tegs07

Happy talk - Captain Sensible

River man - Nick Drake

If I had to guess and pull random figures out of the air probably because the majority of all instruments are made under license in the same handful of factories, using the same CNC designs and settings with costs varying around pickups, electrics, wood, hardware and marketing. Designing new stuff requires research, time, expense and the risk of poor sales. It’s a crowded market at the bottom and middle and cost triumphs over creativity.

I think a design patent lasts around 15 years after that it can be copied with some limitations around trademarks etc. but I am not a lawyer so this is just a guess. Edit: Due to ergonomics, balance, the need to reach the lower frets and for the mass market ease of reproduction there are probably only so many variations on a theme that can be done.

Man at C&A - The Specials

Moonlight drive - the doors

So long marianne - Leonard Cohen

Angry chair - Alice in chains

I’ve had similar experiences with Shane MacGowan. The Pogues were great live in the early days. As Alcoholism took hold he was a shambolic embarrassment at times. It’s a nasty illness. He was also a poet and not much of a singer.

I admire bands like The Stranglers and The Cure who don’t let greed get in the way and split the money evenly amongst the band. Bands that squabble over the cash just forget why they were making music together in the first place and end up bitter and losing a lot of dignity not to mention income in the very court rooms and system they often set out to challenge. I stopped reading his book when Morrisey had bought Clark Cables old house, had already earned enough for a lifetime but was still whining on about the injustice of the record companies, courts and everything else. It was just sad.

Metal Guru - T Rex

I think the moment I finally lost all patience and respect for Morrisey was during the court case. Not only was he refusing to pay ex-Smith’s members for their contributions he was insulting their contributions calling them as replaceable as parts of a lawnmower. He had a great and fabulously unique band. All the members made that happen and the fact that no individual member has been able to recreate that magic shows how important all the individual members contribution was. Morrisey became increasingly wealthy and bitter off the back of it all. Sad end to what most of us dream of as teenagers.

Let it be - Those 4 again

Geezers need excitement - The Streets

Blood money - Sisters of mercy

Diamonds on the inside - Ben Harper

Beast of burden - Stones

Away from the numbers - The jam

Check out Long Strange Trip on Amazon Prime. 8 part documentary on the dead. Personally I never really liked the acid test era music much but the country blues stuff is excellent.

Road to nowhere - Talking Heads

50 ways to Leave your lover - Paul Simon

Sadly had to part with the one decent HiFi I ever owned and could never really justify the cost of replacing it. Only have an old Kenwood system with some reasonable speakers. Still have a hundred odd Vinyl record’s left but mostly use an Amazon echo dot streaming from Spotify. Convenient but does suck the soul right out of music. Like talking a Japanese tea ceremony and replacing it with a vending machine.

Back in the USSR - The Rutles

Better is subjective as is the experience of playing vinyl. Possibly in the same way as a screw cap vs corked wine. There is a degree of ritual and respect with vinyl which some people just prefer. The imperfections are all part of the process.

Step right up - Tom waits