Do The Hustle: Tourist publications and dead pop stars

I went to see The Hustlers the other evening. When I say "see", I actually went to talk to them. If you don't know, The Hustlers are one of the very few jobbing live bands that play locally. There is plenty of live music and live entertainment during the summer, but very little by way of what you might think of as pub bands and hardly any who ply their trade by playing rock-to-Latin-to-pop classics - in English. A question I asked was why did they think that their style of music, i.e. one that is authentic in the sense of playing instruments - and in not being a tribute act - was so rare. They weren't sure, but suggested that it might be because it's easier to just plug in a machine and play backing tracks, which can often be the case.

The reason for talking to them was that the interview, if one can call a fairly casual chat over a pizza and a beer just prior to their performing an interview, will form the basis for an article about the band that is set to appear in what will be a new publication this season. This "newspaper" is intended to be quite different to much of what goes around as tourist literature. But it still hasn't got a title. Well, it has had several - as working titles.

Coming up with a name is not straightforward. You might think it is, but it isn't. You want impact, but you also want sense or context. You might also want something that is understandable to or pronounceable by the natives. You might also, despite the tourist focus, want to avoid the words "tourist" or "holiday". Someone said to me that tourists don't like to be identified as tourists, and he's one who is working with them every day. I know what he means. If I'm in a foreign place, in a foreign land, I'll usually write down what I need to know and leave the publication behind, or if I have it with me, I'll go and hide somewhere and consult it. You won't find me on a busy street corner, a map unfolded and a baffled expression as I try and make out the road signs, with an even bigger sign above me and pointing down at me saying "clock the tourist". Nope, I'll be in a darkened doorway somewhere.

Everyone has an opinion as to the title. It's good in one way. They are interested. But everyone tends to be an expert when it comes to publications. Why not call it this, or that? Why not do this, or that? I may occasionally volunteer some comment about a bar name or what a bar or restaurant or attraction is doing, but what the hell do I really know? It's not my business after all.


And also on newspapers ...

It may not have escaped your attention that I do occasionally refer to some of the stranger things that emanate from "The Bulletin" and from Riki Lash. There was a piece yesterday that left me wondering if I had imagined that someone had died, namely Mike Smith, once of the Dave Clark Five. In the Lash column, it was going on about Smith having recovered from the accident which had left him paralysed, to the extent that he would be taking part "in a 40th anniversary tour next year with the original Dave Clark Five", a tour which apparently includes a date in Palma.

It will take some doing, I would suggest. Smith's wikipedia page; the websites of the "Daily Telegraph", the "Daily Mail", "Rolling Stone"; the Dave Clark Five website: maybe they're all wrong, but they all say the same thing. Smith died at the end of February 2008. Yet in Lash land, Smith has not only miraculously recovered from being a tetraplegic, he has also miraculously risen from the dead. And another thing ... were Mike Smith to in fact be taking part in an anniversary tour, why would it be the 40th? When, for example, was "Glad All Over" a hit? 2011 minus 40 = 1971, i.e. eight years after "Glad All Over" was released.

Bizarre.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.