Words Matter
I love words. I love special, unique, words. I love the kind of words that you don’t hear anymore. It’s not destiny that brought us together — it’s kismet. The right word, used the right way,…
The Death of Idealism
Lately, as we march deeper into the nastiness of recession, I’ve seen those whom I consider good people become less than honorable. The fear of many things -mostly financial- has whittled away their sense of idealism,…
Something amazingly good
Bruce sang that there were “57 channels and nothing on.” Back then, he wasn’t far off. But the good folks at Comcast have found a way to trump that by nearly ten-fold. Then, when the despair…
Teach me something, please!
The music business is crazy, unpredictable, volatile, and often revolutionary. I understand that, and despite the insanity, I can’t think of another industry I’d be suited to work in. The happiest periods in my career came…
Bad Marketing 101: CampusCompare
Every now and then, I wonder how/why companies make the decisions they do. A while back, I had interviewed with the folks at CampusCompare. Their concept was to allow students to input their own statistical info…
RIP Mitch Mitchell
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s drummer Mitch Mitchell was found dead in a downtown Portland hotel Wednesday. The Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s office said 62-year-old Mitch Mitchell likely died of natural causes. His body…
Liberace and the election
Most of what I blog about pertains to the music industry, and how I interact with it. Over the last few days, with the election at the forefront of everything, I started to realize that where…
RockGeek Fact of the Day #9063
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…
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…
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….
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…
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…
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 Long Distance Dedication (Snuggles the Dog)
OK, so this has been around for a bunch of years, but it’s still fascinating to listen to. Kasey Casem voiced American Top 40 for roughly 1,000 years. He was considered the consummate radio professional. Then…
Cynicism is earned.
Despite what others may tell you, I’m the eternal optimist. The glass is always half full, and anybody can become President of the United States if they study hard and eat their Wheaties. I prefer to…
Hello Reality!
I got a message the other day from one of my clients. I had submitted a marketing plan which met existing budget, staff, and timeline limitations. Admittedly, it wasn’t the most exciting and groundbreaking campaign, but…
Dorothy Parker lives on – sort of.
Criticism, in its best and worst form lives on. The late, great Dorothy Parker wrote some of the finest, including: “This not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force”…
Happy Birthday Mae West
Today would have been Mae West’s 115th Birthday. Though, she would’ve passed for a young, err, 80? Mae’s Words of Wisdom A dame that knows the ropes isn’t likely to get tied up. A hard man…
What aren’t you telling me?
I’ve noticed a growing trend in online music sites. They’re free, FREE, FREEEEEE for everyone, and they’re gonna make all kinds of money for artists. How is this possible, and if it’s such a great deal,…
Goodbye Shaft…
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American soul and funk singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger, composer and actor. Hayes was one of the main creative forces behind southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served…
RockGeek Fact of the Day #080808
While the finished product was the Beatles album “Help!”, the working title was “Eight Arms to Hold You.”
Wow! A good idea …
In my haste to race back into town yesterday, I didn’t notice the yellow “you need gas” light until it became a blinking yellow “you need gas NOW” light.” Looking for the nearest gas station, I…
Anything you can do, I can do better…
I work in marketing. It’s what I do. A long time ago, I realized that I’m pretty good at “reading” people, figuring out what motivates them, and being able to focus that understanding toward promoting a…
RockGeek Fact of the Day #0725
“Mahna Mahna,” made famous by the Muppets, was first used in the Italian softcore pornography movie Svezia, inferno e paradiso .
But what’s it actually worth?
This morning, I had breakfast at a local diner. My brain doesn’t really move too fast in the morning, and the slow act of reading a newspaper, sipping my coffee, and having a couple eggs ‘n’…
So how much for an iTunes download…?
HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) — Zimbabwe’s troubled central bank introduced $100 billion banknotes Saturday in a desperate bid to ease the recurrent cash shortages plaguing the inflation-ravaged economy. The bills officially come into circulation Monday, although they…
Finally …
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Ben & Jerry’s has done it again: Hoping to honor rocker Elton John before his first-ever Vermont performance, Vermont’s crazy-cool confectioner has whipped up a flavor just for him — “Goodbye Yellow…
Stand Up Philosophers …
For your consideration, the following classic exchange: Unemployment Office Person: “Name and occupation?” Comicus: “Comicus, Stand-up Philosopher.” Unemployment Office Person: “A what?” Comicus: “A Stand-up Philosopher. I coalesce the vapors of daily life and produce anecdotes…
What would you do for a billion dollars?
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – All four members of supergroup ABBA appeared together on Friday at the Swedish premiere of the film “Mamma Mia!”, delighting fans with their first public showing for years. Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid…
4th o’ July!
What better way to celebrate the birthday of America than by a clip featuring both excessive drinking -and- a great American. Below is a clip of one of America’s greatest filmmakers – Orson Welles. In his…
RockGeek Fact of the Day #0725
Frank Zappa composed a song in thirteen. Aptly titled “Thirteen,” he introduced it thusly in concert: “Now this little, this little number is in thirteen, it’s subdivided 5/8 and 4/4 if you wanna clap your hands….
The Good Guy Network
It’s a pretty simple concept, and one I alluded to before, good guys do things for good guys. Nothing more, nothing less. Somehow though, this basic tenet of doing business has become lost in the current…
Conscience matters – who knew … ?
About a month ago, I decided that it was time to test the independent waters. Instead of just going after another job, with another company, where invariably I was a mid-sized cog on the corporate wheel,…
RockGeek Fact of the Day #0713
In 1971, Led Zeppelin IV was the top selling album of the year: 23 million copies sold in the US. In 2007, The Eagles’ “Long Road Out of Hell” was the top selling album of the…
Thornton Mellon anyone …?
There’s an old expression: “Those who can – do. Those who can’t – teach.” I’m not entirely sure how true it is, but I’m noticing a rather alarming trend. It seems like people used to want…
It’s hot. Africa hot.
So the docs have given me permission (after nearly 4 weeks!) to go back to the gym. Whatever was supposed to heal in my shoulder has done so, and I’m headed up the road to test…
Quote of the Day…
“I enjoy talking to you more than anybody else because I never feel I am giving myself away and so can admit to shady, dishonest, crawling, cowardly, unjust, arrogant, snobbish, lecherous, perverted and generally shameful feelings…
Desperation time…?
To paraphrase Mr Lennon, “I’m sick and tired of hearing things/From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocritics/All I want is the truth…” There are SO many companies trying to “help” musicians today, that’s just sickening. When you did…
Ethics Shmethics.
Today is a day that Bostonians have been waiting 20 years for: Celtics/Lakers tickets go on sale for the 2008 NBA Finals. At 2 PM, fans everywhere queued up online, at ticket sellers, and on the…
My symbolic trip to McCarthyism…
“Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator…. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” In this example, I was the lad. And…
Dude, that’s hot…
So I’m at a bar in Adams Morgan. It’s a nice bar with good people, good music, and beer. My buddy says, “hey how ’bout some nachos?” I concur. Then he says, “do you like hot…
Thought for the day…
“Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” –Groucho Marx
RockGeek Fact of the Day #325
Elvis Presley performed in Boston only once – Boston Garden on 3/10/71.
There’s no place like home …
Last night, as I sat watching the Celtics crumble during the 4th quarter, I couldn’t help but wonder about the power of “home.” It’s pervasive across everything … The Celtics, 36-10 on the road all year,…