‘Cause you gotta buy Faith

This column was originally published in the Central Western Daily on Tuesday 4th January 2011.

This year will see the re-release of George Michael’s iconic solo debut Faith. Originally released way back in 1987 to critical and popular acclaim, the album spawned many memorable hit singles such as Faith, I Want Your Sex, Father Figure, Monkey and Kissing a Fool. With sales in Australia exceeding 350000 copies (that’s five times platinum) and twenty million copies shipped worldwide, there are plenty of us out there who might be nostalgic enough to replace our worn out cassette and vinyl editions with the remastered and repackaged CD editions.

Faith was a truly solo effort from the former Wham! frontman. Not only did he write and produce every track bar one on the album, he also played almost every instrument. Amusingly, this probably wasn’t much different to his Wham! days as it is alleged Michael’s partner in crime and “guitarist”, Andrew Ridgeley, usually had his instrument turned right down, Linda McCartney style, during live performances. I guess at the time, we also thought he was singing about women, but that’s a different story.

To help George earn back all of the money he spent on his extended Australian holiday after his tour of Perth, Sydney and Melbourne last year (Grindr must be expensive), you’ll have the choice of the standard remastered 2 disc edition, the 2 disc plus DVD deluxe edition and for the ultimate fan, the super deluxe collectible edition, complete with a vinyl copy of the album, sleeve notes, rare pictures, replica tour pass and a hardcover book.

I’m not entirely certain why, with the exception of financial reasons, Sony or George Michael would choose to celebrate Faith’s twenty fourth anniversary and not wait another year for the quarter century. With this dubious timeframe, let’s have a look at some other albums that are also celebrating their pewter anniversary (there is no symbol for the twenty fourth so I made one up) and also deserve the remastered super mega deluxe and a cherry on top edition treatment.

INXS’s Kick is easily their best recording to date. Fusing their previous rock sound with a dance groove, they used the power of the music video to sell millions of albums on the back of such strong singles as Need You Tonight, Devil Inside, New Sensation and Never Tear Us Apart. Now sadly languishing around the nostalgia scene with multiple best of compilations on the market as well as a dodgy reinterpretations album, INXS have become their own cover band. A deluxe double disc edition of Kick was released in 2004 to celebrate its (drum roll please) seventeenth anniversary.

John Mellencamp, then John Cougar Mellencamp, also released The Lonesome Jubilee in 1987. A rock, folk and country hybrid, it produced the hit singles Cherry Bomb and Paper in Fire. With steel guitars, accordions and violins featured, this album pioneered the country rock sound that led the way for Shania Twain, Taylor Swift and Cameron Daddo. A remastered edition of The Lonesome Jubilee with a whole one extra song was released in 2005 (its eighteen anniversary).

Midnight Oil’s Diesel and Dust was ranked by Rolling Stone as the thirteenth best album of the eighties. With a strong environmental theme and a focus on the plight of the Aboriginal communities, this concept album was spearheaded by the singles Put Down That Weapon and Beds Are Burning. On its twenty first anniversary in 2008, a remastered edition of the album was released with a bonus documentary DVD. Personally, I think the Oils should follow George Michael’s example and celebrate its twenty fourth anniversary with a deluxe edition including some actual diesel and dust, plus a bonus insulation bat.

The demise of the vinyl album also saw the death of the gatefold sleeve and all the pictures, notes and goodies that came with it. There’s not much you can say in a CD booklet. Great albums deserve to be celebrated and polished up for re-release but perhaps only at significant milestones. Deluxe editions allow collectors and fans to access B sides, demo versions and memorabilia (at a price) but don’t wish too hard, 2011 sees the tenth anniversary of Nikki Webster’s Follow Your Heart album.

Published in: on January 4, 2011 at 19:34  Comments (1)  
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The Joys of Christmas

This column was originally published in the Central Western Daily on Tuesday 7th December 2010.

Don’t you just love December? Who doesn’t look forward to the warm dry summer weather, cicadas buzzing from every tree, cherries for sale on street corners and Australia dominating at the cricket? OK, so only the cicadas have eventuated this year so far but December also brings with it several other seasonal traditions, all of which I could definitely live without, namely bad television, Christmas music and movies.

Last year I wrote about some of the worst Christmas albums ever. They truly are a money grabbing exercise from our friends at the multinational record companies. What is the point of an album that is only useful for a few weeks a year? You know that it is all about the money when Kate Cerebrano releases a Christmas album. I didn’t realise that Scientologists celebrated Christmas. Maybe Xenu and Jesus have the same birthday.

There’s nothing that inspires me more when I’m doing my compulsory Christmas present shopping than some upbeat festive tunes piped into the shops. That is, inspires me to rip all of my hair out and stick hatpins into my ears. There are Christmas decorations everywhere. Santa hats and stupid t-shirts abound to reinforce the fact that it is Christmas. I do not need Mariah Carey screeching her way through All I Want for Christmas Is You to remind me that it is December.

How do retail staff stay sane with Christmas tunes on constant rotation all day? Surely this breaches occupational health and safety regulations? It must be even worst with those elf ears on. Imagine hearing Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime all day through gigantic super sensitive ears. I’d certainly frequent a shopping centre that uses the marketing ploy of “We know it’s Christmas, so do you, let’s not speak of it again, carry on as usual.”

December is also the time when the TV ratings people take some time off, leaving us to watch repeats, “summer editions” and all those shows that were axed after a couple of episodes in the US. Thank goodness for pay TV. How else would I get my fix of umpteen episodes of The Simpsons each day? Actually, the festive break is a good time to break out the DVD box sets and catch up on all of those shows I didn’t have time to watch during the year.

It is such a shame that the Cops LAC box set has been indefinitely postponed, due to lack of interest. I was really looking forward to reliving Kate Ritchie trying to be a hardnosed cop. Actually, I was looking forward to reliving Kate Ritchie trying to act. Poor Kate, even the Brady Bunch Variety Hour got a DVD release!

Christmas movies are another December inevitability. Personally, I like to watch movies to escape from reality. When I’m panicking about shopping, cooking and seeing my family, the last thing I want to do is see a Christmas movie about people panicking about shopping, cooking and seeing their families.

I’ve made a list and checked it twice. These Christmas movies are terrible.

1. Jingle All The Way (1996): Arnie struggles to find a Turboman doll for his son, and with the English language.

2. The Santa Clause 1, 2 and 3 (1994 – 2006): A trilogy? The Lord of the Rings and old school Star Wars deserve to be called trilogies. This should be known as a “we-accidentally-made-three-of-them-ogy.”

3. Christmas with the Kranks (2004): What is it about Tim Allen and bad Christmas movies? Unbelievably, this was written by John Grisham. Yes, that John Grisham.

So this December, bring on the warm weather. Actually, forget the heat. I just want it to stop raining. You’ll find me away from the shopping centre and television, enjoying the sun with my friends, being deafened by cicadas and eating cherries until I puke. I love Christmas.

Published in: on December 19, 2010 at 20:12  Leave a Comment  
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Sellaband crashes

This column was originally published in the Central Western Daily on Tuesday 16th March 2010.

Sellaband, the fan driven music website I wrote about in July last year, was declared bankrupt by a Dutch court on 22nd February. A couple of days later, a German company based in Munich bought the company and declared that they would honour all of the investments made by supporters. Launched in August 2006, Sellaband was a revolutionary concept for new musical artists. Bands and singers worldwide uploaded tracks onto the Sellaband website. Fans could listen to the songs for free and then invest in an album, usually the artist’s debut, by purchasing shares or parts at US$10 each. Once an artist had acquired enough shareholders, or “believers”, to raise US$50 000, then the finances would be released to the musicians to record, produce and market their album. In exchange for their investment, fans received a limited edition CD album of their artist. So what went wrong? Despite over forty artists reaching their goal and recording their albums, Sellaband was unable to turn a profit. Even the interest on the millions of dollars sitting in the bank on behalf of the artists who had yet to make their target was not enough to keep the company afloat. In this modern era of iTunes and mp3 files, the traditional album has become a dinosaur. Singles and standalone tracks now dominate the market, as consumers pick and choose the songs they like. Sellaband’s reliance on albums meant that artists had to produce a whole CD of quality tracks, something that even successful mainstream bands and singers often fail to achieve. Once an album was recorded, there wasn’t the opportunity for artists to release singles to promote their CD. Copies were sent out to the investors and little else happened. High quality of acts and artists was also a bugbear for Sellaband. With no-one screening the musicians, anyone could create a profile on the website and receive investments. With 3600 artists listed on the Sellaband website, there were simply too many acts for the general public to peruse and it became extremely difficult for an individual to attract enough attention and investment to reach their goal. Sellaband also encouraged acts to utilise high profile producers, which resulted in well recorded albums but also ate up most of the budget leaving little for promotion. In an attempt to address these problems, Sellaband altered their funding plan in October last year to allow complete flexibility for artists in terms of budget and goal (album, EP, single, music video, etc). They even attracted high profile rappers Public Enemy who aimed to raise US$250 000 with US$25 shares. Unfortunately, these changes were not enough to turn Sellaband fortunes around. The new owners of Sellaband are yet to announce what, if any, other changes they intend to make to the website. It is speculated that they may reduce the number of artists available for investment and steer the investing public towards the most viable and marketable acts. They have, however, released a new set of terms and conditions which doesn’t allow investors to sell their shares and cash out before an artist reaches a goal. For any music fans with an urge to invest in some of their favourite bands, I would suggest they remain cautious and not send any of their hard earned dollars to Germany until the future of Sellaband becomes clearer.

Published in: on March 17, 2010 at 08:18  Leave a Comment  
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Fan funded music: Sellaband

This column was originally published in the Central Western Daily on Tuesday 5th July 2010.

Music fans looking for an alternative to the commercial music industry are turning to the internet. Social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook have allowed new and undiscovered artists, such as one hit wonder Sandi Thom, to gain worldwide exposure. Long gone are the days of garage bands making demo CDs to hand out at gigs (it was actually demo cassettes in my rather embarrassing grunge band phase). And now a new movement known as “fan funded music” is becoming increasingly popular online.

Sellaband (www.sellaband.com) was launched in August 2006 and is based in Amsterdam. The aim of the company is to assist musicians by bringing them together with fans who are willing to pool money together to fund a recording.

Aspiring solo artists and bands register on the website and then upload their profile including info, photos and music. Punters can then browse these profiles and listen to tracks. If an artist or group takes your fancy, you can become a “believer” by purchasing a share or “part” for US$10. When an artist attracts enough paying fans to sell 5000 parts, they can then access the US$50,000 to record an album with the producers and engineers of their choice.

For each part purchased, the believer receives a limited edition copy of the CD they have helped fund. Sellaband recordings are also distributed worldwide via online retailers such as Amazon and iTunes. For a five year period following the release of the recording, any net revenues are equally shared by the artists and the believers.

So far, 21 artists have successfully reached their $50,000 goal and  released an album. Of these, two artists hail from Australia. Folk rock singer Mandyleigh Storm from Perth released “Fire and Ice” in March 2008. Brisbane rock band, Vegas Dragons, were also successful. There are another 11 artists worldwide currently recording, including Australian hard rock singer Tiffany Gow.

 A great feature of Sellaband is its flexibility. Fickle believers can move their shares around from artist to artist, and even sell back parts for a refund. It is only when an artist reaches their goal that the supporters are formally locked in.

Sellaband also allows you to communicate directly with your favourite artists. Within minutes of purchasing a part, the selected artist is usually personally thanking you for your support via email. Fans can message and chat with other believers and Sellaband musicians worldwide.

Sellaband and similar website Slicethepie (www.slicethepie.com) are a great way to discover new music from almost every style and genre. Even if you choose not to invest, it costs absolutely nothing to listen to music from all over the world.

Published in: on March 17, 2010 at 08:17  Leave a Comment  
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