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Re: To all, from Linford



--- mmcvey at uic_edu wrote:
> Dear listies,
> 
> There is nothing like a reading a letter from a
> letter from Linford. If it 
> wasn't for his seductive rhetoric (I am not plato,
so
> this is a 
> compliment!)

just so you know, mike, i got that joke. i've actually
*read* "gorgias" and "phaedrus."



> 
> I think they should just be absolutely hard-ass
about
> one thing: 
> They need to have complete, and I mean complete,
> control over the 
> content of their record, if it is to be on a major
> label. They should 
> pick everything: the studio, the track selections,
> the musicians, the 
> instruments, and the producer. (Of course I suspect
> they already 
> wouldn't let it be any other way and don't need to
be
> told that.)

word. if they can pull off creative control and (i'll
add) ownership of song copyrights. i odn't want to see
"latter days" on a budweisr commercial while clompy
horses slosh through snow.


> 
> They already do fantastic sounding recording in
> basements and 
> barns, so they don't need any studio babysitters,
and
> they should 
> refuse them relentlessly. 

yes.


In addition, they already
> know how to put 
> together great album art, so they don't need some
> madison avenue 
> corporate ad-agency snothead to make one for them
> using clipart 
> on a Macintosh.



yes again.


> 
> Maybe, for a little inspiration, they should watch
> U2's videotape 
> documenting their recording of the Unforgettable
> Fire...an 
> underrated album that they really took the
> bull-by-the-horns in 
> making. This is one example of a great band who made
> it big on 
> their own terms.
> 

actually, a good reference source for this question
might be "unforgettable fire" the book- a biography of
the band by eamon dunphey, in which the contract
negotiations of U2 are discussed in detail. (and it's a
beautifully written book.)

john.

np- r.e.m. - "new adventures in hi fi"
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