Round and Round
What do they call them, guilty pleasures?
Recordings have finally been disconnected from careers. Did you catch Troy Carter tear SoundScan a new asshole in Friday’s L.A. "Times"?
You’ve got to read Bill Werde’s response, it’s priceless.
‘It’s probably smart business to make sure as many people as possible have your music so you can hook them on your songs and get them to come out and buy a concert ticket or T-shirt,’ he said. ‘That doesn’t diminish the artistic merits of the music, but the music becomes a marketing tool. That’s fine, but let’s not call that an album sale.’
What does that remind you of? THE ADMINISTRATION! You went to school, right. And when you questioned the way things were done, the response was THAT’S THE WAY THEY’VE ALWAYS BEEN DONE!
Huh?
That’s why I couldn’t wait to get out of school, why I don’t reminisce about being back in college, never mind high school, living under the thumb of a ruling class invested in nothing so much as its own longevity. That’s why I listened to music, to ESCAPE! And now these same pricks have invaded my haven?
Could it just be, Mr. Werde, that your chart has become irrelevant?
That’s Mr. Carter’s point.
And I caught all this while catching up on my reading, which is a Friday night pursuit. And perusing "Entertainment Weekly", which takes barely more than a nanosecond, once you start catering to expectations you end up with lowest common denominator tripe, that’s what killed radio, I come across a page entitled: "This Week In Wacky Covers".
And you could listen to Justin Bieber do "Let It Be", with Carlos Santana on guitar, a track made in marketing research heaven, but what truly intrigued me, the only cut I needed to hear, was the very last one, Ryan Adams’s cover of "Round and Round".
YOU REMEMBER ROUND AND ROUND DON’T YOU?
MTV was in one of its metal phases. And if I remember correctly, this was the video that featured Milton Berle, whose nephew managed the band. Ratt.
And the whole song rocks, in a sing-songy kind of way, the type of metal MTV specialized in, but then…
I knew right from the beginning
That you would end up winnin’
I knew right from the start
You’d put an arrow through my heart
A pre-chorus worthy of the Beatles, a change that endeared the listener to the song immediately.
And then came the almost equally hooky chorus:
Round and round
With love we’ll find a way just give it time
Round and round
What comes around goes around
I’ll tell you why
And like all classic tracks, no matter how many times you see the video, no matter how many times you hear the song on the radio, you can’t burn out on "Round and Round", which features some tasteful guitar work in the break to boot.
But you just can’t tell anybody. You harbor a secret crush.
And then RYAN ADAMS does a cover? Mr. Edgy, Mr. Credibility?
I expected it to be faithful. But immediately upon clicking I realized this was some kind of irony, Ryan slowed it down to reveal its essence, but then…
He hits the pre-chorus. And I’m dancing in my seat.
ROUND AND ROUND
LOVE’LL FIND A WAY
JUST GIVE IT TIME!
We’ve given this Internet thing ten years. And despite the complaints that it’s eviscerated the major labels, gotten rid of half of recorded music revenue, it’s LIBERATED MUSIC!
Suddenly everything’s up for grabs, there are no limits.
Write a song, record it, release it tomorrow.
Live albums are not studio-tweaked revenue generators at the end of a contract, they’re every gig affairs, if you play the audience records it, so you might as well make it available, and while you’re doing this, why not take a few chances, like playing your favorites, revealing your influences.
You see Ryan Adams might appear to take himself extremely seriously. But underneath he’s just like you and me. He laid on his bed watching MTV too, these are his influences, he knows all kinds of music, he LOVES "Round and Round". And just the fact that he performs it here endears him to me, he’s not about protecting institutions like Mr. Werde, he’s all about taking chances.
No one can have a hit anymore. Unless you make music without guitars, fodder for a Top Forty radio that appeals to the lowest common denominator. You can play that game, it pays immediate dividends if you succeed.
Or you can decide to go down the road less taken, you can be a MUSICIAN!
If you ever become a star, it’ll happen after years of work, when there’s suddenly consensus amongst the minions. That top down stuff rarely lasts.
So we’re in a new golden era.
You’ve got to decide. Which side are you on?
Do you want to play with the major labels and the Fortune 500? That’s your choice, but when the revolution comes, you’re gonna be wiped from the face of the earth, like all those hair metal bands on MTV when Kurt Cobain and grunge appeared. Only this time, it’s going to be worse, your crime won’t be solely big hair and makeup, but getting in bed with the rich oppressors.
There’s more of us than there are of them.
And if you truly want to succeed, you need us.
There are a few TV outlets, a bunch of radio stations.
But there’s hundreds of millions of us.
And we’re a really tough audience. We’re combing for not only talent, but honesty and credibility. That’s why we still care about Ryan Adams. Hell, his core audience couldn’t care less about "New York, New York" his one semi-hit. His core audience eats stuff like his cover of "Round and Round" up.
And this cover isn’t forever. It’s just for now, a lark. It’s transitory, like a kiss, a look.
But it means everything.
