I’m a random type of person. When I listen to music, it’s almost always from a random playlist, a burned CD with random tracks or the radio (although there isn’t much randomness out there these days, anyway). I’m a perpetual channel surfer, often watching several shows at once but knowing what’s going on in each. So, when I was thinking about column ideas for this week, my randomness kicked in once again.
Thus, in the spirit of mixing things up a little, I’ve decided to offer up my thoughts on a variety of issues, rather than focusing on one. Here goes nothing.
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Within the past few weeks, new collections of both Elvis and Simon and Garfunkel’s music have been released. Elvis’ was the second in a series of hits albums, whereas Simon and Garfunkel’s was part of the recently launched “Essential” collection, which aims to release the “best of” collections of a plethora of classic bands.
These two releases are only the most recent versions of a trend sweeping the music industry — re-releases. “Digitally remastered” has become commonplace on now-more-expensive releases of older albums, and record companies are adding bonus tracks and never-before-heard songs up the wazoo. Are these re-releases worth our collective dollar or just another ploy to get us to buy overpriced CDs?
My guess is, unless you’re a hardcore fan of the featured group, you already own the album and don’t need to bother buying it again for a few “new” tracks you can probably download anyway. Until the prices of CDs in general drop, it seems the re-release phenomenon will eventually fade away.
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Quentin Tarantino recently released his first new movie in six years, “Kill Bill vol 1.” With the overwhelming success of his past movies and the fact that the “Kill Bill vol 1.” has been one of the most highly anticipated films of the year, you’d think Tarantino would be rabid about its release.
According to a recent Rolling Stone interview, he was. He raved on about how fun it was to make, how he thought it turned out well and how terrific star Uma Thurman was in it.
However, when it came time for the big premiere, there was no Tarantino to be found. Citing a “cold, flu and fever” as the reason for his absence, his rep told Entertainment Weekly that he was ordered to stay at home and “take his vitamins and fluids.”
Maybe I’m being insensitive here, but what kind of director is willing to miss the premiere of his first movie in six years, touted to be one of 2003’s biggest blockbuster hits, because he’s sick? With the flu? If I were he, I wouldn’t miss that kind of event for anything, except death.
By not showing up, in the first place, and giving such a lame excuse, in the second place, Tarantino is starting to give off a definitive “I’m too good for this” air. He went from being a local video-store clerk to being one of the world’s most popular filmmakers in just a few years; the least he could do is show up at his own premieres to let fans know he is still as rabid about his profession as he was when “Pulp Fiction” came out.
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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — athletes should not attempt to gain fame as music artists. Case in point: the halftime feature during Monday Night Football’s Chicago vs. Green Bay game. In the feature, two NFL players — in this case, Detroit quarterback Joey Harrington and San Diego defensive end Marcellus Wiley — squared off in a contest to see who was the most musically inclined, Harrington playing the piano with Blues Traveler’s John Popper and Wiley rapping with DMC. Fans voted on their favorite (Harrington apparently won by a landslide), and whoever won moved on to another round of competition.
What I don’t understand is where pro athletes are getting the idea that they’ll be successful in music as well as sports. Have you ever seen an athlete turn to music and have a thriving, successful career? I didn’t think so.
When I think of athlete-musicians, I think of the “Super Bowl Shuffle,” Shaq’s barely noticed attempt at becoming a rapper and now-infamous basketball star Kobe Bryant’s duet with Tyra Banks (in which he says, rather ominously, “Think ya eyein’ me, all along, I’m eyein’ you / The hunter becomes the hunted, girl, I’m preying on you . . . I figure, hour-glass figures could be dangerous.”)
We all look back at these examples and laugh — the video for “Super Bowl Shuffle” is still, in my mind, one of the funniest things to come out of the 1980s. Stick to your sports, gentlemen, or you’ll go down in the history books as one big joke.
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Just one more thing — a recent study says music has a large influence on students’ moods. As the semester’s midpoint passes us by, and we all start to get busier than we can possibly imagine, don’t forget to throw on some of your favorite tunes. If you here Weezer’s Pinkerton coming out of my apartment at full volume, don’t be alarmed — I’m just self-medicating.
