*Just a rumor
*Juno's
*Conan
*Article written by Steve
*Phoenix concert article
*MTV.com
*Steve and Canada
*BC article
*backstage Juno clips on the net
*BNL VS GBS pics
*Kevin Juno?
*London Free Press
*Canada AM
*Coors opinions
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I have a clsoe friend that is a program manager at a top 40 radio
station. he called me the other day and said he heard a rumoe BNL may
do a few Summer shows this year. He stressed to me that it was
something a friend of his told him and it didnt come from an inside
source but that his friend was usually correct.
I don't know if this guy was talking about shows like the one in
Bryant Park(even though thats not during the summer) or possibly the
Molson show, but he made it sound like BNL was doing a few ampaheater
shows like they have done for most summers over the past 7 or 8 years.
Please remember this is strictly a rumor, as I have heard BNL will
more than likely just do a few shows for benefits and not do a tour.
But it's like the NYS lotto "Hey ya never know".
I saw the Juno’s last night. Even though the show is not up to the standards of the Grammys or the Oscars I think the show was over all positive. I didn’t like when they had scripted things for BNL but when BNL was able to make up songs leading into intermissions I thought it was hilarious. And really the calibur of perfomances were top notch. Great Big Sea was great to start off the show and Nelly Furtado sounded great (even though her dancers sucked). I missed Alanis (but I taped it so I’ll watch it later).
When Steve was singing about Nelly Furtado saying Sh*t more times than anyone in TV history, I thought that came off hilarious.
In my opinion BNL did a great job and the show came off as a success.
I believe I saw this Thursday of Friday night. On Late Night with Conan O’brien, Conan was superimposed into the Mitsubishi “One Week” commercial and made fun of it because he considered it very annoying.
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The barenaked truth about the music biz
By STEVEN PAGE The Globe and Mail, Saturday, April 13, 2002
Everybody loves to hate awards shows. Even though we're addicted to them, we can't stop critiquing them. They're long, they're overblown and they're self-congratulating. They're filled with embarrassingly inarticulate people making embarrassingly inarticulate speeches until they get embarrassingly cut off by a director shouting, "Cue, music! Cue music!"
We never agree with the outcome anyway, do we? Do these gala explosions of fluffy self-importance really celebrate quality? Or do they merely reward commercial success? Occasionally, an award winner will straddle both sides, as did the soundtrack of the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? when it won a truckload of Grammy’s earlier this year. When my band, Barenaked Ladies, hosts the Junos tomorrow night, what will the Canadian music industry be celebrating? Artistic success or the making of money? And what can we do about it, anyway?
First of all, let me explain a bit about our band and the Junos. Barenaked Ladies first appeared on the show in 1993 — when we won the Juno for best group of the year — at the tail end of a whirlwind series of successes.
We had sold nearly one million records in Canada, appeared on every TV show and in pretty much every newspaper in the country, and had toured relentlessly for three years solid.
Still, we felt resented, somehow, by most of the music industry, as if it saw us as a success story that it was obliged to acknowledge, but also an embarrassment it wished would go away, or grow up, or something. A comedy band winning Junos? Who could imagine such a thing? We felt slighted, and, like the young punks that we were deep inside, we said "Comedy? You want comedy?" and proceeded to give them comedy by dressing in full clown makeup and costumes to perform our song Box Set, a satire of the business end of music. I guess you could say we weren't very co-operative.
We did come back to the Junos the following year, for our first performance as a four-piece (after keyboard player Andy Creeggan quit the band). But we came home empty-handed. Still, we didn't break up, we didn't disappear. We kept slugging it out on the road and making records. And for a few years, we didn't get invited back to the Junos, even to present an award.
But we've since grown up, sold a bunch of albums around the world, and in the past few years, the Junos have been very good to us. We've appeared on the show live from Melbourne, Australia; Prince George, B.C.; Hamilton; and even Toronto. They're actually a really fun hang, and one of the few opportunities of the year to see a bunch of fellow musicians in one place. This year, we'll be hosting the show live from St. John's, and are thrilled to be doing it. We had the honour of being one of the first bands to play in the city's new Mile One Stadium last year.
Maybe in order to understand these award shows, we need to understand the machine. You see, these shows are the industry's opportunity to celebrate its own successes over the year — close to 30 per cent of the Juno votes come in the form of votes from the record companies. So, most often the winners are the artists who worked really hard for the label. (We really are all just label employees, without the benefit package. As rich as you think some of us are, for every $18.99 CD you buy, the artist usually sees a toonie or so. Pay your producer out of that. Then your manager. Then split it five ways among your band mates. Now don't act surprised when you see the drummer of a platinum-selling Canadian rock band behind the drive-thru window at Tim Hortons.)
Other votes are usually cast for people who sound familiar - I'll admit to having my eye on the "best instrumental by a duo or group" at next year's Grammys. Sometimes votes are because everybody has just decided it's time: Did Santana really make the very best album of the year in 1999? Or was it simply his turn to win a Grammy? Occasionally, people vote because they really, really like the artist and their work. Most often, though, people vote for hits.
And what makes a hit? Usually talent, hard work and a good song. But there are plenty of exceptions: Even the most talented have a lot of obstacles in their way these days. After getting your song released - which is often where the end credits start to roll for most bands — there is the pursuit of radio play. As antiquated as radio might seem in the Internet era, it is, in fact, more important than ever to music sales. Right now, a company called Clear Channel Entertainment owns over 1,140 radio stations across North America. If your song gets added to a Clear Channel play list, you may move to the next step: research.
Research in radio involves what are called call outs. Market-research companies make random calls in a station's listening area, and ask those within its target market to name their three favourite stations. If the sponsoring station ranks number one or two, the researcher will play a series of song snippets — no more than 15 seconds long — to the person on the other end, who might be watching TV, or making dinner, or doing homework, or changing a diaper or a tire. They then have to tell the research company (a) how familiar they are with each song; (b) how much they like it; and (c) if they're already sick of it.
If a song passes this stage, the station might declare that the cut is "researching" well enough to be moved into heavier rotation. If this happens in a few cities, maybe, just maybe — with some poking and prodding and promises of doing a free show for the station's listeners, or agreeing to meet contest-winners or to donate a truckload of signed CDs - more Clear Channel stations might add the record to their play lists.
Now we're on our way to a hit. But we're not quite there yet.
Springtime? Early summer? It's the season for radio-sponsored festivals. Maybe KISS-tival or KICK-nic or something like that: 18 bands playing for nominal fees as payment due on those earlier promises. These are the festivals that killed off Lollapalooza. They take place largely on stages owned by Clear Channel (which now runs most outdoor venues in the U.S.) and are promoted by Clear Channel Concerts, the largest concert promoter in North America.
So when the artists return on their own tours, with their own production and set and sound and lights, half of the potential audience doesn't bother coming. Why should it? It just saw the same band two months ago for 15 bucks. Now you want it to come back for 40?
The half that do show up are largely unaware that of the $40 they've shelled out, the artist sees far less than half. At last summer's Barenaked Ladies concert in Irvine Meadows, Calif., the cheapest ticket was $10.75 (U.S.) — but that was strictly a base price. To that sum must be immediately added the "non-sharing revenue" — surcharges that the fan pays, but that the artist never sees.
At the Irvine concert, that included a $3.25 facility fee (rent, often for venues that Clear Channel already owns), a $3.25 parking fee (per person, so it would make no difference if you walked, took the bus, or stuffed 20 people in your minivan), an $8.75 Ticketmaster convenience fee (even more convenient is the fact that the promoter and the venue share in this, too) and a $3.50 Ticketmaster handling fee. That amounts to $18.75 in surcharges on a $10.75 ticket. Then, they get between 30 and 40 per cent of the band's merchandise sales, and 100 per cent of the food and drink - and of those little glow-in-the-dark gel things. Ooh, I hate those things.
And I've actually had promoters tell me to my face that it's the artists who are getting greedy.
So what is the average music fan to do? How to get out from under the giant, sweaty thumb of corporate America? Start with Internet radio. If you've got the bandwidth (and you don't need a lot for most of these stations), there are thousands of great conventional and Net-only stations out there waiting for you to discover their eclectic, exciting and deep play lists of everything from electronica and punk rock to oldies and country.
Many of these, such as spinner.com and shoutcast.com, are actually owned by corporate behemoths like America Online, but they really do a good job of passing for "underground." The Recording Industry Association of America is even trying to shut these stations down by demanding they pay nearly $20 per listener per year to the major labels (including the AOL-owned Warner Music Group, which owns the souls of such artists as Madonna, REM, Neil Young, Blue Rodeo and . . . Barenaked Ladies). Listen for free while you can.
Next option: Get out there and exercise that pocketbook. We in Canada are blessed with the cheapest CD prices in the world. Trust me, I'm addicted to record stores; I've been in them all around the globe. (Okay, they're cheaper in Vietnam, but they're also pirated there.) In Canada, unlike in the rest of the world, new releases are the cheapest thing in the store. Take a chance, buy some discs, and make your own decisions. Don't let a couple of programmers with a bad attitude order you around. It's your taste; find what you like. Find the record stores (bricks and mortar, and also on-line) that specialize in what you like, and ask them what's new, or what you've missed.
So if the music business is hell, just out to take advantage of the artists, why are Barenaked Ladies hosting the Junos this year? So that we can do exactly what these awards shows are all about: cheer on the musicians who have survived thus far. Everybody loves a survivor, and that's exactly what Canadian musicians are.
I'm going to be at the finish line with the towel and the Gatorade yelling, "Go Nickelback! Hang on to that last shred of your soul! You can do it, Sum 41! Only one more radio show! Nelly Furtado, I can't believe you still like music after the year and a half you've had! Run, Diana Krall, run!"
Come, join us.
Steven Page is a singer, songwriter and guitarist with the Barenaked Ladies, which won three Junos in 2001.
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On April 25 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto, 3/5 of Barenaked Ladies will perform (Steve, Tyler, and Jim).
Sarah Harmer, BNL members to play GAS CD shows
By JAM! Music
Members of Barenaked Ladies, plus Ron Sexsmith, Sarah Harmer, and Chris Brown & Kate Fenner are joining with other artists for a mini-tour in support of anti-free trade protestors.
The organization behind the "GAS CD" -- which was released last year to support activists arrested at the Summit Of The Americas in Quebec City -- is putting together the tour, which will visit Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.
The organization's website (gascd.com) said Brown and Fenner, Luther Wright And The Wrongs, Jason Collett, Tony Scherr, and The Dinner Is Ruined will perform at all the shows.
The Toronto date will feature BNL's Steven Page, Jim Creeggan, and Tyler Stewart, along with Sexsmith and Ember Swift. The Ottawa show will feature "special surprise guests", while the Montreal date will include Sarah Harmer.
Organizers said each stop of the tour will also feature speakers and multi-media presentations.
The Toronto date takes place April 25 at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. That will be followed by stops April 26 at Ottawa's Babylon and April 27 at Montreal's Club Soda. Tickets are available online via Maplemusic.com.
Last February, $200,000 raised by sales of the GAS CD was donated to the Quebec Legal Collective to support people arrested at the Quebec City demonstrations. The double-disc set featured among its 32 tracks contributions from Ani DiFranco, Gordon Downie, Bruce Cockburn, Michael Franti, Gil Scott-Heron, The Tragically Hip, Sarah Harmer, Barenaked Ladies, and Bill Frisell.
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This article from MTV.com mentions Thinbuckle
For The Record: Quick News On Eve, Ricky Martin, Uncle Kracker, Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan, Lit & More
Getting sent to the principal's office may not be such a bad thing after all if Eve or Ricky Martin rule the school. Along with more than 1000 civic leaders and celebrities, the First Lady of Ruff Ryders and the hip-swiveling pop star will serve as principals for a day as part of an education initiative in New York City taking place April 19. ...
Outkast, Nickelback, P.O.D., Godsmack, Alien Ant Farm, Sevendust, Default and Injected will take the stage for the third annual Rolling Rock Town Fair, taking place July 27 at the namesake beer's birthplace of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Last year's concert featured Stone Temple Pilots, Staind and Incubus, among others. ...
Sheryl Crow, the Goo Goo Dolls, Jewel, Five for Fighting, Ryan Adams and John Mayer will perform at the second annual Fan Nation concert April 27 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California. Each of the acts will participate in autograph sessions at a special interactive tent. ...
No Stranger to Shame, the second album from Kid Rock DJ Uncle Kracker, will hit shelves in mid-summer. Among the tracks slated for the follow-up to 2000's Double Wide is a version of Kracker's concert staple, Dobie Gray's 1973 hit "Drift Away," featuring Gray himself on backing vocals. ...
Sarah McLachlan and her drummer husband Ashwin Sood welcomed their first child Saturday, a baby girl named India. McLachlan and the baby are doing well. ...
SoCal punks Lit are going back to school — Paloma Valley High School in Menifee, California, that is, to host a fund-raising concert on April 10, called the Punk Rock Prom. Proceeds from the advance sale of 1,500 tickets have helped the school — located in Riverside County, adjacent to Lit's home turf of Orange County — meet its financial goal of building a new athletic complex. ...
Barenaked Ladies keyboardist Kevin Hearn will hit the road for a few weeks to promote his 2001 solo album, H-Wing. The tour begins May 5 in Montreal and ends May 18 in Ferndale, Michigan. ...
Goldfinger will release their fourth full-length album, Open Your Eyes, on May 21. The band recently filmed a "Twilight Zone"-like video for the title track first single. ...
Trance wizard Paul Van Dyk has remixed "Be Angled," the latest single from fellow German electronic artists Jam & Spoon. ...
Charleston, South Carolina's Jump, Little Children recently filmed a hometown show to be the centerpiece of a DVD titled "J,LC Return to the Farm," due this summer. Meanwhile, the band, whose 2001 album, Vertigo, is a favorite at college radio, will sing the national anthem at a Boston Red Sox game May 1. ... Ohio roots rockers O.A.R. will release the double-disc live album Any Time Now on May 7.
04.07.02
Ozzy Osbourne will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday. The metal-pioneer-turned-TV-star will be immortalized in front of the Ripley's Believe It or Not? Museum. ... Rapper Capone's day in court to face charges of second-degree assault has been adjourned to April 29. The accusations stem from a fight at a Queens, New York, nightclub last September, in which Capone was allegedly involved. ... Boomkat, a duo composed of multi-instrumentalist Kellin Manning and his actress sister, Taryn — co-star of Britney Spears' "Crossroads" and the upcoming Eminem flick, "8 Mile" — have inked a deal with DreamWorks Records, which will release their debut in September. A yet-to-be-determined single is expected to surface at radio in late May. ...
Darling buds of punk Green Day have posted news of a forthcoming B-sides, covers and rarities compilation on their Web site. Among the tracks that may end up on the disc, which is expected this summer, are covers of the Kinks' "Tired of Waiting for You" and the Ramones' "Outsider." ... Punk-O-Rama Vol. 7, the latest addition in the popular (and cheap) punk compilation series, is due June 25. Among the 19 tracks on the album are Guttermouth's "My Girlfriend" (from their upcoming summer release), Bad Religion's "The Defense," Rancid's "Bob," the Hives' "Supply and Demand" and "Black City" from the Swedish garage band the Division of Laura Lee. ...
Electronic music innovator Frank Tovey, perhaps better known as Fad Gadget, died of heart failure April 3 at his London home. Tovey, who suffered from heart problems since his childhood, recently toured with Depeche Mode and was working on new material at the time of his death, according to Mute Records, his longtime label, which released The Best of Fad Gadget in December. ... To commemorate this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, event promoter Goldenvoice has produced trading cards featuring performers on the eclectic lineup, according to the Los Angeles Times. Artists taking the stage at the event include headliners Björk and Oasis, the Foo Fighters, the Strokes, Dilated Peoples, Pete Yorn, Belle and Sebastian, Queens of the Stone Age, the Beta Band, Cake, Jurassic 5 and Saves the Day. ...
Alcon III, a fan convention in honor of crown prince of parody "Weird Al" Yankovic, is set for April 26-27 in Elk Grove, Illinois. Although the creator of such classics as "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" and "The Night Santa Went Crazy" won't be attending the event — which is scheduled to include live performances, lookalike contests, lip-synchs and a charity auction of "weird" wares — the presence of drummer Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz should appease the 400 fans expected to attend. ... The Who will issue four previously unreleased songs June 11 on a new best-of record called The Who: Ultimate Collection. ... Goo Goo Dolls drummer Mike Malinin performed with his Latin-flavored side project, Act of Faith, Thursday at the Roxy in West Hollywood. Ex-Oingo Boingo bassist John Avila is in the band as well. ... The Flying Tigers, the Los Angeles rock trio featuring ex-Powerman 5000 bassist Dorian Heartsong, will release their self-titled debut on April 16. "Maybe" is the first single. ...
—MTV News staff report
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Steven Page and Canada
From the LR site:
"As a feel-good exercise in literature and civics, the One Book, One Chicago concept was too good to leave to the Windy City. The idea is elegant in its simplicity: Once a year, everyone in the city agrees to read one title simultaneously. The inaugural selection of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird last fall was judged a success, and the idea is being implemented in other cities and towns across the United States.
In April, the CBC will extend the project to its widest audience yet as a panel of five eminent Canadians select one work of fiction for the country to read together. CBC Radio will broadcast the Canada Reads panel discussion twice daily from *April 15 to 19*. The panelists include former prime minister Kim Campbell, actor Megan Follows, musician Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies and writers Leon Rooke and Nalo Hopkinson. "
-info from National Post article (3/14/02).
For more information re: Canada Reads, please visit the CBC's website, cbc.ca in future.
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Here's an article about the new BC album, Sleepyhead.
Ed sings on a track ("Anna And The Moon.") with Sarah Harmer.
http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2002/04/1202.cfm
Brothers Creeggan Wipe The Sleep From Their Eyes
Friday April 12, 2002 @ 04:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
In the grand tradition of sibling musical acts, the Brothers Creeggan are at it again and about to release their fourth album thus far, Sleepyhead.
The album features guest vocalists Sarah Harmer and Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson who join forces on the track "Anna And The Moon." Sleepyhead hits Canadian shelves on May 7, but won't be in American stores until July 2.
The Creeggan boys (Jim and Andy) are old hat at this album release business — they have been in 13 different bands between them, and still have many different projects on the go. Former drummer for the Barenaked Ladies, Andy (the youngest of the Creeggan clan), left that band in 1994 to pursue his academic goals. In between work with his brother, Andy has been working on his solo album, Andiwork, and produced Dr. Tom's Leather, a Montreal based band comprised of some of Andy's old classmates.
Jim, currently still BNL's bass player, used his hiatus time from that band to complete the album with his brother after playing at the Superbowl and the Olympics with those four boys from Scarborough. Watch for Jim and the rest of the Barenaked boys on TV — they're hosting the Juno's on April 14.
The Creeggans' Canadian tour stops include:
May 9 Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus May 10 Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox May 11 Toronto, ON @ Rancho Relaxo May 23 Moncton, NB @ Aberdeen Cultural Center May 24 Halifax, NS @ Khyber Center for the Arts
—Hayley Butler
For those of you that didnt see the backstage pass thing on the Junos website or didnt see the show at all and wanted to see a little of Steve and Ed here is there interview clip from the webcast
HIGH SPEED
http://www.startcast.com/clients/sy...gment20_300.asx
the London Free Press tv guide had BNL on the cover of it this past week. It was one of the Maroon pictures with them standing in a V. There's also a small article inside about the Junos, with one of the CTW promo pics as well.
The other day Canada Am was boadcasting some Artists that will be at the Juno awards and Ed and Tyler were On talking about the Junos. They played a bit of table hockey with Justin Truedu and about half way though the game Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea showed up. They played for a few minutes before they went to a commerical. During the Weather report Ed was dancing(like they do on stage at the end of BNL shows).
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A few issues ago I asked readers to email me their opinions on the new commercial from Coors featuring a cover band doing a version of BNL’s “Who Needs Sleep?”. Here’s a few of your opinions.
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You've got my opinion on the commercial - exactly!! BNL gets NO
credit for the song, nor is it sung by them. Hardcore BNL fans know
it's them, but we already HAVE all their albums!!!!! And as a fan, I
like the commercial just because they use the song! But it IS nice
to see them getting more exposure. (Of course, the whole Olympics
things with Jamie and David helped!!)
Thanks for the newsletter. I always enjoy reading it.
Stay Naked
Denise
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In My opinion it just plain sucked. Why would’nt they have just used BNL’s original version. Cheap bastards.
Tom
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I don’t think it’s as horrible as most people do. I just like the fact that someone else appreciates BNL’s music. Especially a song that’s not even a hit.