Twenty-three years ago this month, while still in my 20s, I left
A&M Records in the wake of the label’s sale to
PolyGram, and decided that
HITS would be a suitable place to spend my “gap year” between record company gigs. I was told that my new job responsibilities included working the new
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme to Pop radio (Me: “You can’t possibly be considering adding this record, right?” Radio PD: “I just called the add in to
Daniel Glass. What kind of promotion person are you?”) Needless to say, my career in Pop promotion lasted less than a week. I was also tasked with creating a
nom de plume for the column I was inheriting from
Jon Leshay (I chose to not continue as
Ben Dover), and although
Ivana B. Sedated more accurately reflected my state of mind (and my love of
The Ramones), I opted to adopt the name
Ivana B. Adored as an homage to
The Stone Roses song “I Wanna Be Adored,” which was then a Top 20 song at Modern Rock. Fast-forward to more than two decades later and The Stone Roses are headlining
Coachella for the next two Friday nights, and I’m STILL here (thankfully)…. I’ve attended as many Coachella festivals as there have been. Years ago I predicted the “Coachella-ization” of Modern Rock radio because I saw the format becoming weary of the nonstop barrage of faceless mainstream rock bands. One of my favorite things about this year’s lineup is the inclusion of artists from “my era,” whose music laid the groundwork for the radio format that I’ve served and has served me well for 33 years. In the ’80s I worked with/or played on my college station current Coachella performers
OMD,
New Order (I worked “Shellshock” from the
Pretty in Pink soundtrack),
Violent Femmes,
The Three O’Clock,
Dinosaur Jr.,
Blur,
Dead Can Dance,
The Descendents,
The Selecter,
Johnny Marr (interviewed him for my college station during the first
Smiths record) and, of course,
Nick Cave (one of the best live performers I’ve ever seen, from
The Birthday Party until present day). These artists’ influence on the other bands playing Coachella is immeasurable. In the ’80s, Modern Rock hits from bands like OMD and New Order crossed to Pop, rather than the usual route of Modern Rock to AOR and then
possibly to Pop. It’s very similar to the current path at radio forged by
Foster the People,
Fun.,
The Lumineers, etc. Since this is the “sound” that’s working right now, perhaps the inclusion of some of the ’80s songs that built the format (
Talking Heads and New Order,
not Modern English and
a-ha) should be revisited… There are so many bands I have been dying to see on this year’s lineup, especially
Tame Impala, whose “Elephant” had another big sales boost on
iTunes, courtesy of the
Blackberry Z10 spot, played incessantly during the
NCAA Tournament. The song is moments away from charting at #40, and there are already 10 major market stations on board. The band’s CD
Lonerism will have scanned 100k on
Modular by next week. Can that be said about any other record you’re considering? I don’t think so. The “heavy lifting” of making a band known in your market has already been accomplished! You’ll look like a genius for (finally) playing something people like! What better
MScore is there, really, than a sales base? Unlike other songs with a huge sales base, “Elephant” isn’t polarizing AND it completely makes sense for your targeted MALE 25-34 demo. With all due respect (which means none), what are you thinking by ONLY playing female-appeal Pop songs? Can you name one lead singer in your Top 10? The pendulum has swung too far to the left for some of you, and although your ratings look good now, THIS IS A HOUSE OF CARDS. Not immediately adding the new
Queens of the Stoneage is unfathomable to me. There couldn’t be a more “automatic” add in the format, except for maybe the
Foo Fighters,
Muse and
Thirty Seconds to Mars, which some of you aren’t playing either! The Pop station in your market is going to use you for their benefit by cherry-picking your biggest hits, leaving you with zero exclusivity and a playlist filled with a bunch of faceless Pop songs that evoke even less passion than the mainstream Rock that cluttered your playlist not too long ago. Do not forsake the swagger, dear friends… I still adore you:
[email protected].