Regular readers of this journal are well aware of our long-standing problems with BBC Radio. We are stuck in the perilous position that many DJs at the BBC, in fact, know who we are but have decided that, I don't know, we're communists or something.
Now, with the tracks off "King Martha", I could understand the reluctance of some DJs to play it - and the fact that some DJs simply didn't understand or like it. It was an album that flew very much in the face of prevailing fashions. I was 28, not 19, the songs had, you know, "lyrics" and I've never been particularly bothered about following any given trend, or sound. I don't think I could if I wanted to - my mimicry skills extend to a note-perfect Ardal O'Hanlon and a passable Peter Lorre and/or Ren Höek.
And - get this - I do understand that some people DON'T like ist (Shock! Horror!) I embrace humans of all persuasions, occasionally with their permission.
So, I was not at all surprised at 6music for, once again, maintaining that "I am Jesus (And You're Not)" was not strong enough for the playlist - with their usual proviso of "We're well aware of ist."
(I would like to excuse Mr. Tom Robinson from my rebuke, for while he has yet to play ist on his show (to the best of my knowledge), he has been of enormous help to me, with advice, professionalism and huge human kindness. He was also one of two of my musical heroes who hugged me last year. I'll give a prize to anyone who can name the second.)
So, being a grown-up man, I had - with occasional flashes of rage and depression - come to terms with national BBC (regional, again, is full of noble exceptions has been most kind) radio - for whatever reason, were not in the ist camp. Whether they simply don't appreciate what we do, or are trying to do, whether the fact of us not being lanky teenagers meant they couldn't present us as cool, or whether the right track just hadn't clicked with the right person yet, I had accepted it. We were going to have to work very hard to bring the BBC around. Or not. We just keep doing what we're doing.
Then something began to happen this week. Obviously, on a small label (although that may be changing this year) we have a limited budget for radio plugging - and our people at 10xbetter do a lot with very little.
I had marvelled at the responses to "I am Jesus (And You're Not)" from those who had actually bothered to listen to it, and I'm still convinced it could reach a lot more people given appropriate outlets. But still, national radio dragged their heels, and I began to despair at the thought of who exactly I needed to blow just to get a song taken seriously. We had delivered catchy, short, with an eye-catching title AND as an added ist bonus, something serious to say - what more did they want?
Then, this week, we started to get responses from student radio. We started getting playlisted on student radio. We got A-listed on student radio. (If you work in student radio, here's your chance to jump on the bandwagon.) We are suddenly - on a number of stations - getting massive airplay alongside major label, NME-blowing, hip as an geriatric therapist acts.
So, people like it. So far, so good. So why the dragging of Auntie's feet?
And then I noticed a comment on the feedback sheet from one of the stations - immensely positive, promising airplay, but with the proviso, and I quote that "the tracks are worthy to be played at any time, many people may consider the ep to have too much explicit content."
Explicit Content?, I thought. "The Wreck of the Eddie Fitzpatrick" contains the word "hell" in the chorus and very mild sexual innuendo, "Amnesia Cocktail" is a dark story, but with no explicit language, and "I am Jesus (And You're Not)" contains one "bloody"... Hold on a moment...
Blasphemy.
Are we being hung out to dry on the back of blasphemy? Now, I know there have probably been other potential Christianity-baiting records played on the radio, or at least other songs throwing The Lord's name around, potentially in vain, but the only ones I can think of are by big artists, with money and influence behind them.
I come out and sing these words:
All you bloody sinners queuing up for benediction
For a quick touch of my garments or the price of tea and biscuits
You hang upon my every word like drool upon a busted lip
Bet I could get my end away, if I could give Dad the slip
I am Jesus and you’re not
I am Jesus and you’re not
I am Jesus and you’re not
I am Jesus and you’re not
Tearing out your hair like amateur apprentice mourners
Till you finally drown the whispers from the cool kids in the corner
With one eye on the column inches, one upon the weekly sales
I quit the day job ‘cause there’s more to me than wood and nails
I am Jesus and you’re not
I am Jesus and you’re not
I am Jesus and you’re not
I am Jesus and you’re not
And despite the fact that I've had a disappointing number of angry letters (although the few I've had have been funny as fuck), I'm starting to get the feeling that someone, somewhere is unwilling to risk their jobs by putting it on national radio. Never mind the fact that, despite my staunch atheism, the song is as much an allegory about a character's Christ complex as it is a comment on the arrogance and hypocrisy of religion. (It's both! And in just one minute!)
Or maybe they just don't like it. Or they don't like ist, in general. Or they don't like me and my distaste for the state of the music industry. God (sic) only knows.
But I do think the question should be raised:
Are the BBC afraid to play a song that 90% of listeners who have heard it love? Are they denying a larger audience a chance to hear it because of something OTHER than its quality?
So, what do we do about it?
For my part, getting our music heard is a large part of my job. Why? Because this is the career I chose, my family's well-being RELIES on my selling the records I make and, because I am a crazy person, I have things to say and I need an audience to whom I can disseminate this information.
For everyone else, if you like the song, stand up for it. Here are the key ways in which you can help.
1.) Review the EP on your personal blog or website. (You can do this even if you don't like it. I won't take it personally. If you don't like this one, you'll like the next one.) It can be heard in full at
http://www.indiestore.com/pinkboxrecords/indieProductDetail.aspx?&product=-281&sid=-281
2.) Buy the EP. Demonstrate with your £2 (or two of whatever currency feeds your particular cat) that you like it. Unfortunately, in our business, money talks. It will be in indepedent shops on CD and Vinyl next week. Obviously, however, if you do buy music digitally, it would help us enormously if you bought it in the next few days.
Here are some shops where it can acquired today:
iTunes: simply search for "ist" or "I'm Jesus And You're Not". I recommend the 3 track version, over the 2 track version (that's the one with the black cover) but it's your choice. We won't judge you.
http://www.indiestore.com/pinkboxrecords/indieProductDetail.aspx?&product=-281&sid=-281
http://www.wippit.com/ist
http://www.tunetribe.com/Album?album_id=690506
http://www.hmvdigital.com/HMV.Digital.WebStore.Portal/Pages/System/AlbumInfo.aspx?ComponentId=5173632
And pretty much everywhere else digital music is sold.
3) Email your local, national and student radio station requesting it. They can all put their hands on it and don't let them tell you otherwise.
For DJ contact information, try
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music
http://www.xfm.co.uk
Of course, there are a lot of other commercial, local, student and regional stations as well. Simply let me know where you are in the country (kenton.ist@gmail.com), or the world and I'll give you a list of who has the EP and who you should contact.
Are the BBC afraid of Jesus? I don't know. Are you afraid of the BBC? I very much doubt it.
Sometimes I think bands fall before the feet of the radio - love us! love us! - when, in fact, broadcasters have a responsibility to play what their listeners like. It seems to me that, rightly or wrongly, a lot of you like this song. So, on that tenuous moral high ground, I'm not taking no for an answer. And neither should you.
It's getting closer and closer to the time when I'm leading as many people as I can find to the BBC in London with placards saying "The BBC Hate Jesus".
Let's see how that plays in the press. : )
Over and out.
Kenton |
