Sunday, May 31, 2009
"Old Rockers" and the Commercial Appeal
Posted by Bruce VanWyngarden on Sun, May 31, 2009 at 9:27 AM
Commercial Appeal editor Chris Peck gets all metaphorical in his column today, suggesting "Old Rockers" such as Three Dog Night (who played the Sunset Symphony) have something to teach the newspaper business. ("If the boys of Three Dog Night can still rock it, still conjure up good feelings from years gone by, why not newspapers?")
I see where he's trying to go, but man, Three Dog Night is a really bad example. Bands like TDN, The Moody Blues, the Doobie Brothers, etc. are nostalgia acts that travel around the country playing their "hits" from 30 years ago, night after night after night, mostly for old people. They don't have "chops," as Peck calls them; they have routines. They perform the same songs with the same guitar lines and even the same stage patter over and over again. As a model for the newspaper business, that's one helluva tone-deaf metaphor.
There are, of course, "old rockers" such as Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, David Byrne, Jim Dickinson etc. who are still reinventing themselves, writing new songs, trying new forms, challenging their audiences. If I'm looking for a longevity model for my newspaper — or any business, for that matter — that's where I'm going. But hey, that's just me.
Peck goes on to suggest that one of the "lessons" newspapers can learn from Old Rockers is to find the venues that work, i.e. "sitting on the grass outside a botanic garden or working with a symphony," not playing an "all-nighter at the Hi-Tone." Unfortunately for daily newspapers (and Peck's analogy), the people going to the Hi-Tone are precisely the audience (younger, hip, engaged) that newspapers need to cultivate. Three Dog Night and other nostalgia acts (and their fans) will soon be under the grass — along with businesses whose leaders think emulating their careers is a good idea.
Comments (8)
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Well stated, Bruce. And while Led Zeppelin may be playing in the background, I am reading your post through an RSS feed, while today's ad-laden CA still lays in my driveway.
As the fates would have it, I caught an "Old Rocker" act myself Saturday night -- Jefferson Starship at the Italian Fest. I didn't see Chris Peck in the crowd, but he shoulda been there, 'cause it was his kind of act, as outlined in his column.
In all honesty, Mickey Thomas et al. (including Jimi Jamison for a drop-in on "Survivor") were a crowd-pleaser, and it takes a harder man than me to complain about an outfit that descends from Gracie Slick and Marty Balin and those other original Airplaners.
Mickey, of course, worked with Gracie in the early days of Starship, and they had some hits that were duly rendered. They also did some vintage Airplane stuff, including "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" (the group's new diva, Stephanie Calvert, did passably well on those).
Hell, I'm halfway to a review and didn't mean to be. Actually, both Peck and Bruce are right, given their vantage points. Dylan, btw, is a special case. He never did a song the same way twice even when it was fresh. I once went to one of his concerts in which he did in fact reprise a lot of old stuff -- but so differently that the stoner to my left kept sayig, "That's off his new album, man!" Right. "Masters of War," "Blowin' in the Wind," and suchlike.
Oh, and I gotta share this: I remember when an iprovised all-star grop played the Italian Festival, and, after one number an ex-sideman with Iron Butterfly took to the mike and broke the applause to exclaim, "Thank YEW, Italian Festival!"
Or maybe that was Mickey Rourke.
Words overheard at a planning meeting:
"The Commercial Appeal must cash in on the nostalgia of the golden age of newspapers. Our base is people who buy the newspaper out of habit, rather than need. We must find ways of reintroducing that habit to our potential customers. Think of how these people will go out and buy yet another remastered version of the same greatest hits of some band, even though they already have five previous collections of the same greatest hits. That is our target dollar, gentlemen. Let us seize it, while our customers are still breathing. And if we succeed, this newspaper will survive just long enough for us to find better jobs in better cities, or retire."
it would be funny if it weren't so sad. was talking to someone who recently moved here from birmingham and he commented about how bad the ca is compared to the flyer and the daily news. and he is over 50.
just for grins, let's say peck's strategy were the right way to go: the ca isn't even making that work.
they aren't filling the needs of their "old rockers," by keeping "your standards up and your work timely and well-presented."
And they're certainly not gaining any ground with the younger audience, either.
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