Any artist that has ever faced criticism of their work or had to listen to very convincing reasons why their art wasn't good enough and couldn't possibly be successful needs to know the story of Elvis Presley and Rock n Roll. It may sound totally ridiculous now but when rock n roll music first hit the scene it was only supposed to last a year according to some critics. Singers were supposed to sound beautiful and the music had to match. When this new musical genre debuted it was not predicted to last more than a year, that is until Elvis Presley hit the mainstream with a song that every music executive at RCA hated.

Elvis had just signed to a major record company, RCA, and started recording new songs for his upcoming album. The second song he recorded was completely unlike anything he had recorded before at his previous record company, Sun Records. "Heartbreak Hotel" was a song inspired by a man that committed suicide and left a note saying "I walk a lonely street." It was not the upbeat rockabilly style of Elvis' previous recordings; this was a song that was blues inspired and talked about death, not the kind of song people were listening to on the radio. Elvis fell in love with the song when he first discovered it, however his version ended up sounding completely different, and when he took it to his producer, although reluctant to play a part in such a risky song choice, he believed Elvis knew what he was doing enough to record the young singer. 

When executives at RCA heard the song and were told this was the first single, they said it was a horrible song choice and there was no way they could release such a song. The only one that was confident in the song was Elvis. Everyone else didn't understand it. It didn't measure up to what they were used to and so they did not want it. Eventually Elvis had his way and the song was released in early 1956 and once again a few critics called it morbid and bad. Remember, at the time, rock n roll was not supposed to last either, according to several of the same critics, but once Elvis performed the song on television and people heard it on the radio, it went to number one, charted high on three billboard charts, was the biggest selling song of that entire year, completely solidified rock n roll as a movement and is widely considered one of the greatest songs of all time.

Listening to "Heartbreak Hotel" made a couple of young men in Liverpool, England want to be rock n roll musicians and they started a band called The Beatles. Bob Dylan and countless others up to the present day were influenced by Elvis Presley and rock n roll music not only survived but completely permeated throughout the world and influenced practically every nation on Earth. And interestingly, this almost didn't happen if you remove Elvis' confidence in his artistic work. If he had just said, "well, these guys are the professional music executives and they know better than me, i'll just let them choose what songs I should sing," we'd be living in a completely different world right now. 

Fortunate for us, Elvis was a true artist that knew what he wanted to create and didn't let an entire world convince him he couldn't create it just because they'd never seen it before. As an artist/creator I can relate to this story because my own music doesn't fit nicely into what people are used to, if you're interested in listening to it go to www.xraypoetz.com. I take a lot of inspiration from "Heartbreak Hotel" because if we as artists don't stand up for our art, we'll be the ones walking a lonely street.

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It may not be apparent at first, but I know there is a strong connection between the fact that so many Americans are driving Japanese cars (and using Japanese electronics of course) and so many Japanese people reading Manga (the Japanese word for comic book) and so few Americans reading comic books anymore. It is my opinion that comic books play a very strong role in the development of imagination because they literally transport one into a completely different reality, into a world which sometimes looks like our world but where anything is possible. And I truly believe that it is the imaginations cultivated by comic books that yield forward thinking, future-minded individuals which produce innovations such as better cars and electronics which push mankind forward. If Americans are driving Japanese cars it is because they are currently emerged in a culture which calls comic book fans nerds and losers, tells the artist he will starve and struggle and calls crazy anyone that does not tow the line.

What about Japan? Well, it is said that over 40% of all printed material in Japan is manga. When you ride the train in Japan you see people of all ages, business professionals as well as young people, reading manga. They show up every week excited for the new manga releases and their entire manga industry far out produces the United States and every other country. It is the number comic book consuming country on planet Earth. Manga artists and writers also significantly out produce their American counter-parts, creating a culture where artists are highly respected and admired. And while American comic book reading continues to slip, Japanese manga sales continue to climb, especially in America and Europe.

To give more understanding of the current American comic book scene, let's examine the title "Batman" by DC Comics, long used as the bar in which to judge all title sales because it is one of the most steady sellers. Well, a typical issue of Batman, released once a month, will usually sell 50,000 to maybe 80,000 copies in the United States. Not the sales figure you were expecting right? In a country of 311 million people you would think the number would be higher. If only 1% of all Americans read comic books that would be 3.1 million people showing up to their local comic book shops each week, but sadly the actual number of comic book readers is tiny. And this from a country that invented the comic book and super heroes. This is from the country that created "The Avengers" and "The Dark Knight" and a slew of Hollywood blockbusters based on comic books.

I'm an American. I drive a Honda. I read comic books but I also read manga. I want to be where imagination is and follow those that nurture and encourage it. We let the automobile slip away from us and the comic book too, but it doesn't mean we couldn't reverse the trend and reclaim our top spot. As I write this Elon Musk at Tesla Motors out in California is building one the greatest electric cars on Earth and great American comic book writers and artists are creating the stories that will be the next big Hollywood blockbuster. Rethink what is happening in our world and figure out how you can play a part in creating a more ideal one: filled with better technologies and better art. Let's make a world where our imaginations are let loose to create so maybe one day there will be less need of doctors and lawyers and more need of artists and writers. After all, nothing heals or helps more than art does.
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I recently watched one of many Beatles documentaries in my life and something stuck with me. In the film it was said that upon arrival in an Australian city, 300,000 people (half the city) came out to greet the Beatles. 300,000 people! That's a huge crowd. I thought back to scenes of fans waiting at the airport for the Beatles to walk out of the plane. I thought about Shea Stadium and how the screaming was so loud that you couldn't hear the music. And then I thought, why doesn't this happen anymore? Is it because, in a very high brow answer, "there will never be another Beatles?" No, that's not it.

In an age of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, StubHub, etc. shouldn't we have larger crowds forming for our artists because of the faster communication available to us, unavailable to Beatles fans? We have better, faster transportation too! What is stopping another Beatles-like invasion from occurring?

I acknowledge that in the era of the Beatles, there was Elvis, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan: very big legends. But do we have legends today? It seems to me that our biggest stars are artists like Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and Beyonce. There's nothing wrong with them as artists but they definitely are not The Beatles. What about U2 or Coldplay? Or Jay-Z and Eminem? They fit the mold a bit better but why aren't huge crowds awaiting them at every airport? Why aren't crowds screaming so loud these artists think about not performing live anymore? Is it the artists that are not good enough to garner the reactions the Beatles did or is it the people in societies across the world that have fallen into an apathy or boredom over music? Somehow I don't think it's either of these.

I don't have all the answers but if I had to choose one, I would say this: I believe there is a genuine effort on the part of some suppressive element on this planet to create an atmosphere where artists are kept in line and the public is kept at home. In my hometown there were hardly any live music venues so artists hardly ever performed there. We were forced to admire artists from afar while watching them on TV. There's nothing wrong with TV or the internet but I think there should be more encouragement to go outside and do something, to interact with other people just a bit more. If that happened I think our artists would become inspired enough to want to do more shows. 

We should be waiting for our favorite artists at the airport. We should let them know what they mean to us in bigger ways because at the end of the day we don't go home and look forward to watching the evening news, we look forward to listening to our favorite band, watching a movie, reading a book, catching an episode of our favorite show. Let's make sure we catch more shows in person, because i think that'd create another Beatles Invasion, except we could turn it into an Artists Invasion, and that would truly change the world.
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Kevin Smith loved movies but never thought he could make them until the idea was actually presented to him by a friend that was interested in working in film. It was the first time he ever met someone that in any way, shape of form was connected to movie making and the idea excited him. He decided to make a movie himself and used the convenience store he worked at as the location and inspiration for his film. He used his friends for actors and even cast himself in one of the roles. Most people would be stopped by the fact that you need professionals, a big budget and a ton of other out of reach resources in order to make a successful movie, but Kevin Smith, a convenience store worker proved this entirely wrong.

Coming up with the story was not a problem for Kevin but he did need some money to make the movie so he went to some pretty interesting sources for it. He sold a large portion of his comic book collection, maxed out at least eight credit cards with $2,000 limits, dipped into some money he had set aside for college and some other money he got from an insurance company when his car was lost in a flood. In total he had $27,575 and that's all he needed to pull off one of the greatest underdog stories in hollywood. The movie was shot at night from 10:30pm to 5:30am (that's when the convenience store was closed) and Kevin worked during the day as well, so he could only sleep no more than one hour a day during the 21 days it took to shoot the film. That's right, the movie was shot in 21 days.

After the movie was finished it was entered into film festivals, including Sundance and was picked up by Miramax and despite only being released in no more than 50 theaters, made over 3 million dollars and launched Kevin Smith into a career in Hollywood. His movie shot in 21 days for $27, 575 is now widely considered a cult classic and has even appeared on several lists including film magazine Empire's list of the 500 greatest movies of all time list, coming in at 361.

This is the story of someone that had very little real working knowledge of the motion picture business and yet despite every reason there could be to not make a motion picture, he found a way and got together all the money he could, all the time he could and just put all of his passion into making something he loved; a piece of art that has entertained thousands and will continue to entertain for years to come. Finding a story like this is more than inspiring. This kind of tale is what we should all strive to achieve in our respected fields. We need to dig deep and let loose a tidal wave of passion and belief for our creations to the point that we would go without comic books and sleep to make something we had no guarantee would yield any more return than our own self satisfaction that we'd made something we could feel complete pride in. Kevin Smith has went on to make multi-million dollar budgeted movies and several more critically acclaimed ones. He's living an incredible dream and I challenge myself and anyone reading this to aspire to something similar. Go without sleep, go without your comic books, and make your movie.

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I remembered a friend in college gave me a CD that had some Bob Dylan on it and I didn't really like his singing at first. A short time later I was consuming a very high volume of music in general, exploring every genre and really diving into the greats and there was no escaping Dylan. I think it was watching D.A. Pennebaker's documentary "Don't Look Back," considered one of the greatest rock documentaries of all time, that got me hooked like I was a kid when my dad showed me comic books. Bob Dylan has released over 40 albums and I have most of them. Why? He's the greatest rapper of all time.

Before Bob Dylan, most mainstream music contained simple lyrics with simple themes. After Bob Dylan, mainstream music changed dramatically. He influenced the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and most musicians since. When he hit the world stage no one had heard music so complex and significant. His words painted pictures that did not match up to reality or matched up too frighteningly close to home. Up until this time most mainstream music was Frank Sinatra type love ballads or "How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?" or early rock n roll music. What Bob Dylan did was make it okay to make lyrics that did not have to be easy to understand or simple or apologetic or any of the other safe ways songwriters approached writing. His words were puzzles, left scattered across our paths for our minds to play with.

Listen to "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and tell me Bob Dylan isn't a rapper. And if he's a rapper, name one greater. His lyrics and music transcended popular music and created an entirely new kind of popular music, one where the lyrics mattered and the songs meant something more than just background music you calmly and politely listened to while having dinner. No, his music and all that came after carries with it the idea that you must push some boundaries somewhere, you must work out a way to describe things better so in some way you can find a way through the ever evolving landscapes of living on our planet.

What is hip hop? It is the idea that despite the dangers of our environment we can find some good in it and overcome all obstacles through the power of art and self-determinism. Bob Dylan was a musical prophet, spitting unmatched verses about our world so resonant they remain just as valid now than they ever did. How do you determine a man's impact? Look at his products, his art, his works, his creations. If you haven't had the pleasure of partaking in the genius of Bob Dylan's music, do yourself a favor and run to his canon of music history as well as the current hits he still churns out (they're just as good). He's over 70 years old and tours constantly, catch him if you can, he's a real OG.
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I was there opening day for Marvel Studios' "The Avengers" and it was a flawless execution of one of the most anticipated superhero movies of all time. Joss Whedon, the writer and director of the movie did an amazing job establishing and introducing each character and putting them into situations that were believable and interesting. The story moves and flows right along from the very beginning and you're never, ever bored. By the time the Avengers team is really formed and the action starts, you realize that this is something never really seen on film, at least to this level of perfection. Never before have we seen such incredible action sequences and fluid camera shots of one superhero going to another and then another and then another and then another. It's extremely exciting to see the visual feast of what a real world would look like with superheroes in it, fighting to save the world. 

Previous superhero movies mostly featured one superhero fighting one villain or one villain and his army but this is really the first time we get to see a real superhero team fighting together and what that would really look like. Ok, there were the X-Men films which were great, but the level of production and special effects that went into this movie are leaps above. Maybe it was Joss Whedon's ability to draw out the personalities of each hero and get them into just the right scenes but "The Avengers" is a special, unique, never before seen kind of superhero movie. It could not possibly disappoint and by all indications, appears to be on track to be one of the biggest movie openings of all time, superhero film or not. It's a great film period. Make sure to stay after the initial credits for a "hidden" scene and then stay after the full credits for a second "hidden" scene.
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If you've watched TV, looked at city buses or had a Dr. Pepper recently, you may have noticed what hopes to be one of the biggest blockbusters of all time, The Avengers. Not only is this a super hero movie but it features one of the earliest super hero teams and promises to deliver yet another hit for Marvel Studios. With all of the hype and promotion I couldn't help but think how close the entire thing came to almost not happening. It was a very real scenario at one point in time that there might not be an Iron Man, Thor, Incredible Hulk and most of what is now known as the Marvel Universe.

The story goes like this: a young Stan Lee, was tired of his job publishing comics that followed the latest craze, whether it was detective or western or war story, and wanted to go off and be a "serious" writer. He had given it a lot of thought and made up his mind that the next day he was going to quit his job publishing un-original comic books  to go do something better. You could hardly blame the guy, he wanted to be a real artist, not a hack pretending to be one, following the latest fad in story genre. So he walked into work the next day ready to quit but there was something he was not anticipating: his boss' news of a super hero team book called "The Justice League." He had played golf with the executive over at DC Comics and learned the super hero team book was selling really well, so of course, like he always did, he told Stan Lee he wanted a super hero book. His boss' enthusiasm for the idea was too high and he decided not to tell him he was leaving until later. He went home and told his wife about his conversation at work and how he didn't want to do it anymore. His wife gave him some good advice. She said, "why don't you write the book the way you would want to do it, not the way you think they want you to and if they hate it then you'll get fired and you didn't want to work there anyway, but if they like it and it sells then you've achieved writing something you want to write." Stan Lee took her advice and wrote a story of a super hero team unlike any other: "The Fantastic Four."

The phenomenal success of "The Fantastic Four" gave Stan Lee the green light to create a whole new universe of characters that were unlike superheroes of the past. His heroes had problems and weren't always perfect. They were relatable and people connected in droves. He went on to create another superhero team "The Avengers," as well as Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, The Silver Surfer, The X-Men and his most famous creation: Spider-Man. Regardless of his other successes, Stan Lee faced opposition when he pitched the idea of Spider-Man. His boss just couldn't see how a pimple faced, weakling of a teenager would be a believable super hero and told Stan Lee to toss it. Luckily, he didn't toss away the idea and instead slipped the story into the last issue of a series that was about to end. He figured it wouldn't hurt the series any and at least he'd get his story out there. When the numbers finally came back months later for Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man, it was one of the biggest selling single issues of the decade.

It goes to show that you must always create from a joy of creating, not from the financial need to or to produce something you think will fit into what everyone else is doing. Being original and making something that was not there before is the real reason why we create at all or we might as well just go enjoy the art we tried to copy. Stan Lee had the good sense to listen to his wife and do what he wanted to do and damn the consequences. I think it's a good example to follow when it comes to tackling your work. Always create and do what you want to because in the end you only have yourself to please. I'm glad I knew his story and excited I get to see the characters that almost never were, come alive on a movie screen. Artists Run This Planet!

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