VALE PETER DAWKINS

It is with immense sadness that the music world learned during the past week of the passing of Peter Dawkins, 68, resulting from complications arising from a fall in his home.

The New Zealand-born Dawkins was a drummer in various bands in the late 1960’s, however he made the well-worn journey to Australia in the early 1970’s and quickly discovered his musical forte as a producer and A & R man for EMI, CBS and Festival Records.

Dawkins didn’t relinquish his New Zealand roots, as he produced seminal albums for Dragon and Mi-Sex. Other important Australian artists to benefit from Dawkins’ production genius include Australian Crawl, Russell Morris, Matt Finish and the internationally-successful soft rockers Air Supply.

It is often remembered that Dawkins was quoted as saying “when I cry upon hearing the playback of one of my productions, the song is a hit”. The Australasian music world will mourn Dawkins and fondly remember his production and talent spotting skills, in addition to his significant contribution to the local music scene in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

VINYL RECORDS – NOT DEAD YET

Easter isn’t only a religious holiday for me; it’s an opportunity to revisit a pastime of listening to my favourite recordings being played on my favourite medium – vinyl.

It is somewhat ironic that I have discovered that today happens to be the annual Record Store Day throughout Australia and the globe. In short, this is a celebration of all things vinyl; new releases, rare and limited edition releases and the ambiance of an authentic record retail store.

Sydney is my hometown, and I am amazed to learn that there are DOZENS of retail stores in the Central Business District and inner-city suburbs that specialise in the sale of vinyl records. Further to this, sales of vinyl records increased by 77% within Australia during the past 12 months.

Nothing beats entering a record retail store. Who can’t resist the smell of vinyl; the inspection of the record label and inner-sleeve artwork; the quirky characters/ fellow customers and [best of all] the store owner. The store owner has so many stories to tell – which record continues to fly off the racks? Which celebrity has been frequenting the store?

Yes, we can read about similar matters almost immediately via Twitter from somebody on the other side of the globe, however “being there” is what truly counts…

WHEN CD PLAYERS RULED THE WORLD…

Not only are music tastes continually evolving, so it seems that the manner in which we listen to and play music is also making a change.

Take a quick look in the electronic section of your local department store. In the present age, most laptop computers aren’t manufactured with an in-built CD/ DVD player, albeit there are at least 2 USB ports [mp3 download?].

The next time that you wish to purchase a new car, don’t expect to be treated to an in-built CD player. This being said, there will be an outlet to plug in your mp3 player.

When your next monthly trash clean up occurs take a quick look at what your neighbours are throwing out. I guarantee that you will find plenty of pre-loved CDs amongst the various treasures on display.

It is inevitable that the CD and CD player will swiftly go the same way as the cassette tape and tape player: to extinction.

Music purists have forced manufacturers to revive the retailing of vinyl recordings and record players [has DJ music played a part in this retro reversal?], however the “in your face” sound quality of an mp3 file may be the defining event in making the 3 decade old compact disc a thing of the past...

CHRISTMAS SONGS: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

The festive season is upon us once again, and we can’t help but hum Christmas carols and Christmas songs.

These tunes come into vogue for approximately 6 weeks of every year, however research indicates that an exceptionally well crafted Christmas song can be a lucrative money spinner in perpetuity.

The British are fine exponents of all things Christmas, including popular Christmas songs from the past 4 decades. Here’s a sample of the estimated annual royalties derived from Christmas-themed  songs written by British artists:

·         “Merry Xmas Everybody” – Slade [AUD$1.44M]

·         “Fairytale Of New York” – The Pogues [AUD$940K]

·         “Last Christmas” – Wham [AUD$540K]

·         “Mistletoe And Wine” – Cliff Richard [AUD$178K]

·         “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” – Band Aid [AUD$140K]

·         “Merry Christmas Everyone” – Shakin’ Stevens [AUD$97K]

·         “2000 Miles” – The Pretenders [AUD$80K]

·         “Stay Another Day” – East 17 [AUD$54K]

·         “Stop The Cavalry” – Jona Lewie [AUD$24K]

Love them or hate them, these songs represent very tidy sums of money for their writers and copyright owners. 

DEATH OF THE NON-PERFORMING PUBLICITY-SHY SONGWRITER

The only constant in the world of music is rapid change. There have been many examples of non-performing hit songwriters over the past 5 decades, ranging from Liebler and Stoller to Max Martin, and the reason why these songwriters are known by face is because the enormous success of their bodies of work has “forced” them to become stars.

What becomes of the journeyman non-performing song writer in the modern age of music?

Garry Paige is an established Australian song writer with over 250 compositions in his catalogue, who has been selling his craft to artists across the globe for the past 35 years. The apex of his work is “Words Are Not Enough” [a Top Ten hit in 1978 for Jon English] and “Heading In The Right Direction” [Renee Geyer’s 1975 signature song]. Both of these songs continue to receive regular airplay on Australian radio stations to this day, however Paige has been forced to take a day job due to the advert of mp3 file sharing and illegal downloading of music via the Internet.

The Internet has forced song writers [both performing and non-performing] to “give away” their music in order to maintain and/ or build a public profile AND then entice the greater public to purchase their music.  Using the Paige example, he has very little coverage when conducting a Google search of his name. If Paige improved his Internet presence, would the frequency and size of his royalty payments increase?

A message to all non-performing publicity-shy song writers; take the time to make a presence to the world [just as a performing artist must do] and watch your income skyrocket…

OLD ROCKERS GIVING AWAY DISCARDED RIFFS?

Recent media reports that Lars Ulrich [Metallica], Brian May [Queen] and Tony Iommi [Black Sabbath] will be giving away their respective band’s discarded riffs has opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box for commentary.

It is difficult to imagine very successful artists surrendering their copyrights without some form of financial consideration being in play, or is this really a case of wealthy musicians giving to the next generation?

Ulrich’s riff giveaway concept appears to revolve around selling the song fragments by way of an Ebay-style arrangement, whilst May and Iommi’s ideas involve mixing the unused guitar parts into another artist’s unreleased song. Either way, the established artist will profit most favourably from such a deal, whether it be “selling” the discarded riffs or song writing royalties from their established and lucrative publishing deals.

I am a fan of each of these artists’ back catalogue, however the cynic in me views this concept as a novel approach to maintaining publicity for each band in a new world of music.

Old rockers never die, nor does their quest for public adulation…

MUSIC FESTIVALS: GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT

From Woodstock to Live Aid to Live 8, music festivals can make or break both a music promoter and a music artist.

At first sight, the concept of a music festival per se is a logistical nightmare in anybody’s mind. How do you control the weather, the artists’ performance, the sound quality, the crowd’s behaviour et al?

With so many obstacles in play, why do promoters continue with the concept of a music festival?

Recent data released in Australia indicates that people in the 18-35 age bracket remain keen to attend music festivals, thus it’s a youth thing.

This being said, we are only touching the surface with this revelation. A youth audience will pay to attend a music festival if the music acts are appealing. This is a particularly important point, because Australian music promoters are generally filling their festivals with unknown local acts, on the pretense that they will “become” a major act on the back of their live performance.

Thirty years ago, the Narara Music Festival on New South Wales Central Coast was an artistic and financial success because the headline acts were Simple Minds, The Pretenders, The Eurhythmics and [the relatively unknown] Def Leppard. Great musicians who could all cut it live. The following year, Narara took a risk by leveraging off the “goodwill” of its name, and cut its costs by hosting only local acts. That was the final Narara Music Festival.

Nothing has changed in 40 plus years of music festivals. Yes, it’s going to be hot [or wet], crowded and uncomfortable, however all is forgiven if a promoter can attract great live acts.