He has never believed in careers and yet he claims that hearing Elvis was the first time he heard rock and roll?  So if he heard it then it must have made an impact, surely?  And does it not impress him that Elvis, the first artist he really heard as a kid is still an icon today, a true idol? Also ‘She loves you’ by The Beatles was the firsr record he asked his mother to buy for him, that must have had an affect to, right? You sent your mum out damn it! And the same scenario, longevity and careers. It didn’t though and maybe not even wanting to go with his mother to the store to buy the record and sense the excitement said it all, even way back then. He never cared about the music, just the functionality of it. The like, the must want and the must have.

He also says Bob Dylan wouldn’t have been chosen for American Idol, we’d have left him crying in a car park in Idaho and Simon Cowell wouldn’t have cared. But what about the rest of us? Who cares, no Mr Tamborine Man, no All Along the Watchtower and no career if that had been the make of of And R people back then. But fortunately we had people like John Hammond who cared enough to bring through the real artists, they cared about talent and not about themselves. They knew the pedigree of an artist and had the faith to allow them to develop. They helped one another, there were no puppets signed and told to do as they (the A and R people) said and if they didn’t they wouldn’t work with them. It was a collaboration, it was a democracy and a republic. There were no dictators.

So he doesn’t believe in careers, he was influenced by people who had them and still have them and somehow would have passed on Dylan? No comprehendo, Dylan was Dylan because of Dylan and going back to what I said in the previous blog about Elton John, great artists know better than anyone what they have and understand how to cultivate that. Sure they need help but they don’t need anyone doing everything, they’re not that insecure to feel it’s necessary. They are happy to develop and grow at arate that is comfortable for everyone. When you do that people notice, the artist notices and the record company notices. And grow they do, and sustain they do. Careers are born and the spoils follow, and yet we went and destroyed all that so that a few people could own an industry.

If Bob Dylan had been allowed to come through today then Simon wouldn’t have been noticed as much. Weird because Dylan and Elvis left a legacy and Taylor Hicks didn’t………….or Fantasia or Reuben etc etc. The legacy  that remains from all of this is that of Simon Cowell and the power he yields controls his destiny whether with Idol or X Factor. Power destroys everything and everyone in it’s way and for Simon it will have to be his way to work. Music changed our lives and for the better, certainly from where I’m standing and now its changed again. But this time not through a musical revolution be it  rock and roll or punk. I’m not alone in thinking it’s not in all our best interests.

An idol is Elvis, Lennon or James Dean and we’re a long way off that. Idols’ retain their thrones , they don’t come and go. Idols aren’t popular for a while they live forever. Idol means something you worship,  are we now ‘worshiping’ talent show winners?Whatever you think of any of them an idol is ‘an image of a deity other than God. ‘ A God or  goddess, why in the hell are we creating false Gods from American Idol? Daughtry is a rocker, he’s not a God and neither is Fantasia a Goddess. And as for Taylor Hicks, curiously not quite a God.

Did it ever occur to anyone that nothing lasts forever?  Even if you don’t like Simon Cowell, and although personally I do then give  him one thing,  give him the credit on timing. His American Idol exit is precision timing. Look how well it worked for Little Britain and better still Basil Fawlty, knowing when to quit and sticking by your decision no matter how much money you’re offered. Seinfeld was another, wild horses wouldn’t drag him back and the residuals  for the rest of his life and beyond were more than ample. Who needs the cash apart from NBC of course. People like to have something to remember and sustaining respect and the loyalty from your fans is all about knowing when to back away and them remembering you as part of something that revolutionized television, something that was what it was because of you. They remember you for that and if it starts to decline they don’t remember you at all. The ship sinks, you drown in it. But Simon will be gone by then so if the good ship Idol were to sink he will be known as the reason it sunk. And the reason it sailed was because of him. Touche, his adoring crowd will always remember him fondly.

Great TV stars, film stars, maybe even porn stars are the ones who understand shelf life, formerly known as artist integrity. Otherwise known as sharp cookies. More in tune with longevity and not grabbing what they can while they can, like all good artists they have confidence in their own ability. They like to reinvent themselves and take on new challenges, they don’t want everything on a plate and then wonder when the plate is taken from underneath them. No more gruel Scrooge, get back to the kitchen and cook it up all over again.

We’re a live for the moment generation, too afraid that our star will cease to shine and someone else will be grabbing at our coat tails. Where are the managers hell bent on sustaining that pedigree of artist who is there on merit. And when did merit and ability and the desire to succeed ever go away? The greedy came along and robbed us and once they got in they kept coming back to rob us more and more. Talent is there to be discovered, nurtured and then made available to the masses to see just what it was that got us attracted to them in the first place. It’s never about throwing a herd of wannabes in a multitude of car parks spread across a continent so that a wizard of pop can dictate who does what with you, when and for how long. Then it’s out of the car park and back on the bus to oblivion because foolishly, for one minute you thought you had what it took. The bare faced cheek to turn up.

And then there was the eagerness to get it out and get it heard. We, the pluggers would have our say and would maybe play some key people at radio a couple of songs , get their input. Everyone would run around like kids comparing new toys at Christmas. You’d create a buzz without even trying, a real buzz. Regularly we’d talk about other people’s records, I always thought it was the best form of promotion if you had someone else talking about the records you were promoting. If you gave a record plugger from another company a record you were promoting you knew the next time you saw them they’d have heard it and they’d then tell you what they thought. We all shared the same common interest, we loved music.

And the fans did too, they loved talking about it as well as listening to it and if you heard something you liked then you would want to share that with others and pass it on. It was viral marketing in it’s infancy and before the web. Chances are that if your friends liked it they would be out at the first available opportunity buying it for themselves. A tape? Bollocks to that we all wanted our own copy!

Maybe the artist wanted it so much more then, they saw creating great new music as the ultimate challenge because they knew there was an audience out there begging for it. The music industry has always been a place where you wash your dirty laundry in public. If you release an inferior product somewhere else, in fashion, a new range of kitchen appliances, new trainers etc all that happens is it  doesn’t sell. People don’t go around critiquing it and talking about it but when your next album isn’t as good as your last everyone knows. There’s an outcry. If you’re disappointed then again it only shows you care enough.

So where are we now? If the public aren’t buying and the record companies aren’t signing then have the artists given up trying? Is everyone to blame for what has happened to the music industry? Has it gone the way of shipbuilding and cotton, was it a once a great place to be and now merely a shadow of it’s former self? Have the good old days gone and do we need to accept that however it evolves in whatever way it just won’t ever recapture the excitement and give us that adrenalin rush we all got from being a spectator or an insider?

Is all we have left, memories?

It would be great to see an artists definition of this, ‘What does make a great album’? I’m thinking belief, talent, commitment with a dash of reality and an understanding that no matter how good you think it is you need to leave it at the mercy of others to make that final decision. If your manager, should you have one doesn’t like it then if he doesn’t say so what’s the point of having them as your manager? The record company then would be the first to stand up and offer their opinions and here’s where it’s changed, would of!  There were times an A and R person could be driven to tears going down to a studio to hear the end result from a band they’d signed, and feeling visibly moved. And more than likely they’d matched the producer with that artist. Had it worked? He/she was the proudest person on earth, all the hard work to get to this stage and now the anticipation of finally hearing it. More often than not they’d be down the studio intermittently during recordings to see how things were developing and eagerly awaiting the final playback. And the artist couldn’t wait to show them what they’d come up with. THAT”S what made a great album, people sensing greatness, always wanting it but never knowing if or when it might come. But it was enough to keep them striving for it. Part of being great is knowing you can be great.

I’d love to have the opportunity to ask people like Roger Waters or Dave Gilmour from The Pink Floyd, ‘What did it feel like when you were recording Dark Side of the Moon?’ Did they know they were creating history or did that come later? Was there any time in the studio they thought, ‘Oh my God!’ Maybe one day I’ll get the chance to ask them, I’d love to know. Was there that moment in the studio when they were listening back to it when they thought, ‘Fuck!’

Likely they’d all be together at the studio listening back to it, band , record company, manager and maybe even their publisher. I know how I felt as a kid just waiting for a new album by some of my heroes. I’m thinking as an artist you cared, you took pride in your work, you didn’t want to let people down. After all it’s your audience that put you there and they have a right to judge you on merit, you set your own standards. Was it as good as your last album and if it wasn’t could it be that maybe it’s just a change of direction, would it grow on you? If you’d made a great record were you really great, could you sustain that greatness or had you had your moment? Whatever it was it still kept you hungry and wanting whether you recorded it or you bought it.

As we discussed before and we’ll ponder over again no doubt, where is the drive and the ambition? Do you make a record knowing that not many people will buy it, does it affect how you go about making it? If that’s the case then give it away, just make sure you give it away to enough people to find out what they think of you. That’s if you care, because if you don’t care then don’t expect anyone else to. So many basic human ingredients are infectious, they rub off on you. If you’re passionate enough about something and are sincere people buy in to it. It’s easy and you know why? It’s because you’re not trying to convince people, it’s there and it’s natural. And you mean it. You’re exposed for what you are, just someone being themselves, behaving naturally. People feel comfortable and relaxed about you and interested.  Be real to see for yourself if you are real and let others decide for themselves if you are real. Real artists can believe they can make great records. Do we have enough?

I think I remember the pool area (not the swimming type but the grubby green, beer sodden baize and splintered cue variety) as being more interesting than what was happening on the stage. It was the furthest point from the stage and where everyone I knew had congregated. Enough said! Ian Curtis was fairly ‘well oiled’ on cheap alcohol and seemed to be ranting about anything and everything. I think he was particularly miffed that Kevin Cummins’ made up combo ‘ The Negatives’ had been generating a lot of interest in the place, as well as in the press and they hadn’t even existed. Kevin, knowing how gullible the music press were invented all these stories about where they were playing, how they were creating a buzz and the music press lapped it up. Because of Manchester’s significance in the birth of punk from the famous Sex Pistols Lesser Free Trade Hall gig, to The Electric Circus, So it Goes, The Buzzcocks and beyond, anything muted from this nation’s hallowed turf would be worth writing about. Kevin along with his writing colleague Paul Morley thought it was hilarious, who wouldn’t have? A clear case of the music press being so far up it’s own ass.

Ian’s slagging off of Tony Wilson was more the drink talking, although to anyone passing it might have appeared that it could ‘go off’ at any time. Wilson handled it very well though .. when people behave like this we all know the slightest comment can set them off. Tony smiled like only he could, a smirk, a grin, cordial, professional all the time, all combined as an excellent way of defusing the abuse (sounds like a Pixies anthem ) Ian stomped around a little more and then became more frustrated that everyone was going on before them, something he could hardly hold Tony accountable for. A set close to 3am could hardly be considered a headliner, more ‘Er turn the lights off on your way out will you.’

Neither Stiff nor Chiswick signed anyone that night and I couldn’t even remember the name of anyone who played, with the obvious exception of Joy Division that is. The performance was less than memorable and whenever anyone recalls the evening all you hear mentioned is Ian’s ranting. The band were no strangers to the place either, the year before they had played there a couple of times under their previous name Warsaw, and just a few weeks earlier as Joy Division. Ian probably thought this was going to be ‘the one.’

A while ago I reminded Dave Robinson, the co founder of Stiff Records about Joy Division playing that night and he couldn’t even remember!

Island was my first outing in to the world of promotion and what a great place for an initiation. Everyone who worked there from the front desk at reception to the ladies in the canteen lived and breathed music. For them it was the best job they could have. Although I had first hand knowledge of both Island and A and M I made a great many friends at other labels and they too were there for the right reason.

When I got my first job the guy who employed me, Ray Cooper wanted to know if I was interested in music before he even interviwed me. We discussed what the job entailed, obviously but we compared notes and discovered we had similar tastes. I was used to talking music because I did it most of the time with my friends, it came naturally.Maybe that interest was what swung it for me, got me the job, after all I had no experience in selling but I had enthusiasm and passion driven by a love of music rather than a love for selling.

I think where the record companies benefited was through the experience of these people. They knew what to do with artists, they understood them and the collaboration of creative minds was a marriage made in heaven. They understood how to get the best out of their artists and were sympathetic to their needs, and artists invariably need! They didn’t force them to deliver records to satisfy their timelines and by a certain date to satisfy quarterley sales figures. They allowed them the time to make the right record…what creative process can produce thgeir best work that way? Nobody said to Picasso, paint..he just painted. You signed an artist because they had talent not because they could meet deadlines. The irony was that if they delivered a substandard record they sent them back to make a better one, so what was the point anyway ?

There wasn’t the huge turnover of staff either, they had the right people doing the right jobs, no more , no less. Somehow over the years record companies lost their way, they expanded, made mistakes but couldn’t accept that they had made those mistakes and started to unceremoniously dump everyone in order to have a more streamlined operation. In doing that they lost the very core of those people who made it work in the first place.