Your last guess for a radio source exposing new music would be the correct one. Yes, NPR - that NPR has become a major player in breaking indie rock acts. This is the same NPR of "All Things Considered," "Car Talk" and other news/talk shows. In 2007, the NPR Music website was launched and music fans are now paying attention to it. The website has also drawn the attention of indie bands and the music industry. Radiohead and Tom Waits played exclusive concerts, Bruce Springsteen made his album "Working on a Dream" available for streaming before its release and Bob Dylan's "Tell Tale Signs" album went up on the site before its release in late 2008 and was streamed 300,000 times in under one week. Then there are the indie bands, Arcade Fire, Neko Case, LCD Soundsystem, Ratatat and Sleigh Bells gaining valuable exposure on NPR music's website...
The median age of people who listen to NPR's news and talk programs is 55 while the median age for visitors to NPR's music site is 40 according to Arbitron. Bob Boilen, senior producer and host of "All Songs Considered", NPR's first webcast music program and godfather-guiding spirit of NPR Music says "It's an educated audience with some spending money", which has opened the eyes of the music industry but NPR's nonprofit status must be maintained. Does that mean that music-industry "underwriters" aren't welcome? I'm not about to open that can of worms and neither is NPR...
NPR Music accounts for about 15% of visitor traffic for NPR.org. Today's website home page is as diverse as it can possibly be. There's a tribute to Janis Joplin, a plug for Bonnaroo 2010, a musicfest webcast coming up this week, Charlie Mingus, Sergio Mendes, Marian McPartland, classical, jazz, pop, hip-hop, and new bands you've never heard of too. The website also carries links to every NPR-affiliated station that streams music. Now that's promotion...
10 Timeline Memories:
1.1955] Big bucks comes to TV: "The $64,000 Question" debuts on CBS-TV. The gravy train derails with the cheating scandals in 1958...
2.1966] Caught in a bad draft: The Mets pass up Reggie Jackson, drafting the immortal Steve Chilcott #1 in the college baseball draft...1982] Caught in a good draft: The Mets draft Dwight Gooden, Roger McDowell and Randy Myers...
3.1976] Debuted on this date: NBC Nightly News with co-anchors John Chancellor and David Brinkley. This was the first time there were co-hosts. This combination lasted 3 years...
4.1989] Time has come today: For one second, the time is: 01:23:45 6-7-89...
5.1993] What's your name?: As a birthday present for himself, Prince changes his name tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6Cgg42JPxw. I hope I got that right, spellcheck couldn't help...
6.2002] Guilty as charged: Kennedy cousin (nephew of Ethel) Michael Skakel is convicted in Norwalk (CT) of beating Greenwich neighbor Martha Moxley to death when both were teenagers in 1975. He's still in prison for the crime...
7.1998] Horrific crime: Forty-nine year old black man James Byrd Jr. is dragged to his death from the back of a pickup truck in Jasper (TX). In 1999, William King, a white man, is sentenced to death for this horrific murder...
8.2008] 'Happy Trails': Legendary sportscaster Jim McKay, best known as host of "Wide World of Sports", dies of natural causes at 86...
9.2008] Hillary is outted: Hillary Clinton suspends her presidential campaign and endorses Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for president...
10.2008] Brown-out: Big Brown becomes the first Triple Crown favorite to place last in The Belmont Stakes. Big Brown previously won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Longshot (38-1) Da'Tara wins wire-to-wire...
Music Memories:
•1969] Released on this date: "Crystal Blue Persuasion" - Tommy James & Shondells...
•1969] "Hell-o, I'm Johnny Cash": "The Johnny Cash Show" debuts on ABC-TV for a 7-year run...
•1970] He's a pinball wizard: The Who's "Tommy" is performed in Lincoln Center...
•1972] Grease is the word: "Grease" moves to Broadway after playing off-Broadway for 4 months...
Commentary...
Dick Weiss, basketball columnist of the New York Daily News speaks for me and I'm sure a lot of people who believe that John Wooden was the best coach any sport ever produced. This is a piece he wrote on Saturday on The Wizard Of Westwood: John Wooden won 620 games and 10 national championships at UCLA, and was inducted in to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1972 - the year the Bruins won the sixth of their record seven consecutive NCAA titles, and were in the midst of their record 88-game winning streak. Wooden coached UCLA from 1948-75, guiding the careers of Willie Naulls, Walt Hazzard, Gail Goodrich, Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Sidney Wicks, Henry Bibby, Swen Nater, Bill Walton and Jamaal Wilkes, among hundreds of others. Here are some of the words Wooden lived by, from his Pyramid of Success: "Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day." "Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all." "The star of the team is the team. 'We' supercedes 'me." "Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable." John Wooden left this earth Friday at the age of 99. His record of achievements will live forever. Here's more of Dick Weiss' column...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Anna Kournikova (29), Prince (52), Liam Neeson (58), Jenny Jones (64), Tom Jones (70) and boxing expert extraordinaire Bert Sugar (74)...
Timeline Countdown: 13 days until Father's Day, 14 days until summer and 27 days until July 4th...
