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Jul 21 2020

TO WHERE I AM NOW

I’m trying to figure out if advertising works. Is advertising just awareness? I don’t drive so perhaps I can’t comment, but a slick Audi ad doesn’t make me want to buy an Audi even if it’s a nice car and even if I have the cash and by the way Olivia does drive. Is what I like what ‘they’ tell me is likeable? I’d rather have an old Citroen DS. Seems like people drive some ugly cars these days, so it’s price, efficiency and a brand you can trust. Haha. The toothpaste I usually buy is Colgate minty flavour but is it really because it’s the world’s most popular toothpaste and is it through advertising? Or is it because I was made aware of it and recognised it in a shop, then I bought it, tried it and it did the job. But like all the explorers I tried other toothpastes, especially the ones in the health food store and they were all horrible. I like the Colgate minty taste, not because of the advertising but because I haven’t been made aware of another one that I like the taste of. So perhaps they have sold me on the taste and now I’ve got used to the taste and can’t shake off that taste and nothing competes with it because it’s the first taste of toothpaste that I had (as an adult), I stuck with it despite other choices that I have not yet been made aware of because there’s no advertising. Haha. I remember my parents had SR toothpaste, does that still exist? I looked it up, there was a tube for £45.

I remember my Mum washed with Daz, the competitor was Omo, she would never use Omo, only Daz. Was she manipulated by the advertising or did Daz get to her first, it worked and she had no reason to change. It satisfied her. Fairy liquid, everyone had Fairy liquid, I can still sing the ad tune. Where am I going with this, well, I’m trying to figure something out about music and music’s advertising. Is successful music just better sold, is it a flavour that people are satisfied with and they have no need or interest to dig deeper? Over the top image, sex, youth, is that all it takes to be more successful than somebody who’s really good? It seems so shallow and obvious but I suppose there’s some who have everything, like Bowie. How come Coldplay are so big? Are they any of those things or is he just a good singer? It’s commercially appealing, of course it is, but what about successful artists that aren’t? How is Morrissey so big? How is Nick Cave so big? They are just super hip, hipper than hip. Why are there so many great bands that didn’t get there and yet others that did, is it just luck? How did Steven Wilson play three nights at the Royal Albert Hall, how did The Cure play three nights at Madison Square Garden? It seems to me that advertising helps sellable products but there’s a way that you can appeal by doing nothing at all. If Nick Cave did ads on the TV he’d probably turn people off him and be less successful. In the seventies there was nothing about Led Zeppelin, no radio, no TV, maybe there were new album ads? I don’t know, I don’t remember them. They were the biggest band in the world with no advertising. So what’s going on?

I find myself enjoying commercial and non-commercial music in most genres. I like hearing about things but I don’t have to be told about it to find it or to like it. I discover things from lots of different sources, word of mouth, big rich promo campaigns and searching on my own. I think the worst thing is what the critics say and the second worst thing is what other people say. None of it matters, it’s what you say. If I post some music, you may like it or you may not, whether it be my music or somebody else’s. What you think about what I think doesn’t really matter. But if I drew your attention to something that you really like that you would otherwise not have discovered then that is a great achievement and I don’t really need to know if you hated it. So, it’s true, it’s not about advertising, it’s about awareness.

Music today has taken me into the rich world of contemporary female singers. There seem to be so many of them, I touched on this the other day at least with Phoebe Bridgers who is 25 with two albums out, Stranger In The Alps (2017) and Punisher (2020). I’ve also been listening to some of her contemporaries, Lucy Dacus who is also 25 and Julien Baker who is 24. You may be aware that the three of them made a six-track EP together under the name boygenius which is really great. I have Julien Baker’s Sprained Ankle (2015), she released her second album Turn Out The Lights (2017) and I have ordered Lucy Dacus’ second album Historian (2018). Her first is No Burden (2016).

When Joni Mitchell was 25 (she’s 76 now) she had made Ladies Of The Canyon (1968) and a year later Clouds (1969). If you think what happened next with her amazing seventies albums you might wonder what these great American artists may become when they reach their thirties and forties and beyond. If you listen to Lucinda Williams, well, you get the picture. Incredibly Laura Marling is just 30 and she has released seven studio albums and one live album. Tonight’s not the night for her because you’d have to dedicate a lot of time to her work just on the output alone, plus she’s English (I have all of her records).

Another American I like is Margaret Glaspy who is 31, she has a new album, Devotion (2020), and has been releasing EPs since 2012. I have her first CD album Emotions And Math (2016), love it. I have four of the five albums by Sharon Van Etten (39). The newest one, Remind Me Tomorrow, is great. So you have some names, where do you start? Hopefully, you followed up the Phoebe Bridgers post last week as well as Rumer (41) and Lucinda Williams (67) and of course Anohni (48). What happened to Tanita Tikaram (50), who bought her last album Closer To The People (2016)? What about Katie Melua, who is she? In 2006 she was the UK and Europe’s biggest selling female artist…before I’d even heard a note, this year she will release her eighth album. Tasmin Archer (56) completely disappeared after Sleeping Satellite was a No. 1 single.

Why am I putting their ages? Well perhaps if you’d bought Ladies Of The Canyon and followed Joni from the start it would make the journey even better. Who followed Kate Bush (61) from the start when she was 19 and the release of her debut album, The Kick Inside (1978), I did (she’s 62 next week). She recorded The Man With The Child In His Eyes when she was 16, she wrote it when she was 13. My point here is to turn you on to a younger generation of talented (American) singer-songwriters by comparing them to older established singers who were once young unknowns. Bridgers, Dacus and Baker are related in their age and their boygenius collaboration. Glaspy is something else and the bits I’ve heard of her new record sound quite different to the first, slicker, smoother, so I need to listen properly but in the end, what I think doesn’t matter.

But don’t forget that Patti Smith is bigger than ever. Great albums are being made by PJ Harvey (50), Björk (54), Sinead O’Connor (53) and what happened to Siouxsie Sioux (63) and Lene Lovich (71)? Out of these newer artists who will become a commercial success, who will become a legend, who will be forgotten and ultimately who cares as long as you like it? But don’t ignore them because they are young and don’t forget them because they are old, they are all making great records all the time.

Here are some videos of the day, see if you like anything and if you don’t find something you do like by lifting up some stones.

Written by Marty Willson-Piper · Categorized: Blog

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there's any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

11209512_1669022976719710_7288437867089763325_n

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Rockin' the MOAT t-shirt next to the real deal! #m Rockin' the MOAT t-shirt next to the real deal! #moatband #poisonstream 🤘🏰

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Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower disco 🕺🏻 #heyday
Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th Fe Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th February, 2001. All About Eve supporting Fairport Convention.

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You usually don’t spend the day in the studio an You usually don’t spend the day in the studio and the night at a gig but if you put the studio next to the gig then there’s a greater chance. So @salimnourallah did just that, he put the gig and the studio next to each other and made it possible for me to spend the day recording and the evening playing live 🎵

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TO WHERE I AM NOW A visit in the studio today fro TO WHERE I AM NOW

A visit in the studio today from old mate Mark Burgess from The Chameleons who has been hanging in Texas recently. I was thinking about the two of us growing up in the northwest of England and all these years later finding ourselves in such an unlikely spot together. We fixed a few issues in the universe and I carried on recording some guitars until Mark had to leave. Mark had played at the Galactic Headquarters next to the studio this year as Olivia and I had four years ago and this reminded me to remind myself to remind everyone to remind their friends that we will be playing there with Salim on Saturday, New Year’s Eve, for the ultimate in intimate performance. You can get tickets here (follow link below).

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TO WHERE I AM NOW Sadness manifested in a buildin TO WHERE I AM NOW

Sadness manifested in a building, today we went to visit Paisley Park. Prince built Paisley Park in Chanhassen, about twenty minutes southwest of Minneapolis. It opened in 1987 and he recorded his later albums there. Apart from Prince, REM also recorded and mixed Out Of Time there, recording Kate Pearson’s vocal on Shiny Happy People vocal. Madonna had Prince play guitar on three songs from Like A Prayer and the two co-wrote Love Song, finishing it remotely due to Madonna not being able to stand the cold weather and the rather desolate location of the studio. Of course, there are things around but it’s not in the city and it’s not in the countryside, it’s in a suburb, no distractions, just what Prince wanted.

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"These are awesome sessions that I highly recommend for guitar players of all levels. Very informative, frank discussions on everything related to guitar and music in general. Definitely a must for anyone pursuing songwriting."
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"Marty knows how to bypass scales and get to the heart of feel and timing. His musical knowledge spans multiple cultures and genres. Perhaps most importantly, Marty is a cool dude. I highly recommend his guitar guidance." (Jed B., MN, USA)

"Ok, so you’re sitting in your home and Marty is across the world but is actually right here teaching you how to play guitar and write songs. He is a delight to talk to and he is your teacher, meaning he wants to see you get something out of his lessons. You know he’s paying attention and wants to steer you in the right direction. I am so grateful and humbled that he offers his time in this manner. This is an amazing opportunity for anyone who admires anything from his enormous body of work. How often do you get to learn from somebody that inspired you in the first place? Amazing." (Ann S., CA, USA)

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there’s any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

11209512_1669022976719710_7288437867089763325_n

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