Mention the song title “William Tell Overture,” and a lot of people might scratch their heads in confusion. But hum a few bars, and there are few people who don’t recognize this classic tune. It’s so famous that it’s been covered by literally hundreds of artists since its composition in the early 1800s. Modern recording artists still turn out renditions of the “William Tell Overture” today because of the public’s instant connection to its familiarity.

Though everyone recognizes it, many are not aware of the history and the context from which the song originated. It was composed by Gioachino Rossini for his 39th and most famous opera, William Tell. The man on whom the opera is based is a figure surrounded by mystery and lore. William Tell, although well-known in Switzerland as a national hero, is arguably a somewhat controversial figure. Some historians debate whether the man even existed. If he did, was he really the legendary figure he has been lauded as being?

Regardless of such questions, school children around the world can recite the story of William Tell, the man who shoots the apple off of the head of his son with his crossbow. According to legend, Tell, who was something of a renegade, refused to bow to the statue of a contentious ruler. As punishment, he was forced to either shoot the apple, or subject both himself and his son to execution. An expert marksman, he successfully saved the life of both himself and his son with a single shot. (He reportedly said afterward that he had one arrow in reserve for his punisher, should he have failed his son.)

It’s a grand story that is told fondly in many classrooms. But, like many legends, his has probably been embellished over the centuries, if indeed the man lived at all. Despite the questions about his life, he is still recognized as a Swiss hero. Perhaps it is this cloud of intrigue that has inspired so many artistic works based on the legend of William Tell.

The opera William Tell was based on a previous work, a play written by Friedrich Schiller. The musical version of the hero’s life is a four- hour work characterized by complicated and demanding scores. Since its first public performance at the Paris Opera in 1829, it has been edited and recreated in less-demanding versions over the following centuries.

In the years after its first performance it was censored and banned by various governing authorities for its controversial glorification of a revolutionary character. As censorship often does, this tended only to fuel the public’s interest even more. This may be one of the reasons the legend of this Swiss hero became so dramatically retold, embellished, and exaggerated.

The overture itself is written in four distinctive sections, with each leading seamlessly to the next. Rarely has any song without lyrics been sung so frequently. While the composer Rossini might be pleased with how his work has become so ingrained into modern culture, he may be less impressed with the reasons why. The “William Tell Overture” catapulted into popularity when it was used as the theme music for the television series “The Lone Ranger.” Appearing first as a radio broadcast in 1933, followed by the television series, the “William Tell Overture” may be forever associated with the media hit. Politically incorrect though it was by today’s standards, “The Lone Ranger” continues to be credited with indelibly etching the overture in the minds of popular culture.

Today the song is parodied more than any other classical song, with versions found on the CDs of modern artists and even on YouTube. It graces sporting events, and it is particularly associated with horse racing. Even those who can’t identify it by name refer to it as “The Lone Ranger Song,” and usually they can’t help but hum or whistle along when they hear it played.

Went out yesterday and got a copy of Megadeth’s newest release, Endgame. If you are a true metal fan and a fan of the guitar, this is the album for you! In true Megadeth fashion, Endgame begins with the most blistering instrumental I’ve heard in a while. Dialectic Chaos definitely sets the tone for the rest of the album. Chris Broderick and Dave Mustaine trade off guitar solos on this first track making you beg for more.

Megadeth wastes no time ripping into track two, This Day We Fight!, fast and furious reminiscent of Rust in Peace. If the talent of guitarists Dave and Chris isn’t enough by now, you need to clean your ears out! 44 Minutes is the third track on the album. It’s a rather melodic song about a shooting spree. Great soloing in the middle with a good riff overall. Song four is 1320 which is the standard length of a drag racing strip. The lyrics about drag racing and the pace of the song make for a perfect combination for a Megadeth hit. Bite The Hand is the fifth track giving you a taste of Mustaine’s anger that is usually showcased in his albums. This is one of those middle of the road songs, lyrically not fantastic, but the guitar soloing keeps your interest.

Track six, Bodies starts to get you fired up again. I love Dave’s lyrics. “They may have been good friends, just not good friends of mine”. Add his signature snarl in the mix and you begin feeling as angry as Mustaine after just a few notes! Track seven, Endgame just screams Megadeth and Mustaine! What Megadeth album wouldn’t be complete without a song that includes a tirade focused on anti-government and New World Order. If this is your thing then this song is for you.

Hardest Part of Letting Go, Sealed With A Kiss is the eighth track on the album. A lot of people talk trash and say it’s not thrash. Well in my opinion when a metal/thrash band can pull off a song like this it shows real talent. It reminds me of Promises from the The World Needs a Hero album, which was really outside of Dave’s boundaries. I mean who can be angry all the time. A ballad once in awhile is okay especially if it includes this kind of guitarmanship.

Head crusher ought to be called Head Exploder. It will knock you right out of your seat with it’s no nonsense lyrics and speedy pace. A great song for Megadeth fans, about a medieval torture device, perfect! Track ten, How The Story Ends is a good song with a great acoustical solo by Mustaine and nice solo by Broderick right in the middle. A lot of Megadeth albums start to suck by the last song or two, but this one doesn’t. It’s quite refreshing to hear a good thrasher at the end.

The Right To Go Insane is the last track on the album. Begins with a bass solo by James Limenzo, which gets your attention but the song quickly becomes mundane with the same riff we’ve heard before. But wait, it does build up into a furious ending of guitar soloing which puts a nice finish on the album.

Overall, I would have to agree with many others. This is probably some of Dave’s finest work! Congrats on again getting producer Andy Sneap to help with this project. He definitely helped bring out the best in Dave and Chris. In my opinion, two of the finest axe-men in the world. Hopefully this won’t be the last album guys. hint, hint!

Betsy: People talk about it a lot. There’s the Now and Forever forum where people comment on it. But on YouTube people will post comments on the videos. You can always look there for the comments. I posted up two videos, Make you Mine and Lace and Leather the first night from Vegas and the next day I recorded The Future and I posted up that. I think I told you last night that Make You Mine has 1,200.

Graham: That’s 1,200 people that have come on now and listened to it?

Betsy: Now I started posting the videos of all the different clips in November and 45,000 views we’ve passed now.

Graham: That’s amazing.

Betsy: And when I saw you in Vegas it was only 25,000.

Graham: I remember that.

Betsy: So in just three weeks, it’s 20,000.

Graham: Wow.

Graham: What was the reaction when I put on Lace and Leather for people to download, do you know?

Betsy: Oh, people couldn’t wait for it. I mean…

Graham: Right.

Betsy: I was shocked because it sounds so different than your live version, very different.

Graham: You think?

Betsy: Absolutely. Your live version is very upbeat and fast and the recorded version is very…

Graham: Mellow

Betsy: Yeah, very mellow. Beautiful!

Graham: No, I know what you mean. See, I’m not really aware that much. Yeah, ’cause on the recorded one, there’s the strings on there.

Betsy: And there is somebody else singing. People have been asking who is singing. I don’t know, is it you?

Graham: It’s me. Yeah. It probably is a little bit more mellow ’cause I think I made a mental note, now that I think of it, that live, I needed to attack it a little more, you know. Just to step on it a little more. Because it’s the last song in my three and I don’t want it to be too sleepy, you know? Yeah, I definitely dig in a little more, live. I dig in a little more. But you’re right. On the recorded one it’s a little mellower. Because it’s got the strings on there.

Betsy: It’s beautiful. But it sounds very different. I prefer the live version, myself.

Graham: That’s interesting that you think it’s so different. I don’t think it’s that different.

Betsy: Well, that’s because you’re singing it.

Graham: But you know, but things evolve. Like if I had recorded the song tomorrow it would be different than how I recorded before. It would just be, ’cause it’s now instead of then.

Betsy: Well look at how you sound today as Air Supply verses what the recordings sounded in the 80s.

Graham: Oh yeah. .It’s totally different. Nothing’s the same.

Betsy: No. Absolutely not.

Graham: And you can’t expect it to be, you know.

Betsy: And they are beautiful now. Ok, I grew up with that back in the 80s. That’s all the music I know. But to hear it now, it’s incredible to hear it. Russell sounds fabulous. You sound fabulous. The band does… The energy…

Graham: Yeah. It’s very different, yeah.

Betsy: I think I say somewhere on my blog, it’s not the same Air Supply you remember from the 80s.

Graham: No, oh thank God, you know.

Betsy: It’s a total rock band.

Graham: It is, yeah, I mean, it was a little bit in the 80s but that’s 25 years ago you know. I mean, I don’t want to sound like we did 25 years ago. That would be terrible.

Betsy: I wouldn’t say it would sound terrible because that’s what people…

Graham: Well it would be ’cause we wouldn’t have gone anywhere. And I think people are surprised when they come to see us and they go “whoa” ’cause it’s not what they think it’s gonna be.

Betsy: Here’s a question for you. You said that radio stations won’t play your music. Do you think they will in Asia? And I’m talking specifically about The Future.

Graham: I think they are gonna play it, yeah. I think they are gonna play it here too. Once people hear it.

Betsy: I hope.

Graham: I really believe that, yeah. But they’ll play it in Asia.

Betsy: What are your goals for your sales?

Graham: I don’t really have any goals. I just want people to hear it. But Barry, I think, has got a distribution deal for me worldwide, so it’s gonna get out there, yeah.

Betsy: Do you have any plans to release a follow up?

Graham: You know, I’m sure I will now, once I’ve kind of broke the ice with this one. Doing this one was…for a long time I thought, should I do it or will it not be a good idea. One of the things that I really thought about was the Air Supply fans. Would they think that Air Supply was gonna be finished. And I didn’t want them to presume that. So when I used to mention it some months ago that I was doing it, I’d say, but it’s not the end of the band you know. It wont make any difference to the band at all. I mean, they were just songs that were sitting there that Air Supply wouldn’t have used.

Betsy: And you play them during the Air Supply show.

Graham: Yeah, yeah. It’s funny ’cause people are surprised that I am doing this. But they say, what a great idea. And I say, yeah, I know! And plus, it quenches my thirst to do something solo a little bit, you know, and it’s the perfect thing.

Betsy: Now how long do you think you’ll be doing it live in shows

Graham: Certainly all this year.

Betsy: So is the intermission type thing gone where you were doing This Time?

Graham: Not necessarily, no. I might bring that back. I mean, eventually, I want to do all of them. I’ll change the songs up. Once people start hearing it and get used to the album then I’ll swap the songs around. And I’ll do different ones, you know. Or maybe extend my thing to four songs or something.

Betsy: Now does that affect the time?

Graham: It does Yeah. It affects it. Because different venues want different times, you know, from us. You know, normally they want 90 minutes so I have to be sure that I don’t take up Air Supply’s time because I don’t want to step on the fans’ time watching the band. You know, people want to hear this song and that song and I don’t want to have to, I won’t pull songs out of the Air Supply set just so I can perform, you know? But a lot of places don’t care. They say, you know, you can play two hours, I mean our set…

Betsy: Whoo hoo!

Graham: Well our set, our full set, which we don’t get to do very often, it is almost two hours .

Betsy: I haven’t seen one yet.

Graham: haven’t you?

Betsy: Not a full set, no. Well, I don’t know. I’ve seen the set that I’ve seen for the past six months. And I don’t recall any…

Graham: Right, well we are due to change it up, and, although, we did change it…

Betsy: Recently, with opening with Even The Nights.

Graham: That’s new this year, yeah.

Betsy: Very cool.

Graham: Yeah, I love that. That was actually Jonni’s idea to open with that. Yeah, and we just moved things around. We moved the Power of Love down.

Betsy: That was weird for me because I was so used to seeing Power of Love right at the beginning.

Graham: It’s still weird for me

Betsy: But the way I look at it is it’s like the second half of the show. It’s like a new beginning.

Graham: It is the second half of the show. Exactly. It starts the second half.

Betsy: Very cool. But, we miss the intermission where you say, oh Russell ‘s gone to change his pants, have a cup of tea…

Graham: Right, I know. But I can’t do that now because I’m doing that at the front. What I like too is I like to keep everything evolving, and changing. Now people are getting used to me opening up you know. But then later on when they get used to it, I might swap it around again. That’s what I like. I like to keep everyone on their toes.

Betsy: You haven’t done that many shows with it.

Graham: No. Feb 14 I started.

Betsy: What, that’s maybe 15 shows, 10 shows.

Graham:
Yeah. But it took me this long just to figure it out. When I started on Valentines Day to where I am doing now is totally different. Same songs, but oh I had the lyrics in front of me and I couldn’t remember them, you know. Course I could, but I was freaked.

Betsy: Really?

Graham: Well, not freaked. I never get nervous. But I didn’t want to mess it up. And when you are on your own, there is only one person responsible and even though the lyrics were in front of me, I’d mess them all up. And I hate reading lyrics from the paper, you know. In fact, I’d tell the audience, I’d say, well I got all my words down here, and I’d still mess it up. So in the end, I just have to take them away and I know them.

Betsy: So for The Future do you have any plans to perform specifically for that?
Graham: I’d like to. In fact, we rehearsed last week. I rehearsed a band last week. Just for fun. For three days in Park City, yeah just to…it was, what do the politicians call it?…an exploratory committee to run for president. So this was an exploratory rehearsal.

Betsy: You need donations?

Graham: Yeah, right, always! You know, we just got together and played and we played all the songs from the album. And it was cool. Course it was me, Mike, Jonni and Stina. I asked Jed to do it but he was on holiday ’cause it was his birthday. So it was cool. It was weird at first, Russell not being there, but this is just another flavor you know. But I would like to do some shows. If we had some time off I’d probably go out and do a couple of weeks somewhere in small venues and a club in the back, back of beyond, you know. And what I’d call it is Graham Russell and The Future. So the band would be called The Future, which I think is really cool.

Betsy: Oh really?

Graham: Yeah.

Betsy: That’s so cool,

Graham: It is, isn’t it. I can’t believe no one has thought of it!

Betsy: What’s the status of the Heart of the Rose.

Graham: Well we’ve done two previews. We did one in Chicago, and one in New York and we’re looking for a lot of money. We haven’t got what we want yet, but we’ll get it. You know, it’s a long journey, and there are a lot of obstacles. Because we are trying to do something different than what a normal Broadway show is. I mean, in New York we had a lot of heavy weight Broadway people there and they’re all saying you can’t do it this way and you can’t do that. And I just really don’t listen, you know?

Betsy: You can’t.

Graham: Well, I can’t, no. I don’t want to listen to those people. But it was very successful. It was really cool. And the way it was presented, it was very different. Normally, there’s four or five people and they read everything from stands and they don’t act anything out and they just stand there or read it and turn pages and sing a few of the songs. But I had five singers and I only made a cameo role in half a song. But it was really cool. The singers were fantastic and they acted it all out. And Broadway people aren’t used to that. And they were saying, Oh is that the whole show? And we’d say, no that’s not the whole show…all this stupid stuff. But you know, we’ll get there.

Richard Branson is a real mentor figure for me and I read something I usually tell everyone. I read an article on a plane about him and it said, you know when you’ve got a new idea or something new, he says, everybody will say no to it ’cause they’re frightened of it. And he said, so get ready for them all to say no. And he said, unless they say no, you’re on the wrong track and you’re not doing anything new or spiritual or innovative. He said they’re gonna say no. But right at the end, somebody will say yes and understand it and go boom! And the light will go on. And he said, that’s being creative and that’s being a leader and doing something that nobody’s done before. And I’ll never forget that. Cause he’s one of those people. You know, I wanna do something different for Broadway.

Betsy: So is that where you intend to…

Graham: I wanna open it in England, in Nottingham first for like a month and then take it to the West End. But it’ll happen you know, in its time. I mean, it’s becoming a lot of years so far. Yep, a long time. But I don’t need it to happen. But it’ll happen.

Betsy: So it occupies a lot of your time?

Graham: Yeah, well, it doesn’t occupy a lot of my time now ’cause it’s finished. So when the impetus is ready for another…we’re talking about doing one in Los Angeles, another preview. We’ll do it. But there’s no pressure to do it. I mean, we have certain funds for it, but we don’t have what we want, what we’re after. We’re after 10 million dollars you know.

Betsy: If I had it, I would give it to you.

Graham: Oh I know you would! But we’ll get it.

Betsy: Are you working on any other projects?

Graham: I’m doing the music for a movie, I just discovered two days ago, which is a small movie. It’s coming out of Utah. And I’ve read the script and I think it’s really cool. There’s only I think six or seven people in it. So it’s a very low budget small movie and its really cute and very cool. And they asked me to write the music and so, I did, well, I am. I’ve already written the title song for it, which is really cool. And so I’m doing that. And what else am I doing? I’m spending a lot of time now doing promotion for The Future. I’ve just been getting a lot of promotion for it. But I’m not really working on anything else.

Betsy: What’s the status of the Air Supply CD?

Graham: You know at the moment it’s a little bit in limbo because we just haven’t all got together. The songs are there. Originally I was gonna do the Zed project, which I wanted it to be a theatrical thing. Not live on stage like theater. I wanted it to be like a concept, you know, but I don’t know about that anymore because it’s been a couple years since that. And I wrote all the songs for it, and everything. And Russell heard them, loved them. But now I’ve kinda got off that a little bit because it’s been a long time.

Betsy: So do you think that we’ll see a CD in 2007?

Graham: Where are we now, March? I think so, yeah. The end of this year.

Betsy: But you’re not quite sure what it will be?

Graham: It will probably be towards the end of autumn. A lot of songs are already recorded. We recorded Miracles, which we already gave on the side, Faith in Love, which now there are three versions of Faith in Love.

Betsy: I like the second to last one.

Graham: Which one was that?

Betsy: The one before this one. I just have to say, from a personal perspective I really miss you playing the guitar in the beginning.

Graham: I play it though.

Betsy: No, no-in the very beginning. Now you are clapping and you’re getting everybody moving…

Graham: Right yeah, but I bring it in.

Betsy: And Jed’s just kind of standing there…

Graham: Yeah, no we took all the synthesizers out. Only because we’ve been doing it for a year.

Betsy: But I love that other version. But that’s just me. Other people say they like the new one too.

Graham: No that’s cool.

Betsy: I really love to see you play the guitar and that’s one of the reasons I love seeing you, what is it, is it Make You Mine that you do that in?

Graham: Yeah. We needed to, well, I needed, too, to change it up because we’ve been doing it for a year. And every year, historically, I change the set up or bring new songs in. I didn’t this year because I knew a lot of people really liked Faith in Love and I do too. But I needed to change it up or it was coming out because I can’t, I can only do it for so long that way. All of them, Even the Nights…they all need to be changed up a little, you know?

Betsy: What about Sweet Dreams? You’ve been doing The River for-

Graham: Yeah, we have. Well, I love the poem, we all do and I’m not ready to lose that yet. Maybe I’ll bring it in with another poem somew
here else. ‘Cause I like that element, the spoken word. In fact, when we first started that, I thought, wow, are people gonna get it? But people really get it.

Betsy: People today, people who haven’t ever seen a show, they’re wondering, what is this and then all of a sudden Close Your Eyes… and people are like oh!, it’s Sweet Dreams!

Graham: Yeah, yeah I like that.

Betsy: When you look out into the audience, do you appreciate seeing familiar faces?

Graham: Yes, we get used to them.

Betsy: What would you consider the greatest moment in your career?

Graham: I hope I haven’t had it yet.

Betsy: Is there anything you haven’t done yet that you would like to?

Graham: Yeah, I would love win an Oscar for some music I write.

Betsy: Really?

Graham: Yeah. I would.

Betsy: What would you like to be doing in five years?

Graham: Exactly this. You know, the Rolling Stones are our model. We are still young and age is just a number. We plan to be around for many years, as long as we can. I don’t know why people think we are going anywhere.

Betsy: With all of your writing, do you know the greatest number of songs written in a short period of time?

Graham: No, not really. Usually, they all come together, fast and furious, one right after another. I’ll be writing one and another one will come right after.

Betsy: So you don’t typically have one here and there? They all just kind of come at one time together?

Graham: Yeah.

Betsy: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Graham: I like to garden. My whole family were gardeners.

Betsy: Really? Do you like to garden things like veggies or plants?

Graham: Veggies and herbs.

Betsy: Me too! It’s not so easy though back on the East Coast.

Betsy: Graham, thank you so much for your time. This has been wonderful and I feel very honored.

Graham: You’re very welcome my Dear. Thank you.