On this day in 1966, “96 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians hit #1. ? claimed (and still claims) to be a Martian who lived with dinosaurs in a past life, and he never appears in public without sunglasses.
Own your shit.
Recently, a company operating in the music discovery space laid off about 1/3 of its team. Their reasoning was that since the economy is going downhill faster than a greased bowling ball, there’s gotta be some belt-tightening, budget cutting, and overall fiscal caution. Another fine institution, the US Government, recently passed a $700 billion bailout bill for banks and financial...
RockGeek Fact of the Day #2847
Recharge the batteries!
After realizing that I hadn’t taken a “real” vacation of any sort in over 2 years, I thought it was time to get away — even just for a weekend. An invitation from a relative to relax up at his house in NH seemed the perfect match. One disclaimer: this house has no internet, no tv, and it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I hadn’t been...
The Master of Duh
Yesterday, I was invited to attend an extra-special songwriting clinic at Berklee. The guest-lecturer was an alum named John Mayer. Maybe you’ve heard of him? We were classmates together for one very brief class, in one very very brief semester, and at the time he wasn’t all that impressive. Apparently his spark was ignited in his second (and final) semester on campus. In any event...
The slippery sliding slope of personal decency
As cool and hip as I claim to be, at core I’m still a geeky political nerd. I follow the elections, make damn sure I vote, and I even pay attention to state and local races. I love having a voice, and I truly believe that my vote counts. Lately though, negative campaigning, baseless posturing, and hateful attacks are becoming the norm. What absolutely fries me though is that the general...
Boston Rock Academy Debuts on North Shore
PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Boston Rock Academy Debuts on North Shore Rock Band Instruction for Teens and Tweens WAKEFIELD, MA Monday, October 6, 2008 — Boston Rock Academy is ready to rock and seeks students in grades 6-12 from Wakefield, Melrose, Lynnfield, Burlington, Stoneham and surrounding communities looking to do the same. Founded by Melrose natives Scott Feldman and Julie...
RockGeek Fact of the Day #6331
An early Thanksgiving
Today I took a pretty bold step even by my standards. After a gentle prodding from a former coworker, and after having had a series of insufferable bosses/VPs/CEOs, I acted on the best advice I’ve gotten in some time: be your own boss. Without going into the details of the business itself, what gave me pause was how simple it was to get things off the ground. To that end, I’m in...
Rick Wright – RIP
LONDON, England (AP) — Richard Wright, a founding member of the rock group Pink Floyd, died Monday. He was 65. Pink Floyd’s spokesman Doug Wright, who is not related to the artist, said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He says the band member’s family did not want to give more details about his death. Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and...