Archive for November, 2008
Iron Maiden – A Story of Success
November 30th, 2008 | Author: admin
Iron Maiden was formed in 1975 by the current bassist Steve Harris. The original band consisted of Steve Harris on bass, Paul Day as lead singer, Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance were the guitarists, and Ron Mathews was the drummer. This line-up was very short lived. The band would undergo several changes before achieving wide stream success.
The first album released by Iron Maiden was aptly named “Iron Maiden”, which was released on April 14, 1980. By this time, the lineup had changed to Steve Harris on bass, Dave Murray and Dennis Stratton on guitar, Clive Burr on drums, and Paul Di’Anno on vocals. Shortly after the release of Iron Maiden, the band opened for Kiss on the European leg of their “Unmasked” tour. Shortly After the tour, guitarist Dennis Stratton was fired from the band due to creative and personal differences.
Sadly, in 1981 lead singer Paul Di’Anno was fired due to behaviors that were attributed to drug abuse. Bruce Dickenson was brought in as the lead singer, and after the third album “The Number of the Beast” was released in 1982, the success of Iron Maiden skyrocketed. The album kicked off a world tour. In the United States concert sites were met with protests by Christian activist groups who believed the album had satanic overtures. The protests, along with album burning parties gave Iron Maiden even more publicity, and may have contributed even more to the bands success. The follow up album “Piece of Mind”, released in 1983 was the first album to go platinum in the United States. By this time, drummer Clive Burr had left the band due to personal reasons, and he was replaced by Nicko McBrain who stayed with the band to this very day.
The band continued wide stream success during the eighties with albums “Powerslave”, “Somewhere in Time”, and “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”. Iron Maiden merch was selling very well. Everywhere you looked you could find Eddie on a t-shirt. Bruce Dickenson was with the band for two more albums in the nineties (”No Prayer for the Dying” and “Fear of the Dark”) before leaving the band in 1993 to pursue a solo career. His replacement was Blaze Bailey of Wolfsbane fame. Bailey’s vocals were very different than Dickerson’s, and his inclusion in the band met with limited success. The album “The X Factor” suffered from poor sales, and a follow up album “Virtual XI” released in 1998 suffered the poorest sales ever.
In 1999 Bruce Dickenson and Adrian Smith rejoined the band, and they embarked on a world tour. Fans were hungry for the Iron Maiden that had achieved most of it’s success in the eighties, and the tour was a huge hit. Once again you could see Iron Maiden merch everywhere. On April 21, 2009 the band will release the film “Iron Maiden: Flight 666″, which follows the band on their first leg of the “Somewhere Back in Time Tour”. In Sau Paulo Brazil on March 16, 63000 people attended the show, the most ever for an Iron Maiden concert. With A new album due to be released sometime this year, Iron Maiden is expected to add a new generation of fans to the huge legions of old fans.
By: Missy Ray
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Don Was Grammy Awards
November 26th, 2008 | Author: admin
By: exploretalent
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Hit Parade Italia TOP 20 – Settembre 2009 – DanntaS
November 24th, 2008 | Author: admin
By: danntasbrasil
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Loose Women: A Loose Woman In A Rickshaw & Can Carol Name The Top 3 In The Music Charts?
November 21st, 2008 | Author: admin
By: x7tinkerbell7x
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090903 F(X) Sulli – YTN NEWS Cut
November 20th, 2008 | Author: admin
By: kpopseries
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The Jonas Brothers Paranoid 51st Grammys 2009 A Little Bit Longer Keep It Real TV Show
November 17th, 2008 | Author: admin
By: exploretalent
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MYMUSIX NET
November 16th, 2008 | Author: admin
By: MrMymusix
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Bands And How Not To Lose A Million Dollars
November 14th, 2008 | Author: admin
1) Drinking and/or Drugs (Part 1)
Yeah, I’ve heard it all. “Its part of the rock and roll lifestyle!” “It’s only when I’m on the road.” “What are you, straight-edge? Everybody does it.” To be clear, we’re not talking about having a couple of beers. We’re talking about the undefined drug cocktails, the band member who blacks out and has no recollection of what he did last night and last night didn’t remember who he was. We’re talking about those with a real problem. And if it your band mate’s problem it inevitably soon becomes your problem. Drugs and are a great way to end up working at a car wash and being referred to locally as, “that guy who used to be kinda famous.” The advice to avoid this scenario is simple: if you don’t want to end up an alcoholic or an addict, avoid drugs and alcohol. The moment these scourges start to interfere with your band, you have a problem. And the moment you start denying that they’re interfering with your band, you have a big problem. If this sounds like you, please get healthy and contact your local AA branch or MusiCares MAP (Musician’s Assistance Program).
2) Drinking and/or Drugs (Part 2)
I have met countless bands who complain that they’re broke. They go on about how they have no money to buy food or gas yet put money into 12-packs of Budweiser as if they owned stock. Now, let’s do a little math. Assuming you don’t have an endorsement where you obtain it for free, let’s say you run a band bar tab of $60 for your various alcoholic beverages of choice. If you’re playing even just on the weekends, you’re easily spending over $400 a month on alcohol. And if you’re a full-time touring band…you can see where much of your money is going. And don’t even get me started on bands that can’t afford new guitar strings and yet somehow manage to find enough money to buy their drug of choice every night. These intoxicated scenarios lead to a simple, yet poignant question: Which do you want more drugs or success, because the two don’t go together well for long.
3) Spend $10,000 on a Music Video
I have met several bands though the years that are able to obtain some money and excitedly tell me the first thing they are planning to lay down some significant cash on is a music video. My reply is generally, “Why?” Because in and of itself, how exactly does a music video further your career? Does it independently increase your sales? Can you sell it to make you money to spend on other things? Do music video viewers tend to be motivated enough, without any other source of promotion, to buy your music? Invariably, the band gets defensive and mumbles something along the lines of, “We thought it would be cool.”
There are two points to take away from this. First off, bands, you have no business at this stage in your career spending $10,000 on anything that isn’t going to have a direct effect on your sales. Secondly, “Because it would be cool,” is not a substantial reason to spend lots of money on things that aren’t going to catapult your career to another level.
4) Indulge in Personalized Fancy Stage Gear
Another phenomenon I’ve witnessed is that bands with some money behind them seem to forget who they are. Do I mean this in some existential sense? No, I mean this literally, because they insist on everything – equipment, instruments, body parts – being emblazoned with their band name. And though there is no problem with this in theory, when you’ve finally obtained some capital do you really want to spend thousands of dollars on something as trivial as customized, matching road cases? Remember, at this stage it’s not about what you want, it’s about what you need and how what you need can lead to an amplified band profile, which results in increased sales and opportunities.
5) Order Customized Stage Clothing that Costs More than Your Rent
Like it or not, much importance is placed on the visual aspects of musical groups. However, it seems unfathomable that on a band’s short list of priorities that stage attire would rank above something as integral equipment that reliably functions correctly. And yet, bands often put more time – and money – into their respective appearances than the more unglamorous, essential elements to their impending success. It again comes down to a group’s priorities. When you run out of money and spend the next year playing the same ten venues because you chose trendy outfits over a more useful form of band advancement, will new outfits still be worth it? After all, who is going to appreciate your fierce new wardrobe if you are still playing in front of the same 500 people you always do because you didn’t have the money to break into other markets?
6) Spend $30,000+ on Recording a New Album
Certainly, recording a quality album is every band’s rightful priority. Bands need to spend enough that they get prime recordings and work with a producer they feel comfortable with. And there are definitely advantages to working with a “name” producer. However, at your current stage, it may make more sense to work with an up-and-coming producer who has worked with many notable bands, rather than a super producer who has worked with legends. Besides, if your band spends all of its money on recording the “perfect” album, with the “perfect producer, in the “perfect” studio, what’s left to actually sell your “perfect” album? Remember, good albums don’t sell themselves. If they did, then you wouldn’t have had to obtain this outside funding in the first place, would you?
It is clear just how focused your band needs to be in determining how your funding ought to be allotted. Getting funded is only the first step of many that will directly impact your career. So remember to ask yourself the next time that irresistible temptation comes along – is this really necessary to our long-term career? If not, perhaps it’s better to avoid it until there comes a time where you can afford to lose a million dollars.
© 2008 Refugee Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
By: Alana Mileras
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Rihanna Take A Bow Music Charts & Box Office Rating
November 7th, 2008 | Author: admin
By: NewBackstreetboys
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