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Last Of The Great Pretenders

July 11, 2012

by:

Joe Patti

Last month when I heard that Herb Reed of the Platters had died and was reminded that he had waged a fairly protracted legal battle over the use of the Platters name, I thought back to an entry I did about the question of who owns a band’s name.

At the time, there were over 80 groups listed performing under the Platters name and a number of people, including Reed claiming ownership. There was a push for truth in music laws to keep imposter bands but as noted in my entry and the NPR story I link to, it isn’t always very easy to determine who has the most valid ownership claim.

As something of a postscript to my original entry, Reed was ultimately successful in exerting his claim as the sole original member.

Legal Topics

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Do U2 Fans Like Ballet?

July 10, 2012

by:

Joe Patti

Back in 2006 U2 was supposed to play here in town but had to postpone because of an illness in the Edge’s family. We had a dance performance schedule for that day and I got it into my head to target U2 fans to attend the show with a “Does Bono Like Ballet?” ad campaign.

You can read about my rationale for attempting this and what the results of my little experiment were.

It was difficult to actually identify how many U2 fans came, though we had a good number of people buy tickets using the discount phrase according to the sales records.

Just for the record, the band did reschedule to just before Christmas. I went to the concert and had a great time.

Marketing/PR

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Still Cool As Hell After All These Years

July 9, 2012

by:

Joe Patti

Today I am going to point you back to an interview Michael Rice of Cool As Hell Theatre Podcast did with playwright Paula Vogel.

Michael stopped doing his podcast a few years back but keeps the site working because, you know, he is cool as hell.

It is worth listening just to hear his customary lead in, but as I observed when I first wrote about the interview, Vogel has some interesting things to say:

“She does say some interesting things about the messages artists are getting these days. Among them are her feelings that “Darwin and captialism are very bad models for art” (3:15) and art begets art.

I was also intrigued by her idea that even though she was a klutz, she had to learn to play sports and as a result, all athletes today, artists of the flesh she calls them, speak for her inner athlete. She hopes for the day that every creative artist speaks for the inner artist housed in everyone.

[…]

She does present some quotable moments like “art is a dog that you feed that bites you” (7:05) when arguing that art should challenge society but the agenda of arts funders is to make art palatable and devoid of challenge.

Advocacy, Art(ist) Education, State of the Arts

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Thomas Jefferson, Artist

July 4, 2012

by:

Joe Patti

On this lovely 4th of July, I point you to the Founding Father’s Musical, 1776. While there are some songs I like a little better, this one appeals to me because:

1- As John Adams and Ben Franklin press Martha Jefferson about what attracted her to Thomas Jefferson, she lists many of his impressive accomplishments as a landowner and statesman. But as to what really smote her, she says it is because he plays the violin. What arts person doesn’t like it when the art gets the girl?

2- I like the concept that playing the violin makes Thomas Jefferson a complete person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T23elli1Vc

Art(ist) Education

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