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Looper's Delight
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I don't think the term "out" that we're talking about
has anything to do with "outsiders" in this sense. "Out" has to do with
whether something is no longer being designated by (often self-appointed)
critics as "hip", "cool", or otherwise interesting to them - and since such
people always have some claim to the pulse of the public, we should all bow
down, admit how right they are, and follow their "hip"
example/instructions. Bullocks! Bolshoi! (expletive debated
but deleted)
I think that in many cases the wonderfully vague (and
to middle-of-the road folks, often discouraging) term "new music" was only used
after the established music biz' sales/distribution centres' dismal failures at
attempting to categorize this broad creative swath we and others continue to
paint. I think a great example of this is the migration path seen in
mainstream record/cd stores that Eno's material took after his departure from
Roxy Music:
Stage 1: no appearance
Stage 2: Experimental
section
Stage 3: Electronic
section
Stage 4: New Age section (this was
around 1987)
Stage 5: New Music
Stage 6: Rock A-Z (after the
cigar-chompers figured out he'd produced U2)
So which of the above actually applies? I think
the above is more reflective of the increasing lack of comprehension on the
part of sales/distribution people - and their cheerleaders in the press
- than anything else. If Eno had produced Nirvana as well, they'd
have probably shifted him over to the frigging "Alternative" section. I
really hate having to come up with a label for what I do - and having settled on
"Ambient-situational" I now find the so-called rules of definition changing yet
again. Oh, if I had a drum n' bass behind it, it'd be "Hard Trance"
huh? I suspect the answer for us as artists lies in being true to our own
muses and music, and while keeping an eye on what people are calling it, not
allowing such corn/pigeonholing to divert or distract us from What We're
Doing. If we're interested in Marketing and Sales figures getting bigger,
that's a separate issue altogether.
And now the separate issue.
On the rec.music.gdead newsgroup (Grateful Dead,
remember them?) (sarcasm inserted for the under-25 set) someone had been told
how Phish was a bit like Little Feat and Frank Zappa combined with the Dead's
jamming sets. (Whether or not this is true is irrelevant) He'd gone
to the store and looked up Little Feat, picking up the few collections that
exist, but was obviously daunted a bit by the huge numbers of releases (thank
you Ryko!). So he went out to the newsgroup and asked for suggestions from
the denizens therein as to which Zappa albums were the best for him to start
with.
Believe it or not one wag, who'd probably never heard
Zappa beyond the sparce airplay he got, popped up with a comment along the lines
of "well, if you're interested in a guy who eats sh#t on stage..." I
therefore had to take issue and set him straight about where THAT so-called
legend came from (many consider John Scher's thug "security" men to be the
source, after having been dressed down by FZ at a show - a kid lit up a joint,
only to be pounced upon and beaten by two of Scher's nazis, whereupon Frank
stopped everything on stage and yelled at them to let him alone). I also
recalled the Alice Cooper "chicken incident" - the time someone in the audience
threw a poor pullet up on stage, Alice tossed it back into the crowd, and the
band watched in horror as the crowd tore the bird apart. The next day the
papers read "Alice Cooper beheads chicken" - and worse - and he got a phone call
from Frank, wherein he asked "Did you do it?", and advised "Don't tell them you
didn't." The publicity seemed shocking to most at the time, and boosted
sales through the roof. Most Alice Cooper listeners knew this hadn't
really happened, but it sure made for fun boast-sessions, if not also a means to
shock people who probably would never listen to him anyway. Hell, I
remember when all one had to do to get certain people to leave a party was play
Pink Floyd, and tell them you were doing so (these folks didn't know much more
than a few pieces anyway).
So what's my point? Just about any publicity is
good unless people believe it enough to stop you from creating your art.
Again, Perception is often Everything to most folks. Ask Eminem - he
popped a few Smints while walking onstage at a show, and the next day the UK
press was going on about him popping Ecstacy in front of his fans. To
quote Foghorn Leghorn, "It's a joke, Son."
Stephen Goodman
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