Some music is not conducive to #apmp proposal writing

I write proposals for a living. This requires research, discussions, and (argh) meetings, but at some point you have to actually sit down and start writing. When I write, I often put on headphones, attach them to my smartphone, and start streaming music.

Certain music can be very good for proposal writing. When you're up against a deadline, loud music (such as some Nirvana songs) works very well. At other times, calmer music such as Air is called for. (DISCLOSURE: I work for a subsidiary of a French company that has another office in the state of Washington.)

But because of the nature of pop lyrics, there are certain songs that should be avoided during proposal writing.

Take the Pink Floyd song "Have a Cigar," which started playing one day while I was working on a proposal. If you're unfamiliar with the song, it is sung from the perspective of a music industry executive - a know-nothing. (This is the song that includes the famous question "Which one's Pink?")

In his skewering of the executive, lyricist Roger Waters trots out more cliches and double-speak than you can shake a stick at. When you're trying to write a high-quality proposal, it can be counterproductive to hear lyrics like this in your ears:

You're gonna make it if you try...

Well I've always had a deep respect,

And I mean that most sincerely...

It could be made into a monster

If we all pull together as a team...

I shudder to think of the executive summaries that have been written while Waters' lyrics were playing. "If we all pull together as a team, WidgetCorp will help MegaCorp optimize its synergies - and we mean that most sincerely."

Note that Waters was writing these lyrics intentionally. Think of all the popular music lyrics in which the lyricist unknowingly writes junk. There are a lot of them (although I should defend my alumni association friend by noting the Dr. Demento did not write "Fish Heads").

Diplomat Drummer

There are a vast number of videos on YouTube, and each one has its own story. This video, which had been viewed approximately 300 times when I first saw it today, shows a guy playing the drums while two women are making tortillas. The title of the video is "Darrell Jenks Diplomat Drummer."

In the summer of 1979 I received a short letter from a forest ranger outside of Burns, Oregon. This person was not a full-time forest ranger; he was a student at Reed College who was about to begin his senior year, and he was going to be my dorm advisor in the fall. (In Reed College terms, he was a "dorm dad.") He wrote identical (OK, Kaz, nearly identical) letters to the six incoming freshmen who would be in his dorm (at that time, Eastport consisted of two triple rooms, a bathroom, and a single room for the dorm dad).

A month or two later I met my dorm dad, Darrell Jenks, who frankly looked like a forest ranger, with a huge beard. And he played the drums - in fact, a Reed College band, Daryl Jenks, was named after him (although, unlike John McVie who had a band named after him, Darrell Jenks never officially joined Daryl Jenks).

But the guy was brilliant. I've known several people who can speak multiple languages with ease, but with all due respect to my former co-worker Alex and my German daughter Anni, Darrell topped them all. Here's what the New York Times said about Jenks:

Darrell, a brilliant linguist...spoke nine languages including Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. In 2007, Darrell volunteered to serve in Maysan, Iraq, where - largely self-taught - he picked up the basics of his fourth super-hard language, Arabic.

In the spring of 1980, the beard magically disappeared. Jenks was about to graduate, and he had a job interview. He eventually ended up with the U.S. State Department, and spent thirty years serving his country.

Now take another look at that video of the Diplomat Drummer. Notice the medical equipment behind the drums, and the cot over to the side. Jenks was dying. That New York Times article that talked about Jenks was his obituary.

There are a vast number of videos on YouTube, and each one has its own story.

P.S. Thanks to Polly for letting me know.

P.P.S. Here's an obituary video.

Turn the volume beyond 11...to 194 and beyond

The items below were taken from a William Hanby document at makeitlouder.com. They list the decibel levels for various sounds, including the musical (and non-musical) sounds listed below.

100 NORMAL AVERAGE CAR OR HOUSE STEREO AT MAXIMUM VOLUME

117-123 HOME STEREO SYSTEM, A VERY LOUD AND POWERFUL 200-2000 WATTS

120-130 FRONT ROW AT A ROCK CONCERT- UP TO 200 REFRIGERATOR SIZE SPEAKERS AND 50000-300000 WATTS OF CLEAN, FULL FREQUENCY SOUND

130 (N)MARCHING BAND-OVERALL LEVEL AT A DISTANCE, 100-200 MEMBERS

142 (P) INSIDE A CAR WITH TWO PRO 18 INCH WOOFERS AND 300 WATTS EACH

150 (N)ROCK CONCERT “THE WHO” TWO 10 STORY STACKS = 144 DOUBLE REFRIDGERATOR SIZED SPEAKERS, ACTUAL LEVEL REACHED 120 DB AT A DISTANCE OF 32 METERS FOR THIS NORMALIZED READING OF 150 DB.CONTINOUS LEVEL 114-118db (P) AT 32 METERS

156 (P)IN A MINI-VAN WITH TWENTY 12” WOOFERS AND 19,000 WATTS OF AMPLIFIER POWER. EACH SPEAKERS IS DISPLACING (PUMPING BACK AND FORTH ) 0.75 INCHES IF LONG HAIR WOMEN SIT IN IT, HER HAIR WILL FLY OUT OF WINDOW WITH BASS WINDSHIELD WIPERS FLY OFF VEHICLE 1/2 TO 2 INCHES, DOOR AND FRONT WINDSHIELD FLEXION MAY BE UP TO +-2 INCHES OR 4 INCHES PEAK TO PEAK EVEN WITH EARPLUGS (-30 DB) AND HEADMUFFS (-24 DB) = -54 DB IT’S STILL LOUD

158 (P)INSIDE A ROCK CONCERT SPEAKER BOX REFRIDGERATOR SIZE AT MAX. 5000 WATTS

162 U.S. FESTIVAL ROCK CONCERT 1983. 10 SEPARATE STACKS, AMPS = 400,000 WATTS (N)

194.09(P) = 1 (ONE) AIR ATMOSPHERE = 14.6962 POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH = 14.6962 P.S.I.= 1 ATM SOUND WAVES DISTORT AND ARE NOW DEFINED AS SHOCK WAVES AND THEY BEGIN TO FOLLOW SHOCK WAVE BEHAVIOR. PARTICLE VELOCITY (BLAST WIND) = 590 FEET / SECOND = 180 METERS PER SECOND = 402 MILES PER HOUR.

320 (N)VOLCANO ERUPTION, TAMBORA INDONESIA,1815, EJECTED 36 CUBIC MILES.APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO 14,000 MEGATON NUCLEAR BOMBS OR A 14 GIGATON BOMB BASED ON EJECTED VOLUME,CHANGE IN MEGATONS TIMES 1.345 EQUALS VOLUME EJECTED CHANGE.IF WAS A NUCLEAR BOMB IT WOULD CREATE A CRATER ABOUT 12.4 MILES WIDE AND 1.33 MILES DEEP.INTERNAL PRESSURE IS BELIEVED TO BE ABOUT 47 MILLION P.S.I. = 347 DB (P)

Better than the original

There have been countless cases in which one musical artist has appropriated the work of another artist, and created a new work that incorporates both the original work and some new material.

In some cases, the original artist or his/her representatives objected to the appropriation, and actually threatened or initiated legal action. The "Sweet Little Sixteen"/"Surfin' USA" dispute was settled relatively quickly, as was another dispute that I will get to shortly. On the other hand, the "He's So Fine"/"My Sweet Lord" dispute involved twenty years of litigation.

In some cases, the original artist provided no comment on the appropriation. Most notably, Ludwig van Beethoven never provided a comment on Electric Light Orchestra's version of "Roll Over Beethoven." In its original form (another Chuck Berry song, by the way), the song only mentioned Beethoven, but by the time ELO recorded it, a significant excerpt from the Fifth Symphony had been included. Not that Beethoven cared. (Not only had Beethoven expired by the time "Roll Over Beethoven" first appeared, but his copyright had expired also.)

In some cases, the original artist was a willing participant in the appropriation. Daft Punk has actually appeared on stage with Kanye West when West has performed "Stronger," his version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger."

But there's one thing that unites all of these new versions of old songs. In my opinion, these new versions are better than the originals. Vocally, the Beach Boys blew Chuck Berry out of the water, and the instrumentation was more inventive. And while I have personal problems (religious issues) with Harrison's lyrics, I love his guitar work from that period. "Roll Over Beethoven" has been recorded in many different versions, but the one from the Electric Light Orchestra stands out as a successful attempt to marry classical and rock music. And Kanye (while I again have issues with some of the lyrics) is a much better singer than the Dafts, and again he provides better instrumentation.

But my best example of a re-visitation being better than the original was Kelly Osbourne's take on Viisage's "Fade to Grey." Her version is called "One Word," and while Viisage certainly had a notable take on the song, Osbourne's beats the original.

In my opinion.

I've talked about Kelly Osbourne before. And Electric Light Orchestra.

Before you blame this thing or that thing for the Aurora tragedy...

...remember that Charles Manson was "inspired" by a song about a roller coaster.

Like I did!!!

There are a lot of ska/two-tone songs that are fun. "One Step Beyond" from Madness comes to mind, but in my mind, the most fun from two-tone land is the Untouchables' "Free Yourself."

This particular video is not only notable in its own right, but it directly resulted in the Untouchables' recording contract. Marco on the Bass:

[T]hey invested an additional $7,000 to produce a video for the song 'Free Yourself' which started to generate television airplay. As a result the EP sold 40,000 copies and the video won the 1985 award for best independent video from Billboard Magazine....

Though the EP was selling and The UTs were getting great reviews, none of major record labels located on [Wilshire] Boulevard in Los Angeles were interested in signing the band....

"'Free Yourself' was a different story. We shot our first video to 'Free Yourself.' The song and video were really special. The video was very groundbreaking in it's usage of black and white imagery shifting into bright color and then back to B&W. It was produced by Tina Henry and John Lee and eventually won honors as Billboard Magazine's 1985 'Best Indy Video Of The Year'... 'Indy', as in: 'we weren't signed.'...nobody wanted to take a chance with us. Except Dave Robinson."

As in Dave Robinson of Stiff Records. The story continues:

"Dave had seen a copy of the Free Yourself video and apparently was fairly impressed. Without any notice, Robo flew from London to L.A. and suddenly shows up at our USC gig. After our performance, he comes backstage, is introduced and tells us he wants to sign us to Stiff. How do you spell flabbergasted? Because that's what we were."

Well, that was certainly $7,000 well spent.

No Rest On Venus

Might as well self-promote, because others won't do it for you.

The song "No Rest On Venus" was one of the songs from my 2009 collection "Brevity Is," so named because each of the songs was under a minute in length.

"No Rest On Venus" can be heard (and downloaded) by going to the URL http://www.last.fm/music/Ontario+Emperor/_/No+Rest+On+Venus.

Welcome to my world, William Hung

So what do you do when you're an engineering student at one of the nation's leading universities, achieve viral fame as the result of a bad audition on American Idol, and parlay that success into three music albums and a short movie career?

What do you do? The answer surprised me:

And now he's entered a new chapter in his life, as a statistical analyst for the Los Angeles County's Sheriff Department....

"My passion has always been math," he tells us, adding that his new line of work brings him great joy. "It just took a while to end up as my career." His day-to-day responsibilities include calculating the probability of crimes and attacks occurring in particular neighborhoods.

And so, in an odd turn of events, Hung is working in public safety - as do I. Although Hung's job requires much more scientific knowledge than mine.

In tymshft - How I learned about the death of Edward Anatolevich Hill

I have just written a post in my tymshft blog about the death of Edward Anatolevich Hill.

I have written about Hill (or Khil) several times in the Empoprise-MU music blog, most recently in December 2010, but initially way back in March 2010.

So why did I write about Khil/Hill in tymshft instead of in this blog?

There's a reason.

Update on Reed College's online radio station KRRC

Remember my February 3 post that chronicled the demise of licensed radio station KRRC?

Well, I found a little more information, courtesy of an Andrew Choi blog post.

There's a website - http://www.krrcfm.com/.

And it has a "Listen" button, but when I clicked on it, I got an "Under Construction" message.

Based upon the news on the main page, it looks like shows are taking place, but that the streaming may not be working yet.

So now I guess that people have to go to NRQ's headquarters and hold a Reds for Reagan protest.

The Scottie Pippen of Gary, Indiana

Last week I attended a high school end-of-year choral concert. One of the songs that was performed was "I'll Be There." The kids that performed the song weren't even born when Mariah Carey released her remake of the tune, and obviously weren't around when the original Jackson Five version was released.

My mind wandered back to that original 1970 hit, which was remarkable on so many levels. When some people think of that song, they think of co-author Berry Gordy or lead singer Michael Jackson. The song was a high point in both their careers, scoring major sales for Motown while including Gordy's and Michael's tribute to the Four Tops. (The history of music was obviously very important to both of them.)

But as my mind wandered, I thought about a different story related to the original hit. Because just as Michael Jordan had his Scottie Pippen, Michael Jackson had his vital supporting cast. And no, I'm not talking about guitarist Tito.

When you listen to "I'll Be There," one of the most striking parts is Jermaine Jackson's second lead vocal - a middle eight that serves as a contrast in many ways (voice, key, melody) to his younger brother's portions.

I plead ignorance about much of Jermaine Jackson's musical career - he had other hits with the Jackson Five, more as a solo artist, and still more when he returned to the Jacksons in the 1980s - but if "I'll Be There" had been Jermaine's only contribution to the musical world, it would be a stellar contribution indeed.

All the more so when you consider that Jermaine was still in high school when "I'll Be There" was recorded - the same age as the kids that I heard in a high school cafeteria last week. But Jermaine's vocal is a little more famous. Here's a live performance.



Also see Wikipedia.

Spurred to greatness - Donald "Duck" Dunn

After hearing of Donald "Duck" Dunn's passing, I took some time to read his biography on his website. (At the time I first read the biography, it hadn't been updated to reflect his death.) It explained why Dunn took up the bass:

Although a grandfather he never knew played fiddle, there was no music in Duck's immediate family. "My father was a candy maker. He made peppermints and hard candies. He didn't want me to go into the music industry. He thought I would become a drug addict and die. Most parents in those days thought music was a pastime; something you did as a hobby, not a profession." Duck tried to conform: "I worked for my dad in the candy factory for a while. I also had a job with an electrical company repairing long range air raid sirens." In his heart, though, Dunn always knew where his talents lay. I picked up a ukulele when I was about 10 and I started playing bass when I was 16. I tried the guitar but it had two strings too many. It was just too complicated, man!

And then he said:

Plus, I grew up with Steve Cropper. There were so many good guitar players another one wasn't needed.

Where are they now? Cosma Shiva

You know how songs pop into your head at the oddest times?

Well, that happened to me over the weekend, when the old Nina Hagen song "Cosma Shiva" popped into my head.

This song is from 1982, and was written by Hagen in honor of her baby daughter.

I sought the song out on YouTube, and discovered (via video) that the baby had grown up.



It turns out that Cosma Shiva Hagen is an actress - mostly in German-language films.

So what about Nina's other songs? New York has had its problems but is still standing.

And the white punks are still on dope.

(empo-utoobd) Life is even less easy in Germany - YouTube lost, Grooveshark gone

Over three years ago, I wrote a post that described how YouTube had stopped showing music videos in Germany because of a dispute with GEMA, a German agency collecting music royalties. It turns out that the stoppage was temporary, but the legal fight dragged on. Helen Sventitsky-Rother shared a link to a BBC article with the results of the German court case.

In short, YouTube lost.

A court in Hamburg ruled that YouTube is responsible for the content that users post to the video sharing site.

It wants the video site to install filters that spot when users try to post music clips whose rights are held by royalty collection group, Gema.

In essence, this means that YouTube will have to take longer to review uploaded videos to ensure that they do not violate German law.

The BBC article notes that one company has previously taken action as a result of GEMA:

Music streaming site Grooveshark pulled out of Germany claiming licencing rates set by Gema made it impossible to run a profitable business in the country.

Here is what Grooveshark says about the matter:

Due to the excessive cost of operation, Grooveshark discontinued access from Germany on January 18, 2012.

Feel free to write to us if you have any questions. If you are a premium subscriber, please contact our billing team to arrange a refund for any time remaining on your subscription.

If you'd like to help lower the cost of operation for services like Grooveshark, you can contact GEMA:

Email: gema@gema.de

Postal Mail:
Bayreuther Straße 37
10787 Berlin
Postfach 30 12 40
10722 Berlin

Telephone:
+49 30 21245-00


GEMA has a different view:

Contrary to its statements, the provider Grooveshark did not discontinue its services in Germany due to disproportionately high operating expenses.

The fact is, as a service provider Grooveshark fundamentally refuses to pay compensation in any shape or form at all for the service. As of this writing, Grooveshark has also not contacted GEMA in any way.

After detailing the many lawsuits against Grooveshark and other issues, GEMA concludes as follows:

If you as a user of Grooveshark have suffered any monetary damages, please contact the provider of this service directly with your complaints:

http://www.grooveshark.com/about
http://twitter.com/#!/grooveshark

It took me a while to find this statement. I searched the GEMA website, but was told that search was not working.

Perhaps Google can help GEMA with that. Or not.

Lena Katina "Never Forget" remix hits Number 1 on Billboard dance/club chart

You may recall that I wrote about Lena Katina's song "Never Forget" last August.

Well, Dave Audé has remixed the song, and Lena just announced that the remix has reached #1 on Billboard's Dance/Club play songs chart.

If you haven't heard the remix, here's a remixed video.

Whole Lotta Helter Skelter

In the fall of 1968, the Beatles released a very unusual song - at least for the Beatles. With inconsequential lyrics about an amusement park ride, the song "Helter Skelter" was a complete rock assault. Singer Paul McCartney brought his Little Richard voice into the psychedelic era, the guitarists and bass guitarist were zooming all over the place, and drummer Ringo Starr was at the absolute center of the madness, resulting in his famous shout "I've got blisters on my fingers!"

In the fall of 1969, a relatively new band called Led Zeppelin released a very unusual song - for anybody. The instruments used were, for the most part, similar to those employed in the Beatles' earlier song, and John Paul Jones laid down some bass lines comparable to McCartney's. But the drummer, John Bonham, had a different set of skills from Ringo, and was known for his power. The vocalist, Robert Plant, wasn't as well known as McCartney, but his English wails would distinguish him in this song and in years to come. Oh, and the guitarist, Jimmy Page, was a madman, taking old blues songs and converting them to eleven volume rock anthems. And the lyrics? Well, they weren't about an amusement park ride.

Two roaring rock songs, both in the key of E. To mashup artist Soundhog, it was obvious what needed to be done.



H/T Rob Michael.

P.S. See Soundhog's own account of the mashup.

I prefer the English exercise styles

Rodney Bingenheimer, the Mayor of Sunset Strip who hates the 90s, received a huge amount of fame from his early 1970s club, Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, formerly located at 7561 Sunset Boulevard.

But that club closed over 35 years ago.

What's there today?

A gym.

And while people in the early 1970s devoted themselves to getting their bodies in motion, people at the location today do...well, they do the same thing:

Fit Arts’ unique training program provides efficient methods to building long, lean, and toned bodies. The program uses a natural approach by using the body’s own weight, as opposed to heavy weights and bulky gym equipment. Bodyweight Training is natural and practical for your body. The body is more capable of handling its own weight, as opposed to outside forces like heavy weights, producing more natural looking results.

I prefer the English clothing styles

Let's say you're a real estate agent in the Westside of Los Angeles. (Empoprise-MU link.) When working with Brentwood clientele, you need to look your best, so you may do your clothes shopping at Theodore in Beverly Hills. You would prefer to deal with someone who knows Los Angeles well.

When you walk into the store, you realize that the manager looks familiar. You've seen her somewhere before, but you just can't place it. Perhaps you might recognize the manager from a recent night in Hollywood.

Or perhaps you recognize her from years ago.

The music industry does not offer lifetime employment. Far from it. And if you're on the periphery of the music industry - perhaps you're the wife, or mother, or girlfriend of someone in the industry - your time in the spotlight can end even more quickly than the time that the musicians themselves spend in the spotlight.

Those who continue to thrive after the spotlight disappears, such as Marilyn Wilson Rutherford and Lori Mattix (Lori Maddox), are the true winners.

Reading beyond the title - "American Woman"

Have you ever run across a song with a particular title and liked the song for its title - and then found out that the song itself has nothing to do with the title?

Take The Guess Who's song "American Woman." Perhaps a guy from a foreign country might hear the song title, see a beautiful woman from the United States, and think to himself, "I'll impress her by singing this song to her!"

But then he starts to learn the lyrics to the song and realizes that it is not a love song to an American woman. After all, the song begins:

American woman, stay away from me
American woman, mama let me be

Let's face it, this is NOT "California Girls."

And as you continue to read the lyrics to the song, you realize that it's not about a woman at all.

I don't need your war machines
I don't need your ghetto scenes
Coloured lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else's eyes

And yes, I know that the transcriber at songmeanings.net wrote "Colored," not "Coloured." But I suspect that the spelling with a "u" is correct, since the song was written by Canadians. After all, it was conceived in a curling rink.

And when you read those lyrics from the perspective of a 1960s Canadian writing about the United States, the song makes sense - a sense that can't be discerned from its seemingly innocuous title.

Incidentally, this song entered my head one day after finding this post in a blog called "War Machine." Perhaps it was the George Harrison in Haight Ashbury stuff that I had been reading previously, but seeing the title of the blog took me on a musical, um, trip.

Drifting along

My Monday evening was certainly interesting.

I was eating dinner with relatives, and someone observed that it was windy out. This led me to comment that you could tell that it was windy if you saw tumbling tumbleweeds drifting by. The fifteen year old who heard the comments is certainly familiar with tumbleweeds, but does not understand the significance of the phrase "tumbling tumbleweeds." Long-time readers of this blog, of course, know that this is a reference to a Sons of the Pioneers song that has been covered by other people, such as Todd Baio.

A few hours later, I received some upsetting news. I will not be discussing this news publicly, other than to say that it involves another relative (one who was not present at the dinner), and that it's very sad.

After receiving this news, I found myself thinking about the tumbling tumbleweeds some more.

Since I had some credits on Amazon, I ended up buying an MP3 of the song. And, as is my custom, I began scrobbling it repeatedly. It appears that I bought a 1950s version of the song, but it's still a good version.

I haven't searched for "Old Man Atom" yet.