Saving the Album Format: More Than the Sum of its Parts

Note: This is part of a series of blog posts. Read the first one here.

At the age of 40, I own well over 2000 albums on vinyl and CD.

I downloaded 4.

What you get most of the time when you download an album is, frankly, pathetic. You get the songs of the album and – if you're lucky – a small image file that displays on your MP3-Player or iPod. You might be able to figure out the composers of the song by going into the „information“ menu on iTunes. It's possible that the „song lyrics“ feature is used to some extend, it is not on any of the 4 albums I downloaded from iTunes.

The production value of the average downloaded album is the equivalent of those discount “Music for Pleasure” vinyl albums that repackaged previously issued music with cheap cover artwork and plain white inner sleeves.

And a lot of current CDs aren't much better. I still have excellent eyesight according to a recent exam, but when I try to read the information in many CD booklets lately, I have to walk up to a window and squint really hard to read the tiny font, that is sometimes printed with ink on paper choices that cause very unfortunate color contrasts.

I know not ever music fan cares about who played the congas, sang backing vocals and arranged the string section as much as I do. But a lot of music fans always have, and it's been getting harder and harder to get that information.

So why doesn't every downloaded album and CD come with a code that allows you access to a section on the artist's or record company's web site with exclusive content for buyers of the album? Song lyrics, production notes, video clips of interviews, behind-the-scenes looks at recording sessions, live performances, etc? Or even games, contests (win a date with Meatloaf! - OK, maybe not).

We'll never get back to the age of beautiful large album covers that allow for gimmicks like Velvet Underground's banana peel or the zipper on the cover of the Rolling Stones: “Sticky Fingers” - but with the Internet, we have so many new options that cardboard never gave us.

To survive, the album needs to be more than the sum of its songs. The Internet could provide for countless possibilities to make it so.

Meanwhile, to show that not everything was great during the vinyl album age, either, here is the very funny Ellen Degeneres looking at some not-so-great album covers.

I own that Millie Jackson album, too!

Marcus Bachmann: Protesting Way Too Much

We interrupt our regular scheduled series about saving the album format in music for this announcement:

Completely straight curer of the gay and wannabe first husband, Marcus Bachmann, once again went to extreme lengths to prove his heterosexuality:

He gay-bashed CNN's Don Lemon.

Stay classy, Marcus.

Can the Album Format be Saved?

A few days ago, the movie title Jason's Lyric was trending on Twitter. It made me realize two things:
A. I had never watched the movie and should look for the DVD.
B. The picture's soundtrack CD had hardly ever left my CD player in 1994 and we don't really get albums like that anymore.

That soundtrack was epic. Composed of all new recordings, it featured an incredible range of talented African-American musicians from several generations. From blues veteran Buddy Guy to gospel songstress Oleta Adams, from the cream of 90s r&b and New Jack Swing like Tony! Toni! Toné! and K-Ci Hayley to talented Hip Hop artists like LL Cool J and Warren G. And the cherry on the top was an all-star, all male choir labeled "Black Men United" that combined more vocal firepower than a military platoon of opera singers. Listen to it and "u will know" what I mean.

Jason's Lyric was not the only movie with a soundtrack like that in the 90s. Films like White Men Can't Jump, Boyz n the Hood, Love Jones and Set it Off all combined Hip Hop, soul and gospel in ways that made the soundtrack albums must-haves for several generations of fans: The kids would buy them to get their hands on that new Ice-T track and ended up being impressed by immensely talented music legends over 40, while older fans could not miss out on the new Aretha Franklin ballad you could not get anyplace else - and in turn realized that Queen Latifah was a force to be reckoned with.

Alas, the days of those soundtrack albums, all albums, actually, seem to have come to an end. Downloads, both illegal and legal, are the way most people listen to music these days, and that means a focus on individual tracks, not albums.

The music industry is trying to adapt to survive. A hit song is more likely to make a profit if it makes a good ring-tone. Concert tickets now cost a small fortune, as artists went from touring to promote their new recordings to recording new music to promote their tours.

The album, it seems, is considered expendable.

Concept albums, a format that once rode high on the charts thanks to artists like Marvin Gaye and Pink Floyd, are now a niche phenomenon for the Björks and Kate Bushs of this world. I will never forget the intensity of experiencing "What's Going On" on my old Walkman for the first time, in the dark, on a night train to Vienna. It was a life-transforming experience you just don't get from a ring-tone you downloaded for your new smartphone.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards got to know each other because one of them noticed the stack of vinyl albums the other one was carrying, and the result was one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands of all time. Is leaning over somebody to see what is playing on their iPod too stalkerish?

Also, no more cross-pollination between different generations of fans via soundtracks and compilations as I described above. Nor first exposure for new artists that way.

This is what we are losing. This is what the future will be missing. It's hurting the culture of music, and it is hurting the bottom line of the music industry in the long run.

Well, I will not let the album go down without a fight. I'm rolling up my sleeves. I'm taking off my rings (get me some vaseline!)

Over the next few blog posts, I will make suggestions on how to make people excited about albums again. And nobody will care. But at least I can say I tried.

Patti Austin & James Ingram: Reunited

Patti Austin is only today releasing her wonderful new soul album "Sound Advice" in the US and UK, about one week after its release in continental Europe, yet at tonight's awe inspiring jazz concert at the Ruhr Klavierfestival in Essen she had some big news about her next album:

In about three weeks time, she will hit the studio with none other than her old buddy James Ingram to record an entire album of duets. They will cover some classic duet songs as well as create a few brand new ones.

This seems a smart move from a business stand point, as both artists had their biggest hits when teaming up with each other, on the classic ballads "Baby Come To Me" and "How Do You Keep The Music Playing." A reunion should definitely garner more media attention than either artist's recent solo releases.

So... let the speculation begin which duets they'll cover. I know I would like to hear:

If This World Were Mine and You're All I Need to Get By by Marvin and Tammy
Where is the Love and Back Together Again by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
Tonight, I Celebrate My Love by Roberta and Peabo Bryson
Endless Love by Diana Ross and Lionel Ritchie
How Many Times Can We Say Good-Bye by Dionne Warwick and Luther Vandross
Private Number by William Bell and Judy Clay
Don't Give Up by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush

If you have your own suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments section!

Meanwhile, here is a pre-weight loss Patti Austin and a pre-hair loss James Ingram with the song that started it all - a track that made music history by being the slowest climber to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 ever!

Steven Tyler's Wonderfully Obscure Nat King Cole Reference

In case you've been wondering what rocker-come-singing-competition-host Steven Tyler seemed to be babbling about after Casey's performance of Nature Boy - no, he was not having acid flashbacks. The lines

Ke-mo, ki-mo spare-o-spare
Ma-hi, ma-ho, ma-rump-sticka-pumpernickle
Soup-bang, nip-cat, polly-mitcha-cameo
I love you.

Are actually from a children's song that Natalie's father recorded in the early 50s:





I'm beginning to see why Liv is such a well adjusted young lady.

I Got Nothin', Babe

So evidently Sonny Bono's widow, now the honorable (?) congresswoman from California, Mary Bono Mack, is raising funds by letting donors lick her breasts. Bonus points for the licker in question being female.
In unrelated news, Ms Mack voted against the repeal of Dont't Ask, Don't Tell in May of 2010.

In honor (?) of representative Bono Mack, here is small time criminal, Mark Morrison, with Return of the Mack. Oh my gawd!

Leaked: DC Comics Plans for 2011

More revealing than Wikileaks! More truthiness than on the Colbert show! More unexpected revelations than an episode of Lost!

Today, the4thpip's blog of blogged blog things brings you the things that Dan DiDio does not want you to know yet because he is worried you will adjust your pull lists accordingly. It's DC Comics' secret plans for 2011!

The Trinity
After the disappointment of Superman: Grounded, DC realized they just went about the idea too half-heartedly. So the new year will bring a 12-issue-storyline inspired by Marcel Proust called Superman: Bed Ridden. A Kryptonian strain of swine flu makes it to Earth on a meteor that contained some of Krypto's dog poo from when he was first shot into space in that cruel case of animal testing. Watch in awe as Superman follows the daily soap operas on TV, takes on Sudoku without fear and skillfully tosses his tissues into a waste basket on the other side of town!

As for the Caped Crusader, the recent success of the expanded Batman line will lead to even more new titles: Batgirl & Robin, Spoiler: Year One, Batman Force, Batman: Caped Crusader, Bruce Wayne, the Spectacular Batman, Batman's Pal, James Gordon, Batman: Weapon B and Batman: Life on the B-List.

Wonder Woman will become Wonder Woman & Swamp Thing by Phil Hester.
She is an Amazon princess made of clay, he is a dead scientist reborn in mud - they fight crime!

Team Books
You'd have to pry Justice League of America from James Robinson's cold, dead fingers - but this time, everything will be different. After spending a maxi series exploring the "Justice!" aspect of the team, he will now turn his attention to the "League" aspect as a new, deadly Sports Master forces our heroes into games of Baseball, Football and Beach Volleyball. Watch for that very special hockey issue to come out for Christmas - that really is Rudolph's skin the villain is wearing as a coat!

Guggenheim's plans to turn the Justice Society into a "real society" with tons of new members will mean the book will have to be split in two (again), so in 2011 we will have three titles: JSA All-Stars, Justice Society, and JSA: D-List.

New Imprint
A surprise new venture for DC will be a cooperation with Broadway for an inspired new line of musical theater related books.
In the works are:

Wicked ft. Zatanna and Miss Martian

Guys and Dolls featuring Guy Gardner and Doll Man

La Cage aux Folles ft. Apollo and the Midnighter

Dream Girls ft, well, Dream Girl of the Legion of superheroes. And Beyoncé!

Hair featuring Dan DiDio himself!

Kiss of the Spider-Woman, featuring an ugly lawsuit by Marvel comics.


Big Summer Crossover
After Infinite Crisis, Sinestro War, Blackest Night, Brightest Day, Flashpoint and the Return of Bruce Wayne, DC will be upping the ante with a mega crossover called DC: Pancakes. Details are still sketchy, but I hear there will be an incentive scheme that will make those colorful plastic rings look downright unappetizing!

You Can't Make this Up

Bishop Eddie "Long Dong" Long, public homophobic church superstar, private homosexual predator on the down low, got some words of support by none other than our old friend, Pastor Meth himself, Ted Haggard.

Here is a message to everybody involved with organized religion: Get out. Stop looking up to the shiniest, loudest, most charismatic leaders. They're all wolves in sheeps' clothing at worst, and pathetic little cowards at best. Go and find your own relationship with god if you must, or just do what seems so clear: Go out and help people, do right, treat the world, those around you, and yourself with respect and love. You don't need no doggone mega-church, televangelist, or make-belief country in Italy for that.


No guru, no method, no teacher
Just you and I and nature
And the Father in the garden

Mary Cheney is a Dick

Guess what Mary Cheney did?

Mary Cheney, Daughter of Dick, best selling author, famous lesbian, made a $ 500 campaign donation to an anti-gay-marriage candidate running for the senate.

Unless she gave him the money with the advice to use it to buy a clue, the only explanation is that Mary Cheney is quite a Richard.

For all the shameful and pathetic Marys and Marias out in the world, here is my First Choice of musical shaming:

Happy 60th Birthday, Patti Austin!

One of the most accomplished singers in the fields of soul, pop and jazz turns... that can't be right? She doesn't look a day over 50!

A very Happy Birthday to Grammy winning singer and lovable lunatic, Patti Austin!

Keep that music playing, diva!

Here's a Fun Game

Do an Ecosia or search-engine-of-your-choice search for either "Jesus" or "Bible" in combination with various versions of the Chinese Proverb Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him to fish and he will eat for life.

Quite a few right wingers other than Rush Limbaugh falsely attribute the saying to make their Jesus look a little less pinko commie socialist than he does in the bible.

All out of answers, all out of excuses?

Seen at a Catholic church in Rochefort-en-Terre, Brittany:

60K of Florida Taxpayers' Money went to Very Gay Anti-Gay Activist for Acting Like an Anti-Gay Douche

Florida Attorney General Bill "Gollum" McCollum wasted something between $60,900 and $87,000 to the previously mentioned closet case hateful bigot, George Reker. I guess which figure you come up with depends on whether you include the tax-exempt rent boy allowance.

McCollum invested that money in his precioussssssss pure bigotry, getting the very gay Reker to give his "expert's" opnion on why gay people make horrible, horrible adoptive parents on par with Catholic priests. Never mind that anyone but the mouth-breathing Bill McCollum would have realized that in light of all the peer-reviewed studies on the subject and the APA's statements on the issue, any sane judge would do what the judge did here and throw out Reker's self-hating hack job testimony.

McCollum should pay taxpayers back out of his own pocket, and George Reker needs to face up to his self hatred and Shame, Shame, Shame and admit that is him in the white suit in that clip.

Update: The Miami Herald even puts the number at $ 120,000!

Very Gay Anti-Gay Activist Brags About Size of his Tool

To absolutely nobody's surprise, Florida's extreme-rightwing, Taliban-level Christian homophobe George Alan Rekers went on a vacation with a gay rent boy.

I find a bit off color the way he brags about his penis, though:

"I had surgery," Rekers said, "and I can't lift luggage. That's why I hired him."

I guess it's not really bragging when he admits in the same sentence that he had penis-enlargement surgery though, is it?

To George Alan Rekers and all the closeted gay Christians who can't do the heavy lifting themselves, I dedicate "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" as sung by the legendary Persuasions.

Milestone reached in protecting Children in Washington, DC

Foster children in Washington, DC just got a lot safer from child abuse. And we have gay marriage to thank for that:

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has ended its 80-year-old foster-care program in the District rather than license same-sex couples, the first fallout from a bitter debate over the city's move to legalize same-sex marriage.

Catholic Charities, which runs more than 20 social service programs for the District, transferred its entire foster-care program -- 43 children, 35 families and seven staff members -- to another provider, the National Center for Children and Families. Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), the D.C. Council member who chairs the Committee on Human Services, said he didn't know of any problems with the transfer, which happened Feb. 1.
Source

A move in the right direction for the safety of children.