Category Archives: Music

Where are the transistor radios?

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I’ve come across Zing a couple of times this weekend. I gather this little gizmo is still in prototype but it sounds interesting. For lack of a better word, they’re little radios that have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios built in. The radios are used to download music and to upload data about what you are listening to. If you have one of these players, you can do cool things, like see what your friends are listening to, then play samples of those tracks, or buy songs and albums directly from the player. The first Zing-powered players should ship this year, carrying the Sirius brand.

radioAs I read about this I mentally pictured all the people I see listening to iPods. Which begs a question: Why don’t I see anyone walking around with a transistor (do they call them that?) radio? I mean, there are some really great radio programs…are we only listening to them in the car or at the office? Why? If I’m willing to stand in line at Subway with nano earbuds hanging down my face…why not listen to my local radio station?

After all, what could be easier? No iTunes to futz with and sync. Just drop your little transitor radio in your pocket and go. I’m missing something here, aren’t I?

iPod Hi-Fi

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Fill your home with sound, not stereo components. Keep your music collection at your fingertips, not in countless CD cases. Change the way you experience digital music. For $349, iPod Hi-Fi delivers crystal-clear, audiophile-quality sound in a clean, compact design.

Might have to have me one of these. We probably turn our stereo on 3 or 4 times a year. I think I read that Apple has sold 10 million iPods. If 1% of them buy one of these… 100,000 at $350?

Rock and Roll Fantasy

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So you have great singer/song writers like Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, Don Henley and Glen Frey who –as far as I know– aren’t making hit records any more. They’re rich, the royalties are coming in, they worked long and hard…so maybe they’re just taking it easy. Why should they bust their asses writing songs. Because they love writing songs. It was once their passion and I want to believe it still is. So where are the songs?

Let’s suppose in the hip-hop musical world of 2006, nobody wants to hear a song by these old farts. But that doesn’t sound right. I’m betting they’re still writing songs…and there are millions of fans who would love to buy/hear them.

Okay, here’s the fantasy part. Let’s say you’re one of these musical legends and you still noodle around in your home studio, writing and recording songs. Not necessarily ‘hit’ songs, just songs. Stuff you like. Why not put it up on a website, give your fans a little taste, and let us buy them?

I think Janis Ian (if you don’t know, it doesn’t matter) does something like this. And why not. If your music is no longer “commercially viable,” but you still love making it… put it up there. Let us buy it direct. Like I said, it’s a fantasy.

Speaking of music… I would love to hear Sheryl Crow do Me and Bobby McGee. Not the Joplin screamer. More of a ballad treatment maybe. Has she ever performed that song?

Still speaking of music… I kinda like the song Table for One by Liz Phair.

But reaching back it occurs to me
There will always be some kind of crisis for me

Not a good drinking song, but haunting.

If somebody has Doug Howard’s email address, he can probably answer the question above. Play the Kennett card.

End of music research?

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Mark Ramsey asks: What’s the point of music research when every listener personalizes his or her music to his or her own tastes? And where’s your NON-music content, Mr. Broadcaster?

He also wants to drop the term “streaming” in favor of “Internet radio.” My only problem with that is where that leaves us verb-wise. Now I typically write/say: We’ll stream the governor’s speech at 7:00 p.m. If what we’re doing here is “Internet radio,” do I say we’ll “broadcast” the speech? It certainly is not a broadcast.

I’m becoming a fan of Mark’s blog. He seems to really know the radio business and has a firm grasp of new media.

You = Your iTunes

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Tom Peters says his #1 belief about management is: You = Your Calendar.

“All we have is our time. The way we distribute it is our ‘strategic plan,’ our ‘vision,’ our ‘values.’ Period. So how’d you spend your precious time today? Tell me, and I’ll tell you what you actually care about — it’s simple and unerring.”

Maybe. But I don’t want to be my calendar. Nobody has to guess what bloggers care about. It’s all right here. But if I weren’t a blogger, you could look at my iPod and get a sense of who I am. In fact, here’s what you can do in lieu of a memorial service for smays: Plug my nano into a good sound system…put it on shuffle… and let it play until the battery runs down. Friends can stop by for a few minutes and listen.

Drunker than me

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That’s the title of a new country song by Kennett native, Trent Tomlinson. Viretta and Nancy were beating this drum back in September and sent us a pre-release CD. I sort of half-way listened to some of the songs but I’m not a country fan so I didn’t really give it a shot. I just watched one of the videos on Mr. Tomlinson’s website and loved it. The video and the music. Like I said, I don’t know shit about country music (possible song title?) but it sounds to me like the boy has some real mojo. I went to school with Trent’s daddy (and sat on the bench, watching his pop play basketball) so that might be a factor here. But if Trent’s career takes off the way Sheryl Crow’s did, we’ll need a bigger Welcome to Kennett sign.

‘Cause I keep worryin’ about who’s drivin’ home,
Who’s got the keys, who’s got the ‘phone.
Who’ll pay the bill, call a cab.
I don’t mean to make you mad,
But I don’t want that responsibility,
An’ I can’t be with a woman, baby, who gets drunker than me.

Barenaked Ladies distribute on flash drives

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Rather than distribute via CD, DVD or download, the Barenaked Ladies are making their newest selection of songs, videos and exclusive material available on a USB flash drive. Nettwerk Music Group is releasing “Barenaked on a Stick” beginning today, says the Hollywood Reporter. It plays on PCs, Macs and any other audio product with a USB port — like some car stereos — and costs $30. This 128 reusable drive contains 29 songs, including the band’s 2004 “Barenaked for the Holidays” album, in MP3 format along with live tracks, in-concert spoken quips, album art, photos, videos and more.

100 Greatest Rock Songs

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Radio Randy insists this list is not ‘his’ top 100 rock songs, just “the most familiar songs of our generations.” He promises to post his list later. Whatever the distinction, it’s a pretty good list. At least as good as Lucas Davneport’s list.

Randy’s daughter, Jessica, comments: I hate to say it, but you’ve got a list full of old white guys in recovery. Oh well…its only rock and roll.