Wednesday, August 20, 2014

I miss hearing new music and old on my FREE fm/am radio

I really miss the sound of a familiar disc jockey playing the newest release by an artist I have been in to lately. I have tried many of the new services like Spotify and Pandora and SiriusXM and while the newest music can be heard there and the selection between all of the providers is great, there is something missing for me. That is the sound of a LOCAL disc jockey. People of a certain age would surely remember "submarine race watching" and getting the current hot slow dance tune dedicated to you main squeeze on the radio. Calling in and voting on the latest release and even going out to Palisades Park with Cousin Brucie. Then there is the cost. With all of the electronic gadgets and services we have to play with and use, many of them come with a fixed monthly cost. Whether you use them or not, you are paying the $9.95 or $4.95 or maybe even $12.99 per month. Now multiply that by 12 and what you get is how much your paying a year even if you don't listen for one (1) minute. Meanwhile over there on the FM band is commercial radio which to you is absolutely FREE. Same thing with AM..FREE. You might even hear about a product or LOCAL service you can use without having to scan the yellow pages or google a search engine. I also miss the personality of a DJ who lives in the area they reach on their program.  You just knew that when they recommended a local dance hall or concert venue that they had been there and done that and could count on their pitch.
With the record/music business in such disarray lately they could use a little looking inward to what worked in the past to get people excited about their artists and music and inevitably it would have involved radio both am and fm. To be fair, I think that commercial radio itself contributed to it's slide in popularity over the years. They started subscribing to national rating services and using playlists that were sent down from corporate HQ instead of letting the DJ's make up their own local response generated top 20 and especially breaking new artists with putting their first record on the air before anyone else had it. When I broke into the business with the Lovin' Spoonful it was a very exciting time to be in a rock and roll band and putting out your record for the fans to hear on local radio stations where they would surely come to where you were playing if they heard it on their hometown radio station. Lastly in times of keeping ones monthly costs under control for me my entertainment budget would be one of the first to get tightened and that would mean shedding off those monthly fees that I rarely used anyway and getting my entertainment fairly for the cost of supporting local businesses and products. The way capitalism should work!  steveboone.net

Friday, August 1, 2014

Lovin' Spoonful's bass player releases his book!

steveboone.netFriday August 1, 2014
The cat is out of the bag!So to speak. Actually the book is out on the shelves of your favorite book store. The early reviews have been very favorable and I can only hope that enough folks hear about it and spread the word. The Spoonful came on the scene like a shooting star flying across the night sky and after 3 short years disappeared almost as quickly. Why did that happen? What was going on behind the scenes that caused this disappearance? That and a whole lot more are in my book and while it was just the catharsis I needed to write it, I think it will be fulfilling for anyone who enjoyed the music scene of the mid 1960's. But hold on tight because Steve Boone had one hell of a ride and it is shared  in this book with no holds barred. Written with his bud and senior editor at CBS Sports.com Tony Moss. Hotter Than A Match Head, Life on the Run With The Lovin' Spoonful! Buy it now at: http://www.ecwpress.com/books/hotter-match-head