palewire

There are some interesting j-posts floating around trying to puzzle out how and why big media companies missed the boat online.

One piece of history that I’m interested in, but never see come up in these sorts of attempts to wring meaning out of the past, is the derregulation of major media rammed through Congress in 1996.

The lifting of ownership bans kickstarted a wave of consolidation across print and electronic media that gave us the doddering dinosaurs we all slag on today. Tribune Company, Clear Channel, McClatchey, et cetera simply could not exist in their present form if that bill hadn’t passed. And my boss Sam Zell, telling the story of how he and Randy Michaels bonded at Jacor, said as much when he addressed our staff earlier in the year.

My suspicion is that the perceived economic incentives offered by consolidation and cost-cutting opened up by the 1996 dereg might have been too tempting in the short term for media executives to ignore. And why should they invest time and resources online chasing speculative new revenues, when they could clearly see immediate “efficiencies,” “synergies,” and other opportunities to increase profits through consolidation? Plus they got the rush of chasing business’ biggest prize: The Deal. (Eric Klinenberg’s book has some great reporting on how driven a lot of media execs were in that direction.)

So that’s my long way of saying I’m interested in what degree the failure of the MSM to invest online was a victim of that opportunity cost. And I’d love to ask an executive who worked during the era as much.

At the risk of sounding prudish, let me ask if I’m the first person to notice that the New York Times Web site is now running advertisements for erotica. So, I’m reading the big Rush Limbaugh profile at Pitfire Pizza and what do I see…

If you click through to Eden’s site you find listings for such enticing titles as Anal Massage For Lovers and Blow Him Away. Is this a new thing, or just something I’m picking up for the first time?

As it turns out, I am not too hot for the Los Angeles Times (see previous post). Or at least not anymore. The following company wide email from Sam Zell, our new owner, arrived this morning.

Everyone, 

I learned on the first leg of our tour of Tribune’s business units that some of them were filtering Internet content. I do not see how a member of the Fourth Estate, dedicated to protecting the First Amendment, can censor what its own employees and partners can see.

I have instructed that all content filters be removed. You are now exposed to the dangers of You Tube and Facebook.Please use your best judgment.

Let’s focus on what is important, and go for greatness.

Sam 

So I’m looking for a new car out here in LA. To give you an idea of what I’m going through, consider the following Cars.com ad.

Yes, that’s right. The asking price for a 1992 five-speed hatchback Honda Civic with 278,942 miles is $5,800.

In case you missed it, Tower Records is going out of business. Not that you’d know it from looking at their Web site, but the company filed for bankruptcy in August. For the past couple months its assets have been busy being liquidated by Great American Group, which seems like an awfully lofty name for an organization that functions as the corporate equivalent of a chop shop.

This provides a nice opportunity for music geeks everyone to wring their hands about the death of the record store. But not me. I’ll save my eulogies for the shops – like Reckless Records in Chicago or CD Warehouse here in DC – that I actually care about.

Tower does deserve credit for whatever effort it made to leaven the deadening uniformity of most major record stores with a local releases and a deep selection, but, sorry, none of that ever did much for me. Years of digging through the racks in search my latest favorite, only to find it with a $17.99 sticker slapped on the back (or worse, and I’m not kidding, $33.99 for an import) calloused me. Ben’s heart was hardened. The market has spoken. Tower must go.

But not before I loot through the remains in search of bargains. Sweet, sweet bargains.

So, here, dear reader, are samples from some of the stuff I picked up earlier today. If you like what you hear, you should roll down to your nearest Tower and see if you can find your own copy. Or maybe just buy it on the Internet. It is the future, you know.

———

T/Ski Valley - “Catch The Beat”
Selected from Big Apple Rappin’: The Early Days of Hip-Hop Culture in New York City 1979-1982
(Soul Jazz Records | SJR CD125 | 2006 )

One of my happier finds was this new compilation from London’s Soul Jazz Records. They’ve done such a great job re-releasing Jamaican artists and digging through soul and jazz archives that it’s exciting to see them getting in on the hip-hop game.

It’s pretty simple. Two discs full of old school rap singles. What’s not to love? My favorite is Brother D’s staunch black separatism set to Cheryl Lynn’s disco romp “Got To Be Real,” but, since I’ve already pushed that one on virtually everyone I know for sometime now, we’ll settle for T/Ski Valley’s bumping single, “Catch The Beat.”

While hip hop’s increased professionalism and commercialization has pulled up the overall quality of the music, it didn’t come for free. I haven’t heard a rap song in years that has T/Ski’s fresh, spontaneous vibe. A lot of it might sound dated and amateur, but, damn, it must have been fun.

If all you’ve ever heard from the period is Sugarhill Gang and “The Message,” you’re missing out. Here’s a good place to start.

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The Diplomats – “Crunk Muzik”
Selected from Diplomatic Immunity 2
(Koch Records | 2004)

Here’s the only song not produced by Lil Jon or David Banner that has enough machismo to step in the ring with T.I.’s swaggering “What You Know.” Say whatever you will about the Dips’ solo singles, but this track has got some serious weight on it. “EY! EY! EY!”

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Nouvelle Vague – “I Melt With You”
Selected from Nouvelle Vague
(Peacefrog | 2004)
Nouvelle Vague - “Dancing With Myself”
Selected from Nouvelle Vague II: Bande A Part
(Peacefrog/Luaka Bop/V2 | 2004)

These tracks are drawn from two albums built on one of the most inspired concepts of the past couple years. The idea: Let us have cooing French women sing popular rock songs from the 1980s – most of which they have probably never heard before – over lush, lounge-music arrangements. In short, genius.

And, is it just me, or could the lyrics to that Billy Idol song pass for Cole Porter? I’m for real. Tell me this wouldn’t fit right in.

So let’s sink another drink
‘Cause it’ll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
And I’ll be dancing with myself

———

The Misfits – “Skulls”
Selected from Walk Among Us
(Ruby/Slash/Rhino | 1982)

 

“I want your skull! I need your skull!” Yeah! Punk rock!

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New Order – “Ruined In A Day” [K-Klass Remix]
Selected from The Hacienda Classics
(Virgin/EMI | 2006)

Here’s a mellow, clubbed-out remix of a vintage New Order cut. It’s off a brand new triple-disc mix of “Madchester”-era British dance music pulled together by Phil Beckett and New Order’s bassist Peter Hook. Few scenes have milked their moment as long or as hard as these lads. (The first two pages of a search for New Order on Amazon.com display six different best of compilations.) But when the music is this soothing it’s hard to complain too loudly.