Do you ever wonder: where do A & R people go and what do they do once they get burned out on the
hypocrisies of the recording industry? Well, here’s what Howard is doing these days. He’s got an online radio
show and blog, and let me tell you right now, if you really love music, if you want to read amazing things about
music and the music industry, I encourage you to start listening to North Fork Sound and supporting Howard.
Not because Howard needs you, but because YOU NEED HIM. One of a handful of true A & R folks in the industry
who was in the industry for sheer love of the song, the artist, the joy he got of out bringing original and incredible
music to the masses, Howard is a true original. Besides signing me to Elektra (for which I am forever indebted),
Howard also signed 10, 000 Maniacs, Sugarcubes/Bjork, Georgia Satellites, Billy Bragg, and I can’t think of who else right now,
but he started in England, his homeland, serving tea to Reginald Kenneth Dwight (Elton John) in a recording studio while
Howard was still a young teen, and then he worked his way up through the ranks to become VP at Elektra in New York,
where I was blessed to meet him.
Perhaps I will tell some stories at some point. But, for today, here’s what you need to know is happening with the man:
he’s a farmer, a radio man and storyteller all wrapped in one. So check out the goods!
WIth lots of love and respect,
Sara
P.S. I can’t wait til Obama is president. I know it is going to be a ridiculously tough four years his first term because he’ll have
to struggle in the cesspool of caca the Bush administration is leaving behind, but I have faith Obama will put together a team
of really smart support, and they are going to turn the train around. Otherwise, I am going to be one super mad mamasita and
I am going to have to go into politics and get in there in the spirit of Molly Ivans and clean it up myself….until that day, which, dear God,
I really don’t want to go into politics…I’ll just keep speaking and singing and raising my voice and trying to make change for our children
here on the artistic side.
BUT NOW….KICK OUT THE JAMS!
…right now…RIGHT NOW…the radio station previously known as ‘CAKE’ metamorphoses into NORTH FORK SOUND!
After much preparation, moving headquarters, technical trial and error and digital blundering about, it’s a relief to be able to announce the NEW radio station and its accompanying ‘blog’,
NORTH FORK SOUND
Just like ‘CAKE’ did, NORTH FORK SOUND will feature around-the-clock, adventurous ‘free-form’ format with a daily playlist of at least 120 songs pulled from my record/demo/cd collection.
At least 15 ‘fresh’ songs will be added daily.
New features will include:
* A weekly Top 20, published Sundays
* Album Of The Week
* A classic B-side (from vinyl)
* The NORTH FORK SOUND ‘blog’ – which replaces my weekly newsletter. Yes – no more annoying emails. YOU check in, only when you want to. There is a link to the radio station on the blog. For optimum results, listen while you read.
The point of the station is to remind one-and-all that there’s a vast trove of great, often unjustly ignored music out there, sometimes kept OFF the airwaves thanks to devious “industry practices”.
The blog will feature info/news about the station, reminiscences, recommendations, comments from readers (hopefully) and photographs, snapped (mostly) by me during my 25 years in the record business as a talent scout/a&r person. I’d like to ‘post’ 2 or 3 times a week but we’ll just have to see how it goes. Since the move, there’s a LOT of unpacking and filing to be done
Rock & roll, blues, soul, reggae, instrumentals, pop, oldies, current, Americana and singer/songwriters will feature prominently, but we’ll throw in some ska, psychedelic, garage rock, outlaw country, punk, jazz, dub, contemporary classical, the occasional novelty and Lemmy just to keep you on your toes. For an incomplete, but representative list of core artists, labels, styles played on the station, please see the first blog posting, here
If you enjoy what you hear and/or read, please ‘bookmark’ the site, or make it a ‘favorite’ and feel free to email friends, include us in mailing lists, link us, or just tell someone. If you’re an artist, please link us to your website. Or send us a North Fork Sound ID, either for the station (as an mp3) or for the blog (as a Quicktime film). You might have kids, so it’s your parental duty to expose them to Captain Beefheart and Bob Dylan, get them off that horrible music they’re listening to!
The idea here is to build, organically, a competitive internet radio station from the roots up. If you don’t like the ads on the station, you can stream just the music by taking out a subscription to the live365.com network.
North Fork Sound Top 20 – June 22nd ‘08
Eddie Cochran: Somethin’ Else
Gene Casey & The Lone Sharks: That’s What Cheaters Do
Bo Diddley: Say Man
Mary Gauthier: Last Of The Hobo Kings
The Flashcubes: Blackberry Way (NFS exclusive!)
Miles Davis: All Blues
Robyn Hitchcock: Because You’re Over
The Easybeats: Good Times
Dandy Livingstone: A Message To Rudy
The Flamin’ Groovies: Slow Death
Shelby Lynne: Johnny Met June
Burning Spear: Tradition
Ray Bryant Combo: Sack O’ Woe
Ian Dury: Cacka Boom
Marvin Gaye: Got To Give It Up Pt. 1
The Ramones: Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio?
Sofia: Mongoloid
Little Richard: Miss Ann
Brinsley Schwarz: Nervous On The Road (But Can’t Stay At Home)
Suicide: Cheree
Featured Album:
Gene Casey & The Lone Sharks: What Happened
The 7” B-side:
Angel Corpus Christi: Down
Last Week’s Listener Thumbs Ups:
Melanie Pain: Teenage Kicks
The Georgia Satellites: Six Years Gone
Rod Stewart: Maggie May
Jimmy Cliff: You Can Get It If You Really Want
Raging Slab: Don’t Dog Me
Chuck Berry: All Aboard
Wynder K Frog: Green Door
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan: Who Built The Road
Mary Gauthier: Jackie’s Train
The Clash: I Fought The Law
The Beatles: While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Harrison demo)
The Kinks: I Gotta Move
Brinsley Schwarz: Happy Doing What We’re Doing
Yellowman: Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt
The Who: Getting In Tune
John Lennon: Only You
Swamp Dogg: Sam Stone
James Carr: Pouring Water Over A Drowning Man
Cliff Richard: Move It
‘Moving’ songs played last week:
Elvis Presley: We’re Gonna Move
Arthur Alexander: You Better Move On
B.B. King: Never Make A Move Too Soon
Miles Davis: Move
The Blind Boys Of Alabama: You Got To Move
Chris Isaak: Like The Way She Moves
The Flamin’ Groovies: Move It
Cliff Richard: Move It
Mungo Jerry: Movin’ On
The Move: I Can Hear The Grass Grow
Young MC: Bust A Move
Yellowman: Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt
Sir Douglas Quintet: She’s About A Mover
MX-80 Sound: Man On The Move
The Rolling Stones: You Gotta Move
Primal Scream: Movin’ On Up
MC5: Gotta Keep Movin’
Julee Cruise: Movin’ In On You
The Kinks: I Gotta Move
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)
The Flying Lizards: Move On Up
Free: I’m A Mover