Ok.  I'm having this obsession with the Aerosmith song Dream On.  I have a strange secret about this song that I cannot reveal completely, but suffice to say that I have certain knowledge of the song's history and inception through a bizarre series of incidents and I personally knew a guy who knew a guy.  That's all I will say about that.  

Also, after Sept 11th, my pal Joie Blaney posted the lyrics to this song on his blog, and him being a Lower East Side punk kind of guy brought I think a new credibility to it (I was like "oh yeah, that does have soul..."). 

I saw them perform it in DC with a good friend in 03 too...she gave me a free ticket and while buying an Aerosmith ticket would not be on my list of things to do, I thought they gave a great live show and certainly made the Stones look like rank amateurs.  

Some of you out there love them.  Some of you hate them.  I feel totally ambivalent about Aerosmith.  On one hand I think Toys in the Attic is a great record.   On the other hand, I think they are kind of bland.  On one hand, Cryin is a great song.  On the other hand, Dude Looks Like A Lady is one of the most annoying songs I can think of.   Anyway.  

So I decided to learn Dream On for my cover gigs.  But...you can't legally download the original version (from their 1st album).   You can't even download the first album on iTunes.  You can download the entire first album on Rhapsody for $9.99...but you have to buy the full album.  

OK.  Don't Aerosmith have enough money?   Didn't the original release of Dream On and subsequent album sales make them enough bread to offer Dream On as a .99 download?   I think this kind of thing sucks.  It must be nice to have millions of dollars and be able to extort people...however, in their defense, that is the way that everybody started to do it in the 70's - don't make a vinyl single, make people buy the whole album...now, however, there is a choice...and clearly Aerosmith's choosing to be greedy...even Metallica finally got off their high horse and put all their music on iTunes....

I do understand the business logic, but I hope the days of saying FU to your fans are hopefully over as the last big dinosaurs from the 70s and 80s begin to go extinct...that is such an insane decadent luxury that 99% of us cannot afford...I mght say "FU" to a fan but only if they want me to :-)  Or if you grab my mic without asking.   Back off!  lol

I also think that this just encourages people to go to Kazaa and get it for free.   Music has become The Man against the little people...with both established artists and labels banding together to form The Man...everybody pulling at the almighty dollar which is worth less and less...

so.  I will make money from playing Dream On learned from the live version which is everywhere (and, although most places I play are supposed to have ASCAP/BMI/SESAC licenses, I imagine less than 1/3 of them do...)...and with that money maybe I will buy their first record which is apparently "a good bar band record".   Giving something back so Joe and Steven can buy Ferraris for the kids.   Hopefully I can find it on vinyl.