I listen to the radio and I like all kinds of music, you know, but I like to hear from people who have been there. Hank Williams has been there.
Leonard CohenRead
I'm really glad we came up when we did. When we got started, the record companies were concerned with building careers. They made sure you could put on a live show before you put a record out. And if your first album sold 100,000 to 200,000 copies, they were happy, because they figured you had your foot in the door on a way to a long career.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the importance of live performances and gradual career building in the music industry.
Philip Bailey expresses gratitude for the era in which he began his music career, highlighting how record companies then prioritized the development of artists' live performance skills and the potential for long-term success. He emphasizes that record labels were more patient and allowed artists to gradually build their careers rather than immediately expecting massive success, which created a more sustainable path for musicians.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech at a music industry conference to highlight the importance of nurturing talent.
I listen to the radio and I like all kinds of music, you know, but I like to hear from people who have been there. Hank Williams has been there.
God gives us the ability, but rock 'n' roll was created by men.
If you wanna make money in music, you're better off being on the business end of it a lot of the time. And also as a musician, if you do make money, it means you had to bite and scratch and kick the whole way to not get ripped off, because at every corner, there's somebody there waiting to trip you up and take a bigger chunk.
Hip-hop kind of absorbed rock in terms of the attitude and the whole point of why rock was important music. Young people felt like rock music was theirs, from Elvis to the Beatles to the Ramones to Nirvana. This was theirs; it wasn't their parents'. I think hip-hop became the musical style that embraces that mentality.
It was very interesting in my world, because I grew up as a fan and I did not know that there was a thing called R&B, pop, country, classical - I just knew that I loved music.
The cool thing is that jazz is really a wonderful example of the great characteristics of Buddhism and great characteristics of the human spirit. Because in jazz we share, we listen to each other, we respect each other, we are creating in the moment. At our best, we're non-judgmental.
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