Posts by Simon Grigg
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Boney M were not really Boney M, they were Frank Farian (who was also Milli Vanilli and with whom he managed to convince a gullible USA that they were real when everybody else knew exactly what they were for gods sake)
Frank came from the same close circle as Moroder and both were pop wunderkids. Craftsmen and masters of their art.
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(Also: Wham! were way better than everyone thinks. dammit. I have this argument regularly with people, because I am insane.)
Just tell them that George Michael, aged 18, was writing, arranging, producing, choreographing and art directing his career pretty much on his own when most are still working out what to do with the rest of their lives.
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Paul McGuinness full speech.
I think I'll go with this guy over the dude who gave us boney m, crap phase ultravox and wham. (ie manufactured pop)a) its all frigging manufactured pop, its just the degree.
b) Can we add co-writing "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" (which dwarves anything in the U2 canon), discovering Mark Bolan (without whom no punk and a myriad of other things including U2), and managing Dusty Springfield and The Yardbirds to Mr. Napier-Bell's achievements. Its only fair. Or don't they count?
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yeah, that was an indepth analysis of the multitude of points McGuinness raised giving us new insight into the workings of the complex industry that is music distribution.
I didn't need to Rob, the general reaction to Paul's comments out there hasn't been positive. Instead I was just pointing out the one blatant screaming moment of hypocrisy, and one he tried to address but in doing so dug himself a slightly deeper hole.
BTW Radiohead have said they made more out of the current album than then entire EMI catalogue to date. I guess it worked for them.
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Also, can someone identify TV2's latest theme song?
Aire of Good Feeling by Malcolm Hayman's band Quincy Conserve, who played at my school many years back.
Sadly Mal won't be around to benefit (he died in 1988) and nobody else really will in NZ, except maybe EMI, as it was written by a guy called Jim Peterik whose other claim to fame was writing Eye of the Tiger in USA.
Would've been nice in these times to have had a NZ composed song as the theme for an NZ publicly owned channel. There are a few out there, including many by the Quincy Conserve.
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Rob, it was way more complicated than that...to quote you, the devil is in the detail, and the way certain words can be said to be applied to others in the midst of a 45 page document....or not. Nuf said..
but isn't that the same for every other business.
you can get dicked over in real estate, banking, or buying a scone, it all depends on the attitude of the person serving you.But predatory practices in business, taking advantage of others' weaknesses and abusing a position of strength are neither morally or, often, legally acceptable. You seem to be saying that because they exist, they are.
The most interesting development in these current times seems to be the recurring use of the word no when artists are approached by larger record labels. Its been a point of some talk in the US industry forums. Bands or artists who are saying no to a contract of any sort with the big 4..its never happened before. There is no longer any reason to sign those bits of paper offered from a position of strength now disappearing
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majors were predominantly good to local acts in nz when they bothered to get involved, and many many contracts are completely non eventful.
sadly there is a gulf between the people who work for majors and the ingrained business practices. Best not to confuse the two.....
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well the proof is in the details simon.
like I said Rob, I ain't gonna go into this. Suffice to say I wholeheartedly disagree with you on the historical fairness of the record industry's dealings with acts. That is not in any way universal of course. But I could give you dozens of examples that exist in standard boring contracts, that are designed to confuse and reduce payment and are written in such a way as to circumvent even the most intrepid lawyer. Ok..a little detail...I had one contract with a large company which I negotiated in good faith face to face with their lawyer. We agreed on it all, shook hands and signed. It worked well until said company was taken over by another, whose lawyer then said..no this (very important) clause means this, thus circumventing our intent, and slashing the payments due. I attempted to argue and was told that they would apply it their way unless I took it to court. There was a clear corporate intent to screw me despite our original intent.
But I also agree with your position that much is also implied and said that is unfair..the world loves a beaten up and ripped off underdog regardless of the truth. Almost every act feels ripped off especially when viewed through rose tinted glasses as to how 'big' they were: "we charted"...3 years back I had a band member ask for an audit of a record that cost a couple of thousand to make and sold less than 200 copies..and was deleted in 1983. He'd festered for decades.
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did you get shafted any more than you let yourself?, did flying nun?
Uhhh..in both cases probably yes, but lets not go into details.
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for the umtenth time hollywood myth
God knows why I'm jumping in here, but Rob, I could (as someone who gets paid to consult on these things in several countries, and has probably more experience in music contracts than most) but won't, waffle on for a page and half here about why you are wrong on this.
Its a core issue that has come back to bite the industry as it always would (and forget the touted 360 deals which is just more smoke and mirrors..why in gods name would anyone let a major label manage them). The recent Simon Napier-Bell piece in the Guardian says some of it well.