Week 2

1.) Summary

What this section was about was Jacob and his band's start to their musical careers. They go to California and meet their President from their record company, Elektra. The president and Jim (band member) discussed on the phone their future with the company. Then, Jim made arrangements for the A&R guy to see them play in Kansas City. All of a sudden, the guy got sick, and couldn't see much of the show. Then, the band came up with a name: "Semisonic." Eventually, the band flew to NY, to propose themselves to the label, MCA. The proposition was awkward, yet the band succeeded. After that, they flew back to Minneapolis.
The band flew back to New York, where a limousine was awaiting them. The band got in the limo, and drove off to MCA again, where they would take their photo shoot for their first album, "Great Divide." The band had to decide their outfits for the photo shoot, where they eventually all decided, and took 5 photos, narrowing it down eventually to one. The photo shoot took hours; Click after click after click. It just got too long. But, in the end, they finally got one picture.
This final chapter is about getting Semisonic onto the radio. When Jacob was young, he recorded songs off the radio to listen to over and over. But now, he wants kids to do that for Semisonic's music. MCA's goal was to get "Down in Flames" (song by Semisonic) on the radio 6 weeks before the release date of the album. The band would usually have "locals" bring them to the station to do acoustic recordings, at about 5:30 a.m. Then, the band would record, and eventually, the band got the song "Down in Flames" on the radio by their due date.
2.) Loaded Words
-Danger: 56. It's a loaded word because danger can mean a variety of different things in many situations. For example, "Danger, do not cross." It's a warning for what's ahead. The author chose the word because it fit the context well.
-Awkward: 60. It's a loaded word because of the situation, "an awkward proposition." He chose the word because I'm sure everyone would say the same thing; 10 business people in a claustrophobic area, including the band? I'd say the same thing.
-Blood: 61. It's a loaded word because it gives off that gross feeling to all people around it. He chose the word because it's all that would fit with the context, plus, it was a part of the issue at the moment.
-Love: 63. It's a loaded word because it has so much meaning to it. He chose the word because the word gives off a happy feeling towards the subject that is being loved.
-Click: 68. It's a loaded word because of the repitition involved. every other word is "Click." He chose this word because it's the sound a camera makes, so he wrote it because it can't be a sound effect in the book (sounds out of the book).
-Killer: 71. It's a loaded word because of 2 different meanings; Killer as in a "murderer," or killer as in "tight." He chose the word because of the "tight" meaning. He decided to add some slang to the sotry.
-Aggressive: 77. It's a loaded word because of the context, "...a less aggressive variety." He chose the word because a less aggressive variety of music, means more calm and interesting for listeners.
-Notorious: 81. It's a loaded word because of Dan's (band member) notorious decisions and moves. He chose the word because Dan was known for how notorious he was.
-Absentmindedly: 85. It's a loaded word because of what it says; not paying attention to the current action. He chose the word because it had to do with the current event: veering into another lane without thinking.
-Violation: 92. It's a loaded word because it states the point: against the rules, or a rule is broken. He chose it because Jacob was discussing the violations of law against a label.
3.) REACTION:
My reaction to this is not surprised because I could see this coming. A record deal, photo shoots, arguements over little things, and locals helping them out. I can see this happening to many famous musicians around the world now, so I'm not surprised.