Music Legend Earl Scruggs Dies At 88

My first introduction to Earl Scruggs was the theme from the Beverly Hillbillies, The Ballad of Jed Clampett.  That was a time when TV theme songs laid out the premise of the show. We all remember black gold/Texas tea.  Scruggs performed the song along with Lester Flatt; it was sung by Jerry Scoggins. 

Steve Martin called him ''the most important banjo player who ever lived." Scruggs passed away at age 88 of natural causes.  His importance to music cannot be overstated. 

Zoe Keating Asks ASCAP To Show Her The Money

Whenever I hear about artists (those that are not in the top 200 grossing artists of the year) not getting their fair share of their performance/songwriting royalties, it points back to ASCAP.  I don't read about too much injustice from BMI or SESAC.

Techdirt points us to a blog by Zoe Keating.  She, as an informed musician, actually broke down her settlement from a live performance. The promoter deducted $86 as an ASCAP payment.  She never sees that money in her ASCAP statements.  She called ASCAP to find out how she can claim that money and was told, "there was nothing for me to claim. He informed me that ASCAP pays out performing royalties only to the 200 top-grossing concert tours, as determined by Pollstar."  How do they determine what to pay the songwriter if he/she doesn't tour?  Does your song have to be performed by one of those top 200 grossing artists?

In some venues, even if you are not registered with ASCAP, the venue is and they still deduct the money.   Why is ASCAP set up this way?

According to ASCAP's website:

A music creator is like a small business, and ASCAP exists to ensure that music creators are paid promptly when their works are performed publicly.  ... ASCAP is committed to nurturing music makers throughout their careers.

It does not specifically state that you have to gross X amount of money before they will consider making a prompt payment.  If you add up all those $86 contributions day in and day out, over thousands of venues, there is a lot of money going to ASCAP.  It seems like in 2012 there should be a legitimate tracking system that could be put in place to pay out royalties properly, especially if the artist is being diligent about submitting song lists, etc as Zoe has. 

If anyone has the answer, let me and the thousands of musicians who'd love to get their piece of their pie, in on the royalty payment secret.

The Emotional Punch of Keith Haring

If you lived in or visited New York City in the early 80's, Keith Haring had an impact on you.  He was beyond ahead of his time.  Now it's all about musicians giving away their music to get heard.  Keith was giving away his art when no one else was doing that. He believed in having art accessible to everyone.  This is something he got chastised for when he opened the Pop Shop on Lafayette St.

Keith saw an opening.  There were big black canvases all over the city subway system.  Where there wasn't an ad, Keith saw a canvas.  His atomic babies, spaceships and barking dogs were everywhere. How could you not smile when you saw them?  His art also had a message.  There was lots of love and lots of social awareness to his work. 

The Brooklyn Museum is currently exhibiting his earlier works in drawings, paintings, journals and video.  The Keith Haring Foundation (which he established to carry on his legacy of working with children and AIDS awareness) has created a tumblr account, which posts a different page from his journal for everyday of the exhibit.  Being a New Yorker, I love the poem The Smog Frog. 

I'm sure this exhibit will not only delight, but educate.  Can't wait to see it.

From The Reservation To The Runway

I've mentioned Sparkle Beauty Studio before.  It's a wonderful place to get a great haircut, be pampered and listen to a well-curated mix of music.  Gabriel Trujillo and his business partner/spouse Jeffrey Fernandez have created a unique space for beauty.

Jeffrey and Gabriel in The Green Room at a Letterman Taping

Gabriel and I met when I was managing Luscious Jackson (as an aside, LJ are recording a new record).  Jill heard about Gabriel and got a haircut which led to him becoming an integral part of their look.  I have fond memories of he and Jeffrey keeping it together on the shoot of the Naked Eye video.  The days ran way longer than they should have.  The guys were doing hair and makeup for the Luscious ladies as well as at least 20 extras.  Part of the video was filmed in the lobby of the World Trade Center.  There we were at 1am bleary eyed and losing our minds. At least I was losing my mind, the guys did not.  They continued to make everyone look good at that hour.

Gabriel and Jeffrey have a "Be Beautiful" column in a new magazine called Reality Weekly, which  is available at Walmart, Target and other stores.  Gabriel is profiled in The Minot Daily News.  He grew up on a reservation in North Dakota and lucky for us New Yorkers, he made his way here.

Gabriel has directed music videos (check out Jill Cunniff's Lazy Girls) and taken most of the photos  on the Sparkle website, which he built.  Gabriel is an amazing hair and makeup artist.  It doesn't stop there, add to that writer, director, webmaster and photographer. 

A Loving Tribute To An Irish Father

The assassination of John Kennedy, the Billie Jean King/Bobby Riggs match, a carpenter/baby sitter named Sue and protesters at the St Patrick's Day Parade all had a deep impact on the life of Kate Conroy. 

In an intimate, endearing and entertaining one woman show at Dixon Place, Kate recounted her Irish Catholic upbringing and the role her now deceased father played in it.  The show was a tribute to him titled:  To Dad With Love.  She wove her biographical tales with a set of not so traditional Irish folk songs: the tunes her dad liked to sing.

She was born the same year President Kennedy was shot.  To her family and millions of Irish Americans, his presidency validated their existence.  They no longer felt like outsiders in this country.  Her family gatherings used to be held in public parks.  Midway through the gathering, a relative would bring out the bagpipes, everyone would gather and Eddie Conroy would take the lead vocal on Moses Ri-Toorah-li-ay.  Kate said it was her favorite of her father's songs and she sang it for us. 

As a person of the same generation as Kate, I loved her memories of the Billie Jean tennis match. The mention of her parents going to a marriage encounter on the same night of the match, which meant hiring the carpenter to babysit, put me right back into the 70's.  Things were happening all around us in the late 60's and 70's, which affected us in small ways at the time, but had big implications in the long run.  Billie Jean was one of the first to physically and mentally prove to all that a woman can do anything, especially when going after a hustler like Riggs.

In bringing this around to a St Patrick's Day post she also told of her sadness and rejection of her Irish background when she saw a group of gay protesters try to join the parade after being told they couldn't because they were gay.  She saw the protesters beaten by the police from her office window.  With some archaic thinking, it looks like LGBT groups are still being banned from both New York and Boston parades this year.  

She started the show off with a sing along, Mountain Dew and ended with a lullaby, Will Ye Go Lassie Go.  If you're a child of the 60's, come from an Irish and/or Catholic background or have strong ties with your family, you will appreciate and enjoy To Dad With Love.  This was her debut and I'm hoping she brings the show back for an encore. 

Davy Jones Dead At 66

Just yesterday my friends and I were engaged in a conversation about David Cassidy, which lead to talking about Bobby Sherman and his TV sidekick Wes Stern.  Today we learn that another singing idol of ours, Davy Jones has died of a heart attack in Florida.

 

 Davy was the Brit. He sang Daydream Believer and Valerie. He also sang On The Day We Fall In Love (There'll be birds singin' everywhere And the wind will be blowin' through your hair), but we won't hold that against him.  He made Marcia Brady a very happy girl.  He got a kiss "on the flip side" and sang at her dance.  I saw Davy in a performance of The Real Live Brady Bunch at the Village Gate. They reenacted that episode (I think Jane Lynch played Carol Brady).

Davy had a groovy way of moving and shuffling his feet while playing the tambourine or maracas. I remember him in his cap on the black and white backing of the Monkees first album.  The one where they listed their birth dates, places of birth and height. Davy was the small one.  I saw the band on their first reunion tour.

I was five years old when the Monkees TV show debuted.  I still listen to them today and they hold a very special musical place in my heart.  When I was in first grade I had to go to the hospital for emergency ear surgery.  The nurse wanted lights out and shut the TV off, but the mother of the girl next to me said they have to watch the Monkees and the TV was left on.  I did have to watch the Monkees!   Just out of college as an audience member of David Letterman's show, my friend Kerri and I were chosen to compete for a date with Peter Tork.  Our faces appeared in hearts before the show opening.  A grandmotherly type woman won and had pizza in the green room with Peter.  We got the Monkees greatest hits album. 

Davy and the Monkees will always be ingrained in my music DNA.  Thanks Davy.

Mike Nesmith on Facebook:  David’s spirit and soul live well in my heart, among all the lovely people, who remember with me the good times, and the healing times, that were created for so many, including us.  I have fond memories. I wish him safe travels.

Peter Tork:  It is with great sadness that I reflect on the sudden passing of my long-time friend and fellow-adventurer, David Jones.   His talent will be much missed; his gifts will be with us always. My deepest sympathy to Jessica and the rest of his family.  Adios, to the Manchester Cowboy.

Mickey Dolenz:  Can't believe it...Still in shock...had bad dreams all night long. My love and prayers go out to Davy's girls and family right now.

Tennille & Travolta

Words are not needed.

Don Draper As Hugh Hefner

Mad Men comes back to life on March 25th, the start of the 5th season.  Does anyone even remember what happened in season 4?  I'm really digging into my memory bank to pull something out.




The show's creator Matthew Weiner has said he hopes to give viewers a reward for sticking with the show.

The new poster has gotten plenty of attention.  Weiner in describing the poster said it is “a nonverbal representation of where my head is at and where the show will be.  By the end of the season, I guarantee you’ll know what it is about.”

Don is looking in a store window. His image is part of the scene.  He is part of this scene.  From the looks of the male mannequin my prediction is:  by the end of Season 5, Don becomes Hugh Hefner.  Of note, the Playboy TV series that debuted last year was short lived.

Kenny Rogers Caught In A Joe Vs The Volcano Audit

Kenny Rogers has sued Capitol Records for failing to pay him his owed royalties. TechDirt has a piece on the ordeal.

Rogers originally performed an audit, which took more than a year to get going with Capitol. On many levels he found royalties that weren't paid, some put into a "suspended file", over-charges for a music video, etc. When his negotiations to get paid, went nowhere (in the middle of the ordeal, he found out that people he was working had left the label) and he felt he was being led down a black hole, he sued the label.

He was also questioning where all the money the label received in the settlement suits with companies such as Napster, Kazaa, AudioGalaxy and Grokster went. That money was suppose to be shared with the artists. No one would let him in on where the money was stashed.

The sad thing about this whole process is that Rogers is probably doling out tons of money to accountants and lawyers to get him what should be rightfully his. Unfortunately this "accounting" has been going on since the beginning of the legacy labels. Transparency has never been part of their business practices. I'm in the Gambler's corner. I hope this one pays off.

The Kid is Gone

It's not like it wasn't expected. He had a brain tumor, but that doesn't make it any less sad.

Gary Carter passed away this afternoon. His daughter shared the news on the family website. He will always be known as The Kid to us Mets fans. His upbeat attitude was a counterpoint to the bad boy image that saddled the '86 Mets.

I remember hearing Gary say there is no way I am making the last out of this game. The game he was referring to was Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. His hit kept the team alive and allowed them to win it on that more than frequently played error by Bill Buckner. His enthusiasm should have been bottled and sold.

We will miss the Hall of Fame Kid.

Dory Previn, Composer of The Songs From Valley of the Dolls Dies

Dory Previn, who is best known to me for co-writing the songs for the movie Valley of the Dolls passed away at age 86. She will forever be attached to her ex-husband Andre, although he, like Frank Sinatra left his wife for Mia Farrow.

(Theme from) Valley of the Dolls and the movie were big hits in 1967. It's one of my top ten movies of all time. The theme song's lyrics and music greatly portrayed the melancholy, confusion, disgust and yearning for a different life that the main character Ann Welles goes through in the course of the story. The phrasing and unfinished thoughts were a very different take from most pop songs at that time.

Gotta get off, gonna get
Have to get off from this ride
Gotta get hold, gonna get
Need to get hold of my pride

I'm not sure if the song was written that way, or it's the way Dionne Warwick performed it. Judy Garland was originally cast in the film and I think expected to sing the song. Dory has said that the lyrics were inspired by her own struggles with pills.

The highlight of the songs has to be Come Live With Me which is sung by Tony Scotti, who later went on to found Scotti Bros Records. Here is the second performance of the song during the movie which is a duet with Patty Duke. It takes place in a sanitarium and brings the Tony Polar character to life.



John Williams who composed the score for the movie has a interesting post on his site about the music.

Dory Previn went on to release several solo albums, which included her intense lyrics as on the song Beware Of Young Girls. It was written about Mia Farrow.

Whitney Was Barely Cold When Sony Raised Price of The Ultimate Collection

This post on Hypebot reported that the wholesale price of Whitney Houston's The Ultimate Collection was increased by Sony in the early morning hours on Sunday. The record company argues that it was incorrectly priced and therefore they were just correcting an error.

Even if that's the case, the timing is bad and it seems like it's really in poor taste. If they can't break new acts, they raise the prices on the acts who gave their lives strengthening the record company.

Remaining Beach Boys at the Grammys

Just added: The Beach Boys are performing at the Grammys. The lineup includes surviving members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks and Bruce Johnston. They are scheduled to perform with Foster the People and Maroon 5. Does this make me want to watch the Grammys?

Congratulations Giants!

I don't think my palms have sweat that much since game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

BORING

Madonna Halftime = Boring Performance

Kudos to the staging. That was amazing.

Peace Love And Soul

Don Cornelius apparently he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. I remember watching Soul Train on Saturday mornings. Don created and hosted the show. It was a sort of ritual to watch Soul Train and American Bandstand. I think musicians lip synched on both shows and got minimal amount of time to speak. There were always people dancing.

Do you remember the SNL skit Samurai Hitman? There are two cabbages which represent Don Cornelius (red cabbage) and Don Kirshner (green cabbage). Samurai John Belushi is being hired to kill them both at a Benihana Restaurant downtown. He demonstrates on the cabbages.

Baseball Is A Wonderful Thing

Going to Tuesday's Bat For BAT (Baseball Assistance Team) benefit dinner was a dream for a Mets fan. The organization's objective is to aid those members of the "baseball family" most in need. They were celebrating 50 years of the Mets.

That's Ed Kranpool with the mic.

It's all about timing and luck. That's me talking about getting Sandy Koufax's autograph, not a player talking about winning a World Series. I was standing at the table and had just gotten Ron Swoboda and Ed Kranpool's autographs, when Sandy Koufax sat down at the end of the table. I handed him my ball and he signed it. Any player will tell you it's all about the timing.


Loved talking to the Glider, Ed Charles. He was the Mets third baseball in '69. We talked about how wonderful that team was and how it was all about pitching and defense. He also told me how much he loved Joan Payson. How many players can say they love their owner? He's a regular at Citi Field.

I seemed to have had a few culinary conversations last night. Keith Hernandez and I talked about Armand's Restaurant and Rusty Staub described the transportation to and from Shea in the 80's, which was the meat van that was used for his restaurant. Players who wanted a ride to Shea met at the restaurant at a designated time. If a player was late, he was on his own to get to the stadium. After about two years of traveling in the "meat van", Le Grand Orange bought a new van with a TV.

Other highlights were talking to Steve Garvey, Jim Palmer, Davey Johnson, Tim Teufel and seeing Randy Myers in a camouflage sports jacket.

Photos courtesy of Al Sartorius

Etta James R.I.P.

Etta James died from leukemia. Best known for the song At Last, James was 73 years old.

The New Goo Goo Dolls

Daniel and the Scandals are from outside of Brighton England. Their first single, I Love You (There You Go I Said It) is reminiscent of The Goo Dolls: great hook, lots of jangly guitars and pop vocals with a touch of rasp. I listened to the song before watching the video.




After watching the video, the song became much more of pop song and reminded me more of a song by PoP, the Hugh Grant fronted band in Music and Lyrics.

Who says visuals don't alter the audio?

Has Bruce Been Listening To New Order?

Maybe I'm crazy, but listening to Springsteen's latest We Take Care of Our Own, I kept hearing the chorus of New Order's Love Vigilantes.