BRILLIANCE

A great marketing campaign is High Art, and there are two out there now that are so brilliant that they take my breath away:









DEVO 2.0

WHAT IT IS: show biz kidz recruited to play/record DEVO songs. Backed by Disney, no less – The Mickey DEVO Club?

BENEFITS: churns DEVO’s catalog with new recordings/new masters = revived revenue stream/old geezer band gets to stay home while the pups go on the road/indoctrinates a new generation in the DEVO artfascist party line/mines the Tweener market with a vengence/possible harem-casting couch perqs/ink ink ink

CROSS-MARKETING: new burst of merch sales – every kid wants an Energy Dome for Xmas/movie andor tv special andor cartoon show (DEVO wanted this bad back in the day)

WHAT IT AIN’T: doubtful that we’ll hear “Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin’) or “I Need A Chick (To Suck My Dick) in this configuration









BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN “THE SEEGER SESSIONS”

WHAT IT IS: new recordings of American folk songs made popular by Pete Seeger/The Weavers

BENEFITS: honors a true American original/gives BS more Lefty cred/cheap to make = live, ragtag feel = low studio costs/can you say “public domain”? = no publishing to pay/since these tunes have become standards at summer camps for decades (pushes the nostalgia button), this is essentially a kids record/gives parents something ‘meaningful’ and wholesome to give their kids/NPR and PBS tie-ins (here in NYC anyway) are a huge success = more liberal audience reach/one big Mitch Miller kinda Sing-Along-With-Bruce/ink ink ink

CROSS-MARKETING: summer tour is now a family event vs. a rock show for BS fans/invest in a clothing company that makes work shirts?/five=string banjo sales burst doubtful tho.

WHAT IT AIN’T: the original Red Scare/New Deal/McCarthy era blacklist context of these tunes has been scrubbed away…and let’s not get into Pete Seeger’s pro-Wobblie/pro-environment/anti-capitalist passions, shall we?

NP:

Lane Steinberg/"The Return of Noel Coward's Ghost" - The Ghost has returned from what sounds like an around-the-world vacation. LS's high, perfect tenor can bend Partridgely/BeachBoyly/Anyly...and is there anyone out there with a better gift for melody? Lane, this record is a masterpiece!

The Witch Hazel Sound/"The World, Then The Fireworks..." = Kevin Coral's WreckingCrewsoundtrackCurtBoettcherwarmlush project. melts Pennsylvania away...

India.arie/"I Am Not My Hair" - it's a Black thing...thanks, DLS!

Stic Basin/Untitled - my pal Barry Andrews' (XTC/Shriekback) dancetrancetechno project

PEEVE DE JOUR: still no sleep...and worse, am out of coffee

N.B.A.T.W.P:

Bianca Bob in NYC writes:

my heartfave arts/streetfair is upon us again...
the bedford barrow commerce (BBC) fest on Saturday May 20th.
Great bands and dancing on the loverly square outside the former ( wahhhh) grange hall.
One of the last loverly events in the village that keeps its old school village vibe,
with wonderful sunsets (weather permitting) and a serendipity that continues each year.
The final act of the evening , a family swing band is great. The bunny hop line starts around 9pm.
i usually try to get some real estate at one of the picnic tables around 5pm and hang with peeps.
i hope you will come down and enjoy with us!

BBC Fest 5/20
bedford, barrow and commerce streets between bleecker and hudson
#1 train to christopher; west on christopher, left on bedford, right on commerce to the music/food square.

cb...WHERE ARE YOU?

NEW JERSEY