Over the past decade or so, being a boy raised on rock and roll who once, like many other millions, dreamed of being a rock musician full time. The years that have passed since that dream became cloudy has shown me that for me I made the right choice in going to law school instead of trucking out to L.A. where my other musicians freinds from Houston fled after high school and college.
Several of my friends have done quite well in the music business, although the digital inroads in recording and playback have definately altered not only their career model but how they live and work. The difference between the two guys who have done well in L.A. and I is that they are both, and both have been since very young teenage days, massively monsterous lead guitarist, with the kind of talent that ones doesn't find easily even in a music town like L.A. And it also helps if you have a music instruction degree from a name music college so that you can teach some music instruction in L.A. to keep that rent paid, at least when you initially arrive.
So over the last twenty years I've watched, sometimes with interest and often with chagrin, as numerous bands from the 60's and 70's and 80's have reformed for tours. I think most of us suspect the reason this occurs many times is for financial reasons. Many of these tours take place in significantly downgraded locales than these bands were playing the first time around.
I read this morning that the THE CARS are reforming. I certainly liked the Cars a lot in my day, until Ric Ocasek discovered the Synclaver and/or Linn Drum and removed live drumming and live playing from their albums. At that point, they became just another synth band with a great guitarist, because if memory serves even the guitar solos were digitized via the Synclaver. I saw them in concert in the early 80's before Ocasek became obsessed with digital synchronization and with how many BPM's their songs were going for.
The best thing so far about this Cars reunion is that someone other than Ocasek has been doing the talking. The worst thing about the reunion is that although 4/5th's of the original band is together for their new album, the original vocalist Ben Orr, arguably the heart of the band, passed on in 2000. So any recombobulation of The Cars is not going to sound right in terms of performing old songs.
I'm not excited about a Cars reunion. What would excite me in terms of bands or artists reuniting? I'll think on that one a while and maybe get some comments going about who you would want to see again in concert.
Meanwhile, I think I'll go get my Cars greatest hits CD to listen to in the car this morning. Those fellows had some great, great tunes early on in their heyday. I think it's just what I needed.
And btw, give a ganger to the picture at the CNN article on the regrouping of the Cars. Damn, I know I'm old but at least I am old and am not trying to be a teenager in attire or a sadly lacking disheivled hairdo. Oh well, I know rock starts like to look "larger than life", but somebody needs to tell Mr. Ocasek that the collarless shirts he was wearing are not back in style yet from the early 80's.
I'm just saying.
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