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Re: Over-The-Rhine Digest V2 #511
Dear List,
It sounds like most of us would favor a "do", under certain
conditions. Another case study of a band's relation to the music
industry that could be of great interest to Linford, Karin, and friends
is that of the band Kansas. It is a case study of how the industry is
both a blessing and a curse, and the dangers of selling out.
I know that many of you Rhinelanders probably associate this band
with a couple of "hits" such as Dust in the Wind, and some of you
may, justifiably, sneer at their post-1980 career. A good number of
the college radio goons I used to encounter that summer I was a
DJ were far more interested in three chord whiners than prog rock
that actually requires discipline and talent to compose and play,
and they could easily write off this great band because of what the
industry did to them and their later records once the Decade of
Greed hit and the original lineup split. However, if they would only
have listened to their unbroadcasted material, they would either
have to change their tune, or demonstrate a serious lack of critical
depth and eclecticism.
Anyways, the greatness of their early work is proving to pay off in a
big way for them in their late middle age, while their more
commercial radio friendly releases barely sell in comparison.
They are going to be remembered as a great band notwithstanding
the anti-progressive sentiments of both the mainstream and the
underground, what commodification did to their later music, and
stupid critics who want their progrock drugged out, hallucinatory,
and lathargic, like Pink Floyd, and have no taste for classical
compositional structures.
Anyways, history is going to reward this band, and the sales
sucess of their records is now almost inversely related to their
radio-friendliness. Essentially, they are going to be picking up
royalty checks off their best, but least corporate albums for the rest
of their lives, while the rest of their music will do little more than
bewilder those of us who know their best work, yet underestimate
the power of the industry to ruin a great band. These albums
constantly go in and out of print and populate the bargain boxes.
Anyways, just another note to add to the list of great musicians
who prove that quality will pay off in the long run, and is always the
best investment.
Mike
Chicago
p.s. I think Over the Rhine should look to the long term, and realize
that a major label deal can help them to that goal, so long as it
brings about a product like Eve. So long as they avoid expensive
car habits and are ready and able to give the biz the bird when the
time comes, then they will be able retire to their private studios
with loyal fans and friends intact. And heck, why not have them
play on Saturday Night Live?
Roland Orzabal (of Tears for Fears) is another example of a fine
musician who has fallen out of fame very nicely, and is free to write
and produce what he wants, and who I suppose does not have to
worry about being mobbed.