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"I think the family is as strong as it is because of my wife, Ali. She is just really so cool." -- Bono, 2004 |
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"I think the family is as strong as it is because of my wife, Ali. She is just really so cool." -- Bono, 2004 |
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Column: off the record..., vol. 9-368
@U2,
July 26, 2009
T-minus 6 days and counting until registration opens for U2: The Hype and The Feedback academic conference in Durham, North Carolina. I hope to see you there! As I write this, U2 will have one more show left at Croke Park and I will have 16 more shows before I'll see them. I have been desperately trying to stay as out of touch about the tour as possible, but it's been one of the most difficult things imaginable. I think I set the bar too high with the whole notion of not wanting to know anything or see anything tour related. M2 tried to get me to be more realistic and I swore that it could happen. HA! Temptation proved too great and the ease of access proved too much. So, I reset my standard to only look at still photos. So, while I'm in confession mode, I will admit that YouTube is my enemy, but I only checked out opening night because there was a part of me that feared that some of those songs would not make it to when I'll be seeing them. Besides that one little "slip up," I think I'm in OK shape to go into my gigs with as open of a mind as possible. My husband might think otherwise, though. To take my mind off of tour overload, I've been having a fun time scoping out the Zune marketplace. Ever since my U2 iPod bit the dust after only one year of use, I've sworn off Apple and decided to give a spin with Microsoft's Zune. The whole Zune experience has sparked a great deal of curiosity with me. For a $14.99/month Zune Pass, you can have access to the entire Zune marketplace. For the price of one CD, I'm able to download (or rent) hundreds of thousands of albums and can own 10 songs after the monthly subscription runs out. This got me wondering about Paul McGuinness and the notion that the reason why the music industry is lagging is because of all of the people who illegally download music. Here I am able to listen to scores of U2's songs (and thousands more by other artists) legally for fifty-cents a day. Surely this business model would hurt record sales and Billboard chart success, right? As I found out, it may hurt record sales, but the pockets of U2 are still being padded. Back when the Zune was first introduced in 2006, Universal Music Group negotiated a sweet deal with Microsoft for use of its catalog. The New York Times reported: "Under the deal, Universal, the world's largest music corporation, will receive a percentage of both download revenue and digital player sales" which equates to over $1 for each $250 Zune back in 2006. Universal would pay out half of the revenue to their artists. The latest twist, however, is that Microsoft along with Yahoo! and RealNetworks are now being sued because they do not have agreements with some music publishers for their streaming music services. So, perhaps it's not so legal anymore and McGuinness' point is still valid? The perk of having the Zune Marketplace at my fingertips is the ability to listen to the thousands of U2 covers that are available. My husband and I decided to look up various U2 songs to see what the craziest version of that song was. Here are our top choices: 1) TIE: "Get On Your Boots" – performed by Siberian Chipmunks (off the album Sing the Charts, Vol. 3) and performed by Celtic Tribute Players (off the album Celtic Tribute: U2) 2) TIE: "Sunday Bloody Sunday" – performed by Richard Cheese (off the album The Sunny Side of the Moon) and "Bullet the Blue Sky" – performed by Richard Cheese (off the album Lounge Against The Machine). I couldn't decide which Richard Cheese one was cheesier. 3) TIE: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" – performed by Big Daddy (off the album Cutting Their Own Groove) and performed by The Countdown Singers (off the album Forever 80s). The Countdown Singers singer sounds like the same guy who does the "Real Men of Genius" ads for Bud Light beer. 4) TIE: "With or Without You" – performed by Steve A. Jerkin (off the album Fitness Instructor – Fitness, Cardio & Aerobic Session) and performed by Total Dicks (off the album Punk Tribute to U2, O-Zone, Haiducii, and Ourselves) 5) TIE: "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" – performed by Top of the Poppers (off the album Kids Chart Party) and performed by Rock Feast (off the album Graduation Celebrations). What a better way of celebrating a graduation than learning that tough life lesson of hey – I can't make it on my own! While on the topic of U2 covers, my husband stumbled upon The Covers Project web site. You can look up just about any artist and see what songs have been covered by whom. Here's where you'll find the U2 covers they've documented so far. And finally – at least a U2 song doesn't top this list of the worst covers ever. Have a great week!
© @U2, 2009.
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