Saturday, November 20, 2010

RELATED NEWS - LOKO'S, DENTED HEADS AND WOLF ROXON

You're running out of time! If you haven't Loko'ed you haven't lived.

Oh, and just for the hell of it...



Here's something from Wolf Roxon of The Moldy Dogs to balance everything out:

"In the early 1970s, rock and roll was dead. Everyone pretty much agreed with this premise. Ok, Led Zeppelin still rocked some arenas, The Stooges were in full swing, there was a 1950s revivals and even Dave Edmunds had a hit. But, before the internet, satellite radio, and cable tv, we depended on radio for our exposure to music. And it was pretty much devoid of rock and roll. Especially after the rise of disco, record companies were only interested in music similar to that currently on the top of the charts and were cautious about sinking money into 'developing groups', or to market outside of the mainstream.

"When we lived in Los Angeles, I spent countless hours of literally every day taking our demo tapes to the big record labels, then, eventually the small. In the mid-1970's the record companies would, for the most part, listen to your demos, or at least a song. We were rejected by all. They simply could not imagine a market for our music and they realized we were about as far as one could be from disco or even the overproduced rock they promoted...

Early punks with no dorky hair, piercings, or tattoos.
"Record companies invest millions of dollars into groups and like to know that they are marketable. They tended to pigeonhole you, that is, defining your niche and determining your audience. If you area an unknown doing something that's undefinable, you are useless to them. And that was the Moldy Dogs in a nutshell.

"When we signed our management contract for The Tears I asked our manager how they planned on 'selling us'. The answer: 'We consider you the next Aerosmith.' We couldn't think of one rock band we resembled less than Aerosmith. So, the pros are seldom right when they pigeonhole, but they have the purse strings."
Oh, and for the record, that Yaphet Kotto post was awesome.

1 comment:

Shelby Cobras said...

1) Has anyone else had the thought that now would be a great time to invest in like $2000 worth of Four Loko, and then bootleg the shit out of it in 6 months?

2) Has anyone else had the thought that the makers of Four Loko might be manufacturing this entire media scare and impending "disappearance" to boost the shit out of sales?

3) The dent in that guy's head is AWESOME!

4) Mr. Roxon's words make me feel even better that the big-money record companies are finally getting their comeuppance. An industry that shunned individuality and creativity for so long fully deserves what they're getting, and no matter how many midwestern housewives they sue for $1.5 million, nothing's gonna change it. I think we should all download the new Taylor Swift album today and give it to a random teenage girl on the street to celebrate.

5) Thanks for the Kotto kudos.