Unplugged - What? and WHY?

[John A Swartz]

Just to throw some more spare change into the whole "Should BOC do ____
unplugged" discussion:

1.  While I like the idea as a novelty, the whole "Unplugged" thing has
gotten way out of hand (sort of like the "tribute" thing) - it's cool to
hear a song you know done a different way, but I don't want that suddenly
to become *the way* the song is done by a band.

2.  MTV should *reflect* what is happening in the world of music, but it
seems to me that it thinks it should *drive* what happens.  For example,
it used to be (and probably still is) for alot of musicians that if they
didn't come out with a video to their single, there was little chance of
it becoming any kind of hit.  And, some artists write music to fit a
particular video concept (rather than coming up with a video to compliment
the *music*, what the "M" in MTV is suppossed to represent), which, IMHO,
sucks.  I don't need MTV to tell me what to listen to, or how to be cool,
and I certainly don't want them telling me how to vote.  So, the whole
idea of one of my favorite bands like BOC doing something to get MTV
exposure just kinda makes me wanna puke.

3.  The whole idea of doing something "unplugged" to gain recognition or
possibly even new fans is crazy (but this is based on my opinions in
points 1 and 2 above) -- the only benefit I see is to do this for
*established* fans of a particular artist.  And if a band approaches
this as a novelty sort of thing to do for their established fans, well
then the sky's the limit.  It doesn't matter WHAT songs they do, or
HOW they do them.  Let's take BOC for example.  ALL of the songs people
have mentioned would be cool to hear acoustically.  But then, so would
ANY BOC song.  For that matter, why limit it to acoustic?  Let's see
the band do a song electronically (syths, sequencers, drum machines,
etc.), how 'bout a reggae/ska version of some song, maybe a orchestral
arrangement of a classic BOC tune, an a capella version of a song done
in 4-part harmony, hell even a rap version of some song -- the list
goes on and on . . .   The real point is that MUSIC (and especially
good music) doesn't have to be restricted to a particular style - and
it's cool to try and change it once in awhile -- but do it 'cuz its fun
and do it for your fans - don't do it 'cuz its trendy or in the hopes
of getting new fans (as far as getting new fans, just get some new
music out - i.e. when is the BOC album gonna be out?).

Just to put some concrete examples of what I mean in point 3, here are
some off-the-top-of-my-head ideas for BOC to try (note: I realistically
don't believe any of them would ever be done, but this is also true for
all the "unplugged" BOC set lists that are being tossed around as well):

"Stairway to the Stars" - done with a swing beat and add trumpets
"She's As Beautiful as a Foot" - done rap style with added verses
"Tattoo Vampire" - done with synths, drum machines, and special effects
"Monsters" - done twice as fast, thrash-metal style
"Cities on Flame" - Done with a full orchestra (main riff done by violins)
"Dr. Music" - reggae style with bongos and marimbas

Note:  I'm not saying I can actually hear all these things in my head, or
that they would make for great music -- just a few random things I though
of that would be a neat novelty to see done once, and then go back to
doing it the way they always do.

John