Showing posts with label Tom Petty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Petty. 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, July 5, 2019

"Cactusville"

THE HANGMEN set to release "Cactusville" 
via Acetate Records on August 23rd

The L.A. underground Rock legend's 7th studio album


"It's The Hangmen he wanted to kill... we got run out of Cactusville," laments Bryan Small on the album's title track of The Hangmen's seventh album. Flanked by longtime members Jimmy James (guitar), Angelique Congleton (bass) and newcomer Jorge Disguster (drums), Small recollects the harrowing tale of a gig in Tuscon promoting their major label debut. "It was such a formative trip for us as a young band. There was death, drugs, booze, guns, girls and rock n' roll... and we met some new friends along the way."
 
One friend in particular, Eddie Spaghetti of the Supersuckers remembers the gig well, "They pulled up in a perfectly shitty van and proceeded to literally fall out of it. I know that one of them immediately puked in the parking lot. Combine all the L.A. coolness of the dudes with the songs and, oh my god, no one could touch them. The fucking SONGS. Right out of the gate I was struck by the patient, laid back-ness of their rock-n-roll ways. They changed a lot about the way I thought about what a band should be and how songs should be delivered. They instantly became our heroes."

The Hangmen were formed in Los Angeles in 1986 and immediately caught the eye of Black Flag/Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris. Morris managed the band, and along with Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz, produced the demos that landed them a deal with Capitol Records. They released their self-titled debut in 1987, but things soon came crashing down. A switch to DGC Records (the newly formed subsidiary of Geffen who's roster included The Nymphs, Nirvana, etc) seemed like the perfect landing spot for the band. Unfortunately, the album Suicide Doors was shelved and the band dissolved into addiction.

Not one to be down for long, a newly sober Small started writing again, the result was 2000's Metallic I.O.U. Tours with longtime fans Social Distortion and the Supersuckers followed. Ness would later produce The Hangmen's 2007 release In the City. "I totally feel like we're kindred spirits," Small says looking back, adding that both bands emphasize "simplicity, and doing what you do and staying true to that."

In 2010, the Finnish label Hype Records, Lost Rocks, an 18-song Hangmen retrospective. Shortly thereafter, former Supersucker, Rontrose Heathmen joined the band for 2012's critically acclaimed East Of Western.

2019 marks the release of Cactusville and another chapter of The Hangmen legend continues. Small has taken his brand of songwriting to another level, putting him in an artistic class with the likes of Tom Petty and Neil Young as purveyors of honest and simple songwriting.

Side 2 of the LP features the Best Western Players, Bryan Small's countrified side project. In the same vein as Neil Young's "American Stars and Bars," the songs take on a different feel, with vocal harmonies and haunting pedal steel echoing throughout. It's familiar territory for Small, who grew up in rural Montana before making his way to Los Angeles. "The 'country' side of The Hangmen has been there from the start, it stems from the love of Gun Club, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, etc.," explains Small, "the Best Western Players were brought in to realize the songs as they were conceived."
  
The Hangmen will join Acetate Records label mates the Supersuckers on a rare East Coast US tour in September. Additional dates TBA.
THE HANGMEN w/ Supersuckers (unless otherwise denoted *)
  • 08/23 Los Angeles, CA @ Redwood Bar Record Release Party * 
  • 09/02 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 
  • 09/04 Greenville, SC @ Radio Room 
  • 09/05 Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall 
  • 09/06 Wilmington, NC @ Reggie's 42nd St. Tavern 
  • 09/07 Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle 
  • 09/08 Nashville, TN @ Little Harpeth Brewing 
  • 09/10 Richmond, VA @ The Camel 
  • 09/11 Washington DC @ City Winery 
  • 09/12 Harrisburg, PA @ 10th St. Stage 
  • 09/14 Harrisonburg, VA @ The Golden Pony 
  • 09/15 Pittsburgh, PA @ Hard Rock Cafe 
  • 09/16 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom 
  • 09/18 Portland, ME @ Geno's Rock Club 
  • 09/19 Hampton Beach, NH @ Wally's 
  • 09/20 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East 
  • 09/21 Amityville, NY @ Amityville Music Hall 
  • 09/22 Brooklyn, NY @ El Cortez 

Cactusville Pre-sale - http://acetate.com/the-hangmen/

The Hangmen Website * https://the-hangmen.com 


Instagram * @the_hangmen * https://www.instagram.com/the_hangmen/

Twitter * @the_hangmen * https://www.twitter.com/the_hangmen/

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Praise The Lorde

Angelic
Lorde
It's Grammy Sunday and time to give thanks. What better way to do it than to offer up praise to Grammy Album of the Year nominee Lorde

If there is paint drying that I can watch somewhere I will not be tuning in. That being stated there is much speculation as to why Lorde is the only Album of the Year nominee not performing since she is in town and has been belting out her latest efforts everywhere else.

Werd has it that she unlike the other nominees in her category who are male, she was not offered a solo spot. She was approached to take part in the Tom Petty Tribute singing American Girl...WTF?!

How weird would that be coming from a Kiwi? For those of you not in the loop that is a common nickname for people originating from New Zealand.

It's a shame Lorde won't be taking to the Grammy stage to croon, so let's offer up our gratitude for her music and praise her!

Lorde on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/lordemusic/?hl=en

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Michael's Musings

Let Love Rule!
Myself & J.M. Rich

Wow! What a motherf#cking week! Las Vegas will prevail. Yet the lives lost and people affected are unconscionable. 

So this weeks tone is provocative (yeah OK, every week is) Can't we say and do anything we want at present? The jerk off who is "running" our country seems to think so. Thus if the image of tender affection between two men I posted of myself and J.M. Rich offends you. Seek serious mental help.

Moving on up I presume.

Luckily I did not lose anyone in the Las Vegas shooting. But I do have friends who did. WTF?!

Tom Petty, Tom Petty, Tom Petty

Latin language is inherently scary 

Mike Clifford's cover of  "What a Wonderful World" is a smash hit! Check it out here:
https://www.reverbnation.com/mikeclifford6

O U 8 1 2

Ya know, macho! (grab your crotch while saying it)

It's true, I used to ghost many a party
Wayne Newton aka The Mask 
Wayne Newton's face should be the mask of the Halloween season, scary!

There is no response to that

I will find you, and I will eat you! (I can be so kinky)

"Reach down between your legs and make it hard" - Jessica, spin instructor, Gold's Gym Hollywood 

Seeing my friend Margaret Cho perform tonight at The Wiltern. You know she is going to  skewer Trump

I have a funky ass pain on the  lower right side on my back. FML!

26 more days 'till Halloween Silver Shamrock 

This is the point where you are supposed to follow me on social media at these links:

https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/MShinafelt   

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Don't Come Around Here No More

Tom in Wonderland
Tom Petty
Wow! Where to being on the death of iconic musician Tom Petty...he has had a huge impact on popular music and culture mere words, especially mine could not do him justice. 

So, I will cover two things he did that meant a lot to me. Let's start with the byline - Don't Come Around Here No More, which is a great song, with an even greater video done with an Alice in Wonderland theme. Casting Petty as the Mad Hatter.

The images from the video and the song have emerged from my subconscious at many points throughout the years.

Another Petty moment that will always be a personal favorite is his duet with Stevie Nicks on Stop Draggin' My Heart Around. These two blend seamlessly and their voices compliment the others to perfection. 

Dear Tom you had an amazing journey and left so many unforgettable memories may you rest in peace.

Tom Petty at:
http://www.tompetty.com/