A passion for music

This morning on CBC radio they were talking to an individual who is in her 80’s and was going to be attending tonight’s Lady Gaga concert in Edmonton. 

What blew me away by the interview was not the fact that this 80 year old lady was going to a Lady Gaga concert, it was the way in which the lady talked about Lady Gaga and her music. I can’t even think of the right words to use to do justice to the level of which this lady expressed her complete and totally respect and love for Lady Gage and her music. You could hear the enthusiasm and genuine love for Lady Gaga and her music in how she describe why she was a fan of Lady Gaga.  Her passion was so strong, it got me rethinking my own personal views one Lady Gaga and her music. 

Listening to this individual talk about her love of Lady Gaga reminded me of similar conversations I’ve had over the years with some of our "prior generations" about music. Music consumption is supposedly at an all-time high. People listen to music a lot more than they used to, simply because they can access it in many different ways easily where ever they are. Regardless of how high usage rates are what I’m noticing is disappearing is that true passion for music which I heard from the Lady Gaga fan today. That unwavering engagement that touches individuals on an entirely different level than today’s generation who tend to treat music as a disposable commodity and conveniences.

We need to recapture that feeling, revive what it means to experience music. Thanks to the individual on the radio this morning, I see why Lady Gaga reaches her audience on a different level than a lot of other artists today. Take away her extreme behaviour and antics and the musician, the showman, the entertainer is still there reaching audiences members on a level that many believe is lost on the disposable music generation. Prior generations excepted more from our entertainers, they held them to a strict level that many of today’s artists cannot even come close to attaining.

We need to reignite that passion for music, hold our artist to a standard that can't be reached by buying the latest piece of recording equipment. Take some time and talk to an 'older' generation about music. Ask them what they love about music, about the music they grew up with and the impact it had on their lives.  Their stories alone will probably have the potential to fire up your own engagement for music and maybe even influence your next music purchase.  

Patience

It is hard to be patient in the music industry. I often see artists get frustrated when a single they released doesn't have an instant reaction or just isn't taking off as quickly as they want it to. This is a natural reaction, but a lot of times I feel an artist doesn't really give their own song a chance.

Music and Program Directors I interact with will tell you it can sometimes take them a month or two before they 'put some proper ears on a track'. There are always some exceptions, but even the ones who listen to stuff right as soon as they get it will tell you they sometimes get overwhelmed with the amount of new music they receive.

For the artist it can be hard sitting, wondering and waiting. Over the years I've tried explaining to some of these frustrated artists that they have to try and be patient, but have found it hard to be convincing without a concrete example of a song taking a while before breaking at radio.

I now have that example.

KONGOS "Come With Me Now"

This single recently jumped to #54 on Billboards Top 100 chart.

The single was released in 2011 (video was posted on YouTube on July 31,2012)
Now I'm not saying you have to wait 2-3 years for a single to take off, but I am saying its worth giving the single more than 2-3 months at radio before giving up and thinking you need to change tactics and release a new single. If you believe in the song, push that song and give others an opportunity to believe in it too. 

Throwback Thursday (video edition) - Galactic Cowboys

One song that is considered one of the hardest tracks to find is by Sons Of Thunder called "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful" (I couldn't even find a clip to share in this post)

Who's Sons Of Thunder? They briefly appeared in the movie Airheads, in which they performed the above mentioned track, but what many don't know is that the band was actually a real band called Galactic Cowboys. 

There was a time around 1994-5 where Galactic Cowboys were one of my favourite bands. During an era where 'alternative' was dominating the airwaves, these guys were still doing metal. 

Where Are They Now Wednesday - Nick Walsh from Slik Toxic

Where is Nick Walsh from Slik Toxic?


Nick Walsh was at Canadian Music Week last week in Toronto, performing as part of the Metal On Ice show. A show featuring a variety of Canadian Metal singers, including Lee Aaron, Darby Mills (Headpins), Brian Vollmer (Helix) and Carl Dixon (Coney Hatch).

Nick is also fairly active with his band Famous Underground. 

SoundCloud Changes

So SoundCloud is making some changes. 

I've always been a fan of SoundCloud and like all things, sooner or later you have to update things and change things up. Will this have any major impact on the users? Probably  a lot of complaining from those who don't like change, but sadly to there is probably a large handful of artists with music on SoundCloud that won't even notice the changes because they uploaded their music and have not gone back to SoundCloud since. If anything, I think SoundCloud should go through and clean out old band profiles from artists who haven't logged in, in the past year. 

Wondering what I'm talking about? CLICK HERE to see the article on some changes SoundCloud will be implementing. 

American Woman went #1 today in 1970

Today in1970, The Guess Who was #1 in the US with American Woman 

Here's The Muppets' version: 

Throwback Thursday (video edition): Fight "A Little Crazy"

Throwback Thursday Video Edition: Fight "Just A Little Crazy"



It's kind of hard to tell in this video, but if you look closely you will see Steel Panther's Satchel (AKA Russ Parrish while in Fight).

The band actually performer this song acoustically on Headbangers Ball. If you listen carefully you can hear the host say at the beginning of the video that they're going to "try and start having live performances on the show and what better way to start that than with Fight!" Playing acoustically? You want to start having bands play on Headbangers Ball and the first one you have on you have them do an acoustic version of the song...