[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Linford's question again.

Ysobelle at aol_com said:
> So-- bear with me, I haven't really slept since Saturday-- should the day 
> come that I turn on my radio to hear, "I Painted My Name" on the idiot 
> station, will I worry? Will there be a rush of people to the store to buy
> the 
> major-label rerelease of Patience? (Thus, perhaps, allowing OtR to afford 
> roadies so Linford doesn't have to load the van outside CST himself. Nice 
> hat, Linford!) And if there is that rush, will all of them become ardent 
> fans? Passionate Rhinelanders like so many of us here are? Or will they 
> listen and throw it into the rest of their collection and say, yeah, it's 
> okay.
> 
> Basically, does Over the Rhine write idiot music?
> 
 
To answer the questions with more questions: If you hear it on the 
radio, does that make it idiot music?  If a lot of people buy it, 
does that necessarily make it idiot music?
Peter Gabriel, the Cure, and 10000 Maniacs (just to pick 3 at 
random) all sold oodles of albums, and are on the radio pretty 
frequently, but I don't think you could accuse them of making 
boring music.  You can also pick plenty of examples of worthwhile 
artists who had one or a handful of mega-hits, and then dropped 
off the charts but still continue to make good music.  Thomas
Dolby, the Dream Academy, the Church, to pick 3 more examples. [1]
And you can pick still more examples of artists that never seem to
break into the mainstream consciousness.  The common theme is that 
these artists make thought-provoking, passionate music that matters 
to them, regardless of what the charts and sales figures say.

I think the main danger of a big-label contract is having your 
vision corrupted by all the money/advertising/sales/fame/business
executives/etc.  But the members of OtR seem too down-to-earth and
too passionate to let that happen.  Another danger is the fame
becomes an end in itself, so the band sticks with the same songs
that keep the crowds coming - witness all the 70's retreads out on
tour, playing the same songs they played 25 years ago.  I hope
Linford & co. can keep the fame at arm's length, and use it as a
means to allow further creativity, and to not stagnate if and
when the attention of the masses turns elsewhere.

I have two other comments: first, have enough confidence in your 
own taste to like what you like, no matter what the pop charts may
say.  Second, our advertising- and marketing-based society is in 
coolness overdrive.  But this is just a sham coolness, aiming at 
consumption rather than any real intrinsic value.  If you spend 
time trying to stay one step ahead of the general public, then you 
end up with not much more than the people who follow from fad to fad.  
It's better to just ignore all that noise.
Maybe those are really the same point.

After all those rousing words, I feel like I should throw in a "Fight 
the Power!" or two.  Anyway, OtR will always be cool, whether Casey 
Kasem plays them on American Top 40 or not.

So really, this was not specifically a response to Ysobelle, but
just general comments on some ideas that have been floating around
the list for the past months.  The phrasing of the questions just 
crystalized my thoughts.

[1] I'm worried now that this comment will be misconstrued.
    Don't interpret it to mean "Thomas Dolby didn't make many
    good songs", but rather, "Thomas Dolby made plenty of good
    songs, but only a few climbed the pop charts and can still
    be heard on the radio today."

Regards,
Mike.                                          don't say i never warned you
alchemy at crl_com                                   when your train gets lost