10 Questions with ... Robin Rhodes

NAME:Robin Rhodes TITLE:Senior Director, Music Initiatives COMPANY:Mediabase / Rate The Music BORN:North Platte, Nebraska RAISED:Anaheim, California

1. First, tell us what you do at MediaBase. What does your typical day consist of?

Basically I'm the "jack of all trades" chick. I get to do a little bit of everything from chart maintenance to sales. It's fabulous and NEVER boring. It changes every day and that's exciting. Monday starts around 6am with calls/emails from labels verifying and checking on weekend spins. Generally the rest of the week is filled with tutorials, meetings, sales calls and of course just general fun. Come on, this is the music business after all!

2. In your position you deal with a lot of labels, which must be rewarding when their acts are doing well. But they have so much riding on those chart numbers that I bet at times it can be trying. Tell us about the ups and downs.

You know, I feel so fortunate that my clients are so savvy when it comes to working with Mediabase and knowing what their stations are doing that I can't say anything is a "down" for me personally. They pretty much know what to expect come Monday morning. However, there have been times when due to local market conditions a station will make a decision to switch to all news programming and that can definitely impact chart position. And in those situations there is nothing that can be done to get that missing airtime back. But the ups are fabulous! When you have an artist & label who gets their first number one - well, there is just nothing like it!

3. You grew up in Orange County, CA (as you put it, "I was from the O.C. before it was cool to be from there.") Was Country music prevalent in your world when you were growing up? What did you play in your Walkman?

Country Music wasn't part of my world at all. Which seems so odd to me now. My mother was a huge fan of KHJ Radio, which was a Top 40 station, and we listened to that constantly. After that I gravitated to Rock and I remember my mother being horrified when I started listening to Alice Cooper's "Welcome To My Nightmare" - I had to sneak! All of that was on my Walkman - Tom Petty, Alice Cooper and then DISCO!

4. Before MediaBase, you had the chance to work with the legendary Bob Kingsley. What did you learn from working with him?

I learned so much Bob that I could go on for days. He always encouraged me to come up with new ideas and suggestions for the show, and he always listened to them. So I was able to really grow creatively and expand the job into so many different avenues. He encouraged us to be really involved with the music and really LISTEN. He listens to every single and album released with such excitement. And he, as most people know, has a great respect for songwriters. I learned so much about music and the industry from Bob that it's hard to put into words.

5. From California you made the move to Texas, where you worked out of Bob's studio in Weatherford. What sort of culture shock was that? Did you like living in the DFW area? What do you miss most, or do you miss anything about it?

I miss it a lot. Of course my daughter is there so that's a huge draw, but Dallas and I bonded in a big way aside from that! Being a beach girl from California, for about the first six months I was in total culture shock. No Beach! No Water! No Trees! But then I started to venture out and fell in love with everything about the city. I miss the sports teams and am still a Dallas Stars hockey fan. I miss the general vibe there - it's really like no other. And once Texas gets in your blood you're committed for life!

6. In 2005 you packed your bags and moved to Nashville. What prompted that move? What is your favorite thing about Music City?

I had a desire to be more involved in the Nashville music community. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I knew I needed to move here to make it happen. So I gave Bob like three months notice (because I was scared to death) and that's when I got the call from the fabulous Alissa Pollack here at Mediabase and the rest, is history!

7. One look at your MySpace or Facebook page and it is very obvious that you are a BIG Motley Crue fan. Tell us about last summer and the trips you and Jill Gleason took to see the Crue.

Last summer was the time of our lives! They were on tour with "Crue Fest" all summer. Most of the shows were at outdoor venues, but Jill and I had decided we wanted to go see an indoor show. So we booked a weekend trip to the Mohegan Sun Casino. But before that date, I was invited to go to their St. Louis show. I was talking to one of the opening bands backstage and mentioned I would see them in CT. They said they weren't on the bill- only two bands were on that. Well, once I saw the entire line up play - it was 112 degrees in St. Louis that day - I told Jill we had to change our plans. So we decided to reschedule our flights and hotel reservations and go to the New Jersey show the night before the Mohegan Show. We had the time of our lives that weekend! We met the bands and partied like rock stars in Jersey. We drove ourselves to CT the next day. We gambled and although we had bought our tickets, we decided we didn't like them so we bought more. We acted like we were 20 and had a blast! I'm not sure that two people have ever laughed more, from the time our plane left Nashville to the time we got back home. Once we got back we had "Crue Withdrawal" and decided to go to the last night of the show in Pittsburgh over Labor Day Weekend. It was amazing. By this time we had fallen in love with Sixx AM - Nikki Sixx's band, and as fate would have it we have now become friends with lead singer James Michael. He's an amazing talent. Oh, Jill and I will be front and center for the upcoming Crue show in Nashville!

8. If we were taking a trip to the O.C. and you were going with us as our tour guide, where would you take us?

Well, we'd skip all the touristy stuff and go straight down to Laguna Beach where we'd walk around with our toes in the sand. We'd have lunch at Las Brisas overlooking the ocean, and then go to all the cool art galleries down there. Then I think a good nightcap would be hitting South Coast Plaza for a little retail therapy!

9. Tell us about three songs that have had a profound impact on your life.

Alice Cooper's "Welcome To My Nightmare"; Al Stewart's "Time Passages"; and Garth Brooks' "The Dance."

10. What was your very first concert? What would you say was the best concert you have ever seen?

Okay, this will surely date me, but the very first concert I ever saw was Elvis Presley. I went with my older sister. We had the nose bleed seats, like very last row at the top. Elvis was like a little tiny dot! But the best concert I have ever seen is of course Motley Crue!

1. Do you ever get asked at parties and events to rattle off chart numbers?

Oh yes! And that of course is when I'm tongue-tied. On a normal day I'm like Rain Man, but put me on the spot and all of a sudden I clam up.

2. If your house were on fire and you could only save five CDs, what would they be?

Guns N Roses "Appetite For Destruction"; Tim McGraw "Everywhere"; Motley Crue "Dr. Feelgood"; Sixx A.M. "The Heroin Diaries"; Jeffrey Steele "Gold, Platinum, Chrome & Steele."