Monday, June 16, 2014

the great Casey Casem has finally reached the sky

Bad news, the great Casey Casem has passed.  The good news?  It puts me, once again, back on top.  Now, here is some fun.  Here is a pretty famous audio clip of Casem bitching at his producer.  It's nothing too scandalous, his concern is valid.  But, he drops an F bomb, which is pretty awesome.



That clip got used by a found sound sample group called 'Negativland'.  They used the clip, and then called the song 'U2'.  Well, that caused a lawsuit that drug on for many many years.  This poor band, who got eviscerated by lawyers for Casem and U2, made lemonade out of lemons.  They wrote a great book about the whole experience.  Then, with quite a suicidal pair of balls, they included the contentious recording.  You can find the book, and the recording, below.

It is a fascinating story of 'fair use' and 'found sound'.  This band set legal precedents in this battle.  If you love the history of rock, or Casey Casem, or U2, or SST records, or free goddamn speech... read the book.  I have a copy, but I haven't picked it up in 20 years.  I would offer you my copy, but these poor guys really need the money