(from http://www.ultimateoldiesradio.com/djpage.cfm?djID=42&name=Ty+Ford)
". . . Ty Ford is a well-known name in Baltimore radio from the 70's and 80's. Ty Ford is a well-known voice in hundreds of commercials heard today around the world. The Baltimore resident trained for radio at the Grantham School in Washington DC in 1967, and after earning his FCC license (remember when we all had to do that?), Ford began that all too familiar journey into the 'biz'. Ty Ford jocked a lot of rock and roll in his day, but he eventually found his niche in audio production and voiceovers. . . The Ty Ford radio career began at 900 AM WLMD in Laurel, Maryland (a town between Baltimore and Washington). He worked there from the Fall of '69 to the Spring of the following year. 'LMD was a daytimer, and a great place for aspiring radio stars like Ty Ford. In addition to playing 'middle of the road' tunes and handling afternoon news, Ford also hosted Irish and Polka shows on the weekend. . . in March of 1970, Ty embarked on a year's sojourn at WNAV AM and FM in Annapolis. The format was Top 40, and Ford handled full-time airshifts, first midday and then evenings, as well as production for both stations. In 1972, Ty cracked his first Major Market gig, scoring a slot at Progressive Rock formatted 86 WAYE. That operation was destined to be a legendary station, featuring the likes of Ford, Chris Emry, and the redoubtable Marty ('The Mellow Morning Mama') McLean. After a year at WAYE, Ty moved to WHFS in Bethesda, Maryland. This rather strong FM signal served both Baltimore and Washington and Ty rocked out for 3 years starting in the Spring of '72. With his First Class FCC ticket, Ty was also Chief Engineer at 'HFS. From '75 thru '77, he worked briefly at WEAM in Washington and then went back to WLMD in Laurel for a second cup of coffee. It was in March of 1977 that Ty Ford landed the big one. Production Manager for both WIYY-FM and 50,000 watt WBAL-AM in Baltimore. He would remain there for the next 10 years. In 1986, after the better part of 2 decades on the air, Ty left the grind and carried his talents to freelance voiceovers and productions. He is one of the most successful VO guys in the business. After I "graduated" from the "Hearst School Of Broadcasting", I went from freelance, to self-employed, to private practice, running my own studio. I have clients all over the country and around the world. I do very little voicework for local clients, although I started doing mostly local radio and TV spots. I work long distance, using ISDN, VOIP and an FTP server.' Even though his production company commandeers his time, he will on occasion dabble with on-air guest appearances, and has never lost his passion for radio. Ty comments, 'Many radio folks think radio is an exceptionally crummy, backstabbing business. Having been in and out, I can attest that radio doesn't have an exclusive on BS'. . ."
Ty is also a talented singer/songwriter/guitarist/vocalist and tireless promoter of the Baltimore/Washington local music scene. He is currently working on "The Thoughts Behind the Songs" which will take place at Germano's Piattini in Baltimore's Little Italy, Tuesday, March 28th at 7:30PM.
(from wikepedia.com)
". . . Despite not being able to play a musical instrument or write notation, (Joe) Meek displayed a remarkable facility for writing and producing successful commercial recordings. In writing songs he was reliant on musicians such as Dave Adams, Geoff Goddard or Charles Blackwell to transcribe melodies from his vocal "demos". He worked on 245 singles, of which 45 were major hits (top fifty). He pioneered studio tools such as multiple over-dubbing on one- and two-track machines, close miking, direct input of bass guitars, the compressor, and effects like echo and reverb, as well as sampling. Unlike other producers, his search was for the 'right' sound rather than for a catchy musical tune, and throughout his brief career he single-mindedly followed his quest to create a unique "sonic signature" for every record he produced.
At a time when many studio engineers were still wearing white coats and assiduously trying to maintain clarity and fidelity, Meek, was producing everything on the three floors of his "home" studio and was never afraid to distort or manipulate the sound if it created the effect he was seeking. Meek was one of the first producers to grasp and fully exploit the possibilities of the modern recording studio. His innovative techniques—physically separating instruments, treating instruments and voices with echo and reverb, processing the sound through his fabled home-made electronic devices, the combining of separately-recorded performances and segments into a painstakingly constructed composite recording—comprised a major breakthrough in sound production. . .
. . . In 1993, former session singer Ted Fletcher introduced the Joemeek line of audio processing equipment. The homage to Meek was due to his influence in the early stages of audio compression. The name and product line were sold to the American company PMI Audio Group in 2003. The current product line includes a microphone series called "Telstar", named after Meek's biggest hit. Meek's reputation for experiments in recording music was acknowledged by the Music Producers Guild who created The Joe Meek Award for Innovation in Production in 2009. MPG chairman Mike Howlett said the award was "paying homage to this remarkable producer's pioneering spirit". The winner of the inaugural award in 2009 was producer and musician Brian Eno. Meek was ranked the greatest producer of all time by NME. . ."
OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak
My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
As a TV-watching kid, I loved commercials. At least SOME commercials. Remember "I can't believe I ate the whole thing. . . You ate it Ralph!"? Not so much as a 'hardly-watch-any-TV' adult. In these days of cable television, Netflix and bluerays, not only do commercials turn me off, I refuse to even watch conventional, network (or local for that matter) television.
Do I want a medal? (Or just a chest on which to pin it?) Naw! Just musing about how popular entertainment and I, myself have changed.
As I write, commercial AM radio (yes Virginia, there STILL is an AM radio) is chattering in the background. One commercial, in particular, annoys me. It's one for the newest casino in the area and runs no risk of enticing me to patronize them at all. The the appeal to the base desire for attention, not to mention an easy fortune procured by gambling, is a fascinating psychological ploy.
"Everywhere you look there’s endless excitement and the kind of thrills you just don’t find anywhere else; like over 1,000 Vegas-style slot machines, the hottest Table Games around, dining that always gets two forks up and the kind of red carpet service you would expect in Hollywood."
I've been to Hollywood. Believe me, I am not the kind of person that gets 'red carpet service' let alone 'cheap, throw-rug' service in Hollywood. Just the regular-Joe-schmuck service that I (and most other regular people) get anywhere else.
It's good to dream. It's certainly good to possess a certain self-esteem. But don't confuse dreaming or self-esteem with crass commercialism. I think the lesson here is, quite simply and obviously, 'don't think that you won't lose money gambling just because you're pretending that you're a movie star.'
(from wikipedia.com)
". . . Between 1992 and 1995, (Van Dyke) Parks teamed up again with a then-reclusive Brian Wilson to create the album Orange Crate Art. Parks wrote all of the songs on the album, except "This Town Goes Down At Sunset" and George Gershwin instrumental "Lullaby", with vocals by Wilson. Orange Crate Art is a tribute to the Southern California of the early 1900s, and a lyrical tribute to the beauty of Northern California. It was recorded during a stressful period for Wilson, after being involved in court orders relating to years of psychiatric misconduct he had been subject to. According to Parks, "When I found him, he was alone in a room staring at a television. It was off." The album was met with poor commercial reception, much to the disappointment of Parks. . . "
In his seven-decade career, Dave Brubeck was an artistic and a commercial success, a pianist and composer who expanded the musical landscape and who crossed other borders as one of the world's foremost ambassadors of jazz.
He had an inventive style that brought international music into the jazz mainstream, but he was more than a musical innovator: He was an American original.
Mr. Brubeck died Wednesday at a hospital in Norwalk, Conn., one day before his 92nd birthday. His manager, Russell Gloyd, said Mr. Brubeck was on his way to a regular checkup with his cardiologist when his heart gave out.
Considered one of the greatest figures of a distinctively American art form, Mr. Brubeck was a modest man who left a monumental legacy. His 1959 recording "Time Out," with its infectious hit "Take Five," became the first jazz album to sell 1 million copies. He toured once-forbidden countries in the Middle East and in the old Soviet empire and was honored by presidents and foreign dignitaries.
He wrote hundreds of tunes, including the oft-recorded "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke." His quartet, featuring alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, was one of the most popular jazz groups in history, and he kept up a busy performing schedule into his 90th year.
He also composed ambitious classical and choral works, released nearly 100 albums and remained a charismatic and indefatigable performer into old age. In December 2010, the month Mr. Brubeck turned 90, his quartet won the readers' poll of DownBeat magazine as the best group in jazz, 57 years after he first won the poll.
A bespectacled cowboy who grew up on a remote California ranch, Mr. Brubeck was known for his complex rhythmic patterns, which he said were inspired by riding his horse and listening to its syncopated hoofbeats striking the ground.
He studied in the 1940s with the experimental French composer Darius Milhaud, who encouraged his interest in jazz. Mr. Brubeck was among the first jazz musicians to make wide use of polytonality, or playing in more than one musical key at a time. He was also an early advocate of "world music," adopting exotic sounds that he heard in his worldwide travels.
After forming his quartet in California in the early 1950s, he sought to branch out from the dank nightclubs of San Francisco and Los Angeles. His wife, Iola, suggested the quartet perform on college campuses, which produced a nationwide sensation, with record sales to match.
"We reached them musically," he told The New York Times in 1967. "We had no singers, no beards, no jokes. All we presented was music."
With their curly hair and horn-rimmed glasses, Desmond and Mr. Brubeck looked like professorial brothers and were unlikely jazz stars. The two had an instant musical bond and could anticipate each other's bandstand improvisations, as Desmond's ethereal, upper-register saxophone soared above Mr. Brubeck's driving keyboard attack.
With the release of "Time Out" in 1959, Mr. Brubeck had the first jazz album to sell more than 1 million copies. It reached No. 2 on the pop charts, and its eternally catchy signature tune, "Take Five," became a surprise hit.
The tune, written by Desmond but heavily arranged by Mr. Brubeck, built a memorable melody over a complex rhythm in the unusual time signature of 5/4. "Take Five" became a staple of his concerts and helped make the Dave Brubeck Quartet the most popular jazz group of the 1950s and '60s.
"Every once in a while," jazz historian and critic Ted Gioia wrote in an email exchange with The Washington Post, "jazz is blessed by one of those great figures who can do it all. They give us a body of work that is full of musical riches ... but the music also can appeal to the average listener. Dave Brubeck is one of those figures."
"Cool jazz"
Mr. Brubeck's position in musical history has often been debated. He was born the same year as Charlie Parker, the tortured genius of the bebop movement who brought a new rhythmic and harmonic sophistication to jazz in the 1940s, but Mr. Brubeck was never a true bebopper. He defied the raffish image of the jazz musician by being a clean-living family man who lived with his wife and six children.
He was considered a seminal force in the West Coast's understated "Cool Jazz" school of the 1950s, but he disdained the "Cool Jazz" label and preferred to forge an original musical path.
After early struggles, he was reportedly earning more than $100,000 a year by 1954, the year he became the second jazz musician to be featured on the cover of Time magazine (after Louis Armstrong in 1949).
Some musicians and critics resented his success, and others questioned his prominence in a form of music that was created primarily by black musicians.
But Mr. Brubeck was an outspoken advocate of racial harmony and often used his music as a platform for cross-cultural understanding. He once canceled 23 of 25 concerts in the South when local officials would not allow his African-American bass player, Eugene Wright, to appear with the rest of the group.
On a tour in the Netherlands in the 1950s, African-American pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith was asked, in Mr. Brubeck's presence, "Isn't it true that no white man can play jazz?"
Smith gestured toward Mr. Brubeck and said to the reporter, "I'd like you to meet my son."
In 1958, Mr. Brubeck and his quartet undertook an international tour for the State Department, spreading the improvisatory spirit of jazz to Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Sri Lanka, among other countries. In Poland, they were among the first U.S. jazz musicians to perform behind the Iron Curtain.
In each new country, Mr. Brubeck mingled with musicians, absorbing local rhythms and melodies. Long before the term "world music" gained currency, he was writing compositions that borrowed elements he had heard in Mexico, Japan, Turkey, India, Afghanistan and other countries.
Cowboy childhood
David Warren Brubeck was born Dec. 6, 1920, in Concord, Calif. He and his family lived on a 45,000-acre ranch near Ione.
His father was a champion rodeo roper and his mother was a conservatory-trained pianist who had studied in London with concert star Dame Myra Hess. She gave her three sons a surprisingly advanced musical education, and his two older brothers, Henry and Howard, became music teachers and composers.
Because of early eyesight problems, Mr. Brubeck always had difficulty reading musical notation. He compensated by learning to improvise and to play by ear, which served him well in jazz.
At the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., he had planned to study veterinary medicine. But a zoology professor saw how much time he spent in the music department and suggested he change majors.
A dean called him a disgrace but allowed him to graduate after a professor pleaded on his behalf, calling him a budding genius.
In college, Mr. Brubeck proposed on his first date with Iola Whitlock, and the two were married in 1942.
During World War II, Mr. Brubeck was pulled from the ranks of an infantry unit by an Army colonel, who asked him to start a jazz band to entertain troops on the front lines.
After the war, he did graduate work at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., with Milhaud and wrote and performed avant-garde jazz.
Drummer Joe Morello joined Mr. Brubeck and Desmond in 1956, followed by Wright in 1958, forming a group that recorded dozens of records and found international acclaim. The quartet had a huge following until it split up in 1967.
Besides his wife, of Wilton, Conn., survivors include his four sons and a daughter.
In the early 1980s, Mr. Brubeck formed a new quartet, with which he toured until shortly before his death.
In 1996, he won a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement, and he was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2009.
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You can NOW download
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AMBIENCE & WINE
. . . like Show Business (that's TWO words you know) . . .
There are so many folks out there so ready, willing and able to 'help' the struggling artist that it boggles the mind. The latest one I've encountered led me merrily around the mulberry bush about being featured on their syndicated radio show in August. Many emails (and mp3 transfers) later, turns out they couldn't fit me in. But September was right around the corner. Several emails regarding September have transpired when finally this week, I am informed that in order to be featured, I must purchase 30-seconds of commercial time for $300, at the end of my feature. Unfortunately, after consulting with my accountant and business manager (this in reality, took very little time since I hold both positions personally), it was determined that $300. was not in the budget. When informing this firm of my decision on the newly-revealed $300 commercial requirement, which was never mentioned in my correspondence with this 'helpful' group which began on July 31st, this is what I got in response:
"I don't know why you are surprised. A syndicated radio show has the following cost:
* studio time
* engineer
* editor
* host (for us- 2 for each format)
* scriptwriter
* Booker
And that is just to do the show, not the online magazine, the charts, etc. So, are they suppose to work for free?
Show Business is two words. [We have] been around for seven years, helping Indie artist get more exposure. Everyone connected has a track record of working with some of the best in the industry. That is why it has been successful because everyone is good at their careers and a quality product is produced. But just like any aspect in the media ----TV, magazine, newspapers, radio --- commercials and advertising keep them running.
[We try] to keep the cost down for the Indie artists and everyone knows that $300. for a commercial that airs that length of time on a syndicated radio show is extremely reasonable. [We] also know that in this day and age the economy is hard and some Indie artist do not have it. We understand budget restrictions.
Just out of curiosity, why do you think people should work for free? I have never understood that concept.
Best of luck to you and your music."
. . . and after the aforementioned consultation with my 'staff', we have determined that (after meticulous analysis of incoming vs outgoing) my books prove that I, for one, do indeed
WORK FOR FREE!
download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak
For anyone who wants to accomplish anything in the music business, the name 'CD Baby' is one you show get to know, if you don't already. CDBaby.com is the easy, simple, thorough, professional, inexpensive way to market your recordings. You pay one, reasonable, upfront fee, send your music, provide all the album/artist details and they do the rest.
This is NOT a commercial. I do NOT work for CD Baby. I receive no compensation, discount or promotion for saying any of these things. This IS my blog though. And my intent is to discuss music and many of the other things that I perceive as related to music. So I am just stating what I have found to be, through my experience, FACTS.
From Wikipedia, "CD Baby began with its founder, Derek Sivers in Woodstock, New York.[when?] Sivers was a musician and scion of a wealthy real estate family, who created the website to sell his own music. As a hobby, he also began to sell the CDs of local bands and friends. He chose to make CD Baby a "utopian" online store for independent musicians. To do this, Sivers followed four main principles based on his personal preferences: **The musician will be paid every week **The musician will get the full name and address of everyone who purchases their music (unless they opt out) **The musician will never be removed from the system for not selling enough **The site will never accept advertising or paid-placement In addition, Sivers made sure to listen to every CD he sold (currently several people are employed to do this). The operation was run mainly in Sivers' bedroom.
Sivers, eventually hired John Steup as his vice president and first employee. In an interview, Sivers recalls saying to Steup: "This thing might get huge one day. I mean, we might have 100 artists here." Steadily, CD Baby grew as more artists wanted to sell their music through the website. Sivers and his employees always dealt with the artists directly.
In August 2008 it was announced that Disc Makers, a CD and DVD manufacturer, bought CD Baby (and Host Baby) for 22 million dollars following a 7-year partnership between the two companies, according to Sivers."
This is the guy who started it. I'd like to be just like him when I grow up. (He's actually quite a bit younger than me.)
