Dave Grohl

(so, im gonna try to get back into this whole blogging thing.. so here goes)

recently a friend of mine whom i have known for a number of years asked me this question about Dave Grohl. He asked ME because he respects my opinion and knowledge of the music industry and its traits. (because i had worked in record stores for 15 years, and have had my own label, and band for just as long).. so this was his question, and its followed by my reply.. its really not anything of importance..but it was something i felt worth sharing....

QUESTION:
>
> anyway, burning question, Foo Fighters. This issue has
> been on the tip of my brain for years, but it didn’t
> crystallize until I forced myself to listen to one of their
> songs while stuck in traffic a few weeks ago. I assume Dave
> Grohl is Foo Fighters; that the rest of the band just does
> what he wants. Anyway, the song I listened to was pretty
> bad, a guitar pop anthem thing that really is different than
> most of the other stuff that’s on the radio, fairly
> distinctive, but definitely shitty. They have 2-3 songs
> that I’ve liked, but I’ve probably heard parts of 12
> other songs that sounded pretty much like the one I endured
> in the car. Anyway, my question is, is Foo Fighters to Dave
> Grohl like the Oceans 11, 12, 13 movies are to Steve
> Soderberg, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt? In other words, a
> cash cow where they have a little fun and make easy money to
> finance the work that they really want to do, but that will
> be less commercially successful. Or, is this the sound that
> Dave Grohl wants to make in his heart? There are
> indications that he can do different/better: Nirvana,
> drummer for Killing Joke, drummer for Queens of the Stone
> Age (I think). All of those are way better than FF. I’ve
> been told that Dave Grohl puts a lot of work into the music
> business by helping troubled but excellent bands and labels.
> So I wonder if he finances that by his crap commercial band
> FF… On the other hand, is he just feeding his ego to do
> whatever it takes to be center stage, guitar and vocals, on
> TV and in big concerts?

REPLY:

Well, i have not seen any of the Oceans movies.. so that comparison is not the best for me [grin]..but i do understand what you are asking.
I interviewed Henry Rollins once...and he told me that his movie appearances and acting gigs were mostly just to fund the books he was releasing at that time thru his publishing company by other writers he liked. (His publishing company closed...and he hasnt been in the movies in a long time.)

Unfortunately, Dave Grohl is a frustrated guitar player who ended up being a really good drummer...his drumming is where his real money has been made...he was the drummer for Scream before Nirvana.. and the Killing Joke and Queens of Stone Age gigs were cash cows.. he was a hired gun for both of those, as well as a small stint with Tom Petty, and Peal Jam, oh, and lets not forget Tenacious D. But his passion has been with writing songs.. and somehow because he was in Nirvana i guess, he had some interest and was signed to a major label and turned into a decent product. His songs are not all that.. but the few that seem to make the radio cut work .. and people like them.. the receptionist at my recent Eye doctors appt was blasting them when I got there.. it was odd. I felt old.
To me Dave Grohl has PhilCollins disease and should go back to what he is recognized for.. drumming.. but as he grows old and cannot keep the beat any more.. he will just be remembered as a guy that plays a loud guitar and writes bad pop tunes. Wikipedia has a pretty good bio on him, and it talks about his song writing and personal cassette releases prior to Foo.. and how Cobain was starting to let him write more for Nirvana..so who knows .. in the long run Curt saved us from hearing HIM sing those Foo songs. But dont be fooled, Grohl is a paid drummer...and if Foo didnt produce pop wonders he would be working someplace else. SO to answer your question.. I have no idea about any philanthropic endeavors that Dave is into, he could be into supporting indie stuff, but i dont know about it. I think that his commercially successful pop anthems are written to support and create ways to get songs that are not so catchy released. Foo have like 3 hit songs..
and like 6 or more albums. Its nice to be able to do what you want (write bad songs) and not have to work (drumming)...if only we could be so lucky huh?

back to the work week..