Public Privates - The All-Consuming Blog Of The Public Good
 

Can Justin Bieber claim Maddison Stafford?

Say what you will about how our fortunes have become so entwined with Justin Bieber's, but we're now receiving tangible benefits -- The Public Good is now being followed on Twitter by porn star Maddison Stafford! We never got that kind of attention before Justin borrowed "Baby" from us!
 
And what a charmer Maddison is. Along with her pic, here is her latest Tweet:
 
If yuor at a hoetl wtih a hot guy and he so broed he is textn me... ITS NOT GNONA HAPEPN
 
 

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Posted April 23, 2010 by John 
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New - Justin Bieber Wigs!

A new look for The Public Good!

Gentle readers (that means you Sam), we can't wait around for Justin to lift another idea from us, cool as that will be when it happens again. No, we need to actively continue the Mind Meld with him if we're going to climb lockstep with him to the top of the charts. First he digs our song "Baby, Baby, Baby," now we can borrow his look with these sweet Justin Bieber wigs. Sam, stop your hating! Send in your hat size!

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Now you too can rock that Justin Bieber with your very own Justin Beiber costumes and accessories by Halloween31. Be one with Justin Bieber! Justin is known for his boyish, perpetually wind-swept hair and we think that this wig is the perfect Justin Bieber wig!

Justin is also known for his all-American, clean look, so pull out your purple cardigan, hoodies, vests and ties. Now, all you need to do is learn the Justin Bieber lyrics, throw up a peace sign and rock out on Youtube!

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Posted April 20, 2010 by John 
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Album Cover Art Is Dead. Long Live Album Cover Art!

Today's Financial Times takes a look at the ongoing Idea Generation Gallery exhibit of Storm Thorgerson's album cover art (Dark Side of the Moon, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, The Division Bell, etc.).

The Public Good is lucky to have its own 21st century Storm Thorgerson in Shaun McCarthy of Number 09 Design; check out the cover design for the soon-to-be-released "A Varied Program Of Stereo Dynamics For Your Wild Nights Alone"

From the FT article:
"... But at a time when digital consumption of music through MP3 players is taking over from CD sales, the show also indirectly poses the question about the continuing relevance of album covers for the record industry. Whereas a cover used to be integral to the marketing and purchasing process when browsing in record stores was the norm, is that still the case in the era of social media and digital music?"

"Mr Thorgerson says the issue is more complicated. “Is the album cover superfluous? It’s not quite as simple as some people make out,” he says. “It is to do with whether people want objects, and our relationship with objects. My theory is that these objects – in your bedroom, living rooms – define who you are.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b278dfb0-48c5-11df-8af4-00144feab49a.html

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Posted April 16, 2010 by The Manager 
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Bieber Blog War Threatens to Drive TPG Apart

The face: so innocent.  The voice: also innocent.  Likewise on the hair.  And yet, the Bieber is destroying this band.  Perhaps there is no stopping him.  He’s an adorable, bowling-enjoying disease that is already controlling several of our organs, some of them cognitive.  I know this because some of my esteemed colleagues—I won’t say who—cannot stop posting photos of him relaxing beside semi-urban storage sheds and comparing our heartfelt tunes to his Canadian recycling projects.

Well, I have some news for you Bieberboppers.  The Bieber will not be satisfied until the members of TPG are mollyhocking each other, leaving only his version of “Baby” to lament at an up tempo.

(Interesting side note: the Bieber is from Stratford, Ontario, which is mostly known for being a fake Stratford-on-Avon, with a fake Globe Theatre, fake peasantry driving oxen, etc.  I was once dragged there by my parents and ran into a girl I’d made out with at summer camp, who was there on a school field trip.  This would have been right around the time the Bieber was born.)

Don’t be lured any farther toward the Bieber.  Let this die, like a mouse in a paper boat.  Unless the Bieber re-Tweets this.  Then it is on.

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Posted April 15, 2010 by Sam 
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Justin Bieber on NPR discussing "Baby"

This kid is covering all the bases - Teen Beat, NPR, the TPG blog. He's conquering the world -- NPR calls his song an "up-tempo lament," and if that's true of HIS "baby, baby, baby" chorus, it's got to be equally true of ours. Thanks for paving the way, Justin! See you at the top of the charts.
 
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125914718&sc=nl&cc=sod-20100414+++++++++++++++++++

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Posted April 14, 2010 by John 
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Selling Out: What It Takes For Artists To Earn Minimum Wage With Music Sales

Go buy some music, y'all: each month a solo artist needs to sell 143 CDs, 1229 iTunes albums, or 12,399 track downloads.  A 4-member ensemble and a manager with a taste for the finer things in life?  Let's just say we need to sell a lot more than that.

 

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/how-much-do-music-artists-earn-online/

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Posted April 13, 2010 by The Manager 
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Great Minds: Justin Bieber and The Public Good

16-year-old Justin Bieber's appearance on Saturday Night Live brought us a slew of emails. Not only has this kid obviously been watching our hairstyles and dance moves (if anyone has seen Sam move during our "Black Ice," you know what we're talking about -- they both do that same floor slide and wave to the crowd), now he's come up with the same chorus refrain as ours in "Baby, Baby, Baby."

Cool, though, how he follows his "baby, baby, baby" with "no!" He's a step behind us, sure, but that's a very happening addition. Listen for it in our upcoming renditions of our version.

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Posted April 12, 2010 by John 
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The Wicked Mr. Crowley

While the Public Good doesn't endorse Satanism or the practice of black majick (at least not yet), I couldn't resist posting this great online exhibit of Aleister Crowley at Life magazine. The photos of Bowie and Ozzie are especially priceless. Surprised they didn't include the Stones: "Goats Head Soup" indeed...
 
http://www.life.com/image/3400796/in-gallery/41262/aleister-crowley-wicked

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Posted April 8, 2010 by fleegle 
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What's the WORST SONG floating through your head?

When your mind wanders and suddenly you're snapped back and you've got a bad song in your head, not something cool like the cool new New Pornographers that you'd like people to know you're hip to, but a BAD friggin song that comes regularly -- what song is that for you?

I have two. The first I've heard only a handful of times, which seems to be the way with these things -- the chorus of "Going Out In a Blaze of Glory" by 80s Welsh hair-punk band The Alarm. It's the most earnest, over-cooked sing-along nonsense imaginable, with lyrics like:

"Going out in a blaze of glory
My hands are held up high
I'm learning out to hit back
I'm learning how to fight

Going out in a blaze of glory
My heart is open wide
You can take anything you want from me
There is nothing left to hide"

Sometimes I fear I'll actually sing those lyrics out loud while daydreaming.

And for some other reason, I know the chorus to the song "North to Alaska" even though I have no memory of actually hearing the song. In my head's version, it's just godawful, and the only lyrics I know are:

"North to Alaska, go north, the rush is on!
North to Alaska, go north, the rush is on!"

I probably find myself singing that to myself once a month. No idea why. Turns out it's by Johnny Horton in 1959; he also sings "Johnny Reb" and "Sal's Got a Sugar Lip."

My two questions:
1) Does this mean anything?
2) Got anything worse?

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Posted April 5, 2010 by John 
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