(Lowest Common Denominator)

“One likes to believe in the freedom of music

But glittering prizes and endless compromises

Shatter the illusion of integrity”

[“The Spirit of Radio” by Rush from “Permanent Waves”]

            If you’re under the age of say…30 you’ll probably think that pop music is supposed to be manufactured dross churned out at studios that act like factories. Turning this drivel out to the masses at a phenomenal rate.

            Unfortunately you young ‘uns, it’s not supposed to be like that. Music like a painting by Monet or a poem by Betjeman is art. Probably the true st of all art forms because we can all do it. I sure as hell can’t paint or draw a damn thing but I can beat out a rhythm on a tabletop or tap my foot in time with whatever I’m listening to on my iPod just like my ancestors have done since the dawn of humanity (though probably not with an iPod).

            Drums were more than likely the first musical instrument to be invented, not difficult to make even for prehistoric man. Bang a thigh bone on the top of some dead things skull and hey presto! One snare drum. Which is probably why when you’re completely out of your tree on whatever vodka based kiddie drink you’ve been shoving down your gullet on a Saturday night, you’ll dance to just about anything as long as it’s got a fast, strong drumbeat. I’m not immune to it, when I hear a certain beat of a certain tempo I can’t resist tapping my foot or beating whatever hard surface is nearby - I don’t do dancing - it’s irresistible.

            But why does every single bloody song that enters the charts have to be identical. That same drumbeat, that same electronic drumbeat, press a few buttons and away you go, no talent necessary. Just make sure you get a fantastically attractive girl to sing (or mime) some fifth-rate lyrics about how she can’t get enough of her man and there you go - one hit single - and repeat as required ad infinitum.

            Just because it sells by the bucket load doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a decent song. If that were the case then Mr Blobby, Bob the Builder and Joe Dolcé would be mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles and Elvis (I think I just did!)

            Unfortunately it’s that good awful word in the term ‘Music Business’, that word being ‘business’ of course that has turned talentless, tuneless, wastes of oxygen into successful recording artists, I shan’t name any names but you know who you are.

Most have them have graced (disgraced) the music charts over the last ten or fifteen years or so.

            Westlife, Boyzone, The Spice Girls, Blue, A1 the list goes on and on, all God awful, all talentless wretches who are far more interested in achieving fame and fortune than achieving some level of musical integrity. Do they care that there ‘songs’ are forgotten within a couple of years of them being released? Do they care that have had no part whatsoever in the writing process that occurred before they entered the studio? Do they care that for the most part their ‘songs’ are predominately cover versions that were huge successes first time around, guaranteeing success this time around? The answer of course to all those questions is NO. they couldn’t give a damn as long as they became famous and swelled their bank accounts to obscene proportions. And who helped to swell said bank accounts? Children mostly. Nobody over the age of fifteen would have bought those records. I personally would struggle to sleep at night knowing I had with premeditation ripped off an entire generation of pre-teens just so I could swan about for the rest of my life doing what I please. Why do you think all these type of bands split up after only five or six years? Because they’ve made their cash and are now world famous, so what do they need all those kids for anymore?

            As has become apparent in the last couple of years, these bands decide to reform in a blaze of publicity to do a series of gigs and maybe release a ‘Greatest Hits’ CD. What a shocker!!! And the reason for them reforming? Is it because they want to achieve some level of integrity and dignity in their chosen field or is it because they have become complete non-entities once the band has split up and their bank accounts have dwindled away to nothing since the tabloids cottoned on to the fact that they are D-List celebrities at best.

            All of this is orchestrated of course, behind the scenes by such notable minds as Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh. Multi-millionaires who for some reason have found their little niche in life is exploiting the marginally talented who in turn exploit the young. And their TV shows are watched by millions. For God’s sake why? The winners of these ‘contests’ will be gone, forgotten and dismissed in a trice once the TV show has ended but as long as Mr Cowell gets his Christmas No.1 (the most lucrative record of the year!) he doesn’t care.

            Don’t these people who aspire to be in the music business have any form of dignity? Do they not want a career spanning the decades and the generations like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springsteen?

            The old adage goes “Those who can’t, teach” hence Messrs Cowell and Walsh, but the adage should have an addendum “Those who can’t, shouldn’t.”

            I don’t recall seeing Mick Jagger, David Bowie or John Lennon on a talent show. That’s because they didn’t need to. They had the talent to make it, whilst writing their own material. If you have the talent and the will you will make a career for yourself in the music biz without the need of parading yourself in front of the cameras like a performing freak at the circus.

            Meanwhile there are hundreds of bands out there with the kind of talent and skill that could lay waste to the charts, revolutionise the way we listen to music but are squeezed out of the whole affair because they don’t produce ‘singles’ as the record companies perceive them. Three and half minutes of teen friendly rhythm, cute singer (male or female) long blonde hair for the girl, six-pack for the boy of course. Throw money at the video and there you go.

            God forbid if the lead singer looks like an ‘Average Joe.’ When Nickelback made it big a couple of years ago all you heard was the way the singer looked, who gives a damn, just listen to the song. Mama Cass of The Mamas and the Papas was hardly an oil painting but her voice made her beautiful and sold the songs almost on it’s own.

            And so what if the song goes on longer than four minutes, a song is supposed to be a story set to music so if the story goes on a bit longer then so what? Let the guy finish his story. I have an attention span longer than five minutes I’ll listen to it in full thank you very much. I hate ‘Radio Edits’ or ‘Single Remix’ the record companies under the bizarre delusion that we can’t cope with a song lasting longer than it takes to eat a hot-dog.

            So what happens to these bands who don’t produce ‘singles’? They struggle on recording songs they want to record with a fan base big enough for them to live but nowhere near as big as they deserve for their talent and hard-work.

            Bands such as Pink Floyd have managed to buck the trend but even they had only one real hit single “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2” in 1979. They survived on album sales and concert tickets. Led Zeppelin were the same, in fact if I’m right they simply stopped releasing singles as they didn’t see the point.

            So these bands as long with my favourite band (I say favourite, I am a little obsessive) Rush, sweat it out night after night on stage and year after year recording the songs they want to record utilising every ounce of talent at their disposal to produce something to be proud of, something to look back on and realise that at the moment in time it was the very best that they could do. Only for the record company to barely take an interest in what they’ve done, barely raise a finger in publicising the product and therefore hardly anyone outside the already existing fanbase get to hear it. Denying some kid out there from being inspired enough to pick up a guitar or a bass or a set of drumsticks themselves and have a go.

            So many bands have been ignored because they didn’t fit into the ‘mainstream’, Frank Zappa was an absolute genius but because he wasn’t ‘mainstream’ he never got the credit he deserved. The same applies to Dream Theater, Cave In, Juno, Queensryche, Primus etc. etc.

            So in conclusion all I’m saying is listen to something that isn’t in the charts or you haven’t seen on MTV. Just Google something or go on YouTube and have a look around. You’ll be surprised just how good some of this stuff is.

            And I’m not saying there isn’t any talent in the ‘mainstream’ at all. Lily Allen springs to mind as does the reformed Take That, wasn’t that a surprise!?! I’m not saying I’m a huge fan of there’s but they are infinitely better than the first time around.

            So there you go, listen to someone new and tell yourself that this is what music sounds like when the artist is producing the art that they want to, not to sell it, not because an A & R man says so, but because they can’t do anything but do what they do.

            And enjoy.