Ode to Steve Jobs - Today's Modern Superstar

I'm sure there will be many who get angry about what I am about to write, but it dawns on me that, today, Steve Jobs is thee rock star of our era.


Michael Jackson was the last superstar of the Analogue Age. There will not be anymore of those again... 

Many years ago, at the height f their popularity, John Lennon said that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus Christ.  He was well criticized for that. Some fans even took to burning Beatles records. 


Of course, the Beatles touched many lives... But I would contend to you that, when it comes to a comparison of how many lives were made better, then I reckon that Steve Jobs blows away the Beatles, Elvis and even Michael Jackson. 


Blashphemy, you say? Oh really? Think about this: These western pop stars are a product of modern western "culture" and society. What percentage of the world is that? Did you know that China and India's population is more than 8 times that of the USA?


I wonder how many Beatles records have been sold in China or India? Compare that with the effect that Apple products have had in those countries.


I'll bet you that for every one Japanese person in Tokyo who owns a Beatles recording, there are 40 or more who own some sort of digital device... And, in these digital devices, Apple's influence has been massive.


Now, Steve Jobs seems to be ill again. I feel sad. And I bet there are many more like me who feel sad too!


When I was a university student in 1980, it was reported that John Lennon had been shot that night in December. My friends and I were all watching a very important NFL football game on TV. When it was confirmed that John Lennon died, the football game, that seemed so important moments before, was not important anymore. We turned off the TV and went to bed.


Think about that.


When a rock star or movie star gets sick the public cries. But when the president of some big company gets ill or dies, no one sheds a tear.... But... Steve Jobs, like Apple, is different.


It puzzles me that I feel this way, but I guess it is because guys like Michael Jackson, John Lennon, Elvis Presley represent the style of living icons of a bygone era. Steve Jobs is the first super star icon of the digital age.

The Last Superstars of a Bygone Era?

Let's hope that he gets better and sticks around longer, if even for a day, to make all of our lives just a tad bit better. 


Because when Steve Jobs is gone, the world will lose someone who vastly improved all of our lives. When he is gone, an era will end and, with that, another chapter in our lives will come to a close.


Please rest well and recover your health, Steve Jobs. We all wait for your return. 




This was inspired by Steve Jobs and for my friend's Paul Kitabayashi at Apple and John Flanaghan at iTunes

Kleptones - Come Again (Mash Up)

おまけです。。。


The Kleptones - Come Again (Beatles vs Rare Earth vs Beaties vs Daft Punk vs Cypress Hill vs Boston) Video by Crumbs Chief from The Videotones on Vimeo.

Japanese Beatles: The Tigers (1967)

When the Beatles hit the scene in the early sixties they were a smash all over the world. Japan was no different. When the Japanese "economic miracle" hit the world they were a hit at copying things western and making them just a bit better.

There were some things though, that the Japanese copied that were, well, hard to describe...

In the mid-1960's the Japanese public couldn't get enough of the Fab Four. What to do? Well, what would any enterprising company (record company, that is) do? Well, if they can't have the real Beatles, and, if this is Japan, then they'll make their own Beatles.

It wasn't only the Beatles though. When the British Invasion got into full swing, the Japanese upped their "copy machine" several notches and created their own version with what was called, "Group Sounds." In a nutshell Group Sounds was a "movement" of Japanese labels and artists copying the British Invasion.

Wikipedia says about "Group Sounds":

Group Sounds (G.S.) is a genre of Japanese rock music. Inspired by The Beatles, Group Sounds became popular in the mid to late 1960s. Group Sounds initiated fusion of Japanese kayōkyoku music and rock music. Their music production techniques were regarded as a pioneer of modern Japanese popular music.

The Spiders

The most famous of the Group Sounds artists were:

▪ The Tigers (aka The Funnys)
▪ The Tempters
▪ The Spiders
▪ The Wild Ones
▪ The Golden Cups
▪ The Mops
▪ The Carnabeats


The Tigers were, in my opinion, the best of these groups.

Wikipedia says this about the Tigers:

The Tigers were arguably Japan's most popular band of the Group Sounds era. The group featured Kenji Sawada as their lead singer, and were signed by Watanabe Productions.

The group was first named Funnys and was formed in 1966. They changed their name to "The Tigers" on their first TV performance on 15 November 1966.

I have always thought that the best of all Group Sounds songs was, "Seaside Band" by the Tigers. The Tigers had a guy in it named Sawada Kenji who would later on go on to become a superstar in Japan... I will blog about him sometime in the near future (of course, in a sort of twisted manner, of course!) But for now, let's check out the Tigers first hit song! This is totally Cool & Strange Music and I think you'll think this song is really groovy too! The Japanese even copied the Ed Sullivan show too!

Now! (In my best Ed Sullivan imitation): "So, here they are ladies and gentlemen, The Tigers doing, "Seaside Band"...



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Keywords: Beatles, The Tigers, Tigers, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, The Tigers (Japanese Band), the Spiders, Group Sounds, British Invasion Japan, British invasion in Japan, Marketing Japan, Mike Rogers, Sawada Kenji, Kenji Sawada

Blasphemy Against the Beatles and Other Good Promotional Ideas!

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

Give me two minutes. I promise that you will be laughing at this stuff. These are great ideas! (Weird, yes, but great!)

In the meantime, has anyone noticed that I changed my welcome message? No? Nah... I didn't think so...

Anyway, it used to say something that I thought sounded cool, but it sounded like a poseur wrote it (that would be me) so I changed it.

Now it says:

WELCOME

This blog is about Marketing and Japan.

The purpose is to give you ideas and to promote creative thinking.

I hope you come here daily for something completely different!

I really do want to make this a place where people can come to see great ideas about Marketing and maybe change them and use them for themselves, but I also want this to be a place to go to when you are "stuck."

It's kind of like writer's cramp. You know, you have to come up with a good idea, but you just don't have it. Well, feel free to come to this blog and check out the stuff here. I've got all sorts of things about Japan (which is a weird place full of great ideas as is) but I also want to add some stuff that will also get you thinking, "WTF!" and maybe get you to laugh and get some new ideas.

Anyhow, in Japan, the Beatles are next to God. I didn't really get sick of the Beatles until I came to Japan. Some of the FM radios stations will still have Beatles Days where they play Beatles non-stop 24-hours-day! You can still go into restaurants and bars here in Japan where they only play the Beatles. Really! 

Japan is a place where you can really get fed up and sick and tired of the Fab Four.

Well, on that note... Here's something that, if they saw it, most Japanese would think was blasphemy... Think about this for Marketing. Is there some way to use Taboo or blasphemy to sell your product better?

Hmmm.... Watch this video. 

 

Wow! That's weird. But it gives me a good idea. How about you?

This "artist" is called "Sts" (StSanders) or "the Heatless" (I think)... The description for the album is: 

"First your pants then your shoes" comes this evergreen hit of The Heatless. The band that could've gotten it all, but didn't want to. 

My favorite video is this one where the "artist" bashes the Rolling Stones.  

Anyhow, there's much more madness here. These videos are funny!

Thanks to Zany Pickle

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Keywords: Beatles, Marketing, Sts, StSanders, StSanderMisc, Mike Rogers, Marketing Japan,