Category Archives: Music

Excellent “Racket” column on the pride of Alvin, 89.7 KACC, the Gulf Coast Rocker. Why do I love this station? Here’s one reason: ” ‘Whatever goes’ is a pretty good idea of what we do,” says Mark Moss, KACC’s operations … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s such a thing as liking a song a little too much. VH1 Classic will present a full hour of the English and German music videos for the 1984 hit 99 Luftballons, aka 99 Red Balloons, by German rock group … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In the spirit of Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, let me highlight this article on the freewheeling Irish music sessions at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck. One part jam session, one part apprenticeship opportunity, it’s a longstanding tradition that helps fuel the local … Continue reading → Continue reading →

(Blogging from the road here. The hotel has WiFi in the rooms, but I couldn’t get enough signal to get an IP address, so after 30 minutes on the phone with tech support I moved to the bar, where the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Speaking as one of those annoying people who uses the default sound on his cellphone, I’m slightly boggled to read that composing ringtones is big business. And now, anyone can do it! Ring tones are already big business, accounting for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Pardon my French, but WTF? They may not have flashed any body parts — except for Mick Jagger’s well-toned stomach — but the Rolling Stones made ABC glad editors were on duty for the Super Bowl halftime show. Two sexually … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Couple of interesting articles about the state of the music industry and how some people are looking for new ways to do business in it. First, from the Chron, this piece on all-digital record labels. In 1978, Devo frontman Gerald … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Having talked about ways that a campaign can leverage blogs and blogging to its advantage, I want to point out this post by the Dark Star Gazette on a related matter. Here’s a question to consider: with peer-to-peer file sharing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Grits, the Austin Lounge Lizards have chipped in to another music/animation project for Consumers Union (see here and here for earlier efforts). This one is about credit cards and the many ways in which the end users get screwed. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One nice thing that local Classic Rock station KKRW does is play Alice’s Restaurant every Thanksgiving at noon. Since I distinctly recall San Antonio’s KZEP doing the same thing while I lived there, I got to wondering: How many other … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s one point of interest to me in the latest Houston radio ratings, which Banjo kindly pointed to. Look at the numbers for erstwhile rocker-turned-Latino station KLOL: Station Group Owner Format Fa04 Wi05 Sp05 Su05 Fa05 KLOL-FM Clear Channel Hispanic … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I first noted a story on how Kids Today were becoming an increasingly large share of the Classic Rock audience. Via John, I see that the WaPo has picked up this theme. It’s a long and fascinating piece, and it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s the Chron story about Sam Malone replacing Roula and Ryan on Mix 96.5, which as you can see from the comments here is generating a lot of complaints from R&R fans. I’ll admit that you won’t get rich betting … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Local radio DJ Sam Malone is about to be a very busy guy. He already does his thing on 740 AM from 10 till noon on weekdays. And now, as seen on the KHMX home page, he’ll be their new … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I see that Dwight has called me a wuss for my embrace of old technology. OK, I confess – guilty as charged, Your Honor. I appreciate all the tips about iPods and downloading, but I have a question for all … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As I read this article about the decline and eventual fall of the CD as a format for delivering recorded music, I take a moment to ponder all of the ways in which I’m becoming demographically obsolete. I like baseball. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Memed again. List ten songs that you are currently digging … it doesn’t matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they’re no good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying right now. Post … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve received email from Cid MacNamee that the funeral services for Tim McGlashen, the musician who passed away on Tuesday, will be tomorrow (Saturday) at noon at the Unity Church at Unity and Richmond. Here’s a map if you need … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Local musician Tim McGlashen, lead singer of eclectic rock band The Buddhacrush, died unexpectedly yesterday after a brief illness. HandStamp has some information. I heard about this from Cidnie MacNamee of Paisley Close, whose bandmate (and our mutual friend) Amy … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Julia tagged me with one of those floating memes about music, so here goes: What is the total volume of musical files on your computer? Unless Tiffany has been downloading stuff on her own, basically zilch. I work in an … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I blogged about the origins of shouting “Freebird!” at inappropriate concerts here. Ray in Austin begged to differ. Now Ray tells his story to the Houston Press. Will the Chicagoans respond to the challenge? This has been fun, so I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Banjo brings us the news that 97.5 KIOL is fixing to change again, this time to an all-talk format. The Texas radio rumor mill is all abuzz about Cumulus Media’s soon-to-sign-on FM in Houston. The word on the street is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

There’s something amusing about the concept of Steve Miller being the CEO of his own musical moneymaking empire. He entered the rock pantheon as a joker, smoker and midnight toker. But sitting in a business suit in front of 400 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

You know how I’ve been grumbling about the utter lack of variety, innovation, and trust in the intelligence of the listeners among radio stations? Well, via Michael Croft, it appears that hope is on the way. The sleek electronic device … Continue reading → Continue reading →

What a relief: It’s safe to play “Louie Louie” after all. Benton Harbor Supt. Paula Dawning reversed her decision Thursday after parents at McCord Middle School came out in support of the song. “The school district operates in collaboration with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’d like to take a moment and thank Benton Harbor Superintendent Paula Dawning for officially dethroning Texas’ Anti-Cheerleader Hoochie bill as the dumbest news story of the week. She did so by banning “Louie Louie” from the McCord Middle School … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The latest Arbitron ratings for Houston radio stations are in: Former rocker KLOL went from #17 in Houston with a 2.3 share to #7 with a 3.6. And that 2.3 was a dip from 2.8 in the previous report. Any … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In case you missed it over the weekend, the monolith Clear Channel has spun off its concerts division and has put up a portion of its billboard business for sale. On Friday, Clear Channel Communications announced that it is giving … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron’s Andrew Dansby asks an interesting question: In postmodern-mix-tape fashion, could a one-hit wonder iPod playlist sustain toe-tapping interest without slipping into novelty jingledom? The playlist he creates is a pretty good one. Check it out. (Side note, since … Continue reading → Continue reading →

New Houston rock station KIOL is fixing to move to a new spot on the dial. Moving trucks have been spotted in the vicinity of Cumulus Rocker KIOL/Houston, which is poised to annex the 103.7 signal of currently silent sister … Continue reading → Continue reading →

My dad emailed me yesterday to give me the sad news that my middle school band director, Laurence Laurenzano, had passed away. If there’s one person responsible for instilling in me a love of making music, it’s Larry Laurenzano. I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Ten years ago today, Tejano music sensation Selena Quintanilla Perez was murdered by the manager of her fan club, whom the singer had accused of embezzling funds. Here’s a sample of coverage of the anniversary of her death: Selena’s last … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Atrios points to this interesting post about the differences in pricing models for CDs and DVDs, and how that may be a contributing factor for lackluster performance in CD sales. I think there’s something to that, though the many comments … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Forget Chicago. Ray in Austin is claiming credit as the progenitor. Personally, I think we may have ourselves a Newton/Leibniz situation here. I’ll leave it to the historians to decide who’s right. Continue reading →