Album Recommendation: Roy Zimmerman “RiZe Up”
I'm a big fan of Roy Zimmerman. As a song parodist, he's a cross between Tom Lehrer and Mark Russell, writing clever, biting lyrics about topical issues. My family and I saw Roy perform at James Randi's Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas in 2008, and I've subscribed to the...
How Is McCartney #1?
Paul McCartney's "Egypt Station" is the #1 album in the US -- without any substantial radio airplay. How? As Fred Jacobs explains, the album came with a brilliant content marketing...
Concert Review: Ringo Starr
Thanks for coming out in the rain...as if that’s a big thing. I’m from England, where it always rains. -- Ringo Starr When Paul McCartney goes on tour, he has hundreds of titles in his catalog from six decades of songwriting (Beatles, Wings, solo) that he can choose...
Respect For Aretha
Aretha Franklin was once named the greatest singer ever by Rolling Stone magazine. Why then, at her funeral on Friday and the tribute concert in Detroit the night before, were other people singing songs she made famous? With the exception of "Think" (which she...
The Ticket Upgrade Promotion
I've been involved in many great radio promotions over the years. One of the best was The Ticket Upgrade. In the early 1980s, when I was the morning man at WHCN/Hartford, we had a deal with promoters Jim Koplik and Shelly Finkel for the concerts they brought to the...
Concert Review: Ann Wilson, Jeff Beck, Paul Rodgers
The concert at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre was billed as "Jeff Beck & Paul Rodgers and Ann Wilson." Based on that punctuation, I wasn't sure if Jeff Beck was performing with Paul Rodgers, or Paul Rodgers would be on stage with Ann Wilson or if they were going to be...
Get On Stage Already!
I forgot to mention something in my review yesterday of Joe Jackson's concert -- it started a half-hour late. Our tickets said showtime was 8:00pm, but it was a little past 8:30pm when Joe finally took the stage. This is not a new phenomenon. I've seen it happen over...
Concert Review: Joe Jackson
In the late 1970s, several young British rockers started getting some attention and airplay in the US, including The Police, Elvis Costello, and Ian Dury. They were part of a musical movement called New Wave, in which they took the influences of New York bands like...
