The song Imaginary Lover has refused to leave my brain the last few days. Not knowing who it was by — it was one of those artists that was at the tip of my mind, just out of grasp — I did a Google search and learned it was Atlanta Rhtyhm Section (ARS). Hey, they are long time southern rockers. It was good to see from their website that they are still out rockin’ the tour scene. It’s interesting how many bands are out playing their old stuff like ARS and REO Speedwagon who blazed through the area recently.

And speaking of their website, it is one of the best I’ve seen from a musical artist. Not too much Flash, no annoying auto-play, showcasing their current work, tour lineup, news, tour and discography. Are they using PayPal to sell their Live Concert DVD ($15.99 USD)? Indeed. Check it out, there are even Amazon ads.

All just accidental mind control
Ever been mind controlled by a song? Where it plays on the radio or TV and won’t leave your brain? The only way for me to rid this condition is to buy the song and play it dozens of times.

Upon visiting and reading about ARS, I learned that the song Imaginary Lover has an accidental history:

But it was Imaginary Lover that proved to be the band’s biggest hit-reaching number seven on the charts. The story has been told of a New York DJ who accidentally played the 45 of Imaginary Lover at 78 rpm and was inundated with calls asking about the new Fleetwood Mac song. Whatever, it worked. The album hit the top 10 and went platinum.

They do sound a little like Fleetwood Mac sans the raspy, sulky voice of Stevie Nicks. The guitar during Imaginary Lover is just subtle enough to be effective, particularly the outro solo by Barry Bailey. Not sure of who influenced who but Bad Company did a lot of slow melodic outros. Another band that comes to mind that did well with that style of song was Dire Straits.

The last ARS studio album was Eufaula (1999). Like other classic rock and the later 80’s hair bands current times and sales haven’t been there like they were back then. I think for these artists to come out they need to do it on their own using the web and go straight to the fans. I’ve been saying for years that I think the best way to do that would be to release masters to their fans and let them come up with the best mix and remixes. Imagine an artist like Journey giving away masters to one or two songs off their new CD letting fans have at them to remix, enhance and re-release in sort of digg-style voting system? Imagine the band playing the top mix in concert along with their version? The contest and fan-interaction possibilities abound.

Alas, getting out of the musical rut many artists are in is going to take people who stop living in the 70s and 80s and look at 2010 and beyond. I think some innovative and game changing ideas are coming. The days of make a hit record and sell the CD are, with few exceptions, gone.

This blog post was written while cranking Imaginary Lover: Your mind, anytime … mmmm

Did this post make you go hmm?

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