letter from Madison

Dear Mr. Mo:

>

> I saw you perform before the They Might Be Giants

> show in Madison,

> Wisconsin. I don’t expect you to remember, but I

> shook your hand and said

> that I’d never heard an accordion rock so hard

> before. I’ve just finished

> listening to your album I Hope You Win!, and I would

> like to make a request.

>

> Could you please rescue us from the current state of

> popular music? I

> understand that I’m charging you with a big quest,

> but myself and others

> like me are looking for heroes. Many have tried —

> oh, how they have tried.

> They Might Be Giants have been releasing

> consistently good music for

> years, and they’re still under the radar. Older

> acts like Blue Oyster Cult

> have tried to rescue us by releasing good new music,

> but I don’t think

> anybody’s listening. “Weird Al” Yankovic used to

> sort of have the accordion

> thing going on, but now he’s almost a tool of the

> mainstream media. The

> family of the late Frank Zappa keeps unearthing

> unreleased recordings, but

> they only appeal to Zappa fans.

>

> I think the problem comes from the fact that

> everybody’s heard of these

> bands, and they’re not willing to investigate even

> the possibility of

> something new and innovative from them. Meanwhile,

> the music industry keeps

> shoving Britney down our throats, and we keep buying

> her. Unfortunately, I

> cannot offer you the resources, industry

> connections, or knowledge to fix

> it, but the music industry really needs a jump

> start. As far as I can tell,

> Corn Mo is the kind of jump start I’m talking about.

>

> Think about it, okay? The people need you.

>

> Colin