Sinister: I'm off to see the wizard the wonderful wizard of Oz....

[Mark Kolmar]

On Fri, 13 Aug 1999, Laura Llew wrote:

> I think that we should start a program to adopt poor 
> struggling youngns like myself and help them on the right path by donating 
> money to buy them cds.  For the costs of filling your car up with gas, you 
> can sponsor a girl so that she might have decent music to listen to.  Poor 
> impoverished Laura is stuck in a dank dim world filled with drab radio 
> stations that only play backstreet boys and brittany spears.

I may have started a charter program in my area.  Recently I've had the
privilege to spend some time with a certain 13-year-old girl.  We're
related somehow, though the most relevant term is probably "friends".  I
don't want to leave out her brother, 15 (took him and a friend to Blair
Witch Project last Sunday), and sister, 8.  We're just not as well-
acquainted -- for one reason, those 2 were in Florida for a month.

One day we drove down to the Chicago Loop.  During the trip, she wanted to
find a single for "What's My Age Again?" by Blink 182.  Tolerable, even
vaguely catchy. I know how it is. You watch MTV a little too long -- next
thing you know, you own a Wham LP. I explained that in the USA they almost
always expect you to buy the whole album. So I found an MP3, and burned a
CD-R. Problem solved. It also included Belle & Sebastian ("La Pastie de la
Bourgeoisie", "Slow Graffiti"), Nick Drake ("Road"), Can (18 minutes of
"Hallelujwah"), Velvet Underground ("All Tomorrow's Parties"), DJ Q-Bert,
Jeff Mills, and Coil. She was very pleased.  Her siblings did not register
an opinion (yet).

The lesson for MTV programmers is the audience wants to hear new, old, and
different music. The lesson for record companies is that she (and many
others I'm sure) is not going to buy an album if it contains only 1 song
of any interest to her.  She had enough money to buy a single -- if they
made one.

--Mark


__ Burning Rome : SENSELESS CD on Mindfield Records MindCD03 Cathartium 14
   < http://www.burningrome.com/ > < download MP3s, hear RealAudio first >



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