Was this the greatest concert of all time?

Imagine this. It's August 1983 and you've managed to get a ticket to see two of the most influential musical legends of all time play on the one night. James Brown was on tour with BB King and now they were set to play the Beverly Theatre in Los Angeles.

Halfway through James Brown's set however, things go mental. A 25 year old Michael Jackson, is called up out of the audience. This lad had only released Thriller a few months previously.

And as if all that wasn't enough, a few minutes later Prince is called up on to the stage. Not to be outdone on the showmanship stakes by his arch rival, he arrives at the stage via a piggy back from a monsterous Santa Claus lookalike, throws his gloves to the audience, struts across the stage, grabs a guitar, plays a solo and finishes with the greatest semi-naked cocaine-induced dance you will ever see.

Oh, and he pulls down half the set into the audience!

This is the stuff my dreams are made of.

What's Your Blues Name?

Best Album Packaging No.3

"The Return of the Durutti Column"
The Durutti Column - 1980

The Situationist International movement had long been an influence on The Durutti Column's manager and label boss, Tony Wilson and had even given him the name for Factory Records' legendary niteclub, The Hacienda. The Durutti Column got the idea for the packaging of their first album from the situationist art book Mémoires by Guy Debord. The book is most famous for its cover, a dust jacket made of heavy-grade sandpaper which was designed to leave its mark when taken off a bookshelf or coffee table. The sleeve notes even thanks Debord "for the marketing concept". The Durutti Column liked the idea that the very action of taking the record off the shelf and putting it back on will gradually ruin all the other records next to it. The idea did backfire however as the sand kept flaking off and doing much more damage to the record inside than to any of the others.

2000 of the original sandpaper LP sleeves were released, all of which were assembled by members of Joy Division who, like The Durutti Column, were also signed to Factory Records. The story goes that it was Ian Curtis who did most of the sleeves by himself because while the rest of the band gave up and started watching TV, he continued because he needed the money for fags!

Best Album Packaging No.2

"Year Zero" 

 Nine Inch Nails - 2007

The album features a thermo-chrome heat-sensitive CD face which appears black when first opened, but reveals a black binary code on a white background when heat is generated from the album being played.

The binary sequence translates to "exterminal.net", the address of a website involved in an alternate reality game also set up by the band to tie in with the concept of the album. Included with the album is a small insert that is a warning from the fictional United States Bureau of Morality, with a phone number to report people who have "engaged in subversive acts". When the number is called, a recording from the USBM is played, claiming "By calling this number, you and your family are implicitly pleading guilty to the consumption of anti-American media and have been flagged as potential militants." 

    


                  

In 2010, The Black Keys album "Brothers" also featured  a thermo-chrome CD which, along with some very clever cover design, went on to win the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Album Package.

Best Album Packaging No.1

"Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space"

Spiritualized - 1997

A special edition of the album was packaged in a box designed to resemble prescription medicine, complete with "dosage advice" and a foil blister pack containing the CD. The liner notes take the form of lengthy instructions and technical specs for the medicine-- how the pills were made, who made them, and how they should be taken. "What is Spiritualized used for?" asks the silver metallic ink. "Spiritualized is used to treat the heart and soul."

More recently, the American band Marrow released an album called "Sunshine Enema" with a similar design concept. Their album however is on a USB drive which is in the form of a pill stored in its own pill bottle.

Bob Almighty

Bob Marley isn't just worshipped by 16 year old boys and people who wear hemp clothes. He's considered a demi-god by cultures all around the world. 

• Rastafari: As the figurehead of the Rasafarian religion, many Rastafarians believe that Marley was a prophet as he succeeded in bringing the philosophy of Rastafari to worldwide consciousness.

 

• The Havasupai: The Havasupai are a Native American tribe that is located in Arizona, particularly the base of the Grand Canyon. Bob isn’t considered to be just any ordinary musician by the Havasupai. The Havasupai actually believe that Bob was the reincarnation of the legendary resistance fighter Chief Crazy Horse. It was prophesized that Crazy Horse would be reincarnated as a black man and that Bob was the fulfilment of said prophecy.

 

• The Hopi: A farming tribe of Native Americans from New Mexico. Reggae is the music that speaks for them and the preciousness of their heritage. To them, Bob Marley fulfilled a centuries-old prophecy.

 

• Nepal: Legend has it that Bob Marley visited Nepal in the 1970's. Today, just below the temple of the eternal flame in Muktinath is his shrine, The Bob Marley Restaurant, where he is said to have rested. Some Nepalese consider him the incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu.

 

• Australian Aboriginals: The Aboriginal people of Australia burn a sacred flame to honour his memory in Sydney’s Victoria Park.

Axl Rose was always the black sheep of his family

One Hit Wonders

Now that we're in the age of Facebook/Twitter/Youtube it's so much easier to discover new music. But does that mean One Hit Wonders are becoming more common?

Have a look at the graph below. It's data from the US Billboard Hot 100 showing the trend of One Hit Wonders per decade. At first glance it would seem that the 60's was clearly the decade to be a flash in the pan. But that's not actually true.

As the next graph illustrates, the 60's may have had more One Hit Wonders but that was only because there was a higher number of songs moving in and out of the charts in that decade. This graph shows that the percentage of One Hit Wonders in the charts has actually increased in the past few decades.

So has this something to do with the internet age? I don't have a clue to be honest. Not really sure what my conclusions are! Just thought the graphs were interesting.

Spotify: Better than Nothing?

When Spotify first launched it was hailed as the saviour of the music industry. Music fans could now listen to whatever music they liked, as often as they liked and it was all completely legal. The recording artists would be paid each time their track was played. This money would come from visual and radio-style advertising along with subscription fees from premium users. The fans get what they want, the musicians get what they want, the advertisers get what they want and the pirates get nothing. Simple.

Well not quite. The thing is, this triangular business model is more isosceles than equilateral. The fans and advertisers do indeed get what they want but the reason they are both connected to Spotify is because of the music, and the makers of this music give a lot more than they get.

Granted, Spotify does introduce fans to new music which they may (or may not) go out and pay for, but with over 3 million members paying $5-10 a month you have to wonder why the people providing the product are getting such a tiny percentage of the profits.

Have a look at the infographic below to see how Spotify compares to other forms of revenue for artists.

This is what an artist’s Spotify statement looks like.

Happy Mondays Reunion

Happy Mondays lead singer Shaun Ryder has revealed that the band will reform for a string of dates this year. Following much speculation, along with the reunion announcements of fellow Madchester bands, The Stone Roses and The Inspiral Carpets, Ryder spoke on Xfm of how easy it was to get everyone back together, "It was actually really easy. I think all of us are gonna be a bit nervous - the last time we were all together was 1993. Apart from us all pushing 50 we're pretty much all the same."

This will mark the first time in 19 years that the original line-up of  Shaun Ryder, Paul Ryder, Bez, Gary Whelan, Mark Day, Paul Davies and Rowetta and  have all performed together. An 11 date tour of the UK and Ireland has already been planned with the highlight surely being the gig at the Manchester Arena on the 5th May.

The Mondays will be supported by fellow Madchester legends, The Inspiral Carpets.

Tickets go on sale Friday (February 3) at 10am

The May 2012 tour dates:

Thursday 3rd           Newcastle O2 Academy            
Friday 4th                Glasgow O2 Academy           
Saturday 5th            Manchester Arena         
Sunday 6th              Sheffield O2 Academy     
Wednesday 9th        Bournemouth O2 Academy          
Thursday 10th         London O2 Academy Brixton      
Friday 11th              London O2 Academy Brixton       
Saturday 12th         Birmingham O2 Academy           
Tuesday 15th          Dublin Olympia               
Thursday 17th         Leeds O2 Academy                   
Friday 18th             Nottingham Rock City                

Field Day 2012 Update

The follwing acts have just been added to the bill for Field Day 2012 which takes place on the 2nd June in London's Victoria Park.

• Django Django
• Liars
• Modeselektor
• Blood Orange
• Korallreven
• Koreless
• Kindness
• Friends 

These new additions will join the likes of

• Metronomy
• Franz Ferdinand 
• The Vaccines
• Beirut
• Spector
• Zulu Winter
• Baxter Dury
• SBTRKT
• Errors

and many more.

For the full Line-Up and ticketing information just click here

DIY Trumpet!

So simple!!