1968 Conqueror of American Rock - Chapter 153



Only Noblemtl

153. Share Your Heart (3)

It’s been a while since I went jogging alone with Jake.

Jake hadn’t been able to run at his own pace for a while, having been building up his stamina in the London smog. Today, he decided to park near Redondo Beach and run a little further south.

We ran at a fast pace all the way to the end of the coastal road.

“Gasp, gasp, James. I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve felt this runner’s high. I guess I’m running for the taste, hahaha.”

“Me too. When I was staying at Bethel, I used to run every day while smelling phytoncide.”

“James, since we’re here today, why don’t we take a walk around the trail down there? There’s a really nice place over there.”

“Okay.”

The trail Jake led was really nice. The area was a wide, flat mountain with low elevations. There were short bushes growing there, and the trail wound along the coast.

Although winter was approaching, it was early autumn weather in Korea. A cool sea breeze blew, cooling the sweat.

“This is it. Wayfarers Chapel.”

A small glass church appeared on a cliff leading to the sea. The transparent ceiling and walls let in sunlight and reflected the surrounding natural scenery. The sound of waves could be heard from afar, making me feel as if I was temporarily standing between the sky and the sea.

When I went inside, the wooden bench and mysterious interior made me feel like I was in a fantasy world. When I looked from the outside, it was definitely not a big place, but when I went inside, the glass walls and ceilings revealed the surrounding nature. Just standing in the middle of the faint sunlight shining through the glass gave me the feeling of rising toward the sky.

“If I ever get married, I’ll definitely do it here.”

“Do you like someone?”

“No, it’s just that it’s so beautiful here, so if I ever get to marry someone······.”

Jake’s face turned slightly pale as if he was imagining something.

“James, can you run from here to home without stopping?”

You punk, how dare you change the subject so suddenly.

“of course.”

“Okay, let’s go!”

We were driving along the coastal road again on a leisurely weekday morning.

* * *

The feeling of coming out of the shower after sweating profusely is so indescribable.

When I came back from a long workout, there were two sandwiches neatly wrapped and placed on the table. It was obvious that they were not bought. Annie would never have made them, and if it was Stella, she would have prepared Korean food.

This is definitely a sandwich made by Angela.

I grabbed a sandwich and iced tea and went up to the second floor. Jake was drying his hair with a towel at the outdoor table on the terrace.

“Oh, it’s a sandwich. Thanks, haha.”

We started off leisurely, basking in the sun and devouring some of Angela’s delicious homemade sandwiches.

At that moment, loud music was coming from afar. We were curious, so we put our half-eaten sandwiches on the table and went to the end of the terrace to see where the sound was coming from.

On the north coast road, a black truck was driving slowly and making a loud noise.

“What’s that? Isn’t that the parade we filmed in the music video?”

As Jake said, someone was doing what we were filming. As the car got closer, the music got louder and louder, and behind the truck were four monsters straight out of a B-rated kiddie horror cartoon, playing instruments and pretending to play along.

“Phew, but what is that? They’ve painted their faces like Peking Opera actors and are wearing spiky armor. How many spikes are they going to put on their long boots? They’re going to get stabbed if they mess with each other.”

It was literally shocking. That makeup and costume was definitely KISS. That outrageous costume was definitely something I saw at an accessory store back then.

As the car approached, a banner appeared that read, “The Devils Holiday Festival.” It also had a list of bands that would be performing throughout the month, along with the words, “This is a benefit concert.”

We benchmarked our festival as is.

“There’s a band called Kiss. ​​I saw them when I went shopping for accessories with Rob. They’re from New York and they seem to be feeding the dying Devils.”

“The band name and the makeup are definitely eye-catching, haha.”

“But didn’t you say that our music video is still being edited?”

“Yeah, I think we saw it when we were filming our last Sunset Strip scene.”

“Seeing that and imitating it······. But there’s something funny about them. Their outfits are like devils from hell, but their music is just like pop music.”

Kiss’s corpse paintings and visuals would later lead to 90s black metal and Japanese visual metal bands.

Kiss has had a huge influence on many younger generations, not only in terms of their looks but also their music.

It just wasn’t my taste.

Anthony is a great band recruiter, not a marketing guy. The Woodstock Four have a clear idea.

* * *

When I was planning this festival, I had something in mind. I wanted all the artists from CW to come together and sing a song.

It is a benchmark of the project band USA for Africa, which was planned in 1985 to help Africa. ‘We Are The World’, co-written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, has been covered by many pop singers. It is a song that is unprecedented in the history of popular music, with people singing one verse at a time, adding harmony, and a chorus in the latter half, and is remembered as a symbolic song that changed the public’s perception of donations.

When this song sung by the best pop singers became a huge hit, the following year in 1986, rock stars got together and formed a heavy metal project band called ‘Hear n’Aid’ in their own way. This became an opportunity to renew the ‘decadent, hedonistic’ image of heavy metal music at the time.

Although it may not be as large-scale as the two projects above, if the artists currently affiliated with our company come together, we could complete a pretty decent project band.

I’m thinking about a song that would be the first donation project band in the history of music. One song would touch people’s hearts rather than a promotional strategy that drives around in a truck.

Our current bands include Sparkling Ripple, Traveller, London Smog, Van Halen, Stella & EGO, Jack White Band, Aerosmith, Judas Priest, and our solo artists include Tom Waits and Michael Jackson.

But the only regret is that our team is the only band that actively utilizes the chorus. Even if you include Bao and Stella, who are the original members of CW, they can produce a pretty good four-part harmony, but since it is a large-scale project, we needed a richer chorus effect.

Yeah, there was a queen!

I almost missed out on a major project that would go down in history. I called England straight away.

“Brian, how have you been?”

-Yes, James, everything was fine, right?

I explained to him the project I was envisioning.

-If that’s the intention, then we couldn’t miss out. We wanted to discuss it because of the music video, so it worked out well.

“Is it a music video?”

– Yes, Sparkling Ripple’s music video was introduced on pirate radio. Of course, because it was on radio, the DJ who saw it in person in the US explained it only verbally. People in the UK are really curious. I’m also very curious. Right now, GMI is also in a meeting to import Sparkling Ripple’s music video before the BBC.

Queen wanted to produce a music video through our company.

“Brian, we’ve had a lot of new artists join us. I’d like to introduce you to Queen.”

-Oh, I saw an article in Rolling Stone that said Michael Jackson left the Jackson 5 and went to the CW.

“That’s it, haha. Let’s talk about the details when we meet.”

-Yes, I will prepare quickly and fly away.

When Queen sings together, it’s more than just four voices added together. This song will showcase an overwhelming chorus.

* * *

The song was titled ‘Share Your Heart’, which was a phrase that was on the T-shirts sold at the last Pilton Festival. It could have been titled something more grandiose like ‘We Are The World’, but this was a small festival on the Sunset Strip. This title is appropriate.

Even though it doesn’t snow, December here in California will be filled with Christmas atmosphere all month long. So, keywords for lyrics would be Christmas, sharing, love, equality, a better world, etc.

It was while I was walking down the hallway thinking about lyrics to go into the song.

From a distance, I could see the backs of two people. They were clearly walking forward, but they were getting closer and closer to me.

What the heck, am I thinking too much and seeing things?

I rubbed my eyes and looked closely again. One was a boy, and the other was a long-haired girl. The two of them slid across the floor as if in one movement, and kept coming closer.

Then, like a decal, they spun around in opposite directions and spun back. It was an exact same movement, as if there was a mirror between the two.

“braided!”

It was Michael and Annie. What came back as if they were walking forward was none other than Michael Jackson’s moonwalk.

Michael Jackson had previously performed this dance on TV shows during his time with the Jackson 5, and later began to incorporate it into his own choreography in the early 1980s.

“Aren’t you done with this? I learned it from Michael, hehe.”

Annie continued to moonwalk around me as if she was skating. Annie is also a great dancer, and her dancing skills were almost on par with Michael Jackson’s.

“This gliding step is not something I actually invented. I saw it on a TV comedy show a while back and I thought it was funny so I copied it. I just made the step a little wider.”

“James, Michael, aren’t your arms and legs really long? His butt is attached to his back. Even when they dance the same dance, the dance line itself is different. It really looks like he’s gliding on ice. It seems like black people are superior in every way, including dancing, singing, and exercising.”

“You’re really good at it, too. You’re the best I’ve ever seen, haha.”

Annie has been hanging out with Michael lately and has often said that she would be a better singer and dancer if she were mixed race.

It wasn’t just talk. Annie had analyzed it quite scientifically and told me about it.

‘James, I’m not just joking. Black people have wider oral structures than other races. That’s why they resonate much better. Look at Freddie’s mouth. It’s similar. His legs are also incredibly long. Not only that, black people have a unique soul and sense of rhythm. That’s not something you can learn and practice. Michael Jackson is a true genius.’

Michael and Annie showed me their synchronized movements, alternating directions.

I thought Michael Jackson’s vocals at the peak of his career had a lot of rock elements. He was often called a pop singer or a dance singer, but he always insisted on a full live band at all his performances. And many rock guitarists played guitar in his songs.

Despite such great geniuses, racism still exists, and will continue to exist in the future.

Well, yeah. I think we should include some anti-racism stuff in the lyrics too.