Conference mr1pst::music

    
    
    I am from Canada so I hear quite a bit of BNL on radio. After being
    banned in Toronto because of their name (feminist groups found their
    name offensive) they received tremendous media coverage. They were on
    the news on tv, and Much Music (Canadian version of MTV) gave them a
    2 hour long live show. Their tape at the time (it was a demo tape
    with 5 songs (if I had a million dollars, be my yoko ono, Brian Wilson
    and two more songs) started to sell like bread and butter.
    
    	
    They are very popular right now. They are talented but luck played more
    role in their rise.
    
    
    I decided to see them live after listening to one interview with them
    on the radio, in their early days. They are very good live. Funny,
    lively, tons of stories to tell, jamming, playing with the words of the
    songs. They are having so much fun out there, it is inevitable for the
    audience to have fun too. Then I went out and purchased 3 of their
    first (demo) tape (one for me two for gifts).
    
    All this happened before they became terribly popular after their
    concert was canceled by the mayer in Toronto because of their name.
    
    Be my Yoko Ono is a cute song. And they have a wonderful story that
    goes with it, did they tell that story in the concert you went to ?
    
    Now they have another song in the charts here in Ottawa, "this is me in
    grade nine".
    
    I think they are better with lyrics than they are with music. They will
    never be my favourite band but I like them, although the media's
    unnecessarily big attention was a turn off for me.
    
    Any thing you want to know about them, you can ask me. They are
    nominated for 5-6 awards for the Canadian music awards, I cannot spell
    the name of that thing, sort of like the Canadian version of Grammy,
    can somebody help me here ?
    
    Lale

    Re -.1 ( Lale )
    
    	No, they didn't tell it - what's the cute 'Be my Yoko Ono' story?
    
    Also, how long ago was the big media flap over their name - I don't
    remember hearing anything about it.  Probably for the best, though -
    one of the reasons I think I'm impressed is because I'd never ever
    heard of them before, and had no idea what to expect at the concert.
    
    						-Jimbo
    
    PS - what are their videos like? -J

    Dear Jimbo (?)
    
    1. Yoko Ono story : The song be my Yoko Ono has lyrics that would
    flatter Yoko Ono, like "If I were John and you were Yoko, I would
    gladly give up musical genious, just to have you for my personal
    Venus" etc. BNL thinks if they can get a tape to Yoko Ono, it would be
    a nice gesture and it might get them some support from her. So, when
    they are in States for a tour, they try really hard to get in touch
    with her and to give her their tape. But they cannot locate her or they
    cannot somehow manage to get in touch with her. One night in a small
    pub they are performing , they see Sean Lennon (is there any such
    person, does John Lennon have a son other then Jullien ??) in the
    audience. After the performance they go to his table and one of them
    attempt to start "We are .." and Sean (whoever, Lennon's son,
    supposedly) says "Oh, you are Barenaked Ladies, great song guys, my
    mother (?) thinks it's really neat". Something like that. This
    happened one and a half-two years ago, when they were not famous, not
    even in Canada. They were playing at local bars, that's where I saw
    them. The tickets for their next appereance was being sold at Ticket
    master, they were very proud, they said, just call ticket master, we
    don't want you to buy tickets or anything, just say "Is BNL show
    sold out yet ?".
    
    2. Media flap over their name happened ejust before Christmas last
    year.
    
    3. Scarborough is in Ontario, near Toronto, or integrated to Toronto.
    
    4. I saw them live on TV, never saw a video yet. I will see a lot of
    them this week in the music awards, they are expected to wipe out all
    the awards.
    
    I like the lyrics to their songs, like in "if I had a million dollars",
    they go " We wouldn't have to eat kraft dinner anymore. But I like
    kraft dinner. We would probably be eating more karft dinner. My girl
    friend went to United States last week, she brough me one of those
    animal shaped kraft dinners"
    
    Did you hear their song "we never really knew eachother", he is
    talking about a love story when he was 15 years old and he says
    " I always thought you fancied my brother".
    
    
    Take Care
    
    Lale
    
    If I had a million dollars I would buy you a mink coat but not a real
    mink coat, that's cruel. If I had a million dollars, I would but you
    some Art, Picasso or Garfunkel. Etc. etc.
    
    

    
    
    
    If you like those sorts of lyrics you should pick up Lennon's
    "Skywriting by Word of Mouth".
    
    

James Isaacs on WBUR has played a couple of their tunes
on his show.  He calls them "a great new Canadian band with
a really stupid name."  They sounded good but I haven't
gotten their album yet.  Maybe I should.

Having heard BNL before and being a big JWH fan I was sorry
to miss the Paradise concert, but I had a can't-miss rehearsal
that night...

    re .3, Sean is John/Yoko's kid.

    Re .3
    
    	The hardly new each other song is called 'Enid'
    
    On of my favorite songs on the album is called 'The King of Beside
    Manners'
    
    In concert, they do like to have fun with the lyrics - for example -
    
    "If I had a million dollars, I'd buy you some art . . .
    	A Picasso, or a Carney - Art Carney - get it??"
                     
    "If I had a million dollars, we wouldn't have to eat kraft dinners -but
    we would eat Kraft dinners, in fact we'd build the tree fort in verse
    one out of them."
    
    					-Jimbo                             

    re .3, Sean exists (and is pretty cute) but was he old enough to go to
    bars two years ago?  I thought he was only about 14 or so?  Well, maybe
    when you're that rich and famous you go where you want.  :-)
    
    Lorna
    

    Is the song/parody about the New Kids On The Block one of theirs?
    \Gary
    It's worth a listen even if it's not.

    RE -.1
    
    Yup - 'New Kid on the Block'
    
    "Now, I'm the new kid on the block,
    Though I may not be Johann Sebastian Bach
    I may not write the songs I sing
    But look at Elvis - he sold his soul and you crowned him King"
     etc
    

    I think Sean was 5 in 1980 when John was killed. So he's 17 now, me
    thinks.

    --Ron

    
    
    
    The first tape has the following songs:
    
    1. Be My Yoko Ono
    2. Brian Wilson
    3. Blame It On Me
    4. If I had $1000000
    5. Fight The Power
    
    Which songs are on the new tape ?
    
    I caught their ENID video on MuchMusic last night. They are just
    singing, playing, dancing, being funny, being silly themselves.
    
    The upright bass is a nice touch in a band. That guy with the Scottish
    cap, is always wearing that cap. On stage they make jokes about it,
    that it was sewed on his head.
    
    Thanks for the list of songs of their latest tape.
    
    Lale
    

    Re -.1
    
    new tape ( Gordon )
    
    Hello City
    Enid
    Brian Wilson
    Wrap Your Arms Around Me
    Be My Yoko Ono
    Grade 9
    Crazy
    If I Had $1,000,000
    Box Set
    The King of Beside Manners
    I Love You
    Blame it on Me
    The Flag
    What a Good Boy
    
    it's recorded on DAT which is near-CD quality sound.
    
    I wish Fight the Power was on it too, though!
    
    The bass player is Jimmy Creegan, his brother Andy plays keyboards.
    
    'Found my locker and I found my classes, went to lunch and I broke my
    glasses - That guy is huge! That girl is wailin'! First day of school
    and I'm already failing!!'
    
    							-Jimbo
    

While relatively unknown in the US, this band is huge in their home country
of Canada! The album has already gone triple-platinum up there, and is
on its way to the next level....

alan

    
    
    Just out of curiosity, how many units does it take to go platinum,
    Canadian style?
    
    

>    Just out of curiosity, how many units does it take to go platinum,
>    Canadian style?

100,000 units. I believe they've sold 350K so far up there.....

alan

    
    
    Alan, where did you get the 350K figure ? It sounds unrealistically
    high. I just called my radio station. They said that their first demo
    tape (with the previously listed 5 songs on it) sold 60,000 and
    their album sold somewhere around 150,000. They might be wrong of
    course. What is your resource ?
    
    100,000 per platinum is correct.
    
    Cheers
    
    Lale

>    Alan, where did you get the 350K figure ? 

It was in this week's Billboard magazine, which I was just reading last night
(that's why it's so fresh in my mind). There was a story on the band in
either the Talent or Canada section, I forget which. I'll double check the
figures tonight, although I'm pretty sure it's 300K+ - I just can't remember 
whether it's 350K or 375K.....

regards,
alan

    
    
    Do they actually say "If I had a million dollars I would buy you love" ?
    I thought you couldn't buy love.
    
    Lale
    

    
    If I had a million dollars, I would buy your love
    				 	    ^^^^
    
    	Supposedly you can't buy love, but if the price is right . . .
    
    	
    						-Jimbo
    

    re .19, .20, "bought love is a guaranteed imitation" - Carl Sandburg
    
    Lorna
    

re: sales figures

Lale, I doubled-checked this number the other night. I was a little off, but
not by much - the album *is* triple platinum, with sales of 310,000. Although 
keep in mind that this was a few weeks ago, and the album is still climbing 
the Canadien charts (just went from 4->3 last week), so it probably is at 
350K or so by now.....

regards,
alan

    
    Thanks Alan. Yes, they are doing better everyday here in Canada. Monday
    night they won a couple of awards. I still don't know the name
    (actually the spelling) of the awards. This is not the famous Canadian
    Juno awards. This is the one which works with the votes of the fans. I
    listened to the awards on and off on the radio Monday night. BNL was
    the highlight of the show.
    
    Also, could somebody please be so kind as to explain to me the cruelty
    around a green dress ? I wear green dresses all the time, what's the
    deal, I don't understand. Am I being too dim, is it very obvious
    what is meant by "I'd buy you a green dress but not a real green dress,
    that's cruel" ? 
    
    Lale
    

    Just a nit and correct me if i'm wrong but I believe
        gold = 500K sales
        platinum = 1M sales

    --Ron

    
    
    
    
    >                   ...I wear green dresses all the time...
    
    
    
    
    			     Lale, don't be cruel!
    

    
    ref. .25
    
    ok, I'm dim, I still don't get it. What do you guys think it might
    mean ? Is this obvious to everyone but me ?
    
    
    Stopped wearing "real" green dresses until further notice.
    (it never looked good on me anyway)
    
    
    ref. .24
    
    idunno. Platinum is more expensive than gold, so maybe in the earlier
    discussions in this note silver was meant instead of platinum ?
    
    Lale
    
    
    

    re: .23, green dresses
    
    Earlier in the same song ($1E6), they make a reference to buying a fur
    coat, "but not a real fur coat, that's cruel", an obvious reference to
    the animals issue...
    
    so that when they make a later reference to a green dress, they also
    say the same thing, but, of course, in that context it is simply absurd
    humor, since I don't believe they really kill "greens" to make green
    dresses, or at least not to my knowledge.
    \Gary

re: .24 (Ron)

> Just a nit and correct me if i'm wrong but I believe
>        gold = 500K sales
>        platinum = 1M sales

In the U.S., these figures are correct. But in other countries, they vary
according to the population. In Canada, Gold = 50K and Platinum = 100K.

alan

    
    ref. .27
    
    Thanks Gary. I knew I was going to be embarrassed.
    
    Lale

    Lale -
    
    	Keep wearing those au faux green dresses, and of course you'll be
    embarrassed.  By the way - I sent off for the 'Barenaked Bulletin',
    whatever that may be - I assume it will have info on tour dates,
    forthcoming album(s) and their recent awards ( natch ).
    
    					-Jimbo

Stereophile reviewed GORDON in a recent (Nov?) issue and gave it thumbs up. The 
reveiwer liked the "folk" sound, enjoyed the lyrics, but couldn't figure out who 
Gordon was/is.

Out here in Denver, "Blame It on Me" is getting air play on KBCO. The album is on 
my to-buy list.

Paul

    
    	Finally recieved the Barenaked Bulletin - some excerpts :
    
    	Opening for BN for the western segment of their Canadian tour will be
    The Waltons.  other opening acts TBA.
    
    	MuchMusic produced video for "If I Had $1,000,000" hitting the
    airwaves soon.  "Brain Wilson" video to follow in the UK.
    
    	CASBY awards - Barenaked Ladies won Favourite Live Act, Favourite
    Debut Album and Favourite Group/Artist.
    
    	A fond farewell ( temporarily ) to Tyler's dreds, which were buzzed
    off recently, while Jim C. is sporting, if not a new hair cut, but a
    noveau chapeau for the tour.
    
    	Andy is searching for eclectic and cool stickers to decorate his
    congas.  If you have any to pass on, you can mail them to :
    
    		For Andy's Congas
    		c/o 579 Richmond St. W. Suite 401
    		Toronto, Ontario, M5V1Y6
    
    	To subscribe to the BB, send $6.00 check or MO payable to BNL
    Entertainment to the above address.  ( but put "Barenaked Bulletin"
    instead of "For Andy's Congas" )
    
    --	Also enclosed was a price list for BNL paraphenalia, and a list of
    tour dates, which I forgot at home.  If anyone's interested, I'll post
    them  -  All I can remember from the price list was that a BNL Baseball
    shirt was something like $95.00 American.  A bit steep if you ask me.
    
    						regards,  Jimbo
    

    
    
    the other day, they were singing at Yellowknife (Northwest Territories-
    Canada) when they got protested because of the line "but not a real fur
    coat, that's cruel". as it turns out, the primary profession and income
    resource in Yellowknife is hunting and fur making/selling.
    
    these guys can't win.
    
    cheers
    
    lale
    

    
    Their long awaited 2nd album is now in the stores 'Maybe You Should
     Drive'.  It's good, good *good*.  Did I mention I liked it?  The
    single they released is 'Jane', but the best song, imo, is 'A'.  Just
    'A' as in 'A is for...'.  Good disk, go buy it :-).
    
    					- jimbo

    re:.34 Jim
    
    Yeah, I picked this one up the day it came out, and I can't help but
    feel a bit disappointed bu it though. Don't get me wrong, I love the
    band and it is a very competent album. The lyrics are also good. But I
    miss the musical references that graced their debut _Gordon_. This
    reminds me of just how good the first one was though! The diverse
    themes on _Gordon_ was very impressive, but _Maybe You Should Drive_
    seemed to get stuck on relationships. My favorite from _Gordon_ was
    "Boxed Set" so maybe that's why I'm disappointed.
    
    Gordon 4.5 out of 5
    Maybe You Should Drive 3.5 out of 5
    
    Kevin

    Kevin,
    
    	It *does* grow on you with repeated listenings, though.  You're
    right about the theme, though.  Except for 'Little Tiny Song' that is
    :-).
    
    					- Jim

    Not much activity here lately, so I thought I would update some things.
    
    BNL is currently working on album #3.  According to Ed they should be
    touring again sometime after June.  On a sadder note, Steven verified
    that Andy Creegan has indeed left the band to pursue an education (I
    think).  Although this can be seen as a big let down for the band, I
    still think that rest of them are still capable of producing excellent
    music.  I look forward to the next album and tour with eager
    anticpation.
    	I attended the last two concerts in Boston and had a blast.  I was
    also able to convert a few more fans.  Their musical prowess ceases to
    amaze me.  I highly recommend seeing them in concert this summer even
    if you don't know anything about them.  I'll post a tour schedule as
    soon as I get one.
    
    Barenakedly yours,
    andy

    I just heard that the Barenaked Ladies will be playing at the Harbor
    Lights (I've never heard of it) in Boston sometime in June.
    
    Andy
    

    Saw the Bares at the Harborlights on Tuesday.  Excellent concert.  Lots
    of fun.  They had a chef on stage cooking hot dogs and throwing them
    into the audience.  They apologized several times for having
    miscalculated how many dogs to bring...
    
    They did an extended jam version of "If I had $1,000,000" which
    included some reggae jamming and a snipped of Prince's "Kiss".
    
    Billy Bragg [who was also on the bill and was great] joined them for
    an encore fo his "Sexuality".  Again, tons of fun.
    
    See this band at all costs.  And bring plenty of Kraft Macaroni and
    Cheese.
    
    John

    It appears that WBOS is sponsoring a free Barenaked Ladies Concert at
    the Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Dec 15th.  Contact WBOS for more
    info.  The Beaver Brown band is also appearing.  I highly recommend
    this band to anyone who likes to have a good time.  Go see it.  It's
    free so what can you lose?
    
    Andy