Discussion Migration

[Joe Brookhouse]

If this is the place for the discussion board to land, are there
discussions that we should consider migrating over from the current
board? In previous moves, we lost all threads when the board changed
over.

Thoughts?

[craig]

I gotta tell ya, some of the stuff we've lost has really pissed me
off. I'm glad I archived David's most important posts at some point
on M&Y (although I've not done that in some time).

[Linda]

Craig, have you tried the Way Back Machine?  The stuff that was linked to other sites (like the forum posts, I believe) won't be there, but there are lots of tour diary entries and such.  Some of the links don't go anywhere, but many do.  It's like an archaeological dig. Artifacts and fragments to sort through.
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://davidmead.com

Linda

Bio from June 1, 2002:

A biography for the 21st century

DAVID MEAD "MINE AND YOURS"

RCA Marketing Strategy Bulletin
For Internal Company Use Only--- Confidential!

To: All Marketing and Publicity staff
From: Senior VP of Marketing
Objective: To find a way to introduce DAVID MEAD to a wider audience

Everyone here at the company knows that DAVID MEAD is a brilliant songwriter and an incredible singer. He can win over any size audience with a band or just an acoustic guitar and a microphone. But we're all painfully aware that in today's cutthroat marketplace it's JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH! Even a fabulously talented guy like David still needs a hook! Hence, here are some possible marketing strategies for this amazing new record. I look forward to your comments and/or suggestions.

PROPOSAL #1: REINVENT ARTIST AS LATIN HEARTTHROB. This may be tricky, as David speaks little or no Spanish and can only dance the Charleston. The right choreographer and stylist will be key for this strategy to succeed.

PROPOSAL #2: TARGET ANGRY TEENAGE MALES. For this approach to succeed, we will need to secure David a slot as the first acoustic-based singer/songwriter on OZZFEST or the WARPED TOUR. Also, pursue photo opps with members of Slipknot or Mudvayne. Intelligent, sensitive lyrics should be distorted into random screaming and/or rants about troubled childhood.

PROPOSAL #3: HAVE EMINEM OR SEAN PUFFY COMBS USE PROMINENT DAVID MEAD SAMPLE IN NEXT SINGLE. This strategy rarely fails and often provides elusive "street cred."

PROPOSAL #4: HAVE DAVID MEAD START FEUD WITH OTHER CONTEMPORARY MALE SONGWRITERS. The media loves feuds! David Mead vs. David Gray? David Mead vs. Dave Matthews? David Mead vs. Richard Ashcroft? (International Markets Only)

PROPOSAL #5: INFILTRATE JAM BAND MOVEMENT. (Note to Wardrobe: supply of tie-dye shirts, hacky sacks and hair extensions will be required to pull this off convincingly.)

PROPOSAL #6: SECURE INTERNATIONAL REVLON CAMPAIGN. Liz Hurley is out... David Mead could be this year's hot new face!

PROPOSAL #7: TELL THE TRUTH. Let the press and general public know that David Mead is a truly unbelievable pop songwriter in the classic mold, that he possesses a soaring voice that must be heard to be believed, that his music is everything most of today's is not: sincere, intelligent, superbly crafted, beautiful. Let them know that his new record "MINE AND YOURS" (produced by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Ivy) was recorded in New York City last summer. Tell them that David is in another league from the vast majority of the records they are currently bombarded with...

Retraction... That would never work.

DAVID MEAD BIOGRAPHICAL BULLET POINTS

- Born 1973, Syosset, NY. Matured in GA, MN, AL, TN, FL and TN, respectively.

- Raised by overwhelmingly musical mother (Sheryll). Solos in church choir. Olivia Newton John Concert (1st). Castratoesque notes in 1984 Briarwood High School production of "The Sound of Music."

- Father (David, Sr.) single-handedly revolutionized sales and distribution of facsimile machines (1982).

- Began playing guitar and writing songs in 1986. The passion of James Taylor in the style of Men at Work.

- Began playing in clubs with bands in 1989.

- Misplaced virginity in 1991.

- Participated in various musical groups while living in Nashville and Orlando (1989-1998). Failed audition for Lou Pearlman on account of inability to dance the lambada. Toured recklessly as a member of Southeastern stalwarts Joe, Marc's Brother. Signed first autograph. Smoked cigarettes.

- Signed to RCA in 1998.

- Attended Miles Copeland¹s "Troubadors Des Vintages" songwriting workshop in France.

- Released debut record "The Luxury of Time" in September of 1999. Critical acclaim. Loyal fan base.

- More reckless touring with Eagle Eye Cherry, Liz Phair and Shelby Lynne, to name a few.

- Songs featured in film soundtracks for "Boys and Girls: and "Restaurant."

- Tedious court battle over custody of chihuahua (Greg).

- High hair.

- Coveted chart position in Malaysia.

- Moved to New York City in 1999. Furious period of writing. Self-discovery. Metamorphosis. Loss of baby fat. Cold light of morning. Weakness for pepperoni sliced very, very thin.

- Recorded follow-up effort, MINE AND YOURS, in New York during Summer of 2000. Produced by Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne, Ivy). Tracked at historic Sear Sound (John Lennon, Lou Reed, Patti Smith). Mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Featured musicians Shawn Pelton (SNL Band, David Byrne, John Fogerty), Danny Weinkauf (They Might Be Giants), and Jon Skibic (Gigolo Aunts, Juliana Hatfield).

- Currently under investigation by RIAA for artistic deference and manipulation of identity.

[DAVID MEAD]

Hi All-

I hope this is finding you happily immersed in the holiday season. I wanted to take a moment to let you know that I completely trust your collective judgment on this forum thing... you guys have always been the anchors so it seems fitting that you should choose the new format. I am a making a New Year's resolution to get back into the swing of things with it so just tell me what to do whenever a path is decided upon.

As always, thank you very much for your commitment. I think 2009 is going to be a fine year in many respects and I am looking forward to being in closer contact with you all.

Happy Holidays,

David

[craig]

Hey Linda -

Yup, grabbed all of that stuff previously. It was more that msg board
that we used around the time of Indiana - the one that got hacked.
All of that stuff is permanently gone (and unfortunately I never knew
enough about msg boards to do proper backup, etc.)

[Linda]

What's aggravating is that it is probably out there somewhere on a
storage device somewhere, but I don't have a clue as to how to locate it.

I'm not really sure that it isn't better that a few things are left only
in our memories. (Not my memory, mind you, as that is routinely deleted)
The world must be filling up with information now with all of those bits
and bytes stacking up.

Linda

[bobbym529]

I've read some interesting near future stuff lately. Memory is
getting so cheap (terabyte hard drives) and other things are getting
so small (video), they say in the near future you could have video
(say from your eyeglasses) that would record your whole day. Then if
you forget where your car keys are, you just go back and look where
you put them. :-)
Ready for the next revolution?

Bob

[Joe Brookhouse]

I think that I would spend most of my time reviewing my life, which
means that, at some point, I would be doing nothing but watching me
watch my life. Sad and disturbing. I WOULD like to know what
happened to my keys to the Element, though. Replacing those things is
expensive...

[craig]

I would simply use it to relive concerts. It would eliminate the need
for the video camera and the flash drive recorder. Less distraction
for David. :)

[Linda]

The legal ramifications alone are staggering. 
Plus I'm not in favor of anything that would release Craig from his documentation obligations, for purely selfish reasons.
But I would like to know where I put Lauren's senior pictures for *safekeeping*.

[Joe Brookhouse]

Put Lauren's pictures up on AirSet. You get a personal web computer
in addition to David's group. There's 1GB of storage, which should be
plenty for your pictures (at least for now).

[Linda]

If I ever find them I will certainly get them backed up in many locations.  I just don't know where they are.
We all thought they were on each other's computers but when several computers let the smoke out we couldn't find a machine that had copies.  Plus the photographer who did them didn't keep copies either.  And now I can't find the proofs.  A comedy of errors.
I do have a few photos, of course, that are in frames, but I want the whole set of proofs, which are probably in this house somewhere.

The experience has made me extra vigilant about backing up photos now though, so I guess something good has come of it.

[nick robinson]

I'm delighted to hear there's some activity - dm.com has been moribund
for a while and I never really "got" the navigation. Re forums, I'd
have thought the simplest thing is to set up phpbb (or similar) on
someone's server - I set on up for a client in under an hour (http://
www.elrecords.co.uk/forum/). It's all SQL based, so you can save the
structure and migrate all the data, thread & all very easily. No
advertising, totally under the control of the moderators you set up.

I don't quite understand why md.com isn't just going to metamorphose
into a new site. It seems the popularity of facebook, myspace etc. is
causing musos to focus on myspace rather than their own sites, kinda
crazy.

Love the Macho stuff - been too long since David dusted down the
telecaster and cranked it a bit.

I let dreamawaythemiles.com gently subside, there's been zero UK based
Meadness for years and that was the point of the site - no sense to
just duplicate the content of mine&yours.com. I've was also seriously
ill for over a year, with a crazy inner-ear disorder that meant I had
to pack live music in. It's now got about as good as it's going to, so
I'm back on the road, in a modest way. I've got David to thank for the
finger-picking pattern on a recent track called "Vivacia" here - keen
ears might spot it ;)

http://www.ct-collective.com/index.cfm?page=music&albumid=34