Beyonce, A Deal Nobody Wants, Never Sell Short

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Monday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com.  Copyright 2013 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of January 13, 2014


My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

Never Sell Short                                                                                             

I think this just might be the funniest media story I’ve heard in a long time.  It’s all about selling yourself short and then paying for it in the long run.  There’s also an interesting commentary here on predicting the future.

If you’re a sports fan you may have already heard this one.  Once upon a time there were two brothers, Ozzie and Daniel Silna.  The Brothers Silna owned a team in the old American Basketball Association or ABA.  The ABA was a big league rival to the better known NBA.  After just 9 years of fun but not particularly successful play the ABA agreed to merge with the NBA.  One team was such a financial disaster that they were allowed to fold, one was bought off to fold and four others (the New Jersey Nets, the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs) were allowed to merge.  That only left the Silna’s team, the Spirits of St. Louis out in the cold.  The Silnas wanted to merge but the league didn’t want them.  They also rejected a buyout offer like the other team and settled for the most amazing windfall deal of all time.

The NBA agreed to pay one seventh of the TV rights for the four remaining ABA teams to the Silnas, wait for it, in perpetuity.  That lawyer talk for forever.

In 1976 that wasn’t that big a deal.  Their first check was for just over a half a million dollars.  Since then the NBA has become huge.  The Silnas have earned around 300 million dollars and to be honest the NBA has been trying to get out of this deal for years.  Who can blame them?

After years of negotiations it appears that the Silnas will agree to be bought out.  Rumors say the settlement will be around an additional five hundred million dollars.  Not bad for essentially doing nothing.
And all of this happened because the NBA (and to be honest, probably the Silnas too) didn’t know what they were negotiating over.

Have you ever noticed that often when someone sells off a company or product they will keep a very small share?  Did you ever wonder why?  Because there’s always the chance that it could become the next big thing.  And who wouldn’t want a piece of that?

Who wouldn’t want to be the next Daniel and Ozzie Silna?

Deal Nobody Wants                                                                                              

You have to be careful sometimes.  It’s easy to fall in love with a concept or a technology and believe that everyone loves it as much as you do.  Making your business decision based on anything other than the fact that lots of people like your product is almost always a bad idea.  In the end it’s not about quality, people buy lots of stuff that is just junk.  It’s like advertising.  Everyone thinks that advertising (or promotion in the larger sense) is about selling stuff.  Wrong.   The function of advertising is to create a desire for a product or service.  You need this, it’ll make your life better, it will make you more attractive, it will make you cool.  Without that desire there’s no reason to spend the money.

So I’m a little perplexed by the decision at ABC.  They have just announced that if you want to see the latest episodes of their shows (think “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Modern Family”, “Once Upon A Time”, “Scandal” or “Castle”) you had best a customer on the ABC approved provider list.  Those are the service providers that have signed a TV Everywhere deal with ABC.  What that means is that if you get your service from Time-Warner Cable, Dish or Direct TV you will be blacked out for at least a week before you can see those show.

I always wonder about these kinds of decisions.  It’s not like I’m likely to leave my provider over an issue like this.

In fact it’s not likely anyone will leave their providers over this issue.  You know why?  Let’s jump back for a moment.

When I mentioned TV Everywhere before, be honest, did you have any idea what that was?  Don’t feel bad if the answer was no.  According to a recent survey something like 82% of Americans have no idea what it is.

So here’s that customer has to want it moment.  If you have no idea what it is how much leverage does ABC really have?  For all intents and purposes the answer is “Zero”.

Instead why not make a big deal out of letting those folks have access to TV Everywhere for, say, a month.  Then once they’ve come to enjoy it remind them that their provider still needs to make a deal.

Now you have leverage.

Because now you have something I want.

Beyonce                                                                                                                            

When I left commercial radio almost 14 years ago (yeah, it’s been that long) I pretty much gave up listening to current popular music.  There are still some times when something newer pops up and grabs my attention but by and large the current Top 40 is a blank for me.

Then you get something like the current flap surrounding Beyonce and I have to pay attention again.  The problem is I don’t know what to do with it all.

Beyonce’s new song “XO” features a clip from NASA’s mission control immediately following the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986.  In a classic non-apology the singer claims that the songwriters used the clip as a tribute to the 7 astronauts who died.  It’s there to make sure that the shuttle crew, quoting now, “...will never be forgotten.”

The only problem is that the song isn’t about them.  It’s not about brave people putting their lives on the line for the greater good or to advance science.  The song is about a failed romance.

Artistic decisions are hard.  You have to be willing to take a risk and we as the audience need to be open to exposure to what comes from that risk taking.  Done well it is an amazing event and can broaden our understanding of the world.

Or it can be a cheap grandstand stunt.  I’m afraid I put this song in that category.

I will admit to not being able to enter this discussion wholly objectively.  I grew up in the heyday of the space program.  Mercury, Gemini, Apollo.  John Glenn, Neil Armstrong.  The tragedy of Apollo 1 and the victory of “One small step for man...”

There are places you just shouldn’t go.  I know that plenty of folks in the arts world will be uncomfortable with that concept.  I accept that.

There are ways to pay tribute to great losses.  Then there are just ways to push an emotional button for no good purpose other than cheap publicity.

Real people died that day.  Real people with real families.  Real people trying to do something dangerous and important.

A lot more important than just one more pop song about a screwed up love life.

In a lot of ways I don’t miss all that pop music in my life.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Best of the Web - Indie, Bikes & Beer

Indie, Bikes & Beer -   OK, looking for the first site to include in this feature, I really wanted it to be a special one, something that would give a feel for where I think I'm headed.

So a web site devoted to three of my favorite things in the world (outside of my lady wife and daughter, of course)?  How could I resist?

I stumbled on them because of a link featuring a young man from right here in my backyard who has moved to their backyard, Max Garcia Conover.  Their backyard is most of New England, working from a base in Boston.  What's not to love about the first line in their description of who they are:

We’re an indie music blog comprised of drunken cyclists.

Musically they like a lot of things but seem to centered more in the singer/songwriter folk kind of thing.  Then add in reviews of beers they have tried and enjoyed.  Finally add in some serious bicycle chops and you've discovered the magic formula for Indie, Bikes & Beer.

You're going to find videos of lots of indie musicians to discover.  You'll find some good writing and videos about the passion for cycling.  The beer reviews include a cool concept where they do a monthly "six pack" of beers (or were, nothing after Thanksgiving this year.  C'mon guys!).

This is exactly what I think the Internet at its best looks like.  People who are passionate about something doing a great job of creatively sharing that passion.

Nice.

Music Review - Burrow by Max Garcia Conover

Burrow - Max Garcia Conover (Clip Records)

This is the debut album for a young man with local roots in my backyard.  Max is an amazingly talented guitar player/singer/songwriter who isn't going to fit into a nice neat pigeon hole.

I got the chance to hear Conover play live at the Hometown Album Release Party at Southern Tier Brewery earlier in July.  He replicated the thoughtful lyric/straightforward music combination that I'd heard listening online.

The music on the album goes it's own way and that may be why I love it so much.  "Burrow" opens with an acoustic cut "Teem" that is quiet and compelling.   That's a unusual choice but Conover is not your usual performer.  There are two instrumentals on this album ("Fog Over Treeline" is the other, which runs a whopping 59 seconds).  Exactly one song runs longer than three minutes ("The Wedding Line") and all the songs offer lyrics that you can mull on for quite a while.  You can look at them as being obscure or you can find in them the kind of depth rarely found in the popular hits of today (or any day).  As an example I'm not sure I understand the opening lyrics of  "For Blackwater Woods" but they speak to me:

I seek the storm where frost hits the high reeds me leaping from shore.  I sing for the sweat and if my knees can carry moon shine for me yet.  I seek the storm you need shelter me not I don't aspire to the warmth

Like poetry the lyrics speak to the emotion as much as the intellect.  Rather than simply telling a story directly it carries you into the story challenging you to find your own way.

The show in July was nice but Max needs to work on developing a more commanding stage presence.  He did note that he had only been a "professional touring musician" for less than a month at that point.  The venue offers a challenge to one guy and a guitar.  That means that have a solid on stage presence is all the more vital.  Otherwise he can just slide into background music.

And he deserves much, much better than that.  Thoughtful, complex singer/songwriters aren't everyone's cup of tea.  But for those who love a little depth I think they'll like this one.

Rating - *** Worth A Listen

Music Review - 10,000 Maniacs - Music From the Motion Picture

Music From The Motion Picture - 10,000 Maniacs - The first album from the "alt icons" (I found that description several different places for the band) in 13 years. The band had just celebrated their 30th year together and decided to partner with their fans to fund the album.  Raising the needed funds they've created another classic Maniacs effort.  It's an album of firsts.  The first record with Jeff Erickson featured on lead guitar taking the late Rob Buck's place in the lineup.  Of course Mary Ramsey took over the primary vocals but in a change the ladies don't carry all the lead singing.  Erickson does some and founding member and keyboardist Dennis Drew makes his debut as well.  There's a nice diversity of music styles as always with the Maniacs.

They open with a nice kind of '70s Country/Rock feel with  "I Don't Love You Too".  They move into a more familiar 10,000 Maniacs sound with the next three cuts - "When We Walked on Cloud", "Gold" and "Triangles".  For me this is really the heart of the album.  When We Walked begins with a wonderful acoustic guitar intro then drops into a readily familiar Maniacs piano riff and Mary Ramsey's voice and violin.  "Gold" would be my choice for a first single.  Again it's classic Maniacs with a serious thoughtful lyric played against a bouncy tune.  This just screams for pop airplay somewhere.  The sound is a little different with Jeff Erickson singing. "Triangles" is the third cut in a row that begins with Jeff Erickson's acoustic guitar intro.  This time drummer Jerry Augustyniak is the first one to follow and his steady rhythm drives the music under Mary's singing. 

  The album also shows the time that has passed since the last one.  "Live for the Time of Your Life" and "Downhill" are not songs that they would have written in their '20s or '30s.  "Downhill" also marks the lead singing debut for keyboard player Dennis Drew who does a creditable job with this down tempo ballad to aging.  "Whipporwill" strikes me as another classic Maniacs style tune that takes the mundane and turns it into something special, maybe even other worldly. Then "It's a Beautiful Life" grabs a beat that feels a little Carribean and gives you the lift you just might need on a gray overcast winter day in western New York.  For reasons that I'm not sure I can explain "Fine Line" always makes me think of a kind of melodic, late '60s psychedelic kind of vibe.  "Tiny Arrows" is the only song that doesn't generate any particular feeling in me either way.  Nothing wrong with it but nothing that grabs me either.  The only tune that really fails for me is the last cut "Chautauqua Moon", an instrumental that displays Mary's virtuosity on the violin.  It comes off feeling rather experimental to me and just doesn't work for me at any level.

If you're waiting for the band to crank up and rock out you'll come away disappointed.  "Music From the Motion Picture" is the album of an older, more experience band.  You hear it not only in the music but the lyrics as well. This is is a mature reflective album that shows the confidence of a band that's been there, done that and isn't intent on meeting anyone's expectations other than their own.  Some folks have said that "Music From The Motion Picture" lacks any hits.  I think bassist Steven Gustafson responded best when he said "...we've been hearing that for 30 years".  10,000 Maniacs have always gone their own way, made their own music and this is more of the same.

Thank God.

Rating - **** Recommended

Rock Can Kill You, College Bowl Games and The Great Experiment Fails

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com.  Copyright 2012 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of December 31, 2012



My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

The Great Experiment Fails                                                                                   

I’m not sure there’s another aspect of our relationship with media that continues to struggle more in the transition to the digital age than how we get our news.  Once the printing press started making print materials easier to produce something very much like our modern newspapers came into being.  For centuries this was the primary way, beyond word of mouth, that most people found out about what was happening in the larger world.  As the years went by the newspaper got bigger and offered more and more news.  Not just the local but the national and the international.  Feature stories, sports stories and my personal favorite - the funnies.  I remember waiting till my Dad got home from work because he always brought home the afternoon paper.  I could lay it out on the living room floor and read about all kinds of things.

I’ve talked before about the challenges facing newspapers, magazines, radio and TV news before.  Studies I’ve seen say that there is still a desire for that kind of information.  At the same time people are expecting a different approach that makes use of the technology that has become a larger and larger part of our lives.  Finding the way forward through all those questions has been a challenge.

You had to wonder if Rupert Murdoch had dealt himself the winning hand in February of 2011 when he launched “The Daily”.  The Daily was intended to be the newspaper of the future.  In its initial form it was for the iPad only and was designed to make use of the multi-media abilities of the world’s first successful tablet computer.  Murdoch’s News Corporation would seem to have been just the kind of organization to make it work.  Long history in the journalism field (admittedly not all of it of the highest calibre) and the deep pockets to fund it till it got rolling.  Turns out that became the problem.  It never got rolling.  Which is why they pulled the plug on The Daily December 15.

So the journey will continue into the new year.  How do we want our news delivered?  What business model can be found to make it work and show a profit?

As we watch the launch of a new leadership right here at our hometown newspaper we’ll have to see if there’s some bright business person out there with the idea to launch the next generation of the news.

College Bowl Games                                                                                                          

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, college bowl season was something special.  The college bowl games were the icing on the cake, the tinsel on the Christmas tree, the great way to kick off the New Year by watching the kickoffs of some of the best college football teams in the land.  Those days are dead, dead as a doornail, dead as Marley’s ghost.  What we have in its place is just about as welcome as a visit from Scrooge’s late partner as well.

As is my custom let me be clear - I am not a great college football fan.  I didn’t attend a college with a great football tradition.  I watch one game a year - the Army/Navy game.  Attending that game in person is on my bucket list.  Outside of that I have no use for the college game.  But back in the day I watched a great many of those bowl games.  They were an event back in the day.

Not so much today.

Here’s a quiz for you.  How many bowl games are scheduled for the 2012-13 football bowl season?  10? 20?  Not there yet.  25.  Nope.  30.  Nope.  35 bowl games between December 15 and the so called National Championship on January 7.  Among them you will find such luminaries as the Beef O’Brady bowl, the Kraft Fight Hunger bowl, the Famous Idaho Potato bowl, the Military bowl not to be confused with the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces bowl, the Buffalo Wild Wings bowl, the Belk bowl, the Franklin American Mortgage Music City bowl and the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia bowl.  But all of this leads up to the big game, the National Championship, right?  So you’d expect the bowls to slowly crescendo right?  So explain to me why the last bowl game before the big one is the GoDaddy.com bowl featuring Arkansas State against Kent State.  Other than folks with bets on the game and alumni who watches these games?  I have a friend who is a huge college football fan.  The rule is don’t call on Saturday during football season.  You can visit as long as you sit down and watch the game.  He probably watches all them too.  I just can’t imagine why.

Once upon a time these games were special.

Today let’s just call them all the Irrelevant Football Cash Bowls and move on.

Rock Can Kill You

The New Year is always a time for me to sit back and re-assess my life.  Time to take a look at the goals I want to set for myself.  Plus a time to look at the things I’ve managed to tick off my Bucket List along the way.  This past year for example I finally managed to go to Europe for the first time.  I hope it won’t be the last but I can at least say I’ve done it.

Along the way there are also some things that you just have to admit you’re not ever going to do.  I am never going to play second base for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Or any other professional baseball team but my goal was always the Pirates.  For a lot of us on that dream list included singing or playing with a rock band.  The good news is that as Baby Boomer rockers continue to play well into their geezerhood there may still be hope for me on this one.  A recent academic study out of the United Kingdom may make me re-consider however.

The study was done by the British Health Department and the folks at Liverpool John Moores University.  They studied rock stars from Elvis Presley to the Arctic Monkeys (I looked them up, current English indie rock group).  What they discovered is not surprising and yet a little daunting all at the same time.

Over fourteen hundred stars from rock, punk, pop, R&B, rap, electronica and New Age who worked between 1956 and 2006.  Of that number 137 or just over 9% have died which is a higher percentage of the overall age demographic.  That’s right being a rock star is bad for your health.  Curiously North American music stars seem to live longer than their English cousins, 45.2 years versus 39.6.

Speaking of ages the study debunks the popular 27 year old myth.  While Joplin, Hendricks, Morrison, Cobain and Winehouse all died at that age they are the exception rather than the rule.

The other thing the study saw was that solo acts tend to die younger than members of groups.  It could be that having some support from your band mates make a difference.

Guess it’s true, you can get by, with a little help from your friends.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Peacock Victorious, MySpace Returns? and Beach Boy Cover Bands

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com.  Copyright 2012 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of October 3, 2012



My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

Peacock Victorious                                                                                             

Normally I would never spend the time even on this quick little program to get all hot and bothered about the weekly TV ratings.  The reality is that they are usually pretty boring, pretty much the same from week to week.  You wait to see what might be the new hit of the season early on but they’re pretty much a yawn after that.

But I was just so excited when the ratings for the first week of the new TV season came out recently.  Because for at least the first night of the new season, NBC was in first place.  After so many years talking about the seemingly bottomless pit that the Peacock Network had fallen into I just couldn’t believe my eyes.

And it wasn’t some skimply little squeaker of a victory either.  This was pretty convincing.  The overall rating for the first night from the folks at Neilsen was a 4.0 rating and a 10 share.  Now those numbers don’t mean a whole more to me than they probably mean to you so let’s take a look at the competition for comparison.  CBS had a 2.7 rating and a 7 share, ABC had a 2.6 rating and a 7 share and Fox had 1.7 rating and a 5 share.  That’s a fairly comfortable edge for the network that couldn’t shoot straight.

Even better it wasn’t just NBC’s new programming titan “The Voice” that was a winner.  A new program “Revolution”  took on a couple of veteran shows, ABC’s “Castle” and CBS’s “Hawaii 5-0” and beat both of them handily.

I need to sit back and savor that concept for just a moment.  NBC won a night and has two, count ‘em two, hit programs on Monday night.  Would I sound terrible if I said I wasn’t sure that NBC would EVER manage to pull that off again?
In the end there’s something about rooting for the underdog.  And in the last couple years NBC has been about as under as you could possibly put a dog.  As always there is a sure fire cure for making your way from the back of the pack.  You need to find something new and interesting that can carry the audience forward.  “The Voice” has been just that for the network.  With any luck they will be able to build some momentum so that those embarrassing days will behind them forever.

Nice to see some new plumage for the Peacock.

MySpace Returns?                                                                                               

I have no idea how to respond to this.  This invitation to check out the soon to be re-launched MySpace.  It’s like an old actor that you haven’t heard about in years.  My first reaction is “Aren’t they dead?”.  Apparently the answer is - not yet.

MySpace.  Time for a quick review I think.  Launched in 2003 it was the first big social network for most of us.  By 2005 it was big enough that News Corp bought in for 580 million dollars.  In 2006 it became the most visited web site on the Internet passing Google.  That lasted till 2008 when Facebook passed it worldwide and in 2009 passed MySpace in the United States as well.  Between then and now (just three years, my friends!) MySpace has fallen to the 161st in total web traffic.  Among sites in the U.S. they currently come in behind the likes of tumblr and WebMD.  In that same time they went from approximately sixteen hundred employees to about 200.  Talk about crash and burn.

For all that they are not ready to throw in the towel.  In June of last year Specific Media Group and pop star Justin Timberlake pitched in and bought the company.  Sale price?  35 million dollars.  Ouch.

Part of the problem with MySpace the first time around was that it really focused on an adolescent audience which made it a very uncomfortable place for college aged users and adults of all other ages.  Which is part of why Facebook supplanted it as quickly as it did.  So what will the new MySpace look like?

That’s a good question.  There is an introductory video out there that gives glimpses of it.  What I see doesn’t look quite like anything quite so much as Pinterest with a strong helping of music and Twitter type comments.  At least that’s what I think it looks like.  The problem is that I’ve tried watching the video on several different computers and haven’t managed to get it to play the whole way through yet.  If you’re trying to attract a media savvy user base that’s probably not the way to go about it.

In the end I look at it and say “So why do I need this?”.  I already have one social network I rarely use (Google Plus).  Maybe Justin and the brain trust at the new MySpace have a really cool new idea.  Or maybe that’s 35 million dollars they're never going to see again.

Beach Boy Cover Bands

I’ve always wondered about the life span of a rock band.  At what point is the band no longer the band?  How many original members have to remain?  If Paul and Ringo got a couple of guitar players would they really still be the Beatles?  Or is the name the thing?

Mike Love of the Beach Boys is betting that all he needs is the name.  I’m not sure how else you explain the fact that Love fired most of the rest of the band last week.  The Beach Boys have been on a 50th Anniversary tour.  Just before the tour ended in London at the end of September Love announced that the post anniversary tour version of the band would no longer include David Marks, Al Jardine or Brian Wilson.  Think about that for a minute.  The Beach Boys without Brian Wilson.

The original Beach Boys were Brian, his two brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine.  David Marks has been an on and off member for years.  With more than two dozen Top 40 hits in their career they have been international stars, one of the biggest acts of their era and sometimes called America’s Band.

Trouble in the lives of the cleanest of the clean cut ‘60s group is nothing new.  Brian Wilson’s mental health issues, arguments, break ups and even law suits.  One of which awarded Mike Love the rights to the name of The Beach Boys.

But that brings me back to my original question.  When does a group stop being that group?  There are some ‘50s Doo Wop groups touring that have no original members, largely because the original members have all died.  If there were only Mick and Keith would they still be the Rolling Stones?  At some point don’t you really just become a cover band of yourself?  What really happens is that some members of the band realize that they can’t make it as themselves and need to hang on to the identity that pays the bills.  Unfortunately you can end up with what I can only describe as zombie bands.  The re-animated corpse of a once great entity that goes through the motions of life but without the soul.

Meaning no disrespect to Al Jardine or David Marks but in the end that’s The Beach Boys without Brian Wilson.  A zombie shambling it’s way through our memories of one of the seminal catalogues of American music.

The Beach Boys just became the sound track to the Zombie Apocalypse.


Call that the View From the Phlipside

Stars Don't Earn Stripes, Olympic Love and New Old People

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com.  Copyright 2012 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of July 30, 2012

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

Stars Don't Earn Stripes

We have come upon another moment where I wish I could have been in the pitch session for a new TV series.  The pitch session is where the folks with the bright ideas come in and try and convince the people with the money to back their show.  It’s the moment when you need to be able to sell a concept because that’s probably pretty much the only thing you have.  It’s a high stakes game on both sides.  For the idea people it’s the chance to actually be employed for a little while.  And for the money folks it’s the gamble on whether or not they will make money or just see their investment disappear like water down the toilet.

In this case I would have loved to been in on the pitch session for NBC’s upcoming series “Stars Earn Stripes”.  I’d be willing to bet that there was some mention of the old “Battle of the Network Stars” series that ran from the mid-’70s to the late ‘80s.  This version would involve recognizable names like Dean Cain, Dolvett Quince, Nick Lachey, Picabo Street, Laila Ali and for no apparent reason Todd Palin.  And it would be co-hosted by General Wesley Clark!  It’s a name droppers delight.

If you haven’t heard of this show you might be puzzled by why the co-host is a former Army General.  Well that’s where this gets a little uncomfortable for me.  Go to the web site and you’ll figure it out quickly.  The stars are shown carrying AK-47s and firing a .50 calibre machine gun from the turret of a Humvee.  Yes, this is war as entertainment.

And suddenly I’ve got a problem.  Despite the fact that I played soldier as a child war is not a game.  The physical training that our Armed Forces go through is not just to improve their physical health.  It ‘s to make sure that they are able to do the incredibly difficult job we sometimes ask them to do and have some chance of coming back alive.  I come from a Navy family, my dad was on active duty aboard an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean the day I was born.  Even though he served in peace time he still lost a friend during his tour.  While I’ve never served I have great respect for those who have and are.

Making what they do some kind of game show for celebrities strikes me as disrespectful.  Trying to pretend that war is a game for our evening amusement strikes me as rather sick.  Stars don’t earn stripes.  Veterans do.  I’ll take a pass on this one.

Olympic Love                                                                                                


Well I guess I should have known better. a couple weeks ago I noted my disenchantment with the commercialization of the Olympics and the insane level of enforcement that was going on in the U.K. during the Games.  It just felt like the wonder of the Games that so enthralled me as a child had disappeared.

Of course all it took was a couple minutes of competition and I was hooked.  Over the weekend while I was visiting family they flipped on the Olympics.  Long distance cycling, boxing, volleyball, both beach and indoor, water polo and I was hooked.  I saw some of the major sports too - gymnastics and swimming mostly.  I’ve never been a fan of basketball and I’m certainly not one of the current version of Olympic hoops so I skipped the kinda sorta Dream Team.  

In the end what I love about the Olympics is learning about sports that I don’t normally watch.  It was my uncle and me watching water polo and trying to figure out what the green line and the red line projected on the water meant.  We thought maybe you couldn’t take a shot from outside the green area but almost immediately somebody did.  Never did figure it out.  Or trying to understand the fine points of libero play in volleyball.  The real allure of the Olympics is the novel and unknown aspects of sports we only see every four years.  It is the amazing fluidity of swimmers and gymnasts who make the incredible seem easy.  It is the stories of the athletes who still have to make amazing journeys for their brief moment in the spotlight.

I am still not convinced that this modern, commercialized and professionalized version of the Olympics is really superior to the vision of the Games immortalized in the movie “Chariots of Fire”.  There are flaws in that version as well but there was a simpler joy that I think some of the games may have lost.  At the same time there are few more compelling stories than watching an Olympic event where the upstart catches the champion and becomes the new champion.

So I will continue to watch the Olympics for the things that make them great and pray that the crass commercialism never truly spoils the Games.

New Old People

This one is going out for some of my younger friends and family.  Seems to mostly affect folks around or just past the age of 30.  So if that describes you I have a little wisdom I’d like to share with you all.

I think you’re officially becoming old people.

Here’s why - I’m starting to hear people in that age bracket follow in the footsteps of their parents and grand parents.  It’s that pivotal moment when you turn on the radio or hear something being played by a member of the generation younger than you are and you say “That’s not music!”.  In this case the offending genre is something called Dubstep.

Now I’m a sort of mid-level old guy so I had to go look Dubstep up.  According to the folks at Wikkipedia (the fount of all knowledge) Dubstep is an electronic dance music with a heavy bass and drum line, tight production, clipped samples and limited vocals.  Literally means nothing to me but there you are.  It’s the hot new thing and it is driving some folks around the bend.

Of course what’s funny is that it’s just the latest in a long line of musical stylings that have branded “not music”.  Rap music - not music.  Rock and Roll - not music.  Jazz - not music.  Igor Stravinsky’s classical piece “The Rite of Spring” was considered so awful by some folks at its debut that an actual riot broke out in the theater.

It’s like a rite of passage.  That moment when you are confronted with the latest popular movement in the Arts and you just can’t control yourself any more.  Suddenly all of your forebears, your parents and grandparents and great-grandparents come bubbling up in outrage and revulsion.  It’s an unmistakable sign.  For every generation there will be the inevitable attempt to explain why it’s different this time.  That YOUR music was revolutionary or evolutionary or just way cool but this - this just isn’t music.

You might as well hang a sign around your neck that says “I’m old”.  It’ll be OK, trust me.


Call that the View From the Phlipside.

The View From the Phlipside - Oscar Movies, the Dark Side of George and Tweet Reviews

(Starting this week I am combining my three scripts into a single blog post.  The task of creating multiple posts to be published on different days and then trying to remember to link them on my Facebook page is just more than I want to deal with any more.  I've inserted breaks so you can scan quickly for each topic) 

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com

Oscar Movies

Sadly over the last couple years I have not been able to see as many of the Oscar nominated movies as I’d like.  In fact prior to last week I hadn’t seen ANY of this years nominees.  Then in the span of about 6 days I saw two of them.  I was struck by them both, their similarities and their very profound differences.

The two that I saw were Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” and the black and white mostly silent film “The Artist”.  There was no plan to seeing these two virtually back to back but it created an interesting comparison.

Both movies are homages to the art of movie making.  And both are brilliantly executed.  At that point however the two movies take off in radically different directions.

The Tree of Life is obscure, symbol filled, visually stunning and did I mention obscure?  This is more of contemplation of opposing forces in life than a traditional movie.  The movie that keeps springing to mind for me as a comparison is Kubrick’s “2001 - A Space Odyssey”.  Except that 2001 actually has a story that you can mostly follow.  After 2 plus hours of watching the movie you’ll have an experience at the movies you’ll never forget.  And quite possibly never understand.

On the other hand “The Artist” pays tribute to the early days of the movies, the days before sound when actors had completely different challenges in bringing their stories to the big screen.  It is the story of a silent movie star faced with the arrival of talkies and his star being eclipsed by an actor that he had discovered and launched.  Plenty of people will hear “black and white” and “silent” and decide not to see the movie.  That would be a shame.  The cast is exceptional and they bring the story very much alive on the screen.  There are in fact two very short sections with audio other than the traditional music score.  If you love the movies especially the early days of the industry you should make this a must see.  If you know nothing about those days you should see it to better understand and love the movies of today.  Some folks are amazed this one got a nod for Best Movie but it’s nice to see a movie that takes a risk to tell the story.

Will either one claim the Oscar?  Hard to say.  Tree of Life probably has the better chance because it can be seen as intellectual rather than popular choice.  But Oscar ends up in some peculiar hands some years so we’ll have to wait and see.  Still time for me to see a few more nominees too.

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The Dark Side of George Lucas 
Well the day long expected has arrived and now all good people must make their decision and choose their sides.  Will you remain on the side of good, virtue and righteousness or will you descend to the Dark Side?  There can be no middle ground when it comes to the latest money grab by George Lucas in the Star Wars franchise.  Where do you stand on the new 3-D version of Episode 1?

Not surprisingly this is a hot button topic among the faithful of the Jedi cult.  But it’s not simply the question of 3-D or even the question of whether or not George Lucas has completely slipped a gear with a never ending refurbishment of his signature series.  It never is with the Star Wars faithful.

Let’s begin with the return of the argument around Jar Jar Binks.  Episode 1 returns the almost universally despised alien character.  Jar Jar is accused of being a racist stereotype, profoundly annoying and just unforgivably stupid.  Then you add in the controversy of whether Han Solo shot first in the bar scene where he kills the character Greedo.  Yes, I know that’s in a completely different movie but you need to understand that any time a new version is released ALL the theological arguments immediately are revived.  Lucas maintains that Han didn’t shoot first.  Which is just patently ridiculous.  And I can’t believe we are still having this conversation.  But that’s George’s fault as well.

For me the choice is clear.  I will not be seeing the newest version of these movies.  The second trilogy is decidedly the weaker anyway so it’s a somewhat simpler decision.  I’ll even grant the Episode 1 contains scenes that might be elevated by 3-D (the racing scenes spring instantly to mind).  The problem is that if we keep showing up and shelling out our Galactic Credits to watch his latest demented meddlings he’ll just keep on doing it.  And we must do everything we can to make him stop.



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Tweet Reviews

 Caught this story on NPR the other day and the more I thought about the more I struggled with it.  Spin Magazine, one of the premier music magazines of the day, has announced that they intend to review around 15 hundred new music releases in 2012 in the form of a Tweet.  This apparently will include traditional album releases, EPs and even Hip Hop mix tapes.  The idea is that the old music review has outlived its usefulness and needs to be upgraded.  Given some of the truly awful offerings I’ve read over the last 4 decades I probably can’t argue that.  Music reviews can be arbitrary and didactic.  Maybe that comes from too many years in radio but I’ve had my fill of poly-syllabic polemics extolling the extended artistic values of some band who made noises that one person in a thousand might want to listen to for more than a minute.  I always preferred reviews that were more descriptive than those that tried to pass judgement on the artistic merits.

But can we really get any kind of value from a review that is constrained to just 140 characters?  Remember it’s 140 CHARACTERS not words.  So spaces between words count right along with letters.  To be honest Spin editor Christopher Weingarten sounded awfully smug as he described doing about 240 extended reviews this year compared to 6 times that many Tweet reviews.  Pretty clearly he has decided that this is what’s cool whether it’s useful or not.  Of course Weingarten apparently also happily proclaims himself a troll.  A troll is generally regarded as the lowest form of online virtual life.

It all smacks of hipster posing to me.  I will be the first to acknowledge that a huge percentage of musical releases each year are trash.  Yet out of that musical mosh pit emerges some great bands each year as they grow in their art.  My question is will they get the hearing they may need to succeed if we are reduced review as blurb.  In the end most of us make our minds up on music based on what we hear rather than what we read.  But once upon a time a very long time ago music criticism was an art form and some of its practitioners were musically knowledgeable AND wonderful writers.  The folks at Spin claim that this new review format will make them the go to source for music information.  I think it’s far more likely that by offering less information they might just write themselves completely out of this story.

Concert Review - Mannheim Steamroller

I've been a fan on Mannheim Steamroller (MS) for something close to two decades now.  Their Christmas music is always part of our family Christmas season.  So I was really excited when tickets fell into our laps to see them at Shea's in Buffalo a week ago.

The first thing we knew we had to do was be fair and not compare them to our other favorite Christmas music show, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO).  TSO does an arena show with massive production values while MS does a smaller theater show.  Different shows and different expectations.

So let me say first the music was awesome.  As always.  Sadly there were several items that detracted from our enjoyment:

• A general lack of showmanship.  It was a lot like watching a really great studio band working in the studio.  The music was great but that was about it.  We never got a feel for the performers, there was virtually no interaction with the audience and what there was stiff and felt scripted.  Plus there were smaller weird things (their "connection" with New York- let alone WNY- was that the bass player allegedly went to Woodstock.  Which is no where near here.  And a lame line).  Just a show with zero personality.  (EDIT - someone who was also at the show that day reminds me that they also talked about having been to Chautauqua and studying at Eastman in Rochester.  Absolutely true.  My memory says they kind of rushed through these too.  Quick obligatory nod rather than an attempt to connect with the audience to me)

• They made extensive use of videos to go along with the music.  Great idea.  Be even better if the videos weren't so obviously 10-20 years old.  I seem to remember several of them from the old MS VHS tapes we got as promo materials at the radio station.  And I haven't worked there in over a decade so these are old.  Maybe the old line fans are "comfortable" with them but the whole shown was just a little too comfortable I thought.  Did not impress the 24 year old with us.  A big yawn from her on the videos too.
• They closed with a silly and self congratulatory video that was basically reading their own reviews in video form.  The shows they've been on, the parades they've been in.  The effect was rather sad and pathetic.  Want to say thank you to your fans maybe?  Stop talking about yourself.  Left me with a really bad taste in my mouth.

So here's the bottom line - when we leave a TSO show you can't wait till they come back next year.  After Mannheim Steamroller it was more "Been there, done that, won't be going back".  And that's too bad.  Chip Davis needs to take a look at his pet project and decide if he's OK with it sliding slowly into performance senescence or if he really wants to keep being the #1 Christmas tour.

View From the Phlipside Radio - TV Commercial Radio

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside.

I suppose it was inevitable.  In a day and age where folks are constantly looking for a new niche, just that little edge that will give them the jump on the competition you’re always looking for what the audience likes.  So a music station dedicated to the music that you hear in TV commercials probably shouldn’t come as a great surprise.

And yet my bet is that your first reaction was similar to mine.  Which was “Come on, really?”.  Then I thought about it.  Music has always played an important part of advertising on both radio and TV.  I’m sure that you like me can finish dozens of jingles that we grew up listening to.  Now add in that over the last, what, two decades more and more TV advertising has used actual songs from both popular and unknown groups.  Hey, CBS’s franchise CSI has made a whole thing out of using the music of The Who as their theme music.  How many times have you been listening to a TV ad and thought “Who is that” with the music?  How about the Kia hamster ads with the Black Sheep saying “You can deal this or you can do with that?”

So there IS a market for the concept.  And now there’s is an outlet for the concept as well.  Slacker Radio which is an online customizable music service in the vein of Pandora or Spotify now offers TV Commercials Radio.  Currently the playlist is 175 songs which puts it at about the same number as a classic Top 40 station (there’s a reason why it seems the same song is always airing at those stations).  As more music gets put into TV ads the library will continue to expand.  The hottest times for usage of the station is, not surprisingly, the holidays and the Super Bowl.  As a former radio music director I thought the rationale behind the station was interesting.  Slacker officials say that commercial music supervisors are a more reliable ear for great music than most traditional sources like radio play.  My initial reaction was a bit of professional pique.  Then I thought about the times we’d take a flyer on a borderline tune.  Something that no one investing millions of dollars on an ad campaign would ever think of doing.  Hard to argue with the logic.

So maybe I’ll tune into to Slacker and see how many of the tunes I can connect with their ads.  A whole new way to waste time.  Cool.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

View From the Phlipside Radio - Hall of Fame game

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its list of candidates for the next admission class.  As always it’s an interesting list including well known, lesser known and roots of rock names.  An acquaintance of mine pointed me towards the nominees and as always that started the “So who would YOU pick?” game.

This year’s nominees are Guns N Rose, Heart, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Beastie Boys, Freddie King, Laura Nyro, The Small Faces/Faces, Donna Summer, War, The Spinners, Rufus w/ Chaka Khan, Donovan, and Eric B & Rakim.  That’s a pretty impressive list.  And it represents a whole lot of not only hit music but great music.  Never forget those two things aren’t always the same thing.

Now on the Hall of Fame website you can also play the game.  You can vote on your top 5 nominees.  When I checked last week the top 5 vote getters were - starting with number 5 - The Beastie Boys, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Cure, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and at number one, Guns ‘N Roses.  Now I wouldn’t really have trouble with any of those groups and at some point I would expect all of them could be inductees.  But I have to admit that this doesn’t match up with my top 5 particularly well at all.  In fact the only one I would choose is The Cure for a top 5 list.

The rest of my Top 5 list would include, in no particular order, The Beastie Boys, Freddy King, Laura Nyro, and The Small Faces/Faces.  I probably don’t have to explain the Beasties inclusion but some folks may not be familiar with the other three.  Freddy “The Texas Cannon” King was an influential African American blues guitarist often classed with B.B.King and Albert King.  Laura Nyro is an singer songwriter who died too young but who wrote lots of hit songs for the likes of the Fifth Dimension, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Three Dog Night and Barbara Streisand.  The Small Faces/Faces are the two different formations of one of the most influential British mod groups of the ‘60’s then evolved into a premier psychedelic group.  Over the years the band included Steve Mariott, Ronnie Lane, Ronnie Woods and oh yes, Rod Stewart.

There are lots of popular and influential musicians on the nominees list.  I tend to give a little more emphasis to influence over popularity.  The next class will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in April of next year.

Call that the View From the Phlipside