Re: Stage Dolls

Hi,

I’ve just read your post about our band and want to say thank you so much.

You really nailed it to the point about the song ‘Ammunition’.

My brother was studying in West-Berlin in the mid 80’s and I visited him there.

We went over to the other side one day and you could climb up on stairs to look over. I remember how strange it felt standing there knowing that the people next to me were stuck here while I could freely go back..

I didn’t get the idea for the song right then but I guess the experience stayed in my mind..

Thank you again and a Happy New Year!

Best,
Torstein Flakne

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Subject: RE: Re-Stage Dolls

When I was a writer for Kerrang! during the mid-eighties I thought Stage Dolls would blow up big time. The hooks, songwriting and the melodies were stupendous. And let us not forget the incredible production by Norwegian studio master Bjorn Nessjo – a man that was every bit as talented as Mutt Lange who went on to produce TNT, another Norwegian act that should have broken through. I was flown out to Oslo to see the band live and they delivered big time. Wow wonderful memories.

Derek Oliver

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From: Sepp Donahower

Subject: Re: Aspen Live-Day One

Bob

Nice write up here….good to see all the accolades for Louis Messina….He is one of the last of the first generation promoters active, along with Don Law, and few others.  Thank you for the mention of California Jam, the festival we helped put together at Pacific Presentations.  It was game changer….It was the precursor to the modern festival as a business endeavor, and not just a cultural endeavor.  At the time, it set the record for the highest PAID attendance at any event in the world at anytime…over 200,000 PAID…My partner and I, Gary Perkins, were under 30 at the time.     Paul Tollett, Mr. Goldenvoice / Coachella,  graciously sent me a text a few years ago when they released the Goldenvoice / Coachella documentary, that basically said “ without California Jam, there would have been no Coachella “ .   Being a promoter is a special gig….Not for everyone, and not many able to do it correctly.   Most of the event production these days is herding cattle through a gate….what Louis Messina does is different….it echoes back to what us old timers considered being “ Impresarios “  of a sort….We all crafted events and experiences, with memorable lineups…….along with  creative and memorable marketing that is actually ART and now highly collectible.   Also, back in those days, kids went to shows in mass  every week….they were tribal gatherings….and they could afford the tickets.

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Subject: Re: Consensus Hits

I am a former music biz guy, both retail and radio. It’s been 10+ years since…your emails, my son, and a couple of good music pals keep me abreast of what is good. Note I did not say popular. Because that’s not really an adjective used before the word music, here’s proof.

As a high school golf coach we listen to music in the team van to and from matches. Used to be kids wanted to control the tunes. Now? It’s on me (which I like!). No one wants to play “their” music because of their fear of being judged. Kids have no clue if others like what they like. To lay yourself out there?! It’s scary. They literally refuse to plug in their iPhones.

They never talk music nor movies…even video games are less ubiquitous. And it’s not that they don’t listen to music, watch movies or play video games…it’s just awkward “sharing.” 

They text each other more than they talk. In the van.

I have to pull conversation out of them. And those are the best times when we find common ground. It’s not that hard.

We may think the generations behind don’t have the same need for something soul bending. I think they do. It’s just no one it pushing them toward the deeper waters where truth and courage exist. Far be it from me to think it was us parents who didn’t have the courage to challenge our kids to search. To teach critical thinking, the desire to explore and engage in the uncomfortable. 

-Frank Jenks

listenin.org

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From: Conor McNicholas

Subject: Re: Consensus Hits

Exactly this.

The past was an anomaly. We were lucky to have it. Now music is democratised again it’s owned by no-one and drifts. 

But people buy narrative. I’ve always felt that. It’s the frame around the picture. Strong stories promote emotional connection. We need a platform for more of them. 

There is a land beyond the Spotify jukebox. For many years now the storytelling of music was largely dumped because people thought it was just about the audio and the storytellers should get out of the way. Now we discover that that was 50% of what we fell in love with. 

I have thoughts on what the future could look like if anyone wants to hook-up. 

Conor McNicholas,

Previously Editor of NME. 

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From: Nico Moolenaar

Subject: Re: Best Streaming TV 2023

What an honour to be mentioned in this list, Bob. Netflix will make another Ferry movie, but the series you have seen this year was my last contribution in this Undercover/Ferry universe. I want to quit when I’m still having fun and am currently developing something completely new (also for Netflix). Which is amazing and terrifying at the same time, the best place for a creator to be. Thanks for watching my shows.

Best,

Nico

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From: Ron Ozer

Subject: Re: Final Aspen Live

So very glad to see you mention NIVA and our work on Save Our Stages and Fix The Tix and the amazing Dayna Frank who I first met on Zoom in May 2020 when I was suddenly on a team trying to save all of my favorite venues from closing for good. It’s hard to separate the fear at the beginning of the pandemic from the fact that joining this group of people was truly life changing. Here were buyers, promoters, venue managers and owners who only months before were fighting each other in the marketplace for the best shows, but now were a team with a common goal. And I discovered they were powerful personalities, as entrepreneurs can be of course. By the end of 2020 Dayna and the many other crucial leaders in the organization like Hal Real (World Cafe), Audrey Fix Schaefer (IMP), Chris Cobb, Adam Hartke (WAVE) and Rev. Moose (Marauder) had somehow gathered support from the Broadway League, Museums, Talent Agents and even Independent Movie Theaters to move Congress to do the impossible, pass the largest investment in the arts in US history ($16 billion, 100X the typical annual NEA appropriation). And what did being around these people do for me? It made me realize that after 20 years as a volunteer running a small music series in Delaware, it was time to try this work full time and give up my day job in chemical engineering. Helping start a new independent (NIVA member!) music venue in a small town in Maryland?  Why not! Bob, do come join us in New Orleans in June at NIVA Con.

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From: Marty Walsh

Subject: Ursus and Raf

Bob, unreal. What an interview. Everyone who wants to be in the entertainment sphere needs to listen to this.

Well done.

Marty Walsh

BTW every student I have next semester is going to write me a report on the podcast episode.

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Subject: Re: Re-Promotion

I couldn’t agree with you more that promotion is in the artists’ hands. I am routinely asking myself and our staff, “What’s the role of a label in 2023/4? Why should an artist sign with us? What value do we bring?” The answers are moving targets. Adaptability to constant change is the key. Today (and this could very well change in a few months), it’s helping the artist be effective with short form video. Provide the tools and teach them how to be good at it. Invest in stealth digital marketing, build email lists, nurture the artist-fan connection by trying to grow a community … rinse, wash, repeat. Tour, tour, tour. Have a point of view. Be vocal about it. Be willing to alienate the wrong people in exchange for bonding with the right ones. Understand that TikTok is not social media…. it’s a pure entertainment platform on which you must be visible. If you’re not on TikTok or using Spotify Marquee, I probably have no idea that you’re active. Boycott it at your peril, unless you’re so adored by your fans who do the work for you (i.e. Ghost “Mary On A Cross”)… truly no substitute for that, but yeah, good luck. Go ride that unicorn.

If you can build a meaningful audience through this kind of daily grind, then PR and radio can be really effective in broadening your reach…. telling the story, not breaking the story. Big difference.

Anytime I see one of these old school campaigns I cringe, but I understand how and why they happen. It seems that whatever era in which an artist first broke, they think that the same rules apply and if they don’t do X, Y, and Z like they did in 19-whatever, the record won’t happen. They put out new music and they’re scared that it won’t reach anyone. Too often, instead of embracing the new, they rely on the old. It doesn’t work and they ask why the music business is so hard. Tell me, Bob, when was it easy?

Niels Schroeter

Blue Élan Records

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Subject: Re: The Slate Skiing Article

Hi Bob, 

Brian Shirley here, writing in from Boise, Idaho. Proud to say that my father, Mike Shirley, was a key driver in the ski industry’s return to affordable skiing. 

He took over as General Manager at Boise’s local non-profit ski mountain, Bogus Basin, as a second career in the early 1990’s. At the time, Bogus was charging a baseline rate of over $500 for a season pass, with layers of stratified “special deals” that were confusing and hard to use. And partially as a result, season pass sales and skier visits were declining, as they were across the entire industry. 

After a few financially tough years in the red, and with mounting capital needs required to replace the old slow two-seater chairlifts with new “high-speed quads” but no way to afford them, Dad knew something had to change. 

In 1998, he tried an experiment, slashing season pass prices to $199, and removing the accreted layers of “special deals”: Make it so mindlessly cheap and simple that it would be stupid NOT to purchase a season pass. The only requirement was that you had to buy the pass in spring, so that Bogus had the capital when they needed it the most, over the summer when mountain improvements are made. 

While this sounds like an obvious solution now, it is hard to overstate the vocal opposition at the time to even attempting such as experiment, including by large swaths of the industry, several members of his own board, and plenty of local residents that would have loved to keep skiing a “luxury experience”. The entire ski industry was watching carefully to see what the results would be. 

The innovation proved a stunning success, immediately driving a nine-fold increase in season pass sales, and supercharging Bogus’s capital improvement fund. Dad’s model moved from an object of derision to something copied by dozens of ski areas across the country, including Vail, and helped recharge an industry desperately in need of new skiers.

The new model was here to stay, and Bogus Basin’s finances remain on solid ground to this day, with several new chairlifts helping keep lift lines short. Dad steadfastly kept prices at $199 EVERY YEAR after that, until his retirement in 2012, despite continued pressure from his own board. Part of his rationale for $199? “This is what a lot of families spend at Costco without thinking too much about it.” 

Thousands of local skiers that would have otherwise been priced out of the experience owe their lifelong love of skiing to him, and the National Ski Area Association eventually honored him as the “Father of Affordable Skiing”. At one such event, Warren Miller introduced him as “The man who figured out how to sell 39 thousand passes in a single season, and has enough parking for at least five thousand of those…”

On a sad note, my father passed away this last August, at 81 years of age. Below I include a photo of a plaque his friends and supporters created to honor him, which will be mounted at Bogus Basin later this season. 

Bob, thanks for allowing me the chance to share the story of my father and his innovation, and keep up the great work!

Brian

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Subject: Re: 2023 Deaths Playlist

Date: December 30, 2023 at 11:31:55 PM MST

Dear Bob,

Yesterday my longtime client, musical collaborator and wonderful friend and Brother Les McCann ‘graduated with honors at 3: 55 PST…………..His massive Soul Jazz hit “Compared To What” from the Live at Montreux “Swiss Movement” and the more than 80 albums, 150 samples of his recordings by a who’s who of rap and hip hop made him one of the most beloved and influential musicians of our time.  He discovered Roberta Flack and signed her to Atlantic………….he ‘produced’ Lou Rawls first album “Stormy Monday” with his Jazz Trio Les McCann Ltd.

‘They are not making any more Les McCanns’  I am sure most of the Artists on your list knew his work as well as your readers too.

Sincerely,

Alan Abrahams

Woodside Ca.