When John Lennon was scribbling those lyrics did he ever stop to think that someday those doodles would fetch that kind of cash? Hardly, even though he was a Beatle, he would have been quite amused. Once I had the privilege to work with my boyhood idol, baseball great Ernie Banks, on a fund-raiser for a children’s charity. The friend who introduced us told me that Ernie would sign a few things for me. Knowing this might be my only chance, I brought several items I acquired over the years including a dog-eared copy of his autobiography aptly named “Mr. Cub.” When Ernie signed it, he said he didn’t even have a copy. I apologized that I couldn’t give him mine because my brother Ed had given it to me for my birthday when I was young (you know, sentimental reasons). Then he asked if I knew where any of his old used bats were and when I told him that I didn’t, he said, “When we cracked them, we just tossed them away. Who knew anyone would pay good money for them today?”

In the 1980’s when I worked at Dean Guitars, we noticed Japanese businessmen coming to consumer guitar shows paying top dollar to take classic guitars back to Japan - not to be played, but as an investment. Same with classic cars from the 1950-’s and 1960’s. (How many of us have seen a car we once owned from that era bringing in tens of thousands of dollars in auctions like Barrett-Jackson?) In was that period that I began to notice the prices of collectables being driven sky high. There are only so many vintage guitars and many artists will still pay top dollar and then to actually play them because like a fine wine, some instruments improve with age. Charity auctions bring out the best in some people as well. Clapton’s famous “Blackie” Stratocaster guitar was auctioned for just under $1 million to benefit his Crossroads foundation. I personally have been involved with auctions of autographed guitars by the Stones and Eagles that each brought in just under $100K.

The point is should we hold onto stuff just because it might be worth something in the future? Barbie’s, GI Joe’s and other toys are even extremely collectable now. I can only answer for my own generation when I say I guess some baby boomers simply want to hold onto just a little piece of the glorious era we grew up in. By the way, I think I just heard John Lennon chuckling.

Coda: I have to confess - I have a pretty nice collection of Beatles and Cubs memorabilia tucked away - and I will never sell any of it!

Think of the stories that we read about in the just the past few months:

A CEO who runs the major oil company that is completely fouling the Gulf Coast, forever changing the lives of those that depend on the area for their livelihoods, remarks that he “wants his life back” and then proceeds to go sailing on his yacht, in the pristine waters halfway across the world…. A young girl, whose dream of sailing around the world is shattered by a storm that cripples her vessel, is saved by Australian and French responders who state they would hope that another country would do the same if one of their citizens’s where caught in that situation.

Two opponents running against each other for the Republican Party’s nomination for Governor of California, spend a combined $100 million on campaign ads that are nothing short of mutual character assassinations. Their Democratic foe claims “off the record” that the winner is planning a Nazi style propaganda campaign against him, while the Republican candidate for a California senate seat is caught “off the record” mocking the hairstyle of the Democratic incumbent…One of the biggest blown calls in all of baseball robs a young pitcher of one of the rarest of all feats; a perfect game, on the last play of all things! Afterwards, the remorse stricken umpire admits that he blew it and took away the pitchers chance at immortality. The next day the ump, with tears streaming down his face, and the pitcher embrace at home plate as tens of thousands of fans cheer.

At an anti-healthcare rally, tea-baggers heckle a man who is down on the street holding up a sign begging for them to support healthcare reform so he can get his Parkinson’s disease treated. As they continue to shout him down, some begin throwing money at him crying out, “Is this what you want, free money?…..As several states move to block the healthcare reform, a group of doctors and dentists set up shop in Los Angeles to offer free medical care to those who don’t have insurance and thousands gratefully show up.

I am sometimes ashamed at the one world I live in, but very proud to be a citizen of the other.

Coda: As I was working on this blog, two major music stars announce that they will be performing a concert fund raiser to benefit the victims of the Gulf oil disaster while at the same time, several major country stars announce that they will be performing a fund-raising concert for the victims of the recent Nashville floods.

That’s why is was downright odd when GM’s vice president Alan Batey and marketing vice president Jim Campbell recently sent a memo to employees asking that they talk about the brand as Chevrolet, not its age-old shortened nickname “Chevy.” Apparently, they wanted the “brand to be consistent,” especially since General Motors is trying to push Chevrolet in global markets where some people may not know it as Chevy. Sounds like typical corporate-speak that happens when marketing and sales execs have to come up with something (when they have nothing) to prove that they’re hard at work.

The problem is, to the general public, Chevy will always be a cool sounding moniker for Chevrolet. The classic “Chevy Nova” and “Chevy Malibu” just roll off the tongue so naturally. Now substitute, “Chevrolet” for Chevy on those models and see how clunky and uncool that sounds. Better yet, do the same substitution for these lyrics “Drove my Chevy to the levy” or “I get off on fifty-seven Chevy’s” and you’ll wonder what type of Korporate Kool-Aid this guys were drinking when they concocted that memo. It should be said that Chevrolet tried this once before in the 1950’s with their sponsorship of the Dinah Shore Show by having Shore sing the theme song, “See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet.” Interesting enough, the popular show was renamed the Dinah Shore Chevy Show the following year. If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it.

The GM execs also broke the #1 rule of “positioning” – once your brand is positioned in a consumers mind, a very arduous, yet desirable result of a long term marketing campaign, it’s even more difficult to undue – and why would you want to negate all that and maybe even rile your brand loyalists? Coca-Cola messed with the original 100 year old recipe and their beloved nickname “Coke” with some marketing brainiac’s vision of “New Coke.” The public outcry from their loyal consumers was so relentless that they were forced to reintroduce the original as “Classic Coke.” Not too many years ago, with little fanfare, they dropped the “Classic” from the label and of course everyone still refers to it as “Coke.” Wait a minute; maybe these GM execs aren’t so clueless after all.

Coda: No, these guys are clueless -  as I was writing this blog, because of all the commotion the original email caused throughout the blogosphere and terrestrial media, GM VP Batey put out a press release stating that they “Love the nickname Chevy” and never intended to blah, blah, blah…which is corporate spin for “Wow, what we thinking?”
 
 

If I ever have enough deposable income, one of my dreams is to have an old restored Rock-Ola in my music room so I can play all those great records. Here are my top 11 juke box songs if that fantasy ever becomes a reality (note that there’s not much new stuff because most new stuff is not available on 45 records. Note #2: the list goes up to 11 instead of 10 because as Nigel Tufnel proclaimed, “Eleven is one more”).

11.) “Rock n Roll” by Led Zeppelin – If that opening drum part and guitar riff was enough to electrify Cadillac’s staid image in one felt swoop, it’s good enough for me.

10.) “Paperback Writer” by the Beatles – Incredible guitar riff, slammin’ drums and than booming McCartney bass riff at the end makes for a perfect JB track (check out Geoff Emerick’s book “Here, there & Everywhere” for the secrets on how Macca got that monstrous bass sound).

9.) “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who – Daltrey’s scream alone is worth the price of admission but add Townsend’s power riffing and you have one of the all-time classic arena anthems.

8.) “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak – One of the most haunting guitar riffs of all time over Rowland Salley’s sensual bass lines that created the unforgettable mood for David Lynch’s Wild at Heart.

7.) “Ain’t That Peculiar” by Marvin Gaye – One of the best of all the Motown singers (and that says a lot) with the legendary James Jamerson’s brilliant bass lines as a perfect counterpoint.

6.) “Lay Lady Lay” by Bob Dylan – Bob’s venture into Nashville produced not only this all-time classic, but you have to concentrate to the amazing rhythm section behind him to really capture the true nuanced emotion the track.

5.) “All Right Now” by Free – With “the voice” Paul Rodgers on lead vocals and Andy Fraser’s killer up-front bass, not to mention Paul Kossoff’s constructing one of the most famous guitar riffs in all rockdom, this recording launched a thousand stripped down hot-roddded bands.

4.) “Green River” by Creedence Clearwater Revival – John Fogerty’s swamp tinged vocals and lead guitar made for one heck of a top ten single (CCR almost single handedly kept rock on the radio with hit after hit that cut through the lame pop that most of Top 40 stations programmed in the 1970’s).

3.) “Return to Me (Ritorna-Mi)” by Dean Martin – My wife and I were married in Siena, Italy (same town featured in the new movie Letters to Juliet) and after the town official “gave” the sunset to my lovely bride Bettina as a wedding gift, we danced our first dance under a storybook sunset and since we had no band, I sang the only song I knew in Italian and I would love to celebrate that moment over and over again.

2.) “Boys of Summer” by Don Henley – The ultimate tribute to lost youth and one of Don’s most powerful vocal performances, this song has one of the best series of memorable guitar hooks of any song courtesy of co-writer Mike Campbell of Tom Petty‘s Heartbreakers.

And the #1 is…drum roll please…(pun intended)

“Honky-Tonk Woman” by the Rolling Stones – That opening cowbell and Charlie Watts’ signature drum intro which leads into Keith Richard’s legendary guitar riff, this is my vote for the greatest juke box song in Rock history.

Coda: Every time I hear “Honky-Tonk Woman” it takes me back to my basement band the Tobacco Rouges when we took a break from practicing to grab a burger at our local grill down the street. After lunch, I had all of one quarter left in my pocket and noticed that the juke box in the corner had one play for a dime or three-for-a-quarter; so I got to hear “Honey-Tonk Woman” three times in a row.

Consumers who were used to downloading music through Napster weren’t about to change their ways – record labels be damned – which led to the rip and burn mentality that just about ruined the business. To add fuel to the fire, labels began going after what would have been their most valued customer, the true music fan, by punishing them for illegal downloading (the labels really had no choice at that point) which effectively was like killing the proverbial goose that laid the golden record egg.

Some may argue that the death knell for the industry could also be attributed to the lack of quality music being released in the last decade, but even our biggest artists like Coldplay and U2 sell significantly less records today than their counterparts did decades ago did. Speaking of decades ago, Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead had an interesting business model which was “Give the music away for free and the fans will pay for everything else.” Of course they fought tooth & nail to protect their merchandising rights and distribution, but most artists and labels at the time thought they were either on drugs, or just simply insane. Now we look back at that model and realize they were true visionaries. Today, artists put their music up on their MySpace pages and encourage downloading just like the Dead encouraged fans to record their live shows and rip for their friends. Today, some touring artists sell t-shirts that come with their latest record as a “valued added” download. Free downloads of master-tones and single tracks are aimed getting the consumer to opt-in for the complete album. Concert promoters are already building studios at venues to record that evening’s performance as a souvenir of the show (but you still have to pay at this point).

I’m not saying that music should be free all the time, but except for “jam bands” in the Grateful Dead mode, when’s the last time you saw hundreds of fans of a major artist caravan from city to city to attend several shows in a row?

Coda: This blog was inspired by a lunch I had with Ken Lopez, professor at USC, prior to a lecture I presented to his class. Ken gave me so many valuable insights into this type of “new-old” business model for today’s artists so I am, well, grateful.

I’m hardly the first to cast a stone, but it is fascinating to me how untruths can turn a little spark into a media firestorm. In the past six months it seems every other week there was another Tiger Woods, Jesse James or John Edwards scenario where a celebrity caught in some sort of discrepancy or incident, tells a whopper to try and get out, and then gets tangled up in a web of lies until their house of cards tumbles. Maybe it’s the proliferation of 24/7 media where a poor girl who lies to her parents garners media coverage like she was, well Tiger Woods. Andy Warhol was a true visionary when he said in the future, “Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes” - but I have to believe that’s not the type of fame most of us seek or want (although anyone who watches YouTube might tend to disagree). But the message is still clear - the truth eventually will come out so why lie in the first place if it only makes matters worse? David Letterman got caught with his “worldwide” pants down (literally) and immediately offered the true story to his audience of millions. And guess what? It became a non-story except between his wife and himself. The story quickly went away along with his accuser Robert “Joe” Halerman who got caught in an implausible lie, and pleaded guilty to extortion with a six-month sentence.  
 
When I was a youngster, my mother use do tell me something her mother told her, “Don’t lie, because once you do, you will have to tell more lies and at some point you will forget the original lie and contradict yourself and get caught. On the other hand, you will never forget the truth.” Words of wisdom because the worst kind of lies are the ones that hurt someone else and the more one tries to cover up, the deeper the hurt. I consider myself to be a branding specialist, not actually in public relations, but when you look at the damage each one of these people has inflicted on a spouse, friend, client, or in the case of BP, the environment which affects us all, the more you realize that the real victims of the lies are the liars themselves.  
 
Coda: In grade school, Baby Boomers were uniformly taught the story of our first president George Washington as a young boy bravely admitting to doing a bad deed. “I cannot tell a lie - I cut down the cherry tree.” I don’t know how many history classes still teach that, but as we found out later, that story never happened. But even if it was meant to be a fable, it still speaks the truth because the consequences of lying are even worse. It seems at least David Letterman was paying attention.

That one common thread in an artist’s hook gives fans something they can emulate to let everyone know they are almost as cool as their idols…besides The Beatles, think Elvis, the early Stones, Zeppelin, and on and on. But let’s put aside musicians for a moment and consider actors. In my world, Steve McQueen was the coolest and even though I was as far from cool as a 9 year old kid could be, I became coolest kid on my block when my parents bought me a replica of the sawed-off rifle his character Josh Randall on the hit TV series Wanted Dead or Alive kept in his gun belt, and was only all too happy to speed draw it out to mow down the bad guys with. Later on when I outgrew toy guns, I fantasized about riding a Triumph motorcycle just like the one he almost escaped the Nazis on as the “Cooler King” in the Great Escape (Side note: McQueen was a motorcycle racer in real life and since he was the best stunt rider they had, he also played the German motorcyclists chasing himself – I found out years later that the film’s insurance company wouldn’t let him do the big jump at the end, even though he was more than capable, so his riding buddy did that for him). When I finally grew up – many, many years later, my wife bought me a Triumph Motorcycle as a wedding present which fulfilled a fantasy two-fer – the bike, and the woman of my dreams.

I could write a book about this topic (actually I did) but the point is, talent a given, for any successful artist, actor or brand (even though there’s no “r” in “band” I believe you have to become one to sustain yourself in today’s world), you got to find that “hook” that grabs them and keeps them coming back for more.

Coda: The idea for his blog began to germinate when I read about Fess Parker’s death a few months ago. You see, even before McQueen, I wanted to be like Fess Parker’s TV character Davy Crockett. All I needed, along with million of other baby boomer boys, was a coonskin cap. Think of my generation’s progress – Davy’s cap, followed by Beatle hair, Indiana Jones’ fedora….all about the “look” which of course is the “hook.”

Note: For another application of “hooks” you can check out my contribution in the Worst-Case Scenario Business Survival Guide.

Warning: Get ready for a sharp left turn…

This blog is actually not just about Jeff Beck, because I really wanted to talk about the resurgence of vinyl records and what the local record store meant to us growing up. The first band I was in, The Tobacco Rouges, used to hang out at Pearson’s Music in Niles, IL spinning the latest 45’s in the listening booth. We would try to figure out the chords to a new Stones or Kinks single – that was until kindly Mr. Pierson would ask us not to wear out the merchandise unless we wanted to buy it. At that time, Dee Hunt, the older sister of our drummer Jim, recommended a lead singer from her college that was looking for a band and she knew we needed a singer. Steve Nakon looked just like Mick Jagger – shoulder length hair and all. Keep in mind we went to Catholic schools so we couldn’t wear our hair any longer that a short “Beatle” cut so this guy was our idol. Steve took us to Old Town where the hippies hung out to get cool rock clothes inspired by the British Bands. Steve helped us almost look like we were a real rock band, to the point that the black-leather-clad-slicked-back-hair “greasers” at many of the VFW halls we played waited in line outside after the show to kick our respective asses – we had to learn to run pretty fast with our guitars in tow. Steve eventually left the band to go on to bigger and better things; he founded Gramophone, the first $3.00 record store in Chicago. Even though Nick Hornby wrote “High Fidelity” about a vinyl store in England, the movie was filmed on the Northwest side of Chicago, in the same area as Steve’s original store. In fact, when I saw the film I really believed it was based on Gramophone.

Anyway, Steve would clue us in on the latest records, particularly the British imports. One day he told me I had to hear this new record from ex-Yardbird guitarist Jeff Beck. I told him that I had just read a review in Hit Parader Magazine that liked Jeff but referred to his singer “Class Z.” Steve said, “No you got to listen to this guy he’s great – his name is Rod Stewart.” The record was “Truth” and it changed my life and no doubt the lives of many future Heavy Metal musicians before we ever even knew there was such a thing. It was one of the few records that I actually wore out to the point that it would no longer function. Our band changed our style, name, clothes and everything else to become more Beck-like – and never looked back.

Those memories of the old record stores are not just nostalgic – those stores were the social networking of that era where music lovers congregated to discover and share the best new music like Bloodwyn Pig or Taste. Often we would gather before a store opened just to be the first in line to get the latest offering from Zeppelin, The Who, or Traffic. Recently I read an interview with Gary Calamar, the co-author of the new book “Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again” and he talked about the stores as a music hub & more for the community and how they are making a slight return. When Michael Jackson died, people connected through the media. Calamar states, “I worked in Licorice Pizza when John Lennon was killed. I had the day off but I came in anyway because people needed a place to mourn.”

Coda: The great thing about being an author and having a blog is just like the old neighborhood record stores, it connects you with new friends and it reconnects you with so many more old friends. In addition to Jeff Beck, this blog was also inspired by Steve Nakon contacting me after all these years through my website. He founded Northwest Yoga in Chicago and he’s still introducing me to new releases – he just sent me his newest Yoga record “Yoga: Breath & Body.”

We all know that marketing can use strong motivators to trigger emotions, like lust and sex which pushed Tiger and Jesse James into rehab (as Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnell remarked while defending the obvious sexist album cover of Smell the Glove, “Sex sells”) and greed which turned out to be a major contributor to the Great Recession. But fear seems to be way out in front as far as a top motivator. Rush Limbaugh and his “mini-me” Glen Beck have considerably increased their audiences with a steady stream of doomsday predictions. Rush said that “Obamacare” was so disastrous that if passed, he would move out of the country (last time I looked he is still here so maybe it wasn’t that bad after all). But it wouldn’t be fair to suggest that the right wing has cornered the market on fear. In fact, after healthcare passed, Democrats and Republicans alike received threats and Tea Baggers seem to see anyone in government as a threat.

Once again, we are not just talking about fear in politics.

Just watch the nightly news in LA. Immediately following a car chase or some other threatening story, that in reality doesn’t really directly threaten us, we are barraged with parade of commercials offering to make us feel better - buy a new car and everything will be okay. Or better yet, take some medication for a malady we didn’t even know we had that was created by a marketing department for a large pharmaceutical (restless leg syndrome?). The problem is like anything else; too much of anything can anesthetize us. Groundbreaking comedian Lenny Bruce used the N-word and F-word over and over again in his routine in front of a shocked audience to demonstrate that after so many repetitions, those words would eventually lose their impact. And so it is with fear - the more you try to scare us, the more scarier you have to be next time to get the same results. That’s why Glen Beck is forced to be more hysterical and seemingly more out of control to get his point across. Funny thing is that his network mate, Bill O’Rielly, purposely has toned down his fear factor rhetoric and guess what? His ratings are way up as well so maybe there’s still hope.

I was raised Catholic and even though the religion attempted to scare us kids into good Christian behavior with threats of purgatory & hell, I really wasn’t that afraid of those places as much passing the house on my block with the dog who chased me home on a regular basis. Even then, my mom would try to calm me my telling me that nine out of ten things we worry about never come to fruition. And you know what? She was right. Yes, it’s a scary world out there, but I have a wide circle of friends and co-workers and none of them really seem all that afraid. In fact, most people I know actually think things are improving as the economy is on the mend, healthcare reform passed and spring is in the air.

So what are worried about?

Coda: I left off music as a motivator in this blog because when it comes to good music, you can never have too much.

A few months ago, the big controversy in Southern California was not about healthcare reform or the state’s financial problems - no, it was about the Los Angeles Fire Department dangling one off their brave firefighters from a helicopter to rescue a dog trapped in the Los Angeles River. For those of you not familiar with the LA River, it’s more like a stream that actually reminds me of the small “gutters” that ran down the middle of our alleyways in Chicago that carried the melting snow away in winter, and in summer, the water we used to clean our cars with. However, on the rare occasion it rains in sunny California, the river can become quite treacherous as fast rushing rainwater races to the sea. The public was pretty divided over this rescue that dominated the local media for days on end - one side thought it was so brave of the fireman to risk his life to save the dog, not only hanging above the rapids but also because the frightened dog bit him (he even received several marriage proposals - dogs lovers unite!). The other side predictably thought it was a colossal waste of taxpayer funds, particularly in a state that is near bankrupt. The latter obviously were not pet owners, for if they were, they would have cherished that poor dog like a member of their family - just like I do with my Abbey Rose.

Abbey is a pure bred “Aussie” who is just shy of her 8th birthday. Before we adopted her, my wife Bettina said that if we ever wanted a dog we should try to get one of the offspring of the legendary Max, who my wife thought was not only the smartest dog on Catalina Island when she lived there, but one of the smartest dogs she had ever seen. That was good enough for me and when Max finally got around to siring a litter - we were there – unfortunately behind everyone else from the island. When we arrived at the breeders, Abbey was the last one left and she was obviously the runt of the litter. Although she ended up half the size of her dad, a gentler, devoted and
more beautiful companion we couldn’t have asked for; and yes, very smart. When she was just a puppy, she got out of the house and like most dogs, decided to explore the neighborhood. I drove round and round to all the places she might have gone – the park, my stepson’s school, friends homes, etc. When I exhausted my possibilities I dejectedly came home and lo and behold, there she was patiently waiting for me on our front porch. That was the last time she ran away.

And Abbey almost never barks, even when my mom’s feisty little Chihuahua Alfie tries to instigate a tussle by leaping out of a hiding place to jump on her. That is, as I found out, unless she is threatened. I found out how tough the girl was when she was attacked by two large dogs, the neighbor bullies - a giant Poodle (don’t laugh, it’s vicious) and a Dalmatian. The only dog that ever bit me in an angry attack when I was young was a Dalmatian so I was always leery of this one when I saw the dog being walked with the Poodle. Each time they approached Abbey on her walk, their owner was barley able to contain them. I was usually able to keep her out of harm’s way until
one day when they pounced on her while Bettina and I were working out in our community gym and Abbey was patiently waiting outside for the remainder of her morning run. I never saw Abbey become so aggressive but I figured she thought she was fighting for her life and instincts took over. The other dogs were pulled off her and by the time my wife and I got to her she had a bloody nose and looking at me as if to say, “You think I look bad, should have seen the other two!” That was the last time we brought her to the gym. But nothing could prepare us for the scare of a lifetime.

Last week, my wife and stepson Kjell took Abbey for a run in a remote part of the Cleveland National Forest near where we live. My wife rounded a corner on her bike and caught glimpse of a large rattlesnake sunning itself on the path just in time to raise her legs to avoid being bitten. Abbey was chasing behind in full throttle and as the snake coiled, Abbey went to sniff the intruder but my wife called her back. When I got home, my wife retold the story saying that we were so lucky Abbey wasn’t bitten, but we noticed she was just feebly standing still and wouldn’t even come when I called her. At first, we thought she was just worn out but my wife began to get concerned and examined her and noticed a cut on her leg. Not taking any chances, she rushed Abbey to the emergency animal hospital in the nick of time, because Abbey was bitten and the deadly venom was racing through her veins. She had to be monitored all night so she wouldn’t go into cardiac arrest as they pumped her with anti-venom. We couldn’t sleep most of that night, fearing the worst, but hoping for the best. I did doze off in just before sunrise and normally when the automatic coffeemaker goes off; Abbey is always there to gently wake me by stroking my arm with her paw. I always rub her belly as a reward and that’s been my wake-up call for the best part of seven years. But that morning I realized Abbey wasn’t there and still in the hospital. Just then, my wife came in and said that she had just spoken to the hospital and Abbey looked like she would pull through. That was mainly because when Abbey had her teeth cleaned a month ago, the doctor said that she was due for her rattlesnake booster shot in June, but since she was already there, we could have it done at the same time as the teeth cleaning, mainly for he sake of convenience. I knew nothing about rattlesnake boosters for dogs, but Bettina did and so she agreed. Who would have though that simple suggestion would eventually save Abbey’s life?

Coda: Abbey’s recovery was slow but each day we could see the progress as the evil black venom visible under her skin where she was shaved began to recede and she became more active. After five days, I was pleasantly awakened by her gentle pawing to announce the coffee was ready and I should get my lazy butt out of bed. At that very moment, I realized I couldn’t imagine life without her.