Who gives a shit?  This is news?

Pearl Jam was the leading act of the nineties.

Radiohead paves the way in the twenty first century.

Furthermore, Pearl Jam’s very first album was its very best.  And only hard core fans care about what the Seattle rockers are releasing today.

They’re gonna get a big check from Target.  Even though Best Buy and Wal-Mart are better partners and would sell more product.  Target will do a ton of advertising.  But despite the carpet-bombing hype, the album still won’t sell much.  More than the band’s recent opuses, but not much more.  Because, like I said, their music is WAY past its peak.

As for the fans crying sell-out…  Boofuckinghoo.  Recorded music is essentially a giveaway.  So the band is trying to monetize its efforts.  And has a big enough name that a big corporation, ignorant as to the band’s limited reach, will pony up some bucks.  Their kids need new shoes just like yours.

But wouldn’t it have been better if the band did something innovative?

Maybe JUST released the hundred dollar box, for fans?  That’s right, the hard core gets the CD, the vinyl, the MP3s and a signed book.  Hell, make it $70 unsigned, $150 signed.  The key is to get more from the hard core.

Pearl Jam will probably do this.  But Trent Reznor did it first.  Trent’s got the best marketing ideas.  If only his music was a bit more mainstream.

So, we’ve got no more heroes.  It’s sad, I agree.

You just can’t believe in anyone anymore.

Which brings us back to the great seer, John Lennon.

He only believed in himself, and Yoko.  You should do the same thing.  Your supposed heroes will let you down.  They’re no better than you are.  And now, with all this information on the Internet and the ability to respond/fight back, we’ve torn each and every star from his pedestal.  The only thing that remains is the work.

Funny how in a business that believes William Goldman’s mantra that nobody knows anything, Pixar is on a ten for ten streak.  Because the animation company isn’t about the sizzle, but the steak.  It’s not about the marketing, not about the penumbra, but the story.

It’s no different in music.  It revolves around the songs.  Shitty recordings of great songs will still break through.  Whereas no one wants pristine recordings of crap.

I haven’t liked Pearl Jam’s music in eons.  And despite the protestations of the hard core, almost no one else has either.  Instead of focusing on maximizing revenue, if only the band could focus on SONGS!  Create something as good as "Ten", even better.  Maybe they wouldn’t make more money, but wouldn’t they be more satisfied?  And wouldn’t this elongate their career?

Pretty soon, no one will want physical product.  These exclusive retailer deals are a last hurrah.  And I don’t give a fuck whether they’re done independently, or through a major label, bottom line is recorded music is the loss leader.  Yup, you make great records so people will go to see you live, so they’ll buy merch.  The key isn’t to get someone to buy your music and never play it (can you hear me Prince?), but rather to create something SO good, not only will fans play it, they’ll tell everybody they know about it.

If you don’t have ten tracks in you, record five or four or even one.  Quality is key, not quantity.  Acts record albums because of the price point, not because an artistic statement has to be an hour long.

As for Cameron Crowe shooting the commercials…  They’d probably be better off with Joe Pytka, someone who shoots commercials for a living.  Sure, Cameron featured band members in his movie "Singles", but when was the last time Cameron Crowe made a good flick?  He’s sailing on fumes too. They deserve each other.

Enough with the hoopla.  How about the work?  If you record a song as good as "Jeremy", I don’t care if you sell it on cassette tapes at Pep Boys, word will spread, people will hear it.  These old players just haven’t realized we’re living in the twenty first century.  Where something good can be known by the public in an instant, but something overhyped, more about marketing than music, can be almost completely ignored.

As for buying music at Target…  Isn’t that like buying weed at Bed, Bath & Beyond?  Or whips and chains at Toys"R"Us?  All those indie stores stocked every iteration of  the live show, and as payback…THEY GET FUCKED IN THE ASS!

Pearl Jam, the people’s band…

Utterfuckinghogwash.

No better than the mercenary Eagles.  But at least the Eagles were big enough to partner with WAL-MART!  And despite bloat, there are some fantastic songs on "Long Road Out Of Eden".  As for this new Pearl Jam album..?  I’d say I’ll check out the leak, weeks before the record hits the shelves, but who really gives a shit.

Meanwhile, if they don’t make the album available at iTunes, they’re truly assholes.  You fight Ticketmaster, but to line your own pockets you don’t make the album available where your true fans want to buy it?  Oh, don’t tell me it’s available at your Website…  You can buy tickets at the box office too, but most people USE Ticketmaster.

You see Pearl Jam is not only not blazing a trail, they’re running in reverse, refusing to deal with present day reality.

Only one tune.  Truly great.  Given away for free online.  THAT would have a greater impact on the band’s bottom line than this Target b.s.  Then again, Pearl Jam are Americans.  Loath to think long term.  But the band used to…  They used to do what was right…

No more.

Pearl Jam Confirms Target Tie-Up

Last Thursday night I went to Staples Center to see Fleetwood Mac.

I was truly excited.  Last time through, they killed.

But this time…it was a dash for cash.  Lacking the balance of the pristine Christine McVie, we were left with guitar solos and Stevie Nicks’ desire to be twenty five forever.

It’s a construct.  We won’t admit the band is over the hill if we don’t have to admit that we too are aged, that our bodies are sagging, that we’ve achieved only a fraction of our hopes and dreams.  We pay a fortune to be brought back to what once was.  But it can never be again.

Last time through, Fleetwood Mac Hoovered up every last dollar.  Played some markets three times.  So, what was the incentive to go to the show this year?  This a case of mismanagement.  Give us a marketing hook, play along with us.  Can’t they be promoting SOMETHING?  Can’t there be a story?  Of course, no one cares about an entire new album.  But can’t you give us A SINGLE?  How hard would it be for this band to go into the studio and cut a track?  If it’s creatively bankrupt it could even do a cover.  Hell, isn’t the best Stevie Nicks song ever a Tom Petty tune?

And I saw TP backstage.  It was a cornucopia of stars.  But although Frasier Crane was very friendly, the brush with greatness that touched me most was my encounter with Perez Hilton.  He was coming right towards me, I’d seen that he’d recently signed up for my Twitter feed.  What the hell, I’ll introduce myself.

And that’s when Perez said he’d signed up for my feed.  THAT’S WHY I STOPPED YOU!

But what stunned me was how NORMAL Mario Lavendeira was.  I expected a bit of flamboyance, a man detached from the everyday world.  But Perez had his feet firmly planted.  So we had a discussion.  I asked him about that ad he had on his blog last week, the one that was smack dab in the middle of the page, that was made to look like a story.  Perez told me he had no idea what I was talking about.  He had people who placed the ads for him!  And he’d whore himself out to ANYONE!

That was insightful.  So different from the older generation.  And it’s working for him.

Anyway, our seats were PHENOMENAL!  I was so excited.  But Fleetwood Mac was a bit flat.  But the rhythm section was PHENOMENAL!  Fleetwood and McVie were rock solid, a thundering bottom sitting under Lindsey Buckingham’s exquisite leads.  If only they played Bonnaroo as a blues band instead of reprising these aged hits.  "Oh Well" was fantastic.  Made one yearn for the days of Peter Green.  Lindsey’s got the chops.  Why is he working out for these fans who are coming for nostalgia, not music?  The younger generation still cares.  Believe me, if these three, the core, Mick, McVie and Lindsey, played the blues at festivals across this great nation of ours, they’d be seen as vital again.  Instead, no one under the age of twenty five was in attendance. Unless dragged there by their parents.

And that’s the ultimate question…  Are you a musician, or a star?

I’ve wondered for eons why Stevie Nicks dances like Elaine on "Seinfeld".  Now I know.  Her goddamn heels are so high that if she moves like a normal person, instead of with that arm shrug thing, SHE’LL FALL OVER!

It’s sad.  So she’s short.  SO FUCKING WHAT!  In a nation where we’ve got a black President, you’re still hiding your perceived shortcomings?  The future is about OWNING THEM!

Truly, I’d love to tell you Fleetwood Mac were great.  But it ended up being creepy.  Like watching a classic movie.  Except for the instrumental passages, the show didn’t breathe, it lacked life.

But the Refugees were FULL OF LIFE at the Getty Saturday night.

It’s a supergroup of never-beens.  Wendy Waldman, Cindy Bullens and Deborah Holland.  All with notches in their belts, but none of them household words.  But they decided to form a band.  To join forces to create something NEW!

They’re not trading on the old days, they’ve written new songs, THEY’RE STILL TRYING!  That’s the problem with so many of the has-beens, they’ve given up.  They don’t want to come down off their perch, they don’t want to take a risk.

It was a free show.  But that didn’t mean the Refugees didn’t fill the hall, didn’t get a standing ovation.  The major labels said the Internet would KILL music.  Just the opposite, technology allows everyone to make music.  But it’s extremely hard to break through.  And being musicians, I’m not sure the Refugees will.  They need a business mind.  Someone to get them a gig on Lifetime.  Or, as they desire, the cover of the AARP magazine.  Because if the boomers just experienced the Refugees, they could become the female Jimmy Buffett.

Sure, it’s about the songs.  But it’s also about the vibe.  It’s about the SHOW!

A show isn’t just standing up there playing calcified hits.  A show is its own entity, something BEYOND the record.  None of the Refugees songs will become hits.  Where would anybody play them?  But they service the act well.  Yet the glue that seals the deal is the stories in between.  About hot flashes, about post-menopausal Barbies, Ken with a combover.  There’s humor, but there’s also truth.

That’s what’s lacking in Fleetwood Mac, truth.  Stevie Nicks covers up her avoirdupois.  The act is opaque, there’s no penetration.  These are stars.  You get no access.  In an era where Perez reveals every facet of his personality and uncovers your warts too.

How about Stevie and Lindsey speaking about their animosity?  How about Christine McVie beamed in via satellite?  How about the texting on the side screens featured at a Taylor Swift show?

Image is no longer everything.  Because the truth outs.

The truth is Fleetwood Mac is creatively bankrupt, and won’t take a chance for fear of alienating their paying fans.

The truth is musicians even less well-known than the Refugees are packing up their gear in vans, starting at the grass roots level.  Will they and the Refugees break through?  I DON’T KNOW!  But is that really what it’s about?  Or is it about playing, the experience of being on the road, the band sharing one hotel room.

The apex has collapsed.  No one sells ten million records anymore.  The superstars are so worried, they’re just protecting what they once had and will never have again.  We’re starting over.  There are no rules.  You don’t need a hit, because your audience will probably never hear it on the outlets that make it so.  You need to win hearts and minds.  Middlemen are irrelevant.

Everybody’s reunited so many times that we’ve got no desire to see almost anybody get on stage and play their hits.  This business has been propped up by the so-called superstars for far too long.  Now it’s imploding.  THANK GOD!

The A&R man said I don’t hear a single

"Into The Great Wide Open"
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

That’s exactly where we’re going.  Into the great wide open.

Single-mania didn’t hit until the era of MTV, when everything became focused on the track.  You honed the music, shot an expensive video, rolling the dice, hoping that you ended up with ALL the money.

The labels say that MTV ended up with all the money, but if you’ve checked their ratings recently, you wouldn’t agree.  The numbers are positively abysmal.  And what’s the future?  More reality programming, competing with every basic cable outlet known to man?  MTV can’t go back to music, that’s something you see/hear on demand on the Net.  But the labels are crying.  They can no longer build superstars!

But what about the musicians?

It’s a golden era for musicians.  They’ve been unshackled.  They finally fit the description once again.  A musician is someone who plays.  Live and in the studio.  It’s a calling, not a gamble on stardom.  I’m not sure we’ll have stars in the future, a band as big as U2, but we’ll certainly have musicians.

I was reading about the cornucopia of efforts Elvis Costello has made/is making in today’s "Wall Street Journal".  The key quote is by Bill Flanagan, ironically employed by MTV Networks, hanging on to a job when the musicians he adores have jumped ship, expanding their horizons in the new world:

"’What seemed like career-wise counterproductive now seems pretty smart, because he has a tremendous live audience who never know what they’re going to see,’ says Mr. Flanagan. ‘That actually turned out to be a good strategy for the post-record company world that we’re entering.’"

Gets pretty boring paying a hundred dollars or more to see the aged band reprise their greatest hits.  Which is why ticket sales for Aerosmith are off.  How many times can a person go and see the same shtick?  Sure, by expanding your horizons you’re going to lose some of your live audience, but who needs those casual posers who probably weren’t even into your music the first time around, when it was relevant?

You can become a prisoner of your fame, locked in musical adolescence, or you can start experimenting, taking chances, driving towards fulfillment.  I mean how happy can you be playing the same riffs every night?  Sure, it pays the rent.  But is that why you got in the business?

Take a zero off of every number.  Your sales, your income.  Stop thinking about how to maintain your old stats and focus on being a musician.  Your core audience will follow you.  You may not be paid as well, but money isn’t everything.  Life is about that singing sensation you get inside when you pluck that note on your guitar, when you achieve something new.

Take chances.  Make mistakes.  That’s the only way you can continue to achieve greatness, that’s the only way you can truly stay relevant, that’s the only way people will care.

The Latest Reincarnation of Elvis

I hate to hype my own work, but I want to expose you to Keith Urban.

I got the one I love beside me
My troubles behind me
I’m alive and I’m free
Who wouldn’t wanna be me

That’s what music is supposed to do…  MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD!
I found out this podcast was up by researching myself on Icerocket (http://www.icerocket.com/)  Yes, I check myself out, don’t you?

Anyway, as soon as I heard the intro to "Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me" I told myself I HAVE TO TELL MY READERS ABOUT THIS!

If you’re a dyed-in-the-wool rocker, someone who loves classic rock but can’t find anything new to like, LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST!

I play not only "Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me", but "Stupid Boy"…  It’s like being jetted back to the era of 70s country rock, but the track isn’t aged, but positively NOW!  Be sure to stay until the end, when you hear the weeping guitar solo, with all the pain of the dissolution…

You can enjoy my ranting and raving, or excoriate it, I don’t care.  But YOU MUST check out Keith Urban’s music!

Go here: http://www.rhino.com/RZine/rhinocasts/

(If you’re on a Mac, clicking on "Download this Rhinocast" will start the track playing in Safari.  Or, you can hold down the Control key when you click and select "Download Linked File" from the sub-menu…)