It's all about trust.
There's this guy Don VanCleave. He's gonna fuck with your notion of Alabamans. He used to run a record store in Birmingham with the moniker Magic Platter, but now he heads CIMS, the Coalition of Independent Music Stores. Get on his mailing list, don@cimsmusic.com, to get his weekly indie store chart. But better yet is his commentary. Sure, often Don cheerleads, but he imparts words of wisdom on a regular basis, he puts forth passionate insights. And in this week's missive, Don lamented the state of radio, and swore by Sirius' Left Of Center.
So I've been checking it out.
And I've got to tell you, as a dedicated Allman Brothers fan, as a builder of John Mayer's career, I was stunned that Don liked this music. Oh, at first it was refreshing. Then it was kind of like listening to dental drills. But, in the process of listening I learned that Left Of Center has a weekly audience chart show, broadcast Sunday mornings. And figuring I'd skim the cream of the crop, I went surfing and found the list. You can see it here: www.sirius.com
I proceeded to check out each and every track. That's what you do in the Net age, everything's hearable. And I was stunned how genre-specific this shit was. How you had to be a fan of the music to truly enjoy it, how it wasn't one listen grab you.
Not that it all sucked. The new Arcade Fire track? Certainly special, the band deserves the hype. And when I heard Kaiser Chiefs' "Ruby" on the radio this afternoon, I was reminded of the magic of "I Predict A Riot". But really, if this is the shit, we're shit out of luck. I mean this ain't no Alanis Morissette, left of center shit that's universal.
Oh, I liked Robbers On High Street. And the Modest Mouse track wasn't bad... But listening to the Shins you'll wonder what all the hype is about. Hell, CD sales aren't only off because of iPods, this stuff just doesn't grab you, not unless you're hooked to begin with.
And I heard the Shins again on the way to the eye doctor, where I found out I was wearing my contacts in the wrong eyes, and was again suitably unimpressed.
But when I was done, and got back in my car and turned my Sirius back on, there was a killer track on the radio. "Millstone", by Brand New. And then the CANDYSKINS! "Wembley". God, this DJ, he was on a run!
Turned out it was all about the DJ. This was Matt Pinfield.
Supposedly Matt Pinfield had cred before he appeared on MTV. But MTV flattens your image, renders you two-dimensional, it's hard to be appear dark and rock if you're on TV.
Then again, Pinfield ain't that dark. God, when he talks it's like listening to your best buddy, who's not teaching you a lesson, but imparting wisdom, all in a friendly way!
And then Matt went on to spin an acoustic Cure song.
And I confirmed my suspicion that last.fm and all the suggestion software radio would fail. Because it's about the personality.
They say that Matt Pinfield gets to play whatever he wants. Which is a rarity on the tightly-formatted Sirius. But it makes all the difference, I felt like I was on a ride with him!
And then, just to compare, I switched over to the comparable station on XM, Ethel.
Now Ethel experienced a backlash. They cut the playlist. The PD has been excoriated all over the Net. Can't tell you if the listeners are right, I just don't listen to the station that much. Hell, all this modern rock has made me realize my tastes are much more aligned with Mike Marrone. I like a song more than noise. But this song they were playing on Ethel right then... Wow, it cut to my heart. You see it was "Handbags and Gladrags".
"Ever see a blind man cross the roadTryin' to make the other side"
But this wasn't the famous version by Rod Stewart, rather this was a cover of the Mike d'Abo penned tune by the Stereophonics. Who realized they were that hip?
Turns out Rod Stewart's take on his debut wasn't even the first version. Rather, that was done by Chris Farlowe. Then came renditions by Double Feature and Love Affair. You remember those, right? HA!
Just like DJs, it depends on the performance. And Rod Stewart knocked it out of the park. And I'm sure the Stereophonics never would have covered it if they hadn't heard his famous take. No one's gonna cover the shit that Rod Stewart does now. That's just about commerce.
You'll dig the Stereophonics' version. It's not necessary, but it's intriguing. But not as intriguing as the cover of "Love and Mercy" by Golden Smog that I heard on the Loft.
Don VanCleave is right. We've got an exhibition crisis. People don't hear the great music. Hell, according to the Wikipedia, the Stereophonics' version of "Handbags and Gladrags" went Top Ten in 2001. Who knew? We need people to pick the tunes. We need outlets to expose these people that are trusted, that listeners can believe in.
There's great shit all over satellite radio. But somehow, the average American doesn't see the services as necessary. Sirius is the Howard Stern service and XM is..?
You've got to convince people to sign up. Both outlets have done an awful job of this. Maybe when every car comes with a satellite radio and a free trial, the tide will turn. Maybe people just need to be exposed to it. Then again, radio is now a dirty word. The industry burned it out. People hate radio just like they hate the major labels.
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