How to write a #1 hit -- good book recommendation.

[God]

I was at an overpriced restaurant ordering sushi or some undercooked crap and the person I was talking to recommended a book to me.

It's called "The Manual." It's pretty ruthless, and it is written by the members of the late eighties-early nineties duo called "KLF." I guess they're British.

KLF had a couple #1 hits in their heyday, and then they just quit. Here's one I found:

KLF: "3 A.M. Eternal" - http://www.seeqpod.com/search/?plid=c570f707d0
(http://www.seeqpod.com/search/?plid=c570f707d0)

Well, this book called "The Manual," as I said, is pretty tongue in cheek (ruthless, actually.) But it gives artists a really good idea at what it takes to write a popular song. Mistakes I usually see with cats trying to make something of themselves in "the industry" is that a lot of songs are too "complicated." This means that they focus on the musicianship and complexity rather than whether or not-- as a friend likes to put it:

"Can your dumbest friend hum the tune while driving?" If it passes that test, then it's good to go.

I know this is an underground hiphop forum, but it's worth mentioning.

I don't condone piracy at all, because it takes away royalties from the artist, producer and if your mixer is good-- then he has points on the album too (hats off to Andy Wallace -- that's a rock thing, though).

But if you by mistake happen to unwittingly find yourself at a bittorrent site like ISOHunt or PirateBay, "The Manual" by "KLF" is located there.

Anyway, have a look, read it (and put it in context, it was written in the late eighties.) But these cats are RUTHLESS in cutting down the formula to size. It's pretty good.

Again, I don't condone piracy, it's illegal, don't download copyrighted stuff.

Yes, music industry people use torrents and used Napster, though they would never admit it.

 

[Chrono]

"Can your dumbest friend hum the tune while driving?" If it passes that test, then it's good to go.

Thanks for this information, sometimes working on the details makes us forget about the bigger picture.

UPDATE
Here is a free link to a copy of "The Manual", I found it as a link from an article of them here.

The Manual (pdf) (right-click to save)

 

[Kontents]

Thanks for this information, sometimes working on the details makes us forget about the bigger picture.

UPDATE
Here is a free link to a copy of "The Manual", I found it as a link from an article of them here.

The Manual (pdf) (right-click to save)

Nice find.


Good looks God.

 

[Chrono]

wow, from that article.. they quit music and then created the "K Foundation" from which later they burned the equivalent to 1.8 million dollars (according to the article was estimated to be their total sales profits).

 

[God]

Good looks on getting the link. Thx.

 

[afriquedeluxe]

hehe ill definately give this a read.

 

[Formant024]

lol @ justify an ancient feat tammy winette

 

[dacalion]

Very interesting view, I just found it extremely hard being patient enough to read through all the opinionated babble in between the actual good points. Once you break this down into whats important, its a very good read. IMO.

dac

 

[Relic]

Its a good read, and it makes sense..lol

 

[Shonsteez]

Nice....God, glad to see u!