#165 – Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – (1991)

What!? A list of 90s music that doesn’t feature “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at number one (or even the top 150)!? Well, I wasn’t a ‘teen’ when this song was it, So it doesn’t hold the same special meaning for me. I recognize it for what it is and (unlike almost every other entry) nostalgia played no part in this one. If you’ve never heard of ‘music’ before, then you may want to check out “All Apologies,” “Rape Me” and “Heart-Shaped Box” from their follow up album, In Utero. From Nevermind there is also “In Bloom” and “Lithium,” the song mentioned by every ‘Nirvana-freak’ I’ve ever met as their favorite. Ugh, I’m gonna catch flack for this one.

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‘Smells like teen spirit’ is one of my better songs.

Call me Piper, everyone does. I write songs for a living, you might say. But I get paid more than the usual, and the money’s worth every note.

You might ask what a songwriter of my caliber is doing in a country like this. I like it here: the Boracay sunsets, the white sand, the beautiful women – trust me, Filipinas may be known around the world as domestic helpers, but they take good care of those they’re paid to love. Look at me: I’m pampered like a king.

Unfortunately, when a Filipina goes out with a Caucasian like me, most people here think: she’s a prostitute. And that’s damn unfair. But what can you do? Whether in their own country or abroad, the women of this country get the shit end of the bargain.

But where was I? Ah, yes, you were asking about me. Do you want a drink first? The margaritas here are real good. Me, I love the Pale Pilsen – definitely one of the best beers in the world.

Before anything else, I’d like to congratulate you. Not too many people know about my special relationship with the world music industry. I give you top marks for your reportorial skills. Where does Rolling Stones find you people? And tracking me all the way here? Brava, young woman, brava.

But I’m getting away from your question again, aren’t I?

All right: you know by now that I’ve written some rather popular songs. Kurt Cobain may have written many of his songs but the most popular ones were mine. A few of Elvis Presley’s as well. Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, John Lennon, and…

Sorry if I’m name-dropping. I’ll try not to do that.

So where do I start? How about the fact that I’m a lot older than I look? Can you guess? Forty? Fifty? Not even close. But trust me, I look younger than I really am.

Suffice it to say that in ancient days – and I can honestly say that I use that word accurately – I first charmed snakes in the East and then rats in the West with my songs. And when that didn’t pay so well, I sang to children, lured them out of cities, and found out that I did that pretty well. In fact, it worked so well that I started a whole children’s crusade during the Middle Ages.

Don’t understand me? Don’t worry, we can skip that part of my resume and move our timeline a little bit… oh, to the 20th century. By then, I’ve made a living on songs that would get the kids’ feet moving with far more verve than the prospect of sex. By then I was making deals left and right with musicians, making them play my music, instead of playing it myself. Sometimes it was just a tune or the whole song, and sometimes it was the gift of playing.

And when they didn’t pay – well, ask Robert Johnson what happened to him when he tried to avoid his rendezvous at the crossroads. Or Buddy Holly trying to fly away on his little airplane. Really, when you make a deal, you stick by it. And why not? I’m good at what I do. I make the songs that the whole world dances and listens to, so I should be paid what I’m owed, right? 

Why am I doing this? Because I’m looking for certain… requirements for those who want to make a deal with me. Of course, I can give you a fantastic contract that begets you the whole world – but I’m not God. Time and chance can make a singer the next biggest thing, but no one can predict if you’ll last that long or become more popular than Jesus Christ. Hell has nothing on the vagaries of the music industry, and even my good friend Simon Cowell knows that well enough.

So I make these deals with the people, but only a few have managed to match the requisites I need. To be precise, I need four icons of music, four leading figures that have made their mark on history. It’s slow going on the road to fame and sometimes the singer can’t take it. Look at Cobain, Billie Holliday and Janis Joplin. Also, sometimes the level of fame isn’t enough at the end. Look at Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison.

Still, when you’ve lived as long as I have, you get lucky. Right now, I have two: Elvis who became the King of Rock and Roll, and Michael, who was the King of Pop. Once I have all four Kings, well, I will have what I want. I can open the gates of Hell, the voices of these Kings singing like the Cherubim of old and carrying me home finally. That’s not so bad, isn’t it? Unfortunately, once the gates are open, you can’t close them again. But that’s not my problem anymore.

Oh, look. Isn’t the sunset beautiful?

(from Literatunes, September 23, 2009 at www.allmusicjunkies.com)

“If we want our children to respect us, they have to respect
authority first.”
Senator Hubert Webb on the 2016 Youth Patrol Act

“Smells like… teen spirit,” said the female voice acidly.

Surprised, 19-year old Daniel de Quiros said, “What?” As he floated in a gray sea of static, he gestured and the static formed into a computer simulation of the Taft MRT train station around him. Though he knew it was only virtual reality, he felt claustrophobic as digital spectres of people flowed around him.

“This place,” said a disembodied voice from the digital ether, “It stinks of sweat and fart and garbage and…”

Dan laughed. “Welcome to Manila. Should get used to it, we’ll be spending a lot of time here.”

“Not if I can help it. Ah, I see the bastards.”

“I think the correct term is potential delinquents,” he said as he saw a gang of boys – nine of them, their ages ranging from 13 to 17 – dressed in black jeans, torn shirts. The group was horsing around the entrance of the MRT station, causing a jam as they prevented the evening’s rush-hour crowd from entering the turnstiles. The AI finally solidified the virtual simulacrum of 18-year old Charms Vergara beside him. She said, “God, was I ever that rebellious? I feel old. Do you feel old, Bubble Boy?”

“Don’t call me Bubble Boy,” he snapped as he studied the group. He never had friends in his isolation and he envied the boys their camaraderie. “Are you ready?”

“Would I be dressed like this if I weren’t?” she said. Daniel admitted that she looked good in her black cargo pants, sleeveless plaid blouse, and black metal-capped boots.

“Come on, girl, show me what you got,” he said with a half-smile.

Snorting, she slid out a black metal baton that she extended with a flick of a wrist. She added, “Play some music, Bubble Boy.”

He obliged her and waved a hand in front of him, spreading music files like a pack of cards. “Since you mentioned it earlier… how about this?”

The heavy plucking of a bass guitar filled the electronic air and he knew Charms could hear it as well on her wireless earphone: Load up on guns, bring our friends. It’s fun to lose and to pretend…“Shit, is that Nirvana?” she asked as she approached the group.

The nearest boy looked up with a sneer at the pretty girl walking towards him. She gleefully whipped the baton across the boy’s face in a spray of blood and spittle. Flashing her wallet government ID, she shouted, “Hey you! Stop right there!”

Dan floated above the VR scenery so that he could get a better look. He saw the crowd clear as if they sensed the coming fight. The station security guards had already flat-out refused to deal with the kids, especially after the violent raid in a Manila university that created the Childhood Protection Act in 2012.

With the lights out, it’s less dangerous. Here we are now, entertain us…Two of the boys charged at Charms but she sidestepped to the left and rammed the metal butt of the baton against the stomach of one of them. As he bent over in pain, she pirouetted and cracked the baton against his friend’s head. Dan winced as he saw the boy tumble to the floor.

Another boy rushed up and Dan shouted, “Behind you!” She ducked the boy’s grasping arms and swept him off his feet with an outstretched leg.

I’m worse at what I do best, and for this gift I feel blessed…As the five remaining gang members circled around Charms, she saw a glint of a knife as well as a lead pipe. Meanwhile, Dan checked the nearby close-circuit cameras and saw a police patrol tromping hurriedly towards the station. “Charms, police ETA in five minutes.”

“Late as always,” she replied as she carefully palmed the small Kahr P380 from the holster at her back. “Take out the station lights in a three-two burst. Don’t want to panic the crowd with gunshots.”

Dan accessed the station electrical grid and counted off: “Got it. Three, two, one, go!”

The overhead lights of the station went out for a couple of seconds and caused the watching crowd to scream. But before the blackout could cause a stampede, five successive shots rang out. When the lights came back on, Dan could see Charms had already brought down all five boys with non-fatal wounds.

I found it hard, it’s hard to find. Oh well, whatever never mind… A beeping sound resonated through the VR. “Uh-oh, gotta go. Good job,” Dan said as he keyed off the music. As he exited, he heard Charms say, “Thanks, Bubble Boy.”

Hello hello hell-ooow, hello hello hell-ooow, hello hello hell-oow… Dan opened his eyes to see the familiar clear plastic sphere that was his whole world. He raised himself from the VR pod and saw three people outside the sterile room that served as his command post.

He recognized Doctor Garner who was treating him for his Severe Combined Immunodeficiency—but not the other American, a pale-looking man in a black suit. The liaison chief approached the plastic wall that separated him from the rest of the human race.

“How was it?” Mr. Ortiz asked.

Dan replied, “No problem, sir. The start-up was a bit slow though.”

“Good,” Ortiz said and turned to the American, “Tell your President that Operation Big Brother was successful. I think we can honestly say that the test run for your global phase is feasible.”

The American nodded and walked out of the room.

Dan thought, What the hell am I getting myself into?

(From Literatunes, September 23, 2009 at  www.allmusicjunkes.com)

“Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit Up” by Nirvana vs. Rick Astley

Did you know that Nirvana was formed in 1987, the same year that Rick Astley released his first solo single, Never Gonna Give You Up? Coincidence? I think not. Clearly, this utterly, utterly frightening and WTF-worthy mashup was destined to be (handiwork of the otherwise unknown DJ Morgoth). WATCH IT THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH! You will, as they say, “shit brix.”

Och liveversionen.

———————–
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om Patti Smith, Smells like teen spirit, musik, cover

Si daca tot am revenit, de ce sa nu ascultam noi niste music ?

In seara asta am chef de :

Alguna vez ya DoRe nos había explicado que es el Nirvana, palabra que da su nombre a este blog. Pero para muchos, lo primero que se nos viene a la mente al escuchar o leer la palabra nirvana, es la banda de rock de los años 90’s y no es para menos, pues fue una banda no solo muy exitosa, si no que dio origen a un movimiento rockero conocido como grunge, a demás de dejar un lugar marcado en la historia de la música.

Kurt Cobain, Kris Novoselic y Dave Grohl, originarios de Aberdeen, Washington, deciden formar una banda de rock en 1987. Ellos, principalmente Kurt, tenía la inquietud de que el sonido de su banda fuera algo extraordinario, algo diferente, algo nuevo… pero no sabía qué! Kurt buscaba una inspiración y en un principio encontró en la banda R.E.M. esa inspiración que buscaba. Kurt siempre fue un gran fan de R.E.M. Pero no fue si no hasta que un primo de Kurt le hizo una llamada telefónica y a través del teléfono, le puso una melodía que sería la base de ese sonido de pocos acordes, letras sencillas y guitarras monotónicas tan característicos de Nirvana y del grunge; Where is my mind de The Pixies.

Nevermind fue el primer disco en forma de Nirvana, de la mano del productor Bryan Vigorson, mejor conocido como Butch Vig quien también es el creador, escritor y productor de la banda Garbage. De este disco se extrae la canción Smells like teen spirit, que tiene una anécdota curiosa, pues el nombre de la canción lleva una marca de desodorante muy famosa de aquella época y en una fiesta en casa de una amiga de Kurt, el olor a borracho y demás cosas era muy evidente así que rociaron un desodorante de esos para que no oliera tan feo, cuando llegó otra amiga a la casa y viendo que todos estaban dormidos, tomó un pintalabios y escribió en el espejo “it smells like teen spirit”. El album vendió mas de 12 millones de copias hasta el año 1992… osea que súmenle! La portada del disco también es emblemática, con el bebé nadando intentando alcanzar un anzuelo del cual prende un dólar. La idea fue del mismo Kurt Cobain.

Después de ese disco llegó In Utero que también tuvo altas ventas pero no igualó a Nevemind, puesto que fue un disco mas experimental y no fue visto con tan buenos ojos por los fans de la banda.

A comienzos de 1994, la banda se embarcó en una gira porEuropa. Aunque el tour comenzó bien, los conciertos gradualmente declinaron, con la imagen de un Cobain aburrido y distraído durante los conciertos, particularmente durante el paso por Italia. Después del directo en Terminal Eins en Múnich, Alemania, el 1 de marzo, Cobain fue diagnosticado con bronquitis y laringitis severa. El espectáculo de la noche siguiente fue cancelado. En la mañana del 4 de marzo, en Roma, Cobain fue encontrado inconsciente por Courtney Love y fue llevado a un hospital. Un médico declaró en una rueda de prensa que el cantante reaccionó a una combinación de Rohypnol y alcohol. El resto del tour fue cancelado, incluyendo una visita planeada (después de 2 años sin ir) al Reino Unido.

En las semanas posteriores, la adicción a la heroína de Cobain reapareció. Una reunión fue organizada por familiares y amigos de Kurt Cobain y convencieron a éste para entrar en rehabilitación. Con menos de una semana en rehabilitación, Cobain escapó del centro de rehabilitación y voló hacia Seattle. Una semana más tarde, el viernes 7 de abril de 1994, el cuerpo sin vida de Cobain fue descubierto por un electricista en su casa de Seattle.

Solo eso faltaba para que la banda se ganara un ligar en la historia y tuviera a Kurt Cobain como una leyenda: su muerte.

Sin quererlo, la banda de grunge Pearl Jam delmítico Eddie Vedder, que también surgiera junto con Nirvana, se quedaría, sin buscarlo, como el estandarte del grunge a la desaparición de Kurt. Dave Grohl formaría la banda Foo Fighters y a pesar de cargar con la sombra de Nirvana, Dave ha sabido desmarcarse y abrirse paso por sí mismo y por su música.

Les dejo esta rolita que es de mis favoritas, bueno, de mis favoritas interpretada por Nirvana, porque en verdad esta canción es de David Bowie pero esta versión es simplemente genial. Saludos!

Nirvana, Smells like teen spirit  +  Dead or Alive, You spin me round

Kurt Cobain’s voice over Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round” … you gotta hear this mashup!

Wow! I promise this will be worth it… click below, scroll down and press play. Do it.

Illegal Sunday
FAROFF – Spins like teen spirit.

Illegal Sunday FAROFF - Spins like teen spirit , from AudioPorn Central by Simon Iddol

Check out AudioPorn Central for all kinds of great stuff to tease your brain and tickle your ears!

“No Doubt” is suing Band Hero (and Guitar Hero) maker Activision over their appearance in the game (GameSpy).

Allegedly, the band’s contract with Activision dictates that the band member’s avatars can only be used on their own songs, but they are fully playable characters in the game. This means that players can appear as say, Gwen Stefani on any song in the game.

Apparently this is damaging to the members of “No Doubt.”

Someone screwed up badly, and only time will tell who it was. Either…

1. “No Doubt’s” lawyers dropped the ball or…
2. Activision breached their contract.

I don’t know how it actually went down, but either way, this is pathetic.

At the end of the day, I don’t see how the members of “No Doubt” are actually damaged and deserving of financial reward on account of this, but I’m sure their lawyers would be happy to explain why I’m wrong. By the same token, Activision needs to get their shit together and make sure that the artists that they put in their games understand, and are happy with their role within it, as the very same thing happened with Guitar Hero 5, and their use of Kurt Cobain.

Speaking of the late Mr. Cobain…

Cobain’s wife Courtney Love complained that the ability for players to use Cobain on any song in the game, including a lot of pop and electro-crap that he probably would hate was damaging to his legacy. Normally I would agree. Cobain was a revolutionary figure in music, popular culture, hell, culture in general. Having him play a song like “Play That Funky Music” is degrading. Then I saw this commercial for Nicktoons that is set to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Sorry, I can’t embed this one, but it’s worth watching).*

I’m sure that the same lawyer who approved the deal with Activision over Cobain’s appearance along with the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in Guitar Hero 5, had to approve the deal with Nicktoons as well. I can’t imagine that Cobain would have liked that commercial.

So, “No Doubt” & Courtney Love, let’s cut this shit out. Everyone got paid and these games introduce the music of “No Doubt” and Nirvana to a younger generation. Everyone is making money, and that’s all that you folks really want at this point.

* That commercial really does break my heart.

tori amos sang smells like teen spirit i 92
to år før kurt cobain skal døy og eg
skal høyre smells like teen spirit i 2002 då
eg er tretten år, etter det
skal eg sluke alt av nirvana, kor som helst
kva tid som helst, på bussen i regnet og mørkret
på veg heim, i senga, før eg sovnar, på veg til skulen
bakarst i klassen, i timen, medan eg ser ut vindauget

eg kjem ikkje til å høyre tori amos sin versjon før etter sju år
hausten to tusen og ni
men då skal eg høyre på konsertopptaka hennar frå 1992
montreal, eg skal høyre dei, eg skal sjå dei, skal sjå korleis ho
tori sleng på det store raude krølla håret, myser med auga og trutar
er full av faktar korleis ho rullar med overkroppen
og på ein eller anna måte fyller songen
med smerte og lyst, lyst på smerte
svelt, sug

tørste, eg skal kjenne

dei små sveittedropane på kragebeina hennar
opne sittestillinga, dei spreidde bein
rosa lippene
som opnar seg, lett

ho pustar
mot mikrofonen
lukkar auga
slepp stemmen ut

1. Do not “load up on guns” without bringing your friends. Unless your friends have likewise loaded up on guns and squeezing all of you into the van has become a logistical nightmare.

2. If you are not convinced that “Hello” is “a dirty word,” remember that the Lionel Richie 1984 hit song “Hello” was sung by a man with his entire face covered in pubic hair.

3. Kurt Cobain is proof that, despite what other people say, anyone can mumble his way to unending success.

4. If there’s anything possibly “less dangerous” “with the lights out,” it’s amateur ninja stealth training.

5. It is a generous thing to entertain “stupid and contagious” people. How could those naked porcupine wranglers have predicted that they’d all get A(H1N1) at the same time?

6. Many people know that the song’s title pokes fun at Teen Spirit – a popular low-end American antiperspirant brand. What few people know is that poking fun at teen spirits in general may bring on the wrath of their prepubescent wraith armies.

7. “A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, (and) my libido” was actually a failed pitch for a bizarre sequel to the 1985 John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club. (edf)

                                       Ayer estuve pensando sobre lo veinte años que han pasado desde la publicación de Bleach, y creo que sin la canción de hoy y el “suicido” de Kurt, Nirvana nunca hubiese sido lo que es. Smells like teen spirit creo que fue La Canción, la que unio a mucha gente, la canción que todos cantamos alguna vez e incluso algunos imitamos a Kurt cantándola. Por lo que debería postearla en vez de About a Girl. Creo que el video representa el cambio de una generación, una generación nació en esos días, generación que ahora ya no son adolescentes sino “algunos” padres de familia.

 NIRVANA

                                      Nirvana fue una banda formada a mediados de los 80 en Aberden (Seattle), editaron, hoy hace 20 años, su primer álbum Bleach, mucha gente que vio a Nirvana en aquella época nunca podría imaginarse lo que aquellos chavales llegarían a ser. Dos años mas tarde con su single Smells like teen spirit publicado en su segundo disco Nevermind (1990) reventarian la escena musical y comercial. Nevermind consiguió un estilo propio del que muchos grupos se fijarian. El estado de Seattle conmocionó al mundo en aquellos años con el surgimiento de diferentes bandas incluidas todas en un movimiento llamado Grunge. En 1993 publicaron lo que sería su último disco de estudio, In Utero (1993) un disco más tranquilo pero con unas letras muy oscuras que reflejaban la rabia que llevaba en aquel momento el líder de la banda Kurt Cobain. Tan solo un año después en Abril de 1994 Kurt aparecería en su casa con una bala en la cabeza, a día de hoy no se sabe con certeza que pasó aquella mañana, pero la verdad fue que murió Kurt Cobain y nació una leyenda de la música. Fue el primer músico conocido del moviendo que murió, por lo que creó un hondo penar en los amigos de Seattle, millones de fans lloraron la muerte de Kurt. En noviembre de 1994 su discográfica publicaría un disco que se grabo un año atrás para la Mtv (Mtv Unplugged 1994). A día de hoy Nirvana sigue vivo en muchos fans de la banda, y sobre todo en el legado musical que ha dejado a los musíos de los nuevos grupos que surgieron gracias a crecer escuchando a Nirvana.

LETRA NIRVANA – SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT

 Load up on guns and bring your friends
It’s fun to lose and to pretend
She’s over bored and self assured
Oh, no, I know a dirty word

Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello…

With the lights out it’s less dangerous
Here we are now entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido
Yeah! Yay! Yay!

I’m worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello…

With the lights out it’s less dangerous
Here we are now entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido
Yeah! Yay! Yay!

And I forget just why I taste
Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard, it’s hard to find
Oh well, whatever, nevermind

Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello, how low
Hello, hello, hello…

With the lights out it’s less dangerous
Here we are now entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido

 LETRA TRADUCIDA NIRVANA – SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT

Carga las pistolas y trae a tus amigos
Es divertido perder y pretender
Ella está demasiado aburrida y segura
Oh no, yo sé una palabra sucia.

¿Hola, hola, hola, estás deprimido?
Hola, hola, hola.

Con la luz fuera, es menos peligroso
Aquí estamos ahora, entretennos
Me siento estúpido y contagioso
Aquí estamos ahora, entretennos
Un mulato, Un albino, un mosquito, Mi libido,

Soy malo en lo que hago mejor
Y por este don me siento bendecido
Nuestro pequeño grupo siempre ha sido
Y siempre será hasta el final

¿Hola, hola, hola, estás deprimido?
Hola, hola, hola.

Con la luz fuera, es menos peligroso
Aquí estamos ahora, entretennos
Me siento estúpido y contagioso
Aquí estamos ahora, entretennos
Un mulato, Un albino, un mosquito, Mi libido,

Y olvido solo lo que pruebo
Oh sí, supongo que me hace sonreír
Encontré difícil lo que era difícil encontrar
Están bien, lo que sea, no importa.

¿Hola, hola, hola, estás deprimido?
Hola, hola, hola.

Con la luz fuera, es menos peligroso
Aquí estamos ahora, entretennos
Me siento estúpido y contagioso
Aquí estamos ahora, entretennos
Un mulato, Un albino, un mosquito, Mi libido,

RE: RE: Dear: SA FM

OK I get it. You probably get thousands of emails a day from people who think they can change the station with vague ideas such as “don’t play shit music” and you may be thinking “oh it’s all well and good to sit atop your high horse and give orders. Come do what we do.” Then allow me to do a rapid dismount. My ideas include:

Less Akon more Dre: Tell Akon to give it up. Dre did it better with ‘Bitches Ain’t Shit’. He wasn’t trying to get on their good side during the corporate hours by telling them they’re “Sexy Bitches” then come evening trying to slip it in while they slept. I’m on to him.

Less Chris Brown more T-Pain: One likes to give a solid beat down. One likes to cruise on boats. I know who I’m going to the afterlife with.

Less Jessica Mauboy Less Guy Sebastian More Shannon Noll More Lisa Mitchell: Nothing good can come of reality TV. Unless it’s Paradise Hotel, that show was great. Perhaps if the premise of Australian Idol was “Let’s give them something to sing for: Their LIFE.” Same deal, except whoever’s in the bottom 3 would go one-on-one with a great white or perhaps a panther. The survivor then gets to come back and do it again the following week. I guarantee you contestants would give 110% to their song choice and we’d get to weed out the Damien Leith’s of the world nice and early. Actually pretend you didn’t read this, I am going to pitch this to Channel Ten. In the meantime play more “Big Black Shiny Car”, that song is hilarious.

Less ‘Better Man’ more ‘Do The Evolution’: Did you know that Pearl Jam have a whole back catalogue of songs on albums? Feel free to play one of them. This also applies to Nirvana ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and ‘Come As You Are’.

Less ‘Haileys Comet’ more ‘Sussidio’: Every time you feel your hand go to the PLAY button ask yourself  “Is today the day?” So is today the day that one person flips out from a comet overload? If the answer is “possibly” then quickly go to the emergency programming of Phil Collins – Sussudio or John Farnham – Playing to Win.

Less Lady GaGa more Peaches: Hey GaGa, Peaches called. She wants her look and demeanour back. Whenever you’re ready.

Less Newton Faulkner more James Blunt: If you don’t know this already, I do not rate James Blunt. Check him for a vulva I say. But Newton Faulker is the new Blunt. Who was the new Enrique Iglesias. Who was the new Marc Cohn. Who was the new Rick Astley. Pattern? As there were many before him, so shall there be many after him. Should I take solace in the fact that in 2 months time when “Steve Jones” releases the hit “Baby Girl I’m Gonna Lay You Down And Enter You” which will take the easy listening chart by storm, I will probably be praying for a little “Dream Catch Me”?

How am I doing so far? Do you require more ideas? Don’t bite off more than you can chew, digest these first and then I’ll feed you more in due course. (Too much with the food metaphor?)

http://www.safm.com.au/contact Sent 02/11/09

Hmmmm…..well…for those who don’t know…X Factor was shit…with Danyl and Miss Frank being in the bottom two…and Miss Frank leaving…so I refuse to talk more on it other than the British Voting Public are fucked up….and Michael Buble (Yuck) and Westlife did their usual cover performance…………………………….meh…

So with this X Factor Shit…and my general sadness…I have nothing ot blog for Wilfy…cos no one wants to hear about my fucked up mental state…..so…….I’ll just music monday it up for you bitches…..

It numbs….and reminds me of my fantastic teapot…..

Cud I be a bigger faggot??…but yes The Dame is truely awesome!!…and I prefer it to the cover…

Fight fight fight fight fight for this Love….oh…I love it…and I love Cheryl…and it deserves to be fastest selling single of the year….its that awesome….hella catchy….and it always makes me dance…speaking of dance…SINGLE LADIES!!!! *headbang*….must get back to working on it….while i know patches throughout…I know the first verse and chorus completely…albeit extremely shitly….

Anyways…thats all….maybe i’ll actually do some real blogging for once tomoroday…i sumhow doubt it though…*sigh*…..*goes off worrying about compost and projects rather than own problems*

Load up on guns
Bring your friends
Its fun to lose
And to pretend
Shes overboard
Myself assured
I know I know
A dirty word

Hello (x 16)

With the lights out its less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now
Entertain us
A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido
Yea

Im worse at what I do best
And for this gift I feel blessed
Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

Hello (x 16)

With the lights out its less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now
Entertain us
A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido
Yea

And I forget
Just what it takes
And yet I guess it makes me smile
I found it hard
Its hard to find
Oh well, whatever, nevermind

Hello (x 16)

With the lights out its less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now
Entertain us
A mulatto
An albino
A mosquito
My libido
Yea

Nirvana

Lethal Bizzle has said that he is a fan of Cheryl Cole’s single ‘Fight For This Love’.

The rapper included the solo debut track from the Girls Aloud singer in his six-track selection for the Metro newspaper.

Bizzle said: “This one will surprise you. I surprised myself; I really like it. The look she’s got and the sound are just cool.

“You’d never think she’s from a cheesy pop group. It’s commercial but with a soulful, black, urban influence.”

Regarding Nirvana’s 1991 hit ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, he added: “I sampled this live at Reading and Leeds and the place erupted. I thought the tent was going to collapse.

“I play it to remember that madness. It was a really cool moment.”

Source

Fama recibe semanalmente la visita de artista nacionales e internacionales que suponen un lujo para los alumnos y espectadores. Esta semana, la gran estrella ha sido Nelly Furtado, que acudía a la Escuela, para presentar su nuevo trabajo en castellano. El gran aliciente, que mejoró si cabe su actucaión es que cantó en rigurosísimo directo. Por eso hoy en Suena en Cuatro queremos rescatar ese momento, poruqe nos gusta que las actuaciones musicales en la tele no sean en playback. Pero además de Nelly Furtado, Fama esta semana ha tenido buena música. echa un ojo a la lista.

Coreografía conjunta de los cuatro nominados
Tokio Hotel – Automatic

Coreografía Fátima y Keko
Natalie Imbruglia – Want mix

Coreografía Noe y Juanma
So solid crew – 21 seconds

Actuación Fidel Buika
Busta Rhymes – Don’t touch me

Coreografía master class
Timbaland feat. Catherine Chamoun – Take you home

Coreografía individual Keko
Etienne Daho – He’s on the phone

Coreografía individual Juanma
SWW – Weak

Coreografía individual Fátima
Paulina Rubio – A contraluz

Coreografía individual Noe
Chris Brown – With you

Coreografía desafío conjunto Juanma y Keko
Jordin Sparks – One step at a time

Actuación Nelly Furtado – Manos al aire

Coreografía exhibición Hugo
Razhel – Deuce – achozen + beatbox

Coreografía individual Juanma
Paul Van Dyk – Home

Coreografía individual Keko
Rudenko – Everybody

Coreografía nueva pareja
Man in the mirror – Michael Jackson

Coreografía inmunidad Yaima y Javier
Robbie Williams – Bongo bong

Coreografía inmunidad Dafne y Diego
Paul McCartney y Michael Jackson – Say say say

Coreografía inmunidad Lourdes y Juanfran
Black Eyed Peas – Pump it harder

Coreografía inmunidad Keko y Fátima
Sophia Fresh – What it is

Coreografía inmunidad Leti y Alberto
Shanice – So sexy

Coreografía inmunidad Virginia y Wiki
Ciara - Hotline

Coreografía inmunidad Jenny y Jonathan
Black Eyed Peas – Showdown

Coreografía inmunidad Cris y Sergio
Leona Lewis – Happy

Coreografía inmunidad Nerea y Juan
Taylor Swift - Teardrops on

Coreografía inmunidad Sarai y Albert
Fatboy Slim – Ya mama

Coreografía grupo Sarai
( Albert, Diego, Fátima y Javier. tema literatura)
The (shipped) gold standard – Fall out boy

Coreografía grupo Cris
(Lourdes, Leti, Jenny y Jonathan. tema música)
Smells like teen spirit – RDM ft. Shanade

Coreografía grupo Wiki
(Juanfran, Sergio, Keko y Dafne. tema escultura)
Just a little bit of love – Michael Jackson & Jackson 5

Coreografía grupo Virginia
(Juan, Alberto, Nerea y Yaima. tema pintura)
Jenny Jones – Don’t walk away- macca & the boyz

Coreografía chicos fuego
George Michael – Flawless

No se puede negar lo evidente…

Ah, the reoccurring topic of analogue vs digital! Vinyl vs CD! Old vs new! Although this topic has been discussed time and time again, I will try and make this article as comprehensive as I can with the inclusion of my own thoughts and open-ended questions for you guys to comment on with your views. So… let’s get going…

It’s 2009 and we are soon to be entering a new decade of (no doubt) further technical innovation. Hell, things have changed significantly since the 90’s and that wasn’t that long ago! Since vinyl records came about, things have evolved! From vinyl to tapes, tapes to CD’s, CD’s to the short-lived footnote of the music world “the mini-disc” and then evolving from all these physical products to the downloading culture of today. Looking back Walkman’s were a sight to behold at the time and no-one even considered the possibility of an iPod type of device. What does this have to do with analogue vs digital? Well it’s a brief timeline of how things have changed since vinyl records were introduced as the premier listening method of music. Surely the newer methods would be better right? However this is where the debate lies…

Vinyl records are the closest representation of the overall master that leaves the studio. In other words the music coming out of the speakers when the record is playing is how the artist intended you to hear it. So, how do CD’s lessen this experience? Well, because of the size of vinyl, more data can be etched onto it resulting in a fuller more rounded audio signal. CD’s are a different matter. Because they have less space to put the full audio on, the signal is chopped up and then pieced together, missing out certain (small) parts of the track. Without getting too technical, the bit-rate is increased so that the gaps between the samples fool the ear (our hearing fills in these gaps). So really we are comparing the closest audio representation (vinyl) to an inferior signal (CD), all to make the disc more “compact”.

Many people claim not to hear the difference between the two forms, but I would extend the comparison to music videos. If you take a music video from today (usually ultra-polished, visual touched etc) and then take, say, the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video. You can see a difference in character. Polished compared to the more grainy, organic finish. I’ve always noticed that vinyl sounds “sharper” and that the drums in particular are more defined and sound way better than on any CD. It really is quite fun and surprising to see the difference between the two when they are played next to each other! Also when you’re playing a record on turntables, there isn’t really a need to EQ the music (depending on the quality of your speakers) as this has been done in the studio to the desired level. Without adding additional EQ to the signal, the record plays as the artist intended you to hear it!

One of the most important factors that I feel has brought vinyl back into the mainstream is the so called “loudness war”. If you are unaware of what this is then prepare to be taken aback… There was a time where music would be made dynamically (that is have quiet and loud parts both distinguishable on a track). During the 00’s in particular there has become a belief that if your music is louder it will sell more copies and make a bigger impact when it’s on the radio. Upon first look you would probably think “fair enough, it’s not like the song is being compromised right?”. Wrong! During the mastering stages of a lot of today’s music, the gap between the louder and quieter parts of a track is shrunk. Ultimately this takes the tracks dynamics out and makes the song the same level of loudness throughout. To make up for the track being quiet overall, gain is applied to boost the whole signal. So, in short what has happened is the dynamic track has had it’s dynamics removed and has been made louder! (just to sell more copies!). A great example of this is Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” album. You can’t hear many dynamics and the gain applied to boost the overall signal has been made so loud that the whole track clips (distorts). The music has been pretty much ruined just to make more of an impact! Ridiculous right? However, does the same apply to vinyl? Well, the limitations of vinyl make it so that the compression and loudness are restricted so that the record is playable. Because of this, the loudness war will never cause vinyl to suffer like its digital counterpart.

Example of the “Loudness War”

It wouldn’t surprise me if it was proven that the “loudness war” is a key reason why vinyl is making a comeback. A digital rebellion of sorts. If you want to listen to music, you want it to be at the highest quality available right? Not compromised because of other non-musical related reasons! However, quality aside, I think that the analogue world has a more interesting musical culture than that of the digital age. Some could argue better! Record shops are a great musical institution and are still alive today (I would urge you to support your local ones as they really are great places!). The sense of community found in a record store is admirable and sadly becoming a thing of the past. Instead of it being about buying and spending money like inside your local high street retailer, there is a sense of underground camaraderie with fellow record owners with them being able to recommend you new purchases. Some of which you may have never heard of! Independent bands have been known to release material only on 7″ vinyl (in keeping with their underground/indie ethos). There’s something quite special about knowing that people who own a record player and listen to music in that manner are the ones that can hear your music. It may not be the most commercially viable way but it’s pretty cool in its display of total digital disregard.

So, if vinyl is so good, why was it replaced and made pretty much obsolete in the mainstream music world? Well, I guess the saying is true… size does matter! The scale of vinyl records make it pretty tricky to carry about and impossible to listen to on the move. CD’s were initially made to give a more portable alternative to vinyl. Shrinking down the disc and artwork for convenience. If music comes with artwork, than why not have it the proper size instead of shrunken down? It seems every part of the shift from analogue to digital is based around convenience over quality. This has continued to evolve to this day. The selling point of portable music players such as iPods was to provide a small convenient player which could store your whole music collection on. Although that’s a pretty cool thing to be able to do, the audio (again) is sacrificed. Being able to have 1000’s of mp3’s isn’t much of a privilege for the reasons described previously (bit rates and such). You can get around this to some degree by listening to wav files as opposed to mp3’s but they are larger and even those won’t give you the warm sound vinyl delivers. In other words, it’s pretty much quantity over quality.

 Last but certainly not least, I think that the biggest difference between analogue and digital is how they are consumed and listened to. As referred to above, it may be cool to listen to your iPod on shuffle or skip between different artists and tracks but what does this say about how we listen to music these days? Do we have musical A.D.D.? Can’t we concentrate on one artist, one album or even one song at a time?! The thing I’ve found with vinyl is that because it’s a single black record, it demands attention. You can’t fast forward or rewind (without continuously lifting the needle!) and skip between artists and albums at the press of a button. It requires a level of patience that the digital age has slowly eroded away. We like to think we’re all too busy and everything is moving so fast, but the reality is we are the ones in charge of how we choose to listen to music and the methods in which we choose to do so.  

I hope you enjoyed this article and as always comments are encouraged!

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Today is a huge milestone in the world of teen dramas.  It is the 19th anniversary of the premiere of Beverly Hills 90210, the show that started it all.

In honor of this momentous occasion, 90210 executive producer Charles Rosin, who now runs showbizzle,  revisited the show’s early years and development thereafter.

TeenDramaWhore: What was your reaction when Aaron Spelling contacted you to be part of this show, then-called Class of Beverly Hills?

Charles Rosin: Curiosity.  Mr. Spelling was a legend in this business whose deal with ABC had ended and who was struggling to re-invent himself and his company for a new generation of TV watchers.  Truthfully, I was not a big fan of his most  popular shows –”Dynasty,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Love Boat”  — which all seemed very old fashioned and predictable.  My taste was much more oriented to a more challenging and thought provoking television like “St.Elsewhere,” ” thirtysomething,” and “Northern Exposure,” of which I was the supervising producer for the first season and was working on when I first met “The Mister” in his office at the Warner Hollywood Studios.

TDW: As an executive producer, what exactly was your role?  How were you involved in the episode process?

Rosin: In the TV business, a creative executive producer is known as a showrunner, who literally runs all the creative aspects of a show while being responsible for its financial vitality. On 90210 I would either come up with the ideas, or approve ideas brought to me; make sure my partners (The Spelling Company and Fox) approved of these ideas; supervise my staff in writing the story and scripts (or write the stories or scripts myself) based on these ideas; re-write scenes, etc. in my capacity as “the last typewriter” if I felt the material needed punching up; incorporate legal clearances and network notes into the scripts; have a concept meeting with the directors (who I hired); cast the actors for that week’s show; supervise a production meeting with all the department heads (wardrobe, art. etc);  be available during production to deal with whatever situations might occur; work with the editors to cut the film which might require dropping scenes, changing the act breaks, changing the order of the story, etc.;  then get notes from my partners; then work with my associate producer in getting the locked film ready for airing by adding music, sound effects, correct color, dub voices — and then being the final “ear” when the show is mixed….all while developing three-five scripts simultaneously and prepping for the next episode in line to shoot.

TDW: 90210 essentially started the primetime teen drama genre.  What kind of challenges were you up against?

Rosin: Fox was all about edgy/raunchy guy-humor like “Married With Children” while 90210 was a show that not only celebrated girl-empowerment but had this wonderful character named Brenda Walsh [Shannen Doherty] who represented the notion that a teenager could be sexually active and not be a slut, but actually a role model. Unfortunately, my first set of network executives did not see the world as I did . Someday I will write a long article about the censorship that occurred after Brenda lost her virginity at the Spring Dance [ed. note: Episode 1.21, Spring Dance] to her boyfriend (who had been AIDS tested) because she was happy and not full of remorse.

TDW: When do you think 90210 crossed over that ‘initial hump’ and started achieving success?

Rosin: When the Gulf War started in February, 1991 the three networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) suspended all commercial activity to cover the invasion. Fox didn’t have a news department back than (hard to believe; wish they didn’t have one now. ha!) so Fox broadcast whatever was on their schedule. The 90210 episodes that aired during this time included “BYOB” and “Slumber Party” [ed. note: Episodes 1.11 and 1.13].  By the time commercial activity started up again some three weeks later with the re-activation of the Nielsen ratings, our show was no longer a bottom feeder. The network took notice; gave us an extended order for season two with the understanding that we would be producing summer episodes — and we were off.

TDW: In an interview last year with The New York Times, you said you went to Beverly Hills High.  How did it compare to the fictional West Beverly?

Rosin: I graduated Beverly Hills High School in 1970 which makes me a child of the 60’s! Even though it was a time of political activism and emerging youth culture,  there were many traditions from the 1950’s that were a vital part of my high school culture — and which ultimately were incorporated into the series.  We meet Emily Valentine [Christine Elise, ed. note: see related interview] in season two at “Hello Day” where each class welcomes new students through parodies and funny skits [ed. note: Episode 2.8, Wildfire]. The dance where the cheerleader is date raped by a football player in “Teenline” in season one was called The Pigskin Prom, which was a big thang back in the day [ed. note: Episode 1.9, The Gentle Art of Listening].  And, of course, episodes in the third year season dealing with ditch day and the senior yearbook poll all were part of school life at BHHS [ed. note: Episodes 3.26 and 3.25 respectively, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window and Senior Poll]. Oddly enough,  I played baseball for Beverly against Torrance High School, which was our location for “West Beverly” and which later became the high school location for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”  [ed. note: click here for photos of Torrance/West Bev] One other odd connection — we filmed our summer episodes at the same beach in Santa Monica Bay where the kids from Beverly Hills High School used to hang out — which was known as Tee’s, not the Beverly Hills Beach Club which was filmed at the old Sand and Sea Club right after it got condemned.

TDW: Let’s talk about the episode where Scott [Douglas Emerson] kills himself (Episode 2.14, The New Fifty Years). Was that a product of Douglas wanting to leave the show or was it precipitated by the direction of the storylines? Was there backlash to that episode?

Rosin: Given our low license fee from the network, we were always trying to cut costs — and Doug Emerson was a nice young man, but not a gifted actor. I still wanted to find a memorable way to write him off the show — and that was when I read about an accidental killing of a high school student on Prom Night in a hotel room at the Disneyland Hotel.  So while David Silver [Brian Austin Green] was getting cool and into the Brenda/Kelly/Steve Beach Club crowd, I sent Scott to hang at his grandparents house in Oklahoma off-camera for six episodes as a way to show these two old friends drifting apart before our eyes. It should be known that this was the only story line that the network and Mr. Spelling worked together to try to squash — but they could sense my passion for the story, were very supportive of [our] script and were very satisfied with the episode, which also was highly promotable and did well in the ratings.

TDW: You were there during the high school to college transition, which all the teen dramas are doing these days.  What do you think that change added to the show?

Rosin: Not only was I “there” for the transition from high school to college, but I must take credit — along with my late producing partner, Paul Waigner — for spearheading the drive to move on and let these kids grow up. Part of the problem was that our cast looked to old/were too old to play believable high school students anymore — and I convinced network president Sandy Grushow that doing a high school show that did not deal with the prospect of college was bogus. Aaron was nervous about the change, of course. He was nervous about everything.  But once I agreed to let all the kids go to the same college, he let them graduate — which allowed me to write a senior year in “real time”. You ask what this added to the show? How ’bout four-five seasons worth of new episodes that would probably wouldn’t have been ordered if they stayed in high school.

TDW: Your wife also worked on the show, right?

Rosin: Karen’s first professional writing credit was for “Isn’t It Romantic?,” the AIDS episode where Brenda and Dylan [Luke Perry] first go out — and where an enraged Dylan slams the flower pot into the pavement before chasing after Brenda [ed. note: Episode 1.10].  Although Karen was never offered a staff position, chances are she wrote, or co-wrote your favorite episodes, including all the ones set in Paris [ed. note: Episodes 3.3-3.5], the condom in school episode [Episode 2.21, Everybody's Talkin' 'Bout It ], the one where Scott  accidentally shoots himself, the one where Dylan meets his inner-child [Episode 3.22, The Child Is Father To The Man], the Christmas episode with the angels answer Donna’s [Tori Spelling] prayers by preventing a school bus from crashing bus [Episode 3.16, It's A Totally Happening Life], and the graduation episode [Episode 3.29, Commencement], which we wrote together. You can hear our commentary for “Commencement” on the third season DVD. Karen,  a former actress and playwright,  has a great ear for dialogue. My strength as a writer was (and is) always story and story structure — so we were great collaborators. If Mr. Spelling and I had anything in common it was our love and appreciation of nepotism.

TDW: Your daughter is just a bit older than me.  Did she watch the show growing up?  What does she think knowing her parents played a big role in one of the biggest shows of the 90s?

Rosin: My eldest daughter Lindsey was five when I started working on the 90210. She’s the cutie-pie who asks Brandon to dance the hookelau at the end of summer luau at the Beverly Hills Beach Club [ed. note: Episode 2.6, Pass/Not Pass]. Growing up she never bragged about my job, in fact, didn’t tell her teen-aged camp counselors about me until the last day of the session. Lindsey knew at a young age she wanted to be a director, and is currently developing an hour pilot with CBS Paramount — in addition to be the creative force behind showbizzle.

TDW: You have said you left the show because it was “killing” you.  Can you elaborate on that?

Rosin: For the first two seasons, Beverly Hills 90210 had the lowest license fee in broadcast television — meaning that Fox paid the Spelling Company less money to make our show than any other show in prime time.  One of the ways we cut costs was to assemble a small writing staff composed of mostly new writers,  but once our production orders increased to anywhere from 28- 32 hours a year (a standard network order for a hit show is anywhere from 13-22 episodes a year; a cable show much less than that) the lack of a big staff took its toll and I found myself working 12-16 hours a day, 6 1/2 days a week, 11 1/2 months a year.  Six weeks after I mixed my last episode, “P.S. I Love You” [ed note: Episode 5.32], one of my arteries shut down. I was 43 years old.  We caught it early. I dodged a bullet. And 15 years later, I catch waves and feel great.

TDW: Did you keep up with the show after you left?

Rosin: I was a non-exclusive script consultant for the 6th season where I read outlines and offered my suggestions — most of which weren’t followed.  I do remember watching one episode that year where NFL star quarterback Steve Young was a guest star [ed. note: Episode 6.12, Breast Side Up] because it was written by Larry Mollin and directed by Dave Semel, who both remain good friends today.   I did not watch after that — and felt that show lost much of its cultural currency and degenerated into a more pedestrian and predictable soap opera– the kind of show more aligned with the traditional Spelling aesthetic.

TDW: Your last season–the fifth–was also Carol Potter’s last.  Did you agree with the decision to get rid of Jim [James Eckhouse] and Cindy?  (Ed. note: see my related interview here.)

Rosin: Reluctantly, yes. Creatively, the show no longer evolved around the Walsh House — and although we certainly could have come up with new storylines that included the parents in a supporting capacity, both Carol Potter and Jim Eckhouse were taking home a fairly big pay check — and by writing them off the show, those monies could be applied to other things — like paying Jason Priestley [Brandon] and Jennie Garth [Kelly] to stick around.

TDW: I have to ask:  Brenda and Dylan or Kelly and Dylan?

Rosin: Brenda was our favorite character to write; the scene where Dylan and Kelly hook up the night Jack McKay was released at the pool at the Bel Age in season three [ed. note: Episode 3.19,  Back in the High Life Again] was perhaps the hottest scene we ever shot — in other words, it’s a draw…

TDW: Kelly and Dylan or Kelly and Brandon?

Rosin: I’ll always be partial to Kelly and Steve.

TDW: What was your reaction when you found out the season 10 storyline (Episodes 10.18-10.20) that Jack McKay (Josh Taylor) was alive?

Rosin: Well, I first found out about Jack McKay when I opened your e-mail. (Like I said, I didn’t watch the show once I left). But we purposely filmed the sequence in such a way as to leave this “return from the dead” storyline available. I guess they had to wait until Luke Perry returned to the series to revive this plot.

TDW: What was your reaction when you found out David and Donna were marrying in the series finale?

Rosin: It seemed about right; Karen and I and our three kids visited the set at the Beverly Hilton the day they were filming the wedding — and it was the first time I visited since I left the show five years earlier.

TDW: Do you have a favorite storyline?

Rosin: Lots of them — my favorite episode was Commencement because with all the clips that were incorporated into the two hour episode, it felt like a retrospective of the high school years.

TDW: Do you have a favorite memory from working with the cast? A favorite guest star? (There were a lot of them!)

Rosin: I loved watching Jason directing the episode “The Time Has Come Today” from the 4th Season [ed. note: Episode 4.25] where Brenda discovers a diary from the 1960’s in her bedroom. My favorite guest star would be my wife Karen, who played a lesbian in the episode “Girls On The Side,” [Episode 5.28] which she also wrote. Also Marcy Kaplan, who played TV star Lydia Leeds in the episode in which Brenda worked at the Peach Pit and became Laverne [Episode 1.16, Fame is where You Find It]. Karen and I wrote that one together.

TDW: What surprised you most while working on the show?

Rosin: Like most writers I have an active imagination — and there have been times that I thought that the script I had just written would catapult me onto a podium for an awards ceremony. But I never could have imagined being a creative force behind an international television sensation! Or that you would be asking me these questions almost 20 years from the time that I started work on the show…

TDW: Do you have any regrets or anything you would do differently?

Rosin: Biggest regret is that I didn’t establish a relationship with media executive (and visionary) Barry Diller when he was running Fox. As far as doing things differently, I would have tried to take better care of my health, and maintain a sense of humor when dealing with the network instead of getting caught up in a war zone.

TDW: Looking back on the show today, what do you think is its place in television history?

Rosin: A footnote.

TDW: Are you still in touch with any of the cast?

Rosin: Yes — Jason Priestley is a buddy. James Eckhouse too. And Ian Ziering [Steve] is a great guy with whom I recently chatted about his early years in the business which we posted on Inside The Bizzle at showbizzle. Check it out. It is a must see for 90210 fans. [Ed. note: I linked to one of the Ian interviews here but there are many more here, including ones with BH90210 producer-writer John Eisendrath]

TDW: Have you watched the new 90210? Do you have any thoughts on it?

Rosin: I watched it once. It’s a good looking cast. But to do a show called 90210 and not allow your young characters to have any socio-political context in the age of Obama speaks to the cynicism and cowardice of commercial broadcasting.

TDW: You also worked on Dawson’s Creek a bit. How did your role differ there?

Rosin: I was more involved with the business side of producing than the writing of scripts — though I certainly had a hand in the creative development of the first episodes.

TDW: How do you think the shows themselves differ?

Rosin: I leave that for your community of readers to comment.

TDW: You’re now working on a site called showbizzle. What is it, and how did it come about?

Rosin: showbizzle is a digital showcase and destination website I created with daughter Lindsey (the Hookelau girl) for emerging talent away from the immediate pressures of the market place. We created a cool show featuring 29 young actors performing 141 two-minute scripted monologues about what they are doing to jump start their careers in Hollywood as told to Janey, a fictitious blogger who hangs out at an LA coffee house. Our goal here to create a vibrant community of young actors, writers, comedians, and performers around our showbizzle content where members are encouraged to upload their original videos with the chance to be paid $$ to perform on our digital showcase. So check showbizzle.com, become a member, work with us, tell your friends — and see why Cynopsis Digital said that it “should be required viewing for kids thinking of moving out to LA LA land to chase their dreams of stardom as it delves into the frustrations of being on the outside looking in.”

TDW: Anything else you want to add?

Rosin: Hard to believe the show’s 20th anniversary is coming up . To get to know what the early days were like check out Rolling Stone Magazine’s article “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (issue 624) originally published February 20th, 1992.

For more on showbizzle, check out the original press release and, of course, head over to the site.

Come back next Sunday for another exclusive interview!

TDW Interview Index

If my somewhat hazy memory serves me right, back in the day when I was an undergraduate at Sarah Lawrence

Smells Like Teen Spirit

College, we had cheerleaders for one event and one event only: the poetry slam.  Granted, these weren’t your ordinary cheerleaders, looking more like the anarchist cheerleaders in the video for Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” than those at your average college football game, but I still think that this shows the raucous enthusiasm the student body showed for, of all things, poetry.  I know that there is a great deal of debate about the place of slam poetry in the literary world, and a great deal of denigration of its worth.  I also know that the atmosphere during SLC’s poetry slams, especially invitationals including our rivals from NYU and Bard College, was electric, and that the feeling of being in an auditorium packed with people cheering and whistling for poets was nothing less than amazing.  (I also know how many people, myself included, harbored huge crushes for the NYU student who would be crowned champion, based upon his shy, self-effacing, and flat-out hilarious poems which ranged from losing a fire truck in a sandbox to how his problems with women began on the playground when a girl kicked sand in his face.)

I’ve been thinking a great deal about how to re-create that atmosphere, or, at least, how one gets a group of people as excited about poetry as they might be about a basketball game (or, at Sarah Lawrence, about a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show).  It seems to me that if not everyone, then nearly everyone writes poetry.  It also seems to me that most people, though they write it, or have, at least, written it, are also completely and totally terrified of poetry.  I often feel as though somehow we’ve ended up with this tremdendous split, a schism between what poetry means to people in their private lives and what it means in their public lives.  Poetry so often seems to be relegated to two diametrically opposed realms: the private journal or notebook whose pages are bursting with poetry the author feels somehow ashamed to show anyone, and the public classroom, in which poetry is, to borrow T.S. Eliot’s words, “formulated, sprawling on a pin.”  Perhaps the classroom is the cause of the schism; perhaps, after years of formulating and pinning poems, those who spend time writing privately don’t feel that their poems will hold up, or see the act of creating a poem as somehow drastically and dramatically other than the act of reading a poem, or having a poem read.  Perhaps they see themselves as set up not for a celebration of honest and intense personal expression, but to be “pinned and wriggling on a wall.”  In the classroom, we so often look at a piece as an artifact rather than art, ignoring the sheer fact of process, the hundreds of crossed-out and crumpled papers which preceded the poem now preserved in an anthology or textbook, and the thousands of poems that preceded that one — the sometimes-brutal fact that poetry is process, poetry is work, and very hard work.  Perhaps these private writers fear that their work will, before it is ready, before they have worked to the point of a Prufrock, be examined microscopically for errors and psychologically for slips; perhaps these writers choose to hide before they must see the moment of their greatness — the beautiful moment, the upwelling of emotion and the wrenching need for expression which called the poem into being — flicker, and, in short, be afraid.

Lately, my thoughts have swirled around this dilemma, and the idea of bridging this gap by finding ways to celebrate not just poetry but also the work of poetry, to make the process less intimidating and create an atmosphere in which writers of every level can feel a kind of solidarity, a happiness in the fact that they’re all working together, and working together to do something which is, after all, pretty darn important: creating art, which can help unify us by helping us to understand not just each others’ experiences but our own.  I’ve been looking at public poetry events, and been thrilled with what I’ve seen.  Here in Lexington, the Alltech Fortnight Festival, which runs during the two weeks which will next year be the time of the World Equestion Games (only 356 days to go, as the count-down in downtown Lexington reminds me), features not only such amazing acts as The Decembrists (why, why must you play on a Tuesday night, sweet Decembrists?!), but also Marc Smith, founder of the International Poetry Slam movement.  I’ve also been fascinated by the Gumball Poetry project, beautifully described by Mike Chasar on his Poetry & Popular Culture blog — Rachel Dacus‘ contribution is also particularly stunning.  The day I can get my hands on a gumball machine for Georgetown College will be a happy, happy day — if you have any suggestions for places to find cheap gumball machines, please let me know!

Until I can find a gumball machine to fill with poetry, I’ve started another project on Georgetown College’s campus in the hopes of getting students interested in both reading and writing poetry: the Pawling Poetry Project, or P Cubed.  I have a class of eight wonderful writers in poetry workshop this semester, and the Poetry Project started as a way to celebrate their very strong work outside of the classroom.  I also wanted to celebrate the fact that poetry is work, and work which needs a supportive community to improve and to thrive.  And so, with the help of my amazing department chair, who gave us space in the hallways and a brand spanking new bulletin board (which is the fanciest bulletin board I’ve seen in a while), the Poetry Project began.  It’s an interactive poetry exhibit of sorts, and each week I post not only my students’ (and my) responses to an exercise, but also the exercises themselves; students are encouraged to stop and read, and take an exercise, and post their own response, anonymously or otherwise.

P Cubed, an interactive poetry exhibit

It’s a small start, I realize, but it’s a start, nonetheless — and even if one student passes by and reads the poems, and takes an exercise, and starts thinking that maybe, just maybe, they can free their poems from their journals, it’s worth it.