Category: Commentaries

1/11/02

Welcome to the jungle, we got fun ‘n’ games. We got everything you want, honey, we know all the names. We are the people that can find whatever you may need. If you got the money, honey we got your disease. In the jungle. Welcome to the jungle.

Happy New Year and welcome to the jungle that is the entertainment business. Aren’t you glad you’re still here? It could be a lot worse. You could be one of the many who got pink slips over the holidays. The only thing more depressing than being in a bad job is having no job at all.

In the words of William DeVaughn, “Let’s be thankful for what we’ve got.”

For the past five years, I’ve started off the Editorials for each new year with a variation of the following statement: “At no other time in history has there been so much uncertainty within the radio and music industries. The past year has been chaotic and the coming year holds the promise of more change.”

Guess what?

At no other time in history has there been so much uncertainty within the radio and music industries. The past year has been chaotic and the coming year holds the promise of even more change.

Welcome back. Your dreams are your ticket out.

Compared to 10 years ago, our business is almost unrecognizable. A decade ago, who would have believed one radio company would own 1,200 stations? Who would have believed the record industry would have shrunk to only a double handful of labels owned by a handful of corporate behemoths?

Unfortunately, though the board has changed, many of us are still playing with the same pieces.

For months, I’ve been preaching the mantra of change. Now, more than ever, we have to embrace the future or become part of the past. Many are still holding on to the past, longing for better times, wishing for a return to a kinder, gentler industry. Forget about it. The measure of an executive in today’s culture is in one’s ability to grasp the future and invent new ways to meet the challenge of today’s changing world.

Don’t keep holding on to yesterday.

For the first time since we’ve been keeping records of these things, record sales decreased last year. Drastically. One of the definitions of insanity is to continue to do the same things over and over while expecting a different result. That being the case, our business is full of certified crazy people. Rising costs have changed the main priority of record executives. It used to be discovering hit records. Now, it’s reducing costs. However, instead of approaching the changing world now governing the record business with innovative new business plans, most continue to use the existing model. Record executives are demanding more of the machine while insisting on using less fuel.

In the world of business, it’s ignorant.

In meeting after meeting, I hear many promotion executives speaking in strange tongues, talking impressively of cost-cutting measures, reduced expenses, CPUs and fiscal responsibility. We aren’t graduates from business school. We aren’t part of the nerd patrol. We’re part of the most exciting group of people in the world. You didn’t have a slide rule hanging off of your belt in school, nor did you carry your pens in pocket protectors. You were cool. And you still are, unless your goal is to become a CFO. If that’s the case, resign. You aren’t qualified.

None of you were hired to cut costs. You were hired to break records. I’m not inferring that all of us shouldn’t be aware of the high cost of doing business. We should. In today’s economy, or yesterday’s for that matter, we should always try to run our business responsibly. In the case of the record business, we’ve been fleecing the golden goose for so long, we don’t know how to nurture her back to health.

Is it possible that some executives, many of whom are among the highest paid in the world, might come up with an innovative plan that will revolutionize the way we do business? They’d better. The consumer already has. We must quit concentrating on the negatives and focus on the positives. Breaking records is the promotion executive’s job. Not cutting costs. Face it: In the P&L, you are L.

There isn’t one thing that will reward you in the way you need to be rewarded: the right music. A hit record cures every ill. It balances the books and keeps the CFO at bay. It is truly the only answer. We need to stop adding numbers and start listening. Then we need to get other people listening.

So let’s make a New Year’s resolution to stop talking about the business and start talking about the music. Besides, without music, everything else is just boring conversation.

September 24th, 1999

Top 40 is back with a vengeance.  In my years in this business,  I’ve presided over the demise of the format more times than Bisceglia said, “You get it?”  That’s a lot.  And I’m not that old.

The format is flourishing from coast-to coast.  Z100 New York and KIIS Los Angeles are leading the charge and their cavalry consists of hundreds of radio stations in between playing the hits.  Why is Top 40 doing so well?  Because the music sounds great.

It’s been a long time since Top 40 PDs have had so much good music from which to choose.  Record companies are producing hit records and Top 40 is responding.  What’s happening?

It was only yesterday that Top 40 was dead.  Again.  Record executives were tripping over themselves trying to sign every grunge band from Seattle to Biloxi.  But a funny thing happened on the way to the top of the charts.  Most of the bands weren’t able to deliver hit records.

For a record to make it into the mainstream, the audience has to love the music.  Love of the artist, outside a limited cult following, means little.  Unless the music reaches the mainstream, the artist will continue to be up a small creek without a paddle.

With the advent of consolidation, many predicted the beginning of the end.  Companies were more aware of the bottom line than ever before.  There was less money to be spent on developing acts.  The future looked bleak.

The opposite has happened.  It has become popular to spend less for a specific record and worry about nurturing an act later.  What most fail to realize is that hit records generate the revenue to nurture acts that aren’t quite there, yet.

I spoke with a respected promotion veteran last week who bemoaned the fact that six artists who reached #1 status this year didn’t break the Top 40 with the second release.  This gives weight to the premise that record companies are producing “throw-away” records instead of building artists.  Thus, the the end of the world is near.  However, history doesn’t prove this theory accurate.

We can’t predict superstars.  They are comets that light up the world with no warning.  record companies can, however, groom hit acts, but not at the expense of hit records.

In the golden age of Top 40 radio, the ‘70s and early ‘80s, things were much the same as they are today.  In the 1970s, 117 records reached #1 without follow-ups that broke the Top 40.  That’s almost 12 records a year.  Do you remember The Shocking Blue, Edwin Starr, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Looking Glass, Billy Paul, Vicki Lawrence, Maureen McGovern, Stories, Terry Jacks, Blue Swede, MFSB, Andy Kim, Paper Lace, Bo Donaldson, Billy Swan, Carl Douglas, Silver Connection, Sylvers, Bay City Rollers, Wild Cherry, C.W. McCall, Rhythm Heritage , Walter Murphy, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Rose Royce, Mary MacGregor, David Soul, Thelma Houston, Bill Conti, Alan O’day, Emotions, Meco, Debby Boone, Player, Nick Gilder, The Knack, M and Robert John?  All had #1 songs without a follow-up hit.

Through 1985, the ratio was 11 records a year to hit #1 without a follow-up, including forgettables: John Parr, Jan Hammer, Ready for the World, Ray Parker Jr., Patti Austin, Bonnie Tyler, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Irene Cara, Tony Basil and Vangelis.

Yet, at the same time, this system nurtured star artists like The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Three Dog Night, James Taylor, The Bee Gees, Al Green, America, Marvin Gaye, John Denver, Paul McCartney, The Eagles, Barry Manilow, Olivia Newton-John, Hall and Oates, Chicago, Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers, Rod Stewart, Lionel Richie, Queen, Aerosmith, John Cougar and The Police, just to name a few.

What’s the point? Music is what makes Top 40…always has…always will.  Top 40 has never been a format to discover new trends, but to reflect the tastes of the mainstream.  Instead, of griping that radio doesn’t break more artists, maybe we should focus on artists who produce more than one hit record.

Don’t blame Top 40.  Today, more than ever, the format is breaking records.  It’s up to record companies to break the acts.  Maybe A&R people should be forced to listen to Top 40 and sign artists that are radio friendly rather than “artistic” groups that promotion will then have to “convince” radio to play.  That works about once every ten years.

Making radio-friendly records never hurt Madonna, Elton, Prince or The Eagles.  They never felt their integrity was sacrificed because their records were hits on Top 40 radio.

It doesn’t take a lot.  One hit and you’re on your way.  Two and you’re an opening act.  Three and and you’re a phenom.  Five and you don’t give any more interviews.

You’re a superstar baby!

3/12/1999

Joe Dimaggio died this week. For our generation, and certainly the one right after, it was no startling event.  Just another old guy passing away. Joe Dimaggio? We never saw him play.

It is a testament to the values we place on accomplishments today that Dimaggio is remembered by the 25-54 year olds more as the husband of Marilyn Monroe rather than as one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived. In the 90’s era of “flash over substance,” it’s often all about who you’re with rather than who are.

Drop down to the 18-54 year old demo and Joltin’ Joe is known more from the line of Paul Simon’s song, “Mrs. Robinson,” than from his RBIs or the kisses he stole. “Where have you gone, Joe Dimaggio?” became more than a rhetorical question for the losing Yanks. It was the cry of broken hearts and dashed hopes of middle aged, middle America.

In my wild life and times, I’ve had the privilege of meeting many of the rich and famous. One such icon was Joe Dimaggio. I had the honor of sharing a drink with him in a San Francisco bar 15 years ago.  I never saw him play. I’m not a big Marilyn Monroe fan and I always thought “Mrs. Robinson” was overrated. But I can describe Joe Dimaggio in one word that transcends all generations. No matter when you were born, Joe was cool.

When he returned from the bathroom, I sang, “Where did you go Joe Dimaggio?” He smiled and pretended to think it was funny. Joe was cool.

But being cool isn’t what this editorial is about. It’s about being like Joe Dimaggio. He was one of the greatest baseball players that ever lived.  I’m always interested in what makes one person greater than his peers. What was it that made Joe Dimaggio special way beyond the others who played with him?

The easy answer is talent.  Dimaggio could hit, run and throw better than most.  But when asked what Dimaggio special, old timers say things like, “He never threw to the wrong base.” “Joe made it look easy.” “He played hard everyday.”

Joe Dimaggio was epitomized most recently by Michael Jordan.  Dimaggio’s Yankees won nine titles in the 13 seasons he played with them.  Jordan’s ability to lead his teammates was just as exemplary.  Although, extremely gifted, both men had the unique ability of making those who played with them better.

They came to play.  Would anyone begrudge Dimaggio or Jordan coasting their way through a game or two?  No chance.  Both played sick and injured. Dimaggio lost the opportunity to bat .400 one year because he played the last two weeks with an eye infection that caused his vision to blur. He would not sit down because his teammates needed his presence in the lineup to play to their potential.

When asked why he played so hard every day, Dimaggio replied, “Because someone might be seeing me play for the first time.”

Would that we all had the same drive.  In studying the lives of successful people, I’ve found it’s often the simple things that make the difference.  The big things are often easy.  It’s those little ones, done consistently, that are consistent with successful people.

A goal so simple caused Dimaggio to rise above his peers.  It’s a goal we should all strive for.  Too often, we’re at our best only when we think it matters.We work a little harder when we have a special opportunity to impress the boss. Or we work harder when we’re challenged.  Or when we’re threatened.

Why can’t we motivate ourselves on a daily basis?  We should all strive to do our best each day because we expect it.  And who knows if someone is watching for the first time.

When I first began at Network 40, a friend secretly sent one of my editorials to a very prestigious magazine and suggested they use me as their music contributor.  The publisher was impressed.  He made arrangements to read my next two efforts.  I was lazy and happened to write two mediocre pieces.  The publisher passed.  When I found out what happened, I contacted the publisher and sent some of my best writings.  He was impressed with the work, but didn’t hire me.  I guess he figured if I didn’t consistently do my best for one company, how could I be expected to do the same for another?

Has the same happened to you?  Maybe it did and you didn’t know it.  Maybe you did a bad air shift when an important PD was listening.   Maybe you had a bad week when a Sr. VP from another company was watching.  Maybe you did a poor job because you figured nobody would know.

I made a pledge and I challenge you to do the same.  Act each day like someone is seeing you for the first time.  What opinion will they draw?

Like Joe Dimaggio, Paul Simon might write a song about you.  Or Snoop Dogg.

Depends on who’s listening.