Do Whatcha Wanna

A promotional single is a single track of music that is made available to media outlets, live music venues and music publications by a record label and/or artist for the express purpose of advance promoting that specific song or an entirely new album.  Sometimes a single is released weeks or months in advance in an effort to build interest in the single and gauge audience response.  Building interest in new music is a great thing, but it now often comes with the obligation of the artist/band to play that song.

Some people consider a defining moment in the career of Elvis Costello & The Attraction’s his Saturday Night Live performance in December 1977.  Costello had just released his debut album, “My Aim Is True” in the United States and the band received a break when asked to replace The Sex Pistols.   The band was supposed to play their single “Less Than Zero,” but only a few bars into the song, Costello stopped the song and the band launched into “Radio Radio,” a song that takes a jab at corporate-controlled broadcasting.   Years later when Costello was interviewed about the matter, he referenced a similar scenario from January 1969 in which The Jimi Hendrix Experience were to appear on the BBC show ‘Happening for Lulu’, and the show’s producers wanted Hendrix to sing a particular song, but the band did their own thing. 

Throughout the 1990s, I saw the band Blues Traveler, perform live more times than I can count.  Venues ranged from the McDonough Arena on Georgetown University’s campus to Roseland Ballroom in New York City along with various stops on the 1995 & 1996 H.O.R.D.E. festival tours.  One of the best things about all of those concerts in advance of 1995 is that similar in style to the Grateful Dead, every show had a different set list.  But then in 1995, the band won a Grammy Award for their song “Run-Around” and all of a sudden the Billboard hit would always find its place in their set.  According to BluesTraveler.net "Run-Around" has been played live 928 times (as of April 2012) and not surprisingly if you see the band now, they are now playing an ‘experimental’ version of the song.

Monty Python pokes fun at the thought of singles and radio hits with its “Contractual Obligation Album” highlighted by the short track, "I Bet You They Won't Play This Song on theRadio".  Meanwhile on the flip side, in August 2013 using her millions of followers on Twitter, Katy Perry asked her fans to choose the next single off of her album, “Prism”.   With the average number of tracks on a record in the ballpark of 12, does one song always have to stand out?  Are fans really going to see a live concert by Darius Rucker in 2014 to only hear his version of the Old Crow Medicine Show song, “Wagon Wheel” and then getting up to leave?

Artists/bands should not be obligated to play a particular song for their fans.  There will always be artists/bands with that one signature song that overshadows their other work, but the next time that Matisyahu passes through your city, don’t you want to find out if there is more to his music than, “One Day”?