Dave Matthews - "In memory of Anne”

Dave Matthews first album was 1994’s "Under the Table and Dreaming.” On the inside of the case under the CD is a picture of Dave holding a child who is handing him a flower. Inscribed on the picture is the dedication "In memory of Anne.” I’m often curious about dedications and was able to find out the following information -

Dave was born in South Africa and lived there with his brother and sisters, Anne and Jane. Dave and Jane eventually returned to the United States and Anne remained. Tragically, Anne was murdered by her husband who subsequently committed suicide on January 27, 1994.

Immediately following her death, Dave travelled back to South Africa but was forced to return to the United States due to unbreakable professional obligations. On January 29, 1994, he performed in New York where he dedicated that performance to her memory.

Anne was survived by her two children who were brought to the United States where Dave and Jane continued to raise them. The picture of the child handing Dave a flower in the CD case is one of Anne's children.

To this day Dave has yet to release any details of his sister's murder out of respect to her children.

* news > AMERICAN IDOL TOP 24 SPOILERS

American Idol returns tonight with Los Angeles auditions and guest judges Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne. It’ll be an odd mix at the judge’s table with the “Sk8er Boi” and “I Kissed a Girl” singers giving their feedback to the season 9 hopefuls. Tomorrow night it’s Dallas with guest judge Doogie Howser aka Neil Patrick Harris. Next week the auditions wrap up in Denver on Tuesday night and then it’s the “Road to Hollywood” episode.

Hollywood weeks starts on February 9th and it’ll be there that we get to see Ellen make her debut as an American Idol judge. Like the auditions the Hollywood week is taped in advance so the top 24 have already been decided… Fox just hasn’t published the list yet, nor will they until after the show airs. Contestants are sworn to secrecy and as Michael Lynche found out Fox doesn’t compromise when it comes to secrecy.

You’ll see Michael in the auditions this week, he’s a young blues singer who made the top 24 and reportedly was the “contestant to beat” until his father told the St. Petersburg Times that his son had made the finals. So due to a violation of his confidentiality agreement Michael has been removed from the competition. But don’t worry about Michael as he’s already signed a record contract and I’m sure will be trying to capitalize on his Idol fame.

With all that said, below is the rumored list of the top 24 contestants that will make it through the Hollywood week…

Vered Didi Benami
Crystal Bowersox
Lacey Brown
Paige Dechausse
Michelle Delamor
Lee DeWyze
Katelyn Epperly
Andrew Garcia
Chris Golightly
Tyler Grady
Ben Honeycutt
Casey James
Aaron Kelly
Alex Lambert
Siobhan Mangus
Antwan Michael
Jose Munoz
John Park
Ashley Rodriguez
Lilly Scott
Jermaine Sellers
Katie Stevens
Haeley Vaughn
Janell Wheeler

* news > ANGELA MARTIN CAN'T GET A BREAK

Who’s Angela Martin? Well, if you've been watching American Idol you might have seen her Tuesday night.

Angela Martin is a single mom who cares for her daughter who has Rett Syndrome, a debilitating neurological disorder. Her story was featured on American Idol Season 7. After winnig a golden ticket for Hollywood Angela suffered a tragedy, her father who had been beside her throughout auditions was murdered a week before the competition. Although she made it two the second round, Angela eventually left the competition.

In Season 8, Angela Martin was back. She got her gold ticket but a traffic violation with a mandatory court appearance and arrest warrant kept her from making her Hollywood audition.

Angela Martin appeared on the American Idol audition stage for the third time in three years on Tuesday night. She faced guest judge Shania Twain singing performing Mary J. Blige’s “Just Fine.” She impressed the judges once more and received yet another gold ticket to Hollywood. Simon Cowell told her, "It's people like you, singers like you, that is why I like doing this show." Judge Kara Dioguardi said, "You do deserve a break."

Twice before Angela has had circumstances keep her from embracing an expectant opportunity and now she has a third chance to make it to the American Idol finals might simply pass her by, because Angela Martin has again been dealt an emotional and psychological blow that could result in her third strike on Idol. Worse, she is 28 years old, and this would be her last year of eligibility.

Angela Martin's mother disappeared on Christmas Day.

RadarOnline is reporting that on Christmas, Angela’s mother, Viola Martin Brown, went missing. According to the report, Angela says that Viola spent Christmas with her family, then left for a 20 minute drive to visit another daughter but never made it to her destination. On New Year’s Eve, police found Viola’s car nowhere near her planned destination with no signs.

While we are all watching the Idol auditions this week Fox is busy taping the Hollywood week that will air just as soon as the auditions wrap up next week.  So far reports have it that Fox has selected 23 of the 24 finalists with one slot open for a female singer.  Let's hope that slot is for Angela but right now she's not on the list. 

* fun fact > PAUL REVERE, THE FBI AND LOUIE LOUIE

"Louie Louie" is probably the most iconic American rock and roll song. Numerous artists have covered it, most famously The Kingsmen. It written by Richard Berry in 1955 and originally recorded as a calypso vocal song, but was considered a failure. In the late 50’s Rockin' Rob Roberts of the Northwest based band The Wailers heard the song while in California and brought the song to the Northwest where it became a local favorite.

About this time two Northwest bands formed - Paul Revere and the Raiders and The Kingsmen. KISN Radio DJ Roger Hart, who at the time was booking bands to play parties and dances discovered Paul Revere and the Raiders. Hart later became the band’s manager and suggested that they record “Louie Louie.” He produced the single, which got the attention of Columbia Records who soon signed the band.

Ken Chase, who also worked at KISN as the music director and owned a nightclub, managed the Kingsmen. The Kingsmen soon became the house band for his nightclub and as part of an attempt to get the Kingsmen a gig on a cruise ship Chase had the band record a demo of Louie Louie as well. The Kingsmen didn’t get the job.

Louie Louie went #1 in the West and Hawaii for Paul Revere, but it abruptly died. Paul Revere was later to find out that Columbia killed the release before it went much further because Mitch Miller, A&R exec at Columbia didn’t like rock and roll and pulled the plug on it.

Meanwhile, The Kingsmen’s demo got the attention of Jerry Dennon, a record producer from Seattle, Washington. He decided to press a few hundred copies of the single on his regional record label, Jerdon. The recording made its way to Boston, where radio stations began to play it frequently and it eventually gained national distribution on Wand Records.

Now on the national stage the song gained the attention of the governor of Indiana, Matthew E. Welsh, who banned the song for “indecent lyrics.” The matter was brought to the attention of Robert Kennedy who was then the Attorney General of the United States and the FBI investigated. After a thirty-one month investigation the FBI determined that the words were "unintelligible at any speed," and therefore not obscene. All of this attention only made the song more popular - it held the #2 spot on the Billboard top 10 for 6 weeks.

*Special thanks to my buddy Marky Mark who is a human music encyclopedia and confirmed all this for me without having to look it up.

* news > AMERICAN IDOL: WHERE ARE THEY NOW - JASON CASTRO

Just incase you were wondering what American Idol alum Jason Castro has been up to I came across this press release issued last week, take a look:







FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 13, 2010

JASON CASTRO OFFERS “LOVE UNCOMPROMISED” ON NEW EP; COLLECTION FEATURES EXCLUSIVE TRACKS ALONGSIDE HIGHLIGHTS FROM EAGERLY AWAITED DEBUT ALBUM; TEXAS TROUBADOUR POISED FOR FIRST-EVER US CLUB TREK; DATES BEGIN ON JANUARY 20TH IN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA; “THE LOVE UNCOMPROMISED EP” IS AVAILABLE NOW

Atlantic recording artist Jason Castro has unveiled details of his much-anticipated new EP. “THE LOVE UNCOMPROMISED EP” immediately shot to the Top 5 on the iTunes album chart upon release and is available digitally now.

The five track EP heralds the forthcoming release of Castro’s self-titled debut album. “THE LOVE UNCOMPROMISED EP” features an exclusive acoustic rendition of the album’s buoyant lead single, “Let’s Just Fall In Love Again,” as well as three of the album’s brightest moments. Among them is “You Can Always Come Home,” a tender duet featuring Castro’s acclaimed Atlantic labelmate Serena Ryder. As if all that weren’t enough, the EP includes a further bonus track, “Sweet Medicine,” exclusive to this release.

The Texas-based tunesmith - best known as the third runner-up on the 2008 season of Fox’s American Idol – is set to embark on a major US tour, his first full-fledged trek in support of his own music. Jason will accompany F-Stop Music/Atlantic recording artist Matt Hires on his upcoming “State Lines Tour 2010,” due to kick off on January 20th at Jacksonville, Florida’s Jack Rabbits, with dates then continuing through late February (see attached itinerary). To make the tour even more special, Castro plans to perform at local high schools in many of the markets along the way – for details, please visit www.jasoncastromusic.com.

Slated to arrive in Spring 2010, “JASON CASTRO” brims with toe-tapping pop, strummy folk, and electrifying rock (“Closer,” “Heart of Stone”) — all cleverly balanced, rooted in the classic, melody-minded singer-songwriter tradition, with heart-on-sleeve lyrics and acoustic guitar-driven arrangements. Featured alongside unabashedly emotional tunes like “Love Uncompromised” and the lilting “If I Were You” is a stunning version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (which Castro performed on American Idol, citing Jeff Buckley’s version as a huge inspiration to him as an artist).

To fully capture the moods he wanted, Castro collaborated with producer Eric Rosse (Sara Bareilles, Tori Amos) and a host of top-notch songwriters — including Marc Roberge of O.A.R., Gregg Wattenberg (Five For Fighting), Zac Maloy (David Cook), and Espionage (Train) — all of whom helped make “JASON CASTRO” an ideal showcase for his considerable gifts as a vocalist, songwriter, and musician.

“I feel like the album really captures my personality,” Jason says. “People got to know me a bit on the show, so I wanted to build on that by including all these songs I’ve written about my life. I wanted to share with people the things that are meaningful to me.”

“Let’s Just Fall In Love Again” is already garnering tremendous feedback, having recently been included on Entertainment Weekly’s influential “Must List,” which praised Jason’s “signature warble, jaunty whistles and claps, and affectionate lyrics,” noting that the single “ makes falling in love with (Castro) again oh-so-easy.” “Let’s Just Fall In Love Again” is available now via iTunes, while its companion video clip – directed by Travis Kopach (Panic At The Disco, All Time Low) –can be viewed online at www.jasoncastromusic.com/video/lets-fall-in-love-again.

Pre-orders for “JASON CASTRO” are available now through Jason’s webstore. In addition to instantly receiving the “Let’s Just Fall In Love Again” digital single, fans can also choose from a variety of packages that include bonus content ranging from a special fan plaque or an autographed limited edition poster to the opportunity to personally connect with Jason at either a special “Meet N Greet” or on a one-of-a-kind five-minute phone call. For complete details, please visit www.jasoncastromusic.com/store.

A multi-talented singer and guitarist, Castro was among the most popular and talented artists in American Idol history, entering the record books as the first contestant ever to play an instrument on the show. His performance of the Leonard Cohen-penned classic “Hallelujah” proved such an audience favorite that cult hero Jeff Buckley’s rendition of the song hit #1 on the iTunes chart the following week, and sold an astonishing 178,000 digital singles. Jason scored a chart-topping single of his own a few weeks later, when his interpretation of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” also hit #1 on iTunes after a show-stopping performance of the song on American Idol. Upon the season’s conclusion, Castro was among the stars of the hugely successful “American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008.”

For up-to-the-minute news and information, please visit www.jasoncastromusic.com.

JASON CASTRO ON TOUR 2010
All Dates w/Matt Hires’ “State Lines Tour 2010”

JANUARY
20 Jacksonville, FL Jack Rabbits
21 Decatur, GA Eddie’s Attic
22 Charlotte, NC The Evening Muse
23 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
25 Vienna, VA Jammin’ Java
26 Philadelphia, PA World Café Live
27 New York, NY Joe’s Pub
28 Boston, MA Café 939
29 Pittsburgh, PA Club Café
31 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

FEBRUARY
1 Columbus, OH The Basement
3 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
4 Chicago, IL Schubas Tavern
5 Madison, WI Der Rathskeller
6 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
8 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck
9 Denver, CO The Soiled Dove Underground
10 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court Gallery
11 Boise, ID Reef Boise
12 Seattle, WA The High Dive
13 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
16 San Francisco, CA Bottom Of The Hill
17 Los Angeles, CA Hotel Café
19 San Diego, CA The Casbah
20 Tucson, AZ Solar Culture
21 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room
22 Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe Brewing Company
24 Dallas, TX The Loft
25 Austin, TX Stubb’s BBQ
26 Houston, TX House of Blues
28 Birmingham, AL WorkPlay Theater

* news > THE "PANTS ON THE GROUND GUY" - WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE GENERAL

American Idol is back, and while I typically don’t enjoy the audition weeks as much as later weeks I have to comment on “The General” Larry Platt. While his original song “Pants On The Ground” has become a YouTube sensation and the highlight of American Idol this week I was amazed to find that there was much more to the 62-year old performer than a commentary on current fashion. His real legacy extends all the way back to the 1960’s when he was a crusader for the Civil Rights Movement in Georgia.

Larry Platt was a student of Martin Luther King Jr. which is quite interesting and somewhat coincidental given that Monday is Martin Luther King Day. In the early '60s when he was only nineteen he worked with activist groups like the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and Southern Christian Leadership Conference to fight racial segregation in the South and was beaten while participating in the "Bloody Sunday" protest march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama.

On September 4, 2001 the Georgia General Assembly declared: "For the past 40 years, Larry Platt has given of himself in service to the people of the City of Atlanta, the State of Georgia, and the nation, Larry Platt merits the highest recognition for his many valuable contributions to the Civil Rights Movement and his dedication to the struggle for equality and human rights."

In a USA Today article about the "Pants On The Ground Guy" it was reported that Platt actually got his "General" nickname from prominent civil rights leader Reverend Hosea Williams, who was impressed by his valiant efforts. The General remains a community activist to this day, working with the United Youth Adult Conference and fighting public foreclosures. Hopefully his American Idol fame will bring attention to his humanitarian efforts.

Regardless, "Pants On The Ground" is catchy tune and just plain good advice because you know you’re looking like a fool with your pants on the ground.

* news > THE DECADE IN MUSIC

2000 – 2009 The Decade in Music Factoids

· There were more than 10.4 billion music purchases over the past ten years from 2000 – 2009.

· There were more than 6 billion album sales during the decade and more than 4.1 billion digital song downloads purchased over past six years since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking digital music sales.

· During the past decade there were more than 5.6 billion CD albums purchased, 187 million cassette album sales, 13.8 million LP’s and 246 million digital albums downloaded.

· Fifty-five percent of all albums purchased during the decade were CD’s, 3% were cassette’s, 4% were digital album sales and less than 1% were LP’s.

· Eminem is the biggest selling artist for the decade with more than 32 million album sales followed by The Beatles (30.2 million), Tim McGraw (24.8 million), Toby Keith (24.5 million) and Britney Spears (22.9 million).

· The Beatles’ Beatles 1 album was the biggest selling album for the decade with 11.6 million album sales. N’Sync’s No Strings Attached is the second biggest selling album with 11.1 album sales and Come Away with Me by Norah Jones lands at #3 with 10.6 million sales.

· Tim McGraw is the artist who received the most airplay in the decade with more than 7.9 million spins at radio.

· The Nickelback song “How You Remind Me” is the most played song at radio for the decade with more than 1.2 million spins, according to Nielsen BDS.

* news > 2009 THE YEAR IN MUSIC

2009 U.S. Year End Factoids

· Music purchases in 2009 reached the 1.5 Billion mark, making it the fifth consecutive year music sales have exceeded 1 billion; 1.5 billion (2008), 1.4 billion (2007), 1.2 billion (2006), and 1.01 billion (2005).
· Music sales exceeded 62 million during week ending December 27, 2009.
· During 2009, once again more vinyl albums were purchased (2.5 million) than any other year in the history of Nielsen SoundScan (since 1991).
*Note that similar to a year ago, two out of every three vinyl albums were purchased at an independent music store during the year.

2009 Digital Factoids:

· Digital music accounts for 40% of all music purchases in 2009; up from 32% in 2008.
· Digital track sales break the ONE BILLION sales mark for the 2nd straight year with 1,160,000 digital track sales in 2009. The previous record was 1,070,000 digital track purchases during 2008; an increase of 8% over 2008.
· Flo Rida’s “Right Round” song set a new one week sales record with 636,000 downloads during week ending 2/15/09; marking the first time a song broke the 500,000 sales mark.
· Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” song registered 610,000 downloads during week ending 12/27/2009 which was the second song to break the 500,000 barrier for one week.
· Digital album sales reached an all-time high with more than 76 million sales up from 65 million in 2008; an increase of 16% over the previous year.
· Note that digital album sales accounted for 20% of total album sales in 2009 compared to 15% in 2008, 10% in 2007 and 5.5% in 2006.
· For the December 27th reporting week of 2009 the following digital sales records were broken:
Digital album sales this week set a new high with sales of 2.6 million sales; breaking the previous record of 2.4 million (12/28/08).
The top 200 digital songs for the week posted an all-time high with 14.3 million sales; breaking the previous record of 13.6 million during the last week of 2008.
· 2009 is the first time a digital song broke the four million sales mark in a single year.
*There were four songs that achieved this milestone; Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” (4.8 million) and “I Got A Feeling” (4.42 million), Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” (4.4. million) and Flo Rida’s “Right Round” (4.1 million).
· In 2009, there are 31 different digital songs with sales that exceeded two million, compared to 19 in 2008 and nine in 2007.
· 89 Digital Songs exceeded the one million sales mark for the year compared to 71 digital songs in 2008, 41 in 2007, 22 in 2006, and only two digital songs in 2005.
· Lady Gaga is the biggest selling digital artist in 2009 with more than 15 million track sales.
· In 2008, Rihanna was the biggest selling digital artist with 9.9 million track sales.
· In 2009, four artists sold more than ten million track sales (Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, Michael Jackson and Taylor Swift) marking the first time that an artist broke ten million track sales.
· There are more than 397,000 different physical albums that sold at least one copy over the Internet during 2009 compared to 450,000 in 2008 and 390,000 in 2007.

2009 Best Seller Album Factoids:

· Taylor Swift’s Fearless ends the year as the biggest selling album with just more than 3.2 million sales; just more than 100,000 than Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream (3.1 million). Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream is the best selling album released in 2009.
· Michael Jackson is the biggest selling artist for 2009 with more than 8.2 million album sales for the year.
· Taylor Swift comes in as the second biggest selling artist for 2009 with 4.6 million album sales and the second straight year of 4 million or more album sales.
· The Beatles are the biggest selling group for 2009 with 3.3 million album sales.
· Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream is the best selling Internet album for the year with 405,000 sales as well as the biggest selling album during the “holiday season”.
· Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream album marks the first time in the history of Nielsen SoundScan that an album release sold more than 500,000 copies in each of its first five weeks of release.

2009 Holiday Season Factoids: (11/15/2009-12/27/2009).

· Overall album sales during the 2009 holiday season were up slightly (0.1%) over 2008, with sales of 80.2 million.
· Album sales during the holiday season accounted for 21% of all album sales for the year.

2009 Strata Factoids:

· Album sales at Non-Traditional music outlets (digital, internet, mail order, venue, non-traditional retailers) hit an all-time high in 2009 with sales reaching 110 million. Non-Traditional is the only strata that experienced album growth over the previous year; with an increase of 11% over 2008.
· Non-traditional outlets accounted for nearly 30% of all album sales, compared to 25% in 2008, 18% in 2007, 12% in 2006, 9% in 2005 and 5% in 2004 (4% in 2003).
· Digital album sales accounted for 70% of the Non-Traditional album sales.
· The last two weeks of the year produced the two biggest album sales weeks for Non-Traditional outlets; 3.9 and 3.4 million sales.
· In 2009, 36% of all albums purchased were at a Mass Merchant outlet; 29% at Chain outlets and 6% at Independent music stores.

* review > SIX OF ONE AND HALF DOZEN OF THE OTHER - TIM JONES

You don’t know Tim Jones, but maybe you should. Tim is a singer/songwriter from Australia who cut his teeth on the music scene in London starting in the late seventies and into the nineties and while his current style is diverse his roots are unmistakable and can be found on many tracks on his current release “Six of One and Half a Dozen of the Other.”

Musically this album is peppy and up tempo and the majority of the tracks on the CD have a vibe that makes you want to tap your toes and sing along. It’s infectious and on songs like “Cliché” you can imagine yourself sitting in a pub in the Australian outback singin’ along with your mates over a pint of Foster's.

The more melancholy and more melodic tracks like “Dive” and “Holy” shine with Tim’s characteristically sharp lyrics and clear voice. His words are intelligent and well crafted and beg the audience back for one more listen. It’s also nice that Tim thought to put together a nice package for his CD including the lyrics in the liner notes. Often these are left out on many indie releases as it's an added expense.

Special thanks to TK for dropping this CD off at the doghouse during Tim’s visit to the U.S. It was an enjoyable trip through musical styles rarely heard today and for that I give it four paws.

* news > LONG LIVE THE KING

Regardless of how you feel about Michael Jackson and his personal life, what he has done for the record industry since his death has been staggering. SoundScan numbers for 2009 are out and Michael again is king.

Market share by record label is pretty much stagnant these days since the advent of file sharing, the digital age and iTunes. At the end of 2008 Universal held the number one spot with 31.5% percent of the market, followed by Sony, 25.3%, Warner, 21.3% and EMI with 9%. Indie labels round up the rest of the sales claiming a little under 13% of the market.

Since his death in June Michael has sold over 10 million albums, catalog sales that rival the top artists with new releases. You don’t see him in the top ten charts because his material - previously released is considered catalog, a classification reserved for albums that have fallen off the charts. Michael’s catalog sales on their own lifted the record industry a staggering 2.8% in 2009 and gave Sony a nearly 3% market share edge.

While Universal is still at the top of the heap, it took the biggest hit losing about 1.3% of it’s market share. Indie labels also took a big hit with about the same loss of market and Warner followed with a .75% loss. Amazingly EMI was able to gain about .25% in sales on the larger labels. So, rounding out 2009 - Universal still sits at the top of the hill with 30.2% of the market followed by Sony now at 28.5%, Warner at 20.5% and EMI at 9.2%. Indie sales round out the market at just over 11.5%.

No doubt some execs at Sony have Michael Jackson to thank for their Christmas bonuses.