W♥M (Archive)

Jimi's thoughts on vinyl record collecting

In Utero (20th Anniversary Edition) Geffen/Universal Music Read More Nirvana There's never been a more exciting time to be a Nirvana fan than now, 20 years after Nevermind was released. I remember the first time I saw Nirvana on Spin Magazine… Jimi I have been obsessed with the garage scene as of late, and what is great is that it's not just a musical style, but a lifestyle. These are working class hero bands with humor and a love for 60's …

After spending about $200 on a SodaStream, Jimi discovered that the product does not work/broken machine. He hates it and warn people from buying this crappy product. If you factor in all the extra costs, a drink it produces is probably well over a 75¢ can of soda from the vending machine.

In Jimi's latest video series, he reflects on record collecting and how it's being exploited by major labels. The offender in this case is Geffen's reissue of In Utero triple-disc vinyl that retails for $60. First of all, who doesn't already own the In Utero? It's just a way to exploit the fans (particularly with that $150 In Utero CD/DVD boxset). As much as I love Nirvana, I'm saying 'no thank you' to this 20th Anniversary Edition.

Personally, I think it's great that vinyl are back in fashion. I sometime pick up a random 7" at shows to help support the bands I love. Usually it's because it's the cheapest merchandise, usually affordable at a sub $5 price. To me, most LP should retail $15 or less, once it starts trending on $20 and above, I won't even consider buying it (unless it's a double disc/foldout or other things that warrant the extra cost).

Of course, besides the price factor, there's other things going into purchasing vinyl for me. Since I don't own a record player, I would prefer to have the vinyl bundled with a "free" mp3 downloads. I specifically look for the sticker that say downloadable, if I don't see it, I just won't buy the record. Of course, this has bitten me in the butt, because sometime the download EXPIRED (screw you Guns n' Roses LP!) or the record label is no longer online.

Anyway, here's Jimi's "S**** I Think About: Vinyl Record Collecting":

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Belinda Carlisle: ICON

[2013] ICON [1986] Belinda [1987] Heaven on Earth [1989] Runaway Horses [1991] Live Your Life Be Free [1993] Real [1996] A Woman and a Man [2007] Voila Read More The Go-Go's What turned out was a night in the rain, but still watching The Go-Go's. I have been a fan since Beauty and the Beat came out. Seen them five or six times, and have always enjoyed their shows. .…

Thanks to Geffen/Universal for sending us a copy of Belinda Carlisle's ICON for review. The "greatest hits" compilation is coming out this week, March 19th.

From what I've read, the compilation came together because Belinda Carlisle was recently inspired to return to the studio to record a new song called "Sun", which she described as the one song that she's always wanted to record: "When I first heard 'Sun', I immediately knew I had to record it. It's the best song I've recorded since 'Heaven Is A Place On Earth', and I'm really excited for everyone to hear it."

So, in addition to all of Carlisle's hit singles on ICON, the disc will also feature her new song, "Sun". You're probably asking, hey I already own all of her albums, why should I pay full price to get one song? No problem, the song will be available for purchase as a single.

The song definitely has that Carlisle's classic touch, but the song is produced a modern dance/pop fashion. I think the producers know what they are doing; the song will probably be a hit radio single.

As for the rest of the compilation, I have to confess that I own her first four solo albums (which this compilation only focused on), but have not listened to them in a long time. I'd forgotten how much I love "I Get Weak", "Leave A Light On", and "Summer Rain". I found myself singing along, you don't forget these great lyrics.

I think my biggest surprise is that the majority of the hits ("Leave A Light On", "Summer Rain", "(We Want) The Same Thing" and "Shades Of Michaelangelo") were taken from her third album, Runaway Horses, which admittedly is a great album, but somewhat underrated. Personally, if I were picking the playlist, I would've substituted "La Luna" in place of "Shades Of Michaelangelo".

ICON has two things going for it. For the old fans, like me, hearing Belinda returning to new music with "Sun" is wonderful news and hearing her old hit songs is a reminder of how we miss that time in pop music. For new fans, this is a great jumping point to get up to speed on Belinda Carlisle's solo work.

ICON comes out this Tuesday, March 19, 2013, at all physical and digital music outlets.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ www.belindacarlisle.tv

PBS

Read More Prince Rama This PBS biography series, American Masters, is on its 26th season (hint: it beats The Simpsons) and to start things off will be its look at folk & protest singer/songwriter Phil Ochs and jazz legend Cab Calloway.....

AMERICAN MASTERS
pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters

PBS is airing a brand new two-hour documentary "American Masters Inventing David Geffen" on Tuesday, November 20th at 8pm (ET) on PBS.

If you're a music lover, you probably love Geffen Records. They have released some of my favorite albums: Siouxsie and the Banshees' Once Upon a Time: The Singles, XTC's Skylarking ("Dear God"), Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction, The Sundays' Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic ("Here's Where the Story Ends"), Nirvana's Nevermind and Incesticide, Weezer's Weezer (the blue album) and Pinkerton, Beck's Odelay, and my favorite Welsh punkers 60ft. Dolls' The Big 3.

I got to preview the documentary and I have to say it was overall enjoyable. How lucky was executive producer Susan Lacy? She got incredible access to David Geffen and his various friends, colleagues and clients on the documentary! Interviews included face time with Cher, Jackson Browne, Tom Hanks, David Crosby, Don Henley, Arianna Huffington, Elton John, Calvin Klein, Steve Martin, Yoko Ono, Frank Rich, Steven Spielberg, Jann Wenner, etc. Everyone had nice stories to tell. My favorite was Jackson Browne, who told us that Geffen went up to bat for him when he was relatively unknown.

I was only interested in the music part, which accounted for the majority of the documentary. Thankfully, his early start at the William Morris Agency mailroom (how he intercepted a letter from a school and replaced it with a letter indicating that he attended the college) or his sexual relationships or his work with Geffen Films (in the latter part of the documentary) were kept to a minimum. The documentary got it right in focusing on Geffen and his love for music.

The documentary also pointed what made Geffen unique was that he generally loves the artists he worked with. He didn't treat them as simply clients, but as friends. They also reinvented the way Rock n Roll contracts were written, giving artists more control and money. It wasn't all roses, for instance, they spotlight his lawsuit with Neil Young, because he wasn't producing a "commercial" record. In the end, Geffen did the right thing and dropped the lawsuit, but it was already too late because Young never recorded an album for Geffen after that.

The highlight for Geffen was his relationship with Cher and how he finally landed Bob Dylan. Dylan was Geffen's Mt Everest and he was so happy to release a live album. All the promotion and booking were done for free because Geffen believed so much in Dylan. The other highlight was about how Geffen knew Guns N' Roses was on the verge of exploding.

Surprisingly the documentary is very up-to-date with Barack Obama near the end of the documentary. I didn't really think this was really necessary to telling David Geffen's story. If anything, I would've liked to have seen more of Geffen's misses (Nelsons, anyone?), along with his hits.

I learned quite a lot about David Geffen, and if you love his records and want to know more about how he got there, check out "American Masters Inventing David Geffen" next Tuesday, November 20th on PBS.

American Masters Inventing David Geffen

IN OTHER PBS NEWS:

AARON NEVILLE aaronneville.com Multiple Grammy Award-winning artist Aaron Neville will be performing a special concert on Wednesday, November 28th, in Brooklyn. A limited number of tickets are still available. The concert will be filmed by PBS for broadcast as "Aaron Neville: My True Story" in March 2013! If you are a true fan and want to possibly appear in the background, you definitely will want to attend his upcoming show. As I have previously mentioned, his new record, My True Storywill feature doo-wop music. You can grab "Ting a Ling" as a free download on his official website.

THE BEATLES thebeatles.com "Magical Mystery Tour Revisited" will be airing on PBS, via THIRTEEN'S Great Performances, on December 14th at 10pm. I actually have not seen the original "Magical Mystery Tour", but I'm sure I've seen snippets of it on television. From my understanding, the "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Magical Mystery Tour Revisited" will be airing back-to-back on December 14. The latter will feature interviews with the remaining Beatles (Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison- before his death), plus Peter Fonda, Paul Gambaccini, Terry Gilliam, Neil Innes, Paul Merton, Barry Miles, Annie Nightingale and Martin Scorsese. Again, The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" will be airing on THIRTEEN's Great Performances on December 14. More details on pbs.org.

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