Steve Martin & Edie Brickell "Sarah Jane & The Iron Mountain Baby"

"Really?  A banjo record?!?"

I try not to look too hard at the voting for the Top 25 of 2013 while it is in process, so as not to make a big deal of anything, until the full picture has developed.

But I did take one peek this year.

After the voting period was halfway over, "Love Has Come For You" by Steve Martin & Edie Brickell was in the lead.

I was pretty surprised by this.

Albums that make the top of the list are, by nature, consensus records.  A large portion of the audience, with varying musical tastes, must feel connected to the record.

Records with a broad palette of influences do well.  Genre records rarely top the list.

And other than rap music, country music is the genre most often cited as an irritant by our listeners.

There is no getting around it.  "Love Has Come For You" is a banjo record.

Mind you, it's a really delightful, beautiful, warm and inviting banjo record.  But for a prejudiced ear, it's simply a banjo record.  With the banjo up front enough to be an immediate turn off to those who dislike the sound.

Ultimately, a less surprising album (Tedeschi Trucks Band's "Made Up Mind") surged in the voting and became number one.

But it's pretty impressive that a record that could potentially be viewed as niche-y, found such a wide audience.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Tedeschi Trucks "Everybody's Talkin'"

I was playing the live, Tedeschi Trucks version of "Everybody's Talkin'" the other day, and I had this thought cross my mind:

There are lots of very popular songs that originated in films.  But I can only think of two that originated in Rated X films.

Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'" comes from what is probably the most commercial popular Rated X film of all time, "Midnight Cowboy."  It was a huge hit, and even a casual music fan knows it.

I thought of one other.

I'm sure you could complete the hook if I said, "Mah na Mah na," right?  Your singing it right now?

Most people know the song from its use on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.  But, unlike so many weird and beloved songs out of Jim Henson's workshop, it was not written by the Muppeteers.

It actually came from a 60s Italian "Mondo" film, "Sweden: Heaven And Hell."

Piero Umilani scored the film.  How the gentle folks of 123 Sesame Street came upon it, I care not to guess.

But that's all I could think of.

Any other ones?  Famous songs that originated in Rated X films?


See the "Sweden: Heaven And Hell" trailer on Youtube.


Hear Tedeschi Trucks "Everybody's Talkin'" on Youtube.


Hear Piero Umilani's "Mah Na Mah Na" on Youtube.


See the original Sesame Street version of "Mah Na Mah Ma" on Youtube.

Tedeschi Trucks Band "Bound For Glory"

Nothing can screw up the best laid plans for an artist . . . like an artist.

Here's how the process works for a Major Label Artist:

An artist records an album and turns it in to their record label. While the artist takes a breather, maybe plans a summer tour, the label folks gear up.

A marketing plan is crafted. Interviews with major magazines are booked. Copies of the new album are sent to taste-makers and reviewers. And the folks who'll be promoting the record to radio, listen to the album and choose a single.

The radio folks have promotional singles printed up and shipped to stations. Ads are taken out in the trades. Phone calls are made to Program Directors ("Be on the lookout for that new single!"). Videos shot for that song. An "Add Date" picked as a target date that will be suggested to the stations to put the song into rotation.

The date is marked on the calendar, and the radio folks work with an eye toward that date. And then . . .

The artist posts a free MP3 of a completely different song.

Oops.

I have sympathy for the folks who were preparing to make the new Tedeschi Trucks Band CD a strong selling and widely listened-to record. They had a single all picked out and were preparing to release it at the end of April. But the band---clearly excited about the record---wanted to share with the fans. So they made an MP3 of the song "Bound For Glory"---not the single---available to folks who signed up for their newsletter.

You know who's a fan of The Tedeschi Trucks Band? Just about every Program Director in our music format.

So, despite the best laid plans of mice and major labels, radio stations started downloading and adding a song the label wasn't prepare to promote.

It's not the worst problem to have---radio stations playing your song without you asking---but now gears have to be shifted, if you want everybody on the same page.

Next label marketing meeting? Awkward!


See the video on Youtube.