…and we’re OFF!!
It’s officially the New Year. Following the normal course, you made some resolutions … and Goals for this fresh start after your Retrospective last week. And … usually, those are in the trash heap by the time we reach MLK Day, and certainly by Presidents Day. So what are Goals really… and what could sustain us as we engage? Are there some Simple practices? And music that is a gentle reminder to slow down after the starting gun…
… a simple choice… once I thought about the other simple practice I have continually been reminded of.: Keep It Simple Stupid… the latter I have reframed to be Smiley which may or may not surprise you. Now that you know that, there is no way to duck the music we will engage this week….
KISS – the perfect soundtrack for Goals…
You know them from their loud, outlandish approach to … everything. Like it or not, they have sold over 100 million albums worldwide and are a juggernaut of a brand and business. This triggered my own Goal of Curiosity. So what Goals did they have to develop into this amazing band, and what could we learn from them?
Stanley Eisen was raised Jewish in Queens, with a birth defect, taunted as “the kid with the funny-looking ear.” His family, immigrants who fled Poland’s Ghetto for the Netherlands during World War II, loved classical music. Stanley loved Beethoven, who also eventually had severe hearing problems. He watched American Bandstand, and learned to sing harmony starting at 7 when he received his first guitar, looking forward to engaging a “real” guitar for his bar mitzvah (13) – which he hoped would be electric 😉
With a talent for graphic arts, he got into the High School of Music and Art in New York City (not FAME). He bounced through a few bands, before meeting up with a bass player, and they both answered an ad from a drummer, reminiscent of the forming of U2. Even though Stanley had played for years, he was not a great soloist, but had mastered the lost art of Rhythm Guitar. After auditions, they found a great lead player, and the band was formed in 1974. He knew that Eisen was probably not a great rock name, and wanted to honor 2 other hero singers- Paul Rodgers of Free and Paul McCartney of the Beatles… and thus was born Paul Stanley, a name you may recognize.
… you can do a lot with only Three Chords…
Music is mostly 3 chords picked out of an alphabet of 8 letters. You engage a key – pick A(1). The rest of the song is built around the 4 (D) and the 5(E)… with memorable songs mixing in 2’s, 4’s, and maybe a few 7’s to tease your brain that you don’t know what is coming next 😉 With his Rhythm Guitar, Paul plays those 3 chords, filling in the structure just above the Bass and Drums. The lead player can then engage, rip it up, solo… knowing someone else has the song “under control.”
I now make my Goals – “3 Chords for the Year”. Refined each year, they help me engage more efficiently and consistently throughout the year. This year they are “Now”, “Enough”, and “Different”. These allow me to make decisions in the moment – does this opportunity align with one of them?
How do you engage your Starchild?
The band formed at the height of the “Glam Rock” scene in New York. Paul played around a bit with which persona to choose but settled on the Starchild. “Each of us wears something that reflects who we are. I always loved stars and always identified with them – so, when it came time to put something on my face, I knew it would be a star”. And he is the one you see out front singing and mostly playing rhythm…
For today, what Goals and 3 Chords reflect how you want to set the structure for the music of your New Year? My Goal for this week is to engage with the elements of a great song. You think you know Goals (the chords), but as we progress, there are places you will say “wait… what?” – exactly like a great song. The first time you hear it, your brain is “confused,”… and later, that is what your brain loves most. So stay engaged this week… From their first album, the first single, and a great reminder of the MTV of my generation – the Midnight Special. I probably saw this live… A great Overture of the whole KISS experience and their Goals – and a reminder that this process is again – Simple, Not Easy. But worth mining for, with Paul out front… Black Diamond.
