Diva meltdown

Oh damn I was right all along, Whitney Houston is shit. Seems like her only redeeming feature, her voice let her down in Australia big time. The audiences started walking out (I hope with a refund) because the old battle axe was shite . It is reported from some reliable sources, including You Tube footage showing her taking time outs to gather her composure  before attempting to hit the notes. What the f….Oi, did you hear me last time, GO AWAY, leave us alone , you’re a has been . We are deserving of a Whitney free zone. You did very nicely indeed and now it’s our turn, give us all a break, you have become a laughing stock. How the hell, and who the hell do you think you are  that as a performer you can stop mid song and take a gulp of water or whatever it was and then return to the song that you already ended? When it stops love, it’s over.

What in the world compels her to keep trying to sustain a career that went years ago? Surely it’s not the money and why would you want your precious little reputation tarnished?  It all sucks, especially when you read what her publicist says to defend her. ‘The audience loved her, there were 8.000 in Brisbane and 12,000 in Sydney. There were more at Pearl Harbor and that didn’t make it  a good night. Yes Whitters they turned up but they started to leave.  Any clues there Mr Publicist? It means you’re either not having a good time or possibly they all left to catch the last bus home?

As long as she trawls her scrawny ass out I’m watching her. And everything I hear from everywhere, except Clive boy says you suck. What I don’t understand is that someone with Clive Davis’ ego should want to see this woman continue. Even though I can’t stand him nowadays there was a period when Clive Davis was a mover and a shaker in the music business and now he puts his reputation to the test so that me and many others look at him and think, he’s lost the plot.

The underlying truth here is that this is a business where some people just can’t let go. Where others are successful and slowly slip away for whatever reason, others just can’t do that. Whitney Houston just cannot accept that like most things in the entertainment industry there is a shelf like and you’ve had it. You’ve become very shelfish.

Filed under: mistakes, View from the room, Clive Davis, Divas, Whitney Houston

False Idols

No matter what anyone says  I’m sure American Idol has had it’s day, they won’t be producing a Carrie Underwood or a Kelly Clarkson for that matter and when you look at all the winners few are ‘stars.’ To be idolized there should be some immortality and where is that in any of them? They’re pop stars, ships in the night. Tonight pop, tomorrow not. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s exactly what Simon wants for his own immortality, if they come and go then so what, he’s always the star because his name is attached to each new ‘idol.’ If they become successful it’s because of him and if they don’t then ‘America voted.’  They chose a donkey, not him. Once again Simon Cowell is in a no lose situation, pure genius.

He has never believed in careers and yet he claims that hearing Elvis was the first time he heard rock and roll?  So if he heard it then it must have made an impact, surely?  And does it not impress him that Elvis, the first artist he really heard as a kid is still an icon today, a true idol? Also ‘She loves you’ by The Beatles was the firsr record he asked his mother to buy for him, that must have had an affect to, right? You sent your mum out damn it! And the same scenario, longevity and careers. It didn’t though and maybe not even wanting to go with his mother to the store to buy the record and sense the excitement said it all, even way back then. He never cared about the music, just the functionality of it. The like, the must want and the must have.

He also says Bob Dylan wouldn’t have been chosen for American Idol, we’d have left him crying in a car park in Idaho and Simon Cowell wouldn’t have cared. But what about the rest of us? Who cares, no Mr Tamborine Man, no All Along the Watchtower and no career if that had been the make of of And R people back then. But fortunately we had people like John Hammond who cared enough to bring through the real artists, they cared about talent and not about themselves. They knew the pedigree of an artist and had the faith to allow them to develop. They helped one another, there were no puppets signed and told to do as they (the A and R people) said and if they didn’t they wouldn’t work with them. It was a collaboration, it was a democracy and a republic. There were no dictators.

So he doesn’t believe in careers, he was influenced by people who had them and still have them and somehow would have passed on Dylan? No comprehendo, Dylan was Dylan because of Dylan and going back to what I said in the previous blog about Elton John, great artists know better than anyone what they have and understand how to cultivate that. Sure they need help but they don’t need anyone doing everything, they’re not that insecure to feel it’s necessary. They are happy to develop and grow at arate that is comfortable for everyone. When you do that people notice, the artist notices and the record company notices. And grow they do, and sustain they do. Careers are born and the spoils follow, and yet we went and destroyed all that so that a few people could own an industry.

If Bob Dylan had been allowed to come through today then Simon wouldn’t have been noticed as much. Weird because Dylan and Elvis left a legacy and Taylor Hicks didn’t………….or Fantasia or Reuben etc etc. The legacy  that remains from all of this is that of Simon Cowell and the power he yields controls his destiny whether with Idol or X Factor. Power destroys everything and everyone in it’s way and for Simon it will have to be his way to work. Music changed our lives and for the better, certainly from where I’m standing and now its changed again. But this time not through a musical revolution be it  rock and roll or punk. I’m not alone in thinking it’s not in all our best interests.

An idol is Elvis, Lennon or James Dean and we’re a long way off that. Idols’ retain their thrones , they don’t come and go. Idols aren’t popular for a while they live forever. Idol means something you worship,  are we now ‘worshiping’ talent show winners?Whatever you think of any of them an idol is ‘an image of a deity other than God. ‘ A God or  goddess, why in the hell are we creating false Gods from American Idol? Daughtry is a rocker, he’s not a God and neither is Fantasia a Goddess. And as for Taylor Hicks, curiously not quite a God.

Filed under: Uncategorized, american idol, elvis, Simon Cowell

Another Brit in the wall

The Brits. that much lauded, much laughed at awards ceremony celebrating what’s best in British music. But has it really ever done that? Those who think they know put together a list of nominees, spread them around the labels they work for and then troll along to the event knowing that their expenses will get signed off,  because they sign them. When they start off there is speculation, will they get it right and then as each year goes by your expectations become less and less. Until you expect nothing and you’re satisfied. . Next year I vow to not even comment, though I might have said that last year. I only watched for curiosities sake and Lady Ga Ga who by a mark of respect for Alexander McQueen was very low key on the night.

I’m just glad they haven’t come up with a ‘Lifetime Whinger’ award for Whitney Houston or ‘The Lifetime Ego’ award for Clive Davis. In fact it would need to be  ‘The Clive Davis Award’ so Clive can come up on stage to present it to himself every year, and then when he pops it Whitney can come up and accept it posthumously on his behalf and tell us how he will always be missed. ‘I will always love me.’ Clive’s cover version of Whitney’s cover of Dolly’s song. (Parton the pun.)

The funny thing is I didn’t see the whole of The Brits but I saw enough on You Tube and read various reports all saying the same thing as it’s said every year. It is what it is, but does is what it is make it what it should be? The problem is we don’t have anything to celebrate now, no one’s buying records so the only way they can get anyone to watch a show is to put the only artists on who sell anything. So then we are left with a show to showcase the artists who’s records we have already bought.

You’d be tempted to call the proceedings ‘safe’ if it wasn’t for the predictable controversy of ‘anarchy.’ We’d had the water thrown over John Prescott outrage. We’ve had the Michael Jackson carry on from Jarvis Cocker. We’ve had the Sam Fox, Mick Fleetwood great presenters of our time show. We’ve had the lot but they always manage to find something that will make it to the papers. But didn’t you expect it the moment Liam Gallagher stepped up on the stage, that sweet aroma of predictability where he wants to grow old disgracefully and The Brits is the place to do it. I saw him swagger up and I was going ‘Go on Liam do something outrageous, be respectful and say what a fantastic ride Oasis had been.’ Thank others for allowing you your own bit of the limelight but no he did the most obvious thing possible. He was Liam twenty years on.

He wasn’t there to celebrate anything, he just thought he needed a bit of attention and he knew the media would lap it up. But now when you’ve been and gone wouldn’t it have been more outrageous then to do something not outrageous? People would have given him a rousing reception but he’d rather take the swipes, it’s mens work. How utterly ludicrous to thank his band apart from the one person who allowed their very existence. Why would we have ever wanted another swaggering monkey when we still had the King Monkey himself, Ian Brown?  And let’s face it Ian Brown has always been and still is cooler than Liam Gallagher. Sorry Liam you worked well in the band as a front man but all the tired tactics? It’s no longer relevant.

Maybe you should have kissed Robbie Williams live at The Brits. Damn, I’ve given them an idea for next year. it if not for whom it wouldn’t have been much of a band.

Filed under: mistakes, Opportunity, record companies, View from the room, Ian Brown, Lady Ga Ga, Liam Gallagher, The Brits, You Tube channel

X Idol to X Factor

In reality TV Cowell is a one off, American Idol need to do something very off the wall to replace him and I think Ellen’s DeGeneres’ addition to the judges panel was done with the knowledge that  this series would be Simon’s swansong. Surely she too would have known that?  I think they did right by actually trying to replace him with two characters (although Paula was a definitely character alright.) Effectively they’ll be trying to do that, Ellen and then someone else who has what Ellen hasn’t. Either way it won’t have anything to do with music or the ability to decide what is or is not good musically. It’ll be about who the entertainer is, it’s the same as Britain’s got or America’s got Talent. And it all sets up X Factor nicely, thank you. It’s a no lose situation once again for Goldfinger and good luck to him, he has an entertainment industry now at his beck and call. The ratings say that he is right, an audience want entertaining and if you dumb them down enough they’re easily entertained. No longer do they want entertaining by a voice or an artist that drools talent but one who has, dare I say it the X Factor. We’ll just keep calling it American Idol though so the advertisers don’t get confused, perish the thought they were having to think of where to spend their advertising budgets just yet.

Did it ever occur to anyone that nothing lasts forever?  Even if you don’t like Simon Cowell, and although personally I do then give  him one thing,  give him the credit on timing. His American Idol exit is precision timing. Look how well it worked for Little Britain and better still Basil Fawlty, knowing when to quit and sticking by your decision no matter how much money you’re offered. Seinfeld was another, wild horses wouldn’t drag him back and the residuals  for the rest of his life and beyond were more than ample. Who needs the cash apart from NBC of course. People like to have something to remember and sustaining respect and the loyalty from your fans is all about knowing when to back away and them remembering you as part of something that revolutionized television, something that was what it was because of you. They remember you for that and if it starts to decline they don’t remember you at all. The ship sinks, you drown in it. But Simon will be gone by then so if the good ship Idol were to sink he will be known as the reason it sunk. And the reason it sailed was because of him. Touche, his adoring crowd will always remember him fondly.

Great TV stars, film stars, maybe even porn stars are the ones who understand shelf life, formerly known as artist integrity. Otherwise known as sharp cookies. More in tune with longevity and not grabbing what they can while they can, like all good artists they have confidence in their own ability. They like to reinvent themselves and take on new challenges, they don’t want everything on a plate and then wonder when the plate is taken from underneath them. No more gruel Scrooge, get back to the kitchen and cook it up all over again.

We’re a live for the moment generation, too afraid that our star will cease to shine and someone else will be grabbing at our coat tails. Where are the managers hell bent on sustaining that pedigree of artist who is there on merit. And when did merit and ability and the desire to succeed ever go away? The greedy came along and robbed us and once they got in they kept coming back to rob us more and more. Talent is there to be discovered, nurtured and then made available to the masses to see just what it was that got us attracted to them in the first place. It’s never about throwing a herd of wannabes in a multitude of car parks spread across a continent so that a wizard of pop can dictate who does what with you, when and for how long. Then it’s out of the car park and back on the bus to oblivion because foolishly, for one minute you thought you had what it took. The bare faced cheek to turn up.

Filed under: Managing Creativity, View from the room, Ellen DeGeneres, NBC, Simon Cowell, talent, tv stars, X Factor

One hit makes you wonder

Take a handful of artists away from the mix (not literally of course) and you’ll find there just isn’t the investment being put in to the record. If you’re signed to a record company they aren’t spending what they used to, they can’t afford to. They probably won’t be able to afford a top rate producer but just allocate a recording budget that will do little more than suffice. Independent promotion, nah we’ll save money and do it in house. They stick it out at minimum costs to see if there’s a bite and take it from there. It stinks of no confidence, who ever knew for certain any one record would be guaranteed to sell? Anything could bomb but a spend shows a commitment and a belief that you want to make it happen, or at least it did. If you let everyone know you had a great record then you still need a public eager to purchase.

Record companies were used to breaking an act and then selling records, and records meant albums. Today if you have a hit it’s because people have bought a song. It’s possible you may never sell another, and you can’t create stars least of all big selling acts when you’re peddling songs. The public is conditioned in to downloading something they might hear off the radio and even then as current statistics are showing most of them are ‘acquiring it.’ And what that means is no one is getting paid, people have something where no revenue has been created. You don’t need a Think Tank here to work out that if you can’t get paid for something why or how can you continue. Worse still where lies the future when writing songs want earn you a living wage, never mind make you a star.

We just don’t haver a generation growing up that are likely to change that. People like me can’t understand that and the people growing up don’t understand why I can’t understand it because it doesn’t matter to them. So we’ve arrived at a stalemate because you can’t educate people who don’t want to be educated, they’ll do it their way.

What made the music business exciting was it was driven by cycles, something was in and then next year something else was in.  You can leave a door open but you still need people to want to come in. They need to be curious and they’re not.

Filed under: record companies, View from the room, creating stars, downloading, one hit

Judge and jury. All out.

Another topic I hadn’t really considered blogging about but then I thought, why not? Why not what, comment on Ellen DeGeneres’ debut on American idol that’s what. And then I thought who really cares, it’s not as though anyone’s going to drop her from the show and besides every paper and TMZ  type show is covering it anyway. It’s entertainment news and the nation is a sucker for it, they can’t ever get enough. But I’m a whore so here it is.

I started to think deeper though, dangerous in itself and about the future of American Idol in general which will not stand or fall by Ellen DeGenerative, successful or otherwise. Soon the Ellen novelty will have worn off and we’ll be back to all the speculation around who will replace Simon Cowell because you have to remember that Ellen is only Paula’s replacement. Fortunately Ellen has a very lucrative career independent of Idol and won’t ever be known as ‘Paula’s replacement.’ Perish the thought,  sounds like the person thrust in to the Big Brother house when a previous contestant was exposed as being an albino dwarf who ran an illicit opium den for transvestite oil sheiks.

Interestingly enough there’s been talk of Howard Stern, and while I love Howard I don’t think so. American Idol?  He’d rather judge a porn pagent, it’s more interesting for him and anyway the after show parties would be a lot more fun. He would probably be totally scathing on Idol when he saw what they had parading in front of him and how much talent there was. That would terrify possible future contestants though also, living in fear of the wrath of Howard Stern. Oh my God, he’d tear then apart limb to limb. Howard Stern’s career is built entirely on doing what the fuck he wants and he would cater to no one. Where Simon is now motivated by sustaining his vast wealth and even adding to it, Stern is still a maverick and further and further away from the establishment. Fox doing a deal with Howard Stern, I don’t think so or if he did he’d want everything Rupert Murdoch owned. You’ll never have any Grannies thinking Howard’s sweet  or funny or cute and that alone eliminates any thoughts of mass appeal. American Idol is not about taking risks, there is too much at stake now. It’s all about the ratings because the ratings give them infinite power, the power to make even more money and that is all it’s about. Don’t tell me they’re building careers because they’re not with the exception of maybe two or three out of hundreds of thousands.I think that’s called the law of averages and a mean one in the worse sense of the word! And let us not forget there is no hiding the fact that their king is abdicating.

Elton John has been mentioned too, I think he’d be good but again it’s probably everything he despises and he certainly doesn’t need it. Elton broke because he had more than every ‘idol’ put together and then some. He didn’t need a Simon manufactured makeover that’s for sure, he mastered his own class and he has survived because he’s as far away from being manipulated by this industry as anyone. Elton knows what makes Elton become known, and remembered. He considered himself a writer but not a lyricist and got a very good one in Bernie Taupin. It’s a collaboration that has lasted to this day. Will that be Simon Cowell and Westlife in forty years?  Mmm somehow I think not. That’s the thing we don’t have nowadays, artists having the creative flair for knowing who to work with rather than being told who you ARE working with. Artists even knowing who they are and ultimately what they want. American Idol contestants are there because they want someone to do it all for them and then when they don’t get selected their world subsides.

Do the lottery it’s a safer bet.

Filed under: View from the room, american idol, Ellen DeGeneres, Elton John, Howard Stern, Simon Coweel

Ready, set, go

Once the  jury was out and back with the verdict then time to put the wheels in motion. Was it good enough? If all were agreed about the finished product the planning would begin. They’d have ideas about a single , they would decide on the order of the tracks and start to engage in constructive planning. Everyone would have some input even before they planned the planning!  It was driven by enthusiasm and an air of excitement. There was anticipation. How long since people sensed that? As Tom Petty said ‘the waiting is the hardest part.’ We’d have to wait, however long it took but it never mattered. If you are prepared to wait then it means it’s worth waiting for, right?. Your sheer love for music allowed you to do that.

And then there was the eagerness to get it out and get it heard. We, the pluggers would have our say and would maybe play some key people at radio a couple of songs , get their input. Everyone would run around like kids comparing new toys at Christmas. You’d create a buzz without even trying, a real buzz. Regularly we’d talk about other people’s records, I always thought it was the best form of promotion if you had someone else talking about the records you were promoting. If you gave a record plugger from another company a record you were promoting you knew the next time you saw them they’d have heard it and they’d then tell you what they thought. We all shared the same common interest, we loved music.

And the fans did too, they loved talking about it as well as listening to it and if you heard something you liked then you would want to share that with others and pass it on. It was viral marketing in it’s infancy and before the web. Chances are that if your friends liked it they would be out at the first available opportunity buying it for themselves. A tape? Bollocks to that we all wanted our own copy!

Maybe the artist wanted it so much more then, they saw creating great new music as the ultimate challenge because they knew there was an audience out there begging for it. The music industry has always been a place where you wash your dirty laundry in public. If you release an inferior product somewhere else, in fashion, a new range of kitchen appliances, new trainers etc all that happens is it  doesn’t sell. People don’t go around critiquing it and talking about it but when your next album isn’t as good as your last everyone knows. There’s an outcry. If you’re disappointed then again it only shows you care enough.

So where are we now? If the public aren’t buying and the record companies aren’t signing then have the artists given up trying? Is everyone to blame for what has happened to the music industry? Has it gone the way of shipbuilding and cotton, was it a once a great place to be and now merely a shadow of it’s former self? Have the good old days gone and do we need to accept that however it evolves in whatever way it just won’t ever recapture the excitement and give us that adrenalin rush we all got from being a spectator or an insider?

Is all we have left, memories?

Filed under: PR, record companies, View from the room, re, record companies, record pluggers

Grammylicious

I just realized I didn’t blog about The Grammys which I suppose says a lot really. Sure I watched it and the thing that suprised me the most was Coldplay weren’t on it because usually they are. And next year U2 will have an album out and will open the show again and if Coldplay have an album they’ll be on too. It’s all become much of  a muchness. That’s the problem really, it all gets a little predictable, people speculate about the red carpet and it is what it is, a place that gathers just as much attention because every news crew is up there in their fancy dresses trying to out do the other crew. It’s the place to be seen and then no sooner than it’s over than we have programs about best dressed, worsed dressed and again no suprise, it’ll be just the same next year. Maybe I’m just getting old but there seem to be so many awards shows nowadays that The Grammy’s is, you guessed it another awards show. And then of course we have the Clive Davis pre Grammy’s show or is it post? Or does it matter because it’ll have Clive Davis there and it’ll have Whitney Houston there and I’d rather iron a shirt or pick up dog waste than waste my time or my dog there. Pass me the hurl bucket, I don’t even have a dog. ( I have a shirt, several in fact.)

Must confess though I love Lady Ga Ga, she’s outrageous like Elton was at her age and the flamboyancy and outrage works a treat. It’s entertainment and she can do that because her performances can back it up, she’s pretty damn good. She has the talent. I was going to congratulate Taylor Swift because she’ s had a brilliant year and she deserves the credit because she too is a talented young lady but she marred her night by singing live. Shame but it just didn’t work and poor old Stevie Nicks looked a little confused when they were dueting on Rhiannon. Stevie cut it and poor old Taylor didn’t, we’ll excuse her though because she still has a great career ahead of her. Just be careful where you choose to sing live.

Pink was as expected quite spectacular and quite a performance for a trapeze act. Worked though. We seem to be surrounded by females creating a sensation nowadays and especially since the millenium they have taken center stage in the pop arena. Apart from the ones I’ve mentioned we have Beyonce,  Rhianna, Fergie, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, lest we forget Sarah Mclachlan, Dido and a whole host more. All selling records too, very interesting in today’s market. The greatest thing of all though is that each one of those female artists is entirely different from the other and still manages to be successful. Come on boys, time to catch up. And better still we don’t have a hundred girl bands all sounding the same. Thank God!

Filed under: View from the room, AwardsShows, Taylor Swift, The Grammy's, The red carpet

John Terry is a weathered man.

Another day another self obsessed ‘role model’ taken to the cleaners by the media. This time our very own England soccer team captain, John Terry. Great preparation for the World Cup Tel, no sooner than he was voted dad of the year he’s off trying to prove it. More like dog of the year. You’ve done us proud as a nation, you better hope England win the World Cup because boy are you going to wonder what hit you.  And with a baying crowd it sure as hell won’t a dominatrix who’s giving you a giving you a spanking. No summer holiday for you sunshine.

This guy is totally delusional at the thought of his own invincibility, his entire life is spent sorting deals out to bring him even more dosh and now in the style of Tiger he’s looking like his life is over. His life of course being his wallet, he doesn’t seem to care too much about his wife and family and just hopes one day he’ll get the captaincy back. Mmm, dream on, to not even think he would be sacked?  What was he thinking that he didn’t even have the suss to resign? Oh I think that’s called dignity and bowing down, something you don’t do when you’re the captain of England, or at least in his eyes. After all everyone else are lesser mortals. Arrogant or what?

And slavering over your former team mate’s missus is pretty low especially when he thought you were his mate. In fact his wife was your mate really wasn’t she? Biblically you proved that.  I bet the rest of the team hire a bus to follow him home after training now. He has to be getting a few odd stares from them now as the full extent of his philandering has been revealed.

And all he seems worried about is that the publicity will hamper his earnings. Damn right it will and he deserves all he’s got coming. Just like Tiger thought he’d be OK, he wasn’t and now who would want to attach their name to a shamed ex England captain who’d lost his job cos of his knob? This guy takes the biscuit for sheer unadulterated greed as he has abused his position as our national team captain to just line his pockets with as much money as possible. He really is despicable and pretty dumb too if you ask me to think he would get away with it. It’s a wonder he has the time to play football, maybe if they drop him he can pull his wages still and go around doing more deals. I can just see him rubbing his hands at the prospect, ‘Durgh I never thought of that’.

I think his arrogance has made the News of the World dig their teeth in even deeper, they aren’t going to let go by any stretch of the imagination. Let’s see how this affects his form because I’m sure there’s going to be a few sleepless nights when he comes to terms with the hurt he will feel, not for his wife but for his wallet. Sponsors will line up to be first out of the door.

What is it that we now create such self obssesed monsters.They get paid so much money and all they want is more, more, more. Whether it’s the boy who didn’t quite make it to Harvard, Carlos Tevez, Tiger ‘Shagnasty’ Woods or anyone else you care to mention there seems to be a pattern. They really do believe they have the right to do what they want and behave whatever way they see fit. And seeing fit nowadays is proving you are positively unfit to be the role model you pretend you are. “Role model?’ More like a roll in the sack with a model.

And then they think that the media should respect their privacy? They seem to be unable to realize that they forfeit that privacy when you display affections for some teammates wife. No one was following him on holiday with his family or hounding the kids by taking pictures, no they respected that as private but behaving badly is public domain.

Each week I think the press is going to be after another one now, though I have to admit trapping Terry is a gem of a find and will take some beating. They need to find an aging international who’s had unprotected sex with a farm animal and given birth to a flock of wayward geese.

In an age when the print media is suffering the News of the World are clever enough to realise nothing sells copy like a story like this embalzoned on their front page. It just looks a bigger scoop and much more scandalous when it’s glaring off a newstand than on your computer screen. And now they have their teeth in people will keep coming back for more. He’s become a laughing stock although he’s too cocky to probably realize it, just look at what happened to poor old David Beckham when he ineffectually stuck out a boot and tripped some Latino knobhead up in the World Cup. He was hounded from ground to ground week after week, vilified and still he rose above it all to become a better footballer and person. He handled it well because he’s a better equipped celeb than Terry. There’s the rub.

Because John Terry wears shorts and kicks a ball doesn’t make him a real celebrity, it makes him famous. But axe murderers are famous too aren’t they?  More like notorious if you want my opinion. You don’t, to hell with you you’re getting it anyway, no real celebs step up to the table and admit when they’ve done wrong, they don’t run around and try to instigate a cover up when they’ve been found out. This isn’t Watergate, skip. Sorry I mean ex skip.

I hope they impeach him and that Portuguese team conquering slapper disappears up her own publicity with all her melons.

Filed under: mistakes, View from the room, England football team, England soccer team, John Terry, World cup

What makes a great record?

This all started with the question, ‘What makes a great album.’ I can only offer my own conclusion because if I ever went in a recording studio I can guarantee one thing, that I wouldn’t come out with a great album. I can’t play or sing, maybe a great spoken word album but then again people might return it saying the needle’s stuck. Oh right, you don’t know what a needle is, oh dear.

It would be great to see an artists definition of this, ‘What does make a great album’? I’m thinking belief, talent, commitment with a dash of reality and an understanding that no matter how good you think it is you need to leave it at the mercy of others to make that final decision. If your manager, should you have one doesn’t like it and if they don’t say so what’s the point of having them as your manager? The record company then would be the first to stand up and offer their opinions and here’s where it’s changed, would of!  There were times an A and R person could be driven to tears going down to a studio to hear the end result from a band they’d signed, and feeling visibly moved. And more than likely they’d matched the producer with that artist. Had it worked? He/she was the proudest person on earth, all the hard work to get to this stage and now the anticipation of finally hearing it. More often than not they’d be down the studio intermittently during recordings to see how things were developing and eagerly awaiting the final playback. And the artist couldn’t wait to show them what they’d come up with. THAT”S what made a great album, people sensing greatness, always wanting it but never knowing if or when it might come. But it was enough to keep them striving for it. Part of being great is knowing you can be great.

I’d love to have the opportunity to ask people like Roger Waters or Dave Gilmour from The Pink Floyd, ‘What did it feel like when you were recording Dark Side of the Moon?’ Did they know they were creating history or did that come later? Was there any time in the studio they thought, ‘Oh my God!’ Maybe one day I’ll get the chance to ask them, I’d love to know. Was there that moment in the studio when they were listening back to it when they thought, ‘Fuck!’

Likely they’d all be together at the studio listening back to it, band , record company, manager and maybe even their publisher. I know how I felt as a kid just waiting for a new album by some of my heroes. I’m thinking as an artist you cared, you took pride in your work, you didn’t want to let people down. After all it’s your audience that put you there and they have a right to judge you on merit, you set your own standards. Was it as good as your last album and if it wasn’t could it be that maybe it’s just a change of direction, would it grow on you? If you’d made a great record were you really great, could you sustain that greatness or had you had your moment? Whatever it was it still kept you hungry and wanting whether you recorded it or you bought it.

As we discussed before and we’ll ponder over again no doubt, where is the drive and the ambition? Do you make a record knowing that not many people will buy it, does it affect how you go about making it? If that’s the case then give it away, just make sure you give it away to enough people to find out what they think of you. That’s if you care, because if you don’t care then don’t expect anyone else to. So many basic human ingredients are infectious, they rub off on you. If you’re passionate enough about something and are sincere people buy in to it. It’s easy and you know why? It’s because you’re not trying to convince people, it’s there and it’s natural. And you mean it. You’re exposed for what you are, just someone being themselves, behaving naturally. People feel comfortable and relaxed about you and interested.  Be real to see for yourself if you are real and let others decide for themselves if you are real. Real artists can believe they can make great records. Do we have enough?

Filed under: About The Engine Room, record companies, View from the room, A and R people, great records, The Pink Floyd