was very good. And, of course, he loved Amy's and Eric's performance.
After the show, and after buying merchandise (a T-shirt, a copy of Eric and Amy's new album, their 7-inch vinyl single, and the two CDs that Rebecca Pronsky was selling), I set out getting autographs. Eric was busy moving equipment, but Amy was friendly. She signed the album and the single. I asked about the Kickstarter reward. She's emailed in July, and I emailed right back, but never got a response. Then, last week I got another email. This had a link to the digital version of the album, which was part of my Kickstarter reward. But her email seemed to read as if she had never gotten mine. She said that sometimes Eric gets emails that he wants to craft a response to, but he ends up putting it away for later and forgets about it. I can believe that. She said to try emailing again. I will.
Eventually, Eric came up to chat with people. I got his autograph, talked a little about music. I mentioned the Kickstarter campaign, and he also said to try emailing again.
Part of me wanted to stay, but I was exhausted and had a family to get home to. So I bid a hasty farewell...
Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby did a show in the East Village Friday night.I meant to blog about it earlier, but life got in the way.Anywho...
The one advantage of following an artist who is not among today's biggest stars is that you get to be close up. The venue was the basement of Bowery Electric, a small bar on the Bowery. No assigned seats -- actually, it was mostly SRO, but I was the first one down (or second -- waiting for the doors to open, I was chatting with a guy named Stuart, and he and I went down together) so I snagged one of the few chair-like things (a cushion on wheels). The stage was small ("intimate," I suppose, is the polite word), and very close. Being upclose like that is a very different experience than seeing a bigger name in a big venue. It was very much like the house concert where I saw Janey Street play, although the setup was more elaborate.
But the point is that I was watching musicians perform, but I wasn't much fartehr away from them than I would have been if I had been having a normal conversation with them. At my day job, I've had plenty of meetings in which I've talked to people over a farther distance. You can see the emotion on the singer's face, see the strings vibrate on the bass guitar.
The show was billed as Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby, with Rebecca Pronsky as an opening act. As it turns out, there was a third act -- sort of an opening opening act. I didn't catch her name. Kaye something?
Kaye's performance was a bit odd. Just her and a ukulele (which she sometimes played with a bow, like a viola). She did, however, have a digital loop effect so she could make it sound like there were several people playing ukuleles (or viola-ukes). I couldn't help wondering if this was her first time performing onstage in front of an audience. A couple of times she would have to restart a song because of some mistake she'd made. Also, she was reading either the lyrics or the chord progressions from a sheet of paper that she kept on a chair beside her. Her choice of of material was also a bit odd. I think it was all cover tunes, though I only recognized one of them -- Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls."
And that, I guess, gets at the heart of the song. There's a certain incongruity in hearing a Queen Song performed on a ukulele. And, of coouyrse, that wasn't the only song she did was writtne from the point of view of someone appreciating the female form. Her first song, the title of which I didn't catch, was also from that poerspective, and explicitly identified the singer as male. So I, as a heterosexual male, couldn't help but wonder if Kaye is gay, or if she just likes those particular songs?
Kaye was followed by Rebecca Pronsky, who was much better. Pronsky, whom I hadn't heard of, is part of Brooklyn's music scene. She was accompanied by her guitarist (and, I suspect, significant other), Rich Bennet. She seemed, in some ways, to be a country singer, though the arrangements were more Duane Eddy-ish. I suppose a big part of that is due to the Bennet's haunting guitar twang. It was a short set, that I wished would go on longer. It was enough to convince me to buy copies of both CDs that she was selling.
When Eric and Amy started their set, there was an immediate shift in energy. Rebecca's set had been subddued and measured. Then Eric and Amy start in, quite loudly with electric guitar and electric bass. Suddenly the prior set seemed constricted. They concentrated on material from the three albums they did together (the third is just out), which is understandable, though a bit dissapointing. My knowledge of Eric's music is encyclopedic when it comes to his Stiff Records years, and reasonable for the years after. But I'm not as up on all the material he and Amy did together. And they didn't do "Men in Sandals" or "Astrovan," which are possibly their best know material from recent years. I think the highpoint was "I Get Out of Breath," (from Two-Way Family Favourites), which I recognize as a Turtles song, though I don't think they were the original performers of it either. I also really enjoyed "Zero to Minus One" from the new album, and a song which they described as being about how they met, but which I don't recognize from any of their albums. I'll have to look into that. I would have loved to hear them do "The Downside of Being a Fuck Up" from their eponymous album.
They pretty much eschewed their pre-coupling material for the show, though for an encore they did one song from each of their prior careers. For him it was "(I'd Go the) Whole Wide World," and from hers it was "Dancing with Joey Ramone." Then, they closed with "I Still Miss Someone."
I left elated. As I've noted in prior posts, I've been a big fan of Eric's for 30 years or so. Watching him now isn't the same as it would have been back in the eighties, during the peak of his career. He's pushing sixty, and doesn't have the same energy. The music isn't the same anymore. But damn if it isn't fun to watch him.
The following video of "Dancing with Joey Ramone" isn't from the concert in question. But it should give you an idea...
I have a lot to say about chatting with them, and with Stuart (whom I mentioned above). But I'd like to leave this post as a simple discussion of the concert.
When I posted my brief comment about the concert, I was intending to follow up very shortly with a fuller post. I'm finally getting around to it.
There were four bands on the bill - Cracker, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Blus Traveler and Barenaked Ladies
Cracker were on first. Surprisingly, they went on on time, so I didn't see most of their act from my seat. My sister and I were just getting in the Theatre (Jones Beach -- it's an open-air venue) when they started, and we spent time buying food. But I could see them on the monitors. I would have thought I'd like it better, since I have a few Cracker albums. I've never really been into them as a band, but I did like "What the World Needs Now" when I heard it on the radio once about 15 or so years ago. They're OK. A few good songs. But the performance that I saw seemed uninspired.
Big Head Todd were a little better, but for the most part I didn't really get into them. A lot opf loud directionless guitar-leads. There was one really good song -- "Sexy and I Know It." I assume that's the title. Slide guitar, George Thorogood-style vocals. If the whole concert would have been like this, I would have been a happy man. John Popper joined them onstage for a few songs. Boy, has he lost weight.
Blues Traveler was on next. The good thing was that at this point it was clear that each band was better than the previous. The thing with Blues Traveler is that I really want to like them -- they have lots of elements that should make for a band I'd like. But I just can't get into them. They played "Run Around," which was cool. But other than that, meh. The most interesting part of the performance was that at first my sister and I were trying to figure out if it was Blues Traveler or Barenaked Ladies. The presence of John Popper should have given it away, but for some reason I was under the impression that Blues Traveler wasn't on the bill. Finally, after they mentioned their new album, Suzie Cracks the Whip, and we could look it up online we concluded that it was Blues Traveler.
Barenaked Ladies was much better than I expected. Since it's a band I've never really been into, and I'm not really familiar with their repertoire, I didn't expect to enjoy them. But they were good. Humor helped. I actually did recognize a few songs -- "If I Had a Million Dollars," the theme from Big Bang Theory. The set was on the short side, but I have to weigh that against the fact they were the fourth band to perform. The played all the songs my sister wanted to hear, which was good. The liveliest part of the performance was the encore, where the drummer came out from behind his kit and sang lead -- while jerking around the stage like a spastic chicken. I liked that.
My sister is visiting from out of state -- she arrives today.
Next week she's taking me to a Barenaked Ladies concert at Jones Beach.
When she first mentioned it, I was thinking that BnL was one f those swing revival bands that were big in the '90s -- like Cherrypoppin' Daddies, Squirrel Nut Zippers and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. But looking them up on Wikipedia, I see that they're more alt than swing. And I recognize the song "If I had $1000000," which was adapted by the New York Lottery for their ads. Sounds, from the Wikipedia article, like the concert should be fun. Unfortunately, they are all fully-clothed males. Can I sue for false advertising?
A sample:
Oh, since they also did the theme from Big Bang Theory (which I assume is how my sister is familiar with them -- she lovesBBT), this post sort of fits in with the series on TV theme songs.
I was at work and, for no reason I asked a coworker (let's call him "Peter") what he thought was the best TV show theme song ever. He thought for a second and came up with Hawaii Five-O. A good choice. I picked -- though I caveated it that within a day, or even an hour, I might pick something else -- The Munsters.
Curious to see what others might say, Peter looked it up on Google, and found this list, purportedly of the top 50 theme songs of all time. I don't agree with all of the picks. But what I'm going to do is go through them and provide my own comments. To make it more manageable (OK, you got me, I'm just trying to draw it out), I will comment on 10 themes per post. Then, after I finish off in five posts, I'll comment on a few themes that I think should have been on the list but weren't.
So, here we are, with their picks 50 through 41:
50: Beverly Hills 90210
They tried to rock on this theme, which I suppose was appropriate. But they ended up with some overproduced boring 90s rock. The fact that it's an instrumental works against it as well -- at leat in my ears (my comment regarding The Munsters nothwithstanding). I wouldn't have included this.
49: Rawhide
A great choice. Great old country music. And the Blues Brothers' version in their movie was a great cover version.
48: The Odd Couple
You know what is even more likely to annoy me than instrumental themes? Spoken narration themes. This starts with narration, then gives way to instrumental. It's designed to have me hate it. But I have to admit it's catchy. Maybe.
47: Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Lousy show. Great theme. I love that line "Yo, Homes, smell you later." This is a great example of the exposition theme song -- the kind that explains the backstory, so that someone coming off a desert island who has never heard of the show can turn it on and know the premise. Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch are other examples of shows with exposition themes. Fresh Prince came with one that was so long and detailed that they had to cut it down after the first few episodes.
46: The A-Team
Like The Odd Couple, this starts with spoken narration and ends with instrumental theme music. Unlike The Odd Couple, the theme music isn't catchy. I suppose it's fitting for the tone of the show. But I just don't like it.
45: Dallas
The first thing I should note is that I never watched Dallas. That tends to cut against it, since sometimes repeated exposure to a theme song can make one like it more than it deserves. That kind of works along with some theories I have about musical taste that I should talk about in a future post. At any rate, unfamiliar with the Dallas theme, I had to look it up on Youtibe specifically for this post. It's actually not bad. Kind of catchy for an instrumental theme.
44: Barney Miller
I love that bass run. Wonderful. The rest of the song is a bit of letdown. Not bad, though. I can see including this.
43: Twin Peaks
Another show that I never watched, and whose theme I had to look up on Youtube. Is the video below the actual theme? It sucks. I mean, bioring as all getout. What were they thinking?
42: Bonanza
A great bouncy theme that suffers only for being an instrumental. And I should note that there were lyrics that were, for some reason left off when they ran this with the show.
41: All in the Family
This is a much better theme song that the actual performance of it for the show. Of course, the O'Connor-Stapleton rendition fit the show much better than a more polished renderring would have. And it became better in later seasons when the diction was better and you could make out that line "Gee our old LaSalle ran great!" There are a bunch of other verses to this song that didn't make it to the show.
And here, as a bonus, is a clip of Carol O'Connor singing the closing theme:
I wrote about Wreckless Eric's Kisckstarter campaign here.
The campaign is closed, and Eric and Amy have gotten $12,000 in pledges -- 50% more than they were shooting for. I've been charged my $500, and I now am looking forward to recording with them. I have gotten two emails. The first was a very generic one that was sent to all 292 people who pledged. It simply said that the rewards were being prepared and would be sent out when ready. The second one is more specific to my situation:
hi [Moish]
Thanks for backing us (or whatever the correct terminology is here). We need to work out a time when you can come to the studio and do a track with us.
So what we probably need is a list of likely dates from you plus any sort of demo you might have - though you don't have to have a demo, or even a finished song, just some sort of idea of what you'd like to do. Anything - six lines on the back of an envelope, a snatch of a tune whistled onto a cassette... Or nothing and we'll improvise on the day!
I'm probably not making much sense - we've never done this before - Kickstarter I mean. We've done plenty of recording sessions!
Anyway, let meknow - best thing would be to contact me by email directly - [ wreckless eric's email address ] Eric
I have to write back. I'm not sure what song I would want to record with them. Seems clear they're open to being flexible. I have three complete songs, any one of which I'd be thrilled to record with them. I guess I'd most love to record "Jackpot" with them, since that's my favorite. But since that's the one with the most-polished demo, it seems that I get the least additional value if one of my purposes is to improve the quality of what I have to send as demos to artists, agents, record companies, etc. On that score, though, I think all three demos are usable. So maybe rerecording one of them is of limited value in those terms.
I've been hoping to finish writing another song -- I have a couple in process -- a chorus and general concept for "Bleed Me a River," as well as a concept and opening verse for something that I am (for now) calling "Missing One." I also have a title and little more for "(Fresh Out of) Give a Damns." But between work and family, I just don't have the time to sit down with the guitar and complete anything.
I am, though, open to working with them to complete one of my fragments, or to write something totally new. As one of Wreckless Eric's fans for more than thirty years, I'd love the chance to write with him. But that then creates new complications. Would they be OK with my registering the copyright in all of our names? Would they be OK with my trying to shop the song around? In the event that I get it recorded, who owns what percentage? 50% for me and 50% for them together? 33 and a third % for each of us? Something else? Of course the thought of being able to register a copyright in my name and Eric's and Amy's is something quite fantastic for me (note that I am using the word "fantastic" to mean something out of fantasy, rather than simply "great"). And perhaps if I have a song that I cowrote with them there is a greater chance that they would record it on one of their albums, thereby giving me a credit (and a few dollars).
I will probably write back, explaining that I am having a hard time choosing between songs. I have three demos (of varying quality) that I'd like to send. I'd like to go with whichever they find most suitable. Of course, I will note, I also have some partially written material that I'd be happy to work with if any of those strike them. I can also mention the logistical (copyright,ownership, etc.). I think I'll note that my preference is to complete a song with them.
There is another issue to check on: I assumed, though they never specifically said, that I can have Eric take the vocals on our recording. I want to make sure that that's OK -- partly because I love the idea of having a recording of him singing one of my songs, and partly because I am a lousy singer.
I am also hoping that they know how to go about registering specific songs (or recordings?) with ASCAP so that if by chance something of mine gets recorded and played on air (or, for example, my friend HP Mendoza uses one of my songs in one of his movies), I can get the few dollars of royalties. Given that I won't get much money, it's almost a point of pride just to get a royalty check from ASCAP.
Finally, there's something I want to ask Eric. On the Live Stiffs album (from the Stiff Records package tour from the late '70s, featuring performances by Nick Lowe, Eric, Larry Wallis, Elvis Costello and Ian Dury), before he starts "Reconnez Cherie," he anounces that his guitar doesn't work. After some confusion he plugs it in and says, "Ahh. I forgot to plug me in." I want to know if that was truly him being himself and legitimately not realizing that he wasn't plugged in, or if it was an act that he did at every show.
