David Bowie 1947-2016
We don’t often do “R.I.P.” shout-outs in this space, but if any musician deserves one, it's David Bowie, who passed away Jan. 10 (two days after his 69th birthday). It’s impossible to overstate the hugeness of Bowie’s impact — outside of perhaps Paul McCartney and Bob Dylan, he was the last living Rock star of his kind, one whose work will be a part of the fabric of global culture long after all of us are gone.
A true artist from the beginning until the end:
Spotify Faces Huge Suits
Songwriters and musicians upset about how streaming is (or isn’t) paying them now have two peers crusading for their rights. David Lowery of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven fame filed a $150 million lawsuit against Spotify before the end of 2015 (he is seeking to make it a class-action suit). More recently, independent singer/songwriter Melissa Ferrick filed a similar suit against Spotify, upping the ante to $200 million. Both artists claim that Spotify infringed on copyrights by not obtaining the proper licensing to use their music. Spotify recently announced it was investing in administrative services to deal with the publishing-rights issues, something Ferrick’s lawyers are reportedly using against the streamers, saying the new plan is something that should have been in place long before the company started using artists’ music.
The Anti-Jock Jammer?
Though one might think the only thing Phil Collins’ music could get one pumped up for is a suicide attempt, a French soccer team actually used Collins' cheesy 1985 track “Who Said I Would?” as its walkout song for more than 20 years. After the Paris terrorist attacks last year, the Paris Saint-Germain team used “O Ville Lumiere (O City of Light)” instead, to pay tribute to the victims and show some civic pride. Team owners are considering keeping the new theme song, but some still want Phil. One fan (who possibly needs to see a doctor) was quoted as saying, “The music of Phil Collins as the players enter — it gives me chills.”
Oh YEAH!!! If only the Bengals had this to rock to in the playoffs:
