Aural Intercourse: Believe the hype?

By Mike Prevatt

It doesn't really matter what time of year it is--the music business is in full hype mode every week of the year, with the exception of the two weeks after Christmas. But come the fall season, it is particularly oppressive, if only because it's the season preceding Christmas, a highly lucrative time for the industry. Also, radio is constantly promoting its so-called exclusive single launches and holiday festivals; Best Buy and the like are devoting increased store and Sunday circular space to CDs and boxed sets, including those that haven't even come out yet; and labels want to get albums out in time for awards and critics' year-end lists.

This year, the business, radio and press are launched into overdrive, it seems. Aside from Eminem and U2, whom we've written about in recent columns, here's a look at who and what are getting the big pushes. Is any of it worth the extra promotion? Or are we just being cynical?

Elton John: I don't think there's a single musician who is getting more press than Sir Elton--hello, Entertainment Weekly cover!--and yet most of it isn't for anything terribly interesting. He's just now scoring major exposure for his "Red Piano" show at Caesars Palace--a 90-minute production with sky-high ticket prices that has been playing for most of the year now. He has a new album, the self-produced and back-to-basics Peachtree Road, that is garnering mixed reviews and tepid airplay. And then there's this talk of masterminding a parody TV show along the lines of This Is Spinal Tap.

But, really, would we care so much if he weren't running his big mouth about how awful everyone, from Madonna to the Taiwan press, is? Isn't the ol' drama queen more of a hoot when he seems unhinged? At any rate, he's much better at aiding hype toward those who really need it--like, say, the Scissor Sisters and Rufus Wainwright, two of several up-and-coming and nonmainstream acts that he has been stridently championing.

Nelly: The St. Louis rapper isn't famous right now so much for his two new albums, but because--surprise--he keeps taking off his clothes. How many magazine covers does he need to show off his gym-perfected physique? The promotion is working, as said new albums Sweat and Suit are selling well, though it seems their appeal is mostly rooted in all these collaborations he (or his label) have amassed. Response has been particularly positive for "Over and Over," the rapper's collaboration with Nashville singer Tim McGraw. If there's one area of pop music that needs a healthy infusion of hip hop, it's country.

Gwen Stefani: As long as the No Doubt singer can rock an outfit, be it an Oscar gown or her own thrift/ragga couture, she'll remain a magazine stand fixture until she's old and saggy. But homegirl's got her dance-oriented solo album L.A.M.B. to promote. Even alt.rock radio is getting into the infectiously poppy "What You Waiting For" (think an estrogen-laced go at Weezer's "Hash Pipe"), which could get tiresome if Stefani goes Beyonce--and given her media fan club, that might very well happen.

The Beatles: Goodbye, hello--just as we think the boys' handlers have spaced their resurrections out every few years or so, now we can expect one every year. Can't think of a better group for that to happen to, but still, my God, it's never enough for the Beatlemaniacs, and this Christmas sees another huge Fab Four campaign for Capitol--the first four American Beatles albums, in one $70 package. Now, wouldn't it stir the Yankee fans a bit more to see Capitol release the British versions--that is, the ones they likely have never heard before? Of course not--those ones don't have all the popular singles on them. As if a Beatles product needed additional marketability.

Bright Eyes: The rock press is having a shocked-and-awed field day with Conor Oberst's latest accomplishment--landing the top two slots on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart with "Lua" and "Take It Easy (Love Nothing)." This is considerable because Bright Eyes isn't on the radio, nor is it on a major label. Plus, Oberst knocked current chart Goliath Usher ("My Boo," with Alicia Keys) out of the top spot. This bodes well for his two albums coming out in January, as well as a potential breakthrough that previous indie-minded acts like Interpol and Modest Mouse have recently enjoyed.

Nirvana: Courtney Love said you'd get your boxed set, and she--along with the two surviving members, Geffen and unsung archivists--will deliver it next week. With the Lights Out will feature three discs of unreleased material--mostly demos and outtakes, previously available as bootlegs--and a DVD of pre-"Teen Spirit" performances. We've already endured the hype of the band's 2002 greatest hits album and the 10th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death earlier this year--isn't it too soon for this? Let's hope the cash-strapped Love doesn't turn her late husband's leftovers into a Jimi Hendrix-esque repackaging enterprise.

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