Interesting Interview in Guitar Player

[lonote049]

It appears in the November issue with Paul McCartney on the cover. The last question they asked Setzer was, "You've had amazing career longevity on your terms. Do you think it's possible that a band like the Stray Cats would have a chance in today's musical climate?"

Setzer responded, "No. Not now. It might happen in a couple of years. People need to get sick of being spoon fed the same stuff over and over. And, honestly, they're not quite sick of it yet. Also, at the time the Stray Cats hit, the public was dying for new things and I don't really see that right now. I mean, I would hate to be an 18-year-old musician doing anything unique or original, and trying to break through and be heard. What would happen if Bob Dylan went on American Idol now? He'd be booed off the stage! I think that alone tells you that, as a musician, you're dealing with a tough situation these days."

I agree with him.

[wgarces]

People need to get sick of being spoon fed the same stuff over and over. 

Thanks to MTV. I know MTV helped The Stray Cats get known but they would've gotten there anyway because they were unique and great musicians. Look at Devo. And I think The Stray Cats and Devo were around before MTV.

I feel very lucky because when I was growing up (Jeez, I sound like my dad!) I had The Midnite Special and Don Kirshner. When my favorite bands were on it was big news for me and all my friends. And progressive music was more popular. Yes, America once had musicial taste!

[sirDaniel]

same for Huey Lewis and the News...

[lonote049]

It's not just MTV. There are all these insane "red carpet" TV shows and celebrity shows...Britney this, JLo that, Justin and all the boyz. We are deluged with all this tripe. The (so called) "artists" and their record companies are laughing all the way to the bank! It's a world gone mad! If it wasn't for the cable crime shows and history shows, I'd be crazy along with them!

[Submariner85]

Ashlee Simpson..........She was outed on SNL as a lip syncher and guess what.....she' back tonight as the musical guest.

No talent.

[Buzzy Fretts]

No talent.

Yeah. But how many Americans are going to tune in to see if she blows it again...?

[earachemyeye]

...and of course she won't thereby "proving" she is legit to the undulating brainless masses. It's a freak show nowadays.

Joe

[princeofdarkness56]

The day the music died was when the suits took over the radio stations. The bottom line ($$$$) was the only thing that mattered. New bands do have a rough time today but so do long time bands that still make new music. Cheap Trick, ZZ Top, Deep Purple, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper. They all are still putting out quality music but never get any air play for their new music. Classic Rock only will play the old hits and new music stations don't want anything to do with a band that has been around for 25 years or longer. Music dose not matter now, only fads that will make somebody a quick buck.

[wgarces]

New bands do have a rough time today but so do long time bands that still make new music.

New bands have it rough because there's always another new band right around the corner. I can fart and put it out on a cd today if I wanted to....but that doesn't mean it's going to sell. Look at William Hung. Better yet...don't look!

At least most allready established bands can still make a decent buck with touring and merchandising.

Radio stations and larger record companies, like Sony and Geffen, etc., are all banks. I used to work for CBS Records back in the eighties and the only thing anyone ever spoke off was the bottom line. Not music. These are the same idiots that thought just because Don Johnson was a huge celebrity at the time and had a little bit of a "singing" voice, that if they released an album with him "singing" on it, they'd make a ton of money. They were right! I guess they weren't idiots after all. The idiots were the people that went out and BOUGHT the damn record! Like the old saying goes...there's a sucker born every minute. And THAT'S why Ashlee Simpson and others like her are celebrities today. Hard to believe but her SISTER, you know, the one whose coattails Ashlee is riding on, does have some singing talent. But Ann Wilson they sure ain't!

And no, I won't be watching Ashlee Simpson tonight on SNL. I'll be watching the baseball game on ESPN.

[kurtsstuff]

todays music?? where??...did I miss it??? lol! ...nuff said..

[Willie G. Moseley]

IMO, MTV did indeed shove contemporary music into the "what does it look like" facet", perhaps permanently. Such has subsequently counted for more than "what does it sound like", and that's still the case. Pre-MTV more-visual bands were around, of course (the aforementioned Alice Cooper, Kiss, et. al.), but the first time I saw (and heard...y'see what I mean?) the Stray Cats was an "in-between" video on HBO, pre-MTV (such snippets were called "Video Jukebox"). The Cats were backing up Dave Edmunds on a great version of Buck Owens' "The Race Is On" (!). I loved the song, but Edmunds with a two-and-half-piece band that had guys with '50s quiffs (which were so big you'd think if one of 'em leaned forward, gravity would pull him over) was probably stereotypical; i.e., I probably said something like "What the hell is THAT?"

Another point is that back then, MTV actually PLAYED videos instead presenting fraudulent so-called "reality shows" like "The Real World".

[Stike]

There are still real bands hittin' the gravel and bustin' their asses. They just aren't getting airplay outside of possiblly college radio or playing the enormodomes or the ConAgra WiFi Ampitheaters around the country. It just takes some looking. Good music didn't stop being made when you turned 21.

[BruceM]

There are still real bands hittin' the gravel and bustin' their asses. They just aren't getting airplay outside of possiblly college radio or playing the enormodomes or the ConAgra WiFi Ampitheaters around the country. It just takes some looking. Good music didn't stop being made when you turned 21.

+1

I stopped listening to mainstream radio at least 10 years ago, except for the occasional classic-rock or country indulgence while road-tripping. I can't remember the last time I watched a music video. I've switched to listening almost exclusively to the local university station, 770 Radio K, and now we've got a public radio station here which plays music in the old tried and true dj-plays-what-they-like formula from the 70's FM stations (of course I realize that they also have their own playlists). On both these stations, I routinely hear bands that I know would never get mainstream rotation, and every day I hear songs that I've never heard before. That's priceless to me. Of course, I'm lucky if really like 1/3 of the new stuff I hear, but I appreciate the diversity of music, and being introduced to music & bands that I otherwise would never have been exposed to.

It never hurts to talk to the guys & gals that work in your local cool record shop either, if you've still got one of those around. They're connected with lots of stuff that you'd otherwise never hear of.

Stike's right, it just takes a little sleuthing to find decent new bands, and the music I buy these days is probably 80% struggling-artist type bands. I vote with my $'s.

[hamerhead]

The Setzer article was good but WAY short.

GP has become the 'Clear Channel' of magazines: Minimal substance/maximum advertising.

[wgarces]

There are still real bands hittin' the gravel and bustin' their asses. They just aren't getting airplay outside of possiblly college radio or playing the enormodomes or the ConAgra WiFi Ampitheaters around the country. It just takes some looking. Good music didn't stop being made when you turned 21.

Absolutely true!