Hop On Pop
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5/5/2008 6:59:02 AM
Which of your songs surprised you?
I mean, I always thought that
"Cary's Here" was going to be the big Hop On Pop song. It had the whole feel-good vibe and a charming little story and whatnot. It was also the big favorite of all my friends and my most-requested tune before the record came out.
Then the record came out and "Ashes On the Water" turned out to be the song that got played on the radio and the song that the TV producer requested that we play on our big TV slot and it's the one that seems to be getting the most play here at IAC, too.
I mean, "Ashes..." is the production that I feel came out the best... the most like what I would have hoped for it. And I do think it's a good song. But still, it took me by surprise at how definitively it became our single-by-default.
Any of your songs surprise you that way?
Don't just use this thread as a means to promote the tune in-question. I want to know:
How?
Why?
Can you see the reasons behind all this?
And vice-versa: if a song didn't get the reaction that you thought it would?
How?
Why?
Can you see the reasons behind all this?
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Hugh Hamilton
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5/5/2008 9:03:05 AM
I had a listen to both, Todd, while reading your blog and musing. Very cool vocal control on "Cary's Here". I prefer your (Cash Cow's) "Wasted Time" to both - lol - my favorite Todd-song, without a doubt!!
I'm not sure if I have an answer for you - maybe later - just wanted to acknowledge reading and listening...
:)
H
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Richard Scotti
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5/5/2008 12:21:06 PM
I'm amazed that Tower Of Love (about 9/11) is getting the third most plays of all my songs. I always thought ballads, especially really sad ones, would not be popular.
Conversely I'm surprised that Water From A Stone, an uptempo rocker isn't doing as well as I had hoped. I was also shocked that In My Eyes was picked up by Cashbox Dance Picks Radio Station a day after I posted it. The songs are personally selected by Cashbox A&R. I posted it on on a whim just for the heck of it. It's not the type of song I usually do. But as I've said here many times, IAC has been an amazing learning experience and full of surprises.
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Steve Ison
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5/5/2008 2:23:58 PM
Well Todd..I havn't looked at my stats for about 3 months or something....
Heart On Ice" a song i recorded based on Steve Aprils lyrics suprised me tho 'cos i really didn't like it at all when i uploaded it.I can sometimes get like that if i suddenly get jaded with a song thru overplaying or something-or feel it hasn't matched the original vision i had for it after mixing... (Girl On The Train was finished for a year before i uploaded it as i felt the same thing about that)
Anyway,last week i played it for the first time in maybe a year and heard it with fresh ears and really enjoyed it again,seeing it as creative and interesting...and couldn't see why i'd thought so little of it originally...
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Conversation Suicide
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5/6/2008 2:42:32 AM
Great idea for a blog---artists talking about their own material, and the b-sides or suprizing ones~!
I'm a little suprised "Wallow in my own shit" was picked up so quickly. It is pretty obvious and less ambiguous than some of my lyrix. Plus it's dark, depressing subject matter, but apparently some folks want that.
But the biggest suprize has been that DUI GUY, a pretty much STRAIGHT-UP Punk song, rose to no.2 for HARD ALTERNATIVE! Obviously for MANY lovers of HARD ALTERNATIVE, short & to the point is a good thing (it's under 2 min. in length).
Everybody I know in the Tucson Scene and abroad said IN HIS HEAD would be the one to get us noticed, but it's fluxuated in the top 10 of Hard Alternative, and was displaced by both DUI GUY (punk) & SUN IS RISIN.
AND Sun is risin' was EXTREMELY well received, being at no. 1 for a few months! (in HARD ALTERNATIVE)-- briefly in the TOP 10 of all genres. It's a weird one, but definitely more complex than much of what I've composed thus far. I think that's WHY it's done so well for so long. A unique subject/lyrix & musical composition that is not too derivative of any particular genre.
UH.... SORRY, I've got 22 of our best tunes up so I have to waffle on for a minute. i've been extremely pleased by the reception of HARDCORE with Phlegm & C-note and sad that nobody's hardly discovered our GREAT Blues & ROCK tunes, Like TRANSITIONS. That one is LOVED in Tucson and has been played on the local community radio station a number of times.
It's one of the FEW with a female backup singer, instead of ME backing up my own vocals, and she does beautiful work. So I thought it would be better received than it has been thus far. But I'm hoping that will change as more basic ROCK & Blues folks realize we are so much more than just "hard alternative". Let's not even start that whole genre question~~!
Uh.... I think if more people listen to the ROCK & blues we already have up on IACMUSIC, they'll be LESS suprised when the NEXT set of BLUES & ROCK tunes go up. We really love ALL music styles & try to show it with the diversity of our creations!
I think anything that is well received is good, and surely we'll always be suprised at what OTHER folks think is the good stuff of our music.
However, I must mention that trying to make an impact in multi-genres, and billing yourself as "tucson's most eclective Music collective" makes it HARDER to get your fan base going; because the demographic for your fan would be somebody who likes HIP-HOP and ROCK and METAL and PUNK and BLUES and REGGAE, etc. I've found that folks that associate their favorite music with ONE genre, tend to ONLY like our tunes in THAT genre.
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH the bottomline, what people LIKE will sometimes suprise us, and cause a song we least expect to be enjoyed by others. And that's a good thing.
-phlegm of Conversation Suicide
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Hop On Pop
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5/6/2008 4:47:45 AM
---- Updated 5/6/2008 5:00:26 AM
Not talking about just here at IAC, folks, but in general.
And yeah, I know that talking about your own stuff is cliche. And getting others to talk about their own stuff is easy. But, you know what? So what?
I like reading these stories/thoughts/observations.
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The Black Orchids
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5/6/2008 12:41:49 PM
I've kinda held back writing this cause I already knew
my song "Tell Me" was the one back when I was
in the studio mixing it.
What I mean by "one" is, it was the one song of mine
I couldn't and still can't get enough of.
I went through so much in the past three years
battling everything and everyone along the way
that now I actually feel like it was all worth it.
I think the only thing I'm missing here is why
everyone else who listens to it digs it so much?
You know, you can only stroke your own ego
so far.................LOL
DR
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