Mailbag

From: Steve Lukather
Re: Rhinofy-I Won't Hold You Back

Gotta love ya Bob. haha

Thanks and I don't wince at the name Toto like that. Well not in a long time. We Used to get our asses kicked daily.. now people either like you or they don't. That's cool.

I am proud of us old f**ks hangin and taking the beating for 35 + years and we STILL get together in the summers and tour and still play arenas and headline festivals outside of the USA. Going to play a bit in the USA this summer.

We all LOVED the Fallon- JT bit on Africa, the Family Guy episode on Africa was classic, hell I was a South Park character. HOW much cooler is THAT. We GET the joke man.. no bad vibe at ALL.

I am lucky to get paid to play music after all these years..

The Timothy B. Schmitt thing is right on. It's my tune but when Timothy sang the BG's it was more than that. He has an amazing voice. We HAD to feature it. James Newton Howard helped with the strings on that tune and we recorded at Abbey Road with Martyn Ford and the London Symphony orchestra guys. Huge section...back when we spent a ton of money on records cause we WANTED it to be great and that's how the Beatles did it and we LOVE all those records, Elton and all the BIG production of the records back then.

Thanks for the shout out and I send ya my best from Denmark.

Luke

P.S. I failed to say was JEFF PORCARO was THE greatest groove player on planet earth! HE is what made Toto swing. We always followed what Jeff did and when Jeff said ' Thats the take" he was always right. He got me to play some of my best stuff. He knew how to communicate like no other person I have ever known.

Paich and him were like one. It was awesome to be a part of that.
Oh there ARE some most awesome world-class drummers and I love them all and have played with most of the greats.. but just ask anyone who ever had the honor of playing with Jeff or even just got to hang with him.

He always made EVERYONE sound better. He helped SO many players get started.

Countless hit records from the 70's till his WAY too early passing Aug 5th 1992.

Everyone wanted to steal him for their own bands or tours.

I love him and I miss him everyday.

He gave SO much to so many musicians. Most times they didn't even know it.

Jeff was one of a kind.

He was magic and I miss him so much..

We all do.

_____________________________________________

From: David Paich
Subject: TOTO

thanks for rememberin....

:D

_____________________________________________

From: Eric Carmen
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-I Won't Hold You Back

Re: Luke, Toto, "I Won't Hold You Back"

Hi Bob,

"I Won't Hold You Back" is my favorite Toto track. I love the sincerity of Luke's vocal, and, as anyone who sings on records knows, it's all about convincing the listener you MEAN IT. It's believability that makes a track monumental, or not.

You can sing a sharp note, or a flat note here and there, and no one is going to say that ruined the record for them. It's the performance that counts. It's Paul McCartney's voice recorded and mixed so that when you hear "Hey Jude" on the radio it feels like Paul is sitting next to you, in the passenger seat, singing in your ear, while the rest of the band is coming out of your radio speakers (the magic of Sir George Martin). Same thing for all of James Taylor's records.

Listen to "Save The Best For Last" by Vanessa Williams and you can "hear" the smile on her face when she sings certain lines. That's a performance.

At any rate, having played in a band that similarly got no respect, (until now, 30 years too late) I often ask myself at what point did a great melody become anathema to popular music? And why?

When did "beats" replace great songwriting, and why would any rock critic think someone rapping over a computer generated track was somehow superior to a singer who could actually sing and write a terrific, melodic, memorable song? I actually believe I have the answer. It's that songs with beautiful melodies, sung with sensitivity by a male singer, make Alpha males uncomfortable. Men are supposed to be tough. We're not supposed to HAVE feelings. If we do, it's a sign of weakness. This is why AC/DC and Metallica are huge, popular big selling bands. Guys don't want to like the same records their sisters like. It's much safer to like "Highway To Hell" than to admit you like "I Won't Hold You Back" or (God forbid) "All By Myself." If I had a dime for every time that song has been referred to as "Eric Carmen's cheesy, self-flagellating ballad" in print, I'd never have to work again. There seems to be something empowering about guys removing themselves from any emotional availability. It's just more "manly" to put those songs down.

In any case, I guess that's a problem for psychologists to ponder. I, for one, loved "I Won't Hold You Back." But then, you could have pretty much expected that, couldn't you? I loved the songs J.D. Souther wrote for Linda Ronstadt, too. And I love "Somewhere" from "West Side Story" and "Some Enchanted Evening" from "South Pacific" and "Someone To Watch Over Me", and "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning" by Sinatra.

Maybe it's just the times we live in.

And so it goes.

Eric

_____________________________________________

From: Michael Hardy
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-I Won't Hold You Back

Hey Bob,

I love Toto. Saw them in Tulsa back in 82 I think. If I remember
correctly, Timothy Schmit was wearing a cast on his leg. The show must
go on!

Get this: Roger Sanchez had a huge dance hit in Europe in the early
2000s with a sample from "I won't hold you back." All these years, I
knew it sounded familiar but couldn't put my finger on it until now.

http://spoti.fi/XCvatV

Ciao from Austin,
Michael Hardy

_____________________________________________

From: Steve Lillywhite
Subject: Re: CMW Day One

Hi Bob , first off , thank you for the shout out from CMW and I must agree with you about the current state of rock music. Technology has always led the definition of our musical times, right from the time drummers were allowed to play louder to compete with electric guitars. The current recording technology
of pro tools etc is not conducive to the "traditional" rock sound and in fact makes it predictable and BORING ! I am not of the belief however that we should return to the talibanic world of Dave Grohl to make make records although the past definitely gives us pointers to the future ... Having just worked with Jared Leto on the new Thirty Seconds to Mars album I believe a new standard has been set ..

Steve Lillywhite

Ps. Please read Stone Free by Andrew Loog Oldham . Spectacular book!

Pps. I never thought of U2 as a rock band , more Frank Sinatra with electric guitars ...

Badly dictated by Siri

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From: Wendy Waldman
Subject: Full Circle

Turns out that Lee's Traveling Song was prophetic for me. When we did that track, and that album, I was dreaming of music that I didn't think I'd heard anywhere: as the blues dropout in a family of erudite, extraordinary, deeply classically educated people, I wanted to write folk and roots style songs with rich sounding orchestras and interesting arrangements--I always said of this dream, "imagine if George Gershwin met the Rolling Stones at Skip James' house, and Ravel dropped by...." or, what if Bartok jammed with Doc Boggs...."

Kenny Edwards and I loved music that howled, and the music that howls is of course, true American folk music, American mountain music, Delta blues, gospel music, early country, all found in those killer field recordings we got to hear when we prowled through the record bins at the Ash Grove and McCabe's--and that we were so lucky to hear when those very folks came through town to play for 6 nights straight in the clubs, as people did in those days. Or like the day the "Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues" was released on Columbia and I wore it out for years thereafter...I still have the lp.

But I had grown up hearing chamber music coming from the living room being played live by my folks and their friends, and also, the magnificent, sweeping scores of the film and television composers who were my father's colleagues-- as well as his own astonishing and quietly groundbreaking work. Consequently, on the first album, not only did my dad write three arrangements--and conduct them--but my producer Chuck Plotkin pushed ME to write strings and horns as well, claiming that it was in my blood...

So Lee's Traveling Song became a compass not only for me musically, but for me personally. The elements in that song, that album, those experiments, that joy I felt making music--these, along with Stephen Holden's life changing review--have been enough not only to sustain me for all these years, but to propel me, to push me to keep trying to grow and explore--and the older I get, the MORE I dig this, the MORE excited I am about music and working at it, and the MORE I know I have yet to learn. And this was, I see now, always my real dream.

This year is the 40th anniversary of the release of my first album for Warner Brothers, "Love Has Got Me," the one about which you wrote. I never thought it would really happen--that in a million years I would turn out to be not only such a restless seeker after music, but someone who has had the profound privilege of working with fantastic musicians, writers, technicians, friends--all around the world. How lucky am I? You're right, man, I never "broke through.." in the way that many of my LA colleagues did in their 20s---and the bios of me always point that out. But you know I made a different bed--and yes there were times when I was younger that I didn't understand how blessed I was to have this life and work in so many ways with so many people who have taught me so much.

Now I know. I am so thankful for the bed I made, or that was made for me--and from Nashville, to Japan, to Poland, to Russia, to Halifax, from LA to New York to Muscle Shoals, from Artie Traum to George Winston to Linda Ronstadt to Mietek to Kenny Edwards, Aaron Neville, Alison Krauss, New Grass Revival, the Ozark Mtn Daredevils, HB Barnum, Andrew Gold, John Cowan, Karla Bonoff to Vanessa Williams to Robert Smith, from being a producer to a folk musician to a (sometimes) hit writer to a piano playing singer songwriter to a background singer on Hee Haw and tons of pop and country records, fronting a rock band opening for Dan Fogelberg, playing back to back with Randy Newman and Ry Cooder to the Refugees with Deborah Holland and Cidny Bullens, to film, to television, to producing Christian records (as a Jew), country records, rock, folk, European pop records--what a ride--the list alone would be the length of this letter!! Brilliant studio and live musicians, producers, engineers, a few great publishers, a lot of amazing songwriters, all wonderful each in their own way, have taught me more than I ever could have imagined, and made my life so rich. I've had really awful financial years and really great ones, a bunch of broken hearts, but I've never regretted a single day of this life I chose as a musician.

I still love music that howls, I am back to writing for strings and dobros, horns and pianos, electric guitars and dulcimers. I listen to classical music all day long, and then go into my studio and cut blues influenced country tracks or piano songs with strange chords and cellos. I'm trying all kinds of new musical ideas and having a blast. I've learned from every single musician and writer I've known that music is a road, a language indeed that goes way beyond how we communicate with words. At root, we are all the same.

The great masters who went before us, guys like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, Ravel, Brahms, Verdi, Rogers and Hammerstein, the Gershwins, Bartok, Duke Ellington, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joe Strummer, Coltrane, Doc Boggs, Laura Nyro, Mississippi John Hurt, Harlan Howard, Ella Fitzgerald, countless geniuses--they all worked until the end of their days, and I hope I get to make music to the end of my days too.

Thanks man, for everything.

XW

_____________________________________________

From: Rob Deutsche
Subject: Re: Justin Timberlake

You couldn't be more dead on here. I was at Fingerprints in Long Beach yesterday buying some used LPs, and they were playing the new JT on the store loudspeaker, and all the dyed hair punker employees were wearing JT buttons on their shirts (When was the last time you saw artists getting promoted via buttons!!??). Fingerprints isn't the sort of place that sells JT albums, nor is the typical customer there the sort of person who would care about his new album, but the label is so worried that they don't care anymore and are throwing this crap up anywhere there is a ceiling, spending god knows how much money to tell a bunch of people that never cared that there is an album coming out from some artist that simply isn't relevant to them.

_____________________________________________

From: Bob Chiappardi
Subject: Re: Justin Timberlake

this ties in with a question i have for you about the new Spotify "terms" i signed off on without reading at 1 am last night. it came after i clicked through on an email i got from Spotify inviting me to check out the new JT release. i checked out a couple songs and went to bed. as of this morning i must have gotten 2 dozen banner pop ups, no matter where i go pushing the JT record on me. and twice today, while playing one of my Spodify playlists, i got pushed back to the JT page after i paused and let my computer sit for 30 minutes. i don't remember this happening in the past.

i have never had anything forced on me lik e this ever. is the the future play? i have Spotify premium. if this is what i can expect, i am going to cancel it now. you have any insights on what Spodify is up to?

_____________________________________________

From: peteadams81
Subject: RE: Then/Now-Media Edition

This makes me wonder how much of the negativity surrounding the high-ish ticket events-concerts, sports, hell even a trip to an amusement park or a movie- how much of that negativity is a side effect of the fact that we are ever more engaged in a tacit agreement with the venue, ticketmaster, Budweiser, etc, to be overcharged and underserved and constantly advertised to? "Tonight's urinal cakes brought to you by Adam Sandler's latest masterpiece "PeePee Boy"-nobody likes to be reminded that they let themselves get f**k*d over, but everything about these events seems to be designed to remind us-from your first contact with the event at a ticketseller where you are charged $29 in service charges, to the night of the show where parking sucks and is still $20, the security at the door are a**holes, service is slow and usually rude and always overpriced.

I'm 41 and still love to go to concerts- more often for theatre level acts- The Avetts, David Gray, etc- if the venue is on top of its game logistically, I will tell everybody I know what a great time I had and how they were efficient, friendly, reasonable- these things matter to a significant number of potential money spenders- they are still f**k*ng me over for the most part, but I don't mind nearly as much. Of course everybodys got a chip on their shoulder- all parties involved are whoring themselves in some way or another and I would say that the pissyness that seems more prevalent in recent decades is our anxiety over that fact coming out sideways. How could we NOT be twitchy with all the b.s. that we're all continually and completely and complicitly buried in?

_____________________________________________

From: Tom Garnsey
Subject: TOTO et al

Bob,

I know I still owe you a copy of Shawn, Jackson and Mary Chapin from Yellowstone Club- it's safe to send it now. We've had quite a week up here. I sat here listening to Bill Payne who is playing and producing a record with my band as well as becoming a songwriting partner and friend. He was telling me Toto, James Taylor, Valerie Carter and all sorts of other 70's tales of rock and roll craziness…This was after my company produced this year's benefit fundraiser at YC - Shawn and James Taylor giving a songwriting workshop for twenty kids in Big Sky and performing the next night for 250 people. Sublime. The workshop stories were over the top- James got his record deal by playing "Something in the Way She Moves" for George Harrison and McCartney. He had written it after copping the idea from " I Feel Fine" and then George went home and wrote "Something". Circles. One of James' better quotes, " You can make a lot of money in the music business if you're willing to be lonely for your whole life." On Friday, Bill Payne, my bass player and I did a set in the dining room up there with Shawn and JT in the audience. The point here is that in Bozeman we're still having those "moments" and it's about music and community- Nobody gives a f**k about the money.

t

_____________________________________________

Subject: Re: Leno/Fallon

good luck to the major networks. i like binge viewing on my apple tv via hulu and netflix and i watch on my tablet what i want when i want and so does everyone else i know; that's what people talk about at the restaurant. my 4 year old looked at me the other day and said, "mommy i want apple tv." nuff said for me. the girl watches what she wants when she wants with no commercials. AND for a fraction of the price of cable.

as far as leno goes; shame on NBC... don't go against a guy who's worked his a** off and delivered. it's just wrong.

people are going to start getting what they want and what they're willing to fight for. House of Cards is amazing; ABC cancelled their two biggest soaps All My Children and One Life to Live which are now coming online; Veronica Mars coming online; Arrested Development. The people have spoken; I'm glad someone is listening.

On other thing - "The Good Wife" which is an awesome show is failing in the ratings... not available on hulu or netflix. All the other shows that are just getting bigger and bigger because people can catch up to the hype on their digital delivery systems. I think it's all awesome. Bring on the revolution.

Anonymous.

_____________________________________________

Subject: RE: Michael Cohl At CMW

If you use this please do so anonymously. As much as I'd love to publicly
sound off I gotta make a living in this biz.

Amen
I could go on and on and on and on about this but there's a whole crop of
agents and managers who've either never actually dealt with or very rarely
even deal with promoters.

Oh sure they get their gigs booked, but the great majority of people they
call/deal with are "Talent Buyers"

A talent buyer is someone who sits in an office with a spreadsheet and
spends someone else's money and generally has a whole support staff of
people whose job it is to "stick it in the strip ad" or "buy a facebook ad"
or "produce the show".

Agents and Talent buyers argue all day about other people's money and then
go to sxsw and pollstar live and jerk each other off all ALSO on other
people's money.

I'm not saying that "Talent buyers" aren't necessarily good at what they do
but not a one of them has ever had to go the ATM machine at the end of the
night and pull out money from their bank account to pay an act.

If he gets fired, they'll just hire his assistant to take his place.

The average Talent Buyer, along with $3.50 is about what a cup of coffee at
Starbucks is worth.

And this is why Livenation in its what 7 or 8 years as a public company has
yet to make a nickel in profit because they have an army of talent buyers
and no promoters.

_____________________________________________

Re: Crowdfunding

"The goal is not transparent. Unlike Kickstarter, which shows the pledgers that "X" is trying to raise a certain dollar amount, Pledge just shows a "percentage of goal reached". Maybe it's just me, but I'd like to know how ambitious the project is to start."

This person is comparing us to what we aren't. i.e. a Crowd Funding company. We are a way of releasing music, direct-to-fan.

Re the target and showing it publicly only a hand full of people have ever asked. Some artists can choose to tell them. Others don't. It's their choice. But again it's just not what we do.

"The "charity" component seemed to me to be a bit of a gimmick to compete with Kickstarter…"

"Artists, Fans & Charities." This is what I saw in my head the night that Pledge popped in there. It's at the core of what we do. It's at the core of what I do. It's not a gimmick. I tried to help refugees in the middle east in 2004 and events there changed my life forever. I determined that what ever I did moving forward would do something to make the world a better place in some small way.

We're not trying to compete with Kickstarter. I have immense respect for Yancey who I have met a few times and he's a brilliant guy. For Kendal also.
We launched within a few months of each other with two different missions. Though I do not know the other founders personally I know that they are doing what they do for all of the right reasons. I know that they care about the community that they have built and that they are working hard "to make a dent in the Universe." We just took different paths.

Cheers
Benj

Benji Rogers
CEO & Founder
PledgeMusic New York

_____________________________________________

From: Rafael Atijas
Subject: Re: Re-Crowdfunding

bob,
lot's of b.s. in some of the replies you got:
kickstarter does give you the full customers' data: email, everything. so that jacob tell guy has it completely wrong.
and amazon payment fees are NEVER more than 5%, so that jeremy cee guys also has it wrong.
i know it because i ran a successful campaign: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1340845022/the-loog-guitar
in any event, those things are so easy to check too its suspicious those guys are so mistaken.

cheers; enjoy your emails,
rafa

_____________________________________________

From: "Matt E. Earley - Gotta Groove Vinyl Record Pressing"
Subject: RE: CMW Crowdfunding Panel

Hi Bob

I strongly believe that crowdfunding is going to continue to become a more dominant tool in the music business.

We are a vinyl record manufacturer, and although it is not widely discussed, the vast majority of the vinyl records sold in the United States are done by bands and/or small labels releasing their own music vs records sold by the dominant labels/distributors. As such, we have seen many crowdfunded projects over the past few years, with one consistent issue -- the campaign manager's inability to set and manage expectations. This issue is not typically due to his/her own fault, but just the lack of information and adequate tools.

For example - we have received several orders funded by a crowdfunding platform, where specific vinyl colors were offered as perks in the campaign - but, without first confirming with any pressing plant if those colors were actually doable. (Mixing plastic is not like mixing paint - so not all colors are attainable on a pressed record). Further, since most folks using the platforms are not paying for any part of their pressing project out of pocket, they typically have to wait until the campaign successfully funds (and then wait for funds to clear) before even being able to place an order with a pressing plant. This causes huge delays in delivery of the final product, and can alienate fans toward the bands/labels involved with the campaign.

We launched our own pre-order/crowdfunding platform earlier this year to solve these issues. Since we are a vinyl pressing plant, the focus of the platform is making vinyl projects easier for intellectual property owners. However, we recognize that vinyl is a small part of most release campaigns, and therefore open the platform to all music-related projects. (We also open the platform to people pressing vinyl through other manufacturers).

In its short lifespan since initial launch, we have been able to coach several people in their campaigns to create releases that are realistic in terms of both manufacturing limitations and release timeframe. I expect this vertically-integrated model of funding-manufacturing-selling to grow not only with us, but also with other non-music industries in the next few years.

Matt Earley
V.P. Sales & Marketing
Gotta Groove Records, Inc.
Pre-Order/CrowdFunding: www.gottagroovebot.com
Vinyl Manufacturing: www.gottagrooverecords.com

_____________________________________________

Subject: Re: Re-Crowdfunding

Bob--

Just an additional thought regarding crowd funding. I do think a band's additional campaign for each consecutive recording project will raise less and less from repeat customers. They give a thousand the first time, five hundred the next, for example. You have to change the perks to keep people satisfied. Also--- most of my fans have been turned on to other artists that work with me or my manager somehow--- and many of my fans end up funding those artist's campaigns as well--- spreading the love but diluting source of the funds somewhat. I have fans that have contributed to people who open for me, tour with me, or are part of my managers stable of artists. As this has become the new paradigm for all bands, less money has become available.

A couple that gave $10,000 in the first campaign, have contributed to many additional artists in the family of artists around me. They wanted to contribute to my new campaign in a different way and asked if purchasing any studio equipment for the actual project would help instead. It felt more tangible to them that way--- and the mikes and preamps will be used on everything i do forever. I want people to be feel like they are getting something of value and a sense of satisfaction for them is important, so I'm open to their ideas. I sent them a wish list for my home studio, where i am doing vocals and guitars. They picked a couple items and bought them, and had them shipped to me. This worked great, and will help me out with everything I record from here on. They got perks at the level of the cost of the equipment-- art, free tix, hand written lyrics, a coffee table book.


Another example-- I was approached by someone recently who asked to buy into the publishing rights to a song as a contribution to an album. It might be something I'd consider--- giving someone a piece of a song they particularly are attached to (it would have to be 10% publishing say for $10,000 or something along those lines) might be a way to help make some of the contributor's money back and bring some pride in ownership that dinner with the band and the other perks don't. (I assume they would also get additional perks for that amount, but the prize of the level would be some publishing rights).

Most of my songs wouldn't return the $10,000. Other perks would have to be included-- life time pass to shows, original artwork, etc. However-- a few of my songs have brought in over $100,000 in publishing over years and years, which would be the break even point for the donors 10% payback.
It would be like speculating for them--- the guy that brought this up was a stockbroker. The contributor picks the money maker song on the cd. If it lands in a movie or an ad campaign or becomes a hit somehow, or a classic like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" the investment not only returns, it rolls into quarterly profits.

If I could own 10% of "This Land is Your Land" not only would I love having it--- The income return from the initial investment would be quite high on an annual basis.

I haven't decided on incorporating this idea, but it could be part of a future campaign.

Something to mull...
Thanks!
Ellis Paul
Www.ellispaul.com

_____________________________________________

From: Phil Bonanno
Subject: relevant

Hi Bob - this got passed to me and I immediately thought of you. Apologies if this is the 10,000th copy of it you've received.

http://www.infographicsonly.com/music-just-isnt-what-it-used-to-be-like/

_____________________________________________

From: Alan Cohen
Subject: Best Doughnut in the World...

...is at a food truck in Austin, TX. Made to order. THIS ONE:

http://www.gourdoughs.com/doughnuts/flying-pig/


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