She also co-wrote "You're Beautiful". Whatever you think of that song, consider the dictum of wily old Hesh in the Sopranos: A hit is a hit.

Anyway, I came across this tale of woe yesterday. May have been posted up before, but can't see it on first few pages of Blog Roll.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sony-music-exec-admits-radical-459...

This would doubtless be linked to by somebody here in short order, but I see no sign as yet so I thought I'd do the necessary.

It's a piece in Slate Magazine by Bill Wyman (no, not that one) giving Sir Michael Philip Jagger's response to the recently published Life, by You Know Who.

http://www.slate.com/id/2273611/

Enjoy!

To be brief:

I'm happy to report that, according to the pic accompanying this piece in today's New York Times, Sting has at long last had a shave.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/arts/music/23bell.html?ref=television

Given their prevalance - in fact, de rigeur requirement - in some music circles/genres (take a bow: Fleet Foxes!) who else needs to apply some sensitive cooling gel as soon as?

"The great truth of pop songwriting is it doesn’t respond to effort. The best songs just arrive as if complete."
- David Hepworth - this week's email, in regard to Nick Lowe.

Really? I mean, really? Have a think about it.

I understand a (pithy) point therein: in essence, he's repeating the old cliche "You can't polish a turd." Few would dispute that. But he also seems to be casually suggesting that the more time spent on any song, the worse it gets. That I do dispute.

Exhibit A: PET SOUNDS. Or am I supposed to believe that the entire harmonic structure of those songs was written down by Brian Wilson in some free-flowing yet non-stop twenty minute/hour/day spell ... and the months spent in the studios of LA were essentially pot sesssions with the album already in the can.

Here I cite wiki on that album's recording process:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_Sounds#Recording_process

No. Some great songs have flown out of the hat, as it were eg Yesterday; others gestate and get written and rewritten over weeks, months , even years eg Cohen's Hallelujah. There are no rules when it comes to inspiration.

NO RULES: That's the essence of Pop, my friends ...

So to say as a fait accomplis that songwriting does not respond to effort is glib journalism; in short, ridiculous.

PS By the by, Mr Hepworth, the Ur-Beatles song is not No Reply, it's We Can Work It Out. It's Lennon-McCartney's differences distilled in two-and-a-half minutes - yet it also parades in excelsis how when those differences get put together the result is sublime.