I think the time has come to begin exploring the things I
have learned and experienced during my first 20+ years in the music
industry. My hope is that the few
classes journalism I took at Michigan State University (Go Green!!) along with
the various copy, messaging and presentations I have written over the years
will help guide me through each of these posts.
What topics will I explore? Lessons
learned in the music industry, anecdotes from being on the road (some band
names may be changed in order to protect the "Not-So" innocent), my
undying passion for my Michigan State Spartans and my love / hate relationship
with the beloved Chicago Cubs. I am sure
a few stories will pop up centered around daily life with my 13 and 10 year old
daughters - but why drag them into this so early into the process. By the way…why 5 Degrees? Well - 5 is my favorite number (thanks Speed
Racer) and the fact that music, entertainment and marketing contain a series of steps or stages on the way to reaching your goal.
So here we go…
Music has been at the center of my life for as long as I can
remember. It was all about WLS for me at
the time. I vividly remember being in my
room waiting to hear if "Silly Love Songs" was going to beat out
"Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" for the #1 slot on the Big 89 Countdown
for 1976. Not only did Captain and
Tennille grab #1 from McCartney and Wings…they had 4 songs in the Top 20. And the fact that "Disco Duck" (#3)
beat out "Bohemian Rhapsody"
(#6) reminds me that, even then, not everything made sense.
Radio was (and still is in some cases) "Theater of the
Mind." There was a time when I recall
thinking that every time a song played on the radio that the band itself was in
the studio playing it live. Could
Boston, Yes or The Steve Miller Band really be at the station right now waiting
to play their song again?!
I soon added The Loop (WLUP) as well as WMET to my repatoire
of listening choices. I couldn't wait to
listen to Captain Whammo, his claims of ESP and what would pop up on the Whammo
Line. Here is a quick taste -
Bottom line - the music (the majority of it anyway) kicked
ass and radio was always local and topical.
My passion for music took over the majority of my free time...new
music from REO, Genesis, The Who, J Geils, Chicago, Scorpions, Billy Joel, Bob
Seger and others in the early 80's had
me heading to the record store to grab their album AND pick up the weekly WLS
survey. http://www.wlshistory.com/WLS70/surveywho.htm. (Remember these?) These bands gave me the chance to fight with
my sister about why John Cougar kicked Air Supply's ass or why a John Denver
concert (though I did see him a few times) couldn't compare to Genesis, Journey
or Men At Work. "Sailing" by Christopher
Cross? Sucked. "Maniac" by Michael Sembello? You
have got to be kidding.
My first job out of college was radio sales at WGOR - Ape 92.1
- in Lansing, MI. We were the Gorilla of
Rock (but we played all top 40 music.
Branding issue anyone?) My
daughters still like to remind me that I actually wore gorilla costume at
station when we crashed the Undy 500 promotion being run by the market-leading
Top 40 station, WVIC and at station remotes.
I would have done anything for sales commission.
Since then, Independent promotion out of Chicago for Jeff McClusky
and Associates, Regional Promotion for MCA / Geffen and designing and executing
touring partnerships (Justin Timberlake, Keith Urban, Taylor swift, Linkin
Park, Green Day, Shakira and others) for Verizon have quickly taken me through
the first 20+ years. There were a few other quick stops in between
but music was always the common thread.
Music (and my experiences in and around it) is where some of
my musings may come from - as well as what is going on currently in the
industry. Hope you enjoy it and feel
free to let me know if you have comments or suggestions. If you find it interesting (or even helpful)
please feel free to pass it on to your network.
What's next? Maybe a
heart-warming story about me and Tommy Lee.
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