What we're listening to. Sam Cooke 'Live at The Harlem Square'.

'Live at the Harlem Square' (Harlem Square is actually in Miami btw) is also known as 'One Night Stand', Sam Cooke's second live album.

Recorded in January 1963 although only released in 1985, because the record label thought it might be damaging to his 'pop' image. He was known as the 'King of Soul' with Aretha, 'The Queen'.

It is generally regarded as one of the best live albums ever released.

And it comes with a great story...read on, dear reader, read on....

The Album, from the spoken intro onwards, creates a great sense of a 'speakeasy' club. Intimate. 

'Chain Gang' you'll know and 'Cupid', 'Twisting the night away', 'Having a Party' but 'Bringing it all back home' is the cracking track. Notable too from the Van Morrison tribute ("Sam Cooke is playing on the radio" from 'Real Real Gone') and with Van's reference to "You send me" directly taken from 'Bringing it all back home'. A tribute indeed.

It's real soul.

Very worthy of the listen to understand the roots and the transition from Gospel to Soul. 

What we didn't know at all, was the manner of Sam Cooke's death at 33.

He was shot and killed, clad only in a Sport Jacket and shoes (no pants) by Bertha Franklin in The Hacienda Motel in LA, she was the Manager and it was ruled a 'justifiable homicide'. 

What happened was, she said, that Cooke broke into her office and attacked her. He was in a rage looking for a lady who had accompanied him to the Hotel earlier, whom she explained, wasn't there. 

In Cooke's rage and not believing her, he grabbed her so she shot him in the heart fatally.

At the time Bertha was on the phone to the Motel's owner (Evelyn Carr), who claimed to have heard the whole thing. 

The woman whom Cooke was looking for, was identified later (Elisa Boyer) because actually, she was also on the phone at a booth beside the Motel at the time to the police, saying she'd just escaped being kidnapped. 

She said, she had been with Cooke earlier that night socialising and when Cooke promised to take her home, he took her to the Motel against her will. When he took her to the room, he attempted to rape her (hence no pants) and then she escaped after a struggle.

Another view, because the family disputed all of this, was that she had gone willingly and was trying to rob Cooke (she took Cooke's clothes with her). 

Tests showed that Cooke was drunk.

That was December 1964, 10 months after the record was released. A tragic end to a great Soul singer. Have a listen.....

Previous "listen to's" you'll also find on this blog.......The Doors LA Woman; Thin Lizzy Live & Dangerous; Kendrick Lamarr Butterfly; Aretha Franklin Amazing Grace; Clapton 461; Massive Attack Blue Lines; The Clash London Calling; Chris Isaak At The Filmore; Bob Dylan Street Legal;Bad Company Straight Shooter; Jackson Browne Love is Strange; Lou Reed Transformer; Steely Dan AJA; Stones Black+Blue; Stephen Bishop Careless; Nils Lofgren Night after Night; Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells; Neil Young Harvest; Led Zep 4; David Bowie David Live; Van It's too late to stop now; Wings Band on the run; Rod Stewart Atlantic Crossing; Ryan Adams Heartbreaker; Santana Essential; Bob Dylan Desire; Roxy Music For your pleasure; Bob Marley Legend; Stephen Fretwell Magpie; James Taylor Sweet Baby James; Deep Purple Machine Head; Springsteen Darkness on the edge of town; Leon Bridges Coming Home; Eagles Hotel California; Jungle; Aretha Soul Queen; Neil Young After the Goldrush + Harvest; Zappa Overnite Sensation; Fleetwood Mac Rumours; Keith Jarrett Koln Concert; Doobies Southbound; Stevie Earle I feel Alright; Tom Waits Closing Time; Pink Floyd Dark Side; Van Moondance; Eric Church Caught in the Act; Randy Newman Little Criminals; Elton John Madman across the water; Patti Smith Horses; Doobies Captain and Me; Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill.

Amazon. The New Fruit and Veg People.

Amazon, in a deal with UK retailer Morrisons, is going to sell fresh produce.

Under their 'Amazon Pantry' brand launched last year, subscribers (to Amazon Pantry and Prime) will be able to get fresh fruit/veg and some frozen products within, 60 minutes delivery.

It's a huge sector (probably £10 Billion pa) but instant/quick delivery of fresh produce is a real opportunity and, it may generate more volume in itself. Added to that, it's something else for Amazon to sell.

Hmmmm.

Ocado's shares are tumbling as a result now (-9%) because of the damage that this deal might do. Albeit Ocado has more than £1 billion in revenues but it too 'had' or has a deal with Morrisons as what they claimed was "exclusive" with "the contract preventing them from launching another service". Indeed.

Vice Media launches Viceland TV.

Vice Media has launched its cable TV channel 'Viceland' but it's also more 'multi device'. So it's viewable across multi platforms rather than just through Cable TV.

It will carry about 9 minutes of Ads in an hour and already has advertiser support from Clients like Toyota, Diageo, Unilever, Bank of America who are more into targeting that younger demographic.

Their main focus though is 'native ads' so yet again, we see the demise of the traditional 30 second commercial in favour of online video. Good. 

Traditional TV Ads are working less online than properly generated interesting content.

But Vice are hoping to move away from an output that features a barrage of Ads and makes the advertiser branding more engaging - more part of the programming. Bank of America for example, are looking at content that revolves around 'financial literacy' so useful stuff rather than 'Ads'.

Valued at over 4.5 Billion usd, it's a big foray for Vice Media. Success though, favours the brave.

88th Oscars. Chris Rock deals with it in Black and White.

All the Oscars black/white controversy, here's the way to deal with it.
Chris Rock's opening speech.

(He's the black guy in the white suit). 

In the olden days he says, "We were too busy being raped and lynched, to care about who won best cinematographer"....

Sorry though, they've taken down the YouTube Video because of rights issues so you can see it here on The Guardian - just cut and paste. But sorry.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/29/chris-rock-at-the-oscars-youre-damn-right-hollywoods-racist

What we're listening to. The Doors 'LA Woman'

This was the last Doors Album (1971 their 6th) before Jim Morrison died at 27 (and buried in Paris which has become a 'shrine') only 3 months later, on July 23. A seemingly heroin overdose coupled with an alcohol dependency.

He had been convicted ridiculously of 'indecent exposure' in 1970, meaning The Doors had radio plays banned for that year, so this was the long awaited return record.

What you probably didn't know is the classic track 'LA Woman' itself (up there with 'Sweet Home Alabama', 'Don't Fear the Reaper', 'Stairway to Heaven' etc. as an all-time great) features the signature 'Mr Mojo Rising' refrain which everyone remembers.

'Mr. Mojo Rising' is actually an anagram of singer 'Jim Morrison' and that's where it comes from. 

'City of night' gets a mention too, that comes from a John Rechy book.

This is a Classic. 

'LA Woman' (recorded in LA in fact, written by Morrison) is just a stunner played loud - but so too, 'Love her Madly' and 'Riders on the Storm'. 

If you were buying an Album for just one track even, this is it. 

You can hear the superb tight band on 'LA Woman' notable for Ray Manzarek's 'tack' piano playing (who died in 2013) and John Densmore's soft drum touches on the cymbals. Robbie Krieger brilliance in adding the scorching lead guitar. 

Recorded totally live and actually 'made up' as they went along, so you won't hear a Band playing as tight, as together. 

It's blues, it's rock but it's uplifting and everyone should have LA Woman. The Streamabout crew albeit younger, were blown away. So will you....turn it up.

And the full Album..

Previous "listen to's" you'll also find on this blog.......Thin Lizzy Live & Dangerous; Kendrick Lamarr Butterfly; Aretha Franklin Amazing Grace; Clapton 461; Massive Attack Blue Lines; The Clash London Calling; Chris Isaak At The Filmore; Bob Dylan Street Legal;Bad Company Straight Shooter; Jackson Browne Love is Strange; Lou Reed Transformer; Steely Dan AJA; Stones Black+Blue; Stephen Bishop Careless; Nils Lofgren Night after Night; Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells; Neil Young Harvest; Led Zep 4; David Bowie David Live; Van It's too late to stop now; Wings Band on the run; Rod Stewart Atlantic Crossing; Ryan Adams Heartbreaker; Santana Essential; Bob Dylan Desire; Roxy Music For your pleasure; Bob Marley Legend; Stephen Fretwell Magpie; James Taylor Sweet Baby James; Deep Purple Machine Head; Springsteen Darkness on the edge of town; Leon Bridges Coming Home; Eagles Hotel California; Jungle; Aretha Soul Queen; Neil Young After the Goldrush + Harvest; Zappa Overnite Sensation; Fleetwood Mac Rumours; Keith Jarrett Koln Concert; Doobies Southbound; Stevie Earle I feel alright; Tom Waits Closing Time; Pink Floyd Dark Side; Van Moondance; Eric Church Caught in the Act; Randy Newman Little Criminals; Elton John Madman across the water; Patti Smith Horses; Doobies Captain and Me; Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill.

Robot Video goes viral. Scarily viral.

Robots.

They might be the future (we've worked with a few!).

Boston Dynamics, bought by Google, have produced a video showing their development and it's a bit freaky. In a good way.

Called 'Atlas' it's electrically powered with sensors (obviously) and nearly 6 feet tall.

Of course, the real application here is military so we're really getting into Star Wars. 

Over a million views in 2 days....well worth the watch.

Fitbit shares fall but the future looks bright.

Bit of a drop in Fitbit shares (-14%) on foot of a general fall of -45% over the last 12 months.

Surprising because they're really built an extraordinary brand out of nothing. The problem is that their earnings (as a PLC) were coupled with lower than expectations for the future and we've heard that before - but pretty stunning.

They sold a staggering 8.2 million devices in Q4 2015. It seems to be the ideal Christmas gift. 21 million devices sold last year with 1.9 Billion usd in Revenue. In anyone's language that's pretty fit.

It expects Q1 revenues to be 420-440 million usd, below the 484 million expected. Although the notable launch mid March of their new 'Alta' and 'Blaze' brands (excellent as they seem to be) will in our view, be well received but they've had to suffer the costs of development before going to market.

In our view, 'Alta' is a killer product in the wearable market. It actually cracks the problem of bringing fitness products into everyday lifestyles.

So do not despair.

Yahoo! It's for sale.

Reports are coming in that Yahoo! is actively starting to try and sell its core business. These substantiate the rumours we've been hearing for a long time and on Friday last, it's become almost 'official'.

Likely interest will come from Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, and buyout firms following pressure from investors (Goldmans, Morgans etc).

The entire company is valued at circa 28 Billion usd but that includes its now infamous stake in Alibaba of circa 26 Billion usd. 

So we're not sure what is and what's not included (likely Alibaba stake is not included) but we're sure that there's a sale going on.

Shares are falling on foot of it all (-10%) on top of -34% last year. Which means there's more uncertainty. 

That being the case, the answer here is to get it done and get it done, fast.

What we're listening to. Thin Lizzy 'Live and Dangerous'

Ah, Thin Lizzy, an Irish band that sorta' kinda' made it worldwide and this is THE Lizzy Album to get, 'Live and Dangerous'. 

Released in 1978 (recorded in 76 in London and Toronto) it's one cracking live Album.

What I bet you don't know.....is that 'Bluey Huey' listed as the harmonica player on the Album notes, is none other than Huey Lewis and you'll hear him on 'Baby drives me crazy'. 

We know Huey was a huge friend of lead singer, Phil Lynott and for a fact we can tell you that he has visited Philo's grave in Dublin many times since, at St. Fintan's Cemetery Sutton (where in fact as I write, my Mum and Dad are buried too). 

Lewis met when Lynott supported the Lewis band then called 'Clover'. 

Lynott died in 86 in Kew, although lived at his Howth home which we know (just over the bridge beside the beach, so there) largely from Heroin. He had two girls - Cathleen and Sarah - but 'Sarah' has to be one of the great all-time tracks for his daughter.

What you also didn't know....was that although considered Irish, Lynott was born in England albeit, schooled in Crumlin, Dublin. And that he was such a fan of Manchester United (and a friend of George Best), he became a shareholder.

There's a fairly famous landmark bronze statute too for Philo on Dublin's Grafton Street.

All the good Lizzy songs are here - 'Southbound', 'Jailbreak', 'Dancing in the Moonlight', 'The Boys are Back in Town', 'Suicide' but the real stand out track is the intro ("This is a number recorded by Bob Seeger") and into 'Rosalie'. 

This is blues and rock at its best and you mightn't know the record although it sold well. 

Worth a really good listen but listen to 'Rosalie' and then you'll know! ("Hey you're clapping your hands for me!").

And just for our Sarah in Streamabout, the terrific 'Sarah'.

Previous "listen to's" you'll also find on this blog.......Aretha Franklin Amazing Grace; Clapton 461; Massive Attack Blue Lines; The Clash London Calling; Chris Isaak At The Filmore; Bob Dylan Street Legal;Bad Company Straight Shooter; Jackson Browne Love is Strange; Lou Reed Transformer; Steely Dan AJA; Stones Black+Blue; Stephen Bishop Careless; Nils Lofgren Night after Night; Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells; Neil Young Harvest; Led Zep 4; David Bowie David Live; Van It's too late to stop now; Wings Band on the run; Rod Stewart Atlantic Crossing; Ryan Adams Heartbreaker; Santana Essential; Bob Dylan Desire; Roxy Music For your pleasure; Bob Marley Legend; Stephen Fretwell Magpie; James Taylor Sweet Baby James; Deep Purple Machine Head; Springsteen Darkness on the edge of town; Leon Bridges Coming Home; Eagles Hotel California; Jungle; Aretha Soul Queen; Neil Young After the Goldrush + Harvest; Zappa Overnite Sensation; Fleetwood Mac Rumours; Keith Jarrett Koln Concert; Doobies Southbound; Stevie Earle I feel alright; Tom Waits Closing Time; Pink Floyd Dark Side; Van Moondance; Eric Church Caught in the Act; Randy Newman Little Criminals; Elton John Madman across the water; Patti Smith Horses; Doobies Captain and Me; Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill.

Twitter drives online Video with 24 hour Video guarantee. Firstview.

Twitter, like everyone else these days, is driving online Video.

So much so, they've introduced a new format - 'Firstview' - giving advertisers 24 hour access to timelines with video. What it means is, that when a user goes onto Twitter in a 24 hour period, they'll see a sponsored video at the top of their feed.

It's the top spot, just one below an organic tweet, so it will be seen.

Only available in the US just now, but it's coming.

Video is driving Twitter.
Streamabout are driving Video.

We make them, we place them. 
And Twitter wants them. 

100 million hours of video watched on Facebook every day. And most still get it wrong.....

Facebook are reporting that people are watching 100 million hours of video on Facebook every day. Yes, 100 million hours - nearly too big to contemplate. 

(Need help? Ask Streamabout).

A lot of it is on mobile and plays automatically (autoplay) silently to start in their news feeds. So a TV Commercial edit, just won't work and will be skipped - it needs to be relevant, engaging video that people want to click. Or that makes them want to.

So Facebook are trying to get advertisers to think like that (and not to just use their TV Commercials). One way is the use of captions early in the video which Facebook say (rightly in our view) increases engagement alone by +12%.

55% of people who watch the first 3 seconds, who will watch then watch the next 10 seconds and 45% will go to the end. So that opening sequence is really key.

Of course too, advertisers can opt to pay for viewers only when 100% of the video is viewed (passes through the newsfeed) if they wish. But the 'sound on/off' argument needs addressing by advertisers and it needs a mindset change for online video especially on mobile.

It's not traditional TV broadcasting and advertisers need to understand that and more and more therefore, your Ad Agency is not best placed to advise you on video. 

It's a different medium, it's a growing medium and less costly than TV. But more importantly, it can be greatly more effective. After all, when did you last share a TV Commercial?

The Television world has changed. Media meltdown from the markets.

Investors this week are re-assessing the value of TV.

The TV business is in trouble on two fronts - Firstly from disruptive technology that's ad-free (Netflix) and therefore, declining audiences (bringing less Advertising) and now, from the markets. A perfect storm.

Shares in Viacom, Time Warner, CBS, Fox were all hit last week, greater than the general market declines. Viacom for example, was -25% down, having reported declines in revenue, profit and income.

Disney, who are very diversified with blockbuster movies, even took a hit because of their dependence on TV. Time Warner took a hit because of its loss of subscribers/viewers. Yet, Netflix audiences surge to nearly 50 million in the US.

The problem with traditional TV continues, as viewers have now more (and better) options. 

Whether that's online broadcasting (Netflix, Amazon) or Apps (snapchat, vine) or spending time on Social Media (Twitter, Facebook) or Second screen viewing whilst watching TV - they're simply watching less. That means in turn, less advertising (because advertising money follows audience) and less subscribers (I use it less so why should I pay for it).

Audience ratings of prime shows (which you'll see peppered in this blog) are in steep decline with Nielsen reporting that 25 of the top 35 channels attracted lower audiences in 2015. Shows are in decline too. That's despite the TV industry trying to convince us otherwise through spurious data analysis.

According to The FT, "Wall Street has belatedly realised that the television world has changed. It is unlikely that the latest media meltdown will be the last" and indeed, that reporting will also be self-prophecy.

Of course too, TV is being replaced. By online digital video, something which Streamabout knows so well.

Indy print closes. Rome burns. Newspapermen idle.

The UK Independent (Indy) which started in 1986 as a broadsheet, is to close its printed version and move exclusively online which may be, the start of the big digital switch for Newspapers. After all, all the costs for a publisher are in printing the physical edition whereas all the revenue growth is in online advertising. 

The Guardian for example, is losing £52 million a year which is not sustainable. 

The Independent was of course bought by Irish tycoon (and generally nice man), Tony O'Reilly in 1998. Anybody who watches Andrew Marr on a Sunday, might be interested to note that he was an Editor too.

So by saving the printed edition substantial costs, the Indy will still be able to generate good revenues in a profitable way online. It also gives them a real competitive model for Buzzfeed and Huff Post. A lesson here?

Indy printed will cease in March (20th probably) and then start to expand its digital version in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Already with a staff of 17, they expect to be joined by another 40, leaving sadly, some redundancies.

There's a simple fact. 

Newspapers as they stand, will continue to lose cover price (as news is 'free' online) and lose print advertising (down another -10% in 2015). Unless they re-invent themselves (and we can suggest a few ideas here!), the print newspaper will fall. 

However, the print newspaper can be used to switch readers to online which none of them do. It seems an obvious strategy to get their readers to move online and to keep those readers. Once online, they can sell those readers other stuff with "news" as the free "hook" to keep them there. You cannot charge for news anymore so let's forget paywalls.

Like selling readers 'click through' story shopping; recruitment portals; car sales; classified Ads; reports; sms updates...the list is endless. However, newspaper men are wedded to their paper editions and therein lies the problem. The smell of the ink.

They should not be, when the consumer, their readers, want something else (digital).

We would think that The Indy online now has new life and the potential to be an excellent big digital player. How's that for breathing life into a brand.

There's a lesson for newspaper men (and yes they are men) that like it or not, what's on your site is more important than what's on your Presses. Whingeing won't do it but brave moves will - in line with what readers want. 

Just like what The Indy has done.

What we're listening to. Aretha 'Amazing Grace'.

Now we've known about this classic, wonderful Album for a long time but we never knew the story behind it....

'Amazing Grace' is a gospel album released as live in 1972. In fact, it is Aretha's biggest selling Album of all time and the biggest selling gospel Album of all time - no surprise, it's really just that good. Wonderfully. 

But back to the story...

Recorded at a Baptist Church in LA, it was filmed as a documentary by Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, The Way We Were, Tootsie and many more) for Warner Brothers. 

However, he had failed to use a clapperboard before every take and therefore, not syncing the sound to the pictures. Something we know at Streamabout can happen - but it's pretty careless (every wonder why handclaps or clapperboards are used on shoots? That's why).

So the film was out of sync and it was shelved and ended up on the studio floor for 38 years until Pollack's death in 2008.

It was then handed over to Alan Elliot, a Producer, who took another two years to get it back and right which he did. 

He planned to release it in 2011 but....Aretha sued (for using her likeness without her permission). In fact, he noticed that a young Mick Jagger was actually in the Church audience at the time and is on the film.

However, Warner Brothers found the original Contract and felt they were able to show the film in 2015 at various festivals. But Franklin sued again and was granted an emergency injunction to stop it being shown. The film was therefore withdrawn and that's where it sits right now. As yet, unseen and we'd say it's a gem with Aretha's voice and Pollack's eye.

Amazing. Grace. 

This is just one of the most beautiful recordings ever and certainly it's Aretha at her magical best. 

It's a double Album so there's lots of it, supported by a choir and interspersed with a Preacher, almost like you're there. She was 30 when it was recorded and her father actually was a Preacher from Mississippi who founded a Baptist Church. He was known as the "million dollar voice" so it was in the genes and bringing Aretha singing in Church from age 14, this record must've felt like home to her.

Despite general belief, she was not Whitney Houston's Aunt although considered an 'honorary Aunt' and Aretha was very much the voice of Black Civil Rights.

This is one great record. Get it. 

Here's 'Mary don't you weep no more' which some hardnose fans will know from Bad Company 'Straight Shooter'. Unreal.

Previous "listen to's" you'll also find on this blog.......Eric Clapton 461; Massive Attack Blue Lines; The Clash London Calling; Chris Isaak At The Filmore; Bob Dylan Street Legal;Bad Company Straight Shooter; Jackson Browne Love is Strange; Lou Reed Transformer; Steely Dan AJA; Stones Black+Blue; Stephen Bishop Careless; Nils Lofgren Night after Night; Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells; Neil Young Harvest; Led Zep 4; David Bowie David Live; Van It's too late to stop now; Wings Band on the run; Rod Stewart Atlantic Crossing; Ryan Adams Heartbreaker; Santana Essential; Bob Dylan Desire; Roxy Music For your pleasure; Bob Marley Legend; Stephen Fretwell Magpie; James Taylor Sweet Baby James; Deep Purple Machine Head; Springsteen Darkness on the edge of town; Leon Bridges Coming Home; Eagles Hotel California; Jungle; Aretha Soul Queen; Neil Young After the Goldrush + Harvest; Zappa Overnite Sensation; Fleetwood Mac Rumours; Keith Jarrett Koln Concert; Doobies Southbound; Stevie Earle I feel alright; Tom Waits Closing Time; Pink Floyd Dark Side; Van Moondance; Eric Church Caught in the Act; Randy Newman Little Criminals; Elton John Madman across the water; Patti Smith Horses; Doobies Captain and Me; Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill.

What we're listening to. Clapton '461 Ocean Boulevard'.

So you're thinking, why is there two Albums here? Well, there isn't. Really. Sort of.

'461 Ocean Boulevard' is the Album we're listening to but, on the 'Give me strength' Album, you get the full 461 Album and some more recordings from 74/75. 

So you get extra, geddit?

'461' (as those in 'the know' call it) was Clapton's 2nd 1974 Album after his battle with heroin. In fact, it was the address of the house where he recovered and I think we're right in saying it was owned by Robert Stigwood in Miami, who helped him. 

At that time he was well known from Cream and The Dominos, but this marked a solo departure into Blues. 

'Motherless Children' is a cracking track if not, his best ever. 'I can't hold out' and 'Let it grow' are classics as of course, 'I shot the sheriff' which was the single (written by Bob Marley in 1973). 

The Album is a classic and well regarded and in a way, very summery. The Album for open top driving with a Miami sound. It's bright, interesting and varied but with blues at the core. The versions on the 'Give me strength' Album are at least as good, if not better and the extra tracks mean that it makes more sense to get it.

Still, if you want to hear Clapton at his lethal best, search up 'Further on up the Road'. It's a gem and no more so, than with blistering guitars with Robbie Robertson of The Band, in The Last Waltz. 

Crank up the sound full blast, sit back, press play and start to dance. Here it is....

  

Previous "listen to's" you'll also find on this blog.......Massive Attack Blue Lines; The Clash London Calling; Chris Isaak At The Filmore; Bob Dylan Street Legal;Bad Company Straight Shooter; Jackson Browne Love is Strange; Lou Reed Transformer; Steely Dan AJA; Stones Black+Blue; Stephen Bishop Careless; Nils Lofgren Night after Night; Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells; Neil Young Harvest; Led Zep 4; David Bowie David Live; Van It's too late to stop now; Wings Band on the run; Rod Stewart Atlantic Crossing; Ryan Adams Heartbreaker; Santana Essential; Bob Dylan Desire; Roxy Music For your pleasure; Bob Marley Legend; Stephen Fretwell Magpie; James Taylor Sweet Baby James; Deep Purple Machine Head; Springsteen Darkness on the edge of town; Leon Bridges Coming Home; Eagles Hotel California; Jungle; Aretha Soul Queen; Neil Young After the Goldrush + Harvest; Zappa Overnite Sensation; Fleetwood Mac Rumours; Keith Jarrett Koln Concert; Doobies Southbound; Stevie Earle I feel alright; Tom Waits Closing Time; Pink Floyd Dark Side; Van Moondance; Eric Church Caught in the Act; Randy Newman Little Criminals; Elton John Madman across the water; Patti Smith Horses; Doobies Captain and Me; Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill.

The world's most valuable company with the world's most ridiculous name.

The world's most valuable company with the world's most ridiculous name launched in 2015.

Alphabet, the company behind Google/YouTube, has overtaken Apple (which starts the Alphabet, A is for...) as the world's most valuable company at circa 544 Billion usd. Apple a poor second at 534 Billion.

Largely on foot of Alphabet posting Q4 Revenues of over 21 Billion usd, coming mainly from Google.

Mind you, they lost 3.6 Billion on other projects in 2015 which still may come in. Basically, upfront investment in future projects.

Still, it's a great performance for a company to be as valuable as country like Belgium. And it's tax domiciled where?

What we're listening to. Massive Attack 'Blue Lines'.

Now this is definitely not for everyone but Massive Attack 'Blue Lines' is one of the well regarded Albums of our time and still sounds fresh.

1991 Debut from a Bristol, British band but very American hip hop too. A blend. British band does American kinda' thing called 'trip hop'. 

Very electronic from an era of dance and ecstasy. 'Unfinished Sympathy' is the great single and generally the Album was quite dark but then, at the time, fairly breakthrough and new. It definitely has a coolness.

They produced more records (5) and 'Mezzanine' was their best commercial success but none every scaled the debut heights of Blue Lines.

It takes listening but it's atmospheric and interesting so well worth a listen for something different. Streamabout people screamed when we played it, ("Oh my god, I remember that!") so evocative it is of a time of dance and everyone had a copy. Every Coffee shop worth its salt, played it over and over again.

And the people here loved it anyway. 
Me? 
I blame the parents...

Previous "listen to's" you'll also find on this blog.......The Clash London Calling; Chris Isaak At The Filmore; Bob Dylan Street Legal;Bad Company Straight Shooter; Jackson Browne Love is Strange; Lou Reed Transformer; Steely Dan AJA; Stones Black+Blue; Stephen Bishop Careless; Nils Lofgren Night after Night; Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells; Neil Young Harvest; Led Zep 4; David Bowie David Live; Van It's too late to stop now; Wings Band on the run; Rod Stewart Atlantic Crossing; Ryan Adams Heartbreaker; Santana Essential; Bob Dylan Desire; Roxy Music For your pleasure; Bob Marley Legend; Stephen Fretwell Magpie; James Taylor Sweet Baby James; Deep Purple Machine Head; Springsteen Darkness on the edge of town; Leon Bridges Coming Home; Eagles Hotel California; Jungle; Aretha Soul Queen; Neil Young After the Goldrush + Harvest; Zappa Overnite Sensation; Fleetwood Mac Rumours; Keith Jarrett Koln Concert; Doobies Southbound; Stevie Earle I feel alright; Tom Waits Closing Time; Pink Floyd Dark Side; Van Moondance; Eric Church Caught in the Act; Randy Newman Little Criminals; Elton John Madman across the water; Patti Smith Horses; Doobies Captain and Me; Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill.

Spotify to launch Video online.

Spotify are to launch Video.

Initially to Android App users (mobile only), it will start in The UK, Germany and Sweden (funny enough). Clearly too, it's probably going to be music-led videos but there's no reason not to extend that into Sports, News, Entertainment and so. 

Spotify understand that the money is in online video and follow Facebook/Twitter/YouTube if you have an audience and they do. 75 million with 20 million of them subscribing.

A very appealing younger demographic and one which tends to be 'sticky' and which can be brought to relevant video depending on their choices.

Of course a movie service wouldn't be out of the question either we assume...

With a current valuation of 8.5 Billion usd, this will add to that, although it's not yet profitable and whilst this video service will be 'ad free', assume that should also say 'initially'.

Online Digital Video? Streamabout.com

What we're listening to. The Clash 'London Calling'

We've desperately tried to avoid playing Bowie or The Eagles just at the minute. There's just too much of it about but no doubt, we will in the next few weeks (although we've already blogged last year, 'David Live' and 'Hotel California').

Sometimes a record symbolises the unmistakable sound and the mood of a generation.

Nirvanas 'Teen spirit' being one, but none more so, than the opening riff of 'London Calling'. 

Founded in 1976 is was a scene that featured The Pistols, Ramones, Stranglers, Buzzcocks and The Banshees. So a whole new wave of music.

The Clash of course were seen (and were) very much a Punk band but that's not to forget the white boy reggae (like the early Police), Ska, Rockabilly and Rock, that you'll find on this record.

This double Album from 1979, was their 3rd Album and reflected real issues like drugs, characters (like 'Jimmy Jazz'), race and unemployment. Mick Jones did the music and Joe Strummer (who died in 2002 and was actually 'John Mellor') did the lyrics. The cover shot is actually Bassist Paul Simonon smashing his Fender on tour in NYC and is iconic.

It's an angry record and not for everyone but always appears in top ranking lists. It's raw.

So there's no track to listen to as such, because it's all so different but check out 'London Calling', 'Jimmy Jazz', 'Guns of Brixton' and for our money, the best track on it is 'Train in Vain'.

But the best Clash song isn't here although it's a great Album. 

That would be 'Rock the Casbah'....still, any self respecting music lover has to have 'London Calling' in their playbook. It is the sound of a generation.

One of our Streamabout crew claims to have seen The Clash live at The Top Hat in Dun Laoghaire 1978 so he's one of the 200,000 who were there then...but The Clash's first gig was in 1976 supporting The Sex Pistols.

The Clash were hugely influential and distinct and this is the Album that shows that. It's not everyone's taste, but it gets you in a mood and speaks to you. We defy you to listen to this and not smile, then stand-up from your desk. We did....

Then this...

Previous "listen to's" you'll also find on this blog.......Chis Isaak At The Filmore; Bob Dylan Street Legal,;Bad Company Straight Shooter; Jackson Browne Love is Strange; Lou Reed Transformer; Steely Dan Aja; Stones Black+Blue; Stephen Bishop Careless; Nils Lofgren Night after Night; Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells; Neil Young Harvest; Led Zep 4; David Bowie David Live; Van It's too late to stop now; Wings Band on the run; Rod Stewart Atlantic Crossing; Ryan Adams Heartbreaker; Santana Essential; Bob Dylan Desire; Roxy Music For your pleasure; Bob Marley Legend; Stephen Fretwell Magpie; James Taylor Sweet Baby James; Deep Purple Machine Head; Springsteen Darkness on the edge of town; Leon Bridges Coming Home; Eagles Hotel California; Jungle; Aretha Soul Queen; Neil Young After the Goldrush + Harvest; Zappa Overnite Sensation; Fleetwood Mac Rumours; Keith Jarrett Koln Concert; Doobies Southbound; Stevie Earle I feel alright; Tom Waits Closing Time; Pink Floyd Dark Side; Van Moondance; Eric Church Caught in the Act; Randy Newman Little Criminals; Elton John Madman across the water; Patti Smith Horses; Doobies Captain and Me; Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill.

Netflix Soars. Up to 9%

Well there's one stock that's soaring! Netflix. Up + 9% this morning.

Q4 numbers showed a massive overperformance and a forecast of +6 million new subscribers in Q1 2016. Stunningly good.

Revenue was up +23%.
US and International subscribers, UP.
It goes live in another 130 countries this month.

We're tired of congratulating Netflix (not!) time and time again.
It's just one great Digital brand.

And it's killing the former high-roller TV stations.
And it's opening Production opportunities at the highest end.

Magic.

RIP Glenn Frey. Hell just froze over.

Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Don Felder and Randy Meisner. 1977.

But it was all Glenn Frey and Don Henley really.

Sad.

Publicis are 90. So they're looking for ideas....

Publicis, the French Ad Agency group, are celebrating 90 years.

To help with that, they've launched a fund for digital start-ups which includes funding (10 million euro). Ideas submitted will be judged by a panel of Publicis and partners for a launch on June 30th in eh, Paris.

The website is here (you'll have to copy + paste)
http://www.publicis90.com/#/publicis90

But a quick read of the rules, seems to be a little complicated....especially on the funding end. However, well worth a look.

Credit too where credits due.

What we're listening to. Chris Isaak 'At the Filmore'.

Hard to define Chris Isaak really. 1950's crooner? Rockabilly? Slightly country? Roy Orbison?

But it's different, that's for sure.

Possibly best known for 'Wicked Game' (from 'Heart Shaped World') or 'Somebody's Crying', or indeed his own TV show from 2001-04 'The Chris Isaak Show' ironically.

His 'Forever Blue' Album is well regarded too and there's been 12 Studio Albums outside of this Live Album from 2008.

'Somebody's Crying' is here, as is 'Wicked Game' but two others you may not know that are well worth checking out. 

'Baby did a bad, bad thing' was heard in the film 'Eyes Wide Shut' and just is so much a reminder of George Thorogood's 'One Bourbon, one Scotch'. Eerie.

If you saw the last episode of the excellent, 'The Affair', you'll have heard 'San Francisco Days' in the final car scene and it's fabulously excellent. Almost Beach Boyish. Have a listen.

So if you don't really know him, this is the Album to start. You'll hear his falsetto voice in action here on 'Baby did a bad bad thing' which contrasts to almost everything else he does. 

However, this is the track that's the winner. Somebody's crying....Wicked Game will play straight after it if you leave it run. 

Previous "listen to's" you'll also find on this blog.......Bob Dylan Street Legal,;Bad Company Straight Shooter; Jackson Browne Love is Strange; Lou Reed Transformer; Steely Dan Aja; Stones Black+Blue; Stephen Bishop Careless; Nils Lofgren Night after Night; Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells; Neil Young Harvest; Led Zep 4; David Bowie David Live; Van It's too late to stop now; Wings Band on the run; Rod Stewart Atlantic Crossing; Ryan Adams Heartbreaker; Santana Essential; Bob Dylan Desire; Roxy Music For your pleasure; Bob Marley Legend; Stephen Fretwell Magpie; James Taylor Sweet Baby James; Deep Purple Machine Head; Springsteen Darkness on the edge of town; Leon Bridges Coming Home; Eagles Hotel California; Jungle; Aretha Soul Queen; Neil Young After the Goldrush + Harvest; Zappa Overnite Sensation; Fleetwood Mac Rumours; Keith Jarrett Koln Concert; Doobies Southbound; Stevie Earle I feel alright; Tom Waits Closing Time; Pink Floyd Dark Side; Van Moondance; Eric Church Caught in the Act; Randy Newman Little Criminals; Elton John Madman across the water; Patti Smith Horses; Doobies Captain and Me; Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill.

Nothing else to say.

Twitter launch new Ad format.

Twitter have launched to get ways to get the Twitterati talking about brands.

Looking at increasing the character length (from 150) - but importantly, a new Ad format that encourages people to tweet the advertisers message to their followers.

And that's far better, far more native, than it coming from the brand itself because a "friends" recommendation or tweet, is way more powerful. When the message is tweeted, the brand thanks you.

Called 'conversationals' it will have an easy button that when you click it, will be a pre-populated tweet with the advertiser message (as distinct from a simple 'retweet') which will include any photo or video. It can be amended or just tweeted as is.

But it comes from you. If you're influential, that's a big bonus and it might get a conversation started. And....it can be targeted at those big influencers only or those in the demographic with large followings.

If it's engaging or interesting it will work but the content will be king. 

Say it's something like, "Who'll win the Aldi Baking Competition?" or "Who's the Gillette man of the match?" rather than, "Aldi make great bread", it will work.

It's all about native.

What we're listening to. Dylan, 'Street Legal'.

Now let's be clear. We're not Dylan fans...at all. But two albums make the grade in our view. 'Desire' (1976) which we've already posted here and this one, 'Street Legal'. Another, 'At the Budokan' (1978 too) might just sneek in but generally when someone here puts on Dylan, there's a groan.

'Street Legal' though is well worth a listen. Well worth.

1978 and the 18th Dylan Album (he's actually, really, Robert Zimmerman), he's 75 this year of Lithuanian Jewish parents.

'Baby (please), stop crying' is the best known single from the Album but, 'Is you love in vain?' is a classic. Add to that 'Changing of the Guard', 'Senor', 'True love tends to forget' and 'New Pony' and it all works brilliantly.

At the time it was well slated and largely because of the Production, which quite frankly, we don't really understand. But that seems to us fairly mute, when you've some exceptional songs all on one Album - even if we're not "fans". 

But this is very well worth it.

What's amazing too, is the few Dylan songs on YouTube? Still, here's one to enjoy from this Album.

Previous 'listen to's'.......Bad Company Straight Shooter; Jackson Browne Love is Strange; Lou Reed Transformer; Steely Dan Aja; Stones Black+Blue; Stephen Bishop Careless; Nils Lofgren Night after Night; Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells; Neil Young Harvest; Led Zep 4; David Bowie David Live; Van It's too late to stop now; Wings Band on the run; Rod Stewart Atlantic Crossing; Ryan Adams Heartbreaker; Santana Essential; Bob Dylan Desire; Roxy Music For your pleasure; Bob Marley Legend; Stephen Fretwell Magpie; James Taylor Sweet Baby James; Deep Purple Machine Head; Springsteen Darkness on the edge of town; Leon Bridges Coming Home; Eagles Hotel California; Jungle; Aretha Soul Queen; Neil Young After the Goldrush; Zappa Overnite Sensation; Fleetwood Mac Rumours; Keith Jarrett Koln Concert; Doobies Southbound; Stevie Earle I feel alright; Tom Waits Closing Time; Pink Floyd Dark Side; Van Moondance; Eric Church Caught in the Act; Randy Newman Little Criminals; Elton John Madman across the water; Patti Smith Horses; Doobies Captain and Me; Steely Dan Can't Buy a Thrill, Jackson Browne Love is Strange.