SENSE AND SENSIBILTY
By Chris Slone
After the recent pounding Jim Bunning faced, I had to kinda set down and wonder to myself what the world, especially the United States of America was coming to. Bunning came under heavy fire for stalling the congress from extending unemployment benefits. THAT was the drive by media's big deal....oh he's horrid, he's rotten, he's a republican....he wants to keep benefits from penniless families...read well what I write hear...NOT TRUE. The drive by left would love that...but once again they've taken out of context and only spoken in half truths.
Bunning wanted to know where the money was coming from. Period. Yep, that's what it amounts to, he even said that was the point he was trying to make. Where...is this magic money coming from that we will use to satisfy the millions, or even billions needed to extend benefits? From education? From road funds? From government funds to pay state employees? WHERE?! Oh, I get it...we'll just pass this one along to our grand kids too...nice......real nice.....
I'm all for extending benefits to families that need them, but common sense tells you in order to spend money, you have to have it. No brain-er. What is STILL happening even after all this is like going to the grocery store, loading the cart and having no money to pay for it..it's no different. OH YES IT IS some will shout..."It's just transferring to make sure people don't go hungry!"..... OK, to the eternally enlightened minds that say this...I must ask ye all knowing...where is it transferring from? Again...where is it coming from?
If you shift money from your electric bill for groceries, you've only replaced one issue with another, now you have food, but no power to run the fridge...so, oh swami of the greenback...where oh where is the magic money tree, because I sure want a twig off the branch too.
In the real world, somebody's got to pay....and I'm scared to death it will be our kids and grand kids and even further down the line that struggle with the decisions that have been made...by the people we put in office who forgot they work for the people who put them in office. Before folks up and hop on the almighty bandwagon that be...maybe we should try to look at the traffic before pulling out into the intersection...so you actually see what's coming as a result of the actions we take now.
A little sense goes along way.
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For Pete’s Sake
By Chris Slone
I’ve been in the broadcasting industry for a while and I’ve heard some great music, and some that put simply…sucked. I’ve also learned what kind of skill and patience it takes to be a good producer, and it takes a lot more if you want to be great. Good, is like second place, it’s like kissing your sister, and while I have no sister, my stomach still turns at the thought. I’m amazed at what comes into our studio’s from other outlets and they pass it off, or try to pass it off as “professional”…come on.
I just got off the phone moments before writing this section with some jerk who could only give partial answers…. Again, the labor of professionalism begins with a passion for performance; and some self respect. It takes more than just showing up. That’s not a passion for performance, it a pathetic prologue to a miserably done job. Half of anything is usually worse than all of nothing. Think about it…how many times have you said “want it done right, I have to do it myself…” and
re do what some monkey messed up?
Do it right or leave it to the big boys and girls, yes, being a little better than the day before takes some work…and it’s not always easy, in fact, some time’s it’s simply tough, that’s what makes us different, that is what makes the 1 percent different from the 99 percent. We’re better than no one else, but some of us choose to be different, to reach higher and be better. For those who don’t, that’s fine, just stay out of our way. Of course, we’d love to have you come along,
part II
Will you want to CARRY OUT Shock Value II
Now for the money…I recently had a chance to hear Tim Mosely’s (Timbaland’s) Shock Value 2. If you’ve been watching this for a while, you've likely already caught the promo singles, the most notable of which is Tim's ill-fated collaboration with the Miley Cyrus .
"We Belong to the Music" is nuts from start to stop, but it becomes worse, and much worse once the countrified Miley Cyrus starts calling for "Mr. DJ" to "turn it up." Please….stop her! And Timbo…what were you thinking? She sounds like a bad version of the Hamster Dance. I AM being kind. GRADE: D- (take Miley out of the mix he gets a solid B+)
On "Carry Out," Timbaland re teams with Justin Timberlake. It's clear that both parties are cool in this setting, and the production is tight. Some are griping about the series of food-sex metaphors. They forget it’s meant to be catchy and danceable and score big on both ends, so get your feet or whatever it is you’ve stuck in that Happy Meal box out guys…get a hug and get glad.
GRADE A-
"Lose Control" (feat. JoJo) is catchy, but how played out is the notorious "Heeeey" loop at this point? You can do better than that Tim.
GRADE: D-
Singer Brandy has rechristened herself Bran' Nu, but what’s odd is she sounds like the same thing as the 90’s wanna be Aaliyah. Didn’t pull it off then either. She shows up here on "Meet in the Middle, about two lovers learning to compromise. You'll have forgotten it a few tracks later.
GRADE: C-
“Say Something," featuring Drake, is another relationship drama tune. It amps things up a bit, but by the time it gets to your ears, you'll be ready to skip ahead looking for a smokin’ track. Not bad though, all in all, even if it’s a little forgetful.
GRADE: B+
NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKIN’ BOUT RIGHT THERE! Things jump up out of the box near the CD’s mid-point with a couple of club-ready jams. "Morning After Dark" with Nelly Furtado and SoShy is one of the few collaborations on Shock Value II that feels like a dream and you can taste this candy with your ears. It's the hottest of the whole lot.
GRADE: A+ AND TWO BONUS POINTS
THIS WAS JAMMED ON THE TOP FIVE ON 95.5 FM
"Can You Feel It" (feat. Esthero & Sebastian) is equally danceable, but not quite as rich as Morning After Dark.
GRADE: A-
If you're thinking there might be another "Apologize" among the pop rock collaborations here, think again. "Tomorrow In a Bottle," a track with Nickelback singer-guitarist Chad Kroeger and rapper Sebastian (Tim's little bro) sounds like cardstock. Solid but bland.
GRADE: B+
Daughtry's "Long Way Down" has potential, but there's a lack of commitment in the production booth it’s like never taking the top off the convertible….come one man, drop it low! Quit being soooo safe.
GRADE: C+
The closest we get to a new crossover rock hit comes again… from
One Republic. "Marchin On" is a bouncy hand-clapper. The less spirited, but more emotive "Undertow," with mellow-toned piano rockers The Fray and trip-hop artist Esthero, is sure to be a single at some point.
Production is cool on album closers "The One I Love" (feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E.) and “Symphony” (feat. Attitude, Bran' Nu & D.O.E.), but their fleeting solemnity merely drives home how the effort, while not entirely in vain, could’ve been better.
OVERALL: I’d be more inclined to buy the download I tunes version or the US deluxe edition for the 4 bonus tracks, but would I spend money on it? …..yeah.
Overall GRADE: B
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Behind the scenes look at what goes into it
There’s a right and wrong way to do anything, and I’ve spent nearly as much time doing it wrong as I have right. But where your coming from isn’t nearly as important as where you’re going.
There’s three phases to anything like this. 1.-Pre Production. 2. Principle Production and lastly…3. Post Production.
It all starts with an idea, most of the time I have to jot these down because I’ll forget it if I don’t. The Reel 2 Reel challenge was born that way. Beats the crud out of me asking a plain old question, those are boring.
Anyway, in Phase 1, or pre production, as in the Top Five, the first thing done is vote counting…and a necessary evil, but really not that bad. When someone votes for the Top Five at five, the submission form is sent to an email address I specify, and each week at the same time, (give or take my nap time) I count the votes. The email program I use is especially helpful because it will tell me how many submission forms have been cast, for example, 783 forms means…??? Yep, 783 votes for that week, here lately, it’s been a bit more…and I love and thank you for that. So, the votes are counted…then, during “me” time…I think of how we need to open this…the opening sets the tone for the entire program, and The Top Five is meant to be fun, upbeat and cool. So I think of what would be fun? Let’s face it, comedy is fun, but I’m not a comedian, and it’s only a joke if everybody gets its. I want this thing to stand out you to know when you hear it….”IT’S THE TOP FIVE AT FIVE…COOL!”
It usually doesn’t take long for the team to come up with some ideas about what is cool, what bites, and what really rocks. So then, comes the script. 90 percent of the time I write the script and almost always have at least 1 re write… and some checking and back checking on fact. because it either sucked in my opinion, or I goofed up somewhere and called Britney Spears a whiny little…never mind…(yes I’m a fan of ROCK)…I always look for three things in a script. A, is it relevant to the listener’s or music, B…is there an easy to follow flow, and C…does it all make sense and purpose in the end. If I’ve gotta check check check…then I rehearse it until I know it by heart…enough to make me sick of it…that’s when I know I’ve got it.
Phase 2 or principle production is the stuff most people are interested in, this is the actual delivery…when we deliver the script to the ears of people, it’s gotta be believably fun, a bit nutty and relevant as well as current…
Phase 3 involves adding the music, phone calls and effects, and the Master Mix of all files to one working element. It’s like chocolate. I mean, almost everybody loves chocolate right? Eat some raw before processing…it sucks. It’s bitter and horrid….its takes a process to make you wanna take a bite…just like everything else we all do, it’s a small part of a bigger picture…when you look at what goes into it.
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