Remembering the Vision

Last week was the one-year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death. And while so many people listened to his music and watched his videos and remembered them in their own way, I sat down and watched “The Jackson’s - An American Dream”. This was a great movie that told their story starting with Joe and Katherine Jackson dating all the way down to their children growing to adulthood. The other major event marking last week was Father’s Day. The combination of the two leads me to write my most provocative, opinionated blog entry since inception. As I watched the movie I again gave thought to the depiction of Joe Jackson as cruel and abusive. I had to wonder if the movie added much to his persona or if he really treated the children that way. I have heard some say he was a strict father and tough businessman, but that has been said about many fathers in this country’s population. For me I watched one aspect of his character: his vision of how talented his children were. Now many would say that he simply was looking to exploit them for monetary gain. But I’m not sure if that was what drove him to really push the boys as he did. I say boys because he had daughters who stayed at home while the boys entertained. For all that Joe Jackson did, he didn’t seem to be interested in pushing the girls into show business, even though Latoya and Janet later made their way regardless. Joe seemed to just “know” that the boys would be successful but he also taught life lessons along the way. That’s why even if you can’t forgive his transgressions as a father, you must respect the fact that he saw Michael and Germaine and all the boys were talented long before Berry Gordy or Dianna Ross. So if you give Gordy or Ross credit for their greatness in finding such great talent, and really listen to Michael Jackson and credit him with musical greatness where does that leave Joe Jackson? While so many want to shut him out of the family, I think they have to respect the one thing that he gave the entire family including Michael: Vision.

The New Radio Game

The radio game has sure changed within the past few years. I had a moment of reflection about my time promoting records and realized what has happened. The game used to be to take a recording around to radio stations and sell the program director that the song will hit. Then he would act interested and “may” give it a little rotation to see what would happen. For me it was even more interesting because I normally dealt with R & B or dance music (or most of the time a fusion of both). That meant I could use the record pools - a collection of mostly night club and sometimes a few radio disk-jockeys - to help push rotation. Because I dealt mostly in Florida, I quickly found out that it was best for me to stay away from South Florida. Even though the sheer amount of night clubs would seem to give promotions a boost, the overall politics of radio was a large hill to climb. At the time I had a business partner who enjoyed muddling though the mess of red tape. But now things have changed greatly in a span of twenty years. The struggling independent record company has other resources. A good friend of mine has used technology to cash in. Because of the internet any musician/producer can get his or her music heard and sold without any of the old obstacles to overcome. Is this for the best? I really think so. We still have the major record companies doing their thing, spending millions to promote acts that already have had some regional success. But we also have the smaller companies and even individual artists’ producing music and getting their product out in cyber space. We can now hear it all without a problem. Satellite and Internet radio both have provided us with a great deal of music and more choices that we had in the past. I love it because now when it comes to recorded music, I can cheer for the little guy.

Any More Supergroups?

Earlier in the week I was listening to the radio and heard something Ozzy Osborne said that was interesting. He recently worked with Slash, ex-guitarist of Guns n Roses. Ozzy stated if he had the chance he would tell Slash, “Man you guys were great, (Guns n Roses) you could have been as big as the Rolling Stones.” I agree with his statement. But it makes me think about all of today’s musical groups. Why they seem to have a shorter professional life than those of the past.

I was talking with one of my friends about Ozzy’s statement and he also agreed that Guns n Roses could have been one of those very special musical acts. Then we started to discuss the reasons why so many have problems staying together. These days artists overall are exposed to the general public a great deal more than in the past. When I was younger I, like so many of my counterparts, really liked the Jackson Five. There was a lot of information about the groups readily available. But, much of the information of their life and struggles was not made available until much later, when the group had grown up and moved on. But there is the point: the information did not surface until the technology was available to dispense it. Now, we live in a time when everything is known about everyone famous, especially problems and turmoil. When it comes to musical groups, the front man or woman is truly in the forefront of everything the group does - good or bad. If good, then he or she is immediately pressured into a solo career. If bad, all members including those in the front are looking to get away as if escaping from the scene of a crime. How can a group continue to perform and tour and work together amid such pressure to disband? Hmmm.

Is This the End?

We’ll I took a week off and now I come back with another entry about American Idol. Oh-oh! This must be a slow music news week. Not really, but there is some interest as the season came to a close. Not because Lee Dewyze won but because Simon Cowell said his farewell. That leaves the big decision of who’s next to replace him. Let the games begin.

Interestingly there have not been many names tossed around. Mostly profiles of the next person’s personality and music credentials. So different than when Paula Abdul left and was eventually replaced by Ellen Degeneres. But I did hear one name being tossed into the Idol hat. Believe it or not Bret Michaels. It seems at the very least they are going to make sure to get someone with real music credentials, but I wonder if this is really what the show needs right now. Don’t get me wrong, he would be an excellent judge especially as the contestants seem to be moving toward more rock oriented genres. But we all need to remember who Simon Cowell was as an American Idol judge. He is an industry insider not a performer. More like Clive Davis than Jonathan Davis (Korn). You need that judge who will tell a singer he or she is good or no good and all can respect that decision. My knowledge of insiders is somewhat limited at this point in my musical life but I’ve given it a little thought. Maybe “Babyface” partner and current record company executive Antonio “L.A.” Reid would be a good choice. Sean “Diddy” Combs might be too high profile for the show but why not Jermaine Dupri? Still, any of these moves pushes the show toward more R & B/Hip Hop talent judges. The best choice might be someone who’s an industry insider, but not well known to the general public. Maybe I’m just another guy with an opinion. We’ll know for sure very soon.