The Baddest Stamp

The US Post Office seems to get few things right these days.  There is an exception:  The Johnny Cash forever stamp which was issued in June, but I just bought today. 

This has got to be the coolest stamp.  16 stamps on a sheet which is designed to look like a 45 picture sleeve.  I was so impressed with the art direction, that I had to research.  According to the USPS site, the photograph was taken by Frank Bez during the photo session for Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash, which was released in 1963.  Greg Breeding served as art director and designer for the stamp.


Frank Bez shot many celebrities and did a lot of work for Esquire Magazine.  Here is a slide show of a few of his shots and stories behind them. The Jim Morrison photo has to make you laugh.  Duke Ellington was his favorite session.  He has photographed everyone from Angie Dickinson (her Esquire cover has been reproduced a few times) to the Byrds to Mahalia Jackson to Raquel Welch.   How does this guy not have a Wikipedia page? 

Greg Breeding is on assignment by the USPS and was given this project.  (There are three other designers on assignment with the USPS.)  He was born the same year the photo of Johnny was taken.  In an interview on Soundcheck  Greg said when he was a young boy and used to watch Johnny's TV show he thought,  "He was a scary figure to me."   He acknowledged the enormity of finding a photo that summed up Johnny's career.  Greg got the stamp right. Not only does he pay homage to the man in black, but he does so in a simple classic design with great use of brown, black and fonts. 

I thought it was hard to go from designing albums to CD's, but a stamp has got to be a whole other challenge. 

Amy Winehouse RIP

Fellow musicians mourn the loss of Amy Winehouse:

Tony Bennett said in a statement to Spinner, "Amy Winehouse was an artist of immense proportions and I am deeply saddened to learn of her tragic passing. She was an extraordinary musician with a rare intuition as a vocalist and I am truly devastated that her exceptional talent has come to such an early end.
"She was a lovely and intelligent person and when we recorded together she gave a soulful and extraordinary performance. I was honored to have the opportunity to sing with her. It had been my sincere hope that she would be able to overcome the issues she was battling and I send my deepest sympathy to her father Mitchell, her entire family and all of those who loved her."

Mark Ronson, who produced Back to Black, said: "She was my musical soul mate and like a sister to me. This is one of the saddest days of my life."

Ron Wood said, "It's a very sad loss of a very good friend I spent many great times with."

She led a life akin to Sid and Nancy. Her death is currently being classified as "unexplained" by London police.  Amy recently tried to complete a 12-leg tour and as famously shown on YouTube, was booed off the stage in  Belgrade.  She canceled shows in Istanbul and Athens with the rest of the tour to follow.   Amy's last public appearance was Wednesday as she joined goddaughter Dionne Bromfield on stage during the iTunes festival.

With Dionne Bromfield on Wednesday Night

According to the Guardian The Metropolitan police said: "Police were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square shortly before 16.05hrs following reports of a woman found deceased. On arrival officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene."

Her father was set to play the Blue Note in New York and returned to London.  She was a talented musician.  She brought excitement back to music.  She'll be remembered for that.  She was 27 years old, which is the same age that Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Janis Joplin all left this world.

Pardoning Jim Morrison

It appears that Florida may pardon Jim Morrison for his indecent exposure conviction.  Governor Charlie Crist is strongly considering revoking the conviction.  Never underestimate the power of a fan.  According to CBS News:  The issue was brought to Crist's attention by Dave Diamond, a Doors fan from Dayton, Ohio, who wrote the governor last month.  There doesn't seem to be any hard evidence that Jim actually did expose himself.  He alluded it to it from stage.  The alleged incident happened on March 1, 1969 at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove.  Jim was appealing the conviction and decided to move to Paris to get away from it all. He died before his appeal would be heard.  Here is an account from a 16 year old who attended the trial.  Interestingly this is posted on the website for the Washington Squares, a band that was omnipresent in New York in the 1980's. Not sure what the connection is.  Of note:  their photo gallery is great fun.   

Elektra Records Turns 60

To celebrate 60 years of music, Elektra Records has put together a special website presentation, timeline.  It looks back at the folk roots on into day.  It's audio, video and lots of text.  Founder Jac Holzman had a hand in putting it together. It's worth a look. I have a feeling once you start poking around, you'll spend more time there than you thought you would.

Things I discovered (there is way more than this and I don't even touch on Folk):

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band's first record was recorded three times before Paul Rothchild, the producer thought it captured the band at it's best.

In 1966 Judy Collins was the first person to record a Leonard Cohen song.

In 1967 with the release of the Doors, Elektra is changed forever. It's the big time. 

It reminded me what a great song Alone Again Or by Love is.


The Stooges first record was recorded in a studio apartment in New York City.  It was released during the weekend of Woodstock.


Joel Brodsky photographed a lot of the musicians on the label.

Stewardesses were a core constituency of their fan base.  Referring to the band Bread.

Jim Morrison's idol was Frank Sinatra.

In 1972, Jac Holzman wrote an internal memo to his staff: “I have seen the future of pop music, and it is a band called Queen.”


At one point in the late 70's their releases were as diverse as the Dictators, Television vs the Eagles, and Jackson Browne.

In continued into the 80's with Motley Crue, X, The Cars and Peabo Bryson.

Fast Forward to 2010 the label releases Charlotte Gainsbourg, after a few year sabbatical.



A diverse and storied history. Our ears owe a lot to Jac.

Tweeny-Bop Girl Group Clique Girlz

The NY Times has an article on the marketing of Clique Girlz, two sisters and a friend from NJ. This time it's not Disney doing the selling or marketing, it's Interscope Records. They are known for marketing James Morrison, Beck, Weezer and Pussycat Dolls. The ex-Disney man, Michael Eisner, who owns Topps-known for it's baseball cards, is making Clique Girlz the spokes-kids for Baby Bottle Pop candy. It worked for the Jonas Brothers, who did not have Disney behind them when they worked with Topps. The article points out that promotions like these were once disdained by the music industry. It depends on the music. When it comes to pop and bubblegum acts, all sorts of promotions happened. Gary Lewis and the Playboys recorded a song called Doin' The Flake, which you could get by sending in box tops from Kellogs cereal.

The most interesting has to be this promotion video for staying in school and getting good grades starring Jim Morrison.


The Monkees and Bugs Bunny told us how to make friends with Kool-Aid.



The Jackson 5 taught us how to spell with Alpha Bits cereal.


Musical acts have been doing endorsements since the beginning of pop music. Today's pop acts will have a greater chance of getting noticed by endorsing candy than by hoping radio will play their latest single. The more things change, the more they repeat history.