No Man is an Island

Or so the saying goes. But when I watched the recent BBC documentary celebrating 50 years of Island Records, I decided that Chris Blackwell probably was Island.

In a fantastic, and at times whimsical journey through the label's inception, highs, lows and transition to mainstream corporate, Chris Blackwell's influence, ethos and free-spiritedness was evident throughout.

The uber-cool bands and artists waxed lyrical about the environment that brought out the best in them, gave them freedom and space to be creative and make music in their own time. I couldn't help but contrast this happy recollection with some of the headline grabbers of unhappy marriages over the years, think Prince and Warner Bros, George Michael and Sony.

Now, I'm sure it wasn't all sweetness and light every day, at Island Records. But there certainly seemed to be something magical about the formula. And I'm pretty sure that this was fundamentally down to Blackwell. Bono summed it up well when he said "it was about the culture, not the money". How many businesses would love to create something that is successful, exciting, fun; a company that has people clamouring to work there. For me, the answer lies in one of the many myths of business - that people go to work to make money, not to have fun, and that the two are mutually exclusive. Call me naive, but I disagree, and Island Records was a sassy beacon of light in an ocean of dull and dreary corporate ocean. Island - we salute you!

Britain's Got Wot???

Well, another helping of laugh at them, cry with them, reality TV masquerading as talent-seeking, has just come to a somewhat sorry end.

Now I know its not a real talent contest, more of a tabloid-esque personality, freak show, but was anyone else wondering why Shaheen Jafargholi didn't win the final? Vocally better than virtually every X-factor or Pop Idol contestant there has ever been in this country and significantly better than Susan Boyle, what on earth happened??

My money is on Shaheen being whisked off to the US to develop a long-standing music career. Lets hope he can write songs too!

Now when's Big Brother starting....

Jam in Camden

What could be better than a sunny May Day bank holiday mooching around Camden Market? Try a Sunday night at the monthly UK Soul Jam, at Camden's fabulous Jazz Cafe. This was my first time to Soul Jam. Being a school night, Sundays for me normally mean an early night in bed with The Sunday Times for company. Instead, I was lapping up some of the great new talent on show.


UK Soul Jam is a monthly night for showcasing acts, with an open mic/jam session later on. First up was a very impressive, funky, original-sounding singer/song-writer by the name of Raff. So when I got back home to Shropshire I was keen to find out more. Maybe I was too quick off the mark, but despite my finely-honed googling skills I couldn't find anything, nada. Fortunately just over a week later I managed to track down his myspace page with a handy link to his single on itunes.

But I couldn't help wonder why it was so difficult to find details of a really good act, following a showcase night. Contrast this with Kaana Ellie and the Remedies. Now, I'm not even really sure which band they were (the cosmo's are very strong at the Jazz Cafe), but since giving my email address Ive been sent future gigs, myspace details etc, via personal emails from Kaana. But out of the 5 or 6 acts showcased, they are the only ones that collected our details. Another fine example of working it - the supporting act at Basement Jaxx recent Birmingham gig were giving out free cd singles.

So, my point is...wicked night out in Camden and I would definitely recommend it. Undoubtedly, more of the acts need to up their game, in terms of promo. These are tough times for the industry but newbies need to get creative and make better use of modern technology. It's not rocket science, is it...

The Real Bucket List

I went to a funeral today. I have been to many funerals in my thirty-something years. It's said that death is the only thing certain in life. That, and taxes of course.

I have been to many funerals where people have known they were dying eg. of long-term illnesses, like my Grandfather's cancer thirteen years ago, and funerals where people have died suddenly - no warning.

Today's funeral service was for someone who had battled with an illness her whole life - sickle cell anaemia, and had been threatened with death on many occasions in her thirty-something years. But this last time it was for real. So, when she was told she had two weeks to live, she wrote her own bucket list. Actually, not so much a bucket list, but a list of people that she wanted to speak to before she was unable. Phone calls, meetings, and a final farewell chat with her local church family - which was videoed and played at the funeral, were all a part of her preparing and saying goodbye in a dignified and positive way, smiling to the end. At the end of the service one of my closest friends who was sat next to me gave me a big hug and said " let's not wait until then to show how much we love each other". I couldn't agree more.

I have been to many funerals, and it's fair to say I'm not a big fan of them, generally. But when people can truly and honestly say that someone's death had the same unequivocally positive impact that their life had, on everyone they came into contact with, that's pretty amazing.

The Long Tail 2

OK, so you may have clicked from a couple of posts ago, that I just started reading Chris Anderson's book - I know I'm a bit late, but to be fair I bought it yonks ago, and have only just found time to pick it up. It also fell down the reading list order because it was hardback - way too heavy for modern-day, stingy, air baggage allowances!

Apart from being an easy read, full of consumer brands and products that I, and most readers can easily identify with, it's just soooo common sense. The kind of book that has you nodding, smiling and saying to yourself "Oh yeah.." in a sort of light bulb-moment way.

I love the way it was compiled - almost with an open source approach - with lots of view, opinions (both expert and consumer), taken into account. This has probably resulted in the concepts being so clearly explained and illustrated.

My biggest question is why I haven't noticed The Long Tail economics having a massive impact on the way record labels develop and promote new music. I assume there must be more to it than simply giving the kiss of life to the back-catalogue cash cows?? Anyhow, I have a theory, but for once I'm going to suspend judgement and keep reading.

Have You found Joy in Your Life?

OK, so I'm a year or so too late, but after watching The Bucket List on Saturday night it really got me thinking. Jack Nicholson gives an absolutely amazing performance, and Morgan Freeman is....well, his usual regal self. And, I said this blog was going to be about music, love and life - so here's a bit on life.

If you don't know the plot, its essentially about two people brought together as they face death. they create a list of things they want to do before they expire. Its a big hug of a movie, with a heartwarming storyline, and plenty of laughs and tears. Freeman's character is full of interesting bits of trivia, but the point that made me raise my eyebrows, leave the plot line and check my own soul in the mirror, was when he asks Nicholson the two questions - Have you found joy in your life? and Have you brought joy to others?

Pretty deep stuff for a Saturday night Sky Movies night on the sofa but it got quite a family debate going about how to live life and approach death (sobering, happy thought:-). Whilst one pledged to live every day as though it was their last, another vowed not to change a thing and continue to not think about death, I decided to go for the middle ground - living life to the full, with no regrets. This blog is a part of that...

Happy Record Store Day!

I like the sound of this. It can only help raise the notion that it is 'cool' to own physical - vinyl and CDs etc, especially if the content is unique eg. special artwork.

Started in the US, let's hope this really takes off here, rather than just being mentioned as the novelty story on Sky News!

Happy Record Store Day!!
http://www.recordstoreday.com/