I got a phone call last night from an old friend whom I only tend to speak to over the phone once year or so. We chat on line a bit via AIM. I was in between rehearsals so I picked up the phone. She called to tell me her brand new Macbook had arrived. She was all excited because it was her first Mac. Which got me to thinking. Lots of people who know me, know that I really enjoy Apple computers. Thus there’s a lot of people who come to me for their Mac questions. One thing I’ve noticed though is that whenever someone buys a Mac they’re always excited to tell people. They want to let others know they bought it. I have never met a PC user that is so excited about their Dell, HP, Sony, etc, that they call their friends to tell them what they got. Why is that?
I find this happens with Cell Phones, Mountain Bikes, Skis, Cars, TV’s, all sorts of things.
Come to think of it, I think this tends to happen with any product that is well designed from an industrial standpoint. Owning something where thought goes into the aesthetics and the functionality always will make you feel good. That’s probably why I spend so much time on cover art for my CD’s and the materials on which it’s printed. I think presentation makes a statement. If you care about your product you’ll take time to really work the minutia. I do it down to the timing between songs. I spend hours getting it so that as you’re bobbing your head from the last song, the next song will start in time at the next downbeat that feels right. At one point I had a mastering guy actually notice the timing and commented on it to me. He was amazed at what it did for the flow of the album. Apparently no major label does this and I know why. It’s a time consuming process and it’s a pain in the ass.
One thing I don’t believe we can possess is another person. I don’t believe in owning a person, that would be like taking the life out of them. Yet I know I’ve met people that truly treat others like property. It’s wack, and it’s inhuman. However, I think we’re all guilty of coveting a person at one time or another. Which is exactly what Jesse’s Girl is all about.
Know who played drums for Rick Springfield at the time this song came out? A guy named Jack White. I know this because a few years ago I got hooked with him through a friend of a friend. Jack is a super nice guy. He was married to Katey Segal. I met her once or twice when they lived in the Hollywood Hills, then they moved to a nice spread in Balboa. He converted the pool house to a real nice recording studio. When I first started talking to him he wanted to hear some of my songs so I sent him a tape and he mentioned he’d get back to me in a couple of weeks. I got a call the following day letting me know he got the tape in the mail (that was quick). Said he’d get around to it in a few days.
About an hour later I got another phone call from Jack. He had listened to my demos and was floored. Immediately wanted to spend some time working with me, doing some writing and getting me to people. Fantastic, I thought to myself. This is great, a veteran of the biz wants to take me under their wing and help me out. So that’s how I got to hang at his place. We started putting some tunes together, but little did I know he was having issues on the home front and eventually things ended. I never did hear from Jack and I don’t know what happened to him. It’s unfortunate cause he was such a cool guy.
Anyway, I can remember being at summer camp being very little and hearing this song. Gotta love Utah, way behind the times. Even when I visit now, most of the music you hear on the radio there is from 20 years ago. It’s like they got trapped in the 80’s and never left. Thus I can remember the music of the song, but I had no idea that I’d meet the drummer, let alone ever be a musician at that point.
Another friend of mine is now Rick Springfield’s current guitar player. His name is George Bernhardt. I met him through Jeff Scott Soto. George used to play with Matt and Greg Bissonette and Doug Bossie in the Mustard Seeds. Hmmm… At some point I’ll have pull up a Mustard Seeds song for the blog. Likely to be a Sunday’s Child as they disbanded before iTunes. Great music.
I’d love to hear a female artist do a cover of this song. I think it would be cool.
(** Disclaimer: If Rick’s label wants to make me their bitch, I’ll have to sever the audio cord from the server. The post will remain cause I want Jesse’s girl too, just kidding. **)