| 01/03/2009 02:17 PM |
| U2 Flies High |
 This is all so new, music performers getting paid in corporate stock. And Yeah! U2 has made 19 million dollars from Live Nation, when they recently sold their shares in the monster concert promoter. Bono, you've done well for yourself. Now show us how smart you really are by doing something special with Live Nation's donation to you. |
| 01/03/2009 02:30 PM |
| Warner's Pulls Out! |
 I wonder, who's right, Mr. Edgar Brofman, boss of WMG or YouTube's CEO Chad Hurley? It seems that the two can't come to terms about $. Those dreams of a digital payoff by each guy just aren't happening. YouTube isn't making enough money to be profitable. WMG isn't making the $ that Edgar thinks his music is worth. So I heard Edgar has pulled all the WMG music related videos off YouTube. Mr. Brofman, you sure play hardball. So the question is whether you need YouTube as a merchandising tool, as much as YouTube needs your content to be a popular Internet destination. Stay tuned, lawsuit among the greedy is next. |
| 11/25/2008 07:57 PM |
| Bush Free Fugee |
 Just when I thought I'd seen it all. A Black Man got elected President of these United States. Then comes the news that George W. Bush, the former hanging governor of Texas and now President of these United States has commuted Fugee producer John Forte's 14 year prison sentence for drug possession. They claimed Forté’s sentence for accepting two suitcases containing $1.4 million worth of liquid cocaine wasn't fair because of mandatory minimums for drug cases. I say good work Carly Simon freeing that boy. |
| 11/08/2008 02:50 PM |
| Picture this |
My time in Nevada paid off. This United States got a new president I approve of! Now it's time I turn my attention back to the fight over some ancient photo of me.  I admit it's flattering to have these folks trying to figure if that's me in the photo that Steven “Zeke” Schein bought for $2200. That's a lot of $ for a picture. Now he's fighting with a bunch of my greedy relatives, I don't even know, about using the photo. I took my picture in a photo booth.  That's all I going to say. I just wonder if that's Jimmy Shines? I'm not sure if either one of us would be carrying a guitar that funky. |
| 10/29/2008 04:08 PM |
| EVERYONE MUST VOTE! |
 Sorry to go radio silent. I've been in Nevada helping the Obama campaign. I got so afraid this country may remain in the dark ages, I participated in my first election. After spending a lot of time listening and watching, I'm sure of my choice of Barack Obama. To realize this dramatic change for the better in our country, EVERYONE MUST VOTE! Humor this bluesman and make sure you vote in this election. |
| 08/27/2008 01:00 PM |
| Dave Stewart's American Prayer |
 Every once and a while this Robert is surprised by the power of music. Dave Stewart did just that. His song and video American Prayer is right on. The song is catchy and inspirational. It's loaded with people I know of and respect. The message is simple. I hope everyone sees this before November. This is important! |
| 08/15/2008 11:49 AM |
| Tax Man Blues |
 Just when this Robert thinks it can't get any more screwed up than it is already. Two news stories got me really concerned and riled up my principles. The first one claims most of the top companies doing business in our country don't pay any taxes. Even though we're a country at war, and our citizens are paying with their lives, our country's businesses are not paying anything at all. At the same time some of the states in this fine country are either taxing or going to tax digital downloads. Seems bleeding us music lovers more, is the solution. I thought thinking like this ended after share cropping ended. What's happening here? I thought I knew this country, but I don't know nothing. |
| 08/04/2008 08:44 PM |
| $700,000, and Nobody's Home |
 Can you believe in this time of unemployment, no one will take a $700,000 job as the digital head of Sony BMG? This Robert has seen some Sony BMG digital characters. They sure are a sorry lot. Do you know, Sony/BMG are dark ages. They don't even recognize the MP3 format? Didn't BMG buy out and ruin Napster? And now I heard those same BMG worms are bailing out and selling their half of the recorded music company to Sony. What losers. |
| 07/31/2008 01:37 PM |
| Ludacris, True Blue |
 Ludacris, I respect your concern for our country's future. The more people who get involved in this election the better. I listened to your song "Politics: Obama is Here." You told the truth, just too truly. You've done good, but Obama has to distance himself from you. Don't fret, my young rapper, your message is understood by all of us, and some of us don't judge your language . You aren't the only one angry at those political hacks, and we respect that you're brave and care enough to sing about your feelings. |
| 07/16/2008 06:06 PM |
| Dead Presidents Talk |
 Good news while I was running the rapids in my kayak. Those wonderful Capital Records echo chambers have been saved. You got to love it! Second Street, the developers, have agreed to a number of efforts to preserve these works of art. According to a statement released by the EMI music group: "The agreement will protect the acoustic integrity and operations of the Capitol Records Studios and ensure it continues as one of the world's premiere recording facilities, as it has for more than 50 years." Plus, this old Robert, heard the developers will pay $100,000 to promote the studio within the recording community. As usual it's the dead presidents that do the talking. |
| 06/27/2008 01:20 PM |
| Trent Shows "Discipline" At The Crossroads |
 Mr. Trent Renzor, you continue to prove you're the master of this new medium called the World Wide Web. Posting the free Mp3 "Discipline" @ last.fm has proved you know how to spread the word and keep your fans happy. |
| 06/23/2008 06:59 PM |
| Sign Petition, Save Endangered Echo Chambers! |
 They're finally listening to old Robert J. out there. Here's a link to a petition to save the Capital Records echo chambers. For any of you who haven't read my earlier ramblings. These echo chambers are an important part of our civilization's musical culture. So, please sign up to help these defenseless rooms designed by the late great Les Paul. I know they're not as cute as seals, but they your need help. |
| 06/14/2008 09:21 PM |
| R. Kelly, Free At Last |
 R. Kelly, you got justice. They found you not guilty. Now that's some welcome news, just hard for me to comprehend. This isn't the America I knew. I never saw a black man with a hairdo getting let go by a jury of eight whites and four blacks. That's unheard of, even if it was in big city Chicago. Please R. Kelly, you got to fill me in, I don't want to feel super old timey. What's that urine thing all about? |
| 06/05/2008 11:53 AM |
| Jim, take the 5th. |
 Jim, Judge Vincen Guaghan has it right. If you don't want to testify, don't hide behind the Illinois reporter's law. Go to court and take the 5th. You watched the child porn, doesn't that make you a little guilty? If you're going to rely on your constitutional rights, choose correctly and don't self-incriminate. |
| 06/04/2008 12:10 PM |
| Jim DeRogatis Down The Crossroads With R. Kelly |
 Mr. Jim DeRogatis, ducking the court system just ain't that smart . If you're so righteous, why act like you got something to hide? Are you the Chicago version of Chuck Phillips, another sleazy news phony? Or are you the concerned citizen, who blew the whistle on child porn? Looking into your heart is tough, it's so small. So, I got to remember what Ryan Adams said to your answering machine. Then my simple mind wonders if it's your answering machine, how did the world get to hear it? |
| 05/26/2008 03:04 PM |
| Welcome Ma. |
 Yes indeed, that's Ma Rainey. To those of you who might not know, she's the Queen of the Blues. Now she's back. She got a computer, and a broadband connection, and now she's got herself a blog. Damn the world is better with Ma back. You got to love her attitude. They'd call her a feminist these days, she was called outrageous back then. Plus she's always had a mouth on her. And nobody I knew could party heartier than Ma, man or woman. Here's one of her best songs in the MP3 format. |
| 05/09/2008 04:16 PM |
Well, well, Mr. Lamar Sorrento, you're quite a creative character. I love your pictures, especially the one you did of this handsome devil. And I've always loved your music. So, I almost tripped over my kayak on the way out the door to send you $ for your latest recording.  I want one of those free watercolors you're giving away with your music. I think combining your arts is brilliant. What a great combination painter and musician! Plus, I sure envy that Rickenbacker you own, it sounds like a living thing on your records. |
| 05/06/2008 08:21 PM |
| Trent Reznor, Free At Last |
 I just got to admire you, Mr. Trent Reznor. You got the long view. You're a music biz pioneer. You are giving away your new recording for free to your fans on the WWW. I listened to your new music, and I know you're going to make a lot of your fans very happy. Now what would old Doug Morris think? Or that broke Steve Gottlieb? Mr. Trent Reznor, you're the one who's laughing now. |
| 04/30/2008 08:29 PM |
| Les Paul, Thank You, from the Inventor of Rock and Roll |
 I got to admit this Kayak is trickier than I pictured. But don't you worry, this Robert can swim. I just learned a very important fact about those endangered Capital Records echo chambers. These magnificent sound rooms were designed by Les Paul. This is as close to a shrine as you get in the grimy record world of L.A. It deserves national monument status, not 93 condos. |
| 04/23/2008 05:37 PM |
| Save The Echo Chambers |
 It just snowed, maybe my last snow day, but don't worry about this Robert, I just got a kayak. Before I go hit the slopes, I must agree with an RIAA company for the first time this year. I think EMI should save the echo chambers in the Capital Tower. These echo chambers are unique, and they would be a loss to the world of music if their character changed. |
| 04/21/2008 01:49 PM |
| SonyBMG Jives Clive |
 Well, well, is nothing sacred in the music biz. Clive Davis has been deposed as ruler of the SonyBmg kingdom. It seems although his company is selling records, it's not making enough money to justify Clive's rumored 10 million dollar salary. SonyBMG realized by demoting Mr. Davis and canning his lieutenants, they could save money without emptying the building. Now that the logic of removing the big salaries to survive has entered the major labels' thinking, I just wonder who's next? |
| 03/31/2008 07:38 PM |
| Sony BMG Piracy Hypocrites |
 Okay, Okay. Just when I thought I seen it all. Along comes the story, that Sony Bmg corporate servers are using pirated software. Where's the pot calling the kettle black here? Can you spell hypocrite? Sony Bmg are making a company policy of using pirated software, while their bully boys, the RIAA, are suing innocent single parents. Let's hope they don't bury this story, the way they buried people's computers that just wanted to play Sony BMG music. |
| 03/27/2008 08:53 PM |
| Virgin, Panties and a Billy Goat |
 Now, I don't want to be cross-Robert, but just when I was going to get an afternoon of boarding in, late season style, Billy Corgan and his pack pick today to sue Virgin Records for using some of their songs in an Amazon.com and Pepsi marketing campaign. Now I just have to sit here and say something, before I can go hit the slopes. That got easy when Pumpkin Jimmy Chamberlin, talking about his record company said, "Seems they have long forgotten how to actually 'work' for a dollar." Til then I was having trouble commenting on millionaires trivial bullshit. But then Pumpkin logic spoke to me. The Pumpkins sound like a ho complaining about her pimp trying to market her used underwear. I just got no time for shit like this when the snow's melting. |
| 03/12/2008 03:16 PM |
| Number 9, Number 9 |
 It's been some fine powder this year. I just love snow. It seems client #9, the man who brought the major labels to their knees, has stumbled over his own little head, and now he's the one on his knees. I got to say, the ex-governor ain't cheap, he didn't skimp on his playmate. "Pay for play" has taken on new meanings. Plus it's shameful how many record executives are rejoicing over today's resignation of Eliot Spitzer. |
| 02/22/2008 01:06 PM |
| Ska, 24 x 7 |
 Very brave, Uptones. Very brave indeed. You posted your entire CD on the WWW. How unconventional, it is in today's music scene, to believe in your music like this. What a magnificent art statement! "The Uptones 24 x 7." Just think about it, I can learn to love your music at my own pace. I already love your dog. What's his name? |