GROOVY NOODLES
THE ELM TREASON NEWSLETTER NUMBER 118
OCTOBER 20, 2023
TREASON NOODLES
– Effective this week, the band’s main FACEBOOK page has stopped posting things like “rock and roll birthdays,” “On this Date in History” and other similar content. This follows our announcement last week that funny memes will no longer be shared on the page either.
Why?
Because, frankly, the page has evolved (or “devolved”) into one where the band’s music has become an after-thought or a novelty.
Once upon a time, the strategy of using music memes and music-related humor to try and bring people into the Elm Treason eco-system for the purpose of potentially exposing our music to an audience more inclined to dig what we do was a good idea.
It worked fairly well.
For a while.
But over the course of the last two years, those who discovered us and our music through non-band-related subject matter has become almost non-existent.
“Been following you for over a year. Didn’t realize you did music. That’s cool, too. Love your memes!”
It has gotten to the point where a funny music meme on our page will get wide, organic reach – sometimes going viral – while a video we post of the band performing a song or one of our music videos will require up to $90 a WEEK of promotional boosting just be simply exposed to people who follow our page.
We just can’t do that anymore. We can’t afford that anymore.
It’s demoralizing.
And frankly, we think our music deserves better than that.
So, although it may take a while for it to happen – if it happens at all – we must re-train the Facebook algorithm to bring those people who are more inclined to get into Elm Treason music to our page. Of course, such a move could also be a death nell for our page.
We shall see.
So, effective this week, we will establish two guaranteed posts a week to stay in touch with people.
We will post a “TAKE-ME-BACK-TUESDAY” post each Tuesday (coincidentally enough) in the spirit of our long-established “THROWBACK THURSDAY” videos. We will interact with EVERYONE who comments on these videos as well as those generous enough to share these videos.
Secondly, we will continue posting our weekly “HAPPY WEEKEND” poem every Friday. Again, we will personally interact with everyone who comments there as well.
Hopefully, if this switch in focus is successful, we will add more band-related content over time.
In the meantime, funny memes, rock and roll birthdays, on-this-date-in-history stuff, special features and so on will continue to have a home here in the GROOVY NOODLES newsletter. This weekly venture is simply our way of staying in touch and thanking all of you who support the band.
We make no money on this newsletter. We charge NOTHING for it. It’s our gift to you.
By the way, HUGE thanks to those of you who have been an immeasurable help to us by forwarding us the memes we used on the page. There is no way we could have kept up without you. You know who you are! 🙂
And so it goes.
Please feel free to comment on this shift-in-focus if you like in the “comments” section below. Thank you, all!
OTHER NOODLES
– Ace Frehley and Peter Criss won’t be joining the band for Kiss‘ final performance. Paul Stanley says, “”This tour is a celebration of the band and the life of the band over the past 50 years. It’s not a celebration of the original lineup. As important as the original lineup was, I can say that we wouldn’t be here today if not for them, and we wouldn’t be here today with them.”
– Peter Gabriel’s latest solo album, “i/o,” will be released on December 1st.
– Wolfgang Van Halen married his girlfriend of eight years after walking down the aisle to a song written for him by his late dad Eddie Van Halen, an instrumental piece called “316.”
– Paul McCartney said that Yoko Ono‘s presence in the studio during the Beatles‘ recording of “Let It Be” was “disturbing.” He said, “I don’t think any of us particularly liked it. The idea was that if John wanted this to happen, then it should happen. And there was no reason why not.”
Your Answer Is…
Hello Treasonites!
Yes, we know the word “hate” is a bit strong… but you get the gist of the question…
Perhaps it’s better to say… “a song you really dig from an artist you dig not so much…”
So…
Someone asks you to “Name a song you absolutely love from a band or artist you don’t care for..”
Your answer is….
Another Year Gone
Birthdays over the past week…
Reggae musician Ziggy Marley celebrated birthday number 55 on Tuesday
Michael McKean, who portrays frontman David St. Hubbins in the fictional band Spinal Tap, had his 76th birthday on Tuesday
Happy 63rd birthday to Marie Osmond (last Friday)
Turning 77 last Saturday was Justin Hayward, guitarist and vocalist for the Moody Blues
Singer Gary Puckett turned 81 on Tuesday
New wave/synthpop singer Thomas Dolby turned 65 last Saturday
Natalie Maines, lead singer for Dixie Chicks, was 49 last Saturday
Pop singer Cliff Richard had his 83rd birthday last Saturday
Celebrating his 77th birthday last Sunday was Richard Carpenter of The Carpenters
69 seconds with Bobby
Bobby talks about he band’s sound..and why it matters to him.
What might have been
Ever wonder what some of the greatest rock and roll legends might have looked like had they not left this world as early as they did?
Thanks to modern technology, a company called Sachs Media Group, along with a Michigan-based photo restoration company Phojoe, have teamed up to help us find out.
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Bobby Steel, at the piano, February 2013
Andy Roman at the mic, February 2013
A bass guitar and a chair get married, have a baby and this happens… and why not?
OUR LATEST VIDEO
From our new album “WITHOUT A TRIBE,” here is the official music video for the song “UP TO ME.”
7 YEARS AGO THIS PAST WEEK
Bob Dylan is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, “For having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Previous winners in this category include William Golding, John Steinbeck, and William Faulkner.
9 YEARS AGO THIS PAST WEEK
At the St. Louis club Blueberry Hill, Chuck Berry performs for the last time. The rocker, who dies in 2017, played monthly gigs at the venue starting in 1996.
17 YEARS AGO THIS PAST WEEK
Patti Smith closes down the celebrated Manhattan music club CBGB, playing the last show at the venue. The club closes after an extended dispute between club owner Hilly Kristal and the Bowery Residents Committee. Rock fans try to preserve the building as a historical landmark, but those efforts fail and a men’s clothing store moves in.
23 YEARS AGO THIS PAST WEEK
Five Pearl Jam bootlegs released from their European tour make the Billboard 200 albums chart, setting a record for most entries on the chart in a single week.
23 YEARS AGO THIS PAST WEEK
At a charity auction organized by Mick Fleetwood in London, George Michael pays £1.5 million for the upright piano on which John Lennon wrote the 1971 hit “Imagine.”
31 YEARS AGO THIS PAST WEEK
Prince releases an album with a symbol on the cover that later becomes his name.
46 YEARS AGO THIS PAST WEEK
In Greenville, South Carolina, Lynyrd Skynyrd play their last show before the plane crash that kills three of their members. Nazareth is the opening act.
60 YEARS AGO THIS PAST WEEK
The largest audience in British television history watch The Beatles perform on “Val Parnell’s Sunday Night at the London Palladium.”
104 YEARS AGO THIS PAST WEEK
The Radio Corporation of America, soon to be simply known as RCA, is founded by General Electric as a publicly held monopoly, much the same way “the phone company” was originally envisioned.
Our new record WITHOUT A TRIBE is getting some seriously awesome feedback from everywhere. We are STOKED! It is, we believe, our best work to date… and now it can be yours on CD, vinyl or digital formats. CLICK HERE to bring your copy home.
Master Blade Work
All About Me
The Treble with Cleaning
Hell, yes
Nailed it, Billy
Yep!
Teaching ‘Em Right
OUR FACEBOOK GROUP
If you haven’t done so already, and you are on FACEBOOK, why not consider joining our private FACEBOOK GROUP “The Uptown Q?”
It’s far more intimate than our “regular” Facebook page. It allows us to interact with you guys FAR MORE than we can on the regular page. Plus, you won’t miss our posts that get lost in the all-powerful algorithm of Facebook.
We will be posting more behind-the-scenes band stuff, exclusive previews, performances available nowhere else… plus all the stuff that people dig about our regular page.
If you join, grab a free WELCOME PACK… and don’t forget to watch the introductory video at the top of the page.
Interested?
Hit this link:
CONTACT US
Want to contact us directly with a guaranteed direct response via email? —> andy@elmtreason.com
Copyright 2023 Groovy Noodles, LLC
I like Candy’s room,by Bruce Springsteen. I’m not a big fan of Bruce, but that song is cool 👍😎 I also like the river,by him, it’s just got a certain vibe to it, depressing,yes, but overwhelming I in some weird way…
I (Andy) I’m with you when it comes to Bruce Springsteen.
I think being in the Northeast, I’m breaking some sort of law by not really digging his catalog.
I lived in New Jersey for a while, and I think there was an APB out for me.
Lots of work making Noodles! Anything worthwhile should be hard to achieve. I enjoy reading with a cop of Joe. Thoroughly enjoy, I’ll add! Knew about Dylan & the Nobel Prize, however seeing his name with the others that received this award is very impressive! Many, many great musicians made albums and tunes for listening! In the day they attracted a large following and became somewhat Known. Yet every group that I played with [ bar bands] the audience wanted to dance! I don’t like the word hate but understand your point. A very popular and talented group is Credence C. R. I’m not a big fan but totally enjoy their music! Great job here Steel & Roman…….break a leg!!!
Hi Ed! Andy here.
Really appreciate your comment very much.
So pleased you dig the newsletter.
Thanks for letting it land in your inbox every week.
I think of Groovy Noodles as the “fun” stuff, the music news and jokes. Nice today that you included a song from Without a Tribe to listen to as I read. I think of the “Q” as the serious band news, hear all the latest Elm Treason news, plus videos of you guys playing and talking, together and individually. I think it’s a good way to do it, sorry if it’s been sluggish lately! I really dislike Foreigner, but I love I Wanna Know What Love Is.
Never any need to apologize. It’s great to have you out there.
I (Andy) like your thinking. I think the uptown Q newsgroup really is where a lot of the most important band news is broken.
The newsletter, hopefully, is fun for a lot of people. It’s important for us to keep it up in the event that we are no longer on Facebook at some point. It’s a great way to stay in touch.
Be well. Stay well. Rock on, Janet.
“Lay Lady Lay” by Bob Dylan. I don’t care for him much as a singer, but this one is pretty.
Appreciate that very much, Peggy.
I (Andy) do enjoy Dylan’s early albums.
Interestingly enough, “lay Lady lay” is one of the songs by him I don’t care for very much.
Funny, isn’t it?
When Kiss did the power ballad “Beth”. Loved the song, but the band never tickled my gizzards.
Hi Bob! I (Andy) actually know a couple of people who feel the exact same way.
I think Groovy Noodles and your Facebook pages are yours to do with as you please. People who are honestly interested will stay with you.
Not a fan of Paul Davis, but the song I Go Crazy is heartbreakingly beautiful.
Paul McCartney found Yoko quietly sitting in the studio ‘disturbing’… I imagine no more ‘disturbing’ than Linda and her daughter. ……….. But that’s none of my business. (Picture Kermit the frog looking out a window while sipping a cup of tea) ……………. 😂
I remember that Paul Davis song. Quite well actually.
Really appreciate you taking the time to comment here, Lisa. Thank you.
I still haven’t found what I’m looking for, by U2.
same here.
Rose Tattoo. I would like the Dropkick Murphys better if most of the songs I’ve heard didn’t have the vocals yelled. I generally like the instrumentation. But I like Rose Tattoo – that one is sung.
I love the Groovy Noodles!!! My Facebook presence has been sporadic lately because I have been busy with other things, but I love you guys so keep rocking on!!!
One reason we like to send out the newsletter is to stay in touch with people who may not be as active on social media as they once were… or if Facebook decides they want to ban us and put us in prison for whatever reason…
This is a good way to let people know we are still alive and what is happening with us.
Thank you, Katie!
Tom Sawyer.
Anything else by Rush makes my earholes sad.
What about you fellas?
Love the name, Ms. Tawdry.
It’s a shame that people like Mack get away with murder.
Oh so clever! I literally laughed ot loud and luckily there was no coffe in my mouth as I would have a computer keyboard issueLMAO LMAO
Anybody with a handle that dates back to a 1959 Rock song belongs here.
The closest I can think of to what you’re asking is “You Showed Me” by the Turtles. I don’t hate the Turtles, I just don’t care one way or the other for them.
Also, I like Lights, by Journey, while at the same time, I consider Journey to have music that sounds like they were trying to copy Aerosmith but were too Pop to pull it off.
I (Andy) do love the song “ spell the same way Elenor’s” by The Turtles.
Love Bobby’s 69 seconds. One of the things I love about their sound is the thought that goes into composing their lead breaks. Some of the greatest guitar players of all time are great but so many seem to use predictable crutches, formulas that work for them. I feel like a lot of thought goes into each Elm Treason lead break. It’s like every note is optimized. I “snooze” on most lead breaks. Elm Treason makes each lead break as interesting as possible.
In addition, Elm Treason is a band, that you could extract the vocals from and the instrumental left behind would be interesting enough to listen to.
I’m not a big fan of instrumentals and I can’t think of any other artist I can say that about.
I totally agree Bill! After buying the box set of their 3 first albums based on the song Days of Reaction, what impressed me first was the guitar sound…I kept thinking with my mouth falling open,”How is this possible,how and who can possibly do that with an acoustic guitar” I am usually a word person, so this thought really blew me away!
I felt the same way.
I (Andy) would say that a ton of thought goes into the solos in our songs. We are not a jam band.
Yes, I’m sure if there was a freeform-style kind of jam session happening somewhere, we could hold our own – especially Bobby.
But I am impressed with the fact that Bobby especially takes the time to compose his solos. I’m not sure where the idea developed in music that you just have to wing it and improvise in order to be considered a creative guitar player.
We compose the verses, don’t we? We compose the chorus, correct? Why not compose the solo? Why not take as much time during the guitar breaks as we do trying to figure out a bass line or a harmony part?
We do.
If you watch any early early Elm Treason, clips, Bobby and I are basically winging it when it comes to guitar solos. There are certain phrases we do over and over, but we’re basically trying to feel our way into something that works. Bobby is better at it than I am… But Bobby, by nature, is more adventurous across the fretboard when it comes to soloing.
That TV appearance we did on “horses sing None of it” is an example of not really having composed guitar solos to fit the songs. Those performances aren’t bad. They’re just not quite Elm Treason yet, if you get what I mean.
The song “still around” on our first album is one of the very first songs, if not the first, where Bobby sat down and consciously tried to compose a solo, specifically trying to find notes that worked.
It’s a magical solo, In my opinion. One of my favorites on the band.
I have absolutely nothing against Freeform jam band improvisation. But it takes a special kind of composer to write a guitar break. It’s no less artistic. No less free. No less creative.
To be deliberate and yet sound smooth and open and loose Takes real talent, if you ask me.
Never was a fan of Aerosmith. I just think their songs are so overplayed on the radio I’m so sick of listening to them. But I do enjoy “Sweet Emotion” I think that’s an excellent rock tune and I like the way Steven Tyler sings it, and Joe Perry does a nice lead break. Love the bass riff. Really solid song.
Not a big fan of the song “Sister Christian” but that guitar solo break is magnificent. I could play that on a loop for hours. If they made that secion into a song with those chord changes that would have been something special. Some of the nicest guitar work in a rock song solo wise.
I actually do enjoy the song “Sister Christian.” I can’t believe I’m saying that out loud. It’s one of the few songs of that type from that era that I like. Not sure why I do. I love the guitar solo. I agree with you.
Love the song Wild Child by Iggy Pop but that’s about it with him and not a fan of Bob Dylan’s voice but love his songs when they are sung by other people.
I (Andy) love early Bob Dylan stuff.
But as far as cover versions of his songs, go… I absolutely love Peter Paul and Mary’s version of “blowing in the wind.”
Phew this one was tough as I wanted one that was unequivvocally a true one song only…Ripples, by Genesis
P.S Sorry about the public fb page, as that is how I found you and your music but I understand as even I had a hard time keeping up with the public posts, the Uptown Q and groovy Noodles because afterall it is all about the music but for me it ended up being all about your music and your fans!!! I will keep sharing your music on fb and hope more people come into the fold! Glad that you are keeping Friday posems as it is always a great way to start the weekend!
Thank you, Shelley.
We will still be posting videos every Tuesday… Like we did today. And we will always post a happy weekend thing every Friday.
And we may post a few other band things on the main page now, and again…
But the crux of our interaction with our fans outside of the videos we will post weekly online will be here in the newsletter and in the Uptown Q group.
I just read through the rest of the noodles and 2 things that I did not know and have me saying man wish i was there and also wish that it did not happen… that concert with Skynard and Nazareth would have been phenomenal and Patty Smith playing the last CBGB show would have been freaking amazing!!! But I did not know that it was not preserved as a landmark, very sad but now at least I know to look for a clothing store or whatever it is now when I finally get to and tour NYC
See? The uptown Q can be very informative as well.
We try to serve.
I like it. I get a Lou Reed goes to New Orleans kinda vibe out of it.
Thank you so much, Daryl.
Appreciate it sincerely.