the Stiff story

One day, back in 1976 in the city of London, in England,
a musical friend lent Dave Robinson £400 so he and
his mate Andrew Jakeman could start their own
independent record label.

They called it "Stiff".

It was a name well suited to the times, when a new kind
of music called Punk was getting ready for its close-up.

Long before the invasion of the MBAs and the rise of
"branding", The World's Most Flexible Record Label
would become famous for marketing and advertising
that was often provocative, witty and lovely to behold.

There would be many more slogans, including:

"We came. We saw. We left",
"When You Kill Time, You Murder Success"
"In '78 everyone born in '45 will be 33-1/3"
"If they're dead, we'll sign them"
"Undertakers to the Industry"

and to this day, people are still buying t-shirts
that say "If It Ain't Stiff, It Ain't Worth a Fuck".

Each release would be given individual attention,
with inventive artwork, picture sleeves and a range
of snappy slogans, often coupled with inventive
marketing campaigns that achieved the label a great
deal of publicity, if not always huge profit margins.
 

Some of the great marketing ideas and designs for Stiff
were created by Colin Fulcher aka Barney Bubbles*.
His resume ranged from redesigning Motor Racing
magazine and weekly music bible NME, to bands like
Hawkwind and Brinsley Schwarz and a recipe book
for the English Egg Marketing Board.

Stiff released their first single on 14 August 1976 -
a 7" vinyl 45 rpm by Nick Lowe called"So It Goes".
It sold 10,000 copies.

When Elvis Costello's first two singles quite literally
'stiffed', their marketing plan for his first album My
Aim Is True included advertisements in the major
UK music papers from which a poster of Costello
could be assembled.

The first 1,000 pressings of the album contained
an insert asking the purchaser to Help Us Hype Elvis.
If completed and returned to Stiff, the label sent their
friend a free copy.

Stiff had many Top 20 singles, including a song that
went all the way to the top when Ian Dury's "Hit Me
with Your Rhythm Stick" was No. 1. 

They also released many big-selling albums. Dury's debut album New Boots & Panties raced
up the charts in '78 and stayed there for two years.

The sales kept the label going for months while
they developed new artists.

In 1979, Madness joined the roster and would
soon enjoy considerable commercial success
in Britain and overseas:
18 Top 20 singles and six Top 10 albums.

One of their most unusual hits was an LP released
on a sub-label they called Magic Records (the slogan?
"If it sells, it must be Magic").

"The Wit & Wisdom of Ronald Reagan"was completely
silent on both sides. It sold well over 30,000 copies.

Their first tour hit the road on October 3, 1978.

Known as the Live Stiffs Tour or 5 Live Stiffs,
Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Ian Dury and
the Blockheads, Wreckless Eric and The New Rockets,
Nick Lowe's Last Chicken in the Shop and Larry
Wallis's Psychedelic Rowdies did 24 gigs together
and made musical history.

"We always told other people who wanted to start
  their own labels how to do it. We were always
  there as an encouragement.
  If we could do it, you could do it!"
     Dave Robinson

By 1985, they were somewhere between £1.4 million
and £3.5 million in debt and it was all over.
Founding partner Dave Robinson was the biggest creditor.

Stiffs'assets were bought by the ZTT label for £300,000.

* Bubbles was also bipolar and in November 1983,
   took his own life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiff_Records

a fond look back at a remarkable roster of artists, and a label


http://www.stiff-records.com/


Stiff Records discography














*

Music Demotivators

...because music is so cool
   it doesn't need to be serious
   all the time.

... and the beat goes on...

.

No More Music in Mali?

source


Even in a world of musical wonders, Mali is a special place-
home to traditions as old as time and some of the world's
most amazing artists. I'm thinking of people like Ali Farka
Touré, Toumani Diabaté and Rokia Traore who weave the
past and the present together into trans-cultural music so
eautiful it can even prop up my flagging faith in humanity.

In Mali, music is part of the fabric of life and to think of
such a place gone silent staggers the imagination. Like a sky
without birds, like a night with no stars, it's not simply sad,
it's horrific and yet there are people allegedly on a mission
from god to destroy this profound and simple joy...

Mali: no rhythm or reason as militants
declare war on music

The pickup halted in Kidal, the far-flung Malian desert town
that is home to members of the Grammy award-winning
band Tinariwen. Seven AK47-toting militiamen got out and
marched to the family home of a local musician. He wasn't
home, but the message delivered to his sister was chilling:
"If you speak to him, tell him that if he ever shows his face
in this town again, we'll cut off all the fingers he uses to play
his guitar with."
The gang then removed guitars, amplifiers, speakers,
microphones and a drum kit from the house, doused them
with petrol, and set them ablaze. In northern Mali, religious
war has been declared on music.

read the rest at...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/23/mali-militants-declare-war-music

"There's a lack of joy. No one is dancing.
There are no parties. Everybody's under
this kind of spell. It's strange."
          a Touareg musician from Kidal


Although it's only recently (thanks to the Al Qaeda brand)
that the situation in Mali has turned up in North American
media, this has been building up for several years.
One of the casualties of this war on life is the Festival
in the Desert. Begun in 2001, this festival has been held
"in exile" near Timbuktu for the last two years and now
has been postponed indefinitely.

Festival au Désert on Facebook

source

The town of Niafunké just south west of Timbuktu, where
Ali Farka Touré was mayor for many years, is now under
Islamist control. In the south, in Bamako, the combination
of fear and economic pressures means venues are closing
and the silence is growing.




source

"I'm a Muslim, but Sharia isn't my thing...
if I couldn't go up on stage anymore,
I would cease to exist. And without music,
Mali will cease to exist."
          Rokia Traore


In the midst of such sad and frightening news,
I was heartened to learn that a music festival
was doing something positive!

Glastonbury 2013 lineup: first act announced

The first act to be announced for this summer's Glastonbury
is the Malian singer Rokia Traoré and bands from the
embattled country will open the Pyramid stage each day,
organisers have said. In an intended act of solidarity with
musicians in Mali, where Islamists in the north have banned music, 
other parts of the festival site, including a revamped dance area,
will also feature a heavy west African presence.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/jan/17/glastonbury-2013-lineup-first-acts

By way of full disclosure. perhaps I should say that in a past life,
I worked to present Ali Farke Toure, Toumani Diabaté and
Rokia Traore at a festival in Vancouver. Their performances
were quite literally stunning and remain among my most
cherished musical memories.

It's now, as we shiver through the dark days of winter
that festivals across Canada are making their plans
for the summer.

Will Mali be part of those plans?

Will the silence continue to grow?




source


.

What is old-time music?

What is old-time music?

''...before we had radio and phonographs, folks used
the music to entertain themselves; a lot more people
played music in those days, before you could push
a button and rely on others to make it for you.

In the pre-electronic days you always had to make
your own music or be real near to some one who
was making the music, to hear it when it was actually
being made. There wasn't a music market and not much
money around, so except for a few minstrel shows
and occasional schoolhouse and medicine shows
even exceptional musicians gained only local, informal
popularity and retained their "day jobs" in agriculture
 or small-town mills.

The music from these earlier, old times endured through
the generations because of its rich and varied sounds and
lyrics and because it filled the needs of the people, who,
after all, created it for themselves.

Now that we have radio, TV, CDs, and so much electrical
gadgetry this music might seem old-fashioned. Or in other
words, enduring and timeless.

Sometimes in interviews I'm asked,
"Why do you play old-time music?"

I suppose they ask that because it's old and, by implication
and also in reality, non-commercial. I suspect that many
of us play this older style music for some of the same reasons
that most bluegrass musicians play bluegrass, because we
like it and it fits us.

We can think of all kinds of reasons such as "I was raised
with it," "I like its sound," "I like to be able to play the music
myself or with friends without plugging in," and I can add
"it's timeless, meaningful and I value its continuity with
the past." All of those and more fit me.

I can talk on and on about reasons for liking old-time
and bluegrass music but really it all boils down
to "it just suits me...''


Mike Seeger









if you're into music and don't know who Mike Seeger is,
you should... if you know who he is, you's probably enjoy
these links too:

Mike Seeger - Last Known Interview

Lonesome Liz's Outlaw Arts Page

Mike Seeger

SFC Photo of the Week: Mike Seeger

!

Great Bass Quotes

I actually think that bass is probably the instrument
that has evolved in a quantum leap compared to other
instruments. It's the instrument that's evolved the most,
especially with how it's perceived.
     - Stanley Clarke

I wonder if I could make an electric bass.
     - Leo Fender

"The funk is in the gunk"    

     - James Jamerson, asked why he never cleaned
        or changed his strings.




"Funk to me is where I came from; it's the way I grew up.
It's even deeper than the music. It's the way we communicated;
actually the way we lived.
It's like ten people in a small room and it's 110 degrees
outside and there's no air conditioner. It's when the bill
collector comes and you don't have any money to pay.
It's when you've had as much as you can take and you can't
take no more. What do you do? Funk it. That's when you
grow into the funk.
     -  Bootsy Collins

Occasionally, when I run into a great bass backstage
at a festival I'll play a few notes on the low E string,
just to feel the instrument vibrate against my belly.

     -  Steve Swallow




None of us wanted to be the bass player. In our minds
he was the fat guy who always played at the back.
     - Paul McCartney



Jack Bruce, as soon as I saw him, it changed me.
I didn't even know what bass players did until I saw Cream.
     - Geezer Butler

The bass player's function, along with the drums,
is to be the engine that drives the car...
everything else is merely colours.
     - Suzi Quatro



With bass, especially bottom end, the vibration has
to happen on stage otherwise the feel is wrong.
This is why you can't scale the equipment down too far.
     - John Entwistle




The bass, no matter what kind of music you're playing,
it just enhances the sound and makes everything sound
more beautiful and full. When the bass stops, the bottom
kind of drops out of everything.
     - Charlie Haden

When you have an acoustic bass in the ensemble it really
changes the dynamic of the record because it kind of forces
everybody to play with a greater degree of sensitivity and
nuance because it just has a different kind of tone and
spectrum than the electric bass.
     - David Sanborn



I wasn't originally a bass player. I just found out
I was needed, because everyone wants to play guitar.
     - Tina Weymouth




I just think that playing bass, like punk rock bass
with a pick, wasn't meant to be done for 25 years.
     - Kim Gordon

I like a lot of bass players. I like a lot of tuba players too.
     - Rick Danko



Bass players are always the intellectual kind,
but nobody knows it.
     - Stanley Clarke










*

audio - analog vs digital

every picture tells a story,
and these photographs
are no exception.

it's a story about women
and men, and the difference
between them.

do you see it?

the difference is this:

nine times out of ten,
women don't put records back
in their jackets.
men do.

don't think that's important?






fool.

nowadays, albums are rare
and MP3s don't need to be
put back anywhere.

of course, the photo ops
for MP3s aren't much.

!

iPod uPod wePod yPod

Remember when iPods first came out?


It was like one night you went to sleep and everything
was more or less normal, and when you woke up
the next day, every flat surface in the city
was covered with these things....

The Trend iPod Built - The iPod Silhouette

The famous commercial for the iPod began with a person
dancing, in shadow, against a brilliant colored background.
The silhouette boogied to music while holding an iPod and
listening to the tunes through the iconic earbuds, which
appeared in white on the ads, so they stood out from the
dancer and the background. The sight became so common
that it soon had its own name: The Silhouette.

December 1, 2005
How much do all those iPod commercials cost?

It's a bundle. Apple Computer spent $287 million
on advertising in its last fiscal year, up nearly 40
percent from the $206 million it spent a year earlier.
And the company spent $193 million in the year before
that, according to its annual report, filed Thursday
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

... from Steve Jobs' biography

"I had this crazy idea that we could sell just as many Macs
by advertising the iPod. In addition, the iPod would position
Apple as evoking innovation and youth. So I moved $75
million of advertising money to the iPod, even though
the category didn't justify one hundreth of that.

That meant that we completely dominated the market
for music players. We outspent everybody by a factor
of about a hundred."

Apple's Iconic Ads

From its groundbreaking Super Bowl spot in 1984
to the iconic "silhouette" iPod ads, the company has
developed a knack for keeping its finger on the pulse
of what's interesting, quirky and cool.

"The quality of Apple's advertising is consistently above
average," said Allen Adamson, managing director of the
New York offices of brand consultancy Landor Associates.
"And more often than not, it's world class."

Apple's ads are powerful in part because they all
reinforce the same branding message. Apple prides itself
on appealing to the discerning customer, the person who,
as one slogan famously had it, thought differently. And
that message--of creativity, counterculture and good
taste--is one that Apple has portrayed consistently
in its advertising for the past 30 years.

Why does Apple even make iPods anymore?

the iPod is still useful to Apple... it serves as a gateway
to its brand, and more importantly, its ecosystem
of products.

Crupnick and NPD have found that the iPod and iPod
Touch are far more popular among children 14 and younger
than the iPhone, iPad or Android smartphones.

In total, about 28% of U.S. households surveyed by NPD
say their children use iPods and iPod Touches regularly,
compared to 7.4% for iPhone and 7.5% for iPad. The iPod
Touch is particularly popular among those at the upper
end of that age bracket.

Not everyone liked the Ipod or how successful the ad
campaign was, especially in those key demographics.
According to the music industry, every time someone
bought an iPod, somewhere a fairy got its wings
ripped out with a vise-grips.

"Apple's "biggest" iPod holds 40,000 songs. Assuming one
bought them all, that's about $40,000. Teenagers (and
many who once were) all over the world are walking
around with the equivalent of a stolen Lexus in their
pockets** (because really, who has $40 grand to spend
on music?).

Do you think that's right?
Do you think we should ignore that?
Do you think we should blame car dealers
if they or their trade association tried to stop that?"

**Thunderbolt and lightning - very very frightening!

Apple’s New ‘Music’ App Replaces ‘iPod’
… and Deletes Music?

After our arduous iOS 5 upgrade, during which our iPhone
was bricked we noticed that Apple’s deletion of the word
“iPod” from the iPhone was accompanied by another,
more confusing deletion: of our music.





I can’t remember how many songs were stored
on my iPhone, but with this update to iOS 5,
they’re deleted (see screenshot to the right),
even after all of the syncing I’ve done –
which was a lot.

Apple managed to restore my apps even after
my iPhone was unable to boot up for hours
yesterday afternoon… so why not the music?

This will likely remain a mystery, because it’s
notoriously difficult to receive answers from Apple
about this sort of thing. But we noticed it, so there it is:
The iOS 5 update deletes music, or at least it did in
our case, and we don’t know why.

You gotta see Apple’s awesome ad for new iPods

Apple running embedded exploding,
bouncing iPod ads on websites

Apple recently debuted a TV ad for the iPod that is
now hitting websites, according to a report in 9to5 Mac.
The embedded web ad features a bunch of iPods bouncing
and exploding all over your screen with the very catchy
tune "Yeah Yeah" from Willy Moon.

The ad was spotted on indie music review site Pitchfork.com,
which has run custom Apple ads in the past.

the Scots, of course, always
have to go their own way...

How to Remove or Block iAd advertisements
from iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch Apps

iAd gives brands what they’ve been waiting for:
Access to the global audience of iPhone and iPod
touch users. Enhanced Targeting. Premium creative.
Robust measurement.

Companies love advertising methods to promote
their businesses, but end users sometimes find it
annoying. Since Apple has included iAd in the iOS,
users have been searching for a solution to
block these ads.

iAd Advertisements appearing in iPhone apps are
indeed very annoying. Disabling or removing the iAd
in iPhone or iPod Touch apps is very easy. Yllier the
developer of Firewall IP has created a tweak that
removes the Apple iAd advertisement from the
Jailbroken iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

Just follow the instructions to disable iAds from applications.

!