More signs of the impending apocalypse: *We’re bombing the moon, *Singing pepperoni pizzas (this is particularly disturbing), * Slankets for dogs. While I have not been busy sizing up Cash for his fuzzy short-sleeve blanket (although he would look good wearing that over the coming snowy winter), but I have been writing, recording, and painting. I ended up writing another new song and recording it immediately (which is nice) titled bad luck charm. It is another one of the “HBO wallpaper” bluesy/pop acoustic driven songs that I have been recording. Although they aren’t all of the “True Blood” soundtrack sounding ilk, there has been an acoustic blues theme running through the alt-rock/alt-pop/and alt(gasp)country??? (think: early seventies cool, not modern day schlock).  I recently returned from my third recording sessions at In the Pocket Studio in beautiful ....Sonoma...., norcal.  We have been working in short bursts of time so the producers (Gregory Haldan/Jon Chi) will not have a chance to get sick of my bs. Seems to be working too cause we’re already scheduled to record for the forth time in early nov., that should/could be the final tracking session for this record, then we would be on to mixing; but you never know how things will go ‘till they go. In any case we have nine songs now in various states of readiness. At this point I am trying to stay in reality (a stretch I know- Holli stop ....ur.... snickering) and focus in on getting eleven songs finished. That means I will have to chose the final two songs and cut the other 9 or so for now. One song that will probably make the cut is roundabout turn (played at most of my shows this year in wine-soaked ragged form) I have an idea on how I want to approach that one; people seem to like it and I think it will turn out alt-country-cool.

One of the reasons that I am able to get these songs recorded is the generosity of the painting raffle ticket holders. Without the $ from these tickets, and from the crazy people who just straight up give me cash (WOW!), I would not be able to get all of this work done without the usual help of a record co. This is an on going experiment and it seems to be working so far. I have been working on the painting in-between recording sessions and the other thing I do- life. It is now in a more laborious stage where the progress is a bit slower because I have to wait for small amounts of paint to dry before I can apply the next small amount of paint (arrrrg…) but it’s getting there. A wild pack of 13 year old girls walked by it and declared it “kewl” even, so I know I’m on the right track. I feel fairly confident that I will be done by mid dec. barring any unforeseen issues (a pack of 14 year old girls walking by and hemming/hawing perhaps???...no, NO! It can’t be…) In any case, the raffle tickets (to win the painting!) are still available for the low low price of $40 per ticket. And as most math whizzes will tell you, the more tickets you buy, the better your odds of winning the painting! You can make your ticket purchase via PayPal by sending $40. (per ticket) to painting@joiecalio.com (please get in touch with me so Cash and I can send you your sweet confirmation letter). Or you can make arrangements via the message board on myspace.com/xlevitationcult (even though this isn’t an x levitation cult recording, it’s a fresh new joie calio solo recording) or my joie calio facebook. I’ll be posting new pictures of the paintings progress in the next few days (on fB) as well as pictures from the studio. Thanks again to all who have been supporting me over the past couple of years in my solo endeavors. I think you will enjoy all the new music I will have available for you in the near future! And for all you dada fans… there have recently been some rumblings in the dada universe- stay tuned.

Cash has made his presence known to me tonight via a dense cloud (probably a by product of the brats ‘n tots he has been eating). Maybe the doggie slanket isn’t such a bad idea……………………j

MICHAEL JACKSON

I was in LA last Thursday June 25^th, which was a date I already had burned in my brain because it was my mother’s birthday, when I was looking for a parking spot in Studio City. I like to run the AM news radio (1070-980) when I’m in LA because it keeps me up on all the goings on, lets me know where not to drive, and gives me a bit of a nostalgic rush from the old days of city (if you can call it that) living. I had an hour to kill in-between meetings so I went to one of my favorite places to buy wine (name???) which is also conveniently across the street from Aroma Café where I could get a rad smoothie on this hot ....Los Angeles.... afternoon. As I was slowly driving on the side street where I could usually score a parking space, I heard a news bulletin that said something like this…”We are getting word of some sort of activity at the rented house of Michael Jackson. There was word that someone was gravely ill.” It was at that moment that I thought to myself “He’s totally dead.” From that moment the reports were coming in about every minute with some new detail. This was very early on, before anyone really knew this was happening. If you were watching CNN or some other TV news you would not have been in this loop. I found a good parking spot a block and a half away from the wine store and pulled in. I opened the windows, killed the engine and opened the door just enough to hang my leg out while I listened to the news flashes come with increasing intensity. It was like a game of Tetris that was stacking up faster and faster right before your eyes. ”We are now  getting word from TMZ that Michael Jackson was found by the paramedics at his home unconscious and not breathing…” I just knew where this was headed and before I could think of calling my friend Holli, it happened… “TMZ is now saying the fifty year old King of Pop is dead…” Wow, that was big. Even though it didn’t seem that far fetched to me, we are talking about a guy who I figured was taking a certain amount of scripts and liked to sleep in some sort of hyperbolic chamber. Still, this was no ordinary famous person falling off into the unknown quantity off death. This was one of the biggest pop stars of all time, maybe the biggest. I called Holli and started yelling in her machine so she could hear me from the pool. When I told her to turn on the TV and that Michael Jackson was dead, she yelled loudly “WHAT!!!!” I’m not a big fan of TMZ, I think their TV show is lame and scummy low. But, I totally get that they now have this city wired. They have moles all over the place and get news before a lot of other regular news outlets do. And are not afraid to “Decision ..2000”.. it CNN style. Most other news outlets are gun-shy because of that whole ....Florida.... thing with Gore and dick-head. So my take on them under these circumstances was that they might just have it right. I started texting everyone I knew that MJ was dead. Most replied with “what???’ or “WOW” or “who’s MJ?” I went into the wine shop and told them what I had heard, I got a semi stunned reaction. Then when I went to Aroma Café, which was packed as usual, I could tell no one knew. They had ESPN on and I looked at the crawl screen but saw nothing. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be the messenger when suddenly a guy behind me said “Hey, my friend just heard a weird rumor that Michael Jackson is dead.” I noticed a sense of “no way…” or “right, whatever…” falling over the room. It was then that I spoke up and said “Yep, it’s true” I got the room totally freaked and in disbelief. All cell phones came out and were being hastily dialed for more info about this impossibility…

I remember the night I first heard “Billy Jean”. I had just finished the absolute worst trouncing ever given to me by the opposite sex. I was engaged to be married at a very young age to someone even younger. We had moved in together and were planning our wedding and future lives together, or so I thought. She dumped me the day after Christmas and that sent me into the biggest tailspin I have ever been in. When the dust had settled between the two of us (but not for me personally- I had much more self destructing to do) I had only one last task to perform, go pick up my records from her at her new, and very cool apartment in a groovy part of Hollywood (we had been living in a not cool part of the “Valley”). She pointed to a stack that she had prepared of my LP’s and then dropped the needle down on, what was then, a brand new record. “This is my favorite song right now.” Then I heard the sound that would haunt me for years to come. The phat synth bass riff wafted through her small apartment and I was bitch-slapped by a pop song masterpiece. I hate that she knew about that record before me but that was par for the course for her (her dad is a famous TV actor and she was always one of the “kewl kids”).

A year or so before that Michael Jackson came into the record store I was working at in ....Sherman.... Oaks. It was the beginning of his “mask wearing” phase. Marci, a cool punk rock girl, had the presents of mind to have him sign a copy of “Off The Wall” for her. I was not as smart.

Fast forward to now. There are a lot of people who are commenting on Michael Jackson’s place in history. Was he the greatest artist ever? Was he the most important black man of the last 50 years of pop culture? Was he the most influential artist ever? Music is a funny thing, just like other artistic mediums, everyone has an opinion on it, and in certain aspects of a conversation regarding music, no one is right or wrong in their opinions. But if you study it for your life’s work, just as when someone studies film for their life’s work, your opinion might have an elevated relevance and credibility. In my humble “I’ve studied music my whole life” opinion, I think Michael Jackson was a true genius. He was a full blown cultural icon. I happen to love The ....Jackson.... 5 and think that “Off The Wall” and of course “Thriller” are brilliant records. I don’t really feel that way about some of his other works but THAT IS STILL MORE THAN MOST ARTISTS. Was he the most influential artist? Well it depends on who you think is being influenced. As far as the amount of sheer listeners and real fans, he is as big as it gets so that is a lot of people that are being “influenced” by his music. As far as influencing the actual music lexicon, he has influenced many with his style and there are arguably many artists that were sent in a new direction when they heard ”Off The Wall” and for damn sure “Thriller”. But was he the most influential musician ever? I suppose one could argue, whether you like these bands/artists more or not, that bands like The Beatles (NOTHING has been the same since they hit the rock-pop scene), The Sex Pistols (made all the huge corporate rock bands of the day like Journey and STYX irrelevant in a matter of weeks and helped set in motion a new wave of music for the next decade), and more recently Nirvana (it was as if they walked up to the chalk board and erased everyone’s name off the list of what was cool and made them not cool- bye bye hair bands), and Sugar Hill Gang or maybe Grand Master Flash (who ever you want to place as the first big influence at the beginning of the Rap/Hip Hop movement that is truly the biggest game changer of the past thirty years and rules to this day), were all more influencing to the shape of music to follow them. One could say that Michael’s music wasn’t that type of influence, but that doesn’t make those other artists better, just possibly more influential in changing the direction of music to come. What he DID influence, and more than ANY other musician- EVER, was the art of dancing while singing. He was the Sex Pistols/Beatles/and Elvis all rolled up in one. He made it “not good enough” to just spin around and sway together in time while you sing. He took all the street moves of the day and put a nuclear war head on them, then destroyed everyone. Yes, I can remember where I was when I saw “THE MOVE”. There hasn’t been a new dance move to this day that was more jaw dropping than the moon walk. That is straight up BAD ASS.

The other BIG influence he had was to break the hold that white rock/pop bands had on MTV. There weren’t any black artists (that I remember- Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” was about that time) on MTV. Not only did he get on, he blew the whole thing wide open with the “Thriller” video. I remember waiting around a ..21”.. color TV for the highly anticipated first airing of that epic video. But for my money, “Beat It” was THE VIDEO. I love that video and that was also a song that you would have to give him credit as a first big cross pollenization of R ‘n B with hard rock. That is a classic and it is a high water mark in music history. So, as far as videos go, he was a pioneer and as such a huge influence on that genre.   

Michael Jackson was an all around incredible performer. He is of SUPERSTAR ilk and will never be less than that. I put him on the top shelf with The Beatles, The Stones, Elvis, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Hank Williams, Billie Holiday, Led Zeppelin, James Brown, etc., but for different reasons than maybe a Miles Davis. Miles was about accelerating in one very pure aspect of music. Michael was about being an all around entertainer dynamo. He was bigger than life. As far as influencing people of the world go, I don’t know if there is anyone who is more loved around the world for his music.

There will never be another Michael Jackson and the world of music is worse off because he’s gone.

I guess I don’t give a damn about where other people or even I put him on the musical totem pole. I was sad when I heard the news and I am sad that he’s not coming back. I can promise you that I will be rocking out to a lot of his songs this holiday weekend………………………….j

I’ve been writing new music for my next “joie calio” solo record that will be a heavy on the acoustic, singer/songwriter affair. I really want this grouping of songs to reflect the spirit of what has been going on sonically at the house concerts that I have been playing over the past year (and getting ready to play in the coming summer!). It’s looking like I will have the help of a couple of people in this quest that WILL NOT have the aid of a record co. It looks like I will have the assist of producer John Baxter, who was recommended by a close friend, and has shown a much defined interest in helping me to make this the record I should be/want to be making at this stage in my career (just what stage that is tbd- but it ain’t my first). As I just stated, this will be a very stripped down recording, some songs just guitar and vocal. It is also looking like (trying not to take anything that is in the future for granted here) I will have the help of my good friend Gregory Haldan, who has done some work on my last 2 records (joie calio “the complications of glitter” + X Levitation Cult “happiness in hell”). He is someone who brings a lot to the table and is a BIG supporter of my music. With Baxter and GH (as they are known to me) in my corner, I will have everything I need to get the job done right, as they say. Presently I have 11 songs done, and 2 more that are in the works and almost finished. Some of these are definitely right from the calio farm and will seem like an obvious progression. Some songs have more of an acoustic blues (as Baxter had coined them) sound. My goal is to start with around 14/15 songs and get it to 11/12. This will probably be a download only kind of thing since there is no record co. funding the project.

Which leads me to this- I will be painting one large-ish sized picture on canvas in acrylics over the summer, in between shows. I will post progress pictures to my sites (xlc/dada/fb) so you can see how it develops. Starting with my first house concert, I will be selling raffle tickets to win this painting. Right now I’m thinking $40. per ticket with a goal of selling 50 to 100 tickets. All of this money will go straight into the recording fund that a record co. would usually be paying for. The more tickets you buy, the better your odds. I will also paint a couple of small sized runners-up paintings. The large painting will be based on the face that I have been drawing for years (a la the last large painting I did for the east coast charity a few years back) and which is now tattooed on quite a few people around the country (cool). I think this is a good way for me to raise funds and give something back at the same time, I hope you agree. I will have a way to buy tickets online as well as at the upcoming shows, I'll keep you informed on how that will work. Speaking of the web, I am planning on putting my sites together, so you can access all of the music sites (joie calio/xlc/dada) in one spot. Sounds obvious and easy but I am a musician (not a doctor, Jim) so- not easy for me.

I hope to see you at one of the upcoming house concerts or at any of the club shows I will be performing at this summer! And... if you are interested in hosting a house concert, please get in touch with sam (samiam- who rocks btw!) and she will hook you up.

ps…. to K and P over at S/F- can we pick it up just a bit…please?     

Working on songs 11 and 12 now; getting closer to the coveted 15. These songs will all stay far more acoustic in their final state of being than either XLC or dada songs end up. I usually start all of my songs on an acoustic guitar (mostly after hearing something in my head) and then they would get fleshed out with other instruments either at a band rehearsal or in the recording studio. This time I will be keeping them simple, restrained; closer to the original thought. It’s not like I haven’t tried to keep certain songs “stripped” in previous recording sessions, it’s just not as easy as you might think, not to try everything that comes into your head when you’re in the studio with all of that cool gear- “…think of the mathematical possibilities Max.” This time I will have as a goal, to keep the finished songs as clean as possible without compromising the sonic qualities, and song idea. In other words, certain songs will still need a small bit of rhythm, or some melodious over dub to get the balance right; and some will just need voice and guitar. I’m REALLY looking forward to making this record (not sure if I’ll actually make a physical CD or not yet- might just keep them as downloads). In the meantime, I am currently getting my live shows, either club dates or the now cool house concerts, booked for the coming summer- look for the dates and times on the X Levitation Cult website or myspace. If you are interested in hosting one of these house concerts, or just want to crash one, contact Sam (samiam) on the XLC myspace home page and she will hook you up. If you are interested in facebook, I have a joie calio fb page that you can peruse after a few drinks for a laugh. I’m currently investigating ways of raising a small bit of capitol for the recording sessions in the form of things to sell at the shows (t-shirt? Old gauged -too small for me now- plugs from the past?? Worn out shoes???) I could be persuaded to do a large painting of my (not-poker) face that I do (caliograph?) a-la what I did for the charity gig a few years ago. They take a lot of time so the price to time factor would have to work for me- whatever. I’m looking forward to the upcoming months of work (and fun of course) and I hope to see as many of you as possible this year……………………j

I am a bad myspacer. I sometimes wish that I was one of those types who is always updating their myspace, my facebook, my non existing twitter, etc. but in the end I am an artist who goes through fazes where I am motivated to write publicly, and other times I write privately- ie: songs. I am currently writing songs for my next “joie calio” solo cd. So far I have 10 songs written and I am aiming for around 15 to get 11. I promise that I will spend more time updating when that sort of thing moves me because I do think it is important to stay in touch. Also, if you contact me via myspace or facebook, I will respond- me, not someone else (unless I unleash Holli on you again which would be a favor to you cause she kicks ass). The songs I am writing are more of the singer/songwriter variety. They will be more congruent to what I do at the house concerts. Speaking of house concerts, I will be playing quite a few this summer and I hope to see you at one of them. On a sad note, the Ferrari’s are sucking this year L………………………..j

At 5:45 am the morning of my flight to Norfolk Virginia (via Chicago) I looked out of my still drawn Levolor style blinds to see if the impending snow storm had shown up in the Puget Sound region yet. All I saw was a slight flurry and nothing sticking to the pavement. That was a good sign for me, my mind was put at ease. I lifted my semi packed black bag to see if it felt like 50 lbs. yet. Moving a few chords, pedals, and 2 bottles of red wine around to fit (tetris style) for the long weekend journey. I had 2 house concerts to play, as well as an in-store visit. The first was in the beach-side town of ....Virginia Beach..... The next day (Saturday) I would be flying up to New Jersey, specifically ..Cherry Hill... After making my patented oatmeal with berries and raisins, and lattes for the house, I looked again out the window at just about 6:15 am. “Holy…” the snow had begun to come down in earnest and was building on my very steep down-hill driveway. I did not feel like putting on chains that morning so I went into overdrive to get the hell out of the house, and get on the road to sea-tac airport. I figured the roads outside of our immediate neighborhood wouldn’t be as bad as our local snow piled suburban asphalt. I crammed the Gibson j-45, housed in a gigantic pain-in-the-ass case, into the back of my too small VW Jetta (with broken radio/cd player). The snow went into F-U mode and started kicking ass. I said goodbye in a grumpy huff to all at the house and made my way out of the driveway. I backed down the steep slope and started to slide to the street. I got off of the brakes to let the wheels roll which gave me a better shot at keeping me and the Jetta off of the neighbor’s lawn. I continued out of our leave-it-to-beaver boring cluster of houses to the main road that would lead me to the I-90 freeway, which I felt would surely be a better drive as they probably salted or sanded or sugared or whatever they do in the east of downtown Seattle suburbia that I call home. As I slowly drove up to the roundabout (traffic circle in east coast vernacular) I noticed no on-coming traffic which made my entrance a less stressful affair. I needed to go into the roundabout and do a full 270 degrees of travel to make what effectively was a left turn onto the main road out of town. Sounds easy right? I have done it hundreds of times before since they added the traffic cop with no pulse a few years earlier. I made it past the first 90 degrees of the circle and turned to continue on to my pre-destined exit. I turned the wheel to the left and noticed the part of the scenery that I usually see in my peripheral side vision as I make my way around the circle, was quickly taking up my whole field of view. I was sliding straight ahead into a non-drivable part of the cement circle. I quickly tried to correct and steer into it but no change in trajectory (how much were those snow tires again?). I slammed into the short curb- hard. “God damnit!” Another car slowly drove past me, I didn’t look to see if I knew who it was. I threw it in reverse and pulled over at the local grade school to survey the damage. I got out still cursing the soft white peaceful frozen flakes of love that taunted me as they fell from above, bouncing off of my face. I looked up front at my right tire which took the full force of the blow. I had already called AAA 2 times this week for a flat tire, and for locking my keys in my rental car in Hollywood the day of the Oscars where I received a statuette for biggest dork from out of town. I didn’t see any damage, none. I couldn’t believe it. I laughed and got back in and gave the Jetta dashboard a love pat. I slowly moved on down the road back to the roundabout, this time crawling at a frozen snail’s pace. I triumphantly exited the proper outlet and moved towards the airport. With no radio for npr or music, I was left hostage to my tired mind. A tune came to me in the form of a bluesy romp that had the refrain “lord won’t you keep me on that roundabout curve/ I hit the brakes, drove it straight on through.” I kept singing it so as not to forget it, all the way to the car park near sea-tac, twenty-five minutes from my home. After getting to the airport and pulling my tickets from the machine at check-in, I used the receipt for the extra baggage charge (arg!) to write down a few lines for my new tune. At least I would get something for my troubles. Fifteen and a half hours later, I arrived in Norfolk (Notes from Orbitz sent to my Blackberry: delay, delay, delay, delay, delay). ....

The house concerts were both a total success. I had a great time meeting new people and seeing even more friendly faces from other XLC or DADA shows. I also did an in-store visit to a VERY groovy store in Cherry Hill NJ called The Woodstock Trading Co. www.woodstocktradeco.com  This store sells rock ‘n roll memorabilia as well as trinkets to make your own cool jewelry creations (plus tons of candles, clothes, pre-made jewelry, incense- has she peppermints too?). The store is run by the unimpeachably charming “Mom” who has jumped the top spot as one of my favorite people. The store is hand painted outside and features a large wood-carved Grateful Dead dancing bear out front to greet you. If you want to find something related to the greats of rock ‘n roll like pint glasses with the Beatles LP covers, or a Ramones belt, or Rolling Stones magnets; Mom is your go-to person. At the Saturday night show in ..Cherry Hill. I was surprised by the hosts (Tim, Michele) with a cake that replicated my red Jerry Jones bass- down to the last detail (fuck-bush). AMAZING! Thanks to H and Co. in VA Beach also for their hospitality and to T and M in NJ for their outrageous gifts. Thank you everyone who was at the three events for your support and love and for those who missed these shows, you missed the debut of one of my new songs for 2009…lord keep me on that roundabout curve…  ....

.. ..

        Being a kid in the seventies was obviously different than it is today.  Other people will tell you all about the statistical differences but I cannot help but notice one change in the social landscape: Kids do not care about music or musicians the same way that they used to.  At an early age, say ten to fifteen years young, you just don’t see the urge and the fantastic, over the top passion that kids used to feel towards musicians, songwriters, bands, or the individual great artists because of their artistic feats; what they like today is famous people. You can still find people who are passionate at an early age about music now, but it is becoming less and less the norm. These days, most people like artists the same way they like little chocolate doughnuts. It’s no big thing, not supernormal-hyper-religious like it used to be. The artists aren’t the thing- it’s the money honey, the fame and fortune, that’s it. That’s what kids want. That’s why a show like American Idol makes so much sense to kids; instant stardom is business as usual.

        Lives aren’t being changed en mass when certain artists release their latest music (not entirely dependant on the listener I know- read on). It sounds sort of weird now but that used to happen. There were records that literally changed the world of music, and sometimes the world itself, overnight.

        It’s also different now for the artists. It seems to me that the biggest draw now for most aspiring musicians is the money, not the art. And who can blame them? They’ve been systematically trained to be this way. The “major” record companies, the one’s who have the most money (although that is changing every day) and have traditionally signed the bulk of the artists, sure aren’t doing anything to help cultivate the artists. Even they used to have compassion towards the artists and would help nurture them by giving them time to grow. Some even took it further and gave them several years to bloom.  That’s because the business used to be run by people who actually loved music, which means they took an interest in the artist, imagine… THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE LIKED THE MUSIC! Okay, they loved making the money too, but they did the two in concert.

        Not any more. The music business is now mostly in the hands of people who don’t give a shit about art, or developing an artist. It’s not that they’re bad people; just that they got really good at growing the golden egg, and stopped caring so much about the growth of the goose. They’ll tell you its just business, which it partially is, but there are many components to the music business.

        Unfortunately now for everyone, the people in the accounting offices, the ones who have been running the show, didn’t turn out to be very good at the music business game. Even though they were focused almost exclusively on making money, and yes they were making loads of it, they missed the atom bomb about to drop on the music business that was right there on their desks; they got spanked by the Internet. And before you knew it, ladies and gentleman we’ve got fucking ..Three Mile Island.. right here, right now.       

        This lack of artist nurturing, over the years, has changed the way bands write and play. There’s less need for an entire album of good, or God forbid, great music. That isn’t what has been required of the bands from the record companies anymore. They just need one song they think will get on the radio. Two is better and three is best, but a whole CD of great music isn’t really what they’ve been asking for.

        They’re looking for “radio friendly” songs that will help radio stations attract a particular age demographic which will, in turn, help the radio stations get the biggest dollar value for the advertisement times, the time in between the music, that they sell to the companies who want to advertise their products on these mega money making radio stations, to the previously determined age demographic. The radio stations have learned, that by having a very limited or “tight” rotation of music on their stations, they can hone the age demo down to the fucking Nth degree. Then they can, in turn, ask for even more money for their ad times because the target audience is so well defined that the companies selling their product will be assured that the right pair of ears is listening to their happy jingle. “Johnny won’t have zits today-because he uses Zit-A-Way…....LA.. ..LA.... ....LA.. ..LA...., la la la…”

        All of this aggressive style of marketing products over the radio had given more power to the record companies because they had the honey that draws in the bees, or more importantly, the zity bee’s money. This put the “major” record companies, the richest of the rich, in a position where they could not help, because of greed, but become more aligned with radio’s needs. They helped by putting pressure on bands to have shorter songs that would get the job done quicker, not let the attention spans of the audience be challenged, and leave more time for the precious commercials that made the radio stations so much money.

        Wham Bam Thank You Mam! 

        Why would the record companies care so much about helping radio stations earn money? Because, that ties directly into how many “spins” or plays they will get on the radio stations, the key component to a hit record along with listener feedback or requests, which, in turn, leads to CD sales or downloads(the kind you pay for, not steal), their one and only goal.

        And then huge companies like Clear Channel, one of three companies that own most of the radio stations in the U.S., were allowed to own as many stations as they like, instead of only forty the old law of the land (they now have hundreds and hundreds), not to mention owning a big chunk of the concert venues and advertising companies (Park Place and the Boardwalk can’t be far behind…hey, is that a monopoly joke?), the inbreeding and the money-grabbing by the big boys had risen to an all time high. YEE-HA!

        I think what all of these things have done is water down the music being made by a large percentage of musicians and lessened the importance of the bands making the music. Fortunately, there are still a few artists bucking this trend of homogenization and crap pedaling, but not nearly as many as there could be if we would have stayed on course with caring about the growth of artists.

        Isn’t it weird how people don’t really know who is who any more in the modern pop/rock bands? You used to know most of the names of the people in the bands because the actual personalities, not the modern fake cookie cutter kind, were so strong that they tied directly to the overall vibe and image of the band- an image that was built up by writing and recording music, and then playing lots of concerts. All of those efforts were then written about in music magazines, and then galvanized by word of mouth. It wasn’t an instant image that was just whipped together by some record publicity department. You couldn’t help but know who John Lennon, Keith Richards, Keith Moon, Robert Plant, and Joe Perry were, and what band they belonged to back when they first started kicking ass.

        Money has always been a part of the equation (duh), but now it all starts and ends with the Benjamins, my friend. I know I wasn’t thinking of the money until I had to start paying my own rent. That wasn’t the prize my eyes were on; I needed to learn how to play and write the songs that would let people connect to me the same way I connected with the artists that mattered to me, and I really don’t think that made me special or different or anything like that, it was just the way it was, for most of the people who were INTO music, at least the ones that I knew. I wanted to be able to DO what they were doing, not just cash the checks they were cashing.

        Where has the big pack of great artists gone? What happened to the crop of kids coming up who wanted to dedicate their lives to creating the songs that would save our collective souls? Maybe because there are so many different genres of music on the scene nowadays the great pool of artists is being diluted, and they are all being scattered throughout the musical spectrum so it’s not as obvious as it used to be when you were either rock n’ roll or R & B, or… maybe they just aren’t coming.

        A very good friend of mine has said to me that this phenomenon of mass-bland talent is MTV’s fault. They made the image “The Thing” instead of the music and took the musician’s eye off the ball. Maybe he’s right. Or maybe it was just another nail in the coffin of greatness, along with the over-commercialization of the music business.

        Or maybe I’m paranoid. ....

        I respect anyone who can make a dent in the music scene; it is a very hard business to be in.

But I BOW TO GREATNESS. I cherish great art and great artists and ultimately hold in the highest regard the people who give their lives to the pursuit of what can be such a thankless profession.

        Name names you say? Let’s see. I guess I could fill pages with bands from the sixties and seventies, but how about a very short list, not all- just a few, in no particular order, of one per centers:

        “Drum roll please…”

        Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Elton John, Todd Rundgren, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, James Brown, Carol King, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Chuck Berry, Howlin Wolf ( those two were way before my time but I don’t care damn it, they’re in), Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jim Morrison, Otis Redding, Duane Allman, Pete Townsend, Eric Clapton, Dave Davies, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Bob Marley, Jeff Beck, Joey Ramone, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Jerry Garcia, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, Freddy Mercury, Lou Reed, Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Steven Stills, Graham Nash, Peter Gabriel, Jimmy Webb, Donald Fagen, Walter Becker, Stevie Wonder, Greg Lake, Chris Squire, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Joe Perry, Steven Tyler, John Lydon… just to mention a few. None of these people were in it just to make a buck, except maybe John Lydon, but I think he became interested in the art of it all eventually. Either way if you are the leader of The Sex Pistols you’re on my list.

 ....

        “Is that all you got punk? I’ve got a new program that does all that and lets me watch some trippy light show while it’s playing, with a push of a button. Top that retro fucker!”

        “Hmmm…”

        It’s all about the fame and fortune now. The person with the most money, plushest condo, fastest car, biggest SUV, and most popular reality T.V. show wins, not the person with the best songwriting ability and the most passion for a song. The people who would sell their souls for rock n’ roll are almost all gone. The great ones seem few and far between to my eye. Now you sell your soul for the money only, who cares about the quality of the actual art. The bar has been lowered y’all. Good is good enough, there’s no need to strive for greatness and originality.

        Fuck it, pay me sucka!

        But then again, art is subjective, isn’t it? Yes, but even with all that subjectivity, or maybe because of all the subjectivity, if we’re not careful we’ll be headed for a world where music will be made by machines, not actual “feeling” artists letting you into their world, one that you can place yourself in and maybe get a feeling of belonging when you’re in times of need. In the future, when people feel lost and unsure of themselves and their future (sound familiar?), and all they want is to be able to find refuge in the words of a favorite, or better yet, a new artist; will they be there?

        There is a difference between music that lets your body free, and music that saves your soul. Both are good. Both are necessary. One is a harder gem to mine.

        People truly benefit from words and music that are written from the soul of an artist. That won’t/can’t, or is going to be nearly impossible to happen when all or most of the world’s music is made by soulless computer programs that make music writing a push button affair. 

        And I’m not talking about, or dissing the artists who nowadays are using machines in an artistic way. I’ve got nothin’ against that. In fact I think it can be kick ass. What I’m saying is, in the future, that kind of artistry, with or without the machine, might not be taking place. There will be no need for human passion and creativity in music because the people won’t demand it because they won’t require it, they won’t recognize it, they won’t crave it, they won’t desire it, and someday, they won’t need it any longer. They will have been systematically weaned off of it. The music made by the soulless machines (tucked away in the basement of what used to be a great record company) will be good enough for people to have playing in the background of clubs, cars, neo reality digital time tubes, and even (gasp!) elevators.

        Want something new? No problem. Just push a button and the machine will do the rest. It’s all been pre-programmed, and pre-approved, just for you and your listening pleasure, no- your listening experience. It will randomly make something up a billion times over. The artists and rock stars of this future will be the technicians, the software developers. Think of the touring possibilities, the concert T-shirts with software writers proudly sporting their slide rulers on the front, and displaying the latest code on the back.

        “Now that’s exciting!”

        Fanzines with all the latest gossip about which programmer is having cyber sex with the new hot chip maker will be at every check stand in every grocery store. And of course, the latest smack from all of the digital guru’s will be inside for you to enjoy.

        The musician/artist as we know it today will have gone the way of the horse and buggy, the twenty five cent candy bar, and the big cell phone. Or, maybe I’m just paranoid. The big cell phone could make a come back.

.. ..

Watch for flipping ballots on touch screen machines.

So, I have been informed by one of the smartest people I know, JT, that the facts re the abortion rates are that they have been declining since 1990 according to the CNC so that would suggest that they did not go up during the Bush years. But as I said to my good friend JT, that wasn't what was driving my vote, it was an aside for those of you who do vote just on that issue (which I don't personally think is a good strategy to choose, but that's just me). What about my other possible strategy, the IQ test? Well, it turns out that W's IQ isn't as low as you might think. So people with moderately high IQ's can still send scores of Americans to their doom for no good reason. Then the absolute killer for the high IQ theory- I was reminded that Nixon had the highest IQ of any president, so I'll throw that test to the side and go with my gut and say that I have a horrible feeling that McCain will take over where W left off, and then throw gas on Bush's fires of war. M is from a military family- that is what he knows how to do; there's no doubt in my mind he's a hawk. I'm afraid bombs and bullets will be the hammer of choice for him when it comes time to "fix" things to the tune of a Beach Boys song (the fact that he ruined a Beach Boys song might actually be enough for me not to vote for him). And Sarah P will be right behind him with her high-powered rifle, locked and loaded. High IQ or not, neither one of the R's leave me with the feeling that they could really handle this thing with the talent, skill, and caution that the job requires. On the flip side, my gut tells me that Obama does have the right kind of strength and intellect that the job demands. As far as I'm concerned it isn't even close on that score.

No matter who you vote for, do yourself a favor and be sure that the person you choose is what is showing up on the screen!