The Booking Agent Who Changed the Business

Frank Barsalona was probably the first "rock" booking agent.  He founded Premier Talent in the 1960's.  He believed in the longevity of touring rock bands.  Many of the band he booked are still working today.  The first acts he signed to Premier were the Who, Herman's Hermits and Mitch Ryder. 

Billboard's look back at his life is a testament to how influential he was.  Agents, managers and promoters can't say enough good things about him. He is the only agent in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Last paragraph of the article:

Barsalona's kind probably won't come along again, (Danny) Zelisko and several others who worked with Barsalona believe, though Zelisko says he wouldn't completely rule it out. "They said there wouldn't be anything like Elvis either, and along came the Beatles," he says. "And you know who booked them."

Frank passed away on Thanksgiving.   He changed the music business.

Who's War?

Pete Townshend just released his memoir Who Am I, which I will have to read.  Roland Kelt's blog in the New Yorker delves into Townshend's view of the world which is greatly formed by World War II.  Growing up in post wartime influenced his art. Roland had interviewed Townsend many times and each time, the conversation turned to the war.  Roland compares The Who's music to combat. Roland speaks of the combat on stage (windmills, breaking guitars).  I only came to appreciate The Who after seeing the movie The Kids Are Alright. I never realized how intense Pete's music is.

Here is the article: Pete Townshend's War. 

Do you have a 1979 ticket to see the Who? It's still good

The Who announced that the last stop on their upcoming tour will be Providence RI.  The last time they were suppose to play there was 1979. That show was cancelled by the mayor who feared a similar stampede as the one in Ohio that left 11 people dead. 

If you still have your ticket and didn't get a refund, you can use that ticket to see The Who on February 26th.  In 1979, the highest ticket price was $14.  For the February show you're looking at a bit higher pricing at $57.50 to $127.50.  Holding on to that ticket for 34 years garnered a $113.50 in value.  If you redeem that 1979 ticket you will also be helping out a cause, as money will be donated to the Special Olympics of Rhode Island.  I wonder how many people actually have those tickets and will anyone bother to redeem it?

In case you were wondering, for this North American tour, Roger, Pete and the gang are revisiting Quadrophenia.   There is also a boxed set coming. 

Olympic Organizers Want Keith Moon To Play At The Closing Ceremonies

Keith Moon died in 1978.  It seems the organizers of the 2012 London Olympics think he's alive and kicking. 

The Sunday Times quoted The Who's longtime manager Bill Curbishley who said he got an inquiry if Keith would be available to play at the Olympics. 

I emailed back saying Keith now resides in Golders Green crematorium, having lived up to the Who's anthemic line I hope I die before I get old.  If they have a round table, some glasses and candles, we might contact him. 


In other Olympic related news, the Times reported that the Sex Pistols have turned down the organizers.  No word on whether they specifically asked for Sid Vicious.  

Barbara Skydel RIP

Longtime booking agent Barbara Skydel passed away. She was beloved and a champion of the acts she represented. As Sebastian Bach said on this TwitLonger page, Over my 25 year career, Barbara was the only person who stuck with me through the whole thing, always believed In me, never left me. Until today. A very, very sad day. I loved you Barbara thanks for always being there for me & my family & fans. No one rocked harder than you. Skydel was an inspiration for women in the music business. She was the first female principal at a major agency. Among the many artists she represented were Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Who and The Clash.

Need a Tough Skin to Play the Halftime Show

From postings and comments I've heard during and after every Super Bowl, whoever chooses to do the Halftime Show is putting themselves in the same category as the Christians being fed to the lions in Rome. Everyone has a definite opinion on the quality of the performance. This year, I'd say the negatives win. 70% hated The Who. Thought they didn't die before they got old, Pete's voice was bad, fake windmills, Roger looked like a used car salesman, etc. About 30% said everyone watching was singing along, loved the show and The Who still have it into their sixties.

I didn't listen close enough to offer a well-informed opinion. I though the staging was perfect for TV. It worked well. There was an abundance of shots of Zak Starkey on drums. The cymbals were very cool. Directors usually ignore drummers. I guess it helps that your lineage is Beatles. I did comment that I bet this performance was amazing if you were at the stadium. It's tough to capture the excitement of a live performance on TV. Many people complained that the mix was bad. I hate medleys. I would have loved to see them do 2 full songs. Someone mentioned that Pete Townsend said in a pregame interview that he wanted to do just that and Roger wanted the medley and won.

With all the attention paid to The Who, scant comments were made on Carrie Underwood's Nation Anthem. I was listening from a distance and not in front of the TV, but it sounded like she was shouting, not singing.

My favorite halftime show was Prince. He played in the rain. He played like nothing mattered. Someone suggested having John Mayer and Keith Urban play next year. I think Urban is one of the most exciting, gifted performers today and he could rival Prince.

Keith Urban-Madison Square Garden

Keith Urban plays to the crowd, while in the crowd. Heard hints of Prince, Cheap Trick and The Who in the show last night. All phenomenal performers. Keith holds his own in their company.

He shakes up his arrangements, plays an incredible guitar, is very appreciative of his audience and his crew and looks like he's having the time of his life.

He closed the show by leaving his uber tight band to play while the camera followed his exit through the bowels of The Garden to 33rd St. He proceed to hail a cab, wave good night, shut the door and head west. The crew credits rolled. A surprise ending to a perfect night of music.

A Woodstock Memory From One Who Was There

It’s the 40th Anniversary of three days of peace and music and there have been numerous articles, TV pieces, etc to remind you. Being one to jump on the bandwagon, I spoke with my friend Laura Giantonio. Laura has worn many hats in the music business: DJ (in clubs such as the Fast Lane, Hitsville and The Ritz), photographer, band member (The Fabulous Perms) and as a travel agent working solely with musicians and production companies. She attended Woodstock. What strikes me the most about Laura’s recollection and that of others I’ve seen in documentaries is that no one talks about the music as being a front and center part of the experience.

Laura verbalized the feeling and vibe of being there. “It was a party. We all went away to have a party. I was a teenager going to a big festival with a bunch of friends. It was absolutely amazing. It was a love-fest. Everyone was very dirty. You were laying in mud. It was too good to be true. Everyone loved each other. Everyone was smoking pot. Everyone was in La La land. Everybody looked like they had a lobotomy. Everyone smiled at each other. Your parents weren’t around, you were surrounded by weirdos and having fun.”

it was all about a party. Advance tickets for all three days cost $18. Laura still has her ticket some where in her apartment. There is a reprint at Woodstock69.com of piece that appeared in 1994 in The Times Herald-Record. It’s a blow-by-blow account of how the festival finally got off the ground and then follows through the show to it’s financial aftermath.. This piece explains that the ticket booths were suppose to be delivered to the site, but never make it there due to the backup of traffic on the Thruway. The ticket takers showed up with nothing to do. The gate that was protecting the site finally gave way and the crowd poured in. Some tickets were actually refunded for those who were unable to gain access to the grounds. Not sure how they could verify that as everyone still had their physical tickets in tact, but the promoters refunded 4, 062 tickets.

As I’m sure was the case for most people under 18, Laura’s parents were skeptical about letting their only daughter travel upstate for a three day rock concert. “My father didn’t want me to go, but my mother said all the kids were going. Some kids in the neighborhood were 20, such as Ralph and my parents knew them and to them it was like having a chaperone there.” The TV reports probably made her parents second-guess their decision. “My mother was worried sick. They were showing the helicopters and masses of people on TV.”

Laura grew up in Riverdale. “There were about 20 people from the neighborhood that went. We took an old Voklswagen van that Ralph drove. Others drove too.”
She spent a lot of time at the festival with her friend Lynn Zorman. Laura was there on Friday afternoon before the music started, but wound up with the same fate as all other motorists. “We had to stop the car on the Thruway and walk several miles.” She said they had no idea what to expect. “We didn’t bring a tent. We didn’t bring much”. There were concessions but “you couldn't find anything.” No one really thought about eating. “We were all taking diet pills. We actually stole Larry’s mom’s ups. Nobody cared about food. I was hungry when I got home.”

“The thing I remember most is that there were no toilets. You’d have to pee in the woods, but there were no woods. It was problematic. I had to discard my pants after I peed in them. I rolled my pants up to dry them out by a makeshift campfire. Some guy tripping on the BROWN ACID (she laughs) came wandering over to us, laid down and plopped his head on my pants. He picked his head up briefly and said phewww. I had no idea when he was going leave. I was way too embarrassed to admit they were mine after that, so i left them there. I ended up wearing Ralph’s construction raincoat.”


The bad weather has been well documented and I think it played a big part in the memorializing of the event. “Everyone was very dirty. You were lying in mud. People were jumping off tires and into mud. I ran and slid into mud.”

There were no specific memories of the music. “I remember dancing. I could have been dancing to my own beat. I remember hearing the Who, probably Sha-Na-Na (They performed on Sunday, making it impossible as she left on Sunday morning).

“One of the guys had a car and was going back early so we went back early on Sunday morning. At that point we were soaking wet and covered with mud. Lynn had a blanket throw over her. It was a breeze driving back.. My mom was so happy when I came home early. She threw me in the shower. Lynn ran home to take a shower and let her mom know she was back.” The weekend continued. I had a big crush on Al Cooper. His album I Stand Alone was out then. I loved that song (the title track). .Lynn and I went to see Al Cooper in Central Park that night. I wore a skirt and heels to the show.”

“It was all about a party, having fun and listening to music. This would never happen again. Look at the last one. This was different. There was no racial tension. Everybody was one. It was really cool. Everyone loved each other. It was too good to be true.”

Quadrophenia: A UK Stage Production Debut

According to Billboardbiz, Quadrophenia will be start it's UK theatrical run on May 9.

The article quoted Quadrophenia's author, Pete Townsend. "It's taken a long time and a lot of wrangling to accept that Quadrophenia is probably never going to work as conventional music theatre," said Townsend in a statement. "So I hope for a grand and chaotic explosion of music and chorus that revives the memories of being young in the '60s, but also brings those memories to life in the 21st century."

Metropolitan Entertainment promoted Quadrophenia at Madison Square Garden when I work there, which is why I saw it. I think it was the summer of 1996. At best I was a casual Who fan. I was blown away by the energy of Roger Daltrey and the writing of Pete Townsend. I now pay attention to the Who. This wasn't even Townsend at his best. He was only playing acoustic guitar as he had hand trouble. Billy Idol and Gary Glitter were part of the show. Zak Starkey (Keith Moon was his godfather) was impressive on drums. Even without it being a full blown Who show, the power of the music hit me. Hearing Bettye LaVette sing "Love Rain O'Er Me" at the Kennedy Center Honors reinforced the ability of Pete's music to strike a chord that resonates deep in one's soul.