Davy Jones' drummer has now joined Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams. Great group - really enjoyed them at Pocklington Arts Centre last week.
The original plan was to use the Lovin' Spoonful who were unknown at the time. Glad about that as they were later one of my favourite bands in the sixties and I still play a lot of their stuff, always reminds me of sunny summer days form some reason. Stephen Stills auditioned and was turned down. Don't know if he likes to be reminded of that. Peter .Tork had played quite a lot. Certainly didn't need the money. Wasn't a fan but they had some decent songs written by people like Neil Diamond who knew how to write. Behind the pop facade songs like Last Train To Vlarksville and Pleasant Valley Sunday had a bit of social comment not apparent to the teenyboppers who were too busy screaming at them.
Can't remember the year, but Bevan (who co-owned the ELO name with Lynne) sold his interest to Lynne. Presumably one of the conditions of the sale was to rename the band so it could be easily differentiated from the original line up members. for royalty purposes.
(Self indulgent and opinionated potential pseudo muso content...no need to bother reading if it might piss you off.) I think many people would agree, including many like yourself who didn't live through those times. Which is very odd if you think about it. There is no reason to think that either talent or passion for music should have declined after that period. Of course most of us will also have a special nostalgic love for the music of our own youthful years outside and beyond the more widely and generally accepted standards of excellence and longevity. So what has happened? I think it mostly boils down to the fact that genuinely widely accepted quality and innovation in music and all arts is not something that can be factory made, It has to come from a real desire of individuals and groups of individuals to create something new and something which in some way belongs to them. But the industry has now become so adept at spotting trends which may offer high potential for profit and to then appropriate them, repackage them, and sell them back to us at grossly inflated prices and with little concern for quality, innovation, or originality. Industry demands an homogenous and easily reproducible product. In fact I have little doubt that if they could they would rather just sell us endless loops of Sailing and cut out the messy and unpredictable process of creativity altogether. The classic example being the way punk was appropriated and repackaged by the industry before it hardly had a chance to rear it's (ugly ) head. Not original thoughts I know but often overlooked, especially by well conditioned consumers accustomed to buying whatever is currently being pushed hardest. (Other opinions welcomed. Spell checking, gratuitous insults and questions about my IQ or my temerity to even express an opinion ignored.)
As someone who works down south for one of the "big four" major record labels I have to disagree that the music industry is killing music. There's definitely a "sell, sell, sell" attitude in the industry but it's all subjective whether an artist is talented or not. Agree with some of your points apart from the creativity point. I work on album releases on a daily basis and the work that goes into a release is staggering (from production to release). Selling a pop album is a totally different ball game to selling a jazz album.
Thanks for that insider insight kirkellatiger. I wonder if you would agree about a tendency for a decrease in originality and the absence of any more emergent "new waves"'. I get the distinct impression that rather than new bands "paying their dues" and eventually obtaining success through gigging and a genuine growth of their fan base, the industry now quickly selects their one or two chosen new bands and promotes them above all others. The incessantly one sided nature of this overwhelming promotion of the chosen ones increasingly locking the door on any genuine grass roots developments. Which is I believe where all previous worthwhile new musical directions have originated. I believe this has negative and regressive influence on both artists and audiences. As with everything, I have no doubt that there are worthy exceptions. Can you foresee a possibility for any genuine new wave ever emerging again? We seem to have been waiting a long time.
That can be said of a lot of others. Diamond is another oldie still drawing the sort of crowds and making the sort of money some popular younger artists can only dream about.
Just kidding, equal rights for all young and old. Still not got round to watching PJ Harvey on I Player yet
Well worth watching. Should have been far higher up the bill imo. One of the most memorable gigs I have ever seen was her at The Adelphi in 91.
PJ Harvey at the Adelphi in 1991 and I could have gone... was still underage but had been to a few gigs, got a feeling I was more into metal bands at that point though. Think I was definitely listening to her by 1994,1995, 96's Dance Hall at Louse Point one of my favourite albums of all time
Actually, and this is from a mate who I worked with and was actually at the KC concert, he messed things up big time. He went to the stage, from his dressing room for rehersals in a golf buggy and on the way didn't like all the signposts for the seating. The type of thing that tells you the rows you are sat in, A, B, C whatever, so he had them taken away with the result that those who had paid for front seats didn't get them but others who had paid less did. Like I say this is from a mate who got better seats than what he bought, but I still say his singing was crap.
