More from Trizo 50

My more avid readers may already be aware of my fondness for obscure early 70s Missouri power-pop combo Trizo 50. Allow me to share with you another song from their unspeakably rare 1974 album (of which fewer than 100 were printed, and far fewer than that still exist).

No need to share the entire (though riveting) Trizo 50 story with you here...it's book-worthy, and I intend to write that book.

But a few important points...this music was made by five young men in a very small town on inexpensive equipment light years from the big city, in a time before MTV, home computers, or even widespread FM rock radio..they had digested the music of the 1960s and were enjoying the music of the early 70s, but had none of the big-city wherewithal to push their work toward the greater universe.

Basically, these guys were playing their form of rock and roll in an almost complete vacuum. Using baby powder for smoke-bomb effects, and wearing platform shoes, wild hairdos, and pink satin suits, their stages were either high school gyms or flatbed trucks in a cornfield.

I don't want to give you the wrong idea with that somewhat comic image. These guys were an incredibly diverse and varied combo--they had four singer/songwriters in the group, and the wide range of material is literally stunning. They recorded enough songs in the winter of 1973-74 for several good albums. Their original album has never been re-released, but German label World in Sound put out a compilation of some of the LP plus some unreleased things. (The website won't let me link directly to the Trizo 50 page, but look under 'LPs.')

If there's any justice, someday the original Trizo 50 LP will be reissued. I do have a copy of all of the songs, but refuse to throw them out on the Internet for nothing as many of my contemporaries do with similar obscure material.

Maybe I'm just too old for the present "share everything, because information just wants to be free" gestalt, which strikes me as a load of crap. Sure, the music industry is criminal, and it doesn't serve the artist, and it needs to be completely changed. But stealing music hurts the artist, too, especially the obscure and fringe ones. And not all record labels are run by evil people. In fact, the small ones are run by folks who truly love music and do this because they want their artists to be heard.

Additionally, as a writer who makes my living from my work, I don't believe that "information" wants to be free. Stealing songs, or putting books up on Google Book Search, for example, is simply a justification for 1) satisfying your music addiction without paying for it or 2) yourself making money off other peoples' work without compensating them.

Why should art or music be free when you have to pay for everything else? Secretaries, gas company inspectors, insurance agents, cops, etc. aren't expected to work for free, so why should artists? People who create thing shave a right--in their lifetimes, anyway--to make a living from their work. So I don't believe in just giving music out to the whole world for nothing. (Would you give out your work product for free? I didn't think so.)

But one of the things I love to do on this blog is to share music in hopes that you like it (or that you don't--a strong reaction of some kind is always better than a yawn.) I'm happy to share this terrific song with you. It's sweet and romantic and its innocent sophistication puts it either years ahead or years behind its time. Thanks for reading, and peace.