Take a Top 40 Mind Trip - The Journey

The community radio station I volunteer for, WTJU recently finished their spring fund drive. I hosted a special three-hour program featuring psychedelic-inspired Top 40 hits from 1966-1969. In my previous post, I outlined the criteria for selecting the tracks and some historical background. As promised in that post, here are the actual sets I aired.

San Francisco 1
- The Summer of Love started in San Francisco, which spawned the first round of psychedelic hits.

• San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) - Scott MacKinzie
• San Francisco Nights - The Animals
• Fantasy Fair radio ad (a three-day open-air SF music festival. 20 bands, including the Doors, Grass Roots, Jefferson Airplane, and the Sunshine Company for $3.00!)
• Neon Rainbow - The Boxtops

Colors
- Bright colors were an integral part of psychedelic posters, fashion, and imagery in lyrics.

• Green Tamborine - The Lemon Pipers
• Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles
• The Happening Night Club radio ad (This 1967 Seattle club ad touted a visiting SF band, and local fave Merilee and Persuasions. Merilee Rush would later chart with "Angel of the Morning.")
• Crystal Blue Persuasion - Tommy James and the Shondells

Light Psych 
- There were many gatekeepers to ensure only appropriate songs got airplay. In this set, the drug references are oblique, but quite obvious if you were hip.

• Good Vibrations - Beach Boys
• Along Comes Mary" - The Association
• Vox WaWa w/the Electric Prunes radio ad
• I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night - The Electric Prunes

Heavy Psych 
- The songs in this set were heavier in their sound, and the psychedelic imagery really took flight.

• Time Has Come Today - The Chamber Brothers
• Pictures of Matchstick Men - The Status Quo
• 7 UP Uncola Underground - radio ad (The Uncola Underground was a commercial co-op of the underground radical movements sprouting up on college campuses. The Uncola Underground would break into a 7 Up commercial with a subversive broadcast of their own.)
• In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly (this was the radio edit version)

Psych Out 
- The reports of LSD users inspired psychedelic imagery. The drug culture also had to be coded to get past AM radio music directors.

• Eight Miles High - The Byrds
• Kicks - Paul Revere and the Raiders
• Psych-Out radio ad (Dick Clark's exploitation movie was filmed on location in Haight-Ashbury and featured music by the Seeds and the Strawberry Alarm Clock.)
• Incense and Peppermint - Strawberry Alarm Clock

The Trip 
- Another drug-inspired set

• Itchycoo Park - The Small Faces
• Cloud Nine - The Temptations
• Levis Jeans/Jefferson Airplane radio ad (a truly psychedelic radio experience)
• White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane

Sunshine Classics
 - The hippie movement grew out of the early psychedelic scene, and the sun was an important motif. Musically, it formed a sub-genre of light psych called sunshine pop.

• Come to the Sunshine - Harpers Bizarre
• Sunshine Girl - Parade
• Falstaff Beer with Cream radio ad (Cream sings their own Falstaff jingle)
• Sunshine of Your Love - Cream

More Light Psych

• Morning Dew - Lulu (Though well-known to Grateful Dead fans, and recorded by Love, Lulu's version was the only one that charted)
• Naturally Stoned - Avante-Garde
• Crimson and Clover - Tommy James and the Shondells

Hippy Chick
 - The concept of the free-spirited flower child was another Top 40 favorite

• Windy - The Association
• Georgy Girl - The Seekers
• Clairol Psssssst radio ad
• The Rain, The Park, and Other Things - The Cowsills

Feeling Groovy
 - "Groovy" part of the early psych vocabulary. By the time it was used by Cheerios in 1969, it was old hat.

• Groovy Kind of Love - Wayne Fontane and the Mindbenders
• The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) - Harpers Bizarre
• Cheerios Feelin' Groovy radio ad
• Groovin' - The Young Rascals

The Bad Trip
 - LSD trips weren't always just bright colors and sounds.

• 19th Nervous Breakdown - The Rolling Stones
• Psychotic Reaction - Count Five
• The Trip radio ad (This exploitation film purportedly duplicated an authentic LSD trip for the audience.)
• Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - The Beatles

Hair, the Musical
 - You know a trend is over when it reaches Broadway. "Hair" was indeed a product of its time, Although the cast album sold briskly, the tunes only charted when covered by others.
Hair - The Cowsills
Good Morning Starshine - Oliver
Easy to be Hard - Three Dog Night
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The Fifth Dimension

Take a Top 40 Mind Trip

The community radio station I volunteer for, WTJU is in the throws of a fund drive this week. Each quarter one of the four music genres we air takes over the station for a week and dives deep into its repertoire. This week, it's rock. And this time, I'm hosting a program that should appeal to listeners of a certain age.

When San Francisco Conquered the Charts

The 1967 Summer of Love brought nationwide attention to what would become the counter-culture. LSD users reported seeing vibrant colors, swirling shapes, and sounds that faded in and out. They used surrealistic imagery and stream-of-consciousness narrative to describe their trips.



The sights and sounds of psychedelia permeated the graphics arts, fashion, and music.

A Special Psych-Out

Wednesday, April 10, 2017, I'll be taking three hours to explore the top 40 hits from 1966-1969 that were inspired by the psychedelic vibes flowing from Haight-Ashbury. In addition to the grooviest Top 40 hits ever released, I'll also be mixing in vintage radio ads products and movies such as "Psych-Out" and "The Trip."

Authentic artists

Some of the charting artists were legit members of the scene. Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" really wasn't about a Victorian children's classic. "Incense and Peppermints" by the Strawberry Alarm Clock was considered authentic enough to feature in the 1968 movie "Psych-Out.




Many of the mainstays of the San Francisco scene (like the Grateful Dead) didn't chart, but Jimi Hendrix did with "Purple Haze." While straight-arrow Ted Nugent might not have understood what he was singing "Journey to the Center of the Mind," the songwriters in the Amboy Dukes certainly did.

And the others

Some of the charting artists got their experiences second- or even third-hand. The Avante Garde (with a very young Chuck Woolery) suggested one didn't need drugs for enlightenment with their chart hit "Naturally Stoned."




The psychedelic scene was picked up in other ways by popular culture. The quintessential hippy chick, a free spirit with free-flowing hair was the subject of the Cowsills "The Rain, the Park, and Other Things." She's found in the Association's "Windy, " and an early version in the song "Georgy Girl" by the Seekers.

Fitting 6 hours into 3

Once I started looking for the characteristics of the psychedelic scene, the question turned from "what to include?" to "how much will I have to cut?"

I could easily have done a program twice as long and still only including Top 40 hits.

If you're of a certain age (or which you had been), be sure to tune in. The program will be available for two weeks following the broadcast on the WTJU website.

Be sure to wear flowers in your hair, and have bread in your hand. After all, this is a fund drive for the station.

Next week, I'll publish the full set list.

Beach Blanket Bingo - the DJ set

The station I volunteer for, WTJU, is co-sponsoring a summer film series in Charlottesville, VA with the Virginia Film Festival. Our role is to provide a DJ before the movie. This Friday, the VFF is screening Beach Blanket Bingo -- so of course, I volunteered to DJ. 

Last post (Beach Blanket DJ) I detailed the various elements I considered in assembling the set list. Below is the finished set list, with some additional commentary. The time scheduled is 90 minutes. I actually have 110 minutes programmed, in case I need to start early, and/or I need to drop a track in reaction to the crowd.

The Set List

1 Beach Blanket Bingo (opening credits) - Frankie Avalon/Annette Funicello - this is the movie they've come to see, seems like a good way to start

2 Surfin' USA - The Beach Boys - the audience will expect some Beach Boys, so here they are

3 Miserlou - Dick Dale & His Del-Tones - another familiar track, and Dick Dale was in several of the beach party movies (just not the one we're showing)

4 The Lonely Surfer - Jack Nitzsche - an instrumental classic of the era, plus it's slower, to calm things down a bit

5 Cycle Set - Donna Loren - this track is featured in the movie, sung by the Hondells. Donna Loren is also featured in the movie. I went with this one because female vocals add variety

6 Surf Party - The Astronauts - a surf guitar instrumental, and the Astronauts were featured in many of the beach party movies

7 Sandy - Ronny & The Daytonas - a slow number (and top 40 hit) with a Beach Boy-like sound

8 Andele - PJ & The Galaxies - an uptempo surf guitar instrumental

9 Hawaii - Bruce & Terry - Bruce Johnson and Terry Melchor helped developed the beach music sound. Bruce Johnson would later join the Beach Boys. I chose this track because it had the Beach Boys vibe. I wanted to use the actual Beach Boys tracks sparingly.

10 Muscle Bustle - Donna Loren - from the soundtrack of "Muscle Bustle," another American International beach party movie. An uptempo track contrasting with the chill medium tempo "Hawaii."

11 Little Honda The Hondells - The Hondells are featured in "Beach Blanket Bingo." This was their biggest top-40 hit, and should be familiar to the audience.

12 One Mint Julep PJ & The Galaxies - a mid-tempo surf guitar instrumental for contrast

13 Girls On The Beach - The Beach Boys - this slow number was a top-40 hit, so it should be familiar

14 Pajama Party - Annette Funicello - from the soundtrack to "Pajama Party," another American International beach party movie. It's uptempo and female vocals contrast with the previous track. Plus, Annette Funicello's in "Beach Blanket Bingo," so I'm setting the stage with this track.

15 Summer Means Fun - Bruce & Terry - an uptempo Beach Boys-like track. This may be cut for time considerations.

16 Heartbeats - Dick and Dee Dee - from the beach party movie "Wild, Wild, Winter" from Universal. Great contrast to the previous track.

17 Surf Jam - The Beach Boys - an uptempo instrumental from the Beach Boys. This may be cut due to time considerations.

18 California Sun - The Rivieras - a top 40 classic

19 The One You Can't Have - The Honeys - a fun, uptempo number. This female group was produced by Brian Wilson (who also wrote their songs), so it's the distaff version of the Beach Boys

20 Surfin' And A-Swingin' - Dick Dale - this is from "Beach Party" -- and it's Dick Dale, so two good reasons to play it.

21 Remember (Walkin' in the Sand) - The Shangri-Las - a top-40 favorite, complete with beach sound effects. This is a slow song with female vocals. Nice contrast, but may be cut for time considerations

22 Walk, Don't Run - The Ventures - a great almost-surf-guitar top 40 instrumental

23 409 - The Beach Boys - another top 40 hit that audiences should enjoy

24 Our Love's Gonna Snowball - Jackie and Gayle - a great track from "Wild, Wild, Winter," I chose this for the contrast of female vocals in the mix

25 Hot Rod Roadster - The Rip Chords -  an uptempo track

26 School's Out - The Sandals - a soundtrack selection from the Sandals. It's a surf guitar mid-tempo track. I may cut it for time considerations

27 I Get Around - The Beach Boys - a top 40 favorite

28 Beach Blanket Bingo - Donna Loren - we should be about halfway through set at this point. So for those who came in late, here's the theme song for tonight's feature

29 Bikini Drag - The Pyramids - a surf guitar instrumental from the soundtrack to "Bikini Beach"

30 Little Miss Go-Go - Gary Lewis & The Playboys - a Beach Boy-like uptempo track 

31 Secret Surfin' Spot -Dick Dale - from the soundtrack to "Beach Party" 

32 He's A Doll - The Honeys - female vocals for contrast, Beach Boys sound for familiarity

33 Two of a Kind - Jay & The Americans - from a Universal beach party soundtrack - uptempo track with contrasting non-beach sound.

34 The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena) - Jan & Dean  - a top 40 favorite, and way to continue the Beach Boy vibe without the Beach Boys.

35 Beach Party - Frankie Avalon - from the soundtrack to "Beach Party"

36 New Love- Donna Loren - a mid tempo ballad from "Beach Blanket Bingo." Contrasting female vocals and tempo to "Beach Party's" up tempo track

37 G.T.O. Ronny & The Daytonas - a top 40 favorite, and an uptempo track

38 Pipeline - The Chantays - a surf guitar and top 40 classic

39 I'll Never Change Him - Donna Loren - featured in "Pajama Party," it's a mid tempo track that I might cut due to time considerations

 - the rest of this line up is to get the audience primed for the main event - 

40 Theme From The Endless Summer - Sandals - a slow instrumental surf guitar classic.

41 Don't Stop Now - Frankie Avalon - uptempo track from "Beach Party"

42 Record Run - The Pyramids - uptempo track from "Bikini Beach" 

43 It Only Hurts When I Cry - Donna Loren - mid tempo ballad featured in "Beach Blanket Bingo"

44 I Live For The Sun - Sunrays - uptempo surf and top 40 classic

45 Gotcha Where I Want You - The Exciters - uptempo track from a beach party film

46 Wipe Out - The Surfaris - uptempo surf and top 40 classic

47 Bikini Beach (opening credits) - Cast - uptempo track from "Bikini Beach"

Digitizing LPs -- the hidden cost

RCA's answer to BS&T, ca. 1969. Do I really need to
have this on my iPod? (probably)

I own some LPs that are not likely to be available either on CD or (legal) digital downloads anytime soon -- if ever. That was OK - I figured I would eventually get a turntable with USB output and make the conversions myself.

I had an opportunity to do that recently, and on the whole the system worked fine. What I had forgotten about, though, was that the transfer process had to happen in real time. If the total playing time of the LP was 40 minutes, then the transfer time would be 40 minutes.

After doing two or three of the albums, I started to do some serious evaluation of my analog-to-digital project. I have about 100 albums that have no digital versions available (let me stress again, legally). So with an average playing time of about 35 minutes a platter, that's about 58 hours -- or almost two and half straight days -- of transfer time. And then I have to do some work on the tracks, which take about another 30-40 minutes per album, so make that about 116 hours. That's a little over two 40-hour work weeks.

Hmmm. This will have to be an extremely long-term project, and/or I'll need to seriously re-evaluate how many of these long-lost gems I really want to add to my digital library.

The Virtual Music Sort

Yesterday I shared how the rise of e-books impacted the way I organize my library. A similar thing has happened with music, too. As I've mentioned elsewhere, my decision to purchase a tangible CD has more to do with the rarity of the music than any opposition to online media.

With the advent of streaming services such as Mog, Spotify, and even (to a certain extent) Pandora, one might wonder if there's any need to purchase music -- either in physical or digital form -- ever again.

I think the answer depends on what you mean by music, and how you listen to it.

For most people (at least most people I know), music is something that's a convenience rather than a passion. They're perfectly happy listening to the popular artists in their preferred genres, and a large subset of them are even happier just hearing the hits.

So for those folks, (assuming they have ready Internet access) it doesn't really make sense to own music anymore. Like Classic Rock? You can hear "Sweet Home, Alabama" any time you want online -- so why buy the track?

These services are great for those who want to dig deeper, too. There's a lot of less familiar and more esoteric stuff available. But go too far, and you hit the licensing wall. Not every song by every artist (even the most popular ones) ia available. And for someone like me, that can be a real problem.

So here's my current deal: big names and charting songs I'll just access from the cloud. But that collection of early 1960's British girl groups? I better pick that one up when I see it. Because, based on experience, one or two tunes from that compilation might show up in a service, but not all of them. And the only way I'll get to hear those songs is if I own a copy.

So if you visit my home and take a peek at my CD collection, you'll probably see a lot of names you don't recognize, and some gaping holes where those artists that "everybody loves" should be. But that's simply because those artists are readily available, and most of the artists I own CDs of aren't.

With limited funds and storage space, one has to make choices!

(How do I know which obscure artists and songs are worth spending money on? That's a discussion we'll save for another day!)

Berlin: City Sounds Truly Astound

City Sounds: Step 1 - Berlin
Various Artists
Naive Gaiety

It's a tossup as to whether I'm more excited about the concept or the execution of this new series from Gaite Lyrique.

The concept's a great one: document the growth of a city's musical scene by collecting examples of all the stylistic threads that make up that city's "sound." Get tracks from the bands that started the scene, the groups that followed (or in some cases reacted against) them, and then present some forward-looking bands that suggest where the scene might be going. Do that, and you have a look at the past, present and possible future of a musical scene. The concept's solid, and the label promises that this will be part of an ongoing series of urban musical portraits.

OK, the concept's cool, but what about execution? City Sounds: Step 1: Berlin answers that question -- it's pretty good. The collection breaks down the past/present/future music scene of Berlin into six categories, each with their own CD. The set starts with Krautrock a la New Wave. It then moves to two discs of Indie Electronica, and Experiemental. Discs four and five take us to the present with Electro Clash and Performances, and Techno, House and Minimal respectively. The final disc is simply titled "Berlin Next!"

Whatever happened to --?
If you're into any of the styles represented, you might have some quibbles with the selections. Kraftwerk and Can, for example, are conspicuously absent from the Krautrock disc. I'm willing to chalk up any high-profile omissions to licensing issues rather than oversight, and consider what's there, rather than what isn't. With this set, no one track makes or breaks the collection. In a way, they're all points on a graph (or rather dots in a pointillist painting). It's the totality of all the tracks combined that give you the whole picture.

Krautrock and New Wave
The origins of the Berlin sound begin (according to this collection) in the late 1970's/early 1980's. Nina Hagen, Malaria!, Fad Gadget provide the solid New Wave base, and Nick Cave is represented on two tracks. Liasons Dangereuses presage many of the elements that later evolved into techno. All in all, a good place to start.

Electronica and Experimental
The second and third discs cover electronica and experimental music, the first CD spans the years 1997-2004, while the second runs from 2004-2009. No surprises if you're familiar with these genres, but if your not, check out Rhythm & Sound and Errorsmith with their clouds of sound and minimalist grooves. Super collider sounds like Prince via Vanilla Fudge (kudos if you get that reference), while the Puppetmastaz do a techno rap that could only be European in origin.

The third disc sounds more modern, as it should, and it's easy to hear the connections between bands - like Rhythm & Sound (1997) and Rechenzentrum (2003). Two standout tracks for me on this disc were Richard Davis' "Honest With You" and Jason Forrest "War Photographer," a 2005 track that's an uncredited pureed remix of BS&T's "Go Down Gamblin" with a little bit of their "Spinning Wheel" and "Lucritia MacEvil" thrown in. And Pole is represented with their track "Achterbahn."

Electro Clash
Probably the most famous name on disc four "Electro Clash & Performers" is Peaches. Although most of the music comes from 2001-2006, stylistically it sounds closer to the Krautrock than the later electronica. But that's what makes this collection so valuable. It makes it easy to hear the relationships between artists and artistic movements (and sometimes there are some surprises). Of course there are strong connection between many of these artists: Jamie Lidell, Gonzales, Peaches, Mocky, and Chicks on Speed are all related in ways way to complex to outline here (save to say there's a lot of musical cross-pollination). I especially dug Stereo Total's "L'Amour" with it's Dyanlesque changes, and the UK's Jamie Lidell's Motown-inspired soul.

Techno
Disc five, "Techno house and Minimal" owes more to the earlier Electronica and Experimental artists on discs 2 & 3. Of course, it also covers pretty much the same time period, 2003-2008. It includes standouts in the scene such as Ellen Alien, M.A.N.D.Y (with "No Stoppin'" rather than their club hit "Body Language"), Richie Hawtin, and Modeselektor with Thom Yorke, but to name a few.

Berlin Next!
The real prize is the final disc, which is Berlin Next! Many of these artists (including Seth Troxler, Moderat, and Pantha du Prince) seem to pull together many of the stylistic threads contained on the previous discs. Perhaps it's a sign of the times that several of the artists on this disc, such as Barbara Panther and Tama Sumo & Prosumerand don't have label credits -- just websites or MySpace pages.

This collection builds up a composite picture of the Berlin's musical scene spread over the last thirty-five years. I'm not sure I could listen to an unfamiliar track and say that it was definitely recorded by a Berlin artist. But thanks to City Sounds, I could tell if the artist was influenced by the Berlin music scene. This is a great collection - especially if you're a fan of any of these subgenres. You'll find a lot to like throughout the set, and probably discover some new artists to follow (well, at least I did). Gut gemacht!

Another Look at the Thousand True Fans

The Information is Beautiful Blog posted a wonderful graphic illustrating how much musicians earn online.It examines income streams from all of the different venues available, and looks at independent artists vs. those signed with labels. For many, the chart prompted despair -- 1.5 million plays on Last.fm, for example, earns a solo artist $1,160 -- the monthly minimum wage.

I suggest looking at it in a different light, though. Kevin Kelly's articulated the concept of the One Thousand True Fans as a way for independent artists to achieve success. Basically, if you can connect with one thousand fans who are willing to spend $100 on your downloads/albums/merch/concert tickets, then you can make a decent living catering to a niche market.

So let's look again at the numbers from our chart, and instead of looking at minimum wage, look at what happens if those One Thousand True Fans voted with their dollars and each made a purchase.

Self-pressed CD @$9.99 -- $8,000 to the artist
CD Baby Album @$9.99 -- $7,500 to the artist
CD Baby iTunes Download @$0.99 -- $570 to the artist

Look what happens when the artist signs with a label.
Retail album CD @9.99 list -- $2,000 to the label, $300 to the artist
iTunes album download @$9.99 list -- $6,290 to the label,$940 to the artist
Amazon MP3 download @$0.99 -- $630 to the label, $90 to the artist

Notice anything?

Traditionally, the advantage to signing with a label has been that the resources of the label could be used to boost the artist's profile, increasing their fan base. But look at it from the artist's perspective. To match the income ($8,000) from a self-released CD, the artist now needs 26,000 fans to by the album at retail. OK, that's not impossible. And when those 26,000 fans purchase, the label will make $52,000.

How about downloads? In order to net the same $570 you netted as an indie artist from your One Thousand Fans, you only need 8,220 folks to download your song -- and make $5,186 for the label in the process.

Now of course, labels measure success in terms of hundreds of thousands of fans. So if you had 250,000 of them (sort of the bare minimum), you'd then have $22,500 coming to you from your downloads -- while the label pockets $157,500.

Hmmm. Maybe it's best to keep those One Thousand Fans to yourself.

- Ralph

Music changes

Back in February the LA Times reported on a study by the NPD Group. According to the article,

Last year saw a 21% drop in the number of people in the U.S. buying music -- both digital and physical -- compared with 2007, according to figures released Thursday by NPD Group, a market research firm.

The NPD numbers echo similarly dour news released last month from the IFPI, a London-based consortium of 1,400 record companies. A 12% uptick in digital music sales in 2009 was not enough to reverse an overall 10% slide in global sales of recorded music in all formats

So things are changing. Another study by the NPD Group further illuminates. As you read the report, keep in mind what the major labels want.

1) There's more profit in albums than in singles, so the majors held the line on album prices and killed off CD singles so consumers had to buy the album to get the song they wanted.

2) There's more profit in physical profit than in downloads, so the majors dragged their feet even getting into the download market, and have been doing everything they can to stop consumers from downloading and/or sharing music illegally.

And the result?

Consumers’ primary reason for not purchasing CDs was that they were spending less on entertainment overall, because of the recession. Consumers were also concerned about the price of CDs, and expressed satisfaction with the collection of titles they already own. Among the reasons consumers cited for preferring digital music over CDs was that they could choose only the songs they wanted to purchase, and could immediately download and listen to their purchases.

See the problem? Consumers want one thing, the labels another. Businesses that survive adapt to the market. Those that don't die.

I don't think we're seeing the death of music, or artists no longer being able to support themselves, or any of that. But for the labels that are desperately trying to turn back the clock? The market's already spoken.

 - Ralph

The Dramamine Bender

I have to take Dramamine when I fly. It doesn't quite knock me out, but it makes me drowsy enough that I free-associate. And with a brain full of useless trivia and arcania, that can lead to some odd experiences.

On the entire flight back from San Diego to Virginia, I had a song stuck in my head. It was the old Top-40 hit "Bend Me, Shape Me." Now if you're of a certain age (or familiar with AM radio hits), you might think I had the American Breed on continual loop.



Yes, that was their one hit (and some of the members would go on to form Rufus, which also had one hit). But that's not what was stuck in my head. No, my subconscious had to serve up the version covered in the UK by the Amen Corner. And if you play both of the videos, you can see just how different these arrangements are.



I have some Amen Corner on various compilations, but I hadn't really listened to them in a while. Once I got home, I played their other tracks "Hey! Hey! Girl" and "Hello Susie" to get "Bend Me, Shape Me" out of my head (It worked).

Yikes. Maybe next time I'll take the train.

- Ralph

Day 96 of the WJMA Podwatch.

The Mason Brothers Revisited

I first wrote about the Mason Brothers almost a year ago, citing them as a band that understood how to use the Internet to promote their music ("The Mason Brothers: Jarring the Record Industry"). As I said before, maintain a presence on the Internet requires constant work -- you can't just put out a recording and think everyone will come to you.

The Mason Brothers certainly haven't. They have a MySpace page, a FaceBook page, their own website and keep in touch with fans through their e-mail newsletter.

So what has all that accomplished? Well, their song "May You Rise" was used in a recent documentary.


Rainbow Sandals - Battle of the Paddle - PRE-RACE SEQUENCE from Soul Surf Media on Vimeo.

And another of their songs, "Ghost at the Wheel" was used in this video:


BM Surfing Tournament: Environmental Piece (Mason Brothers) from James Mason on Vimeo.

Also, another of their songs was picked up for the film "Don't Fade Away."

So what does all that mean? It means that the band's moved to the next level. Now they don't have to depend exclusively on concerts and CD sales to support them. People who would never have the opportunity to see them live will hear their music in these films. And especially with "Don't Fade Away," it's providing another source of income.

Finally, nothing succeeds like success -- especially in Hollywood. The bands most producers prefer for soundtracks are bands that are already on soundtracks. Being a known quantity is a valuable asset.

And, of course, all the revenue from these projects goes straight to the musicians. There's no record company in the middle doling out a percentage of the fees to the artists (less their advance, of course).

The Mason Brothers aren't an overnight success, and their achievements didn't come without a lot of work. But they'll be the sole recipients of the fruits of their labors -- and that's what makes it worthwhile.

- Ralph

Day 332 of the WJMA Web Watch. (Of course, they don't play the Mason Brothers. If it's not on the charts, it doesn't exist -- much like their website.)

slotMusic -- Abuse Your Illusion

So SanDisk and EMI, Sony/BMG, Warner and Universal Music announce the arrival of slotMusic. One of the leading manufacturers of embedded memory devices and the four major record labels are coming together to bring albums loaded on special miniSD cards to market.


Excited?

Thought not.

I expect it will meet with the same crashing silence as Ringles.

The problem is the serious disconnect between what consumers want, and what the labels are prepared to give them. The major labels want to sell physical product -- what music's on it really doesn't matter that much. The customers want to buy music -- whether or not it's attached to any kind of physical product is irrelevant.

See how this is going to end badly?

Why do the majors continue to cling to the concept of selling physical units instead of chunks of audio data? Because their whole structure is based on that manufacturing-based business model used by soft drink companies, car companies, and many, many others. But music has shifted to more of an information technology business, which uses a different structure, different skill sets, and a different business model.

Almost ten years into the digital music revolution, and we get slotMusic.

Well, you can't turn a charging dinosaur on a dime, you know. But it would be nice if those riding it could at least steer the beast towards the right general direction.

- Ralph

Day 102 of the WJMA Web Watch.

No Choice for Music

Barry Schwartz’s book, "The Paradox of Choice" outlines an increasingly common aspect of modern life – having too many options. Sometimes when there are too many choices, it’s so difficult to pick one that I continually put off making a decision. Which results in no choice being made at all.

That happened to me recently in a group discussion. Each of us was supposed to name our favorite song. I didn’t know what to say. When it comes to music, I have too many choices.

My number one favorite song? Sorry, don’t have one.

If you’re talking about classical music, my most favorite composition is probably Kurt Hessenberg’s Second Symphony, simply the best-constructed musical composition I’ve ever heard. But if I want something with deep spirituality, then it’s Alan Hovhaness’ “Mysterious Mountain” -- or Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “Pilgrim’s Progress.” But then there’s Dowland’s “Can She Excuse My Wrongs?”and the Beethoven first string quartet and, well, the list goes on.

And the same is true of other genres. The number one golden oldie that takes me back to high school? “Things I’d Like to Say” by the New Colony Six. Except when it’s “Prologue” by Chicago. Or Sugarloaf’s “Green-Eyed Lady,” or Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose, or the Ides of March, or any of several other bands.

And if I want to go back to the early sixties, my favorite track is Petula Clark’s “Colour My World” except when it’s the Standells singing “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White, ” or any of a dozen other songs.

Movie soundtracks? My favorite’s Alfred Newman’s How the West Was Won, except when it’s Miklos Rozsa’s King of Kings. Or Erich Korngold’s score for The Adventures of Robin Hood, or Elmer Bernstein’s Hallelujah Trail, or a few others.

Ditto with musicals, soul, funk, pop, rock, new wave, punk, jazz, folk, grime (yes, I have a few favorites here), bluegrass, and even country.

Too many choices. I can’t decide.

So I do the only thing I can. I just enjoy every piece of music on its own merit, and how it meets my needs.

And I never answer the question of what’s my favorite song.
- Ralph

Day 92 of the WJMA Web Watch.

MTV VMA -- DOA?

Is it finally time to retire the Video Music Awards show on MTV? Everything about it seems old, which is the very antithesis of what this lifestyle cable channel is all about.

For those who came in late, MTV started as a cable channel back in 1981. Originally MTV stood for "Music Television" because the channel pretty much played music videos (then a developing artform/marketing tool) 24/7. Over time, the programming changed, to the point where videos seldom make an appearance on the channel.

The original concept of the MTV Video Music Awards was to create a program that was the opposite of the stuffy awards shows like the Oscars and Tonys. And the idea was to showcase music videos -- a format that had no other outlets at the time.

So here we are in 2008. MTV is saluting a format it never airs -- and airs with increasing rarity on MTV2 and VH1. The casual nature of the program where anything could happen has become a tightly controlled reality show where something outrageous MUST happen (like the Madonna/Brittany Spears/Christina Agularia kiss) every time.

But the increasing "outrageousness" of the antics seems to have an air of desperation. Viewership continues to plummet for the program -- a 45% decline over the past two years.

MTV isn't the source for music videos anymore -- YouTube is. Time for MTV to move on -- its audience has.

- Ralph

Day 86 of the WJMA Web Watch.

The Mason Brothers -- Jarring the Music Industry

Recently I posted about advice I gave to some parents who asked how their son could break into the music business. I didn't tell them what they wanted to hear, which was how to get signed to a major label. Instead, I offered up some examples of how to go about building an audience in this post-major label era, citing Jonathan Coulton and Geoff Smith.

I also told them something else neither they nor their son really wanted to hear -- that you have to get out there and promote yourself every way you possibly can. The advantage of the Internet is that most of the ways to do this are free. The disadvantage is that they're all labor-intensive.

I was fortunate to get a copy of "The Sun, the Moon & the Sea," the new acoustic album from the Richmond, Virginia-based Mason Brothers. It's a well-crafted album of solid songwriting with some truly inspired arrangements. There's a nice balance between the guitars and the vocals that sit just right.
So how are the Mason Brothers getting the word out about "The Sun, the Moon & the Sky?" They're working the Internet every way they can -- and the results are starting to pay off. If you're looking for the Mason Brothers, you'll easily find them. And that's good -- because as their profile rises, more people will be seeking them out.

In addition to their website, you can also check the Mason Brothers out on Myspace.com. They also have a band blog, entitled "Hood up, Hazards on" to keep the conversation with fans going. And they've worked hard to make their music as available as possible online.

Want a copy of the CD? You can purchase it from CDBaby.com, or Amazon.com.

Prefer digital downloads? Well, you can find them on iTunes and Amazon.com, as well as MP3.com, eFolkMusic.com, and AmieStreet.com. That last one is interesting because bands are promoted on the site through social networking. The tracks start out as free, and as the recommendations and downloads accrue, the price starts to rise until it tops out at 0.99. In other words, the more popular a band is, the more they can earn at Amie Street.

And the Mason Brothers have social networking covered, too. MySpace takes care of some of that, but they're also on OurStage.com, and lastfm.com. You can also find mentions of them at top40-charts.com, mevio.com, MusicDirects.com, mayplay.fm, as well as various blogs.

The band's reaching out another way, too. They've placed some of their music with Youlicense.com, which makes it available for use in movies, TV shows, and other forms of entertainment. And unlike with major label artists, the band gets all the licensing money, not just a small percentage.

Now constructing websites, providing content for blogs and Myspace pages, and getting music registered with all those download sites takes a lot of time and effort. The Mason Brothers have done what's necessary to lay the foundation.

And now the band seems to be moving to the next level of Internet presence. A video of the band was just posted on YouTube. And the post wasn't from the Mason Brothers, it was from the venue, the Gravity Lounge in Charlottesville.



When other people start freely promoting a band, that's when things start to happen. There's still a lot of work for the artist to do, but as more people come on board it gets easier to get the word out. That helps sales increase. And since all the money goes straight to the Mason Brothers (as opposed to 10-12% as it would if they were signed to a major label), the total volume of sales doesn't have to be very large to start generating a nice return on their investment.

And here's the important thing. None of this works if the music isn't good, which is why major label flacks have met with indifferent success with this Interwebtube thing.

The Mason Brothers are very, very, good.

- Ralph

G. Smith and the Special Song

Some well-meaning parents asked recently me how their talented son could break into the music business (me being a record label owner and all, they thought I should know). I outlined some of the strategies artists are using today, such as Jonathan Coulton -- strategies that increasingly don't involve a major label.

They weren't entirely happy with my answers -- they were still thinking that a major label recording contract was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

For most artists, that's just not going to happen (was ever thus). But that's OK. For the truly creative, there are as many ways to get music out and build an audience as there are URLs on the Internet. Geoff Smith springs to mind.

Geoff Smith is a musician living and working in Nashville, Tennessee. He's a very good songwriter (not uncommon), and a big fan of the "This Week in Tech" podcast (not so common). He wrote a song about his favorite program, and sent it to Leo Laporte, the host, and producer of "This Week in Tech." (TWIT).

Laporte liked it and played the song, "I'm a TWIT." on his podcast (he used it as TWIT's closing theme for the last program). It generated a lot of interest, and a video appeared on YouTube.




Now if you've never heard of TWIT, then all of this probably means nothing. However -- TWIT.TV has almost a half a million regular listeners and about 2.6 million unique downloads of their shows.

Most of that audience heard Geoff Smith's song about their favorite show. I suspect quite a few followed the links from TWIT to his website. Laporte also talked about Geoff Smith's business, Ringtone Feeder, which brought that website to the TWIT audience's attention. And in case anyone missed that particular episode, the blogosphere's been chattering away about the new hit song, "I'm a TWIT, " all with the appropriate links.

"I'm a TWIT's" been viewed over 15,000 times on YouTube (as of this writing), and there's plenty of places you can buy an MP3 of the song, including Amazon and iTunes.

Geoff Smith isn't getting any radio play, nor is he signed to a label, but so what? He's connected with a sizable audience that likes (and potentially will buy) his music. If nothing else, if Smith can keep the conversation going, he should be able to draw some nice crowds when he travels. Perhaps he won't fill stadiums, but audiences should be large enough to make touring profitable.

And consider these numbers. The song sells for $0.99, of which Geoff Smith gets just about $0.99 (less any overhead). If one percent of people who download TWIT purchase the track, that's $26,000 going straight to the artist. And if that number's closer to 5%, then it's more like $100,000 -- and that's major label-sized money.

So now when I'm cornered at parties by hopeful parents, I'll point to Geoff Smith along with Jonathan Coulton. After all -- I'm a TWIT.

- Ralph

Money for Nothing -- the Coulton Conundrum

The story of Jonathan Coulton and his success as a singer-songwriter has been well-documented. He's been featured in the New York Times, inteviewed in Wireless Magazine, profiled on NPR, and been on several podcasts, blogs and other forms of e-media. And yet most of the struggling musicians I talk to have never heard of him.

And that's too bad, because they could learn a lot from Coulton. Much has been made about Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails giving away music as a way to increase interest and therefore sales. The question remains, though, if they could reasonably expect the same massive response if they had not already been well-known acts before their experiments.

Jonathan Coulton started out as a complete unknown, and built his fanbase through an innovative and unusual fashion. He wrote and recorded a song each week for a year and posted it on his website. While you could purchase Coulton's songs, many of them you could also download for free.

Coulton's compositions were protected by a Creative Commons license, which meant others could use them freely for non-commercial purposes as long as he was credited. And people did.

Before the year was over Coulton's music started showing up all over the Internet. Because people could use his material without a lot of complicated licensing, almost 2,000 fan-made music videos were posted on YouTube alone.

Here's one of the many videos made for one of my favorite Coulton tunes "Ikea."



The songs Coulton posted eventually were collected into albums, which are available for sale through normal indie music channels such as CDBaby.com. Coulton toured, and continually played to larger and larger audiences. And his fanbase continues to grow to this day.

His song "Code Monkey" has become an IT anthem.



Recently, he was commissioned to write the closing song for the video game "Portals," which opened up an even wider audience to Coulton's music.



While I'm not suggesting every rising artist should copy Coulton's "Thing a Week" model, there are some takeaways from his career that I think every independent musician should know about.

1. Offer quality content -- If Jonathan Coulton didn't write good songs, he would still be working that day job.
2. Use the tools you have to connect directly with your fans -- The Internet offers many inexpensive ways to reach niche markets. Websites, blogs, podcasts and emails are all good places to start.
3. Keep control of your material, but not too much control -- If you purchase a Coulton song, the artist gets the cash. There's no record company to take the lion's share. And because Coulton allows non-commercial use of his material, his fans have spread it farther and faster than any record label-funded publicity campaign possibly could.

I first heard "Ikea" on a podcast and immediately liked it. When I heard Coulton's version of "Baby Got Back," I started actively looking for his music. I checked out some of his other tunes from his website, and now own some of his albums.

The major record labels consider every shared song a lost sale. For Jonathan Coulton, every shared song set up the potential of another sale. Independent artists need to take note.

And the rest of us just need to listen. These songs are great!

- Ralph

Arcania International On The Air!

Brent Hosier, owner of the Arcania International record label was featured on WVTF during "Morning Edition" today.

It was a pretty exciting time for all of us. My business partner and I at DCD Records have been working with Brent for some time, trying to get some well-deserved attention to his releases.

Brent's a knowledgeable record collector, and his compilations of 1960's garage band and soul records are pretty remarkable. Brent insists only using tracks that haven't been previously released on CD, which keeps the selections fresh-sounding. Further, he's pretty much limited his compilations to Virginia artists (with a few side trips).

Arcania International has two series running. The four volumes of "Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things" focuses on garage and psych bands of the mid- to late-1960s. "Ol' Virginia Soul" collects soul and R&B tracks from (mostly) the Old Dominion on three CDs.

Some of the discs have fallen out of print, and that's where we've come in. DCD Records has reissued "Aliens, Psychos and Wild Things, Vol. 1" and we're working on the others.

Check out the "Captive Audio" series at WVTF. You can even listen to the segment. And then -- if you're so inclined -- you can toodle on over to DCDRecords.com and buy a CD or two. We'll all be glad you did.

- Ralph

"Radio Nowhere" by John Amos

I was trying to find my way home,
But all I heard was a drone,
Bouncing off a satellite,
Crushing the last lone American night.
This is Radio Nowhere.
Is there anybody alive out there?

--Bruce Springsteen

Well, is there? Will somebody please answer the man’s question: Is anybody alive out there? I’ve been listening, but it seems pretty dead to me. Commercial radio, once such a potent means of communication, has become an utter wasteland.

I spend two hours a day in my truck, which doesn’t have a working CD player. So I listen to a lot of radio. I’ve got ten preset buttons, but only a couple are worth pushing.

Most stations today play pre-programmed “hits.” Few have live deejays. Of the ones that do, advertisements and silly talk predominate. Crude humor abounds. Once we had Wolfman Jack; now we have Imus, Stern, and a host of other shock-jock wannabes.

Stations try to grab listeners with fizzy promises (“more music, less talk”) and catchy slogans (“Generation Radio,” an inane euphemism for the oldies format). What’s missing, of course, is any sort of community connection. I realize the bottom-line drives a station’s programming decisions, but the fact remains: pre-packaged shows, produced in nameless places, are no substitute for the real, live thing.

Most stations today are owned by huge corporations. That’s why they all sound alike. Can’t take a chance on something original, so we’ll just play another worn out old standby, tell another smutty joke. The result: homogenized play-lists and tasteless talk.

It was not always so.

In fact, not that long ago radio was a vibrant part of this community. Orange’s tiny station had talent that much larger markets must have envied. Arch Harrison, Ross Hunter, and Bill Little were classy broadcasters with made-for-radio voices. The station also developed young talent, hiring high school students as broadcast interns, who learned the ropes quickly and soon became radio personalities in their own right. These folks took their work seriously, and they put out a product that people wanted, maybe even needed, to hear.

My grandmother listened religiously to The Swap Shop, a sort of on-air yard sale. She loved hearing people call in to trade clothes, cars, books, and other odd-and-ends. I once heard an old farmer on The Swap Shop attempt to trade a bushel of sweet potatoes for a 1968 Ford Galaxy transmission. I kid you not.

People tuned in on Friday nights to hear Hornet football games. They listened on election night to local politicos discuss the vote tallies. Teenagers called, requesting songs and offering dedications. People set their alarms to hear their neighbors’ birthdays announced. Churches took turns airing Sunday morning services.

None of it was particularly exciting, but it was genuine. Real people, real entertainment, and real information. Of course, it’s no longer cost-effective; but surely something has been lost.
A few oases still exist in today’s radio wasteland. National Public Radio provides a wonderful medley of music, interviews, and in-depth reporting. A Prairie Home Companion is the closest thing we have to the classic shows of the 30’s and 40’s.

Closer to home, several Charlottesville stations are bucking the trend. WNRN advertises itself as “community radio” and plays a wonderful grab-bag of music. 106.1 “The Corner” lives up to its slogan, “Different is Good.” And you never know what gem you’ll hear next on WTJU. These stations mix passionate volunteers with seasoned, professional deejays to create something worth listening to.

And in Orange, Phil Goodwin continues to report daily on local news. He’s a humane and intelligent voice, crying in the wilderness.

The internet is also trying hard to revive the medium. XM and Sirius offer stations devoted to blues, jazz, sports-talk, and just about anything else you could want. Services like Pandora and slacker.com actually allow listeners to build their own stations. Though I like the concept, internet radio seems a bit sterile to me. Good radio should deliver a sense of place, and who can say where the internet originates?

Radio, far more than television, relies on an audience’s imagination. Without pictures, it has only words, voice, and human warmth to reach listeners. This requires a person at the other end of the microphone, not a recording.

Like the newspaper industry, radio is struggling to remain relevant in the modern age. It will only survive by cultivating the human connection. Abandon that, and all you’ve got left is waves, bouncing off a satellite.

- John Amos

©2008 by John Amos
Reprinted by permission

I Want My MTV YouTube

Beloit College recent released their annual mindset list for incoming freshman. It places the class of 2011 in perspective by outlining some of the differences that shape their worldview as opposed to that of their professors.

One entry to the 2001 list caught my attention: for freshmen in college, MTV has never featured music videos.

For those who came in late, "MTV" originally stood for "Music Television" and the cable channel did nothing but play music videos. In the late 1980's it reshaped the musical landscape. Artists' fortunes rose and fell as their videos either entered heavy rotation on MTV or were discarded.

Eventually, the network started creating its own programming which eventually changed MTV from a video jukebox to a 20-something lifestyle network.

So those born in 1989 have never experienced "Music Television." But that's OK -- they have YouTube.

While many people only think of YouTube as a place for stupid pet trick videos or goofy Interent memes such as "Turtle Boy," it's actually a vast repository of all kinds of video material -- including music videos.

Many independent artists have self-posted their own videos, of course. And there's a fair collection of live performances, both professionally recorded and surreptitiously taped.

But record labels, both large and small, now use YouTube the way they used MTV in the 1980's to promote their acts. Everything from Natashia Bedingfield to Cat Power to A Band Called Quinn can be found on YouTube.

And unlike MTV in its heyday, the content isn't solely tied to current releases. It's easy to find videos from the 90s like Blind Melon's "No Rain." Or you can go back to the 1980's and catch the same videos your parents saw when MTV was new.

In the 1950's through the 1970's -- before music video came into its own -- TV variety shows served as the primary visual showcase for artists. Many of these performances have found their way on the site as well.

Watch a young and innocent Marianne Faithful perform "As Tears Go By" from a 1965 episode of Hullabaloo; Kansas performing in 1976, or Ike Turner playing on a St. Louis 1959 TV show when rock and roll was brand new.

Unlike the old MTV, YouTube's video offerings span the globe as well as time. Artists from all over the world can be found on YouTube. And all genres are there, too -- country, blues, jazz, folk and so on. NPR recently ran a story about classical music videos on the site.

So don't feel sorry for the class of 2011 and what they may have missed. MTV's role has been taken over by YouTube. And considering the vast array of content, it's an upgrade.


- Ralph

Sick Day at the Movies -- King of Kings

Like Ken, I had a sick day at the movies (although in my case, it was more like a week). Unlike Ken, I'll hold off on the three-word reviews -- the movie I watched, "King of Kings" (1961) deserves a little more than that.

One might assume that based on about forty years of derivative and uninspired low-budget religious biopics, that the "King of Kings" would be a yawner. It's not. And unlike long-winded films such as "Pirates of the Caribbean: At Franchise's End," the over two-and-a-half-hour playing time didn't seem excessive -- it merely gave this expansive story room to breathe.

I could probably do a series of posts about different aspects of "King of Kings" that work and work well, but I'll just touch on a few.

Despite the subject matter, the production told the story in an understated fashion, which somehow made it more compelling. There're no special effects for God -- His presence made known indirectly through the characters on screen. When Christ is tempted in the desert, the devil is heard but never seen. Is Jesus wrestling with an outside tempter or an inner one? Most of us have experienced something of the latter, which gives us an emotional connection to the character.

A tenet of mainstream Christianity is that Christ was both fully human and fully divine. Conveying that convincingly takes a lot of acting chops -- and Jeffrey Hunter succeeds admirably. Although he doesn't have much dialogue, the range of expressions play across his face speak volumes. Hunter effectively shows the inner peace of Christ and has an intent stare that shows something of divine power and understanding.

He shows compassion in his final meeting with John the Baptist, clearly knowing what's in store for them both. He stares down Judas with steely resolve at the Last Supper, advising him to do what he must -- just do it quickly. His face shows the warring emotions within as he stands on the brink at the Garden of Gesthemane, and while "King of Kings" may not match "The Passion of Christ" for graphic torture, Hunter still shows us Jesus suffering convincingly (perhaps more so, as we've come to know Hunter's Jesus in good times and bad over the course of the film).

Like many other books, the first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) underwent the Hollywood treatment -- parts of the narrative were deleted, characters rearranged, back stories changed, and so on. Herod's daughter dances provocatively for the head of John the Baptist a la Oscar Wilde's play. And that dance is no less provocative for being filmed almost a half-century ago.

Barabbas gets an expanded role in "King of Kings." Both Matthew and Mark say this prisoner the crowds chose to free instead of Jesus was an insurrectionist. In "King of Kings" he's the head of the Jewish resistance, waging a guerrilla war on the occupying Romans.

Judas Iscariot also gets some back story, which helps his motivation considerably. There's always been something of a problem with Judas. As one of the disciples he was in close contact with Jesus on a daily basis, learning from Him and seeing him perform miracles -- and yet he betrayed Him in the end for money. It seems odd that someone so close to divinity would be so unaffected by it, and the assumption that Judas was just bad just doesn't measure up.

According to "King of Kings," Judas is an associate of Barabbas, and while becoming a disciple of Jesus, maintains his friendship with the would-be liberator of Israel. Judas comes to understand that Jesus is the Messiah, but like Barabbas has a hard time fitting him into the then-popular notion of the Messiah as warrior-king.

As the story unfolds, Judas witnesses the miracles and finally understands the divinity (and power) Jesus possesses. He also knows that Jesus chooses not to use that power to topple the Romans. After Barabbas' insurrection fails, Judas comes up with a simple plan. He reasons that if Jesus was captured by the Romans and his life was personally threatened, he would act.

So Judas betrays Jesus because he believes in His power, and to place Jesus in a position to use that power to free Israel. It makes sense, and has a certain irony as earlier when Christ was in the wilderness he rebukes the devil's challenge to demonstrate His power, saying "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." In a sense, that's what Judas did. And the results were not those that anyone expected.

While lesser actors in subsequent films tried to emulate Jeffrey Hunter's performance by staring blankly up at the ceiling, so too lesser composers tried to copy Miklos Rosza's inspired score. But there's more to providing music for a religious film than just a wordless chorus and hymn-like chords.

With deft orchestration, Rozsa captures not just the mood of the scene, but also the milieu. His music for Salome's dance, while his Roman march personifies the unstoppable nature of this military force as it conquers all before it (and if you listen carefully, I think you'll hear a pre-echo of John William's "Imperial March" from "Star Wars").

At Christmas, I often use Rosza's Nativity music on my radio program. Its childlike theme use flutes, representing the shepherds, with an Oriental flavor for the Magi. The delicate scoring of his cue for the "Lord's Prayer" underlines its spiritual simplicity. And who could doubt -- after hearing the climatic finale -- that they've just seen the greatest story ever told?

I thoroughly enjoyed "King of Kings." But remember -- it's a story filtered through Hollywood. It's pretty accurate, but don't treat it as gospel.

- Ralph

And I highly recommend Telarc's recording of this score with Eric Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Great stuff!