A Peculiar Display

The biggest Christian rock hit of the 90's, performed three different ways by three different performers who recorded the original version. There's a lot going on here.

33.333333

The 33 1/3 series of books about popular music, which people like me very much like and want to write books for, will be accepting proposals soon. While I have no time to write anything but my dissertation this year, I’d happily write something after I finish my PhD. These books will be published in 2013 and 2014, so I think I am going to submit a proposal. I'm just not sure about what.

I’ve done this twice before with no success, but find myself slightly more well-positioned this time, with more experience, more publications (both academic and popular), and my first book already under my belt.

From their call:

“In these new proposals, we’ll be looking for original research, for stories in the history of popular music (recent or otherwise) that haven’t been told too often (if at all), and for perspectives that will broaden and develop the discipline of writing about music, as read by a global readership of music scholars and fans.”

While I won’t write anything publicly about whatever (and whether) I do decide to pitch to them, I don’t feel like I have to guard my ideas jealously, either. I’d read a book about any of the records below, whether I wrote it or not.  I’d appreciate your feedback about which of these you think would be the best strategic choice

1. Judee Sill – Heart Food

PROS: Interest in Sill has been rekindled in recent years; no books have been written about her; she is criminally under-known but has kindled a lot of interest in music nerds (the audience for the series), I have been obsessively listening to her for the last 5 years or so, her music is intensely religious but a bit ambiguous about the source of that religiosity, which makes it interesting.

CONS: Had a previous pitch on this rejected (it was a bit esoteric, though I thought solidly written); Sill’s not being well-known could preclude sales; I was not alive when she was making music; I’m not that familiar with the cultural context the record came from (70’s Laurel Canyon folk scene).

Note: When I asked the series editor whether he thought a non- 33 1/3 Sill book would sell well, he seemed to suggest that it wouldn't.

2. Weezer – Pinkerton

PROS: Have had an obsessive interested in Weezer since I first heard this record 15 years ago; have listened to this more than almost any rock record I own; have absorbed an absurd amount of trivia about this band over the years; am intimately familiar with related apocrypha (Songs from the Black Hole, demos, etc); have some personal and professional interest in the “white dude/Asian chick” issue at the heart of this album; extremely well-known band and album.

CONS: This band had about nine pitches last time (including mine, rejected) and is likely to again (this could be a “pro”); the writer who signed a contract for this book last time did not finish it; there may be others better positioned to write this (people who have already done long pieces on Weezer, for example); I would rather read this book if it were written by an Asian American woman;  Cuomo’s “the Pinkerton Diaries” means that a lot of raw information about this record is already out there. Would need a unique approach, but not gimmicky.

3. Sixpence None the Richer – self titled

PROS: Very popular album (sold tons) with one of the 90’s biggest one-hit wonder singles (“Kiss Me”); the rock band I already know the most about, since I've been following them since their first record; in theory I’m already ‘branded’ as an expert on them; interesting story to tell about the pileup of art, faith, and commerce; would probably be the most fun for me to write.

CONS: Hard to get the audience behind it – these are books that are read by music geeks, and it could be hard to get past the superficial prejudices people have against a phenomenon like "Kiss Me". This is the only real con I can think of, but it’s a big one.

4. DC Talk – Jesus Freak

PROS: Widely considered one of the best-selling, most important records in contemporary Christian music history; fascinating cultural study of CCM, evangelical culture, musical innovation, etc; I know the record and the band well; a lot to “write around” (the band’s pre and post Jesus Freak history, the 90s as the apex of Christian music, etc); has the potential to be exactly the kind of book I want to write.

CONS: CCM; would certainly be going out on a limb for the series; name (while potentially intriguing, now that I think about it) might turn people off .

Live in Ballard at 45th and 8th

Recently, the five (him, him, him, him, and me) members of the Dandelion Method got together and played instruments in the same room for the first time since 2004. Below are a few songs that emerged --one never played before, one made up on the spot , and one written over ten years ago.
  45th and 8th by JTHH

you are forgiven

This Five Iron Frenzy Reunion is Kind of a Big Deal If You Are a Certain Kind of Person (links)

I've been thinking about this for a while and maybe will write about it later, but just wanted to collect some of the stuff that's being written about Five Iron Frenzy's reunion, Kickstarter campaign, etc. This feels like kind of a defining cultural event for that weird demographic I belong to called People Who Were Really Into Christian Indie Rock in the 90s. There are a lot of threads: the demise of record labels and the rise of social media making things better for bands, what it means when an ostensibly youth-oriented band reunites when we're all adults now, why third-wave ska should remain dead, what it means to be a Christian band, how evangelicals deal with topics like "loss of faith" and "new atheism" (several of the band's members are now atheists), and how Five Iron Frenzy manages to be such a good-ass band despite looking cheesy as hell on paper.

For now, I just want to point you toward some of the interesting interviews and commentaries that have been written about this event.

The original Kickstarter campaign raised like $60,000 in an hour, and is up to $180,000. UPDATE: The final tally was $207,980. That's approximately $25,000 per band member.

"A Five Iron Frenzy Story" : Bringing a Dead Band Back to Life by Joel Gratyck. The story of how a confluence of misunderstandings and fans' enthusiasm indirectly led to the band deciding to reunite.

"Five Iron Frenzy, Kickstarter, and why this may be the most important thing to happen to Christian music in decades" by Stuart Greene is a good commentary on the implications this thing has for the idea of a "Christian (pop) music industry."

Relevant magazine's interview with Reese Roper.

An in-depth interview with Roper (maybe the most in-depth one I've seen) by music blogger John Mouser, parts 1 and 2.


Scott Kerr wrote this very personal post on the Five Iron website about why he is OK with being in the band (and why the others OK with it, too) despite his not being a Christian.


Leanor Ortega Till has done some candid and informative interviews with the Phantom Tollbooth, Absolute Punk, and Jesus Freak Hideout.