Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales

Week Ending 03/01/2008


1) LP - Queen "The Works" Columbia Red Vinyl - $4,999.99

2) LP - Michele Auclair Schubert: "Complete Works For Violin And Piano" Erato STE 50136 - $3,000.00

3) 45 - The Five Tinos "Sitting My Window" / "Don Do That" SUN 222 - $2,851.89

4) 45 - Ernie Johnson "I Can't Stop The Pain" / "These Very Tender Moments" Artco - $2,094.69

5) LP - The Velvet Underground & Nico Mono w/ Torso Cover - $2,025.00

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Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales

Week Ending 02/23/2008


1) 45 - Bruce Springsteen "Spirit In The Night" / "For You" Columbia - $5,100.00

2) LP - Phafner "Overdrive" Dragon - $5,000.00

3) 45 - The Squires "The Sultan" / "Aurora" V - $4,161.00

4) 45 - U2 "All I Want Is You" Purple Vinyl - $4,058.00

5) LP - Beatles "Please, Please Me" Parlophone - $3,850.00

In the Chicago area?

This year's Record Fair, now known as the "CHIRP Record Fair" to benefit the Chicago Indie Radio Project, is coming up April 12 and 13th. Check out the website for more details, or read on below:

Formerly the WLUW Record Fair, this annual vinyl extravaganza brings you two days of shopping for quality rare and used records from a slew of Midwestern vendors. The 6th annual version of this can't-miss event for Chicagoans in the know and vinyl enthusiasts from around the country takes place at Pulaski Park Fieldhouse on April 12th and 13th. In addition to even more great dealers and a wider range of entertainment, this year's fair will benefit the Chicago Independent Radio Project, working to bring a brand new community radio station to Chicago.

The CHIRP Record Fair dealers range from genre specialists with tons of rarities to generalists with something for everyone. The music selection isn't limited to vinyl – CDs, DVDs, even 8-tracks abound, and the dealer lineup is rounded out nicely by a select batch of poster artists, crafters, and independent publications. This year's expanded entertainment lineup will range from live bands and DJs to dancers and circus performers. Food, games, and general revelry make this an action packed weekend for everyone, not just vinyl collectors.

The CHIRP Record Fair & Other Delights runs Saturday, April 12th from 10AM-6PM and Sunday, April 13th from 10AM-5PM. Admission is $7, or $5 with an ad or flyer. A special $25 pre-admission session from 8-10AM on Saturday allows collectors early access to the dealers, and offers unlimited access all weekend long. Pulaski Park Fieldhouse is located at 1419 W. Blackhawk.

This Day In Music History- April 1

In 1961, "Runaway," Del Shannon's first single, hits #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K.

In 1962, Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein meets George Martin to play him a demo tape by the Liverpool group. George Martin signs the Beatles to EMI.

The Beatles held the top five positions in Billboard's singles chart in 1964 and the top two positions on the album chart.

The first Ramones album, entitled Ramones, was released in 1976. Recorded for only $6,000.00, it contained 14 songs, none over two minutes long.

In 1979, "Heart of Glass," by Blondie, becomes the first New Wave song to reach #1 in America.

Rudolph Isley of the Isley Brothers ("It's Your Thing") turns 69.

Happy birthday to Debbie Reynolds ("Tammy") who is 76 today.

Phil Margo of the Tokens ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight") is 65.

In 1984, Marvin Gaye ("I Heard It Through The Grapevine") was shot to death by his father, following an argument. Remarkably, Gaye's father received only probation after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

The "Woodstock" movie premiered in Hollywood in 1970.

In 1971, Led Zeppelin performed a concert for the BBC Radio program Rock Hour at London's Paris Theater. Featuring a bevy of material from their forthcoming fourth album, the concert becomes one of their most-bootlegged performances.

In 1957, the Everly Brothers released their second single, "Bye Bye Love," which later went to No. 2 on the pop chart. Amazingly, more than 30 labels had turned down the song.

Arthur Smith, whose name was so boring most people called him "Guitar Boogie," was born in Clinton, S.C. in 1921. His instrumental work on tunes like "Feudin' Banjos" (later renamed "Duelin' Banjos" for Deliverance) marked him as one of country music's greatest guitarists.

Ronnie Lane, Small Faces and Faces bass player was born in 1946.

The Beatles began a three-month stand at the Top Ten club in Hamburg, Germany in 1961. They play extended sets every night.

The Troggs used 45 minutes of spare studio time to record "Wild Thing" at Regent Sound Studio in London in 1966. The raw, simple little tune would climb to #2 in the UK and #1 in the US, selling over a million copies by the following June.

“Stairway To Heaven” is on the radio for the first time in 1971. The Led Zeppelin song is part of a London concert recording that is played on the BBC’s John Peel Rock Hour. Over the ensuing decades, “Stairway To Heaven” becomes the most played song on the radio.

Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) walked away (actually jumped a six foot wall) from a rehab center in Marina del Rey in 1994 and returned to Seattle. He kills himself four days later.

In 1877, Thomas Edison devised a telephone design that becomes the basis for his later claim to the invention of the microphone.

In 1924, the first gramophone to change records automatically goes on sale in the US.

Only Ringo Starr was present at the final Beatles recording session in 1970, where he overdubs percussion tracks for "The Long and Winding Road,” "Across The Universe" and "I Me Mine.”

This Day In Music History- March 30

Slowhand, Eric Clapton ("I Shot The Sheriff") turns 63.

Rolf Harris ("Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport") is 78.

Lesley Gore first appeared on TV, on ABC's "American Bandstand" in 1963.

Jim "Dandy" Mangrum of Black Oak Arkansas ("Jim Dandy") turns 60.

John Denver's "Sunshine on My Shoulders" went to No. 1 on the pop chart in 1974.

Also in 1974, the Ramones played their first-ever gig at New York's Performance Studio (Thank God, They Are Punk Boys!).

Miles Davis released Bitches Brew in 1970. Over time it became the cornerstone of a jazz-rock movement known as "fusion."

In 1968, Celine Dion was born in Charlemagne, Quebec.

The cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was photographed at a studio on London's Flood Street in 1967, using cardboard cutouts and wax figures to represent the Beatles' heroes. The effigies featured include Edgar Allan Poe, Lenny Bruce, Vidal Sassoon, Laurel and Hardy, Bob Dylan, and Huntz Hall.

Hammer time officially began in 1962, when Stanley Kirk Burrell, aka MC Hammer-aka Hammer, was born in Oakland, Calif.

Frankie Laine, one of the best pop singers of the 1950s, was born in Chicago in 1913. His hits included the No. 3 "Moonlight Gambler."

Sonny Boy Williamson, a master of the blues harmonica whose songs were covered by the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band, Canned Heat, and Rod Stewart, was born in Jackson, Tennessee in 1914.

In 1946, Mahalia Jackson signed with Apollo Records, where she recorded some of her most fervid and best-loved gospel slides over the next eight years.

"He's So Fine" by the Chiffons hits #1 in 1963.

16 year old Lesley Gore recorded her breakthrough hit, "It's My Party" in 1963. Producer Quincy Jones hurried Gore into the studio when he found out that Phil Spector was going to cut the song with The Crystals.

Buddy Knox became the first artist in the Rock 'n' Roll era to write his own number one hit when "Party Doll" topped the Billboard chart in 1957. Buddy would go on to place four more songs in the Top 40 between 1957 and 1961.

In 1976, the Sex Pistols played their first London show and attracted an audience of 50 or so.

The Eagles’ “Hotel California” hits the top of the album chart in 1977.

Little Richard had his final US Top 10 hit with "Good Golly Miss Molly" in 1958. The song was from his last recording sessions for Specialty Records, after which he recorded a series of gospel songs.

In 1962, the Russian newspaper Pravda warned communist youths about the dangers of dancing the Twist.

In 1989, Gladys Knight performed without The Pips for the first time since grammar school at a show at Bally's in Las Vegas.

In 1992, The soundtrack to Wayne's World was the number 1 album in the US. It featured the return to the charts of Queen's, "Bohemian Rhapsody", actually making the song a bigger hit the second time around. Tracks by Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Alice Cooper, as well as a new version of "Dream Weaver" from Gary Wright, were also included on the LP.

Unique Items

A couple of items of interest:

Cartoon:
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-walt-babyboomers-blurb,0,1036393.blurb

Recycling Old Records:
http://www.amnorthwest.tv/video.cfm?VideoURL=http://depository.shadowtv.net/media/236/2008/086/12/16003_236_20080326_123900_253.flv&CID=1154

This Day In Music History- March 28

1958-Opening night of "Alan Freed's Big Beat Show," a two-month tour, finds Jerry Lee Lewis arguing with Chuck Berry over who will close the show. Freed decided Berry will get to go last, inciting a literally incendiary performance by Lewis, who torched his piano during his set-closing "Great Balls of Fire."

Today in 1981, the song "Rapture" by Blondie topped the charts and stayed there for 2 weeks.

In 2003, officials in Manchester, England canceled a Bruce Springsteen concert after residents complain about noise levels. 50,000 tickets had already been sold. Uhhh, it’s a concert people.

In 1996, Phil Collins says he's leaving Genesis 20 years to the day after he made his North American debut as their lead singer.

In 1982, David Crosby was pulled over in Los Angeles and was discovered to be driving under the influence of cocaine. The singer's day turns worse after police discovered Quaaludes, drug paraphernalia, and a .45-caliber pistol in his car.

Blues guitarist Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, best known for the hit "That's All Right Mama," died in Nassawadox, Virginia in 1974. Elvis Presley loved the song so much he recorded it as his first single for Sun Records in 1954.

Led Zeppelin released "Houses of the Holy" in 1973.

In 1958, legendary songwriter W.C. Handy died at age 84. The Father of the Blues is credited with writing the seminal "St. Louis Blues," as well as "Memphis Blues." The latter was the first song to have the word "blues" in the title.

Reba McEntire, the country superstar who turned to acting later in her career, was born today in 1954.

Eddie Cochran recorded his classic teen angst tune “Summertime Blues” in 1958.

In 1969, Ringo said “no.” John said “yes.” Ringo announced The Beatles will make no public appearances in the near future. John counters saying the group will make several appearances during the year. Ringo is right.

After bassist Chris Novoselic and drummer David Grohl threaten to disband Nirvana if their singer/songwriter/guitarist Kurt Cobain doesn’t get drug treatment, Cobain enters the SoCal Exodus Recovery Center in 1994. This is after Cobain nearly died from an OD in Rome only weeks earlier. Cobain walked out three days later.

In 1985, 6000 radio stations in the US and Canada simultaneously played "We Are the World", the fundraising song for African famine relief recorded by 45 superstar performers. Sales of the single, album, video and related merchandise initially raised more than $38-million US.

20 Biggest Record Company Screwups

As promised, here is the rest of the list 10 through number one:

Youth Movement
#10 Columbia Records loses Alicia Keys, drops 50 Cent
Columbia had a way with young talent in the late ’90s and early ’00s. First, after plunking down a reported $400,000 to sign Alicia Keys, they turned her over to high-priced producers who tried to transform her into Whitney Houston. Frustrated, she bolted—and signed with J Records, where she has sold more than 20 million albums to date. Around the same time, another languishing Columbia prospect, 50 Cent, recorded “How to Rob” in a desperate attempt to get his label to notice him. But when he was shot nine times in 2000, skittish execs dumped him—and then watched as he became an unstoppable one-man money factory at Interscope.

Unintended consequence Fedoras and bullet­proof vests become essential urban-fashion accessories.

Spy Game
#9 “Digital-rights management” backfires even more badly than usual
In a 2005 effort to combat digital piracy, Sony BMG packaged millions of CDs with copy-protection software that automatically installed a “rootkit” on users’ PCs, which, in addition to preventing consumers from making more than three copies of their legally purchased CD, also made them vulnerable to viruses and hackers. Sony BMG initially downplayed the problem, but after the Department of Homeland Security issued an advisory, the label recalled more than 4 million CDs. Sony was accused of spying on its customers’ listening habits and was forced to pay several million dollars to settle class-action lawsuits that alleged violations of spyware laws and deceptive trade practices.

Unintended consequence Radiohead offer up In Rainbows for a bargain pay-what-you-like price.

Rap Attack
#8 Warner junks Interscope
When anti-rap crusaders wanted to deliver a body blow to hip-hop, they took aim at the Warner Music Group, because its corporate parent, Time Warner, was American-owned and publicly traded. When Ice-T’s “Cop Killer” became too hot to handle, Warner Music dropped him, but the label still enjoyed huge rap hits—particularly through Death Row Records, partially owned by their Interscope label. But when Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole attacked Warner Music in his stump speech, Time Warner panicked, ordering the sale of Interscope to rival Universal. Universal soon became the biggest record company in the world—in large measure due to Interscope hits by Tupac, Dr. Dre and Eminem. Warner Music went on a long slide and was finally sold in 2004.

Unintended consequence Time Warner shareholders never have to worry about who killed Tupac.

Something’s Happening, But You Don’t Know What It Is
#7 Music publisher gives away Bob Dylan
In the early 1960s Leeds/Duchess was a legendary music-publishing company but far from the hippest: It knew Tin Pan Alley but couldn’t find a Greenwich Village coffeehouse with a compass. Yet when Columbia signed Bob Dylan in 1961, they steered him to Leeds, where he happily signed a publishing deal with a $1,000 advance. The following year, Dylan’s new manager, Albert Grossman, got out of the deal with the disinterested publisher simply by repaying the $1,000. Dylan’s new publisher, the savvier M. Witmark & Sons, received 237 songs—many of them future standards worth tens of millions of dollars—in just the first three years.

Unintended consequence The receptionists at Leeds/Duchess never have to field calls asking what “All Along the Watchtower” is really about.

Nothing Exceeds Like Excess
#6 Casablanca rides strong sales straight to the poorhouse
No record label represents the coked-up inanity of the late ’70s like disco-driven behemoth Casablanca. In 1978, the label simultaneously shipped a million copies of four solo albums by each member of their biggest rock act, Kiss, so they could justifiably claim the records “shipped platinum.” The albums sold well—but not that well. Record stores returned hundreds of thousands
of unsold copies, inspiring comedian Robert Klein to joke that Casablanca’s releases “shipped gold and returned platinum.” The label continued to lose millions a year throughout the late ’70s, until part-owner PolyGram Records bought out founder Neil Bogart for $15 million in 1980.

Unintended consequence Hey, man—400,000 extra surfaces to snort drugs from!


Whoa, Mama
#5 The RIAA sues a struggling single mom for digital piracy
n In the court of public opinion, it’s hard to find a more sympathetic defendant than a single mother of two, earning $36,000 a year. So what in the name of common decency was the Recording Industry Association of America thinking when it went after 30-year-old Jammie Thomas from Brainerd, Minnesota? The RIAA accused Thomas of using the P2P service Kazaa to illegally share mp3 files of 24 songs, including Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” and Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills.” Thomas pleaded not guilty, blaming the shared files on mistaken identity, but last October a jury disagreed and fined her $222,000. That breaks down to a whopping $9,250 per song—more than six times her annual salary. At press time, Thomas was planning an appeal.

Unintended consequence The nation’s toddlers and fluffy kittens rush to erase their hard drives.

Pay (Somebody Else) To Play
#4 Indie promoters take the major labels to the cleaners
After the payola scandals of the ’50s, the government barred record labels from paying radio stations to play records. The solution: set up middlemen to do the dirty work! “Independent promoters” represented the labels’ interests to radio programmers, creating a massive cash flow of corruption. Even a mid-size hit could cost $700,000 in promo expenses—cash, vacations, drugs and other illicit rewards for mustachioed DJs—and labels ended up paying to get airplay for huge artists the stations would have spun anyway. A lot of coked-up DJs got nice tans, while the labels spent unnecessary millions and covered their balance sheets in bloody red.

Unintended consequence Colombian GDP spikes each time Mariah Carey releases a single.

Detroit At a Discount
#3 Motown sells for a pittance
In 1988 Berry Gordy Jr., reportedly losing millions of dollars on the label he had founded decades earlier, sold Motown and its incomparable back catalogue to MCA and investment company Boston Ventures for $60 million. How bad was that price? The next year, Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss sold their A&M Records to PolyGram for roughly $500 million. In 1990, David Geffen got about $700 million for Geffen Records and in ’92, Richard Branson unloaded Virgin Records to EMI for $960 million. And five years after buying Motown, Boston Ventures cashed out, selling the label to PolyGram for $325 million—a return of more than 500 percent.

Unintended consequence The Motown Atlantic airline, and Berry’s career as a trans-global balloonist, have yet to materialize.

Tomorrow Never Knows
#2 Decca Records A&R exec tells Fab Four, “No, thanks”
Dick Rowe was not the only record-label executive who passed on the Beatles in the early ’60s, but he was the only one who brushed off their manager, Brian Epstein, with the astute prediction that: “Groups with guitars are on their way out.” Epstein begged Rowe to reconsider, so Rowe hopped a train to Liverpool to check out the band live. When he arrived at the Cavern, he found a mob of kids trying to force their way into the club in the pouring rain. Annoyed, he smoked a cigarette, went home and signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

Unintended consequence The Monkees

THE BIGGEST RECORD-COMPANY SCREWUP OF ALL TIME
#1 Major labels squash Napster
Shawn Fanning’s file-sharing service attracted tens of millions of users, but instead of trying to find a way to capitalize on it, the Recording Industry Association of America rejected Napster’s billion-dollar settlement offer and sued it out of existence in 2001. Napster’s users didn’t just disappear. They scattered to hundreds of alternative systems—and new technology has stayed three steps ahead of the music business ever since. The labels’ campaign to stop their music from being acquired for free across the Internet has been like trying to cork a hurricane—upward of a billion files are swapped every month on peer-to-peer networks. Since Napster closed, “there’s been no decline in the rate of online piracy,” says Eric Garland of media analysts BigChampagne, who logged users of son-of-Napster peer-to-peer networks more than doubling between 2002 and 2007. And that figure doubles again if you count BitTorrent.

Unintended consequence Your grandmother deciding to trade up from that dial-up connection

This Day In Music History-March 26

Happy Birthday to Diana Ross, born in 1944.

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith was born in 1948.

Johnny Crawford ("Cindy's Birthday") and “Rifleman” fame turns 62.

Alan Arkin of the Tarriers ("Banana Boat Song" and later an Academy Award winning actor) is 74.

Fred Parris of the Five Satins ("In The Still Of The Night") turns 72.

Birthday wishes to Vicki Lawrence ("The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia"), who is 59.

Jon Jon Poulos of the Buckinghams ("Don't You Care") died of heart failure in 1980.

Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary was arrested in Washington, DC in 1970 for taking "immoral liberties" with a 14 year-old girl (he pleads guilty and spends three months in jail).

Ricky Nelson recorded his first tunes-- "I'm Walkin'" and "A Teenager's Romance" in 1957.

"Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson topped the charts in 1988 and stayed there for 2 weeks.

Jan Berry of '60s surf duo Jan & Dean ("Surf City") died in 2004 following a seizure at his Los Angeles home. Jan & Dean's career was curtailed when Berry was paralyzed following a 1966 car crash that eerily paralleled their hit "Deadman's Curve". He was 62.

In 2002, Former president Bill Clinton told the New York Times that he's listening to "Puff Daddy, or whatever they call him now." (and he never inhaled either)

Elvis Costello released his first single, "Less Than Zero" in 1977.

In 1972, Mott the Hoople decided to break up, but changed their minds when David Bowie came calling with a song called "All the Young Dudes."

For you trivia buffs-Nena was born as Gabriele Kerner in Hagen, Germany in 1960. She's a one-hit-wonder known for 1983's excellent "99 Luftballons."

Bluesman Rufus Thomas, who had '70s hits with songs like "Do the Funky Chicken," was born in Cayce, MS in 1917.

James Iha (formerly of the Smashing Pumpkins) entered the world in 1968. The Japanese-American guitarist is from Chicago.

Fran Sheehan has a birthday. The Boston bassist was born in Beantown in 1946.

E.L.O.’s keyboardist, Richard Tandy, began his life in Birmingham, England in 1948.

In 1958, Eddie Cochran recorded his only US Top Ten hit, "Summertime Blues", which rose to #8 in the US the next fall.

In 1980, seven years after its release, Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" breaks the record for the longest-charting Pop album, previously held by Carole King's "Tapestry". At the same time, their latest single "Another Brick In The Wall" was topping both the Cashbox Best Sellers chart and the Billboard Hot 100.

Guns N' Roses was signed to Geffen Records in 1986.

In 2003, the aging ‘boy band’ Backstreet Boys released a statement to say that while they're not splitting up, they're not making a new album either. (Who?)

In 1977, 'Islands,' the final album by The Band’s original lineup, was released. Having met their contractual obligation to Capitol Records, they were free to disband – which they did.

Debbie Hennessey-Country Rock Star

By Robert Benson

Debbie Hennessey accolades are impressive, including AC40 Female Artist of the Year by New music Weekly, she is a two-time ASCAPlus Award recipient, named Best Vocalist of the Month by Singer Universe, received Honorable Mentions in both the Billboard World Song Contest and Great American Song Contest, just to name a few.

But what is most impressive and what Debbie Hennessey is best known for is her immense musical talent and songwriting abilities. Her new CD, “Good As Gone” is a fresh country pop sound that is sure to go places.

The title cut, “Good As Gone” is a peppy country rock ditty with impeccable vocals and harmonies (“Good As Gone” was written by Mark Luna & Richard Wold). This L.A.-based country pop rocker is ready to take on Nashville by storm with her catchy singles and ‘from the heart’ lyrics. “Love Might Change Your Mind” is a classic acoustic guitar pop song that is sung with soft toned vocals and harmonies. The cut “When Two Become One,” with brilliant lyrics and a soulful swagger is a modern day pop classic and may be her signature ballad. (“When Two Become One” was written by Mark Luna & Terry Burns).

“Dare Me” is a playful, seductive country pop melody that belongs on any mainstream country radio play list. Another playful ditty called “Man Free Weekend,” is sung from the heart and implies what every woman needs every now and then.

These co-written songs are consistently creative, articulated and passionate. When a listener can not only hear the passion in a song, but actually feel it, then the musician’s job is done. Debbie Hennessey certainly does her job; she is a masterful musician and talent that everyone must experience.

Visit Debbie:

www.ilike2rock.net/members/93/

profile.myspace.com/

www.debbiehennessey.com/

Freedom and Whiskey

By Robert Benson


The hard-rocking group “Freedom and Whiskey” has added a new voice to their arsenal, the husky growl and presence of vocalist Mark Hoeskstra. Add to that, the guitar prowess of ex- Days of the New guitarist Chuck Mingus, blend in the exceptional bass lines of Bill Goins, the stalwart skin work of drummer Mike Huettig and you have a recipe for an iconic rock and roll band that any hard-rocking American would be proud of.

Their third CD, “Super Real,” is a full and complete recipe of pure, masterful rock, blues and acoustic gems. Adeptly mixing their influences such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Skynyrd, Collective Soul and ZZ Top, among many others, has this Louisville, Kentucky foursome catching listener’s ears nationwide.The cuts on the CD are tightly structured, classic rock jams with elements of a unique freshness that has MySpace and other online venues clamoring for more. The cut, “The Road,” is a hard-rocking lament to life on the road complete with a love torn chorus. The title cut, “Super Real” can remind some of the rapid-fire guitar prowess of Ted Nugent mixed with ZZ top riffolgy and details just how hard the band can rock. “Whiskey State Of Mind” is a unique southern rock anthem, ala the Allman Brothers Band, but with Zeppelin-like riffs and ZZ Top energy augmented by a supreme harmonica solo.

If your musical palette includes the blues, Freedom and Whiskey takes you down the blues road with the cut “Sellavision Blues.” A socially conscious number about the perils of the tube, the cut has Tragically Hip-like vocals and a lead guitar solo that will have ‘air guitarists’ breaking their fingers trying to keep up with Mingus’s passionate fingers and style. The cut “Freedom” is one that would belong on any Zeppelin play list, with classic acoustics and a guitar solo blended in with a modern rock punch. Another song, “Running Blind” is a precise acoustic ballad with Floyd-like guitar work meshing with the vocals as if in harmony. “For No Good Reason,” is an AC/DC type cut but with Freedom and Whiskey’s distinctive stamp on it, complete with a blues harmonica solo and raucous backing vocals.

Other cuts only exemplify just how much the band can rock and even the slower cuts are full of passion and poignant lyrics. The band can play slow, melodic numbers such as “August,” that has references to the perils we have all faced or the acoustic Floyd-like instrumental “Green.”

These veteran rockers have proved to be innovative, articulate and this cohesive, sophisticated CD will be heard years from now, as it is a masterful voice for this unique and hard-rocking quartet.

Freedom and Whiskey are:

Mark Hoekstra - Lead Vocals / Harmonica

Bill Goins - Bass Guitar / Lead Vocals / Backing Vocals

Mike Huettig- Drums / Backing Vocals

Chuck Mingis - Lead Guitar / Backing Vocals



Visit the band:

www.ilike2rock.net/members/11/

www.myspace.com/freedomandwhiskey

Lisa Dames

By Robert Benson

Can a forty-year old housewife from Greensboro, NC make a name for herself and compete with the country icons that dominate country music these days? You can if your name is Lisa Dames. With the determination of a twenty-year old, this rising country music star has and is working hard to establish herself in the country music world.

Her first single, “Just Another Day,” is full of real-life lyrics and is a slow tempo ditty that explodes into a full-bore country rocker that would be at home on any country radio play list. In fact, the single reached #56 on the Music Row chart with over 7,000 spins on over 43 radio stations nationwide. Additionally, the video for “Just Another Day,” made its debut on national television on GAC’s “Positively Country” and has been added to CMT.com’s website.

Another cut called “Your Love,” is full of playful acoustics, rapid-fire lyrics and blended in perfectly with a rhythmic country flavor, sort of a Shiana Twain-like romp. Her second single, the banjo/violin laced “I’d Leave Me” is a perfect compliment to her country mystique, with tongue-in-cheek lyrical content and impeccable backing vocals. The cut, “No One Like Me,” is an introspective lament about what comes first in Lisa’s life-family and is passionately sang and expertly played. The ‘no regrets’ lyrical content emulates an exhilarating sweetness and is what I consider her signature ballad.

So from her constant touring that says to the world of country music, I am here!; Lisa Dames is slowly but surely making the world of country music her own musical haven. Working with Grammy nominated producer David Grow, and blending in her consistently inventive musicianship, Lisa Dames IS here, right alongside the top female country music superstars!

Visit Lisa Dames and Hear Her Music:

www.ilike2rock.net/members/29/audio.php

www.lisadames.com

www.myspace.com/lisadames

20 Biggest Record Company Screw-Ups of All Time

This is from the pages of www.blender.com:

From turning down the Beatles to stomping Napster— the most ill-advised, foolhardy and downright idiotic decisions ever made by The Man.

written by Jon Dolan, Josh Eells, Fred Goodman


Blender March 11 2008

They Never Even Recouped Their Aqua Net Expenses
#20 As grunge dawns, one label bets on hair metal
In 1989, with hair metal reaching its zenith, the A&R department at MCA Records finally decided to get in on the act—by tossing a rumored $1 million at L.A. band Pretty Boy Floyd, who at the time had played only eight shows. The band’s debut, Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz, peaked at No. 130 on the Billboard charts, and the Floyd blew another mil or so of MCA’s money before the label finally dropped them in 1991 … right around the time the suits blew a chance to sign a fledgling Seattle outfit called Nirvana.

Unintended consequence Around 1992, the Sunset Strip pizza-delivery scene gets a fresh infusion of talent.


The Vinyl Solution
#19 The industry kills the single—and begins its own slow demise
In the early ’80s, the music industry began to phase out vinyl singles in favor of cassettes and later, CDs. Then, since it costs the same to manufacture a CD single as a full album, they ditched the format almost altogether. But they forgot that singles were how fans got into the music-buying habit before they had enough money to spend on albums. The end result? Kids who expect music for free. “Greed to force consumers to buy an album [resulted] in the loss of an entire generation of record consumers,” says Billboard charts expert Joel Whitburn. “People who could only afford to buy their favorite hit of the week were told it wasn’t available as a single. Instead, they stopped going to record shops and turned their attention to illegally downloading songs.”

Unintended consequence The Eagles still top the album charts.


Come Back, Kid
#18 BMG dumps Clive Davis, begs him to return
In 2000, when company retirement policy deemed Clive Davis too old to run Arista, the label he’d founded 25 years earlier, he was pushed out the door in favor of Antonio “L.A.” Reid. After loud public complaints from artists including Whitney Houston and Carlos Santana, parent company BMG was shamed into giving Davis a nice going-away present—his own label, J Records, along with a $150 million bankroll. Ironically, while J spawned hits from Alicia Keys, Luther Vandross and Rod Stewart, Arista reportedly chalked up hundreds of millions in losses. In 2002, BMG forked over another $50 million to buy J, then two years later ousted Reid and hired a new CEO of BMG North America: an ambitious young turk named Clive Davis

Unintended consequence Rod Stewart’s The Great American Songbook, Volumes I-IV

Dim Bulb
#17 Thomas Edison disses jazz, industry standards
America’s most famous inventor, and the creator of the phonograph, also had his own record label: National Phonograph Company, later Edison Records. Naturally, it was the biggest one around at first but made two fatal errors. One was that Edison Records worked only on Edison’s players, while other manufacturers’ conformed to the industry standard and worked interchangeably. The other was that Edison let his personal taste govern Edison releases—and he hated jazz: “I always play jazz records backwards,” he sniffed. “They sound better that way.” So after releasing the world’s first jazz recording—Collins and Harlan’s “That Funny Jas Band From Dixieland”—the company spurned the craze in favor of waltzes and foxtrots. Edison Records folded in October 1929.

Unintended consequence Edison adds “tin-eared A&R” to his list of inventions.

Double Jeopardy
#16 Warner pays for Wilco record twice
When Wilco handed over their album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot to Reprise in June 2001, acting label boss David Kahne—best known for producing Sugar Ray albums—reportedly thought it was “so bad it would kill Wilco’s career.” The band refused to make changes, so Reprise handed them their walking papers—and the masters to the album. A few months later, Wilco signed with Nonesuch, which, like Reprise, was a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner, meaning that after shelling out roughly $300,000 to make YHF in the first place, the corporation was now paying for it again. The record remains Wilco’s best seller to date.

Unintended consequence Jeff Tweedy’s poetry collection is published in 2004.

Money For Nothing
#15 MCA’s teen-pop calamity
How sure was MCA that slinky Irish teen Carly Hennessy was going to be a gargantuan pop star? So sure that in 1999 they staked the former Denny’s sausage spokesmodel with a $100,000 advance, $5,000 a month in living expenses and an apartment in Marina Del Rey, California, spending roughly $2.2 million in all on her 2001 debut, Ultimate High. How wrong were they? In its first three months in stores, Ultimate High sold a whopping 378 copies, putting the label’s investment somewhere in the order of $5,820 per copy sold. Last seen, Hennessy had resurfaced—still looking for her big break—on season seven of American Idol.

Unintended consequence “Sausage spokesmodel” proves a less embarrassing resumé entry than expected.

Always Read The Fine … Oh, Never Mind
#14 Stax Records unintentionally gives away the store
Soul fans can credit Memphis’s Stax Records for classic hits by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Booker T & the M.G.’s—but the real winner was Atlantic. In 1960, Atlantic partner Jerry Wexler liked one of Stax’s first releases enough to pay label president Jim Stewart $1,000 to lease it, and Atlantic soon contracted to market and distribute all Stax releases. Seven years later, with Stax reeling from Redding’s death, Stewart finally took a close look at the Atlantic contract and discovered he’d been bamboozled: Contrary to industry practice, Atlantic became the owner of any Stax release it handled. Stax had signed away its catalogue and future.

Unintended consequence Bob Dole flips “Soul Man” into “Dole Man” during his ’96 presidential campaign.

The Last Of The Mega-Deals
#13 One label’s big spending single-handedly ends “alt-rock” boom
In 1996, Warner Bros. signed R.E.M. to a five-album contract for a reported $80 million. It was the most costly record deal in history and elicited one of the lowest returns. Warner needed R.E.M. to sell at least 3 million copies of all five records to come out in the black, but sleepy folk-rock albums like 1998’s Up moved a fifth of that. The execs went further into the hole by allowing R.E.M. to keep the masters of all their Warner releases, forfeiting future revenues generated by the band’s popular ’80s and early-’90s discs. No one knows how much the label lost—but the debacle brought to a close an era in which acts known for their “integrity” could score huge paydays.

Unintended consequence Warner executives still hoping “Daysleeper” makes it on to The Hills soundtrack.

Axl Grease
#12 Geffen pumps millions into (the nonexistent) Chinese Democracy
Ten years ago, Guns N’ Roses still looked like a good investment—they’d gone platinum 32 times. So in 1998, Geffen Records could be forgiven for paying Axl Rose a million bucks to complete GNR’s fifth album, promising a million more if he delivered it soon. (Rose had already spent four years working on the LP, losing every original bandmate in the process.) Beset by perfectionism, lack of focus and plain-old nuttiness, Rose never got that bonus million. But his label kept spending: In 2001, monthly expenses totaled $244,000. Four producers and a gazillion guitar overdubs later, the album is no closer to release. And Geffen’s in the red for $13 million.

Unintended consequence A frustrated Rose gets into a well-publicized fistfight with … Tommy Hilfiger!

Just Be Yourself—Or Else
#11 Geffen sues Neil Young for making “unrepresentative” music
At the dawn of the ’80s, David Geffen signed Neil Young to his new record label, promising that “commercial” considerations would never get in the way of art. Young took this to heart, wandering so far off the reservation with albums like 1983’s synth-driven Trans that Geffen filed a $3 million breach-of-contract suit: effectively charging the folk-rock icon with not making “Neil Young” records. Young filed a $21 million countersuit before settling out of court, but remained somewhat bemused by Geffen’s judgment: “He didn’t seem to comprehend how … uh, diverse my musical career had become,” Young said.

Unintended consequence Young’s Happy House and Tejano albums remain on the shelf.


Look for 1-10 in tomorrow's post!!

This Day In Music History- March 24

The O'Jays hit #1 with "Love Train" in 1973 and the song has been reborn in a beer commercial.

The late Billy Stewart ("Summertime") was born in 1937.

Nick Lowe ("Cruel To Be Kind") and a member of Rockpile turns 59.

Dave Appell of the Applejacks ("Mexican Hat Rock") is 86.

The late Nervous Norvus ("Transfusion"-- real name is Jimmy Drake) was born in 1912.

Private Elvis Presley (serial number US53310761) was inducted into the U.S. Army in 1958.

Future Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards made their professional stage debut with the group called Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys at a club in Ealing, England in 1962.

In 2001, "Duane Allman Boulevard" was dedicated in Macon, Georgia, near where he died in a motorcycle crash.

Freddie & the Dreamers' "Do The Freddie" was released in 1965 and set off yet another silly dance craze.

Today the song "Tragedy" by Bee Gees topped the charts and stayed there for 2 weeks in 1979.

50s and early ‘60s guitar great Duane Eddy rumbled on to the earth in 1938.

In 1966, the New York Assembly makes the sale of unauthorized recordings, known as bootlegs, a misdemeanor.

In 1945, Billboard Magazine published their first album chart with
"A Collection of Favorites" named as #1.

In 1963, the Beatles were the opening act for American Pop stars Chris Montez and Tommy Roe in the quartet's hometown of Liverpool, England.

In 1966, the Beatles posed with mutilated and butchered dolls for the cover of the album, "Yesterday and Today". After a public outcry, the L.P. was pulled from stores and re-issued with a new cover.

In 1992, a Chicago judge settled the Milli-Vanilli class-action suit by approving cash rebates of up to $3 to anyone proving they bought the group's music before November 27, 1990, the date the lip synching scandal broke. Arista Records and its parent, BMG, paid out more than $400,000. About 80,000 claims were filed, most of them by people who bought compact discs.

57 year old Harold Melvin, leader of the Philadelphia Soul group Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, died of heart related problems on March 24th 1997. The group is remembered for their 1972, #3 hit, "If You Don't Know Me By Now.”

Rod Price, a founding member of Foghat, died in 2005 after falling down a stairway at his home. The 57 year old guitarist was with the band for three platinum and eight gold records, including their highest charting US single "Slow Ride" in 1976.

During a show in Buffalo, NY, in 1973, a fan bites Lou Reed on the butt. The assailant shouts "Leather" before security hauls him away. (he must like ‘butt’ roast’)

Billy Stewart, the dynamic soul belter who scored a hit with "Summertime," was born in Washington, D.C. in 1937.

This Day In Music History- March 22

Tom Petty forms Mudcrutch in Gainesville, Florida in 1970. Guitarist Mike Campbell joins the same year and keyboardist Benmont Tench signs on in 1973.
'Apostrophe,' Frank Zappa's highest-charting album, was released in 1974. It reached #10 and became Zappa's second consecutive gold album.

In 1975, 'Physical Graffiti,' a double album by Led Zeppelin, reached #1 in its second week of release. It stayed there for six weeks.

"Another Brick in the Wall," by Pink Floyd, topped the singles charts for the first of four weeks in 1980. It is their second and final Top Forty single in the US.

Jeremy Clyde of Chad & Jeremy ("Summer Song") is 64.

Mark Dinning, who scored a US number one hit in 1960 with "Teen Angel", died of a heart attack on March 22nd at the age of 52. The song had been written by his sister, Jeannie. Although he never had another hit, Mark continued performing throughout the 1960s, but felt his lack of success was because, "groups were in and singles were out", once the British Invasion started.

Dave Guard of the Kingston Trio ("Tom Dooly") died of lymphoma, in 1991. The Kingston Trio had 17 chart singles and nine gold albums between 1958 and 1963.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono began their "bed-in for peace" in Amsterdam in 1969.

Elvis Presley's "Easy Come, Easy Go" movie opened in 1967.

Bob Dylan's first electric album, "Bring It All Back Home" was released in 1965.

Today in 1986, the song "These Dreams" by Heart topped the charts and stayed there for a week.

In 1997, Paul McCartney's birth certificate was sold to a bidder for Beatles memorabilia for $84,146.

The Police were signed to A&M Records in 1978.

The Who played their first American live gig at New York's Paramount Theater in 1967.

Jazz guitarist George Benson was born in Pittsburgh in 1943. He shares a birthday with Yardbird singer and harmonica player Keith Relf, who is also born today in Richmond, England.

Coral Records hired original rock DJ Alan Freed as their A&R man in 1955.

1958 - Hank Williams Jr. made his stage debut in Swainsboro, GA, at the age of eight.( and it wasn't on MNF, which wasn't on the air back then)

The Beatles' first album, "Please Please Me," was released in the U.K. in 1963.
In 1978, the BBC airs “The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash.” It’s the ultimate (and very funny) Beatles parody. (and actually contains some great music as well!)

Franki Valli returned to the US Top 40 for the first time in nearly seven years in 1975 when "My Eyes Adored You" went to number one. The song was originally titled "Blue Eyes In Georgia" by its writers, Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, but Valli altered the lyrics to suit himself.

Diana Ross' first solo album for RCA, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" goes platinum less than three months after its release in 1982.

In 2001, Earl Beal of the Philadelphia vocal group The Silhouettes died at the age of 76. The group topped the Billboard chart in 1958 with "Get A Job".

New "SMELLY' Album Cover?

Haven't really heard of this, but it is a fresh new gimmick to add to the already fascinating allure of vinyl records- check this out from a post on Pitchfork.com

"We wouldn't ordinarily advocate scratching your vinyl, but in this case, we'll make an exception. Black Moth Super Rainbow, the convention-thwarting Pennsylvanian bunch responsible for last year's Recommended Dandelion Gum album, have gone and pressed said release into a turntable-ready LP.

Okay nothing so unconventional there, but wait! This isn't just any vinyl we're talking about here. This is, as you may have noticed in the headline, scratch'n'sniff vinyl!! Yes, the friction created by running something coarse (a fingernail, say) across the cover of this record will unleash odors as yet un-smelt by the noses of men! Women, too!

As if this olfactory offering weren't enough, the vinyl version of Dandelion Gum also includes a bonus track not found on the CD, "The Dark Forest Joggers". Both formats are available now via Graveface Records."