I just read on Blabbermouth that Zakk Wylde is introducing his own brand of guitars, amps and accessories. This ends his decades long Gibson and Marshal endorsements. Weird...
I am in business. I realize that Zakk was probably approached by someone about making his signature brand, and I do not assume that he is in the manufacturing business. My best guess is that he is still only a figurehead of some sort.
In order to actually do something like that is a large undertaking. Design, engineering, materials, labor and so on was probably not done by Zakk in any form. He probably had some say in the final product, but did he design and build a guitar and amp? Hell no.
More then likely, they are built to the Gibson and Marshal specs with minor tweaks to avoid lawsuits. I have seen the pics, and they look basically identical to the products he used that bared his name. So why would anyone buy this guitar with a bullseye when there are plenty of them out there with a Gibson or Epiphone logo?
I honestly couldn't even begin to guess why anyone buys any signature series anything. You are paying for the signature. Not many artist's signature sound actually came from a signature guitar, except maybe the late great Eddie Van Halen (I know he is still alive), and Brian May.
Remember when Eddie was a God?
Both Brian and Eddie have great back stories in regards to their instruments. Eddie hand winding his pick-up coils to create the balls out "frankenstrat", and Brian building his beloved Red Special with his dad. Both legendary, both very much in the spirit of Rock and Roll.
So back to Zakk... Separating yourself from the big dogs takes balls. I still don't think its rooted in DIY, but I could be wrong. In a way, it makes perfect sense though. Zakk wanted a raise. A larger portion of the profit. Dr Dre figured this out when he introduced his "Beats" line of music accessories, and he netted millions and became the top earner in 2014 in the entertainment industry.
I only hope that Zakk is half the businessman that Dre is, I think it's time for the Metal community to have it's own mogul besides Gene Simmons, but again, who will buy these things?
By the way, Zakk did not invent the bullseye design...
A long time ago, when Domicile MK 1 was looking for a guitar player, we tried out this big dude who played like a generic version of Zakk. It was all pinch harmonics on the breaks and fills. What I remember the most about this guy is his absolute obsession with King Diamond. He couldn't believe that no one in Erie was interested in starting a King Diamond cover band.
He did not get the gig.
Point: I believe that guy will want a Zakk signature brand guitar, and I imagine he will be pissed when he finds out that no one in Erie will actually carry the brand. I really don't think that people are lining up to get their hands on one, but I could be wrong.
Here's a fact: I own (and love) an Epiphone '84 Explorer, which at one time was a Hetfield signature. I bought it because it's badass. I love it because it's badass. It had little to do with Hetfield, because at its core it's just a light Explorer with EMG Active pickups, but it's badass. I would not have bought it had it had a goofy Zakk Wylde bullseye on it any more then I would buy a guitar with a Twisted Sister goofy bullseye on it. I want to make my own name, and I want a Nago design plastered on the side of Eddie Ojeda's guitar, not the other way around.
If you have ever known a musician in a local band, you have heard some garbage about how his/her group opened for some washed up shitty national band. Even my band partook in this right of passage, opening for Anvil, Pissing Razors and (almost) Soylent Green.
Guys, let me clear something up for you, those gigs suck huge balls. The only reason a local band is "asked" to do this is because your band wont cost them a red fucking dime. You'll give away the service for free just for the honor of opening up for Jack Russel's Great White (or whatever shit band is headed through your shit town), because now, you can lie and say that you guys actually opened for Great White, and just maybe, your band will bring heads through the door.
Also, nobody, and I mean NOBODY cares. People that wouldn't come and see you if they didn't know you especially don't care. They don't care about your band, and they really don't care that you landed the "Geoff Tate, voice of Queensryche" opening slot. People that actually know who Geoff is are typically only going to ask you if he is really that big of a dick, so be prepared for that.
And for fucks sake, it's 2015, don't brag about opening for L.A. Guns last year. I saw L.A. Guns open for AC/DC on the Razors Edge tour in front of a half empty pavilion and a dead empty lawn. If Pittsburghers didn't respect L.A. Guns enough to tear themselves away from the parking lot to actually watch them at the height of their 15 minutes of fame, why in the Hells Bell would they give a flying monkeys ass about your little band opening for them?
Here's the thing, if your band opens for Machine Head on an off night, that may impress me, but Machine Head doesn't need your dumb band, do they? They can drag anyone out with them, or be the Megadeth opener themselves. If you get the booking, you will be on at 5:30PM sharp, have horrible sound, 5 people in the crowd, and be wedged in between a Grindcore band & a Stoner Rock band with exactly 25 minutes to play + 5 minutes to load out. Is it really worth a 12 pack of PBR? I am certainly not coming to the Smiling Moose at suppertime on a Tuesday to watch you suck... I'd just assume eat at Pizza Milano and head to the Southside later to see the headliner.
Want a tip about something that I had to learn the hard way? Just because your band goes on last, doesn't mean you are the headliner. By 1:00 A.M, the band that had the 11:00 pm slot killed it and cut into your time. What's left of the crowd is drunk, you are drunk and so is your band. It's one in the morning and your going to work? Turn that gig down. Be polite, but refuse. You'll thank me later. Flemming Rasmussen is not going to be randomly walking past and insist on producing you. If it's your gig, don't put yourself on stage past 11:00 pm. Let some other idiot "headline".
This is not meant to be totally negative. If you have the opportunity to share a stage with one of your heroes making a comeback, or on the rise, that's different. There is a good way and a bad way to share the stage, and there are also different calipers of bands. You can spot the really genuine and talented people right away. I think you all know the guys I'm talking about, and their bands usually suck, they just don't know it.
Today's culture is very different then most others preceding it. A band or artist can stay relevant for 20+ years and still have appeal. There are hundreds of examples. That phenomenon is relatively new in pop culture, but not much has changed in 20 years that shook culture to it's foundations. Early on, culture changed overnight. Pop culture went from Peggy Sue to Aquarius in less then 10 years. From poodle skirts to naked hippies in less then a decade. Wow.
Think about this, Jerry Lee Lewis had his first hit in 1957. He banged and married his 14 year old cousin shortly thereafter and lost his fan base, but he continued to tour for the rest of his life (he's dead, right?). 20 years later Van Halen was playing clubs. Could you imagine VH opening up for Jerry Lee Lewis at the Whiskey in 1977?
There is a certain amount of paying dues that goes along with being in a band, and I take that into consideration. This situation is avoidable, but not always. I am not talking about all bands, just the bad ones. The ones that take any gig because they think it gives them cred.
In every situation, no matter what, the best always rise to the top and can stand on there own merit. Be that band. Pay your dues, then make Jerry Lee open for you, or put him on at 1:00 AM. Be so good that the world takes notice. That's my wish for you all on this Tuesday.
As covered by every music news medium recently, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons have been drumming up attention by claiming that Kiss will continue after they retire. That's right, a band made up completely of replacement players wearing the Kiss make-up. A band with the official brand "Kiss" that has no actual members of the original Kiss.
Question:
Is the Brand "Kiss" bigger then the sum of its players?
Let's face it, if you just put 4 shitty wanna-be dudes in uniform and call it Kiss, its really just a cover band. It wouldn't work. I've already seen that version of Kiss at a corner bar in Erie, Pa. I believe they called themselves "Strutter." It's like Kiss without the pyro. A little sheet metal peppered with 40 watt light bulbs, a little grease paint on your fat face and.... BOOM, you could start this cover band in your home town.
Kiss was founded on mediocre hard rock, a goofy gimmick, and cheesy comic book mystique. The songs got better with Love Gun and Destroyer, the make-up and costumes also got better also, and a combination of the three is what made them sell like Budweiser on a Friday in Ohio. They dubbed themselves "The hottest band in the world," and for a minute, they actually were.
Then it all fell apart... Goodbye Ace and Peter, hello 1980's.
The rebuilding stage is where I came of age. From '84 to '92, Kiss was just another Metal Band of the day. They went from Stadiums to Hockey Arenas, but they survived. They were never reduced to dreaded "opening act," never revisited the bar scene, and always sold records. Like many a hessian, I learned their back catalog from old records and (then) current live VHS. Any shred of the original gimmick was kaput by the time I was a pre-teen. The make-up had long since come off, and they relied on actual good songwriting to carry the band forward.
That was the renaissance age for Kiss. Post make-up/pre acoustic convention shows Kiss. That was one hell of a band in my opinion. Of course I found out later that the band was a band in voice only as so many of the sessions were recorded by studio musicians, but whatever. None of that seems to be a big deal to the Kiss Army, and how can "a million strong" be wrong? Really, it was a different beast by then, and replacement players were aplenty.
Fast forward another 10 years. The reunion. The band was back. The 4 that started it all. The hottest reunion in the world, Kiss.
The world was ready for Kiss to be a nostalgic act. We all cheered and bought tickets by the buckets, but this is also where the band and relevance part ways. They tried to capture the magic with the Psycho Circus LP (Great song, bad LP), which as it turns out, was recorded by scabs, but the suits and the public had moved on from Kiss as a 1-800-Dial-MTV hit machine. KISS was already in an adjustment phase, so the touring circuit was prime for the latest addition into the dinosaur rock band scene.
And today, to say Kiss is no longer relevant is an understatement so large that if you made a YouTube video out of it, Whitney Thore would look small in comparison. To really love these guys as a teenager means that you are nerdy. It's like loving Rush. There's a bunch of them out there, but its in small, fragmented pockets. None of their friends care, and most people think it's kinda weird.
If Kiss has any chance of making a run at a franchise that is relevant, they have to take some risks. Risk is no stranger to Gene and Paul. They have made a career out of it. Their ability to reinvent is pretty awesome overall, and we should all respect them for it.
So, how do you franchise Kiss without creating another Kiss cover band? Simple... You need to capture the youth. Get today's generation behind you. Put a middle finger in the face of the old school, and make it palatable to a new generation. No one under the age of 40 has heard Firehouse, and even if they did, they'd find it BORING! New material for a new, more in touch, class of kids.
Kiss may already be on to something in the right direction... Kiss vs. Momoiro Clover Z may prove to be the first relevant thing they have done in years. It's a step back toward the cheese that got them here in the first place.
My suggestion to Kiss: Stay with the Japanese Girl thing. Pass the torch to them.
Here's why: The land of the rising sun definitely has some claim to the Kiss image. Their whole gimmick is kinda pre-historic anime with a funky 70's samurai flare anyway. Girls sell records. Japan loves Kiss. Japanese pop is seeping through to Western culture these days, so the iron is hot. My only suggestion is maybe find some girls a tad bit older then this group, but Japan has it's own thing going on culturally. Is the Cat Man really that far off from Hello Kitty?
Like they say in business, start small and scale fast. Pepper the market with crap like this Momorio mash-up, then do another comic strip. Let the girls kill Gene off and take his essence (or something like that), then get out of the way. Let them create their own legacy and let the old dudes stay behind the scenes.
Make the characters replaceable. Like a Japanese Menudo, or a musical Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The 4 year old in my life, Peyton, has discovered Power Rangers on Netflix. She loves it. The producers continually cycle through actors, the story lines are basically the same, but it still has appeal to the kids. Peyton is a good resource for me to keep in touch with all things pre-school, and I find her Power Ranger stage to be a reminder of when my son, Mocha (now 20), was totally into the same darn thing. I am actively keeping one foot in the toy box, and one fist in the sky....
With that in mind, Gene Simmons should consider a legacy "Kiss" corporation that capitalizes on nostalgia, but is relevant today as well. Be the Disney of music. Fresh blood and new ideas, new music and a new spin your original "characters" idea. It may sound crazy, but I believe it could work for a new crop of fans unwittingly begging for the Kiss of tomorrow. Consider that no kid today gives a flying V about Dumbo, but they all know who Elsa is.
It just might work...
One last thing, why the hell is Kiss in the football business?
Since the release of The Mighty Metallica's 2013 movie Through The Never, I have been wondering how they manage to justify spending their proverbial "Fuck You" money on losing business proposals.
This box office flop was an anticipated follow-up to the monumentally horrible LULU LP. For me, no amount of time will ever shine a decent light on that turd. It is still un-listenable, and, as a blue collar (at heart) music fan, is a step worse then Kiss's "The Elder" experiment. I am sure it didn't mean squat to Lou Reed, who's catalog is filled with awful offerings. RIP Lou, you were a critic's wet dream and every hipster's modern poet, but you kinda sucked... I guess you were ironic? IDK... I put you up there with the Grateful Dead in my list of "I'll never understand the appeal" artists.
As for Through the Never, it's actually pretty good. They did not repeat the Kiss curse (Phantom of the Amusement Park). The plot is a little out there, but the footage is stellar and the sound quality, albeit "fixed" in the studio (we all know Larz can't really pull off magic Live), is very good. I LOVED the Live "Orion" as the credits rolled. I was so stoked to see that. It made me remember how important the band was and is.
Enough fanboy rantings, lets discuss the business end. I have no open window to Metallica's finances, but it was well documented that they funded this movie themselves. I take total liberty in reporting the following numbers based on crappy Internet information, but it is the only real info I have available to me at this juncture.
First, lets start with the movie budget. According to Box Office Mojo, the budget for this film was $18 Million Dollars. the movie grossed the following upon it's release (as according to The-Numbers.com):
Theatrical Performance
Domestic Box Office
$3,422,409
International Box Office
$5,662,939
Worldwide Box Office
$9,085,348
Home Market Performance
Domestic DVD Sales
$153,451
Domestic Blu-ray Sales
$760,605
Total Domestic Video Sales
$914,056
The international DVD sales are not listed, but I do believe that we, as a whole, are an educated population that utilizes YouTube. I also know that the knock-off market is much larger overseas. Is it safe to assume another 2 Million in sales internationally? Lets just go with that figure for shit and giggles. That still leaves a deficit of Approximately $6 Million Dollars!!!
Now the tricky part. Licensing. Breaking down the profit of the streaming services per each movie streamed is probably an advanced calculus formula that would make my eyes roll into the back of my head. Probably even worse for rental services (do they still exist outside of RedBox?).
I guess when you have the kind of money to throw around like Metallica does, you can afford a flop or two. Lets see what Celebrity Net Worth has to say about the money.:
James Hetfield: $175 Million
Lars Ulrich: $200 Million
Kirk Hammett: $70 Million
Robert Trujillo: $15 Million
Lars is worth more then James? That's crazy, but neither are starving. I don't even pretend to be upset about their riches. If anyone can make and keep money in the music industry, Bless 'em All.
So I guess they can afford a flop or two. Personally I'd take a shitty Metallica LP (Saint Anger) over a good Lou Reed LP (none of them) any day of the week. That's just the Metalhead in me talking. And for the record, Metallica does what Metallica wants, and I respect them for it. Anyone dissin' Re-Load never listened to Low Man's Lyric at midnight during a downswing of a bi-polar episode. Just sayin'.
Do you know what's great about blogging? I can write about whatever I want without regard to current trends or be forced to wear a hat of criticism for material that I probably am too out of touch to understand and would, sub-consciously, compare to what fired me up about music in the first place.
I do stay somewhat current, but I afford myself the luxury of being current with what I choose to be current with. No force feeding pop culture for me, I decline to care about whoever has the dumbest neck tattoo and screams about some anti-whatever (politics, god, their broken home...etc.), and allow myself to be nerdy with my choices.
Alas, it was not always this way. A pre-teen Nago was as influential as anyone. Like so many an 11 year old, there was a gateway drug for me. I was aware of many styles and bands. I dabbled in AC/DC and Judas Priest. I had a strange fascination of Helix and Krokus, but the real drug that caught me, before Thrash ruled my world, was the one and only Motley Crue.
I know that each generation has their own version of what Crue meant to me at 11 years old, but there is still something about listening to the Shout at the Devil LP that is magical for me. I remember how big of a deal it was to see the video for Too Young To Fall in Love, and how these dudes were like super hero's to me then.
If you think about it, it's not that far of a stretch. A good gimmick was nothing new, Angus, Bowie, Kiss, Cooper and so on all had a gimmick 10+ years before the Crue hit my radar, Arthur Brown had his shtick years before that, and even before theatrics were in vogue, larger then life musicians must have had the same effect on the respective youths of their time. Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, even Clapton and Hendrix to a degree filled this void for many, I'm sure. They weren't human, they were super human, and treated like hero's. In hindsight, its kinda dumb to elevate someone who practiced his ass off in his bedroom to demi-god status, not that practice isn't important, or we shouldn't recognize achievements, but as a society we sometimes take it a little far...
I digress.
The first time I saw Tommy Lee throw rice at the old Chinese man in the TYTFIL video, he immediately became my hero. He was the best drummer ever because to me he was cool. I learned how to twirl a drumstick sorta like he does (a trick I can still pull off 30 years later), and learned some basic 4/4 drum patterns shortly after. Little did I know how disappointed I would be with this band just a few years later. I thought Girls Girls Girls was horrible, and I wont even begin to talk about how much I hated Doctor Feelgood, but by then I had long since graduated to Megadeth and the thrash movement.
Even later, I did not buy into, and have never heard, the self titled Corabi LP in it's entirety, same with Generation Swine and every subsequent release afterward. But secretly, even though I grew out of them, somewhere deep within me, I always rooted for the Crue. I have been embarrassed for Tommy on countless occasions. I have followed Nikki into songwriting endeavors, even saw him with Brides of Destruction. I have laughed at Vince over the years, mostly over his hit or miss singing, but also because of his stint as a fat guy on TV. And Mick? well, I respect that man. He is an unsung hero with a crazy back story, a crazy present story, and a sound that is literally all his own.
The Motley of today is not the Motley of yesterday. No one debates that. But I think that their ongoing success has something to do with the Motley image from 1984. I can't imagine that Tommy Lee is an influence on anyone these days. On his path to independence outside of Crue, he ruined a great drummer's legacy. "Drummer from Motley" is never the first thing I think of when Tommy is brought up, these days it's old wanna-be DJ, which is better then coke headed porno star, or reality TV flunkie, or shitty rap rocker... Pick your poison, Tommy will never be better then he was in '84 in the hearts and minds of millions.
The fact that I care at all to know anything about this dysfunctional group of weirdo's is a testament to the fact I will always hold them in a high regard. When I was 11, they were my gateway drug, MY band, my definition of cool to be grown out of, and for that, I make the following statement.
Thank you for Too Fast For Love, an LP that is so burned into my DNA, that I can't listen to any one track without verbalizing the riff to the next track.
Thank you for making me memorize the words to In The Beginning and forcing me to write them on my book covers in middle school.
Thank you for Home Sweet Home (and the girl who pulled up her shirt in the video).
Thank you for Red Hot, the song that I still bring up in "Is Tommy a good drummer" arguments.
Thank you for reverse power chords.
There are a hundred thank you's I could pen, but why? I think that my love for this band can remain mine without accolades or risking over doing it.
Mostly however, thank you for being the band that grabbed my attention first. I promise that it yielded good things. In case you care, I still have a Shout at the Devil tee in my drawer.
