Peter Pays Tribute to Frank – “The Soul of Encouragement”

I never met Frank Gutch Jr. in person. I never communicated with him over the telephone or via Skype. Yet I still felt a great sense of loss when I learned of his passing.

His columns were always well written and informative, and he had a “nose for noise” which I frankly envied and admired. Note that his musical taste was not limited to one genre or era, either. “Where does he find all these great bands I’ve never heard of?” I would repeatedly ask myself as I read his latest column. One never “struggled” through a Frank Gutch Jr. column, by the way. A very talented writer, he caught your attention with his style, and kept it with his content.

DOUG THOMPSON – RISING TO THE TOP AT MOTOWN

Sometimes meeting your heroes can be very disappointing.  They could just be having a bad day or had a fight with their significant other or their manager, or recently received bad news about a pet project…or as is sometimes the case, they could just be an asshole.

On the other hand, some heroes exceed your expectations and then some.

Pat Blythe – Chloe Doucet, Melody Maker, Against The Wind, and pics…….

Originally I wasn’t going to be producing a column today. However, feeling better than expected, at least at this particular moment, I shall attempt to put something together. Had a wee bit of surgery yesterday (Monday) and sister Chrissie is here making sure I don’t do anything I’m not supposed to…..well at least she’s trying.

Doug Thompson: HAL BLAINE – DANCE TO THE DRUMMER MAN!

My last blog on January 26^th on “The Wrecking Crew” documentary went through the roof in terms of readership, so Boss Segarini tells me.  I think that’s mainly because Denny Tedesco, the Director of the documentary about the session musicians of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, re-posted it to his list of contacts.

Frank Gutch Jr: Stone Darling (A Bio I’m Afraid Not To Believe), Them Crazy Multi-Tasking Artists, Time-Travel to Washington D.C. Circa 1970, and Notes…..

I swear to God, when Kim Grant is not pushing me toward something, she is.  A simple post of a video in her last newsletter (see the link at the beginning of the Notes section) regarding The Grand Ole Echo dragged me in an unsuspecting direction, this time to a group out of L.A. calling themselves Stone Darling.  Kim, of course, knows my Achilles Heel (Whispering Pines, for all who don’t know) and knows I cannot resist a short walk through the pines, and I’m pretty sure she posts these things just for me because I ask around occasionally and none of my friends seem to know anything (but come to think of it, they don’t know anything about anything).  This time, though, I’m not sure what she’s gotten me into.  Want a hint?  Read this bio written by one Eric Filipkowski:

The Monday Morning Mailbag: Cashbox Canada Well-Wishers Clogged My Mailbox! More Phil, Wackers, and Segarini Band!

First of all, just let me thank everyone who emailed, texted, facebooked, and called me to congratulate me on my ascension to Cashbox Canada. I sincerely thank each and every one of you, but I’m not going to print them all here because there are just too many. True, some of them are between Chris Hart and Greg Simpson, who hijacked the Facebook thread and turned it into a face-off about hair (and where they have it) age, and seeing each other naked, (which they haven’t, nor do they ever want to). Some of the comments were very sweet, (“Such good news, you really deserve this”) and some were truly funny (“Maybe now you can pay back the 15 bucks you owe me…and get a haircut!”) but ALL were appreciated. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

The Weekend Roundup: Whatever Happened to Phil Collins, the Research Turtles ‘Toon Winners, and Cashbox Canada Welcomes Me Aboard.

It occurred to me this morning that the millennium descended on us over 10 years ago. To some people, 2000 is now ‘the good old days’. Am I the only one who finds that somewhat disturbing? There was no Twitter, no Facebook, no iPad, Android, or Cloud. There was no 3D television (or movies for that matter), fish tacos, or Coke Zero. We had no Jersey Shore, American Idol, Survivor (until May 31^st of that year) or Ryan Seacrest. We didn’t have Smart Phones, Hybrid cars or touch-screen monitors. We were down to 3 Beatles and 3 Who’s, and would soon be down to just two each. What we did have…was Phil Collins.