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October 14, 2009
Classic Rock Briefs For October 14, 2009
Brian May Hints At Queen on Rock Band
Brainy guitar man Brian May says that there may be a Queen version of the popular video game Rock Band at some point in the future.
"Yes we’re into it, I think it may happen," May said regarding the subject during a BBC interview.
Pink Floyd’s Gilmour To Receive Honorary Degree
Anglia Ruskin University has decided to bestow upon David Gilmour an honorary degree to recognize his “outstanding contribution to music as a writer, performer and innovator.”
The honorary doctor of the arts degree will be awarded next month, according to the Cambridge News.
Acoustic Innovation Keeps Jethro Tull’s Music Engaging
Iconic frontman for Jethro Tull, Ian Anderson is another aging rocker who is not quite ready for the rocking chair.
Currently Anderson is working his way through a solo tour that will bring him to the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore tomorrow night.
According to the man himself, “It’s a good idea not to expect anything. "We’re liable to do anything, so it’s a good idea to keep an open mind.”
With the introduction of classically trained violinists and new material woven into well-worn Tull classics, Anderson’s advice seems well worth any ticket holder’s consideration. Read more at the Washington Examiner.
September 10, 2009
Musicians Divided Over Music Downloads
Not everyone is easing into the digital age without a fight. Downloading music has been going on for years, some of it legitimate (think iTunes), but the bulk of it most likely not. Between torrents, file sharing sites and peer-to-peer, networks, one can presume that just about any album or track you can think of can be located and downloaded for free on the internet.
Whether or not this is a good thing is something that seems to have carved out a sharp divide between music makers themselves. There are those like Metallica that are not cool with the idea of fans downloading their music for free. There are probably countless other big names who feel similarly, and they do have a point. Who wants to work for free? Yes, in this case, that may be a bit overstated, since we know that the guys from Metallica are probably not hurting for money. However, it is their music.
On the other hand, we have people like Nick Mason of Pink Floyd fame who believes that allowing fans to download music is a good thing for artists.
“The last thing we want to be doing is going to war with our fan base. File sharing means a new generation of fans for us. It’s a great thing to have another generation discovering your music and thinking you’re rather good. File sharing plays a part in that, because that generation don’t do it any other way,” Mason is quoted as saying.
Reflecting a moment on that statement, it seems that those who favor the downloaders have a point as well. I have observed the kind of scenario that Mason eludes to myself, and Pink Floyd, ironically, is actually the group in question! A young relative I saw recently was wearing a Pink Floyd T-shirt, which naturally aroused my curiosity.
When asked about the shirt, he told me that he had downloaded some Pink Floyd music from the internet from a file-sharing site and realized “how cool” their music is. As far as I know the Pink Floyd T-shirt was purchased from a legitimate retailer, which I presume cuts the blokes from the band in on some of the action. Does is net as much as the sale of an album? I don’t know, but it was probably a sale that would have never been made at all if the young man had not downloaded some of their music.
Pink Floyd is no longer together as a group, as we all know. However, if they were, and they happened to be performing in the area, do I think there is a chance that this young fellow would be there? Absolutely. He considers their music revolutionary, and can’t say enough about it.
As for the future of free music downloads, it appears things may be heating up a bit on this front in the U.K. There is a new law being proposed there that would terminate internet service for those that are caught downloading music without paying for it. This is the issue that prompted the comments from Nick Mason and others who share his view on the subject like Ed O’Brien from Radiohead and Dave Rowntree of Blur.
It’s not too difficult to understand the opposition some artists harbor regarding the sharing of their music, especially those that grew up during a time when buying your music was the only way to get it. Sure, lots of people carted their cassette recorders to friends’ houses to make “bootleg” copies of albums for their own use, but there was a lot more time and work involved in that process when compared to clicking a mouse button a few times.
For now, there seems to be no way to stop file sharing. With many file-sharing sites located in other countries, it can be difficult for authorities to shut them down. It appears that lawmakers in the U.K. are considering the alternative approach of shutting down the downloaders. Whether or not measures like that are beneficial to artists will likely be the subject of debate for the foreseeable future.
The Times has more on this subject.
September 8, 2009
Music Video Games Take More Flack From Rock Legends
As the wildly-popular music video games Rock Band and Guitar Hero continue to sign new groups on to distribution deals, more classic rock luminaries are speaking out against them, saying that the games discourage young people from spending the time and investing the required effort to learn how to play a real instrument.
Most recently, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman have commented on the new generation of games.
“It encourages kids not to learn, that’s the trouble. It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument. I think it’s a pity so I’m not really keen on that kind of stuff,” Wyman said. For some young people
that may be true, but on the other hand, I do not think that those with a genuine passion for music will be satisfied with a game and a computer-generated audience.
Mason has apparently had his share of first-hand experience with the games and was dismayed to see his own children playing them. Sounding a bit more concerned about the whole phenomenon than Wyman, Mason says he was actually “irritated” by his kids’ involvement with the games.
“If they spent as much time practicing the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they’d be damn good by now,” according to Mason. He’s probably right, but the real question is, do his kids really want to be musicians or do they just enjoy playing popular video games?
On the other hand, Mason also admits that Pink Floyd has not ruled out the possibility of getting involved with a video game like Rock Band or guitar hero, and concedes that groups have to look at new ways of selling their music. One does have to make a living after all.
Mason sounds a bit melancholy about the days when the album was king, and I suppose it’s hard to fault him for that, since a lot of us have fond memories of that era.
“I’m of the old guard who are really sad about that, because I always liked the concept of the album – rather than just cherry-picking tracks – and also the business of the art work that went with it,” says Mason.
As you would expect, the makers of the games come to the defense of their creations, and claim that the games actually stimulate interest in music among young people, many of whom go onto learning how to play a real instrument.
I tend to agree with the game makers, as I have done in the past. I believe those that are destined to become musicians will soon put down the plastic guitar or step away from the fake drum kit to take up the real thing.
I suppose that the only definitive answer will be known sometime in the future. Perhaps some researcher can look back and determine if the number of musicians in countries where these games are popular decreased, increased or remained the same. Surely there are numerous factors involved, including population and the economy, but I suppose researches are paid to sort those kind of things out.
For more, visit the BBC website.
February 25, 2009
Step Out In True Classic Style
Considering the recent successful tours of classic groups like Van Halen, Rush and AC/DC, along with new tell-all books featuring behind-the-scenes tales of groups that topped the charts in decades past, it is clear that classic rock is far from dead.
Lately, more and more apparel manufacturers are getting in on the action as they realize the potential of classic rock merchandise to rake in the profits.
The latest big-name manufacturer to jump on the bandwagon is Converse, the company long known for athletic footwear that was bought out by Nike a few years back. The company is unveiling a new line of the popular Chuck Taylor sneakers that will feature artwork associated with classic rockers Pink Floyd, The Who and Ozzy Osbourne.
The Chuck Taylor series has been around for nearly 100 years and have enjoyed a recent resurgence in popularity among various well known musicians, which, of course, leads to their popularity among their fans as well. A trend that has not gone unnoticed by the marketing minds at Converse.
Depending on which report your choose to believe, some of new Converse line featuring the aforementioned groups may already be available, with more being planned for March or April. Converse also has plans for a line featuring Metallica and AC/DC scheduled for the fall. Prices are reported to be in the $55 to $90 range, depending on the particular style.
Despite the disdain some of the greedy suits in the music industry have for the recent popularity of video games like “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band,” there’s little doubt that those games are contributing greatly to the renewed interest in classic rock among today’s kids. To say nothing of digital downloads that make it dead simple to grab a hit track from the glory days of classic rock with the click of a mouse.
The genie is out of the bottle and the age of digital music is hear to stay, just like the VCR (which has morphed into the DVR) did back in the early eighties when so many movie executives had visions of the apocalypse bearing down on them since nobody would want to go to the movies any more if they could just load up a tape and watch E.T. in their living room.
Well, guess what? People do still go to the movies to enjoy the big screen experience and the popular films are still raking in millions, despite the existence of the DVR, DVD recorders and “pirated” movie downloads available on the internet.
I suspect we’ll see a similar evolution in the music industry. After all, musicians have to eat, too, and if they can’t make any money selling albums, they’ll probably focus more on touring and whatever other activity they can involve themselves in to put food on the table.
So far I have not seen too many fan-filmed concert clips on YouTube that I would consider hanging onto because they look or sound great, so at least the digital age does not seem to be threatening the live performance potential for working artists these days.
It will all be sorted out eventually and things like iTunes are probably leading the way and providing a few clues about how everyone will get their slice of the digital music pie, and probably have enough left to buy themselves a pair of Chuck Taylor Pink Floyd high tops as well!
October 29, 2008
Classic Rock Briefs For October 29, 2008
U.K. Supergroup May Be In The Works For 2012 Olympics
There is talk of a collaboration between some well-recognized U.K. rockers in honor of the 2012 Summer Games that will be hosted in London. The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Elton John are among the names being mentioned as part of an Olympic supergroup. Others mentioned as possible performers for the event are Phil Collins, Sting, Van Morrison, David Gilmour, and Jimmy Page. Full Story.
Ten Things You Probably Did Not Know About Pink Floyd
Mark Blake, author of Pigs might fly, the inside story of Pink Floyd, has taken a list of ten facts from the history of the iconic group and shared them with U.K. newspaper The Times. The most amusing tidbit might be the one concerning the “gift” that the group sent to the deputy editor of a newspaper that wrote a review of Pink Floyd’s 1971 album, Meddle, that the members of the group were not quite satisfied with. Blake’s book, from which these ten facts were taken, is available at Amazon. Full Story.
Can Kate Moss Help Smooth Over Ron Wood’s Family Problems?
As a close friend of the Wood family, model Kate Moss has been asked to mediate between Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood and his family. Wood has been estranged from his family since his decision to continue his affair with 20-year-old Ekaterina Ivanova after his recent release from rehab. Although Moss had been standing by the family in her opposition to Wood’s actions, now that his daughter is expecting a child, it has been decided to ask Moss to work towards re-opening the lines of communication between Wood and his family. Full Story.
