03.30.07
DenverPost.com - Modern art museum digs in at new site
DenverPost.com - Modern art museum digs in at new site
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This is the letter received by a number of us involved at ground zero with Bum Rush The Charts. It was sent to us at 3pm Pacific time, 9 hours before the deadline in California and 14 hours before Hawaii closes it’s count.
Keep in mind while reading this that it states pretty clearly that the movement failed. This is a piece that was written with every intent of being a final version, yet it was written well before any stats or facts were known.
That says quite a bit about the level of understanding that Big Media had about the movement and their willingness to actually sit back and wait for the final outcome. Obviously, they just figured it would fail so they started pounding nails into the coffin so they could get home on time for dinner.
Enjoy and if you feel like getting in touch with Mr. Bruno, you can email him at abruno@billboard.com
BumRushTheCharts’ Falls Short
March 22, 2007 - Digital and Mobile
By Antony Bruno, Denver
The BumRushTheCharts initiative that tried to elevate rock outfit Black Lab to the top 10 downloaded songs list on iTunes didn’t get the momentum organizers hoped for.
The effort was designed to show off the power of podcasting by recruiting podcasters to encourage their listeners to buy the single "Mine Again" by Black Lab via iTunes on March 22. The group set up an iTunes affiliate store manage the purchases and donate all proceeds to various college scholarship organizations.
However on March 22, the song did not break the iTunes Top 10 list, nor did it make the top 100, according to an iTunes spokesman. The company does not track sales under the top 100, so it remains unknown what kind of bump the song received as a result of the effort.
One of the factors likely contributing to the initiative failure is the fact that most podcast fans are also staunch opponents of digital rights management technology-and Apple’s iTunes is often the main target of their ire. Asking this same group to purchase a song via iTunes is like asking them to give money to their worst enemy, which likely cooled some enthusiasm for the campaign.
ree-agency is slowing down before the second wave. Some notable signings and releases involving the Colts, Seahawks, Broncos, and Raiders. After some quick news bytes from around the National Football League, we delve into the 2007 NFL Draft where …
On the March 15 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, nationally syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt denounced as “a myth” host Wolf Blitzer's suggestion that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's (R) Mormon faith will be a “problem with the conservative right.” Hewitt asserted: “Most of the public attacks on Romney for his faith in the last three months have come from the left,” and added, “He's also been attacked for being a flip-flopper from the left. That's not a conservative critique of him, either.” But as Blitzer noted, recent polling data suggests that more liberals would be willing to vote for a Mormon for president than conservatives. Further, Media Matters for America has documented several instances of conservative and evangelical leaders' demonstrated hostility towards Mormonism. Moreover, numerous conservative voices — including Fox News political analyst Dick Morris, WorldNetDaily.com columnist Bruce Wilson, and reportedly numerous attendees at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) — have branded Romney a “flip-flopper.”
Hewitt cited three examples of “public attacks on Romney for his faith” that have “come from the left”: “Jacob Weisberg at Slate; a cover story in The New Republic; a vicious attack in The Nation today on Mormons serving at the Department of Justice.” Blitzer then brought up a February 9-11 USA Today/Gallup poll that found that 75 percent of “liberal” respondents would be willing to vote for a Mormon for president, compared with 66 percent of “conservative” respondents.
Hewitt went on to note that he had discussed the issue of anti-Mormonism with several such “opinion leaders” — including ex-Watergate felon and Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Chuck Colson, Catholic Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver, and Mike McCurry, a former press secretary for President Clinton — and claimed “the consensus position is … that this is bigotry.” But as Blitzer later noted, Colson himself has made anti-Mormon statements. Indeed, as Media Matters noted, in a “BreakPoint Commentary” delivered during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City– an event directed by Romney — Colson criticized Mormonism as un-Christian. Colson wrote: “Mormonism either affirms historic Christianity, or it doesn't. Since it doesn't, it can't call itself Christianity — a fact that all the good will and public relations in Utah can't change.”
When confronted by Blitzer with Colson's previous statements on Mormonism, Hewitt responded that Colson “has enormous respect for Mitt Romney. … But a good theologian — and Chuck Colson is an excellent theologian — will never minimize theological differences. But what he'll say is it's the American story that we don't ask people about what they believe or why they believe it. We ask them what they're going to do and have they lived a good life.”
However, there are numerous other Christian leaders who — like Colson — have spoken out against Mormonism. For instance, Shirley Dobson, the wife of Focus on the Family founder and chairman James C. Dobson, barred Mormons from conducting services during the 2004 National Day of Prayer. The Southern Baptist Convention, America's second-largest religious community after Catholicism, has classified Mormonism as a cult. Further, Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) has also identified Mormonism as a cult. A 1992 CBN pamphlet — titled “Cults” — reportedly declared:
A cult is any group that has a form of godliness, but does not recognize Jesus Christ as the unique son of God … One test of a cult is that it often does not strictly teach that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who Himself is God manifested in the flesh … Christian-oriented cults include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), the Worldwide Church of God, Christian Science, Unity, Unitarianism, The Way International, Rosicrucian Society of America, Bahai, Hare Krishna, Scientology, the Unification Church, and the Jehovah's Witnesses.
In addition to stating that most of the attacks on Romney's Mormonism have come from “the left,” rather than conservatives, Hewitt asserted: “He's also been attacked for being a flip-flopper from the left. That's not a conservative critique of him, either.” But a February 28 Washington Post article reported that Romney's campaign views the perception that he has been inconsistent on various issues as a possible impediment in the GOP primaries. According to the Post, Romney's “flip-flop reputation” and “newly conservative positions on social issues” were noted in an apparently internal Romney campaign strategy document listing “challenges that the former governor faces as he seeks the Republican nomination.” (Romney's “belief in the Mormon faith” was also listed as a potential liability.)
Furthermore, conservative media outlets, such as news website WorldNetDaily.com, have criticized Romney's “flip-flop[s].” In a February 13 WorldNetDaily “commentary” — titled “Mitt Romney's flip-flop: Like father, like son?” — columnist Bruce Wilson asked of Romney's shift on abortion:
Is he a political opportunist willing to take one side of a life and death issue when seeking liberal votes and quite willing to take the other side of the same issue when seeking conservative votes?
Or is he someone who adopted a political position on a moral issue without giving any serious thought of his own to the life and death implications of the position he adopted?
In a March 15 op-ed on the conservative website Townhall.com, Morris, along with Eileen McGann, co-author of the anti-Clinton book Because He Could (ReganBooks, 2004), wrote of Romney:
“He can't get nominated or even become the consensus candidate of the right wing. He's too Mormon (it shouldn't be an issue, but it is) and flip-flop-flipped from pro-life to pro-choice and back again. These problems, combined with his flip-flops on gay rights and stem cell research, make him incapable of becoming the right-wing candidate to oppose [former New York City Mayor Rudy] Giuliani.”
Finally, according to a March 16 American Spectator article, during CPAC, “Romney opponents were handing out flip-flop sandals to symbolize the ex-Massachusetts governor.”
From the March 15, 5 p.m. ET, edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
BLITZER: Let's talk a little bit about the — the general consensus out there is that if it's a problem for a Mormon, it's a problem with the conservative right, the religious right in the Republican Party. But this book that you've written suggests that's not necessarily what you believe.
HEWITT: I don't. I think that's a myth. In fact, most of the public attacks on Romney for his faith in the last three months have come from the left — Jacob Weisberg at Slate, a cover story in The New Republic, a vicious attack in The Nation today on Mormons serving at the Department of Justice.
BLITZER: Were these attacks against him on policy issues or because he's a Mormon?
HEWITT: A Mormon. These are specifically Mormon. He's also been attacked for being a flip-flopper from the left. That's not a conservative critique of him, either.
Now, there are concerns. When you have a Reuters poll that says 43 percent of Americans have some question, obviously that's going to be on the right as well as the left.
But the public attacks that have been the most vicious — and I go to the Slate one as probably the most bigoted attack — have come from the left. I think it's because he's the conservative in the race, as you know. And, as a result, they have the most interest in bleeding him, and they're doing their best to try to do so.
BLITZER: In this USA Today/Gallup Poll, which we took a look at, willingness to vote for a Mormon, amongst liberals, self-proclaimed liberals, 75 percent say they are willing to vote for a Mormon. Among moderates, 77 percent. Among conservatives, though, only 66 percent. Nearly a third, apparently, among conservatives, if you believe this USA Today/Gallup Poll, say they wouldn't vote for a Mormon.
HEWITT: And their opinion leaders are addressing that. I talked to a bunch of people for this book — I've been working on it for a year — whether it was Chuck Colson or Archbishop Chaput in Denver, [historian] Doris Kearns Goodwin, Mike McCurry — left, right, center, north, south.
And the consensus position is evolving that this is bigotry and that we have to remind people about that. If someone were to say today, “I wouldn't vote for a Catholic,” they'd be hooted out. They'd be thrown out of the public square. Or an African-American or a Jew.
And for people to routinely say, “I won't vote for a Mormon,” that's going to get the same status, but it's going to take some time for people to get there.
[…]
BLITZER: You mentioned Chuck Colson earlier, the founder of the Prison Fellowship Ministries. He said this last year — or two years ago, actually: “While Mormons share some beliefs with Christians, they are not Christians. They rely not on the authority of the Bible alone, but also on Joseph Smith. I respect Mormons, work with them, and consider them co-belligerents in many causes. But we can't gloss over our fundamental differences.”
Tell us about your conversation with Chuck Colson.
HEWITT: Chuck and I went for a very long time because we're old friends. And the theological chasm is vast. But he also says he has enormous respect for Mitt Romney and he wants to communicate that, because of his defense of marriage in the Bay State, because of his 37 years married to Ann Romney, his five wonderful sons.
He likes the story. He likes the character and the ideology.
But a good theologian — and Chuck Colson is an excellent theologian — will never minimize theological differences. But what he'll say is it's the American story that we don't ask people about what they believe or why they believe it. We ask them what they're going to do and have they lived a good life.
And Romney has got a good story there.
From the Song and Memory series, Jeffery Carpenter explains his special connection to John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High.” Produced by Ann Heppermann, Rick Moody & Kara Oehler (4:11)
The following is a love letter to mixing of all sorts.
1. Gikki/Gong Lowneys Chocolates
This irresistibly upbeat 45 rpm promo record for the now-defunct Lowneys Chocolate brand features a kind of meditation on writers block and inspiration: I paced the floor and worried a lot / I even started to cry / Then I said to myself / which was easy to do / cause I was standing nearby . . . Oh brother. The real inspiration here is the pop-bottle percussion (which reminds me of the Dixie Cups, which was just an impromptu version of this). Its better than Prozac. And anyway, who knew that the Lowneys Chocolate Exhibit Building at the 1901 Worlds Fair in Buffalo was three stories high full of chocolate?
2. Der Junge von nebenan Katja Ebstein
Three-time Eurovision contestant Katja Ebstein peaked with a second-place finish in 1980. This is her horn-filled cover of Son of a Preacher Man, a song originally offered to Aretha but immortalized by Dusty. For Aretha, it hit a little too close to home, apparently. But for Katja it was perfect. In the 70s, she founded Knstler fr Christus (Artists for Christ) with another German singer, Inge Brck. Which definitely makes this cover a candidate for revival.
This is either high camp or Britains most popular female recording artist making a desperate bid for a Bond theme. (Cha-ching, etc.) Well, Im sure its both. There are silly machine guns (which remind me of this bit of DPRK madness) and silly pukey-dying noises and silly French lyrics. Oh, and a silly apocalyptic ending. Its all very Bollywood . . .
4. Title Music Kalyanji-Anandji
From the 1963 Urdu-language film Bluff Master about a Bombay con man named Ashok who falls in love with Seema who is loved by Kumar who abducts Ashoks mom. Bollywood ensues . . . (Found on Bombay Connection, Vol. 2: Bombshell Baby of Bombay.)
6. Honolulu, America Loves You (Weve Got to Hand It to You) Arthur Fields
This minor classic from 1917 is preserved by the Department of Special Collections at the Donald C. Davidson Library of the University of California, Santa Barbara. And thank God. Kate & I traveled to Honolulu over Christmas to visit my older sisterit was our first time in Hawaiiand I can second Arthur Fieldss generous if condescending sentiment. At one point the old minstrel singer croons, Our millionaires are playing ukuleles, too! As it turns out, we had a roadside taco with Pierce Brosnan, and hes probably a millionaire, right? Search UC-Santa Barbaras site for more great Hawaii crap, including Oh! How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo: Thats Love in Honolulu. And then go to Hula Pages to find the original sheet music covers!
I kissed America when she was fleecing me
She knows I understand that she needs to be free
I miss America and sometimes she does, too
And sometimes I think of her when she is fucking you.
Moroccan-born Rhany visits the Buena Vista Social Club. (Found on Rough Guide to Latin Arabia.)
9. Sorry Marty Grosz & His Honoris Causa Jazz Band
According to his profile at San Antonios Riverwalk Jazz Hall of Fame, Marty and his wife like to spend afternoons on their patio in Piermont, New York, vodka in hand, watching the lazy Hudson drifting by. Which is nice. But this is not kick-back music. Its more like tap your foot till your ankle burns. True, it went out of style something like sixty years ago, but Bix Beiderbecke, who blew the best version of Sorry, never grows old and never gets stale.
Lets review: So far weve had a German singing about a Southern preacher, a Brit singing in French, another Brit professing his love for America, a minstrel singer declaring his love for the South Pacific, and a Moroccan going to Cuba. With Wimoweh, we have a Scotborn Angus Murdo McKenzie in Springburn, Glasgowoffering up a falsetto yodel in honor of a Zulu lion. Once upon a time this was a top-ten hit in the UK, where radio listeners have stiff upper lips and strong stomachs. (Look for Karl Denver in Michael Winterbottoms fabulous 24 Hour Party People, a film about Joy Division and the Manchester scene that nevertheless finds room for, well, Karl Denver.)
11. Hair Dressin Women Big Maybelle Smith
Mabel Louise was dead at 47, but she put everything she had into it while she was here. And had she ever told me to be mighty, mighty careful, I believe I would have been . . .
12. PSA 4: Bachelor Cooker U.S. Department of Agriculture
Solid!
13. Sngal Fast-Food Amadou et Mariam
Apparently West Africa also has that most American of all inventions, drive-through. And so subject meets form, because Amadou et Mariam mix bits of Southern blues harp with pretty much everything else. I feel like Miss Peggy on Romper Room: I hear reggae . . . I hear Indian . . . I hear French . . . I hear West African. Amadou, by the way, is Amadou Bagayoko, a Mali-born guitarist who met Mariam Doumbia at the Institute for Young Blind People in Bamako. They married, had three children, and traveled across West Africa until they were known everywhere as Amadou et Mariam, Le Couple Aveugle du Mali. At which point they stopped and had a well-cooked burger. Solid!
14. Big City Blues Fadhili William Mdawida
We had traditional acoustic Kenyan music, and it lasted until people like Fadhili William came along with all this jazzy Jambo Boys stuff, explains one of the late singers colleagues. Thats when the whole thing started . . . The whole thing meaning the devil rock n roll. In fact, Mdawida was among the first in East Africa to use an electric guitar, which he uses here to gently support this ballad of a love-sick boy. The song is by turns funny and poignant. He should have known I wasnt serious, the boys love declares. He makes me sick!
15. Densu Kojo Antwi
To Ghana now, where the secret to everything can be found on a king-sized bed.
16. Abass Abass
If they have drive-through in Sngal, then certainly they have rap. And if you have rap, then youd better have some foul-mouthed fronting or else whats the point? The action starts at about 3:54, when the backup singers unexpectedly switch to English. For a moment its not clear whos talking to whom, just that somebodys gonna be spending the night on the street.
17. Addu Kalpin Alif
You thought they sounded pissed off over at No. 16? Try Alif, which stands for Attaque Liberatoire de lInfanteries Feministe, or the Womens Infantry Liberation Army. Sources conflict on whos holding the infantry and why, but this Dakar groupthe only all-woman hip-hop group in Sngalwill set it free on attitude alone. Addu Kalpin is about a gang of young & dirty men robbing a minibus.
I first heard this track on a French import blues compilation given to me by a Parisian-turned-Mainer, a Frenchman who actually wore berets and had a handlebar mustache. Lee was a 60s soul singer with an Alif-edge.
19. Evil Hearted Man Josh White
Josh White first came to my attention through David Margolicks Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song, in which he details the competition between Josh White, who got to Strange Fruit first, and the songs most famous interpreter, Billie Holiday. Here White explains it all from the mans point of view.
With Strange Fruit, Lady Day took a folk protest song written by a New York City Jew and turned it into something profoundly soulful. Bettye Lavette attempts something similar here. Souvenirs was actually written by two Chicago folkies: Steve The City of New Orleans Goodman and John Prine [see correction below]. They recorded the song together and continued to be best friends until Goodman died of cancer in 1984. (Kate & I just saw Prine perform in Davenport, Iowa. He told about how his guitar tumbled, fell down, and broke its neck a few weeks earlier in Michigan. I havent been without that guitar in thirty-five years, he said. So I went and found Steve Goodmans guitar. I didnt have to teach it anything; it knew all the songs by heart. He then played Souvenirs.) In LaVettes hands, Goodman & Prines crisp poignancy stretches out into something more dramatic if not more profound. Whatever the case, Bettyes got some pipes.
21. Living on a Prayer Pastel Vespa
You know its quite sad, writes the half-Italian, half-Brazilian Ms. Vespa, Ive never seen my fatherhe left my mother when he found out that she was pregnant with me. It is my wish that one day my father will take me back into his arms, into his life and into his will because I hear hes got quite a lot of money so that would be great. But one thing that reassures me is that whenever things are really bad, we always seem to have one or two empty platitudes that seem to make us feel a whole lot better. God bless Pastel Vespa!
22. Lets Talk Dirty in Hawaiian Petty Booka
Southern minstrels arent the only ones who love Hawaii. Having just spent a night on Waikiki, I can say with conviction that so do the Japanese. In particular, so do two Japanese girls in cowboy hats who call themselves Petty Booka. They play ukulele (which is Hawaiian for jumping flea after the motion of fingers on the fret board) and come armed with a Brit punk sensibility. They also dig kazoos.
Tsuji is also Japanese, and she also loves her ukulele, but she draws the line at singing in English. (Heres a recent NPR profile.)
24. Moon River (Hi-Posi Goes to the Moon) Hi-Posi
And then there was Hi-Posi, featuring the sex kitten Miho Moribayashi whispering Henry Mancini with a NASA overdub. Its so nice that the Japanese have finally reclaimed Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffanys and that awful Mickey Rooney character. On the other hand, Audrey Hepburns rendition was just perfect.
ONE MORE THING: Mixing is made possible through sharing, and all of these songs were shared with meby friends or by Internet strangers. Densu, for instance, came to me from a friend who was taking photos in Ghana for the Christian Science Monitor, David Byrne came courtesy of my wife, and Fadhili William Mdawida was discovered via the wonderful blog Benn loxo du taccu. So thank you!
AND A CORRECTION: Clay Eals reports that Prine alone deserves writing credit for Souvenirs.
On the March 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, nationally syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt claimed that former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA), a Mormon, is “not going to have a problem with pro-lifers” in seeking the presidency in 2008, but rather “[h]e's going to have problem with anti-Mormon bigots on the left, especially.” However, recent polling data indicate that a lower percentage of conservatives than liberals would be willing to vote for a Mormon. Moreover, as Media Matters for America noted, Fox News has largely ignored the issue of conservative and evangelical Christian hostility to Mormonism and responded to other coverage of the issue with allegations of media bias.
According to a February 9-11 USA Today/Gallup poll, 75 percent of “liberals” would be willing to vote for a Mormon for president, compared with 66 percent of “conservatives.” Gallup's analysis of the poll stated: “Conservatives are less willing than moderates or liberals to vote for candidates with several of the ['non-traditional'] characteristics, including being of Mormon faith or married three times. This could make things somewhat more difficult for Romney or Giuliani to prevail in the Republican primaries, since conservatives make up the base of the Republican Party.”
As Washington Post staff writer Chris Cillizza noted in a February 14 entry on his washingtonpost.com weblog, The Fix, the USA Today/Gallup poll asked respondents “whether they would support a 'generally well qualified person' who was a Mormon. Nearly three in four (72 percent) said they would vote for a well-qualified Mormon candidate, while 24 percent said they would not.” Cillizza further noted:
But Romney's challenge is to convince Republicans — not the American public at-large — that his Mormonism shouldn't be an issue. Among the GOP sub-sample, 66 percent told USA Today/Gallup that they would support a Mormon candidate, while 30 percent said they would not (77 percent of independents and 72 percent of Democrats said they could back a Mormon).
Hewitt's words are similar to those of Fox News contributor and Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes, who, as Media Matters documented, responded to questions about evangelical hostility to Mormonism with an accusation of “liberal intolerance” of Mormonism. Moreover, Hewitt's comments represent yet another example of Fox News' ignoring evidence of hostility toward Mormons on part of conservative evangelicals — who make up a significant part of the Republican Party. As Media Matters also noted, Mormons were barred from conducting services during 2004 National Day of Prayer ceremonies by the group's task force chairwoman, Shirley Dobson, the wife of Focus on the Family founder and chairman James C. Dobson. The Southern Baptist Convention, America's second-largest religious community after Roman Catholicism, and Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson have reportedly declared Mormonism to be a “cult,” while Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Charles Colson claimed Mormonism “can't call itself Christianity.”
Hewitt appeared on Hannity & Colmes to discuss his new book about Romney, A Mormon in the White House?: 10 Things Every American Should Know About Mitt Romney (Regnery, March 2007).
From the March 12 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:
HEWITT: Yeah, I love the liberal media, Alan.
COLMES: No, no, no.
HEWITT: That “flip-flop” thing –
COLMES: I am the liberal media.
HEWITT: There you are. That “flip-flop” thing was invented by the liberal media –
COLMES: Invented?
HEWITT: — to get back at the John Kerry stuff.
COLMES: Invented? He did it.
HEWITT: Mitt Romney is a Reagan conservative who, like Ronald Reagan, started out pro-choice and is now pro-life. And adamantly so. I spent a lot of time talking to him about this in this book [A Mormon in the White House?] because this is the one issue for me they've got to get right — the Supreme Court. Romney knows this court.
COLMES: He said when he ran originally for office in Massachusetts that — he talked about this personal story about a relative close to him who had a botched abortion, an illegal abortion, and then said, “And you will not see me wavering on that,” his pro-choice stance.
How can one believe him saying he's not going to waver on it when he's now flip-flopped?
HEWITT: I asked the archbishop of Denver, Charles Chaput, for this book about that. And he said we need more people like Mitt Romney who become persuaded of the sanctity of unborn life. We need people to come to our side in this business, and we need them very much to be persuaded by people who have done that like Reagan.
Romney's not going to have a problem with pro-lifers. Pro-lifers are smart. They're sophisticated. They know the real deal. He's going to have problem with anti-Mormon bigots on the left, especially.
James Morrison, is about to make a huge splash in the US. This UK based singer has hit the top of the charts in the UK and sold over 1.6 million copies worldwide to date. He recently won the "Brit" award for Best Male British Solo Artist (other nominees in the category were Paolo Nutini, Jarvis Cocker, Thom Yorke and Lemar).
Selected to compete in the AOL BREAKERS "hot new artist", AOL is giving fans a chance to vote for their favorite new artist. With unlimited voting allowed along with international voting, this could be the huge "tipping point" for Morrison.
Recently Morrison has performed You Give Me Something and Wonderful World on Jimmy Kimmel Live on January 30th. Undiscovered was included in Blenders 2007 Most Anticipated Albums feature in their January print issue
James will be performing on The Today Show on March 16th — check out the local listings for time and tune in. Also that same night at SXSW (read AUSTIN TEXAS and KCRW/AOL event) at 9:30 pm at La Zona Rosa on 3/16/2007/ If you are in Austin and can find tickets to see Morrison, BUY THEM NOW!! Do NOT wait.. buy them– whatever the cost. This date will feature a minimalist band and will be a HOT ticket– and one of those "once in a lifetime" events.
James Morrison’s album Undiscovered drops March 13 here in the US!. ORDER NOW!! It’s an album that will be burning your ipod and in your car.
Track Listing:
1. Under the Influence–gospel-infused blues/jazz inflected song that’s bound to drive you wild
2. You Give Me Something–the anthem of everyone who’s afraid of trying something new– especially in a relationship, recognizing that love might be recognized and found a moment too late. ( here’s an audio stream of this song)
3. Wonderful World– a personal fave of Morrison and a radically different presentation. This one can bring tears to your eyes if you hear it at the "wrong moment" ..
4. Pieces Don’t Fit Anymore– breaking up because you finally realize it just doesn’t work any longer. GORGEOUSLY melancholy . This will be in a movie August Rush with Robin Williams who tried to convince Morrison to act in the film–which Morrison turned down because music is his life and focus.
5. One Last Chance– for those who understand that they have screwed up something fierce and must get their act/life/s*** together, this is THE song for you. It’s definitely a song to keep you strong.
6. Undiscovered– title track– He’s not lost, just undiscovered. (This is so my song!)
7. Letter– we have all been there and had this happen to us. At different times of your life you will identify with this song–whether it’s a love affair, work or friendship, it’s all about knowing what’s inside the letter but not!
8. Call the Police– call the police, I am so angry, I am about to make you bleed. This is the song when you need to let your rage go.
9. This Boy– Morrison’s personal anthem, this is a killer song. It’s amazing.
10. If the Rain Must Fall– gorgeous tune with lots of passion and lyrics
11. Last Goodbye– the romance ends. The bleeding may continue but the pain is going to stop.
This blues and jazz infused music is something so radically different– harkens back to the days of late 60’s, 70’s and 80’s with the different r&b vibe and the songs are clear in their vibrancy and theme. Think Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Otis Redding, Joe Cocker, Van Morrison, a young Rod Stewart, the Police and references to Traffic and Steve Winwood –even Clapton–are here. There is no mistaking his feelings here. Written by Morrison, these songs are genuine reflections of his life at different times and written in that manner. Think of it as a glimpse of the soul of this young man who has experienced a life that might be quite different from yours– though I do know where he’s come from and recognize/appreciate and identify with everything he’s experienced. It’s something that Atlantic Records producer and co-founder Jerry Wexler recognized: Morrison has a voice with its own thumbprint. Hear it once and youll forever recognize it. (As a baby, he had a terrible whooping cough, which may have left him with scarred vocal chords).
Morrison worked his way up from learning the music that he heard as a child, encouraged by an uncle and also just working on the streets singing while he also worked other jobs to support himself. Praise won by hard work and the hard times he experienced as a child is definitely keeping him focused on the target.
Check out the podcast and listen to the conversation that LA STORY had with James Morrison just last Thursday!
LA STORY gets a chance to talk to musician/singer James Morrison BEFORE he drops his CD in the US!
Want to learn more about Morrison — straight up from him?
Check out the ‘webisodes’ for clips of him in video format talking about his music and performing. Definitely a "snapshot" into the soul of his music and what’s the driving force behind his music.
Websites:http://www.jamesmorrison-us.com
Myspace.com: http://www.myspace.com/jamesmorrisonmusic
BBC interview features some interesting tidbits on Morrison as well.
Ok.. I know you want more. Once you hear his stuff on audio. it’s as addicting like waving seriously great chocolate in front of a choco addict. Honestly, as one interviewer said, it’s worse than "Lays potato chips because you can’t stop till you finish the bag". (personally — it’s cheetos but you get the drift.) Morrison’s music is addictive and you keep on play/repeat/play/repeat because it’s one of those CDs that embeds itself into your brain.
Speaking of embeds– what’s an LA STORY music blog without an embed?
Another nifty blip on the James Morrison comes from the tv show, EXTRA!– via Youtube.com. This is a great piece on how they actually recorded the album and it’s truly a group effort here.
So you might want to buy a ticket to one of his concerts ! Here’s the list of tour dates. Do realize that LA is already SOLD OUT. Do NOT wait, call or get online and BUY tickets through this site and see what’s available
TOUR DATES:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno — Wednesday March 21
Ferndale/Detroit, MI
Magic Bag 22920 Woodward Avenue 48220
4/5/2007 8:00 PM Concert
Toronto, Ontario
The Mod Club Theatre 722 College St. M6G 1C4
4/10/2007 9:30 PM Concert
Cambridge, MA
T.T. the Bear’s 10 Brookline St. 2139
4/11/2007 9:00 PM Concert
New York, NY
Knitting Factory 74 Leonard St. 10013
4/15/2007 8:00 PM Concert
Nashville, TN
3rd & Lindsley 818 Third Ave. S. 37210
4/16/2007 8:00 PM Concert
Atlanta, GA
Vinyl 1374 W. Peachtree St. N.W. 30309
4/18/2007 9:00 PM Concert
Denver, CO
Larimer Lounge 2721 Larimer St. 80205
Denverites can get away with anything because it’s pretty here!
Just click the link above to listen or Right Click and "Save Target As" to save the file to your mp3 player
It’s time for the Fiji Episode 4 Listener Feedback show!
The LF shows are where you get to co-host the show with us and share your views on the most recent episode. Episode 4 gave us one of the best ever Survivor Dilemmas: Comfort or Immunity? Lot’s of folks weigh in on that one, and many of you expressed an interest in starting a “Lisi Really Cares” fan club. So, we’ll check on that for you.
This week we hear from: Carol, MikeK, Denver Dave, Jeannie, Josh, Brad, Paul, Taz, JoshuaJ, Bob, and Brian
Check out how Moto and Ravu celebrated Jo Ann’s birthday courtesy of Paul in Louisiana. 
We love hearing what you thought, and We’ve got several ways you can reach us. You can call and leave a voicemail at 206-350-JASS(5277). You can record an audio comment and attach it or just type up a quick text message and send it to us via email at joannandstacyshow@gmail.com. Lastly, there’s a link for comments on the web page here. You can click that link and post your thoughts out there for everyone to see.
Our intro music is dedicated to the “Girls of Ravu”. That’s right, we mean Rocky and Anthony. The outro music is dedicated to the beatdown that we all hope Dre brings Rocky during the “Sumo at Sea” immunity challenge in episode 5. Here’s a link to the artists in case you want to learn more about them.
Girls Collide by The Silencers
beat down by general fuzz
00:01 Date
00:05 Girls Collide by The Silencers
01:20 Introductions
06:13 Carol from NorCal
11:36 MikeK from SoCal
18:30 Denver Dave
28:55 Jeannie from Chicago
32:53 Josh from Wisconsin
36:26 Brad from New York
42:53 Paul from Louisiana
50:10 Taz from Louisiana
52:56 JoshuaJ from Minnesota
56:06 Bob from Minnesota
58:40 Brian from Georgia
69:41 Survivor Live and CBS.com Updates
86:54 beat down by general fuzz
Listeners MikeK and Toledo Dave recommend the Bruce and Billy Interviews at Armchair Survivor
Listener Paul’s Surivor Fiji Visual Roster
JSFL Results Update for Survivor: Fiji
JSFL Rules for Survivor: Fiji
Contact Info:
Voicemail: 206-350-JASS(5277)
Email: joannandstacyshow@gmail.com
Enjoy,
Jo Ann and Stacy
This past week, I had the chance to sit down with Rick Klau, Vice President of Publisher Services at FeedBurner. It was a fun interview and he answered some of your questions.
Show Notes:
- 1:00 Introduction of Rick Klau
- 2:02 I’m getting better at podcasting, especially with SuicideFan.com
- 2:40 Rick and Aaron talk football and my prediction that David Carr will go to Chicago
- 3:30 Head of Publisher Services at FeedBurner
- 4:00 Google Reader and Feed reporting, user engagement, etc
- 6:27 Feedburner has the bulk of the “head of tail” feeds in the world, but much to be done with the “long tail”
- 8:00 How is the distribution of content viewed and FeedBurner’s role in helping producers track that
- 9:45 Web 3.0? The third dimension of conversation?
- 11:50 Are feeds really the most effective way to distribute content in a multi-dimensional web experience?
- 14:53 Social Media. Bringing RSS to the Masses? No one should know what RSS is or mean.
- 15:58 My Barack Obama, MySpace, Facebook and and social networks
- 19:38 Shawn Blanc, Kansas City, MO: With most modern browsers supporting XML and many site stats programs (like Mint) counting subscriptions what is the advantage to the average Joe to use FeedBurner to host his feeds instead of keeping the subscriptions internal?
- 24:36 Jim Turner, Denver, CO: A question for Rick is about email and databases owned by companies. What is Feedburner doing to help companies convert existing email databases into usable RSS databases that can be used to push feeds of blogs, podcasts and videos to their existing clients and subscribers?
- 26:25 I yell at my dog. (oops)
- 27:47 What is the “Event Feed” functionality and how do you use it?
- 34:55 Rick goes to Colorado for Skiiing at Breckenridge
- Music courtesy of The Fighting Cocks, courtesy of The Podsafe Music Network
I’m currently coffee deprived at CPAC but I don’t need to be wide awake to spot Al Gore’s very convenient loot. I’ll let Dan Riehl explain:
Former Vice President Al Gore has built a Green money-making machine capable of eventually generating billions of dollars for investors, including himself, but he set it up so that the average Joe can’t afford to play on Gore’s terms. And the US portion is headed up by a former Gore staffer and fund raiser who previously ran afoul of both the FEC and the DOJ, before Janet Reno jumped in and shut down an investigation during the Clinton years.
As Bill Hobbs first pointed out, Gore supposedly pays for his extra-large carbon footprint through Generation Investment Management (GIM) - and if you’re looking to go green, and have your wallet go along with Gore, think again - average people are too insignificant to play - verifiable from this pdf.
And what exactly is GIM?
Generation is based in London, with its U.S. offices in Washington, DC. The firm will manage the assets of institutional investors such as pension funds, foundations and endowments, as well as those of select high net worth individuals. Generation expects to make extensive use of long-term performance based fees. Generation will begin its investment management business in early 2005.
Who would be these “high net worth individuals” GIM is talking about? Perhaps the former Vice President who runs a powerhouse? Certainly not an everyday middle class family.
Read the rest of Al Gore’s inconvenient hypocrisy. And here’s an interview about “the Jimmy Swaggart of the environmental movement” on last night’s Jon Caldara radio show with Drew Johnson of the free-market-friendly Tennessee Center for Policy Research. The segment starts within the first two or three minutes. Thanks to Tony from Boulder for the tip.
Update (AP): The possibilities are endless.
My personal favorite offset idea is one I call the Aqua Net Offset. This offset would allow chicks with big hair (and select male news reporters) to pay others not to use aerosol hairspray, thereby offsetting their own excessive consumption. Just consider the impact of the Donald Trump offset alone!
Yet, if Americas press would take some time out of their busy schedules covering the earth-shattering details surrounding Anna Nicole Smiths demise, they might find a deliciously inconvenient truth about the soon-to-be-Dr. Gore that is significantly more fascinating and diabolical than anything likely to emerge from that courtroom in Broward County, Florida.
How true.
