Before you slip into unconsciousness…

Yes, this week I talk about how "The Crystal Ship" hooked me on the Doors.  This podcast is all about their very first album.  Still their best.

And in listening to it myself, I realized if the band had licensed the tracks to corporations they wouldn’t mean the same to me.  Now they’re mine.  They remind me of a distant time, both light and dark.  Not some evanescent product.

As for forgetting a band like this…  Remember, their renaissance was spontaneous, BEFORE every classic rock act whored their tunes out to the man.  I went to see the Kinks at the Forum in 1980 and the music between the opening act, the Angels, and them was…the Doors.  That was twenty five years ago.  Their music has not been forgotten yet.  That’s one thing all the blustering execs and commentators don’t take into account.  If something is great, truly fantastic, it’s remembered.  After all, do we know about Michelangelo because he endorsed some gesso company centuries ago?  The Beatles have done essentially no endorsements, and it’s not like THEIR music has been forgotten.

You can listen or download the podcast from Rhino’s site: Rhinocast.

Or you can subscribe in the iTunes Music Store.  Just search for Rhino, click on "Podcasts" and it will come up.

OR, click on the link below, and if you’ve got a podcast-ready version of iTunes installed on your computer the program will launch and you can subscribe on the page that results (hang on a second for the process to complete).

iTunes

Now, once again, under the Rhino rules of the road I can only play thirty second excerpts, so don’t come down on me re the edits.

As for content…  I’m still feeling my way.  They call this ARTIST DEVELOPMENT!  If I were a recording act on a major label today they’d still be hyping the first podcast, trying to reach everyone with ears, and when they got to critical mass they’d call THAT artist development.  But artist development REALLY is continuing to create, growing, finding out what works and what doesn’t.  Or, in the immortal words of Tony Wilson, the key is to keep the band together till the second or third record, for it’s THEN, if you’re lucky, that they’ll write the legendary hit single.