Dear Listener,
Recently I was listening to the NPR show On Point hosted by Tom Ashbrook. The second hour of the show heard indie/pop songstress Ingrid Michaelson discussing her music and career. Alexandra Patsavas was also briefly featured on the show. She is a music supervisor for Chop Shop Music Supervision who helps television shows and movies decide what music to place in certain scenes. You can hear that hour of On Point here.
One of the points that Alexandra Patsavas discussed was the amount of shame that musicians endured when they sold their music to television, movies, and advertisement. Today’s market has shifted. With the decline of album sales, musicians are finding new ways to make money, and the general populous has come to accept that. Album sales weren’t always so atrocious, though. There was a time, long, long ago in which people gave actual US Dollars for compact discs and records. During these mythical times, it was actually more difficult to record and produce a record than it is today (ironic, huh?). The vast majority of bands either signed to a major label, or (more commonly) ceased to exist. By the late 70’s there were some people that were beginning to tire of the way the music industry was working.
Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad profiles thirteen independent bands from 1981-1991. All thirteen of these bands shared a common trait that was so common during those early years: Doing It Yourself (hence the term independent).
Eric Weisbard said this in the New York Times Book Review:
“In the decade Azerrad covers, indie America proved that world-class rock could be created outside corporate structures….Our Band Could Be Your Life passionately resurrects thirteen indie groups…Azerrad is adept at drawing out musicians’ war stories — and this bare-bones movement was full of them.”
Please enjoy this song from one of the profiled bands Mission of Burma from their 1982 album Vs.
Even if you aren’t a fan of the Replacements, or Sonic Youth, or Black Flag, or Mudhoney, or Minutemen, this book is worth reading. It is worth the knowledge that in the eighties there were people who worked as hard as they could to eek out a living making music.
The Guardian included it in the 50 best music books ever written. Paste Magazine named it one of the 12 best music books of the decade. The Los Angeles Times listed it as one of the “46 Essential Rock Reads.”
Please read this book. If you can’t afford it, find me; I’ll buy it for you.
by Simon
Comments are closed.