Phil O'Keefe Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 I read an article about the best songs about the music industry. Here's the link: http://www.msn.com/en-us/music/gallery/the-20-best-songs-about-the-music-industry/ss-AAoVUTv?li=BBnb7Kz What do you think of their selections? Is there anything you'd add to the list? Personally, I always thought that Richard Marx had a very good "industry song" with Don't Mean Nothing, and would have added it to the list. [video=youtube;k8E_dkESwzg] So... what's your favorite song about the music industry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mandolin Picker Posted August 7, 2017 Members Share Posted August 7, 2017 Two songs come to mind immediately, both related to country music. The first is "Murder on Music Row" by Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time (later to be recorded by Alan Jackson, George Jones and others). Pretty much sums up how country music changed over the years until it was no longer country.[video=youtube;03AUqXUQDrc] The second song is "16th Avenue" by Lacy J. Dalton. A song that describes how hard it is to really make it in the business.[video=youtube;OdwzSXHrZmI] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted August 7, 2017 Members Share Posted August 7, 2017 I particularly like the "Liverpool" accent on "now you can make some real money" bit... [YOUTUBE]hlJ25pfzLTo[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted August 7, 2017 Members Share Posted August 7, 2017 Michael Stipe wrote this about IRS wanting the band to change direction. Neil was more upset about the commercialization of Rock rather than the industry, though his record label did sue him over his Rockabilly album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted August 8, 2017 CMS Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 Licks Off Of Records (That I Learn) - Martin Mull[video=youtube;uOYkKiHHAJI] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 8, 2017 Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 Michael Stipe wrote this about IRS wanting the band to change direction. Neil was more upset about the commercialization of Rock rather than the industry, though his record label did sue him over his Rockabilly album. Great choices! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 Here's a somewhat poignant one from Bob Seger about life on tour... [video=youtube;GONmFCkCGCc] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 Ben Folds had a great one with Rockin' The Suburbs, which is as much a commentary about the bands as it is the industry... [video=youtube;t9uZpbkpESs] I used to quote that in my sig: "I'm rockin' the suburbs - I take the checks and face the facts, that some producer with computers fixes all my #^&* tracks... " This one is about a songwriter who has to meet a publisher's deadline. One Down... and 3.6 to go to meet the 4.6 song requirement he had to hit in order to get paid... [video=youtube;M2FUY7mTYW8] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 Likewise, Chicago's 25 Or 6 To 4 is about the struggle to try to finish a song in the wee hours of the morning. [video=youtube;iUAYeN3Rp2E] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 But when it comes to the songwriting process, I think my favorite is Simon and Garfunkel's Cecilia... which I think really captures the highs and lows of songwriting. [video=youtube;a5_QV97eYqM] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 Of course no thread about the Music Industry would be complete without this classic from Pink Floyd - Have A Cigar... oh by the way, which one's Pink? [video=youtube;hMr3KtYUCcI] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 John Fogerty's long fight with Fantasy Records was pretty legendary... he wrote this one in "honor" of the label owner, Saul Zaentz... [video=youtube;wjpAYfCFmJ4] Fogerty lost a lawsuit filed by Zaentz over the line "Zanz can't dance... but he'll steal your money..." and had to change the name of the song to Vanz Can't Dance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 I don't think the Sex Pistols were particularly happy with EMI when they wrote this one... [video=youtube;QlFcrtVnfXg] And staying on the far side of the pond, does anyone else think Nick Lowe was being ever so slightly sarcastic when he said "I Love My Label?" [video=youtube;sAunCCRtPjM] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted August 11, 2017 Members Share Posted August 11, 2017 [video=youtube;ds5SjfKYRg4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds5SjfKYRg4&feature=youtu.be https://youtu.be/ds5SjfKYRg4 I think this counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 11, 2017 Author Share Posted August 11, 2017 [video=youtube;ds5SjfKYRg4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds5SjfKYRg4&feature=youtu.be https://youtu.be/ds5SjfKYRg4 I think this counts. That's probably my favorite of the bunch. Excellent selection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ToddP Posted August 14, 2017 Members Share Posted August 14, 2017 That's about songwriting? I thought it was about the highs and lows of being sweet on a slut :-\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hard Truth Posted August 15, 2017 Members Share Posted August 15, 2017 I don't think this one can be beat: Hit Factory/Business is Business by Godley & Crème. [video=youtube;8sH9Cqmkwcg] We're all working in a hitFactoryWe're all working Keep it simpleKeep it neatAim your hookAt the man in the streetThrow him the bonesBut freeze the meat'Cos the meat goes offBut the beat goes on Business is businessBusiness is businessBusiness is businessAnd only the tough survive Radio falloutIn an open prisonJazz-based soul tingedWatered down rhythmToo many pretty sleevesWith Nothing in 'emJohnny be good or badBut not indifferentHard-core bland-outStocking fillerSoft-sell overkillTee-shirts givenEverybody's wearing themSee you at the party tonight M. O.R. Is goodM. O.R. Is safeM. O.R. Is here Just give it to 'emNever think about it Force fedOn half dead melodiesDragged up from the archivesPlaying on your sympathiesI'm being brain-washedAnd don't know how to block it'Cos something in the chorusBurns a hole in my pocketAnd I can't feel the painWhen my finger's in the socketAnd only the numb surviveOnly the numb surviveOnly the numb survive Business is businessBusiness is businessBusiness is businessEveryone was doing itYou weren't at the party last night M. O.R. Is goodM. O.R. Is safeM. O.R. Is here WhereRelax, RelaxRelax, RelaxRelax, RelaxRelax, RelaxMaybe you can think of a wayTo turn me on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hard Truth Posted August 15, 2017 Members Share Posted August 15, 2017 Best industry criticizing album cover: XTC Go 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hard Truth Posted August 15, 2017 Members Share Posted August 15, 2017 Also noteworthy: George Harrison's "Sue Me, Sue You Blues" and Rob Fulkes "F*ck this Town" (about Nashville) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RockViolin Posted August 16, 2017 Members Share Posted August 16, 2017 "Blood Sucking Leeches" by The Dregs. (The Dixie Dregs) It's an instrumental, so, I suppose it's possible it might actually be about leeches of the type you find in lakes. But then it's from the album Industry Standard, the cover of which shows the band shirtless with their mouths erased. I saw the violinist, Allen Sloan, in a music store in Columbia, SC in the late 80's-he'd found a new line of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 16, 2017 Author Share Posted August 16, 2017 Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians... From Wiki: Simon has suggested that the "Cecilia" of the title refers to St. Cecilia, patron saint of music in the Catholic tradition, and thus the song might refer to the frustration of fleeting inspiration in songwriting, the vagaries of musical fame or in a wider sense the absurdity of pop culture.[1] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KB Gunn Posted August 17, 2017 Members Share Posted August 17, 2017 Nobody said if the song has to be published or not. I have an original song that could possibly be viewed as the A&R person's anthem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members davd_indigo Posted August 18, 2017 Members Share Posted August 18, 2017 Dinah Washington's 1947 "Record Ban Blues" complains about the union and a guy named (James) Petrillo who apparently controlled the union. [video=youtube;zlUEgnHvq5c] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zooey Posted August 22, 2017 Members Share Posted August 22, 2017 The Smiths - Paint a Vulgar Picture [video=youtube;5bYXb7iEDJ4] Re-issue! Re-package! Re-package! Re-evaluate the songs Double-pack with a photograph Extra track (and a tacky badge) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted August 27, 2017 Members Share Posted August 27, 2017 Last night at the VFW, the band played 'Kay'. No one requested it. But I walked up and thanked them when it was over. 2018 will be the 50th anniversary of 'Kay'. I hope Nashville observes it somehow. It's about music, stardom and living in an America racing past our ability to understand. It's about living and dying staring out at Nashville from the window of a cab. Nobody for my money, not Dylan, L.Cohen or even Mercer and Cole Porter ever topped Kay. It's the earliest and (IMO) by far the greatest cab driver song ever. --- "Kay, I showed some drunk your picture and he made a smart remark, So I hit him in the mouth, boy was I mad; Kay, I'm living yet I'm dying Staring out at Music City from my cab, " Top that 6Mn7380Q6f0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.