Welcome back, my friends, to the show that – while may be delayed a week here and there – certainly never ends. Thanks for checking back in. Welcome. And if you’re here from the Seattle Post Intelligencer, big thanks to you for coming out, too.
A little different this week, as there isn’t just one story to get in to. There are two (maybe more, depending on how you want to split hairs), but there’s certainly a common theme to be found. To borrow from Naughty By Nature, today is about OPM – Other People’s Music (a subject, as you can see, is a favorite of mine).
It started earlier this week when Paul McCartney weighed in – finally – on other artists remixing and mashing-up the Beatles music (such as ”The Grey Album”). Paul, being the megalomillionaire that he is, completely surprised me with his take on it (as opposed to what was expected):
"I didn't mind when something like that happened with the Grey Album, but the thing was the record company minded," he said. "They didn't like that and they put up a bit of a fuss. But it was like, take it easy guys, it's a tribute. There's so many covers of Beatles songs, whether they are musically good or not, as a composer it's a tribute. There are certain versions that stand out. Most of the black artists, people like Marvin Gaye (Yesterday) and Ray Charles (Eleanor Rigby). The best thing is having your song regurgitated by someone incredible and thinking, wow, did we write that?"
You could knock me over with a feather. With the certain prevalence of artists like Gene Simmons (although calling him an “artist” is somewhat of a stretch) and executives like Irving Azoff (didn’t think you’d be forgotten, did ya?) railing against the internet every chance they get and how they feel like they’re being ripped off every time someone even mentions them on the world wide web, I would have thought McCartney to be the type to fit that mold. Another one of the old, senile fogies that hate all this new-fangled technology because it allows other people to make a living off of their blood, sweat, and tears.
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