Flaming Lips Alley Dedication

[jbrown84]

It's so funny to see Mick Cornett speaking from a podium with Aliens standing by next to him. It's just a bizarre sight.

[BDP]

Yeah it was a pretty good event although the turnout was disappointing, but of course being the chamber, they do it mid-morning when most people have to work or can't get downtown.

Yes, it was very poorly planned. I'm thinking in any other city this would have been a huge and very fun event. I just don't think many people here realize how important the Flaming Lips are world wide. If it was Carrie Underwood, it would have been on Friday night, televised live on every local station, and it would have been packed. Not that such attention wouldn't have been warranted, it just seems like the Lips can't get any traction in their own hometown. I mean, we even had some people fighting against naming an alley after them. Hopefully, this will help some people realize 1) how important their unique contribution to popular music has been, 2) how highly regarded their music is world wide, and 3) what a consistent and positive ambassador Wayne Coyne has been for the city of Oklahoma City.

Mostly chamber cronies and press (alot of press including international press).

And I can just see our chamber looking at all the press and saying to themselves "really? I had no idea..."

[kmf563]

yes. yes. i believe the people at work called it a "circus without cause" when i asked if could take a long lunch to attend yesterday. They went on to say nobody even knows who the Flaming Lips are and they don't deserve a street. So of course I replied with "then it's a good thing we gave them an ALLEY"and pointed out to them how amazing it is to win 6 grammys when nobody knows who you are.

idiots.

I think several people are getting wake up calls this week and realizing who the Lips are and what they have accomplished....and oh yeah, they are from Oklahoma...right??? LOL.

[BDP]

nobody even knows who the Flaming Lips are

That's laughable and kind of sad, really.

I know they're not for everyone, but to say that no one knows who they are is really an admission that you have no clue what you're talking about. I don't "get" today's country music and I couldn't sing you one line of a Carrie Underwood or Toby Keith song, but I am aware that they are loved by many world wide, win awards, and are considered to be at the top of their genre. The only reason I know this is because they are from Oklahoma. It would be a struggle for me to name 5 other country acts in the top 20 today. So, it's so weird that others can't admit or accept the Flaming Lips importance in their field and as ambassadors for Oklahoma City.

I'm not saying anyone should like them because they're from Oklahoma, but it's just weird that people here would be so ignorant about them. But, I guess it's great for the band. They can live here and not have to worried about getting mobbed when they go to the grocery store, like they would in say, Japan.

[metro]

I kept hearing Jim Couch (city manager who stood next to me) and Roy Williams (President of Greater OKC Chamber of Commerce) say how this was helping their "hipness factor" (while they're in their $2000 suits). I wanted to say yeah you should have done this 10 years ago man. Even worse, Mayor Mick and Roy on stage kept crowding Wayne out and standing in front of him, half the time you couldn't see him because their ego's were in the way of the cameras.

[ksearls]

BDP, you have no idea what you are talking about.

I was in on all of the planning with the Chamber and am a Lips fan. I was in the pit at the Zoo show along with about half of the marketing/pr staff from the Chamber. We were at their Christmas party. We are marching in the parade. Our kids go to the same school. I saw their shows in the 80's. We know how cool they are.

The Chamber worked directly with Scott Booker, the Lips manager and his staff to plan and produce the event. The entire event was designed to be an ironic and surreal ribbon cutting experience and to promote the Alley and Ghouls Gone Wild. It was not designed just for fans but for the PR value to the City and the Lips. It was designed to honor the people that helped push the Alley naming through (when it was not always popular) and the FLips.

The Chamber worked to get INTERNATIONAL press on the event. It was in the London paper. They worked with KWTV to feed video to MTV News. They worked with Rolling Stone to supply photos and coverage of the event. They have hired an entire crew to cover the parade for MTV and possibly Letterman.

And I can just see our chamber looking at all the press and saying to themselves "really? I had no idea..."

We know exactly what we have and are working with the Lips to make this the "Coolest F@*KING city in America"

[ksearls]

Metro,

$2000 suits are cool too. Were you a fan 10 years ago? There was no Alley ten years ago, those guys built it for you and everyone else in this City.

Stop the hating and just enjoy the moment. It was a great event.

[kmf563]

I heart Wayne Coyne too.

I love that this is causing controversy...isn't that what the flips have always done anyway?? They stirred up the scene, they messed with the industy, they have always kind of done it their own f-ing way. Why should it change now? The only difference is it's being done in front of the mainstream eye instead of underground as it has been for many many years. They know who has been there for them and who has shared the memories over the years. That's what matters. It's nice to have an alley and a dedication...but they don't need it. And that's what makes them cool really.

I think it's great that the council, the media, and whoever is doing something, anything to recognize local artists. I love the direction oklahoma city is going and hopefully my job here will be a lot easier in the future.

[metro]

kim, yes I actually was a fan back then although I was just a teenager. In fact, Wayne's now late mother used to due my taxes. I'm not hating, I'm just saying they (Roy and others) kept talking about their ego's and how hip it was making them look and such. Literally thats what they said several times off record. And you have to admit but he and Mick were crowding out Wayne during the first part of the ceremony. He was trying to look around their heads, instead of them just scooting over a few inches. Don't get me wrong, I know the fight they had to get the alley renamed and I greatly appreciate all the hard work that went into everything.

I realize that this was more for PR exposure and not as much for the fans, but look at it from my side as well as BDP's and others. If they did design this more for the fans and better PR(say on a Saturday afternoon when more people could attend), think how much better that would have looked for OKC streaming on MTV and printed in Rolling Stone magazine with thousands there instead of about 200 mostly in suits. Now that's PR!

[BDP]

BDP, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Maybe, but it sound more like you don't know what I was talking about. In the end it's nice to see that they are getting some recognition here and that's all that really matters. They deserve it.

It was not designed just for fans but for the PR value to the City and the Lips.

Exactly. That actually is what I meant by being poorly planned. Don't get me wrong. The reality is that the fact that it was planned at all is nice and, really when I think about it, pretty surprising. But, I've never thought of what the Lips do as PR stunts, but more about brining entertainment to their fans. No band today works harder with a DIY work ethic than the flaming lips. Planning this as a PR event without consideration to the fans kind of comes off as the City taking advantage of the Flaming Lips's elevated profile of the last 5 years or so.

At the end of the day, that's kind of the nature of these things. Communities often honor their successful citizens, even if they kind of ignored them when they were initially forging that success. Hey, we even do this with our celebrated country talent. We kind of say "go get famous, and when you do, then we'll talk about some support..."

In the end, thanks for all of your work. Hopefully, it will help elevate OKC's music profile and maybe invigorate some support amongst its citizens. As for the fans, there's always the shows and even the Halloween parade to partake in a truly interactive event more in line with the legacy of the Flaming Lips. The alley has been named, it has been dedicated, it drew international exposure, and, hopefully, less people in OKC will say "no one even knows who they are".

If you can't see it, there is a banner in the chamber office that reads "Mission Accomplished".

[ksearls]

The event was accessible to everyone. It was at lunch and lasted under an hour. There was no one "taken advantage of". Like it or not, there is marketing and pr involved of every business including the music business.

Many fans were there and outnumbered the "suits" Wayne spent over 2 hours talking to them, siging autographs and talking picutres with them individually after the event was over.

If mission accomplished means that the Flaming Lips are happy, many fans that got one-on-one time with Wayne are happy and OKC is featured on the world stage, than yes, they deserve to say mission accomplished on this event.

We all know that there is still lots of work to do, and damn that was fun!

[kmf563]

Be sure to pick up the current issue of Rolling Stone and Spin Magazine - both feature the alley dedication along with DFEST.