TAYLOR SWIFT SENDS MUSIC INDUSTRY INTO SHOCK
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THE GLORIOUS CORNER
Story By: G. H. HARDING
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| Taylor Swift |
SWIFT’S SHAKE --- The music industry went into seismic shock yesterday when Taylor Swift (during a highly anticipated Yahoo! live stream) unveiled her new single “Shake It Off” and news about her forthcoming album, 1989. Per the artist, the album is her first real pop record and the single is a spot-on rendering of a true, blue pop single.
At an record industry mixer of sorts last night, the assembled multitude pondered the impact of her new sound. PR-pasha David Salidor, remarked that the new single, as well as the video for the song (released yesterday as well) reminded him of nothing more than an artist he worked with in the late-80's … Debbie Gibson.
He said the video was something of a direct steal from Gibson's own “We Could Be Together" video. He went onto to say that the essence of the record was great and a more-pop vehicle was bound to happen. “With the amazing success she’s enjoyed, and having established herself as a multi-faceted artist, this latest development doesn't surprise me at all; I'm just surprised it took so long.”
The album, Swift announced, was inspired by the late 80’s pop she has been listening too. Swift went on to describe the 80’s as “a time of limitless potential, a time of bright colors, bold chances, and rebellion. Perhaps not coincidentally, Swift was born in 1989.
"Shake It Off" is a perfect pop song. "I never miss a beat," Swift sings in the second verse, and it's an appropriate way to describe the song. Her voice sounds better than it ever has, and with Max Martin and Shellback's production skills behind her, Swift has crafted a song that's unrelentingly catchy and upbeat.
"Shake It Off" does sound different from the songs on her previous album Red. There's a more pronounced beat, and the acoustic guitar sounds of Swift's early years are completely eradicated. But "Shake It Off" mostly sounds like a cleaner version of the work Max Martin did on Red. The catchy, pop beat of "Shake It Off" isn't really all that different from the one used on "I Knew You Were Trouble." The difference, and the problem for long-time Swift fans, is that the personal anecdotes and stories are gone.
Swift told the world that the song was about "The idea that people can say whatever they want about us at any time, and we cannot control that. The only thing we can control is our reaction." She then gave two options for how a person could respond to those people talking: "Let it make you bitter, or shake it off."
LONG ISLAND ROCKS --- Though Billy Joel isn't officially part of the gala, his core band from the 70’s and 80’s – including drummer Liberty DeVitto, who twice sued Joel over royalties, and the late Doug Stegmeyer, his longtime bassist and backing vocalist – is set to be inducted at the biennial gala scheduled for Oct. 23 at The Paramount in Huntington, according to sources close to the event.
Joel told Long Island’s Newsday through his spokeswoman (Claire Mecuri) that he will not be able to attend the event because he will be out of the country that night.
Also set for induction this year are music moguls Clive Davis, whose remarkable record label career has been instrumental in the careers of superstars ranging from Joel to Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys, and Ron Delsener, the canny-concert promoter who has handled music’s biggest shows for decades and brought rock and roll concerts to Jones Beach.
Broadway legend Patti LuPone and record-setting singer-songwriter Debbie Gibson will also be inducted.
MAD MEN CLUES --- There are still seven more episodes of Mad Men left before AMC bids goodbye to Don Draper, Roger Sterling and whatever the advertising agency is called now following yet another merger. The first half of the series' final season ended on a satisfying note, with Draper and Sterling surviving a power struggle and Bert Cooper closing out the May 2014 finale with a song-and-dance number. However, series creator Matthew Weiner is already preparing himself for negative feedback when Mad Men's series finale arrives in Spring 2015.
"The road has been paved for a mixed review, no matter what. I do what I've always done on the show and rely on the people around me. The actors, the writers, and my wife all liked it, so that’s all I can go on at this point. I hate to say this — obviously ending the entire series is significantly more pressure — but it’s been that way every year," Weiner told the Wall Street Journal.
"I never knew if the show was coming back for most of the series, so we treated every episode 13 like it was the end. It’s very bittersweet and high-pressure."
Fan conspiracy theories have Mad Men ending with everything from a Charlie Manson-like massacre to the series going dark at the strike of midnight on New Year's Eve 1970. While Weiner didn't offer up any clues on how it all ends, he did reveal that he's spoken with people involved with a pair of much anticipated series finales, perhaps for some insight. "The people at Breaking Bad, Lost, everybody told us this, too, 'what a safety net it is to not be off the air yet'," continued Weiner. "We all know that, whatever splitting the season meant, the true ending of the show hasn't happened yet."
While we're still months away from Mad Men's conclusion, the show itself finished filming earlier this summer. Weiner admitted that one prop he took home was Roger Sterling's bar. “Roger’s bar is the happiest bar on the show, so I always thought that would be nice,” he said. One thing we do know about the series' final episodes: Sally Draper will not go to Woodstock.
BRICK HOUSE --- Eagle Rock will release Thick As A Brick - Live In Iceland by Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson on 2 CD, DVD, SD Blu-ray and digital formats. This is the first time Thick As A Brick and Thick As A Brick 2: Whatever Happened To Gerald Bostock? have been offered in a combined set, resulting in a superb presentation of the complete story of Gerald Bostock.
Jethro Tull’s famed concept album Thick As A Brick was originally released in 1972 and featured one continuous track spread across two sides of an LP telling the story of a young boy named Gerald Bostock. 40 years later in 2012, Jethro Tull’s founder and leader Ian Anderson continued the story, with the creation of Thick As A Brick 2: Whatever Happened To Gerald Bostock? Following this release, Anderson took both albums on the road to present the complete narrative live. This show, filmed in Iceland, brings Gerald’s tale to life as never before and creates the definitive presentation of Thick As A Brick.
Ian Anderson recently released the very successful solo album Homo Erraticus, and is currently on tour across Europe from June to September (full details at www.jethrotull.com).
Underlining not only Anderson’s importance as a songsmith, Thick As A Brick – Live In Iceland also showcases this consummate live performer.
CLOSING NOTES --- When hot-headed Alec Baldwin has been been dealing with the police , he needs to issue a press release even when he's not involved in a dispute.
The actor released a statement this week, following an arrest an at his apartment building in New York's Greenwich Village.
“In recent history, when the cops are called to 28 East 10th Street, you could likely guess it’s about one particular person,” said Baldwin.
But this time it was Baldwin's neighbor Jaime McKeown, 56, who was arrested on charges of allegedly hitting another tenant with a frying pan in a noise dispute.
Baldwin's housekeeper and personal assistant witnessed the dispute as they were taking an elevator down from his apartment.
The doors opened on the fifth floor, where they saw the alleged assault taking place.
According to cops, McKeown allegedly beat and dragged the unidentified neighbor, who was then taken to the hospital.
McKeon allegedly struck the victim on her head with a metal frying pan, causing her to fall to the floor, lose consciousness and suffer great swelling and substantial pain.
Baldwin says other people in the building say the two tenants were fighting about noise in the victim's apartment.
“As a prosecutor would say, he was lying in wait, crouched down,” Baldwin said. “And then he allegedly cracks the woman with a frying pan. What is that? He waited for her to show up and — Bam!”
Baldwin described the victim as a quiet and shy person who is nothing but a lovely woman and McKeown as wound very tight (something Baldwin knows a bit about).
McKeown was arrested and charged with second-degree assault.
Baldwin added that he thinks it might be best that his building install security cameras in case a similar incident happens again.
The actor's building, Devonshire House, has been the backdrop of many of Baldwin's dramas - notably when he got into a fight with paparazzi who wanted to snap wife Hilaria with their new baby last year.
Hey, how about this as a new Fall-TV Show: Alec Baldwin, D.A.?
SIGHTINGS --- DJ Glenn Friscia and former Sirius-talent coordinator Anthony Lopez confabbing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn … Broadway-pundit Aubrey Reuben shuffling along 8th Avenue in NYC …
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