| I don't know a person in the universe who didn't melt when Tawny got on top of that car. That was one of the greatest moments in video history. I mean, I wish I could steal that moment every day. | | | | |  | Rock and roll pioneer Lloyd Price, circa 1970.
(Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) | | | | | "I don't know a person in the universe who didn't melt when Tawny got on top of that car. That was one of the greatest moments in video history. I mean, I wish I could steal that moment every day." | | | | The Price of Freedom
"I gave you all of my money," LLOYD PRICE complains in his 1952 debut single "LAWDY MISS CLAWDY," a foundational rock and roll record (with piano by FATS DOMINO and drums by EARL PALMER) that spent seven weeks atop the R&B charts, crossed over to white audiences (or, rather, white audiences crossed over to it) and caught the attention of everyone from a young ELVIS PRESLEY to, Price always believed, the draft board, which two years later sent him to Korea, far away from those white audiences. He made it back soon enough, and bigger hits, much bigger hits, would follow in a career that would continue to draw integrated crowds and eventually lead him to, among many other places, the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME. Through all of it, Price, who died last week at 88, was determined not to repeat the mistake he made with the fictional Miss Clawdy in that first recording. He would never again give anyone all his money. And that—his astonishing 1958 single "STAGGER LEE" notwithstanding—may be his greatest continuing influence, one that resonates as loudly in 2021 as it did in the 1950s and '60s.
Price wrote much of his own material and owned his copyrights from early in his career. He started an indie label, KRC, in 1956, and another, DOUBLE L, in 1962; the latter label released WILSON PICKETT's first recordings. He was legally emancipated from his parents when he was 17 so he could sign his own contracts. "I never wanted a manager or an agent," he told the New York Times in later years, "because I wanted to understand myself what the business was all about." After his own run of hits ended, he owned a New York nightclub and co-promoted, with DON KING, two of MUHAMMAD ALI's most celebrated fights, the "Rumble in the Jungle" with GEORGE FOREMAN and the "Thrilla in Manila" with JOE FRAZIER. In conjunction with the former fight, he co-produced ZAIRE '74, a three-day music festival in Kinshasa that featured JAMES BROWN, BILL WITHERS, B.B. KING, MIRIAM MAKEBA and CELIA CRUZ. Price, who always considered himself underappreciated, believed he paid a price for his independence. He considered declining his induction into the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME in 1998 because he thought it had taken too long. "There's still resentment toward me because I controlled all my own songs" he said. "Shouldn't the creators get a share of their creations? I think that's right. And I believe you have to stand up for what you think is right."
My friend COURTNEY E. SMITH stands up for Price's importance, especially as a civil rights figure, in this great Twitter thread.
RIP.
Whitesnakecharmer
Two things about TAWNY KITAEN's miraculous appearance in WHITESNAKE's "HERE I GO AGAIN" video, which is one of the main reasons anyone listened to Whitesnake or watched MTV in the late 1980s, and which rewarded its star with the consolation prize of a much-too-short life of celebrity, scandal and redemption.
1. It was a front handspring, not a cartwheel. Front handsprings are more difficult, whether you're doing them on an exercise mat in a gym, on a balance beam or, as the case may be, across the hoods of two Jaguar XJs. A former high school gymnast, Kitaen was prepared for any of those situations. PAULA ABDUL was on set to help with the choreography, Kitaen would recall. "She asked me to show her what I had. So I did a few things and she turned around to [director] MARTY [CALLNER] and said she's got this and doesn't need me and she left. That was the greatest compliment."
2. She's on screen in the video for less time than you may remember. It's mostly a live video of the band. No one talks about that part. I have no idea what the band, led by Kitaen's future husband DAVID COVERDALE, paid her for this and the three other videos she appeared in, but it wasn't enough.
Most influential video actor of all time? A godmother, in a way, to the likes of MEGAN THEE STALLION and CARDI B? An unwise career choice after starring in a movie opposite TOM HANKS? Or a choice that left a mark her film career might never have? Did you watch her on repeat? Do you still hum that chorus? Pay your respects now. RIP.
Etc Etc Etc
QUESTLOVE takes the Los Angeles Times, and all of us, to sampling school. A booming Twitter thread on the culture and economics of the art... DISTROKID claims it distributes between 30 and 40 percent of all new music—35,000 songs every day... BLACK BANDCAMP, a crowdsourced directory of Black artists and producers and Black-owned record labels, has relaunched as the BLACK ARTIST DATABASE... BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and NONA HENDRYX chat with NPR Music's LAUREN ONKEY about girl groups, remixers, music critics and assorted other topics in a Zoom panel recorded Saturday as part of the LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS seminar, a three-week-long online event celebrating the work and the world of veteran critic DAVE MARSH. A sobering message, from Springsteen, to me and my peers: "If they won't pay for the music, I doubt they're going to pay for the music writing. That's my guess"... Saturday's VAX LIVE all-star concert raised $302 million... British jazz drummer MOSES BOYD at NPR Music's (Virtual) TINY DESK... The FBI has released its file on KURT COBAIN, all 10 pages of it. "The centerpieces," Rolling Stone reports, "are two letters, sent from names that have been redacted, urging the Bureau to investigate Cobain's 1994 death as a murder, rather than suicide." The FBI declined, saying that would be a matter for local authorities.
Rest in Peace
ANDREW BERNARD, saxophonist for 1960s one-hit wonder JOHN FRED & HIS PLAYBOY BAND and co-writer and co-producer of that one hit.
| | | | Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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| | |  | | Variety |
| | Swizz Beatz and Timbaland Talk Verzuz's Next Phase, Triller Partnership -- and Future Concert Series? | | by A.D. Amorosi | | The Verzuz-Triller partnership suddenly makes a lot more sense. | |  | | The New York Times |
| | Musicians Say Streaming Doesn't Pay. Can the Industry Change? | | by Ben Sisario | | Services like Spotify and Apple Music pulled the business back from the brink. But artists say they can't make a living. And their complaints are getting louder. | |  | | Bloomberg |
| | Concert Venues Haven't Received The Billions Congress Promised | | by Lucas Shaw | | Musicians are planning to go back on the road starting this summer, but concert venues need some help first. | |  | | CTM Magazine |
| | Social Music | | by Deforrest Brown Jr. | | DeForrest Brown, Jr., offers a conclusive survey of a music industrial complex that can't seem to remember why we even listen to, let alone pay for, music. Artists and copyrights are indentured and intertwined assets in a system that no one has any intention of fixing. | |  | | Pitchfork |
| | How James Brown's Star Time Revolutionized the Box-Set Game--and Cemented His Legacy | | by Michaelangelo Matos | | Thirty years ago, the Godfather of Soul released a four-CD collection that set a standard for career retrospectives and served as a testament to hip-hop's influence. | |  | | Engadget |
| | How Sony paved the way for modern music production | | by James Trew | | The DAT format not only set the scene for digital music as we know it today, but also the music that you're actually listening to. | |  | | The Guardian |
| | Olivia Rodrigo: 'I'm a teenage girl. I feel heartbreak and longing really intensely' | | by Laura Snapes | | The Drivers License singer reflects on turning her first big breakup into the year's biggest hit - and how songwriting saved her from the anxieties of being a Disney star. | |  | | Slate |
| | The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" Is So Popular It's Actually Become a Problem for Him | | by Chris Molanphy | | It's the hit that ate Abel Tesfaye's career. | | | | The New York Times |
| | RETRO READ: Lloyd Price: Sure-Footed in the Slippery World of Rock | | by David Firestone | | When other performers were signing away rights and royalties, Mr. Price kept his, even forming his own publishing companies and record labels. When other acts had to beg and bribe nightclubs for attention, he built his own club, Lloyd Price's Turntable, at 52d Street and Broadway, on the site of the old Birdland. | |  | | Billboard |
| | Black Songwriters Share Their Experiences In Country Music: 'It Feels Both Hopeful and Unpredictable' | | by Marcus K. Dowling | | Black songwriters discuss their experiences working in country music in an evolving community. | | | | | The Guardian |
| | Arlo Parks: Gen Z star entrances all who hear her | | by Nosheen Iqbal | | The 20-year-old's debut album is up for three Brits this week - and has captivated fans from Billie Eilish to Michelle Obama. | |  | | The Ringer |
| | The Thawing of Iceage: An Interview With Elias Bender Rønnenfelt | | by Justin Sayles | | The lead singer of the Danish band discusses the evolution of their songcraft, coming up in the music industry, and their excellent new record, 'Seek Shelter.' | |  | | Music Industry Blog |
| | Growth drivers -- what comes after streaming | | by Mark Mulligan | | Pessimists argue that this is largely as good as it gets, that there will not be a 'next streaming'. That might be right in terms of a single revenue source, but the early signs are that there is enough potential in a range of sources to collectively drive growth. | |  | | Level |
| | Hip-Hop Is Old But Your Favorite Rapper Is Too Young to Die | | by Scott Woods | | Reckoning with the mortality of music gods. | |  | | VICE |
| | Will You Need to Prove You're Vaccinated to Go to Shows This Year? | | by Josh Terry | | Despite rampant misinformation, there's not going to be a federal vaccine passport. But you should still get your shot. | | | | Billboard |
| | How Mod Sun Became Pop-Punk's Go-To Songwriter, From Machine Gun Kelly to Avril Lavigne | | by Lyndsey Havens | | Mod Sun breaks down how the biggest co-writes of his career came together. | |  | | ADWEEK |
| | Turning Around an Icon: A Conversation with Rolling Stone's President and COO Gus Wenner | | by Al Mannarino | | Learn how he helped transform the iconic company from a print-based business to a multi-platform content brand. | |  | | Guitar.com |
| | 'I'm still having fun with guitars': Pete Townshend on Clapton, Hendrix, The Who and coping with lockdown life | | by Jeff Slate | | As The Who's guitar-smasher puts the finishing touches on a box-set for his first concept album "The Who Sell Out," we caught up with the 75-year-old to look back at his memories of that time, his lockdown-induced GAS, and why guitars are rather like puppies. | |  | | Austin Chronicle |
| | The Table Ed Ward Built | | by Tim Stegall | | Pioneering music journalist (1948-2021) wrote rock & roll history. | |  | | Consequence of Sound |
| | RETRO READ: David Coverdale Tells the Story Behind Whitesnake's Iconic "Here I Go Again" Video | | by Greg Prato | | The frontman reflects on the video that propelled the band to superstardom worldwide. | | | | | Music | Media | Sports | Fashion | Tech | | "REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in
everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask 'why?'" | | |  | | | Jason Hirschhorn | | CEO & Chief Curator | | |  |
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