I also appreciate him telling us about KEXP. And nice to see a band with a great name.
shucks
... but while you're handing out some hosanna's, i've been hinting about telling a couple of stories from the past, so ... how about i fill everyone in on
the other side of the story. i'll understand if it's tl;dr.
story 1: most, many, all? of posters of this thread seem to be fans of loreena mckennitt. a true talent ... with just friends, family & a few trusted associates, she did everything herself in the early days ... no riaa hacks or contracts, no big $ corp boosters ... nada ... she didn't trust them (look at what they did to
the animals) -- she had to start her own label (quinlan road) to get her music out. hell, she wasn't even on the radio. in those days, i couldn't even find her inaugeral cd,
elemental, anywhere except at sam the record man in downtown t.o. - i think she hand delivered those herself. at vegas c.e.s. everyone was playing (apart from the usual hi-q demo tracks) pink floyd, fleetwood mac, eagles, ... & the latest breakout, enya. but at the toronto show (or was it montreal? chicago? i forget) i was the very first exhibitor to put loreena on constant rotation -- no one, & i mean absolutely no one else was playing her. we had reviewers from stereophile, absolute sound & the other mags enquiring about the artist & cd. by the end of the show, i had given out the details of her cd/label to other distributors & manufacturers in usa, europe, japan, se asia. by the time the next c.e.s. rolled around, everyone had her cd on rotation. while i can't say that an immense talent like loreena wouldn't have succeeded w/o the assistance of hi-end audio, i think it really helped her out a great deal in those early years.
story 2: anyone who's long in the tooth in these forums or audigon will be familiar with this. let's roll back the clock some 25+yr or so to winter c.e.s. at vegas. hi-end audio at the sahara. on the one side, we had the likes of krell, rowland, audio research, wilson audio, ... ; on the other, aunt peg, seka, marilyn chambers, jamie gillis ...
seriously, high-end audio and porn in the same venue.
it's the debut show for
mas - metaxas audio systems from melbourne, oz. kostas metaxas is in fine form - he's cornered two of the largest rooms to display his amps, preamps and large electrostatic spkrs & i'm there with my biz partner to assist bill, the canadian distributor. but kostas has a last minute update with an amp and needs a toolkit. <now, what follows has been described by others in head-fi who either viewed proceedings from a distance or heard it from others - but i'm telling you exactly how it happened ...
to me>. i'm on my way out the door to grab a toolkit from another exhibitor way, way down the hall but before i can get away, a short, swarthy-looking, burly guy asks if
we can use the washroom. i, initially say 'no' because i know that kostas, like all other exhibitors, uses the washroom for storage space for spare product inventory & the like. but for some reason, i hesitate and say that i'll check with kostas. he gives his assent & before i can say boo, the guy's in the washroom with his companion. but i can't be bothered to interfere because kostas needs to urgently update one of the display amps. 15 min later, i'm back & i see a couple of guys requesting to use the washroom too -- one says to me that '
he's been in there for 10-15 min' now. now a small crowd has gathered around; i pound away on the door for a bit, another guy also joins in on the door-pounding & finally, a couple emerge & say 'thanks' before scooting away. someone in the crowd says '
hey, that's ron jeremy' --- well, now you know how i did my share in helping audio get its
prØn, in one of the most (in)famous stories of hi-end audio.