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for September, 2008.
By rascal
While David is recording and finishing his album, I will be scaling back the articles in an effort to sublimate my ODD and attend to some much neglected business. I expect November to bring a party to end all parties, much celebration and discussion, and lots of new appearances and images to gush over.
One of the things I need to do is complete a book proposal for my new literary agent, a fortunate state of affairs that is due in no small measure to the phenomenon that is David Archuleta. You see, if it hadn’t been for David, I might never have been motivated to learn the whole blogging software thing, and thereby never have gotten one of my other blog sites up, which led to an inquiry by a formidable New York literary agent to turn the material into a book. Thanks, David!
See you all soon.
By rascal
There are certain requisitions from the notingDavid Executive Steering Committee that seem as though they are not likely to go away. It’s easier to just give in.
I want to make special mention of the amazing folks over at David-HQ for maintaining such an important archive of high-resolution images of David and his remarkable journey. I also want everyone to know that other than the standard minimum 10% that the Zazzle site conveys to its vendors, which will go toward hosting fees and other resources necessary to maintain this site, no up-charges or profit margins have been added to the cost of the calendar. The price is the minimum production cost.
Please also note that while you can order the calendar in three different sizes, most of the images were only large enough for the smallest size, which is what I decided to optimize all the images for. I strongly recommend ordering the small size (which ought to be great for cubicles and lockers and home office areas), since the quality of the images is certain to deteriorate at the larger sizes.
Get the 2009 David Archuleta Calendar here.
Update: This product has been removed, along with other DA products using images, from the Zazzle site without notice or explanation. Theoretically, a calendar using only fan photographs would not constitute copyright infringement, but will take a bit longer to “curate,” since there is no single archive of them online such as the one at David-HQ. Once I establish a correspondence with Zazzle and learn the particulars of this action, I will look into creating another version without AI copyrighted images. Stay tuned.
By rascal
The amount of intelligence, creativity, and sheer hilarity in the David Archuleta fan community is really something. Or, you know, something else. Above is one of my favorites, the impressive work of Fsteven, who did the CD display chop, and UK based chenson, posting on IDF, who had the idea to visualize the result of the album debut.
This one was a bit too much to be posted here for all eternity, but it is screamingly funny (finish all beverages before clicking).
By rascal
Virtually all of David’s most passionate fans agree that he should stay as far away from Disney as possible, or indeed anything that smacks of a Disney style approach to his image. His brilliant new album cover leaves little doubt that he and his people agree.
One of the interesting advantages of avoiding the Disney taint is that David will actually be better able to maintain his commitment to a respectable public persona without sacrificing authenticity or artistic integrity. Those artists who have had to divest themselves of the long shadow of the Disney brand in order to succeed independently have had to resort to fairly extreme redirection–usually involving overt sexuality–in order to be taken seriously. David, by contrast, has the opportunity to craft his own version of wholesomeness, without having it be a limitation or a liability.
But there may be other reasons why David is not Disney. According to a report released last week, the young Disney performer is a rather specialized individual. David may just simply be… well, too real.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZgXg_7kVI8]
By rascal
Um. Wow.
Update #1: While I’m gathering my thoughts (and picking my jaw up off the floor), I give you the following as a soundtrack for your comments on this topic. In honor of the new album cover, the following has been selected as the notingDavid Executive Steering Committee Theme Song.
Those of you on the Steering Committee, you know who you are.
Steering_Committee_Theme.mp3
Update #2: Wherein Rascal redeems himself from his initial, slightly less-than articulate, “Um. Wow.”
Okay, so, I’ve given this a lot of thought and I’ve made my decision. I don’t like it. I love it. This image telegraphs something very specific to the market. Not just from David but from his producers, from his label, from the very people who are tasked with the rather significant responsibility of saying–especially the first time out– “here’s how we think you should consider this artist.”
And the overall message? Serious.
Yes, gosh-dang-it, yes!
It would be easy to talk about things like street cred, or thug rep (if David could look like this in certain areas of my beloved Brooklyn, he’d do just fine), and that’s all well and good, but I don’t think that’s the prevailing message. Seriousness is the message the market should be getting from David’s label on his first time out, even if some of the music is light and fun. This man, despite–and in addition to–his young looks, his tween appeal, his boyish charm, his wholesome lifestyle, and his initial pop-music leanings, is an artist to be taken seriously.
I know all you Mrs. Robinsons out there (God love you) are seeing smolderosity in this picture. And goodness knows (as do most others) that I can see smolderosity in David, too. But I’m not seeing that here. Not nearly as much, anyway, as I am seeing a combination of maturity, sense-of-purpose, real depth, and a degree of certainty that just isn’t possible from lightweights. No, in fact, I suspect that Jive was probably somewhat surprised when the proofs from this photo session arrived; they very likely wanted, and got, a wide range of attitudes and expressions in a variety of outfits. But if this is indeed the official cover shot, then I suspect Jive saw something in this image that they might not have expected to see.
In fact, their surprise may have been perfectly consistent with their experience with David in the production of his music. It’s hard for me to believe (despite the desire that Jive reportedly had for him, and the allegedly good deal he got) that they really and truly had any idea what they were getting. Not, in any case, to the degree that his more serious fans had an idea. I think one of the reasons the Jive marriage has been rocky (and it has), is because Jive had expectations of David that were easily exceeded at every juncture. I can imagine a scene where an underling goes running to management to report, “he’s not doing what we’ve asked for,” and management, after listening to the product of what’s been going on, replies, “You idiot! He’s doing ten-times more than we asked for! Get a better producer!” Of course, that’s just my imagination. But I wouldn’t be surprised.
The release of this image–whether or not it’s the official cover image–is to my mind yet another indication of Jive’s acknowledgment of David as a serious musical artist. It plays against type, but it’s not a misrepresentation. We’ve always all been so amazed at how David can be such a sweet, genial, compassionate, lovely person when he is with fans, or in any situation when he is not singing, and then suddenly, in performance, he turns into this powerhouse of emotion and strength and hunger and pain and resolve and integrity and intelligence. This remarkably serious, intense picture is perhaps the only picture we’ve seen so far that actually captures the David who sings.
And, okay, yeah, he’s hot. Coo coo cachoo.
By rascal
Note the erroneous–but so true!–AI status designation.
No, I’m not talking about thighs. It seems that Crush is trying to be a bigger hit than Jive wants it to be — at least at this point in time. I don’t claim to know all the mechanics of it, even chart-heads (David is one of them, as doubtless most of you know) can sometimes appear confused about how all this stuff is calculated and what the real situation is behind the numbers, but all indications are that Crush is taking on a life of its own, and faster than perhaps Jive wants it to, given that the album doesn’t drop until November.
So, despite the fact that airplay and spins appear to be increasing organically in many medium and smaller markets, and both Billboard and Radio & Records have now tagged Crush with “Hit Predictor” designations, the largest and most influential markets like Boston and New York have suddenly decreased plays. The theory now being advanced by observers familiar with pop music marketing is that Jive may well have requested a pull-back in order to time the peak to be closer to the album release.
Hey, you just can’t keep a good David down.
By rascal
Team David has been hinting around about it for weeks now, inside sources have indicated its likelihood, and now it seems as if it is all but confirmed. Sources close to the Archuletas have said that we “don’t need to hope any longer,” because the inclusion of at least one of David’s songs on the album is now virtually assured, if still unofficial. This is of course fantastic news. David’s emergence as an artist of consequence will be bouyed immeasurably by the inclusion of his own songwriting on his first album.
By rascal
Click the image for an enlarged, non-headlined version of Rabid’s gorgeous new CD cover art.
I was so thrilled to attend Ford Day. I am grateful to Wanda from Archuleta Avenue and Rickey.org, who arranged the ticket purchase for others and also waited for me when I got hopelessly lost trying to find the venue. I am fortunate that the event was a little less than three hours’ drive away, so with some schedule rearranging, I was able to slip down to Detroit to see David perform in an intimate and more casual venue. It was also great to meet other posters and lurkers from NotingDavid.org, Rickey.org, Fans of David, Archuleta Avenue, and other sites. A group of us had dinner and further shared our Archie love after the concert, simply a great time.
The event was held in Ford’s conference concert, located on the company’s expansive grounds that also feature the Ford Museum and other attractions. The grand ballroom where the concert was held seats only a thousand guests. I immediately noticed that the audience was mostly comprised of employees from Ford and other companies. Of the tickets sold, 400 tickets were available to non-Adcraft members on a first-come basis. Our little group was fortunate to make the window for the non-member tickets by only a few hours.
Shortly after we found our seats (also on a first-come basis), I took a 360-degree video pan of the room to give YouTube viewers a sense of how small the venue was. By the time that both David’s came out to sign autographs after the concert, there were probably less than 400 people in the room. The event was the size of a medium high-school assembly, so the concert’s vibe was unplugged, friendly, casual, and intimate.
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