My blonde Rock n Roll roots are beginning to show!
Thirty one years of on-air broadcasting and it finally hits me…I have no clue how music makes it to radio’s two speaker stages. Except to say it doesn’t matter how much love, passion and desire you pour into your performance, you’ll never be given a green card or certificate that guarantees you’ll be heard on the radio.
Singer/songwriter/studio producer and unrecognized star yet highly respected guitarist hired to perform with multitudes of major bands on stage, television and movies, Bruce Gaitsch once said to me, “It’s all about being in the right place at the right time.”
From this side of the map, where music is delivered on shiny objects that make better mirrors than Frisbees…I’ve spent every cent of my career focused on the travels that which connect bands to and away from radio and MTV airplay. Radio forced me to study the ups and downs, twists and turns, successes and failures all in the name of keeping this part of the acceptance speech locked in an act of being compelling.
I own hundreds of books that tell the tales of the musician. It was my job to know. Hosting several countdown’s combined with one hour radio features based on the places we create inside our imaginations due to music…it was my daily dedication to remain loyal to the history and its makers. Sadly, the more I dug into the caverns of time…I became less of a fan of the polarized early boss jock on-air talent.
Changing me was The Pied Pipers of Rock n Roll; it was supposed to be about late night disc jockeys that put their jobs on the line so R&B would continue to inspire as well as become properly placed in our life and style. Once completed, my heart had been shamed, I couldn’t champion the courage of the radio talkers for breaking radio station formatics; what it required to get music on the air created silence not more music. Brilliant artists were injured therefore creating silence rather than music.
Writers, producers and performers creatively designed marketing ideas and plans that better sold their souls to get 143 seconds of on-air time. The end result was give give give leaving nothing for taking.
The reasons why ASCAP and BMI were founded and still exist boggles the noodle into wondering which side of the fence I should be standing on. Am I for the musician or the broadcaster? Just because you play great music and the ratings continuously call you one of the best that’s not enough energy to hoist your picture to a special nail that’ll hold your legacy for future generations inside Radio’s Hall of Fame.
For thirty one years I’ve skirted around the issue—never mixing musicianship with on-air showmanship. I’ve never wanted to be accused of playing someone’s song or talking about another artist a little more than another. Legendary jock Alan Freed, the man who coined the phrase Rock and Roll embarrassingly shattered the thin lines separating music and radio by allegedly accepting gifts for airtime.
Since the late 1950’s many within the walls we keep have been accused of cheating their way onto the scene. But who’s truly at fault? In my early years of radio in small town USA I verbally fought with music companies who believed more in the artists they were promoting then the religion or spirituality that created the journey. If I didn’t hear it…I didn’t hear it. An old Program Director once said to me, “If I’m not hooked in 25 seconds…it ain’t going on my air.” He’s been credited for being one of the leading radio talent behind success stories such as Loretta Lynn, Alabama and hordes of others that have come and gone.
The world of music is evil with nothing on the horizon that offers beautiful sunsets…unless you’re one of the lucky ones. All who participate become snow blind in a innocent blizzard of dreams that feel as if they’re about to come true then something happens…be it radio, You Tube, VH-1 or a producer that bragged at being the best at mastering the final product only to learn your vocals were sped up to make you sound younger, brighter and more attractive—ask John Mellencamp and Madonna how they felt when the final piece of the puzzle was no longer part of what they controlled.
We could talk all day about ditches and valleys music making has created—up until seven months ago…I was nothing more than book taught. Imagine if Olympic snowboarding great Sean White was invited to Canada and he didn’t have the experience to pull off his totally rad X-Game stunts…that’s how I look at my thirty one years in radio. Everyday is the Olympics and I have no clue how the snow got here.
My blonde Rock n Roll roots are beginning to show.
In September of 2009 I set out to write, produce and professionally record music. To walk the line of those who’ve made radio unforgettable. To create the hooks that turn your horribly bad day into something you can sing with. To captivate your imagination at the moment you realize the piece of music playing through your car speakers was written about your life.
It has become my vision quest to speak from the street.
Over the next several months and quite possibly year or two…I’m dedicating myself to play the game, expecting to get deeply hurt and tossed out of many places, laughed at, pointed at and damaged to the point of non-repair. Why? Because of a kid I once knew who sat in his bedroom everyday dreaming of being a rock star. I banged on boxes with Lincoln Logs for sticks, turned three string guitars into heavy metal nightmares because it was all I could afford. I sang so horribly out of tune I still hear my dad’s voice screaming at me to shut up.
I chose radio for a career because it was easier to locate stages to perform. Once here, I left that kid behind. I think I owe him a chance. And I’m taking you with me.
I’ve laid out the ground work calling the project 15 Pieces from a Faceless Beast. Once the rough draft and or storyboard was completed, I courageously opened the door showcasing the work to record producers, writers and worldly known musicians and vocalists who for some sick reason have said one thing, “There’s something here.”
Alan said to me, “Your description of the project is on key…it haunted me to hear you say that people are calling your creativity incredible therapy and they’re walking away laughing or saying nothing at all. That’s about to change. It’s become my goal to turn your music into something that will make someone say…wow.”
And thus begins the journey. My blonde Rock n Roll roots are beginning to show. You will meet the words and wisdom of every music director I speak with. You’ll read the constructive criticism from Nashville as well as ask your own questions—just like writing, my long term investment in something like this has everything to do with one day inspiring a silent artist to take from their closet every secret they’ve kept hidden from the world and give it purpose in the winds that change our everyday.
I believe in you…
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
No comments:
Post a Comment