The Weepies
I downloaded a sampler album from the "Vancouver Sun"
I think it was the Barenaked Ladies tracks that enticed me. I’ve got a special place in my heart for "Baby Seat".
But the folder sat on my desktop for an entire week until I decided to delete all the superfluous clutter from my computer. There were too many tracks to listen to from beginning to end. The only way I could avoid trashing all of them was to sample each cut in QuickTime to see if it was worth importing into iTunes. That’s how I discovered the Weepies.
You think you know a band because you read about them. But then you realize you have no idea what they really sound like. And do you really want to listen to a band entitled "The Weepies"? Sounds like something so indie as to be unlistenable. But that is not the case. The Weepies are exactly the kind of act I listened to in my college dorm room, that I purchased the album of when I was in law school. Oh, I bought Aerosmith and the Eagles too. But some of my favorite acts were those that seemingly few knew about, that I could go see in clubs and be whisked away by. I’m not sure I understand mass culture. I don’t want to be like everybody else. I want to maintain my individuality. When the mainstream and the hip merged for a while there, it was interesting to be riveted to MTV. But it seemed odd that little kids were aware and into the same acts as me. But when Judy McGrath wasn’t paying attention, when major label executives became inured to private jets, the scene fractured. Tech-savvy kids who wanted no part of a mainstream created their own scene. Rejecting the paradigms that those in power thought were immutable. Didn’t matter if the singer was good-looking, didn’t matter if the tunes fit any radio format, the only question was how did the music make you feel? And, if it made you feel good, you told everybody you thought was interested. And, this didn’t only include your friends in the dorm, but your high school buddies halfway across the nation.
Music used to be scarce. We’d pay for sampler albums. Warner Brothers had a whole cottage industry selling them. I discovered some gems alongside the obvious hits on the $2 double-packs
But now every act has a MySpace page. Music is free. It’s everywhere for the tasting. Where does one start?
One doesn’t start on MTV. Nor the radio. Many people are so stymied, they don’t start at all. Yet, the major labels want us to buy their records on faith, as if it were still 1973. No wonder they’re in such shit shape. They just don’t get it. Terry McBride and his Nettwerk Group get it. They assembled this "Seriously West Coast" sampler for the "Vancouver Sun". Maybe that’s why I checked it out. I trust them.
I remembered that the Weepies had worked with Mandy Moore. But even though she’s at the top of the airhead ecosystem, I don’t pay attention to her. She’s not about music. But it turns out Ms. Moore has good taste. Because the Weepies have something, their music is magical.
You don’t need a manual to understand it. You just have to hit play.
You’re probably not famous. You probably have more questions than answers. Maybe you don’t even like to go to clubs. But you’re here. You’re looking for your group, you want to belong. You want a girl or boyfriend. You want to share. You want to exult in the good times. And share the bad. What music accompanies this kind of life, your life? The Weepies.
I’ve got an interest in seeing Van Halen. They’re icons. But I’d much rather go to a club where I could SIT and revel in the Weepies’ music. That’s an experience I remember that seems to be gone. Whether it be at the Roxy or the Bitter End. Acts that appealed to our heads and hearts as opposed to our genitalia played on stage as we sat in our own little bubble, contemplating our memories, those already experienced and those that hadn’t happened yet.
Check this act out.
The song that was on the "Seriously West Coast" sampler is "Gotta Have You". You can hear it on the band’s Website,
The player is embedded in the page at the bottom. It’s not the first cut, but it’s there. Or go to their MySpace page:
You can’t build a wall around your act, exacting a toll for entrance. You’ve got to go out into the field and give people a taste. Maybe even give away your product in order to get people hooked, and allowing them to use this same unencumbered product to hook others. So you can build a fan base. A DRM’ed iTunes purchase stops with the buyer. That’s a mistake. That’s positively seventies. You’ve got to enable your fans. Don’t hire a street team that offends everybody it touches, make THE WHOLE WORLD YOUR STREET TEAM! Give everybody the tools to turn others on.
