Cinderella:new stars on the horizon

Cinderella：地平线上升起的新星

By Toby Goldstein

作者 Toby Goldstein

*原文来自《Circus》杂志1987年十月刊，up主对照杂志手动录入

*原文打字、中文翻译：微博@堆堆带我飞

The song says, ”It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock & roll,” but Cinderella seem to have discovered a short-cut...or so you might think. The four-man, Philadelphia-based group, who were voted Best New Group of 1986 by Circus Magazine readers, actually spent over three years writing songs, refining their technique, practicing, and satisfying local audiences. Cinderella’s lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Tom Keifer gave a lot of thought to becoming a success in the rock biz, and, with a solid plan to guide him, set about finding the right people to help him make it happen. They turned out to be bassist Eric Brittingham, guitarist Jeff LaBar and drummer Fred Coury.

Following their “discovery” by Jon Bon Jovi, their deal with PolyGram, and the release of their debut album, Night Songs, Cinderella spent much of 1986 on tour as the opening act for David Lee Roth. They’ll be conquering newa audiences throught much of 1987 as special guests on Bon Jovi’s current North American sweep. Circus caught up with Tom Keifer on a rare day off in Los Angeles.

有首歌唱道，“如果你想玩摇滚，经历千辛万苦才能成功”，但Cinderella似乎却找到了捷径……或者说，可能你会这样以为。这个来自费城的四人组合被《Circus》杂志的读者们票选为1986年度最佳新团，其实在这之前，他们用了不止三年的时间来创作歌曲、提升技艺以及积累本地观众。为了在摇滚乐界取得成功，Cinderella的主唱兼吉他手兼词曲作者Tom Keifer思考了很多，也制定了一个可靠的计划，并且着手去寻找够帮助他实现目标的人。他找到了贝斯手Eric Brittingham，吉他手Jeff LaBar，还有鼓手Fred Coury。在被Jon Bon Jovi发现、签约宝丽金公司、发行首专《Night Songs》之后，Cinderella的1986年大多在为David Lee Roth巡演的暖场演出中度过。在1987年，他们将作为特殊嘉宾跟着Bon Jovi一起横扫北美，征服新的观众。《Circus》杂志趁一个难得的休息日在洛杉矶找到了Tom Keifer。

Do you think the Bon Jovi and Cinderella audiences are compatible?

你觉得Bon Jovi和Cinderella的观众兼容性强吗？

I’m sure that both audiences are gonna get off on the bands. I’m not sure how I would compare us to them. Musically, I think we have a bit of a harder edge but are still in the commercial vein, while they have a more commercial sound.

我相信双方的观众都会喜欢两支乐队。我不知道两支乐队应该怎样比较。我觉得从音乐的角度来说我们更硬一些，而从商业性上来说，他们的声音更加商业化。

“当今的很多金属乐都缺少灵魂。”Keifer（及LaBar（左）、Brittingham）称。

 Do you mean having the kind of sound that results in hit singles, as opposed to speed metal, which was very successful on an album level in 1986?

你是指那种能够成为热单的音乐，而不是像1986那种专辑层面上大获成功的速度金属，是吗？

I’m not knockin’ that. But I consider something commercial when it’s not a cult thing. People come up to me and say, “I hate heavy metal but I love you guys.” Bon Jovi can do ballads,and they can do kickin’ songs. To me, that’s what a band should be able to do.

我不是在挑剔，但我所说的商业化并不是指受追捧。人们会对我说，“我讨厌重金属但我喜欢你们”，Bon Jovi能唱民谣，也能唱很躁的歌。对我来说这就是一个乐队应该具备的能力。

Cinderella的制作人Andy Johns曾经在Rolling Stones和Lep Zeppelin的一些专辑制作过程中担任录音师（图为Eric（左）与Tom）。

You’ve readily admitted being influenced by rock bands of the 1970s, like Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith. What’s your response when someone points to your album and says, ‘this sounds like AC/DC’ and ‘ this sounds like somebody else?’

你曾经坦言自己受到70年代摇滚乐队的影响，比如Led Zeppelin和Aerosmith。当别人指着你的专辑说‘这个听起来像AC/DC’和‘听起来像某某某’的时候，你会有什么反应？

I just take it as a compliment because I’m being compared to successful bands. And I know that nothing on our album is exactly like anything else. We’ve got our own things in there. Plus, you can do that to any band——musicans just don’t wake up on day and start writing songs without having ever listened to anything else.

我会把这当做一种褒奖，因为他们拿我们与成功的乐队相类比。而且我知道，我们的专辑没有任何一点是和别人一模一样的。这里是我们自己的作品。另外，你可以这样说任何一个乐队——毕竟音乐人也不是从来不听别人的作品、一出生就会写歌的。

为了庆祝Cinderella的成功，Fred Coury刚刚给自己买了一些新玩具：一辆保时捷和一台音乐电脑。

How exactly do you write? Let’s take “Night Songs,” for instance. What came first?

你具体是怎么写作的？就拿《Night Songs》为例吧，是怎么开始的？

“Night Songs” is very typical of the way I write. I was driving around and I thought of the title and I started singing the chorus in my head. I do this all in the car, and then I’ll say, ”OK, what kind of rhythm guitar can I put behind this?” By the time I get home——I’m doin’ about 100 miles an hour trying to get back to my guitar—— I listen to the song in my head and it’s like listening to a radio. The song’s done! I haven’t even touched my guitar yet. I just figure it out, much the way someone would figure out a song off an album.

写《Night Songs》就是很典型的我写歌的方式。我开车的时候想到了这个题目，然后开始在脑子里唱出了副歌。这些事都是在车里做的，接下来就是“那么我要加上什么样的吉他旋律呢？”等我开到家的时候——我差不多开到了100迈，就为了赶快回家拿吉他——我听着脑海里的歌，就像在听电台。我还没碰到吉他，歌就已经写好了。我只是找到了它，就像别人在专辑里找到一首歌一样。

That’s an amzaingly complete process. It doesn’t take more than a few hours, right?

真是不可思议的完成过程。都没花上几个小时，是不是？

“Shake Me” took five minutes! I wrote it on my mom’s front porch at one o’clock in the morning. Just me and my Les Paul sittin’ there. I got the idea for “ Push, Push” in my head; I was drivin’ along and it just so happened that I had my guitar in the back of the car. I pulled off the road and worked it out right there.

《Shake Me》只花了五分钟！凌晨一点钟在我妈妈的前门廊上写的。只有我的Les Paul陪我坐在那。我在脑子里想到《Push,Push》的时候正在开车，而且刚刚好我的吉他就在后面放着。我在路边停了车，就在那写完了。

I like working that way because it’s never forced. Some days I wake up and say,” Well, I haven’t written a song in a couple of weeks.” And I’ll try to write and I’ll usually come up with something. But the ideas that just come to me , they’re usually the best ones.

我喜欢这样写歌，因为这样从不会感觉到压力。有时候我醒来想到，“嗯我好几周没写歌了。”于是我就会尝试去写，通常也能写出点什么来。但那些突然降临的灵感总是最好的。

How has touring, and all the craziness of life on the road, affected your writing?

巡演和旅程生活中的所有疯狂经历对你的创作有什么影响？

I find it very easy to write on the road. For the first leg of the Roth tour, I started coming up with new tunes. And when we went home for a break, I picked up this portable studio that I can wheel into the hotels. I can do demos right in my hotel room. On the second leg, I wrote four or five new songs and recorded them , the drums, everything, right in the hotel. Whenever I get a day off, I wheel the thing out and get right to work. Because I like to write and I like to mess around with recording equipment, play engineer.

我发现在路上写歌还挺轻松的。在Roth巡演的第一站，我就开始构思新的旋律。我们中间休息回家的时候，我还带来了能放进酒店房间的便携录音机。这样我就能在酒店房间里录样带了。在第二站，我写了四五首新歌，也录好了，包括鼓在内的一切都是在酒店里完成的。只要有一天空闲，我就把这些东西拉出来工作。因为我喜欢写歌，喜欢身处一堆乱糟糟的录音设备和播放设备中间的感觉。

At what point do the other guys get involved with a song?

其他几个人在什么情况下会参与到歌曲创作里来？

Usually, I have it written and pretty much arranged, and I’ll bring it to them. They add bits and pieces on top of what I have.

一般情况下我会先写出来，而且准备个大概，然后拿去给他们看。他们会在原有的基础上添砖加瓦。

Cinderella的态度比很多摇滚乐手更加务实。“每个人都非常冷静。”Keifer说。

But is that enough to satisfy them?

但他们感觉满足吗？

They all write. Before we did Night Songs, Eric had some songs that he wrote, and Eric and I had written some songs together. But there were about 60 songs we chose from for the album, and between the producer and the record company and the band we all agreed on the 10 songs that are on the album and they happen to be mine. But that’s not to say other people won’t have songs they’ve written on the next album.

他们都会参与写歌。在做《Night Songs》之前，Eric也有一些他自己写的歌，他也和我一起写过一些。但我们要在大约60首歌中选择哪些放进这张专辑里，最后制作人、唱片公司和乐队在收进专辑的这10首歌上达成共识，只不过这些歌刚好是我写的。但这并不是说下一张专辑里也不会出现其他人的歌。

See, the cool thing about this band is that we are all trying to be the best that we possibly can. When we do the next album, if we have 50 songs to choose from, we’re just gonna pick the best ones. The ones that most represent Cinderella.

所以你看，这个乐队最酷的一点就是我们全都尽自己所能去做到最好。等到做下一张专辑的时候，如果我们手里有50首歌，那么就会在这里面选择最好的、最能代表Cinderella的。

Cinderella《Night Songs》中的“狼”嚎声实际上是唱片工场录音室的一位工作人员在回音室里即兴创作的。

 I know you had a plan to help you reach your goals, but certainly, you couldn’t have anticipated Jon Bon Jovi’s help. What’s your reactiong when people say,”They had a lucky break?”

我知道你为了达到目标曾经制定过一个行动计划，但是不管怎么说你也不可能预见到Jon Bon Jovi的帮助。对于别人说“他们就是运气好”，你怎么看？

You know what I say to that? I say that we did have a lucky break. A very lucky break. But a lot of bands could’ve had that lucky break. Jon could’ve walked in on a lot of bands and said,”Yeah, that’s very nice,” and walked out the door. The way I see it, we had our homework done, so that he could come in and see us and say, “There’s somethin’ here.” And that he could go back to his label and bring them down and they could say the same thing: ”Yeah, this is happening,” The night Jon saw us, he probably saw at least two other bands.

你知道我会怎么看吗？要我说我们的确是运气好。相当好的运气。但是很多乐队都可能碰上这样的好运气。Jon也可能会去看很多乐队的表演，说“哇不错，”接着就扭头走了。在我看来，我们做了充分的准备，所以他走进来看到我们的时候会说“这值得一看”，然后才会会回到唱片公司，把他们拉过来，接着他们也说了同样的话：“哦确实不假”。那天晚上Jon不光看到了我们，也至少看到了两个其他乐队。

How do you think you would have reached a major label if that night hadn’t taken place?

如果那天晚上的事没有发生，你觉得怎么才能进入大唱片公司？

One of two other things couldn’ve happened. Either someone else like that could have come along, which I doubt,’cause that was a one-in-a-million chance. But before that, we had been working with several different lawyers who were shopping our tapes and we had been to see a couple of other people in the business. We never had the attitude of,” Well, here’s our tape, let’s put a stamp on it and cross our fingers.” We were always trying to get to someone who knows the president and give it to him. Always trying to get right to the top.

还有两种可能。一种是出现另一个这样的人，我对此表示怀疑，因为这是百万分之一的机会。但是在那之前，我们一直在与几个不同的律师共事，他们会买我们的磁带，同时我们也去联系了一些其他的业内人士。我们从不会仅仅是“好吧这是我们的带子，让我们贴个邮票然后自求多福吧”，我们总是会努力尝试找到认识负责人的中间人，把带子给他。总会尝试找到能够直接达到目的的方式。

A lot of bands think you just send them a tape and hope. You gotta be a lot more forward. We banged on doors, we sent packages, but always with someone ——an attorney, a guy at the label. You have to have someone representing you that they know. That’s the way we were approaching it when this happened.

很多乐队都觉得你只需要把带子送出去然后翘首期盼就行了。你需要再往前走一步。我们到处敲门，寄送磁带，但总会有人陪同——会有个唱片公司的哥们当代理人。你需要找一个他们认识的人来代表你。事情发生的那段时间我们就是这么做的。

As a matter of fact, we had just hooked up with Larry Mazer, the manager we have now, and just before Bon Jovi saw us, Larry had been to PolyGram with our tape. And from what I understand, when Jon went in to tell them about the band, they already had a tape, and Jon coming in was the straw that broke the camel’s back. His point was, screw the tape, you gotta go see the band,’ Cause they were, like, putzin’ around about the tape. They weren’t sure,’cause our demos sucked! I’m singing out of key. A lot of them were pretty bad, because we didn’t know what we were doing. It’s all part of the learning process——recording, getting sounds together, playing.

事实上，那段时间我们刚刚和现在的经纪人Larry Mazer走到一起，而且就在Bon Jovi看到我们之前不久，Larry还给宝丽金送了我们的带子。据我所知，当Jon回去告诉他们关于乐队的事时，他们手里已经有我们的带子了，而Jon的到来就是压垮骆驼的最后一根稻草。他告诉他们，丢掉磁带吧，你一定得去看看乐队演出现场，‘因为他们在磁带上都是瞎折腾，他们根本不知道该怎么弄。’因为我们的小样太烂了！我都唱跑调了。很多样带都非常糟糕，因为我们并不知道自己在做什么。这都是学习过程的一部分——录音，混音，演奏。

What kind of kid were you?

你曾经是个什么样的孩子？

A brat. Just the kind of kid who didn’t like school. But I was a pretty good kid.

一个臭小子。就是那种不喜欢上学的小孩。但我很听话。

You’ve certainly proved you’re no dummy.

你已经证明了自己不是个笨蛋。

Try telling that to my third grade music teacher! She told me that I would never do anything in music ‘cause I was too busy watching the snow fall outside the window. I was more interested in snow than in what my teacher was trying to teach me,that I already knew. I didn’t do really well in school ‘cause I didn’t like it. I’m the kind of person that hates authority.

你去告诉我三年级的音乐老师吧！她说我在音乐上必将一事无成，因为我总是只顾着看窗外的雪花。我对雪花比对老师试图教我的东西更感兴趣，那些东西我都已经知道了。我在学校表现不好，因为我不喜欢，我是那种讨厌权威的人。

But as the natural leader of a group, you are the authority.

但作为一个团队自然而然的领导者，你就是权威。

I guess that’s why I don’t like it! But I’m not a dictator. I just step in when I feel I need to. Someone’s gotta do it. But now that we have a tour manager, my load of being the leader has loosened quite a bit, which is better. I rather just be one of the guys and havs someone else be the principal.

我猜这就是我不喜欢它的原因吧！不过我不是独裁者。我只是觉得自己需要发挥作用的时候才去介入。总得有人来做这个。但是现在我们有巡演经理，我作为领导者的负担减轻了不少，感觉好多了。我更愿意作为团队的一员，让别人来当领导。