OREGON MUSIC / APRIL 2003 photo Buko Page 2 - TWO LOUIES, April 2003 TWO LOUIES, April 2003 - Page 3 photo Buko hirty years after recording “Louie Louie” the estranged members of the Kingsmen reunite in the Two Louies kitchen to welcome Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top to Portland. Kingsmen drummer Lynn Easton, vocalist Jack Ely and guitarist Mike Mitchell recorded “Louie Louie” as a demo for Ta cruise ship gig. Ely quit shortly thereafter. This month the UK’s Mojo Magazine selected the Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie” #1 on their Ultimate Jukebox of The 100 Singles You Must Own. April 15th RCA Victor releases the new ZZ Top album “Mescalero” followed by the “Beer Drinkers & Hell Rais- ers 2003 Tour” beginning April 25th. Look for Mister Gibbons on the streets of Portland the second or third week of June. LL if anybody has an address, telephone number PDX KISS GUITARIST or email for Joe. I must have thought this was Greetings Two Louies, an audition for a new Buster Keaton fi lm. That Back from Vegas and the KISS show at the Yellow Pages tee shirt was purchased for $1.25 at Palms featuring my pal Tommy Thayer! Flew down the Salvation Army, I cut off the sleeves like any with John Thayer, Tommy put us up at the Palms young rocker would do in 1983. I wanted to take and passes all around. After a nice preshow visit BED STAINS the band to Los Angeles but no takers, so I mar- with the band we were herded down to the Maloof’s “Tommy breathed new life into the boys that night, even Peter was pounding harder then usual. There was a lot of love in the crowd for Tommy, no one seemed to miss Ace...” ried the beautiful and provocative Anny Celsi (See private ‘cabana’ next to the stage (open bar, private Jonny Hollywood P. 6) and moved. She still lives bathrooms!) at club Rain. Not even Vince Neil and and works there. On the sad side of the coin our his little “Pamlet” (our code word for all the mini very talented bass player Mike Chriss had an awful Pamela Andersons) was in the cabana! photo David Wilds Dear Editor, accident which tore his hand up and changed his The show was fabulous, NO pyro, NO I just saw the Rewind picture of Map Of life around in a most brutal fashion. blood, NO fi re breathing, just staight ahead clas- France from 1983 in your March ’03 issue. The Duane Jarvis picture was taken backstage at Luis LaBamba. It’s Joe Loren Taylor with Lori (a fan). Let me know Continued on page 30 Page 2 - TWO LOUIES, April 2003 TWO LOUIES, April 2003 - Page 3 Page 4 - TWO LOUIES, April 2003 TWO LOUIES, April 2003 - Page 5 NEW CHANGES IN are being underpaid. by the three major labels to date, the changes MAJOR LABEL RECORDING CONTRACTS It should also be mentioned that the three announced vary somewhat from label to label. major label conglomerates mentioned above have Nonetheless, the changes announced by Warner Artist Royalty Reform: Is It for Real? been exceedingly slow in actually implementing Bros. are fairly typical of what the other two major n the past few months, several major the announced changes. This delay may in fact be label conglomerates have proposed. label conglomerates have announced eroding some of the goodwill that those labels were Warners has proposed, among other things, Ithat they will be substantially changing their recording contracts. These announcements have been in response to recent activity in the California Legislature. Last year, hearings were held before a California Legislature committee at which Don Henley, the Dixie Chicks, Sam Moore (of “Sam and Dave”), among others, testifi ed to the effect that artists are routinely cheated out of their artist royalties. trying to establish when they made their respective the following: Then, several months ago, a bill was proposed by announcements. 1. The traditional packaging deduction California State Senator Kevin Murray, a former (which today, for CDs, is usually 25% of the retail entertainment agent. This bill, if it becomes law, THE SPECIFIC CHANGES price of records sold) and the so-called “new would impose major royalty reform on record ANNOUNCED BY THE LABELS SO FAR media” deduction (which also tends to be in the companies. The first major label to announce such 25% range) will both be eliminated. As a result of this activity in the California changes—BMG—not only proposed new royalty 2. Royalties will now be calculated on a percentage of wholesale receipts, rather than on “Universal, Warner Bros. and BMG the retail price. 3. Artists and their royalty accountants have tried to head off legislative reform will now have the right to review manufacturing by voluntarily announcing that they will records, which record companies have in the past avoided like the plague. In other words, artists and be substantially changing their recording their accountants will now be able to determine how many records were actually manufactured, contracts.” which (with other information) may make it Legislature, several major labels—Universal, provisions, but also announced that the new con- easier for accountants to determine whether the Warner Bros. and BMG—have tried to head off tracts would contain provisions whereby BMG- sales data is accurate. legislative reform by voluntarily announcing that affi liated labels (for example, RCA and Arista) 4. Warner Bros. has agreed that if there is an they will be substantially changing their recording would receive a share of artist’s touring and underpayment of 10% or more of the amount due, contracts, and more specifi cally, the provisions of merchandising income, which record companies that the label will pay interest on the defi ciency. those contracts dealing with the payment of royal- have traditionally not shared in. Universal, in comparison, has announced ties to artists. (The other two major label conglom- erates—Sony and EMI—have not yet made any “It should also be mentioned that the three such announcements.) It is not yet known whether these voluntary major label conglomerates mentioned above have announcements by Universal, Warner Bros. and been exceedingly slow in actually implementing BMG will be enough to head off the enactment of California legislation imposing recording contract the announced changes. This delay may in fact be reform on record labels. On the one hand, Sen. Murray has been very aggressive in pushing for eroding some of the goodwill that those labels royalty reform legislation. On the other hand, the were trying to establish.” legislative hearings last year in Sacramento dem- onstrated that many other California legislators This announcement was met with con- many of the same changes, but also other changes do not wish to be involved in what they see as a tempt and derision by a number of major artist as well, including the following: private business dispute between artists and labels. managers. Indeed, the modest benefi ts to artists 1. Increasing their royalty department staff Instead, they feel that they have “bigger fi sh to fry”, from the BMG royalty reforms would be grossly so that artists and their accountants can get faster and would prefer to see any such problems resolved out-weighed by the extremely negative effect on answers to their royalty questions. voluntarily by record companies, especially the big artists if the label were to share in artists’ touring 2. Conducting royalty workshops for inter- major label conglomerates. and merchandising income. ested artists, so that the artists can better under- Incidentally, none of these major label Perhaps as a result of the outcry from those stand the royalties that are due. conglomerates have claimed that the changes in major artist managers, the BMG proposal (to share 3. Eliminating the restrictions that are in the their recording contracts will involve an increased in artist’s touring and merchandising income) was usual Universal artist agreement, for example, pro- royalty rate for artists. Instead, they only claim not included in the changes proposed by the two visions prohibiting audits by royalty accountants that by simplifying their recording contracts, art- labels which later made their own announce- who would be doing the audit on a contingency ists and artists’ accountants and managers will be ments—that is, Universal and Warners. better able to determine whether or not royalties As for the specifi c royalty reforms offered Continued on page 28 Page 4 - TWO LOUIES, April 2003 TWO LOUIES, April 2003 - Page 5 //www.cdbaby.com/cd/milesahead) gets my musical “thumb’s up”. Their song clips say it all. Somewhere between “Kinda Blue” and “In a Silent Way”, Miles Ahead cops the “Miles Mystique” without borrow- ing directly. They don’t even have a trumpet! No schmaltz, or “easy jazz” here. It sounds like what Miles’s sidemen might have jammed on when Miles wasn’t in the room. Cool stuff. I hope to see them live the next time I’m in town. 3. Black Angel “Bitter Suite” - Found under Urban / R&B, Black Angel http://www.cdbaby.com/ cd/blackangel got me where I live. First, the name caught my attention, reminding me of “Sweet Black Angel” one of my favorite Stones songs. Second, the album title “Bitter Suite”. So straight forward, sounds immediately classic. What I heard when I played the Internet Mystery Shopper Besides being qualifi ed players, these guys are song clip “War” (how appropriate) blew me away. love new music. I need to hear two to four obviously very hip cats who know how to keep it This is music I never knew I needed until I heard it.