Originally Posted By: JohnJohnJohn


I think it is far more likely that what they have always been doing is producing records, watching what the public responds to and then producing more of that until something new comes along. In that scenario is IS the public who is deciding what we get to listen to!

Hey John,
I'm not sure if you have a point or not...

On the one hand, in the very early days of commercial recording I would think the recording companies probably concentrated on those performers that were drawing crowds.

BUT, when the "talent scouts" started looking for groups that were cheap to record then they most certainly started dictating taste...

As a f'rinstance, I play in several groups. One is a pretty good Big Band. Many of our audiences include kids who rarely, if ever, get exposed to the music we play. They get blown away by our sound, which is in many cases completely foreign to them.

Big Bands cost to record and to hire - a quartet is wa-ay cheaper than a 17+ piece big band...

Which leads me to my pet peeve: A rhythm section does not a band make - for ME, ya gotta have a front line too wink

--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya laugh --=--
You're only paranoid if you're wrong!