Features

Lincoln Alexander and Quincy Jones An Evening to Remember

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/26/2012 - 13:57

Submitted by Michael E. Williams
Photo: Quincy Jones and Lincoln Alexander

I was standing outside the back stage of Roy Thomson Hall for the Oscar Peterson Public Memorial, chatting with Jack Layton and Olivia Chow, waiting for a friend.

My friend, a lifelong friend of Oscar’s and featured guest speaker of the night, was Quincy Jones.

As usual, Quincy was brilliant that night as he gave us wonderful memories of his private and public moments with Oscar. Two of Oscar’s favorite pianists performed - the great Oliver Jones from Montreal and former Studio One pianist, Monty Alexander. Nobody swings harder than Monty Alexander known for his West-Indian swing Flavor.

I sat backstage left next to the amazing Phil Nimmons. Soprano, Measha Brueggergosman, was sitting on my lap. Quincy said to me “beware of the singers they can break your heart”. She is an amazingly wonderful lady with a voice as big as her heart.

I was literally surrounded by musical royalty and history.

The Editor in Chief and COO Speaks Out on Cashbox Canada

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/19/2012 - 12:36

We live in an 'instant' world and the days of writing, creating and publishing have become so much faster than the old way of operating a magazine. We have an online issue of Cashbox Magazine, the magazine that started decades ago in the United States and was famous for coining the phrase 'With A Bullet' when a song was making fast moves up the radio charts.

There are days when the electronic world comes crashing down and the October 5 issue fell into that slot. From one of our employees being hacked, to my submitting files being corrupt, late submissions and other issues that seem to only happen when that word 'Deadline' is flashing in front of you. In my haste to publish on time, I made a “clerical” error that saw us publishing the wrong story and caused a maelstrom of activity on the social network FaceBook. I was prepared to move on but in light of the attack on myself, our staff and our publication, I felt it necessary to respond. My silence might be conceived as guilt.

I’m Your Man The Life of Leonard Cohen

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/19/2012 - 12:31

Submitted by Don Graham

Leonard Cohen has been in the public eye for five decades as a poet, songwriter and a singer. Cohen’s life and career have been fluid and full of change throughout all those decades. ‘I’m Your Man, The Life of Leonard Cohen’ by San Francisco writer Sylvie Simmons is a comprehensive account of Cohen's story from growing up in Montreal, Canada to traveling to England, Greece, New York City and beyond.

Cohen fans have been waiting a long time for this book, containing interviews by the better known women in his songs like Suzanne and Marianne as well as interviews by the notoriously shy and private Cohen himself. More importantly even those who are not necessarily Cohen fans will be interested in the names and places in this book.

Bill Wood Eyes on the Prize

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/19/2012 - 12:14

Submitted by Michael E. Williams

Photo Credit: Camelia Linta

Needless to say, surviving the business in Canada is not easy. MuchMusic gave new hope to all in 1984. Record companies scrambled to fill the airwaves with Canadian artists.

Occasionally the music business executives attempted to manufacture groups to fill a certain need or void in the pop landscape. In Montreal, it was the disco business that created music with no artist attached to the music, just a producer, while in Toronto successful bands created to fill The New Romantics. The trend was big and MuchMusic put a face to that just in time for the video age.

I remember sitting in Bruce Barrow’s office, discussing Platinum Blonde’s explosion upon the scene, fuelled by young girls, cool tunes and Celtic accents...musically they got better. They survived; most did not and for good reason. Manufactured music and bands is where the music business sucks the soul out of music and at its best, it becomes music by committee not a band.

How One Independent Record Label Defied the Odds in Difficult Times

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/12/2012 - 13:00

Allelujah! Don't bend! Ascend! Godspeed.jpg

Submitted by Evelyn Robinson

Seeing Stars

On October 2nd, nearly a decade since their last release, the eight-piece Canadian instrumental rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Godspeed for short) announced a new album, Allelujah! Don't bend! Ascend! The announcement came without any pre-publicity and without any hype, but fans were certain about the album’s quality before they’d heard a single note, and the band’s record label was forced to suspend pre-orders a mere 24 hours after the announcement due to the sheer volume of requests.

Memories of Michael Love!

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/12/2012 - 12:57

Submitted by Michael E. Williams

My chance meeting with Mike Love of the Beach Boy at WNCR, in the Penthouse of the old Stouffers Hotel in downtown Cleveland's Playhouse Square, went down Saturday, November 20th 1971.

I was an intern at the station answering phones and learning radio from David Spero who was a pioneering Dj and manager. (He is currently with The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.).

I would go to hang out with the Dj’s (David, Billy Bass, Doyle, Shauna, Denny Saunders and Jeff Gelb, Martin Perlich). The place was pure magic high above city where the view was great. The smell of sandalwood and patchouli permeated the air, when you got off the elevator.

One night The Beach Boys were in town at The Music Hall in support of their classic new release, "Surfs Up”. After the show Mike Love was stopping by the station to say hi and go on the air. The salesmen, record company staff and announcers would often invite artists back to the station after concerts to go live on air and to hang out. Not like today where interviews are never heard on air, just on line. But in 1971 it was all the fun, going live was the way we did it!

The action and studio buzz elevated as Mike Love came in. We ordered food and got comfortable as he talked about his devotion to Transcendental Meditation and the new record.

Mike Showing Some Love To The Beach Boys

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/12/2012 - 11:13

Submitted by Don Graham

There are two sides (at least) to every story. Cashbox would like to attempt to shed some light on the recent developments in the Mike Love vs. The Beach Boys saga. The Beach Boys have always had a tumultuous and rocky personal relationship. The band has been to court more often than can be healthy, but the decision to reform for a 50th Anniversary Tour seemed to indicate that maybe a truce had been reached. Sadly, that’s not what it looks like now.

Recently Mike Love issued a statement explaining that the rest of the band would have no further involvement with the tour, causing great confusion in the land of Beach Boy fandom. Brian Wilson hit back, stating in no uncertain terms that the current line up was "The real Beach Boys".

Mike Love has now given the LA Times a statement (via Pitchfork), arguing that he has not sacked anybody. "I did not fire Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys. I cannot fire Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys. I am not his employer. I do not have such authority. And even if I did, I would never fire Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys. I love Brian Wilson. We are partners. He’s my cousin by birth and my brother in music. Our songs are in the DNA of America. Our imagery of the coast, surfing, cars and teenage freedom helped make our country the envy of the world."

Love goes on to say that, although Wilson and Jardine wanted to extend the tour, the Love/Johnson version of the Beach Boys was already contractually obliged to play “small market dates”.

Kevin Kelly’s Ultimate Heavy Metal Photo Show

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/12/2012 - 10:58

Toronto experimentalist art photographer Kevin Kelly's never been one to rest on his considerable laurels. He's more about creating works which fuse form, content and cultural relevance into a narrative sustained and developed by each of the show's works. The current exhibition, Rock and Religion, at Akasha Art Projects (511 Church St.) till Saturday Oct. 13, offers images of pop music icons and Biblical billboards on a canvas of brushed steel. With pieces averaging 40 llbs, Kelly's art is weighty in form and content, the later being a meditation on the similarities and differences between Rock and Religion.

"On a drive down to Kentucky I saw the two signs:"If you died today, where would you spend eternity?" and 'HELL IS REAL' We were late for a dinner engagement so we couldn't stop. The billboards made me angry and on the way back, we retraced the route. After I photographed one sign I discovered they were double sided signs. So the four pieces were all shot in minutes.

"The signs made me angry because they were all about manipulation through fear. The presumption of some to believe they have some kind of de facto authority over others.

"I'm hoping the show will generate discussion along those lines."

The consummate experimentalist, Kelly spent months belt-sanding specially prepared pieces of steel in various shapes and sizes, working like an old time sculptor visualizing the image within the marble. Onto these are printed images of a variety of rock icons, having only in common that he's a fan of their music.

Five of a Kind for Canada Indie Music Week

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/05/2012 - 14:01

Story: Lenny Stoute/James Lizzard

Like all the other muzik fests of its kind, Canada Indie Week prides itself on offering way too much of a good thing. It’s not on them, it's who we are as a culture and I’m right in there with y’all. As a result, folks tend to drop their bucks on acts they’ve at least heard of before. Which, when you think of it, is the exact opposite of exploring the indie aesthetic.

With one or both of those in mind, more or less, here are five acts you may not have heard about but you'll hate yourself later if you have to hear about their shows from your friends.

The Rabid Whole This quintet out of Regina, SASK. claim to do it all. From dual female/male vocals, alternating lead vocals, polished (but not overly polished) rock guitar, energetic rhythmic bass, and drums, all tied neatly together with catchy electronic beats.

These diverse abilities derives from the members’ varied musical backgrounds. From metal and hard rock to Latin jazz, as well as being submerged in the music scene in the form of other bands and projects for almost a decade, The Rabid Whole came together in 2007 to create the edgy, cold, angry and powerful musical stylings which define them.

Radio Radio!

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 10/05/2012 - 13:26

By Michael E. Williams

First there was “Soul in the City”, a radio show in Montreal, that ran every Saturday from 6-midnight on CKGM from about 1981-1984. I designed it to showcase all types of musical talent. There was no music or guest off limits. Our guest list included: Stray Cats, Tina Turner, Fat Boys, Run DMC, Gladys Knight, and all the other artist of the day, local and international. I booked them, called them, engineered, hosted and edited the interviews. It became a hit live radio show with ratings that were historic considering that people pretty much stopped listening to AM Radio once the great Ralph Lockwood era ended (1972-1981). Geoff Sterling had actually declared at a staff meeting that he could broadcast to more people by standing on top of the station, using a bullhorn. He was right, until “Soul in the City” (originally called “Club 980”).

Recently I thought of reviving the show ‘til I talked to a local (Toronto) Program Director that referred to the music as geriatric…? Today, however, most radio stations (greatest hits formats) are in the hands of people half the age of the music they are being told to play on air. Part of the deal for me is that you have to trust me to select the music I play!