SongVest To Auction Rights To Next Stryper Release Plus Exclusive In-Studio Session With The Band
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 12:01AM For all my Stryper fans - and some of you are particularly vocal via email - this is for you! Check out this release:
SongVest, the company that reinvented the music memorabilia business by offering the ultimate fan collectible -- the songs themselves -- has announced their next major online auction will take place May 15-22 at songvest.com and will include "God," a new track from the upcoming album of cover songs from Christian hard rock icons Stryper.
After recently partnering to sell 50% of "Alive," Stryper singer and songwriter Michael Sweet has again joined with SongVest to offer fans, collectors, and investors two unique packages to bid on:
Platinum Edition (2 Lots):
·12.5% of Michael Sweet’s Writer’s Share of the song’s royalties
·Exclusive studio access to witness the final mastering of "God" to take place sometime between June 18 and June 21 (travel and accommodations paid for by purchaser)
·Special acknowledgment in the album credits
·Personalized, one-of-kind platinum album award with handwritten lyrics and signed CD
Gold Edition (10 Lots):
·2.5% of Michael Sweet’s Writer’s Share of the song’s royalties
·Album award signed by Michael
"After the Alive auction went so well, we decided to offer fans something no one has ever done before: the rights to a song before it’s released. We’re very excited about being the first," said lead singer Michael Sweet.
The auction will end at 3PM EST on Saturday, May 22. Fans can register now at http://www.songvest.com and go behind the scenes with Michael to learn how and why the song was written.
Since 2007, SongVest has offered music fans, collectors, and investors the unique opportunity to share the royalties with the writers of their favorite music. Past auctions have included the rights to songs recorded by Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Carrie Underwood, Ringo Starr, Ozzy Osbourne and The Monkees.
Reader Comments (14)
If these guys could sell out any more, they would.
Look, I like this band, regardless of their overtly gratuitous nature, especially their really great early stuff. You gotta wonder if stuff like Crue's "Home Sweet Home" would have ever really existed without Stryper's groundbreaking approach.
I was just thinkin' the other day when listening to "I Believe In You" on my sappy Metal Powerballads iTunes mix, "Luv Roxx" (hahaha!!! -- Got it up to 23 hours long with no repeats! And that means exact band line-ups, too!), about how hilarious it must have been when Junior was crankin' this stuff up and his Bible thumping parents would yell, "Junior, turn that racket down" and Junior would retort, "But Dad, it's the music of the Lord".
I think about all the family meetings that must have taken place in the Bible Belt about "that dern Stryper Heavy Metallic Music" that were occuring all across the Heartland of America in the 80's that quickly turned into Coke and pretzel listening parties unintentionally promoting Heavy Metal.
The genius of Stryper was that kidz could turn their parent's whole "Christian Values" trip to their own advantage by justifying all those Heavy Metal power chords with "but listen to the words, Ma."
How could any God fearing parent deny their kid's yearning to hear The Word of the Lord even if it was blaring at high decibels shaking their Christian home to it's very foundations?!
Hey, the louder Junior could crank it with his door shut, Parents could still hear The Word of the Lord delivered by these Stryper people somewhat soundproofed yet still audible downstairs, Mom knitting a dog sweater and Dad reading the Christian Science Monitor.
And if it wasn't playing as loud but you could still hear the thumping bass and drums through the floor, parents would know that Junior was listening to that lovely band, Stryper, right?
Well, yeah, or Junior could be crankin' Motley Crue, "Shout at the Devil" if the volume were set just at the right level and who would know the difference if they were listening down a flight of stairs and in the living room.
All right, before you start attacking me for being sacrilegious, keep in mind, this is written from the point of view of a jaded Irish Catholic who was basically schooled by nuns from kindergarten to 8th grade. I do believe there is some kind of higher force out there that manifests itself mainly through positive acts of humanity and sometimes through the positive acts of many toward humanity and the idea that good can come out of a kind of common spiritual situational awareness. I swear I see it happening almost on a daily basis in the world.
So, if you think I'm sacrilegious, fine. I know in my heart of hearts, I've got a direct Hotline to "God". Whether he chooses to answer is another question. But I swear, just when I need to get through, he usually does.
And if you want Sacrilege, Stryper's whole schtick could be debated as such, though I believe the cummulative effect of their whole deal is basically a good thing. For one thing, their stuff is some of the best 80's Hair Metal, just based on the music alone. Add in the words and their's is a positive message. And I also find the whole thing to be totally tongue -in-cheek on one level, which is key.
Take their rendition of the traditional hymn, "Amazing Crace". Great Message delivered with totally Metalarious aplomb, totally intentionally for those who choose to believe that and unintentionally for those who know better.
Yeah, a lot of bad happens but a lot of good also happens whether it's an act of kindness of a stranger or thousands of people from Sean Penn on the ground to a nun from Santa Fe praying from her wheelchair, helping Haiti. The communal spirituality across religions, whether someone is Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or a member of The Church of Subgenious, shows us that people can help move mountains when they put their religious differences aside and join together for the common good of man/womankind!
Thus, I believe if everybody "prays" (in whatever form -- whether it's traditional prayer, buddhist meditation or just thinking positive thoughts), for Brett Michaels for example, that unified positive energy creates a force that can actually help the atmosphere become more conducive to Michael's healing. Michael's seems like a porpoise in a sea of sharks (as we should all choose to be the porpoise) and so he's got Karma going for him, too.
That combination, of course, coupled with the more determining factor of how much Brett Michaels wants to live will help determine the outcome of his current setback. His sheer will and fighting powers are what are ultimately going to save him and maybe we can give him a little push through spiritual commonality.
So, though I think that Stryper is perfectly well intended in their current campaign to sell the rights of their music, I'd also like to see them performing a song dedicated to Brett.
Now that would not only be worth listening to, but worth payin' for!
p.s. Though I do believe in the power of common spirituality, I also believe that I am fully capable of being the world's "#1 Bad Boy", though of late, I prefer to channel that energy into that of Metalboy!, fighting for what's right in the common cause to Bring Back Glam!
- Allyson
An interesting aside here is the fact that Michael Sweet has been singing on and off with Boston since Brad Delp passed away. I hope I can catch them with Sweet. I saw Boston with Delp in '78 at the U.S. Naval Academy (hahaha!!!) and even had a rather humorous encounter with 'em in front of the Annapolis Hilton earlier that day before the show, when they were jumpin' out of 3 stock Black Caddy limos (ah, those were the days) but that's another story.
Actually, it's more like Stryper was goin' for Quiet Riot meets Barry Manilow, to be perfectly honest with you -- we're talkin' Commercial with a capital "C", which I don't have a problem with -- in fact, I love it. But it's still sellin' out.
Also, look, the whole "Christian Metal" concept is a kind of a sellout, and I know I'm treading in controversial territory here. These guys went that route because it was a gimmick to help 'em get attention and sell records to the offspring of the Biblebelters. I mean, "Jesus Approved" Pop Metal -- how could you miss?
It's also true, they did (and still do) have the chops to put it over -- Sweet's sweet voice really puts it over on an almost super-human level -- the voice of an angel! -- divine intervention! In the end though, it was, and is, all about the $$$.
And now they've taken it to the next level of "selling out", by actually offering the rights to their music as a commodity. It ain't all about the music anymore, now it's about it as a pure commodity. Maybe it's shrewd because, by now, I'm sure they're not exactly moving a lot of platinum, if they ever really did.
So by selling the rights, they are betting they'll make more money that way and up front, rather than waiting for the royalties, which I'm sure isn't exactly big "mailbox money", as the famous pop hit maker, Burt Bacharach, once called it.
It's a pretty smart move as it's potentially some up front retirement money, as they are probably facing setting up retirement plans at this stage in their lives (a popular thing to do in your late 40's).
David Bowie was the first to really do this a few years back. He sold his entire catalog for something like 50 mil -- I even think it was thru SongVest, tho I'd have to factcheck it. But in Bowie's case, he actually sold too low. His stuff is worth a lot more than the 50 mil he sold it for.
Still he got a lump sum out of it which gives him the security of having his retirement money to do some sound conservative investing with and it sounds like Stryper are doing the same, tho, let's realize Stryper is a fringe act compared to Bowie. They'll be lucky if they squeeze a mil out of this deal. Still, it might give 'em some money to play with and who knows, with the rapid resurgence of Glam Metal (am I living in a bubble here?), maybe they'll make out even better.
By saying that they're selling out at this stage, I'm talkin' about this deal, not their music, which, look, kidz, reality check... they did a long time ago...
And all financial speculation aside...
Come on, man, Stryper is a comedy act, all the way. Just look at that first album cover. This is a leg-pull of the first order. I can't help it if there's people out there who prefer to have the wool pulled over their eyes rather than seein' that their legs are being pulled.
Maybe, I should give the Christian Music buying public more credit -- maybe they chose to have both the wool pulled over their eyes and their legs pulled simultaneously.
The kids figured out the formula and the parents bought right into it. Now Stryper's banking on the kids, now that they've grown up, to invest in their music.
If you think about it, that's pretty dang (gotta watch my words here) funny, too!
Man, "The Newsboys"? "Switchfoot". It scares me that I've even heard of 'em. Fortunately, I've never heard them and can tell instinctively not to. I remember readin' about 'em in The New York Times. I think they and a bunch of others descended on Central Park a couple of years ago and tons of kids from all over showed up for it. Yikes!
Yeah, man, Stryper's way more clever than those characters, for real.
What's really freakin' me out more than anything about this whole topic is the fact that I mentioned The Carpenters, Barry Manilow and Burt Bacharach on this site. Sorry, Al. Sorry, kidz! What will scare y'all even more is I could go on and on about that crap, too. We could call the site Bring Back FM Lite and I could be called LoungeBoy! Hahaha!!! Sorry, again, y'all! Blasphemy!
p.s. I think the coolest thing about 'em was (it's all been kinda toned down now) their wicked logo and the whole "striped bee" motif to their graphics. The guitars, the clothes, and the coolest thing of all -- that cool lookin' custom striped van on the cover of their first album "Soldiers Under Command". I wonder what happened to it? I'd love to add that to my collection of fantasy autos that exist only in the airplane hanger of my mind (tho some do still actually exist in other's car collections). Here are my top car wants list I'll add the StryperMobile to -- Grampa's Coffin Dragster known as "Drag-u-la" from the 60's TV Show, "The Munsters", The Monkeemobile from another 60's TV Show, "The Monkees", The gold Astin Martin from all the original Bond flicks, The Batmobile from the original "Batman" TV show and the Green Hornet's car from the original TV show, "The Green Hornet". I suppose I could keep going, but I'll stop here. But I'd sure love to drive that Stryper van to church, bigtime -- like to Joel Osteen's "church" or The Crystal Cathedral, Stryper blaring to 11, for sure!
If they are sellng out (which i say they aren't) then they're 30 too late and they should do a cover of Raining blood just add insult to it.
It may very well be that OTSK! (Only the Shadow Knows!), but I think there's all kinds of "selling out"...
I believe they actually sold out when they went the Christian route (regardless what religious beliefs they may have actually had).
They started out as a secular band, Roxx Regime, which had minor success on the Southern California circuit but still shy of a record deal. They needed a gimmick.
They switched their name to Stryper, went with the whole Striped gimmick and the whole Christian trip and presto...
They got a record deal. They got gigs opening for Ratt and Bon Jovi on major tours. They got on the cover of Time and Newsweek.
Subsequently, from the touring, controversy, their new found major news media attention, and major MTV exposure, their first two records went gold and platinum, consecutively.
Look, I'm not knockin' it. I love this band. It was the music and their ability to cross over with the double entendre of a lot of their lyrics that make it work -- in other words, if you were religious, you could get all into it that way, or if you were just a Rock'n'Roller (with an affinity toward high gloss commercial Glam Metal), you could dig on it, too.
If you were both, all the better, I guess. Even better, if you have a sense of humor, cuz, I'm sorry, but their cover of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is absolutely Metalarious, IMHO!
Look, I'm just layin' it out there beyond what my personal taste or religious beliefs are.
Stryper is a classic example of "selling out", kidz.
Ultimately, they are a comedy act, plain and simple. In other words, dude, hate to break it to you, but it's one big joke, whether they intended it to be one or not.
Look at the cover of "Soldiers Under Command". Huh-uh-lo-oh!
p.s. Hey, bro, we're cool, right? We can't agree that "Only The Shadow Knows" everytime, eh? (Just 99.999% of the time!, Hahaha!!!). You sure you ain't comin' to M3, man?
The more important thing to discuss is the track listing for the new album. I did give that listing right? What songs stick out as ones taht will come across the best to you? The Trooper and Over the Mountain are the ones that i just can't wait to sink my teeth into.
Yeah, we Kool!! HAHA!
Over the Mountain!
With Sweet's voice?
Suweeeeeeeettttt!!!
Hey, man, c'mon! Why ain't you comin' to M3? That's a quick shot from Pittsburgh, bro... and all your fave Bringbackglammsterz are gonna be there, man!
DOiY! Money Talks!! Referencing AC/DC did you see that the iron man soundtrack is on vinyl?!?!? I'm so getting it.
Got a name for that Stryper cover album. Says it s called The Covering.
Heaven and Hell is another neat one i can't wait to hear. Michael Sweet palying the part of Dio and Oz Fox as Iommi? can't wait but wish they would've done mob rules!