bmusic - Newsletter No. 276

bmusic
Newsletter No.276
March 24th - April 6th 2008

I hope everyone had a safe, happy and relaxing Easter. It is basically our longest amount of time off for the entire year, including Christmas, oddly. And I guess it's easier to relax at this time for retailers as the build up to Christmas is so long and the end zone so frantic that it takes all the time off just to come back down again. So, in short, I enjoyed the time with the family and generally taking it easier than I ordinarily would. Not too many chances to do that for the rest of the year. The silly season of new releases has really begun in earnest now, as evidenced by this week's Featured Product, the new Export market releases for ESP Guitars. Add these to the releases for USA and the rest of the world that came in late January at the NAMM show and we have a whole lot of work to do updating our websites with the new gear, just with ESP stuff!

Long-time subscriber Jimmy alerted me to this most excellent of articles recently posted at Blender.com. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

20 Biggest Record Company Screw-Ups of All Time

From turning down the Beatles to stomping Napster— the most ill-advised, foolhardy and downright idiotic decisions ever made by The Man.

Jon Dolan, Josh Eells, Fred Goodman

Blender March 11 2008

They Never Even Recouped Their Aqua Net Expenses
#20 As grunge dawns, one label bets on hair metal
In 1989, with hair metal reaching its zenith, the A&R department at MCA Records finally decided to get in on the act—by tossing a rumored $1 million at L.A. band Pretty Boy Floyd, who at the time had played only eight shows. The band’s debut, Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz, peaked at No. 130 on the Billboard charts, and the Floyd blew another mil or so of MCA’s money before the label finally dropped them in 1991 … right around the time the suits blew a chance to sign a fledgling Seattle outfit called Nirvana.
Unintended consequence: Around 1992, the Sunset Strip pizza-delivery scene gets a fresh infusion of talent.

The Vinyl Solution
#19 The industry kills the single—and begins its own slow demise
In the early ’80s, the music industry began to phase out vinyl singles in favor of cassettes and later, CDs. Then, since it costs the same to manufacture a CD single as a full album, they ditched the format almost altogether. But they forgot that singles were how fans got into the music-buying habit before they had enough money to spend on albums. The end result? Kids who expect music for free. “Greed to force consumers to buy an album [resulted] in the loss of an entire generation of record consumers,” says Billboard charts expert Joel Whitburn. “People who could only afford to buy their favorite hit of the week were told it wasn’t available as a single. Instead, they stopped going to record shops and turned their attention to illegally downloading songs.”
Unintended consequence: The Eagles still top the album charts.

Come Back, Kid
#18 BMG dumps Clive Davis, begs him to return
In 2000, when company retirement policy deemed Clive Davis too old to run Arista, the label he’d founded 25 years earlier, he was pushed out the door in favor of Antonio “L.A.” Reid. After loud public complaints from artists including Whitney Houston and Carlos Santana, parent company BMG was shamed into giving Davis a nice going-away present—his own label, J Records, along with a $150 million bankroll. Ironically, while J spawned hits from Alicia Keys, Luther Vandross and Rod Stewart, Arista reportedly chalked up hundreds of millions in losses. In 2002, BMG forked over another $50 million to buy J, then two years later ousted Reid and hired a new CEO of BMG North America: an ambitious young turk named Clive Davis
Unintended consequence: Rod Stewart’s The Great American Songbook, Volumes I-IV

Dim Bulb
#17 Thomas Edison disses jazz, industry standards
America’s most famous inventor, and the creator of the phonograph, also had his own record label: National Phonograph Company, later Edison Records. Naturally, it was the biggest one around at first but made two fatal errors. One was that Edison Records worked only on Edison’s players, while other manufacturers’ conformed to the industry standard and worked interchangeably. The other was that Edison let his personal taste govern Edison releases—and he hated jazz: “I always play jazz records backwards,” he sniffed. “They sound better that way.” So after releasing the world’s first jazz recording—Collins and Harlan’s “That Funny Jas Band From Dixieland”—the company spurned the craze in favor of waltzes and foxtrots. Edison Records folded in October 1929.
Unintended consequence: Edison adds “tin-eared A&R” to his list of inventions.

Double Jeopardy
#16 Warner pays for Wilco record twice
When Wilco handed over their album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot to Reprise in June 2001, acting label boss David Kahne—best known for producing Sugar Ray albums—reportedly thought it was “so bad it would kill Wilco’s career.” The band refused to make changes, so Reprise handed them their walking papers—and the masters to the album. A few months later, Wilco signed with Nonesuch, which, like Reprise, was a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner, meaning that after shelling out roughly $300,000 to make YHF in the first place, the corporation was now paying for it again. The record remains Wilco’s best seller to date.
Unintended consequence: Jeff Tweedy’s poetry collection is published in 2004.

Money For Nothing
#15 MCA’s teen-pop calamity
How sure was MCA that slinky Irish teen Carly Hennessy was going to be a gargantuan pop star? So sure that in 1999 they staked the former Denny’s sausage spokesmodel with a $100,000 advance, $5,000 a month in living expenses and an apartment in Marina Del Rey, California, spending roughly $2.2 million in all on her 2001 debut, Ultimate High. How wrong were they? In its first three months in stores, Ultimate High sold a whopping 378 copies, putting the label’s investment somewhere in the order of $5,820 per copy sold. Last seen, Hennessy had resurfaced—still looking for her big break—on season seven of American Idol.
Unintended consequence: “Sausage spokesmodel” proves a less embarrassing resumé entry than expected.

Always Read The Fine … Oh, Never Mind
#14 Stax Records unintentionally gives away the store
Soul fans can credit Memphis’s Stax Records for classic hits by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Booker T & the M.G.’s—but the real winner was Atlantic. In 1960, Atlantic partner Jerry Wexler liked one of Stax’s first releases enough to pay label president Jim Stewart $1,000 to lease it, and Atlantic soon contracted to market and distribute all Stax releases. Seven years later, with Stax reeling from Redding’s death, Stewart finally took a close look at the Atlantic contract and discovered he’d been bamboozled: Contrary to industry practice, Atlantic became the owner of any Stax release it handled. Stax had signed away its catalogue and future.
Unintended consequence: Bob Dole flips “Soul Man” into “Dole Man” during his ’96 presidential campaign.

The Last Of The Mega-Deals
#13 One label’s big spending single-handedly ends “alt-rock” boom
In 1996, Warner Bros. signed R.E.M. to a five-album contract for a reported $80 million. It was the most costly record deal in history and elicited one of the lowest returns. Warner needed R.E.M. to sell at least 3 million copies of all five records to come out in the black, but sleepy folk-rock albums like 1998’s Up moved a fifth of that. The execs went further into the hole by allowing R.E.M. to keep the masters of all their Warner releases, forfeiting future revenues generated by the band’s popular ’80s and early-’90s discs. No one knows how much the label lost—but the debacle brought to a close an era in which acts known for their “integrity” could score huge paydays.
Unintended consequence: Warner executives still hoping “Daysleeper” makes it on to The Hills soundtrack.

Axl Grease
#12 Geffen pumps millions into (the nonexistent) Chinese Democracy
Ten years ago, Guns N’ Roses still looked like a good investment—they’d gone platinum 32 times. So in 1998, Geffen Records could be forgiven for paying Axl Rose a million bucks to complete GNR’s fifth album, promising a million more if he delivered it soon. (Rose had already spent four years working on the LP, losing every original bandmate in the process.) Beset by perfectionism, lack of focus and plain-old nuttiness, Rose never got that bonus million. But his label kept spending: In 2001, monthly expenses totaled $244,000. Four producers and a gazillion guitar overdubs later, the album is no closer to release. And Geffen’s in the red for $13 million.
Unintended consequence: A frustrated Rose gets into a well-publicized fistfight with … Tommy Hilfiger!

Just Be Yourself—Or Else
#11 Geffen sues Neil Young for making “unrepresentative” music
At the dawn of the ’80s, David Geffen signed Neil Young to his new record label, promising that “commercial” considerations would never get in the way of art. Young took this to heart, wandering so far off the reservation with albums like 1983’s synth-driven Trans that Geffen filed a $3 million breach-of-contract suit: effectively charging the folk-rock icon with not making “Neil Young” records. Young filed a $21 million countersuit before settling out of court, but remained somewhat bemused by Geffen’s judgment: “He didn’t seem to comprehend how … uh, diverse my musical career had become,” Young said.
Unintended consequence: Young’s Happy House and Tejano albums remain on the shelf.

Continue on to read the Top 10 at Blender.com.

Hands up who knew the subject of this week's Where Are They Now has been acting since the 1960s? And that his biggest hit by FAR was actually as a result of his appearance in Benny and Bjorn from ABBA's Chess musical? Well, if you knew that most of the article mightn't mean much of news to you. If you didn't, join the club (either that or I'd forgotten!).

Regulars including Feature Article, The Weeks Ahead in Music History, Featured Artist and more are all inside Issue 276 of the bmusic Newsletter.
Links in the Table of contents below will launch your browser, so you'll need to be online to view the newsletter. If you are unable to receive html format e-mails then copy and paste the following link into your browser's address bar to view the newsletter:
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Thanks to everyone for reading, we'll see you next issue!

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

Where Are They Now? - Murray Head

This week's Music Quote

Featured Product - ESP 2008 Export Models Announced

This week's Specials

This week's Feature Article - Hooks

This week's Feature Artist - From Beyond

Musicians Wanted

Gear Wanted

Band Links

The Weeks Ahead In Music History
           Events
           Births
           Deaths

Give us your suggestions

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In 1958, Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" was released.

In 1958, Eddie Cochran recorded the rock and roll classic "Summertime Blues".

In 1964, The Beatles complete their global domination by occupying the top six spots on the Australian singles chart.

In 1964, the Beatles became the first pop stars ever to be cast in wax by Madame Tassaud's Wax Museum.

In 1967, at a London concert, Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire for the first time.

In 1969, lead singer Jim Morrison of the Doors surrendered to the FBI in Los Angeles. He was charged with interstate flight to avoid prosecution on six charges of lewd behavior and public exposure at a concert in Miami.

In 1969, the Beach Boys sued Capitol Records for more than US$2-million in royalties and producer's fees.

In 1971, Ringo Starr's first solo single, "It Don't Come Easy" (produced by George Harrison), was released.

In 1975, Led Zeppelin had all six of it's albums on the Top 100 chart simultaneously, something never achieved before in the history of the chart.

In 1976, the Rolling Stones' tour of Britain drew more than one-million ticket applications. The tickets, moved by security men to specially guarded vaults, were awarded by a lottery.

In 1976, the British punk group the Sex Pistols played their first show at London's 100 club, attracting only a reported 50 people to the venue where they began a weekly residency in June of that year.

In 1978, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon of the British band the Clash were arrested in London for shooting pigeons from the roof of a rehearsal hall.

In 1979, Eric Clapton married Patti Boyd, the ex-wife of his friend, George Harrison.

In 1979, British singer and songwriter Kate Bush made her concert debut at a theatre in Liverpool, England. Her 1978 single, "Wuthering Heights," was a number-one hit in Britain.

In 1980, Ronald Selle, a Chicago antique dealer and part-time musician and songwriter successfully sued the Bee Gees claiming their hit "How Deep Is Your Love" had plagiarised two sections of a song he composeed, recorded and sent to eleven record companies. The Bee Gees claimed they had never heard Selle's song "Let It End" and that the whole thing was a conincidence. The Bee Gees successfully appealed the decision three years later.

In 1982, The Doobie Brothers announced their break-up. The band started in the '70s with the #11 hit "Listen to the Music."

In 1982, David Crosby was arrested in Los Angeles for possession of Quaaludes and drug paraphernalia, driving under the i nfluence of cocaine and carrying a concealed pistol.

In 1986, Van Halen played its first show with Sammy Hagar as lead singer, in Shreveport, Louisiana.

In 1987, U2 performed a free, hour-long concert on a rooftop in downtown Los Angeles. Parts of the performance were included in the video of "Where the Streets Have No Name."

In 1988, soul singer James Brown turned himself in to police in Aiken, South Carolina to face charges that he beat his third wife with a pipe and fired a gun into a car she was sitting in.

In 1989, 23 people were arrested after several thousand fans without tickets tried to crash a Grateful Dead concert at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. An estimated 15,000 non-ticketholders had camped outside the arena. A similar incident occurred at a Dead concert in Irvine, California later in the month.

In 1990, Lou Gramm left the group Foreigner. Gramm had already begun a solo career several years earlier, scoring a hit in 1987 with "Midnight Blue." Foreigner's guitarist Mick Jones said Gramm's solo efforts conflicted with his band commitments.

In 1992, Billy Idol pleaded no contest to punching a woman in the face. He was fined and told to make public service announcements against alcohol and drug use.

In 1993, Ray Charles became the first performer to have hits on the U.S. charts in six different decades when his version of Leon Russell's "A Song For You" entered the U.S. Billboard Hot R'n'B singles chart.

In 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would use a case involving 2 Live Crew to decide whether copyright holders can ban song parodies. The Miami rappers later won their dispute with the holders of the rights to Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman", which the band had parodied.

In 1996, rapper Hammer (formerly known as M.C. Hammer) filed for bankruptcy.

In 1996, Phil Collins announced his departure from Genesis to concentrate on his solo career.

In 1997, the Notorious BIG's "Life After Death" topped the Billboard album chart three weeks after the rapper was gunned down in Los Angeles.

In 2000, Jimmy Page received an undisclosed figure in damages after he sued Ministry magazine for claiming he contributed to the death of former Led Zeppelin bandmate John Bonham. The magazine published an article claiming Page contributed to Bonham's death by wearing a Satanic robe and chanting spells while the dying drummer was choking on his vomit. Page donated all of the money to Action for Brazil's Children Trust.

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Births In 1915, bluesman Muddy Waters, whose real name was McKinley Morganfield, was born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.

In 1922, singer and actress Doris Day.

In 1930, Rolf Harris, famous the world over for "Jake The Peg" and "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport", was born.

In 1932, singer-actress Debbie Reynolds.

In 1939, Motown hitmaker Marvin Gaye was born in Washington, DC. "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" was his first hit, in 1962. Gaye's biggest hit was his 1969 chart-topper "I Heard It Through the Grapevine."

In 1942, Graeme Edge, drummer with the Moody Blues, was born in Staffordshire, England.

In 1943, jazz guitarist Larry Coryell.

In 1945, guitar legend Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, England.

In 1946, bassist Ronnie (Plonk) Lane of the Faces was born in London. Lane and Steve Marriott formed the group, at first called the Small Faces, in 1966. They had hits with "Itchycoo Park" and "Lazy Sunday." Singer Rod Stewart joined the group in 1970, about the same time the "small" disappeared from the band's name. Ronnie Lane died on June 4th, 1997, of multiple sclerosis at his home in Colorado.

In 1947, British pop musician Robin Scott, who recorded the number-one single "Pop Muzik" in 1979 under the pseudonymn "M."

In 1947, country singer Emmylou Harris was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She first hit the country charts in 1975 with a remake of the Louvin Brothers "If I Could Only Win Your Love," which went all the way to number one.

In 1948, Mick Ralphs, guitar player with Mott the Hoople and Bad Company.

In 1950, Agnetha Anna Faltskog of the Swedish vocal group Abba was born.

In 1950, Genesis keyboard player Tony Banks.

In 1954, Rick Richards, guitarist with the Georgia Satellites.

In 1954, the late Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro.

In 1959, INXS keyboardist Andrew Farriss.

In 1959, AC/DC guitarist Angus Young.

In 1961, Mark White of the group ABC.

In 1963, rapper Hammer (ex MC Hammer), whose real name is Stanley Kirk Burrell.

In 1964, singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman.

In 1968, Canadian singing mega-star Celine Dion.

In 1969, Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction and Porno For Pyros.

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Deaths In 1917, Scott Joplin, the "King of Ragtime," died in a mental institution in New York City. Joplin fell into a deep depression - which eventually led to insanity - after the failure of his opera "Treemonisha."

In 1974, the author of Elvis' hit "That's All Right (Mama)", bluesman Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup died of a stroke at the age of 69.

In 1984, Motown recording star Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his father, Marvin Gay Senior, in Los Angeles. Although he rarely performed in concert, Gaye was one of Motown's most consistent hitmakers throughout the 1960s and '70s.

In 1985, Jeanine Dekers, the former Singing Nun, and her female companion committed suicide in Wavre, Belgium. Dekers was 52.

In 1987, legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich died in Los Angeles of a heart attack at age 69. Two weeks earlier he had undergone surgery for a brain tumor. Rich played with many big bands in the 1930s and '40s, including those of Artie Shaw and Tommy Dorsey.

In 1992, Paula Kelly, the former lead singer of the Modernaires, died in Costa Mesa, California at age 72. The vocal group was featured on many Glenn Miller recordings, including the 1941 million-seller "Chattanooga Choo Choo."

In 1990, legendary jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, known as the "Divine One," died in Los Angeles of lung cancer eight days after her 66th birthday.

In 1995, Tejano music star Selena was shot to death at a motel in Corpus Christi, Texas, by a former president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar.
Saldivar had allegedly embezzled money from a boutique she ran for the singer, and the two had arranged to meet to discuss the matter. Saldivar was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Selena, whose full name was Selena Quintanilla Perez, was only 23 when she died, but already had begun to expand the popularity of Tejano beyond its core audience in Texas. Tejano, sung in both Spanish and English, mixes the sound of the accordion and 12-string guitar, and developed in southern Texas in the early 1900s. Almost four months after Selena's death, her album "Dreaming of You" debuted at number one on the Billboard chart.

In 1995, producer Paul Rothchild, renowned for his work with the Doors, Janis Joplin and other icons of the 1960's, died in Hollywood, California of lung cancer at the age of 59. He produced the Doors' six studio albums, Joplin's "Pearl," as well as albums by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Love. In later years he worked with Bonnie Raitt and produced the soundtracks to Bette Midler's "The Rose" and Oliver Stone's "The Doors."

In 1998, one half of disgraced pop duo Milli Vanilli, Rob Pilatus died from a drug and alcohol overdose at the age of 32.

In 1999, composer of one of rock and roll's original hits, "Shake, Rattle & Roll", Jesse Stone (aka Charles E. Calhoun), died from long term kidney and heart problems at the age of 97.

In 1999, composer Lionel Bart died at the age of 69. Bart wrote the musical "Oliver" as well as writing Cliff Richard's "Living Doll" and songs for other artists such as Shirley Bassey and Anthony Newley.

In 2001, Theodore M. "Ted" McCarty died at the age of 90. McCarty was a former president of the Gibson Guitar Company where he helped bring to life the Les Paul, the Explorer and the Flying V guitars. He also owned the Bigsby Company, which manufactures vibratos for guitars.

In 2002, singer B.J. Baker (Betty Jane Phillips) died after complications from a stroke. She worked with Elvis Presley ("I Can't Help Falling In Love With You"), Frank Sinatra ("That's Life"), Jackie Wilson ("Baby Workout"), The Righteous Brothers ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"), Sam Cooke ("You Send Me"), Lloyd Price ("Stagger Lee") and Bobby Darin ("Dream Lover"). Baker was married to Mickey Rooney, composer Buddy Baker and guitarist Barney Kessel.

In 2003, soul singer/songwriter Edwin Starr, author of the political hit "War" brought to mass prominence Bruce Springsteen, passed away at the age of 61. The Iraq war had begun and Starr's song was as relevant when he died as the day it was written.

In 2005, former Split Enz and Crowded House drummer Paul Hester. Paul, battling personal demons that belied the wonderful persona that was outwardly observed by most Australians, took his own life on March 27th 2005. He is survived by his two young daughters.

In 2006, Rose Tattoo guitarist Pete Wells passed away after a long battle with prostate cancer.

In 2006, one of pop music's originals, Gene Pitney, passed away on April 5th, 2006. He was found dead in his Cardiff hotel room after suffering a suspected heart attack. Gene was found just hours before he was due to hit the stage as part of his UK tour. Not too many blokes still touring like he was at age 65. He is survived by his wife and their three sons.

In 2007 former KISS guitarist Mark St. John (Mark Norton) passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage. Mark's tenure in KISS was shortlived around the Animalize album period when he was brought in to replace Vinnie Vincent. He worked on the album but developed a form of arthritis that caused his arms and hands to swell to the point where he was only able to perform one full show and two incomplete performances on the supporting tour for the Animalize album. Bruce Kulick was Norton's stand in on the tour and eventually became his replacement in the band as Mark's arthritis and clashes with the rest of the band spelt the end for him. He went on to form the band White Tiger who enjoyed mild success and later the Mark St. John Project with, at the time, former KISS drummer Peter Criss. Success eluded St. John and I understand he fell on some tough times throughout the last decade or so. He was teaching guitar in the LA area to make ends meet and I believe was still doing this around the time of his death. He was 51 years old.

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