The backstory behind "Eton Rifles"

I just stumbled across an illuminating Sound On Sound magazine piece on the making of The Jam’s “The Eton Rifles” punk anthem from way back in 1979.

The Jam on "Top of the Pops," performing 'The Eton Rifles' in November 1979I recall buying the album “Setting Sons” from which it came the week it was released. I also recall “Eton Rifles” being my second least-favorite song on the album (the “Heatwave" cover never won me over). For me the song was too provincial for a teenager to understand, and this overly long sentence from Richard Buskin's story bears that out:

“Inspired by a news article that Weller read about unemployed demonstrators on a socialist 'Right to Work' march being heckled by what he later described as 'a bunch of tossers' from the prestigious Eton College, 'The Eton Rifles' encapsulated all that was best about The Jam: Foxton's pumping bass, Buckler's powerful drumming, a catchy refrain and Weller's hard-edged vocal delivery of sardonic lyrics — in this case, dealing with class war and opening with the typically colloquial 'Sup up your beer and collect your fags, There's a row going on down near Slough.' ”

The rest of “Setting Sons” is superb, and remains a favorite of mine to this year. Years later, my lack of love for “Eton Rifles” hasn’t changed much, but I enjoyed reading Buskin’s backstory into the making of the song.

Key surprises for me:

• Producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven buying pieces of corrugated steel and bringing them into the studio to draw a harder edge out of the guitar sound.
• Paul Weller’s dad, of all people, championed bassist Bruce Foxton’s song “Smithers-Jones.”
• The album was completed a mere five weeks before its release. These days -- a world of digital freedom -- record companies seem to take ages before letting songs hit market.
• Classic Jam songs like “Down in the Tube Station and Midnight” and “Going Underground” were struggles to complete.

Abbey Road sale worth reflecting upon

News that EMI was considering selling Abbey Road Studios triggered gasps from music afficionados this week. The studio, where The Beatles transformed rock music, is indeed something to rally around.

I don't fault EMI for considering the move; smart businesses can't be beholden to legacies that don't fit their future. As many people wrote, the news was proof that fabled recording studios were living on borrowed time in a world of low-fi Mp3s and earbuds.

Someone, possibly the British government or a historic preservation group, will ensure Abbey Road lives -- not as a studio but as a museum to milk like nobody's business. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Stax Studios, Sun Studios, Motown Studios and other studios turned museums generate big bucks while providing fun history lessons into transformative eras of modern music.

Eric Felten of The Wall Street Journal -- whose previous gig as drinks columnist for the paper had to be the best journalism job ever -- waxes nostalgic in a column that eloquently captures how the great studios transformed how we listen and why that experience may soon be lost forever. I'm a geek about recording history, and I think Felten's short piece is as good as any in quickly capturing the magic and science of studio sound, and why we need to periodically take the time to treasure the art behind it.

"The Social History of the mp3"

Pitchfork has a long take on the 10-year history of the mp3 and raises a thought-provoking question: Will music over the last decade be remembered more for the technology or the music?

I tend to agree with author Erik Harvey in that the technology was the story. Just think past a few short years and marvel at what the mp3 spawned:

• Streaming radio
• Podcasts
• The spread of free music through file-sharing networks like Napster (remember them) and BitTorrent.
• iTunes and the iPod
• Emphasis on singles rather than albums
• Immediate release of music, including tons of live shows, what would have been B-sides and rarities, etc.
• The deterioration of the record labels and the birth of self-sustaining bands.

And that's just music. We're not even touching the side effects that include YouTube, Flickr, etc.

Set aside the debate over the poor quality of mp3s (here's my take), and it's clear that we'll look back on these days at the technology, not Black Eyed Peas