Various topics

[FULIGIN%UMass.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (Peter E. Lee)]

Hello again all!
     On some recent topics covered around here :
RE: Frankie Goes To Holywood

     Last I heard (from Melody Maker), they were in process of recording a
 new album, to be released later this year.
RE: The B-side of the new Pete Shelley single

     My appologies for forgetting to mention 'Designer Lamps', a nightmarish
 instrumental which I really do enjoy.  It's extremely reminiscent of Mike
 Oldfield's work on 'The Killing Fields', especially the song 'Escape'.  I'm
 not really sure that the song alone is enough to make the single worth
 buying though...  Oh, BTW, the A-side isn't absolutely horrible, and it does
 seem to grow on me a bit as I listen to it, but it would still be merely a
 mediocre single from an average band, and for Pete Shelley, it's just plain
 poor.

RE: Dial MTV
     The phone number is 1-800-DIAL-MTV (clever huh?).  Let's all try to
 call in on Wednesday, April 16 (to give people plenty of time to hear
 about it, and notify friends).  The call should be placed between 11am and
 noon on that day, and we want to vote for 'Cloudbusting'.  This could be
 fun!

RE : Duran Duran
     I was once a fan of the band, and I still quite like the material on
 Rio and the debut album.  I did not, however, think that 'Seven and The
 Ragged Tiger' was worth the cost of the vinyl it was stamped on.  I bought
 it when it was first released, before it was being overplayed on
 commercial radio, and gave it several chances before selling it to buy
 something better.  I think that the album marks Simon LeBon's discovery
 that he can sing off-key and write stupid lyrics, and still sell millions
 of albums.  Whenever the new Duran lp comes out, I will give it a good
 listen before writing it off.  I owe at least that to a band I once liked.

RE: The state of pop
     I do not dismiss a band merely because they enter our fair nation's list
 of the 40 most sold records of the week.  This is no sin.  What is a sin
 is for a creative, original band to  eliminate all traces of what made their
 music distinctive from the dross, merely to sell more records.  I realize
 that, in some cases, it is necessary for the band to make some concessions
 with their record company in order to eat, and I do not despise bands for
 making the occasional 'hit' single, as long as they continue to produce
 original music as well.  I still like The Police, Tears For Fears, The Who,
 and several other bands who have songs in the top 40 and have sold millions
 of records.  To me, music is valid if it either expresses some emotion
 effectively, attempts to stretch and explore the boundaries of the medium,
 poses an exciting question or two, makes a statement eloquently, or merely
 provokes a sense of excitement in me.  When I speak of expressing an
 emotion, though, I do not include greed in my list - which I find to be the
 motive behind much of the music I hear on top 40 radio.  In short, my main
 complaint with most of the music in the top 40 is that it is in no way
 original, new, exciting, or challenging.
     The other reason which keeps me from listening to top 40 radio has
 been mentioned by others already (as was the above point, to some extent).
 Any given song in the top 40 is probably being played even as we speak on
 one of the commercial radio stations in your area.  If it isn't on now, it
 probably will be within an hour or two.  I realize that, in theory, the
 music that is bought most by the public is the music that they most want to
 hear.  I don't, however, believe that ANY song is so important that it
 should be played more than once every few hours, to the exclusion of other,
 equally valid, works.  Commercial radio stations usually have playlists with
 at most one or two hundred medium to heavy rotation cuts.  There are 1000's
 of songs released every week which will never be heard by a mass audience,
 yet a few songs will be played so often, in so many places that nearly
 everyone will get to know them by heart, whether they like them or not.
 This does not strike me as right.  Furthermore, that the songs which will be
 played to death should be played more than others because they were the
 most purchased this week shows two major flaws.  (1) The larger the number
 of people who have bought the record, the larger the number of people who
 can hear the song any damn time they want, thank you, and don't need it
 drilled relentlessly into their crania, and (2) That more people bought
 something than bought anything else only indicates that it is the best-liked
 something that people have been exposed to, not that it is the best liked
 something of all.  Program directors at commercial stations, as well as the
 management of major record companies, are a cowardly lot.  They don't want
 to risk their paychecks by taking chances on music that someone might not
 like.  Therefore, they play it safe by offering recording contracts and
 commercial airtime only to those bands with a 'proven' product.  A 'proven'
 product, in most cases, being a song that sounds like something that has
 already sold lots of units.  This reasoning quickly leads to unlistenable
 commercial radio programming.  Unlistenable, not because it's assaultive,
 but because it's so homogenous and predictable.  Now, once in awhile, a
 new band or a new sound makes it into the charts without selling out their
 principles, but it's such a rare occurrence that I don't find that it
 justifies listening to top 40 radio very often.  Besides, they usually rose
 into the charts with a strong push from college and alternative commercial
 radio, so you can hear it there first anyway...

*** Flame Off ***
                                       -Peter E. Lee

Fuligin%umass.bitnet@wiscvm.arpa