Taking The Man’s Money And Stuffing It Their Pockets

Somewhere in Canada this evening, Sunshine is beaming. Not any old Sunshine mind you, but my good online friend Soulmated Sunshine in Canada. She must be beaming at least 1,000 points of light upon hearing the news, that the immigrants’ reform movement has adopted the Neil Diamond song, “America.”

Even Neil Diamond was elated upon hearing the news and was quoted as saying, “I’m delighted…That’s what it’s (the song America) is there for…”

There was formerly a period of time when companies and campaigns, be they political, humanitarian or otherwise, would create their own songs and perform them for the soul purpose of selling their point of view to the general public.

There are virtually hundreds upon hundreds of examples of these commercials available, as a great many of them can be easily heard on recorded radio broadcasts, commonly referred to as “old-time radio.”

In the late 1980s, the atmosphere seemed to change for the worse. Beer manufacturers began to approach mega star artists, musicians & bands for permission to use their songs to promote beer.

During an interview I conducted with the band Pussy Galore in 1987 at Gaspar’s (now Schuba’s) in Chicago for my then-fanzine Cops Hate Poetry, I recalled quite fondly this conversation I was having with band members Julia Kaiference, Bob Bert & Royal Trux on the subject of messages within the context of songs.

It was what Bob Bert said on that day that has stuck with me for nearly 20 years and that is, “I’m more offended by Phil Collins singing a song and then selling it to a Michelob commercial," though I think he meant Eric Clapton. Nonetheless, once familiar songs heard on records, tapes and the radio, were showing up as backdrop music as beer jingles.

And it didn’t stop there; it extended to banks, financial institutions, car commercials, fast food restaurants, hotel & motel lodges, hospitals, insurance agencies, political campaigns, lingerie, sports programs, sporting events and virtually anything else one could think of selling products with or to.

Now, dinosaur bands, musicians & artists like James Brown, The Clash, Bob Dylan, Beethoven, Bach, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and (shudder to think!) The Beatles & Paul McCartney can gain an entire new fan base, due to the increased exposure of their music to a wider audience.

Unknown bands also get a shot, a long-shot at that to promote mutant wares, as well as their singing & playing abilities too. Few too many make it to the top.

Then there are also companies that will use jazz music to promote their stuff, rather as some say, background music, kind of like the way jazz is currently promoted in coffee shops, both independent & retail.

Perhaps we can term it as the allurement of window dressing to lure the customer in to buy their stale baked goods and overpriced burnt coffee that tastes like 12 melted brown crayons in hot water.

What a terrible way to wreck absolutely good music by mass-prostituting it to a narrow-minded public, who has to be teased, tormented and beaten into submission to buy, buy, buy what is often labeled as jazz, but is nothing more than crap on a manufactured compact disc overly-priced just to pay the rent.

What geniuses! What smart-guys! What brilliance! What a way to move stagnant music nobody in their right mind would buy…oops; I mean what beautifully composed lyrics and melodies, finely packaged and priced right that is with purchase of a cup of coffee and a muffin…

Makes me want to puke when I have to hear how much money is far more important than the contents of the music itself. It’s all about the money, taking the man’s money and stuffing it into their pockets, is what big business promotes day in, day out.

Seems to be far more emphasized than the pure enjoyment of music itself…well, I suppose the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) has to recoup their losses somehow…ridiculous!

Keep on disc burning, baby, keep on disc burning!