{"id":3302,"date":"2011-09-16T16:36:57","date_gmt":"2011-09-16T23:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.louielouie.net\/blog\/?p=3302"},"modified":"2011-09-16T16:36:57","modified_gmt":"2011-09-16T23:36:57","slug":"rip-tim-alexander-singer-songwriter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.louielouie.net\/blog\/?p=3302","title":{"rendered":"RIP: Tim Alexander, singer-songwriter"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A few months ago, I posted something about the death of my friend Shasta Bates<\/a>, a gifted singer-songwriter that I thought deserved to find success in the music industry.<\/p>\n

Sadly, I’ve got another friend that add to to that category.<\/p>\n

My friend Tim Alexander<\/strong> was one of the most creative singer-songwriters I’ve ever known. I met him years before I ever got involved with the LOUIE LOUIE documentary project. I loved the way he constructed music, blending catchy pop hooks with exotic sounds to create uniquely original compositions unlike anything I’d ever heard before.<\/p>\n

I was not only a fan and friend, but I was also an investor in his music. Back in the early 80s, I stumbled upon an opportunity to work with a small record label with a New York musician that I believed was a geniune missing link between crazy hippy folk music and primal punk rock music. I wound up working with David Peel<\/strong> and his Orange Records<\/strong> DIY musical empire. I established Orange Records West<\/strong> to help coordinate promotion and distribution with the New York office, as well as work with up-and-coming musicians on the West Coast. <\/p>\n

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One of the few California artists I brought to the Orange Records empire was Tim and his band, A Western Front<\/strong>. Tim and the band moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, where they hoped they would find success in the music industry. Lacking a proper label to share his music, I offered to help Tim distribute his various cassette releases and his self-produced album “OFF TO THE ANGELS” with my Orange Records West business, as I was already working with various distributors. <\/p>\n

When one of Tim’s songs was licensed as part of a soundtrack of new feature film, I thought it might be a good idea to release some type of record to cash in this new opportunity. I invested in a 4-song EP that I hoped would do well. With the then-current attention by the PMRC to encourage record labels to put warning labels to identify “dangerous music,” I came up with what I thought would be a novel way to market the product. On every record, I slapped on a label with the warning “Caution: the surgeon general has determined that reading these lyrics during the operation of an automobile may be hazardous to your health<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

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Sadly, the record didn’t sell very well. To make matters worse, the film that we thought would include Tim’s music was released with another name, and an entirely different soundtrack.<\/p>\n

Later on, I decided I didn’t really want to run a record label anymore. I was more interested in video production, and didn’t want to deal with any additional headaches, other than the ones I already had….<\/p>\n

I never gave up on Tim, as I’ve always been a major fan of his music, and loved hearing about whatever creations he shared with me. I did create some video productions for Tim, including this little film production that utilized one of the songs on the 4-song EP that I released….<\/p>\n