Archive for April, 2012

I was watching the news today and I wondered where people go to get music news these days.  No one really buys magazines anymore, and there really is nothing about music on TV other than award shows (garbage) and cable/satellite channels that are in the expensive plan (I get to write mine off as a research expense). The Internet is a wonderland of information, but where is the good stuff?

First, some history…

Once upon a time there were locally owned record stores.  In these stores were people who knew a thing or two about music.  They would tell you what the best new bands were going to be and which ones you should check out based on what you bought or looked at in the store. They would also know about current artists and what albums would be coming out and usually would have some industry gossip about who was going on tour with who, or what singer is getting kicked out of what band for wanting to be a movie star or whatever.  Eventually, these stores were eaten by the national chains, never to return. If you go to larger cities, you can find a few of these stores still open. You should really check them out. It sure beats clicking around on iTunes or Amazon.com.

Sometimes, those same record store clerks would moonlight as radio personalities.  They actually played the songs and told you something about the artists once in a while.  They would tell you when acts would be in the area so you could go see them live, sometimes letting you know if it was worth your time and money, which was pretty cool, I thought.  A few of these old dogs are still around and going strong.  Explore your radio dial sometime, you will find them.

Van Dyke

When MTV was launched in 1981, it provided 24 hours of music videos, concerts, and music news.  It was really great for a while, but now they really need to look at changing the name to Music-less Television or Moron TV because all that it shows anymore are ‘reality’ shows. Even that is a misguided label.  The only reality about the shows on MTV is that most of the people on them would need to go to night school to evolve a thumb, as comedienne Judy Tenuta would say.

So with those avenues of information blocked off, where can one turn for music news in today’s world?  The internet, of course!  These are some sites that are fairly decent and others that are fairly indecent.  I’ll let you do your own exploring, but here are a few starting points.

Rollingstone.com — very much like the magazine, it contains news and features about movies, tv, and politics.  Boo!

MTV.com — it has music news, but why bother? Just go to the bottom of the page and click on the ‘suggestion box’ link and tell them to change the name, in your own words, of course.

Blabbermouth.net — this is more of a hard rock/heavy metal site created by Roadrunner Records.  It has news, but I go here to read all of the user comments.  They are downright hateful and let me tell you, it is hilarious.  You can usually tell by the headlines where the entertaining responses will be.  One of my favorite sites for this reason only.

Band and artist ‘official’ sites — These are a little hit and miss.  Some have a band-appointed ‘webmasters’ and some are run by the record company or a publicity firm.  You can usually tell pretty fast which are which.  A lot of artists use Facebook and Twitter in the same way. Sometimes the artist actually does the typing, but a lot of times they do not.

Wikipedia.org — this site is constantly updated and has a lot of information about band and artist history.  Sometimes ‘haters’ will go in and place ‘facts’ about bands that are amusing. They are usually found on polarizing groups like Nickelback that people either love or hate.  It is always a good day when I stumble on these.

I am hoping to do a few posts on some local artists from the past, present, and future. Any suggestions?

Don Van Dyke

Recently, I listened to a comedy album by Sebastian Maniscalco called “What’s Wrong with People?”  It deals with some of the stupid things he sees people do that are just not tolerable.  He is very funny and one of the top five comedians out there today, in my opinion.  It reminded me of some of the dumb things that have happened in the music industry over the years and things that just do not make sense to me.   Here are a couple of examples:

Bands playing ‘unplugged’ or with an orchestra — The unplugged craze has just been done to death.  The thing that I do not understand about this is that most bands just play the song on acoustic guitars and drums exactly the same as the original version.  What is interesting about that?  I am glad this craze has not made it to the restaurant business.  Would they give you the same dish, just not cooked?  Now, there are some that actually re-arrange the song for acoustic instruments and give you a reason to listen.  Then there are the orchestral performances where a band like Metallica plays with an orchestra at full volume.  I have only heard one of these I liked and it was by Cheap Trick, if you can believe that!  They are great band, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I saw they did this.  Then I heard it.  It was really good.  That is the only one I have liked so far, though.

Cover songs — I have heard several cover versions of songs that I view as classics.  I am not talking about local or up and coming artists doing these songs, I am talking about major label recording artists.  Much like the unplugged stuff, most seem to play the song exactly like the original, which to me is pointless.  If you go to a fancy restaurant, would you be OK with them serving you their version of a fast-food hamburger?  It tastes almost like the original, but you gotta pay $12 for it and feel awful the rest of the day.

In general, most music today is just not that good.  Why is that?  Is it because I am too old to understand the new stuff?  That may be part of it, since I doubt that I am the ‘target audience’ record companies are marketing to.  While I freely admit that I am not a fan of most new music, I can tell when something is good or bad.  And most music coming out today is bad.  It is like paint by numbers but with music.  Everything is broken down and perfected piece by piece.  Vocals and instruments are able to be tuned and timed to perfection and I feel that this takes most of the humanity and personality out of it.

Technology has removed most of the limits on artists as far as what can be done in a recording studio and by doing so has made them more limited creatively than ever before.  Think of it this way.  If you are hungry right now and have a thousand dollars in your pocket, you do not have to be terribly creative to get yourself something to eat. However, if you are broke and in the middle of nowhere, you will need to use your brain and creativity to figure out a way to feed yourself.  I know that is not quite the same, but you get the idea.

A true musical artist has a vision in his/her head that they are trying to translate to a song or piece of music.  For a lot of them, the part they like the most is the journey between their brain and the finished product.  When this is effortless, it takes some of the fun out of it for them and a bored artist makes for dull, brainless music.  Just like most things in life, the art of music is about the process, not the result.  This seems to be a recurring theme in these blogs.  Life is about the journey, not the destination.  It is like a record.  Let it play through, do not skip too many tracks or you will scratch it up…

Don Van Dyke

The Hall of Fame Hall of Fame has completed its annual induction balloting. Again this year, no hall has met the requirements or gotten the one vote necessary for induction. Eligibility is rather simple as there are only two stipulations. The first is simply to be a hall of fame. The second is to really be a hall of fame.
All halls of fame are flawed, but two of them are the most discussed: The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I could go on and on about Pete Rose or how Sosa and McGwire literally saved baseball, but this is a music blog.

Van Dyke

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a joke. I have yet to hear anyone disagree with me on that point. It is as much about who is in as it is about who is not. Metallica is in there. No one was a bigger fan of
Metallica during their heyday than I was. I just have a hard time understanding how they would be put in before Motorhead or Iron Maiden. Even Judas Priest is not in and they have been around forever. They
recently did an album about Nostradamus and it was not because he fascinated them. It was because they used to open for the guy.
Madonna? Don’t get me wrong, she was a pop culture icon back in the ’80s and had an influence on a lot of artists. She just seems to be the only artist from that decade inducted. Where is Duran Duran? They were
everywhere back then. They even left Hall and Oates out and Huey Lewis. It seemed like they had four songs out at a time when I was growing up. Van Halen is in, but no Motley Crue? I am pretty sure the Crue had
something to do with the millions of bands that popped up out of the LA scene.

They have left almost entire genres of rock out. Glam rock is not entirely David Bowie. What about Sweet, Slade, Mott the Hoople, T. Rex, or the New York Dolls?

I will list some significant snubs at the end. Right now what I think are the major omissions:

1) Kiss — Say what you will, but they had a huge impact on the music industry and should be in there. Thanks to Gene Simmons, I am beginning to think they are being left out because the museum would need to be expanded to house all their merchandising.

2) Rush — Every musician I have ever discussed music with has mentioned this band. Every artist I have followed in rock music in the ’80s up to today lists them as an influence.

3) Stevie Ray Vaughan — The influence of this man is heard just about everywhere a guitar is playing. He was stolen away from us much too soon. I truly believe it was because Hendrix wanted to jam with him that much and called in a favor.

So better luck next year, halls. You know Pete Rose may have bet on baseball, but I am pretty sure he never started a riot that tore up a stadium. Not to say Guns ‘n’ Roses ever bet on Rock and Roll. They are in.
They deserve to be. I guess this makes you the front runner next year, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Don’t blow it. Again. I may be wrong, but that is my right.

The 27th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place April 14, 2012, in Cleveland, Ohio. Among the inductees are: Donovan, The Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Guns’n'Roses.

Those not among the inductees are: Deep Purple, Styx, Bad Company, Chicago, The Doobie Brothers, Cheap Trick, The Commodores, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Cars, The Guess Who, Electric Light Orchestra, Kansas, Jimmy Buffet, The Steve Miller Band, Ozzy Osbourne as a solo artist, and Weird Al Yankovic to name a few.

Don Van Dyke