Carl
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Posts posted by Carl
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Someone sent us the German lyrics, so if you check the Songfacts lyrics, there should be both English and German.
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Could you tell us more about Street Teams? I know they are a huge part of marketing bands. Do they get paid? Free tickets? Meet the band?
Just wondering what the motivation is. I do know that record companies worship them.
Thanks,
Carl
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Good question, and great subject line.
When many websites go up, they immediately throw up banner ads, pop ups, and whatever else is the new annoying ad form of the moment. There has to be a better way. Our plan is to find a sponsor with a product relevant to music fans and give them some space on the site with a link. I don't think anyone would object as long as it was clearly labeled as a sponsor.
We keep our costs down by doing most of the work ourselves. Unfortunately, this leaves us little time for sales presentations and marketing. If anyone has sales experience and can convince a great company that they should sponsor Songfacts, let us know - we offer a good commission. Any ideas or thoughts on this are welcome.
Everyone wants to get paid to do something they love. We might get there someday, but it's not awful doing something you love for free.
Thanks,
Carl
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Here are a few ways to win a clean and comfortable Songfacts T-shirt:
- Win the Mighty Songfacts Trivia Quiz
- Help us set up an interview with a prominent songwriter.
- Win a Nobel prize of any kind.
There are other ways, and they usually involve a combination of contributing to Songfacts, coming up with a great idea for the site, and asking nicely.
Carl
- Win the Mighty Songfacts Trivia Quiz
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We did great interviews recently with Rupert Holmes and Eddie Schwartz. Eddie gave us Songfacts for 2 famous songs he wrote - "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and "Don't Shed A Tear." Rupert told us all about "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" as well as "Timothy" and "You Got It All."
Check out the Songfacts on them when you get a chance.
Carl
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I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to hold any of this against me...
It's "Can't Buy Me Love" by The Beatles. Some of my friends loved the movie Can't Buy Me Love so much, they had a theme party where you were encouraged to dress up like your favorite character from the film. As we discussed the cultural significance of Patrick Dempsey over our favorite beverages, I kept spouting interesting tidbits about the song - like how it was one of the 5 Beatles songs to hold the top 5 chart positions at once, and how it was a rare song that started with the chorus. After enjoying more of my favorite beverages and ripping off my sleaves to complete the Patrick Dempsey look, I started thinking about putting this song information into some kind of database. So I put Filemaker on my Powerbook 2400 and started entering in song information. Of course, the first song had to be the one that gave me the idea in the first place.
I was a disc jockey, and the database was a wonderful show prep device, allowing me to access song information without digging through magazines and reference guides. Listeners loved hearing about the songs, so I put the database on line so anyone could enjoy it and contribute. A lot of people did, and we have Patrick Dempsey to thank.
Carl
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Congratulations to Karli from Sydney, Australia.
She wins a clean and comfortable Songfacts t-shirt.
Here are the answers:
- Who has written hit songs for The Bangles, Sinead O'Connor and Chaka Khan?
- Prince
"Manic Monday," "Nothing Compares 2 U," "I Feel For You." - Who is the best-selling rapper of all time?
- Eminem - What was the first Motown song to win a Grammy?
- "Cloud Nine" by The Temptations (1969) - Who were the first married couple to guest star on The Simpsons? (at least one was a musician)
- Paul and Linda McCartney
Sonny and Cher was a popular guess. - At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, who did Chris Rock say was like "Mediocre Green Day?"
- Good Charlotte - What band played to the largest crowd ever for a single-act performance, meaning they were the only band that played that night?
- Led Zeppelin.
They played to over 76,000 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit on May 6, 1977. - What song contains the line, "You catch a pearl and ride the dragon's wings?"
- "Heat Of The Moment" by Asia - What band had a lead singer named "Jello?"
- The Dead Kennedys - Jello Biafra - What musician has acted in movies with Sean Connery, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Liotta, and Samuel L. Jackson?
- Busta Rhymes
Finding Forrester, Halloween, Ressurection, Higher Learning, Narc, Shaft - Who was the first British woman to have a #1 album in the UK?
- Kate Bush - Never For Ever - Tiebreaker: How many fish in the Songfacts aquarium are named after musicians?
- 0, but one is named after a taxi driver we met.
Thanks to everyone who took the quiz, and be sure to take the new one
here.
- Who has written hit songs for The Bangles, Sinead O'Connor and Chaka Khan?
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On Sept. 23, Songfacts was the Cool Site of the Day. Their website picks an interesting site every day and has their users rate the site from 1-10. Songfacts got the best score of all the sites in September:
http://www.coolsiteoftheday.com/cgi-bin/stillcool.pl?month=09&year=2003
When we started Songfacts, we figured it would be useful to disc jockeys and some hard-core music fans. Over the last few years, we've found out that many people enjoy learning and talking about songs, and it's very exciting to score so high among sites picked for their overall coolness. Thanks to you all for contributing to Songfacts and making it so darn cool.
Carl
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That's almost exactly right. There is a counter associated with each song that counts how many times it gets hit each day, week, and ever. The random feature works a little differently. It figures out how many songs are in the database, generates a random number, and picks a song assigned to that number. It's a good thing we have some very smart people working on this site.
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We have added a Top 10 Songs of the day list to the homepage. It's based on how many hits each song receives. This list will change throughout the day and be reset every 24 hours. It's a good way to see what songs people are interested in and gives people new to Songfacts and idea what we're about. It turns out "Stairway To Heaven" is a really popular song.
The weekly list is a link and works the same way.
Carl
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We're going to put the previous quiz anwers into a forum from now on. This will allow anyone to discuss it, and creates a way to archive them. If you have ideas for questions, please send Sara or me a private message.
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Gerald from Stockton, CA wins a clean and comfortable Songfacts T-shirt for his efforts.
Here are the answers:
- What popular group was once known as Feedback?
- U2 - What is the last song John Lennon sang at a concert?
- "Whatever Gets You Through The Night"
He performed it at Elton John's Madison Square Garden show in 1974. - What song became a hit when it was used in the TV show Family Ties?
- "At This Moment" by Billy Vera and The Beaters
I think Nick and Mallory got hot and heavy to it in that PG-rated kind of ABC sitcom way. - Among bands with at least one set of twins, which has sold the most albums worldwide?
- The Bee Gees
Nelson was the most popular guess. Milli Vanilli was wrong for too many reasons to detail here. The Olsen Twins was a great guess, but wrong. - What baseball player who is still playing recently released an album?
- Bernie Williams of the New York Yankees
He's lost a step in center field, but his music career is showing promise. Apparently he's a pretty good guitarist. - Who are the only 2 singers in both the Rock and Country Hall of Fame?
- Elvis and Johnny Cash
This question was posted before Johnny Cash died, and we'll take this opportunity to say that he stayed true to himself, his fans, and his music. That's a full life. Good guesses for this one included Hank Williams, Chet Atkins and Willie Nelson. - What still-active band has a name that means "A tendency to fade from sight"?
- Evanescence
Blur, although and excellent guess, was wrong. - What was the last comedy song to hit #1 in the US?
- Disco Duck by Rick Dees and his cast of idiots
Dees is a Los Angeles disc jockey who is still going strong. He had this hit in 1976 and still occasionally makes fun of it on his show. Dees was host of the TV show Solid Gold in 1984. We don't count "Macarena" as comedy, but give a few of you credit for trying. - What pop singer had a role in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding?
- Joey Fatone from 'N Sync - What is the only US #1 hit released by an artist who was not signed to a record label?
- "Stay" by Lisa Loeb
It became a hit when it was used in the movie Reality Bites - Tiebreaker: How many miles did Sara run in August?
- 56. Many of them fast.
Thanks to everyone who took the quiz, and be sure to take the new one
here.
- What popular group was once known as Feedback?
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I don't write songs, but have talked to many people who do in order to get information for Songfacts. One thing I've learned is that great songs often happen when you're not looking for them. You can go to the Berklee School of Music, take some philosophy classes, learn about phrasing, and still have nothing interesting to write about. Then you could have your emotions mangled by a girl and write something brilliant. Janis Ian summed it up best when she told us - "You can teach the craft, not the inspiration."
Carl
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No, not the fish (I haven't seen the movie so don't tell me if they found him), this is a showcase in Boston the weekend of Sept 5th. Lots of emerging bands will be there to show their stuff. The Songfacts staff will see as many as we can and let you know if any stand out. For more info, their website is:
Carl
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Does it hurt a band if it has a stupid name? A lot of '90s bands with goofy names disappeared real fast (remember Deadeye Dick? Ugly Kid Joe?). For the love of Hoobastank, it seems like a quirky name could get you some attention, but also keep you from being taken seriously. If you were starting a band, what would you name it? Here are some unused names I think would work:
King Lear's Jets
Randy Stern
Sharpton Protest
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The Songfacts Staff went to the Newport Folk Festival this weekend, and one band stood out. Nickel Creek had an early slot and played a great set. On our way out that night, we noticed a small crowd off to the side, so we wandered over to see what was going on. Nickel Creek had their instruments out and were playing for whoever wanted to listen. I thought it was nice of them to play a song before leaving for the night, but they kept playing. They played stuff they couldn't play because their set was too short at the festival. They played a Radiohead song. They played because there were people listening and they were having fun.
After about 45 minutes, the Newport police came and broke it up. Newport is a resort town in Rhode Island and there's not much crime, so I think the whole force was there to make sure the kids from Nickel Creek and the 40 people in the audience didn't get out of hand. It was refreshing to hear a great band playing for the love of the game. Imagine staying at your job an extra hour without pay because you love it that much, and you'll get an idea of why you should check out Nickel Creek.
Carl
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I can't think of any obvious influences on any of those 6 bands. I've noticed that singers like David Bowie tend to claim obscure influences, meaning they weren't the first to make that kind of noise, but the first to make it famous. If Kurt could speak he might list bands like Mudhoney as an influence, and Thom Yorke probably listened to some stuff most people have never heard of. Those 6 might be as original as you can get, although I might add Eminem to that list.
Carl
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If the 4 Beatles were still alive, I think they would have gotten back for at least one reunion by now. I still remember that clip of Howard Cosell asking Lennon if The Beatles would ever reunite, and Lennon answering "You never know." It is clear now that they had great respect for each other and may have found a way to put aside their differences.
As for reunions, I'm still amazed that groups insist on using original names even after losing key members. What do Robbie Kreiger and Ray Manzarek have to gain by touring and calling themselves The Doors? They may sell some more tickets, but they're losing lots more in lawsuits and damage to their legacy. Some cases are cut and dry - I don't think anyone is buying that Axl and friends is really Guns 'n' Roses - but others are tricky. Lynyrd Skynyd has only a few original members, but they get points for using the brother of their fallen lead singer as frontman. In my opinion, it is best to tour under a different name. Page and Plant are Page and Plant, not Led Zeppelin, and I respect them more for it. When a member gets martyred, the fans usually want the band to die as well. The remaining members of Blind Melon found this out when they tried to keep going without Shannon Hoon.
Carl
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In an issue of <i>the journal of personality and social psychology</i>, they report links between what kind of music you like and what kind of person you are. Here are the results:
- Jazz - Reflective and Complex
- Country - Upbeat and Conventional
- Metal - Active and Rebellious
- R&B - Energetic and Rhythmic
- Celine Dion - Whiny and Annoying
For a quick personality check, music and hobbies are the best indicators.
Carl
- Jazz - Reflective and Complex
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Listening to the radio (especially modern rock radio) can definitely make you lose your faith in new music. Think about how many bands simply faded away over the last few years. I agree that many of the best bands are not getting exposure, and that's a shame. Some of the new artists on my IPod include The Coral, Damien Rice, and Maroon 5. There are some good local bands in the Northeast US as well, but their live shows are usually much better than their CDs.
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I can't imagine these types of programs going away, because there's really nothing illegal about providing a means to share information. When all the legislation fails to destroy Kazaa, I wouldn't be surprised if the record companies start putting files up that damage computers when they are downloaded. This would result in some weird lawsuits, but I know at least one senator thinks it is a good idea. Hopefully, it won't come to this.
Carl
Quentin Tarantino Soundtracks
in Movies and TV
Posted
I love what Q does with music in movies. Traditional thinking is to match the music to the mood of the scene - sad scene, sad song, etc. This works very well most of the time, but kind of tells the viewer how to feel - in a horror movie you always know when you're supposed to be scared because of the music. Quentin turns this on its head by using something that might not seem appropriate, but in some warped way, makes sense. I loved the music in Kill Bill. The "Bang Bang" part was brilliant.
Another reason I love his movies - Quentin knows his music. He's willing to use lots of different styles and throw in artists who are not popular or trendy. Great use of The Dramatics in Jackie Brown!
Carl