posted by david on Wed 23 Nov 2005 @ 12:55 PM

In rock and pop music, there are plenty of musicians who simply love music and who aren't drawn to the fame or the money. Chris Whitley was something else again: he didn't just love music, he seemed to live and breathe it. It was easy to imagine that without it he wouldn't be able to exist. Anyone who saw him play live would have been taken aback by the ferocity and passion in his performances and anyone who then spoke to him off-stage would have been even more surprised at how gentle he was. He may have passed away on Sunday but through listening to his music again, we can be staggered by his talent all over again and more importantly, we can feel some of that passion he had for music. RIP Chris.

Links: official site - Rolling Stone news report

see the rest...

posted by david on Thu 6 Nov 2003 @ 11:56 PM

In a bizarre outburst, the head of MTV Europe Brent Hansen said this: "These programs make good TV but from a musical point of view, they do not have any value" What TV programs was he talking about? Britney videos? No, he's dissing American Idol and the various localised versions of the 'reality' show. I've three words for him: pot, kettle, black.

posted by david on Wed 4 Dec 2002 @ 08:47 PM | read or post comments (3)

There are few music stories which get extensive coverage beyond the music press but there's been some interesting coverage of Peter Garrett's announcement that he is quitting Midnight Oil. The news was announced quietly, on their official website, and left many people asking questions. Will he never play with Midnight Oil again? Will the band continue under the Oils name? And what exactly does Peter intend doing instead? I suspect that Midnight Oil will play again, perhaps not on proper tours criss-crossing the country but there will probably be occasional performances for specific occasions. They may even record again, doing it for fun and free of the pressures of producing a commercial success. In a formal sense though, this announcement strikes me not as a resignation but as an announcement that the band will no longer exist. Indeed, in the eyes of the general public, Peter was Midnight Oil (how many can name any of the other band members?) and in live performances, Peter was the focal point, perhaps one of the most striking frontmen in the world. The band cannot and should not continue without him. What next for Peter? It appears that he has made that decision already so we'll just have to wait for the next announcement. There has been some speculation that Peter is about to enter politics which, given his outspoken beliefs, can't be entirely disregarded. For now though, it's time to mourn the loss of a band which not only achieved success on a national and international level, but was always musically inventive, passionately focussed and breathtaking on stage (anyone who has ever seen them live will attest to that). In years to come, I have no doubt that they will be remembered as one of the most important bands this country has ever produced.

Links: ABC Online - The Age - The Sydney Morning Herald: Bernard Zuel, Lisa Pryor - Billboard - Rolling Stone - BBC - Austin American-Statesman - Brisbane Courier Mail - Chart Attack (Canada) - Undercover: Peter quits, Sony boss surprised

posted by david on Tue 29 Oct 2002 @ 02:05 PM

Tom Dowd, producer of the classic Derek and the Dominos album "Layla", has died. He was 77. During his career, he worked with Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, John Coltrane, Rod Stewart, Otis Redding, Bette Midler, Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers and many more. His background in engineering saw him working on the Manhattan Project and he later built the first stereo and 8-track recording consoles at Atlantic Records. Earlier this year he was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award for his considerable contributions to the music industry over his career. Given the scope of his accomplishments over the years, that seems well deserved.

links: United Press - Herald Tribune - Billboard - Wired

posted by david on Tue 15 Oct 2002 @ 09:33 PM

Late last week, the Victorian State Government copped some flak for not disclosing the amount of the financial inducement made to Paul McCartney and his tour promoters to stage a show in Melbourne. Whatever the amount, it seems absurd for a government to throw tax payer dollars at one of the richest men in England. I'm sure many Melbourne musicians would have preferred to see that amount spent on supporting the local industry. Any hopes that the concert will boost the local economy is presumably based on the assumption that there will be an influx of out-of-state visitors, but in light of the announced ticket prices, I'd imagine that only the truly nutty or very wealthy fans will be able to afford both the travel costs and the ticket price. To quote the Ticketmaster email: Ticket prices will start at $99.50 for Bronze, $174.90 for Gold Circle and selected Platinum tickets at $299.50. A very, very limited number of Diamond Circle tickets will also be available. $300 for a pop concert? In a cavernous stadium venue? So far they haven't disclosed the price of the "Diamond Circle" tickets but somehow I don't think they'll be very affordable. I guess what really saddens me is that when the real legends of pop and rock music come to town, the prices are so extreme that your average aspiring musician has little hope of being part of the experience. It's obscene Paul, it's simply obscene and you should be ashamed of yourself. update: Were they having trouble selling tickets? Some have asked that question in light of the decision to postpone/cancel the concert. Paul has cited the Bali bombing as the reason for not going ahead with the show, which seems strange given his prominent involvement in New York concerts and fundraisers after September 11. Steve Vizard from the govt "Major Events" group has claimed that 30,000 tickets for the show had been sold (which would represent revenue of at least $3 million, given the ticket prices). Everyone has been promised a full refund (including the Ticketmaster handling charge?) so we'll have to wait and see whether the show is merely postponed or cancelled altogether. It all feels very fishy. another update: The Age has another story about the cancellation.

posted by david on Wed 24 Jul 2002 @ 09:34 PM | read or post comments (2)

According to Billboard, English producer/engineer Gus Dudgeon has been killed in a car accident. He was 59. His main claim to fame was his working relationship with Elton John through the '70's but he can also boast working at Decca, where he worked on albums such as John Mayall's "Bluesbreakers" album that featured Eric Clapton. He also engineered the Zombies' "She's Not There" and produced David Bowie's "Space Oddity". In looking for more info about him, I stumbled across this interesting article where he talks about his approach to his work. This article has some interesting info about his contributions to some of the classic Elton John albums.

posted by david on Fri 28 Jun 2002 @ 11:32 PM

A few months ago a friend of mine brought over a live DVD of The Who and as we watched, he explained what an extraordinary bassist John Entwistle is, as he plays the bass like a lead guitar. Being a non-musician, I didn't completely understand what he was talking about but he was obviously in awe of his talent. Unfortunately, we have now lost that talent - John Entwistle has died of a heart attack in Las Vegas. He was 57.

posted by david on Wed 19 Dec 2001 @ 04:26 PM

I think I'll remember this year as one where a lot of things went wrong. Apart from the obvious, there's been a series of other events which have left me feeling a little depressed that things had to work out that way. When George Harrison died, I thought that had to be the last thing and we could maybe surface and move on, bracing for a new year which had to be better than this one. But then Stuart Adamson, singer, guitarist and songwriter with Big Country was found dead in Hawaii. Some people may remember the band from their 80s heyday but they were more than one hit wonders, releasing albums right through the 90s until their final effort, 1999's "Driving To Damascus". Maybe Stuart wasn't a songwriter on the level of Springsteen or Dylan but there was an integrity and passion in what he did that I find lacking in so many contemporary "artists". Maybe I have referred to the Big Country sound as "big dumb guitars" in the past, but it was always meant in an affectionate way and the fact that I feel this depressed about the loss of Stuart surely says something about how much I loved what he did. Tonight, my stereo is loaded with Big Country albums and I think I'm just going to let it play on for a while...

Links: BBC - Billboard - Tennessean - Honolulu Advertiser

posted by david on Sat 1 Dec 2001 @ 11:53 PM

I hardly need to report this seeing as it's all over the news everywhere, but if you live under a rock and haven't already heard, George Harrison has died of cancer aged 58. While the songwriting duo of Lennon/McCartney dominated the Beatles work, Harrison's "Something" was once described by Frank Sinatra as "the greatest love song ever written". If you want to read more, here's some links to various online coverage of his death: BBC - Billboard - CNN - The Age (Melb) with accompanying tribute by Stephen Cummings - Sydney Morning Herald

posted by david on Fri 30 Nov 2001 @ 11:55 PM

In a year which has seen the closure of two of Melbourne's better known music venues (The Continental, Punters Club), this week it was announced that one of Sydney's better known venues, the Harbourside Brasserie, is to close. Noise complaints from nearby residents is the main cause for the closure and the owners hope to re-open the venue elsewhere in Sydney (but I suspect it won't feature the word "Harbourside" in it's name). Can someone tell me what exactly people expect when they choose to live in the heart of a city? Cows mooing in the morning? It always strikes me as pretty silly, like when residents of apartments next to Luna Park complained about the noise from the rollercoaster as it whizzed past their windows. How shocking! A noisy rollercoaster in a fun park! Who could've imagined that!

posted by david on Sun 23 Sep 2001 @ 08:28 PM

One of the stranger effects of the US terrorist attacks is the way in which radio playlists have been altered to include or exclude certain songs based on their lyrical content. While some songs such as Springsteen's unreleased "My City of Ruins" somehow gain power in their new context, the Clear Channel radio network has devised a list of songs which it deems potentially inappropriate. Some are immediately obvious (AC/DC's "Shot Down In Flames") while others are less so (Bangles' "Walk Like An Egyptian"). The act of excluding a song like "War" ('war/what is it good for?/absolutely nothing') almost seems like a political statement. I would have thought some of the songs hardly need to be listed because I couldn't imagine a large commercial radio station playing much by Megadeth, Black Sabbath or Nine Inch Nails anyway.

posted by david on Wed 29 Aug 2001 @ 08:34 PM | read or post comments (6)

In a shock piece of news, Graeme "Shirley" Strachan has been killed in a helicopter crash in Queensland. He was 49. Shirl made his name charismatically strutting around in front of legendary Australian rock band Skyhooks. As a child of the 80s, my first memory of Shirl was through the kids TV show "Shirl's Neighbourhood" which he hosted. Only later did I make the connection with classic songs like "Living in the 70's" and "Horror Movie". Most recently he has been working as a presenter on Channel 9's lifestyle program "Our House".

posted by david on Tue 24 Jul 2001 @ 08:38 PM

Graham Lee over at the WMinc website has noted that acclaimed but reclusive singer/songwriter Fred Neil has passed away. From what I recall, Fred came to attention in New York in the 60s but became disillusioned with the music industry and instead decided to devote his life to working with dolphins. I haven't tried any of Fred's stuff myself but it's on my list to track down in the future. A number of newspapers in England were reporting that Beatles producer George Martin had stated George Harrison was close to death but Harrison has since denied this emphatically.

posted by david on Thu 12 Jul 2001 @ 08:40 PM | read or post comments (5)

I apologise for being so slack in updating gstring recently but I've been busy working on the CDROM component for the upcoming new album from Stephen Cummings. I forgot how much work was involved in putting one together. Anyway, the graphic artist who worked on that with me, Ross Robinson, has pointed out an article about Bob Geldof that turned up in the Sydney Morning Herald. It touches on Bob's upcoming album release 'Sex, Age and Death' but talks mostly about Bob's non-musical activities. You may have heard some hoo-ha about the album a few weeks ago when some of the lyrics that obviously referred to Paula Yates were being pored over.

posted by david on Thu 3 May 2001 @ 08:59 PM

I wish it were April 1. According to news reports this morning, the Continental Cafe, perhaps one of the finest live music venues in Australia, is to close. As The Age explains, the owners were unable to agree a new lease with the landlord. The final gig will be the Magnetic Fields on May 19. I'm completely flabbergasted and hearing Shane O'Mara discussing it on ABC radio this morning, many musicians are equally stunned. 8/5 update: Stephen Cummings has written a piece for The Age and the Addicted To Noise website also has an article about it. 11/5 update: The latest news is that the Continental will re-open under a new name with new management. What I don't understand: how can the new owners make it work where Mario and Mario couldn't? Will the venue be dumbed down?

posted by david on Tue 17 Apr 2001 @ 09:02 PM

As most of you probably already know, Jeffrey Hyman aka Joey Ramone died on April 15. He was 49. I must confess I've had little exposure to the Ramones but I've seen many musicians express admiration for them over the years, invariably citing them as "the real thing". Billboard is one of many publications with the news. The February issue of Mojo had the Ramones on the cover so I think it's about bloody time I sat down and read the actual article. Better late than never...

posted by david on Mon 26 Feb 2001 @ 10:14 PM

I remember reading somewhere once that the Columbia record label would never ever consider dropping Bob Dylan, even if his albums consistently bombed in the marketplace. Why? Because part of what made Columbia a well known label was the fact that the Bob Dylan was on their label. Wouldn't it be nice if all record companies with hardcore talents had this attitude? Well, don't count Interscope amongst that group because when Ron Sexsmith handed in his latest album (produced by Steve Earle - yes, that one), they quietly decided to drop Ron altogether and not bother releasing the album at all. Naturally Ron is none too pleased and he's trying to work out how to get the album back from them for release elsewhere. There's more info about this and Ron's new (but old) "Grand Opera Lane" release over in this interview.

posted by david on Wed 20 Dec 2000 @ 09:04 PM

British singer/songwriter Kirsty MacColl has been killed in a boating accident in Mexico. She was 41. I'm not all that familiar with her stuff but the song "They Don't Know" was one of those that we've all heard many times without knowing who wrote it. The best known version of that was by Tracey Ullman, who used it as the theme song for her "Tracey Ullman Show".

posted by david on Thu 2 Nov 2000 @ 07:16 PM | read or post comments (1)

Another day, another band calls it quits. This time it's piano-punk-pop band Ben Folds Five who have decided to go their separate ways. Apparently there's no bitterness between the guys and Ben Folds is working on a solo album for release some time next year. I was surprised to learn that Ben Folds lives in Australia.

posted by david on Wed 1 Nov 2000 @ 07:19 PM

It looks like Scottish rock band Big Country have finally split after 19 years and 8 studio albums. Their frontman Stuart Adamson announced earlier that he would no longer tour with the group and now bassist Tony Butler has also quit. While second guitarist Bruce Watson and drummer extraordinaire Mark Brzezicki haven't made any announcements, it seems unlikely that they would continue under the Big Country name. I've been following the band for only a few years and refer to them affectionately as 'Big Dumb Guitars'. But over the last year or so a number of incidents have left fans disappointed and disillusioned, and one had to wonder whether the band and their management saw eye-to-eye on the future of the band. The way their management dealt with some of their biggest fans was inept at best.

posted by david on Tue 31 Oct 2000 @ 07:21 PM

The Sydney Morning Herald has a piece discussing how the weak Australian dollar is forcing international acts to reconsider and/or cancel any plans they might have to tour Australia. We don't usually get that many big name tours (compared to somewhere like the UK or the US) so I didn't need to hear this. I hope it doesn't deter Mr Springsteen, who was rumoured to tour in January. We're lucky Ricky Martin still came out here isn't it? <cough, splutter>

posted by david on Tue 24 Oct 2000 @ 07:49 PM

Tim pointed out "you'll probably find this one out yourself because it's on the Rolling Stone homepage, but Zack de la Rocha has quit Rage Against The Machine, the band says they'll keep going, but apparently he owns the name, and as far as I know he's the one behind all the lyrics, no?" Maybe it's just me but I don't think a band should continue under the same name when the frontman quits, especially when that person is a core part of their songwriting and lyrics.

posted by david on Wed 27 Sep 2000 @ 07:17 PM

I must confess I'm a bit of a Mott The Hoople ignoramus, except for knowing that David Bowie produced their "All The Young Dudes" album back in the 70s. Anyway, it seems that their lead singer Ian Hunter is making a minor comeback, spurred on by his surprisingly active online fanbase. If you've heard the theme song to "The Drew Carey Show" you've heard some Mott The Hoople.

posted by david on Tue 19 Sep 2000 @ 08:27 PM

This years nominations for the American Rock & Roll Hall of Fame have been announced. Paul Simon, Michael Jackson, AC/DC and Patti Smith are just some in the long list of names. I'm not a huge fan of music awards ceremonies (eg. The Grammys) because they insist on placing music in strict categories and then tend to give the award to the wrong act. For instance, how was it possible for the Grammys to overlook Bob Dylan for so long? At least the Hall of Fame insists on a 25-year lag between the first release by an artist and their nomination.

posted by david on Thu 31 Aug 2000 @ 12:21 AM

I just spotted this salon.com article which does a nice job of fleshing out the story behind the RIAA's "work-for-hire" amendment in a US Congress bill late last year. While the musicians eventually won, I'm sure there are lessons to be learnt from the whole debacle. Could this happen in Australia? I can't see why not.

posted by david on Wed 30 Aug 2000 @ 03:14 AM

My only exposure to musician Jack Nitzche is his work on Neil Young's "Harvest" album but I'm sure everyone has heard "Up Where We Belong", a song he co-wrote with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings. He also worked with the Rolling Stones, Phil Spector, Neville Brothers, Leo Kottke and Graham Parker. Jack Nitzche passed away on Friday.

posted by david on Wed 30 Aug 2000 @ 03:13 AM

While the RIAA have been jumping up and down about mp3, Napster and other evil music technologies, it seems that CD/DVD sales actually increased during the first six months of this year. It's not exactly vindication for Napster but it's certainly food for thought. You can find the RIAA press release here.

posted by david on Thu 10 Aug 2000 @ 03:36 AM

It's old news now but I only just heard that the Smashing Pumpkins are calling it quits. I guess this means that Billy Corgan can go and find a new bunch of musicians to dictate to. It'd be nice if he can find someone who can sing. Yes, yes, I know they're supposed to be pretty good, I just can't get past Corgan and his voice.

posted by david on Wed 9 Aug 2000 @ 03:37 AM

The Australian performers involved in the opening ceremony for the 2000 Olympic Games have been announced and...oh dear. John Farnham, Olivia Newton-John, Julie Anthony, John Williamson, Human Nature, Vanessa Amorosi and Tina Arena will all be part of the spectacle. As an Australian who has heard much quality Australian music, this list of performers is simply embarrassing. They've also included jazz musician James Morrison but that doesn't really make up for the rest. Move on folks, there's nothing to see here, move on, move on... Update: It seems I'm not alone in my thoughts on this lineup, there are pieces in both the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian expressing dismay.

posted by david on Tue 27 Jun 2000 @ 03:25 PM

Since the early days of the web, Greg's Music World has been an unassuming but essential stop for those buying Australian music releases. While his site didn't have all the bells and whistles we've now come to expect from online stores, it has always had that rare thing: friendly, personal customer service. But alas, the demands of the site have proved too much for Greg so he's sold his operation to a new and much larger player which will be taking charge very shortly. We'll have to wait and see whether they can impress us as Greg did. update: it looks like Whammo are now up and running