John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

A thought on being a producer

"I often say to people that producing is the best paid form of cowardice. When you produce things you almost always get credit, if it's a good record, but you hardly ever get the blame if it's not."
- Brian Eno 

[This quote comes from a new interview with Eno on Pitchfork]

Stop Making Sense after 25 years (and in Blu-Ray)

I had one of those "25 years? Really??" moments today, when I read about how Stop Making Sense, the 1984 Talking Heads concert film, is being gussied up for a Blu-Ray re-release. (Rave review of the transfer here.) I'm with those who put at the top of the concert-film heap; even now, there's nothing like it, with the stunning musical performances and, especially, how Jonathan Demme shot it.

I saw it several times when I was working in Ottawa between 1985 and 1987; the Bytown rep cinema, then in Vanier (and a short walk from our apartment) seemed to play it at least once a month. How popular was it? We, and many others, got up to dance to it. I have a copy on DVD, and if I play it now, it's almost because I want something to listen to while I do the laundry and that kind of thing. But it's still worth watching, from beginning to end; the end, in fact, is a bit of a payoff, when Demme finally reveals the unseen audience at the Pantages theatre in Los Angeles, who are shown to be as sweat-soaked as the band itself. Small wonder.

Here's Once in a Lifetime, a good sample of both the look and sound of a terrific film.

Overhauled design at CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3 has updated its design. It's cleaner, although it's still a bit harder to navigate than it should. (Try clicking on a permalink.) 

Here's a guide on how to get the most out of the service, which allows for customization, playlists and other fun stuff.

Tommy flashmob in San Francisco

One of the best memories I have of a visit to San Francisco 15 years ago was seeing a touring production of Tommy at the city's historic opera house. I came across this video today that brought back that memory: a flashmob that formed in August in Union Square to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Who playing Tommy at the Woodstock festival. The event was sponsored by Wolfgang's Vault, which is full to the rim with great concerts and such.

The kid and the iPod: 'I've been dragging all my life'

We had a moment of  transition in our house yesterday: I formally gave my son ownership of my old iPod Nano. My wife gave me a new one last year for Christmas, so my older one wasn't getting much use. Moreover, Martha and I have noticed that Nicholas is starting to get a lot more interested in music.
So, it seemed like a good idea to let him listen to his own music, at least around the house.

He, of course, was thrilled. And so were we, when we saw him on the living room couch, crading the thing in his hands, his toes wiggling and head bobbing to whatever it was he was listening to. 

To get that point, though, we had to put some tunes on the Nano. But what, exactly, does our son like?

To help set things up, I sat down with him on the couch with my laptop, and set up a playlist for him in iTunes. I would play a suggested tune, and he quickly took on the air of a Roman emperor, with a thumb up or down to determine what headed to the folder. (One surprise: a Branford Marsalis tune, which apparently reminded him of Bleeding Gums Murphy.)

Eventually, being a nine-year-old, he wanted to do all of this by himself. I said, "Let me show you how to drag and drop a song." His reply? "Dad! Dad-Dad-Dad-Dad ... I've been dragging all my life." His hands were gesturing as if to say, "Scram."

So I did, and will be curious to see what music turns his crank from hereon in.

John Lydon, and why he berates rebellious kids

John Lydon is reforming PiL, a.k.a. Public Image Limited. In a piece published in today's Guardian in London, the expat Brit and punk founder comments on Youth of Today:

On a recent visit, he says, he berated some schoolkids for throwing stones at passing buses. "Younger people at the moment are very mouthy and aggressive," he complains, oblivious to the irony. "You're all terrified of your own youth. You're not allowed to give them a clip around the ear and send them home." But weren't people scared of him in his youth? "Mmm. That was the power of words, but this lot use violence."

A thought on Muzak

"I worry that the person who thought up Muzak may be thinking up something else."
- Lily Tomlin

Five-fact Friday

Back-to-school sales have reignited the advertising wars for computers. Apple has been continuing its "I'm a Mac" campaign, which is credited with rapidly increasing the Mac share of the market. Last year, Apple outspent Microsoft's TV advertising by 71 per cent; in the first half of this year, however, Microsoft has more than doubled Apple's spending on commercials, in an attempt to win back customers.

Ted Kennedy grew up in the shadow of older brothers who seemed far more destined than he to gain the public spotlight; he also grew up on the move, attending 10 different schools by the time he was 11 years of age. 

If the 2010 Ikea catalogue looks a little bit different, look closely at the flag on the front cover. For the first time in a half-century, the Swedish manufacturer of build-your-own furniture has stopped using a stylized and very familiar type of Futura as its font. Instead, it has customized Verdana, which font geeks like myself know was invented for use on the web. Why? Verdana can be adapted to other alphabets, and Ikea wanted a consistent look online and in print, all over the world.

Duncan Jones, who is earning acclaim for his new, 2001-inflected film Moon, was better known decades ago by another name: Zowie Bowie, one of a series of oddball names rock stars gave to their children. The son of David Bowie, he went by Zowie until he was 12, when he changed his first name to Joey, and later Joe. As an adult, he's been known as Duncan Jones - the surname matching David Bowie's original name, David Jones. 

Speaking of unusual names, there's evidence that having one raises the odds you'll wind up in trouble with the law. Check out a Freakonomics posting on that here. 

MuchMusic turns 25 ... very quietly

MuchMusic launched when I was in university, so I was a target demo for Canada's take on MTV. It was wallpaper television for a few years, although I'm hard-pressed to guess the latest time I watched the channel. For one, I'm older; for another, MuchMusic doesn't seem to be in the music business much.

MuchMusic is turning 25 on Monday, but with no fanfare. This Canadian Press video explains more ... with interviews that include Erica Ehm, the appropriately named original VJ.

Ellie Greenwich, RIP

Ellie Greenwich, whose fingerprints were all over many of the Sixties pop songs that millions of people can sing by heart - even if they never knew her name, died today of a heart attack, after battling pneumonia. She was 68.

Greenwich wrote or cowrote dozens and dozens of songs, like Be My Baby (see below), River Deep, Mountain High, Leader of the Pack, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), Chapel of Love ... the list goes on. Check out the list on her own site. She often collaborated with Jeff Barry, her husband at the time, and the songs were often produced by Phil Spector.

But Greenwich was a producer herself, not to mention a musician and a singer. She and Barry produced Cherry, Cherry for Neil Diamond; if I recall correctly, the released version was pretty much as they knocked it off in a demo session in a New York studio. A more polished session probably would never match what they got at the start. You can hear Greenwich's singing on the tune below. 

Greenwich was also an arranger; the familiar backing vocals of Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools were her handiwork. When Blondie was looking for an authentically retro feel for Dreaming, a hit single in 1980, they wisely recruited Greenwich to sing backup. Once you notice that she's there, you realize how much she adds to the song.

Greenwich was one of the inspirations of the character that Ileana Douglas played in Grace of My Heart (Carole King is another, more obvious one), a love letter of a film about the Brill Building days. Her songs also inspired a Broadway musical. I wonder how many people will be playing some golden oldies tonight.