THE VOICE OF ROCK, GLENN HUGHES, UNDERSTANDS THE TWITTER
Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 4:00pm by Gary Suarez
Twitter is arguably the most powerful tool available to musicians today, its micro-blogging mechanism allowing for real-time dissemination of information as well as a venue for direct communication open discussion with fans. Sadly, too many bands focus so heavily on the first of these benefits (Shadows Fall are a prime example of Twitter fan abuse, their profile replete with repeat tweets) that they squander any chance of actually connecting with their supporters. Interestingly, one musician who actually “gets” Twitter comes from a generation of rockers you’d expect to not “get” Twitter. His name is Glenn Hughes.
That’s no typo. I’m talking about the Glenn Hughes, the vocalist/bassist best known for his work with Black Sabbath (well, Tony Iommi) and Deep Purple. I’m a big fan of his one-off collaboration with The KLF, the massive rave-rock anthem “America: What Time Is Love.” This track in particular meant a lot to Hughes, as indicated in a July 1992 article for Select magazine.
The KLF had become cure-all miracle workers. Glenn Hughes, former Deep purple, Gary Moore and Black Sabbath vocalist who’d been hired for the ‘America: What Time is Love’ session issued a press statement headed “The KLF Saved My Life!”. The recording session, he spouted, had inspired him to kick a cocaine habit. “I suddenly understood that there was more to life than drugs,” gushed Glenn. “I mean the KLF guys were aware of my previous record of drug-induced unreliability but were willing to give me a chance… I did ten vocal tracks for them in 25 minutes, and realised that ‘America’ would be huge and probably my last chance to make a go of my career again. My credit on the single: ‘Glenn Hughes – The Voice Of Rock’ restored my confidence and was a kind of life-line… Drugs are for losers.” Thus did “The KLF guys” inspire young Glenn to check in *chez* Betty Ford in LA.
…but I digress. Back to Twitter!
Hughes’ tweets are informative, sincere, and, most notably, frequent. Here’s a sampling of some recent ones.
It is an Honour to called the Voice Of Rock..i love Rock Music..i always have…i am not a follower…i am a leader…so never say never..GH
11:09 PM Nov 7th from TwitterBerryNice to see that I’m in the new Bowie and Iggy Pop Biography Books…God bless ‘em…I’ll have wild stories about these ‘ol mates, in Mine
3:11 PM Nov 6th from TwitterBerryHi peeps,i will be performing 2 GH Classics with my friend Joe Bonamassa @ LA House of Blues next Thurs/Nov 12, i wanna see GH crazies!! GH
1:57 PM Nov 5th from TwitterBerryI am @ the MJ movie..hmm?..i’ll give you my review later….God only knows what he did or didn’t do while he was alive..not my biz, its Gods
9:40 PM Nov 4th from TwitterBerryI’m havin’ lunch in Manhattan Beach…what a glorious day…
4:36 PM Nov 3rd from TwitterBerry
Even from these few tweets, we’ve already learned that Hughes is playing a show, writing a memoir, and living his life to the fullest. Indeed, Shadows Fall could learn a thing or two from the “Voice Of Rock.”
-GS
[Gary Suarez does the hokey pokey. He usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]
I agree that Shadows Fall are “Tweet Spammers”, but what I just read from Hughes is no different than any other Twitter user not named Spencer Pratt or Heidi Montag.
Thanks Gary. While in general, I agree with you. I might argue that without seeing the actual results of Shadows Fall’s twitter, you have nothing with which to base this on, just an opinion. If you want personality, please feel free to follow Brian Fair (vox) at http://www.twitter.com/brianshadfall
If you want Shad news, and the band DOES engage in fans in conversation with the account, then http://www.twitter.com/ShadowsFallBand Feel free to take a deeper look and also, the band thanks you for all the follows we got from this post
How many followers on your twitter account?
Thanks and looking forward to meeting you at the @metalsucks holiday party
Love
@yeahman
@yeahmanagement
@burgerconquest
@steakclub7
@wingoff
@bronar
Fair points, and perhaps I have been too unkind to Shadows Fall in this post. (I will say that their fan interaction has perceptibly increased since the publication of this, leading me to wonder slightly if my words cut a little too deep.)
But let’s face it, that account engages in some pretty heinous Twitter spam, enough to irk myself and more than a few others who will go nameless unless they choose to chime in. October 30th is a great example, as the following was posted three times in a row in one afternoon:
“Help get @ShadowsFallBand onto the @mayhemfest 2010! More info here- http://bit.ly/4oYywB Please RT!”
Now maybe that was a crazy error, but it reads like Twitter spam. And then it was reposted the following day.
And comparing the Twitter follower counts of a lowly blogger to a well-funded publicity machine is comparing apples to Apple Jacks.
I don’t believe in holidays.
Yes, we made an aggressive campaign on Twitter to get fans to help us and it was also run on myspace, facebook and the band’s own website. In the case of “do whatever it takes” we did and our very loyal and fantastic fans responded positively. You fail to note that we promised our fans a chance at tickets to shows and a free download if we got the tour. So while it may have appeared to be “Twitter spam” we gave to get. Shadows Fall appreciates their fans very much and always tries to give back when we can.
Thanks and Bah Humbug.
Rev
Glad the dude cleaned up…ever hear some of those Deep Purple MKIII live shows/bootlegs? Glenn sounds like a total A*hole in between songs. If I were Ritchie Blackmore, I woulda kicked dude in the nuts, then quit the band.
am I the only one who saw:
http://www.channel4.com/film/media/images/Channel4/film/B/bronson_xl_05–film-A.jpg
?
Is anyone twittering about Shadows Fall’s management getting butthurt over the criticism of their twitter practices? Cuz that’s super funny.
Anyway, looking forward to meeting Glenn Hughes at the MetalSuxx Xmas party !