Sometimes in the world of music, strange things happen that don’t make an enormous amount of sense to me.
One of those things – which happens regularly, and has almost certainly become much worse over time – is the odd and very wrong correlation between truly good, truly inspirational or truly meaningful music – and an artist’s “popularity” – whether that is reflected in record sales, media exposure – it doesn’t really matter – this undeniable fact remains:
The “music industry” rewards and promotes artists that produce a particular “kind” of product, which seems to have but one criteria:
“Can this ‘product’ make us money (and lots of it)?”
The industry has always been interested in money, while over time, showing less and less interest in the actual music.
The inevitable upshot of this, unfortunately, is huge media exposure and significant sales for the “right kind” of artist (according to their entirely greed-driven “criteria” of course!) – usually (not always but often) an artist with only a modicum of musical ability or actual talent – the Industry wants as many of these “money-making” artists as possible – and consequently – the rest of the bands and musicians in the world, who do not meet this “Magical Money Making Criteria” – well, they struggle in such an environment (a harsh, cruel demanding environment).
Artists with genuine skill – with real talent – whether that be the mastery of an actual music instrument, or a singer with real vocal skill and dexterity – or artists who have unique and notable skill as songwriters or producers of cutting-edge, modern forward-thinking music – are first of all, always in the minority in the minds of the record companies, and during the last couple of decades, many of them felt so uncomfortable or unhappy with this “business arrangement” – that they sought other ways to move through the marketplace – ways NOT dependent on being signed to a major label, and in fact, NOT dependent on a record company or the music industry in any way shape or form – and that is a good thing.
So rather than having to kowtow to the system, and beg on bended knee for a “record contract” that won’t be favourable or good (unless you happen to be one of the one-in-a-billion who actually meet the Magic Money Making Criteria) – so they either formed their own independent labels (one example of which is Robert Fripp & David Singleton’s remarkable DGM – Discipline Global Mobile – an artist-centric label if there ever was one) or moved to labels that support quality music over sheer money-making prowess.
The above merely states a problem that exists, and of course, it’s subjective – there are exceptions, of course, to every “rule” or “theory” – and this theory of mine is no exception to having exceptions.
Of course, there are a number of bands, artists and performers, who sell enormous amounts of records, get massive media exposure – AND they are real musicians of quality – they actually play their own instruments, they have studied music or been working musicians for the majority of their lives and have learned from the sheer experience of being on the road in a working band for 30, 40, 50 years or more – that end up in the same financial space as the “Money Making Artists” who do not necessarily have the actual skills, talents, or abilities that make them admirable to fans of real music and the more discerning listeners.
One of the biggest issues here, I think, is the traditional “record company” or “music industry” view of artists as “money-making machines” – but more specifically, their view that CDs, DVDs, and other saleable items that present music – are “products” – and of course they are products – but the record companies, over time, seem to have shifted from viewing an “album” or a “CD” as a record, a recording of music – it it’s simply become a “product” – they have transformed it from an object of joy and wonder into a simple and depressing object of commerce – a product (ugh) in the most negative sense – and then it gets dealt with like a product:
- How many can we produce as cheaply as possible to maximise profit?
- How many can we sell at as high a price as possible to maximise profit / greed / etc.
- How can we sell as much of this “product” as possible / in what ways can we “market” this to maximise profit?
You can just about see the common denominator there… hmmmm.
I can remember in the 1970s (and farther back than that, I am afraid) that there was still the “illusion” that music and albums were about….music and artists – and music itself – songs – albums – mattered – and record companies (in some limited cases at least) actually cared about the music that “their” artists produced – as music – and NOT just as a “product”.
But – the view of album or CD as “product” – WAS always there – it’s just that over the past several decades – that idea has grown and grown – and the ideas for maximising profit go even farther back – which is why there were so many cases of musicians and bands receiving literally a few pennies for each album sold – while executives and record company board members and owners, skimmed 97 percent off the top – these “recording contracts” or “deals” were just atrocious and utterly unfair to musicians who worked (often all of their life – and sadly, often ending in poverty and dying alone and forgotten) at music – for their entire life time, dedicating every hour to writing, performing, and living and breathing music that they truly believed in.
So as the “music industry” and “record companies” have more and more viewed the output of musicians as “product” – the idea that music is anything but a money-making tool has all but disappeared from their minds.
In other words, if artist isn’t selling x million “units” of their “product” then the industry is no longer interested in that artist. Artists were regularly “dropped” from labels for not shifting enough “product” – some who had in fact, sold very well for the first ten years of their career – when that 13th album failed to shift a million – the record company would just terminate the contract because the artist was no longer producing the kind of money (not – the kind of music) they are interested in – large amounts of money.
That artist would have been faithful to that company for decades, making lots and lots of great records that sold well – but as soon as the sales fall away even a little bit – and the cash cow doesn’t look to be able to generate massive income as it had done – it was “out the door” for that artist – who then had to scrabble around and find a new or different record label with the stigma of having “just been dropped by one of the majors” which means their ability to negotiate with their new label is automatically negatively compromised…they are not a “hot property” anymore, because the record company kicked them to the kerb.
The really ironic thing there, is that the example of “that 13th album” I gave – that mythical 13th album would very probably be a musical and artistic triumph – a “critical success” – i.e. the critics loved it, the fans loved it even more – but it did not make enough money to satisfy the greed of the industry.
It might even have been that band’s musical masterpiece and the pinnacle of their career – which might have spanned 20, 30 years – they reach a point of musical maturity and consummate skill – they make an AMAZING, beautiful record that their fans and followers absolutely love – even the critics like the album – and their “reward” is – being dropped from the label and finding themselves out on the street with no label support.
As noted above and elsewhere – artists and bands that ended up in this situation, have dealt with this problem in many, many different ways:
- Some simply moved house to another traditional label and carried on their career on a new label.
- Some could no longer stomach the product-centric, money-centric, and let’s face it – greed-centric attitudes and practices of the music industry, and moved to an ethical company such as DGM.
- Some decided that the best solution was to become their own record company – and would either form an actual company to produce records, market those records, take care of distribution, etc. themselves – and, getting dollars per CD, instead of pennies which I view as a positive thing.
- Others created a sort of “cottage industry” where they form a “record company” of sorts – or a record label – and some aspects are dealt with via external contracts – but control is still central and still belongs to the artist.
Others…possibly – lost heart to such an extreme – that they did none of the above, and after having their faith in their 20 or 30 year relationship with a major label so badly shaken by being suddenly, and without warning, “dropped” because their 13th album was the first one that DIDN’T sell one million copies…causing them, sadly – to just give up.
They stopped playing music, and perhaps, changed to another artistic pursuit (a lot of musicians seem to end up as painters – artists still, but using a paintbrush instead of a plectrum to make their art) or even dropped music altogether and got a “normal job” – and left the greed and corruption and disappointment – behind – forever.
Kicked to the kerb, surplus to requirements – dropped by your label.
But in these cases, the length of their career as a major label star, that sells millions – is limited to merely month rather than decades as it was previously. So “stars” are made, the money is sucked out – and then they are dropped in a now-very-rapid-turnover-scenario that literally ingests hapless singers or rappers or whatever – pushes them through a pre-defined process producing some of the most lifeless, vapid “music” ever made – said music is marketed in an extreme way – a LOT of money is made (and the musician will see very little of it proportionally) – and then – they are dropped when their next song does not succeed – and more, “fresh talent” is sought, brought in – processed – dropped – repeat ad nauseam forever – a very, very sad and pathetic cycle that is even worse than the record company behaviours of yesteryear.
Whereas – in contrast – today’s modern musicians, who have learned to play actual instruments and taught themselves to write and perform their own music – do not depend on the record industry for anything – and simply produce music that means something to them – presented to the world through both YouTube and a plethora of different social media outlets – and we instantly have a new and amazing world where lesser-known musicians can compete with the biggest stars – and often surpass them in musical achievement.
The other upshot of this truly unfortunate situation, besides how discouraging it is for these “ordinary” musicians (who generally speaking, are anything but) – is that artists with amazing talents are often ignored, missing in action, cannot sell records easily, or are otherwise downplayed in the marketplace simply because they are not artists with the magic “this artists is gonna make us RICH” formula – instead, they offer honest, heartfelt music that they make because they love music – not because they want to get rich – they want to earn a living as a musician – and hope that some will hear and appreciate their music.
But, sadly, so much of this good music is so far under the radar, or at best, hanging on at the periphery of the normal “music industry” – outside the pale – it’s an unfortunate situation but it’s difficult in this day and age – to get music of quality heard or appreciated because the world is geared towards the shifting of product rather than, the sharing of inspirational and beautiful music.
And – via the gradual but insistent brainwashing of the record-buying public by the music industry – who pretty much “force feed” us the latest records by “popular artists” (their opinion – not mine!) such as but not limited to Juslake Beaver, Tailor Sweeft, Ariande Latte Grande, Ed Sneeran, Lady BlahGah, Smiley Cyprus and on and on – big names maybe – but I have questions…
- How many of these folks can actually write a decent song?
- Which ones can actually play a real musical instrument?
- How many of these can actually sing – and I do not mean sing through a pitch correcting vocoder or other technology that can easily take a poor or even downright bad singing voice and at least, force it into “tune” – whether that has any actual qualities worthy of our admiration – is in doubt in some cases.
Sure – some of the people that I have poked gentle fun at by naming them in a slightly disrespectful way – actually – I find it difficult to speak these names aloud or write them out properly – because I actually find a fair percentage of them slightly objectionable – because they are making millions, by “singing” or “playing” – while countless hundreds of thousands if not millions of real musicians, who have real skill on an instrument, real singing ability, real song writing or production skill – are ignored, not heard of, cannot sell records – because they are outside the system – the system that produces these “products” made by these “big name” artists.
Sigh.
None of this is very cheering, but there is always hope. I think a lot of artists have handled this transition really gracefully, and seem to be more settled and much, much happier running their own affairs as compared to their previous experience of “record companies” and the “music industry” – they seem far happier, and well-adjusted – making music on their own terms – and having their own destiny in their own hands.
I think that is fantastic – more power to them, and I can only send my best wishes and hope that their music will be heard by those who need to hear it – and I also think that his mass-migration of musicians from the major labels to either, ethical labels or to their own self-created labels, companies or cottage industries – is one of the best and most positive outcomes of this entire dark, negative “the product rules” attitude and practice of the music industry – because it has effectively, de-centralised what was a terrible monopoly held by the major record companies, where the amount of control that they held and exerted over their artists was a truly awful, almost evil thing – and by walking away, by closing that door – and opening a new way – these artists have set the stage for a real revolution of self-producing, non-record-company-depended truly “independent” artists – and I think that is absolutely wonderful – and about time, too.
A lot of musicians have suffered a lot – many literally ending up in true poverty because the record company took most of the money that was made – and some of these poor musicians ended up in the worst situations imaginable – especially back in the 1950s and 1960s when most of the greedy machinations of record companies were not as publicly known as they are nowadays – much has come to light during the past few decades – often through the personal stories of the musicians themselves (have a read of Robert Fripp’s Diary at DGM Live for one such tale) – who, after suffering at the hands of the music industry for decades – finally came forward to tell their horror stories – so gradually, the truth of the behaviour of these large record companies has come to light – and it is not a pretty story at all.
I don’t generally like to focus as much on negative behaviour as I’ve had to in this blog, but I felt it was important to set the scene for some of my upcoming blogs – what I am really here to write about – and that is one of my ongoing stories regarding musicians that are NOT as well known.
In writing the above…I hope I have expressed and explained the kind of roadblocks and difficulties that so many great (but possibly not very well known, sadly) musicians have had to endure and then, eventually – thankfully – overcome – and I literally believe this to be a real triumph of the human spirit – and a great example of a great good coming out of a bad evil.
Really, the bad behaviour and greed of these companies – when brought to light by the sad facts of their behaviour and the way they treated “their” artists for so, so long – well – there is some vindication now – music is triumphing, and the record industry – has almost nothing to do with that.
In the past – you “had to” have a record deal to make records – or CDs – and you “had to” be signed to a label if you wanted to have the ability to manufacture, market, and distribute your music on any scale small or large – you had no choice.
Now – there are choices – and I think, that getting a “record contract” or “signing with a major” is probably the worst of those choices. Sure – they have massive distribution channels, and massive marketing departments that CAN and do promote albums on to sell in massive numbers – and for the “popular artists” of the day, those few that actually meet the criteria of “money making magic” – i.e. they “feel” lucrative to the record companies – because they sense the millions and millions of dollars that will probably soon be lining their pockets the next time they create a “product” for one of these “popular artists” – and that product then sells in the millions thanks to the machinery of the record industry.
But – “the times they are a-changing” – and the biggest change of all is certainly the Internet – which has enabled a number of extremely talented musicians – and artists and sculptors and wood-workers and people engaging in crafts of many, many diverse types – musicians can now gain massive popularity – and gain a large audience – if their music is good, if they are a sincere and committed artist – simply by producing and performing their own music and broadcasting it over the Internet – and then letting the people decide – what music do I love?
For me – the choice is clear – I am interested in music that is created by skilled, talented, committed musicians who primary interest and goal is CREATION – creating music that is beautiful, inspiring, or very, very unusual, using groundbreaking techniques and technologies that were previously unimaginable – especially in the world of the “traditional” record company – who are set in their ways and methods – and they can carry on doing what they do – but I don’t really care.
Because I will just seek out real music, made by real musicians – and I will NOT be seeking out “product” produced by “record companies” – any more – except in those rare cases where real music, made by real musicians – happens to also be extremely popular, and happens to sell in huge numbers – rare, but not impossible (please see my final remarks below regarding the extraordinary musician Billie Eilish for a working example of this rare possibility).
I’d prefer that it happens (massive success of music – not products) where the artist is NOT signed to a major label, and that those artists can actually sell millions of CDs or more likely, downloads – without a greedy pocket-invading record company attached at the hip, taking 95-plus percent of the proceeds when it was the artist that actually did 105 percent of the creation of the music.
As time has gone on, I find more and more that most of the music I am interested in – is produced by ethical record companies, artist owned companies or distribution networks or even direct from the artist to consumer sites of which there are more and more and more every day.
That’s how it should be – it needs to be about the music – not about “product” and how much of that product can we shift and how much ridiculous money can we make from that “product” – that is old world thinking and in the brave new world of 2020 and beyond – I am so, so happy and glad to see things changing in this way – so that we can get back to what is important – the music itself.
It needs to be about the music.
I think that some people just “like music” in a very vague and general way, and they don’t care about what music is playing – they will happily listen to what the radio is playing, and they will learn to like artists not based on their skill, talent, or song writing ability – but because they have been told “this is good music” – when in reality – what that actually means, is “this is the music we want to sell and make a LOT of money from, so we want you to like it – so you will buy it – and make us wealthy”.
I was always amazed by this type of person – and I would say to them “you are content to listen to what the radio tells you is ‘good music’ – wouldn’t you rather explore the actual sound of different bands and artists yourself, and make up your own mind ?? – instead of allowing someone (the record company) who is driven by one non-musical idea – greed – to DICTATE to you “what good music is” and “what you should be listening to”??
They would generally just give me a blank look and profess to not really knowing what the hell I was talking about. But I have given this a lot of thought, for a long time – and I am finally now finding time to suggest these ideas and I hope they can be received and used in a positive way that brings a lot of new, creative, inspirational, unique and beautiful music to a lot of listeners who may well be missing out on a lot of great listening experiences – because they just haven’t considered this question of “who” is telling them “what” music is good and “what they should be listening to” or liking – and I truly believe that this choice should come from within – and not from the record industry’s rather obviously money-driven “suggestions”.
I learned to love music by first, hearing it on the radio – but there is stopped – sure, I went out and bought records that I had heard on the radio – back when I was a kid or a teenager.
But very, very early on – in my early twenties certainly – I began a much more organic process of music discovery – which is basically – word of mouth, discussing the merits of various artists with strangers you meet in your local record store (and some of them becoming life-long friends, as it turns out – such as my good friend Michael P. Dawson – who I met in Off The Record on El Cajon Blvd many, many decades ago now) – reading about artists in music magazines – the method was not important – but what is important, I think, is that I was CHOOSING my own music.
Meaning too – that NO one else – was choosing for me, or choosing on my behalf – it was 100 percent of my own volition, my choice of music, of artists that resonated with me personally, what sounded great to my ears, what sounded beautiful – what sounded unique – and I just ignored – and still ignore to this day – what the record industry or what record companies – “recommend” – no thank you – I can make my own choices here!
Additionally, by listening to one group, I might then discover another (or many more in some cases) – and then from that artists, another – and the process over time – over the past few decades in fact – has led me to learn to love and spend a lot of time listening to a lot of artists that are really not that well known – but I personally find them infinitely more satisfying to listen to than the “popular music” “products” that the music industry is “recommending” – selling to you regardless of whether you actually really love the music or not – they do not care about that at all – as long as you buy a copy.
If you really sit down, and listen – listen with your ears, your brain, your whole body – close your eyes, listen with your heart, if you will – and listen to the qualities of the music you are listening to – you will realise very, very quickly – that a lot of these mass-produced, mass-marketed “musicians” (and I use the term very dubiously there – to my mind, many of these popular, massive-selling musicians are not musicians but almost more like imaginary “singers” who can’t play any instrument, don’t even know what a scale is – and just “got lucky” or “had a lucky break” and got themselves a lucrative money-making contract with a major record label) – and sadly – that has very, very, VERY little to do with music.
That might seem like an extreme position – but I would challenge you to compare side by side, music made by million selling artists who do not play an instrument, who do not write songs, but simply do as they are told and play their part in the creation of “products” (not music, but money making noise a lot of the time) that are quickly and mass-produced with a view to cash in on the short-half-life that some of these artists have – they have one huge “hit song” – MILLIONS are made by the record company – and then they disappear when their follow up song “fails to chart” – and the same old cycle takes over…with the music of lesser known, unfunded, self-sufficient real musicians who play actual instruments, sing beautifully, have real skill at modern production or some kind of actual ability, talent or skill – and I think that the latter group will consistently sound beautiful and inspirational – and for me, anyway – the majority of those “artists” inhabiting the former group – feel “manufactured” and sound thin and lifeless by comparison. That is how it sounds to me, that is how it feels to me…lifeless. Uninspired.
During this “Inner Revolution” of empowered artists making their own media and presenting it on YouTube and via Social Media – I have begun to enjoy and listen to a huge number of artists that previously I was unaware of – had never heard of. A lot of truly beautiful, absolutely amazing music is now available on YouTube and on the Internet – endless, beautiful, real music made by astonishingly talented and creative musicians.
And nary a record company in sight – thank the Gods.
Now back in the day – before the Internet – early on I decided that while there was the occasional song on the radio that I liked or even liked a lot – that radio, and other media controlled by the music industry – did NOT have my best interest at heart. They wanted me to like certain artists so that I could join the millions who blindly, and without thinking AUTOMATICALLY buy every release by popular artist Artist Name Goes Here – because they have been TRAINED and GROOMED to do so – subconsciously perhaps but trained nonetheless – by the music industry.
They wanted me to like, and then BUY – the million selling artists that they wanted to make more of, sell more of – and that was once again – just to satisfy their endless GREED!
I refused this. I did not want ANYONE to tell me:
- What kind of music I like to listen to
- What kind of music I enjoy
- What kind of music I should purchase (with my hard earned money)
- Which artists are “good” and that I should like them because – they SAID they were good (whether they actually were or NOT) – and usually – they were NOT good – not talented – not capable of much of anything except – creating product, selling product, and being on a very short roller coaster ride of “fame” that will almost certainly DAMAGE them more than it will ever help them
- No company – or individual – has any right to dictate to me what I do, what I listen to, what I like, or what I buy – they can “suggest” but I for one – I refuse this – and I want to MAKE UP MY OWN mind
For some strange reason – I decided this very, very early on – when I was a teenager or just shortly thereafter in fact – and I have stuck to this tactic ever since. I don’t generally like what is “popular” (because “popular” is artificial – it’s dishonest – and it’s totally contrived and fed to you by greed-driven record companies – they do NOT care about you – except as a source of MONEY) and I want to form my own opinions.
Pre-Internet, this could be accomplished in a number of ways – through conversations with other real listeners to real music, from reading about music and bands and artists where that reading then led to listening – and so on.
As one random example of this – one of the bands I happen to like is Roxy Music, who you have probably heard of – and since I am a guitarist, I really like Roxy’s guitarist Phil Manzanera – he has a unique and beautiful style of playing guitar, and I have always enjoyed his playing.
[AN EXAMPLE of the word of mouth – follow the players “method” follows]:
I had a few Roxy Music albums early on – starting oddly, with an unofficial one called “Foolproof” (an amazing amalgamation of two great live performances)…
That then led, to me purchasing “solo albums” by Phil Manzanera and listening to those.
Reading the album sleeves and notes revealed the other musicians playing on the record.
One of the Phil Manzanera records I bought, noted “Tim and Neil Finn” on vocals on various tracks (this is 1978’s remarkable “K-Scope” – one of Manzanera’s lesser-known absolute master works – a must have for anyone who likes creative guitar playing) – and I had heard of them – they were in a band called “Split Enz”.
So reading the album jacket of Phil Manzanera, led me to Tim and Neil Finn – which led me to Split Enz.
A few months later – I had fallen in love with that band; purchased all of the albums I could find by them – and even got to go see them play live on their first U.S. tour – I absolutely love Split Enz – thanks to Tim and Neil being on a little known Phil Manzanera album from the late 70s !
Of course then years later – my interest in Split Enz meant that I would then follow Neil Finn’s later band “Crowded House” – which later included Split Enz alumni older brother Tim Finn and keyboardist extraordinaire Eddie Rayner.…
So entirely by osmosis – I got into all of the following bands simply by following the names of certain musicians that kept cropping up until I got curious to hear them – and bought a record. Which would often then – lead to still more artists. In this one example – you could argue that because I liked Roxy Music , that I then over a very short period of time began to enjoy the music of and collect recordings by
And on and on and on – a wonderful snowball effect of one great musician leading to another to another to yet another…
And at the same time – Phil Manzanera’s album “K-Scope” ALSO was a further pointer to me to further explore a number of OTHER musicians who appeared as guests on K-Scope that I was already aware of – such as
- Godley & Creme (and therefore, of course – 10cc)
- John Wetton (and therefore, of course, King Crimson, U.K., Asia, and so on)
- Brian Eno (and therefore, of course – back to Roxy Music, to Eno’s voluminous and amazing solo career, and to Fripp and Eno – which of course leads back to King Crimson AND John Wetton…endless inter-connectivity).
So by following just a handful of musicians who I admired – I could then learn and grow and experience the bands and records that those musicians had worked on – all because I read one record sleeve.
One thing leads to seventeen others – and what a great, great way THAT was – to discover new music.
[EXAMPLE ENDS]
Finding the music of Split Enz was a huge positive experience to me – and that was based on the fact that I really, really like the vocals that Tim Finn did on Phil Manzanera’s “K-Scope” album – so much so, that I had to go and find out about Tim Finn’s own band – Split Enz – who I had heard of but never heard.
Tim Finn has a truly beautiful singing voice, and Phil Manzanera recognised this and asked him to sing on “K-Scope” – and the fact that Manzanera did that – led me directly to one of the most astonishing and rewarding collections of music in the current age – the discography of Split Enz.
Of course – now – with the Internet – it’s even EASIER to do all of this “cross-pollination” of artists – you see a video and you like the singer – you find out their name and then, what band they came from – you listen to or watch THAT band and you fall in love with that – and it just carries on, and you learn about – and enjoy – more and more and more amazing music by making your own choices – identifying certain musicians whose playing or singing you really enjoy – and then following out to their branches in the “musical family tree” as it were.
Regarding what you listen to – and whether you allow radio or social media or anyone besides yourself “decide” what you are listening to or are going to listen to…I just think that you just can’t believe what much of what you are told.
Just because the record company wants me to buy the latest record (by anyone in my tongue-in-cheek, quasi-fictionalised list of “big name artists” above) – does not mean that (if I am sensible, and thinking for myself – instead of letting them do my thinking for me) that I should buy them. And I don’t!
I think it makes much more sense – to start with music that you truly love – that you found on your own – you were not TOLD to like it – let’s say you grew up listening to your dad’s collection of Marillion records- and you actually really liked them – because they are real musicians who really play real instruments and they write their own songs – and they are pretty good at what they do – so starting there – instead of following what ANYONE told you – you made a decision for yourself – “I like this band – I really enjoy hearing their music (thanks, DAD!) – so that then, can easily lead you to a huge, huge world of related music, similar music, or even dis-similar music that has some relation to the music of Marillion – or, to early music via the bands and artists that Marillion themselves love – the bands that THEY loved and were inspired by.
So you read about early Marillion, and you find out that they were influenced by a couple of the most important and well known “Progressive Rock” bands that started out in the late 1960s – in this case – early Genesis with Peter Gabriel as their singer – Fish from Marillion makes no denial that he pretty much based his entire style on Gabriel-in-early-Genesis – alongside the additional influence of Van Der Graaf Generator founder and vocalist Peter Hammill.
(Interestingly – I was at the Steve Hackett concert in Edinburgh just last night – November 25, 2019 – and Fish walked past me a couple of times – he was in the audience to see Steve Hackett’s recreation of Genesis’ “Selling England By The Pound” – so that confirms that there really was a very strong influence on Marillion by early Genesis – not that there was ever any doubt about that – but Fish was there – listening. Still. That’s a nice affirmation of one’s influences – it was why I was there too – because Hackett was a huge early influence on my own guitar playing back in the early 1970s – he was so different, and seeing him live in 1975 performing “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” with Genesis changed me forever in a lot of profound ways – and it set me down a much different course in terms of the music I love, and, the kind of guitar melodies and ideas that I like to play – a massive influence.
So from making your own decision that you actually really enjoy the music of Marillion – that could easily lead you to discover the brilliant early music of early Genesis and Van Der Graaf Generator – and if you follow those two trails, you will end up at Robert Fripp, King Crimson, John Wetton, Bill Bruford, Brian Eno and a host of other extremely capable, talented brilliant musicians – but who they are does not matter – what DOES matter – is that the choice needs to be YOUR choice and yours alone – and NOT the choice of radio programmers, or TV, or what the record companies would very much like you to buy so they can get themselves a few more houses in a few more countries and some extra sports cars and swimming pools and so on – and because I am a contrary old son of a gun – I want to THWART that – I don’t want the record companies to get rich – ESPECIALLY if they are taking MY money from me (as well as taking away my choice!) to do so – I want my money to go to the artists that create the beautiful music that I love – NOT to a disassociated, greedy executive that wouldn’t know “good music” if it hit them right between the eyes.
I want to make the choices – and I choose MUSIC over PRODUCT – every time.
I choose what I like – not what anyone TELLS ME I like – every time.
Listen with your heart – really listen, and if you don’t already hear and see it – you will soon see that the list of big name, top-selling artists – that a lot of their music is of a much lesser quality than the music of real musicians who are not part of the Record Company Contract Machine Process any more.
There is so, so much amazing music available now – and not nearly enough time to listen to it all.
You can avoid a lot of the bad music – by deliberately refusing to participate in the brainwashing exercise that the music industry and the record companies is forcing onto you – telling you what to listen to, what to buy, what artists are “good” – it’s all nonsense – YOU should be deciding these things – not some faceless, greed driven company.
I say – do not listen to what they say to listen to; do NOT buy what they say – but instead – listen to a LOT of diverse and interesting music – and buy what YOU like – not what they tell you to like. Buy what speaks to your heart, what makes you happy, what music makes you feel good – the music you have chosen for yourself to enjoy.
You have a choice – please use it – and support artists and musicians directly whenever possible – and do not support a bad business model that was always unfair to artists and in many cases, was extremely damaging to them – and please do not let a faceless corporation tell you what to listen to and what YOU like – only YOU can truly decide that – but it means some effort – you have to listen to a lot of different music and then make up your mind what you want to spend your precious time actually listening to.
Today – I’ve been listening to the remarkable Martin Newell (in particular, the 1995 EP “Let’s Kiosk” and the 2000 album “The Spirit Cage”) – as well as selections from various albums by the remarkable singer / songwriter Sam Phillips – both very independent artists who have carved a path through the minefields of corporate greed and the music industry and come out on top – and boy am I glad, because I love listening to this music – I’m very, very glad it is available – and I do not have to buy from a major label to get it, either.
That’s the best of both worlds – I am making my own choice of who I listen to – AND I am supporting the artists I love directly whenever possible by buying direct from their websites or web stores.
You have the same choice, and I think a lot of times it would be better – that it is better – to try some new artists that you have chosen because YOU like them – not because some faceless money-making entity TELLS YOU that you like them…when really, maybe they are not all that good – and really, probably – there are a large number of hardworking and very talented musicians out there making truly inspirational and beautiful music – and you may be missing it if you allow your choices to be made “for you”.
I just think that listening to lesser-known music can be incredibly rewarding – and I don’t want anyone miss out on the beautiful and moving music that I have found and enjoyed since I consciously started making my own choices many years ago. Don’t miss this stuff – it’s truly worth it.
As a final note – sometimes, artists that appear to be in the “money making / record industry” mould that I have discussed here – happen to be as valid, as serious, as moving and as inspirational – as these lesser-known non-power-money funded artists I am talking about – and a perfect example of that would be Billie Eilish – an extraordinarily talented singer and songwriter – who has had an absolutely meteoric rise to huge popularity and “fame” – but mostly done outside the confines of the worst excesses of the industry.
I have huge respect for people like this – who have the vision, the talent, and the songwriting chops to just “be good” wherever they happen to be placed in the “business spectrum” of the music industry – talent is talent, skill is skill – and for me, an artist like Billie Eilish – who has a much, much larger following than most of the artists I follow – is equally as important and vibrant as the many less-known musicians that I also follow, listen to and admire – so it is POSSIBLE (although it does not happen often) that an artist can straddle those two world effectively without compromising their soul or their music – so that needed to be said.
Other artists that are products of the “we really want to make a lot of money camp” – can be as untalented or even vacuous as anything – not pleasant, not worth listening to – but propped up and supported by the love of the Almighty Dollar – it’s those that I find difficult to deal with.
Choose well – and I hope you enjoy your listening even more now – listening to music is one of the greatest pleasures in life for me – and I’ve thought long and hard about it over time – and things are starting to fall into place – you can see through the cracks – and easily get at what is true, honest, good and also – beautiful.
Have a great day!
Dave
davestafford.bandcamp.com
pureambient / dave stafford 