The King's Speech Is Alive With Music

In the ever shrinking film budget world, it makes sense that filmmakers/producers are now selling the music rights.  The NY Times has an article which focuses on the British company The Cutting Edge Group.  They can provide all the services needed to put music in a film from hiring music supervisors to selecting the film's composer. What they are now doing is buying the rights to the music from the producers.  Soundtracks don't sell like they used to, but there are many other ways Cutting Edge can reap monetary benefits. They usually buy the rights for a sum between $50,000 to $200,000. This enables them to collect royalties every time the film is played, sell soundtracks, etc.  The film producers give up any rights to future royalties on the music, but they more than likely get the music the way it should be, as opposed to having the music budget cut (I know from any music supervisor I've ever worked with that the music budget is the first to get cut in a film production).  As Iain Canning, the producer of The Kings Speech said, “What we wanted to do was get the music that would do the images justice.”  They were able to do this by selling the rights to Cutting Edge.  The infusion of money, allowed the producers to hire Alexandre Desplat to score the film. He is nominated for an Oscar for his work. 

Charlie Louvin RIP

I got to meet Charlie Louvin and see him live while I was working with Amoeba. The energy and love of music that he exuded in his performance was contagious.  He passed away at 83.  Age was not a factor for Charlie. He was young at heart and loved playing.  All Things Considered did a nice piece on Charlie. 

Cake Is #1 With Lowest Sales Ever Recorded

The good news for Cake is that they scored their first #1 album, Showroom of Compassion according to Billboard. It debuted at the top of the charts last week.  The bad news for the recorded music industry is that the album only sold 44,000 units. This is the lowest debut since Soundscan started recording sales in 1991.   15 years ago,  acts would get dropped the next week if they debuted with that many units sold. This week's sales topped last week's lowest selling #1 in Taylor Swift's Speak Now. It was her sixth consecutive week at #1 with 52,000 units sold.  This has got to be bad news for record labels who solely rely on recorded music sales.  It doesn't mean anything to artists who always made their money touring and selling merchandise.

Don Kirshner's Golden Ear

It seems like I've always known about Don Kirshner.  His name was on the credits of the Monkees TV show and their albums. He later hosted his one of the first live music TV shows, Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.  I watched it every week. The talent was so diverse that you could see the Rolling Stones, The New York Dolls or the Allman Brothers. 

Don died this week from heart failure at age 76.  He like Jerry Weintraub and a list of others, either hailed from the Bronx or Brooklyn.  Don was from the Bronx. These guys realized early on that they may not have the talent to be a songwriter or an actor themselves, but they did know a hit.  Neil started Aldon Music, one the most successful publishing companies of the early rock era.  He signed Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Doc Pomus, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Mort Shuman and Neil Diamond.  The amount of hits written by this group is staggering.  Don paired the Monkees with some of the best songwriters, many whom wrote for him including Boyce and Hart who are forever associated with the group.  From there he took on The Archies who scored with Sugar, Sugar.  He later had his own record label.  He was immortalized by Paul Shaffer who portrayed him on Saturday Night Live.  Gilda Radner played his daughter, Karen.  In real life Don did not have a daughter named Karen. 

Paul talks about his relationship with Kirshner in the LA Times.
 "He was a great character, a lovable character, certainly the most colorful character I’ve ever met. He was very fast talking, always very emotional about the music he loved and the music he was making. He was the ultimate when it came to promoting the songs he loved. He’d go on these runs and talk so fast that sometimes he’d break himself up."

Guster Is In The House

Guster is in Daryl's House.   I have such respect and love for both artists music, but would never have thought Guster would be dropping by Daryl Hall's.  As a new father, Adam didn't make the trip. The event was described on the band's website.
It's a show, on the interweb, where you go to Daryl's house and sing songs together (Daryl's songs, Guster's songs) in his studio while a renowned chef makes duck a l'orange and steamed mussels in the kitchen.  Then when the music is over you drink a lot of wine, eat good food, ask Daryl a million questions about what it's like to be a rock star, and pee in the snow in Daryl's backyard.  At least, I hope they included this in our episode.

Guster surprised everyone by choosing to cover an obscure Daryl solo song (from the album Sacred Songs) Babs and Babs (another surprise:   it's about the left and right brain).  There were a few selections from Easy Wonderful, which is Guster's latest arsenal of power packed tunes.  In the show Ryan describes their music as Pop, the same way one would describe the music of Harry Nilsson or The Lovin' Spoonful.  He's spot on.  On that note, here's the Claparoo of the show:  Do You Love Me.  Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Calling All Deadheads

Curious Sense is developing a Grateful Dead social game for online and mobile devices. They want your input.  The survey welcomes those who are not yet Deadhead also.  The game is schedule to launch in August of this year. 

Why Was Train on the Bachelor?

The bigger question might be:  Why was I watching the Bachelor to know that Train was on it?  Can't figure that band out, who their audience is or why they make the decisions they do. 

DMB: The Music Business Paradigm

Dave Matthews Band has decided that after 20 years of touring, they would take a break in 2011.  An article in Slate breaks down the touring success of the band.  The article makes the obvious reference to the Grateful Dead.  DMB knows and appreciates their fan base the same way the Dead did.  DMB differs in that 6 of their 7 studio albums have hit the number one spot on Billboard's charts and they have sold 30 millions records.  Here is the most telling sign of the success of this band:  In 2010 they grossed $72.9 million by performing 62 shows in 50 cities with an average ticket price of $58.69 the article points out.  (The band's website says they performed 89 shows this past year.  The article might be referring solely to summer touring.)  While other acts are charging upward of $100 a seat, DMB is charging about 50% less. This allows fans to attend more than one show a tour and encourages ticket purchases.  The fans more than feel like they got their money's worth and are encouraged to be part of a community. 

Musicians We Lost in 2010

NPR has a photo wall of musicians that died this year. Click on a name and hear a sample of her/his music. I was surprised to learn that Kate McGarrigle had died in January of 2010.  Not only the mother of Rufus and Martha Wainwright, but a fixture of folk music in New York City.  The McGarrigle sisters will always be associated with The Bottom Line in my mind.  

It Ain't Christmas Till Darlene Love Sings

Merry Christmas

Ralphie and A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story is one of my favorite yule time movies (only How the Grinch Stole Christmas could top it).  Peter Billingsley starred as Ralphie.  All he wanted was a Red Ryder BB gun under his tree.  The semi-autobiographical story was written by Jean Shepherd.   Jean was also the film's narrator.  Peter has turned the book/movie into a theatrical production running now in Seattle complete with a leg lamp kick line.  

Nightline talked to Peter Billingsley who gave us some insight into the "stick your tongue on the frozen pole scene".  If a bully dares you to to it, pass.  In the movie, it was a fake pole with a hole in it so the actor could stick his tongue in it.  Looked pretty convincing to me. 

Why Your Band Can't Get Tour Support: The Label Spent It All On Lobbying

The Music Industry Report tells us that Universal Music Group spent $790,000 in the 3rd quarter to lobby the federal government to vote for a bill that would pay labels for songs played over the radio.  This reminds me of a conversation I had with Los Lobos' new A&R guy at Hollywood Records. The band had just signed to the label after being on Slash/WB.   There were great marketing plans on the table.  The problem I was told about a month before album release, was that the label spent all it's money marketing a flop by Jesse Camp.  There wasn't a budget for Los Lobos.  I'm betting no one even remembers the lanky VJ on MTV who tried to have a music career.  Can you imagine your band has already done all the social networking,  is about to release an album and go on the road, but all the marketing behind it has to be halted because there is no left? The label spent it all on lobbying a cause that would never put a dime in your pockets.  I hope no one has met that fate.

Buy A Piece of This Video

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie has been viewed over 16 million times on YouTube.  As Techdirt points out  Oren is giving his fans a reason to buy. It's a stop motion video which was created by shooting 2096 frames with a still camera. Each of these frames is signed and  for sale starting at $250 for one frame.  1761 are left to purchase according to the HME Gallery website.  The video was storyboarded in animatics.  The gallery has an intro that breaks down the elements of the video.  It is nominated for a Grammy.  The video was originally released as a free download on iTunes in January of 2009. It was downloaded 200,000 times in that first week.

According to his website, he hasn't toured the US since February.   He was born in Tel Aviv. and studied theater in London.  In 2001, he moved to NY directing plays and devoting more time to songwriting.  After two years in NY, he settled in Berlin.  He is the author of funny books for sad children, as his MySpace page states. 

Relive The Tom Petty Shows

If you attended a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers show this summer, you were given a code which allowed you to download the band's latest record Mojo for free.  As a Christmas gift, the band sent out an email yesterday so fans could download 8 live tracks recorded on the tour.  Choose your format. Some of the songs included are I Won't Back Down (Charlotte), Breakdown (Bristow, VA) and Good Enough (Philly). 

“Being rich and famous is hard,but being poor and famous is hell.”

So says Dee Snider.  He's quoted in a NY Times article.  His career has come full circle. He's now appearing until Dec 24th in the Broadway musical Rock of Ages.   It's a role he lobbied for after seeing the show.  During my high school years, his band Twisted Sister were ubiquitous on Long Island.  They played Speaks, Hammerheads, etc.  You name the club, they would have played it. Then they had their biggest hit, "We're Not Gonna Take It". As he says, you have to live a life if you're not Billy Joel or Elton John.  In the 1990's when offers were not forthcoming, he worked in businesses with his brother and his wife.  Dee keeps it going.  He had a short-lived reality show.  The band has been touring. Now he's on Broadway. 

Ferrell & Rielly the new Bowie & Bing

Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy with Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly from Will Ferrell

 Bing Crosby had a harp in his home?

Karen Carpenter

Carpenters On Ed Sullivan @ Yahoo! Video

There seemed to be two sides to Karen Carpenter’s story.   Both play out in the book Little Girl Blue.  She admits to how lucky she was to be able to sing and perform for a living.  It brought her money and adoration from fans. She loved playing the drums and she loved performing.  On the other hand, according to the accounts in this book, in her mother’s eyes she was always second fiddle to her brother Richard.  The family moved heaven and earth so that Richard could have a music career.  The mother thought that relocating to Los Angeles from New Haven, CT would further Richard’s career.  This may have worked, but it also put the spotlight on Karen, something her mother Agnes would have never predicted.  Towards the end of Karen’s life, she has a meeting with her therapist, mother, father and brother.  Her mother was unable to tell Karen she loves her. 

I read this book back to back with Tatum O’Neal’s A Paper Life, another story of parenting gone awry. (In an ironic note, Karen’s mother’s maiden name is Tatum.  O’Neal was named after jazz musician Art Tatum.)  In Tatum’s case, both parents turn to either/or drugs and alcohol, essentially leaving the children to raise themselves.  In Karen’s story, her parents are very present. Her mother would probably be called a helicopter mom today.  She rules her kids.  No one can make a move without her.  When the duo leaves the house (Karen was already 26 at this point), they both feel guilty.  Ironically Karen spent the last night of her life in Richard’s old bedroom in her parent’s house, although she had her own home. 

At its core, this book is really about the love between brother and sister that was maybe too deep for them to address what was going on around them.  Karen worshipped Richard and felt guilty about recording her solo record. She did it while Richard was in rehab. I remember when she was recording that record.  She spent time in New York.  Phil Ramone produced the album and all I kept thinking was why is Karen Carpenter doing a disco record?  Richard and A&M hated it. It must have felt like a blow to the head. She shelved it.   To listen to that record now, it has production undertones of disco but it isn’t a pull out all the stops disco record.  It was finally released posthumously in 1996, the way Karen had approved it.  Some of the best parts of this book are the discussions with Ramone, the musicians who played on those sessions and how the record came together.  Karen used some of her own money.  Ramone recruited Billy Joel’s band, including drummer Liberty DeVitto, for most of the album.  DeVitto is candid about falling in love with Karen during this time, but he never acted on it. He was married and had no idea how Karen felt about him. 

She stayed in touch with old friends from her neighborhood in New Haven.  She had solid girlfriends in Los Angeles and New York, including Olivia Newton-John and Phil Ramone’s wife Itchy Ramone.  She let Richard handle the Carpenters' career.  At one point she dated Terry Ellis, artist manager and co-founder of Chrysalis Music.  He speaks lovingly of Karen (just about everyone in this book speaks highly of her, which is probably why it was so hard to confront her about her illness).  Ellis was interim manager for the band.  Not wanting to get too involved, he suggested Karen acknowledge her audience and play to them.  He saw their live show and couldn’t believe how dreadful it was.  Richard felt nobody noticed him, although he was the one arranging the songs and making sure every note was played properly.  Their show was known for it’s precise recreation of the albums.  Ellis suggested Richard be introduced before Karen and take his place as the conductor.  Both suggestions greatly improved a stiff live show. 

The saddest part of this story is that Karen basically killed herself, although I’m sure she didn’t think she was doing that. She was trying to control a situation in her life. She had a lousy marriage, which was scheduled to end on the day she died (she never made it to the lawyer’s to sign the papers).  She controlled it by drinking ipecac syrup, which is what used to be given to kids who swallowed poison.  It’s not only a vomit inducer, but it also weakens the heart muscle.  Between that and the medicine she was taking to accelerate her thyroid, there is no way her body could stand it. 

I was fascinated by Karen’s voice. I really took notice when I heard their Christmas record. When they were a viable band, it was hard for me to get past their dated clothes and strange haircuts.  The music was sappy.  Richard Carpenter’s arrangements were exceptional, just not my cup of tea.   It’s easy to speculate on what would have happened if Karen got better before her body shut down.  I’d bet that she would be considered one of the premier singers today and would have been able to sustain a long career. 

Dexter and the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Although Dexter's sidekick this year is not as brash as Lisbeth Salander, there is a similar thread.  They both wanted and got revenge on those who did them wrong and they will stop at nothing to get it done.  Both are smart about how they operate and they both seem to have fallen in love with the man who is by their side.  Julia Stiles' Lumen is the perfect co-conspirator for Dexter.  Yes it does seem like he has found love quickly on the heels of his wife's murder.  How better to get over seeing your wife in a pool of blood?  Lumen gets Dexter. She's the only person besides his deceased father who understands him. He can be himself with her.  Next week is the season finale.  We'll see how much of Lisbeth is in Lumen.

On another Dexter note, Showtime is renewing it for a sixth season. 

100 Digital Albums at $5 A Piece

Amazon has this $5 special running for the month of December with titles ranging from Rosanne Cash's  The List to The Monkees Greatest Hits to The Very Very Best of Crowded House to Big Bad World from Plain White T's.