Morning Music Notes – It was 31 Years Ago Today
Olympic Music Directors to be Underworld
You know the guys that did ‘That’ song in Trainspotting? Well, they are Underworld, and they are the music directors for the London 2012 Olympic Summer Games (via Guardian). The British dance duo have surprised many, perhaps even themselves, in landing the coveted role. The opening ceremony’s artistic director is Danny Boyle, who directed Trainspotting. Now this could be interesting (and by interesting, I am hoping for disastrous).
Christmas Music Sells During Christmas Time – How About That?
On Tuesday, PHM outlined the increase in radio listeners to stations that played Christmas music. In terms of album sales, if you have Christmas-themed music, you will do well. Last week in the USA, 37.5% of the top chart albums were Christmas-themed (via Digital Music News). For those who are bad with percentages, 75 of the Top 200 Billboard albums were about Christmas. Some interesting names have gotten into the act, too – The Chipmunks, Elvis Presley, Lady Gaga, Susan Boyle, Mariah Carey, and Sarah McLachlan. Where is the Hanukkah love?
Metallica to Play The Exchange Rate Game
Metallica are playing Europe next summer. End of story? Not yet, unfortunately for my keyboard’s sake. Cliff Burnstein, manager of Metallica, has said that they want to take advantage of the weak Euro currency (via NME). Don’t we all.
Burnstein told the Wall Street Journal, “I’m not an economist, but I have a degree, so it helps. You have to ask yourself, what’s the best time to be doing what, when and where. Over the next few years, the dollar will be stronger and the euro weaker, and if that’s the case, I want to take advantage of that by playing more of these European shows now, because they will be more profitable for us. We’re a U.S. export the same way Coca-Cola is. We look for the best markets to go to. Right now Indonesia is on my watch list”.
How about the Moon? There is no recession there – unless those space cowboys have fucked up the economy since I left.
John Lennon Died 31 Years Ago Today
On this day in 1980, Beatles legend and established solo artist (does he really need an introduction), John Lennon was shot and killed outside of his New York City apartment. Lennon would’ve been 71 this year, and perhaps playing a Super Bowl halftime show or something. Unfortunately we’ll never know. Since it’s nearly Christmas, and we’re talking about John Lennon, we’ll leave with you Happy Xmas (War is Over). Not the happiest video in the world….
John Lennon – Happy Xmas (War is Over)
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