Thought I nailed this one, guess not...

[eeoo]

I got a return for the following listing:

Y110922HC

AUTHENTIC 1960s-SOUNDING GROOVY, HIPSTER, COCKTAIL PARTY SONGS and/or INSTRUMENTALS with PSYCHEDELIC, FUNK and JAZZ INFLUENCES needed by busy Film/TV publisher for a new TV series about beautiful swingers rockin' it in the era of Peace and Love. For Funk, think METERS and BOOKER T. For Psychedelic, think DONOVAN to ERIC BURDEN. For Jazz, think HORACE SILVER ("Song for My Father") and LEE MORGAN ("The Sidewinder".) This is about the swanky set chillin' with the highball on the bean bag or gettin' it on in the grotto, so keep your INSTRUMENTALS and/or VOCAL SONGS mid-tempo with mellow grooves. Use only REAL INSTRUMENTS (NO SYNTHS!) Lyrics, if any, should be consistent with the 60s era and generally positive. The overriding tone should be laid back, elegant and drug-friendly. Publisher is NOT looking for Lounge music, Cocktail Jazz or hardcore Funkadelic, but downtempo, period-specific grooves from the soulful, to the Latin-influenced, to the sitar-groovy that immediately evoke the time period.

I really thought I slayed it, that's always the kiss of death it seems. Here's what the screener said:

Cool track, right direction, but could use more distinction for this high level listing

Thoughts? It's called Bugaboo on my Taxi page.
Thanks!
eo

[andygabrys]

Ethan, that track has me thinking in the vein of METERS and BOOKER T like they say. can't really think of anything - except maybe the melodic statement isn't as memorable as they might have hoped.

But then again, I can't remember if I was humming the melody to Sissy Strut the first time I heard it either.

[playagibson]

Cool tune.
Mine was returned too, ( Egret )
They said " Cool tune... but...too dark for this listing " oh well...
After listening to your tune the only thing I could think of was they may have thought it was more inline with a background music listing because the arrangement is more of a solid jam/groove than a simple melody based instrumental.
I really liked the tune and I would have forwarded it, but I'm not a screener.

Rich.

[AlpacaRoom]

I'm with Andy and Rich here--maybe they were just looking for something unique for this listing. You've got a solid groove, and it's nice background music, but there's no melody that really "grabs" you right off. Great production, though. This has got to find a home sometime.


-Nick

[eeoo]

Thanks guys, you're probably right, no hooky melody. But I thought it was pretty authentic as far as genre and era. Also sometimes I hear it said that film/tv cues shouldn't be overly melodic so as not to get in the way of dialogue but I realize each project has it's own set of parameters. Oh well, movin' on...

eo

[Casey H]

Hi Ethan
I agree with what others said. It has a bit of a background track feel, not enough lead melody to grab ya. Given this was a high bar listing, it just didn't make the cut. But it IS a cool track and would probably pitch very well in many other situations!

Best,
Casey

[andygabrys]

while we are talking bout this track:

how did you get the guitar sound? guitar / amp mix?

love it.

[eeoo]

Thanks for the thoughts Casey, I'm curious to hear what did get forwarded for this one. Andy that was a preset in my Eleven rack and I think i futzed with the spring reverb settings, guitar is my '68 es-335.

Thanks guys!

eo