Cinderella:new stars on the horizon

Cinderella：地平線上升起的新星

By Toby Goldstein

作者 Toby Goldstein

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*原文來自《Circus》雜志1987年十月刊，up主對(duì)照雜志手動(dòng)錄入

*原文打字、中文翻譯：微博@堆堆帶我飛

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The song says, ”It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock & roll,”?but Cinderella seem to have discovered a short-cut...or so you might think. The four-man, Philadelphia-based group, who were voted Best New Group of 1986 by Circus Magazine readers, actually spent over three years writing songs, refining their technique, practicing, and satisfying local audiences. Cinderella’s lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Tom Keifer gave a lot of thought to becoming a success in the rock biz, and, with a solid plan to guide him, set about finding the right people to help him make it happen. They turned out to be bassist Eric Brittingham, guitarist Jeff LaBar and drummer Fred Coury.

Following their “discovery”?by Jon Bon Jovi, their deal with PolyGram, and the release of their debut album, Night Songs, Cinderella spent much of 1986 on tour as the opening act for David Lee Roth. They’ll be conquering newa audiences throught much of 1987 as special guests on Bon Jovi’s current North American sweep. Circus caught up with Tom Keifer on a rare day off in Los Angeles.

有首歌唱道，“如果你想玩搖滾，經(jīng)歷千辛萬苦才能成功”，但Cinderella似乎卻找到了捷徑……或者說，可能你會(huì)這樣以為。這個(gè)來自費(fèi)城的四人組合被《Circus》雜志的讀者們票選為1986年度最佳新團(tuán)，其實(shí)在這之前，他們用了不止三年的時(shí)間來創(chuàng)作歌曲、提升技藝以及積累本地觀眾。為了在搖滾樂界取得成功，Cinderella的主唱兼吉他手兼詞曲作者Tom Keifer思考了很多，也制定了一個(gè)可靠的計(jì)劃，并且著手去尋找夠幫助他實(shí)現(xiàn)目標(biāo)的人。他找到了貝斯手Eric Brittingham，吉他手Jeff LaBar，還有鼓手Fred Coury。在被Jon Bon Jovi發(fā)現(xiàn)、簽約寶麗金公司、發(fā)行首專《Night Songs》之后，Cinderella的1986年大多在為David Lee Roth巡演的暖場(chǎng)演出中度過。在1987年，他們將作為特殊嘉賓跟著Bon Jovi一起橫掃北美，征服新的觀眾?！禖ircus》雜志趁一個(gè)難得的休息日在洛杉磯找到了Tom Keifer。

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Do you think the Bon Jovi and Cinderella audiences are compatible?

你覺得Bon Jovi和Cinderella的觀眾兼容性強(qiáng)嗎？

I’m sure that both audiences are gonna get off on the bands. I’m not sure how I would compare us to them. Musically, I think we have a bit of a harder edge but are still in the commercial vein, while they have a more commercial sound.

我相信雙方的觀眾都會(huì)喜歡兩支樂隊(duì)。我不知道兩支樂隊(duì)?wèi)?yīng)該怎樣比較。我覺得從音樂的角度來說我們更硬一些，而從商業(yè)性上來說，他們的聲音更加商業(yè)化。

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?Do you mean having the kind of sound that results in hit singles, as opposed to speed metal, which was very successful on an album level in 1986?

你是指那種能夠成為熱單的音樂，而不是像1986那種專輯層面上大獲成功的速度金屬，是嗎？

I’m not knockin’?that. But I consider something commercial when it’s not a cult thing. People come up to me and say, “I hate heavy metal but I love you guys.”?Bon Jovi can do ballads,and they can do kickin’?songs. To me, that’s what a band should be able to do.

我不是在挑剔，但我所說的商業(yè)化并不是指受追捧。人們會(huì)對(duì)我說，“我討厭重金屬但我喜歡你們”，Bon Jovi能唱民謠，也能唱很躁的歌。對(duì)我來說這就是一個(gè)樂隊(duì)?wèi)?yīng)該具備的能力。

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You’ve readily admitted being influenced by rock bands of the 1970s, like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith. What’s your response when someone points to your album and says, ‘this sounds like AC/DC’?and ‘?this sounds like somebody else?’

你曾經(jīng)坦言自己受到70年代搖滾樂隊(duì)的影響，比如Led Zeppelin和Aerosmith。當(dāng)別人指著你的專輯說‘這個(gè)聽起來像AC/DC’和‘聽起來像某某某’的時(shí)候，你會(huì)有什么反應(yīng)？

I just take it as a compliment because I’m being compared to successful bands. And I know that nothing on our album is exactly like anything else. We’ve got our own things in there. Plus, you can do that to any band——musicans just don’t wake up on day and start writing songs without having ever listened to anything else.

我會(huì)把這當(dāng)做一種褒獎(jiǎng)，因?yàn)樗麄兡梦覀兣c成功的樂隊(duì)相類比。而且我知道，我們的專輯沒有任何一點(diǎn)是和別人一模一樣的。這里是我們自己的作品。另外，你可以這樣說任何一個(gè)樂隊(duì)——畢竟音樂人也不是從來不聽別人的作品、一出生就會(huì)寫歌的。

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How exactly do you write? Let’s take “Night Songs,”?for instance. What came first?

你具體是怎么寫作的？就拿《Night Songs》為例吧，是怎么開始的？

“Night Songs”?is very typical of the way I write. I was driving around and I thought of the title and I started singing the chorus in my head. I do this all in the car, and then I’ll say, ”O(jiān)K, what kind of rhythm guitar can I put behind this?”?By the time I get home——I’m doin’?about 100 miles an hour trying to get back to my guitar—— I listen to the song in my head and it’s like listening to a radio. The song’s done! I haven’t even touched my guitar yet. I just figure it out, much the way someone would figure out a song off an album.

寫《Night Songs》就是很典型的我寫歌的方式。我開車的時(shí)候想到了這個(gè)題目，然后開始在腦子里唱出了副歌。這些事都是在車?yán)镒龅?，接下來就是“那么我要加上什么樣的吉他旋律呢？”等我開到家的時(shí)候——我差不多開到了100邁，就為了趕快回家拿吉他——我聽著腦海里的歌，就像在聽電臺(tái)。我還沒碰到吉他，歌就已經(jīng)寫好了。我只是找到了它，就像別人在專輯里找到一首歌一樣。

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That’s an amzaingly complete process. It doesn’t take more than a few hours, right?

真是不可思議的完成過程。都沒花上幾個(gè)小時(shí)，是不是？

“Shake Me”?took five minutes! I wrote it on my mom’s front porch at one o’clock in the morning. Just me and my Les Paul sittin’?there. I got the idea for “?Push, Push”?in my head; I was drivin’?along and it just so happened that I had my guitar in the back of the car. I pulled off the road and worked it out right there.

《Shake Me》只花了五分鐘！凌晨一點(diǎn)鐘在我媽媽的前門廊上寫的。只有我的Les Paul陪我坐在那。我在腦子里想到《Push,Push》的時(shí)候正在開車，而且剛剛好我的吉他就在后面放著。我在路邊停了車，就在那寫完了。

I like working that way because it’s never forced. Some days I wake up and say,”?Well, I haven’t written a song in a couple of weeks.”?And I’ll try to write and I’ll usually come up with something. But the ideas that just come to me , they’re usually the best ones.

我喜歡這樣寫歌，因?yàn)檫@樣從不會(huì)感覺到壓力。有時(shí)候我醒來想到，“嗯我好幾周沒寫歌了。”于是我就會(huì)嘗試去寫，通常也能寫出點(diǎn)什么來。但那些突然降臨的靈感總是最好的。

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How has touring, and all the craziness of life on the road, affected your writing?

巡演和旅程生活中的所有瘋狂經(jīng)歷對(duì)你的創(chuàng)作有什么影響？

I find it very easy to write on the road. For the first leg of the Roth tour, I started coming up with new tunes. And when we went home for a break, I picked up this portable studio that I can wheel into the hotels. I can do demos right in my hotel room. On the second leg, I wrote four or five new songs and recorded them , the drums, everything, right in the hotel. Whenever I get a day off, I wheel the thing out and get right to work. Because I like to write and I like to mess around with recording equipment, play engineer.

我發(fā)現(xiàn)在路上寫歌還挺輕松的。在Roth巡演的第一站，我就開始構(gòu)思新的旋律。我們中間休息回家的時(shí)候，我還帶來了能放進(jìn)酒店房間的便攜錄音機(jī)。這樣我就能在酒店房間里錄樣帶了。在第二站，我寫了四五首新歌，也錄好了，包括鼓在內(nèi)的一切都是在酒店里完成的。只要有一天空閑，我就把這些東西拉出來工作。因?yàn)槲蚁矚g寫歌，喜歡身處一堆亂糟糟的錄音設(shè)備和播放設(shè)備中間的感覺。

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At what point do the other guys get involved with a song?

其他幾個(gè)人在什么情況下會(huì)參與到歌曲創(chuàng)作里來？

Usually, I have it written and pretty much arranged, and I’ll bring it to them. They add bits and pieces on top of what I have.

一般情況下我會(huì)先寫出來，而且準(zhǔn)備個(gè)大概，然后拿去給他們看。他們會(huì)在原有的基礎(chǔ)上添磚加瓦。

But is that enough to satisfy them?

但他們感覺滿足嗎？

They all write. Before we did Night Songs, Eric had some songs that he wrote, and Eric and I had written some songs together. But there were about 60 songs we chose from for the album, and between the producer and the record company and the band we all agreed on the 10 songs that are on the album and they happen to be mine. But that’s not to say other people won’t have songs they’ve written on the next album.

他們都會(huì)參與寫歌。在做《Night Songs》之前，Eric也有一些他自己寫的歌，他也和我一起寫過一些。但我們要在大約60首歌中選擇哪些放進(jìn)這張專輯里，最后制作人、唱片公司和樂隊(duì)在收進(jìn)專輯的這10首歌上達(dá)成共識(shí)，只不過這些歌剛好是我寫的。但這并不是說下一張專輯里也不會(huì)出現(xiàn)其他人的歌。

See, the cool thing about this band is that we are all trying to be the best that we possibly can. When we do the next album, if we have 50 songs to choose from, we’re just gonna pick the best ones. The ones that most represent Cinderella.

所以你看，這個(gè)樂隊(duì)最酷的一點(diǎn)就是我們?nèi)急M自己所能去做到最好。等到做下一張專輯的時(shí)候，如果我們手里有50首歌，那么就會(huì)在這里面選擇最好的、最能代表Cinderella的。

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?I know you had a plan to help you reach your goals, but certainly, you couldn’t have anticipated Jon Bon Jovi’s help. What’s your reactiong when people say,”They had a lucky break?”

我知道你為了達(dá)到目標(biāo)曾經(jīng)制定過一個(gè)行動(dòng)計(jì)劃，但是不管怎么說你也不可能預(yù)見到Jon Bon Jovi的幫助。對(duì)于別人說“他們就是運(yùn)氣好”，你怎么看？

You know what I say to that? I say that we did have a lucky break. A very lucky break. But a lot of bands could’ve had that lucky break. Jon could’ve walked in on a lot of bands and said,”Yeah, that’s very nice,”?and walked out the door. The way I see it, we had our homework done, so that he could come in and see us and say, “There’s somethin’?here.”?And that he could go back to his label and bring them down and they could say the same thing: ”Yeah, this is happening,”?The night Jon saw us, he probably saw at least two other bands.

你知道我會(huì)怎么看嗎？要我說我們的確是運(yùn)氣好。相當(dāng)好的運(yùn)氣。但是很多樂隊(duì)都可能碰上這樣的好運(yùn)氣。Jon也可能會(huì)去看很多樂隊(duì)的表演，說“哇不錯(cuò)，”接著就扭頭走了。在我看來，我們做了充分的準(zhǔn)備，所以他走進(jìn)來看到我們的時(shí)候會(huì)說“這值得一看”，然后才會(huì)會(huì)回到唱片公司，把他們拉過來，接著他們也說了同樣的話：“哦確實(shí)不假”。那天晚上Jon不光看到了我們，也至少看到了兩個(gè)其他樂隊(duì)。

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How do you think you would have reached a major label if that night hadn’t taken place?

如果那天晚上的事沒有發(fā)生，你覺得怎么才能進(jìn)入大唱片公司？

One of two other things couldn’ve happened. Either someone else like that could have come along, which I doubt,’cause that was a one-in-a-million chance. But before that, we had been working with several different lawyers who were shopping our tapes and we had been to see a couple of other people in the business. We never had the attitude of,”?Well, here’s our tape, let’s put a stamp on it and cross our fingers.”?We were always trying to get to someone who knows the president and give it to him. Always trying to get right to the top.

還有兩種可能。一種是出現(xiàn)另一個(gè)這樣的人，我對(duì)此表示懷疑，因?yàn)檫@是百萬分之一的機(jī)會(huì)。但是在那之前，我們一直在與幾個(gè)不同的律師共事，他們會(huì)買我們的磁帶，同時(shí)我們也去聯(lián)系了一些其他的業(yè)內(nèi)人士。我們從不會(huì)僅僅是“好吧這是我們的帶子，讓我們貼個(gè)郵票然后自求多福吧”，我們總是會(huì)努力嘗試找到認(rèn)識(shí)負(fù)責(zé)人的中間人，把帶子給他?？倳?huì)嘗試找到能夠直接達(dá)到目的的方式。

A lot of bands think you just send them a tape and hope. You gotta be a lot more forward. We banged on doors, we sent packages, but always with someone ——an attorney, a guy at the label. You have to have someone representing you that they know. That’s the way we were approaching it when this happened.

很多樂隊(duì)都覺得你只需要把帶子送出去然后翹首期盼就行了。你需要再往前走一步。我們到處敲門，寄送磁帶，但總會(huì)有人陪同——會(huì)有個(gè)唱片公司的哥們當(dāng)代理人。你需要找一個(gè)他們認(rèn)識(shí)的人來代表你。事情發(fā)生的那段時(shí)間我們就是這么做的。

As a matter of fact, we had just hooked up with Larry Mazer, the manager we have now, and just before Bon Jovi saw us, Larry had been to PolyGram with our tape. And from what I understand, when Jon went in to tell them about the band, they already had a tape, and Jon coming in was the straw that broke the camel’s back. His point was, screw the tape, you gotta go see the band,’?Cause they were, like, putzin’?around about the tape. They weren’t sure,’cause our demos sucked! I’m singing out of key. A lot of them were pretty bad, because we didn’t know what we were doing. It’s all part of the learning process——recording, getting sounds together, playing.

事實(shí)上，那段時(shí)間我們剛剛和現(xiàn)在的經(jīng)紀(jì)人Larry Mazer走到一起，而且就在Bon Jovi看到我們之前不久，Larry還給寶麗金送了我們的帶子。據(jù)我所知，當(dāng)Jon回去告訴他們關(guān)于樂隊(duì)的事時(shí)，他們手里已經(jīng)有我們的帶子了，而Jon的到來就是壓垮駱駝的最后一根稻草。他告訴他們，丟掉磁帶吧，你一定得去看看樂隊(duì)演出現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，‘因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)诖艓隙际窍拐垓v，他們根本不知道該怎么弄?！?yàn)槲覀兊男犹珷€了！我都唱跑調(diào)了。很多樣帶都非常糟糕，因?yàn)槲覀儾⒉恢雷约涸谧鍪裁?。這都是學(xué)習(xí)過程的一部分——錄音，混音，演奏。

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What kind of kid were you?

你曾經(jīng)是個(gè)什么樣的孩子？

A brat. Just the kind of kid who didn’t like school. But I was a pretty good kid.

一個(gè)臭小子。就是那種不喜歡上學(xué)的小孩。但我很聽話。

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You’ve certainly proved you’re no dummy.

你已經(jīng)證明了自己不是個(gè)笨蛋。

Try telling that to my third grade music teacher! She told me that I would never do anything in music ‘cause I was too busy watching the snow fall outside the window. I was more interested in snow than in what my teacher was trying to teach me,that I already knew. I didn’t do really well in school ‘cause I didn’t like it. I’m the kind of person that hates authority.

你去告訴我三年級(jí)的音樂老師吧！她說我在音樂上必將一事無成，因?yàn)槲铱偸侵活欀创巴獾难┗?。我?duì)雪花比對(duì)老師試圖教我的東西更感興趣，那些東西我都已經(jīng)知道了。我在學(xué)校表現(xiàn)不好，因?yàn)槲也幌矚g，我是那種討厭權(quán)威的人。

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But as the natural leader of a group, you are?the authority.

但作為一個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)自然而然的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者，你就是權(quán)威。

I guess that’s why I don’t like it! But I’m not a dictator. I just step in when I feel I need to. Someone’s gotta do it. But now that we have a tour manager, my load of being the leader has loosened quite a bit, which is better. I rather just be one of the guys and havs someone else be the principal.

我猜這就是我不喜歡它的原因吧！不過我不是獨(dú)裁者。我只是覺得自己需要發(fā)揮作用的時(shí)候才去介入?？偟糜腥藖碜鲞@個(gè)。但是現(xiàn)在我們有巡演經(jīng)理，我作為領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者的負(fù)擔(dān)減輕了不少，感覺好多了。我更愿意作為團(tuán)隊(duì)的一員，讓別人來當(dāng)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。

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