Showing posts with label Amazon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amazon. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Celebrating Tom Petty


TOM PETTY’S LIFE TO BE CELEBRATED THROUGHOUT OCTOBER BY ‘TOM PETTY AND ME’ AUTHOR AS FANS MARK ROCK LEGEND’S BIRTH AND DEATH ANNIVERSARIES

Jon Scott, Music Label and Promo Man Who Saved Petty’s Career Remembers ‘One of the Most Important and Influential Rock Stars in the World’ in Latest Rock ‘n ‘Roll Adventure with Friend of 40 Years

“Six weeks before our first record was dropped by ABC Records, he went to the radio stations with a vengeance and brought that sucker onto the charts. And it wasn’t easy. We are forever grateful.” – Tom Petty, from the Hollywood Bowl stage at his last concert, dedicating “I Won’t Back Down” to Jon Scott

“We would not be listening to Tom Petty on the radio if not for you (Jon Scott), back in 1977.” -
Mark Felsot, producer of Tom Petty Radio, Sirius XM

As the rock world remembers Tom Petty with the October anniversaries of his death and birth, Jon Scott, the long-time friend and former record label radio promo man who saved the legendary rocker’s career “with a vengeance” en route to Hall of Fame status some 40 years ago is devoting the entire month to celebrating Petty’s life through the special relationship chronicled in Scott’s book, TOM PETTY AND ME: My Rock ‘N’ Roll Adventures with Tom Petty (CB Publishing, 191 pp., $25). 

On his latest rock ‘n’ roll adventure with Petty, Scott will be crisscrossing the country in October to join fans at celebrations in Gainesville, FL, where Petty grew up, and Los Angeles, where he landed 1974 in search of his first record deal with his band, Mudcrutch, and remained until his untimely passing as a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer rocked the music world two years ago, Oct. 2, 2017. 

Scott will be joining Petty fans in Gainesville Oct. 17-18 for several events at Tom Petty Weekend, honoring “Gainesville’s Favorite Son.” He returns home to Los Angeles on Petty’s 69th birthday, Oct. 20, to host Tom Petty’s Birthday, a four-hour celebration at Petty Cash Taqueria & Bar with live music by noted Petty tribute artists. 

With a foreword by John Mellencamp writing he’s “grateful for the immense amount of work that (Scott) did on my behalf and others,” Scott’s book similarly recounts how the author, as a radio promo man, was one of the main forces in helping to get Petty’s music heard on radio stations around the country. It began when Petty’s debut album, ignored and miscategorized as punk by the label eight months after its release, literally fell off the record company shelf and into Scott’s hands as ABC Records was preparing to drop the artist from its roster. So moved by what he took home and discovered in the grooves, Scott risked his job at ABC to convince his bosses he personally needed to give the album a second chance at radio and resuscitate Petty’s career from the music industry precipice.  

Petty acknowledged Scott’s importance from the stage of the Hollywood Bowl on September 25, 2017, at his last concert ever, dedicating “I Won’t Back Down” to Scott: “Six weeks before our first record was dropped by ABC Records, he went to the radio stations with a vengeance and brought that sucker onto the charts. And it wasn’t easy. We are forever grateful.” Watch that moment here.  

In TOM PETTY AND ME, Scott shares the series of coincidences and serendipity that brought him and Petty together, altering both of their careers. This is the story of incredible talent realizing a seemingly once-impossible dream by overcoming obstacles through the passion and commitment of one man who created a movement. In the process, the course of rock ‘n’ roll history was forever changed. 

Jon Scott was raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and like many young Memphis kids growing up in the ’50s, he was exposed to all types of music, including gospel, blues, and rock ’n’ roll. Jon had music running through his veins.  

When Jon was young, his mom would request songs and smile when the local country DJ would dedicate a song to her on the radio. That was when Jon knew what he wanted to do — make his mother smile, because she meant the world to him. Jon told his mother he would someday be a DJ. He began practicing with a tape recorder his father bought at Sears & Roebuck. At 16, Jon heard the Rolling Stones on the radio. He immediately went out and bought a Stones album and heard “Under Assistant West Coast Promo Man.” Jon thought that sounded like a pretty good job too.  

His father’s dream, however, was for Jon to go to Memphis State University and get a business degree. Jon dropped out to pursue the radio career he longed for at the famous Keegan’s School of Broadcasting in Memphis. His father was not pleased and told Jon he’d have to pay for tuition himself, so Jon found work at a local movie theater, where he had the good fortune of meeting Elvis one night.   

Jon’s dream finally came true when he graduated from Keegan’s and was hired by a small-town Tennessee radio station in Lawrenceburg. A year later, a premonition told Jon to go back home to Memphis, where he knew there would be a job waiting.  

Within two weeks, Jon was hired by WMC-FM100, a station that had been playing soft music, and whose general manager was ready to turn it into a rock 'n' roll station. On February 7, 1967, FM100 started playing rock ‘n’ roll that had never been heard before on Memphis Top 40 stations. It would become a part of the progressive radio movement, and Jon developed a huge nighttime audience, free to play whatever he wanted. FM100 helped break acts like ZZ Top, David Bowie, Pure Prairie League, the Doobie Brothers, Henry Gross, Billy Joel and Elton John. 

Another dream came true for Jon in 1973 when he left FM100 to work for MCA Records, first as a local promo man in the mid-South and then as a regional promo man in Atlanta. Soon after, he was offered his dream job at MCA as head of national album promotion and moved to Los Angeles in 1974. At MCA, he worked and traveled with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elton John, the Who, Olivia Newton-John, Keith Moon, Roger Daltrey and Golden Earring, among others. 

Jon was offered a job at ABC Records, again as national head of album promotion, in 1977. This was when many serendipitous, cosmic coincidences would take place, especially with a relatively unknown band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Fate stepped in, and Jon has been credited with breaking the career of Tom Petty. He worked with Tom and the band for more than 40 years. 

TOM PETTY AND ME is available on Amazon and Amazon Kindle at 

TOM PETTY AND ME on the Web:





Friday, August 30, 2019

Flipping David Archuleta


DAVID ARCHULETA DEBUTS NEW SINGLE (AND VIDEO) “PARALYZED” 
SINGER OVERCOMES HIS FEARS BY CHALLENGING HIMSELF TO DO FIRST-EVER BACKFLIP OFF THE CLIFFS OF TENNESSEE WATER PARK

David Archuleta premiered his brand new pop single “Paralyzed”today which has reached the #1 spot on Amazon’s “Movers & Shakers” chart.  Listen here:  https://orcd.co/davidarchuletaparalyzed
          
Amazon’s Movers & Shakers chart.
 Amazon Mover & Shakers chart.jpeg
To celebrate the release, David challenged himself to conquer a long-time fear he has by doing his first-ever backflip off the cliffs at Cummins Falls State Park in Tennessee. See video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1eEqU9FGWE/
“Paralyzed was a bit of a venting song. I get frustrated watching myself hesitate so much, and not let go of things from the past that I know I should. A lot of those past things are fears, anger, resentment, and I see how they all form excuses in my mind of why I can’t move forward. I watch as missed opportunities fly by and I just do nothing, because I freeze. It gets me so frustrated! This song is the battle with those paralyzing thoughts and I intend to be the victor.” Says David
The video for “Paralyzed,” directed by Brian Petchers (Meghan Trainor, Sena, Wiz Khalifa) was shot in Brooklyn, NY at a historic home from the 1700’s called The Lott House which also premiered today on David’s official YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/XbrSTF3gGAk and  https://www.youtube.com/user/theofficialarchuleta/ 

Follow David Here:

Friday, May 11, 2018

WTF?! "China Salesman"

WTF?!
For those out there who are clamoring for that Mike Tyson/Steven Seagal movie, and I am sure there are 2 or 3 of you. Well your wish has finally come true!

CHINA SALESMAN stars Mike Tyson, Steven Seagal, Dong-Xue Li, Janicke Askevold and Li Ai, with Eriq Ebouaney rounding out the cast. It was produced by China's Wanda Corporation, and written and directed by Chinese filmmaker Tan Bing. The film, with a reported budget of over $20 million, premieres theatrically this spring and had previously been a high profile title at last year's AFM.
Based on a true story, CHINA SALESMAN is a film about the dangerous and epic adventure to Africa where a Chinese engineer/salesman comes face-to-face with a corrupt competitor over the contract for the first African mobile telecom technology. Local tribesman Kabbah (Mike Tyson) and mercenary Lauder (Steven Seagal) get drawn into the conflict in a classic, brutal hand-to-hand fight while the entire country faces civil war battles.
CHINA SALESMAN will hit theaters on June 15th and DVDBlu-ray, and VOD on June 26th.

Pre-order at the MVD Shop and on Amazon

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Now More Than Ever



File This Under: Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmm...

Now More Than Ever: The History of Chicago is the unbelievable true story of the rock band Chicago

Spanning 50 years, from 1967 to the present day, it highlights a band that has sold over 100 million records and has never taken a year off of touring, still playing well over 100 shows a year. 

Detailed are several stories behind their hits and a look at the way they dealt with both ups and downs on their way to becoming the highest-selling band of the 1970s and the second highest selling American band of all time.

Featuring interviews from band members both past and present, as well as those behind-the-scenes, the film shows Chicago as no one has ever seen them before.
As seen and promoted on CNN's January 1, 2017 broadcast

Pre-order at MVDshop.com or on Amazon 

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Just Because...The Odd Couple

Father Figure?
Selena Gomez & Woody Allen
Just Because their in New York City. Just Because of the generation gap & Just Because she is the most followed person on Instagram I bestow upon you this photo of Selena Gomez being directed in New York by Woody Allen for his upcoming movie.

File This Under: Wonders Never Cease

Woody Allen is proof is you live long enough you can engage with all the age inappropriate women you want. He directed Miley Cyrus in an Amazon TV series and now he gets to put Selena Gomez through her paces for his latest cinematic foray.

Considering Allen's checkered past also makes this situation one for the book of Hollywood Curiosities.

That being stated I am sure Ms. Gomez can navigate murky waters just fine on her own.

Isn't the real question "What does Soon Yi think of this?" 

Think about it, but not too much, OK?

Selena on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/selenagomez/?hl=en

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Presenting - Honey West


There's a new Honey West in town...

This bad, old world gets exponentially better today, as HONEY WEST releases Bad Old World (Readout Records), an explosive collection introducing a remarkable and unusual songwriting collaboration between unassuming British rock titan Ian McDonald, founding member of both Foreigner and King Crimson, and noted Shakespearean actor Ted Zurkowski, a pillar of New York’s theater community by way of world-renowned method acting haven The Actors Studio.

Though constructed on the fundamental foundation of two guitars, bass and drums, the mirthful music on Bad Old World ― which multi-instrumentalist McDonald also produced ― is sophisticated and multi-textured, thanks to the indispensable instrumental and compositional talents of McDonald, and the sly, knowing word craft of lead singer-guitarist and co-composer Zurkowski.

McDonald maintains that his songwriting partner’s cunning way with words was hisraison d’etre for joining HONEY WEST in the first place.
“Ted’s lyrics are very smart,” says McDonald. “I like smart lyrics, I like smart music. This ended up being a really good partnership.”

Aiding and abetting McDonald and Zurkowski in HONEY WEST is a troupe of top-shelf musicians including drummer Steve Holley, whose credits include, among other notable artists, Paul McCartney & Wings, and McDonald’s son Maxwell on bass. Bad Old World also boasts a special guest appearance by Graham Maby (Joe Jackson, They Might Be Giants), who plays bass on several tracks.

The Album Launch Event is set for Wednesday, May 24 at Bowery Electric in New York City.

Premiering exclusively on Billboard.com, the self-deprecating first single,“Dementia,” is a perfect portal into the off-kilter world of HONEY WEST, so named after the groundbreaking 1960s TV series about a sexy female secret agent.“Dementia,” the album’s closing track, is a tightly wound, foot-stomping, Saturday-night rocker highlighted by McDonald’s baritone sax – which originally left a memorable imprint on T. Rex’s iconic “Get It On (Bang A Gong).” But Zurkowski’s typically droll, self-deprecating lyrics elevate the song far beyond the typical party-hearty blueprint, and identify its creators as a rock ’n’ force. 

The high concept "Dementia" lyric video was conceived and directed by Maxwell McDonald, adding to his duties as the band's bass player. Calling the lyric video “inventive,” Billboard.com said it “merits some attention when Ian McDonald gets excited about something.”

While McDonald’s formidable gifts as an instrumentalist, arranger and producer are front-and-center with HONEY WEST on Bad Old World, they represent a new role for the artist who for decades has been revered as a musician’s musician — the one everyone else would check out … and envy! His sterling rock legacy has been primarily forged in the background as the “secret sauce” if you will, for a wide range of recordings which further extends to the likes of Kanye West, Ozzy Osbourne, April Wine, Angela Bofill, Herbie Mann, Jerry Jeff Walker, Nash the Slash, and beyond.

When Zurkowski’s intelligent and playful lyrics are blended with the musical aptitude of HONEY WEST’s co-composers, sonic sparks can’t help but fly.  Not only is his background as a Shakespearean actor entrenched at The Actors Studio (unorthodox by music-world standards), it also indicates McDonald’s propensity for driving a bulldozer through convention.

As such, Bad Old World by HONEY WEST has given rise to a new name in 2017 for peerless musicianship, a substantial, yet fun, lyrical point of view, and the kind of jump-from-the-speakers excitement which has always marked the best in rock music.

Bad Old World is available now on all major digital services, including iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify.  Here's the iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bad-old-world/id1223188582?ls=1&app=itunes

HONEY WEST ON THE WEB:

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Mike Clifford Is "Wonderful"

Everything Is Wonderful
Mike Clifford
Have you heard the latest buzz?! Former Teen Idol Mike Clifford of Close To Cathy fame is back! It's totally true, he has a new single and video out. What is it you are asking?! It's a ballad and a dance cover of  Louis Armstrong's classic What A Wonderful World.

While I know many of you are beleaguered in these, shall we say, interesting times...OK trying ones, there is still so much beauty in the world to appreciate and pay attention to. Mike is here to tell you 10 things that still make this a wonderful world!

1. Friends & Family
2. Research For All Diseases
3. Firefighters & Paramedics 
4. Pets Of All Kinds
5. Doctors & Nurses
6. NASA
7. The Arts (especially music!)
8. The Internet
9. Flowers & Hummingbirds
10. Sunshine 

There you have it from the mouth of Mike. Check out the video for What A Wonderful World after the jump and be sure to find out more about what he is up to now by clicking on the links provided. After all despite certain things, it still really is a wonderful world! 


Keep the wonderful energy flowing with Mike at:
https://www.facebook.com/MikeCliffordsWonderfulWorld/


Monday, April 3, 2017

"Sorceress" In St. Petersburg, Russia

Filmmaker
Naama Kates
This just in from Entertain Me favorite and friend Naama Kates. The indie film she wrote, directed and starred in Sorceress is headed to a Film Festival in Russia, here is the 411 from Ms. Kates herself: 

"Wheeee! Just got word "Sorceress" is an Official Selection of the White Nights Film Festival in Russia's amazing city of St. Petersburg, from April 17th-20th, just a couple weeks away!"


You go Naama! Nobody does it better than  you! 

While your at it why don't you do yourself a favor and saunter over to Amazon and let Sorceress put a spell on  you. If you love indie film like I do, you'll be glad you did.

Hit the Amazon link at:

Monday, February 27, 2017

Sorceress-Magic Or Madness?

Planets of the Universe
Naama Kates
Happy Post Oscar Monday, how about that Best Picture flub? Moving on you may recall a fairly recent interview I did with filmmaker Naama Kates about her indie Sorceress here is the link:

http://mshinafelt.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-sorcery-of-naama-kates.html

Well guess what peeps, it's been released! Here to tell you all about it is a note from Naama herself, read on minions...

Hey. Hey! What is up, hey?

Sooo... Nowadays, making movies is easy. NOT. Nowadays, making movies is frickin' hard. Writing them, shooting them, producing them-- it takes a village. Literally. A big, whopping, fat production, also literally, involving the creative and administrative skills and talents of many, many people. The most collaborative medium of all media. So there's that. To make movies...


And getting anyone to see them, once made, is frickin' hard. Hard, hard, hard!!! Because, well, because it's always been hard, because it's a competitive field, and cuz of democratization of resources, and technology, and various new media outlets, like SVOD platforms, and cuz who cares, cuz everyone has a story, and cuz there are so many good ones already being told, every moment of every day, not just at the cinema or on the telly or the radio, but on your social media feed, and over the phone, and at the neighborhood pub, and, lord knows in any newspaper, and, and, and.


So, not to make a short story longer, and because I have not won any awards* so a long-winded gushing acceptance speech is not in order, I'll refrain from thanking, in this email, all of the incredible people who made this all possible... Also, that's what the credits are for... But I would like to mention my awesome distributor, Global Genesis Group, and in particular Charles Morris Jr. of GGG for taking a chance with me and my film, Sorceress, because now it is available for y'all to see, on-demand on Amazon, for rent, and free if you have Amazon Prime (which I highly recommend as a longtime member for like 5 years now). So, YEAH!

And this is IT:
http://a.co/fzLrOq8

If you wanna know a bit more before you take the plunge, check out the images and synopsis on the Global Genesis site at: http://globalgenesisgroup.com/portfolio-view/sorceress/
Or the review by brilliant philosopher and author, Daniel Coffeen at:
http://hilariousbookbinder.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-beautiful-blur-of-being-on-10.html
And if you wanna, stop by and like the FB movie page (though I really got update that) at:
https://www.facebook.com/srcrssthemovie
And follow on Twitter (gotta get that together too):
https://twitter.com/SorceressMovie

So okay YEAH. Most importantly, drum roll please, just go watch it!!!!!!!! http://a.co/fzLrOq8

Now y'all take care. Be safe. Drink a lot of water and wear sunscreen and a hat. And a scarf and a coat, cuz it's cold.

Love and other indoor sports,
xoxoxo
N

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Say Hello To Wonder Woman

Wonder No More!
Gal Gadot
With all the hype surrounding the opening of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice this Friday you would have to be living in your own private Idaho not to know that piece of trivia.

Me? I am 100% sure I will survive without going to see it. Having put it out there, one minor point of interest for me about the film is the first big screen appearance of Wonder Woman.

Yes, I was a fan of the TV Series with Lynda Carter when I was young, meaning I am now old. It was campy fun!

The take on WW in Batman v Superman judging from the trailer is decidedly more serious in tone. It's also providing the set up for the Amazonian Princess to headline her own movie. Now that is something I would haul my ass to a theater to go see.

Gal Gadot, the actress portraying WW had this to say about it in Los Angeles at a recent press conference:  "So I am so happy to be the one who is going to tell the Wonder Woman story. It is such an important story to tell. It is so important for girls and boys to have a female, strong, super hero to look up to. The more the merrier and there is plenty of room for many more women to come and I am very happy to be a part of it." 

Since I am sitting Batman v Superman out, see you when the Wonder Woman movie hits the silver screen Gal!

The Wonder Woman Movie on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451279/  

Saturday, March 5, 2016

The Holy Grail Of Holy F#cking Sh!t! "Dangerous Men"


Cult masterpiece from outsider filmmaker John S. Rad
hits home video for the first time with deluxe treatment

"Wildly entertaining...a transmission from an alien world"The AV Club 

"Mind-boggling, virtuoso WTF-ery"The Daily Beast

"Oh the insanity!!!" - Entertain Me

Go Cult or Go Home!

Drafthouse Films, the curatorial force behind exceptional repertory releases such as the ninja-blasting synthrock monolith Miami Connection, the psychedelic sci-fi brain-melter The Visitor, and the most dangerous movie ever made, Roar, have announced the their latest cult sensation, Dangerous Men arriving on Blu-ray/DVD for the first time ever this April 5th.

The fanatical brainchild of Iranian polymath John S. RadDangerous Men is a passion project that remained in obsessive production for nearly two decades before finally debuting in Californian theaters in 2005. An unflappably prodigious creative force, Rad handled much of the technical duties of the film, appearing multiple times in the film's credits as the director, writer, location scout, producer, executive producer, and more.

Despite initially languishing at the box office during its limited theatrical release, and never finding a likeminded audience before Rad's untimely death in 2007, Dangerous Men developed a devoted following before vanishing as mysteriously as it appeared. Working with the late artist's family, the Drafthouse Films team worked tirelessly alongside the American Genre Film Institute to locate and restore the original film. Dangerous Men was re-released back into theaters in October 2015, garnering enthusiastically baffled acclaim from critics including Rolling Stone, who called it "incomprehensibly riveting", Cut Print Film labels as "Flabbergasting...a gonzo work of art" and The Village Voice, who found the film "astonishing...a truly outsider movie made my a lone auteur."

The Blu-ray/DVD release features hours of extra content, including a feature-length commentary from authors Zack Carlson and Bryan Connelly, an original short documentary about the film's original 2005 theatrical release, a video interview with cinematographer Peter Palian, and the only appearance of John S. Rad on television as well as an unexpunged print interview!

SYNOPSIS:
After Mina witnesses her fiancé's brutal murder by beach thugs, she sets out on a venomous spree to eradicate all human trash from Los Angeles. Armed with a knife, a gun, and an undying rage, she murders her way through the masculine half of the city's populace. A renegade cop is hot on her heels, a trail that also leads him to the subhuman criminal overlord known as Black Pepper. It's a pulse-pounding, heart-stopping, brain-devouring onslaught of '80s thunder, '90s lightning, and pure filmmaking daredevilry from another time and/or dimension. Blades flash, blood flows, bullets fly and synthesizers blare as the morgue overflows with the corpses of Dangerous Men.