SHUT 'EM DOWN!

Unless you've been living under a rock, you most likely know that the thugs from the record industry in their typical anti-competitive fashion are an inch away from getting their way yet once again (what's new?) - the victim this time being internet radio.

For those of you who think that playing only music authorized by independent artists would bypass the big dogs, think again. "The strategy of playing only non-RIAA songs won't work though because the RIAA has secured the right to collect royalties on all songs regardless of who controls the copyright. RIAA operates under the assumption that they will collect the royalties for the "sound recording copyright" and that the artists who own their own copyright will go to SoundExchange to collect at a later date."

Whether you are an indie or not, the way the deal is structured, makes no difference.

Time to get off your ass before it's too late.

Of Mice and Men

Thank God they found a new planet like earth, looks like we just may need it - it's only a matter of time.

Now THIS is what WE'RE Talking About!

We were looking around, to get away from it all, for a nifty lil' vacation spot ... now this sounds like fun.

As you probably know we are always down for a little discipline.

Dumber and Dumberer

Who doesn't love stories about dumb criminals?

This one definitely doesn't disappoint. (Our favorite quote has to be "Lanu rolled down the street with his booty in a bag.")

Not to be confused with this guy.

There is no question about it...

"I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you."

Take that Oprah!

...maybe guys aren't to blame for everything after all!

A Trip Back in Time...

Today is the anniversary of Dr. Albert Hofmann discovering LSD, back in 1943.

I (Sir Real) just had a flashback of my own and thumbed thru the "Acid Hits 50 ... The 50th Anniversary of LSD Issue" of REACTOR Magazine #6 (4/93) that we (David Prince, Little Green Matt, Kevin Martin and myself as Sir Real) put out on the Chicago streets back in the early 1990's, ("somewhat monthly") - it now looks a bit crude, but at the time it was the shit. Some of you around from back in the day, might still remember it. So many of the names & events in there bring back fond memories ... Mystic Bill, Derrick Carter, Miles Maeda, Drop Bass Network, Josh Werner, Hyperactive, DJ Heather, James Johnson, Tom Pazen, Drew, Mr. Bill, Jethro X, Jedidiah, Phantom 45, DieselBoy, Frankie Bones, Adam X, Terry Mullan, Psychosis, Ripe, Incredibeets, Rejoice, Further, and the of course Even Further.

For those that actually had a copy: I had forgotten all about that ridiculous Sir Real "Acid Hits 50" double-size pullout poster in the middle of the magazine. I saw that thing hanging on so many apartment walls - even years later. Most by that point, had been bleached by the sun and were grease stained - but they were up still up. Looking at it now, it was pretty creepy. Haha. What was I thinking? Whew!!!

If I can find the original digital copy laying around somewhere (if it still exists at all), I will post it at some point. Don't get too excited though, it was done on a 486 33Mhz system with no video board, so the whole thing was a guessing game. Too much fun.

Ahhh, the good ol' daze. Little did I know that I would grow up to be a JaGoFF. Ha Ha.

Since I have it in front of me, I figured I may as well type out the table of contents from the issue, it will probably be the last you see of it.
----------------------
Interview with graff artists:
Gerb, Futura 2000 and Stash.

Interview with:
Meat Beat Manifesto

Interview with:
Sheep on Drugs

Acid Hits Fifty:
A History of LSD

Still On Top of His Game:
Interview with:
Jim Carroll

Terrence McKenna's Trip
Interview with:
Terrence McKenna

----------------------
SPIN CYCLE: 04/1993
The monthly DJ Spins:

Derrick Carter:
Dajae - You Got Me Up
Planet Love - Structure
R-Tyme - use Me
Martha Wash - Runaround
BMC - Night at the M
50% - Thight Up
Workin' Happily - EP
Lonnie Gordon - Bed Mood
Serro Unique - EP
Fabulon - Say Anything

DJ Heather the Female Preacher:
Funkdoobiest - Bow Wow Wow
Boss - Deeper
Black Madness - Igplay Atinlay
Run DMC - Down with the King
Digable Planets - Where I'm From
Brand Nubian - Pass The Gat
Groove Garden - Your Not Coming Home
Mad Kap Loud - Da Whole Kit and Kaboodle
Pete Rock and CL Smooth - It's Not a Game
Showbiz - Bounce Ta This

Miles Maeda:
N.S.E. - Life's So Bright
Direct 2 Disc - Don't Stop
Family of Few - Interroles
Brian Transeau - Moment of Truth
Ghetto Bros - Musik EP
Morenas - Hazme Sonar
Stealth Sonic Soul - Apollo
Tribeka - This Side Up
Gayle Lynne - Rain Comes Down on Me
Subterranean Mascots - Love Can't Wait

Josh Werner:
Jouie - Blackgoose
Deep Blue by Exodus to Paradise
OK Armando - ANON
Monkey Forrest - X-Tatic
Why Don't Ya - OHM
Keep Givin' Me Love - Jazz 'n Groove
My Life in the Bush
Topcat - Timeless
The Moment of Truth - Brian Transeu

Yup. That was April of 1993.

DAMN!!!!

Doesn't it just figure ...
so we've been working on the new CD for the last year or so, after mulling around a dozen names for a possible title, we finally settled on the name, "One Nation Underdog" which we thought fit perfectly. We were well on the way, had the artwork in the works, etc., etc....

On Friday, we get an e-mail from one of our friends...
It seems Disney (of all things) is using it as a tagline for the new Underdog movie. Now, ain't that a bitch.

Guess, we will have to make room for another song on the record.

Now THIS is a Trip!

Flying the overly friendly skies.

Gross.

Robin Hood vs. Robbin' the Hood

The facts are in.

A new study reveals that it is part of human nature to help the poor.

Therefore we can safely conclude what we've long suspected - that politicians are inhuman.

FLY ON

Today would have been Eddie Hazel's 57th birthday.

For those of you who don't know, here is a little history on one of the most influential guitarists in the history of American music.

"Maggot Brain is perhaps the definitive musical statement by Funkadelic, and the titular track's ten-minute guitar solo is Eddie Hazel's defining moment, and the one piece of music for which he has remained a legend." (wikipedia)

We will forever be grateful for the gift that Eddie Hazel gave to the World.

Much love to his wife Brenda.

Adding Insult to Injury

Supporting Our Troops...

It's more than a bumpersticker.

Culture-Jamming and Guerilla Marketing Lecture

For those of you in the Marketing Dept. at Chicago's Columbia College, Sir Real of JaGoFF will be giving a lecture on "Culture-Jamming and Guerilla Marketing Tactics" on Monday at around 6PM. If you have ever attended any of his past speaking engagements, you know things get down and dirty. For those of you unable to attend, we are currently editing past speaking engagements into a series of podcasts that we plan on making available through TheRecordIndustry.com soon.

Until then ... DIY or DIE.

Support Indie Music or be force-fed crap.

True Tales from The Record Industry : V.0.2

"Don't believe the hype." or We have seen the light ...

This is truely one of the most laughable pieces of news that we have run across in a quite long time. A group of "major labels" are now telling bands not to send in demos but to set up blogs and music on a site sanctioned by the labels themselves. To add insult to injury they try to play it off as if they are doing a service to the planet by saying that it is a waste of plastic. Ha!

Collectively, the "record industry" have been staunch & militant copy-proctection advocates, locking up music thru DRM, lawsuits, some even taking the extreme measure of infecting consumer computers. By stifling technologies under the guise of piracy, they continue to crap on the rights of both artists and consumers alike.

While they continue to restrict policy ... now they want us to do their work for them? Masked in a fantasy that, we the artist, can get a "record deal"?

So what's in a record deal???

Well, if you are "lucky" enough to get signed, first prize is that you lose all rights to your music "throughout the universe and in perpetuity." - um .... that means FOREVER. In addition, you also get the chance at losing the controlling interest to your publishing. Sound exciting??? We're not thru yet!!! You also get the opportunity to give the labels your income from your touring, your merch sales, plus any and all forms of digital distribution (with the added bonus that they get to sue your fans on your behalf and collect money that will never be paid to you). And that's just the beginning!!!

Yes, you can have all this and more for a $200,000 advance (loan) that must be paid back (with interest) not to mention the fact that some of the revenue generated won't even go to recoup your supposed costs (hey, like we said: it's not as though the publishing belongs to you... or the money from digital downloads, or your merchandise, or your name, image and likeness for that matter. You should've read between the lines before you signed on the dotted one).

If you are a failure and under-perform (sell less than one million copies), maybe you will get dropped from the roster if you're one of the fortunate ones. Too bad your music is no longer yours though.

What a deal!

"Don't believe the hype..."
------------------

DIY or DIE.

Support indie music of be force-fed crap.

Easter Sunday: Time for Teaching Kids About Evil

Unfortunately, it seems as though there are things more dangerous than candy that will make a child's teeth fall out...

US peace activists said Friday they plan to skip the traditional egg-role and stage an Easter "cluster-bomb" hunt outside the White House to demand that Washington implement a ban on the deadly munitions.

Nice Try...

If they'll search your body cavity, it's a safe bet that they'll search this too!

Big Fish in a Little Pond

...and we're not talking about Chicago's Music scene unfortunately.

Humans rule.

"Dogs are a man's best friend" vs. "Diamonds are a girl's..."

What won't people do for money??

At least this is better than snorting them (as Keith Richards recently claimed to do with a loved one).

Family Values?

Now this is a loving son!

WTF?!!?

Here we go again!

If it smells like crap, then it must be crap part two.

We think of all the education that was missed...

But then the homework was never quite like this!