WILL MICHAEL JACKSON SHOW UP ON LIVE 8?
One of my all-time fave Rock groups, PINK FLOYD, will get back together for
LIVE 8 in London. P-F's singer-guitarist DAVID GILMORE says the four members of the band's classic line up would
be playing together for the first time in 24 years. On PINK FLOYD's site ( www.PinkFloyd.com ), DAVID says, Like most people
I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid
to the third world. It's crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of its GNP to the starving nations. Any squabbles
Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if re-forming for this concert will help focus attention
then it's got to be worthwhile. For further details www.makepovertyhistory.org and www.live8live.com .
Bassist and key songwriter ROGER WATERS left PINK FLOYD in 1983. GILMORE, drummer NICK MASON and keyboard player
RICHARD WRIGHT have been still performing, but haven't played live in over 10 years. This reunited PINK FLOYD further bolsters
the already jam packed London LIVE 8 poster, which features PAUL MCCARTNEY, U2, R.E.M., COLDPLAY, surviving members
of THE WHO (or is it WHOM?), ELTON JOHN, MADONNA, and MARIAH CAREY and many others yet to be announced. PETE TOWNSHEND and
THE WHO have not performed live in over a year. THE WHO are in the process of completing a new album. A rumored Canadian LIVE
8 show has yet to be confirmed, though a Scottish concert was recently added. LIVE 8 takes place around the
world on July 2.
All of the LIVE 8 performances are free exhibitions, fans who wanted to attend the London concert first
had to enter a ticket lottery by text messaging. The Guinness Book Of World Records says that this contest has set the
official world record for the Largest Text Message Lottery. 2,060,285 messages were received by the LIVE 8
organizers. Some of the lottery winners were selling their free tickets on eBay. Lots of money changed hands. BOB GELDOF,
who is the LIVE 8 founder, condemned ticket sales for the charity event. GELDOF said, I am sick with this. The
people who are selling it are wretches. But far worse is the corporate culture which capitalizes on people's misery. I am
appealing to their sense of decency to stop this disgusting greed.
Doug McCallum, eBay Managing Director, announced, All current LIVE 8 ticket
auctions would be taken down. According to the BBC, McCallum said, The unprecedented decision was made because our
customers said they were concerned about the profiteering rap being connected with the name of the site they're so passionate
about.
CAPITAL FM, a British radio stastion, asked LIVE 8 promoter HARVEY
GOLDSMITH if they would consider MICHAEL JACKSON to join in on the LIVE 8 bash. GOLDSMITH replied, Obviously,
we'd consider it. There would be issues concerning Jackson's ability to work and the appropriateness of adding him to the
line up. The latest performers rumored to be joining the Philadelphia concert are LINKIN PARK, EDDIE VEDDER and
WYCLEF JEAN.
TODD MEADOWS (San Antonio, TX) toddkmeadows@yahoo.com Hey Jim, I enjoy the report though my experience in radio was just a brief moment in time in my history. I was introduced
to JRRR by my good friend Gentleman Jim Carter of San Antonio. Jim and I had two brief encounters while working in San Angelo
and Abilene in the 70's.
My favorite moment happened in 1970 while I was working in Abilene, high
atop the Windsor Hotel. Back then progressive rock was beginning, but Bobby Sherman had a Top Forty hit too.
Being seventeen at the time and bit radical, I was more into the James
Gang, Doors and Stones and not at all into "bubble gum". Some young lady requested Bobby Sherman, and I obliged her
by smashing the record over the console in front of the mike. I thanked her for listening and also told her to never call
my friggin' show again!
It has amazed me that after my brief encounter with radio, how powerful
the media is in it's relations with listeners. During years of business travel, I was suprised when one would remember me.
Recently an attorney from NYC (my radio experience was unknown to him)mentioned me to his friends in San Angelo, and they
remembered my radio show. Thirty years later!
Also happy to hear Sam Malone is going back to Houston radio. I enjoyed
his stuff with Maria Todd, and Psycho. Todd Meadows
BOB GELDOFF SUNG LEAD IN
WHAT 1970S IRISH ROCK BAND?
(Find the answer at the bottom of this column)
LARRY TODD (Austin, TX) larrytodd@juno.com Subject: KITE Story. I have had the glory of radio news coverage too. I miss it immensely. Why, today, I'd pay to
be the news director of a 250 watt station in a small town. Take care. Larry Todd 627-1774 www.avalonsanctuary.com
CHARLES F. PAYNE (Dallas, TX) cpayne47@sbcglobal.net Jim, You probably don't know, but JIMMY RABBIT was hired by me at KLIF. He came into my office as EDDIE PAYNE of
Tyler. Left as JIMMY RABBIT KLIF. C'est la vie. CP in Big D
JOE FORD (Houston-Spring, TX) Joefordsho@aol.com Jim, Rabbit is another old friend and he sends me the RR everyday. We just had this discussion not that long ago
and we were wondering when Infinity was gonna pop WCBS. I'm sure they have their eyes on K-Earth next. I still think Oldies
is a viable format if it's done right, but you can't have a 32 year old programmer playing the same tired old junk day in
and day out. The old Top 40 was just that, 40 songs with about five new adds every week. That meant you played many tunes
that never made Top 10 but the audience still remembers them. Some of the great WOW! songs never made Top 10 but if you daypart
the things properly, you can still score some points with listeners. I do think more attention should be played to the 70's
and even 80's in an oldies format and the blend of stuff from Abba, Seger, R.E.O., etc. would sync up well in the format but
nobody out there consulting stations has the knowledge or the guts to do it. The Jack format ain't bad but the absence of
great air talent tends to make it very boring after a while, especially when you consider you get the same thing with your
i-pod. Joey
There are many of us who helped pioneer radio into a very fun and creative
art form. No more locally programmed radio exists. Music is for the most part a regional object. There never has been a national
company or national music expert who could program an individual city's music properly. This must be done inside the
home base of operation with a local radio person who makes the decisions. A song which is a hit in Dallas won't necessarily
be a hit in Phoenix or Los Angeles or Timbuktu. Nowadays, all the cars look the same and all the radio stations sound the
same. GEORGE ORWELL's 1984 has arrived in 2005.
Today, everyone is so stiff and uptight. Here in Houston, I must be the only
one who even stops for a red light. From what I hear, that seems to be rampant throughout our great country. We need to calm
down and relax, maybe take an Ex-lax or drink a tall glass of ice cold prune juice. Say, why don't we export those items to
the mid-east? Those jokers are more tightly wound than anyplace else in the entire world. What if they all got together in
a huge cave and instead of smoking hallucinogens, they would each ingest a handful of Ex-lax and down it with a large bucket
of warm prune juice. That just might work a little of the meaness out of 'em or could create an even greater crisis.
BLAKE LINDSAY (Dallas, TX) blazin_blake@iqmail.net Jim, I couldn't agree more, with your analogy of the JACK, BOB, TOM, Harry Dick type stations. You sure gave me
a good chuckle a month or so ago, when you illustrated those canned formats. You humorously gave an example of the stations
by using a funny fictitious name, the Elephant. The reason I got a kick out of you saying that, is that I have always loved
elephants, and have a huge collection. When I was a young nipper, I was constantly remembering. Mainly topics that I liked
the most, and of course the stuff I wasn't even supposed to know in the first place. My cousin Joy, would occasionally become
frustrated with my good memory, and nick named me elephant which still stands when I am around her, even with my weight still
about 175 pounds. If I ever have the fortune of being a program director, I hopefully won't have to go with a canned format
like Jack, but wouldn't mind using your idea, of being called The Elephant. We play nothing but the heavy hits. I could even
have a loud elephant trumpet blast with our top of the hour ID. Don't know what call letters I might get on that idea, but
it would at least be funny for an hour or two anyway. Have a Blazin Good Day Jim! Blake Lindsay
There has been talk of Rock radio's decline in listening audience, plus heavy
concern of loss of sales to downloading. Well, this doesn't seem to parallel the c-d sales of Rock's biggest recording artists.
COLDPLAY hit paydirt with their latest musical masterpiece, X&Y, which debuted at #1 on Billboard's Hot 200 with
initial sales of over 737,000. This makes X&Y the highest selling Rock debut in 2005. X&Y also charted
at #1 in an additional 20 countries. In Great Britain, X&Y sold more than 464,000 in its first week, which placed
it in the category of the second-fastest selling album of all time in England. COLDPLAY's first two albums didn't fare as
well with sales of only 6,500 and 141,000. COLDPLAY's Twisted Logic tour is under way in Germany. North America is next with
a start in Toronto August 2, 2005. BLACK EYED PEAS' Monkey Business debuted at #2. WHITE STRIPES' Get Behind
Me Satan at #3. SHAKIRA's Fijacion Oral at #4.
GENTLEMAN JIM CARTER (San Antonio, TX) JCarter536@aol.com Subject: Buddy Holly. Hi Jim: In 1972 while at KNIT in Abilene, Texas I prepared a 90 minute special to commemorate
the passing of Buddy Holly on Februay 3, 1959. It included interviews with those who knew him best: his mom (now deceased),
his producer, Norman Petty (now deceased), band members, Sonny Curtis and Jerry Allison and backup singer out of Abilene,
David Bigham. Also included is lots of Buddy Holly trivia along with many of his tunes. It has been sold literally all over
the world on eBay and is worth every penny! The exclusive interview with Buddy's mom is only one of two known to exist. I
thought perhaps you might like to let your readers know of its availability in case there might be some folks who would like
to own a copy of it. Thanks, Jim
The PICKS are from south Texas. Brothers, JOHN and BILL PICKERING were the
fine sharp harmonies we hear on BUDDY HOLLY's premier big hits recorded in NORMAN PETTY's studio in Clovis,
New Mexico. JOHN is a geologist and has lived in southwest Houston for decades. BILL passed on some time ago. Brunswick was
the label which released the tunes beginning in 1957. Brunswick was a subsideriary of Decca, which is BUDDY's first big recording
label. For some odd reason Decca executives did not want to conflict with the earlier contract with BUDDY and the
Nashville studio musicians. Therefore, HOLLY's Brunswick releases listed only the CRICKETS. The BRITISH INVASION of the Sizzlin'
sixties was percolated by that marvelous harmonous HOLLY and the PICKS' sound. The BEATLES picked their name to coincide
with the insect connotation of the CRICKETS. Love all the those BRITISH ROCKERS of the Sizzlin' Sixties, but PETER &
GORDON stick in my mind as some of the greatest. PETER ASHER became a prolific producer, as evidenced in early LINDA RONDSTADT
recordings with some of the EAGLES before they were known in that context.
FRANK HALEY (Albuquerque, NM) fhaley@qwest.net Jim, One of the guys who worked with Jimmy Weldon was Bob Stanford, I remember watching him as The Frito Kid, here's
his obit. Frank Man Responsible for the Slurpee Takes the Big Gulp December 10, 2001 Dallas. Bob Stanford, Dallas advertising
genius, passed away Friday due to complications from Parkinson's disease at the age of 83. If you're not familiar with the
name, you may have known him as the Frito Kid, a 1950s character who appeared on Dallas's Channel 8 munching and plugging
Fritos corn ships. In fact, Stanford's face was the first to be broadcast from a Dallas station. For those not familiar with
his television appearances, his legacy still persists in his advertising ventures. He helped in the creation of the Pepsi
Challenge and came up with the slogan "Oh, thank heaven for 7-Eleven," which is still used today. Perhaps most notably, however,
is his renaming of 7-Eleven's flavored ice drink. Introduced in 1965 as the Icee, Stanford was the man who, two years later,
came up with the ever-popular name Slurpee, 11 million of which sell each month. Frank
BOB GELDOFF SANG LEAD IN
THE 1970S IRISH ROCK BAND THE BOOMTOWN RATS
BOB GELDOFF, was the cutting edge singer and actor in PINK FLOYD's movie,The
Wall. BOB also created the first superstar musician community service charity project with the hit single, Feed the
World. All proceeds went to help feed the world's hungry. Before all of the attention and awards, GELDOFF was vanguard
of the british rock and roll band, THE BOOMTOWN RATS.
It all started back in 1984. BOB GELDOFF was the leader of a little-known
Irish band called the BOOMTOWN RATS. GELDOFF then organized one of the largest music events in history, Feed the World.
A supergroup of 40 British artists, which raised a record $18 million dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia. Remember the
song, Do They Know It's Christmas? It was released in November 1984. The tune became an instant smash when it debuted
at #1 in England. Two weeks later, the song slammed home the #1 spot in America.
Eight months later, BOB GELDOFF organized the LIVE AID concert, which
blanketed two continents. LIVE AID was simulcast over a 16 hour period and featured artists from the U.S., England,
Japan, Australia, Austria, Russia, Germany, Canada and more. LIVE AID took place in both Wembley Stadium in London
and at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. Others performed in Sydney and Moscow. Estimates were that 85% of the world's TVs were
tuned in to LIVE AID. Over $100 million for famine relief was raised by LIVE AID.
Jim Rose
Nominated for the Texas Radio Hall
of Fame in 2004 and 2005
Houston, Texas
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