-
And It Goes On And On At EMI ... Others Take Note
August 21, 2009
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
"We have spent a long time looking intensely at EMI and the problems faced by its recorded music division which, like the rest of the music industry, has been struggling to respond to the challenges posed by a digital environment. The changes we are announcing today will ensure that this iconic company will be creating wonderful music in a way that is profitable and sustainable."
-- Terra Firma's Guy Hands back in January '08Terra Firma's Guy Hands said that only seven months after the his group purchased one of the greatest music companies in the world, EMI.
The changes he announced back then included cutting up to 2,000 jobs at EMI, and as I wrote back in January '08 in the newsletter in my commentary, "Again: The Real EMI Plan Continues To Unfold," "No sooner had Mr. Hands made his announcement, came the news that yet more talent has chosen to leave EMI. The Rolling Stones announced their decision to release their new album, "Shine A Light" (which will accompany a Martin Scorsese film of the same name that features two live shows the band performed in New York in 2006) through rival Universal Music in March."
From that same commentary I wrote, "When Mr. Nicoli (then EMI head) announced almost a year ago that (for all intent and purposes) Capitol Records was going bye-bye, he said, "By bringing Capitol and Virgin into one label group, we will be better equipped than ever to promote and nurture artistic talent." To that I said, "I for one, do not see how these changes "better equip than ever" the new Capitol Music Group to "promote and nurture artistic talent." Perhaps Mr. Nicoli will expand on those possibilities at some future date. But, I don't know how diminishing size enables any label to stay on equal footing competitively." ('The Capitol Records Thing', DISC&DAT, February 2,2007)
This past week, a new article appeared in The Wall Street Journal 'EMI DEAL Hits Sour Note' by Aaron Patrick. (See the link to the story below) From that article, "the storied record company is now facing a problem it hasn't yet been able to shake: the heavy debt from a leveraged buyout gone bad."
Read the article to get all the details on what's happening at EMI, but as I said in the newsletter previously, investment companies don't buy any companies to lose money; they buy them to usually turn them around quick and resell them for profit (after making a whole lot of cuts), or by breaking them up and selling them in little pieces. No surprise there. That's what investment companies do.
Whatever EMI's debt problems are, one thing is for sure: Financial people and investment companies aren't going to solve them. The only thing that will solve EMI's (and any other music conglomerate's) problems, is the commitment to MUSIC and making sure MUSIC people who have the talent and the vision are running it on the creative end everyday.
Guy Hand's hiring of Elio Leoni-Sceti as EMI Music's chief executive officer wasn't a move in the right direction, for starters. I have nothing against Mr. Leoni-Sceti, but: a) he never worked in the music industry before, and: b) he came from a "consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser, whose products include Dettol, Nurofen and Finish dishwasher powder." (Source: http://tinyurl.com/m5dp5d )
Basically, what Mr. Hands did would be like Proctor & Gamble buying Dreamworks Pictures and making their chief marketing executive the head over Steven Spielberg. Wouldn't make much sense, would it?
Okay, maybe I'm over-simplifying. But you get the picture, don't you? And if you do, you can see it's clearly out of focus.
The music industry has enough problems in the digital world to contend with without having to worry about debt-loads and spreadsheets that tell accountants the cost of everything, but not the value.
Yes, all big companies need the "money people" in place to watch those monthly "P&L" (that's "profit and loss" for any of you fortunate enough NOT to have to deal with them) statements, but those same people should NOT be running music companies or record labels and making decision that affect the company's future financial well-being. That should be left to the people who have vision. I'm pretty sure Steve Jobs doesn't let his finance people tell him what he can and cannot create based on a spreadsheet.
What's happened at EMI can happen to any big company when (in my opinion) bad decisions are made that affect the company on a day-to-day basis. The talent that music companies invest in should not only be in the artists they sign, but in the executives they place in the key positions.
And when it comes to those positions, I'll take a Clive Davis every time over a consumer products guy.
------------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 2
ARE YOU FROM JERSEY? BOB DYLAN WHO? A COMPLETE UNKNOWN ... LIKE A ROLLING STONE
Being a Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer and icon doesn't necessarily guarantee you being recognized.
On July 23rd Bob Dylan, on tour with Willy Nelson and John Mellencamp, was walking around some "low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood several blocks from the oceanfront looking at houses" in Long Branch, New Jersey, when a police officer pulled up, asked him his name and what he was doing there.
Dylan responded, "Bob Dylan. I'm on tour."
Dylan had no I.D. with him, so the officers accompanied Bob back to the hotel where everyone was staying and they vouched for him.
(Source: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090815/D9A30C6G1.html or http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/14/bob.dylan/index.html )
------------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 3
RECESSION OR NOT, "AMERICAN IDOL" TOUR SELLS TIX
It's tough out there on the road these days. Money is tight, even for those who always find money to go see their favorite acts live are being more discretionary with their dollars. This year, the "American Idols" Live Tour has already grossed over $11 million (with tix selling for $40-$69) and has had an average 82% sold rate.
Billboard senior touring editor Ray Waddell say that in a time when as much as "40% of tickets are going unsold ... They're doing better than average."
According to the TV show EXTRA, Adam Lambert's (this year's runner-up) cover for Rolling Stone was their top selling issue of this year, so this could be a primary reason for the strong ticket sales.
------------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 4
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN THE LATE-NIGHT TV WARS...
Repeats of David Letterman beat new shows with Conan O'Brien in the ratings for the week ending August 7th. Letterman has been making inroads against O'Brien over the past month or so, beating him in total viewers and occasionally some of the older demographics. NBC was quick to point out though that Conan beat Letterman in younger demos.
You can read the story here: http://tinyurl.com/l9y9gb.
------------------------------
A New Book: It All Begins with the Music: Developing Successful Artists for the New Music Business
SOME BRIEF DIALOGUE WITH THE AUTHORS
The book "It All Begins with the Music: Developing Successful Artists for the New Music Business" offers practical information, career blueprints, and a world of wisdom for aspiring artists, managers and executives on how to make an impact in today's music business. It provides a comprehensive examination of the new methods by which recording artists are discovered, developed, and nurtured in the modern music industry.
Anyone can benefit, from potential recording artists and performers, to aspirants and professionals in artist management, major and independent music distribution channels, producers, agents, publicists, PR and marketing representatives, and music publishers. Students in any music industry course in any college should make this a part of their course study. You'll also find behind-the-scenes information distilled from interviews with artists, managers, and executives at the forefront of the new music business.
The book was written by ex-EMI and Capitol A&R man Don Grierson, and one of the American media's foremost authorities on popular music and songwriters, Dan Kimpel.
Don Grierson worked with many notable artists at EMI including Sheena Easton, Kim Carnes, Kate Bush, Sir Cliff Richard, J. Geils Band, and Kenny Rogers. At Capitol he signed and helped guide a number of acts, including Heart, Joe Cocker, Steve Vai, Megadeth, George Clinton, Tina Turner, Bob Seger, Duran Duran, Thomas Dolby, Billy Squier, and others. Later he became Sr. VP, Head of A&R at Sony/Epic Records working with such acts as Cheap Trick, Celine Dion, Bad English, Gloria Estefan, The Jacksons, Living Colour and Cyndi Lauper. Don currently operates his own independent consultant company and is a faculty member at Musicians Institute, Hollywood, California. ) Visit Don online at www.dongrierson.com )
Dan Kimpel contributes to numerous interactive DVDs, magazines, websites, podcasts, documentary films, videos and new media. His notable interviews include conversations with Leonard Cohen, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Green Day, Metallica, Fergie, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, and Dr. Maya Angelou. Dan is the author of "Electrify My Soul: Songwriters and the Spiritual Source," "How They Made It: True Stories of How Music's Biggest Stars Went From Start To Stardom," "Networking Strategies For The New Music Business" and "Networking in the Music Business." A noted music business educator, Dan lectures at colleges, universities, and conferences across the U.S. and Canada, and for five years conducted a master class in Networking for graduating seniors at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) in the UK. He is a faculty member at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California, where he was recently named MBP Teacher of the Year. ( Visit Dan online at: www.dankimpel.com )
SM: Congratulations on the book ... it's something I think everybody who wants to get in the business should read. What were your main motivations for writing this book?
DG: Over recent years it's been suggested by varying people that I write a book ... I guess because of having had a long and successful career in our music business.
Never being a writer, and certainly not having lived the dark side of the "sex, drugs and rock & roll" world, I never believed I had a book in me that anyone would find interesting. Being an instructor at Musicians Institute here in Hollywood, I was approached by the head on the Music Business program, Kenny Kerner, who said he had been asked by varying students to recommend a book on A&R and that he realized there really wasn't one of any real value available, and suggested perhaps I write one.
Again, not being a writer, and certainly feeling a book focused on A&R would have a limited audience anyway, I questioned the suggestion. Kenny then suggested speaking with Dan Kimpel, also an instructor at MI and an author of 5 previously published music oriented books, with the thought that we might find an "angle." Dan jumped right in, believing that we could create an "industry" book with a basic perspective involving the "roots" of our business, the music, and how the A&R involvement with music and artists was/is crucial, then expand upon those basics to include most of the other also important entities that go into the creation and exploitation of what we know as the "music business." He believed his publisher would be interested. They were, so from that early meeting and subsequent long evenings of creative thought and glasses of vino, came the concept of what is now known as "It All Begins With The Music".
DK: I've known Don for years. By widening the concept, I learned so much about the business from hearing the stories and perspectives of so many different individuals from so many overlapping areas. I thought it was great idea to put this all down on paper in a book that others could benefit from by reading it.
SM: The music industry faces a myriad of challenges today. From your perspective, what are the biggest mistakes the labels have made thus far?
DG: To me, it's so obvious that the one basic, and biggest mistake the major labels have made was their lack of vision when the Internet became part of out lives. We found out that music could be downloaded and made available instantly. Although this was a new and exciting form of "distribution" the majors didn't realize to any degree its potential, nor did they support or nurture it. If they had, they would have been able to, if not control it, be a serious player in this new world. But no, as we all know, they tried to stop it. Failure! They've been playing catch-up ever since. Their basic answer: Sue their customers who might download illegally. At the same time, they've also taken the short-term view of trying to create quick hits to fit the immediate marketplace, at the expense of seeking and developing potential "long-term" talent. You have mentioned this "problem" many times in your commentaries.
SM:. Yes, too many times to mention. Obviously, the labels failed to see how the Internet could be used to help them to sell and market new music. They saw the Internet as a threat when Steve Jobs saw it as an ally. I think the Internet provides more opportunity today for more new artists than ever before in history ... you agree?
DG: I definitely do. Of course, now anyone can create music, inexpensively too, and place it on the Net. What has happened is that this means anyone who thinks they have talent can actually get their music "out there." But, this also means there is no "filtering" process. Before the Internet, good labels with strong A&R departments made creative decisions, obviously not always right, but which generally separated the good from the less so. Now, artists who have specific talent, and know their audience, can creatively release their music and be their own companies. We are seeing many more small success stories from independent artists/labels, but very few major "blow-outs" and superstar packages.
DK: There are more opportunities, but there is also far more crap because of the total lack of filters. As a journalist with a national monthly column for Music Connection magazine, I am absolutely deluged by the onslaught of self-financed and self-promoted CDs - probably 35-50 per week, every week. Back in the day, someone - anyone - had to believe in an artist's career. Not so in this era. The Internet is wonderful in connecting artists who have a following, who are building their story and most of all, who have created distinctive and appealing music. But in many ways, the Internet, for all of its power, has contributed mightily to a culture of musical narcissism that has nothing to do with the market.
But if the music is there, it's a potent dynamic. In the book, mega producer Howard Benson (Daughtry, All-American Rejects, Kelly Clarkson. etc.) references a band he is currently working with. "A group I'm producing now based their entire thing on the Internet. They had 1,000 people at their first show."
SM: How can songwriters and artists make an impact in film and television?
DG: Many consider the placement of music in film/TV as the key new "promotional" tool, with the impact of radio, and especially TV video clips, waning. Exposure in a TV show may not bring the creator big money, but it means exposure, it helps credibility and can be used for promotional/marketing purposes. Placement in a major film, or even in a trailer used to promote a film, can mean serious money and definitely promotional value. Songwriters benefit financially of course, but from the artist's point of view it's more about the exposure. Most labels and publishing companies today have staffs who totally focus on the exploitation of their music into film/TV, and augmented areas such as video games, plus ringtones and phone company tie ins etc.
DK: The proliferation of new media, and the increasing rise of cable television and independent films, presents many new opportunities for industrious songwriters and interesting bands whose music can fit visual formats. In "It All Begins with the Music" music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas (Greys Anatomy, Twilight) notes, "One song in a show doesn't omit a need for a good live show and a connection with your fans. All these things need to line up together."
For an artist or a songwriter who creates outside of mainstream music, it can be equally lucrative. We have a section in the book on Joel Evans, a Northern California songwriter/bandleader who creates retro, Rat Pack-reminiscent songs that can be heard in everything from the feature film, "Wedding Crashers" to "Desperate Housewives." His love of music from this era was a conduit to his current career. He says, "I decided early on to hell with it: I'm going to do stuff that I love."
SM: I have written often that when MTV hit the air in 1980, labels' A&R and Artist Development departments began to change dramatically. Artist Development was sacrificed for video budgets, A&R people influenced by MTV started signing a lot of acts who fit what MTV was doing, but who had no real substance. If we look back at that time in MTV history we see today a bunch of one-hit wonders and acts that simply could not deliver in live performances ... as an ex A&R executive who was working at a major label during that time, give us a glimpse into what was going on back then.
DG: MTV definitely did help change the way A&R departments looked at "talent", and not, in my opinion, to the good. Visual image/look did become a big part of the "signing" approach in many cases. I know I was guilty of this to a certain degree, partly because the companies I worked for expected the visual to enhance the music. The industry really started to focus on the "image" and often moved away from really focusing on the true talent. That certainly has continued now that with the Internet. What has happened is that, with rare exceptions, we, as an industry, have not, and are not, developing artists who end up having real, long-term careers, and for the labels, creating catalogs! It's now all about the "quick return," whatever might sell immediately.
SM: As an ex-promotion man, I had the chance to work with every manager for every artist we signed. It seems like the good managers were like great A&R people; they had vision and knew what they needed to develop their artists long term. Your thoughts?
DG: I totally agree. The great managers did have that talent. I believe we are really seeing that today more than ever. As traditional media have much less impact in breaking music/artists, the visionary managers are taking over and initiating more and more "creative" ways of exposing and maximizing their artists. In many cases, they are using traditional labels strictly as promotional tools and then making their own "plans" to exploit their talent. Notice that all the labels now want 360 deals, to get a piece of those ancillary income streams created by management etc. that aren't created by them.
DK: In the book, Jim Guerinot (No Doubt, Gwen Stefani, Nine Inch Nails) stresses the value of his long relationships with artists. "I recently celebrated my 10-year anniversary with No Doubt; Nine Inch Nails put out their first record in 1989; and Social Distortion and I put out our first record in 1979. Offspring's been around since 1984. There's something about that that's appealing to me,. They have careers, and if you have careers, it means that on a financially mercenary level you can sustain periods where there's no income and make better creative choices."
Managers, of course, are employees and service providers. We're seeing managers, like Jeff Rabhan, for example (Elliott Yamin, Kelly Rowland, Jermaine Dupri) expanding into the role of running indie labels or orchestrating their artist's careers through marketing companies, rather than conventional labels.
SM: Thanks guys for your time. The book should be a textbook for anybody who wants to be in the business or learn more about it ... it's a great read.
DG: Thanks Steve!
DK: Ditto!
Radiohead Says No More Albums, Just Singles
(From CNET.com) -- Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has declared, in an interview with The Believer, that the band has no plans to record another full-length album, preferring instead to focus on singles. A one-off from a band that can afford to call the shots, or a sign of things to come in entertainment, not to mention software?
Read more about it by clicking here.
Universal Signs Deal With Big Champagne; SoundScan Now Might Have To Charge Less
"The Internet has inherited the music business. When you look at MySpace plays, Rhapsody, iTunes, Last.fm ... all of that dwarfs traditional music purchasing. Instead of CDs, we paid attention to this sleepy little Internet thing, but it happened when no one was watching. Well, we were watching." - Big Champagne's CEO, Eric Garland
Now you count BigChampagne among the companies trying to cut into Nielsen's media-measuring empire.
Universal Music Group, the largest of the four major recording companies, has agreed to a multi-year deal that calls for BigChampagne to help track the popularity of the label's music online. Traditionally, Universal has relied on Nielsen's SoundScan for such chores.
Read more about it by clicking here.
The Long, Arduous Journey To Make The Beatles "Rock Band"
From the NY TimesA simply terrific and very detailed article in the New York Times about the making of The Beatles 'Rock Band'.
The article is loaded with information about the all the work that went into making The Beatles Rock Band and there is dialogue with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko, Olivia and Dhani Harrison about it all, and more. A great read!
Read it all here: http://tinyurl.com/m8nstf
The Beatles Rock Band will also include some unheard Lennon & McCartney chatter.
Check that out here: http://tinyurl.com/oabsrv
And is 9/9/09 the date that The Beatles catalog finally becomes available on iTunes?
Read the story here: http://tinyurl.com/l5gwoh
And this late news flash: Disney and director Robert Zemeckis wants to remake The Beatles 'Yellow Submarine' with the latest digital technology. Stay tuned.
iTunes Songs Now Account For 25% Of The Music Market
For the first half of 2009, iTunes itself snagged a 69% share of the overall digital music arena, trailed far behind by Amazon.com with 8 percent.
"Many people are surprised that the CD is still the dominant music delivery format, given the attention to digital music and the shrinking retail footprint for physical products," said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD Group. "But with digital music sales growing at 15 to 2o%, and CDs falling by an equal proportion, digital music sales will nearly equal CD sales by the end of 2010."
Read more about it by clicking here.
EMI Deal Strikes A Sour Note
As I mentioned above, here's the latest on the current problems at EMI in an article from The Wall Street Journal. It sure doesn't to me sound like Terra is too Firma about the deal anymore.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Web Music Players Strike a New Chord
Just months after a near-death experience, ad-funded Webcasters chart paths to profits
Back in June, things looked grim for ad-supported online music services. SpiralFrog, well-funded and heavily hyped, had already gone belly up. Pioneering Web radio outfit Pandora warned it would likely shut down. And in April, social music site imeem, which had over $20 million in venture backing and deals with the major labels to stream songs and split ad revenue, was forced to deny rumors it would soon shut down. The economics of ad-supported music simply weren't working.
Just two months later, however, the sector's prospects are considerably brighter. Like any endeavor dependent on ad dollars, times are tough, but the more prominent digital music platforms appear to have weathered the downturn.
Read more about it by clicking here.
MySpace Likes iLike To The Tune Of $20M
In an effort to invigorate its fading star, MySpace on Wednesday announced the acquisition of popular music recommendation startup iLike. While the size of the deal was not disclosed, it was reportedly in the range of $20 million. MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta also rejected any idea that the acquisition was necessary to save MySpace Music from an untimely demise.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Internet Usage Soars On Handheld Devices
Meraki, a known mesh network provider, released Tuesday its first Wireless Census for North America and the results, though dramatic, seem nothing of a surprise. Basically, there has been a huge increase in the number of wireless-capable devices, among which Apple's handheld devices had the biggest jump.
Read more about it by clicking here.
The Movie Industry Isn't Thrilled With All Those Redboxes
From the Los Angeles TimesThe L.A.Times' Patrick Goldstein has written a great article on the perils the movie industry is facing with cheap DVD rentals at places like Redbox as DVDs continue to slide in sales.
From the article, "In this era, where disruptive technology rules the Earth, if you don't give the customers what they want, you will find yourself on one side of the river, while the person who's embraced the new business model is on the other side, where all the action is."
Studios face serious challenges and if they don't study what happened in the music industry because of the failure to adapt to new technology and embrace it to their advantage, Hollywood film studios are soon going to be in the same position.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Les Paul in His Own Words: Hear His Last Rolling Stone Interview
Nine months ago Andy Greene sat down with Les Paul backstage in his dressing room at the Iridium nightclub for a story about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's tribute concert recently held in his honor.
Read more about it by clicking here.
LENNON LYRICS UP FOR BID
Song lyrics John Lennon scrawled on a postcard approximately 40 years ago are going on display in an English exhibit assembled by his first wife Cynthia and son Julian for the first time ever, the BBC reports.
MARIAH PUSHED BACK AGAIN
Mariah Carey's "Memories of an Imperfect Angel" has been pushed back yet again. MTV News reports the disc slated for September 15th will now drop September 29th
JAY'S FIRST GUEST
Jerry Seinfield will be Jay Leno's first guest when his new primetime show debuts on NBC at 10 p.m. on September 14th.
MEATLOAF TO ROCK AND ROLL FANTASY CAMP
Meatloaf will join Jon Anderson (Yes), Ace Frehley (Kiss), Rami Jaffee (Foo Fighters), producer Mark Hudson, Elliot Easton (The Cars), Kenny Aronoff (John Fogerty), Danny Seraphine (Chicago), Bruce Kulick (Kiss), Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne), Share Ross (Vixen) and Teddy Andreadis (Guns N' Roses), for the Nov. 12th-22nd session of RNRFC in Hollywood, Calif.
KISS GOES DIRECT
Kiss has announced that their new 11-song album, Sonic Boom, will be released October 6th in the U.S. and Canada exclusively in Walmart stores.
MOTLEY CRUE FORGES ON WITHOUT INJURED LEE
Tommy Lee, who burnt his left hand in an accident using sparklers, will temporarily be replaced on the 'Crue Fest 2 Tour' with drummer Morgan Rose of Sevendust. Lee is expected to return to the tour after sitting out a few dates.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK THE COCAINE EPIDEMIC HAS SUBSIDED, NOW THIS
CNN reports that "90% of paper money circulating in U.S. cities contains traces of cocaine." (Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/14/cocaine.traces.money/index.html )
DOLLY GETS BOXED
Dolly Parton will release a four-disc box set with seven unreleased tracks October 27th.
OPRAH GRABS WHITNEY
Oprah Winfrey has grabbed Whitney Houston for what she says is "the most-anticipated music interview of the decade." The show will mark Oprah's season debut and airs September 14th, just two weeks after Whitney releases her new album "I Look To You."
LAMBERT DOES 2012
"American Idol's" runner-up Adam Lambert has cut a song for the post-apocalyptic film '2012' set to open in theaters in November. Queen's Brian May says of the track, "It's so obviously a #1 smash, any bookie would be mad to take bets on it. I am not kidding."
IF YOU USE TWITTER, YOU PROBABLY KNOW THIS
From BBC news this week, "A short-term study of Twitter has found that 40% of the messages sent via it are "pointless babble," and "The study found that only 8.7% of messages could be said to have "value" as they passed along news of interest." (Source: http://tinyurl.com/o9ta4n )
Quotes of the week
"Someone asked me, Lady GaGa, do you have a dick? I said yes, and it's much bigger than yours!"
-- Lady GaGa, addressing silly rumors about her, during her concert in the Philippines"In 10 years' time you'll be standing there, and you will be Paul McCartney. You know that, don't you? You'll have a holographic case, and it will just encase you, and you will be Paul McCartney. God knows what that will mean for me. I'll be the guy on the original record."
-- Paul McCartney, in the NY Times article "While My Guitar Gently Beeps," about the making of The Beatles Rock Band."All of us have to thank him for giving us a job, man. Because let's face it -- without the electric guitar and multitrack recording, where would musicians be? Everybody should give a big thanks to Les for that, for sure."
-- Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora, talking about Les Paul to Roling Stone
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
New Roommate Has Elaborate Theory About How Kenny Rogers Is A Genius
DAYTON, OH-University of Dayton sophomores Mike Maritz and Andrea Haltigan reported Monday that their otherwise normal-seeming new roommate has "this whole theory about how Kenny Rogers is a genius."
Kurt Schaier, whose deep admiration of Kenny Rogers (left) has caused confusion among his new roommates.
"So, yesterday, we're moving the living room around to fit in some of Kurt [Schaier]'s stuff," said Maritz, 21. "The two of us are pushing my big CD shelf into the corner, and out of nowhere, Kurt says, 'Kenny Rogers is the most underrated musician alive.' I was like, 'Where did that come from?'"
According to Maritz, Schaier spent the next 25 minutes elaborating on his bold assertion, discussing Rogers' pre-solo days with The First Edition, his duets with Dottie West, and his 1977-80 "Golden Era." Later that evening, Schaier returned to the subject twice more, once to offer a line-by-line analysis of the lyrics to "Coward Of The County" and once to declare the 1968 First Edition hit "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" a "true pop-psychedelic classic."
Read the rest here and laugh: http://tinyurl.com/lx8rdu.
THE RADIO INTERVIEW on 'THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE' - From newsblaze.com
"Steve Meyer is on the front line of global music sales and distribution which he expects will soar to pocket-bursting levels. What's more, he shares his insight and ingenuity with us. Steve gives us both historical perspective and futuristic vision as he chats with Judy about the love of his work, trends of the business and his personal points of view about success, happiness and blending life with the lust for life. Steve joins Judy and helps us discover the thrill of having it all with a sense of balance and purpose. "
You can listen to an interview I did with Judy Piazza of 'The American Perspective' by clicking here: (It runs about 15 minutes)
http://www.thesop.org/index.php?id=10306.
The Blogs
Check out Jerry Del Colliano's (the founder of INSIDE RADIO) daily blog, by clicking here: http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com