bmusic - Newsletter No. 144

bmusic
Newsletter No.144
October 31st - November 6th 2004

Interesting to take a look at the ARIA album charts from last week. Cosima DeVito fell to Number 14 for her second week in after debuting at Number Two. And another from the inaugural Australian Idol series with his second long player, this time apparently featuring more of his own contributions, Guy Sebastian also managed only Number Two on debut, beaten out by the Greatest Hits package from Robbie Williams. Chart domination by Greatest Hits and other "Christmas compilations" was always a pretty safe bet to steal the thunder from these guys. If Australian Idol Series Two fails to hit the Number One spot with whatever they have coming out first then my prediction is they're as good as finished. Did somebody say "Popstars Live"? If Australian Idol attempt a third series that's how they may end up finding themselves. The past week's charts will be published Sunday night and will also be worth taking a closer look at. It's this chart that will reflect the post-ARIA sales, those sales that came about because people believed the hype of the industry sponsored awards and that they were missing something by not having bought an ARIA-award winning artist's album yet :) If Guy Sebastian gets knocked further down from the Number Two spot he's in trouble. There's every likelihood he will due to increased Jet sales this past week post-ARIAs, and the expected continued domination over the next couple of months of the aforementioned compilations.
If you have an interest in such chart movements it's well worth taking a look at the Album or Singles charts at www.aria.com.au every Monday morning. Take a look at the sales figures, they don't show exact amounts of course, but they show whether the album has made gold or platinum status etc. If you take a look at the album charts the day this newsletter was released you'd see Cosima DeVito at Gold sales status. Sounds very impressive, but a Gold record in Australia is 35,000 units. That's 35,000 over the first two weeks of release for Cosima, and likely the most aggressive sales period her album will see. If you've got a million bucks sunk into something it doesn't take Einstein to work out you need to sell many, many more times that amount of albums to recoup, and more so when one takes into account that Diane Warren, perhaps the most prolific and commercially successful songwriter of the modern era, penned all tunes on the album and would have done so only for a much bigger slice of the pie than your regular songwriter is entitled. Compare Cosima's sales with one week of Robbie Williams Greatest Hits, that sat at Platinum after one week in, 70,000+ units. RWs sales likely doubled Cosima DeVitos in one week and show no signs of slowing down. Likewise did Guy Sebastian's first week earn him Platinum status, but unlike Robbie Williams, his album sales will almost certainly already be on the way down, having peaked in Week One through pre-orders. Then you have Jet, they've gone Platinum SIX times in Australia. Now that is an awful lot of sales compared to the others, and they are without doubt the hottest selling Australian act of the past few months, but it's taken them 58 weeks in the charts to get that six times platinum sales figure. The album itself has actually been out since around February of 2003 so it's been a very long time coming. Goes to show that platinum after platinum doesn't happen quickly, and for many it peaks at the start then does nothing significant after that.
It should be noted that Cosima's single, "When The War Is Over", has been certified Platinum. But that single a) will return FAR less per unit than an album, b) cost her plenty because it's not her original song, and c) will be deleted from available catalogues soon and so can't continue to sell for eons to come.
Another Australian artist of note on the charts is Killing Heidi. Their third album has been in for eight weeks, seventh being the peak position, and it's earned only Gold status thus far. Average that out, hypothesising that they have sold about half way between Gold and Platinum for a total of 50,000 units. 6,250 albums a week seems low. Seems even lower when you realise the album hit the Gold sales status of 35,000 units in just it's first week of release!!! So since then they've sold maybe 2,500 to 3,000 copies a week. I hate to say it's come to fruition, but this keen observer predicted the downfall of Killing Heidi "Baby Animals-style" the moment they got rid of their inaugural manager Pauk Kosky. Stupid, stupid move. He may have produced them to buggery for their first release, but hindsight clearly shows that's where the band strengths were and, whether it's as a result of the early success or just who they are, they don't have what it takes to "go it alone" without his direction and production. I fear it may be the former as the band did have some potential, particularly with a very experienced rhythm section that was selected by Kosky for the project, not a result of the Hooper clan and some high school chums jamming in their garage in the Blue Mountains as the "school kids made good" image promoted by Kosky in the early days might have one believe.
That's enough chart chatter, one can see for oneself at the ARIA web site, can be intriguing if watched closely. Just one last fact, Delta Goodrem's' debut album RE-entered the chart last week, purely a post-ARIAs phenomenon. FOURTEEN times platinum she's gone in Australia.

Now this editorial is getting kinda long, but I have to talk about one other thing. Quite possibly one of the funniest things I've seen on the television this year. As you may have noticed from the rambling dialogue of the past few weeks I have been increasingly tuning into Australian Idol of late. My viewing perseverance paid off when Mark Holden got up the other night to bang on about Shannon Noll reaching Number Two on the singles chart in Ireland. "And Molly Meldrum said it couldn't be done!", boasted Holden with a "suck on that" kind of attitude in response to Molly Meldrum's comments some time ago that an Australian Idol finalist would not be successful on the world stage. Well Mark, I'm not Molly Meldrum and hope I never will be, but I'm pretty sure Molly was not suggesting that getting to Number Two on the Irish singles chart with a cover version of an already once successful song would not mean that an Australian Idol finalised had "cracked the world market". And you spoke a little too soon mate, let's just see where Sahnnon's placed in the Irish chart next week before we start gettin' a woody for his world domination Mark.

Part two of the "Power Balladeers" Where Are They Now concludes the subject this week. Some requests for upcoming features would be much appreciated.
Regulars including Feature Interview, The Week Ahead in Music History, Featured Artist and more are all inside Issue 144 of the bmusic Newsletter.

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Thanks to everyone for reading, we'll see you next week!

TABLE OF CONTENTS (You will need to be on-line to use the Table of Contents to jump through sections)

Where Are They Now? - "Power" Balladeers (Part 2)

This week's Music Quote

Featured Pages - ESP Readers Rigs

Vintage and Items of Interest Available

This week's Specials

This week's Feature Interview

This week's Feature Artist - Radiotonic

Musicians Wanted

Gear Wanted

Band Links

The Week Ahead In Music History
           Events
           Births
           Deaths

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In 1957, Sun Records released Jerry Lee Lewis' 'Great Balls of Fire'.

In 1961, fifty people, mostly friends of the singers, paid a US$2 admission fee to see Bob Dylan in his concert hall debut at Carnegie Chapter Hall in New York City. Dylan earned US$20 for the night.

In 1965, Decca Records released the Who's 'My Generation' in the US after it had reached Number 2 on the British music charts. That success, however, was not immediately forthcoming in the US. The release only made it to Number 74 on the US charts.

In 1970, former Mamas and the Papas singer Michelle Phillips married Easyrider actor Dennis Hopper. They divorced eight days later.

In 1970, in one of his rare stage appearances at a Beach Boys show Brian Wilson lost his balance several times and had to be helped backstage at L.A.'s Whiskey-a-Go-Go. His right ear, the better of the two, sustained "severe damage" because of the volume level on-stage.

In 1972, singers James Taylor and Carly Simon were married by a judge in Simon's Manhattan apartment. Taylor announced the ceremony had taken place to an audience he was performing for later that night at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

In 1973, Phil Kaufman, manager of singer Gram Parsons, was fined US$300 for stealing Parsons' body from the Los Angeles International Airport. After he took the body, Kaufman had it cremated instead of taking it to the funeral. Kaufman claimed it was Parsons' wish to be cremated.

In 1975, the Sex Pistols played their first show. It was at St. Martin's School of Art in London.

In 1977, during a concert at the Empire Pool in London, Elton John announced his retirement from live performances. John was true to his word for the next fifteen months, resuming his live career with a performance in Sweden.

In 1977, Ozzy Osbourne quit Black Sabbath, only to rejoin a few weeks later.

In 1978, Greg Reeves, former bass player for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, sued the group for US$1 million in unpaid back royalties.

In 1988, Debbie Gibson held a seance at her Halloween party to try and contact the spirits of Liberace and Sid Vicious.

In 1988, U2's 'Rattle and Hum' movie was released.

In 1992, the Grateful Dead announced that, for the first time, they would not be playing a New Year's Eve concert in San Francisco, breaking a long standing tradition.

In 1992, Elton John and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin signed a US$39 million publishing contract with the world's largest music publishing company Warner-Chappell.

In 1993, Tupac Shakur was arrested for allegedly shooting two off-duty Atlanta policemen during a late night argument.

In 1995, Hootie and the Blowfish and Bob Dylan reached an out of court settlement for the group's unauthorized use of Dylan's lyrics in their song 'Only Want To Be With You'.

In 1999, Van Halen announced that former Extreme singer Gary Cherone had also become a former Van Halen singer. He had been removed from the band after three years and one album with the group, the disappointing Van Halen III.

In 2002, Guns 'N' Roses long awaited North American tour was due to kick off in Vancouver, British Columbia. But it never went ahead, the doors never opened. Axl Rose was stuck on a plane en route from LA to Vancouver at around 8:00pm on the night of the show, the band were due to take the stage at 9:30pm after support slots from CKY and the Beastie Boys. Organisers, however, decided to can the show altogether, figuring Axl wouldn't make it in time for the G N' R set. The fans were not happy and, in true G 'N' R style, they rioted.

In 2002, the inquest into the death of Sydney teenager Jessica Michalik at the 2001 Big Day Out found that the organisers of the event were at fault and a lack of security and facilities contributed to the girls death. Limp Bizkit frontman, Fred Durst, also copped a serve with the coroner suggesting Durst could've acted more responsibly when it became apparent there was a problem in the mosh pit.

In 2002, the remaining members of hip-hop pioneering group 'Run DMC' announced that, following the shooting murder of member Jam Master Jay a week earlier, the group had been officially retired.
In announcing the retirement, Rev. Run stated, "As a tribute to the positive legacy of Jam Master Jay, we started together and we want the Run-DMC legacy to always reflect the three of us together."

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Births In 1931, Ike Turner was born.

In 1941, singer/songwriter/guitarist, Art Garfunkel.

In 1944, Keith Emerson, keyboardist for Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

In 1945, bass player for Blind Faith and Traffic, Rick Grech.

In 1946, Flying Burrito Brothers leader and Byrds guitarist/vocalist Gram Parsons.

In 1948, Eagles guitarist/vocalist Glenn Frey.

In 1954, good ol' Prince Charming, Adam Ant.

In 1954, Squeeze singer/guitarist Chris Difford.

In 1956, country music weird one, Lyle Lovett. Bet he's spewing about losing Julia Roberts!

In 1957, late Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott.

In 1959, Canadian singer/guitarist Bryan Adams.

In 1961, Larry Mullen Jr., drummer for Irish rock group U2.

In 1962, Anthony Kiedis, lead singer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

In 1963, Rick Allen, Def Leppard's drummer with fewer than average limbs.

In 1966, Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz, a.k.a. King Ad Rock.

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Deaths In 1960, Johnny Horton, who had a Number One smash in the US with 'Battle of New Orleans', was killed in an auto accident in Texas. Ironically, he had just played his last show, at the Skyline in Austin, Texas where Hank Williams had played his last show as well. Horton's widow, Billy Joe, was also Hanks Williams' widow. Johnny Horton was 33.

In 1966, blues great John Hurt died in Mississippi at the age of 73.

In 1990, jazz pianist Bobby Scott died of lung cancer at the age of 53. Scott co-wrote 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' and worked with artists such as Gene Krupa, Quincy Jones, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Paul Simon and Tony Scott.

In 1993, actor River Phoenix died after collapsing outside The Viper Room on Hollywood's Sunset Strip.

In 1994, MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith, married to fellow performer Patti Smith, died of a heart attack at the age of 45.

In 1999, touring bassist for German Industrial Metal act Rammstein, Christopher Zimmerman, was killed when the DC-9 plane in which he was a passenger exploded after take off.

In 1999, Atlantic Records co-founder Herb Abramson died at the age of 82. He was Atlantic Records first president and wrote and/or produced many hits for artists on the company's roster.

In 2000, violinist Sidney E. Woloshin died of pneumonia at the age of 72. Woloshin was most noted for having written the McDonald's restaurant jingle 'You Deserve a Break Today', Pepsi's 'Pepsi-Cola Hits the Spot' and the U.S. army's 'Be All That You Can Be'. He hired artists like Barry Manilow, Ginny Redington and others to sing his jingles.

In 2000, Jonny Lang band bassist Doug Nelson was hit by a pick-up truck while out walking. Nelson had also worked with Olivia Newton John, Lamont Cranston, This Oneness, Class Action and Dr. Mambo's Combo.

In 2000, Max Merritt & The Meteors drummer Jimmy Hill died at the age of 45 after suffering a heart ailment. Born in New Zealand, Hill had also been a member of The Flares and Ray Columbus & The Invaders.

In 2001, Hawaiian music legend and inductee of the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame Irmgard Farden Aluli (real name, wait for it, Irmgard Keali'iwahinealohanohokahaopuamana Farden, aka Aunty Irmgard) died at the age of 79 after complications from colon cancer surgery. Few in Australia would be familiar with Irmgard, but we put her in anyway as that's one looooooong name.

In 2003, Bobby Hatfield who, with partner Bill Medley rose to international stardom as the Righteous Brothers, died in a hotel room in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His body was discovered in the afternoon before the group were scheduled to perform at the Western Michigan University that night. Bobby Hatfield was 63.

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