Savlove Investment Proposal

INVESTMENT PROPOSAL

SAVLOVE

Savlove’s goal is to be the sexual healer for the new pop millennium.

They don’t make celebrities like they used to, that’s for sure, and there are many good reasons for this. Whether it be a musical icon, film star, athlete, or politician, the demystification of celebrity is a hallmark of the 1990s. In pop music, the rapid expansion of markets caused a tightening of demographic targets. 30 years ago, most of the record buying public liked nearly all the records in the Top Ten – now, both Shania Twain and Puff Daddy can sell millions of more units than groups ever did in the ‘60s, and to almost entirely different fan bases – the numbers are that huge. At the other end of the scale, now even the most esoteric artiste can find his or her hundred listeners with just a little help from the net. But amidst all this variety, something boring has happened in the streamlining of corporate celebrity, and it’s really not all the corporations’ fault. They just may not have necessarily found a star who can relate to the new mediums (of both media technology and ever-changing human consciousness) with universal appeal.

As I am Savlove, I think I can do this. For the purposes of thinking of the eventual commercial product as something distinct from myself, I shall usually refer to Savlove in the third person. After all, there’s no way that Savlove can do it alone. Rather, Savlove needs to form an infrastructure in order to make a production out of his accomplishments. At this point, Savlove is more concept than anything else. All his preproduction work was done in relative obscurity, and now, singular and pure, he has reached the base of the great mountain. To climb it, Savlove must be manufactured by a large body of individuals; in so doing he certainly does not sacrifice his singularity and he willingly seeks to mutate his purity. Simply put, Savlove needs the money to put together a producer, band, publicity engine, systems coordinator, and the like to make a super entertainment.

So I am writing the job description for a new pop celebrity and suggesting Savlove as the man to fill it. Savlove has a number of qualifications to recommend him, including the fact that regardless of the phase of his sexual development, he has always been able to write a good hook. Savlove actually resisted any concerted efforts to market his own songs because he knew the time was not yet right for the intersection between his life and that of the music business. Now he has a huge back catalogue of potentially hit-worthy songs, only a few of which he deems suitable to the particular requirements of the initial Savlove project. Savlove also possesses a comprehensive sense of music history, especially regarding the evolution of rock and roll from a somewhat naive but massive force of liberation to the ascent of rock as a major component of late 20th century culture and through its decline into a kind of mishmash of older and younger people’s appetites for what was and far less effectively continues to be.

The Savlove pop music project is a prefabrication. In that approach it resembles the Spice Girls. Once upon a time, the Spice Girls were no more than an idea on a piece of paper, five female personas unbeknownst to anybody. Many moons passed, and then one day they just appeared before the public, fully formed and magnificently launched. Form met concept perfectly and they succeeded wildly – for reasons, of course, that had everything to do with hitting the right sexual nerve. Savlove’s shtick is less of a cartoon and more of a mass communicator of his humanity. By being introduced to the public with an impactful level of corporate backing, Savlove’s moral authority is endorsed, and the conditions are created for Savlove to establish a rapport with his demographic. The complex but possibly very lucrative point about Savlove’s audience is that it cuts across niche categories: Baby-boomers will recognize this event as an extension of the classic rock tradition, but young listeners will have a much better understanding of what the project is doing. The financial investment, as well as the process, has to go one step at a time, but again, many of the steps ahead of us are not public ones. The idea is to have a great deal in place before generating hype – but not so much that the hype cannot also be allowed to grow in public
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The first step I would take on an initial investment of $150,000 would be to audition producers until I found one with whom I felt compatible. The making of the music itself would constitute its own human drama (and comedy!), and that would be filmed. The group includes a number of women – decidedly not limited to co-singers. The music itself transcends a major problem with pop music today: it is neither an obvious throwback to the style and production values of classic rock, nor does it bow shamelessly to the loop/sample/hip-hop synthetics of the ‘90s sound; rather it is eerily evocative of the classic sound without resembling anything before it; it somehow sounds as if it has always been here while as well being incomparably modern. In other words, it is music that is definitively Savlove, which at this point is no longer just one man, but a collaboration. Meanwhile, though, the Savlove celebrity takes on a life of its own. People who can help can be called, doors can be unlocked. Indeed, the Savlove celebrity already does have a life of its own! It would just be considered a personal network for now. It’s a thoroughly self-conscious approach to rock-stardom, but that’s only the beginning ... what pops out at the end is the birth of the distinct opposite of what used to be the prototypical new star: instead of being a kid, I emerge mature. Instead of subscribing to the “die young – stay pretty” cult of rock ‘n roll, I show how its youth and beauty can be extended. Instead of being a broken-hearted romantic or a debaucher, I represent what can only be described as healthy sexual freedom - open, daring, and witty, but emotionally responsible. With that, I dance, sing, talk, rhyme, play the piano inimitably, relate in ways outrageous or calming, and engage a wide range of people. It is a sincere sensibility that can be very moving, and that has fun with the flaws within its perfection, and that understands the balance between stability and spontaneity.

Even those who emerge out of nowhere have to come from somewhere. My roots are in Bennington College and its neighboring village of North Bennington, Vermont. Savlove’s private rock stardom involves many years of delighting the art-school muses. It is a story worthy of legend – and that’s already saying a bit too much. It is worth noting here, however, that my continuing experience in show business and the recording studio dates as far back as childhood; my mother was in the theater and advertising and not infrequently got my older sister and me to sing on jingles, make cameo appearances, etc. People who know me well tend to call me Sav. A few call me Johnny, and the publishing goes under SaveLove Music.

In business partners I would expect the same things from them that they can expect from me. I know how to meet a deadline. I know how to delegate responsibility. I can arbitrate fairly and subtly. I need to be privy to all aspects of the business, but my first concern is the art of Savlove, which is quite enough; any company for which I work must be trusted to hold up its end. I present a solid opportunity for some branch of the music industry to fortify its reputation. Savlove must as well connect with the enhanced media presentations the new technology will provide. The cyber-avenues of live performance, for example, hold great potential. My relationship with the print and televised media will be as warm as possible.

Part II

April 2003

That first part was written around Christmas 1999. Obviously quite a lot has happened in everybody’s lives since then. During the years in which America was overtly invaded and then retaliated in Afghanistan and Iraq, I’ve continued to develop my concepts of harmony in the body. This is the gentle evolution of manly love bubbling under. Obviously there has been no place for me yet in the American media. And now the geo-politic is at the point where America needs to sell itself back to the rest of the world. There are contradictions on which American values have been built that require all kinds of new art and thinking to resolve, to keep the cultural spirit moving forward.

Really everything that’s happened has only confirmed for me what my place in the world is and what a coup SaveLove Music really could turn out to be.

I still need funding and now I am focused on what I could do with much less. With $20,000 I would hire the producer, musicians, rehearsal space, and studio to record “Better Tomorrow”. Find the lyrics posted on the web-site, where, even without the music, the song’s potential as an anthem is indicated. I have received some grant funding from ASCAP in the last couple of years, in a program especially designed for “off-the-radar” artists, but it wasn’t nearly enough to launch this project. Meanwhile, my personal life would make great reality TV. Rock and roll poet who tried to kill himself at 19 survives to become warm-hearted sage of the chaotic age. Beautiful twisted young women aided and humored by this tantric knight. And pitfalls to match.

At least that was last year. Reality should prove more celebratory than that and ultimately I do not care whether tapes or cameras are rolling or not. But it’s a waste for me not to be hired for something that represents my world. Whether writing about it – songs, letters, analysis, poetry – dancing it, telling a story, doing radio – all these things that elucidate my free-floating consciousness – any or all of it should be seized by someone who sees its value. This proposal is simply how I happen to see my vision best unraveling while solitude continues to be the apparently preferred option. How I am to effectively integrate into society beyond North Bennington is all about the new relationships we create from here.

Better Tomorrow

You can ride the Internet without concern, without regret, there’s nothing like
A little time to borrow
‘Cos Mom and Dad won’t show their face, they left you to this empty place
They got fear ... of a better tomorrow
Fear of a better tomorrow, fear of a better tomorrow, fear ... of a better tomorrow
World War II was fought for you – There’s no enemy for World War III
Except fear ... of a better tomorrow
So let all the martyrs fight it out. They forgot what it’s all about, and you feel
A little bit more sorrow
Fear of a better tomorrow, fear of a better tomorrow, fear ... of a better tomorrow
[ Doesn’t anybody understand
I’ve got the seed! I’ve got the seeds, baby
And I want to show you
Evolutionary miracles unfolding encoded love
How good it can be…with my seeds ]
(instrumental madness)

My girlfriend’s of another race – Y’can’t escape United States
Just dream ... of a better tomorrow
Gonna free my dead and spring the traps, fill my head and heal the gaps
And feel… better tomorrow
Breathe through pain, relax the flow, and what remains is love, you know
You’ll feel ... a little better tomorrow
The united states of you and me is our only hope for liberty
I wanna feel ... better tomorrow
Feel a lot better tomorrow, feel a lot better tomorrow, we’re going to feel a lot better tomorrow
(Weave verses and chorus together; last verse becomes “the united state of you and me is our only hope for ecstasy – we’re gonna feel ... a lot better tomorrow”)

John Savlove
North Bennington, Vermont 05257
(802) 442- 2671
john@savlove.com