We'll Be Back

Visiting the birthplace of the Smoking Nun in Lynchburg, Va., where the cows roam free and the Internet wireless doesn't... I shall return soon...

The 'Sparks' Back

God, it felt good to be back in the biz. Interviewed "American Idol" season six victor Jordin Sparks Monday. A delightful, positive, well-spoken, stunningly beautiful presence—not to mention we had a stupidly fun time.

I'm not sure I realized how much I've missed my calling until today... not to mention, all humility aside, how damn good I am at connecting with artists: bringing out their best, delighting them by challenging with questions aside from the same ole top 20. I mean, how many artists do you spend five minutes trading stories about teeth braces, eh?

Lunacy @ LUNASA, June 12, 2009

Turkish Delight

Istanbulive, a celebration of Turkish music and culture, will be staged in a first-time five-hour event at Central Park's Summer Stage on Saturday, June 27. Headlining the event are superstars Sertab Erener and Demir Demirkan—whom Ayhan and I have forged a wonderful friendship with over the past couple months. Their first English-language album, "Painted On Water," was released today, a world music fusion take on classic Turkish folk songs, blending jazz, pop and Turkish influences. Also performing at the Summer Stage event is our dear friend Emre.

Tonight, a press conference and opening event was held at New York's ayza wine & chocolate bar in midtown. Sertab and Demir have just returned from a month in Istanbul, recording her upcoming Turkish album—and she shared with us the exciting news that the first single will be released at the end of the week, complete with five various versions.

Aliceeeeeee In The House

Amazing to believe that Alice—who was a roommate in Tribeca toward the end of the decade before she returned to Florida and I moved to Brroklyn—and I have been friends for more than a decade now.We've had a fab time this weekend walking the nabe and admiring the classic architecture, sharing good meals and on Sunday, indulging open houses in the Heights (something I haven't done since the Strele days). Sunday evening, I made a robust pot of homemade chili and we watched "Grey Gardens" (my third viewing... my god, it never wears out) and flirted with the live Tony Awards telecast—after Alice saw "Billy Elliott" this week. Oh so good times.

Brooklyn Heights Sunday Twilight

What a view, looking south from the rooftop.The twilight sun reflects on the Bossert Hotel, here on Montague Street in the Heights.View from the rooftop into lower Manhattan.Lady Liberty stands tall as the sun begins to set.Slave savior Henry Ward BeecherThe Hotel Montague... now a coop building...

Sylvia Tosun @ Nikki

Beloved dance diva Sylvia Tosun hosted a party Thursday night, as part of Billboard magazine's Music & Advertising conference, at midtown hotspot Nikki... god, it was good to be out among the beautiful people again.Jill from the "Real Housewives of New York" on the red carpet...Hot Matt from Billboard...Michelle, Maureen, meese & Lila...The pretty ladies of Billboard marketing...

Lunacy @ LUNASA, June 5, 2009

Whee! Recession Only Sucks "Some" Now

Gee, this is just great news!! The recession only sucks "a lot" now, instead of "a bunch."

With companies in no mood to hire, the unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent in May, the highest in more than 25 years. But the pace of layoffs eased, with employers cutting 345,000 jobs, the fewest since September.

The much smaller-than-expected reduction in payroll jobs, reported by the Labor Department on Friday, adds to evidence that the recession is loosening its hold on the country. It marked the fourth straight month that the pace of layoffs slowed.

"This tide is turning," said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus. "We expect this trend of slower job loss to continue throughout the year."

Still, the increase in the nation's unemployment rate from 8.9 percent in April underscores the difficulties that America's 14.5 million unemployed are having in finding new jobs. Economists had expected the rate to hit 9.2 percent last month.

Who writes this shit? The spin is utterly absurd.

R&R's Decline: A Co-Worker's Take

My exceptionally talented Nashville-based co-worker Ken Tucker, who was laid off from R&R alongside me in the first round of axe grindings in February, has posted a thoughtful take on R&R's demise on his blog. He's perhaps a bit more delicate in his hypothesis than I... definitely worth a read.

R&R: The Official Company Line

Nielsen Co. Ceases Publication of Radio & Records, June 3, 2009

Nielsen Co. is ending publication of Radio & Records, known in the radio business for the past 36 years as R&R. Publication ceases immediately. In a specially called “Town Hall Meeting” for R&R staff across the country, publisher Howard Appelbaum told employees that it was a “tough decision” but that the magazine’s “macro did not work” in this economic climate. He said “all jobs are eliminated” and that some parts of R&R, such as airplay charts, would be included in Billboard magazine, another Nielsen publication.

Appelbaum, who took over Nielsen’s business media division in January, said the company had made several attempts to “salvage” the publication and had spoken with “some prospective buyers,” but he declined to discuss specifics with the staff, instead inviting “off-line” questions.

It was Appelbaum’s third such Town Hall teleconference. In the first, he introduced news of the departure of longtime publisher and president Erica Farber in early January. On Feb. 25, Applebaum announced steep staff cutbacks at the magazine.

Whitney Houston: Coming (Kinda) Soon

Whitney Houston’s seventh studio album—at long last—will be released worldwide Sept. 1, 2009 on Arista Records: "cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as music’s 'most awarded female artist of all time,' with an unsurpassed tally of six Grammy Awards, two Emmy Awards, 23 American Music Awards and 16 Billboard Music Awards."

Check out a phenomenal vignette video at whitneyhouston.com, complete with a countdown ticker for the new release.

R&R Shuttered: UPDATE

Radio & Records, the failing Nielsen publication that lost more than $2 million last year, is shutting down as of Friday.

The print magazine and Web site are simply going the way of the wind, with 40 staffers axed. Sadly, they include six of my talented co-workers in New York. The entire West Coast clan, including editor "C," who saw to my demise there in March, are all out.

Honestly, R&R lost its relevance years ago, as the industries that it covered—both music and radio—were dive-bombing their way into obscurity. But there was a bigger problem here. The leadership of R&R was offered unlimited resources once it became part of Nielsen, including professional journalism acumen through its East coast staff, as well as technology and design savvy that could have brought the publication into the 21st century. But instead, West Coast management fought tooth and nail to take R&R backward—to remain a quaint, folksy read that simply was hard to take seriously in the millennium.

Always sorry to see the mighty fall, but knowing exactly what happened day to day within the organization, R&R's demise was clearly a victim of self-sabotage from obstinate leadership that was unable to see the future.

From a personal perspective, I feel like the lucky one: I was pushed off the plank before the ship sank.

Randy Jones & Ty Herndon: Boing!

From Facebook...

My buddy Randy Jones from Village People meets up with country singer Ty Herndon, one of my fave Nashville hotties... though bless his heart, he seems awfully lean... In any case, double grrr!

Mind you, Ty is a good 5'10", but looks miniature beside Randy, who is at least 6'1"... and then add on the hat height.

New Tina Arena!

Tina Arena's "The Peel Sessions" was recorded in 2003 and ultimately rejected by her label Sony Australia. Fortunately, she regained rights to the nine-track project and it is now available in extremely limited release. Among the highlights: an ethereal cover of Diana Ross' "Love Hangover."

Miss Tina's new "This Universe" (not part of this project) is my No. 2 song of first-quarter 2009! (Thanks, Andy!)

The Grand Catch-Up: How I'm Doing

It’s no secret that post-midnight, I’m traditionally like a rainbow whose colors flourish across the darkness. Been this way all my life—fighting going to bed as a kid and wholly believing that the morning offered nothing more than the chill and clouds that would ultimately bloom into a worthy day.

My mammer has always insisted upon the opposite: early to bed, early to rise makes one a good person. There were many lessons I learned as a kid and discovered as an adult that ultimately had two credible sides, you know?

Tonight, after a blissful evening of domestic accomplishment—painting all of the moldings around the new windows we had installed in the apartment in March and continuing to transform a plain vinyl media unit into an almost-wood-looking built-in, with added moldings and bright white paint, I settled down to check in on various Web sites… only to find that my goddamn Internet service is AWOL for the past hour-plus. Thank you fucking Time Warner.

But that does give me the chance to actually check in for the first time in a couple months, since my layoff from Billboard March 25. It’s been a good while since I’ve actually delivered a full narrative about life’s evolution… and indeed there are tidal shifts in attitude and goals and how I now live my life day to day.

Foremost, in the 10 weeks that I’ve been unemployed, I have recognized—as I always believed—that routine is my ally. Too much freedom leaves me listless… staying up too damn late for no particularly good reason, then sleeping in without purpose… With a 9-6 job, I was forced to bed. I needed that discipline. Perhaps I waste time now. Then again, after working on deadline for 25 years, I’m relishing the break, but ultimately, I know that I’m more effective as a workhorse, given a dedicated purpose that requires given hours. Sigh. As much as I’d love to believe that I am a self-starter, I have never, ever wanted a career as a fulltime free-lancer. Now, I’ve proved I was on target.

Mind you, given the right project that I might own—a book—which remains my ultimate goal, I imagine myself driven like a gazelle… writing with unending dedication, and if it happens that I am turned on from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., then god bless the light inside. I’m searching for that goal… and I know that as a master storyteller, I can obsess with the passion required to deliver.

Meanwhile, New York remains a testy locale. It’s the beginning of June, and has yet to consistently warm up and dry out. My goals of walking around the city and exploring Brooklyn are persistently blocked by vile weather. Not helping the cause here.

I have managed a couple lucrative freelance projects, which have squelched any fear that overrides so many of us that are unemployed—uh, $$$—and frankly, because I also learned from my mammer to never live beyond my means, the financial side is the least of my worries.

So what’s next? Severance continues through the end of this month and then there’s unemployment and Cobra… but I’m actually finding just about now that I’m ready to know who I’m going to be in the near future. I’d love it to be “author, but I’m almost… almost… just about… ready to be someone’s right hand again.

Who knew? I don’t think I even realized that until I just wrote it, stared at the words and thought, yep, it’s true. In the mean time, life, even without so much structure, is a joy. I was able to spend five days over Memorial Day weekend at Fire Island, without worrying about returning to the office and as good, I intend to spend five days visiting the parents for their 59th anniversary—Dad is 85 and Mother 83, how precious is that?—and other friends in Lynchburg, Va., later this month.

Summary: I wouldn’t even consider complaining. I have quite a deal. A fine reputation as a known journalist that will find my next great journey in time. If it’s next month or next year, I’m a-okay, cool cats. Meanwhile, okay, so I stay up way too late for my mother’s tastes. I get up at 10 a.m. And maybe I don’t even shower until 2 in the afternoon. So spank me. I probably won’t cry.

Video Of The Day: Voices That Care

Ah, the heyday of the charity single. Long after Band Aid and USA For Africa, came Voices That Care in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm. Among the soloists is a young Celine and in the chorus: Sheena Easton! Others featured include Peter Cetera, Luther Vandross, Bobby Brown and the Pointer Sisters. It's an '80s cornucopia!

Shocker: Archie To Propose?!

My favorite comic hero of all-time, Archie Andrews, is rumored to be proposing to longtime girlfriend Veronica Lodge! We'll find out if it's indeed true in “Archie” No. 600, due to hit comic stores on Aug. 19 and newsstands Sept. 1.

The story, titled “Archie Marries Veronica Part 1: The Proposal,” takes place after the comic characters have graduated from college, after, oh, some 50 years. Archie did well, considering Veronica's vast wealth.

Nice going, dude. Betty Cooper was unavailable for comment. And still no word on whether Jughead has come out of the closet.

Boiling Over Boyle

Damn those surly Brits: Susan Boyle, the unlikely breakout star from "Britain's Got Talent," lost to some 10-member dance troupe called Diversity during Saturday's finale. "Boyle, dressed in a shimmering, floor-length gown, took the loss with characteristic goofy charm, curtsying to the audience before giving the hip shake that's become her signature move. 'Lads, I wish you all the best,' she said.

"The dance group beat out nine other contestants for the top prize of $159,000 and a chance to perform before Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Show. Boyle was the odds-on favorite since her first performance launched her from a small town in Scotland into superstardom. A video of her singing the song was downloaded more than 150 million times."

Here's her wondrous performance from the finals:

Beautiful Marilyn

August 1950: 24-year-old Marilyn, wearing a simple button-down shirt monogrammed with her initials, was photographed in Los Angeles' Griffith Park for Life photographer Ed Clark. The negatives for these photos were recently discovered during the mag's ongoing effort to digitize its photo archive, including outtakes and entire shoots that never saw the light of day. See the full set here.Below is one of my all-time favorites.