Is it too late for a Police reunion?<\/p>\n
Genesis is one of the most revered bands of all time.\u00c2\u00a0 The PETER GABRIEL-led Genesis.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans wax rhapsodic about "Selling England By The Pound" and "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" in a way you can’t get ANYBODY to testify about the band’s hit-laden eighties records.\u00c2\u00a0 It took Peter Gabriel a while to eclipse the work he did with his former mates, commercially anyway, but with his 1986 album "So", which included the iconic hit and breakthrough video "Sledgehammer", Peter became a household word.\u00c2\u00a0 Not that Genesis slacked, the Phil Collins-led outfit immediately released the surprisingly good "Trick Of The Tail" and then went on to have the aforementioned hits.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s time for a REUNION, wouldn’t you think?\u00c2\u00a0 There’s been a constant buzz online.\u00c2\u00a0 Genesis has laid fallow, Gabriel’s last album was substandard.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s time to get the old boys together and rape and pillage!\u00c2\u00a0 But that’s not what’s happening.\u00c2\u00a0 Genesis is going out alone.<\/p>\n
Rumor has it that Gabriel just won’t commit.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s not ready yet.\u00c2\u00a0 And that might be true, but the real story is Michael Cohl ran the numbers and he found out NOBODY WANTED TO SEE THE OLD GENESIS!<\/p>\n
You know Cohl.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s the guy who guarantees a zillion dollars to the biggest acts in the world.\u00c2\u00a0 They then go on to play arenas, with Cohl skimming a profit on top of his almost guaranteed sell-out numbers.\u00c2\u00a0 This is how he does it with the Rolling Stones.\u00c2\u00a0 U2.\u00c2\u00a0 Even Barbra Streisand.\u00c2\u00a0 Peter Gabriel-led Genesis is in that league, RIGHT?<\/p>\n
Wrong.<\/p>\n
Cohl isn’t stupid.\u00c2\u00a0 Before he lays out tens of millions of dollars in guarantees, he does research.\u00c2\u00a0 And his research told him that although there IS demand for the old band, it’s relatively low, they can’t play arenas at a high ticket price, whereas the PHIL COLLINS GENESIS CAN!<\/p>\n
Credit MTV.\u00c2\u00a0 Although the Phil Collins Genesis had its first hit with "Follow You, Follow Me" from 1978’s "And Then There Were Three", they became UBIQUITOUS when MTV banged one video after another.\u00c2\u00a0 You remember the one with the puppets…\u00c2\u00a0 The SONG you can’t remember, but you do recall Ronnie Reagan in bed and the water.<\/p>\n
Funny, the acts BROKEN by MTV, they can barely tour.\u00c2\u00a0 But those with cred BEFORE video play, they’re now icons.\u00c2\u00a0 It seems that MTV latched on to them, boosted them, as opposed to ANOINTING THEM!\u00c2\u00a0 The old bands already existed, they brought their cred with them.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas the new bands…\u00c2\u00a0 What did they have anyway?<\/p>\n
Of course there are exceptions.\u00c2\u00a0 Especially amongst the earliest crop of MTV acts.\u00c2\u00a0 But really, the big sellers on the road are those that had traction before MTV infiltrated so many homes.<\/p>\n
So are we ever going to get to see the original Genesis, the REAL Genesis?<\/p>\n
I’m starting to doubt it.\u00c2\u00a0 For the same reason we may never see the real Pink Floyd go on the road.\u00c2\u00a0 You see, David Gilmour just doesn’t need the money.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, HIS outfit, sans Roger Waters, played STADIUMS!\u00c2\u00a0 He doesn’t need the MONEY!\u00c2\u00a0 And Phil Collins and Michael Rutherford and Tony Banks have enough money, certainly after this year’s tour, to decide it’s just not worth it to play by the mercurial Gabriel’s rules.\u00c2\u00a0 Why be beholden to someone who left you in the lurch, albeit three decades ago, to make LESS MONEY!<\/p>\n
Yes, it comes down to the money.\u00c2\u00a0 And in order to make the big bucks, you’ve got to ensnare not only the hard core fan, but the CASUAL ONE!\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to get ALL these people to come to the gig.<\/p>\n
Check the numbers.\u00c2\u00a0 Sting has sold more albums WITHOUT the Police.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, I know the Police was iconic in your life.\u00c2\u00a0 They preceded U2.\u00c2\u00a0 Back when you came of age, when you were in high school.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, you might have even seen them in a STADIUM!<\/p>\n
But almost nobody plays stadiums anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans don’t want to be treated that poorly.\u00c2\u00a0 And you want to be close!\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll pay EXTRA to be close!<\/p>\n
But you won’t pay to be close every week.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe a couple of times a year.\u00c2\u00a0 The Stones are not going to live forever, you want to see them before they die.\u00c2\u00a0 But who else?\u00c2\u00a0 Do you want to pay to see Yes in an arena?\u00c2\u00a0 How about Boston?\u00c2\u00a0 How about REO Speedwagon?\u00c2\u00a0 You remember "Hi Infidelity", with its iconic "Keep On Loving You". That album sold more than any CD THIS year!\u00c2\u00a0 Do you want to see THEM?\u00c2\u00a0 They broke big the same year the Police became ubiquitous, with "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic".\u00c2\u00a0 Or maybe we should go to ’83, when "Every Breath You Take" dominated.\u00c2\u00a0 Quiet Riot was number one just after "Synchronicity", do you want to pay $250 to see them?\u00c2\u00a0 How about Lionel Richie, whose album followed theirs?\u00c2\u00a0 Shit, almost no one cares about his new record…\u00c2\u00a0 And then there’s Huey Lewis, his album "Sports" dominated\u00c2\u00a0 in the middle of ’84.\u00c2\u00a0 Right before "Born In The U.S.A." had a seven week run.\u00c2\u00a0 People still want to see Springsteen, don’t they?\u00c2\u00a0 Well, certainly not in stadiums.\u00c2\u00a0 As for arenas at Stones prices??\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t think so.\u00c2\u00a0 And Bruce’s reign was followed by Prince’s "Purple Rain" soundtrack.\u00c2\u00a0 Prince did come back.\u00c2\u00a0 But now he’s playing a club.\u00c2\u00a0 He had to give away his record.\u00c2\u00a0 And prices were not exorbitant.\u00c2\u00a0 He got one go-round, hell, he played some cities twice.\u00c2\u00a0 But the Police PRE-DATE Prince.\u00c2\u00a0 And I don’t think a ton of African-Americans want to see the Police.\u00c2\u00a0 And they never had a reputation as a KILLER live act.\u00c2\u00a0 Good, but not SPECTACULAR!<\/p>\n
Sting does pretty fine on his own.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s far from desperate.\u00c2\u00a0 And he’s proven that just when you count him out, he writes a catchy hit.\u00c2\u00a0 He seems to have the ability in his DNA.\u00c2\u00a0 And he seems to play by his own rules, take his own counsel.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t expect STING to sign with Clive Davis and cut standards, just to be viable.<\/p>\n
So, Sting doesn’t need to do it.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s far from desperate.\u00c2\u00a0 How badly do you need to see the POLICE?<\/p>\n
Does your wife want to see the Police?\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, she loved "Every Breath You Take", but the earlier records, the ones YOU loved, appeal more to guys.\u00c2\u00a0 Are you gonna be able to get a group of your fortysomething, your FIFTYSOMETHING buds together on one night to go?\u00c2\u00a0 Are their spouses going to LET THEM?<\/p>\n
And the longer a band waits, the less viable touring becomes.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly, the seventies are A LONG TIME AGO!\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, the Police BROKE in 1978.<\/p>\n
I think a Police tour would do well.\u00c2\u00a0 They were established before MTV rocketed them into the stratosphere.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And "Synchronicity" was the number one album for 17 weeks!\u00c2\u00a0 But this was before the SoundScan era.\u00c2\u00a0 And there are no Police albums on the catalog chart, not even a compilation.\u00c2\u00a0 And no Sting records either.\u00c2\u00a0 And no Peter Gabriel or Genesis discs either.\u00c2\u00a0 But there IS a Stones album.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, people still care about the Stones.\u00c2\u00a0 But you’d be surprised how few care about so many of the other "superstar" bands.\u00c2\u00a0 At least enough to pay a fortune to go see them.<\/p>\n
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Is it too late for a Police reunion? Genesis is one of the most revered bands of all time.\u00c2\u00a0 The PETER GABRIEL-led Genesis.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans wax rhapsodic about "Selling England By The Pound" and "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" in a way you can’t get ANYBODY to testify about the band’s hit-laden eighties records.\u00c2\u00a0 It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-shows","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s96vPs-reunions","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}