"Lay Me Like a Lady" vs Getting SCREWED. Jenny Darren, people don't PAY. They like FREEEEEEEE.

It was kinda ironic, listening to Jenny Darren's "LAY ME LIKE A LADY." The sexy sweaty brawling blues-rock chorus seemed like a shout-out to rough sex. I mean, what LADY even uses the term "LAY ME?" 

Her tune first turned up as a UK single in 1975, and Americans got it as the closing track to her debut album in the USA. A less amusing irony for Jenny Darren is that 45 years later, and nobody buys physical albums on vinyl or CD, and few even pay for a download version of one. And SHE could hardly find 50 people to "support" the musical merch she was trying to sell. 

Anybody buying THIS album off somebody on eBay for even a dollar? Forget the bullshit about "vinyl is making a comeback" just because a few trendy Millennials want to brag that they spent way too much for a limited pressing on "record store day." It's hard to even find a record store, and most of you probably don't even know Jenny Darren had something to sell, and that goes for Wendy James having something to sell, or Genya Ravan having a new album, or Fanny having a new album or Raun MacKinnon, and it's not just the "old" artists struggling. It's even worse for new ones.  

Christ. I was one of those people hunting the record stores every week, and throwing down bucks taking a chance on artists whose albums LOOKED like they might be good. Today's "music fan" just goes to shoutboxes, blogs, forums and torrents sucking and sucking anything free on Zippyshare, and then crying "anybody have..." for something a bit esoteric or indie. Who makes money? Zippyshare. And a few nefarious bloggers who use premium services because they feel THEY should be paid for THEIR hard work. That's how they justify their exystence. Er, existence. Ha ha.  

Back to JENNY....

What DO you do if you are an artist and you want to be "SUPPORTED" with your new music, or the good stuff you've done over the years? You put a few samples on YouTube or Spotify that get you nowhere. You "network" by pestering people you don't know via Twitter or Facebook until they block you. If you're a Jenny Darren and have some minor name-recognition and some die-hard fans who still care, and could possibly get some new listeners who want to hear a real woman instead of a twit like Taylor...you hope and pray that you get found on FACEBOOK.

Uh, not exactly the BEST paradigm. See for yourself, as Jenny admits that 50 Jenny Darren Fans Can't...be found. 

Jenny is far from alone. A post like this could be done on Wendy James or dozens and dozens of others, both older talents who have credits, and newcomers who are very talented only nobody knows it and nobody ever will, and all they hear is "don't quit your day job..." followed by "why not put ALL your music on Spotify and YouTube and have FREE DOWNLOADS on that website you pay so much money a month for?" 

At one time, the spin of the stealer’s wheel…ie, the EXCUSE given by bloggers who “share” entire album and discographies “for fun,” was: “get a new paradigm. WE think MUSIC should be FREE, and copyright is COPY WRONG!” 

Some shrug and see artists should give away the music and make money selling t-shirts or hats. Yeah? How many hats and t-shirts does anyone wear? The average music blogger asshole from Holland, Sweden, Brazil or Redneck USA wears the same one stinking t-shirt every day. That's the one who thinks he's "kewl" with his daily uploads of whole discographies and albums...the one who never gets laid obviously....the one who grunts "if you like it, buy it," and then demands thanks for giving way somebody else's work. Why not be a fucking Robin Hood and shoplift food from Tesco or Walmart and give it to the needy? Oh, right, you might be caught. It's easier to prey on artists who can't spend all day finding every sneaky hidden link on a blog, and then leaving a "please, please" asking for the stealing to stop. 

Some figure that big artists (Elton, Macca, etc.) don't need the money. But those guys are often funding the newcomers that get signed to their record labels. The less albums they sell, the less chance thee is for the new artists to get promoted. Also, not every artist is as ego-driven as Elton and Macca. Some are offended and depressed that their new albums aren't selling in the same quantities as they used to.

Steve Miller and Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell and similar artists find it too humiliating to get low sales, and their dignity is hurt when they don't even get a decent royalty check from Spotify or YouTube for "streaming" plays. The "new paradigm" was SUPPOSED to be getting paid for having your music "streamed" rather than downloaded. Ha ha. Ho ho. Hee hee. As for more cult-oriented acts, like Genya Ravan, Fanny, Gunhill Road etc. etc., even if they Facebook constantly, few even know they've got new product and all you have to do is find it on YouTube. Nah. You may have noticed how many items on YouTube have an abominably LOW number of views.

NICE goin' Pablo. You upped Jenny Darren's "HEARTBREAKER" and less than 150 have listened: 

Jenny was the first to cover "Heartbreaker." The guy who wrote it wrote several songs on her "Queen of Fools" album, including the closing track, "Lay Me Like a Lady," which had been a 1975 single released on a division of Decca but with a "safe" re-titling so that radio station managers might let it slide....

Jenny's "Heartbreaker" did nothing in the UK in September of 1978. Pat Benatar pushed it just inside the top 20 (Cashbox) and just outside it at #23 (Billboard) in October of 1979.  Benatar followed it with “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” in the summer of 1980. In the summer of 1980, Jenny Darren got one more chance with DJM, releasing a single called “Lover.” It went un-loved. And nearly 40 years later, her pretending to be an amateur and an appearance on "Britain's Got Talent" did little except get her some extra Facebook friends and followers who expected her to post photos and music FREE. 

Giving a sample song for free is one thing. But the thing now, is to give it all away. This kind of slut logic does not lead to respect. It has no dignity. It's no way to make a living. 

“Lay Me Like a Lady,” which opens meekly, like a Juice Newton country-rock ballad, but then goes all Genya, or Elkie, with white-hot white-soul raving.

LAY ME LIKE A LADY --- Download or listen online. No password. No demand for Paypal donations. No "I should be paid" link to a PAY server. No Russian spyware shit.