kickstarter – wish-i-was-here Remember when all the bands were selling albums at Wal-Mart? That was five years ago. And nobody does it anymore. The paradigm’s toast. Just like name your own price, the Radiohead “In Rainbows” promotion. The reason the Wal-Mart scheme worked is because it was the EAGLES! Who hadn’t released an album in […]

Here today, gone tomorrow. That’s the modern paradigm. When what you want to do is stay in the public eye, in people’s minds, you don’t want to be forgotten. That is why the album format is working against you. 1. If you’re making an album-length statement, a story, a concept, go for it. But twelve […]

“I probably partied harder with REO Speedwagon.” That’s what Neal Preston, photographer extraordinaire, said when I asked him what it was like riding on the Starship, Led Zeppelin’s legendary private jet. He said there were no groupies, very little coke, the main activity on the plane was SLEEP! That was another of Mr. Preston’s aphorisms, […]

Ajax. That’s what made Gmail work so seamlessly. Greetings from the hot as hell San Fernando Valley wherein on my way to get a haircut in Dixie Canyon I drove by Freakbeat and saw a huge line for Record Store Day! Gotta give ’em credit. Those record stores have built something out of thin air, […]