Does your Art have a “_______, Yeah!” effect?

“____________, Yeah!”

When you experience truly great Art, an artistic endeavour that not only rises above the mundane but hits you between the eyes, does your inner voice scream “__________, Yeah!” Mine does.

As I do, feel free to insert a word that works for you, such as “Shoot”, or “Heck”.

Not always upon first glance or listen, but usually soon after. That “____________, Yeah!” moment fixes itself in time, causing a chill and creating an indelible memory that attaches itself to the music, film, painting, etc. 

For example, (don’t laugh) I can clearly remember the circumstances, times and places I first experienced:

Beat Peculiar – Adam Again
Lithium – Nirvana
Magnolia
Please – U2
Destiny – Zero 7
The Yellow and Black Attack – Leaderdogs
Little Wing – SRV/Jimi Hendrix
Something Real – Sixadrift
Schindler’s List
The Writing’s On The Wall – The Tea Party
Use Me Up – Bill Withers
The Imperial March – John Williams, “The Empire Strikes Back”
Sour Times – Portishead
To Kill A Mockingbird
When Doves Cry – Prince
Boom! Shake The Room – (The Fresh) Prince
Make Me Bad – Korn
All My Life – Foo Fighters
Star Wars
Rocks In Your Head – The 77’s
No More Tears – Ozzy Osbourne

and more recently,

Boom – The Pounds
Like A Star – Firelife
Stay With Me – Ben Clark
Remember Me – Geoff Dresser

Is your Art evoking a “_____________, Yeah!” response? If not, why not?

Nothing worthwhile is gained without taking risk, artistic or otherwise…

What will be the last “Great” CD?

Cut to the chase – I’m old enough to remember the first death of vinyl records and the demise of cassettes and VHS.

Having said that, I still have a wicked collection of vinyl essentials, such as Around The World In A Day, Whipped Cream And Other Delights, Abbey Road and Time Out. The artwork is irreplaceable. Our generation has also witnessed the multi-million selling CDs known as Thriller,  Hybrid Theory, Jagged Little Pill and…My Own Prison.

But the funeral of the CD is impending. It may be years ahead, but in 2009, it feels strange to go to a CD Release Party or a CD Signing Event. How do you get an MP3 autographed?

Who do you think will release the last, huge-selling CD, that will stay in the history books as the Last Hurrah?

I mean, I like Daughtry, but please tell me it’s not gonna be an American Idol…

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Jesse James Is (Not) A Dead Man. Far From It.

“Jesse James Is a Dead Man Breaks the Record Books on Spike TV:
The debut of Spike TV’s Jesse James is a Dead Man, from BASE Productions, debuted on Sunday, May 31 at 10 p.m. ET with the most viewers (2 million) and biggest male 18-49 audience (888.000) for a non-scripted series-premiere in the history of the cable network. Comparably, Jesse James is a Dead Man finished second in the time period among men 18-49 (behind The MTV Movie Awards), with growth of as much as 262 percent among men 35-49 from the year-ago time period average.”

http://links.mkt1464.com/servlet/MailView?ms=MzMzNDM1MTAS1&r=MTgyMTcwNTAyNgS2&j=NTA3NTE0OTgS1&mt=1&rt=0

Jesse didn’t do anything much on Celebrity Apprentice this year, but it is obvious that Celebrity Apprentice did a heck of a lot for him. The show raised his profile, just in time for his new show to launch. Coincidence? No.

He was not necessarily a household name, much less known as Mr. Sandra Bullock, before he was “fired” by Mr. Trump.

The lesson for the smart marketer/artist/ingenue: find a way to get in front of as many people as possible. Use YouTube as necessary.

Never Underestimate The Power Of The “O”

Remember when Denny’s gave away free breakfasts after the Super Bowl this year? This generated an unbelieveable amount of goodwill and tremendous national and local press coverage.

Flash forward four months – KFC attempts a similar promotion, right after they sponsor the Kentucky Derby. I never understood why a restaurant chain would align itself with horses (not the most tender delicacy, but truly an acquired taste), but whatever.

But KFC chose the Oprah show to launch it.

The results?

“Grilled Chicken a Kentucky Fried Fiasco”
http://adage.com/article?article_id=136551

Why? They clearly did not understand the powerful response generated by Oprah Winfrey, combined with the gang-busting new technology known as the…PHOTOCOPIER.

This, of course, allowed the world to realize that the president of KFC is not from Kentucky, or even the U.S. I, for one, was better off not knowing that.

This Ain’t Gilligan’s Island!

Carlton Cuse on “Lost”: “In terms of creative inspiration we owe a debt to many other sources: the Bible, “Twin Peaks,” “The Prisoner,” the Narnia Chronicles, and of course “Star Wars” and all of its mythological antecedents, Kurt Vonnegut and Flannery O’Connor.”

http://weblogs.variety.com/season_pass/2009/04/lost-our-greatest-wish-is-that-fans-feel-that-it-was-all-worth-it-.html

Gilligan was more of a combination of Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies – all great shows in their own right. Lost feels more like The Original Twilight Zone.

The Jury Is Not Out

Ask my family, they’ll tell you I am no fan of ‘Jon and Kate Versus Plus 8′.

However, I feel bad for a guy that’s already been tried and convicted in the media. Without any proof of ANYTHING.  The ‘news’ media (you know, the ones that ran over Princess Di) are only happy when they’ve helped to break it up – Jessica Simpson, Danny Bonaduce, etc…

Not saying he’s necessarily innocent of the trumped-up charges, but I’ve always felt like he’s painted himself in a corner.

His only option is to stay inside that huge home and property, surfacing occasionally.  The tradeoff for his kids’ college fund apparently is his ability to breathe? Was it worth it? 

And TMZ’s role? As Jeannie Darcy would say, “Don’t get me started, don’t even get me started.”

I’ve Gone Linear

Just watching Anton Corbijn’s film “Linear” with No Line On The Horizon as the soundtrack.

As expected, the visuals are breathtaking.

http://u2.com/

LOST=DADS?

“LOST” could easily change its name to another four-letter-word – “DADS”.

I enjoy a show that’s not afraid to poke around what John Eldredge calls “The Father Wound”, and Lost is not afraid the heck out of it. This show has episode titles like, “All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues” and “The Man From Tallahassee“, but count the all the stories that revolve around:

Jack’s Dad
Kate’s Dad
Hurley’s Dad
Sun’s Dad
Locke’s Dad
Sawyer’s Dad
Sayid’s Dad
Claire’s Dad
Ben’s Dad

And in the last two weeks, Miles and Daniel’s Dads.

This show confronts the daddy issues and often shows a redemptive and consquential side to fatherhood in 2009. Or 1979, whenever they are.