Big Music Things Happening Online

Blink and You Could Miss It

They say celebrities die always die in groups of 3. Based on my inbox today, it seems like music-related news stories always land in groups of 4.

Music licensing company Rumblefish is offering a new service called Friendly Music, that lets you buy a song for $1.99 and have the rights to use that song in your non-commercial YouTube video. The initial selection of available songs is very small and it's not clear that people will pay 2 bucks to license music just so that they can post on YouTube (especially when there are other video sites that are not quite as zealous as the Google-owned YouTube about unlicensed music in videos). Just saying.

Indie Music Community and early online music store GarageBand.com is shutting down. Apple Computer's GarageBand software claims to have a good alibi, but I'm not sure.

Tired of carrying around clunky guitar effects pedals? Now all you need is your iPhone and a $40 piece of hardware.

And finally, the 50 Most Gimmicky Uses for the iPad.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Had the Flame But No Candle

It's a Gauntlet, You Gotta Run It

It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.

Graham Parker thought he should've been the next big thing when he was on Mercury Records and a lot of people agreed. He had a great pub-rock sound, amazing songs, the sneer that redefined "angry young man" for the era, and an incredibly strong backing band in the Rumour.

But Mercury didn't know how to put him over the top, so he left them (leaving behind one of the best bitter-record-company-kiss-off songs in rock history "Mercury Poisoning"), signed to Arista, and released the brilliant Squeezing Out Sparks. The album was adored by critics and expanded the cult audience he'd been building for years.

He was on the brink... and surely the next album would make him a superstar.


So the record company turned to Jimmy Iovine, who'd been an engineer on Springsteen's Born to Run album and had produced Tom Petty's breakthrough record Damn the Torpedoes.

The songs were strong. The Rumour was at their peak. And Bruce Springsteen publicly announced that Parker and the Rumour were the only band he would pay to see live. (Springsteen would duet with Parker on "Endless Night" for the new album -- hear it here.)

But the album didn't quite sound right. The performances on record were off and the production sounded muddy and flat.

Arista left "the Rumour" off of the cover and when they album wasn't enormous, the band was soon gone as well.

But the songs were great -- and the band still sounded amazing live.


Parker would chase the superstardom that should have been his for the next decade, signing with (and being dropped by) every major label in existence, making some great videos, and hiring superstar producers who never quite managed to capture lightning in a bottle.

In an alternate universe, Parker would have sold as many records as Springsteen or U2 or Prince. Or maybe he'd be hosting that talk show on the Sundance Channel instead of Elvis Costello.

Sadly, it wasn't to be... at least not in this universe. (Link for Gmail subscribers.)

To Boldly Caffeinate Where No Man Has Gone Before

Soy Milk is Highly Illogical

Today, I was reminded of how surreal life in Los Angeles can be.

I was at a chain coffee shop (no, not that one -- the other one) behind one of the less well-known Star Trek actors who did not, despite the fact that this is Los Angeles, order his overpriced coffee concoction with soy milk.

So, for the record, overpriced coffee? Perfectly logical. Overpriced coffee with soy milk for an extra 25 cents? Completely illogical.

Which, as these things tend to do, made me want to hear the Star Trek theme played on a ukulele. So here it is:


I know that's not enough for you purists... so here's the theme played on Wii Theremin. (And, incidentally, the very existence of Wii Theremin is enough to make me rethink my whole attitude towards game systems.)


And here's a list of other weird covers of the theme. I'm partial to the Rubinoos surf-rock version and Utopia's unreleased disco version myself.

RIP Pete Quaife

As long as I gaze on Waterloo Sunset, I am in Paradise

Pete Quaife, bassist and founding member of the Kinks, died in Denmark at age 66.

He left the band after recording The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, which means he never got to experience their brief 1980s superstardom and subsequent arena tours all over the world.

Guess we'll have to settle for him being part of a signature sound.

And singing background vocals on "Waterloo Sunset," which may be the best song the Kinks ever recorded.

Here's a nice remembrance of Pete.

And here's where Terry meets Julie, but it's the sha-la-las that always get to me.

The Occultation of a Summer Sun

There's no point in asking, it was never enough.

She wouldn't tell me where we were going. Said it was a surprise.

So I got in the car and she drove. And drove. And drove farther.

Eventually, she turned off the highway onto a dirt road.

Then, apologetically, she asked me to put on a blindfold. When I hesitated, she said it was a secret place. She wanted to share it with me, but also needed to keep it hidden.

And the world went dark.

She drove more. The road became bumpier and the air got colder.

We seemed to be turning back and forth, following switchbacks.

And then we stopped. She opened my door, took me by the hand, then led me through a wooded area. We walked a good 20 minutes before we stopped.

Only then did she take off the blindfold.

We were in a clearing. Forest surrounding us on three sides, a distant valley visible past a steep cliff on the fourth.

"This is a magical place," she said. "Nature and civilization are perfectly balanced. You stand here and can see both without being part of either."

I nodded. The breeze was greater there. The air was cool and I glanced at village lights far in the distance.

"I had to bring you here on the Solstice," she said. "For the balance. From here on in, the nights take over. The darkness gathers its strength until it dominates."

I looked up and saw a full, bright moon in the sky.

"The druids said when there was a full moon on the solstice it was particularly good luck. And if you make love under the full moon on the solstice, all the wonders of the world will be revealed."

Then she held out her hand. And I took it.

Because everyone wants to know all the wonders of the world. (Link for Gmail subscribers.)

New Genre

More weird stuff I found on the web

Sometimes you just found stuff online that makes you smile even if it matters far less than you can say.

Along those lines, who knew there was an entire genre of foreign artists doing ska covers of Beatle songs?

From Mexico



From Switzerland:



And from Japan:

Smallest Giant Ever

You Could Power a City With This

The party was in full swing. Dozens of people. Most he knew through his ex-girlfriend.

And he was talking to this girl. A girl he wasn't really that interested in. They'd been talking a while. Not about anything important. And he thought she was amusing, but maybe not all that bright.

He knew what would happen. The party would dwindle. He'd go home with the girl he was talking to.

And not with the girl across the room. The one who made his toes tingle.

Years later, they'd meet again. She wouldn't remember being at the party and he wouldn't tell her about the not-so-bright girl.

But his toes would still tingle.

And, at the end of the day, that would make all the difference. (Even if the price he had to pay involved decapitated mimes and intersteller lizards wearing headphones.)