earbender

earbender.com is alive

2008-12-01T22:14:00.004-05:00

This blog won't be updated anymore. Please visit me at http://www.earbender.com and read on!

Please update all bookmarks, links, etc.

See you in the future!

Thanks,

John

Willie Nelson's Letter to President-elect Obama

2008-11-07T10:53:00.003-05:00

Dear President-elect Barack Obama,

As President of Farm Aid, I'd like to take this opportunity to whole-heartedly congratulate you on your historic victory. I'd also like to offer you every resource that Farm Aid has available to assist you in creating a new farm and food policy that supports a sustainable family farm system of agriculture.

I started Farm Aid in 1985 when family farmers were being forced off their land as a result of federal policy that paved the way for industrial agriculture. This shift replaced independent family farmers with factory farms that have wreaked havoc on our communities, our environment and our public health.

There is broad agreement that our farm and food system needs to be drastically reworked. The good news is that the work of building an alternative to the industrial food system is well underway and Farm Aid is proud to have been a leader in this work, something we call the Good Food Movement. The Good Food Movement has grown and thrived almost entirely without the support of the federal government. However, now is the right moment for the leadership of our country to take a role in this important movement. In fact the future of our economy, our environment and our health demand it.

Our family farmers are a national resource with incredible potential to be the protagonists in solving the challenges we currently face. Family farmers are on the cutting edge of thriving local food systems and economies, alternative energy production and environmental stewardship. Family farmers are marketing the fruits of their labor close-to-home at farm stands, farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs), helping local money to circulate in local communities where it can do the most good. Family farmers are growing green energy and harnessing the power of the sun and wind. They are transitioning to sustainable production methods to grow food that is good for our health and our planet. These steps are strengthening our local economies, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, protecting our natural resources and increasing our national security.

As the national organization working on behalf of family farmers for the last 23 years, Farm Aid has helped family farmers stay on the land, organized communities to fight factory farms in their own backyards, and educated eaters about the choices they can make to guarantee healthy, fresh food from family farms. Over our history, we have grown, partnered with, and sustained a network of more than four hundred grassroots farm and food organizations across the nation. As you begin to implement programs to support a family farm system of agriculture, Farm Aid and our vast resource network is here to work with you.

Now is the time for our country to recognize and call on family farmers' ingenuity, strength and value to our past and our future. We can have strong local economies, green energy, a clean environment, healthy citizens and good food—all of these start with family farmers. I look forward to working with you to make this vision of a family farm system of agriculture a reality.

Stay Strong and Positive,

Willie Nelson
President
Farm Aid

Obama Elected - A Great Day in America

2008-11-05T19:17:00.002-05:00

I was wrong about the Rays and I was wrong about Barack Obama (by supporting Hillary Clinton), but I couldn't be happier. November 4, 2008 will be remembered as one of the greatest days in American history.

World Series prediction (American League wins), CMJ in town

2008-10-22T12:33:00.012-04:00

It's not "Bizarro Baseball" anymore, the Rays won the AL Pennant! I predict they will go all the way and win the World Series too.

Reggie Jackson has something to say about "The Race for Mr. October" in USA Today, and his player by player predictions are pretty interesting, but also self-revealing. Of Pat Burrell he said, "He's a guy who can get hot and kill you. He can bust loose at any time. Here's a guy trying to get a new contract, and guys like this figure out how to play well when it counts." Reggie is still a great interview, just not when you go up to him in the stands and say you were a fan. The dude ignored me and I was in the seat behind him! I'm still into Reggie, however.

George Vecsey of the Times wrote a great overview of the Rays and their climb from the cellar.

The press is focused on the Rays, and I hope it doesn't hurt them. Evan Longoria in the NY Times today.

The LA Times had a nice article about the presence of African Americans on the Rays, similar to a story Sports Illustrated did last summer.

Who has the better pitching and bullpen? What players will get the clutch hits? I think we should expect most of the games to be squeakers but I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of bombs and a football score in there too.

My prediction: Rays in 6.

The Rays "Beat the Devil" (AP)

Tropicana Field has some idiosyncrasies!

**********************************************************

But the big story that the annual college radio conference CMJ is in town. This is my 25th trip to the Music Marathon. I wonder what the requirements should be for the College Radio Hall of Fame? There will be more corporate sponsorship at this conference than ever before. The bands have a tougher climb to success, but an easier one to notoriety than ever.

As the oldest in the conference, I must ask "The Four Questions":

1. Is Cheeseburger the next Replacements? What does it mean to "win" CMJ?
2. In olden times, the bands would hope to get signed to a major label deal, etc. Who are they hoping to impress by performing this year?
3. Are college radio people put off by advertisements mixed in with their music or are they numb to marketing?
4. On this night we dip our herbs twice, why?

Free Posters of Bob Marley, Nirvana, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix, The Who and Kiss from Universal

2008-10-20T16:09:00.007-04:00

Universal Music Group's catalog division, UME, wants our text addresses, but is willing to give a free poster in exchange for the info. They aren't the most attractive posters but they are some of the best artists ever, and I personally signed up to receive a Nirvana and a Bob Marley.

In the future, you can bet that the lists they generate from these six icons will be used to promote similar artists, but these appeal to 30+ for the most part. It will be interesting to see how they are used in the future.

I am only sorry that some of the other icons of UMG's catalog such as Coltrane and Muddy Waters don't have the same brand/demographic identity.

Considering I used to take a train just to visit a shop that would have a poster for sale of some of these bands, a free poster in exchange for your text message may not be a bad deal! Good luck to Mike Davis, Jeff Moskow, Melissa Westfall, Elliot Kendall and all my people at UME!

Sign up now! Simply text "VoteMusicNow" and either Nirvana, The Who, Marley, Kiss, Marvin or Hendrix to 30303. They have us now but I can think of worse lists to be on.

Jim McGuinn Knows Which Way the Wind Blows

2008-10-19T16:55:00.008-04:00

In compiling some e-clippings, I ran across this video of WXPN, Philadelphia's Jim McGuinn promoting their event, 885 Essential XPN songs.

Jim is host of XPN's YRock, XPN's nighttime programming that is a bit younger and cutting edge. Y100 was Philadelphia's alternative rock station up until a year or two ago when it went Reggaeton. It's a similar idea to when they started playing classic/adult rock about 15 years ago -- play songs that have been retired by other stations as they are still hits in that city.

I love seeing Bruce Warren in the background reprising Allen Ginsburg's role in the original video.

Enjoy a visit to xpn.org if you haven't already. These guys do a great job.

mike watt + the secondmen benefit Friday 10/17

2008-10-16T20:49:00.004-04:00

watt hit me off with his flow today, including the sweet picture you see of "sunrise in pedro - october 15, 2008" and a mention of a few gigs coming up. tomorrow, friday 10/15, watt + the secondmen (the ORIGINAL secondmen, pete mazich and jerry trebotic) in a benefit for the san pedro skate park. the show is at the old news pilot building, 356 w. seventh in pedro, $5, all ages.

what could be cooler than watt being asked to pitch in to help the kids of pedro to have a place to do their thing? i told watt to think of all the bones that will break there in the future as he plays tomorrow night.

http://www.sanpedroskateparkassociation.org
http://twfps.com

Sonic Youth live in Bolzano Italy

2008-10-16T08:01:00.003-04:00

Adding a new feature to the earbender blog, the follow-up story with video. Here is a nice clip from the show celebrating the opening of the multi-disciplinary exhibition "Sensational Fix."

Can anybody suggest a good cheap camera for web video and pics?

Philadelphia Phantoms and Linda Creed Night

2008-10-08T19:20:00.021-04:00

The big game in Philly tonight is not the Dodgers against the Phillies. It will be just across the street as The Philadelphia Phantoms minor league hockey team opens their season, the last to be played in the legendary Spectrum.

While there is NO mention of it on the Phantoms page and no one responded to an inquiry to their Facebook page, The Linda Creed Breast Cancer Foundation has arranged so that any tickets sold through their site would result in a $5 donation to the charity. Click here for more info.

Linda Creed was a great artist who died VERY young at 37 after a ten year battle w/breast cancer. Some of her compositions include: "You Are Everything," "Betcha By Golly Wow," "I'm Stone in Love with You," "People Make the World Go Round," "Break Up to Make Up" and "The Greatest Love of All." Linda Creed is in the Songwriting Hall of Fame.

As mentioned earlier on this site with stories about the Def Leppard and Ray Castoldi events and the recent Bobby Orr commercial, I'm keeping an eye on the marketing/promo/entertainment activities that connect sports, music and various demographics for fun and profit.

I stopped by the NHL Store where they held an opening week Fan Fest on the corner of 46th St. and 6th Avenue in Manhattan today. The Zambonis played in nice new sweaters and toques, Dave Schultz appeared, a beautiful new Honda was being given away, and it seemed like just a few hundred people over the course of the afternoon participated. THOUSANDS must have walked by, totally uninterested. They must improve their creative and execution, it was a bit embarrassing. Of course, there is a skating rink just a few blocks away that they ignore.

Incidentally, the Flyers have really disappointed me by jumping on the Sarah Palin bandwagon by allowing her to drop the puck for their home opener tomorrow against the Rangers. Not because it's bad marketing but because they are in a swing state and I'm rooting for Obama.

Sonic Youth "Sensational Fix" Exhibit Opens in Italy

2008-10-08T19:20:00.018-04:00

Sonic Youth are the subject of "Sensational Fix," a new "multidisciplinary" exhibit featuring the band's work with various visual artists, designers and musicians curated by Roland Groenenboon and the band that opens tomorrow in Bolzano, Italy. Sonic Youth will play a show there to mark the event as well.

The exhibit will also go to Dusseldorf, Germany (1/31-4/26/09), Malm, Sweden (5/29-9/20/09).

According to the catalog:

"Through the multidisciplinary output of Sonic Youth and related works by other artists in the exhibition, an alternative history of contemporary culture is being uncovered in which the division between 'high art' and 'low art' is being called into question, while issues are explored such as teenage rebellion, adolescent wanderlust, gender, fame, fashion, sexuality, and religion. In the exhibition, those different themes related to the band are presented in several chapters based on Sonic Youth song titles, which form satellites around a central space that focuses on Sonic Youth paraphernalia."

Saucer-like is one of the best pages about the band.
Smells like... Records is a good place to visit if you want to score some Sonic Youth "paraphernalia"as well as their self-released SYR series and artists such as Chris Lee, Tony Scherr and Two Dollar Guitar.

Is this Sonic Youth's response to the Rock Hall of Fame? If their heroes the Stooges just got in, maybe they don't mind waiting. I expect Sonic Youth to be inducted in the next year or two, hopefully they won't have to wait like the Goose. Either way, they are museum-quality.

Besides, how credible is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without the inclusion of Yes? (and how credible is Yes without the inclusion of Jon Anderson?)

Bobby Orr's Knee and 25% OAC

2008-10-08T16:16:00.005-04:00

Boston Bruins great Bobby Orr stars in this new commercial from Mastercard. He was a hell of a player, a defenseman who could play intense offense, usually taking the puck the entire length of the ice before scoring. Whatever highlight reels existed in the 70s, he dominated them.

Watching this commercial, I think of all the other players they could have easily done the same idea with. Joe Namath comes to mind but who had more scars than Evel Knievel? Anyhow, much respect to Bobby Orr and happy hockey season to all!

Thanks to the Globe and Mail who ran an excellent Bobby Orr interview alongside the vid.

Springsteen in Philly for Obama

2008-10-07T17:55:00.004-04:00

"I am glad to be here today for this voter registration drive and
for Barack Obama, the next President of the United States.

I've spent 35 years writing about America, its people, and the
meaning of the American Promise. The Promise that was handed down
to us, right here in this city from our founding fathers, with one
instruction: Do your best to make these things real. Opportunity,
equality, social and economic justice, a fair shake for all of our
citizens, the American idea, as a positive influence, around the
world for a more just and peaceful existence. These are the things
that give our lives hope, shape, and meaning. They are the ties
that bind us together and give us faith in our contract with one
another.

I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between
that American promise and American reality. For many Americans,
who are today losing their jobs, their homes, seeing their
retirement funds disappear, who have no healthcare, or who have
been abandoned in our inner cities. The distance between that
promise and that reality has never been greater or more painful.

I believe Senator Obama has taken the measure of that distance in
his own life and in his work. I believe he understands, in his
heart, the cost of that distance, in blood and suffering, in the
lives of everyday Americans. I believe as president, he would work
to restore that promise to so many of our fellow citizens who have
justifiably lost faith in its meaning. After the disastrous
administration of the past 8 years, we need someone to lead us in
an American reclamation project. In my job, I travel the world, and
occasionally play big stadiums, just like Senator Obama. I've
continued to find, wherever I go, America remains a repository of
peoples hopes, possibilities, and desires, and that despite the
terrible erosion to our standing around the world, accomplished by
our recent administration, we remain, for many, a house of dreams.
One thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never
be able to tear that house down.

They will, however, be leaving office, dropping the national
tragedies of Katrina, Iraq, and our financial crisis in our laps.
Our sacred house of dreams has been abused, looted, and left in a
terrible state of disrepair. It needs care; it needs saving, it
needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for
power or a quick buck. It needs strong arms, hearts, and minds. It
needs someone with Senator Obama's understanding, temperateness,
deliberativeness, maturity, compassion, toughness, and faith, to
help us rebuild our house once again. But most importantly, it
needs us. You and me. To build that house with the generosity that
is at the heart of the American spirit. A house that is truer and
big enough to contain the hopes and dreams of all of our fellow
citizens. That is where our future lies. We will rise or fall as a
people by our ability to accomplish this task. Now I don't know
about you, but I want that dream back, I want my America back, I
want my country back.

So now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll
up our sleeves, and come on up for the rising."

Big TV tonight

2008-10-02T09:09:00.012-04:00

Sites to get you fired up for the debate:

KTOO, Juneau has recordings of the 2006 debate between Palin, Halcro and Knowles (which she won apparently). I will never forget their music director Jeff Brown playing the saw at the community radio conference in Wisconsin, way back in 1986! Their logo used to be the Big Dipper.

Aliza Sherman is an internet veteran (Cybergrrl, etc.) who lives in Anchorage. Her page includes very detailed info on Sarah Palin.

Andrew Halcro lost to Palin in 2006 -- he might be a little biased as well as carrying the L.

Springsteen at the Super Bowl, Old Dylan Streams A New Bootleg

2008-09-30T11:03:00.012-04:00

This week it was announced that Bruce Springsteen, once hailed as "the new Dylan" would be performing during halftime of the Super Bowl. This has become a classic rock slot since Janet Jackson's wardrobe failure, with Prince, U2, the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney jumping in over the past few years.

Prince was typically great, but with Bruce, there may be a need to chime in on the set list. He is one of the greatest live performers in the history of rock, but frequently does massive shows based on his mellower, more serious, less-than-great music from his past few albums. As I have said many times, The Rising was great for its intention, not its execution. At least we can be happy that he put the band back together, and that Magic includes some retro vibes and decent songs.

In order to avoid the horrible results of his appearance at the Harley-Davidson Anniversary, I recommend the following hit-laden set for my Boss. If you really want to split hairs on this topic, hit Ben Lazar's page.

1. Born to Run
2. Radio Nowhere
3. Prove it All Night
4. Dancing in the Dark
5. The Rising

If you want a slow one, how about "I'm on Fire" because it's short (and they can dub in Dominic Barbara too).

Let's assume Obama has just taken office and there is a hopeful vibe in the country at the end of January.

And in case you were wondering why "old Dylan" was mentioned in the title, it was because NPR Music is streaming the new album "The Bootleg Series Volume 8: Tell Tale Signs." How much do we love the Bootleg Series? It's now about 20 years old and has been a big part of Dylan's resurgence. The loosely-based emphasis shifts from out-takes to live shows to unreleased, unfinished. A lot of bands should copy this idea...

For example, if only the Stones could manage to do something like this instead of reissuing the same stuff over and over. I would also love them to do an acoustic, Willie-type show in a stadium, but they don't have the guts. The second half of their 45 year career has been about "milking the kids" (as watt would say). They never listen to me, but the Wingless Angels did.

I'm also looking forward to Prince's collaboration with Randee St. Nicholas, the photo book called 21 Nights that documents his recent performances in London.

Ray Castoldi, Def Leppard to Perform for NHL Season Openers

2008-09-26T08:02:00.007-04:00

Def Leppard, one of the major bands of the 80s "hair" movement, will perform to launch the 2008-9 NHL season on Rocktober 9 in Detroit at the Fox Theatre. Def Leppard have a lot of hits but they are also pumping a relatively recent "arena-inspired" song called "C'mon, C'mon." If you are in the demo, get on board!

I personally never heard Def Leppard after the early MTV years but met them working at Island in the 00s. They are a great bunch of guys and have one of the more distinctive road managers too, Malvin. He's about 5 feet tall but you would not want to tangle w/him, the dude runs a tight ship and has seen a lot. You also get the whole British vibe too. There are so few British bands, and it's such a bummer the accent gives them instant charisma and connection to the classics.

One of the things that impressed me about DL was their connection to Ian Hunter, whose Mott the Hoople music was inspirational to the band. (See below for a great Mott documentary)

Here is Joe Elliot working the crowd by wearing a jersey of a local team:

Says the NHL's SVP of Broadband and New Media Production Andre Mika, "Def Leppard is one of the legendary all-time rock bands. They're a terrific fit for our demographic. We have a demographic that loves this type of music. And we love working with Def Leppard because some of the songs off their new album are very hockey friendly."

They know how to promote! Here they are hitting their demo on the Ellen show a few years back. Beware: this video contains some embarrassing soccer mom fist-pumps.

Hopefully, there will be some Def Leppard played at the party for the Rangers' Czech opener on October 4 at the Bohemian Beer Garden in Astoria NY! Sounds like a fun time and the Rangers are putting in a nice effort: Ranger great Ron Duguay and the legendary Madison Square Garden organist Ray Castoldi is set to perform!

If you would like to know more about Hockey and music, check out the Hockey Music Forum! Vibes as well to my friend Ronnie Ron Poster of the Boston Bruins, who introduced me to Ray as well as the late Eddie Layton.

The bottom line is I'm looking past baseball season.

Adios Shea Stadium, and "Love for Money" the new video by Willie The Kid featuring Trey Songz, Gucci Mane, Bun B, LA the Darkman and Yung Joc

2008-09-25T11:18:00.006-04:00

With Willie Nelson in town following Farm Aid last weekend, and a lot of posts about baseball, I couldn't resist Miss Theda's pitch "don't sleep on this joint... post this up now!!!" in her recent email. I felt I needed to do something music-oriented, and less classic/adult oriented too.

I also caught what was probably my last game at Shea Stadium last night, continuing on the old vibes. It's so weird that they are knocking down these buildings that I thought would last forever. A few Shea highlights for me include playoff games in 1986, sparsely attended, post-Seaver games in the late 70s, Mayor's Trophy games, concerts like The Who (with The Clash opening, coming out on cd next month), The Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel and a pair of Springsteens, Jet games that were very cold, and many, many Met games. Maybe there was no Babe Ruth on the Shea field who played for the Mets other than Tom Seaver, but there were countless greats from other teams who played there, and who we often went there to see. A few of these that I saw include Pete Rose (who I saw hit his 2,995th hit), Mike Schmidt, Nolan Ryan, J.R. Richard, Dave Parker, Cesar Cedeno, George Hendrick, Lou Brock, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey and countless others. It was the park I went to the most as a youth, paying $1.50 for a GA.

After a game in September 1979, me and my friends figured out how to sneak into the US Open and saw Bjorn Borg vs. Jimmy Connors that day, and John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl on repeated trips combining baseball and tennis.

One thing the new stadium will also have is deafening LaGuardia Airport traffic flying overhead.

As Willie the Kid says, "Love for Money."

MissTheda.com is a site run by my friend Theda Sandiford, covering technology, hip hop, r&b, culture and politics. Stop by when you can!

Yankee Stadium, Jack White with Alicia Keys Quantum of Solace theme

2008-09-18T19:22:00.016-04:00

It's been a long goodbye to the old place in the Bronx, and here are my two cents on the demise of Yankee Stadium. I will feel just as bad when Shea goes next week.

In my opinion, they should both live on, but I also realize I don't own the teams!

I will most definitely enjoy seeing the teams in the new places. It will be a 21st Century experience, and I'm looking forward to next season -- for a lot of reasons. Maybe the Dodgers will prove to be Manny's underground railroad to the Bronx!
So here are a few that come to mind:

Aaron Boone hitting the clinching homer in 2003 (after texting Lyor Cohen who we observed towering over the front row to "get us some runs.")
Early games in the REAL old Yankee Stadium, including one vs. the Red Sox in 1973.
Various World Series and Playoff Games, 1997-2007, including Tino's bomb.
Thurman Munson, Goose Gossage, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Graig Nettles, Lou Piniella, Mickey Rivers, Bobby Murcer, Willie Randolph, Ed Figueroa, Dick Tidrow, Sparky Lyle, Roy White and so many more in the 70s
Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, Ken Griffey, Butch Wynegar, Mike Pagliarulo, Jim Wynn, Dave Righetti, Tommy John, Phil Neikro, Don Baylor and a few other funny teams in the 80s and early 90s.
Derek Jeter any time but especially on defense, and for a clutch hit most any time the team has needed one.
Opposing stars blast massive homers like Manny Ramirez, Bo Jackson, Ken Griffey Jr., George Brett and David Ortiz.
The 21 inning battle I saw in the 80s vs. the Orioles, at the time the longest AL game ever
Bob Sheppard announcing players (like Alvaro Espinosa and Shigetoshi Hasegawa) with "the voice of God"

Tom Verducci wrote a really sad one for SI's cover story. This is one time the curse will definitely come true, but I was heartened by the letters about Tom Brady showing his knee on the cover recently, and the details about Bob Sheppard leading the prayer group in the umpires' locker room.

The Daily News picked 15 great moments of their own.

My mom's friend from Forest Hills High School, Paul Simon wrote a nice remembrance too. It's going to go on for many years after this weekend.

and finally, a little treat from FMQB and J Records, the new James Bond theme, "Another Way to Die," by Jack White featuring Alicia Keys!

http://www.fmqbproductions.com/epks/2008/jackwhite/content/jackwhite_anotherwaytodie.mp3

or download the song on FMQB's page here

Life goes on!

Daniel Craig is a good James Bond, but there's only one Jon Anderson

2008-09-11T10:41:00.007-04:00

Daniel Craig makes an excellent James Bond, and thanks to so many actors playing the part over the years, we are used to turnover and can adapt to new people in the classic role. I definitely believe Sean Connery was the best James Bond, but the newest guy is good and considering Pierce Brosnan and Timothy Dalton, a real comeback.

On the contrary, however, the chemistry of a band is one that can't change even the slightest amount without a noticeable difference, especially when its a singer. For a singer as distinctive as Yes leader Jon Anderson, it's a real let-down. I happened to have seen them in 1980 when Anderson and Wakemen were replaced by The Buggles, and it was not good. Most people left or didn't come -- they changed lineup after the tickets were sold! "Tempus Fugit" was an inspiring single, however.

I hope my friend and Jon Anderson is ok and gets well enough to get back on stage soon. And many more trips around the Sun to him too. I have seen Yes 13 times over a 25 year period (1979-2004)!!!! Here's the article from Billboard.

Jon Anderson, musician, California, Earth on MySpace

And here's the real deal, performing "And You and I"

Back to Bond...

The BBC has the most info, so I have generally steered clear of it. Yahoo! has a lot of different trailers to enjoy.

I'm not looking that closely but it seems like there is a lot being built on Casino Royale. I wonder if they will redo the Sean Connery films with Daniel Craig. One that is very underestimated and doesn't fit in because of George Lazenby is "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."

Unlike most critics and even my friend Theda, I enjoyed the Roger Moore era very much, especially the first few, "Live and Let Die," "The Man with the Golden Gun" and especially "The Spy Who Loved Me." They did fall off with "Moonraker," "Octopussy" and "A View to A Kill." Somehow I feel I am missing a Roger movie here.

Here's the new dude in action!:

Bob Dylan, Muckety and Colossus

2008-09-08T17:25:00.005-04:00

With a big release around the corner, Bob Dylan's people have made a song from the new album "Bootleg Series Volume 8: Tell Tale Signs" available as a free zip file. How nice to be able to spread the word on your favorite artists (see Byrne/Eno below too). I can maybe get into this whole internet music revolution.

Click here to download "Dreamin of You."

You may also notice on Dylan's site a pretty impressive page that illustrates Dylan's past tour dates on a 3d globe!

I'm very into graphic data representations and there were a lot of them at MOMA's exhibition "Design and the Elastic Mind."

Bob's people may have also snagged the idea from Muckety.com.

But the ultimate graphic data imaging was done by the folks I saw do it first, Marvel Universe.com, Connections, Theta.

A couple of music sites into a similar idea include MusicMesh and TuneGlue.

Check it out and let me know who did it better - Bob Dylan or the Colossus!

Sonic Youth Rules the Earth, Closes McCarren Pool

2008-09-05T17:17:00.007-04:00

I happened to catch the incredible Sonic Youth at McCarren Pool's final show before the renovation last weekend. The band delivered on its reputation with a set that commenced with two previously unheard songs and drew on all periods of the band's career.

My period of Sonic Youth is 90s, and from the album "Goo," they performed one awesome song, Lee Ranaldo's "Mote." They seem more professional now, able to do really wild stuff with less effort. Sonic Youth shows no signs of age whatsoever, except for Thurston's self-deprecating remarks. Other highlights included "The Burning Spear," "Hey Joni" and "Silver Rocket" and songs from Rather Ripped, Washing Machine and Daydream Nation!

Thanks to Smells Like Records... for the tickets!

I also attended the recent Wilco show, so I began and ended McCarren with some real classic rock. Sorry I missed MGMT!

After the show, I met up with David Browne, who included me in his book "Goodbye 20th Century," the first comprehensive Sonic Youth biography since "Confusion is Sex" in the 90s. I did some promotion for the book with college radio and some blogs over the summer and I would like to thank and mention a few here.

My Old Kentucky Blog did a cool haiku contest

a fine example:

"Youth's noise creation
Helps her daydream her days in
A Daydream Nation."

Yuppie Punk (including picture of Nelson and Sonic Youth!)
Future Hall of Fame
College Radio stations reviewing it: CITR, WTJU, KRSC, KCRW, KMSU, WMPG, WHUS and WXPN

Usain Bolt hits Beijing hard, Eno/Byrne return

2008-08-20T12:22:00.021-04:00

earbender.com has received an unprecedented number of hits over the past few weeks due to the tremendous achievements by Jamaican runners at Beijing combined with the fact that I have written about them a few times.

I am very proud to be a fan of the Jamaican track team! As I said to a friend of mine, "who won the most medals, per capita?" My guess is Jamaica! Congratulations on the achievements of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sherone Simpson, Kerron Stewart, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Shareefa Lloyd, Rosemarie White, Shericka Williams, Nesta Carter, and Melanie Walker (not the one from KCMP).

Here are a few nice links to check out:

The Bangladesh Daily Star thinks Usain Bolt is the hero of the Olympics, not Michael Phelps, and I agree.

Shelly-Ann Fraser credits "Reggae Power" for the team's success.

Daddy Bolt home - Usain Bolt's father talks about Usain's diet as a child ("A quart of cow's milk every morning."

Usain credits "hard work, fast track" for three records

Faster than Fast - Sports Illustrated's profile of Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart.

Why Jamaica Rules at Track - Reason no. 6 - "because Usain Bolt was born there."

Prime Minister Bruce Golding appealed to the country to improve itself in response to its burst of attention, saying "Let us use this moment, this unprecedented display of world-class excellence, this moment of triumph and glory, to unite as a people."

"World's Fastest Country? It's Jamaica, Mon" -- according to the coach, this is the beginning of a dynasty.

*******

Eno and Byrne made the album above available for streaming so I am pleased to help spread the music around. They are a couple of my favorite artists, although I haven't been an active Byrne fan since True Stories and the cover of Time. Little Creatures was a nice comeback to the original four-piece lineup after being in the Fela knock off business, but True Stories and its associated hype turned me off.

Additionally, I played "Psycho Killer" on guitar when I saw David Byrne at Guitar Center once and he ignored it. I should've played "Pulled Up" maybe.

And finally, and I do mean finally, Pervis Jackson RIP: he was the deep voice in the Spinners, who I just saw at the Philly Soul show in Atlantic City. He sang the line "12:45" in "Games People Play." The Juke Joint Soul site had a sweet tribute.

They Stole Watt's Bass!

2008-08-07T14:36:00.007-04:00

...And the rest of Iggy and the Stooges' equipment on Monday morning in Montreal. Their truck was parked at the hotel, and sometime between 6:30 and 7:30am, thieves stole the vehicle, later recovered empty a few blocks away.

watt checked in to say that the subsequent show at the legendary Massey Hall in Toronto, on rented equipment was a good one, as he felt better by staying focused on the fact that it was 55 years after the "greatest jazz concert" with Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Charles Mingus where Bird himself played a plastic saxophone (see photo above).

watt wails for his 50th:

Here is the email watt sent out:

if anyone has information, ANY INFORMATION!
please, please, PLEASE as soon as possible contact
Eric Fischer at:
nycentral13@gmail.com
cell phone: +1 646 932 1907

PLEASE FORWARD AS FAR AND WIDE AND AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!!!

IGGY AND THE STOOGES
EQUIPMENT STOLEN ON AUGUST 4, 2008
OUTSIDE THE EMBASSY SUITES HOTEL
208 SAINT ANTOINE OUEST,
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA

all equipment was in a rented penske 15 foot yellow truck
with u.s. (michigan) license plate number AC46493
and the theft had to have happened in the morning,
between 6:30 and 7:30 am

there's a web page at:

http://www.hootpage.com/stoogesstolenstuff/stoogesstolenstuff.html

that will soon have pictures and updates to more stuff found missing

Item Country of Origin Serial Number

Red roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Red Gibson 1963 EB-3 bass (this is mike watt's bass!) USA No serial number

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Reverend Flying V guitar - Volcano black USA #08001

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Reverend Orange guitar USA 03416 ZSL7

Black fibre case containg: USA No serial number
Gibson red SG short scale bass USA No serial number

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Marshall Vintage/Modern Amplifier UK M-2007-07-0926-2 RoHS

Black roadcase containing: USA No serial number
Marshall Vintage/Modern Amplifier UK M-2007-07-0927-2 RoHS

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #1 Slant: M-2007-05-0149-0

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #2 Straight: M-2006-49-0380-0

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #3 Slant: M-2007-05-0150-0

4x Marshall 4x12 Cabinets (with Tuki cover) UK #4 Straight: M-2006-49-0381-0

Orange Calzone road case containing:
Guitar pedal board and pedals USA/Japan No serial number
Assorted leads USA/UK No serial number
2x mic stands Germany No serial number
Assorted strings and spares USA No serial number
plus:
2x Boss TU2 Chromatic Tuner
Boss CH1 Super Chorus
Fulltone OCD Overdrive
Crybaby Wah
Peterson Strobo-Stomp Tuner Pedal
Whirlwind A/B Boxes
Whirlwind Cable Tester
and many many istrument cables
various tools ( screwdrivers, soldering iron, pliers, etc... )
tambourine and maracas

Cardboard box containing:
Assorted replacement drum heads USA No serial number

Gretsch Silver Sparkle Catalina drum kit USA No serial number
26" Kick Drum No serial number
13" Rack Tom No serial number
18" Floor Tom No serial number
4x Cymbal Stands No serial number
1x Snare Stand No serial number
1x Hi Hat Stand No serial number
1x Drum Throne No serial number

Eden D810 Bass cabinet USA D810RP4 0703E5001

Eden D810 Bass cabinet USA D810RP4 0703E5002

Cardboard box containg:
Eden VT300 Bass amplifier USA 0601E5115

Cardboard box containg:
Eden VT300 Bass amplifier USA 0507E5033

Floor Fan CHINA No serial number

Floor Fan CHINA No serial number

Green clamshell suitcase containing:
Yamaha snare drum JAPAN No serial number
Yahama kick pedal JAPAN No serial number
Zildjian Mega Bell cymbal USA No serial number
Zildjian 15" Hi-Hats USA No serial number
3x Zildjian 18" 19" 20" crash medium cymbals USA No serial number

Brown Epiphone guitar case:
Black Epiphone EB3 short scale bass KOREA F300503

PLEASE FORWARD AS FAR AND WIDE AND AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE!!!

if anyone has information, ANY INFORMATION!
please, please, PLEASE as soon as possible contact
Eric Fischer at:
nycentral13@gmail.com
cell phone: +1 646 932 1907

can you believe this shit?

Goose Gossage's Big Day

2008-07-27T12:27:00.005-04:00

"Fearsome and fearless"* Yankee reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage is to be inducted into just about an hour to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. I wish I could be there! It will be a crowded one I'm sure. Also, I once had the great fortune to meet the Goose in the best of all places, a Willie Nelson show (see photo at right!). He's been friends with Poodie and all in the Willie camp since he was blazing fastballs in the 70s, and had his own bus backstage.

But mainly, I remember his White Sox cards, then heading to Pittsburgh and over to the Yankees as a big free agent, even though Sparky Lyle had won the Cy Young Award as a reliever in 77 (and a few others afterwards too). Those Yankees were incredible! As we face the Sox and go into tonight's game w/an eight game win streak, I hope we win one for the Goose tonight.

It would be hard to imagine Goose's speech won't include Thurman Munson, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Graig Nettles and other (Cliff Johnson?) Yankee teammates.

I saw him do it to the Red Sox on the last day of the 78 season, the pine tar incident and heard the tape where he told reporters to "take it to the fat man upstairs" many times before finally running into him in 2003. What a great guy.

I saw him pitch for the Giants, A's and Mariners at the end of his run. He may have been on one or two others too. Texas? Cubs. Anyhow, many cheers for the GOOSE!

Congrats to the great Goose Gossage on your induction to the Hall!

MLB All Star Game Review

2008-07-22T09:52:00.008-04:00

A week later, I'm looking back on the 2008 MLB All Star Game and am happy the whole thing is over. I am very pleased the game turned out so well, because everything else felt like a rip off. The "Fan Fest" had very little content that wasn't an ad, even though it cost $30 to get in. The tickets were priced exorbitantly, but the parade was pretty excellent.

More than any other time since I've been a baseball fan, MLB is marketing very aggressively and I think I've had enough. And I'm a fan of marketing! I like logos, street teams, contests, events, promo items AND the game of baseball, so to have been pushed to far is really saying something.

I currently go to games, watch them on cable tv, have an online subscription for MLB.TV I am usually asked to upgrade, play fantasy baseball w/my friends and horde memorabilia. I have stopped buying the swag, but that's another post!

The thing that got me was the "MLB Insider's Club," an official fan club licensed by MLB that focuses on a publication they will create from fan's written contributions. Of course they will get a credit towards MLB merch if their material is used. This magazine sinfully emulates many of the features we love about Baseball Digest, such as letters (MLB just stole the title -- "The Fans Speak Out" outright), history, "The Game I'll Never Forget," "Quick Quiz" and its general perspective on the game. "Warm Up Tosses" is something I look forward to reading.

Baseball Digest is down to 8 issues per year and I believe MLB should buy it and make it the official (old) fan's journal. The history of the game is its focal point, so everyone who goes to the Hall of Fame should get a subscription included in their admission price. I don't know why Baseball Digest is unable to market effectively (it may have just been a way to sell souvenirs all these years -- look at their ads). Are Golf Digest and their other publications suffering too?

MLB Insider Club is "ONLY $2 a month!" That's $24 per year in my book, more than enough to treat yourself to a Baseball Digest subscription and still have enough for a soda.

Buddy Guy "Skin Deep" solo guitar!!!!

2008-07-15T11:57:00.002-04:00

Please enjoy earbender.com's first video exclusive (please share it far and wide) from Buddy Guy!!!!!!

Buddy Guy and A Professional Note for Fourth of July

2008-07-03T13:56:00.004-04:00

In large part, this site is meant to be a place for me to learn about marketing on the net by being a blogger myself, having a slight technical knowledge and getting some hits, but ultimately just so I could be more familiar with the experience. As more folks land on this page through my professional efforts, I thought I needed to make a more business to business style post.

Since I am promoting the new Buddy Guy album Skin Deep, I am putting some content up here for folks to use on their own sites, such as the following streams:

Every Time I Sing the Blues (with Eric Clapton)
Skin Deep (with Derek Trucks)
Best Damn Fool

For the latest Buddy Guy tour dates, please click here, and the latest bio is now available here.

And of course if you are in need of a promo cd or would like to try to arrange an interview, please write to me at earbender@earthlink.net.

Freedom's just another word for not having an office!

Steely Dan Takes Over New York

2008-06-19T19:06:00.009-04:00

The other night I saw Steely Dan, one of my favorite bands during the critical high school years, and captured a bit of video to share.

In the first clip, Steely Dan nears the end of an amazing show Tuesday night with their ode to radio, "FM," a massive hit from their "Aja" period. Walter Becker casually picks out the great guitar that is a foundation of their sound with a nicely extended version (like the instrumental that appears on the b side of the single and maybe the lp too, I'm foggy on that.). Everyone always talks about Larry Carlton and even Denny Diaz and Skunk Baxter, but Walter is the guy on guitar not just fresh rhymes. He also sang "Gaucho" quite adeptly at the Beacon.

They focused on Aja, Gaucho, and the two latest albums. Along w/"New Frontier" and the aforementioned FM, the show I saw was mostly the yuppie years of the band. But what a trip to remember stereo stores, magazines and the hifi music culture of the seventies. Discwasher, Sennheiser, Gerrard, BIC, Marantz, Kenwood, Sherwood, Pioneer, Teac, Akai, Macintosh, Bose, Polk Audio, JBL, Yamaha and finally Technics are a few big names from that time. I believe the popularity of high quality recordings, side-long songs, gatefold album covers and the ability to spend on the equipment, often made in America, reflects a lot of socio-economic influence on the art. Talk about white music for white teenagers with disposable incomes. This is what the Clash, Pistols and others rebelled against!

We didn't know the stereos were in "stand alone" stores just like the records. They are all gone now, relegated to a p&l'd "footprint" in bigger stores.

I bought Aja on sale at Korvette's for $3.66. I later worked for Johnny Barbis who often told the story of ABC being shut down when it was sold to MCA. Steely Dan actually got into a dispute w/MCA and their first album for MCA under the new arrangement, Gaucho, ended up w/a high list price of $7.99. They subsequently made no more albums for MCA or anyone else for 17 years or so!

"Kid Charlemagne," on video below, is one of their more beloved songs from the later period too. Its coke references and theme of lost popularity reminds me of W.

It contains the refrain, "Did you feel like Jesus? Did you realize, that you were a champion in their eyes?"

"Get along W., get along Kid Charlemagne!"

All praise is due to Walter Becker, Donald Fagen and their great band Steely Dan!

Willie Randolph is My Friend

2008-06-18T11:49:00.009-04:00

Willie Randolph knows how to win a baseball game, and I don't feel he deserved to be fired. I also feel as though I helped him get the job, having called the Mets ticket office on that dismal day after the 2004 elections that re-seated W.

There was a story in the paper that said Willie was getting his second interview for the job as Mets manager, so I made a call to the Mets ticket office.

I told the person who answered, "I'm a Yankee fan, and if you hire Willie Randolph, I'll buy tickets. I just need something good to happen today." Of course, I was so proud that one of my favorite players, a constant on the New York sports scene for 30 years or so, would be the city's first black baseball manager.

Yesterday, I called and rescinded my support for the Mets due to Willie's dismissal and their crappy treatment of the man. SI called the Mets an "Amazing Disgrace" (title of a Posies album too btw).

I believe Willie Randolph put a lot of pressure on himself to succeed, thinking about Jackie and even Billy Martin, but ultimately didn't have the horses to compete. You can win with old guys, and maybe Reyes and Wagner's bad attitudes should have been disciplined better by Willie, but he just didn't have the players he needed to win.

And Jose Reyes is already testing Jerry Manuel with his on-field tantrum last night at being pulled out of the game to protect his health.

Willie Randolph would be a good manager with a good team, that's the bottom line. Why wasn't Lou Piniella able to win in Tampa? Why is Tampa winning now? A nucleus of good players, many of whom are pitchers.

Omar Minaya should look no further than the mirror to know who is at fault. I'm glad the announcers mentioned that the Mets passed on Vladimir Guerrero last night due to health concerns. Vlade is a warrior, Beltran is punching the clock in my opinion.

Willie Randolph will return with his hat looking perfect with a better logo on the front than the Mets/Giants' "NY."

Good Luck Willie!

Philly Soul Live in Atlantic City

2008-06-10T13:57:00.014-04:00

The period 1972-75 represents some formative years for me musically, when I listened to WABC, WXLO, WKTU and WNBC -- Top 40 stations. The music of Gamble and Huff, Linda Creed and Thom Bell, John Whitehead and the label Philadelphia International Records dominated the landscape, with countless hits for artists such as The O'Jays, Delfonics, Stylistics, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes and The Spinners.

Check out how great the band re-creates MFSB:

Amazingly, John Vernile and Larry Magid staged a concert last Saturday at The Borgata in Atlantic featuring all of the above as well as the Intruders, Bunny Sigler, The Three Degrees, Jean Carne and Jerry Butler! They were backed by a band that included 9 strings, 10 horns, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, two keyboards and three backup singers.

Don't despair, the show was taped for a PBS broadcast later this year.

A great highlight of the show was a surprise appearance by Teddy Pendergrass (above), who spoke a bit and sang "Close the Door" followed by "Turn Out the Lights." Talk about a universal message! His voice sounded strong.

As with the Three Degrees, it was bittersweet seeing the old pictures. Teddy was a rock star/sex symbol when it really mattered. The Three Degrees sang "When Will I See You Again" sweetly.

It sounded so great! What a once in a lifetime experience. But thanks to 21st Century Technology, please see below for a bit of video.

All of this music surely falls into my genre Black Americana, especially if you consider that most every group was in uniforms, usually sequined. In the 70s, their big bowties and velvet suits were throwbacks to the 50s doo wop era that gave Rhythm and Blues its name. The next day we saw the mural by Pat's of Philadelphia Music featuring the Geator, who presided over the event and was also unbelievable w/his costume changes.

It was an incredible night!!!!

"Ain't No Stopping Us Now":

G.C. Cameron from The Spinners sang "I'll Be There"

Hockey Night in Canada Song Sold to CTV

2008-06-09T19:35:00.003-04:00

In an interesting case involving sports and music, the theme to Hockey Night in Canada, broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Company for many years on Saturday nights, has been sold to its commercial rival, CTV, for use on its hockey broadcasts.

Apparently, talks broke down due to "a long history of animosity between the two parties." Songwriter Dolores Claman seems to have felt she was underpaid by CBC for many years and finally cut a deal elsewhere.

Claman and her representatives were apparently asking 2.5-3 million dollars, which CBC felt could not be justified as a government institution.

It seems like a lot of money but if someone changed the Yankees theme, it would freak me out.

and an old one too

Non Comm 2008 Report

2008-06-04T21:50:00.009-04:00

Last weekend, I attended the Philly Non-Commvention, a gathering of community radio music programmers and their accordant promotion people, and music artists. These are the radio people formerly known as "granola." WXPN, Philadelphia hosted the event and other attendees included folks from WFUV, New York; WJCU, Cleveland; KSUT, Ignacio; Maine Public Radio; WFHB, Bloomington; KTBG, Warrensburg; KUT, Austin; KDHX, St. Louis and many others I am spacing on. I was there promoting and gathering content for this blog of course.

Shows

The most astonishing show of this year's convention was The Hold Steady. Ingrid Michaelson was immediately impressive with her GIANT setlist and memorable hooks. Astrid Williamson, Dr. John, Jakob Dylan and Interscope's "interesting" Carney were among the other bands we checked out.

Below is a bit of vid I took Paddy Casey performing a morning showcase in the hotel. The nighttime music was at the fantastic World Cafe Live facility. Vibes to Bruce, Dan, Quyen, Roger and all at WXPN for putting on a great conference and 15 years of growth for the station in general.

http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Swag

The swag at the conference was unfortunately, lacking. As many public and community radio stations get larger items to use during fund drives, the convention package still only includes cds (in a promo knapsack). Reprise/WB Records sponsored a t shirt.

In the convention bag, there were cds from: Dr. John; A Taste of Triple A Sampler #42; "Sweet" by Pacifika; WTMD, Towson's Live CD; a Rykodisc sampler that promised to make the next 25 years "as storied as our first"; Peter Buffett's "Imaginary Kingdom" -- isn't he a new ager? I would love that stuff to come back. Kitaro was the first artist I promoted.

Back to the bag: FMQB Progressions Sampler #113; "Within" by Alyssa; Live Volume 2 from KTBG, which amazingly features Snoopy on the cover! WXPN Local Vol. 2; the Ike Reilly album; a great sampler from SonyBMG Legacy/Commercial Music Group ("This sampler goes to track 11"); the latest from Rachael Sage, Chandelier. She will break through at some point... Rachael Sage seems to have an endless ability to promote herself, which is a great talent to have these days.

Finally, Scarecrow Collection's "Radio Frequency Disaster" had a sticker affixed saying "#1 on Sirius Ch. 17" and "Nominated for a Jammy." They went for adds June 9.

Jefferson Pepper's American Evolution had a nice package I haven't opened yet that amazingly, had a quote from Cashbox on it! I thought they were out of biz!

Also on the old school tip, Jacqui Naylor is being promoted by Harvey Leeds, now indie and Michael Plen had a sampler from his Shangri-La Music included in the package. Full Disclosure: I'm old school and was there promoting Amie Miriello alongside Danny Buch.

Has anyone seen the t shirt w/the picture of a stegosaurus on it? The caption reads, "All My Friends Are Dead."

Springsteen's Summer Anthem "Thunder Road"

2008-06-02T11:24:00.004-04:00

With the weather improving here in New York, here is some summertime flavor from Bruce Springsteen with "Thunder Road," one of the greatest rock anthems to summer ever. What makes it about summer? Maybe the one line about the graduation dress, technically, but the musical build of the song, as Bruce sings "roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair" sounds like the freedom, warmth and energy of a summer night.

This video is taken from a show just a few days after I saw Bruce Springsteen at New York's Matteus at the Palladium, presented by Ruffino and Vaughn, which was a Ron Delsener presentation of course. I think WNEW 102.7 was on the ticket stub too.

Usain Bolt Sets New World 100m Record in New York!

2008-06-01T10:43:00.011-04:00

Jamaican Usain Bolt set new world record in the 100m of 9.72 seconds, last night in dramatic fashion before many countrymen at Icahn Stadium, New York City, on Randall's Island. He improved on fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell's previous record of 9.74, set in Athens (as I recall). Being a new record in the world's oldest sport (running from lava or saber-tooth tigers), it was reported on all over the world:

The New York Times reported on the scene.

The Jamaica Observer's Paul Reid reported and took one of the best pictures of Bolt breaking the tape (above).

Shanghai Sports TV ran video of the race and included a tour of Jamaica and "Lightning" Bolt's hometown (below).

Sports Illustrated and many others picked up the AP story but will no doubt have great photos in the next issue.

"I'm just happy with myself," Bolt told the BBC. The 100m is a new event for him?

Vibes as well for Harvey Korman, who provided many belly laughs over the course of a great career including the Carol Burnett Show and many Mel Brooks movies. Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles, Dr. Charles Montague in High Anxiety and so many more. Thanks to Harvey Korman!!!!

Lewis Hamilton's Victory at Monaco

2008-05-27T11:40:00.007-04:00

Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on his win at the Grand Prix of Monaco. Hamilton was earbender Sports Personality of the Year during his rookie year of 2007, and in his own words the race was, "the highlight of my career and probably will be for the rest of my life." The 23 year-old tcb in the rain after crashing early in the race and Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls was in his pit. Well done Lewis!

BBC has a comprehensive wrap up here.

F1's Grand Prix of Monaco map of the circuit includes gears and speeds.

Scarlett Johansson's Music Career Offends Me

2008-05-21T09:03:00.006-04:00

I just took a little trip through the snippets of Scarlett Johansson's debut recording, "Anywhere I Lay My Head (Deluxe Edition)," courtesy of iTunes. She has got some nerve putting out this dreck! We all agree Tom Waits is a genius and that many of his songs would soar with a more "conventional" voice singing them, for example "Jersey Girl" in the hands of Springsteen or even "Downtown Train" as performed by Rod Stewart.

There are many examples (Linda Ronstadt on "Old Paint," The Eagles' version of "Ol' 55"). Waits own recordings are challenging and excellent, not many of them are alike, and he shows no signs of slowing down either in productivity or in his intense creative/business vibes. I had minimal dealings w/him when I worked at Island but the compilation I promoted, "Beautiful Maladies," compiles a lot of his weirder albums and would serve as a good intro to the man's music, as opposed to the millennial's Molly Ringwald.

I don't appreciate Scarlett Johansson very much as a movie star, already felt she was very overrated and a big reason was her deep and often monotone voice. This album might have been fun for them to make but it sure is not fun to listen to. As my friend Cheech would often say, "what is the purpose of this music?" If it gets some young people into the great Tom Waits, then hats off to Scarlett Johansson, but I'm not buying it.

In fact, this album is offensive to me because even though it is an indie movie star and Tom Waits, "Anywhere I Lay My Head (Deluxe Edition)" is no different from any co-branded, American Idol-style debut recording these days. We are only interested because of her name recognition, and judging by a few minutes with the album, there is not much more to appreciate. Who wants a techno Tom Waits?

Maybe Scarlett Johansson was signed for her ability to sell t shirts, get a GOOD band into a cool movie she is star of, generate alternative revenue streams or just general publicity, and I am offended by an industry that clamors for her. Maybe it just shows how dismal it is for new artists in general. Who wants to write or even worse, fund something that won't make a dent in the media or the bottom line?

Entertainment Weekly has a good bad review here and also provides a link to watch Scarlett on MTV here. She uses a music stand to remember lyrics but has a snazzy "S" logo on projected on to the walls. Terrible.

Reuters' summary of negative critical response made me feel better. Seems like they will take the opportunity to bring her down a few pegs for doing this album.

Now playing: "Young Man's Blues" by The Who.

Jamaica Track Team Stamps for the Olympics

2008-05-14T16:12:00.007-04:00

I always point to the Jamaican National team's achievements in running as an example of the country's reputation for hard work in pursuit of excellence. Aside from favorable weather, my guess is the team has many disadvantages in training compared to the other teams from much bigger and richer countries, yet Jamaica has many world record holders and is consistently competitive.

The Postal Corporation of Jamaica describes the stamps as follows:

"Featured persons were decided on the basis of on their tremendous exploits. The stamp shows Jamaica’s ‘Golden Girls’ - the Women’s 4 x 100m relay team that competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics final of that event. They are Tayna Lawrence, Veronica Campbell, Aleen Bailey and Sherone Simpson. Of note was the victory by Veronica Campbell in the 200m as she created history by being the first woman from Jamaica or the Caribbean to win an Olympic Gold in a sprint race. On that occasion (Wednesday August 25, 2004) Campbell ran her personal best of 22.05, beating her main rival, American, Allyson Felix, to the finish line.

Asafa Powell was chosen to highlight the incredible feats of speed for which he has received much acclaim. In 2005 he broke the 100m world record with 9.77 seconds, and stamped his mark on the title of ‘Fastest Man on Earth’ by twice repeating that feat. Then in 2007 he again smashed the world record: his time – a stunning 9.74 seconds."

As the Olympic torch made its way around the world, I admired the many protests for human rights in China that gained attention through its travels and subsequent media coverage. I do not support an Olympic boycott, it didn't work against the USSR in 1980 and hurt many athletes' careers. The Olympics are not apolitical, as 1972 proved, but if we want to expose the injustices of China, let the world travel there and take a closer look. Even if the media is suppressed, that will be reported in detail.

Singer Yungchen Lhamo has lead protests in San Francisco on behalf of her native Tibet. The video below shows a demonstration in Berlin set to her music.

If I were an athlete, I would not support a boycott. I think we can make more noise over there and hope that Volkswagon and the other sponsors can make a difference for the people of China.

Happy Birthday Willie!

2008-04-30T12:27:00.004-04:00

Today is Willie Nelson's 75th Birthday and I hereby request that everyone spend a minute or two or more to reflect on the man and his work.

Austin 360 has put together a great tribute, hats off to Michael Corcoran.

KGSR has a great event tonight featuring many artists singing Willie songs, anyone in Austin should stop by. I will wish I was in Austin tonight that's for sure.

Please stop by the Sony Legacy podcast page to hear some great interviews with Willie and Family members Bobbie Nelson, Paul English, Poodie Locke, Jody Payne and Mickey Raphael.

Check out the great Willie page www.StillisStillMoving.com for some great pics from Amsterdam where Snoop Dogg and Willie performed the other night (the lens cap is on for a minute or two!):

Manhattan Omnivore: Rakim to bless Nokia Theater!

2008-04-22T08:06:00.013-04:00

This post is my take on the Brooklyn Vegan thing of announcing shows that have gone on sale.

The other day I received the news that the great Rakim is performing at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. The show is June 4 and Rakim will be supported by GZA and Blackilicious among others. Click here for tickets.

Rakim is the best and most influential mc in the history of hip hop. At the top of this page is a picture I took at BB King's in November '06 (an incredible night). His recent hits/live compilation The Archive probably fell on deaf ears. When it takes eight years to make four songs, it's hard to "keep them eager to listen" to use his words from a previous release. At least the fans will have something to buy at the shows.

But The R is one of the best artists ever! I can heartily recommend seeing him live too, which is a recent development. In their prime, Eric B. and Rakim often performed with Rakim rapping along with vocal versions of the records. Terribly disappointing. Now he struts around the stage spitting lyrics with appropriate backing from Kid Capri, who renders Eric B. a non-entity.

In a recent appearance on Howard Stern, Tracy Morgan concluded an amazing interview ("I'm the son of Ron O'Neal") by telling Howard, "I got soul, that's why I came, to teach those who can't say my name," a direct quote from Eric B. and Rakim's seminal 1987 hit "I Know You Got Soul."

Take a look/listen!

Earbender Earth Day Post: Green Baseball and Bands

2008-04-22T07:59:00.014-04:00

If you read this story about the recent Cubs-Reds game where Lou Piniella reacted to Cincinnati broadcaster Marty Brenneman, perhaps you also saw the irony in it: Piniella's friend and longtime coach Lee Elia is famous for a long, blistering attack on the Wrigley faithful.

Here's the clip of Lee Elia going off, for old time's sake. It was 25 years ago next week:

Since it's Earth Day, and I am recycling old bits above, please read on to see about how Lou and Lee's old teams the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds are both going green today for Earth Day by playing carbon-neutral games. They are buying carbon-offsets Seattle and a biomass project in Spain, respectively, and reducing lighting and other forms of consumption to be carbon neutral for the day.

It's only a few parks on one day, but it's not a bad publicity stunt. It's more than the White House is doing!

Plenty of artists on the road are going green by using recycled vegetable oil and BioDiesel to help curtail consumption. Reuters made a top ten list, with Willie Nelson only #2 to Jack Johnson! No worries about that, it's not a competition, and I'm very into Jack's support and involvement with of Stonyfield Farms, Patagonia and One Percent.

New York Comic Con 08 Wrap Up

2008-04-22T07:26:00.009-04:00

As Frank Thomas donned the powder blue Toronto Blue Jays throwback jersey last Saturday for the last time, I attended the NY Comic Con with my good friend Hugh Surratt.

My last comic conventions were the inaugural Marvel Comics Convention and Superman's 40th birthday party in 1975 and 77, held in the Commodore hotel. Many of the same folks and companies were there, but the biggest differences are:

Comic-based movies are now big business

Toys and other merchandise based on comics is massive

Video and computer games are way beyond "Pong."

And I'm about 30 years older!

Websites and a culture of commentary and podcasts has arisen, many with hilarious names like Nerdcast.

Topps Trading Cards, recently bought and "re-purposed" by Michael Eisner, had a big table promoting the Topps Vault, a collectibles auction site that's fun to play look at. They were giving away very rare Comic Con only items, which I will feature in a contest here as well.

I had an awesome encounter w/a Gomorrean Guard, reprising Gary Garver's wonderful interviews on Howard 100. There were many fans dressed up for the event, including Hellboy and a gaggle of Princess Leia in the hostage costume.

My friend Whitney Matheson of USA Today had a typically tight wrap-up in her blog.

James Bond "News", New Steve Winwood

2008-04-22T06:54:00.008-04:00

The BBC has been covering the production of the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace in great detail. Almost daily, we are being treated to news about Daniel Craig, the car, the co-stars, etc. I DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE PLOT, so I am resisting the temptation to read them. But if you are interested, here are a few links.

Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson are working on a song for Quantum of Solace.

BBC recently reported that a stunt man crashed a car during filming and was hurt badly.

A museum exhibit on Bond creator Ian Fleming's hundredth birthday revealed some letters to "the real Miss Moneypenny." I recommend the Ian Fleming Centre for swag and info.

I would recommend very highly a visit to Goldeneye, the hotel created in and around Fleming's house in Oracabessa, Jamaica. The view of Bond Beach will remind you of Dr. No, and many places in Jamaica would be familiar to a fan from the movies.

Speaking of Jamaica, Goldeneye and James Bond reminds me of the picture above, which I saw there. Winwood has been on a five-year mission to take back his career from my estimation, having re-debuted around the time of the 2003 Louisville Non-Commvention. He was working his own record and I was on my way out of Island Records. At the time I thought to myself, if he isn't on Island, why should I be?

So I told him about the picture and he was weirded out. But it seemed like a more interesting picture from Goldeneye than Fleming's desk. I have added the others to my "visual flow," powered by Flickr.

Anyhow, I listened Winwood's new album "Nine Lives" the other day and it seems like an improvement on the last one. I wouldn't want him to go all "Roll with It," but I would like him to have a hit. There are some good songs on this album, Winwood's voice sounds excellent and he can still play great guitar and keyboard. His guitar playing has a ton of character and I have seen him fill an arena with it.

Nine Lives is a decent album without too much of the 80s corn. And finally, on the Leftsetz tip, I recently "lent" a young lady some Traffic albums w/o much traction gained. I like how he says he is "first in music analysis" on his site. But that's another story for another day!

Catching Up with Shelby Lynne

2008-04-18T09:26:00.008-04:00

Shelby Lynne is a great artist and I'm proud to call her my friend. Two years of working together at a critical time in both our careers, including a lot of tension, intense effort and including both major successes and failures, created a pretty strong bond.

So when Shelby and her manager Elizabeth Bottrell were in town a few Fridays ago, it was sweet to see a great show at the Society for Ethical Culture, and re-connect. In the fall, we had a big hang at the Hiro with Rita Houston and Laura Fedele from WFUV and Espo from WEA. It's always a sweet reunion, we all dig Shelvis!

As great as Shelby has always been, this performance was one of the best I've seen. The combination of Dusty Springfield songs and her own greatest hits was, and guitarist John Jackson's return to the band was close, if not beyond, the artistic triumph of her 2000 "I Am Shelby Lynne"
tour.

Here's a little vid (so little it's audio) of Shelby performing a long, typically sultry, version of "Dreamsome" from I Am Shelby Lynne:

Shelby also recently visited our friend Jody Denberg at KGSR. Click here to listen.

Wail on Shelby, wail on!

Getting Ready for Patriot's Day

2008-04-18T09:13:00.007-04:00

So what if the Pope* is rolling through New York City this weekend? Spring is in the air and on Monday, Boston will celebrate Patriot's Day. I had the pleasure of attending last year, seeing my first Boston Marathon and 11am Red Sox game.

The re-enactment of the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" takes place at 5:30am according to my friend Mark Kates, who grew up near the Green in Lexington, MA and The Old North Bridge in Concord. Mark has a label called Fenway Recordings you might enjoy.

Is anyone else digging John Adams on HBO as much as I am? It seems like you have to watch each episode a few times to catch all the lines but I like that they give you at least one or two iconic visuals per episode, such as Adams' Inauguration, where he is framed by Washington and Jefferson, the reading of the Declaration of Independence and the White House under construction.

It's not The Sopranos or Curb Your Enthusiasm, but I'm enjoying it.

How about three cheers for the original Minutemen?!

* - Sinéad O'Connor was right on the whole Pope/child abuse thing. I would say she was early but people have probably been complaining about this as long as there have been priests. Let us recall great women:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has a cool blog

2008-04-18T09:06:00.004-04:00

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar meets Carole King: the Lakers star and former Cranberry Records president interviews fellow 70s icon backstage on his blog. He talks with his hands a lot and they are humongous and hard to ignore!!!

In a more recent post, he discusses staying fit after forty, a topic he is a real expert in.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar seems like a cool guy with a diverse group of interests, hope you have time to visit his spot.

Ray Davies and the Three Faces of Jimmy Fallon

2008-04-08T23:28:00.007-04:00

I had no doubt as I approached the Beacon Theater tonight that Ray Davies would deliver an excellent show. As leader of The Kinks with his brother Dave, he was the the master showman of rock and roll in the 70s and 80s. Armed with a massive stack of great songs and with Dave's crunching guitar and sympathetic support vocals, they were the one band from the British invasion an American rock fan could really latch on to in those days.

So all this was on my mind as I watched the man wake up an aged crowd (see photo outside the venue -- 75% male, 45+) with some hits ("I'm Not Like Everybody Else") to start the set. He settled into some new material, but always with intros showing his great rapport. By the end the whole place was on its feet w/Davies walking us through his encores including "Lola," and a sweet version of "Waterloo Sunset," which I captured on video:

Some guy in back of me was talking at full voice with his friends during the quiet parts and wouldn't shut up even though I kept turning around and giving the peeved vibe. A few times later I realized it was that dude Jimmy Fallon from TV. The funny part is he thought I was looking at him because he's on tv and not because he was being a disruptive bastard. At the end I was so happy I didn't care about anything including Jimmy. Those are the three faces - annoyed, embarrassed, uninterested. By the way, Fallon's favorite song seemed to be "Come Dancing."

So the music was pretty great but I'm sure I'm not the only one who missed Dave Davies. The kid on guitar was competent but early in the show, I told my buddy Randy Dry from Sirius and PolyGram that his distortion sounded like it came from Guitar Center and not from throwing the amp down the stairs or cutting the speaker cone like Dave's did.

When they played "You Really Got Me," my fears were confirmed. The kid played it like Eddie Van Halen. Can't blame him, he probably heard that version more times than the great Dave. Ray told a story about writing the song as a blues and speeding it up in the studio w/his brother, then 16, creating rock history with his distorted sound. Ray said someone thought the guitar sounded like a barking dog on that song.

It wasn't perfect but it's about as good a show as you could expect from a guy with Ray Davies' history with a need to play new material ("I'm a songwriter, that's what I do," he explained. Can't argue with that. He can still turn it out with humor, intelligence and a nice rhyme or two as well.

Highly recommended!

Rolling Stones "Shine A Light" IMAX Review

2008-04-04T11:09:00.009-04:00

The movie was pretty good and I almost think I would see it again just to remember the good parts better. "Faraway Eyes" might have been my favorite. It had something missing in the Stones' arena shows: Keith singing background vocals. Buddy Guy was excellent, his unmoving face as he watched the other players on stage got the extreme closeup. My one complaint was that there wasn't enough Charlie Watts on camera.

We had just one or two moments behind the kit with the man who is the mvp of the band in so many ways. In an interview he said he wanted to be a designer. Charlie is so genius... he takes a deep breath after "All Down the Line," the third song, and one of the fastest in their repertoire. Mr. Richards naturally doesn't hit a bad note all night although you could say he only hit bad notes too. They are all so great.

I was there that night! And all day, outside the theater trying to get an extra from someone. I asked President Bill Clinton when he walked by. As he shook my hand, I said, "Mr. President, got an extra for tomorrow?"

Without skipping a beat, Mr. Clinton said "I'll try." He blew me off smoothly. I ended up listening to a few songs by the back door before going home. I knew I would get to see it in the movies.

It was galling knowing that they cast the audience in the first few rows of the theater when I was shut out of the show. Shut out because the band announced that there might be some tickets released to the public. There weren't. Seeing the young women in the front row in front of the REAL audience of old guys w/camera phones, wire-rim glasses and caps in the movie, I understood Sir Mick's play. He probably took a look at who lined up that day, and started going through pictures of potential audience members.

Meanwhile, the hot woman in the movie is Christina Aguilera. She looked and sounded great. I wonder why none of the 17 cameras caught Mick grabbing her. Her squeal was audible and the whole thing made me feel like Pat Boone watching Mick and Tina Turner on Live Aid.

I would see this movie again but I wish there had been a bit more Charlie in it!!!

USA Today interview with Scorsese.

Social Media was used to promote a Stones album for the first time:
Rolling Stones site reprints Rolling Stone magazine interview.
RollingStones.com has an RSS feed I'm proud to say I signed up for.
Facebook Stones page
myspace Stones page

Paula Nelson is Kicking

2008-04-04T10:08:00.012-04:00

On March 19, The Paula Nelson Band was performing their usual Wednesday night set when a patron approached the stage. Watch the video to see what happened next.

In all my years of attending shows, I don't think I've seen the band defend themselves, although I would like to see video of Pete Townshend hitting Abby Hoffman with his guitar at Woodstock.

This created some action last week, legendary Austin country station KVET and our friends at KGSR were talking about it.

... and by the way Sirius Outlaw Country added the record last week before all this came out, along with many other Americana folks.

See The Paula Nelson Band Live!

April 10: The Mucky Duck Houston, TX 7:30pm
April 12: The Hook Lake Bryan, TX 8pm acoustic trio
April 15: Jester Dorm UT (outside courtyard) Austin, TX 4:30-7:30pm FREE SHOW
April 18: Lorraine’s Live Music Venue Marble Falls, TX 8pm
April 19: Paula is driving a race car and singing National Anthem in Kyle
April 23: Varsity Theater- Baton Rouge, LA- 9:15pm- opening for Reckless Kelly- 10.00
April 24: Bootleggers- Tyler, TX 8:30p (opening for Reckless Kelly)
May 5: Acoustic trio Luckenbach 8pm
May 6: River City Grill- Marble Falls, TX- not sure when- acoustic trio
May 11: La Zona Rosa, Austin, TX- Benefit for Women and Children’s health issues with John Trudell and Folk Uke
May 16: Hill Country BBQ- NYC, NY- 10:00pm

Band sites:
The Paula Nelson Band Home
Paula Carlene Nelson on myspace

Media coverage "the incident":

The Chicago Sun-Times

Jimmy Kimmel's Monologue

VH-1's The Best Week Ever

Defamer.com

CO-ED Magazine

One Hell of A Ride -- New Willie Nelson Box Set

2008-04-02T16:33:00.007-04:00

After over 40 years in the business, a variety of labels and tons of bootlegs, Sony Legacy's new Willie Nelson box set, "One Hell of A Ride" covers it all with 100 songs spread over four cds. The album was released yesterday, April 1, no foolin'.

From the very first recording he ever made at KBOP, Pleasanton TX in 1954 through the Nashville frustration of RCA, to Atlantic and the glory years of Columbia Records. Recent forays into reggae, blues and his recent Cindy Walker tribute; it's all here.

There is also a great set of liner notes written by respected Willie biographer Joe Nick Patowski. While the album only contains one unreleased song, it's a new version of that first recording from KBOP, the prescient "When I've Sung My Last Hillbilly Song." I find it poignant, you should too:

Broke the heart of my darling who loved me
Broke her heart and I know I've done wrong
But I hope that someday she'll forgive me and remember
When I've sung my last hillbilly song

When I've sung my last hillbilly song
I hope that someday she'll forgive me and remember

When I've played my last hillbilly bar
I hope that someday she'll forgive me and remember

When I've sung my last Hank Williams song
I hope that someday she'll forgive me and remember

When I've sung my last hillbilly song
I hope that someday she'll forgive me and remember

-- Willie Nelson

There is a great radio special on its way to the stations. Part 1, is Willie's own perspective on his career and songwriting. Part 2 is "Willie Nelson's True Outlaw Stories," as told by him and longtime collaborators Sister Bobbie Nelson, Paul English, Mickey Raphael, Poodie Locke, Jody Payne and friends Nels Cline of Wilco and Ray Wylie Hubbard. If you want to know about Willie and how he got to be the Godfather of Outlaw Country (and a few other sects), you've got to check it out!

Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. Still Stars, Still Gold

2008-04-02T13:53:00.011-04:00

Solid Gold was one of the only ways to see music on television in the 80s, especially if you didn't have cable for MTV. The show has been parodied by Weezer in a video, so I won't belabor the obvious and describe the "theme" but it was visually pleasing.

One thing I loved about Solid Gold was when Marilyn McCoo, the beautiful lead singer of the 5th Dimension who was host, would cover a current hit. Her version of "Only Time Will Tell" by Asia was better than the record, and I would love to hear it again someday.

I spent a few fun hours at a WFMU Record Fair teasing the geeks because they didn't have these materials. Also I wouldn't have to buy anything that way.

Cut to last Saturday night, at the incredible event of the Dodgers game at LA Coliseum, the first in 50 or so years there, and the biggest crowd to ever see a Major League Game.

Imagine my joy when I heard Marilyn and her partner Billy Davis Jr. (also of the 5th and Mr. McCoo) announced as the singers of the National Anthem that night, since they were cancer survivors as well as being a great act. I heard my old friend Charles Steinberg made that call, and a good one it was. Congrats on making it back to the west coast and out of Boston to old Dr. Steinberg, a big sports/music guy.

It was one of my favorite renditions ever, including Marvin Gaye at the NBA All Star Game and Whitney Houston's from the 1984 Olympics, also held in the LA Coliseum.

Please enjoy the video I took of their performance above and visit the Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. page when you have time.

Daniel Lanois Movie "This is What Is" LA Premiere

2008-03-28T11:01:00.006-04:00

So many thoughts came to mind while watching the deep, sensitive and slow musical performances in the new Daniel Lanois movie which I saw last night at its L.A. Premiere at the respected art house the Vista Theatre. It has been 25 years that I have been listening to his music, and he is still one of my favorites for many reasons that did not appear in the long documentary of his working life!

Brady Blades, Sr. joined the band for a song:

First, the music. The event opened with Lanois and his bandmate Brian Blades on guitar and drums, with Daryl Johnson and another dude I can't remember on vocals and keyboards. They opened with the great song "The Messenger" and played a few others including a great jamming version of "The Maker." I smiled during that song thinking of Willie Nelson and Jerry Garcia's versions and how the song has had a good run with a certain part of the public. As Lanois said in the film, their versions are validation.

At the end of the mini-set, Billy Bob Thornton came out and joined Lanois for an unbelievable rendition of the monologue from Sling Blade, with Lanois accompanying him on some of his most subtle, dynamic, simple, rhythmic, loose, amazing guitar playing. To see a movie star perform like that with live music is rare and it was awesome. Reminded me that I worked that great soundtrack and set up the first in-store at Hear Music in Santa Monica. You could argue the whole thing, tied in with a KCRW appearance helped launch the store in L.A. and gave all involved, which didn't include Starbuck's at the time, a sense of the possibilities.

Please see below for my Daniel Lanois' greatest hits list!

And he seems to need it even with all the success. Why else make a movie that shows a lot of jamming on unknown compositions and very little about his actual process, the talent that went into making him successful. It can be seen indirectly for the most part -- his guitar playing is clearly a big part of U2's sound, just based on listening to him. We see him and U2 jamming for like a minute in the movie. It was shocking how little his three biggest acts -- U2, Gabriel and Dylan -- were in the movie. He must be pissed at Peter Gabriel, the dude was barely mentioned and his So was the album that broke Lanois as a producer (without Eno).

Eno is the whole movie, of course. His bathroom interview with Lanois, apparently while on the bowl, is fascinating and inspiring. He says it's important to show that great works and results come from the smallest, nothing ideas and that it would give people confidence to know that they have that ability too, that there is no magic or secret to what they do. Eno points out that he has always gone out of his way to show his process. Lanois gives a glimpse of a childhood newspaper clipping about him playing guitar for 53 hours straight -- the only reference to the long hours of trial and error with the studio and his instrument to get where he is today.

Two moments where he was being a genius producer: conducting the band behind Aaron Neville as he sang "With God on Our Side" and singing the melody by heart from one of the collaborations with Eno and Harold Budd by heart as they played the actual recording. He has an amazing ear, a great sense of melody, etc.

Lanois quotes Dylan as telling him "you can't buy feel." But if you have some major dough and a decent band, you can rent it out from Daniel Lanois!

Some of my favorite Lanois albums, and I've been listening for 25 years now include:

On Land - first appearance on an Eno album

Apollo - Atmospheres and Soundtracks

The Pearl - Second album w/Eno gets him shared billing (Eno/Lanois with Harold Budd)

U2's breakthrough The Unforgettable Fire

Canadian pre-fame: The Parachute Club, Martha and the Muffins

Peter Gabriel So - one of the best albums by one of the best artists ever

Bob Dylan Oh Mercy - the comeback by one of the best artists ever

Neville Brothers - best, most representative recording (not "Don't Know Much") under their own name. (Try Wild Tchopitoulas for great results)

U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind - again, the comeback is the hardest thing in showbiz and they came back all the way with this one.

Willie Nelson - Teatro - First Willie album I promoted and a great album too.

and Willie always gets the last word!

Good Luck Dontrelle

2008-03-26T06:37:00.003-04:00

Watching the second game of the season live from Japan, I felt like giving a shout out to one of my favorite players, Dontrelle Willis. Here he is in his new Detroit Tiger uniform, where he was sent as a throw-in in the big trade with Florida for Migel Cabrera. He hasn't played that well the past couple of seasons, but being a lefty under 30, is a good risk for the Tigers.

He's a player with a lot of personality and by the way played pretty well against the Yankees in 2003.

Good luck in Detroit Dontrelle!

Yankees Open Without Bob Sheppard, Win

2008-03-26T06:23:00.005-04:00

At 97, Bob Sheppard is missing opening day at Yankee Stadium, the last Opening Day ever at what we will soon refer to as "old Yankee Stadium." How about old old Yankee Stadium, while we're at it? I have three documented trips to the old old Yankee Stadium, the house that Ruth Built as opposed to the house that George built and will soon destroy.

Bob Sheppard is one of the best things about the Yankees. As Reggie, Jeter, DiMaggio and all the others have paid tribute to him over the years. Kirby Puckett, Al-va-ro Es-PI-no-sa, Shi-gi-to-shi Ha-se-ga-wa, were some highlights I recall over the years. I also loved his lecture during the Giants game to stop throwing snowballs on the field. May he get well soon, he's been fighting this cold since the end of last year. At 97, as reported in the Daily News, he may not have long to go.

"I HOPE ALL YANKEE FANS HAVE A CHANCE TO HEAR THE GREAT MAN AGAIN."

Last night during the postponed opener, they played a tape of Sheppard introducing Derek Je-ter. I hope we get to hear him again live soon.

Here's a picture of Mr. Girardi being congratulated on his first win as manager. Happy to hear Joe Torre won in his L.A. debut too.

And just to keep this music-oriented, here's an article about Joe Girardi allowing music in the Yankee clubhouse

SXSW Thursday - R.E.M. at Austin City Limits, Earbender on Scobleizer

2008-03-20T13:42:00.009-04:00

R.E.M. at Austin City Limits

It was really sweet to see R.E.M. down in the trenches working a radio conference the way they used to when the band was just starting out. I must have seen them two or three times in those days, including an acoustic show at Studio 54 with the db's on the bill and at the "New Music Awards" that CMJ had every year. I seem to recall Peter Buck throwing his guitar full force as they finished that set. R.E.M. and U2 were the only bands from the scene that got a shot in the commercial world for more than a song or two, and unlike Depeche Mode and The Smiths, made it to American Rock Radio.

Then they got the big dough from Warner Bros., Bill Berry bailed and I can't remember them doing much glad-handing since.

They have charisma and hits, and when a band like this appears during a conference of bands trying to establish themselves, it doesn't matter that they aren't hot anymore. They look confident, strong, rich, secure -- especially in comparison to the new artists. There haven't been many American guitar bands better than them since 1995 in general, makes them look even more important and accomplished.

Be that as it may, the two songs I saw at ACL included a fresh read of "Imitation of Life," a great song obscured by terrible albums on all sides. Hope you enjoy the video as much as I did taking it.

After the show ended, some dude rolled up on Stipe at the edge of the stage (such balls) and started a live streaming interview over his QIK phone. It turned out to be massive blogger Robert Scoble (www.scobleizer.com), who then turned his camera on me! If you want to know my whole spiel, take a look. I look old from the bad video and lighting though.

SXSW Thursday - a good day for alt. rock gold

2008-03-20T11:48:00.016-04:00

Carbon/Silicon at KGSR

In addition to R.E.M., Lou Reed was on the prowl and alternative gold was in full effect at SXSW 08. Maybe Pete Townshend closed the door on the British Classic Rock folks last year. I'm still waiting for the Chris Squire keynote myself.

Thanks to Jody Denberg at KGSR, I had the opportunity to see them and do some chatting with the god himself, Mick Jones. They play with a ton of exuberance and Mick's voice and guitar haven't lost any of their appeal. He has a lot of style with those fuzzy melody lines...

But what a cool dude. There are going to be some Clash reissues coming from Sony/Legacy shortly, including a recording of their show at Shea Stadium from September 82. The picture above shows me bending Mick and Tony James' ears after their rocking radio show.

Thurston Moore Groop at Threadgill's

Later that afternoon, I scammed a little vid from the other side of the fence while listening to Thurston and his solo band play. I wonder what the idea is to do it on an acoustic guitar? Seems to just illuminate how unique the man is on guitar... the visual doesn't fit the sound Thurston! I hope it's not for the Neil Young reason of having a bad back or something. I'm a huge fan of this guy and it comes back every time I see him play. I hope Yes gets into the Hall in the same year!

In the next entry about R.E.M., Rev. Coes loses his jacket at ACL.

Post-Stubb's R.E.M. Alternative Gold Flash Mob

2008-03-18T00:04:00.006-04:00

As mentioned, seeing R.E.M. at a convention is like taking a trip in the Time Tunnel. Except for Bill Berry's retirement that is. Somehow, they really lost their zing when he left. Well, their show attracted a Night Watch of Alternative Rock Journeymen, as portrayed in this photo above. left to right:

Front Row: l to r: Dan Mackta; Jim Merlis, Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan

Back Row: l to r: Peter Standish, Alan Wolmark, Dennis Dennehy, Jim Pitt, Mark Kates, Jo Lenardi

Dennis is jeering me for street teaming for a Red Sox video last summer, I am replying as I take the picture that he's a fat bastard. Literally. It's not that often I call someone that to their face but I must admit that I've gotten a few pounds over my usual weight during the past few months! Probably takes one to know one.

This picture contains some alternative rock royalty from the 90s, folks who helped launch that part of the music business and bring it to its peak around 1995.

The week got considerably better after a good night's sleep and the Embassy breakfast.

SXSW Wednesday

2008-03-17T21:30:00.010-04:00

By the time I took this picture, Fuze and Canada were already in full attack mode. I got parched and drank a bit of the Strawberry and it wasn't bad. I won't be drinking that stuff persistently though.

Later that day, the Paula Nelson Band rocked the Saxon Pub on South Lamar. Americana radio peeps Rick Star, Big Kev, Erin and Fred were in attendance and we thank them for their support!

Rick Star (left) has played many records (Shelby, Joseph Israel, Ike and Tina) I have promoted and his station KFAN Fredericksburg is a an eclectic one. Check it out!

Big Kev (right) I only know for about five years. He's down in the Jersey/Pennsylvania corridor and is obviously a major personality too.

Paula Nelson and her band play Austin blues-house rocking music the city is known for and do it well. Her album Lucky 13 goes for Americana adds on Monday March 24, and it was hot when Erin, music director of KFAN (second from right), reeled off all the songs from the album they are already spinning. "Fire Below," "Baby You're Mean," "Day to Day Love" and the Prine cover "Angel From Montgomery" among others! "A core artist" says Rick Star later in the week in the glow of Willie's big Texas flag back stage at the Backyard show. It's a good hang in the Hill Country. Thanks for the hospitality folks!

Later that evening, R.E.M. moved the crowd at Stubb's. I was so heartened to see a band from one of my first conventions, CMJ '84, still on the scene working it. As the conference unfolded, gold seemed to be a persistent theme. And what's wrong with that? No that's not a veiled Paul McCartney divorce reference! As Jeremy Tepper once said, "that's too today for me."

Remember, this is still only Wednesday night.

Catching Up - SXSW Tuesday

2008-03-17T21:21:00.017-04:00

Just off the plane back from Austin, but I haven't posted in 11 days. So I will catch up one day/post at a time.

Arrived and caught the last few notes of the interactive part of SXSW. My old friend Loren Feldman is blowing up w/his 1938media.com site and introduced me to a few of his fellow marketer/blogger/net personalities (a shout out to Stephanie Agresta!) and share some good info and philosophy. It's not politically correct and I don't endorse all the points or opinions on his site! I hear he sparked a good bad debate during one of the interactive panels.

My first chow was Churra's: Migas con queso, no hongoles, but if you were FOLLOWING ME ON TWITTER, you would know that by now. Why you would want to know it is another story (for another day).

Caught the Paula Nelson Band (on video below) doing an acoustic set at Antone's. It was only the first day, but things were already in a blur! On the marketing tip, Paula's was not an official SXSW Music show, but part of the Interactive lineup. Note the DELL slide behind the band. Billy Bob Thornton headlined, which I didn't see. I heard he did a set on Monday night at the Hilltop with Rue Coleman and Texas Boogie supporting. Poodie's sold a lot of beer that night!

Here is "Find Your Way Home Again":

IBS warm-up for SXSW, Aloha Ray Kane

2008-03-06T10:56:00.009-05:00

Leading up to SXSW, I am pleased to report that I will be moderating the panel on Social Networks and College Radio at the Intercollegiate Broadcasting Conference this Friday 3/8 at the Penta Hotel in NYC. Let me know if you want to come. IBS is the first conference many of us attended; it predates most of the others pertaining to college radio and is concerned with the nuts and bolts of running radio stations more than it is into providing a forum for the music business. This is my first non-record company/music panel after numerous radio/record talks over the years.

(Harp magazine's blog called my SXSW panel last year "seriously geeky, but oddly compelling.") Are they still in business?

SXSW, the "Granddaddy of them all," takes off this weekend with their Film and Interactive conferences and goes full speed with music next week. "Everybody's going" doesn't quite apply to music people anymore, but other companies with different agendas have made the festival into a bombardment of the senses in the past few years.

You may not go there to introduce a product like paper towels yet, but we are getting closer to that point. Last year, I was excited (and a bit dismayed) to see Toyota's massive Yaris attack. Levi's is another major spender at SXSW, and I anticipate Monster energy drink or some other flavor will be in our faces too. Street teams? How about Major League Baseball is bringing its multimedia truck that usually parks outside the World Series and All Star Game.

I will continue to focus on my radio contacts, seeing bands and gathering content for this site, but if the quicker picker upper or the idildo need a spokesman, I'm available.

earbender received a new playlist from Radio K, KUOM Minneapolis with a lot of great info and pictures on it from live performances especially. A few they had recently were Dosh, A Place to Bury Strangers and Andrew Broder, click here to listen.

Current events and topics I'm into:

RIP Leonard Rosenman and Ray Kane

Jeff Tweedy on migraines

Arms Dealer for FARC arrested in Thailand

Behind Vermont's blowout for Obama

Rakim returns with The Archive, earbender visitors from Wyandanch!

View Robert Beck's Favorite Pictures (from Sports Illustrated)

DJ Scratchy has a great vintage reggae podcast here from wirelessfm.

Baseball and Portishead back for '08

2008-02-28T18:38:00.024-05:00

Baseball Returns

Enough with steroids, new stadiums (DC and coming soon to NY, Minn. and Florida), crossover promotion and even the winter leagues, I'm ready for the real deal. I have the 2008 Preview issue of Baseball Digest, and that's all I need (and Street and Smith's) right now.

Baseball Digest is the place you go to read about the game from a historical perspective, comparable to MOJO, the english classic rock magazine. In a world of pitch-by-pitch updates on cell phones, I still find their content fascinating. The letters, the quiz, old man John Kuenster's editorial and The Game I'll Never Forget are features I love. The Goose is in the new issue too as this year's sole Hall of Fame inductee.

It's now down to 8 issues a year after going from 12 to ten a few years ago. I hope BB Digest is around forever but turnarounds aren't typical in show business. Please read and subscribe to Baseball Digest if you are into baseball. They recently put out a book compiling their greatest stories, The Best of Baseball Digest, which is a nice resource on many players and topics.

The baseball digest letters section is great for people griping and looking up old info, as well as stating an opinion. It's similar to the MOJO letters column, where our old friend Daniel Makagon (formerly of KXLU, Los Angeles and WMTU, Houghton MI) recently called out my hero and client Elvis Costello in response to an epic interview (conducted at the Lincoln Memorial) where Elvis said he would never make another album and never play another show in England! Makagon thought EC was hypocritical for re-releasing his catalog several times essentially. There were a lot of negative reactions, but in my book (and my blog), Elvis can't do much wrong.

Fear Nuttin' Band

Fear Nuttin' concludes their tour with The Toasters and looking for stations to visit. Please read below about a band who's album I promoted years ago that started out just like Fear Nuttin'. They are a fierce combo of dance-hall reggae and hard rock. Sir Walford of WCDB Albany will probably be our first stop and accurately compared them to the Bad Brains. Sir Walford is a legendary roots reggae dj who has been on the station since the 80s and has a ton of listeners to both "The Other Side of Sir Walford" and "The Many Moods of Sir Walford."

Joseph Israel

Joseph hits Miami hard tomorrow with the Marley family at Carifest, and continues on to the following: 3/2: Jacksonville; 3/3 Wilmington; 3/4 Asheville; 3/5 Falls Church; 3/6 New York City; 3/8 Canton NY; 3/9: Boston; 3/10 New Market NH; 3/11 Rochester NY; 3/12 Athens OH; 3/13: Cincinnati OH; 3/15 Fayetteville AR

Willie Nelson
The new video features Jessica Simpson, Paula Nelson, Ben Dorsey, Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Willie in the First Bad Boy Lawn Mower Race through Luck TX. (embedding disabled so please click to view)

Buddy Miles RIP
The LA Times obituary says he sang for the California Raisins as well as playing drums with Jimi Hendrix and Mike Bloomfield, two of the greatest guitarists ever. Here's a bit of Buddy Miles as I remember him best:

Portishead back for 2008, fresh as ever

Our friends Portishead return with a new album in April. In 1994, with the grunge revolution still going strong, earbender took a project no other indies were interested in, the debut by Portishead, Dummy, and it made it to the top 10. I'm glad they are back but will be at Jazzfest when they do their Coachella thing. An interview with artist Jonathan Coulton on twit.tv where he described the loyalty of his fans, generated slowly and steadily via blogging reminded me of Portishead.

College radio is where Portishead engendered such loyal fans that ten years later, they come back to headline the best festival in the USA. Portishead will have good songs, and the passage of time makes me wonder how their sound might have changed (especially now that so many have caught up and adopted spy music/beats/chanteuse style. But I will be at Jazzfest for the re-debut.

Paula Nelson on KUT 2/27

In anticipation of SXSW, here's a bit of our client Paula Nelson on KUT this past Wednesday. Paula will also be broadcasting live from the legendary south Austin spot The Saxon Pub tonight on KGSR.com, so please tune in. The Saxon Pub is a great hang where Poodie once gave me the definitions of "Friday Night Hero" and "Pressure Cooker" strip clubs in the same story. It's going to be a fun night and Paula's album Lucky 13 is coming soon.

If you can't make it to Austin, you can virtually visit the Best Pub in Britain.

I Want to Believe opens, Willie Nelson on Democracy Now! and KEXP hits NY

2008-02-23T07:43:00.010-05:00

Cai Guo-Qiang had the big opening at the Guggenheim last night and it was pretty spectacular. Here's some video to give you a small sample. There were also great gunpowder paintings, the wolves they showed in the newspaper, pigs, snakes, tigers and other thought-provoking images of China, nature, commerce, politics, etc.

Willie Nelson appeared on the 12th Anniversary show of Democracy Now this week. Please click on this link to hear Willie go off in words and song.

KEXP Radio Liberation had its launch party on Thursday night. Kevin Cole told me the project has been two years in the making and as a fan of diversity in music, this is a good thing for New York. Some folks mis-interpreted my comments about WRXP. It's not that I expect them to play James Brown and Run DMC, I just wanted to say that white music for white people is not my bag.

KEXP (mistakenly referred to as "WKEXP" on stage by Antibalas) Radio Liberation brought a youthful and ethnically mixed crowd to their event... has there been a WRXP New York Rock Experience launch party? I assume they will have a street team at the upcoming Springsteen show along with a wrapped van, and I'll be on the lookout. SBR Creative was shaken up by the first wrapped vehicle in adult rock, which I brought to the R&R conference in 2001, so I look forward to seeing what they do. Being "world class" they should use the Smart, but being green isn't part of the yuppie identity here like on the west coast.

Here's a snip of Antibalas from KEXP/Radio Liberation's launch party:

Earbender Reggae/Radio Refresher

2008-02-19T13:04:00.009-05:00

It's all coming together! This is the first post I am making that is connected to an eblast, so if you are visiting via my email, thanks for stopping by. Earbender has been up for a few months and I have made some posts that combine my interests in music, sports, pop culture and politics. Hopefully these are topics that compliment and conspire with the music I am talking about too. It's supposed to be more flavorful than just promoting, and hopefully informative too.

Joseph Israel "Mankind"

Baseball and ethics seem to be the main focus on Cardboard Gods, and I'm proud to tell you they are the first sports page to list a link to earbender. Reflecting out our diverse topics, college radio page "Spinning Indie," political reporter Daniel Patterson on "Creepy Sleepy" and (cough) "Celeb Stoner" all now have a link to this page on theirs.

I wasn't surprised to read in the NY Times that Gitmo inspires art. They just haven't found a way to silence them yet, apparently.

In an age where racism has such dramatic implications, why not get into some reggae which helps bring everyone together? Below are links to a couple of artists I am promoting, Fear Nuttin' and Joseph Israel, and while they have reggae/rasta/roots music in their hearts, they are both trying to take it further.

Fear Nuttin' "Pon di Block" video

Reggae for Children is a good thing

Hear some sweet music from Joseph Israel on Global Hit

For you classic rock fans, here is a great picture of the Rolling Stones and Martin Scorsese outside the Berlin premiere of the film "Shine a Light." I heard a few songs from outside the door of the Beacon Theatre, I'm sure it's going to be a good one. Here's a review from the London Times. Almost stole the poster from the Sony Imax too, would have if it was better looking. Did Robbie Conal create it?:

21st Century Gadgets, Reggae Tours

2008-02-11T15:31:00.025-05:00

Check out the Squba, a Swiss made car that goes underwater, with a built in breathing apparatus. The roof stays off for easy escape. I also have some video from the Virgin Galactic Plane announced at the AMNH yesterday. I like the fact that we are starting to see some 21st Century, futuristic developments. The three main candidates for president all have a connection to the sixties... I wonder who America will choose.

What's the next level of Guitar Hero? It's such a good game that kids are buying the old records and even taking more of an interest in playing guitar. What could be next? A huge crossover market for Wii and the others to senior citizens is one result. Another I have been thinking of were Jazz Hero and Symphonic or Philharmonic interactive games. You could have the weirdest controllers for all kinds of instruments, and especially the baton for the conductor. It seems like older listeners would want to play this music but you probably need young tendons to play "Ornithology."

In the meantime, Guitar Hero III features Aerosmith.

The Virgin Galactic video:

Joseph Israel is on tour spreading reggae love in the following cities, with a new ep including classic rock conscious covers as well as performing originals from his most recent album "Gone Are the Days."

Feb 17-The Waiting Room, Omaha NE
Feb 20- The Snorty Horse, Springfield MO
Feb 21- VZD's, Oklahoma City OK
Mar 1 - 15th Annual Bob Marley Caribbean Festival, Miami FL
Mar 2 - Free Bird Live, Jacksonville FL
Mar 3 - 16 Taps, Wilmington NC
Mar 4 - Emerald Lounge, Asheville NC
Mar 5 - State Theater, Falls Church VA w/ Lionize
Mar 6 - Sullivan Hall, New York NY
Mar 8 - The Java Barn (St. Lawrence University) FREE SHOW, Canton NY
Mar 9 - Bill's Bar, Boston MA
Mar 10- The Stone Church, New Market, NH
Mar 11- Water Street Music Hall, Rochester NY
Mar 12- The Blue Gator, Athens OH
Mar 13- Annie's, Cincinnati OH
Mar 15- George's Majestic, Fayetteville AR
May 25- Desert Rocks Music Festival, Moab UT

Another great new artist I'm working with, Fear Nuttin' Band, is a hard rocking reggae hybrid now on tour with the Ska legends The Toasters. Fear Nuttin' Band is pumping YARDCORE, their new album which comes out on April 29 on BoDog Music. They rock hard, you should see them if you have the chance.

Fear Nuttin Band dates with The Toasters and beyond:
2/17 -- Pittsburgh, PA (Diesel); 2/18 -- Indianapolis (The Underground); 2/19 -- Cedar Falls (The Reverb); 2/20 -- Milwaukee (Miramar Theatre); 2/21 Minneapolis (Triple Rock Social Club); 2/22 -- Chicago (Reggie's Live); 2/23 -- St. Louis (On Broadway); 2/29 -- Northampton (Iron Horse)

I was sorry to hear that Roy Scheider died last weekend. He was a constant presence in a variety of action movies in the 70s, typically in the role of the non-conformist cop. He was huge as the Chief in Jaws, but how about this incredible chase scene from video from "The Seven-Ups"? They roll up 10th Avenue, onto Amsterdam Ave., the West Side Highway, GWB and Palisades Parkway.

Also on the 70s tip, an original blogger (he was opinionated on homemade media), Karl Ehrhardt, 'Sign man' of Shea Stadium, died at 83 this past week. Perhaps it's just as well it was without having to see Shea demolished next year. He was awesome, I sat near him on the 3rd base side many times. The signs were day-glo and dark blue (something lost in these pictures). He was funny and harsh at the same time. "I just called them the way I saw them" said Ehrhardt.

Pimp C

The sad story of Bun B bravely carrying on in the wake of his partner Pimp C's sudden death at the end of last year was in The NY Times earlier this week. The article discussed Bun B's resolve and how he had carried on while Pimp C was incarcerated a few years ago, but turns very sad in the last paragraph:

"...But on Friday night it was hard not to be overwhelmed by what’s gone. Houston’s sad roll call keeps getting longer: not just Pimp C and Big Moe and DJ Screw, but also Fat Pat, H.A.W.K., Big Steve, Big Mello and others. A few years ago Houston hip-hop was exploding; now the boom has come and gone, leaving the survivors to plot their next moves. Backstage Bun B said, “We had a good run, now it’s time to knuckle down.” No doubt he’s right. But it won’t be the same."

My vibes to Bun B, all Pimp C's family and friends and the Rap-A-Lot label.

Here is Pimp C's "Knockin Doors Down" video, uncut version in tribute:

WRXP, The New York Rock Experience

2008-02-08T13:23:00.001-05:00

WRXP, New York 101.9 FM went on air this week, the first new rock station in the city since maybe the last incarnation of WNEW in the 90s? The slogan is "WRXP, the New York Rock Experience, and it's run by some folks I know, Bryan Schock as Music Director and John Bradley of SBR Creative and Mike Henry of Paragon Media Strategies are consulting. For some reason, this is a very diffficult thing to do -- it's been years since anyone attempted anything different -- but I also think it is because WFUV, WSOU and WFMU are so excellent over the past few years especially. Good luck to all.

But thanks to modern technology (and my old Panasonic baseball game radio), you can decide for yourself, hit play below and tune in to hear a sample 45 minutes of WRXP, recorded this afternoon!

One fun thing they have on the air already, are little "rock memories" of New York as recalled by people who don't seem to have much local flavor. The stories are interesting, and detailed, such as one that mentioned Bob Dylan dedicating a song to George Harrison on stage at MSG. I must admit that I did have the full-on NY rock experience of hearing Springsteen's "Jungleland" and yelling "Clarence!" during the sax solo.

A truly bizarre promo mentions many old New York djs and radio stations, including some which are still in full effect: WPIX (which at 102.3 was a hair away from 101.9); WFUV, WPLJ, WNEW and Cousin Brucie. They left out Meg Griffin, a common thread in most of their spiel, Sirius Disorder, and the fact that WFUV is home to most of the old 'NEW djs and artists. We may as well throw in New Yorker Mike Marrone's XM station The Loft too even if he isn't around here in body (who else plays Dwight Twilley and Marshall Crenshaw as much?). When the promo had a quote from someone saying "when WPLJ was...", I went over to 95.5 to see. It's still there.

Speaking of Meg Griffin and Sirius, I only looked at my little baseball radio once to see what song was playing on the readout. It seems I've become accustomed to that great feature on satellite and on the ipod.

WRXP is also up against Cousin Brucie's old station WCBS, but will benefit massively by folks tuning back and forth between the two frequencies, based on MY way of listening at least.

I am not surprised that WRXP omits a large part of the New York Rock Experience (that btw all the other stations I have mentioned include): Black Americana music. They are pumping out white music for white people, a challenge especially without playing country artists (like Bon Jovi). There is plenty of new music and great old music to play but I feel people around here have more diverse taste and "experiences" even if they define themselves as rock fans. And some of the biggest artists come from these fringes or offshoots of rock.

RIP, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The Times says he made the Beatles more productive. I say they were in the middle of nowhere and they were the Beatles, just w/o distraction.

Hank Aaron, Bob Marley and Babe Ruth Birthdays

2008-02-06T17:36:00.001-05:00

This week, I am into commemorating three of my heroes who happen to have a birthday within two days of each other, Hank Aaron (2/5) and also Bob Marley and Babe Ruth, who were both born on February 6. It was also Fat Tuesday yesterday, and the word from the Big Easy is that it was almost back to pre-Katrina levels in attendance.

I'll be forever loving Bob Marley! Here's a great version of "Forever Loving Jah" as sung by a cancer-ridden Bob about six months before his death in 1981 at age 36. I was moved by a great special on XM's Reggae station the Joint today that featured an extensive narrative of the group's early years by Bunny Wailer. He said the Wailers story was "magical and mystical" and I agree. Many thanks Bob Peter and especially Bunny!

I also dropped by the Giants parade (see video below) yesterday, celebrating their incredible win over the NE Pats in Super Bowl LXII. Take that, Red Sox nation! I was predicting a Giant win based on vibes and Sports Illustrated, and I let Patrick Bryant from WMBR, Cambridge know it ("your guys are going down and I can't wait to see it.") They cheated against the Jets, and they lost their perfect season to the Giants. Very sweet.

For years, I have been pumping up El Serie del Caribe (that's "Caribbean World Series" en inglés), and in recent years coverage has increased to the point where we now have two stations in New York as well as the great MLB.com going almost all out. The lineups are at least 60-70% current major leaguers and the crowds and parks look great. I hope I get to see it someday.

One thing I didn't see was the last U2 tour. Sometimes you can't make it on your own, you know? I didn't work it that hard but I'm glad because I saw the film the other day and want to let everyone know that U2 3D is a GREAT concert movie, maybe one of the five best ever. Amazing music played well and the 3D effect is excellent. We see the band (like Larry hitting those drums!) in detail from many angles, never boring. After 30 years to have all the original members in a band is so great, it seems like no time has gone by at all. They have even survived a baldness gracefully.

Even the crowd shots in U2 3D convey nothing but energy, exuberance and joy from the kids who are packed in and pulsating in unison to the music. If you like U2, don't miss it.

Speaking of the great Hank Aaron, I was disappointed to hear that earbender Sports Personality of the Year Lewis Hamilton had been the target of racism from racing fans at a race held in Barcelona, Spain last weekend.

Another friend of ours with a Hank Aaron connect (they are both from Alabama) is Shelby Lynne, who appears on Craig Ferguson tomorrow night (2/7).

RIP, Pimp C, apparently the victim of a cough syrup overdose.

On the promotion front, our client Joseph Israel is back on tour:

Feb 6 - Broadway Oyster Bar, St. Louis MO
Feb 7 - Iowa City Yacht Club, Iowa City IA
Feb 9 - The Wild Hare, Chicago IL
Feb 10- Iowa State University @ The Maintenance Shop, Ames IA
Feb 14-The Record Bar, Kansas City MO
Feb 16-The Bottleneck, Lawrence KS
Feb 17-The Waiting Room, Omaha NE
Feb 20- The Snorty Horse, Springfield MO
Feb 21- VZD's, Oklahoma City OK
Mar 1 - 15th Annual Bob Marley Caribbean Festival, Miami FL
Mar 2 - Free Bird Live, Jacksonville FL
Mar 3 - 16 Taps, Wilmington NC
Mar 4 - Emerald Lounge, Asheville NC
Mar 5 - State Theater, Falls Church VA w/ Lionize
Mar 6 - Sullivan Hall, New York NY
Mar 8 - The Java Barn (St. Lawrence University) FREE SHOW, Canton NY
Mar 9 - Bill's Bar, Boston MA
Mar 10- The Stone Church, New Market, NH
Mar 11- Water Street Music Hall, Rochester NY
Mar 12- The Blue Gator, Athens OH
Mar 13- Annie's, Cincinnati OH
Mar 15- George's Majestic, Fayetteville AR
May 25- Desert Rocks Music Festival, Moab UT

"Rosenfelder Index," Super Bowl Music spots

2008-02-04T10:58:00.000-05:00

Thanks for stopping by to read the first "Rosenfelder Index," an estimate of the cost of buying one of everything advertised during our nation's biggest tv show, the Super Bowl. I believe it shows where the ad industry thinks the country is going, or where it wants it to go.

And considering how much time has been spent talking about the ads, it seems to me the Rosenfelder Index should have debuted a long time ago, in the 90s when I first thought of it. It would have been fascinating to see the drop in price when the dot.com thing was raging, for example, but the ad business has been media fodder for a long time. It has just been accelerated. Ben Franklin would have had a sick blog!

The ads appeared in blocks of five or six, except at the beginning of halftime when there were seven or eight in a row. I was interested in the big companies that ran multiple ads with different themes but I also paid attention to the one-timers who must have been "banking heavily" on those spots getting some results. (Where are Darrin Stephens and Larry Tate right now?!)

I noticed Fox would give a glimpse of football before the last few ads to get people to slow down the Tivo as if the game were coming back on, just to show a few more spots, hopefully viewed in real time. Some of the ads were closed-captioned, but some not, another trick to get people to watch.

Looking back through my list, they sure seem uninteresting and anticlimactic compared to the game, which is unusual for the Super Bowl. As the late Dave Rubin, a frequent attendee to the games would say amid all the partying, "is there even a game today?"

Nothing advertised was particularly interesting or groundbreaking as a product. A few interesting omissions: why was American the only airline to take out a 30 second ad? Continental is the official plane of the NY Giants, but those were the only mentions of one of the country's most important businesses. There was also a dearth of soap/detergent ads -- it's understandable that there is not much thought of cleaning or primping during the big game. But there were no insurance ads!!!!!

Maybe there really is a crisis because even a music company got in on the Bowl, the Doritos-sponsored Kina Grannis performance that also tagged iTunes. Interesting considering Universal Music's support of Amazon... I suppose there is more info about that on snackstrongproductions.com. Not that terrible a song, nice placement early in the game too.

On YouTube, Kina says to vote on "crashthesuperbowl.com" I hope kids have fake names they leave on all these sites!

Chase featured "Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers; Alice Cooper appeared in Bridgestone's ad near the end of the game; Justin Timberlake was pumping Pepsi and Amazon; Dunkin Donuts had a weird song "Doing Things I Like to Do," one of those records that could be popularized by a commercial -- it's just annoying enough!

The Rosenfelder Index for Super Bowl XLII (42) was: $456,000

Super Bowl Ads Divided by Sector (companies/products with multiple spots in bold):

Cars and related products:
Cadillac Escalade; Tri State Ford Dealers; Lexus GS; Ford Focus; Microsoft Sync/Ford Edge (w/Flaming Lips); Audi R8; Bridgestone Tires; Garmin navigation system; GMC Yukon Hybrid; Microsoft Sync/Ford; Ford Edge; Toyota Highlander; Chevy Impala; Nissan Murano; Cars.com; Bridgestone (with Alice Cooper and Richard Simmons); Hyundai Genesis; Ford Edge (with Derek Jeter); Acura MDX; Toyota Sequoia; Cadillac Postgame (approximately 450K)

Beverages:
Bud Light; "Aerial Coverage" from Budweiser; Diet Pepsi Max (with Macy Gray, LL Cool J, Missy Elliot and one more I am spacing); AmpEnergy.com; G2 (with Derek Jeter); SoBe LifeWater; Pepsi and Amazon.com (with Justin Timberlake); Vitamin Water; Dunkin Donuts; Coke (with James Carville and Bill Frist and then later with Charlie Brown and Underdog); Gatorade drinking dog -- can't be good for dogs; Amp Energy Drink (with car battery attached to nipples?). (One bottle of each, approximately $14)

Films:
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins; Vantage Point; Drillbit Taylor; Unhitched; Wanted; Iron Man (5/2); Leatherheads; Narnia (5/16); Wall E; Jumper; You Don't Mess with the Zohan; Semi Pro (combined with Bud Light). (Ten dollars each, approximately $120)

Opinion: I'm very pumped for Iron Man and the associated page is appropriately hi-tech.

Cosmetics/Household:
Tide (mytalkingstain.com); Sunsilk (featuring Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. Was the woman in between them Joss Stone?) near the end of the game (lifecantwait.com). (About $7)

TV Shows:
By far the most spots went to Fox themselves, with incessant mentions of Sarah Connor Chronicles (6); Daytona 500 (4); NFL Pro Bowl (3); American Idol (4 + Jordin Sparks' embedded performance of the National Anthem); House (6); New Amsterdam (1); Prison Break (1); King of the Hill (with Tom Petty reprising a great scene from the Blues Brothers) and its FX Channel. I thought the ad for Axemen on the History Channel was a spoof until it was over and didn't turn into a Holiday Inn Express commercial! (They don't take your money, just your TIME)

Banking/Finance:
Chase had four spots; E*Trade had three culminating with a vomiting baby. Prudential had a high-profile spot typical of the first half that focused on "positioning" statements, not a call to action. (Depends how much you use them -- $100/year easily)

Pharmaceuticals:
Claritin D had two ads, the second featured NASCAR driver Carl Edwards; Zantac heartburn pills showed up at an opportune time -- just after halftime (when the Doritos and beer pitched through the first half might be kicking in). (About $25 for one of each)

Technology/Communications:
Dell had two ads for the XPS One stressing its design. Service providers like Sprint, AT&T and Verizon combined their ads with devices, the Blackberry Pearl and LG's Voyager. Apple came correct with its Mac Book Air arriving in an interoffice envelope. Dell also had two values-based ads that featured a choppy song performed by Mick Jagger, promoting the Red campaign (dell.com/joinred). Toshiba threw in an ad for a cheap HD DVD player just after halftime. Does that get lost in the sauce maybe? Charles Barkley's T Mobile ad seemed to have a good story line, but I had the sound off. (About $5500)

Websites:
Overstock.com with two ads; CareerBuilder.com with three gross ones and two clever animated and inoffensive ads from salesgenie.com (and you know being salesman really sucks, so that's a nice achievement in an ad).

I'm not sure what Ideacast.net was advertising, I guess they are a (bad) ad agency? Myspace.com/superbowlads appeared on screen twice and other sites that advertised in hope of hits included GoDaddy.com (with Danica Patrick), and the Cadillac MVP voting text promotion. (GoDaddy costs $10/year)

A few other Super Bowl one-offs:
Planters Cashews making a gross woman attractive; FedEx; Ice Breakers Gum (featuring Carmen Electra, a brand Prince created years ago btw); Taco Bell and Ontario Canada. (Aside from a trip to Canada, you could spend under $50 if the FedEx wasn't too late in the day).

Apparel:
Victoria's Secret and UnderArmor had one ad each. One idealized Male and one idealized female ad -- neither brand look good on rolls of fat, maybe this is why there are hardly any clothes advertised on the Super Bowl! (About $50 each)

Public Service Announcements:
DeclareYourself.org; Parents, the Anti-Drug; The United Way; Ronald McDonald House.

You get the feeling that reality is creeping in at the end of the game as the ads start to involve more everyday concerns as opposed to the start when everything is new and optimistic. I'm glad Ontario was one of the first ads for this reason.

Americana Music Steps Up; Sundance Preview

2008-01-21T10:07:00.000-05:00

earbender applauds the Americana Music Association for choosing to recognize Martin Luther King Day for the first time this year! I really noticed when the Americana chart didn't come through yesterday (after bristling all the years it came in like clockwork on MLK day). I am pleased they stunted reports to honor those who honor the man, I feel like Stevie Wonder (left) having his song "Happy Birthday" come true.

But Stevie Wonder will never be on the Americana chart. I think there is room for more blues, reggae, r&b and jazz -- some of our best American art -- among the white singer songwriters on the charts, and in the culture of college and community radio. That's my spiel since 1984 or so and I'm sticking to it. Black Americana is a genre I named a few years ago in response to the Gavin Americana which had shown a similar lack of inclusiveness.

I am attending my second Sundance Festival this week, with an ever growing number of music artists, managers and marketers present. Is there a term for the assault on the senses of texts, twitters, street teams, bloggers, reality tv crews, news crews, reporters and whatnot yet? I hope to contribute some updates, so stay tuned.

There is a great music presence in some of the movies I highlighted including CSNY Deja Vu (directed by Bernard Shakey), Amy Redford's Guitar, Patti Smith, and the one I'm most excited about, Anvil: The Story of Anvil. Hit any of the links to learn more naturally.

I'm into environmental documentaries and Yung Chang's Up the Yangtze about the Three Gorges Damn that will result in 2 million being relocated and the landscape being changed forever. The film is about a farewell cruise to take one last look before it all goes away.

btw, charity: water is something I heard about at Sundance last year, an organization dedicated to bringing clean water to people who need it. Here's an update from Scott Harrison.

A few others include Michael Keaton's directorial debut Merry Gentleman, Jonathan Levine's second film The Wackness, stars Ben Kingsley (to busy for Cleaver though), Green Porno by Isabella Rosselini, Hell Ride, Transsiberian (a Hitchcock-esque thriller starring our buddy Woody Harrelson, Morgan Spurlock's Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, DeNiro in What Just Happened? or many others I haven't mentioned here.

Click here for U23D - but beware, the trailer is half credits - still, my guess is it's much better than Rattle and Hum. Larry Mullen on Elvis' bike, not cool. At least they stayed away for 20 years. I'm looking forward to anything U2, especially the Patti Smith documentary (because Bono sounds vocally inspired by her to me).

I will report back in a few days!

The Championship of Advertisements

2008-01-15T09:31:00.000-05:00

Birth of The Rosenfelder Index

earbender is about two months old and hopefully after about 25 posts, there are some noticeable trends in my observations and interests. Namely, music, sports, culture, news, exercise/health and the media. Some recent benchmarks include Martin Luther King day, Sundance, Super Bowl Whatever, Bob Marley's birthday and more.

The Rosenfelder Index is the amount it would cost to buy one unit of everything advertised during the Super Bowl. I believe you can tell a lot about the economy and our culture by what is advertised (Remember the burst of www's around 1998? Most of those companies are gone now, even massive ones like go.com.). I named it after myself and this year's findings will be released on earbender.com on January 28.

Incidentally, during the recent LSU-Ohio State Game at the Superdome, I remembered watching the Cowboys-Broncos Super Bowl in 1979 or so when the building was pretty new, state of the art and SO huge. Who could have imagined then that it would be the site of perhaps the greatest disaster relief disaster in U.S. history?

Although I am pleased to see the Superdome back in action, I am very worried about New Orleans and what that Katrina still says about our country. My suggestion: everyone should go to JazzFest sometime in life, and why not 2008? It's an important one, there is still a lot of recovery yet to happen in New Orleans. We can all pitch in by going there and partying like a young W. (except with less coke).

Congrats to former Island artist (and close personal friend) Shelby Lynne who received a massive story in the NY Times Magazine. I'll have some further comments after I read the whole thing, but considering Shelvis was #4 most searched on Yahoo yesterday, she retains the ability to take a nerdy rock critic to the stratosphere.

Willie Nelson is about to drop a new album, coinciding with an appearance on the Super Bowl. The Bowl has been good to Willie, and with a new tour and the album getting good reviews, the run-up to his 75th birthday in April should be fun for us fans. He won't have a wardrobe malfunction but if Trigger makes a funny silhouette like Prince did last year, I'll faint. His new video "Gravedigger" was shot at the cemetery near the graves of Herman Melville and the Great Gildersleeve, and hundreds more, some with familiar names like "Ziegler," "Benson" and "Stewart." And it was a Tuesday!

Speaking of birthdays, Mike Watt sent the video below of him wailing on his 50th. Stand back, it's amazing. Like Rakim says, Watt gets stronger as he gets older!

I happened to space mentioning that earbender client Leonard Cohen made the Rock Hall of Fame. Mazel tov to say the least. Speaking of brushes with fame, vibes to WUSB founder Norm Prusslin on the passing of his friend Johnny Podres, who carried him on his shoulders in the Brooklyn Dodgers' World Series victory parade in 1955.

Also around 1955, Ian Fleming sat at his desk in Oracabessa Jamaica and wrote the incredible 007 stories. In honour of the author's 100th birthday, The UK just issued some pretty nice James Bond stamps, especially if you love vintage book cover art.

In addition to thanking everyone for visiting earbender, I was especially pleased to host our first two visitors from the Southern Hemisphere. Please come back sometime or send me a link to your site. As the man himself would say, "if watt can do it, you can do it!"

Rootin' for the Goose

2008-01-08T13:00:00.001-05:00

Roger Clemens press conference and Mike Wallace dance are a good contrast for today's announcement of the sole 2007 Hall of Fame inductee, Yankee legend Rich "Goose" Gossage. He was all-natural, had insane high inside heat, an intimidating presence on the field and most of all is a cool guy who loves Willie Nelson and has been going to shows for many years.

Among other tales, Goose told me a great story about eating hot chili peppers brought to him by the grounds crew in the Anaheim Stadium bullpen every time he would play the Angels.

With a 22 year career, Goose has zillions of stories and had a love for the game and his teammates. Goose Gossage signed with the Yankees in the winter of 1977, the second year of free agency in baseball. The Yankees had just been swept by the Reds in the World Series, and it set the tone for the Yankee spending/expectations that continues to this day.

The Goose actually lost the first few games. “Thurman would come to the mound,” Gossage recalled, “and he would say, ‘How are you going to lose this one?’ The first time he asked me that I couldn’t believe he was asking me. But that was Thurman.”

So now we know The Goose is a cool guy but when he got out of that little Toyota Corolla in Yankee Stadium, it was scary. He had heat like a thousand suns, was a little wild, had a big delivery and the scowl enhanced by the mustache.

"He was absolutely the most intimidating pitcher of his time," said former teammate Reggie Jackson. "Because of his motion, the speed that he threw the baseball, he was a mean son (of a gun). There were times that (catcher Thurman) Munson would just wave his hands and tell Goose to bring it." Reggie Jackson faced Rich Gossage many times before they were on the Yankees together, and after too probably.

George Brett told Baseball Digest in 2000 why he became so incensed when the pine tar homer was called an out at first: "Oh, probably the fact that it was against the Yankees and against Goose (Gossage)," Brett said. "It was just such an extraordinary thing to hit a homer off him, the thought of losing it was too much."

Goose's stats from MLB.com and highlight reel
Kids jumping bikes at Rich "Goose" Gossage Sports Complex in Colorado Springs
SI reporting Goose's wait for the call
Champagne toast from Denver Post

A big part of being a Hall of Famer is individuality. Tom Verducci said in SI that changing role of the closer means they don't make them like Gossage anymore, even among today's elite, would be hall of famers, Rivera, Hoffman and Eckersley.

Does the Goose go in as a Yankee? He honed his craft and earned his nickname (a good measure of "fame") when he was on the White Sox. Gossage's Chicago and Pittsburgh manager Chuck Tanner told a story to Sports Illustrated about the Twins' Harmon Killebrew:

"He said, 'When you play the White Sox, you'd better get to them by the seventh. If you don't, put your bats in the bag. Goose is coming in, and you might as well go home,''' Tanner related. "That was a Hall of Famer talking.''

And finally Artie Lange, "I was happy to see this." Howard then played the great old tirade and said "Congratulations Goose, you're my kind of guy."

The Goose is the man, and he is in the Hall of Fame forever now. Congratulations Rich "Goose" Gossage!!!!!!

Andy Schwartz to Sell '95 Acclaim

2008-01-07T15:16:00.000-05:00

Andy Schwartz, the legendary publicist, adventurer and antique collector has informed us that his rare 1995 Plymouth Acclaim is on the block. There had been interest from the Peterson Auto Museum in Los Angeles about obtaining the car for its exhibits, but talks broke down over shipping costs.

2.5 Liter inline four-cylinder engine
58,000 odometer reading
White exterior with "Gray Plush" upholstry
AM/FM/CD removable in-dash unit
Current NYS Registration and Smog
Garaged until November 2007
Only 13K on rebuilt Mopar transmission
$1,250/owner financing available OAC
Contact Andy Schwartz at Gramercy7@yahoo.com for further inquiries.

Additionally, Schwartz attests that no recording artists have ever been in this car.

Why is the Batmobile up there? Well, it may not look like it, but the Acclaim was Andy's Batmobile. If you want to see a wicked page of old pictures including Sonny and Cher behind the wheel (of the Batmobile, not the Acclaim!), check here.

Crossovers are Important These Days

2008-01-04T15:43:00.000-05:00

I know EPMD wasn't into the idea, but I think crossing over is a good thing. There is no such thing as "purity" anyhow (except for Neil Young maybe). Everyone is out for a co-branding sitch at this point, and a few interesting ones slid across my screens this week, with the Winter Classic, followed on NBC immediately by Seal on Ice. I let Seal play.

These days you have to do whatever you can to sell a song, and Seal went all out the other day. Here he is playing "Crazy," acoustic while some dude figure skates. Our man Doug Wimbish from Fats Comet and Living Colour played on the record, is this him here?

I knew someone in the stands in Buffalo, Mike Parrish of FMQB and former WBNY music director. He's always been into sports AND punk/rock, I can recall asking him about the lines in the Sabres logo even then and a fanzine the kids before him there had called "Avenue Player" about wrestling, rock, hockey and strip clubs. This is the sort of lifestyle that got me thinking about sports and music crossovers in the early 90s, which is now a huge business.

But an outdoor hockey game on New Year's Day in the snow in Buffalo is visual spectacle that hopefully got some non-fans to watch the game. I had the rare treat of attending the King-Ranger game held in Las Vegas in 1991. That was a very warm night and there was mist over the ice. Jon McHugh helped us sneak into a party where I met Jim Patrick and Tony Granato before getting bounced.

I was chilling on the phone when my tv turned from the Buffalo game to the Music of Seal on Ice. What a bizarre and lame idea someone had! But I wasn't near the remote, and it played on. Now of course, Seal is some good soccer mom music, so combining it with figure skating is not a bad call. Seal sold it well in my opinion, however, and I hope the program got some ratings as well as sales for his music. Is Seal our Lawrence Welk?

I wonder if the juice company had any extra sales from their sponsorship.

My friends think I'm lame for liking this special and one even cited that I liked Luther Vandross, so this isn't so strange. Luther Vandross was pretty awesome, I know no one is going to disagree with me on that.

But I mostly wrote this because I thought both the Winter Classic and the Seal show were pretty good tv on New Year's Day.

Here are some highlights from the Winter Classic:

Yes, crossing over is important these days. Just ask Barack Obama!

earbender's Best of 2007 list

2008-01-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

2007 began with saying goodbye to the great James Brown.

While most of the news from the music world has been doom over the past year, there were some bright spots and plenty to look forward to in the future. Pete Townshend's appearance at SXSW was something to be inspired by. He basically said that he is still doing things the old way on tour with the Who, but is also into the immediacy and freedom represented by what has come to be known as "Music 2.0." I am a bit scared of his computer, but I think he has the right idea about music.

The earbender ten has always been a multi-experience list. It's not a buying guide, but a living guide.

earbender's Best of 2007

1. Curb Your Enthusiasm featuring Larry David, especially the episode where Leon recommends that Larry "become another motherfucker." I was very skeptical about this story line at the start of the season, but Larry (and especially the brilliant JB Smoove as Leon) sure taught me a lesson at the end.

2. Spider-Man 3
As part of Film Week, I attended a premiere of the latest installment in the Bronx of all places. In some ways, the movies limit my imagination compared to the comic books, but it is nice to recognize scenes from the strips, which is a nice reason to see a Spider-Man movie where I know the story already for the most part. The Sandman in the sewer was straight out of Spider-Man #36. The movies are great and I'm also very into seeing Spider-Man on billboards and other advertising. I was so blown away by the co-branding on Spider-Man 3, I almost started a special edition of The Rosenfelder Index for its debut hype.

3. Of Montreal at Sundance, in the middle of the street, performing for the kids and execs. I was very into their album "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?", so to see them chop it up on "Happy" and a few originals during soundcheck was great. Here's a bit of them doing "We Were Born the Mutants Again with Leafling." It starts out distorted but gets awesome about a minute in.

4. Kanye West "Graduation" album

5. Chanteuses: Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight for a few weeks at least, same w/new Suzanne Vega "Frank and Ava." Also from my back pages: PJ Harvey - White Chalk. Hats off to a nice result for Amy Winehouse. How often does the Winner of SXSW end up in the Top 40, let alone the cover of the NY Post, Rolling Stone, etc. Not to mention, she's English! Unfortunately it's more for her behavior than her music but at least the public and the media care about a rock star acting like a rock star.

6. Movie, Soundtrack and Concert: I'm Not There
After years of effort, Randall Poster and Jim Dunbar, along with Todd Haynes and Jeff Rosen, breathe new life into Dylan's catalog and his long and winding life story as an artist with a broad range of great artists. The concert at the Beacon Theatre and the after-party was a Hollywood night in NYC, as well. The quality and depth of the album and movie will be dissected for years to come, just like Bob himself.

7. Missed Classic Rock Reunions: The Police, Genesis, Van Halen, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Eagles, Led Zeppelin. I didn't see any of these shows but I did happen to catch The Musical Box do an amazing recreation of the 1973 Genesis tour, complete w/costumes, between-song patter and a great set list. What an incredible show, in front of one of the trekkie-est audiences imaginable. Go see them if you dare!

8. Pete Townshend was inspirational at SXSW, however. His dual career direction (the conventional reunion tour with the Who and his web activities/club gigs) is a sensible approach for us old record guys too. Mark Knopfler's album "Kill to Get Crimson" is excellent, has most of his old sound and is a good example of what made him huge. The same can't be said for most of the others in #7.

9. The Robot Guitar by Gibson is a fascinating instrument, and the biggest jump in guitar technology since the Roland GR-1 synthesizer in the 1980s. It will be interesting to see how the video game generation of guitar fans will approach the real thing. I was having a blast playing Guitar Hero with Jason Hradil and Eric Molk from Sony one night and just as I thought about getting my own, I realized that I can play a real guitar. I wonder if this will create more interest in guitar and rock music over the next 5 years or so. Considering we can see Lewis Hamilton's growth documented from a remote controlled car to a go-kart to a Formula One racer in 15 years, wouldn't it be great if a generation of Jimmy Pages and Keith Richardses grew from Guitar Hero's influence? The Robot Guitar might be a nice mix of gimmick-toy and reality for them.

Speaking of guitar heroes (and innovators), one of the great moments of 2007 was witnessing a very intimate hang between Les Paul and Willie Nelson outside Annie Balliro's Hard Rock Cafe event for Farm Aid and Willie's Peace Research Institute. They had a good hang and when Les bailed for his Iridium show, Willie kept repeating "That was Les Paul."

***See you on the second generation (with another price break!): The iPhone

10. U2 Joshua Tree Reissue
The best of the best comes back to remind us how great they have were, and for how long they have kept it going. There is no U2 reunion -- they have never broken up! I am thrilled they have reunited with Eno/Lanois again and expect their next one to be great too. They announced the Joshua Tree reissue in typical U2 style, FIRST, with a promotion from iLike.com. It featured a great interview with Bono recorded on a camera phone, singing along as he described writing the lyrics to "Wave of Sorrow."

11. Missed reality shows: A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, Bret Michaels, Peter Brady, Scott Baio, Anna-Nicole, Brittney, etc.

12. Prince for all his 2.0 moves. As talented as he is as a writer, producer and performer (hello, the Super Bowl appearance was amazing), Prince has also set the pace business-wise from the earliest days of his career. London Times giveaway, shutting down bloggers... Maybe he is on Music version 3.0 by now!

13. Robin Quivers - because no one ever puts the great Howard Stern on any lists and that means Robin does even worse. I love the show but I want to give her credit for cracking me up and being pretty on tv too. I love Artie Lange a lot and had an epic hang backstage with him thanks to Amy Salit (who was doing the usual post-appearance NY guest list hang) at the benefit for Cabbie.

*** The new Bionic Woman was utterly disappointing as was Fantastic Four 2: The Rise of the Silver Surfer. Good effects, bad story and not violent/scary enough.

Farewell Phil Rizzuto. The Scooter was a big part of our lives for over 30 years and I will always remember him as the voice of the Yankees. A huge chapter of Yankees, baseball and New York City history ends with his passing.

2008 things to look forward to:
Iron Man; new u2 album; Willie's 75th birthday box set; A new US president; Amy Winehouse gets teeth

The "Maharajah of the Keyboard"

2007-12-25T10:12:00.000-05:00

Click here for the BBC article including Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, President Sarkozy of France; quotes from Basie and Ellington and also mentions that he was the first living Canadian to be pictured on a stamp.

Diana Krall said Oscar Peterson had been "the reason I became a jazz pianist".

"We all know he was the greatest living jazz pianist after Art Tatum," she said.

"That's my person I looked up to most in my whole life who also happened to be Canadian."

My vibes to Diana and everyone who loved Oscar Peterson. He seemed like a sweet guy offstage, judging from all the honors he received around the world.

Sir John Dankworth: "He was a wonderful player, prodigious technique, fantastic ideas and a very humble man."

CBC Photo Gallery

NHL Highlights with Bad Metal

2007-12-25T09:54:00.000-05:00

&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;NHL Highlights from last week set to bad metal

This is a nice melding of sports, music and web-based video, so I felt it was worth including, from a technical point of view. Revolution Mother is kinda weak (even though I wouldn't say that to their faces!).

Turn off the sound and play it with a band you like. Looks like old highlights though, which makes it pretty irrelevant, news-wise. Maybe they should use newer highlights and better songs, but I'm sure someone thought of that already. They do a nice job with editing and the band and song get excellent exposure with this feature. It's also prominently on NHL.com.

Actually now that I see that they record for Cement Shoes Records, I am willing to give Revolution Mother more of a chance. Aren't you?

Farewell Paul Yeskel and Oscar Peterson

2007-12-24T18:55:00.000-05:00

I was driving in upstate New York the other day and a number popped into my head. I couldn't remember who it belonged to. It was 679-9111. If you are reading this post about Paul Yeskel, you might recognize that number. I just realized it was his, with deja vu/weird memories induced by having just read that he died yesterday in his sleep at 56 from undetermined causes. I'm very sorry to hear this news and send my sympathy his brother Dave and the rest of the family. I worked (but mostly hung at events) with both of them over the years, most recently last year's Who concert at Madison Square Garden and the wonderful Island Records reunion Patrick Jordan and Julie Sherwood threw last March. He was a classic rock guy and that's about the best thing you can be.

The songs are played out because they are good and Paul Yeskel helped get a lot of good songs played. I wonder if anyone reading this can name a few he promoted with a story or two. Radio promotion is a dying art and Paul Yeskel was great at it. Good offspring with the Syndicate kids and the legendary Kim White especially. Respect and farewell to Paul Yeskel and Oscar Peterson, who obviously had something to do with music too.

I feel like when I saw Oscar Peterson he was smiling a lot. I saw him at Steppingstone Park in Great Neck and maybe on Blue Note's 50th at Carnegie Hall. He played so many shows, so many notes. Pretty mind boggling to think of all those people, the joy he brought. It had to have been mostly through live shows but Oscar Peterson must have had some big albums too. I'm glad I got to see him. He played very, very fast with a lot of melody and taste. And he had the classic name of Oscar.

Mitt Romney's a Nappy Headed* Ho

2007-12-23T13:11:00.001-05:00

Hats off to the Concord Monitor for writing an incendiary, attention-grabbing editorial of non-endorsement about Mitt Romney.

"If you were building a Republican presidential candidate from a kit, imagine what pieces you might use: an athletic build, ramrod posture, Reaganesque hair, a charismatic speaking style and a crisp dark suit. You'd add a beautiful wife and family, a wildly successful business career and just enough executive government experience. You'd pour in some old GOP bromides - spending cuts and lower taxes - plus some new positions for 2008: anti-immigrant rhetoric and a focus on faith.

Add it all up and you get Mitt Romney, a disquieting figure who sure looks like the next president and most surely must be stopped." (Concord Monitor editorial, 12/23/07)

I think James Brown was right, hair and teeth are important for performers.

Who had better hair, Reagan or Romney? I'd say the Gipper, because at least it was a contemporary style for him. A lot of women say John Edwards has good hair, and hopefully he'll get a legitimate shot at the title. I agree with his "Two Americas" rap, but I consider myself a Hillary Clinton supporter. I have voted for her before and she's presently in the lead, so it's hard to get fully on the Edwards bandwagon with Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt when there isn't one (yet).

Do we know anyone who roots for Mitt Romney? The Red Sox made him their Governor, I know that much.

* - compared to "Dutch" Reagan that is.

Creole Mustard & JazzFest 2008

2007-12-22T11:09:00.000-05:00

A little shot of this mustard on left got me thinking about the Crescent City and that isn't bad (except for the part starring "Katrina's Kolossal Klowns" W, Brownie, Chertoff, et al).

O the humanity indeed.

I haven't ventured that deeply into Zatarain's page but I'm sure it has some wonderful recipes. I have been fortunate to catch a couple of demonstrations in their booths at JazzFest, such as grilled oysters or crawfish. Here is the link to the Creole Mustard page. I don't think it's all-natural but it's good.

A few artists I've seen there before with excellent results have already been announced -- Frankie Beverly & Maze, Tim McGraw and The Neville Brothers.

This past spring, I was at the inaugural Coachella Stage Coach fest with the Sirius Outlaw Country crew, and it will definitely be another major event in its second year too. But JazzFest is one of a kind. I look forward to the announcement of the complete 2008 lineup, but in the meantime, check out some Zatarain's with me, and listen to the incredible WWOZ the Sound of New Orleans.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WATT!

2007-12-20T17:49:00.000-05:00

our beloved friend mike watt hit 50 today. at right, watt and i hang at NYU in Oct. '07. here's a poem he sent to his flow today:

funny
line in the sand
I
tripped over and
fell
gravity decidin' where
my
face met the surf
all wet
w/fifty

- watt

A Reggae Shocker for 2008

2007-12-20T13:34:00.000-05:00

Please check out this great video of Peter Tosh singing 400 Years!

What do Quebec, Rembrandt and the song in the video have in common? The are all about four centuries old.

But who would have guessed in a hundred years, let alone 400, that our friend Andrew WK would enter into a collaboration with Lee Scratch Perry!?!!? At the recent Carbon/Silicon show, I saw the incredible Matt Pinfield of HDNet, who was at SXSW when they met but was unaware there was an album in the works. It's a shocker no question, but I can't wait to hear it!

And another thing, Josh Groban's no Elvis, I don't care how many weeks in a row his Christmas album is #1. Ok I will give it up to Josh Groban, but don't expect to see any video of him here.

An Intense Campaign for "Cloverfield "

2007-12-20T12:59:00.000-05:00

One of the prime directives of street teams is to never take down someone else's poster. Today I saw a few that contained intense images, were not hung very high and were in a potentially offensive spot. I was scared, I was pissed, I was intrigued. In other words, a very effective campaign!

They were posters for the film Cloverfield, a JJ Abrams production that opens January 18, 2008. It was a view of the Statue of Liberty with its head blown off, quite reminiscent of the final scene of Planet of the Apes but also New York's real day of terror (see left).

Placed across the street from two major high schools, but also in front of the 100 year old Ladder Company 35 of FDNY, which commemorates 11 of its members who died that horrible day, sure struck me as effective if not insensitive. They probably are tough enough to handle a poster but I wouldn't be surprised if they complained too.

Personally, I didn't take down the posters and here I am being viral about it. El Diablo and I were just talking about one of the classic films of the 70s, The Towering Inferno, which I saw at least five or six times in the theater before seeing it live on 9/11.

I saw the Cloverfield trailer and all I wish Fantastic Four 2 with the Silver Surfer and Galactus had been really scary like that. Jessica Alba and her ticket buying fans ruin those scripts. None of the others are stars. Of the Marvel films, The Punisher might be one of the best because it is the most violent/realistic. The next Spider-Man will have some bad violence if Gwen Stacey gets it like she did in #122, however.

So enjoy Cloverfield! "PG 13 Warning: Violence, Terror and Disturbing Images."

Lewis Hamilton 2007 earbender sports personality of the year

2007-12-20T12:58:00.000-05:00

Lewis Hamilton, the rookie Formula One driver who almost won it all in his first season! As a ten year old, he approached the head of a big race team and let him know that he would be king someday. I'm impressed by his performance and his attitude. He said winning the pole position was better than sex, but maybe he hasn't sampled the supermodels of the formula one circuit yet. He won four times, including Grand Prix races in Canada, Japan and Brasil, and would have won it all if not for a mechanical failure in the last race, ending the season in its closest finish in its 58 year history.

This historic season was barely mentioned in Sports Illustrated's year-end wrap up, but that's the exact reason for an earbender sports personality of the year, it recognizes personality as well as achievement and cultural significance.

Best wishes to Lewis Hamilton for a great career! At age 22, I hope we will get to see him take turns for many more years to come.

earbender 2007 in review/2008 preview

2007-12-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

While most of the news from the music world has been doom over the past year, there were some bright spots and plenty to look forward to in the future. Pete Townshend's appearance at SXSW was something to be inspired by. He basically said that he is still doing things the old way on tour with the Who, but is also into the immediacy and freedom represented by what has come to be known as "Music 2.0." I am a bit scared of his computer, but I think he has the right idea.

The earbender ten has always been a multi-experience list. It's not a buying guide, but a living guide.

John Rosenfelder's Top Ten of 2007

1. Curb Your Enthusiasm featuring Larry David, especially the episode where Leon recommends that Larry "become another motherfucker." I was very skeptical about this story line at the start of the season, but Larry (and especially the brilliant JB Smoove as Leon) sure taught me a lesson at the end.

2. Spider-Man 3
As part of Film Week, I attended a premiere of the latest installment in the Bronx of all places. In some ways, the movies limit my imagination compared to the comic books, but it is nice to recognize scenes from the strips, which is a nice reason to see a Spider-Man movie where I know the story already for the most part. The Sandman in the sewer was straight out of Spider-Man #36. The movies are great and I'm also very into seeing Spider-Man on billboards and other advertising. I was so blown away by the co-branding on Spider-Man 3, I almost started a special edition of The Rosenfelder Index for its debut hype.

3. Of Montreal at Sundance, in the middle of the street, performing for the kids and execs. I was very into their album "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?", so to see them chop it up on "Happy" and a few originals during soundcheck was great. Here's a bit of them doing "We Were Born the Mutants Again with Leafling." It starts out distorted but gets awesome about a minute in.

4. Kanye West "Graduation" album

5. Chanteuses: Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight for a few weeks at least, same w/new Suzanne Vega "Frank and Ava." Also from my back pages: PJ Harvey - White Chalk. Hats off to a nice result for Amy Winehouse. How often does the Winner of SXSW end up in the Top 40, let alone the cover of the NY Post, Rolling Stone, etc. Not to mention, she's English! Unfortunately it's more for her behavior than her music but at least the public and the media care about a rock star acting like a rock star.

6. Movie, Soundtrack and Concert: I'm Not There
After years of effort, Randall Poster and Jim Dunbar, along with Todd Haynes and Jeff Rosen, breathe new life into Dylan's catalog and his long and winding life story as an artist with a broad range of great artists. The concert at the Beacon Theatre and the after-party was a Hollywood night in NYC, as well. The quality and depth of the album and movie will be dissected for years to come, just like Bob himself.

7. Missed Classic Rock Reunions: The Police, Genesis, Van Halen, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Eagles, Led Zeppelin. I didn't see any of these shows but I did happen to catch The Musical Box do an amazing recreation of the 1973 Genesis tour, complete w/costumes, between-song patter and a great set list. They should give out deodorant to the fans, though.

8. Pete Townshend was inspirational at SXSW, however. His dual career direction (the conventional reunion tour with the Who and his web activities/club gigs) is a sensible approach for us old record guys too.

9. The Robot Guitar by Gibson is a fascinating instrument, and the biggest jump in electric guitar technology since the Roland GR-1 synthesizer in the 1980s. It will be interesting to see how the video game generation of guitar fans will approach the real thing. I was having a blast playing Guitar Hero with Jason Hradil and Eric Molk from Sony one night and just as I thought about getting my own, I realized that I can play a real guitar. I wonder if this will create more interest in guitar and rock music over the next 5 years or so. Considering we can see Lewis Hamilton's growth documented from a remote controlled car to a go-kart to a Formula One racer in 15 years, wouldn't it be great if a generation of Jimmy Pages and Keith Richardses grew from Guitar Hero's influence? The Robot Guitar might be a nice mix of fantasy and reality for them.

Speaking of guitar heroes, one of the great moments of 2007 was witnessing a very intimate hang between Les Paul and Willie Nelson outside Annie Balliro's Hard Rock Cafe event for Farm Aid and Willie's Peace Research Institute. They had a good hang and when Les bailed for his Iridium show, Willie kept repeating "That was Les Paul."

***See you on the second generation (with another price break!): The iPhone

10. U2 Joshua Tree Reissue
The best of the best comes back to remind us how great they have were, and for how long they have kept it going. There is no U2 reunion -- they have never broken up! I am thrilled they have reunited with Eno/Lanois again and expect their next one to be great. Came with a great 2.0 promo from iLike.com featuring a great interview with Bono recorded on a camera phone.

11. Missed reality shows: A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, Bret Michaels, Peter Brady, Scott Baio.

12. Prince for all his 2.0 moves. As talented as he is as a writer, producer and performer (hello, the Super Bowl appearance was amazing), Prince has also set the pace business-wise from the earliest days of his career. London Times giveaway, shutting down bloggers... Maybe he is on Music version 3.0 by now!

13. Robin Quivers - because no one ever puts the great Howard Stern on any lists and that means Robin does even worse. I love the show but I want to give her credit for cracking me up and being pretty on tv too. I love Artie Lange a lot and was pleased to meet him backstage with Amy Salit (who was doing the usual post-appearance NY guest list hang) at the benefit for crazy cabbie.

*** The new Bionic Woman was utterly disappointing as was Fantastic Four 2: The Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Farewell Phil Rizzuto. The Scooter was a big part of our lives for over 30 years and I will miss him and always remember him.

2008 things to look forward to:
Iron Man
new u2 album
Willie's 75th birthday box set
A new US president
Amy Winehouse gets teeth

Tool "Vicarious" DVD Update

2007-12-19T16:01:00.000-05:00

Since it was released yesterday, I can feel a bit less freaked out about it -- the old school "security service" vibe was as scary as the content of the video! Speaking of security service, I bet the guy who used that term, Al Coury, is stoked he never had to deal w/leaks over the net. He was an intense old head of promo credited w/blistering conference calls, Fridays off, many #1s and even a legal battle w/Irene Cara that went on for many years longer than her career.

If ANYONE has an issue with the photo above, please contact me and I will remove it immediately. I'm staunchly on the side of the industry/rights holders if they need me to be.

Anyhow, here is a still photo from the Tool DVD Vicarious that came out yesterday on Mr. Richards' 457th birthday. (Keith Richards years are equal to 9-10 human years).

Party on Mr. Richards!!!!!

Nats in the XMAS Spirit

2007-12-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

Check out this nice ecard I just received from the Washington Nationals. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman dives through the snow, just like Rock Raines used to do on the old Expos. Zimmerman probably isn't trying to protect the can of coke in his sock, but the image took me back.

No Asterisks for Steroid Cheaters

2007-12-14T11:05:00.001-05:00

Everyone knows it was "the steroid era." There should no more be an asterisk for these players' stats than should there be one on the numbers of players from the high mound, dead ball and segregated eras.

It would be heavy if it cost Roger Clemens the Hall, but why shouldn't it? Like Bonds, he was probably already in when they first "went on the program." And like Rose, Shoeless Joe and more recently Mark McGwire, they will be made examples of and kept out.

But Rich "Goose" Gossage belongs and I hope this is the year for one of Willie Nelson's biggest fans.

The Mitchell Report is a bit of a mind-blow, to find out these guys were cheating. But on the other hand, doesn't it seem like they fall into a few categories? There are the border-line journeymen who make up the majority but then there is a circle of bona fide superstars. The superstars all seem to be the wound-too-tight type a personalities. Some of these guys seem like real rats, especially now that the jig is up.

Hank Aaron is still the Home Run King to me.