I went to see Parsons Dance at The Joyce last night with co-AJ blogger Judith Dobrzynski, and was immediately brought back to a simpler time when the last Parsons piece, In The End, opened with Dave Matthews Band’s Satellite.
You know a band’s popular when even I–no older siblings, ballet, harp, matching colored socks to turtlenecks, Star Trek, Boy Meets World, the “Disney Afternoon”, Narnia–had a copy of Under The Table and Dreaming.
A quick gander at the actually not un-cool Dave Matthews Band website and the full-page ad for a Citi Field concert in this week’s Time Out NY would seem to prove that “DMB” is still touring quite successfully. But do you remember how famous they were? Throughout the Parsons piece, I thought about all the bands and songs I was “obsessed” with ten, fifteen, years ago. To name a few of the most embarrassing: EVƎ 6 (“I burn burn like a wicker cabinet”), Guster (“She comes from far away, and gets closer everyday”), Splender (“The world seems bigger than both of us, yet it seems so small when I begin to cry”), and Fastball (“If you’re sad then it’s time you spoke up, too”). I refuse to include the Gin Blossoms (“’cause all I really want’s to be with you and feel like I matter, too”) in this list, because I Stand By that obsession.
Sure, plenty of artists who were unbelievably successful in the 90s still are today–Madonna, Radiohead (against any kind of odds or trends), U2, Pearl Jam (after a break, which is an important point, but perhaps for another blog post), The Beastie Boys (I guess?), Green Day (again, after a break), Weezer, etc.–but what of Hanson, Spin Doctors, Hootie & the Blowfish, Barenaked Ladies, Meredith Brooks…I mean, Marcy Playground? Chumbawamba?? And these are the, for lack of a better word, over-ground bands; we haven’t even gotten into what will become of “underground”–that is, “not on Z100”–bands like Yeasayer, Frightened Rabbit, and The Dirty Projectors, in ten years. About four people made fun of me for going to a Clientele concert last summer. They were JUST TRENDY! How are they already been doomed to indie rock Splender-dom?
This is perhaps, an apples and oranges situation, but let’s see how we do:
It seems to me that while you have less chance of a meteoric rise to fame as a classical musician, there is more opportunity for a 40-plus year career than there is in rock and popular music. We can all probably name the, what, 20 (?) rock and pop artists with 40-year careers, while hundreds of classical musicians have achieved this. Sure, less people may have bought a classical musician’s albums or heard him or her perform live in any given one-month or one-year span, but after decade upon decade of performing all over the world, even to perhaps not-capacity crowds, classical musicians reach a lot of people. They also reach a lot people over multiple generations, whereas if someone under 20 can sing through Heart in a Blender with me right now, I’ll eat my hat. (Wait – do I even have any under-20 readers?)
But if every musician of any genre was given a genie in a bottle (Christina Aguilera, 1999, 5 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100), which would they choose? 40 years of consistent fame to a small percentage of the population, or a handful of years of fame to billions and then obscurity? What Would Joshua Bell Do? What Would Chumbawamba Do? And if we think that every musician would choose the long-term fame option, then why are so many so eager to do all the press and get all the exposure they can right in this moment, without so much as a glance toward longevity?
You discuss, because I have to go download “Sex and Candy” now.
Wow, I don’t even know who did “Heart in a Blender”! But it is interesting that when the popularity smoke clears, Dave Matthews does seem a lot cooler to me, music and everything. I like that he has that label that David Gray and Mike Doughty are on.
It seems popular music gets so much airplay and soundbite exposure (on top of this, the bands and the artists sometimes get overexposed themselves), that people either lose interest or become hateful. Whether or not they rise above that depends on the artist. Christina Aguilera has a great voice and worked with Herbie Hancock, so I’ve already forgotten about the genie song!
Oh my goodness, I saw Parsons Dance last year, and they had an entire piece set to DMB songs. Like, eight of them. It was nice to get to hear them again, I guess. But also strange?
It was probably the same (did it start with ‘Satellite’?), unless they have MORE THAN ONE DMB program? -AA
You…me…Eve 6’s greatest hits and 2 quarts of V8. Next time you’re in the Jerz.
Wanna put my tender
Heart in a blender
Watch it spin around to a beautiful oblivion
Rendezvous then I’m through with you
Remember when Maroon 5 was popular?
If I were a musician I’d choose the 5 minutes of huge fame as opposed to the slow, steady 4 decades of fame. You can always parlay gigantic fame into several reality TV comeback projects.
This is my first boss, everyone. And I freakin’ love V8. -AA
This is a good opportunity to point to Hanson playing Radiohead. Not bad but then I was a closet Hanson fan…
http://lala.com/zVgFI
The Dave Matthews Band …
It’s a sign of – well, something, that John Edwards promised Rielle Hunter that the Dave Matthews Band would be the the entertainment at their wedding reception.
As for the question of five years or so of mega-fame versus 40 years of small-scale classical-music-style fame, I’d take the 40 years. If you get all that attention and money in just a few years and then it fades, you’ll have too much time on your hands and wind up drinking or snorting all your money and coming to A Bad End. The 40 years of lesser fame keeps you showing up and working and focused. And after the 40 years have passed, folks think you’re wonderful just for lasting that long.
Hey! I’m 19!!! You’ve got one!!!!
and honestly, dmb hasnt lost any popularity…at all. i have friends who paid over 200$ for one ticket; it’s nuts the cult following he has (then again, so does coldplay and im a bit of their cult member.)
oh and Eve 6, gotta put out “anytime” by them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QwcFu9Kewo
and i hate that hootie has broken up. i’m from columbia sc (where they started) and can remember seeing them at some free concerts in a park when i was REALLY little. the good news is that the radio stations in columbia still play them a fair amount just because of their “local” status.
I’m thinking five minutes of fame- you can sure do a lot with the income and the doors that might open for additional interesting projects, even if those aren’t famous. In addition, performing and practicing classical music is an end in itself- interesting and connected to your entire life from your childhood when you began all the way through to your old age (if you make it and can still play!) That’s my vote!!
This is waaay out of left field, but I have to reject the whole premise here. In a perfect, idealized world — and shouldn’t we all aspire to live in one? — fame shouldn’t be a consideration at all. Given the choice, I’d rather do good work that I am proud of, regardless of the consequences to my own notoriety. That doesn’t mean choosing classical over pop necessarily, it just means that if you gave a genie in a bottle to every musician, I would hope they would ask the genie to make them better musicians, regardless of the genre they work in. As Trevor Griffiths said in his play “Comedians”: It’s alright to want to be famous, but you have to want to be good first. Because you’ll never be good later.
“I saw Parsons Dance last year, and they had an entire piece set to DMB songs. Like, eight of them. It was nice to get to hear them again, I guess. But also strange?”
Strange and lazy. A company like Parsons dance should commission new music by a composer or song writer to accompany new dance. Using prerecorded popular music continues to create stagnation in the art form.
And furthermore, there is so little if any critical writing in NYC about the collaborative work of choreographers and composers it doesn’t surprise me that a Parson’s dance company would go with a “name” in order to grab the attention of critics and press.
Full disclosure: I’ve composed a lot of music for choreographers and I’ve gotten my props from the NY Times and New Sounds. I just genuinely think the potential for other future collaborations are undermined when larger companies with bigger budgets go for the Dave Matthews, Billy Joels, or (for the umpteenth time) Steve Reich/Philip Glass/Arvo Part.
I’m 20 — that’s got to count for something, right?
@Peet:
“This is waaay out of left field, but I have to reject the whole premise here. In a perfect, idealized world — and shouldn’t we all aspire to live in one? — fame shouldn’t be a consideration at all.”
A perfect, idealized world? You’ve got the wrong blog for that. (Try lies like truth or maybe Creative Destruction.) Life’s a Pitch is all about dealing with the world we actually live in.
Har! Funny I should read this now. I just finished writing a blog post about deciding to see a Blood Brothers thrash concert instead of a free Hilary Hahn concert. I figured there was a much greater chance that the Blood Brothers wouldn’t be around much longer while I’d have plenty of more opportunities to see Hilary play. I was right.
PS I ended up seeing Hilary that night anyway. She showed up at the show unannounced to play a set with Trail of Dead!