Here are some snippets from an e-mail that a Birmingham music industry exec sent out to insiders regarding American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, on the eve of the final.
Apparently, Hicks made quite an impression a year ago, pushing his CD.
"About this time last year, Taylor Hicks sent us his new CD. 'Please check it out dude.' ... After a listen or two, it went in the big (stack). It was a decent enough effort but we get tons of those. How was I supposed to help a thick-looking dude with white hair? To me, he was just another bar band guy among dozens. Way more aggressive, but you know that guy. Trying to make it and quickly running out of time.
"In June, we have City Stages in Birmingham. It is our local festival. ... Taylor and his band were to appear on the Locals Only stage. He called multiple times to see if we had listened to the CD. I was busy and avoided most of the calls. When I did talk to him, he lobbied me to come see his set at the festival. So, I dropped by and caught a few songs. I thought the guy had a really good voice but I could barely watch his stage antics. Man, that dude is afflicted with something. You know, whatever that muscular thing is that possesses Joe Cocker.
"Later that day, I ran into Taylor and he asked if I saw the set. I was polite but got out of there quick. Not long after, Taylor just showed up at the office. We like to hide and don't want local musicians just dropping by.
"We are total snobs about that. We would never get any work done otherwise. Taylor goes running from office to office asking (us) what (we) thought about him and how could we help him get hooked up. Andrea, my assistant at the time, got up from her perch, took Taylor by the arm and said 'dude, you need to leave' and that was the last I heard from him. We spent the rest of the day talking about how aggressive this guy could be. NO was not an answer ever.
"This guy is 29 years old and does not look like an artist that would ever get a record deal. I know dozens of A&R guys. NONE of them would have given Taylor Hicks the time of day a year ago. He is neither young enough nor skinny enough. He has grey hair and is about as goofy as it gets on stage. Normally he would be a total non-starter in this business.
"Being one of those people who would not really give this guy any serious time, I wish him only the best in the final round. I hope he gets everything coming to him. He has been slogging it out in bad bars around here for 10 years and never gave up. If he wins, I hope he is very successful.
"But, for the record, I still don't quite get it. "
Maybe he needs to learn more about his consumers... Clearly we were ready for an afflicted, grey-haired, chubby idol. What idol hasn't been atypical in some way? It's the record execs choosing which artists are hot, while America knows what we really want. Right? :)
Posted by: Poppy | May 31, 2006 at 04:36 PM
Yes, Poppy, America has the final say. And with Idol in hiatus, we're all asking "Deal, or No Deal?"
Posted by: Dan | June 01, 2006 at 07:40 AM
Another example of the "establishment" voting differently than the public - the most watched network ABC walked away with the fewest Emmys.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060828/media_nm/emmys_networks_dc_2
A great book that discusses this concept is "The Long Tail".
Posted by: Lisa | August 28, 2006 at 05:58 AM