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Very sad day for the London Project. We lost another great one.
From the wire...
David Bowie, the other-worldly musician who broke pop and rock boundaries with his creative musicianship, nonconformity, striking visuals and a genre-spanning persona he christened Ziggy Stardust, died of cancer Sunday. He was 69 and had just released a new album.
Bowie, whose hits included "Fame," ''Heroes" and "Let's Dance," died "peacefully" and was surrounded by family, representative Steve Martin said early Monday. The singer had fought cancer for 18 months.
Long before alter egos and wild outfits became commonplace in pop, Bowie turned the music world upside down with the release of the 1972 album, "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" which introduced one of music's most famous personas. Ziggy Stardust was a concept album that imagined a rock star from outer space trying to make his way in the music world. The persona — the red-headed, eyeliner wearing Stardust — would become an enduring part of his legacy, and a touchstone for the way entertainers packaged themselves for years to come.
Bowie turned 69 on Friday, the same day as he released a new album called "Blackstar."
"While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family's privacy during their time of grief," said a statement issued via his social media accounts. No more details were provided.
The singer, who was born David Jones in London, came of age in the glam rock era of the early 1970s. He had a striking androgynous look in his early days and was known for changing his appearance and sounds. After Ziggy Stardust, the stuttering rock sound of "Changes" gave way to the disco soul of "Fame," co-written with John Lennon, to a droning collaboration with Brian Eno in Berlin that produced "Heroes."
He had some of his biggest successes in the early 1980s with the bombastic "Let's Dance," and a massive American tour. Another one of his definitive songs was "Under Pressure," which he recorded with Queen; Vanilla Ice would years later infamously use the song's hook for his smash hit "Ice Ice Baby."
"My entire career, I've only really worked with the same subject matter," Bowie told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview. "The trousers may change, but the actual words and subjects I've always chosen to write with are things to do with isolation, abandonment, fear and anxiety — all of the high points of one's life."
Bowie lived in West Berlin in the late 1970s and Mayor Michael Mueller said Monday that "Heroes" became "the hymn of our then-divided city and its longing for freedom."
Germany's Foreign Ministry added Bowie was "now among heroes" and thanked him for "helping to bring down the wall."
Bowie's performance of "Heroes" was also a highlight at a concert for rescue workers after the 2001 World Trade Center attacks.
"What I'm most proud of is that I can't help but notice that I've affected the vocabulary of pop music. For me, frankly, as an artist, that's the most satisfying thing for the ego," Bowie said.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, but he didn't attend the ceremony. Madonna, another artist who knew something about changing styles to stay ahead of the curve, accepted for him and recounted how a Bowie concert changed her life when she attended it as a teenager. David Byrne, of the art rockers Talking Heads, inducted Bowie and said he gave rock music a necessary shot in the arm.
"Like all rock 'n' roll, it was visionary, it was tasteless, it was glamorous, it was perverse, it was fun, it was crass, it was sexy and it was confusing," Byrne said.
Bowie kept a low profile in recent years after reportedly suffering a heart attack in the 2000s. He made a moody album three years ago called "The Next Day" — his first recording in a decade which was made in secret in New York City. "Blackstar," which earned positive reviews from critics, represented yet another stylistic shift, as he gathered jazz players to join him.
He released a music video on Friday for the new song "Lazarus," which shows a frail Bowie lying in bed and singing the track's lyrics. The song begins with the line: "Look up here, I'm in heaven."
Tributes poured in for the singer after the announcement of his death. British astronaut Tim Peake tweeted about his sadness from outer space aboard the International Space Station, saying "his music was an inspiration to many."
British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted that Bowie's death is "a huge loss." He wrote he had grown up listening to and watching Bowie and called the singer a "master of reinvention" and a pop genius who kept on getting it right.
The Rolling Stones wrote they were "shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the death of our dear friend David Bowie. As well as being a wonderful and kind man, he was an extraordinary artist, and a true original."
Bowie felt uneasy about some of his greatest material, once embarking on a "greatest hits" tour saying it would be the last time performing much of his old material. He later relented, however.
"I'm not a natural performer," he said in the 2002 interview. "I don't enjoy performing terribly much. Never have. I can do it and, if my mind's on the situation, do it quite well. But five or six shows in, I'm dying to get off the road and go back into the studio."
Bowie was married twice, to the actress and model Mary Angela "Angie" Barnett from 1970-80, and to international supermodel Iman since 1992. He had two children — Duncan Jones and Alexandria Zahra Jones — one with each wife.
1. Your Songs Suck – Consumers will instantly click past a crappy song to thousands of online radio stations till they find a good song that really moves them in the first 10-20 seconds. You better have GREAT songs. It’s a CRAFT; it always has been. Treat is as such. You need to seek out a few mentors to teach you what they know about their CRAFT and apply your unique vision and perspective to that knowledge. Easy to do with all the online writing societies.
2. You’re Producing Yourself – Have you ever wondered why a record label would NEVER let you or your friends produce your own record? Have you ever wondered why most of the iconic Superstars STILL use producers? Why aren’t they saving money by producing themselves? Surely a producer at that level is pretty damn expensive! Get it? Just because you can work Pro-Tools or Logic doesn’t mean you can or should make a record. The label would put you with someone who is not only experienced at the entire process of making records, but a way better musician than you. The smart artist always thrives being around true pros that are better than them to soak in the education and grow to a new artistic level; fearless of the journey. Most artists will tell people why they can’t or won’t afford a producer and spend their money on their 25th guitar and new plug-ins for the home studio; avoiding the journey. Do you want to make great records or collect gear?
3. You’re Not Marketing…At ALL – Putting your music on iTunes, Spotify, CD Baby, ReverbNation, etc. is digital distribution NOT marketing. Marketing is the art of influencing buying decisions. Having your CD available for purchase “wherever it’s sold” isn’t influencing buying decisions. Twitter, Vine, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Live Shows, Music Blogs, Indie Radio, Internet Radio, and PR are the marketing tools you need to master. These tools create awareness and drive traffic to your squeeze page where you get the consumer’s email address. It’s through their email that you will influence their buying decisions.
4. You’re Operating With An Out-Of-Date Business Model - You are still trying to cut cheap demos to shop to a record label to try to get a deal. You still think radio is the key to marketing your music. You still think that radio will be a powerful marketing tool when you do get your deal. You still think the labels make money selling records. You still think that if you get a deal that’s when you’ve made it. Wake up, that ship sailed a decade ago; you have to develop yourself, today.
5. You’re Not Thinking Like A Record Label – If you got signed today, the label would surround you with people that make a living writing songs, engineering, producing, doing public relations, marketing, promotion, booking bands, image consulting, Photographing, etc. All these people would be highly professional and much more dialed in to the market and process than you and your friends. If you’re thinking like a label, you are looking for a team of people to help you with at least some of these important items.
6. You’re Not Selling Your Music On Your Website – . If you were truly DRIVING traffic anywhere to purchase your music, you would drive them to YOUR site and take all the money. Everyone needs a presence on iTunes, CD Baby, Reverbnation, etc., but why on earth would u pay someone 30% of your record sales to do what you can do with a free plug in on your WordPress site? If it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense.
7. You’re Not Posting Regular Videos To YouTube – YouTube is your new Radio with an amazing potential for reaching millions, no wait…now BILLIONS of people and you don’t need to spend 1 million dollars to bribe a freaking Program Director for a CHANCE at getting a few spins. The “shelf space” is unlimited (Unlike radio) and they pay royalties and advertising revenue. “I don’t get it because I just want to make music” is a cop out. why aren’t you learning everything you need to learn about this amazing opportunity?
8. You Suck At Project Management – If Steve Jobs approached the first products from Apple the way most of you approach managing your musical projects he would have died homeless. Jobs was a true artist, the first computers he and Wozniak made looked good, worked good, were packaged well, and were made in his garage. Instead of making 500 crappy computers with the limited budget they had, he made 50 AWESOME computers and the market place responded; the opportunities that came from the first run of AWESOME computers provided the momentum they needed to reach the next level. If you want to find someone to cut your songs for $300/song, I PROMISE you will find them. Record your 3 BEST songs for the same price as what you have to spend on 12 and do it RIGHT with a TALENTED TEAM. It’s gonna cost money, so think of it as an education. Then watch the market respond!
9. You’re Waiting For Your “Big Break” – Deep down you wish it was the old music business because, on the outside (from the cheap seats) it seemed easier when the labels took care of everything. Well they did and you would have paid dearly for that “EZ Button”. I got news for you, the Superstar Artists that are still around today, never let the labels take care of everything. They worked smarter and harder than that in a sea of sharks. You have to create your own opportunities, your own momentum. There’s no way around it. Nobody gets “discovered” anymore so get off the couch, put the bong down next to your baggage and get to work!
10. You Still Think Record Labels Develop Talent – Record labels don’t develop talent like Coca-Cola doesn’t repair cars; they don’t care about your music, they care about your current cash flow, and how many fans you have a measurable connection with. They care about what kind of market you created for yourself and if they can make money by adding fuel to the fire you already started. Think YouTube and Google. Google didn’t develop YouTube, they purchased them. So those smart guys at YouTube had to PROVE their idea had value in the market place; so do you.
11. You Don’t Think Of Your Music As Product – Until you do, nobody is going to hear your art.
12. You’re Self Sabotaging – This is the most common and most destructive mistake of them all. Let me save you the suspense, you’re gonna make mistakes. You’re gonna hit speed bumps. You’re gonna be rejected. You’re gonna have to get over it! You have to get out of your own way and just move forward. Stop making excuses. If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got. PERIOD. So make a change and watch massive amounts of energy quickly flow your way.
13. You Are Too Sensitive To Take Constructive Criticism – You would be amazed how many of your favorite Superstars were brutally schooled by the label on their first record. They were green just like you! “Go back and write us a single we can promote on the radio or we’re gonna drop you”. If you’re too dumb to know that you don’t know, you’ll never make it. Be professional and LEARN. It’s always better to stay quiet in a room and appear stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
14. You’re Listening To Haters – When you do start to get momentum, people you don’t know and sadly, many that you do will spit poison into every part of your life. Get used to it. You are doing what they can’t.
15. You Haven’t Defined Your Lane – You are afraid to pick a genre because you write in many. Consumers need ONE lane to connect with you in. Just because you pick one doesn’t mean you are ignoring the others. Get some traction in 1 lane first, that will help expose a project in a different lane to more people. Think John Mayer with his first few pop records and then he did a blues project. That blues project got a TON of exposure because he was now John Mayer the pop star.
16. You’re Live Performance Sucks – Nothing is more disappointing than seeing a decent band with great songs and nobody sings background vocals; except for a crappy band with crappy songs, and everyone singing background vocals.
17. You’re Not Capitalizing On Your Live Performances – Today’s music market is about endless content and email addresses. You should have constant video footage to market on social media. You should have boatloads of email addresses after every show. You should be moving product from the stage at every show. You should be gaining twitter followers at every show…THEN you can get laid. J
18. You’re Putting Too Much Stock Into Your ReverbNation Ranking – A #1 ranking for your small town or big city on ReverbNation + $2.54 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. How are you getting paid for your songs?
19. You Don’t Know What You’re Doing On Twitter – Twitter is a simply amazing surgical marketing tool that allows you to SERIOUSLY target your specific market. When done correctly, your following will constantly grow. 1 year from now you could have well over 10k followers and now you have the means to drive tons of traffic to a squeeze page, or a YouTube video, or to….Get my point? Your fans are out there, go find them.
20. You Think It’s All About Music, Not Marketing – The truth is that it sure is nice when they expertly market a killer record, but if it was only about the music, there wouldn’t be any crappy songs on the radio. Think about that for a second. Without marketing, nobody cares about your music because they haven’t heard it.
Hi there folks.
Been busy working on other musical projects and stuff in our private lifes that required alot of attention, meaning the band has not been our first priority for quite some time. Now, it may sound to you like we're calling it quits but we're not. Ohh no, no, nonono. Not at all. We still have an album to release and we're going to, shortly. The NEW ALBUM's going to be hard, fast, mean and heavy and it's not going to sound like anything by TMH that you might be familiar with from our past releases. The songs and the lyrics are much more darker compared to the ones we've written before and there's an old school thrash metal demon lurking in the wings on every song just waiting to poison your mind with pure evil and madness. (or something like that). Well, not exactly. Not saying it's thrash metal or metal at all but the overall impression of the new album, when you hear it, is undeniably hard rock with thrash feel and vibe. It's not something we decided we had to do. It just happened. We're all huge fans of old school thrash, heavy metal and metal related music so why not? Anyway, this time around it got wild and thrashed but who knows in the future? Maybe our 5th album happens to become a blues album in the spirit of Robert Johnson. Time will tell but for now, we're BREAKING THE WAVES....
*See you 'round soon. \m/ TMH, Dec 19. \m/
Uploaded a new song.... Hangin' High. Please give it a listen.
http://www.mixposure.com/sam-houston/audio/20473/hangin-high
Last year my sister in law Jessica McGreevy wrote a Christmas poem and sent it out to all her family and friends. I liked it so much I decided to surprise her and turn it into a Christmas Song. 
Been a while since I posted here....Many may remember the classic Charlie Brown song "Christmas Time is Here". This is my guitar instrumental version. I hope you enjoy your upcoming Holidays. Cheers, love and peace to all ! - Bilbozo
http://www.mixposure.com/bilbozo/audio/20451/christmas-time-is-here-charlie-brown-guitar-version
Pleased to announce the release of a new collaboration by The TrueVulgarians and Joseph Rodriguez, Unholy Man, a blues-rock tune. Words by Bill Thompson, music co-written by Thompson/Rodriguez, with all instrumental work by the Metal Master himself! Hope you enjoy it! http://www.mixposure.com/the-truevulgarians/audio/20450/unholy-man
Congrats to Ariel's Attic for having the Mixposure.com Song of the Week!
Born out of a love for music with grand concepts and ambitious arrangements, Ariel's Attic brings together their various influences into a melting pot of styles that sounds unique yet somehow familiar, with a nod towards bands like Rush, Nightwish, Savatage, and a penchant for the symphonic and even operatic at times. The result is a bone crunching, driving metal foundation provided by Mike, Gary and Bob, tempered by Jenn's angelic voice. We hope you all enjoy what we put up here as much as we enjoyed creating it.
New EP release from @TheCyrenaics is now avaliable on soundcloud and bandcamp
"The King's Mistress"
https://soundcloud.com/thecyrenaicsmusic/sets/the-kings-mistress-ep
Copyright: Love bs Cash LLC
Hate reading about Musicians dying and Scott Weiland probably was long overdue to cross the line. He had a long history with drug addiction. Ashame that so many fall into this trap. Thanks for the music Scott!