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Don McLean
Twas a time when renowned New York composer Don McLean was surprised by the enduring appeal of his work . Like that moment in 2003 when he happened to catch a Simpsons episode called “ Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky ” that charted Lisa ’ s new love of astronomy and prominently featured his 1971 Van-Gogh-inspired single “ Vincent ( Starry Starry Night )” in the soundtrack . He laughed out loud as his tune played and the animated family watched a meteor shower ; “ This is even better than our screen saver — and I LOVE our screen saver !” An awestruck Marge Simpson noted , while Homer thoughtfully added , “ I wish God were alive to see this .” The gentle jangler had also been covered by a young Josh Groban on his 2001 debut disc , and was reportedly one of late rapper Tupac Shakur ’ s all-time favorites . It ’ s also in regular soundtrack rotation at Amsterdam ’ s Vincent Van Gogh museum , and in July of this convoluted coronavirus year , its original handwritten lyrics sold for $ 1.5 million . “ And I think that ’ s how that kid in England , Jake Bugg , first heard me ,” recalls McLean , now 75 and reflecting quite contentedly on his five-decade career . ( In countless interviews , Bugg has confirmed the crucial influence that “ Vincent ” had on the sound
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12 • 2020
of his classic eponymous debut of 2012 .)
But McLean ’ s not surprised any more . In fact , he kind of planned his career to be this long-lasting from the very start . “ It ’ s like I always say , it ’ s not easy to stay focused , it ’ s not easy to make in in this business , as much as I love it ,” admits the singer , who just signed a new deal with Time Life to release — not only a new covers disc , “ Still Playin ’ Favorites ,” a sequel to his early “ Playin ’ Favorites ” from 197 — but eleven of his back-catalog long-players , as well , which complements the content of his thriving YouTube channel . “ But one of the things I have is repertoire . I know people talk about ‘ American Pie ’ all the time , and they talk about ‘ Vincent ,’ But I have a deep catalog with a lot of songs that a lot of people know , and that ’ s really what sustains you . And therefore , I take great care with the albums that I make , because if — like now — you suddenly upload eleven albums that people vaguely remember , you want to make sure that every single thing on there has validity .”
IE : How do you get a deal with Time Life at 75 ? DON McLEAN : That came from going to Warner brothers , which is connected to Time Life . And we went to them looking for an outlet for this album , Still Playin ’ Favorites , which just came out . And they liked the record and wanted to put it out , which was great , because it ’ s hard to find a label these days , and I don ’ t even know what ’ s going on in this business anymore .
IE : But you recorded your last one , 2018 ’ s Botanical Gardens with no label deal in place . And BMG happened to pick it up . DM : Yeah . BMG picked it up , and they paid me a lot of money , too . I don ’ t think they actually made it back , but that was exciting . So we had this other covers album , and Warners said , “ Yes , we want it ,” and we were mentioning to them that we were going to start a YouTube channel and start uploading some of the many albums and TV specials that have all come back to me , because I put it in my original contract that — after a certain period of time — an album reverts to my ownership . And I had , like , eleven albums that had hits on them , and they were just sitting around . So Time Life took over that and uploaded the eleven albums and 173 tracks , and that was the start . Because now we have a large , regular viewership , and I ’ ve put all kinds of other stuff on there , and new things are being
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