9.20.2005
How can I miss you?
A recent discussion of the possible whereabouts of singer-songwriter (and erstwhile Leatherwood) Todd Newman led me to a web search for info. I could find little about him, and nothing current. The Leatherwoods, essentially the duo of Newman and Tim O'Reagan, recorded one great disc in the mid-90s for Twin\Tone imprint Medium Cool, Topeka Oratorio, (its title a play on the contemporaneous Paul McCartney stab at symphonic composition, Liverpool Oratorio) and then split. Newman started a solo career that netted the EP Too Sad for Words on the wonderfully consistent micro-indie Bus Stop Records, and Temporary Setback on the even tinier Barber's Itch Records (found online only at eMusic, which has the label's discography, such as it is). The few mentions of Newman usually came in pages talking about O'Reagan's subsequent stint as the drummer for the Jayhawks.
So, I'm no closer to finding anything out about Newman, but I did stumble across a treasure trove of information at the Twin\Tone site. For most of the releases listed, sales information is provided. For example, Soul Asylum, one of the label's best sellers and certainly its most successful offspring, sold 10,206 vinyl copies and 4,920 cassette copies of its top Twin\Tone seller, Made to be Broken, before the album was issued on CD in 1988. That seems low to me, but it speaks to the real marginal appeal of what was then called college rock. Because everyone around me liked this stuff, I assumed it was much more popular than the truth would indicate.
Even the Replacements' Let it Be, unquestionably the best-reviewed and best-loved Twin\Tone release, sold less than 100,000 on vinyl and cassette before it's initial CD issue. According to the disc's page, 26,000 vinyl copies were pressed, while 51,000 cassettes were made. That was enough to get the band signed to a major label, a threshold that dropped as indie bands created exponentially more buzz than sales. The Jayhawks' Twin\Tone debut, Blue Earth, sold 1,383 vinyl copies, 1,464 cassettes and 2,876 CDs before the band was signed to American Records. It seems as if I knew half of the people who owned that record, but obviously many more people had heard the disc than owned it. It reminds me of something Richard Buckner once said from the stage at a packed show in Iowa City: "Where were all of you when my record came out?"
If nothing else, the site offers significant context. I mean, the Blue Hippos seemed to play Iowa City every other weekend my freshman year, yet the disc they were supporting, Forty Forty, only sold about 2,000 copies. Then again, I never bothered to pick up a copy, let alone go see them, and I saw nearly everybody who came through town back then (like the Magnolias, whose Dime Store Dream only sold about 4,000 copies, including mine). All of this might explain why we haven't heard anything from Todd Newman lately. Even when the kind of music he made was remotely popular, bands that toured relentlessly barely sold enough to justify pressing up a record. It would be easy today to figure it's not worth the bother.
So, I'm no closer to finding anything out about Newman, but I did stumble across a treasure trove of information at the Twin\Tone site. For most of the releases listed, sales information is provided. For example, Soul Asylum, one of the label's best sellers and certainly its most successful offspring, sold 10,206 vinyl copies and 4,920 cassette copies of its top Twin\Tone seller, Made to be Broken, before the album was issued on CD in 1988. That seems low to me, but it speaks to the real marginal appeal of what was then called college rock. Because everyone around me liked this stuff, I assumed it was much more popular than the truth would indicate.
Even the Replacements' Let it Be, unquestionably the best-reviewed and best-loved Twin\Tone release, sold less than 100,000 on vinyl and cassette before it's initial CD issue. According to the disc's page, 26,000 vinyl copies were pressed, while 51,000 cassettes were made. That was enough to get the band signed to a major label, a threshold that dropped as indie bands created exponentially more buzz than sales. The Jayhawks' Twin\Tone debut, Blue Earth, sold 1,383 vinyl copies, 1,464 cassettes and 2,876 CDs before the band was signed to American Records. It seems as if I knew half of the people who owned that record, but obviously many more people had heard the disc than owned it. It reminds me of something Richard Buckner once said from the stage at a packed show in Iowa City: "Where were all of you when my record came out?"
If nothing else, the site offers significant context. I mean, the Blue Hippos seemed to play Iowa City every other weekend my freshman year, yet the disc they were supporting, Forty Forty, only sold about 2,000 copies. Then again, I never bothered to pick up a copy, let alone go see them, and I saw nearly everybody who came through town back then (like the Magnolias, whose Dime Store Dream only sold about 4,000 copies, including mine). All of this might explain why we haven't heard anything from Todd Newman lately. Even when the kind of music he made was remotely popular, bands that toured relentlessly barely sold enough to justify pressing up a record. It would be easy today to figure it's not worth the bother.
