Willie Randolph is My Friend

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Yesterday, I called and rescinded my support for the Mets due to Willie's dismissal and their crappy treatment of the man.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

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"

Rolling Stones "Shine A Light" IMAX Review

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

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

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.

Good Luck Dontrelle

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!

WRXP, The New York Rock Experience

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

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

Americana Music Steps Up; Sundance Preview

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!

Crossovers are Important These Days

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!

The "Maharajah of the Keyboard"

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

Creole Mustard & JazzFest 2008

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.

Lewis Hamilton 2007 earbender sports personality of the year

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.

Ike Turner RIP

Just heard the news that earbender client Ike Turner has left us.

Incredibly, I had just been in touch with Thrill Mgmt. about a relaunch in January for the great box set The Ike and Tina Turner Story, 1960-1975 from Time-Life. Ike was ready to do some interviews with college and community radio, who over the past few months have accounted for about 20% of all Ike and Tina play in the USA!

College and community radio's support of artists like Ike Turner and the history of music, especially what Max Roach called "the continuum of black creativity" is very important to me and Ike's people were excited to here my term "Black Americana" applied to him and his music. My sympathy to Phil and the folks at Thrill, Ike's family and friends.

He had a lot of miles on that Rocket 88 and they sure aren't making them like him anymore.

Let the conjecture over his value as a person and artist begin.

Tina Turner has the opening closing remark: "Tina is aware that Ike passed away earlier today. She has not had any contact with him in 35 years. No further comment will be made."

According to "Ike Defender," a commentator on NYTimes.com, "Ike Turner met a pregnant teenager named Anna Mae Bullock (impregnated by one of his band members) and married her partially so she wouldn’t bear the shame of being an unwed mother. It was Ike who helped make her a star and - in the process - who gave a break to many R&B musicians as his career took off.

Did he make mistakes? Yes. Did he admit them? Yes.

That’s alot more than most people can say.

Ike was an integral part of American rock and R&B. I’m sorry he’s gone. I am MORE sorry that his legacy is defined by a movie that even Tina admitted was not accurate in its portrayal of Ike Turner, the Man."

You never know what happens behind closed doors and I personally looked the other way on the wife beating reputation.

But I am a fan of Tina and her comeback/recovery from being with Ike. I liked her autobiography I, Tina and the movie a lot. The comeback is the hardest thing in show business and Tina did it -- BIG TIME (as watt would say).

Read the AP obit
Ike Turner Home Page
NY Times by Jon Pareles & Profile from 2001
Ike & Tina Turner in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame