“Common People”

She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge
She studied sculpture at Saint Martin’s College, that’s where I caught her eye.
She told me that her Dad was loaded
I said in that case I’ll have a rum and coke-cola.
She said fine and in thirty seconds time she said, I want to live like common people
I want to do whatever common people do, I want to sleep with common people
I want to sleep with common people like you.
Well what else could I do – I said I’ll see what I can do.
I took her to a supermarket
I don’t know why but I had to start it somewhere, so it started there.
I said pretend you’ve got no money, she just laughed and said oh you’re so funny.
I said yeah? Well I can’t see anyone else smiling in here.
Are you sure you want to live like common people
You want to see whatever common people see
You want to sleep with common people,
you want to sleep with common people like me.
But she didn’t understand, she just smiled and held my hand.
Rent a flat above a shop, cut your hair and get a job.
Smoke some fags and play some pool, pretend you never went to school.
But still you’ll never get it right
‘cos when you’re laid in bed at night watching roaches climb the wall
If you call your Dad he could stop it all.
You’ll never live like common people
You’ll never do what common people do
You’ll never fail like common people
You’ll never watch your life slide out of view, and dance and drink and screw
Because there’s nothing else to do.
Sing along with the common people, sing along and it might just get you thru’
Laugh along with the common people
Laugh along even though they’re laughing at you and the stupid things that you do.
Because you think that poor is cool.
I want to live with common people, I want to live with common people [ect]

Thanks,
Biff

PS: iTunes has much of the collection ready to download, or you can go out buy the album at your local music store. Stealing is illegal, so don’t do it. You are just ripping off from your culture! Do the right thing, buy it!

What is it when it comes to Rock music? Why do I like it so much? I can’t play an instrument other than my iPod. Why have any of us ever enjoyed music? What was the first song that turned you on? What was that OMG moment, when you heard a song or group for the first time? When were you aware of the deeper meaning of the song and was there a deeper meaning to the song? Was it Pop Rock, Classic Rock, New Wave, Alternative?  Whatever you want to call it, what was it?

Well for me it all started in the late 60′s. My parents listened to all kinds of stuff that fit their generation. We heard anything from Iron Butterfly “This was written by Doug Ingle, Iron Butterfly’s vocalist and keyboard player. His father was a church organist. The title was supposed to be “In The Garden Of Eden.” Someone had written In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, possibly while drunk, on a demo copy. A record company executive saw it and decided to use it as the title, since it sounded mystical and Eastern spirituality was big at the time, with The Beatles going to India and The Rolling Stones experimenting with Indian instruments. “In Da Gadda Da Vida” to Eric Clapton with Cream “Disraeli Gears” and of course we listened to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who. But unfortunately we also listen to the graceful sound of Barbra Streisand and Tiny Tim, you know “Tip Toe Thru The Tulips” and you know what that can lead to. My mother was Coo-coo for Bab’s and dad would listen to The Rolling Stones, but only one song over and over ” Satisfaction “. Forcing me to look for what I wanted to hear.

Eventually I got my own radio and turntable. Life after that changed for me and I was off on my own musical adventure. My friends and I would borrow albums from each other. The first album I borrowed was from a childhood friend “Joe Lomoro” and the album was Led Zeppelin I. I remember playing pool in his basement and listening to the album, what a great memory!

The cover of this album starts it off. The solarized image of the Hindenburg Zeppelin on fire in New Jersey. The name of the band and the image are completely the opposite of the music. A Lead (the metal) Zeppelin does not float and the Hindenburg crashing and burning, compared to the way the music makes you feel like you are flying. The juxtaposition is awesome! The music is really the foundation of what would be known as Heavy Metal. Jimmy Pages guitar is mesmerizing with the distinct voice of Robert Plant, you have a real work of art. I am sure that “Electric Blues Legends” Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy were angry that there sound was stolen and remolded in a new package that changed the world. But for the music listener, it is a pure delight!

So the song to start my playlist is the last song on the album. “How Many More Times” is still one of the Greatest Rock Songs Ever. Don’t get me wrong the whole album is a masterpiece! Led Zeppelin went on to make some of the most memorable music ever. “Mothership” is their Greatest Hits Album, but I recommend buying all of their albums, so you don’t miss great songs like the one I recommend here! The Bands official website is http://www.ledzeppelin.com/

Thanks,

Biff

PS: iTunes has much of their collection ready to download, or you can go out buy the albums at your local music store. Stealing is illegal, so don’t do it. You are just ripping off artists and taking away from your culture. Do the right thing, buy it!

How Many More Times

The All-American Rejects at the Bud Light World's Largest Pool Party at The Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas

This is the first entry of my new blog. It is about an adventure about how I am going to re-invent my photography career. The story goes like this, after 24 years of working in the photography business, I am going to take one last shot at shooting something different; something more satisfying and fun to do.

I spent the majority of my career shooting just about anything I could get my hands on. From shooting for the radio stations like WLUP FM 97.9 (The Loop) and B96 WBBM FM to catalog photography for companies like Sears, KMart, Omron Health Care, and way too many to mention here. I have shot huge events for Bud Light, Maxim Magazine as well as over 1100 weddings and thousands of portraits. All had pros and cons, but never put it all together to shoot what I really wanted to shoot! There are many reasons I did not put the full effort toward it, from trying to make a stable income to being away from my family. Well, I have decided to give myself the summer to build a new portfolio and see where it takes me.

So you must be wondering what is he going to try to do. In March I had a great gig that I shot in Las Vegas, at the Hard Rock Casino. It was called the World’s Largest Pool Party for Bud Light. After doing Bud Light Parties for years now, It is pretty standard straight photography of people that are great looking, enjoying a cold Bud Light and having fun. Don’t get me wrong, I could do this for the rest of my career and have absolutely no complaints. Nothing wrong about shooting hard bodies in the bright sun, hanging around people like the Hooters Calendar Girls and UFC Champions. All good fun!

The Hard Rock Casino and Hotel is an awesome place to stay in Vegas. It is like staying in a museum of the absolutely best Rock and Roll memorabilia and photography ever. For a photographer and total rock music junkie, this is a slice of heaven. I had the opportunity to photograph The All-American Rejects while I was there, what a great band.

A photo I took at the same time.

Check out my big fat head in this video by a fan!

Then it hit like a ton of bricks, this is what I set out to shoot when I first started. That was the reason to shooting for the radio stations in my early career. I got to shoot tons of bands and loved it! Plant and Page, Sting, Cheap Trick, Right Said Fred, Del Amitri, Paul McCartney, and so on. The stuff I shot then would not work very well, it was all shot on C41 or color negatives, plus I have learned so much more on how to shoot, that it would be much better to start over. So that is what this blog is about, how to do it, who I photographed and where it takes me! Following this blog is going to be fun.