The weird thing about junk drawers is that even when you try to clean them out, you end up putting stuff back in them. It’s a self-perpetuating process, which explains why we all have a junk drawer. Some of us have more than one.
And for today’s post, I’ve got some great stories from the intersection of music and media. Today’s edition involves the newest dustup from the Beatles and the Stones to the hottest trends in robotics.
Item #1: Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
Let’s start out with a great curio from David Jones a.k.a. Major Tom a.k.a. the Thin White Duke a.k.a. Ziggy Stardust a.k.a. Starman a.k.a. Aladdin Sane a.k.a. the Picasso of Pop a.k.a. the Master of Reinvention a.k.a. the Chameleon of Rock.
In other words, someone who’s no stranger to changes.
David Bowie
January 8th of next year would have been Bowie’s 75th birthday, a great excuse to celebrate in both New York and London.
Starting this coming Thursday, two pop-up “experiences” will debut, a year-long celebration of the amazing, mercurial career of Bowie.
The family is branding the festivities Bowie 75, and it looks to resemble other immersive displays (Van Gogh) that have become destination events. For a colorful artist like Bowie who experienced many phases during his career, the costumes, the hair, the clothes, and of course, the music lend themselves to a multimedia extravaganza.
Honoring dead rock stars will become a big business over the next several years. In the “old days,” it was pretty much merch and cover bands. Now, it’s hologram concerts, immersive experiences, and selling catalogs of hit songs to mega-music companies.
Some artists may end up generating more revenue posthumously than they did while they were roaming the earth and its concert halls.
Here’s a brief (< :60) teaser video for Bowie 75:
Item #2: Musical selfies
Now that your mother can take a selfie as good as anything you can photograph, it’s time to raise your game.
Thanks to Artiphon and their wild Orba gadget, you can become a music videographer for the modest investment of $99.
Think of them as musical selfies, a way to animate still pictures and make them more memorable – and shareable.
Yahoo! news’ associate editor, Steve Dent, breaks it all down. Thanks to the Orbacam app (only available for Apple products at the moment), you can now “soundtrack your life,” adding your favorite songs and signature tunes to your selfies.
Rather than hauling out the prize wheel to concerts and events, the Orba might be the perfect gadget to engage the audience, create musical selfies on the spot, and hope your fans share them like mad. Adding your logo to the production ensures you get those all-important branding points.
Here’s the quick demo (< :40):
It’s another cool mashup of music and tech, creating unique experiences for your fans. More info here.
Item #3: The Beatles vs. the Stones
In the history of epic battles – King Kong vs. Godzilla, the Force vs. the Dark Side, Noel vs. Liam Gallagher, perhaps the most long running and profitable has pitted the two biggest British Invasion bands against each other:
The Beatles and the Stones
This one’s been festering for more than half a century in a series of light shoves, dust-ups, feuds, and debates – all of which have sold millions of albums, concert tickets, and merch. And in the process, it has left many of the other bands of the period – the Who, the Kinks, Cream, the Animals, and even (gasp) Led Zeppelin in their dust.
It reared its financially lucrative head again a couple weeks back when Sir Paul referred to the Stones as “a blues cover band,” noting the Beatles were more musically diverse by pointing out “our net was cast a bit wider than theirs.”
That led to Mick Jagger’s tongue-in-cheek (?) retort that perhaps Paul (who attended the Stones’ L.A. show) might be “joining us for a blues cover.”
As a teen, I remember the opening salvos of this battle well. The Beatles haircuts were shocking to 1960s parents, but they were cleancut, sporting their matching suits, ties, and signature Beatle boots.
I recall hearing the Stones were called “the Rolling Uglies.” They had their sneers down pat, they dressed differently (that was a thing back then), and their stagecraft was a combination of edgy and alienated. I can’t forget a headline from that era, aimed at nervous, uptight parents:
“Would you let your daughter date a Rolling Stone?”
It was a topic back then – in school lunchrooms, at dinner tables, and in the press, who couldn’t get enough of it.
A brilliant blow-by-blow battle was published earlier this week in Variety by Chris Willman. It’s a great read, cataloguing every slight, dis, insult, and throwing of shade.
The major players in this PR war have been Keith Richards and John Lennon. While Mick and Paul have had their moments, they roles are far more secondary. As Willman writes, there was a long running back-and-forth about Sgt. Pepper’s (Keith called it “a mishmash of rubbish.” On the other hand, many felt the Stones’ Satanic Majesties was a lame copy, leading Lennon to lash out:
“Every *___ing thing we did, Mick does exactly the same. He imitates us.”
Of course, Willman also points out the many compliments and connections the bands had with one another.
And here we are, five decades later, and we’re still talking about “the feud.”
So, who’s your favorite – the Beatles or the Stones?
Item #4: Say hello to Astro!
Amazon has married Alexa to robotics, announcing a voice controlled robot for the home named Astro (yes, the Jetsons’ dog).
Wired calls Astro “your digital dog on wheels,” where you can use Alexa to boss it around – check on people or pets while you’re out, controlling your climate, and other functions. Its release sparked the expected privacy debate.
Amazon was quick to point out Astro can be programmed to avoid “out of bounds” zones, and there’s a “do not disturb” function for those times you might not want a robot to observe all your activities.
The Astro team is led by Dave Limp who predicted that “in five to 10 years we believe every home will have at least one robot that will become a core part of your everyday life.”
You had to ask: Astro retails for $999 and there will be some shipments later this year.
This 3-minute promotional video from Amazon gives you a good idea of how the company is marketing what some call “an iPad on wheels.”
If you attended our CES virtual tour last year, you may be having a déjà vu moment. That’s because we interviewed the inventor of Buddy – yes, marketed as “a family robot.”
Paul and I met Buddy in 2016 at CES. Since then, the little guy has done a few pivots. At our virtual CES tour back in January, I interviewed Rodolphe Hasselvander, inventor of Buddy and CEO of Blue Frog Robotics, a French startup.
They’ve been working on Buddy for a long time, and you just have to wonder what they think of Amazon’s Astro who resembles their robotic baby in many ways.
Ruh-roh.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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That was great, Bowie 75 is going to be huge, and well deserved. Beatles vs. Stones, which one is on the turntable? I think you’re going to sell a few Astro’s here, me for one.
Thanks for rummaging around the junk drawer, Billy.
The Beatles and Stones were/are awesome in different ways. The Beatles were more cerebral and George Martin’s production is awe inspiring to this day, but it’s Brown Sugar or Start Me Up you’ll be dancing to at a club or party, not Here, There and Everywhere.
They should have named the robot Rosie.
Agree on all counts, Bob. I have bought some new tech gadgets early on, but Astro will not be one of them.
The Beatles or the who??
Ha ha.
Isn’t this more than a little like asking who’s your favorite/best child?
I know, I know. It is for me, too, John.