Aisle Of Plenty.

"STOP talking about how MONEY works into the deal where love is concerned. I have to say, that might be slightly Republican of you." - Blugrrrl

We weren't talking about LOVE, blu, we were talking about MUSIC.



Money is where the entire BUSINESS is now. How else do I wind up blowing an entire paycheck on Genesis tickets? There are business weasels out there, who see that there is a market for it. After decades of driving ticket prices up for EVERYTHING, they knew what they could sell tickets for...and did it.

Maybe in the late sixties and for a short while in the seventies, there where still music lovers running parts of the industry. Hell, even Howie Klein stuck it out at Sire Records into the eighties without being an entire choadwipe.

Bands like Genesis got together because they were inspired by others, and they loved to make music. And of course, the opportunity to get girls. Musicians didn't make tons of money in 1969, other than a few mainstream pop artists who were on TV and the Grand Ol Opry. And Johnny Cash.

What I've read of the Charterhouse boys indicated that as products of an all-boys school, girls weren't even much on their mind. They loved music; and what they were inspired by? Pop music. The Single. even now, you can hear them struggle on that misbegotten first album, struggle to refine and create a Simple Pop Song.

They spent a year woodshedding, and in seclusion, had no restraint on the forms of their songs. No record label telling them to write a hit or do a cover version, just their own, collective ideas of what songs could be, and after a few tumultuous, inexperienced live shows the roughhewn trailblazer "Trespass" came tumbling out, absolutely impressing....just about nobody. How the hell did they ever get signed to a label? Charisma records was run by a MUSIC LOVER, who saw them play in those early days and saw something, some passion he responded to. And furthermore, when the album didn't do so well? allowed Genesis to keep working, to record another album which expanded on their vision but again, was no world-breaker.

The band never wrote pop hits at this time because they had developed into a communal author, often representing several viewpoints in a single song; at the same time, rock bands were experimenting with exotic song structures and long songs; FM radio actually WOULD PLAY THEM.

So the band became a progenitor of Prog Rock. Although they never really cared all that much to be known as a prog band. The band grew at their own pace, evolved, and became a huge touring act ... by touring and earning the reputation for a fantastic live show. [They did, in fact, complain a bit about the makeup of their fan base in latter days; as BG noted, it was mainly guys. But since this was after they had all been married at least once, I think it was more of a joke with them] But they never saw themselves as part of the Prog movement; in fact, had a bit of disdain for the 'serious' bands.

That kind of maturation can't happen within the Music Industry now; actually, it stopped happening in the late eighties, when marketing became a bigger part than the music.

Not that it wasn't always. 'Teen Sensations' were everywhere in the sixties, and white artists plundered Black music for sure-fire hits that didn't threaten the Biz. But during the late sixties and seventies, FM radio was an upstart that allowed music lovers a place in the Business that they didn't have before.

The difference NOW is that in this Sweet, Brave, Glorious New Century Of Fascism, the Industry is all sewn up by C minus business school graduates who wouldn't know musical passion if it gave them coke and butt-fucked them. Playlists are tighter and more closed-programmed than at the height of the payola era; and Ticketbastard rules the tours. Clear Channel programs playlists for 3/4 of the country, and use their power to promote and punish artists they don't approve of (can anyone say Dixie Chicks?)

Money, friends and chili dogs, has almost always been at the heart of music, except for a brief, shining time in the sixties and seventies. It's no coincidence that the time was an explosion of creativity and diversity in music.

But now, there's little opportunity for an artist to mature at their own pace. The Majors gobble up the Next Big Things at an unsupportable pace, mire them in unsupportable debt to get a Hot record out, then brutalize them for a follow up that exceeds it; when they don't they are unceremoniously dropped, in breach of contract and owning little, if any, of their recorded output.

It's all about Money. Of course.

Genesis was fortunate in their timing; but had they been able to write pop hits at the outset and have success at it, they would have; it was always their original love. In latter days, they make no secret of the fact that one of the band's favorite albums is Invisible Touch because it was their most successful. So it's little wonder that the current tour devotes the majority of its time to IT. If they had wanted a wildly successful tour, they could have included Supper's Ready; hell they could have just done the set list from Seconds Out, and the fans would have been in ecstasy.

Viewed in that light, it's also little wonder that they canceled the tour and hung it up after releasing Calling All Stations; it was one of their least successful albums in terms of initial sales, at least compared to recent years. even though the music was more in keeping with stronger songs like Home By The Sea and Driving The Last Spike, the pop art that Collins brought in was missing and there wasn't an obvious hit for the record company to push; hence, lower 'buzz', lower initial sales. When they couldn't top the charts, they hung it up.

It may not be about the money for Genesis any more, but they still look at it in regards to hits, airplay, and chart position.

Compare to the Mekons: the band has been dropped from no less than FOUR major labels. They've never had a decent hit, although "Where Were You ?" and "Never Been In A Riot" met with some popularity in England at punk clubs. But they've always played on; I saw them continue a tour where the record label dropped them in mid tour, because they couldn't think of anything better to do. And they made the music THEY wanted to make, and delivered it to the few fans when they could. They weathered indifference and playing in tiny dive clubs for years upon years, making their per diems from t-shirt sales the night before. Finally, now, they've ended up on an appreciative independent label, and say that each year or two, there's enough money in the pot to gather the band from the four corners and record a new release, and that's enough for them. And which band has more love of making music?

Maybe I'm being a cynical old fart, BG, but it seems to me that in this climate it's amazing that ANYTHING worthy of love can be created and delivered to fans.

Oh, there are avenues, certainly; live music and the internet are developing ways to circumvent the Biz. But how does a band go to a National status, let alone International, without having the backing of Warner, ClearChannel and Sony?

And their Money.