I recently finished T.R. Reid's book The Healing of America. I'm surprised that this book hasn't had much impact on the health care debate. I didn't agree with all of its points, but the book is well informed and quite readable. It was also depressing to read because there is a complete disconnect between the book's informed rhetoric and what has gone down in Congress. If the debates in Congress so far would have been half as intelligent as the content of Reid's book, I would have faith in our political system. But they have haven't been. And I really have lost faith in the ability of Congress to do anything truly meaningful on health care.
One of the stranger things in the news is how health care legislation has been hyped. The press is really trying to sell the idea that the proposed legislation represents major reform. But in truth, it isn't. The proposed legislation is really health insurance expansion not health care reform. Reducing the number of people unable to get insurance is a good goal mind you. It will lead to the reduction of people who die every year (currently a few tens of thousands per year) because they cannot get the insurance necessary to receive major medical treatment or have the possibility of early detection of life threatening diseases. But it is not major reform.
Major reform means a fundamental change in how we provide health care, not a change in insurance availablilty for 10 percent of our population. Why is the press hyping this battle? I think it's akin to hyping an upcoming Monday Night Football game between two mediocre teams. It's what's going on in Congress. The press is stuck with the fact that Congress is inept and owned by big business. So they have to hype it to grab the attention of the public.
Another strange thing is how much coverage the "battle" between having and not having a "public option" is getting. This is really a side show. The public option in the proposed legislation is a nothing thing. It has no teeth to bring down insurance or health care costs. If Congress was serious about controlling insurance costs, they would forget about this sideshow and work to do what other countries have done: mandate that all insurance companies be not-for-profit. As Reid notes in his book, no other rich nation has health care dominated by for-profit insurance companies. It's not surprising that no other country has so little of its medical dollars go toward actually helping patients.
Getting beyond the side show of a public option, it's clear that any changes in our health care system will be minor. Health care in the US will still be expensive, far more expensive than other countries. We will still be obsessed with expensive exotic and aggressive treatments that provide negligible benefit, but dramatically drive up the cost of health insurance premiums. For 90 percent of Americans, "health care reform" means no change in the status quo. So why is the press and public getting in such a lather over something that in the end is of so little consequence?
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Need To Do Something
When my mother was dying of cancer, she went in for regular treatments of a chemotherapy drug approved by the FDA. I went through the research papers on this drug. As coincidence would have it, a former high school classmate had been involved in getting it approved and was a co-author on some of those papers. None of those papers showed that this drug really did anything at all in terms of prolonging life. Not a thing. What the drug did do was make a small percentage of the patients "feel better." On the basis of this "benefit" the drug was approved. Somehow the FDA didn't take into account that the overwhelming majority of patients didn't "feel better." Somehow the FDA ignored that fact that most would feel horrible for a day or two after taking this drug. That's what happens when you take poison through an IV.
The cost to my mother for this drug was small. But her insurance would pay 400 dollars every time. Thousands of dollars were spent on a drug that was completely worthless at best.
My mother knew I was looking at these research papers. I knew that she wanted to take this drug no matter what those papers said. When she asked me about what I had found, I told her that the side effects were minor. She never asked if the drug was going to prolong her life. I never told her.
One day I was talking to her on the phone about her real estate business. Out of nowhere, she said to me, "You probably think I'm a fool for taking this poison. But I need to do it. I need to feel like I'm doing something."
I understood her completely. Yes, it's irrational to purposely undergo chemotherapy that provides no real benefit. But if you want to live, what's the alternative? You live the lie that it will help because you can't just sit and wait and watch yourself slowly disappear.
Last week, the news came out that mammograms don't really help young women survive breast cancer. We would like to think that early detection is valuable. It gives us hope. But it isn't valuable. The alternative, though, is to give into hopelessness.
In my mother's case, doing something that provided no benefit was of minor consequence. She'd feel bad one day a week because of the poison in her system. But what of those women under forty with false positive mammograms and true positives for cancers that cannot be cured? They too, like my mother, will feel the need to do something. They won't be able to simply be idle. My guess is that they will often undergo treatments far more disruptive and far more expensive than my mother had. My guess is that despite the recommendation that regular mammograms not begin for women until they are in their 50s, younger women will continue to have tests. They'll want to know if they do have cancer. It's an irrational need really. But so much of what we do in life is driven by irrational needs.
The cost to my mother for this drug was small. But her insurance would pay 400 dollars every time. Thousands of dollars were spent on a drug that was completely worthless at best.
My mother knew I was looking at these research papers. I knew that she wanted to take this drug no matter what those papers said. When she asked me about what I had found, I told her that the side effects were minor. She never asked if the drug was going to prolong her life. I never told her.
One day I was talking to her on the phone about her real estate business. Out of nowhere, she said to me, "You probably think I'm a fool for taking this poison. But I need to do it. I need to feel like I'm doing something."
I understood her completely. Yes, it's irrational to purposely undergo chemotherapy that provides no real benefit. But if you want to live, what's the alternative? You live the lie that it will help because you can't just sit and wait and watch yourself slowly disappear.
Last week, the news came out that mammograms don't really help young women survive breast cancer. We would like to think that early detection is valuable. It gives us hope. But it isn't valuable. The alternative, though, is to give into hopelessness.
In my mother's case, doing something that provided no benefit was of minor consequence. She'd feel bad one day a week because of the poison in her system. But what of those women under forty with false positive mammograms and true positives for cancers that cannot be cured? They too, like my mother, will feel the need to do something. They won't be able to simply be idle. My guess is that they will often undergo treatments far more disruptive and far more expensive than my mother had. My guess is that despite the recommendation that regular mammograms not begin for women until they are in their 50s, younger women will continue to have tests. They'll want to know if they do have cancer. It's an irrational need really. But so much of what we do in life is driven by irrational needs.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Johnny Mercer Turns 100 And Rolls Over in His Grave
I was at a Grammy thing the other night in the city on as fate would have it, Johnny Mercer's 100th birthday. Mercer was a genius. Think about this. A guy is driving in his car and hears a new Lionel Hampton tune on the radio. Words start coming to his head as he hears Hampton on the vibraphone. He pulls over. Calls up the radio station. Asks them to play that song again. Here's what eventually gets written down to the Hampton tune:
Your lips were like a red and ruby chalice, warmer than the summer night
The clouds were like an alabaster palace rising to a snowy height.
Each star its own aurora borealis, suddenly you held me tight
I could see the Midnight Sun.
I can't explain the silver rain that found me--or was that a moonlit veil?
The music of the universe around me, or was that a nightingale?
And then your arms miraculously found me,suddenly the sky turned pale,
I could see the Midnight Sun.
Was there such a night, it's a thrill I still don't quite believe,
But after you were gone, there was still some stardust on my sleeve.
The flame of it may dwindle to an ember, and the stars forget to shine,
And we may see the meadow in December, icy white and crystalline,
But oh my darling always I'll remember when your lips were close to mine,
And we saw the Midnight Sun.
Now that is f*cking brilliant. That melody is very tough, incredibly tough to do the backwards thing and add lyrics (most songs are written lyrics first). The song is in fourteen bar riffs, mostly a series of seventh chords. There's all this flat 7 and flat 3 chord stuff going on, changes from major to minor for no apparent reason other than to make you feel uneasy. It's not a singable tune at first blush. Only someone with the musicality of Ella Fitzgerald could carry it off and not make it sound forced.
Those ethereal high fallutin' lyrics fit those chord progressions perfectly. Most of those words, even the high falutin' ones, are very easy to sing. Like I said, Johnny Mercer was a genius.
So I walk into the Grammy thing thinking of Johnny Mercer and the club is loud and cheesy. Some funk jazz band is thumping along. The singer is awful, no style whatsoever. I reach into my bag to get out my earplugs and they aren't there. Waaaaa. OK, I'm a big spoiled baby it's true. I'm thinking Johnny Mercer must be rolling over in his grave. I'm in pain that's for sure.
Then a singer comes on with a cellist. She can barely play guitar. And I can tell she's writing her songs backwards relative to most everyone nowadays. She's coming up with melodies and then figures out the simplest chord progressions that could go with them. The melodies are a little unusual even if the chords are typical stuff.
The place is crowded and noisy. The sound guy absolutely doesn't know how to handle this little act of a soft singer and a cellist. He only knows how to deal with a thumping bass and a drum set. The sound is awful. So I move up close and listen. The singer can put words together. The rhymes aren't forced. She can mostly sing on key and I'm guessing that if the sound was better and she could actually hear herself, she wouldn't be having those pitch problems.
This girl has some talent. No she isn't the next Johnny Mercer. Not even close. But comparing anyone to Johnny Mercer just isn't fair. No one is listening to her at this gig, but someone like this could have an audience somewhere down the line. You never know. And maybe, just maybe Johnny Mercer isn't rolling over in his grave after all.
Your lips were like a red and ruby chalice, warmer than the summer night
The clouds were like an alabaster palace rising to a snowy height.
Each star its own aurora borealis, suddenly you held me tight
I could see the Midnight Sun.
I can't explain the silver rain that found me--or was that a moonlit veil?
The music of the universe around me, or was that a nightingale?
And then your arms miraculously found me,suddenly the sky turned pale,
I could see the Midnight Sun.
Was there such a night, it's a thrill I still don't quite believe,
But after you were gone, there was still some stardust on my sleeve.
The flame of it may dwindle to an ember, and the stars forget to shine,
And we may see the meadow in December, icy white and crystalline,
But oh my darling always I'll remember when your lips were close to mine,
And we saw the Midnight Sun.
Now that is f*cking brilliant. That melody is very tough, incredibly tough to do the backwards thing and add lyrics (most songs are written lyrics first). The song is in fourteen bar riffs, mostly a series of seventh chords. There's all this flat 7 and flat 3 chord stuff going on, changes from major to minor for no apparent reason other than to make you feel uneasy. It's not a singable tune at first blush. Only someone with the musicality of Ella Fitzgerald could carry it off and not make it sound forced.
Those ethereal high fallutin' lyrics fit those chord progressions perfectly. Most of those words, even the high falutin' ones, are very easy to sing. Like I said, Johnny Mercer was a genius.
So I walk into the Grammy thing thinking of Johnny Mercer and the club is loud and cheesy. Some funk jazz band is thumping along. The singer is awful, no style whatsoever. I reach into my bag to get out my earplugs and they aren't there. Waaaaa. OK, I'm a big spoiled baby it's true. I'm thinking Johnny Mercer must be rolling over in his grave. I'm in pain that's for sure.
Then a singer comes on with a cellist. She can barely play guitar. And I can tell she's writing her songs backwards relative to most everyone nowadays. She's coming up with melodies and then figures out the simplest chord progressions that could go with them. The melodies are a little unusual even if the chords are typical stuff.
The place is crowded and noisy. The sound guy absolutely doesn't know how to handle this little act of a soft singer and a cellist. He only knows how to deal with a thumping bass and a drum set. The sound is awful. So I move up close and listen. The singer can put words together. The rhymes aren't forced. She can mostly sing on key and I'm guessing that if the sound was better and she could actually hear herself, she wouldn't be having those pitch problems.
This girl has some talent. No she isn't the next Johnny Mercer. Not even close. But comparing anyone to Johnny Mercer just isn't fair. No one is listening to her at this gig, but someone like this could have an audience somewhere down the line. You never know. And maybe, just maybe Johnny Mercer isn't rolling over in his grave after all.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Everything Old Is New Again
When I was a kid, there was a "personality" from the left, Abbie Hoffman. He essentially was an anarachist. Wait. That isn't quite right. Hoffman was really a self-serving bloviater who made a lot of money selling books that implored adults to act like spoiled children. He got a lot of press. Back then, there were only four channels on TV. Hoffman couldn't have his own talk show. But if cable TV had existed in the 1960s, he would have certainly been bloviating on the airwaves, behaving like an angry child. Hoffman probably would have had a loyal following of young people.
Back then the radical left influenced the Democratic Party to a fair degree. Democrats were still beholden to big money of course, but the party for some reason felt the need to try to appease much of the left. The end result was that they came up with George McGovern as a presidential candidate, someone who - while honorable to a fair degree - was completely unelectable. The radical left wounded the Democratic Party for a good decade or two.
The radical left is tiny now. Back in the 1960s, it probably comprised about 10-20 percent of the electorate. But everything old is new again, because the same thing that happened to the Democrats and the left in the 1960s is happening with the Republicans and the right now.
Like Abbie Hoffman of old, the right has a cadre of bloviators hawking books and screaming on TV telling their minions to act like children. Instead of the followers being young, they are old, often over sixty. Watching these golden agers behave like two year olds is even worse than watching 20 somethings behave that way.
In the sixties, the stupid slogan to promote infantile behavior was "don't trust anyone over 30." Nowadays, the radical right is essentially governed by another stupidity: don't trust anyone with a Ph.D. or an Ivy League degree. If you have a brain, you are suspect. If you believe in evolution, you are basically persona non grata.
Just like the radical left and the Democrats in the 1960s, the radical right is leading the Republican Party down a rat hole. Back in 1972, the Republican in office, Nixon, was mired in Vietnam. But the Democrats were so wounded by trying to appease the radical left that they had no chance of winning the presidency. I expect the equivalent thing will happen to the Republcians in 2012. The radical right will force them to choose a completely unelectable candidate.
There are of course differences between the 1960s and today. Television and the internet have created a no man's land in the middle. The radical right watches its own TV and reads its own web sites. The left, which lost its radical fringe over a decade ago, lives in its own echo chamber as well. The result is that both groups are completely ignorant of the other's views. They just assume the worst about the other side. There is hardly any real dialogue anywhere.
Still, voters - and most voters don't care much about the day to day of politics - are in that no man's land of the center. That was true in the 1960s as well. Like Nixon in 1972, I expect Obama - regardless of how well or poorly he does this term - will easily win in 2012. Just like the Democrats in 1972, the Republcans will be scratching their heads as to what went wrong. The answer is simple. The Republicans keep letting self-serving nut jobs like Beck and Limbaugh push them around. Eventually, they'll realize their error. But it will be awhile.
Back then the radical left influenced the Democratic Party to a fair degree. Democrats were still beholden to big money of course, but the party for some reason felt the need to try to appease much of the left. The end result was that they came up with George McGovern as a presidential candidate, someone who - while honorable to a fair degree - was completely unelectable. The radical left wounded the Democratic Party for a good decade or two.
The radical left is tiny now. Back in the 1960s, it probably comprised about 10-20 percent of the electorate. But everything old is new again, because the same thing that happened to the Democrats and the left in the 1960s is happening with the Republicans and the right now.
Like Abbie Hoffman of old, the right has a cadre of bloviators hawking books and screaming on TV telling their minions to act like children. Instead of the followers being young, they are old, often over sixty. Watching these golden agers behave like two year olds is even worse than watching 20 somethings behave that way.
In the sixties, the stupid slogan to promote infantile behavior was "don't trust anyone over 30." Nowadays, the radical right is essentially governed by another stupidity: don't trust anyone with a Ph.D. or an Ivy League degree. If you have a brain, you are suspect. If you believe in evolution, you are basically persona non grata.
Just like the radical left and the Democrats in the 1960s, the radical right is leading the Republican Party down a rat hole. Back in 1972, the Republican in office, Nixon, was mired in Vietnam. But the Democrats were so wounded by trying to appease the radical left that they had no chance of winning the presidency. I expect the equivalent thing will happen to the Republcians in 2012. The radical right will force them to choose a completely unelectable candidate.
There are of course differences between the 1960s and today. Television and the internet have created a no man's land in the middle. The radical right watches its own TV and reads its own web sites. The left, which lost its radical fringe over a decade ago, lives in its own echo chamber as well. The result is that both groups are completely ignorant of the other's views. They just assume the worst about the other side. There is hardly any real dialogue anywhere.
Still, voters - and most voters don't care much about the day to day of politics - are in that no man's land of the center. That was true in the 1960s as well. Like Nixon in 1972, I expect Obama - regardless of how well or poorly he does this term - will easily win in 2012. Just like the Democrats in 1972, the Republcans will be scratching their heads as to what went wrong. The answer is simple. The Republicans keep letting self-serving nut jobs like Beck and Limbaugh push them around. Eventually, they'll realize their error. But it will be awhile.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Ingrates From Hell
Tomorrow, Sarah Palin's book, Going Rogue, comes out. I've actually ordered it from the library and I'll skim it. But the reports have already come out from several sources as to what this book is mostly about: payback and trying to make the case for becoming president in 2012. Sarah Palin has no chance - absolutely zero - of becoming president. She's electrified the dumb, anti-intellectual, white Christian segment of America's population. That's a big segment of America - probably on the order of 20 percent or so. But another 70 percent of America doesn't even think she's qualified to be president. So let's forget about her efforts to try to get into the White House. It isn't going to happen.
It's the payback aspects of her writing that are interesting to me. John McCain and his campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, made Sarah Palin. They gave her national visibility by selecting her as a VP candidate. They gave her a great writer so that she could deliver a wonderful - if error filled - speech at the Republican Convention. On the basis of that one speech, Palin catapulted to national icon status for a couple of weeks. Then people figured out that she didn't have a brain.
As a result of the McCain campaign, Palin is making millions. In another year or two, she will no doubt accumulate tens of millions of dollars from speaking engagements and sweetheart investment deals, taking full advantage of the crony capitalism that defines America today. Without McCain, Palin would still be governor of a remote state and would still be dealing with a slew of ethics investigations in that state.
Sarah Palin shouldn't be criticizing John McCain or Steve Schmidt one bit. She should be kissing their feet. She owes them everything. Sarah Palin is in fact an ingrate from hell.
This isn't anything new I know. It seems to be part of politics today. For example it's routine for some guy or gal to work for a presidential administration and then garner a name and a fat book contract from that work. These folks proceed in their book and the associated book tour to dump all over the president (their former boss) for having them do all those nasty, unethical things they had to do on the job. They never seem to note that before they were hired they did all kinds of nasty, unethical things to get noticed enough to get the job which they supposedly detested.
These tell all whiny books - written by Sarah Palin, Scott McClellan, George Stephanopoulos, and down the line - really serve no purpose. The press likes these books. The public likes them, too. But they like them for the dirt. The historical and political value of that dirt is almost always inconsequential because these people seem incapable of nuance. Plus they seem incapable of being all that honest about their own misdeeds. Personally, I'd have a lot more respect for these people if they cashed in on their ascent in the political world by doing it the old fashioned way: quietly.
Come to think of it, I still wouldn't have respect for them. I just don't want to hear about these slimy people anymore. Go away Sarah Palin. Go away Scott McClellan. Go away George Stephanopoulos. You're too slimy for me. You're too slimy for public consumption. You are ingrates from hell all of you.
It's the payback aspects of her writing that are interesting to me. John McCain and his campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, made Sarah Palin. They gave her national visibility by selecting her as a VP candidate. They gave her a great writer so that she could deliver a wonderful - if error filled - speech at the Republican Convention. On the basis of that one speech, Palin catapulted to national icon status for a couple of weeks. Then people figured out that she didn't have a brain.
As a result of the McCain campaign, Palin is making millions. In another year or two, she will no doubt accumulate tens of millions of dollars from speaking engagements and sweetheart investment deals, taking full advantage of the crony capitalism that defines America today. Without McCain, Palin would still be governor of a remote state and would still be dealing with a slew of ethics investigations in that state.
Sarah Palin shouldn't be criticizing John McCain or Steve Schmidt one bit. She should be kissing their feet. She owes them everything. Sarah Palin is in fact an ingrate from hell.
This isn't anything new I know. It seems to be part of politics today. For example it's routine for some guy or gal to work for a presidential administration and then garner a name and a fat book contract from that work. These folks proceed in their book and the associated book tour to dump all over the president (their former boss) for having them do all those nasty, unethical things they had to do on the job. They never seem to note that before they were hired they did all kinds of nasty, unethical things to get noticed enough to get the job which they supposedly detested.
These tell all whiny books - written by Sarah Palin, Scott McClellan, George Stephanopoulos, and down the line - really serve no purpose. The press likes these books. The public likes them, too. But they like them for the dirt. The historical and political value of that dirt is almost always inconsequential because these people seem incapable of nuance. Plus they seem incapable of being all that honest about their own misdeeds. Personally, I'd have a lot more respect for these people if they cashed in on their ascent in the political world by doing it the old fashioned way: quietly.
Come to think of it, I still wouldn't have respect for them. I just don't want to hear about these slimy people anymore. Go away Sarah Palin. Go away Scott McClellan. Go away George Stephanopoulos. You're too slimy for me. You're too slimy for public consumption. You are ingrates from hell all of you.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Eye of the Tiger
I was at a party in LA in a cheesy club. Maybe all clubs are cheesy, but this one was especially so. It was one of those industry mixers for music people. At one time, these kinds of events were filled with energy. Now, with the collapse of the music business, they are very warmed over things. You shmooze and find out that no one is doing particularly well.
Three bands were in the lineup for the party. The first one was bad. The second one had practiced a lot. The third one was Crystal Method. I never made it to the Crystal Method. I was already back in my hotel.
Just before I left, I ran into someone who looked sort of interesting. Tall guy in his late 50s with in a jeans jacket with lots of silver rings on his fingers. A Keith Richards light kind of person. He was holding onto an acoustic guitar in a case. "Are you going to go on the stage and play?" I asked.
"I want to, man, yeah, but they won't let me. They say they can't squeeze me in."
"Too bad."
"Yeah, I wanted to play Eye of the Tiger. That's my song, man. Wanted to energize the crowd, you know."
It really was his song. I knew he wasn't b.s.'ing me. Later I looked up the song online. I found a picture of the guy playing guitar on a stage somewhere.
"That's a fun song," I said. "Would be fun to hear you play that. Just for old times sake, you know."
"Yeah, better than that stuff, man." He pointed to the band.
"They're OK, rhythm section is tight."
"Yeah, but, man, they don't know how to write a song."
He was raring to go. He wanted an audience. This guy had probably written over one thousand songs. That's what songwriters do. They write a ton. If they're lucky they get known for one or two of them. He probably had another 50 that were just as danceable and fun as Eye of the Tiger. For whatever reason, they never became hits.
What does a songwriter do when his time comes and goes? I once asked a similar question to the playwright Edward Albee when he was in a prolonged slump. No one was producing his new stuff. Maybe 20 people were there to see him talk. He shot me a look. He was right. It was a mean question. A man writes one of the greatest plays in the 20th century, only 20 people show up to hear him talk, and some young bratty punk who has no doubt never written a decent line in his life (me) is saying he's a has been. "You keep on writing plays," he said.
I'm sure the Eye of the Tiger guy is still writing songs. He's even co-written a book, Songwriting for Dummies. It's probably decent. Albee, through persistence and luck, was able to become fashionable as a playwright once again. I doubt that will happen to the Eye of the Tiger guy. Playwrights don't have to be young. He was right though. The band at that party didn't know how to write a song.
Fame is fleeting sure, but that doesn't mean that those that get their 15 minutes of fame are happy with just 15 minutes. I decided to look up the lyrics to Eye of the Tiger just out of curiosity.
It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger
No that isn't Cole Porter. But it doesn't have to be. "Rival" and "tiger" isn't even a soft rhyme. But this is rock music. The rules are different for rock. It's about the lift in the chorus. It's about the mood. And that hook, eye of the tiger. That's a damn good hook. The dude deserved his 15 minutes. He deserves the mailbox money that he gets every quarter of the year from that one song, enough money every year to give him a comfortable living. You have to be lucky. You have to be good. He was both.
Three bands were in the lineup for the party. The first one was bad. The second one had practiced a lot. The third one was Crystal Method. I never made it to the Crystal Method. I was already back in my hotel.
Just before I left, I ran into someone who looked sort of interesting. Tall guy in his late 50s with in a jeans jacket with lots of silver rings on his fingers. A Keith Richards light kind of person. He was holding onto an acoustic guitar in a case. "Are you going to go on the stage and play?" I asked.
"I want to, man, yeah, but they won't let me. They say they can't squeeze me in."
"Too bad."
"Yeah, I wanted to play Eye of the Tiger. That's my song, man. Wanted to energize the crowd, you know."
It really was his song. I knew he wasn't b.s.'ing me. Later I looked up the song online. I found a picture of the guy playing guitar on a stage somewhere.
"That's a fun song," I said. "Would be fun to hear you play that. Just for old times sake, you know."
"Yeah, better than that stuff, man." He pointed to the band.
"They're OK, rhythm section is tight."
"Yeah, but, man, they don't know how to write a song."
He was raring to go. He wanted an audience. This guy had probably written over one thousand songs. That's what songwriters do. They write a ton. If they're lucky they get known for one or two of them. He probably had another 50 that were just as danceable and fun as Eye of the Tiger. For whatever reason, they never became hits.
What does a songwriter do when his time comes and goes? I once asked a similar question to the playwright Edward Albee when he was in a prolonged slump. No one was producing his new stuff. Maybe 20 people were there to see him talk. He shot me a look. He was right. It was a mean question. A man writes one of the greatest plays in the 20th century, only 20 people show up to hear him talk, and some young bratty punk who has no doubt never written a decent line in his life (me) is saying he's a has been. "You keep on writing plays," he said.
I'm sure the Eye of the Tiger guy is still writing songs. He's even co-written a book, Songwriting for Dummies. It's probably decent. Albee, through persistence and luck, was able to become fashionable as a playwright once again. I doubt that will happen to the Eye of the Tiger guy. Playwrights don't have to be young. He was right though. The band at that party didn't know how to write a song.
Fame is fleeting sure, but that doesn't mean that those that get their 15 minutes of fame are happy with just 15 minutes. I decided to look up the lyrics to Eye of the Tiger just out of curiosity.
It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger
No that isn't Cole Porter. But it doesn't have to be. "Rival" and "tiger" isn't even a soft rhyme. But this is rock music. The rules are different for rock. It's about the lift in the chorus. It's about the mood. And that hook, eye of the tiger. That's a damn good hook. The dude deserved his 15 minutes. He deserves the mailbox money that he gets every quarter of the year from that one song, enough money every year to give him a comfortable living. You have to be lucky. You have to be good. He was both.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Denying Dysfunction
I've read two chapters from an upcoming book, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick, that I can't wait to get my hands on. The first chapter I read was in the Fall Issue of the Paris Review and told the story of a man and a woman just meant to be together, best friends since they were young. But in North Korea, everything is made difficult (and often impossible) by the government including love. The second chapter in a recent issue of the New Yorker was about a woman, a full believer in the North Korean government, who watched her loved ones, including her husband and a son, die of starvation in the 1990s. Over two million North Koreans starved to death over that time.
Demick is the Beijing Bureau chief for the LA Times. Her chapter in the Paris Review was especially gripping. But in both stories, simple declarative sentences are used time and time again to describe the agony and abject pain of lives under the cruelest and most incompetent of governments imaginable. What perhaps is most shocking is that these people believe for the longest time - despite all evidence to the contrary - that their country and leaders are beyond reproach and doing the best for all.
There's a recent article by Andrei Lankov in Foreign Affairs that talks about changing North Korea through an information deluge. The notion that Lankov promotes is that if the North Korean people somehow - through the internet and radio - can begin to understand just how they are being abused and misled, the government will have to change. He cites the former Soviet Union as an example of just how public knowledge of life in the West helped to cause the collapse of communism.
It certainly can't hurt to make the effort to inform North Korea's citizenry that the quality of their lives is dreadful in comparison to their neighbors in South Korea and even in China. But I wouldn't expect such efforts to achieve a tremendous change in attitudes. There seems to be something innate in humans that causes us to believe the simple lie that our government is always good. In Russia, there is pride over a government that continues to deny basic freedom and leaves most of its citizenry in poverty, numbed by cheap vodka. There's even nostalgia for Stalin, a man responsible for the death of 30 million of his own people and many million more Ukrainians through execution, a bungled war effort and starvation.
I recently watched a documentary on the death of children in the 2008 Sichuan, China earthquake. Schools collapsed due to shoddy construction. Thousands of children died because government officials clearly took bribes that allowed construction crews to avoid codes and save on building costs. The schools are surrounded by buildings that survived the earthquake in tact or suffered only minor damage. Yet the Chinese government claims no culpability. Parents of these deceased children have been paid a few thousand dollars each for their pain with the stipulation that they say nothing untoward about the Chinese government. In the documentary, people are filmed extolling just how good their government is. It's surreal to the degree these people are in denial.
We all want to believe our governments are good and look out for our interests. Although we in the US do seem to have an innate suspicion of government not possessed by other countries, ultimately we want to believe we are a great nation that can do anything. But look at our government. We had a completely avoidable disaster in New Orleans. For at least a decade it was known that the levees of the city were inadequate. Nothing was done. After Katrina hit and the levees failed, how well did our government perform? Terribly. How well is our government performing now in New Orleans? They continue to ignore the city. Democrat or Republican, it really doesn't matter. Our government has simply turned its back.
This isn't new by the way. In the floods of 1927, the American government did much the same thing in Louisiana and Mississippi. The one difference was that we weren't in the information age back then. The federal government could delude the American public into thinking that real assistance was taking place. The man in charge of this "assistance," Herbert Hoover, was able to use this disinformation campaign to get elected into the White House.
No I'm not trying to compare the US to North Korea, Russia, or China. Those countries have governments that are total failures. But we are coming up short, way short, of having a quality government. For instance, one basic item that any decent government should provide is vaccination during epidemics. It was well known that the H1N1 virus would come back this flu season. We should have been prepared. Just last week, a friend of my wife, a pregnant teacher, went to try to get a vaccine for H1N1. She was told she wasn't in a high enough risk group to receive a shot. We shouldn't be turning away pregnant teachers. We shouldn't be turning away anyone. I note that Goldman-Sachs and Citigroup have obtained their own private stores of H1N1 vaccine for their employees.
We are also facing a shortage of regular flu shots for this year. Again, I don't this is a failure caused by Republican or Democratic leadership. Democrat leadership during Katrina likely would have performed as poorly as did Bush.
No, the failure is endemic to how our country runs. It behaves poorly in times of crisis. It gets us involved in unnecessary wars that cost the lives of thousands of our young men and women and cost trillions of dollars. We like to believe we have the best government in the world. There is quite a bit of which to be proud I know. But we do not have anywhere close to a quality government. It's a catch as catch can kind of thing that tends to fumble along during crises and tends to be belligerent to other countries simply because it has an arms stockpile that it gets itchy to use.
Demick is the Beijing Bureau chief for the LA Times. Her chapter in the Paris Review was especially gripping. But in both stories, simple declarative sentences are used time and time again to describe the agony and abject pain of lives under the cruelest and most incompetent of governments imaginable. What perhaps is most shocking is that these people believe for the longest time - despite all evidence to the contrary - that their country and leaders are beyond reproach and doing the best for all.
There's a recent article by Andrei Lankov in Foreign Affairs that talks about changing North Korea through an information deluge. The notion that Lankov promotes is that if the North Korean people somehow - through the internet and radio - can begin to understand just how they are being abused and misled, the government will have to change. He cites the former Soviet Union as an example of just how public knowledge of life in the West helped to cause the collapse of communism.
It certainly can't hurt to make the effort to inform North Korea's citizenry that the quality of their lives is dreadful in comparison to their neighbors in South Korea and even in China. But I wouldn't expect such efforts to achieve a tremendous change in attitudes. There seems to be something innate in humans that causes us to believe the simple lie that our government is always good. In Russia, there is pride over a government that continues to deny basic freedom and leaves most of its citizenry in poverty, numbed by cheap vodka. There's even nostalgia for Stalin, a man responsible for the death of 30 million of his own people and many million more Ukrainians through execution, a bungled war effort and starvation.
I recently watched a documentary on the death of children in the 2008 Sichuan, China earthquake. Schools collapsed due to shoddy construction. Thousands of children died because government officials clearly took bribes that allowed construction crews to avoid codes and save on building costs. The schools are surrounded by buildings that survived the earthquake in tact or suffered only minor damage. Yet the Chinese government claims no culpability. Parents of these deceased children have been paid a few thousand dollars each for their pain with the stipulation that they say nothing untoward about the Chinese government. In the documentary, people are filmed extolling just how good their government is. It's surreal to the degree these people are in denial.
We all want to believe our governments are good and look out for our interests. Although we in the US do seem to have an innate suspicion of government not possessed by other countries, ultimately we want to believe we are a great nation that can do anything. But look at our government. We had a completely avoidable disaster in New Orleans. For at least a decade it was known that the levees of the city were inadequate. Nothing was done. After Katrina hit and the levees failed, how well did our government perform? Terribly. How well is our government performing now in New Orleans? They continue to ignore the city. Democrat or Republican, it really doesn't matter. Our government has simply turned its back.
This isn't new by the way. In the floods of 1927, the American government did much the same thing in Louisiana and Mississippi. The one difference was that we weren't in the information age back then. The federal government could delude the American public into thinking that real assistance was taking place. The man in charge of this "assistance," Herbert Hoover, was able to use this disinformation campaign to get elected into the White House.
No I'm not trying to compare the US to North Korea, Russia, or China. Those countries have governments that are total failures. But we are coming up short, way short, of having a quality government. For instance, one basic item that any decent government should provide is vaccination during epidemics. It was well known that the H1N1 virus would come back this flu season. We should have been prepared. Just last week, a friend of my wife, a pregnant teacher, went to try to get a vaccine for H1N1. She was told she wasn't in a high enough risk group to receive a shot. We shouldn't be turning away pregnant teachers. We shouldn't be turning away anyone. I note that Goldman-Sachs and Citigroup have obtained their own private stores of H1N1 vaccine for their employees.
We are also facing a shortage of regular flu shots for this year. Again, I don't this is a failure caused by Republican or Democratic leadership. Democrat leadership during Katrina likely would have performed as poorly as did Bush.
No, the failure is endemic to how our country runs. It behaves poorly in times of crisis. It gets us involved in unnecessary wars that cost the lives of thousands of our young men and women and cost trillions of dollars. We like to believe we have the best government in the world. There is quite a bit of which to be proud I know. But we do not have anywhere close to a quality government. It's a catch as catch can kind of thing that tends to fumble along during crises and tends to be belligerent to other countries simply because it has an arms stockpile that it gets itchy to use.
Friday, November 06, 2009
A Pretty Good Decade
I happen to think hate is a very wonderful emotion. It's like alcohol or any drug. Sure it f*cks you up, but when used sparingly and judicially, it can enhance your life. It's liberating to truly detest something in an unbridled way. And if you can't hate intensely, how can you possibly love intensely?
It's always good to have something or someone to hate. Not the whole world mind you. Just cherry pick a few obvious things and stick with them is my philosophy. One of my things is the Yankees. I can't stand them. You'll never seem me in pin stripes of any kind.
I've been hating the Yankees for as long as I can remember. They have that arrogance and swagger. They took forever to have any sort of a racially integrated team. George Steinbrenner was an a*hole who spent so much money for players that other teams had to follow. As a result, ticket prices for games nationwide are through the roof, mostly unaffordable to families except in the bleachers. The expensive tickets. The eight dollar beer. The five dollar hot dog. It's all George Steinbrenner's fault I swear. And it's all the Yankees fault. One thing I love about hate. There's no need to be rational.
That doesn't mean I don't like Yankees players. Derek Jeter is fantastic. CC Sabathia is a hoot and a wonderful talent. Paul O'Neil is one of my favorite players of all time. Mariano Rivera is a pitching god. I'd just like them 800 times better if they didn't wear that dreaded N and Y on their caps. Love the player. Hate the team. Although I have to say that Yankees past and present like Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez are great fodder for me. May they both burn in hell.
So the other night when the Yankees won the World Series (actually The Parts of North America Series), I was not a happy camper. The forces of darkness have once again taken over baseball. This is no way for a season to end. Superman has died from exposure to kryptonite. Mr. Rogers has been found out to be a pedophile. Goldman-Sachs has just purchased all of the real estate in DC including the White House and decided to rename the city Goldmanville and rename the Capitol building the Sachs Pavillion. And the Yankees have won again. Evil rules the world.
But I slept on this horrible state of affairs and when I woke I had a much better perspective. All in all it's been a pretty good decade for a Yankees hater. They've won a grand total of two times. All those billions of dollars spent and that's all they have to show for it. Man those people must be idiots.
Most decades the Yankees win more than twice. The 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 90s were truly dreadful decades for Yankees haters. The 1980s were haters heaven. They didn't win at all. Maybe that will happen next decade as well.
There's hope on the horizon. Rivera, Jeter, Damon, Matsui, and Pettite are getting way old. That's a lot of talent to replace even if you do have an infinite budget. Plus Rodriguez is still a wanker, albeit a talented one. It's been a long time since the Yankees have found All Star talent in their own farm system. This year's World Series victory just might be a last gasp. Perhaps the light will shine on our dear planet again for all of the next decade.
It's always good to have something or someone to hate. Not the whole world mind you. Just cherry pick a few obvious things and stick with them is my philosophy. One of my things is the Yankees. I can't stand them. You'll never seem me in pin stripes of any kind.
I've been hating the Yankees for as long as I can remember. They have that arrogance and swagger. They took forever to have any sort of a racially integrated team. George Steinbrenner was an a*hole who spent so much money for players that other teams had to follow. As a result, ticket prices for games nationwide are through the roof, mostly unaffordable to families except in the bleachers. The expensive tickets. The eight dollar beer. The five dollar hot dog. It's all George Steinbrenner's fault I swear. And it's all the Yankees fault. One thing I love about hate. There's no need to be rational.
That doesn't mean I don't like Yankees players. Derek Jeter is fantastic. CC Sabathia is a hoot and a wonderful talent. Paul O'Neil is one of my favorite players of all time. Mariano Rivera is a pitching god. I'd just like them 800 times better if they didn't wear that dreaded N and Y on their caps. Love the player. Hate the team. Although I have to say that Yankees past and present like Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez are great fodder for me. May they both burn in hell.
So the other night when the Yankees won the World Series (actually The Parts of North America Series), I was not a happy camper. The forces of darkness have once again taken over baseball. This is no way for a season to end. Superman has died from exposure to kryptonite. Mr. Rogers has been found out to be a pedophile. Goldman-Sachs has just purchased all of the real estate in DC including the White House and decided to rename the city Goldmanville and rename the Capitol building the Sachs Pavillion. And the Yankees have won again. Evil rules the world.
But I slept on this horrible state of affairs and when I woke I had a much better perspective. All in all it's been a pretty good decade for a Yankees hater. They've won a grand total of two times. All those billions of dollars spent and that's all they have to show for it. Man those people must be idiots.
Most decades the Yankees win more than twice. The 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 90s were truly dreadful decades for Yankees haters. The 1980s were haters heaven. They didn't win at all. Maybe that will happen next decade as well.
There's hope on the horizon. Rivera, Jeter, Damon, Matsui, and Pettite are getting way old. That's a lot of talent to replace even if you do have an infinite budget. Plus Rodriguez is still a wanker, albeit a talented one. It's been a long time since the Yankees have found All Star talent in their own farm system. This year's World Series victory just might be a last gasp. Perhaps the light will shine on our dear planet again for all of the next decade.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
The Price For An Icon
Suppose you were making a commercial and you wanted the theme to be about good times on a sunny day. You'd need background music of course. In the old days, you'd usually have some song guy or gal write a jingle for cheap. But nowadays, you want to get the attention of boomers, so you try to use songs that they know and like.
What song are you going to pick? Aim high now. This is a commercial for a huge corporation. They've got a ton of money. The ad time is going to run into tens of millions of dollars. What's iconic? The Beatles of course. Unfortunately for you, recordings of Lennon/McCartney tunes aren't available for use for commercials that aren't hawking Beatles products (the songs are, but not the original recordings). But lucky you, songs written by George Harrison are as long as the other Beatles aren't playing on the tune. And what song did George Harrison write that would be just perfect for your commercial? Times up. Here Comes The Sun.
You can just see it. All those positive images for your product on the screen and George Harrison singing his heart out in the background, "Here comes the sun and I say it's alright." Perfect!
You go to the company that handles the rights to the song. They ask what kind of commercial it will be. You say, travel, upbeat, and you mention the name of the company. They call back a few days later - they aren't in any rush, this is an iconic song - and say fine.
You ask how much.
They say three million dollars.
You ask if they can cut a deal. The music industry is tanking and all; you can get a song about the sun for next to nothing from some indy guy or gal. They say, fine, get a song for next to nothing. But this one costs three million dollars for commercial use.
Gulp. That's double the budget of the entire commercial.
You go to your client, which loved the idea of using Hear Comes the Sun. You mention the cost. They say no way.
So you go back to the company that controls the rights to Here Comes the Sun. And you say what else do you have. They come up with a list of songs. There's a new single coming out by Sheryl Crow that they mention. You could have that for 80K plus they're looking for a tie in to their video for that song. Sheryl Crow. Now that's a name a baby boomer could trust. She's pretty hot. You start thinking about using her, showing some skin, singing the tune.
You go back to your client. I got a whole new idea, you say. Sheryl Crow. New song that's coming on the charts. They want help on their video plus 80K. You sketch out the idea. They love it.
The above scenario happened a few years ago. If you want to use Here Comes The Sun in a commercial today it will still cost you three million dollars. I'm sure you can get Soak Up the Sun for a lot less than 80K today because it was already used extensively in one commercial campaign and the price of music for use in films and commercials is plummeting except for the truly iconic songs.
Will those icons like Here Comes the Sun ever drop in value? It true there is a ton of good music out there that can be bought for virtually nothing. Want a song like Here Comes the Sun for cheap? Here's one. It's by M. Ward. It's not half bad. Actually, it's about as good as Harrison's tune, which is a pretty dull throwaway tune in comparison to many in The Beatles catalog. But it's The Beatles. The recording doesn't have John, Paul or Ringo, but there is the distinctive voice of George, just like on the original Beatles record. The sentiment in Harrison's song is oh so sweet. And how many people of a certain age don't instantly smile when they hear that tune remembering when they were young? How much are those positive memories worth? Probably three million dollars or more for many years to come.
What song are you going to pick? Aim high now. This is a commercial for a huge corporation. They've got a ton of money. The ad time is going to run into tens of millions of dollars. What's iconic? The Beatles of course. Unfortunately for you, recordings of Lennon/McCartney tunes aren't available for use for commercials that aren't hawking Beatles products (the songs are, but not the original recordings). But lucky you, songs written by George Harrison are as long as the other Beatles aren't playing on the tune. And what song did George Harrison write that would be just perfect for your commercial? Times up. Here Comes The Sun.
You can just see it. All those positive images for your product on the screen and George Harrison singing his heart out in the background, "Here comes the sun and I say it's alright." Perfect!
You go to the company that handles the rights to the song. They ask what kind of commercial it will be. You say, travel, upbeat, and you mention the name of the company. They call back a few days later - they aren't in any rush, this is an iconic song - and say fine.
You ask how much.
They say three million dollars.
You ask if they can cut a deal. The music industry is tanking and all; you can get a song about the sun for next to nothing from some indy guy or gal. They say, fine, get a song for next to nothing. But this one costs three million dollars for commercial use.
Gulp. That's double the budget of the entire commercial.
You go to your client, which loved the idea of using Hear Comes the Sun. You mention the cost. They say no way.
So you go back to the company that controls the rights to Here Comes the Sun. And you say what else do you have. They come up with a list of songs. There's a new single coming out by Sheryl Crow that they mention. You could have that for 80K plus they're looking for a tie in to their video for that song. Sheryl Crow. Now that's a name a baby boomer could trust. She's pretty hot. You start thinking about using her, showing some skin, singing the tune.
You go back to your client. I got a whole new idea, you say. Sheryl Crow. New song that's coming on the charts. They want help on their video plus 80K. You sketch out the idea. They love it.
The above scenario happened a few years ago. If you want to use Here Comes The Sun in a commercial today it will still cost you three million dollars. I'm sure you can get Soak Up the Sun for a lot less than 80K today because it was already used extensively in one commercial campaign and the price of music for use in films and commercials is plummeting except for the truly iconic songs.
Will those icons like Here Comes the Sun ever drop in value? It true there is a ton of good music out there that can be bought for virtually nothing. Want a song like Here Comes the Sun for cheap? Here's one. It's by M. Ward. It's not half bad. Actually, it's about as good as Harrison's tune, which is a pretty dull throwaway tune in comparison to many in The Beatles catalog. But it's The Beatles. The recording doesn't have John, Paul or Ringo, but there is the distinctive voice of George, just like on the original Beatles record. The sentiment in Harrison's song is oh so sweet. And how many people of a certain age don't instantly smile when they hear that tune remembering when they were young? How much are those positive memories worth? Probably three million dollars or more for many years to come.
Monday, November 02, 2009
On Being a Pop Vocal God
The Grammys are coming up early next year and the list of nominated CDs came out I don't know when. But what is funny as anything is that I have a CD that's been nominated for best pop vocal. I didn't find out until today. Yes, I've been anointed. I'm now a pop singing god. I don't know how this happened. It's a cosmic twist of fate. I'm right up there with Lily Allen and um...Barry Manilow. There are 220 CDs on the nominated list. Sometime in December, the Grammys will announce the final five. My chances of getting onto that final list are zero.
But still, I'll bask in the glow for the next few weeks. I'll put aside the fact that I don't really sing pop music. I'll work the pop music god angle to the hilt. The first thing I need is a new haircut. Maybe I should get some of that spray on tan stuff too. I definitely need to get some leather pants. And I need some groupies as well. Oh I forgot! I need an entourage. Man oh man, being a pop singing god comes with so many responsibilities!
Here's the funny thing about making it to the final five. Should it happen - and it won't - I have to pay for my tickets to attend. It costs something like 200 bucks a head. Then there is the limo. Then there are the new clothes. Then there are the jewels for my sweetie - maybe we can rent some from Harry Winston - and her dress and shoes. Dont forget airfare and a hotel down in LA. We're talking a 10K bill by the time all is said and done. Being a pop singing god is not only stressful, it's expensive as hell.
For what it's worth, here's my competition:
001. TOI-MÊME
The All-American Rejects
WHEN THE WORLD COMES
DOWN
002.
Lily Allen
003. IT'S NOT ME, IT'S YOU
Anjulie
004. ANJULIE
Aqualung
005. WORDS AND MUSIC
David Archuleta
006. DAVID ARCHULETA
Kit Dylan Arrieta
007. CRY ON CUE
Asa
008. ASHA
Ashford & Simpson
ASHFORD & SIMPSON: THE REAL
THING
009.
Dan Auerbach
010. KEEP IT HID
Burt Bacharach With The Sydney
Symphony Orchestra
LIVE @ THE SYDNEY OPERA
HOUSE
011.
Basia
012. IT'S THAT GIRL AGAIN
Basix
013. DIVERSITY
The Beautiful Ones
014. GRANDIO CITY
Bella Ciao
015. FESTIVUS ITALIANO
The Pete Best Band
016. HAYMANS GREEN
Diane Birch
017. BIBLE BELT
The Bird And The Bee
RAY GUNS ARE NOT JUST THE
FUTURE
018.
The Black Eyed Peas
019. THE E.N.D.
Ken Block
020. DRIFT
Stephanie J. Block
021. THIS PLACE I KNOW
Richie Booker
022. SHINE THE LIGHT
Neal E. Boyd
023. MY AMERICAN DREAM
Sarah Brightman
024. A WINTER SYMPHONY
Teresa Bright
025. TROPIC RHAPSODY
Olivia Broadfield
026. EYES WIDE OPEN
Buddhist Monks
027. LIVE MANTRA
The Cabriolets
028. DEMO
Colbie Caillat
029. BREAKTHROUGH
A Camp
030. COLONIA
Corrin Campbell
031. EXHIBIT A
Care Bears On Fire
032. GET OVER IT!
Cash Cash
033. TAKE IT TO THE FLOOR
Celtic Thunder
034. TAKE ME HOME
Celtic Woman & The High Kings
035. A CELTIC FAMILY CHRISTMAS
Lorissa Chapa
036. SELFISH
Chester French
037. LOVE THE FUTURE
Fred Christoffer Featuring Lindsay
Mazza
038. AMAZED
Peter Cincotti
039. EAST OF ANGEL TOWN
Kelly Clarkson
040. ALL I EVER WANTED
Cobra Starship
041. HOT MESS
Leonard Cohen
042. LIVE IN LONDON
Burt Conrad
043. HOME AT LAST
Corneille
044. THE BIRTH OF CORNELIUS
Chris Cornell
045. SCREAM
David Correy
046. URBAN ROCK ODDYSEY
Samantha Crain & The Midnight
Shivers
047. SONGS IN THE NIGHT
Dawes
048. NORTH HILLS
Kristinia DeBarge
049. EXPOSED
Gavin DeGraw
050. FREE
Dido
051. SAFE TRIP HOME
Joy Dion
052. JOY & PAIN
Division Kent
053. GRAVITY
James Domine
054. THROUGH YOUR WINDOW
Kelly Domino
055. HOLD ON TO YOUR DREAMS
The James Douglas Show
056. THE NEW BLACK
Jessica Drake
057. JESSICA DRAKE
Dream Street
058. DREAM STREET
The Duke & The King
059. NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY
Shane Dwight
060. GIMME BACK MY MONEY
© The Recording Academy 2009 - all rights reserved 52nd GRAMMY Entry List
(Continue Next Page)
Field 1 - Pop
Category 11 - Best Pop Vocal Album
Page 17 of 19
Elizabeth & The Catapult
061. TALLER CHILDREN
Enya
062. AND WINTER CAME...
Marianne Faithfull
063. EASY COME EASY GO
Troy Fernandez
064. RIDE TIME
Dan Ferrari
065. DON'T LET IT FALL
Fiction Family
066. FICTION FAMILY
Courtney Fortune
067. SPEAK LOVE
The Fray
068. THE FRAY
Gordon Free
069. SUPERCONSCIOUS
Melody Gardot
070. MY ONE AND ONLY THRILL
Gary Go
071. GARY GO
Gemma Genazzano
072. SI ME QUIERES/IF YOU LOVE ME
Tiffany Giardina
073. NO AVERAGE ANGEL
Gladstone
074. PAPER SKY
Grand Army
075. TOYS FOR CHAOS
Cristen Grey And The Moving
Dunes
076. 10,000 THINGS
Oksana Grigorieva
077. BEAUTIFUL HEARTACHE
Trevor Hall
078. TREVOR HALL
Daryl Hall & John Oates
079. LIVE AT THE TROUBADOUR
Nichole Halleen & The Projects
NICHOLE HALLEEN & THE
PROJECTS
080.
Colin Hay
081. AMERICAN SUNSHINE
Imogen Heap
082. ELLIPSE
Anne Heaton
083. BLAZING RED
Matt Hires
084. TAKE US TO THE START
Hula Honeys
085. GIRL TALK
Hyim
086. SEX IN THE MORNING
Il Divo
087. THE PROMISE
The Inspirations
088. THEN AND NOW
Chris Isaak
089. MR. LUCKY
Marty Jabara
090. THE SOURCE
Jessie James
091. JESSIE JAMES
Michael Johns
092. HOLD BACK MY HEART
Craig Hella Johnson
093. THORNS ON THE ROSE
Jonas Brothers
LINES, VINES AND TRYING
TIMES
094.
Phoenix Jones
095. SOUNDTRACK OF MY LIFE
Tom Jones
096. 24 HOURS
Angela Kaset
UNDERNEATH A VINCENT VAN
GOGH SKY
097.
Keane
098. PERFECT SYMMETRY
Mat Kearney
099. CITY OF BLACK & WHITE
Sally Kellerman
100. SALLY
Keri-Lynn
101. NOTES ON A PIANO
Cheryl Keyes
102. LET ME TAKE YOU THERE
Bill LaBounty
103. BACK TO YOUR STAR
Lal Meri
104. LAL MERI
Terry Lauber And The Seattle
Sound
105. ACROSS THE SOUND
Ben Lee
106. THE REBIRTH OF VENUS
Ute Lemper & Various Artists
BETWEEN YESTERDAY AND
TOMORROW
107.
Andrew Lipke
108. MOTHERPEARL & DYNAMITE
The Little Ones
109. MORNING TIDE
Liverpool Dreams
110. JAMRUN
Lo Torc
111. GOTTA MAKE A MOVE
Crosby Loggins
112. TIME TO MOVE
Kevin Lucas Orchestra
113. GREEN AND BLUE
Luce
114. CORNER OF THE WORLD
Carolyn Malachi
REVENGE OF THE SMART
CHICKS II: AMBITIOUS GODS
115.
Barry Manilow
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE
EIGHTIES
116.
Debra Mann
117. HOME
Charlie Mars
118. LIKE A BIRD, LIKE A PLANE
Luba Mason
119. KRAZY LOVE
Matisyahu
120. LIGHT
Imelda May
121. LOVE TATTOO
Erin McCarley
122. LOVE, SAVE THE EMPTY
© The Recording Academy 2009 - all rights reserved 52nd GRAMMY Entry List
(Continue Next Page)
Field 1 - Pop
Category 11 - Best Pop Vocal Album
Page 18 of 19
Loreena McKennitt
123. A MIDWINTER NIGHT'S DREAM
Jon McLaughlin
124. OK NOW
Meg & Dia
125. HERE, HERE AND HERE
Ingrid Michaelson
126. EVERYBODY
Rhett Miller
127. RHETT MILLER
Jacqui Naylor
128. YOU DON'T KNOW JACQ
Nevada
129. OF THE WORLD…
Never Shout Never
130. THE SUMMER EP
Stevie Nicks
131. THE SOUNDSTAGE SESSIONS
Tatiana Nicole
132. TIME 3:16
Paolo Nutini
133. SUNNY SIDE UP
Dolores O'Riordan
134. NO BAGGAGE
Owl City
135. OCEAN EYES
Painted On Water
136. PAINTED ON WATER
Parachute
137. LOSING SLEEP
Pamela Payge
138. LOVE AND HATE
Kate Pazakis
139. UNZIPPED: LIVE AT THE ZIPPER
Avi Pearce
140. CIRCLE OF LIVES
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
141. ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND
Elli Perry
THE SECRET TO SCALING A
MOUNTAIN
142.
Madeleine Peyroux
143. BARE BONES
Pink
144. FUNHOUSE
Pitbull
145. REBELUTION
Playing For Change
146. SONGS AROUND THE WORLD
Paul Potts
147. PASSIONE
Asha Puthli
148. LOST
Queen Latifah
149. PERSONA
John Rensink
150. JOHN RENSINK
Lionel Richie
151. JUST GO
Stuart Rosh And The Geniuses
152. FUNDAMENTAL
Professor RJ Ross
153. FACE TO FACE
Kevin Rudolf
154. IN THE CITY
Sam & Ruby
155. THE HERE AND THE NOW
Heather Schmid
156. THE GODDESS AWAITS
Kate Schutt
157. TELEPHONE GAME
Allison Scola
158. A BRAVER KIND
The Script
159. THE SCRIPT
Paul Seaforth
160. SOMETHING REAL
Seal
161. SOUL
Shakeys Brother
162. SHAKEYS BROTHER
Duncan Sheik
163. WHISPER HOUSE
Jason Shulman
164. BUDDHA-CLOUD
Terry Silverlight
165. COLLABORATIONS: VOLUME I
Terry Silverlight
166. COLLABORATIONS: VOLUME II
Terry Silverlight
SONGWRITER/PRODUCER:
VOLUME I
167.
Terry Silverlight
SONGWRITER/PRODUCER:
VOLUME II
168.
Single File
169. COMMON STRUGGLES
16 Frames
170. WHERE IT ENDS
Sly & Robbie
171. J PARADISE
Mindy Smith
172. STUPID LOVE
Phoebe Snow
173. LIVE
Jordin Sparks
174. BATTLEFIELD
Spatial Unity
175. KNOCK ME OFF MY FEET
Regina Spektor
176. FAR
Matthew Sweet And Susanna Hoffs
177. UNDER THE COVERS VOL. 2
Swing Out Sister
178. BEAUTIFUL MESS
Taragirl
179. THE CITY: SOUL SUITE
James Taylor
180. OTHER COVERS
Anna Ternheim
181. LEAVING ON A MAYDAY
Rob Thomas
182. CRADLESONG
Arie Thompson
I’LL KNOW WHO YOU ARE WHEN
I SEE YOU AGAIN
183.
Glenn Tilbrook And The Fluffers
184. PANDEMONIUM ENSUES
Ashley Tisdale
185. GUILTY PLEASURE
Tino Tomas
186. STAY
© The Recording Academy 2009 - all rights reserved 52nd GRAMMY Entry List
(Continue Next Page)
Field 1 - Pop
Category 11 - Best Pop Vocal Album
Page 19 of 19
Tonemah
INK BLOTS & RANDOM
THOUGHTS
187.
The Uptown Band Featuring Erich
Cawalla & Jenifer Kinder
188. WAITING FOR HER
Utada
189. THIS IS THE ONE
Cindy Valentine
190. BLAME YOURSELF
Philip Vandermost
191. THE LONG PATH
Various Artists
BEN FOLDS PRESENTS:
UNIVERSITY A CAPPELLA!
192.
Various Artists
HIT MAN: DAVID FOSTER &
FRIENDS
193.
Various Artists
THE HOTEL CAFÉ
PRESENTS...WINTER SONGS
194.
Various Artists
LISTEN: A BENEFIT ALBUM FOR
OUR TIME
195.
(Nat King Cole &) Various Artists
196. RE:GENERATIONS
Various Artists
SCOTT WALKER 30 CENTURY
MAN
197.
Various Artists
198. WAR CHILD PRESENTS HEROES
Various Artists
WARDELL QUEZERGUE MUSIC
FOR CHILDREN, AGES 3 TO 103:
THE ST. AGNES SESSIONS
199.
Various Artists
200. WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE
Kate Voegele
201. A FINE MESS
Ron C. Walters
AMANDA RUN - THE
SOUNDTRACK
202.
Sara Wasserman
203. SOLID GROUND
Kanye West
204. 808S & HEARTBREAK
Wet Cookies
205. SOUL PROTECTION
Brian Willoughby
206. BRIAN WILLOUGHBY
Wilson Hawk
207. THE ROAD
Ellen M. Wilson
208. SONGS OF ASCENT
Kip Winger
209. FROM THE MOON TO THE SUN
Anushka Wirasinha
210. BRAVE
Yale Alley Cats
211. GHOST OF A CHANCE
Rachael Yamagata
ELEPHANTS...TEETH SINKING
INTO HEART
212.
Yanni
213. VOICES
Yom Hadash
214. A NEW DAY
Bora Yoon
215. PHONATION
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
216. BREAK UP
Pete Yorn
217. BACK & FOURTH
Jenny Owen Youngs
218. TRANSMITTER FAILURE
Zap Mama
219. RECREATION
Zucchero
220. LIVE IN ITALY
But still, I'll bask in the glow for the next few weeks. I'll put aside the fact that I don't really sing pop music. I'll work the pop music god angle to the hilt. The first thing I need is a new haircut. Maybe I should get some of that spray on tan stuff too. I definitely need to get some leather pants. And I need some groupies as well. Oh I forgot! I need an entourage. Man oh man, being a pop singing god comes with so many responsibilities!
Here's the funny thing about making it to the final five. Should it happen - and it won't - I have to pay for my tickets to attend. It costs something like 200 bucks a head. Then there is the limo. Then there are the new clothes. Then there are the jewels for my sweetie - maybe we can rent some from Harry Winston - and her dress and shoes. Dont forget airfare and a hotel down in LA. We're talking a 10K bill by the time all is said and done. Being a pop singing god is not only stressful, it's expensive as hell.
For what it's worth, here's my competition:
001. TOI-MÊME
The All-American Rejects
WHEN THE WORLD COMES
DOWN
002.
Lily Allen
003. IT'S NOT ME, IT'S YOU
Anjulie
004. ANJULIE
Aqualung
005. WORDS AND MUSIC
David Archuleta
006. DAVID ARCHULETA
Kit Dylan Arrieta
007. CRY ON CUE
Asa
008. ASHA
Ashford & Simpson
ASHFORD & SIMPSON: THE REAL
THING
009.
Dan Auerbach
010. KEEP IT HID
Burt Bacharach With The Sydney
Symphony Orchestra
LIVE @ THE SYDNEY OPERA
HOUSE
011.
Basia
012. IT'S THAT GIRL AGAIN
Basix
013. DIVERSITY
The Beautiful Ones
014. GRANDIO CITY
Bella Ciao
015. FESTIVUS ITALIANO
The Pete Best Band
016. HAYMANS GREEN
Diane Birch
017. BIBLE BELT
The Bird And The Bee
RAY GUNS ARE NOT JUST THE
FUTURE
018.
The Black Eyed Peas
019. THE E.N.D.
Ken Block
020. DRIFT
Stephanie J. Block
021. THIS PLACE I KNOW
Richie Booker
022. SHINE THE LIGHT
Neal E. Boyd
023. MY AMERICAN DREAM
Sarah Brightman
024. A WINTER SYMPHONY
Teresa Bright
025. TROPIC RHAPSODY
Olivia Broadfield
026. EYES WIDE OPEN
Buddhist Monks
027. LIVE MANTRA
The Cabriolets
028. DEMO
Colbie Caillat
029. BREAKTHROUGH
A Camp
030. COLONIA
Corrin Campbell
031. EXHIBIT A
Care Bears On Fire
032. GET OVER IT!
Cash Cash
033. TAKE IT TO THE FLOOR
Celtic Thunder
034. TAKE ME HOME
Celtic Woman & The High Kings
035. A CELTIC FAMILY CHRISTMAS
Lorissa Chapa
036. SELFISH
Chester French
037. LOVE THE FUTURE
Fred Christoffer Featuring Lindsay
Mazza
038. AMAZED
Peter Cincotti
039. EAST OF ANGEL TOWN
Kelly Clarkson
040. ALL I EVER WANTED
Cobra Starship
041. HOT MESS
Leonard Cohen
042. LIVE IN LONDON
Burt Conrad
043. HOME AT LAST
Corneille
044. THE BIRTH OF CORNELIUS
Chris Cornell
045. SCREAM
David Correy
046. URBAN ROCK ODDYSEY
Samantha Crain & The Midnight
Shivers
047. SONGS IN THE NIGHT
Dawes
048. NORTH HILLS
Kristinia DeBarge
049. EXPOSED
Gavin DeGraw
050. FREE
Dido
051. SAFE TRIP HOME
Joy Dion
052. JOY & PAIN
Division Kent
053. GRAVITY
James Domine
054. THROUGH YOUR WINDOW
Kelly Domino
055. HOLD ON TO YOUR DREAMS
The James Douglas Show
056. THE NEW BLACK
Jessica Drake
057. JESSICA DRAKE
Dream Street
058. DREAM STREET
The Duke & The King
059. NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY
Shane Dwight
060. GIMME BACK MY MONEY
© The Recording Academy 2009 - all rights reserved 52nd GRAMMY Entry List
(Continue Next Page)
Field 1 - Pop
Category 11 - Best Pop Vocal Album
Page 17 of 19
Elizabeth & The Catapult
061. TALLER CHILDREN
Enya
062. AND WINTER CAME...
Marianne Faithfull
063. EASY COME EASY GO
Troy Fernandez
064. RIDE TIME
Dan Ferrari
065. DON'T LET IT FALL
Fiction Family
066. FICTION FAMILY
Courtney Fortune
067. SPEAK LOVE
The Fray
068. THE FRAY
Gordon Free
069. SUPERCONSCIOUS
Melody Gardot
070. MY ONE AND ONLY THRILL
Gary Go
071. GARY GO
Gemma Genazzano
072. SI ME QUIERES/IF YOU LOVE ME
Tiffany Giardina
073. NO AVERAGE ANGEL
Gladstone
074. PAPER SKY
Grand Army
075. TOYS FOR CHAOS
Cristen Grey And The Moving
Dunes
076. 10,000 THINGS
Oksana Grigorieva
077. BEAUTIFUL HEARTACHE
Trevor Hall
078. TREVOR HALL
Daryl Hall & John Oates
079. LIVE AT THE TROUBADOUR
Nichole Halleen & The Projects
NICHOLE HALLEEN & THE
PROJECTS
080.
Colin Hay
081. AMERICAN SUNSHINE
Imogen Heap
082. ELLIPSE
Anne Heaton
083. BLAZING RED
Matt Hires
084. TAKE US TO THE START
Hula Honeys
085. GIRL TALK
Hyim
086. SEX IN THE MORNING
Il Divo
087. THE PROMISE
The Inspirations
088. THEN AND NOW
Chris Isaak
089. MR. LUCKY
Marty Jabara
090. THE SOURCE
Jessie James
091. JESSIE JAMES
Michael Johns
092. HOLD BACK MY HEART
Craig Hella Johnson
093. THORNS ON THE ROSE
Jonas Brothers
LINES, VINES AND TRYING
TIMES
094.
Phoenix Jones
095. SOUNDTRACK OF MY LIFE
Tom Jones
096. 24 HOURS
Angela Kaset
UNDERNEATH A VINCENT VAN
GOGH SKY
097.
Keane
098. PERFECT SYMMETRY
Mat Kearney
099. CITY OF BLACK & WHITE
Sally Kellerman
100. SALLY
Keri-Lynn
101. NOTES ON A PIANO
Cheryl Keyes
102. LET ME TAKE YOU THERE
Bill LaBounty
103. BACK TO YOUR STAR
Lal Meri
104. LAL MERI
Terry Lauber And The Seattle
Sound
105. ACROSS THE SOUND
Ben Lee
106. THE REBIRTH OF VENUS
Ute Lemper & Various Artists
BETWEEN YESTERDAY AND
TOMORROW
107.
Andrew Lipke
108. MOTHERPEARL & DYNAMITE
The Little Ones
109. MORNING TIDE
Liverpool Dreams
110. JAMRUN
Lo Torc
111. GOTTA MAKE A MOVE
Crosby Loggins
112. TIME TO MOVE
Kevin Lucas Orchestra
113. GREEN AND BLUE
Luce
114. CORNER OF THE WORLD
Carolyn Malachi
REVENGE OF THE SMART
CHICKS II: AMBITIOUS GODS
115.
Barry Manilow
THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE
EIGHTIES
116.
Debra Mann
117. HOME
Charlie Mars
118. LIKE A BIRD, LIKE A PLANE
Luba Mason
119. KRAZY LOVE
Matisyahu
120. LIGHT
Imelda May
121. LOVE TATTOO
Erin McCarley
122. LOVE, SAVE THE EMPTY
© The Recording Academy 2009 - all rights reserved 52nd GRAMMY Entry List
(Continue Next Page)
Field 1 - Pop
Category 11 - Best Pop Vocal Album
Page 18 of 19
Loreena McKennitt
123. A MIDWINTER NIGHT'S DREAM
Jon McLaughlin
124. OK NOW
Meg & Dia
125. HERE, HERE AND HERE
Ingrid Michaelson
126. EVERYBODY
Rhett Miller
127. RHETT MILLER
Jacqui Naylor
128. YOU DON'T KNOW JACQ
Nevada
129. OF THE WORLD…
Never Shout Never
130. THE SUMMER EP
Stevie Nicks
131. THE SOUNDSTAGE SESSIONS
Tatiana Nicole
132. TIME 3:16
Paolo Nutini
133. SUNNY SIDE UP
Dolores O'Riordan
134. NO BAGGAGE
Owl City
135. OCEAN EYES
Painted On Water
136. PAINTED ON WATER
Parachute
137. LOSING SLEEP
Pamela Payge
138. LOVE AND HATE
Kate Pazakis
139. UNZIPPED: LIVE AT THE ZIPPER
Avi Pearce
140. CIRCLE OF LIVES
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
141. ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND
Elli Perry
THE SECRET TO SCALING A
MOUNTAIN
142.
Madeleine Peyroux
143. BARE BONES
Pink
144. FUNHOUSE
Pitbull
145. REBELUTION
Playing For Change
146. SONGS AROUND THE WORLD
Paul Potts
147. PASSIONE
Asha Puthli
148. LOST
Queen Latifah
149. PERSONA
John Rensink
150. JOHN RENSINK
Lionel Richie
151. JUST GO
Stuart Rosh And The Geniuses
152. FUNDAMENTAL
Professor RJ Ross
153. FACE TO FACE
Kevin Rudolf
154. IN THE CITY
Sam & Ruby
155. THE HERE AND THE NOW
Heather Schmid
156. THE GODDESS AWAITS
Kate Schutt
157. TELEPHONE GAME
Allison Scola
158. A BRAVER KIND
The Script
159. THE SCRIPT
Paul Seaforth
160. SOMETHING REAL
Seal
161. SOUL
Shakeys Brother
162. SHAKEYS BROTHER
Duncan Sheik
163. WHISPER HOUSE
Jason Shulman
164. BUDDHA-CLOUD
Terry Silverlight
165. COLLABORATIONS: VOLUME I
Terry Silverlight
166. COLLABORATIONS: VOLUME II
Terry Silverlight
SONGWRITER/PRODUCER:
VOLUME I
167.
Terry Silverlight
SONGWRITER/PRODUCER:
VOLUME II
168.
Single File
169. COMMON STRUGGLES
16 Frames
170. WHERE IT ENDS
Sly & Robbie
171. J PARADISE
Mindy Smith
172. STUPID LOVE
Phoebe Snow
173. LIVE
Jordin Sparks
174. BATTLEFIELD
Spatial Unity
175. KNOCK ME OFF MY FEET
Regina Spektor
176. FAR
Matthew Sweet And Susanna Hoffs
177. UNDER THE COVERS VOL. 2
Swing Out Sister
178. BEAUTIFUL MESS
Taragirl
179. THE CITY: SOUL SUITE
James Taylor
180. OTHER COVERS
Anna Ternheim
181. LEAVING ON A MAYDAY
Rob Thomas
182. CRADLESONG
Arie Thompson
I’LL KNOW WHO YOU ARE WHEN
I SEE YOU AGAIN
183.
Glenn Tilbrook And The Fluffers
184. PANDEMONIUM ENSUES
Ashley Tisdale
185. GUILTY PLEASURE
Tino Tomas
186. STAY
© The Recording Academy 2009 - all rights reserved 52nd GRAMMY Entry List
(Continue Next Page)
Field 1 - Pop
Category 11 - Best Pop Vocal Album
Page 19 of 19
Tonemah
INK BLOTS & RANDOM
THOUGHTS
187.
The Uptown Band Featuring Erich
Cawalla & Jenifer Kinder
188. WAITING FOR HER
Utada
189. THIS IS THE ONE
Cindy Valentine
190. BLAME YOURSELF
Philip Vandermost
191. THE LONG PATH
Various Artists
BEN FOLDS PRESENTS:
UNIVERSITY A CAPPELLA!
192.
Various Artists
HIT MAN: DAVID FOSTER &
FRIENDS
193.
Various Artists
THE HOTEL CAFÉ
PRESENTS...WINTER SONGS
194.
Various Artists
LISTEN: A BENEFIT ALBUM FOR
OUR TIME
195.
(Nat King Cole &) Various Artists
196. RE:GENERATIONS
Various Artists
SCOTT WALKER 30 CENTURY
MAN
197.
Various Artists
198. WAR CHILD PRESENTS HEROES
Various Artists
WARDELL QUEZERGUE MUSIC
FOR CHILDREN, AGES 3 TO 103:
THE ST. AGNES SESSIONS
199.
Various Artists
200. WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE
Kate Voegele
201. A FINE MESS
Ron C. Walters
AMANDA RUN - THE
SOUNDTRACK
202.
Sara Wasserman
203. SOLID GROUND
Kanye West
204. 808S & HEARTBREAK
Wet Cookies
205. SOUL PROTECTION
Brian Willoughby
206. BRIAN WILLOUGHBY
Wilson Hawk
207. THE ROAD
Ellen M. Wilson
208. SONGS OF ASCENT
Kip Winger
209. FROM THE MOON TO THE SUN
Anushka Wirasinha
210. BRAVE
Yale Alley Cats
211. GHOST OF A CHANCE
Rachael Yamagata
ELEPHANTS...TEETH SINKING
INTO HEART
212.
Yanni
213. VOICES
Yom Hadash
214. A NEW DAY
Bora Yoon
215. PHONATION
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
216. BREAK UP
Pete Yorn
217. BACK & FOURTH
Jenny Owen Youngs
218. TRANSMITTER FAILURE
Zap Mama
219. RECREATION
Zucchero
220. LIVE IN ITALY
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