Re: your worst fears realized
Bob Sorum writes: Have any reporters made anything up, or is it limited to columnists? Just Smith and Barnicle that anyone knows about, though the bad press that the paper got gave it a black eye that'll take years to erase. It kind of cast a pall over the credibility of a lot of other stuff in the paper, too. --Jon Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wollaston, Massachusetts
Re: your worst fears realized
Everything evil you've ever believed about the record biz is true, according to this, at least. Yeah, so much so you wonder whether the piece is legit Oh, it's legit alright...just read "Hit Men" which confirms everything in that article in spades. Buddy Where's The Money Rockets * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Buddy Woodward - [EMAIL PROTECTED] THE GHOST ROCKETS - "Maximum Rhythm Bluegrass" http://www.hudsonet.com/~undertow/ghostrockets * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -Original Message- From: Todd Larson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wednesday, March 31, 1999 5:31 PM Subject: Re: your worst fears realized
Re: your worst fears realized
April 1. It's part of a special music issue that also includes "Downloading the Future - the mp3 revolution - the end of the industry as we know it." (hello Mojo N.) A full page pic/ad of/for Shania at the Hollywood Bowl.
Re: your worst fears realized
Neal, Thanks for posting that article. Hell of a world we live in and industry some of us work in. Mike Hays http://www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net
Re: your worst fears realized
Everything evil you've ever believed about the record biz is true, according to this, at least. Yeah, so much so you wonder whether the piece is legit TL
Re: your worst fears realized
I can't believe I said all those things to her and she printed it. Jeez. I thought it was some college student doing a paper... -Original Message- From: Todd Larson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wednesday, March 31, 1999 5:30 PM Subject: Re: your worst fears realized Everything evil you've ever believed about the record biz is true, according to this, at least. Yeah, so much so you wonder whether the piece is legit TL
Re: your worst fears realized
Everything evil you've ever believed about the record biz is true, according to this, at least. Yeah, so much so you wonder whether the piece is legit Well, I can vouche for LA Weekly being a credible journalistic voice. (I used to write for them, how could they not be? g) Heads would roll in the halls of that there publication if this article was a fraud. NW
Re: your worst fears realized
On Wed, 31 Mar 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Well, I can vouche for LA Weekly being a credible journalistic voice. (I used to write for them, how could they not be? g) Heads would roll in the halls of that there publication if this article was a fraud. Well, it wouldn't surprise me if it was real. Then again, I'm a cynical bastard.g BTW Neal, what's the cover date for that issue? Just curious.--don
Re: your worst fears realized
Neal Weiss writes: Well, I can vouche for LA Weekly being a credible journalistic voice. (I used to write for them, how could they not be? g) Heads would roll in the halls of that there publication if this article was a fraud. Yeah, I remember when I used to think the same thing about the Boston Globe. "The Globe? Make up stories? It'll never happen" Oh, we were innocent then! We had a song in our hearts and a spring in our step! But it *is* an interesting piece, if true. Now I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out who the anonymous executive might be. Any irresponsible theories anyone? --Jon Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wollaston, Massachusetts
Re: your worst fears realized
Well, it wouldn't surprise me if it was real. Then again, I'm a cynical bastard.g BTW Neal, what's the cover date for that issue? Just curious.--don Vol 21, Number 18, March 26-April 1. It's part of a special music issue that also includes a great story on the rise and fall of one-time local buzz band Mary's Danish. Actually, it's some of the best music journalism that paper's done in some time. NW
Re: your worst fears realized
Excerpts from internet.listserv.postcard2: 31-Mar-99 Re: your worst fears realized by "Jon E. Johnson"@juno.co But it *is* an interesting piece, if true. Now I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out who the anonymous executive might be. Any irresponsible theories anyone? Seems like someone younger than Seymour Steinis Danny Goldberg heading a label at the moment? Carl Z.
Re: your worst fears realized
But it *is* an interesting piece, if true. Now I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out who the anonymous executive might be. Any irresponsible theories anyone? I tried to find out from my Weekly connex. Was told that even the publisher wasn't divulging. Think major label with smaller roster, right? At least it has to be a bigger player if he's making seven figures and answering to people who make eight or nine. What about pre-merger Interscope? Iovine? Or Hollywood Records. Or... Maybe it's just Deep Throat. Neal Weiss
Re: your worst fears realized
Neal writes: I tried to find out from my Weekly connex. Was told that even the publisher wasn't divulging. Think major label with smaller roster, right? At least it has to be a bigger player if he's making seven figures and answering to people who make eight or nine. What about pre-merger Interscope? Iovine? Or Hollywood Records. Or... There are a bunch of clues littered throughout the article. I'd guess that the individual is in his fifties, since he seems to have once had the idealism of the '60s generation. He also works for a label that has one of the divas under contract. Though Sony has Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey, and Celine Dion, we can probably count out Mottola, unless it *is* Mottola and that was thrown in to throw armchair sleuths like us off the track. Who else? Whitney Houston at Arista? Madonna at Warner? Reba McEntire at MCA? There's also the suggestion that he didn't come up through the ranks at his current label; that he was a middle-level staffer somewhere else who was lured to his current job for whatever reason. I'd also guess that he's a fairly prominent liberal Democrat, though that doesn't exactly narrow it down in the entertainment industry. Bono is also mentioned; someone who was associated with Island or Polygram at one time, perhaps? --Jon Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wollaston, Massachusetts
Re: your worst fears realized
whew! I guess I'll stick with my little homespun Vermont Beef Farm label where my biggest gripe is that she didn't do as much radio promotion as I hoped because the calves were being born. Must be a lot of damaged musicians walking around those battle fields. God bless 'em. - Elena Skye
Re: your worst fears realized
On Wed, 31 Mar 1999, Jon E. Johnson wrote: There are a bunch of clues littered throughout the article. Indeed there are. I'd rule out some of the labels Jon mentioned though and focus on the ones whose presidents are based in LA. I doubt the LA writer flew out to New York or Nashville to interview a label head when she lives in Weasel City. I bet some LA insiders have a damn good idea who it might be. Get on it, Weiss, and do some detective work -- your LA weaselcred is in jeopardy.g--don
Re: your worst fears realized
Vol 21, Number 18, March 26-April 1. It's part of a special music issue that also includes a great story on the rise and fall of one-time local buzz band Mary's Danish. Actually, it's some of the best music journalism that paper's done in some time. NW So, what DID ever happen to the Danish, Neal? I remember them becoming an unfocused mess within a couple of years of forming, but early on they sure seemed like a solid blend of X and Thelonious Monster (and torch-bearers for both). As I recall, the blonde singer in the band--Gretchen Seager?--started a band called Battery Acid. I'm going to assume they went nowhere fast. However, what about the--hubba hubba--brunette, Julie Ritter? During MD she spent a lot of her time trading insults with Bob Forrest (Her "you Beat Up" for his "Politically Correct Song For a Girl From the Valley," for instance).
Re: your worst fears realized
At 6:28 PM -0400 on 3/31/99, Jon E. Johnson wrote: Yeah, I remember when I used to think the same thing about the Boston Globe. "The Globe? Make up stories? It'll never happen" Oh, we were innocent then! We had a song in our hearts and a spring in our step! Have any reporters made anything up, or is it limited to columnists? Bob
Re: your worst fears realized
At 6:28 PM -0400 on 3/31/99, Jon E. Johnson wrote: Yeah, I remember when I used to think the same thing about the Boston Globe. "The Globe? Make up stories? It'll never happen" Oh, we were innocent then! We had a song in our hearts and a spring in our step! Have any reporters made anything up, or is it limited to columnists? Bob I have a confession. As a reporter on my high school newspaper, circa 1973, I fabricated a band, The Froglegs, and their debut album, "Tastes Like Chicken," and wrote a review about them. I tried to make it as outlandish as possible, for instance, describing the music as a hypnotic mix between Yes and CCR. The next day, a guy came up to me and wondered why his record store had no knowledge of this record. I told him it was an import. He was disappointed because he thought it sounded like a great record. So, I guess I broke the mold in journalism -- I started as a cynic and wound up as an idealist. That article Neal posted was pretty amazing, and depressing. And the obvious question, for me at least, is does this picture of the music business represent a tailspin into bottom-line greed, or is it just more of the same old shit? And, if it's the former, is there a corresponding reduction in the product at the end of the assembly line? That is, of course, assuming that differences in quality do exist in music, and it's not all just equivalent mush that only takes on character when we opinionated human beings decide whether it sucks or not. -- Terry Smith ps I'll vouch for the LA Weekly, too. A good paper, which I'm hoping would double and triple-check the veracity of the reporter's tale. This thing looks so much like it could be a hoax that any responsible (and observant) editor would make absolutely certain it's not before letting it get in the paper.
