Pete Fornatale A Radio Legend

The news of Pete Fornatale's passing today affected me the same way when I heard Joe Strummer died.  It was out of the blue, they both had so much more to give and were instrumental in my love of music. 

Pete was a big part of my days growing up. I was a faithful listener of WNEW.  I rode my bike in their Central Park Bike-A-Thons, got the calendar every year and of course faithfully listened to Pete Fornatale.  I wrote to Pete on several occasions about the Beach Boys (this was in the 70's when it wasn't cool to like them) and he responded with hand written letters.  I have a memory of one Easter, Pete playing the whole Pet Sounds album. His love and knowledge of the Beach Boys encouraged my love of their music. 

Pete and I both went to Fordham. We both worked at WFUV.  He of course was a pioneering rock dj during his college days in the 60's. I heard myself on the radio once and decided I would be much better as a producer.  

I saw him at the World Financial Center with Rosanne Cash not that long ago celebrating the Bottom Line. He was vibrant and his usual musical powerhouse of knowledge.  It's hard to think of radio without Pete. He was a New York institution.  I was just listening to him three weeks ago and enjoying his show Mixed Bag. 

Thanks Pete for sharing your love of music.

Red Beans And Vice

Louie Perez is an unsung modern Renaissance man.  He's a musician, songwriter, artist, writer, the list could go on.  He's talked about having a web presence that would be a hub for up and coming artists and this week he's launched Playpix with a gallery of his own artwork:  The Red Beans and Rice series. 

The six prints are ironic takes on Red Beans and Rice. I just bought two.  Who could resist Red Beans and Vice?

Here's Louie's take on the drawings: We found a great printer in Austin, TX., who did a fantastic job of laser printing on Strathmore 400 80lb acid free paper (laser printing incidentally is quickly becoming a legit printing method amongst fine artists).  Each drawing is hand signed and numbered. When the initial run of 450 prints runs out, he will not reissue. 

The drawings are beyond reasonable at $25 a piece.  How wonderful to own a piece of art that touches your artistic soul and makes you smile.  Anyone can have it.

Good Advice For The Weekend

My Favorite Vampire Is Dead

Jonathan Frid, the actor who played Barnabas Collins died, ironically on Friday the 13th.  He has a cameo in the soon-to-be-released Tim Burton remake of Dark Shadows, the show that made Frid forever Barnabas, although Johnny Depp has stepped into the role. 

I religiously watched the TV show  after school.  The background music heightened every scene as is evident in this clip of Barnabas' debut in Dark Shadows.  The acting was over the top/campy and I loved it.

Frid was 87. 

Another luminary has left us. RIP Levon Helm. 

America's Oldest Teenager Is Gone

RIP Dick Clark.  

Just yesterday I was reading one of my old diaries from 1976 and on Saturday May 29th I had this entry:  Watched American Bandstand. Jim Stafford has a cocker spaniel named Joe Cocker, which I'm guessing he mentioned on the show and I found it interesting enough to write about it.

Rate a Record was my favorite part of American Bandstand.  Every week I got to hear one of the dancers say some variation of it's got a good beat and I like to dance to it. 

Dick Clark had the beat. 

Three of Life's Greatest Pleasures

Baseball, music and art:  three of life's greatest pleasures.  Friday night at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, all were celebrated.  Breaking the Color Barrier in Major League Baseball a current baseball card exhibit at the MET through June 17th.  The cards are part of the extensive collection bequeathed to the museum by Jefferson Burdick, a lifelong collector who we were told never went to a baseball game. 

Today Major League Baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson.

The Baseball Project sang us through a history of baseball.  

Linda, Scott, Peter, Mike (Steve was too far to the left)

As to be expected, the melodies were catchy, the lyrics ironic, smart, funny and poignant.   Harvey Haddix is a tribute to those who have pitched perfect games (they name all of them) and the one who didn't get the credit.  Why don't we add Harvey to that list they lament.

10th inning down, 11th inning down, he moved on to the 12th
3 straight outs and the fans were pinching themselves
The best game ever pitched and still a scoreless tie
Poor Harvey had to carry on and give it one more try

13's never lucky so you can guess the rest
Harv gave up a hit and then he lost the whole contest
I wonder how he slept that night knowing how close he came
To a most exclusive club that should include his name

There were other tributes such as the one for the 1986 World Series (Buckner's Bolero) , which elicited a yell of "Let's Go Mets" from the audience.  Satchel Page, Ted Freakin' Williams, Willie and Jackie were all honored. 

The performance was a quasi REM reunion.  The Baseball Project consists of , Scott McCaughey  who has been part of REM since 1994, Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate), Peter Buck  and Linda Pitmon.  Mike Mills joined the band for this show and I believe I saw  Michael Stipe siting in the audience.

The evening opened with a panel discussion about cards and baseball's part in breaking the color barrier. Sharon Robinson, educational consultant to Major League Baseball and daughter of Brooklyn Dodgers pioneer Jackie Robinson, talked about her parents fleeing a house in Florida as a lynch mob was headed for her father.  The locals did not want a black man playing with a white team in their backyard.  Jackie was playing with a minor league team at the time and was one year away from joining the Dodgers.

The consummate baseball player Dale Murphy talked about his dad bringing him Willie Mays' glove.  A 9 year old Murphy was skeptical about it actually being Willie's glove.  When he got Willie's baseball card, he counted the stitches on the glove in the card and it was the same amount as on his glove.  The glove was a replica, but it was the same model.  New York Times sportswriter and author William Rhoden talked about practicing Willie's basket catch over and over.  Bill could not believe how easy Willie made the game look.  Sean Kirst, sports columnist for the Syracuse Post-Standard and author had a geographical link to two stories.  The collector Burdick came from Syracuse and Jackie Robinson had said "In Syracuse they got on me pretty good, but that didn't bother me."  He mentioned it as the one place that was hard on him.

As The Baseball Project sang (with a nod to Simon & Garfunkel), And here's to you Mr Robinson. 

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.  

Do Female Artists Have A Better Sense Of Humor Than Their Male Counterparts?

I'd have to say yes.  I'll point to two recent examples. 

1.  The Cindy Sherman exhibit at MOMA. Cindy likes working by herself.  She's her own best model. 

Cindy Sherman from the WSJ:
For me, a great portrait is something that combines the familiar with the unfamiliar—something seductive but also repulsive. I want to go "Ew," but then can't stop looking. So there's a push-pull thing to it. I also see the humorous aspect, not just the horrible. It's exciting in its gruesomeness.









2.  Nina Katchadourian's Seat Assignment.  What do most people do on a 14 hour flight?  My guess is sleep.  Nina makes art using only the materials at hand.  She recreated 15th century portraits in the airplane bathroom.  There was probably more time to do this as most of the passengers were sleeping.  The Mail has an article with her photos. Scott Tissue, here's the ultimate sponsorship opportunity!

Nina challenges herself and travels, a lot.  Over 2500 photographs and video were created on more than 70 different flights.  Seat Assignment was first exhibited at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in New Zealand.  She had a 22 hours to get there from New York.  She created 2 galleries of work on the flight there. 

From Nina's website:
I often make art motivated by the mundane, but Seat Assignment has become a vehicle for me to put many of my deeply-held premises to the test. Is there always more than meets the eye? Is there really something to make out of nothing? Is it truly a matter of paying attention, of staying alert and optimistic about the potential that something interesting could evolve when challenged by boredom? Furthermore, what are the limits of my ability to think on my feet (or from my seat)? When will my creativity hit a wall, either from physical and mental fatigue, or simply because I can't care any more at that moment? How far will my own sense of decorum allow me to go in a public situation?

Happy Opening Day!

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.