Post by Kathy on Sept 22, 2006 7:38:06 GMT -5
From today's WSJ:
"We get back together to open up for a cartoon, in front of a bunch of people who never heard of us," Mr. Westerberg says. "That's fitting."
Punk Icon Meets Talking Bear
Replacements' Westerberg Scores Sony Kids Movie;
'Everyone's Stupid' Axed
By ETHAN SMITH
September 22, 2006; Page W7
Paul Westerberg, leader of the legendary rock band the Replacements, isn't a household name -- except in homes where the kids are dressed in vintage punk T-shirts and Mohawk hairdos. He gained notoriety and influence in the 1980s with songs such as "Treatment Bound," "Dope Smokin' Moron" and "Bastards of Young." But when contemporaries such as U2 and R.E.M. soared to commercial prosperity, the Replacements ran their career into a ditch.
Now Mr. Westerberg is set to receive a jolt of mainstream exposure -- thanks, improbably, to a big-budget animated children's movie for which he wrote a clutch of songs and the cinematic score. "Open Season" is the debut feature from Sony Pictures Entertainment's new Sony Pictures Animation division. It features the voices of Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher, and concerns a bear (Mr. Lawrence) who has lived his whole life in comfortable captivity. Circumstances force him to try living in the wilderness, where he must choose between his old life of ease and the rigors of the forest.
For the 46-year-old Mr. Westerberg, whose career could be characterized as a series of near-misses with big-time success, Hollywood represented both a gilded cage and a fearsome wilderness. It's a land of plenty: He was paid handsomely (he won't say how much) for his work on "Open Season" and recorded with bigger budgets and more musicians than he ever had before. Yet he also was put through the Hollywood wringer -- the studio even hired another singer to record a showpiece song Mr. Westerberg wrote for the film (though both versions appear in the movie and CD.) He now jokes about accepting the movie gig as "community service after my last arrest."
Following Elton and Phil
Mr. Westerberg is far from the first rock musician to make a bid for mainstream exposure through children's music. Elton John and Phil Collins have both created thriving second acts based on their music for animated Walt Disney movies, including "The Lion King" and "Tarzan," respectively.
Today, young rockers still in the prime of their careers are finding the category appealing. Jack Johnson's soundtrack album for the "Curious George" movie this year may have made more of an impression on the public than the film did, opening at No. 1 on the Billboard charts -- the best performance of Mr. Johnson's career. Kim Garner, senior vice president of marketing at Universal Republic records, Mr. Johnson's label, says the success of his Curious George album has given the singer "a huge stepping stone to a whole new audience when the next record comes out."
At the same time, children's music is one of the few categories whose sales have risen in recent years, while alternative-rock sales have plummeted. Through the middle of this year, sales of children's-music albums were up nearly 73% over the same point in 2005, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The success of the Disney film "High School Musical" and its soundtrack album, among other projects, shows there's a rich vein to be mined.
Paul Westerberg gained notoriety in the 1980s with the Replacements.
Yet the transition from angry young man to family entertainer is particularly jarring in the case of Mr. Westerberg. The raucous Replacements were known for binge drinking and epic on-stage meltdowns, but elicited fierce loyalty from fans and critics for Mr. Westerberg's heart-on-his-sleeve tales of youthful frustration. Still, none of their seven albums reached gold status, and Mr. Westerberg's solo career has been equally uncommercial.
Jill Culton, one of the three directors of "Open Season," initially considered Mr. Westerberg "kind of an obscure choice" for the movie. "But we didn't want to go down the road of Elton John," she says. "We wanted to go a little bit underground and different."
Mr. Westerberg came with some film experience, having contributed two songs and the score to 1992's "Singles." But with a former rock critic for a director and a cast that included several of Mr. Westerberg's musical contemporaries, that movie was far from a massive Hollywood production.
Still, Mr. Westerberg was in some ways perfect for the "Open Season" job. His melodic songs feature lyrics that typically are both wry and wistful. His weakness for clever wordplay was reflected in the first song he submitted, "Right to Arm Bears." "Open Season" is a bittersweet exploration of the quest to fit in, and Lia Vollack, Sony's head of world-wide music, thought Mr. Westerberg could "find the sense of humor the movie wants to have and convey its emotion at the same time."
Mr. Westerberg's last few solo albums were recorded alone in his Minneapolis basement, however, which may not have been good preparation for immersion in the cooperative and competitive world of filmmaking. Mr. Westerberg made four trips to Hollywood over two years ending in April.
The rocker spent his first year on the job working with two composers experienced in film scoring, whom Sony hired to help him. He says their first bit of advice -- "be ready for everything to change at any time" -- proved prescient when they were replaced. "That's when I realized nothing was sacred," he says. "I could go at any minute. They could overdub Martin Lawrence out of the movie."
Mr. Westerberg submitted about 30 songs to Sony and the filmmakers, who ended up choosing 10 for the soundtrack. "They went through my vocals with a fine-tooth comb," he recalls. "I had a couple grunts in there and stuff and a few suggestive lyrics that they weren't wild about."
He says one song, "Everyone's Stupid," was kept out of the movie after the child of one of the film's producers was frightened by its lyrics. Ms. Vollack says the song was submitted late in the process, after the movie was nearly complete, and doesn't recall hearing about any frightened children.
The filmmakers also asked Mr. Westerberg to rewrite the lyrics to his song "I Belong" so it would better fit a critical moment in the plot. "It was a group effort and a little bit of a struggle," says Ms. Culton.
The studio plans to submit "I Belong" for consideration for the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards and other prizes. But Sony hasn't been shy about bringing a more mainstream approach to his material. The studio enlisted singer Pete Yorn to record a smoother version of "I Belong" that appears both in the film and on the soundtrack album. Mr. Yorn's rendition is the one that will be submitted to the various awards organizations, although prizes typically go to the songwriter, not the performer. Similarly, Sony brought in a little-known band called Deathray to give two of Mr. Westerberg's other songs what Ms. Vollack describes as "a slightly poppier texture."
For his trouble, Mr. Westerberg is getting the kind of exposure and promotional push that neither the Replacements nor his solo work ever received. "I Belong" has been translated into 29 languages, including Latvian and Slovenian, and sung by local stars for international releases of the film.
Long-suffering Replacements fans may get something out of it, too. They have waited more than 15 years to see the band, or even just some of its members, reunite for a live performance. That finally is set to happen at the film's premiere in Los Angeles on Monday night, when Mr. Westerberg is to be joined by Replacements bass player Tommy Stinson to play two songs. It's an appropriately bizarre twist for rock's most lovable losers.
"We get back together to open up for a cartoon, in front of a bunch of people who never heard of us," Mr. Westerberg says. "That's fitting."
-------------------------------------------------------
"We get back together to open up for a cartoon, in front of a bunch of people who never heard of us," Mr. Westerberg says. "That's fitting."
Punk Icon Meets Talking Bear
Replacements' Westerberg Scores Sony Kids Movie;
'Everyone's Stupid' Axed
By ETHAN SMITH
September 22, 2006; Page W7
Paul Westerberg, leader of the legendary rock band the Replacements, isn't a household name -- except in homes where the kids are dressed in vintage punk T-shirts and Mohawk hairdos. He gained notoriety and influence in the 1980s with songs such as "Treatment Bound," "Dope Smokin' Moron" and "Bastards of Young." But when contemporaries such as U2 and R.E.M. soared to commercial prosperity, the Replacements ran their career into a ditch.
Now Mr. Westerberg is set to receive a jolt of mainstream exposure -- thanks, improbably, to a big-budget animated children's movie for which he wrote a clutch of songs and the cinematic score. "Open Season" is the debut feature from Sony Pictures Entertainment's new Sony Pictures Animation division. It features the voices of Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher, and concerns a bear (Mr. Lawrence) who has lived his whole life in comfortable captivity. Circumstances force him to try living in the wilderness, where he must choose between his old life of ease and the rigors of the forest.
For the 46-year-old Mr. Westerberg, whose career could be characterized as a series of near-misses with big-time success, Hollywood represented both a gilded cage and a fearsome wilderness. It's a land of plenty: He was paid handsomely (he won't say how much) for his work on "Open Season" and recorded with bigger budgets and more musicians than he ever had before. Yet he also was put through the Hollywood wringer -- the studio even hired another singer to record a showpiece song Mr. Westerberg wrote for the film (though both versions appear in the movie and CD.) He now jokes about accepting the movie gig as "community service after my last arrest."
Following Elton and Phil
Mr. Westerberg is far from the first rock musician to make a bid for mainstream exposure through children's music. Elton John and Phil Collins have both created thriving second acts based on their music for animated Walt Disney movies, including "The Lion King" and "Tarzan," respectively.
Today, young rockers still in the prime of their careers are finding the category appealing. Jack Johnson's soundtrack album for the "Curious George" movie this year may have made more of an impression on the public than the film did, opening at No. 1 on the Billboard charts -- the best performance of Mr. Johnson's career. Kim Garner, senior vice president of marketing at Universal Republic records, Mr. Johnson's label, says the success of his Curious George album has given the singer "a huge stepping stone to a whole new audience when the next record comes out."
At the same time, children's music is one of the few categories whose sales have risen in recent years, while alternative-rock sales have plummeted. Through the middle of this year, sales of children's-music albums were up nearly 73% over the same point in 2005, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The success of the Disney film "High School Musical" and its soundtrack album, among other projects, shows there's a rich vein to be mined.
Paul Westerberg gained notoriety in the 1980s with the Replacements.
Yet the transition from angry young man to family entertainer is particularly jarring in the case of Mr. Westerberg. The raucous Replacements were known for binge drinking and epic on-stage meltdowns, but elicited fierce loyalty from fans and critics for Mr. Westerberg's heart-on-his-sleeve tales of youthful frustration. Still, none of their seven albums reached gold status, and Mr. Westerberg's solo career has been equally uncommercial.
Jill Culton, one of the three directors of "Open Season," initially considered Mr. Westerberg "kind of an obscure choice" for the movie. "But we didn't want to go down the road of Elton John," she says. "We wanted to go a little bit underground and different."
Mr. Westerberg came with some film experience, having contributed two songs and the score to 1992's "Singles." But with a former rock critic for a director and a cast that included several of Mr. Westerberg's musical contemporaries, that movie was far from a massive Hollywood production.
Still, Mr. Westerberg was in some ways perfect for the "Open Season" job. His melodic songs feature lyrics that typically are both wry and wistful. His weakness for clever wordplay was reflected in the first song he submitted, "Right to Arm Bears." "Open Season" is a bittersweet exploration of the quest to fit in, and Lia Vollack, Sony's head of world-wide music, thought Mr. Westerberg could "find the sense of humor the movie wants to have and convey its emotion at the same time."
Mr. Westerberg's last few solo albums were recorded alone in his Minneapolis basement, however, which may not have been good preparation for immersion in the cooperative and competitive world of filmmaking. Mr. Westerberg made four trips to Hollywood over two years ending in April.
The rocker spent his first year on the job working with two composers experienced in film scoring, whom Sony hired to help him. He says their first bit of advice -- "be ready for everything to change at any time" -- proved prescient when they were replaced. "That's when I realized nothing was sacred," he says. "I could go at any minute. They could overdub Martin Lawrence out of the movie."
Mr. Westerberg submitted about 30 songs to Sony and the filmmakers, who ended up choosing 10 for the soundtrack. "They went through my vocals with a fine-tooth comb," he recalls. "I had a couple grunts in there and stuff and a few suggestive lyrics that they weren't wild about."
He says one song, "Everyone's Stupid," was kept out of the movie after the child of one of the film's producers was frightened by its lyrics. Ms. Vollack says the song was submitted late in the process, after the movie was nearly complete, and doesn't recall hearing about any frightened children.
The filmmakers also asked Mr. Westerberg to rewrite the lyrics to his song "I Belong" so it would better fit a critical moment in the plot. "It was a group effort and a little bit of a struggle," says Ms. Culton.
The studio plans to submit "I Belong" for consideration for the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards and other prizes. But Sony hasn't been shy about bringing a more mainstream approach to his material. The studio enlisted singer Pete Yorn to record a smoother version of "I Belong" that appears both in the film and on the soundtrack album. Mr. Yorn's rendition is the one that will be submitted to the various awards organizations, although prizes typically go to the songwriter, not the performer. Similarly, Sony brought in a little-known band called Deathray to give two of Mr. Westerberg's other songs what Ms. Vollack describes as "a slightly poppier texture."
For his trouble, Mr. Westerberg is getting the kind of exposure and promotional push that neither the Replacements nor his solo work ever received. "I Belong" has been translated into 29 languages, including Latvian and Slovenian, and sung by local stars for international releases of the film.
Long-suffering Replacements fans may get something out of it, too. They have waited more than 15 years to see the band, or even just some of its members, reunite for a live performance. That finally is set to happen at the film's premiere in Los Angeles on Monday night, when Mr. Westerberg is to be joined by Replacements bass player Tommy Stinson to play two songs. It's an appropriately bizarre twist for rock's most lovable losers.
"We get back together to open up for a cartoon, in front of a bunch of people who never heard of us," Mr. Westerberg says. "That's fitting."
-------------------------------------------------------
(at least pass on your secrets to this person so that they are successful in getting in).
