I'd like to dedicate this one to The Illustrious G. I'm still chuckling from the other day when she was yelling at me about the laundry baskets. An insufficient number of baskets were in the basement to receive the clean laundry because I had moved some of the empty ones upstairs to collect the dirty laundry. I went out the next day and purchased three new shiny baskets to alleviate her laundry woes. What is funny about it is later when I said she didn't need to "yell" at me about it she said "I was not yelling… I was explaining loudly." Too funny!
PS: If you haven't heard it, the cover version from the movie Moulin Rouge, sung by Ewan McGregor, is well worth a listen!
I cannot say I know any other Spacehog songs. You might assume they are not nearly so good, but I know better than to assume. It seems to me most bands and artists that have "made it" are one hit wonders. Perhaps two hits if they are lucky. They have a spurt of success thanks to the one song, and the album the one song is on, and then they struggle to repeat that success. Spacehog is no exception.
What separates them from the bands and artists that pump out hit after hit, album after album, is still a bit of a mystery to me. My hypothesis is:
1. You need a unique enough sound to not be lumped in with a well developed genre. Covering the Beatles isn't going to help you unless you sound nothing like the Beatles at this point. You don't want to be TOO unique though or you may not be considered music or lumped in with those "Experimental Music" freaks (although even they have their successes).
2. You need good or unique looks. Remember how video killed the radio star? Yeah. If you are not "pretty" then a unique wardrobe is probably your best friend. A visual image for your fans to latch on to is probably a must though.
1 & 2 will help for the first hit, but then…
3. You need to be able to reproduce your sound enough for it to be a sound associated with you, from song to song, and yet not have every song sound exactly the same (although that can work too for certain bands, The Strokes, I'm looking at you… with love that is). Each song in your repertoire needs to compliment your overall package.
…and yet I feel like my hypothesis must be missing a lot. Other factors like your stage performance, the recording quality, your publicist and label, blah blah blah, all factor in, I'm sure. There is also that magic of the right time, right place too. I am not actually in the music industry, so I probably should not hypothesize about such things. Someone might get hurt. But whatever. Put on a helmet.
So why didn't Spacehog score more than this one song on the charts in the USA, even after touring with Oasis and also The Black Crowes? I guess I'll have to listen to more than this one song to find out. Maybe #3 didn't apply? I do love this song though!
Tits. Can you handle it? (The word, not the tits themselves.)
I'm sure some will blush and others will shrug. What drew me into this song wasn't the tits though, it was that sweet bass line. You can especially hear it at the beginning of the song. Oh yeah baby! That's what I am talking about!
By the way, if the watch the fan made video note that it isn't really Rated G, and probably not even PG-13. I'm sure you can handle it though. (The video, not the tits themselves.) Eyes up here! Oh wait… right. I'm a boy.
Feeling good, yet melancholy? Here is the song for you. That is where I am. And here is why…
I went to a class run by my friend about being environmentally friendly, living with less stuff, sustainability, etc. etc. (…more on the content another time…) It was fun, good and invigorating, but yet there is that tinge of hopelessness I could not help but feel once I returned home and realized the issues are huge. Monumental in fact. And they are getting worse, not better, even despite increased awareness. Yes there are things that can be done by individuals such as myself, but it is probably easier to move mountains than it is to change the masses. One rock at a time I guess. One rock at a time.
The one thing I will tell you all is you need to watch "The Story of Stuff" if you haven't already.
As I recall, G and her best friend played this song a lot years ago. Over and over. There was definitely dancing involved too. Ever since, I immediately think of G when I hear this song, which is surprisingly frequent (the hearing of the song, the thinking of G is frequent w/o the song… he he). Today being G's day, I wanted to pick a song that is happy & fun, and her's in my mind.
Woof! I spent a good chunk of today setting up my blip.fm account with ALL the songs I have posted thus far. Now you'll be able to just 'push play' at "http://blip.fm/tsotd" and listen to the songs I've posted. It is basically my online radio station because my posting a song or two a day I am essentially a DJ, in slow motion.
Anyone who has paid even a little attention to music influences, especially in electronic, new wave, and post-punk genres over the past almost 40 years has seen Brian Eno's name A LOT. He is a musician, singer, composer, producer, and musical theorist. He has worked with seemingly countless artists over the years including John Cage, David Bowie, Talking Heads, U2, Coldplay, James, Dido, and Sinéad O'Connor, to name a few. I'm serious. The list is huge.
ALSO "Ambient" music (and all related genres) would possibly not even exist as they do today without him. It was my understanding before reading his wiki page that he is basically the father of ambient music. He is a legend! (I feel like I owe him a favor, a thank you, a fruit basket, …something!)
To top it off, he makes his own music and albums, averaging one about every two years. He has 25 by my count. And that excludes the 5,000,000 collaborative albums he has worked on or produced! (Maybe I should send flowers?)
"This" song impressed me in 2005, though frankly I only have a fraction of the music he himself has made. (Money. I think that's what he really would appreciate. Nah he's probably rolling in it by this point!)
Also, a bit of trivia for you, his full name is "Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno". Crazy huh?
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