Re: The Golden Globes

I'm a 43 year old man living in the Chicago suburbs. I'm married with one son who is turning 6 next month. My wife and I are both college educated (she graduated from Notre Dame) and have been working professionally for 20 years. We're far from "rich", but we do consider ourselves fortunate, as there are many people who have it far worse than we do. We're also pop culture geeks (I'm rooted in the 70's through 90's, she's got her finger on the pulse of what's hot today), so we found ourselves watching the Golden Globes last night, me more out of curiosity as to how they were going to address the "elephant" in the room.

They addressed it just as I thought they would. They took some humorous digs at the obvious targets (Weinstein and Spacey) and of course Oprah gave a rousing Kumbaya speech which often times sounded like an updated version of the famous "I"m mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," scene from Network (there's that 70's pop culture). I'm not making fun of the subject matter. I'm not suggesting that gender equality and sexual assault aren't serious issues. What I was overwhelmed with this morning while commuting through Chicago rush hour is the notion that Hollywood wants to pat themselves on the back in front of the whole world for being "progressive" and making these advancements toward a safer, more equitable workplace, when the rest of us who actually work for a living and don't have a staff of people to cater to our every need have known for decades how to behave and treat one another. I'm aware that gender inequality still exists, especially when it comes to income. But Hollywood wants to believe that they are on the cutting edge and leading the charge when they are clearly following and catching up in this matter. I've worked professionally for three companies. I have heard many stories of the cliche office Holiday Parties from the 70's and 80's that got way out of hand. But all the companies I've worked for have implemented strict policies and professional etiquette standards over the last two or three decades. Has this eliminated abhorrent behavior? No, but there are procedures in place to deal with it

I know as a society we have a LONG way to go before we can claim to treat everyone equally. And I'm fully aware that as a white male my response may sound ignorant to the problems that still plague women and minorities in the workplace. Last night's awards show was a completely self serving (more so than usual) effort to protect the product that they all sell and make a fortune from.

Neil Johnson

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Subject: Re: The Golden Globes

agree. I attended and was bored stiff. this evening used to be FUN! instead it's a series of insulated, self congratulatory bs. no one should argue the the merits of "times up" but to hijack the show and it's participants was a big mistake. one nominee told me he felt coerced into wearing the "me too" pin (he had made a big $ donation to the cause) and there was no fashion on the red carpet. black gowns, and the pressure to wear them, took away the glitz, glamor and frivolity. the room looked and felt bored, bland and tired. viewers want spontaneity. they want an escape from the everyday hum drum....one of the organizers told me the night before that the hfp was concerned that the show would follow this path and his fears were confirmed. Hollywood is becoming a laughing stock....mired in hypocrisy, platitudes and old school thinking. sadly, it was a good night for our stable genius potus.

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Subject: Re: Harvey's Tune

Hi Bob,

I am Caroline Ray, sister of Brian Ray (McCartney guitarist/bass player), and Jean Ray (Jim and Jean folk duo of the 60s).

Harvey played on the Jim and Jean "Changes" album and although Jean has passed, we are still in touch with Harvey who lives in Jerusalem.

He told me recently that he wrote "Harvey’s Tune" at Jean’s mother’s beach house in Malibu. He was bunking there while working on an album with Jean. Harvey also wrote "One Sure Thing" with Jean which appeared on the "Changes" album.

Anyway, I love backstories and I thought you might enjoy this one. I am a fan of your emails.

Regards,
Caroline Ray

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From: Peter Wheeler
Subject: Re Steve Martin's piece on United Air

Once, arriving in Maui, I left my wallet in the seat back pocket. Within 15minutes I was at the United booth, explaining my predicament, seat number, etc. they quickly said, oh, we sub out the cleaning, you'll never see it again.
I wrote UA numerous times, complained on the united.com site, nothing.....

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Subject: Re: Harvey's Tune

Hey Bob, I love your column, and this particular story about "Super Session"; and whether or not blues-rooted rock n’ roll music can generate new interest in 2018. There’s a band called "The Record Company" doing just that. They’re signed to Concord Records, Grammy nominated for best contemporary blues album, sold 80K+ records, opened for John Mayer's arena tour in 2017, and have had 3 top 10 AAA radio songs, including the #1 song "Off The Ground". They seem fond of The Stones, John Lee Hooker, and Iggy & The Stooges.

Do I sound like a guy pitching his own band? Well yes, truth be told, I'm the bass player for The Record Company. I read your column daily, and I'm always interested in "Bob’s take" on all things music biz. But I do feel in the same way mainstream acts like U2, Taylor, & Kanye have adapted to today’s climate, there are new bands like us creating successful business models and careers as well.

Our first gig was 6 years ago at Harvard & Stone in LA to 30 people; we quickly starting getting weekly residencies at the The Satellite, Hotel Café, & The Mint, etc. Within 2 years, we were selling out every local show in LA. We put out 3 EPs ourselves, all with a simple rule of: DO NOT release an "album" until there’s a national demand for it. The only places outside of LA that took much interest were blues festivals, so we got out and rented a Dodge Minivan and toured. We did this for a few years and still the industry could care less. Our drummer was the travel agent and tour manager, I was the merch guy, our singer was the charming press guy. Eventually in 2014, we got booked as the opener on Brian Setzer’s tour, and Concord Records starting sending reps out all over the country to see us. We signed in early 2015.

Skip to the present: our last LA show was at The Fonda, we played 2 sold out nights at Thalia Hall in Chicago, played the Fillmore in SF, and Irving Plaza in NYC. We’ve played Conan, Colbert, and CBS This Morning. Satellite radio, and the AAA format has been huge for us. We live on the same charts as many bands you have heard of: Arcade Fire, The Lumineers, Portugal The Man, Chili Peppers, etc. Our music is in the Miller Lite ads, the Netflix shows and movies, and in the stadiums at the Green Bay Packers games. It is getting out there, but hardly an overnight success.

Most importantly, we are a hard working band playing rock n roll music. We created something special that is catching on. We don’t expect to be as big as Taylor Swift – but that’s ok, we are doing it our way, and have careers that we are proud of. When people say, "Rock N Roll is DEAD!", it only fuels us to work harder and show people with our songs and our shows that it isn’t. People are coming to see us, and people are buying the records. I own a .99 vinyl copy of Super Session, it's beat to hell, and it's one of my favorites...

Here’s a link for you below if you're interested. Thanks for being you, and writing and inspiring us on daily basis...
-alex (the bass player)

“Off The Ground” (#1 at AAA radio)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8aNK3XMP5w

P.S. one interesting fact is that we made the whole record in my living room, on pretty shitty equipment. So imagine that: a living room record getting grammy noms, colbert appearances, and john mayer tours. We played Madison Square Garden with him last march and it was a dream come true. We are on Spotify if you search The Record Company and want to hear more. I'm particularly proud of this video from New Years Eve at The Riverside Theater in Milwaukee 3 nights ago covering Jumping Jack Flash. Our singer is from there, so it was a special night! Check this:

www.facebook.com/therecordcompany/videos/1781843448598390/

and there's lots of cool live videos of us on YouTube as well. cheers,
-alex

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Bob, It's Franke Previte . A lot of my friend have been emailing me about your article and saying you should tell Bob the story on how you wrote the song (I've had) The time of my life. So not to drag this out to long. I was working on the 4th Franke and the Knockout record. The song Hungry Eyes was already written and passed on by every label when I received a phone call from the president of the label that sold the band to MCA two years earlier. This guys names was Jimmy Ienner, he went on to tell about a movie he was working on called Dirty Dancing. My first thoughts was poor Jimmy's doing porn. He gave me a five minute description of the movie and I replied, sorry Jimmy, I'm to busy work on my next record. He replied "make time this going to change your life!" I laugh inside because he had already changed my life when he closed his label two years earlier. So here where the song writing of the song began. As history tell it, I accepted his offer and called John DeNicola whom I wrote Hungry Eyes with and John sent me a track of music and on my way to the studio in my car exit 140 on the Garden state Parkway I started to Jam to a cassette mumbling Da Da dime of my life and the next thing I knew the Man up stairs wrote the rest of the song.

When I met Patrick Swazye at the Academy Award he told they had turned down 149 and hated the movie because it did have a great ending song. They filmed the last scene first and when the last cassette came in the 150th they filmed to me singing (I've had) The time of my life with Rachele Cappelli.the only duet that was submitted. and the rest is history. Today I now sell those same demo of my two song to help raise money for Pancreatic Cancer. If you go to my Facebook page Dirty Dancing Demos you'll see me with Lisa Swayze. So please pass the word and lets all help wage war on Pancreatic Cancer.
Thanks Bob for taking the time to read my story and have a Happy and Healthy Holiday season.

Franke Previte

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From: Theo Aronson
Subject: Willis Earl Beal

Stop what you're doing and listen to this cover by Willis Earl Beal: open.spotify.com/track/2B3Ns8rUJhbsboJ43yWYbV

I just discovered it thanks to this State Farm commercial on TV:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceK5ukiw6cc

Have you heard this shit? Fuck, thats a great cover, and it that reminded me what a great song that is. Original Simple Minds recording: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdqoNKCCt7A

Did some deeper digging and looks like he released a couple lo-fi albums on XL Recordings back in 2012/2013 before going kinda AWOL: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Earl_Beal

I've got nothing to do with him, but wanted to put on your radar because that cover is the first thing of the year to give me goosebumps. Haven't found anything in his own canon that gives me the same feeling, but just a nice reminder of what a great song can do when paired with an equally great voice. First new tune of 2018 to really catch my ear.

If this commercial gets enough circulation, could this become Gary Jules "Mad World" of 2018?! Who the hell knows... Kudos to whatever came first: the music supervisor who A&Red this commercial or Willis for picking and covering this song.

Happy New Year, Bob!

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