Fresh Starts (Just Like) Starting Over

 

John Lennon: (Just Like) Starting Over
D'ville: Starting Over

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I am one of many SMM contributors and vısıtors with progeny who have once agaın “started again” in a new school year. In actual fact, my child has moved on to the next step: looking for a job in the dismal US employment market, having graduated from university. However, as for me – myself – I continue as an educator/teacher, who, like a number of your contributors here, has just “started again”, as we do every year.

When I first acquired this song, it was on a cassette tape. That was nigh on 30 years ago. That media eventually passed away:  I no longer have a viable cassette player, and I suspect that if I did, the actual (physical) tape would be riddled with dropouts – holes in the plastic media itself. Lucky for me (and you), I liked the “album” so much that I re-purchased it as a CD (paying yet again for something I had already bought once!)

What to say about the man (John Lennon)? Time moves on. Would that he were still here with us (as he should have been). His presence and vision would undoubtedly have made the world a better place.

What to say about this song?

When I heard the topic of this week’s postings, I almost immediately called up this song –seemed like a no brainer: Fresh Starts = (Just Like) Starting Over. What remains to be seen as I post this is whether the powers that be will let you hear my posted song.

I am going to duplicate my efforts by posting both the JL original as well as a reasonably close facsimile from SoundCloud. One (if not both) should work for you. Visit SoundCloud for more from the alternate musician(s): D'Ville out of Atlanta (it seems).

As for the song itself: Starting Over … John Lennon was speaking of relationships, not the school year, when he penned this. For him, it was a period of turmoil in his personal relationships. However, the sentiments/issues cut across employment and emotions:

“let’s take a chance …:” Who knows where it will lead? So true of our education as well as our adult dealings with the world.

Fresh Starts: The Rising

Bruce Springsteen : The Rising

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Today, on the eleventh anniversary of the September 11th attack, it seems apropos to offer up Bruce Springsteen’s poignant title cut from his 2002 album, “The Rising.” The song can be interpreted in various ways, but I’m certain that the profound lyrics deal with optimism even in the worst of circumstances. Springsteen’s artistic sense of purpose and vision always demonstrate strong wordplay, character development and idealism. And, nearly three decades after his masterpiece “Born to Run” was released in 1975, “The Rising” was the great rocker’s contribution of emotion and sincerity to help the Nation heal. The Boss’ first collaboration with the E Street Band in 18 years was an expression of hope and enlightenment. Springsteen’s noble statement in the powerful title cut gives us a definitive call for a fresh start.

To start anew requires a climb of many levels. In “The Rising,” a fireman is climbing a tower, but his calling is also an ascent to Heaven. When the chorus joins with “Come on up, lay your hands in mine. Come on up for the rising,” it’s a beckoning call for unity and a welcome to the other souls rising too. It’s a type of unity that the entire World needs. When Springsteen sings “Li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li,” I do believe that he’s referring to another form of blessed life, one to be embraced rather than feared. He reinforces that message with the line about “a dream of life comes to me like a catfish dancin’ on the end of the line.”

Springsteen, the profound storyteller, takes a tragic event of infamy to make a triumphant statement about overcoming death and rising to life on another shore. It’s also a call for awareness of the chain that binds, the sixty-pound stone, and half mile of line that impede us. The song optimistically deals with redemption, sacrifice and courage. Despite all the sadness, tears, sorrow and fear that one may encounter, you should never lose focus of the “dream of life.” That, simply put, is what will result in a fresh start … not only for those directly impacted by tragedy but also for the entire Nation and World as peace, unity, understanding and compassion take hold on a global scale.

Fresh Starts: Solsbury Hill

THE LINK TO THE SONG WAS DISABLED AND THIS POST WAS REMOVED DUE TO A COMPLAINT ABOUT MY POSTING THIS SONG.  I HAVE BEEN A FAN OF GABRIEL'S FOR YEARS, AND HAVE LONG SUPPORTED HIS MUSIC, BY ATTENDING CONCERTS, PLAYING HIS MUSIC ON THE RADIO, BUYING MUSIC AND, AS DEMONSTRATED BELOW, POSITIVELY REVIEWING HIS MUSIC.  AS INDICATED IN THE POST BELOW, "SOLSBURY HILL" IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS.  BY INCLUDING A PURCHASE LINK, I HOPED THAT READERS OF THIS BLOG WOULD LISTEN TO THE TRACK I POSTED AND BUY THIS EXCELLENT ALBUM.  BUT NOW, READERS CAN'T EASILY LISTEN.

AS I NOTED IN THE POST, IT HAS BEEN TWO DECADES SINCE GABRIEL HAS RELEASED NEW MUSIC THAT I HAVE REALLY LIKED.  INSTEAD, HE IS FOCUSING ON REPACKAGING HIS OLD MUSIC OR DOING GENERALLY BAD COVERS.  NOTHING DONE HERE ON GABRIEL'S BEHALF WILL PREVENT ME FROM LIKING HIS (OLDER) WORK, BUT I WILL NOW CERTAINLY THINK TWICE BEFORE I SPEND A CENT ON ANYTHING THAT WOULD PUT MONEY IN HIS POCKET.  I KNOW THAT THIS IS NOTHING IN THE BIG PICTURE, BUT I'M ANNOYED.

I’ve never been able to really answer the questions “What is your favorite band/musician?” or “What is your favorite song?” There are too many of each for me to take a definitive position, but Peter Gabriel and “Solsbury Hill” always appear on my lists, even if it has been 20 (!) years since I have really liked anything that Gabriel has released.

Generally, this song is interpreted as relating to Gabriel’s departure from Genesis at what seemed to be the height of their popularity. That the band, without Gabriel, survived and became significantly more popular is an interesting phenomenon. I’m a fan who likes both versions of Genesis (I refuse to recognize the version with Ray Wilson on vocals), for different reasons. But when Gabriel left the band, there was a real question whether each would thrive.

“Solsbury Hill” appears on Gabriel’s first album, the first of 3 (or 4, for releases outside of the US) titled Peter Gabriel (supposedly modeled after magazines, which have the same title, but different covers and content). It describes his feelings of being in a rut, just “part of the scenery,” and his decision to cut his ties with the band and go off on his own and walk “right out of the machinery.” Many interpretations of the song ascribe his epiphany to seeing a Springsteen concert, but I’ve read an interview with Gabriel where he said that he didn’t think that was true. I’ve also seen interpretations that focus on some biblical/Jesus imagery, which may be real—Gabriel has never lacked for ego and seems interested in religious matters (See, for example, my prior posting about “Supper’s Ready.”)

I hear what some critics have said about the song’s odd 7/4 time signature and its sometimes clunky lyrics, but the song never fails to move me. I know that Gabriel isn’t alone in having felt trapped—in a job, a relationship, a situation—and longing for a way out. To his credit, he was able to do so, make a fresh start and forge a solo career of success and distinction. Most of us, though, do not have that luxury, because we have families that rely on us and bills that have to be paid. So his listeners can be inspired to think about making that leap, even if they never actually make it.

I’ve posted a live version of the song, which I have always really liked. It was released in 1983, before he hit it big with “Sledgehammer,” and the performances on the Plays Live album are incredible. His show at Asbury Park in 1980 is still one of my all-time favorite concerts.

Fresh Starts: Waiting For My Real Life To Begin

Colin Hay: Waiting For My Real Life To Begin

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Colin Hay's fresh start began in 1987, with the release of his first solo album. Fifteen years later, after countless TV and movie soundtrack boosts, he fills minor-league folk clubs and hipster arenas - a true success story of the indie age.

But getting back on track after the huge international success of his first band - yes, he's the guy from Men At Work - took a while. For years, Hay toiled under the radar, on his own pocket label financed by the profits from his previous career. And for the better part of decade, it looked like nothing was going to happen. As he noted in a 2011 interview,

"Men at Work really didn't build a foundational audience. We came in as a pop band with enormous radio success; once that goes away and the band breaks up the audience tends to go away with it. You're left with what you want to make of it. When you start out doing those tours, you start again [and] you tend not to attract a very big number of people. I'd play to a hundred people or sometimes less."

In the middle of this slow burn, just before the curve ticked upwards, Hay released Man @ Work, an album calling back to his roots. The album is, frankly, one of the most beautiful I own, and a full half of the tracks are acoustic revisions of Men At Work songs, making the album a fresh start of its own: a sort of reclaiming of the old through the lens of the new, with stripped down guitar and that hoarse, yearning tenor working through the catalog, bringing regret, honesty, humility and tenderness to songs once heard as wild and raging.

But several of the songs on the album are originals. And in the midst of this hodgepodge of backwards and forwards, you can find Colin's ode to the complexities of starting from scratch, rich with the peace and stillness, the frustrations and quixotic futilities of a career going nowhere, a paean to the man on the shore, his dreams bigger than life, his friends' voices echoing in his ears like the surf, still waiting for his ship to come in.

He's already got a plan, you see. He can see it, just out of reach. It's just that it depends on the world to come to him.

And when, a year later, actor/director Zach Braff decided to champion his work on Scrubs and in the soundtrack to Garden State, it did. The Internet took hold of his songs, and started passing them around. Today, a new generation of fans know Colin Hay as a middle-aged folksinger of sorts, whose ability to put words and soulful sound to the eye of the storm of life is impeccable. He releases his albums on Compass, a label better known for Celtic and folk music. And he seems happy, and at peace.

Some of his younger fans don't even know he was that guy from Men At Work. And maybe that's the way it should be.

What Songs Look Like: Black Cherry

One of the treats of posting videos is that some of them are mini-movies, with a complete (if short) storyline. We know that songs can tell a complete story using lyrics, of course, but watching something unfold visually rather than aurally gives a new angle on things.

Black Cherry, by the j-rock group Acid Black Cherry, is a torch song (and we did a week of those last summer, if I remember rightly). It starts off as a pretty straightforward jazz tune, then kicks into high gear with a high-energy jazz-rock finale…with a twist. A few of the translated lyrics (courtesy of papersnow):

It's all right if you don't love me...since I don't love you, Make me wretched like this! Black Cherry, give it to me...Black Cherry, give me more. Even though the truth is I've always loved you, Our short history...it's just a petty fling on the way to something else, With this, finally, though...once in a while, remember me like this...

The video serves up these emo-angsty words as sung by a female vocalist who is the disputed object of two yakuza (organized crime members), complete with wacky minions. In a highly stylized clip meant to mimic old gangster movies, we don't even have to be able to read the placards to get the drift of the ill-fated card game.

Hats off (and other things, heh!) to A.B.C. and lead singer Yasu for this crazy vid of a great song. Bonus visual kei hairstyling tip: the drummer's spikey 'do is kept in place with white glue.

What Songs Look Like: She's Gone

I really miss posting on SMM, but like so many of us here, I've got no host at the moment. What I really miss is the sheer fun of sharing stuff, so I'm going to take full advantage of Darius's creative theme this week and just have fun with some music.

So what does "She's Gone" look like and do penguin flippers adequately express the emotional loss of the singer's lyrics? If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing this video before, then let me be the first to introduce it to you. Or rather, let's let John Oates introduce it his own bad self, from this 2009 interview:

Well, I’ll give you a little background about what happened with that “She’s Gone” thing. First of all, it was 1973. There was no MTV, there was no outlet for anything like this. You know, it might be one of the first music videos ever made. I really couldn’t say, honestly, but it definitely would be a contender. What happened was, we were asked to lip sync “She’s Gone” for a teenage TV dance show broadcast out of Atlantic City, New Jersey. And we really didn’t want to do that; we didn’t want to pretend to sing the song. It was supposed to be shot in a television studio in Philadelphia. So we thought, with the mindset that we were in at the time – and I won’t say more on that, either…They thought we were completely insane. They actually didn’t air it; they wouldn’t air it. But we had it this whole time, and eventually I leaked it out to the internet, ’cause I just thought the world should see it.

I think in light of how I'm feeling about the music industry at the moment, I share this "Take that, you guys!" attitude.

What Songs Look Like: Money For Nothing

Dire Straits: Money for Nothing

 

Back in the 80s, where I live, we had no MTV - until very recently - at which time it had degenerated so far that it wasn’t worth watching any more. That’s not to say that I was totally out of the main stream: I had friends who would record MTV to VHS cassette and send it to me “over here”, where we would watch the same 60 minute tape again and again trying to gain a sense of “main stream” America. And enjoying the music/media, of course.

Of these early videos, one in particular stands out – trite, but quintessentially classic – partly because of its name, partly because Star Maker has never given enough due credit to the group/the man. From the 1985 album Brothers In Arms: Money for Nothing. Here is Mark Knopfler  - among the guitarists supreme. I have a CD that includes him playing with Chet Atkins: excellent. I have a web-flv of him with Clapton.

I know he’s done much, much more. Dire Straits' “I want my MTV” seems to me to be among the best MTV clips. It’s got graphics that push the limits for the time, the music is timeless…

As Darius said, this was all before the time of what we take for granted as every-day computer generated graphics, so cut the visuals a break accordingly

What Songs Look Like : Independent Woman

Elbow : Independent Woman Part 1

Ten years before they were one of the few bands chosen to perform at the Closing Ceremonies of 2012 Olympic Games, the UK alternative band Elbow recorded an acoustic version of the Destiny's Child #1 hit "Independent Woman, part 1". Like I said it was a #1 hit. One of the biggest songs of the Aughts. But by the turn of the century, I stopped listening to what was on the radio. I had an iPod. I was my own radio station.

So the first time I heard "Independent Woman", the 18th biggest song of the decade, it was this Elbow cover as performed by singing kittens on the viral video seen above. And it sounds nothing like Destiny's Child. I know because I just played their version on YouTube.

Not sure what this says about this digital age in which we live.

But I didn't see Beyonce in London at all this summer.

What Songs Look Like: Binoculars

Julia Nunes: Binoculars

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Last week, I discussed plagiarism, and touched upon the increasingly complicated issues that confront the music industry in the Internet age. The fact that so many contributors to this fine blog have lost their file hosting ability is a result of the tension that exists between copyright and fair use, between the desire of bloggers to expose readers to good music and the right of artists and labels to control distribution of that music. My guess is that most of the musicians whose songs get posted here would not care, if they even knew, and some would probably be happy for the promotion, but there is no way for me to conveniently ask. So, instead of there being some reasonable standard that allows bloggers and critics to post songs, say, for a limited time, or at a low bit rate, we simply post and wait to see whether we get shut down.

When I briefly worked at a record label in the 1980’s, the concern was cassette taping, but that was a hiccup compared to the devastating effect of the web, and Napster and similar services, that have seriously changed the way that music is distributed. You can pretty much find a free download of any song you want, if you look hard enough, and I understand that for most acts, the money comes from performing and merchandise, not the actual music itself. Although the days of small bands getting major label contracts seem long over, it is now possible for a musician to get his or her songs out to the public without a record label at all.

My subject this week is an example of this DIY approach. Julia Nunes is a talented singer/songwriter who became “YouTube famous” by making videos of herself singing, initially covers and then original songs, usually playing the ukelele. The quality of her music and the wit and charm of her videos, set her apart from most independent artists uploading to YouTube, and as a result, her following became pretty incredible.

Remarkably, Nunes’ popularity began while she was a student at Skidmore College. This video, for the song “Binoculars,” about a stalker, puts a spin on Nunes’ path to fame—she asked her fans to send in video of them singing her song, and she edited the footage and added more of herself, in her dorm room, as well as clips of her friends dancing in her room. My son, who seems to get into this blog every other week, was a year behind Nunes at Skidmore, and they met and became friendly. He got himself invited to the shoot through a mutual friend, and he is the tall skinny guy, wearing a blue t-shirt and black Mets cap, in the group dance scenes. (And not to leave my daughter, a talented singer in her own right, out of this post, I’m pretty sure that she started playing the ukelele at least in part because of Nunes).

Nunes’ Internet fame has made it possible for her to release a number of albums, all on her own label, open for major acts, including Ben Folds and Ben Kweller, play at Bonnaroo, and perform on Conan, as well as maintain an active touring schedule. She also continues to upload her charming videos to YouTube and recently recorded a cover of fun.’s “Some Nights” with the band Walk off the Earth. She is a great example of how musicians can succeed in the current market without the backing of a major—or even indie—label with persistence, ingenuity and talent.

What Songs Look Like: Universal Mind Control

Common : Universal Mind Control

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No one can dispute the various nuances and colors of music, and I've heard plenty of pieces that qualify as “sound paintings.” Coloring is a function of the music's tone, and the relationship of notes to each other. A “chromatic” music scale literally means that it's colorful.

At the same time, the visualization of a song requires focus, concentration and attention to detail. How many of you find hip-hop or rap music to be a little distracting? Over the years, I've tried to be more open-minded and accepting of all genres of music. If you can stay on course and follow the statement of a song like “Universal Mind Control,” then you can develop a heightened sense of visual perspective. As you listen, twirl the telephoto of your own senses. I've learned to appreciate this kind of music by viewing it both in telescopic detail, as well as with a wide-angle perspective. Universal mind control should be a personal goal anytime we listen to music. It's a result of being mindful and fully aware of what we are hearing and seeing.

As Common sings, “This is that new shit, keep 'em standing in line ... That universal mind control, now move yo' behind.” As you view this sensory video, go ahead and “trance to melodic technotronic.” That'll help you get it. Bop, diggy, bop, d-dang, d-dang, dang.

What Songs Look Like: Sledgehammer

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As a reader here, I’m sure you have noticed that the volume of posts has been way down lately. That is because the recording industry recently cracked down on file hosting services, and now many of the posters here, including myself, are without file hosts. We would be happy to hear from anyone who can offer suggestions or help. Feel free to respond either in the comments or by a private message to the e-mail address on the sidebar, and thank you. Meanwhile, this week’s theme offers a temporary solution.

This week, Star Maker Machine invites you the reader to watch some videos with us, and read our thoughts. Music and visuals have been connected since the rise of MTV, but the connection goes back much further than that. The history of opera takes us back more than 300 years, but again, the connection is still older, probably going back to ancient times. Dances and rituals both combined music and visuals, and they are two of mankind’s oldest activities. We need as a species to express ourselves musically, and we also seem to need to know what those songs look like. When properly wedded, both the song and the visual become something greater than either one by itself.

Having said all of that, I would like to start our exploration in the 1980s. The art of the music video flowered in the 80s because of MTV. Nowadays, it’s hard to remember that those letters originally stood for Music Television. MTV hit the airwaves in 1981, and almost immediately began to change the sound of popular music. The programmers there could be musically adventurous as long as a video was visually striking, and that made it possible for new wave to gain broad acceptance. Thomas Dolby is one example of an artist whose music most people would probably never have heard otherwise.

The first video ever played on MTV was Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles. But I didn’t get my MTV until around 1985 or so. I don’t remember the first video I saw, but the first to make a big impression on me was Sledgehammer, in 1986. Today, a video like this would use digital effects, and the motions would be smooth. But digital technology wasn’t an option back then, so the video relied on an ingenious mixture of live action footage and animation. Everything moves in a jerky fashion, but Peter Gabriel and his crew use this to their advantage. The song is a plea for love, but the video reveals a layer of nervousness that really adds to the overall effect. The images are imaginative and memorable. The ice head and fruitface are the two that I see in my head whenever I think of this song.

Musical Transformations: Let the Good Time Roll

Jimi Hendrix: Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)

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Most popular songs are built on the same formula: the I, IV, V  structure. This, of course refers to the  commonly used chord progression of most popular music (as in  A=I, D=IV and E=V – counting up the scale from the “root/starting” note). For the most part, “they’re all the same”. What’s amazing is the fact that – despite the prevalence of the I-IV-V format – they don’t all sound the same.

The realm of the “mashup” (which I raised a month ago) seems to fit our current topic: a new song based on two or more pre-existing ones. But we’ll steer clear of that genre here. Likewise, as per our guidance, we steer clear of covers, wherein the musician(s) re-interpret the I-IV-V format of some previous troubadour – of which there are many that come to mind.

As J. David said earlier this week, it’s often times hard to separate influence from outright theft. And as  Joe Ross pointed out and as I noted recently in reference to Weird Al basing some of his work on others’, there are those who creatively take from others.

Then, there’s the collection of songs that aren’t necessarily deliberately borrowed, but, rather, include source material that is so much a part of the whole rock/pop genre that it’s hard to credit any specific artist with the original conceit: the two are so far apart.

Last week I based my selection about our related “Musical Quotes” on a rather flimsy two words: New York, New York. Moving up the scale this week, I present a song that would appear to be built on a few more words: we’re going for 8. Who knows who came up with the phrase “Let the good times roll”? Who knows who added “Come on baby” to the mix? A 1950s duo called Shirley and Lee are credited with a song that includes these 8 words back in ’56. Numerous others have used bits and pieces of it. However, it seems to me that none can claim to have transformed it the way Jimi did on Electric Ladyland. You tell me, is it the same stuff?

Musical Transformations: The Battle of Kookamonga

Homer and Jethro : The Battle of Kookamonga

Homer and Jethro (with June Carter) : Baby, It’s Cold Outside

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As soon I heard about this week’s theme, one musical act immediately came to mind … namely, Homer and Jethro. The country music duo, popular in the 40s-60s, specialized in musical transformations with their comedic and satirical parodies of popular songs. Guitarist Henry "Homer" Haynes and mandolinist Kenneth "Jethro" Burns were both born near Knoxville, Tn. in 1920. They met each other at a radio station audition when they were 16 years old and first called themselves “Junior” and “Dude” (pronounced "Dude-ee"). When the WNOX program director forgot their nicknames during a 1936 broadcast, they became Homer and Jethro. While their schtick was hillbilly, they were actually excellent musicians comfortable with jazz, country and pop.

Most of the parodies were written by Burns. Their version of “Baby It's Cold Outside” (with June Carter) became a hit. Frank Loesser, composer of the song, permitted them to parody the tune with one condition -- the label had to read, “With apologies to Frank Loesser.” That got them onto WLS Chicago in 1950, a tour with bandleader Spike Jones, and several successful albums. In 1959, Homer and Jethro won a Grammy for “The Battle of Kookamonga,” a parody of Johnny Horton’ big hit “The Battle of New Orleans.” While Homer and Jethro passed away in 1971 and 1989, respectively, they did get inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Check out the many H&J audio files at this link. When it comes to musical transformations, these guys were spot on with their time. However, singing a politically incorrect song like “Let Me Go Blubber” could get you clobbered in this day and age.

Musical Transformations: Boogie With Stu

Led Zeppelin: Boogie With Stu

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This week’s theme made me think about plagiarism. I’m not an expert on intellectual property, although I am professionally involved in matters concerning trade secrets and confidential information. As a music fan, I know that the issue of plagiarism has always been a concern. Mozart was not the first who was accused of it, and a popular Broadway show and movie explored that. George Harrison was found liable by a court for “subconsciously” copying another song. Sampling has raised concerns about stealing, and it is only getting harder to figure out what can and can’t be done now that pretty much all music is now available in easily manipulated electronic form.

In any event, it is hard to listen to almost any song and not recognize influences from other songs. It is clear that you can’t simply take a song, in total, and put your name on it, at least without getting permission (a “cover”). After that, it is all a matter of degree, and whether you get accused of plagiarism.

Led Zeppelin is one of the great rock bands. Their influence and popularity cannot be denied, and I love them. I saw them at Madison Square Garden in 1977, and it was an incredible show, even if critics say it was far from their best tour, and they actually messed up “Stairway to Heaven” (if I recall, Bonham came in early). They have also been accused of plagiarism many times. Of course, using classic blues riffs has always happened, but Zeppelin went a bit too far, too often. Google it, if you are interested, and you will find a great deal of discussion on this topic.

“Boogie With Stu” was a jam recorded in 1971 featuring Led Zeppelin augmented by Ian Stewart, a piano player best known for his work with another pretty famous band, the Rolling Stones. It is very obviously a version, of sorts, of Ritchie Valens’ “Ooh, My Head.” The band didn’t try to hide their “influence,” to be charitable, even including “ooh, my head,” in the lyrics. It also may be that they were just goofing around in the studio and never expected to release the song, but when they decided to add it to “Physical Graffiti, the writing credit was "Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham/Ian Stewart/Mrs. Valens.” This was, apparently, an attempt to give Valens’ mother a credit and some royalties.

That was not enough for Valens’ publishing company, which sued for copyright infringement, and an out-of-court settlement was reached.

The irony is that Valens’ song itself appears to “borrow” heavily from Little Richard’s earlier song, “Ooh! My Soul.” And was Robert Plant aware of this, when he mentioned, in “Boogie With Stu,” “tutti-frutti,” the title of another Little Richard song?