jff

Wow, what sad news. Rest in peace. From a blog I check out (sorry if someone already posted this): Tweedy/Bennett 11/20/96 - Toronto http://ohmpark.com/

It's true that the Beatles honed their talents in bars. That's indisputable. Unfortunately, the opportunity to play five sets a night five nights a week in a nightclub (like the Beatles did in Hamburg), or even to be the house band at a club and have a consistent gig (like the Stones, Yardbirds, etc. did in England), things which once were the norm, are now virtually nonexistant. So, Steven is out of touch, at best. Maybe instead of bad mouthing bands he should hassle club owners to make things the way they once were. If that is really the point of the article, it seems odd that Steven m

You're right, but you're ignoring the fact that many people on youtube are very serious about playing music and they use youtube as a way of getting their performaces in front of people, where they can get feedback and encouragement and hopefully improve. A lot of these people are way too young to play in clubs, so why wouldn't they use Youtube as an outlet?

That's certainly one of the things that made them great. Another thing was their natural talent. Plenty of bands followed the same woodshedding course as the Beatles and never got very good artistically or commercially.

To the death, although I should have said it is a version of modern day woodshedding and not the.

Of course they should, and this is precisely where Van Zandt's entire point falls apart (actually it's one of many places where it falls apart). He says bands should do what the Beatles did and go play cover tunes in clubs for five years (what he calls woodshedding). Young musicians doing cover songs on Youtube, for better or worse, IS the modern day version of woodshedding.

Has he shaved his mustache yet?

Frampton used a Talk Box, not a vocoder. Actually, maybe he did use a vocoder, but the vocal effect most commonly associated with him is the Talk Box. Sorry, I'm not trying to be nit-picky.

Don't blame the kids. Cher was one of the first to bring that into the mainstream.

What? Nobody likes Just a Kid?

The "this lineup is about to change" symbolism on that train is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

I know Ghost played in Athens, GA last Wednesday.

One other false point Steven makes has to do with home recording. The way he speaks, you'd think everyone is recording their album in their bedroom or garage. But the reality is that, with the exception of local hobbyist bands and the extreme fringe artists, virtually all of the albums on the market today were recorded in studios, or in well equipped band owned facilities (like the Wilco loft) by people who have enough skills to create good sounding albums.

The same suspicious black truck is parked in front of the gas station and the donut shop.

Damn, best of luck to your dad (edit, I didn't read the thread before writing this, but now I see that things worked out well). My family is likely to find ourselves in a similar situation one of these days. My dad has a big belly and gets virtually no exercise, and he likes hamburgers and salt, and he's stubborn as hell so he's pretty high risk for heart trouble.

America's Next Top Model ended last week, so I needed to fill up my Wednesday time slot. Also, I knew it would be the talk of the office today and I wanted to be in the loop. Unfortunately, I've not heard a peep about it all day.

Yeah, I hope that their new "we sell LPs" policy will result in them offering more models with phono jacks, and also encourage more manufacturers to make a phono jack a standard feature of a stereo receiver.

Maybe while they're sleeping on their balconies after school someone could sneak up and abduct them. Eh, obama probably has a better idea.

I't must've been pretty interesting backstage with Kiss, Queen, Cyndi Lauper, Carlos Santana, etc.

My Bloody Valentine would have been so much better if they had woodshedded for five years on "20 Flight Rock" and "Be Bop a Lula". For people who don't like reading articles, that is what the article says.

The new Ace Frehley's chin is too wide. I'm unable to suspend my disbelief.

It's hilarious how old timers like Van Zant always pretend there weren't tons of shitty bands in the old days.

I had to buy one about a year ago. I just wanted a basic model since it's for the stereo in my basement which I don't use very often. I was looking to spend ~ $150. I went to Best Buy and the only models with a phono jack were super high end models or the lowest low-end store brand (Tru-Tech, or something). I bought the Tru-Tech, which does the job adequately.

Van Zant's comment in his Crisis of Craft whinefest that the indie labels need to establish a new work ethic is insulting. Van Zant is an asshole and should be ashamed of himself.