R.I.P. Oscar Peterson 1925 - 2007

We have lost some giants in music this year, probably the greatest of which is the legendary jazz piano player Oscar Peterson. His passion for the music manifested itself in a prolific style that often resulted in the release of multiple albums in a single year. As with many musicians of the time, touring globally was never-ending and Peterson rapidly became an international star. Usually playing as part of a trio, he appeared with all of the greats, from Basie to Ellington, Ella to Armstrong and everyone in between. He won eight Grammy Awards, most recently in 1991 for the album "A Saturday Night At The Blue Note". A stroke in 1993 put him out of commission for two years, but upon his return he still remained one of the greatest improvisational Jazz artists of all time. He was 82 years old.

Bye Bye Big speakers!

Interesting article here in http://rollingstone.com/ about how the labels are mastering their new CD's to cater to an audience that is increasingly using earbuds instead of stereos to listen to their music. It seems the emphasis is on increasing the levels to the point where high spots and low all sound the same...LOUD!! Do I have your attention now?!!!
I guess my question is: Is this the inevitable result of a nation of people who are progressively going deaf because of over-amplified sound? Is sign language going to become the new international means of communication? Should I throw all of my disposable income into Beltone(R) hearing aids?!!

Another interesting point in this article is the use of mastering software to "alter" sound. There was a commercial not too long ago, where the engineers in the studio were so busy enjoying Product X, that they failed to realize they had not adjusted the levels on the board for the latest "teen sensation" who was busy making dogs howl in the other room. As soon as they realized their mistake, they reset the board and she went from sounding like Paris Hilton to Christina Aguilera in about two seconds! There is a lot more truth than fiction in that commercial unfortunately and it is a direct result of the publics' desire for artists that are not only aurally but visually stimulating as well. If the artist looks good, we can always make them sound good, is the attitude that the labels are taking. It's gotten to the point that most of the legends from the past wouldn't even get in the front door today because they don't have the "complete package".

What are your thoughts on today's music? Let me know.

R.I.P. Ike Turner

Ike Turner, who earned an unfortunate (though not undeserved) reputation as the poster child for domestic abuse during his turbulent years with Tina Turner, died today at the age of 76. Domestic issues aside, one cannot study Ike's body of work and not realize the true brilliance that lay underneath the troubled surface. Ike was the preeminent Soul and Blues man, responsible for ground-breaking hits such as "Rocket 88" (credited to Jackie Brentson and his Delta Cats, Ike Turner's group) as well as the good years (musically speaking) with Tina Turner, that produced hits such as "River Deep, Mountain High", "Proud Mary" and "Nutbush City Limits".
Of course, everything came to a screeching halt with the ugly breakup from Tina and the subsequent publishing of her autobiography and the making of the movie, "What's Love Got To Do With It", which had permanently scarred his reputation in the eyes of many of his fans. To this day, many regard his name as the definition of a wife batterer and domestic abuser and refuse to give him any acknowledgement for his undisputed talent as an innovator in the Rhythm and Blues musical genre.
I personally re-discovered Ike Turner by playing his later albums, "Here And Now" (2001) and "Risin' With The Blues" (2006) both of which won prestigious awards, on my Blues radio program. It was the beginning of a comeback for a man who could truly be described as a survivor in the Soul, Blues era.

Christmas Album anyone?!!...Everyone?!!

Every year around this time we get the usual obligatory offerings of holiday music usually by artists whom our response is: "They're still around?!" This year seems to be especially plentiful, with offerings by everyone from The Isley Brothers to Keith Sweat (He's still around?!!!) Check out the full list at http://www.soultracks.com/holiday_cds.htm

Radio says: "Help us from ourselves!"

A funny story came across the Web the other day when one of the V.P.'s of the major radio consolidators stated that new rules needed to be written regarding the number of stations that any one consolidator would be allowed to own. For those who may be unaware, the face of radio essentially changed forever when Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which allowed any one entity (read "corporation"), to own more stations in a single market than they had previously. Ever wonder why your radio sounds the same no matter where you go? Thank Congress. Without the diversity of multiple ownership that we had for since radio was conceived, you basically wind up with the same formulaic, predictable programming nationwide. Corporations loved it because they thought it would allow them to control all music outlets and essentially have a monopoly on what the public could listen to. Apparently, it's not working out quite as the big consolidators had planned and they are losing money :-(

So, now the consolidators are going back to Congress to try and get the rules changed to adding even MORE stations to the number they can own in any one market; up to 12 stations in markets with more than 75 signals and 10 stations in markets with 60 to 74 signals. Essentially, they want to increase the monopoly and further limit the choices you will have as far as free commercial radio. (And maximize their profits as well).

So why doesn't commercial radio make money? Turn it on and listen! There's very little effort to draw an audience with new artists, new musical genres or anything that is even remotely cutting edge...It doesn't fit into the "formula", the focus group-based system that the radio stations use to program nation-wide with few variations, this corporate structured programming allows for very few variations system-wide, the result being top 40, Adult Contemporary, Urban, Oldies, and Country among others that sound exactly the same no matter where you are in the country.

So what happened? The American public stuck their heads out of the window and screamed, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Of course, technology helped out with iPod's, downloadable mp3's, satellite radio and podcasting/webcasting in all of it's forms, but radio is equally culpable by taking a medium for artistic expression and turning it into a corporate loss leader. The public listened, and responded with the big middle finger to the radio stations. And now they say they are losing money, go figure.

Can radio come back? Quite frankly I think the horse is already out of the barn and it would be very difficult to get them back. I am certain that the solution is not in more radio consolidation, I think enough damage has been done in that area. The stations need to be brought back to the levels of the artists and the DJ's who tap into local talent and who know a good sounding group when they hear one. Eric Clapton once said, "When we wrote songs we wrote music we liked, we didn't care whether it sold 1 million units or not we just wrote songs we liked to hear", that's the attitude that "new" radio would have to develop, play the music that on-air talent enjoys and eventually people will tune in.

Personally, I feel the corporate entities will get their wish and then the airways will get real quiet as the corporations fail to learn any lessons from past history.

Welcome!

Hello all! And welcome to my blog titled "It's all about Soul". The title refers to a late night radio show I hosted on Friday nights from Midnight 'til 6am. It developed quite a following, as it's blend of 50's Doo Wop, 60's Motown and 70's Funk and Soul music was something you just don't hear too often on radio anymore. I am hoping to resurrect the program as a webcast by the beginning of 2008, along with some other radio partners and we are very excited about the prospects for the future.

As a part of the program, and hopefully as a part of this blog, I hope to share some tidbits about the music, the artists and the history of what has been called alternately, Race music, Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues, Soul, Black, and now call it whatever you like!! I hope you will enjoy reading my musings on the direction of music, the radio industry and whatever happens to strike my fancy at the time.