Sunday, December 16, 2007

Free is good advertising

It's true. If you let them try it for free, there's a chance they'll love it and become repeat customers.

That's what Todd Park Mohr and his monsters are hoping to do by giving away half a million copies of their newest album, "All The Love You Need."

Of course, I'd pay for their albums many times over, play them 'til they couldn't play no more, and follow their tour around the country, seeing them play two, three, 10 nights in a row. (Oh wait, I will be doing that next month! So stoked!)

Yes, Radiohead did something similar a few months back, and it sparked a lot discussion among music fans, mainly online. But they only gave away a download of their new album (not a physical CD), and they asked for donations at the fans' discretion -- sounds a lot like busking to me. But, whatever it takes to build your fan base and make a living doing what you love, I guess.

Me, I'll keep giving BHTM free plugs. Visit www.bigheadtodd.com to listen to their music! Go! Do it now! Guaranteed you'll be glad you did, and you'll definitely wanna meet me at one of the nearby shows... or all of 'em. Whatever. :)

(And yes, I'll post pix from those shows in Atlanta, Birmingham, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, etc. Stay tuned.)

Here's what PollStar had to say about Big Head Todd and the Monsters giving away their new CD.

Love, Big Head Todd & The Monsters
Monday, Dec 10, 2007 4:16AM

Hard-touring blues-rockers Big Head Todd & The Monsters, who will hit the road again next month, are spreading the word about their latest release, All The Love You Need, by giving it away.

The band began the giveaway on its web site, where 25,000 fans signed up and were sent the CD, and has grown to include several major radio stations.

KBCO in Denver, the group's hometown, will mail 75,000 CDs to its subscriber list. Other stations like KGSR in Austin, KPRI in San Diego and KTBG in Kansas City, Mo., will do the same.

The album will also be available as a free download in early 2008 through the band's web site.

The band will play a two-night stand December 29-30 at John Ascuaga's Nugget Hotel and Casino, before officially kicking off what is expected to be a 60-city U.S. trek January 10 at House of Blues in New Orleans.

Other stops on the schedule include the Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre in Atlanta (January 12), Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (January 17), NorVa in Norfolk, Va. (January 24), the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. (February 15), Paradise Rock Club in Boston (February 21-22), Bowery Ballroom in New York City (February 27-28), and Mountain Stage in Athens, Ohio (March 3).

Tickets for many shows are available at Ticketmaster.com.

Frontman Todd Park Mohr, who started Big Head Todd & The Monsters in 1986 with high school friends Brian Nevin on drums and Rob Squires on bass, said giving the album away makes perfect sense to the band.

"We see the record as our main marketing tool," Mohr told the Denver Post. "It's no longer a source of income - not that it ever has been for me, given the way major labels work."

Hillary and Todd, sitting in a tree...

Denver's Westword recently posted this article about Hillary Clinton's camp choosing Big Head Todd and the Monsters' "Blue Sky" as its campaign song. This is like Oreos and milk for me -- what a sweet combination! I couldn't be happier to see a great candidate give my all-time favorite band some amazing (and well overdue) exposure.

Of course, there's icing on those Oreos, as this song has taken the place of the original campaign song: some airline jingle by Celine Dion, "You and I." CNN isn't sure if this was a smart move for the campaign -- check out the news clip. But I am. :)

Big Deal for Big Head Todd
The Hillary’s suddenly alive with the sound of good music.

Published: December 13, 2007



After Big Head Todd and the Monsters kicked off Senator Hillary Clinton's appearance at Auraria in October, she added "Blue Sky" — the song that Todd Park Mohr and company had written at the request of members of the Space Shuttle Discovery for their 2005 mission, the first since the Columbia disaster — to her campaign playlist.

And now the former University of Colorado at Boulder boys have really taken off, because "Blue Sky" has replaced "You and I" as the official sound of Hillary. In a much-publicized online vote in June, the people picked that saccharine Celine Dion tune (a former airline jingle) as the campaign's theme, and it was announced during the Clintons' famous Sopranos commercial. But that was then, and Big Head is so now, as an alert ABC reporter blogged in revealing the switch in tuneful allegiances.

Is the Big Head flip-flop a risky move with only a few weeks until the critical Iowa and New Hampshire caucuses? Probably not. Dion hails from Canada, while Mohr and his bandmates still live in Colorado (when they're not touring), and this state will be Democrat Central come August and the party's national convention. In fact, the selection could be a nod to the importance of the Rocky Mountain West in the Democratic game plan. Mining that same vein, Off Limits noticed that Hillary was sporting lovely turquoise earrings and a matching necklace at an appearance last week — a sly way, perhaps, to split some of that all-important New Mexico vote away from presidential rival and current New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

From here on, it's nothing but "Blue Sky."

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