for those who never gave up their turntables
MOST OF THE INFORMATION about the criteria required for an RIAA Gold Record awarded an album from 1958 through 1974 and singles through 1988 found on the internet is incorrect. This applies to almost every website I have seen, especially Wikipedia. Believe it or not, this even applies to the RIAA’s own website! [Read more] “understanding riaa gold and platinum record awards”
A WHILE BACK is an old person’s way of saying, “It was more than a few years ago but how much more, I ain’t certain.” So, a while back, I was telling my friends that the future of music was going to be AI generated by computer program developers who would not necessarily be musicians. [Read more] “guess I’m dumb about the state of AI generated music”
IT WAS JUST ANOTHER DAY on Medium when I found the article, “Embarrassing Songs By Major Artists.” Written by Alex Markham for The Riff, its tagline was “Even the biggest music superstars had moments when taste deserted them.” He could have written “every music superstar” and substituted “intelligence” for “taste” and I would have agreed! [Read more] “a few embarrassing songs by a few major pop and rock artists”
SHRINK-WRAPPING ALBUMS did not become standard practice for the American record industry until 1963-1964. Prior to that, EP albums and LP albums were shipped to wholesalers and retailers without any protection! Then Robert B. Cohen, a rack jobber in New Jersey, started wrapping records in protective plastic sleeves, making him the “Godfather of Shrinkwrapped Albums.” [Read more] “was robert cohen the godfather of shrinkwrapped albums?”
I HAD TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION: “Who was the first rock band to sell a million albums?” It was on Quora and immediately seized my attention. Why? Because not only had I never thought about it, but I had never heard a record-collecting friend or a professional music writer address it. [Read more] “who was the first rock band to sell a million albums?”