Good Friday evening all Ray Stevens fans!! One thing is for sure...some topics come and go while other topics seem to dig in and grow. The topic of Arizona has certainly become enmeshed with Ray Stevens for nearly a year now. In May 2010 Ray issued his illegal immigration music video, "Come to the USA", on You Tube. The video was released during a time when the Arizona border wars were becoming a national issue once again due to the illegal immigration bill that was being written in the Arizona State Government...ultimately signed into law by Jan Brewer. The video quickly became a major internet hit...surpassing the unique views of "We The People", a video Ray issued late in 2009 about ObamaCare which had by May 2010 amassed 3,000,000 unique views. To date, "Come to the USA" has gotten 4,982,169 unique views in 10 months time. May 2011 will mark the video's 1 year anniversary and by that time the totals will perhaps be more than 5,000,000!!
Several months later, in contrast to the humorous "Come to the USA", Ray delivered the stark, serious "God Save Arizona". This video was in response to the Federal Government's intrusion into State matters. The video plays like a documentary...recalling events from World War Two (The U.S.S. Arizona sinking of 1941) and using footage from war news reels as well as images of Eric Holder and other faces of the Arizona debate. The video's gotten 665,619 unique views during the last 7 months. It was uploaded in August 2010.
"The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", the current Ray Stevens music video spoofing the TSA, now has 109,449 views. This is an increase of 3,202 unique views over the last three days. This video puts a humorous spin on a lot of the security procedures that the non-flying public may not be aware of. The video also speaks to the non-flyer in that, through exaggeration and humor, we're told of the experiences of a couple brand new to flying. Airport security and the TSA probably doesn't register with those who don't even step foot into an airport...but I'm sure people are exposed to security and scanners as they walk through their work place. I'm sure people, at times, may be approached by security or greeters in shopping stores if an alarm goes off due to some sort of malfunction where an item wasn't appropriately scanned at check-out. Although the video specifically spoofs airport security and the pat-downs that take place at airports I feel there's something to take away from the video if you happen to be a recipient of over-the-top security procedures at your own work place.
The times we live in require a lot of security...but when that security becomes invasive and infringing on a person's dignity it's impossible to remain easy-going and go "oh well, that's the price we pay to be safe.". If people adopt a passive response to a lot of stuff then how can a free society recognize when their Government has gone too far? I'm sure a lot of people feel the way I do in that we feel the Government takes advantage of a person's fears (and anxieties) in an effort to ultimately control a person's livelihood. The real threat of terrorism and the threats that come almost daily from terrorist organizations provides cover for a lot of unnecessary liberty-stripping policies.
Showing posts with label the TSA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the TSA. Show all posts
March 11, 2011
March 8, 2011
Ray Stevens and the TSA, Part 11...
Ray Stevens called into radio station KZNE today and did one of his more in-depth interviews. I didn't clock the interview but it seems to me that it lasted a good 15 minutes. The program that Ray called was Chip Howard's which airs 5-7pm Eastern time, 4-6pm Central time. Ray's interview began during the show's second hour and judging by the radio station web-site the shows become archived at some point here. It'll be the March 8th archive. As of this writing the archives are updated through March 7th...so it'll be imperative for us to keep checking the archive page and select "Hour Two" for the March 8th show. I listened to the radio interview as it was happening thanks in large part because of a tweet several days ago by Chip Howard making mention of Ray Stevens calling the show today. There was another tweet posted today mentioning Ray's call-in so it wasn't difficult to miss the announcement...that is...if you happen to check Twitter frequently.
Some of the discussion in the interview consisted of Chip asking Ray several questions about the comedy songs he's known for and he asked what Ray thought about the social media's advantages in promoting music. Ray commented that it's an advantage because once something becomes uploaded onto a social media outlet it's got the potential to be heard or viewed by thousands of people in a matter of hours...hundreds of thousands in a matter of days. This speaks to a concept that I made mention of last year where I remarked that Ray's music videos are seen by more people in one day than your typical song on a radio station is heard in a week's time. Ray commented that "Come to the USA" is nearing 5,000,000 unique views and that "We The People" is over 4,000,000 views. His current video, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", has gotten 106,247 unique views on You Tube in 2 week's time...by comparison the #1 song on Country radio, for example, may have around 11,000 plays nationally during the same 2 week time period.
At another point in the interview Ray's asked if he's ever felt non-creative...in other words was there ever a time where he didn't feel like being in the studio or putting on concerts. Ray commented that he's never had feelings like that and that he doesn't plan on retiring...ever. In the past Ray had always commented that he loves making records...and one time he said that he'd always make records...whether he's on a major record label or not. Ray commented that a lot of people in the business feel that comedy/novelty songs have always been a "fast burn" and that there's no future (i.e, success) in making a career out of comical recordings. As far as radio airplay goes comedy is a fast burn...and it's something Ray addressed in 1995 when being interviewed on TNN's Music City Tonight program during the Get Serious home video publicity. Yet, as far as longevity is concerned, his particular comedy recordings have endured and continue to remain in print...and therefore there's no fast burn to speak of when discussing longevity.
Chip asks Ray, specifically, about "The Streak", "Everything Is Beautiful", "Misty", and "Ahab the Arab". Ray remarked, when asked about political incorrectness charged at "Ahab the Arab", that those who charge the song with being politically incorrect are ignorant about the song's original intent. Ray spoke about his time in Branson, Missouri in the early '90s and the host mentioned that Ray was there on three separate occasions (a reference to the series of concerts late last year at the Welk Theatre). Ray talked about music videos and how he went against the traditional conventions of marketing when he began selling music videos on TV. Ray pointed out that before he had his initial success with Comedy Video Classics in 1992 that the thinking in the music business was that music video's were nothing more than promotional tools to encourage sales of the audio recording. His home video proved that there was an audience who loved watching music videos so much that they'd be willing to buy them...whereas in the past nobody had thought to sell music videos to the public. Nearing the end of the interview Chip mentioned the current TSA song and Ray spoke about the We The People CD and the upcoming Spirit of '76 CD. The host played a snippet of "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" as the segment came to a close.
Some of the discussion in the interview consisted of Chip asking Ray several questions about the comedy songs he's known for and he asked what Ray thought about the social media's advantages in promoting music. Ray commented that it's an advantage because once something becomes uploaded onto a social media outlet it's got the potential to be heard or viewed by thousands of people in a matter of hours...hundreds of thousands in a matter of days. This speaks to a concept that I made mention of last year where I remarked that Ray's music videos are seen by more people in one day than your typical song on a radio station is heard in a week's time. Ray commented that "Come to the USA" is nearing 5,000,000 unique views and that "We The People" is over 4,000,000 views. His current video, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", has gotten 106,247 unique views on You Tube in 2 week's time...by comparison the #1 song on Country radio, for example, may have around 11,000 plays nationally during the same 2 week time period.
At another point in the interview Ray's asked if he's ever felt non-creative...in other words was there ever a time where he didn't feel like being in the studio or putting on concerts. Ray commented that he's never had feelings like that and that he doesn't plan on retiring...ever. In the past Ray had always commented that he loves making records...and one time he said that he'd always make records...whether he's on a major record label or not. Ray commented that a lot of people in the business feel that comedy/novelty songs have always been a "fast burn" and that there's no future (i.e, success) in making a career out of comical recordings. As far as radio airplay goes comedy is a fast burn...and it's something Ray addressed in 1995 when being interviewed on TNN's Music City Tonight program during the Get Serious home video publicity. Yet, as far as longevity is concerned, his particular comedy recordings have endured and continue to remain in print...and therefore there's no fast burn to speak of when discussing longevity.
Chip asks Ray, specifically, about "The Streak", "Everything Is Beautiful", "Misty", and "Ahab the Arab". Ray remarked, when asked about political incorrectness charged at "Ahab the Arab", that those who charge the song with being politically incorrect are ignorant about the song's original intent. Ray spoke about his time in Branson, Missouri in the early '90s and the host mentioned that Ray was there on three separate occasions (a reference to the series of concerts late last year at the Welk Theatre). Ray talked about music videos and how he went against the traditional conventions of marketing when he began selling music videos on TV. Ray pointed out that before he had his initial success with Comedy Video Classics in 1992 that the thinking in the music business was that music video's were nothing more than promotional tools to encourage sales of the audio recording. His home video proved that there was an audience who loved watching music videos so much that they'd be willing to buy them...whereas in the past nobody had thought to sell music videos to the public. Nearing the end of the interview Chip mentioned the current TSA song and Ray spoke about the We The People CD and the upcoming Spirit of '76 CD. The host played a snippet of "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" as the segment came to a close.
March 6, 2011
Ray Stevens looks at Songwriting...
This particular video's been uploaded on You Tube for nearly a year...it was uploaded on April 2, 2010 and it's a fascinating look into the mind of Ray Stevens and how he goes about writing songs and recording them. The interview was conducted in Oklahoma City in 1982 and the two appearing in the video with Ray are The McCain Brothers, the hosts of the show that this interview originated from. The video has a run time of 4 minutes, 2 seconds. At the time of it's debut on You Tube I had made commentary that it comes off like one of those classic interviews from 60 Minutes with the extreme close-up's. I'm baffled, though, why this particular upload hasn't been seen by more people. As of March 6, 2011 the video has 306 unique views...you'd think it would've gotten a lot more views by now. I first embedded the video here on the blog back in April 2010 and according to the video stats at You Tube it's been accessed from this blog 27 times throughout the last 11 months. Given the activity that this blog experiences, with new blog entries that I write showing up at a rapid pace, I assume those 27 plays occurred during the month of April 2010 prior to it being buried in the blog archives on the right hand side of the page. Considering the embed was nearly a year ago I thought I'd re-embed the video for those who are not aware of it's existence...and by the looks of it's unique views, unfortunately, a whole lot of people are unaware that it exists...so here's the great video once more...
Ray Stevens and the TSA, Part 10...
This Sunday morning blog entry finds "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" with 102,596 unique views. As of now there isn't any radio call-in's posted at Ray's web-site. Whenever there's a call-in they usually get posted in the Tour section simply because it's a radio call-in tour. It began in early February...actually, late January, right around the time the TSA song was still in it's infant stages as I call it. At that time there was no CD single, Mp3 single, or music video available...and in those earliest radio interviews he'd comment that the single would be available soon and that he was working on a music video. As we all know the commercial availability happened in early February as the CD and Mp3 single became available for purchase at Ray's web-site and at Amazon and Itunes. Following the commercial release the music video became available on February 17th.
Since the month of February has fewer days than the rest of the months of the year it enabled the calendar to flip over to March in a week and 4 days time. The time span that the music video's been available is 17 days. The only reason I break all of that down is because some people will see "February" as the video's release month, paying no attention to the actual upload date, and with it now being March there will no doubt be some out there who'll say the video's been out for "2 months" when in reality it's only been available on You Tube for a little over 2 weeks...and so it's still in the early stages. The music video won't be a month old until March 17th.
In the meantime, though, continue to be on the look out for The Spirit of '76. As soon as it becomes available I'll write a blog about it and as soon as I'm able to hear it I'll write a review. Although a lot of you could've guessed as much it never hurts to remind people. I'm currently in the process of writing a review of Ray's We The People album from last year. I have a review up on Amazon but this new review is at a different on-line store. I had noticed that an existing review at this other on-line store didn't really say a whole lot about the CD...and with a CD that contains 22 songs the review should at least have some length to it...and so I'm writing a brief, lengthy review. Brief lengthy?? Well...it'll be a lengthy review as far as size goes but it'll be brief on specifics.
Since the month of February has fewer days than the rest of the months of the year it enabled the calendar to flip over to March in a week and 4 days time. The time span that the music video's been available is 17 days. The only reason I break all of that down is because some people will see "February" as the video's release month, paying no attention to the actual upload date, and with it now being March there will no doubt be some out there who'll say the video's been out for "2 months" when in reality it's only been available on You Tube for a little over 2 weeks...and so it's still in the early stages. The music video won't be a month old until March 17th.
In the meantime, though, continue to be on the look out for The Spirit of '76. As soon as it becomes available I'll write a blog about it and as soon as I'm able to hear it I'll write a review. Although a lot of you could've guessed as much it never hurts to remind people. I'm currently in the process of writing a review of Ray's We The People album from last year. I have a review up on Amazon but this new review is at a different on-line store. I had noticed that an existing review at this other on-line store didn't really say a whole lot about the CD...and with a CD that contains 22 songs the review should at least have some length to it...and so I'm writing a brief, lengthy review. Brief lengthy?? Well...it'll be a lengthy review as far as size goes but it'll be brief on specifics.
March 4, 2011
Ray Stevens new TSA single, Part 2...
I'm not a traveler by air and so I've never been subjected to the pat-downs or full body scans that take place in all the airports but that doesn't mean that non-fliers can't empathize with those who deal with the TSA on a daily basis. Ray Stevens' current music video, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", has gotten 98,507 unique views so far. In my previous entry on March 1st the total was in the 85,000+ range. The video's been available on You Tube for 2 weeks...reaching that plateau late Thursday afternoon...and with it knocking on the door of 100,000 views it means that it should continue to see big leaps in unique views as more and more people discover the video, presumably, as Ray does more and more radio call-in's. There hasn't been any word yet when The Spirit of '76 will be issued. Perhaps it'll get released whenever Ray decides to release a follow-up song/music video...it's tough predicting things like that!!
The unique views that this TSA music video is pulling in are highly reminiscent of "God Save Arizona". His previous music video, "The Nightmare Before Christmas", has recently reached the 100,000 plateau...but that video's been available since November 2010. It's a perfect example of the timeliness of the TSA music video where it's been able to capture close to 100,000 views in 2 weeks time while "Nightmare Before Christmas" has just now reached that 100,000 level with 100,106 views to date. In fairness, though, Ray never did much high profile publicity for the Christmas video...the same holds true for "The Global Warming Song". That particular video's gotten 95,491 unique views over the course of 8 months. In fairness to that video it not only didn't get a lot of publicity but it was over-shadowed not only by the increasing popularity of his previous music video, "Come to the USA", which has gone on to rake in nearly 5,000,000 unique views, but also, "God Save Arizona", which was released on You Tube a month after "The Global Warming Song". "God Save Arizona" has gotten 658,046 unique views. "The Global Warming Song" was caught in the middle of two massively popular music videos from Ray Stevens dealing with issues in Arizona. There was also the mid-term elections in 2010 which caused the earlier "Throw the Bums Out!" music video to have a resurgence in views during the month of October 2010.
The unique views that this TSA music video is pulling in are highly reminiscent of "God Save Arizona". His previous music video, "The Nightmare Before Christmas", has recently reached the 100,000 plateau...but that video's been available since November 2010. It's a perfect example of the timeliness of the TSA music video where it's been able to capture close to 100,000 views in 2 weeks time while "Nightmare Before Christmas" has just now reached that 100,000 level with 100,106 views to date. In fairness, though, Ray never did much high profile publicity for the Christmas video...the same holds true for "The Global Warming Song". That particular video's gotten 95,491 unique views over the course of 8 months. In fairness to that video it not only didn't get a lot of publicity but it was over-shadowed not only by the increasing popularity of his previous music video, "Come to the USA", which has gone on to rake in nearly 5,000,000 unique views, but also, "God Save Arizona", which was released on You Tube a month after "The Global Warming Song". "God Save Arizona" has gotten 658,046 unique views. "The Global Warming Song" was caught in the middle of two massively popular music videos from Ray Stevens dealing with issues in Arizona. There was also the mid-term elections in 2010 which caused the earlier "Throw the Bums Out!" music video to have a resurgence in views during the month of October 2010.
March 1, 2011
Ray Stevens and the TSA, Part 9...
Welcome one and all to this fan-created blog page where I give commentary and talk about the great music and comedy videos of Ray Stevens...not necessarily in that order! Also...welcome to March! As we turn the calendar we see that the success of the latest music video, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", has risen over 6,000 unique views since my previous blog post. The video currently has 85,553 unique views in nearly 2 week's time. The TSA video was uploaded onto You Tube back on Thursday, February 17th...technically the video's been around for only a week and 5 days...not quite officially 2 weeks...and here it is knocking on the door of 90,000 unique views! Could we see 100,000 views greet this video by this weekend?? It's certainly possible! I think it's highly possible that it'll reach 90,000 views by the end of today.
This song will be part of The Spirit of '76...which at the moment doesn't have a release date yet. I assume we'll hear something at some point this month regarding the release of that CD...I can't wait to hear all of the material that'll be included on it. On a recent TV interview on the Fox Business Network he mentioned one of the songs will be about Obama's budget plan. At C-PAC last month Ray performed a song which asks the President to offer his solutions to the problems facing the country and the world. That song should be on The Spirit of '76 too.
The Mp3 single reached #13 yesterday on Amazon's Comedy best-seller list and that was a new high...previously #16 had been the highest that the single had charted on that particular best-seller list. Earlier this morning it was ranked #22 indicating that it hadn't moved much over the course of the last 12 hours and is holding steady among the Top-30.
This song will be part of The Spirit of '76...which at the moment doesn't have a release date yet. I assume we'll hear something at some point this month regarding the release of that CD...I can't wait to hear all of the material that'll be included on it. On a recent TV interview on the Fox Business Network he mentioned one of the songs will be about Obama's budget plan. At C-PAC last month Ray performed a song which asks the President to offer his solutions to the problems facing the country and the world. That song should be on The Spirit of '76 too.
The Mp3 single reached #13 yesterday on Amazon's Comedy best-seller list and that was a new high...previously #16 had been the highest that the single had charted on that particular best-seller list. Earlier this morning it was ranked #22 indicating that it hadn't moved much over the course of the last 12 hours and is holding steady among the Top-30.
February 28, 2011
Let's Discuss Ray Stevens, Part 26...
Ray Stevens called into the Daybreak USA radio program this morning and the interview with Scott West was uploaded onto You Tube...
Ray's current music video, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", also shown a strong jump in unique views as it rose from a little over 71,000 unique views Sunday morning to 78,189 unique views Monday afternoon. By the time I post this blog entry the view totals probably have gone higher! The Mp3 also shown a jump on Amazon's best-seller list, too. This hour the Mp3 had risen to #13 among best-selling comedy Mp3's.
Ray's current music video, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", also shown a strong jump in unique views as it rose from a little over 71,000 unique views Sunday morning to 78,189 unique views Monday afternoon. By the time I post this blog entry the view totals probably have gone higher! The Mp3 also shown a jump on Amazon's best-seller list, too. This hour the Mp3 had risen to #13 among best-selling comedy Mp3's.
February 27, 2011
Ray Stevens: Nostalgia Valley, Part 22...
Good Sunday morning all! I'd been on vacation from work this past week which explains why my blog updates appeared with much more frequency than usual. I return to work on Monday and more than likely I'll blog once or twice a day, or every other day, depending on what's going on in Ray's career at any given moment. Tonight Ray Stevens appears on a 1972 episode of Hee-Haw on the RFD-TV channel. The show airs at 8pm Eastern, 7pm Central. I'll be writing a re-cap of the episode here and over on Ray's official message board later tonight. One of the burning questions is: will Ray Stevens be clean-shaven or will he have a beard? It's difficult to predict because I've seen pictures of him from as early as 1969 with a beard...and then there were pictures taken of him in 1973 with a glorious beard that you could lose your hand in...then in 1975 he had a beard part of the time...so tonight's 1972 episode of Hee-Haw should answer that question.
The big song that Ray had out in 1972 was "Turn Your Radio On". The single had been released late in 1971 but reached it's peak in early 1972. The gospel single was just one of the several gospel-flavored recordings issued by Ray during that time period. "All My Trials", "A Mama and a Papa", and "Love Lifted Me" were released as singles, too. That same year Ray released his Turn Your Radio On album. The single reached the Top-20 on the Country chart in America and the Top-10 on Canada's Country chart. On America's Pop chart, the Hot 100, it reached the Top-70. In the United Kingdom the single reached the Top-40. On Easy-Listening radio the single reached the Top-30 in America and the Top-5 in Canada. Judging Ray Stevens based upon exclusive chart statistics for one format or another doesn't truly represent his popularity. One song may not connect with a country audience the way it may connect with a more wider pop audience. Also, a song that fails to connect with the American public may have become a big hit in Canada or Europe. This is why it's never fair to focus exclusively on the pop chart in America or the country chart in America. To get a sense of his overall popularity it's best to focus on all the weekly commercial charts that are or, were, in publication during the time the songs and albums were released.
There was a point in time when several of his singles were hitting in Canada but not connecting with people in America to the point of pushing the song into the radio-oriented Top-40. A 1963 single, "Funny Man", reached the Top-20 in Canada but on America's pop chart it ranked in the Top-90! Radio listeners in America weren't hearing that wonderful ballad from Ray Stevens but Canadian radio listeners were.
You'll never see his Canadian chart stats quoted much...but there were plenty of times where a song of his hit in Canada but didn't hit as big in America. "Unwind" reached the Top-20 in Canada and "Mr. Businessman" reached the Top-10...by comparison, in America, "Unwind" reached the Top-60 and "Mr. Businessman" reached the Top-30 on the pop chart. This same thing holds true with the various radio formats in America. Several of Ray's singles in the mid '70s hit with country audiences instead of pop audiences. One single in particular, "Love Lifted Me", didn't reach any of the American or Canadian based music charts...but it managed to obtain a Top-5 ranking in Bangkok of all places in the fall of 1972. Apparently the music buyers there appreciated Ray's aggressive, rock-oriented take on the gospel song. You won't see that chart statistic quoted much, if at all, by the numerous authors of liner notes, the biographers, and music historians of the world who either want to focus exclusively on the American pop music chart or the American country music chart.
"Love Lifted Me", as mentioned, didn't make the charts in America or Canada...and it didn't reach the United Kingdom chart, either. A particularly scathing write-up, punctuated with crass and cynical observation, appeared in a July 21, 1972 UK newspaper. Apparently, and of course I have no proof, but the critic seemed annoyed that Ray's biggest hits were happening in America and not in the United Kingdom...something the critic pointed out in his own kind of way. Either that or the critic was marginalizing Ray's popularity as an artist. In hindsight Ray made the United Kingdom charts 7 times as compared to his American chart appearances...which boasts more than 50 appearances altogether when you factor in song, album, and home video releases.
Shifting gears from 1972 and landing 39 years later, in 2011, we find that Ray Stevens' latest music video on You Tube, spoofing the TSA, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", has obtained 71,114 unique views during it's first 10 days on-line! The video was uploaded during the late afternoon on February 17th and it looks as if it'll obtain 100,000 views any day now. I often use the term "hits" when referring to "unique views" but recently I discovered that the phrases aren't interchangeable and that unique views is the proper term to use. I'm sure a lot of other people use those words interchangeably, just as I do, but for the purposes of specificity I'll use the phrase unique views from now on.
Reminder: Those who get RFD-TV, Ray Stevens will be a featured guest on tonight's 1972 episode of Hee-Haw!
The big song that Ray had out in 1972 was "Turn Your Radio On". The single had been released late in 1971 but reached it's peak in early 1972. The gospel single was just one of the several gospel-flavored recordings issued by Ray during that time period. "All My Trials", "A Mama and a Papa", and "Love Lifted Me" were released as singles, too. That same year Ray released his Turn Your Radio On album. The single reached the Top-20 on the Country chart in America and the Top-10 on Canada's Country chart. On America's Pop chart, the Hot 100, it reached the Top-70. In the United Kingdom the single reached the Top-40. On Easy-Listening radio the single reached the Top-30 in America and the Top-5 in Canada. Judging Ray Stevens based upon exclusive chart statistics for one format or another doesn't truly represent his popularity. One song may not connect with a country audience the way it may connect with a more wider pop audience. Also, a song that fails to connect with the American public may have become a big hit in Canada or Europe. This is why it's never fair to focus exclusively on the pop chart in America or the country chart in America. To get a sense of his overall popularity it's best to focus on all the weekly commercial charts that are or, were, in publication during the time the songs and albums were released.There was a point in time when several of his singles were hitting in Canada but not connecting with people in America to the point of pushing the song into the radio-oriented Top-40. A 1963 single, "Funny Man", reached the Top-20 in Canada but on America's pop chart it ranked in the Top-90! Radio listeners in America weren't hearing that wonderful ballad from Ray Stevens but Canadian radio listeners were.
You'll never see his Canadian chart stats quoted much...but there were plenty of times where a song of his hit in Canada but didn't hit as big in America. "Unwind" reached the Top-20 in Canada and "Mr. Businessman" reached the Top-10...by comparison, in America, "Unwind" reached the Top-60 and "Mr. Businessman" reached the Top-30 on the pop chart. This same thing holds true with the various radio formats in America. Several of Ray's singles in the mid '70s hit with country audiences instead of pop audiences. One single in particular, "Love Lifted Me", didn't reach any of the American or Canadian based music charts...but it managed to obtain a Top-5 ranking in Bangkok of all places in the fall of 1972. Apparently the music buyers there appreciated Ray's aggressive, rock-oriented take on the gospel song. You won't see that chart statistic quoted much, if at all, by the numerous authors of liner notes, the biographers, and music historians of the world who either want to focus exclusively on the American pop music chart or the American country music chart.
"Love Lifted Me", as mentioned, didn't make the charts in America or Canada...and it didn't reach the United Kingdom chart, either. A particularly scathing write-up, punctuated with crass and cynical observation, appeared in a July 21, 1972 UK newspaper. Apparently, and of course I have no proof, but the critic seemed annoyed that Ray's biggest hits were happening in America and not in the United Kingdom...something the critic pointed out in his own kind of way. Either that or the critic was marginalizing Ray's popularity as an artist. In hindsight Ray made the United Kingdom charts 7 times as compared to his American chart appearances...which boasts more than 50 appearances altogether when you factor in song, album, and home video releases.
Shifting gears from 1972 and landing 39 years later, in 2011, we find that Ray Stevens' latest music video on You Tube, spoofing the TSA, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", has obtained 71,114 unique views during it's first 10 days on-line! The video was uploaded during the late afternoon on February 17th and it looks as if it'll obtain 100,000 views any day now. I often use the term "hits" when referring to "unique views" but recently I discovered that the phrases aren't interchangeable and that unique views is the proper term to use. I'm sure a lot of other people use those words interchangeably, just as I do, but for the purposes of specificity I'll use the phrase unique views from now on.
Reminder: Those who get RFD-TV, Ray Stevens will be a featured guest on tonight's 1972 episode of Hee-Haw!
February 25, 2011
Ray Stevens visits the Fox Business Network...
A lot of excitement in the world of Ray Stevens emerged rather abruptly within the last couple of hours. In addition to the TSA music video, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", obtaining more than 62,000 You Tube hits in a week's time I was fortunate to come across a tweet on Twitter posted around 2:20pm Eastern alerting people to an upcoming interview with Ray Stevens on radio station WPTF. The interview was conducted by a radio personality by the name of Bill LuMaye and it took place around 2:36pm Eastern time. Obviously the interview came as a complete surprise and I had no way of posting a blog about it ahead of time. Fear not, though! There is an audio clip of Ray's interview located at LuMaye's blog site and this is the link to the audio clip. The interview is almost 6 minutes long. It's quite an interview!!
Tonight at 8pm Eastern on the Fox Business Network the nightly show, Freedom Watch, will air. Earlier this afternoon Ray's people posted an article on his web-site alerting everyone that Ray will be making an appearance on Freedom Watch tonight. The show is hosted by Judge Andrew Napolitano and the bulk of the conversation will more than likely be about the TSA.
An archive of the February 25th episode is located here. Ray's appearance happens in the second video upload which shows a run-time of 25 minutes, 26 seconds. Ray's involvement doesn't begin until the 15:41 mark and it wraps up around the 20:00 mark. So, the appearance is a little less than 5 minutes...but it's fun hearing and seeing Ray speak his mind about things.
Tonight at 8pm Eastern on the Fox Business Network the nightly show, Freedom Watch, will air. Earlier this afternoon Ray's people posted an article on his web-site alerting everyone that Ray will be making an appearance on Freedom Watch tonight. The show is hosted by Judge Andrew Napolitano and the bulk of the conversation will more than likely be about the TSA.
An archive of the February 25th episode is located here. Ray's appearance happens in the second video upload which shows a run-time of 25 minutes, 26 seconds. Ray's involvement doesn't begin until the 15:41 mark and it wraps up around the 20:00 mark. So, the appearance is a little less than 5 minutes...but it's fun hearing and seeing Ray speak his mind about things.
Ray Stevens and the TSA, Part 8...
The music video, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", gained 14,760 hits over the last couple of days to bring it's overall total to 62,137! The video's been on-line for just 1 week and has gotten more hits than the previous release, "The Nightmare Before Christmas", during the same time period. The Christmas music video had pulled in a little more than 21,000 hits during it's first week...and it needs to be mentioned that the Christmas music video was uploaded on November 3, 2010...a full month and a half before Christmas so that by the time the Christmas rush was underway the video was more than a month old and difficult to find in public listings of Christmas-related videos (unless a person knew the name of the song and did a specific search).
As many of you may know when you upload something onto You Tube or any other video hosting site it doesn't stay at the top of the search results indefinitely. Once other videos get uploaded it pushes (buries) the current videos further down the search results. If a person searches "Ray Stevens" on the You Tube site what typically comes up are the videos that have gotten the most hits or videos that have been embedded/shared more than others...what a person needs to do, obviously, is type "Ray Stevens" and next to his name type whatever music video you want to search for. Example: "Ray Stevens + The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" will come back with a couple of search results. Ray's video is the first one listed. Now, of course, you can always by-pass this and just visit his web-site and watch the video there.
On Sunday February 27th RFD-TV will air a September 1972 episode of Hee-Haw at 8pm Eastern. I watch Hee-Haw every Sunday but this particular episode will star Ray Stevens! This episode marked the first time Ray made an appearance on the program. Arlene Harden and Dizzy Dean will be the other guests on this particular episode.
As many of you may know when you upload something onto You Tube or any other video hosting site it doesn't stay at the top of the search results indefinitely. Once other videos get uploaded it pushes (buries) the current videos further down the search results. If a person searches "Ray Stevens" on the You Tube site what typically comes up are the videos that have gotten the most hits or videos that have been embedded/shared more than others...what a person needs to do, obviously, is type "Ray Stevens" and next to his name type whatever music video you want to search for. Example: "Ray Stevens + The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" will come back with a couple of search results. Ray's video is the first one listed. Now, of course, you can always by-pass this and just visit his web-site and watch the video there.
On Sunday February 27th RFD-TV will air a September 1972 episode of Hee-Haw at 8pm Eastern. I watch Hee-Haw every Sunday but this particular episode will star Ray Stevens! This episode marked the first time Ray made an appearance on the program. Arlene Harden and Dizzy Dean will be the other guests on this particular episode.
February 23, 2011
Ray Stevens...Critical Reaction, Part 6...
Yesterday afternoon a small write-up of Ray's TSA song/video, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", shown up on the newsmax web-site. The page also offers a link to the You Tube music video which I'm thrilled to say has gotten an increase of over 6,300 plays and now sits with 47,377 total hits since my previous blog earlier this morning. The write-up re-prints some of the lyrics from the song and given the positive nature of the write-up, of course, that's why I decided to mention it in this blog. I'm sure that write-up will become unavailable as the months/years go by...what often happens are on-line articles are available for all to see for a certain period of time and then the owners of the site's make the content exclusive to subscribers at some point.
If anyone ever finds themselves searching Google news archives for Ray Stevens-related stories and you come across sites that state something like "limited view only-subscribe for full view". Well, those are examples of what happens with a lot of on-line content. The reason I also like to keep track of write-up's and critical reactions is because those kinds of things illustrate mood and personality of the writer(s) and during my research I've often found that Ray's music has a polarizing affect. Long before he began associating himself in a distinctly political public image there had always been critics all too willing to put his material down and marginalize his appeal. On the other hand there was, and continues to be, an appreciation for his work by just as many supportive voices and, for them, the political direction is a welcome addition as it adds a new dimension to his career.
Although I'm a dedicated fan of Ray Stevens I never act as if I know him and I never personalize myself with him in my writings, either. I have watched a lot of his performances on TV and have heard a lot of his interviews and have read a lot of interviews he's given and those are the only things a person can legitimately go by when attempting to write about him. Some people, who get way too personal, assume negative criticisms must certainly hurt Ray's feelings. Although none of us like to see negative commentary written about Ray the fact is he's been in the music business for awhile. If negative criticisms really ate at him or caused any kind of depression or sadness there's no way he would've been able to survive in the music business as long as he has.
Thick skins and backbones are a prerequisite, it seems, in sustaining longevity based upon things I've read from those who've seen the bad side of fame and it's pitfalls but have rebounded and triumphed through sheer talent and strength. The bottom line is just because a critic or two, or three, decides to roast and skewer something Ray Stevens has said or done it doesn't mean you, the fan, should feel that the criticisms bother him in any kind of way.
If anyone ever finds themselves searching Google news archives for Ray Stevens-related stories and you come across sites that state something like "limited view only-subscribe for full view". Well, those are examples of what happens with a lot of on-line content. The reason I also like to keep track of write-up's and critical reactions is because those kinds of things illustrate mood and personality of the writer(s) and during my research I've often found that Ray's music has a polarizing affect. Long before he began associating himself in a distinctly political public image there had always been critics all too willing to put his material down and marginalize his appeal. On the other hand there was, and continues to be, an appreciation for his work by just as many supportive voices and, for them, the political direction is a welcome addition as it adds a new dimension to his career.
Although I'm a dedicated fan of Ray Stevens I never act as if I know him and I never personalize myself with him in my writings, either. I have watched a lot of his performances on TV and have heard a lot of his interviews and have read a lot of interviews he's given and those are the only things a person can legitimately go by when attempting to write about him. Some people, who get way too personal, assume negative criticisms must certainly hurt Ray's feelings. Although none of us like to see negative commentary written about Ray the fact is he's been in the music business for awhile. If negative criticisms really ate at him or caused any kind of depression or sadness there's no way he would've been able to survive in the music business as long as he has.
Thick skins and backbones are a prerequisite, it seems, in sustaining longevity based upon things I've read from those who've seen the bad side of fame and it's pitfalls but have rebounded and triumphed through sheer talent and strength. The bottom line is just because a critic or two, or three, decides to roast and skewer something Ray Stevens has said or done it doesn't mean you, the fan, should feel that the criticisms bother him in any kind of way.
Ray Stevens and the O'Reilly Factor...
The latest music video from Ray Stevens, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", was highlighted on The O'Reilly Factor a couple days ago during one of the program's signature segments. This marks the fourth time that one of Ray's music video's have gotten a mention on the #1 cable-news program in America. Previous mentions were for "God Save Arizona", "Come to the USA", and "We the People".
The highlight is 30 seconds long and it shows a snippet of the music video as you can tell from the video embed above. I had missed the segment apparently by several minutes because Monday night, when this mention occurred, I had changed channels to get an update on a college basketball game on a local channel and afterward I left the living room and came back on the computer...obviously if I had seen this segment Monday night I would've made mention of it that night. The highlight is an example of one of those kind of unexpected gifts.
Ray appeared on The O'Reilly Factor in 2010 to discuss "We the People" and politics in general. O'Reilly had, in a previous episode, highlighted Ray's web-page, causing it to go off-line due to the barrage of hits that the site undertook. When Ray appeared several weeks later he thanked O'Reilly for causing the site to crash because it shown the power of national publicity and how one mention on a TV show could cause hundreds of thousands of people to attempt to access a web-page at the same time.
Meanwhile, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" music video has gotten over 40,000 hits as of this writing. The most recent hit total is 40,981. The song had it's biggest impact to date on Amazon early on Tuesday morning as the Mp3 download experienced a meteoric jump to #17 on Amazon's best-seller list for comedy Mp3 singles. Each hour the single was rising and rising...one hour it was #48, the next #36, and then the next hour it was #17, then the next hour #19. It leap-frogged up and down the Mp3 comedy single list throughout Tuesday afternoon and into the evening. This activity was largely due, in my opinion, to the mention of the song/video on The O'Reilly Factor.
The highlight is 30 seconds long and it shows a snippet of the music video as you can tell from the video embed above. I had missed the segment apparently by several minutes because Monday night, when this mention occurred, I had changed channels to get an update on a college basketball game on a local channel and afterward I left the living room and came back on the computer...obviously if I had seen this segment Monday night I would've made mention of it that night. The highlight is an example of one of those kind of unexpected gifts.
Ray appeared on The O'Reilly Factor in 2010 to discuss "We the People" and politics in general. O'Reilly had, in a previous episode, highlighted Ray's web-page, causing it to go off-line due to the barrage of hits that the site undertook. When Ray appeared several weeks later he thanked O'Reilly for causing the site to crash because it shown the power of national publicity and how one mention on a TV show could cause hundreds of thousands of people to attempt to access a web-page at the same time.
Meanwhile, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" music video has gotten over 40,000 hits as of this writing. The most recent hit total is 40,981. The song had it's biggest impact to date on Amazon early on Tuesday morning as the Mp3 download experienced a meteoric jump to #17 on Amazon's best-seller list for comedy Mp3 singles. Each hour the single was rising and rising...one hour it was #48, the next #36, and then the next hour it was #17, then the next hour #19. It leap-frogged up and down the Mp3 comedy single list throughout Tuesday afternoon and into the evening. This activity was largely due, in my opinion, to the mention of the song/video on The O'Reilly Factor.
February 22, 2011
Ray Stevens and the TSA, Part 7...
Good Tuesday morning all Ray Stevens fans! Throughout the night I was keeping track of the You Tube video hits of "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" and the numbers kept on flying higher and higher. At one point the play total was 20,110...another time the number was up to 23,859...and just a few minutes ago the most recent play total for the video was up to 31,649!! If all of this wasn't great enough I also discovered that the Mp3 digital single of "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" had cracked the Top-100 of Amazon's comedy single chart. 2 hours ago it was sitting at #48, 1 hour ago it had jumped to #36, and this hour it's sitting at #17! I'd been monitoring the Amazon rankings since the single became available back on February 8th, checking the product page a couple of times each day, and this was the first time it had been ranked on a Top-100 best-seller list. Coincidentally today marks the second week of commercial availability of the song which spoofs the TSA.
As the single and the music video continue to fly into the stratosphere of success it's worth mentioning that the mainstream music critics haven't really discovered the song yet. We all know the routine when it comes to a lot of the mainstream critics...prepare to see negative criticisms that label the song 'flighty', for example. Also, I can picture some of them using the expression 'I hope the song crashes and burns'.
It's scary when even I can predict how critics will react to something!!
Maybe a lot of the critics will surprise us and drop their preconceived negative idea's of who they think Ray Stevens is and listen to the song with an open mind? I don't think that will happen, either, so don't anyone out there hold their breath.
As the single and the music video continue to fly into the stratosphere of success it's worth mentioning that the mainstream music critics haven't really discovered the song yet. We all know the routine when it comes to a lot of the mainstream critics...prepare to see negative criticisms that label the song 'flighty', for example. Also, I can picture some of them using the expression 'I hope the song crashes and burns'.
It's scary when even I can predict how critics will react to something!!
Maybe a lot of the critics will surprise us and drop their preconceived negative idea's of who they think Ray Stevens is and listen to the song with an open mind? I don't think that will happen, either, so don't anyone out there hold their breath.
February 21, 2011
Ray Stevens...Critical Reaction, Part 5...
One of my scans is this image of Ray Stevens. It's from my cassette copy of Collector's Series which was released in 1985. As most dedicated/hard-core fans of Ray Stevens are aware the Collector's Series features 8 songs that Ray recorded during his brief stay at RCA in the early '80s. This title resurfaced in 1987 with a slightly different appearance and a song switch. 1985's release features Ray's 1981 love ballad, "One More Last Chance", while the 1987 re-issue replaces that ballad with a comical song Ray recorded in 1980, "Put It In Your Ear". The 1987 re-issue was re-issued once again in 1992 but this time around in CD form. The 1985 original release was available on vinyl and cassette, as was the 1987 re-issue. Only the 1992 re-issue emerged in CD format. As I've touched upon in previous blog entries this collection continues to remain the only commercial release featuring exclusively RCA material outside of the original studio album releases in 1980, 1981, 1982. Whether it's a copyright issue or contractual issues...it's always been a mystery as to why in the modern era his RCA recordings have yet to receive a proper showing on CD or Mp3. I'd love to see his RCA studio albums remastered and re-issued on CD...complete with liner notes or something like that...perhaps personal reflections from Ray himself!?! 1985 track-list:
1. Shriner's Convention; 1980
2. You're Never Goin' To Tampa With Me; 1980
3. Country Boy, Country Club Girl; 1982
4. Where the Sun Don't Shine; 1982
5. The Dooright Family; 1980
6. Let's Do It Right This Time; 1981
7. One More Last Chance; 1981
8. Why Don't We Go Somewhere and Make Love; 1982
1987 track-list:
1. Shriner's Convention; 1980
2. You're Never Goin' To Tampa With Me; 1980
3. Country Boy, Country Club Girl; 1982
4. Where the Sun Don't Shine; 1982
5. The Dooright Family; 1980
6. Let's Do It Right This Time; 1981
7. Why Don't We Go Somewhere and Make Love; 1982
8. Put It In Your Ear; 1980
Meanwhile, the recent music video release from Ray Stevens about the TSA and airport security, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", has risen to 18,006 hits on You Tube. The video, as I've touched upon before, gets more hits than the numbers indicate due to the simple fact that it takes time to update play totals when video's are consistently getting played somewhere all over the world. As of now You Tube shows 18,006 as the play total for the video...and I'm sure thousands have watched it since that number was posted...so there's never going to be an exact play total because when it comes to tracking a viral music video the numbers are constantly going to be rising (much like the debt, deficit, and fuel prices).
February 20, 2011
Ray Stevens...Critical Reaction, Part 4...
In my previous blog entry, when I was writing about the latest You Tube numbers for "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", I wrote this: "The actual total is 7,661. It may obtain 10,000 plays at some point next week!". Obviously I was being modest...a check on the most recent numbers reveal 10,909 to be the play count for the music video. Given that we're approaching the 3-day period of this video's availability on You Tube and with it already well over 10,000+ hits it should be a quick climb into the 50,000 level and then the hundred thousand level.
His previous music video, the seasonal "Nightmare Before Christmas", has gotten 96,140 hits in a 3-month time period. If I recall correctly it was a slow climb to even reach 50,000 plays for that particular music video. I don't expect a lot of activity for that music video to really pick up again until, of course, Christmas season 2011. The thing that was obviously missing last time around was widespread sharing on social network and blog sites. There wasn't a timely national issue featured in the song...only a commentary on political correctness which has been debated steadily since the early '90s.
You Tube wasn't around in 1997 when the song was originally recorded and there weren't any comical music videos made at that time of any of the songs from Christmas Through a Different Window, the CD in which the song originates. So, fast-forward to 2010, and a music video is made of the 13 year old song. It's a funny music video all the same and although political correctness is a continuing nuisance in our culture it's not exactly at the forefront of everyone's minds unlike some of the other issues of the day...such as invasive screening at airports all over the country, spoofed in "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore"...or illegal immigration which is dealt with in both the serious "God Save Arizona" and the comical "Come to the USA".
I'd put "The Global Warming Song" in the same category as "Nightmare Before Christmas" in that each music video deals with a hot-button issue but in either case the issue isn't at the top of the priority list and therefore their You Tube plays suffered somewhat. The video about global warming has gotten 91,669 plays since it's debut on June 29, 2010. Should any of Obama's environmental or energy plans get passed and signed into law at some point I expect "The Global Warming Song" to get much more rigorous publicity the second time around.
Although they're not singled out in the lyrics it's the EPA who are pushing the idea of global warming...aided by several media outlets. The EPA, at it's core, is a well-intentioned agency much like the TSA...but like the TSA, the EPA becomes the face of whatever goes on in their specific field whether they're directly or indirectly involved or not. Like the TSA, the EPA was founded by a Republican Administration. It was the Nixon White House that created the EPA...but I'm quite certain that it wasn't meant to get in cahoots with media outlets in an effort to brainwash the citizens of the country into feeling guilty if we don't "go green" or if we don't go to outrageous lengths to "save the planet from destruction".
NBC, from things that I've noticed, blatantly panders to the environmentalists...the network paints their peacock logo green whenever some environmental program or event is taking place. I may be wrong but I don't think those kinds of hyperbolic worries and fears, or media involvement, were on the minds of the Nixon Administration when the EPA was in the planning stages.
Those reading this blog, if you hadn't done so already, should seek out information about climate change, global warming, or the Cap and Trade concept to fully understand the humor in "The Global Warming Song". I'm not suggesting any of you should spend hours upon hours researching those environmental and energy topics but just a glimpse into those particular issues will certainly enable you to understand/appreciate the song's humor much better than you perhaps already do.
His previous music video, the seasonal "Nightmare Before Christmas", has gotten 96,140 hits in a 3-month time period. If I recall correctly it was a slow climb to even reach 50,000 plays for that particular music video. I don't expect a lot of activity for that music video to really pick up again until, of course, Christmas season 2011. The thing that was obviously missing last time around was widespread sharing on social network and blog sites. There wasn't a timely national issue featured in the song...only a commentary on political correctness which has been debated steadily since the early '90s.
You Tube wasn't around in 1997 when the song was originally recorded and there weren't any comical music videos made at that time of any of the songs from Christmas Through a Different Window, the CD in which the song originates. So, fast-forward to 2010, and a music video is made of the 13 year old song. It's a funny music video all the same and although political correctness is a continuing nuisance in our culture it's not exactly at the forefront of everyone's minds unlike some of the other issues of the day...such as invasive screening at airports all over the country, spoofed in "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore"...or illegal immigration which is dealt with in both the serious "God Save Arizona" and the comical "Come to the USA".
I'd put "The Global Warming Song" in the same category as "Nightmare Before Christmas" in that each music video deals with a hot-button issue but in either case the issue isn't at the top of the priority list and therefore their You Tube plays suffered somewhat. The video about global warming has gotten 91,669 plays since it's debut on June 29, 2010. Should any of Obama's environmental or energy plans get passed and signed into law at some point I expect "The Global Warming Song" to get much more rigorous publicity the second time around.
Although they're not singled out in the lyrics it's the EPA who are pushing the idea of global warming...aided by several media outlets. The EPA, at it's core, is a well-intentioned agency much like the TSA...but like the TSA, the EPA becomes the face of whatever goes on in their specific field whether they're directly or indirectly involved or not. Like the TSA, the EPA was founded by a Republican Administration. It was the Nixon White House that created the EPA...but I'm quite certain that it wasn't meant to get in cahoots with media outlets in an effort to brainwash the citizens of the country into feeling guilty if we don't "go green" or if we don't go to outrageous lengths to "save the planet from destruction".
NBC, from things that I've noticed, blatantly panders to the environmentalists...the network paints their peacock logo green whenever some environmental program or event is taking place. I may be wrong but I don't think those kinds of hyperbolic worries and fears, or media involvement, were on the minds of the Nixon Administration when the EPA was in the planning stages.
Those reading this blog, if you hadn't done so already, should seek out information about climate change, global warming, or the Cap and Trade concept to fully understand the humor in "The Global Warming Song". I'm not suggesting any of you should spend hours upon hours researching those environmental and energy topics but just a glimpse into those particular issues will certainly enable you to understand/appreciate the song's humor much better than you perhaps already do.
February 18, 2011
Ray Stevens and the TSA, Part 5...
Ray's interview on KSCJ radio this morning was great, I think. The host of the show, Randy Renshaw, brought up several obscure recordings that Ray performed and this allowed Ray to talk about his early years and the kind of radio he grew up listening to.
Ray was describing a "Top-40" station where all formats were played on the same radio station and that there wasn't a specific format geared to each and every station like there is now. Ray also spoke about the upcoming Encyclopedia of Comedy Songs and made it clear that he wasn't going to be re-creating any stand-up routines [such as those performed by Jonathan Winters, Foster Brooks, Bill Cosby, etc. etc.] and that the collection would be nothing but music driven. Ray commented about 'Ray Stevens Backstage', the premium feature at his web-site, and he remarked that he and his associates stay pretty busy in the recording and, or, video studio.
The radio host asked about the change in direction from pop/country to political music and what was the feedback from the public in general. Ray remarked that he can't help it if some may not like his political direction...he commented that it's his decision and those who support it, support it...and those who don't, don't. He spoke about C-PAC and the host brought up any ideas of becoming a political commentator on news programs as a second career. Ray said he never really thought about that but the idea sounded good.
The interview on KDWN just wrapped up minutes ago and in this particular interview Heidi Harris interviewed Ray and asked about the TSA and she played a clip of "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore". As a fan of Ray Stevens, as I am, you've got to be thrilled with all the attention the song's getting. The music video's gotten even more plays...currently it's sitting at 1,894 which is an increase of over 1,500 from my blog post last evening.
At one point in the KDWN interview Ray and the host discussed the TSA's commentary about the images of the full-body scans never being made public and yet they were leaked and made their way onto the internet. Ray talks about "The Streak" and "Ahab the Arab", too. The host complimented Ray for still being in fine voice after all this time. He credits it to never having been a smoker. By the way, the host opened the segment playing a bit of "Ahab the Arab" and she closed the segment playing a clip of "The Streak".
Up next, as of now, on the Ray Stevens radio interview tour will be a February 22 radio interview on The Dennis Miller Show. The reason I say "as of now" is because additional radio interviews could pop-up prior to the twenty-second...one never knows...but for now the next one will be with Dennis Miller on February 22. Several days later there will be an XM satellite radio interview on February 25 conducted by Charlie Monk on The Roadhouse program. Satellite radio is a premium service so the content is exclusive.
Ray was describing a "Top-40" station where all formats were played on the same radio station and that there wasn't a specific format geared to each and every station like there is now. Ray also spoke about the upcoming Encyclopedia of Comedy Songs and made it clear that he wasn't going to be re-creating any stand-up routines [such as those performed by Jonathan Winters, Foster Brooks, Bill Cosby, etc. etc.] and that the collection would be nothing but music driven. Ray commented about 'Ray Stevens Backstage', the premium feature at his web-site, and he remarked that he and his associates stay pretty busy in the recording and, or, video studio.
The radio host asked about the change in direction from pop/country to political music and what was the feedback from the public in general. Ray remarked that he can't help it if some may not like his political direction...he commented that it's his decision and those who support it, support it...and those who don't, don't. He spoke about C-PAC and the host brought up any ideas of becoming a political commentator on news programs as a second career. Ray said he never really thought about that but the idea sounded good.
The interview on KDWN just wrapped up minutes ago and in this particular interview Heidi Harris interviewed Ray and asked about the TSA and she played a clip of "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore". As a fan of Ray Stevens, as I am, you've got to be thrilled with all the attention the song's getting. The music video's gotten even more plays...currently it's sitting at 1,894 which is an increase of over 1,500 from my blog post last evening.
At one point in the KDWN interview Ray and the host discussed the TSA's commentary about the images of the full-body scans never being made public and yet they were leaked and made their way onto the internet. Ray talks about "The Streak" and "Ahab the Arab", too. The host complimented Ray for still being in fine voice after all this time. He credits it to never having been a smoker. By the way, the host opened the segment playing a bit of "Ahab the Arab" and she closed the segment playing a clip of "The Streak".
Up next, as of now, on the Ray Stevens radio interview tour will be a February 22 radio interview on The Dennis Miller Show. The reason I say "as of now" is because additional radio interviews could pop-up prior to the twenty-second...one never knows...but for now the next one will be with Dennis Miller on February 22. Several days later there will be an XM satellite radio interview on February 25 conducted by Charlie Monk on The Roadhouse program. Satellite radio is a premium service so the content is exclusive.
February 17, 2011
Ray Stevens: The TSA music video...
What a wonderful treat Thursday turned out to be! Due to time zone issues I was unable to stay awake today and hear Ray's interview on radio station WSGI in Tennessee. The interview took place at 1pm central time which is 2pm here in the eastern time zone and given that I work nights I couldn't stay awake to catch it. If I had known ahead of time when the interview was to take place I could've gotten some sleep earlier in the day...but...when I woke up this evening I discovered that Ray had uploaded the much anticipated music video of his TSA song, "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore".
The video, in my opinion, is quite hilarious. It's surely going to become another mega viral hit on You Tube. On Twitter it's been tweeted and shared and re-tweeted throughout much of the afternoon by various Tea Party and conservative bloggers in addition to Ray's core fan-base who've supported him for years. I don't know the name of the woman playing the airline passenger ahead of Ray and "Charlene". I know that Sabrina plays the role of Charlene and that Ray's longtime songwriting partner and business associate, Buddy Kalb, plays the role of the security agent. If you want to see the video on a much larger scale click the following video link and it'll take you to the video's page at You Tube. As most of you know, I don't embed videos at their original size simply because they're way too large to fit within the space provided and would mess up other features of the blog page and cause the page to load slower...therefore I re-size the videos.
On Friday morning February 18th (that's TOMORROW!) Ray will be interviewed on two radio stations. The first station, KSCJ, will have an interview at 9:30am Central time, 10:30am Eastern. The second station, KDWN, will have an interview an hour later at 8:30am Pacific, 10:30am Central, 11:30am Eastern. Those two interviews I'll definitely hear...they air earlier in the day, of course. KDWN is in Las Vegas...I'm sure Harry Reid will become a topic of conversation during the interview. The show's host is Heidi Harris. KSCJ is located in Sioux City, Iowa. Ray will be calling the Open Line program with Randy Renshaw. In both instances you can listen live from their web-site's.
KSCJ radio
KDWN radio
The video, in my opinion, is quite hilarious. It's surely going to become another mega viral hit on You Tube. On Twitter it's been tweeted and shared and re-tweeted throughout much of the afternoon by various Tea Party and conservative bloggers in addition to Ray's core fan-base who've supported him for years. I don't know the name of the woman playing the airline passenger ahead of Ray and "Charlene". I know that Sabrina plays the role of Charlene and that Ray's longtime songwriting partner and business associate, Buddy Kalb, plays the role of the security agent. If you want to see the video on a much larger scale click the following video link and it'll take you to the video's page at You Tube. As most of you know, I don't embed videos at their original size simply because they're way too large to fit within the space provided and would mess up other features of the blog page and cause the page to load slower...therefore I re-size the videos.
On Friday morning February 18th (that's TOMORROW!) Ray will be interviewed on two radio stations. The first station, KSCJ, will have an interview at 9:30am Central time, 10:30am Eastern. The second station, KDWN, will have an interview an hour later at 8:30am Pacific, 10:30am Central, 11:30am Eastern. Those two interviews I'll definitely hear...they air earlier in the day, of course. KDWN is in Las Vegas...I'm sure Harry Reid will become a topic of conversation during the interview. The show's host is Heidi Harris. KSCJ is located in Sioux City, Iowa. Ray will be calling the Open Line program with Randy Renshaw. In both instances you can listen live from their web-site's.
KSCJ radio
KDWN radio
February 14, 2011
Ray Stevens and the TSA, Part 4...
Good Valentine's Day morning...I'm not a romantic so I'll jump to the main topic of today's blog entry: Ray Stevens, of course!
Ray called radio station WHO-AM this morning and did an interview with Jan Mickelson. This radio station, located in Iowa, is the #1 talk-radio station in the area. Ray was asked if he were a class-clown while in school and then the conversation turned to C-PAC. Ray commented that he enjoyed being there and was thrilled over the reception that his TSA song had gotten from the audience. The host asked about politics in general and Ray remarked that he has always held what he calls common sense beliefs but it wasn't until decades later that he realized that conservatism mirrored what he saw as common sense approaches to a lot of political and social causes. Mickelson brings up Ross Perot and plays a snippet of "Sucking Sound" and then the conversation switches to You Tube, on-line music, and conventional music buying. Today's episode should be available in the archive section of the host's web-page at some point today so you can hear the actual interview for yourselves.
About an hour before Ray called WHO radio this morning another interview, this one conducted by Christian Toto, surfaced on-line at Big Hollywood, a web-site operated by Andrew Breitbart. This particular interview featured more discussion about the TSA song he's currently promoting and the interviewer commented that a music video to that TSA song, officially called "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", will be available on You Tube soon. The interview can be found by clicking the Big Hollywood link.
Ray called radio station WHO-AM this morning and did an interview with Jan Mickelson. This radio station, located in Iowa, is the #1 talk-radio station in the area. Ray was asked if he were a class-clown while in school and then the conversation turned to C-PAC. Ray commented that he enjoyed being there and was thrilled over the reception that his TSA song had gotten from the audience. The host asked about politics in general and Ray remarked that he has always held what he calls common sense beliefs but it wasn't until decades later that he realized that conservatism mirrored what he saw as common sense approaches to a lot of political and social causes. Mickelson brings up Ross Perot and plays a snippet of "Sucking Sound" and then the conversation switches to You Tube, on-line music, and conventional music buying. Today's episode should be available in the archive section of the host's web-page at some point today so you can hear the actual interview for yourselves.
About an hour before Ray called WHO radio this morning another interview, this one conducted by Christian Toto, surfaced on-line at Big Hollywood, a web-site operated by Andrew Breitbart. This particular interview featured more discussion about the TSA song he's currently promoting and the interviewer commented that a music video to that TSA song, officially called "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", will be available on You Tube soon. The interview can be found by clicking the Big Hollywood link.
February 13, 2011
Ray Stevens and the TSA, Part 3...
This looks to be the big impact week for "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore", referred to as The TSA song, as Ray Stevens embarks on another series of radio interviews...this time on WHO-AM, KIOD-FM, and WSGI-AM. The CD and Mp3 single were released commercially this past Tuesday but there's not actually been much of a push surrounding the song's availability and I believe these next wave of radio interviews will mark the beginning of the heavy promotion for the song.
On February 14th Ray Stevens will call-in to the Jan Mickelson program on WHO-AM radio in Des Moines, Iowa. The program runs 2 hours and 30 minutes. The link offers information about the program as well as a listen live option. According to his web-page it appears that his episodes are archived and so Ray's call-in should become part of the archives and if that happens it'll be available for repeated listens. Mickelson's show airs from 9am-11:30pm Central (10am-12:30pm Eastern).
On February 15th Ray will call the Snoozbuster Morning Show which is heard on the Top-40 Country music station KIOD-FM in McCook, Nebraska. Their radio station, as far as I could see, doesn't offer a listen live feature and so this interview more than likely will be exclusive to those in the McCook, Nebraska listening area. Anyone who lives in that locale and are fans of Ray Stevens should try and catch the interview. The morning show airs 6am to 9am Central (7am-10am Eastern).
On February 17th Ray will call Steve Jarrell on WSGI-AM radio in Springfield, Tennessee. Their web-page offers a listen live option and Jarrell's program airs from 10am-3pm Central time (11am-4pm Eastern).
There is no information given indicating the specific times in which Ray will call those various radio shows but judging from previous radio call-in's the hosts often wait until the last half hour or last hour to feature musical guests and celebrities...but don't assume that this is the case every time. Some hosts may feature Ray at the beginning of a program or the middle of a program so it's always best to tune in the entire broadcast. I frequent Ray's message board at his official web-page and I often start topics about his latest releases and today is no different. I started this topic to chronicle "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" and give updates about whatever I see written in the media or if ever a music video gets uploaded I post You Tube play totals every so often.
On February 14th Ray Stevens will call-in to the Jan Mickelson program on WHO-AM radio in Des Moines, Iowa. The program runs 2 hours and 30 minutes. The link offers information about the program as well as a listen live option. According to his web-page it appears that his episodes are archived and so Ray's call-in should become part of the archives and if that happens it'll be available for repeated listens. Mickelson's show airs from 9am-11:30pm Central (10am-12:30pm Eastern).
On February 15th Ray will call the Snoozbuster Morning Show which is heard on the Top-40 Country music station KIOD-FM in McCook, Nebraska. Their radio station, as far as I could see, doesn't offer a listen live feature and so this interview more than likely will be exclusive to those in the McCook, Nebraska listening area. Anyone who lives in that locale and are fans of Ray Stevens should try and catch the interview. The morning show airs 6am to 9am Central (7am-10am Eastern).
On February 17th Ray will call Steve Jarrell on WSGI-AM radio in Springfield, Tennessee. Their web-page offers a listen live option and Jarrell's program airs from 10am-3pm Central time (11am-4pm Eastern).
There is no information given indicating the specific times in which Ray will call those various radio shows but judging from previous radio call-in's the hosts often wait until the last half hour or last hour to feature musical guests and celebrities...but don't assume that this is the case every time. Some hosts may feature Ray at the beginning of a program or the middle of a program so it's always best to tune in the entire broadcast. I frequent Ray's message board at his official web-page and I often start topics about his latest releases and today is no different. I started this topic to chronicle "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" and give updates about whatever I see written in the media or if ever a music video gets uploaded I post You Tube play totals every so often.
February 12, 2011
Ray Stevens: Nostalgia Valley, Part 20...
As I write this blog Ray should be back in Nashville or on his way back to Nashville after a successful appearance in Washington, D.C. over the weekend at C-PAC. He performed three songs while there as I mentioned in a previous blog entry. I'm looking forward to whatever comes of "The Skies Just Ain't Friendly Anymore" as far as a music video is concerned. Judging from several previous releases the audio version of the song gets released first and later on a music video emerges. Ray is also suppose to continue making the rounds on radio stations giving call-in interviews. I suppose these radio interviews will pick up again once a CD collection gets released or a music video gets uploaded...
Meanwhile...
In Ray Stevens history 5 years ago, 2006, Curb Records issued two DVD releases of limited animation music videos from Ray. The collections are called Gourmet Restaurant and Teenage Mutant Kung Fu Chickens. 10 years ago, 2001, Ray issued the single "Osama Yo' Mama" which ultimately became the name of his top-selling 2002 Curb Records CD. 15 years ago, 1996, Ray's direct-to-video movie, Get Serious, was released to retail stores for the first time and would go on to spend almost half a year on the video chart in Billboard. Curb Records issues Great Gospel Songs which is actually a re-release of his 1972 gospel album with a few additional songs added. 20 years ago, 1991, Ray opened up his theater in Branson, Missouri and helped popularize the tourism industry in that area for 3 consecutive seasons. 25 years ago, 1986, Ray won his first of 9 consecutive Music City News Comedian of the Year awards. His 1985 comedy album, I Have Returned, reached the #1 slot on Billboard's Country Albums chart in 1986.
A single released by Ray 25 years ago in 1986 spoofed a well-known television program which went by the name of The People's Court. At the time of this recording the show was an established hit and Judge Wapner had the same sort of public fame and recognition as Judge Judy would have decades later. In this song the court room programs blend together as elements of The People's Court and Divorce Court combine. One element from Divorce Court, the soft-spoken narration by Jim Peck, is spoofed in Ray's recording. As far as the defendant and plaintiff Ray portrays Arlo and his wife, Myrna Louise. The wife is accused of becoming obsessed with the likes of exercising, health food consumption, and general neglect of her duties as a wife. Arlo, who runs a convenience store, has a difficult time changing his ways which causes friction with the wife who simply wants her husband to be healthy. The Judge grills Arlo and asks if a lot of the outrageous claims from Myrna Louise is true...to which Arlo gleefully admits to. You all can probably guess who the court sides with. Toward the end of the song each of them are "interviewed" by the court reporter and Arlo offers poignant advice about future marital endeavors.
Meanwhile...
30 years ago, 1981, Ray appeared on the soap opera, Texas, and was still genuinely promoting himself as a "singer of serious songs" with the release of One More Last Chance on RCA which featured his late 1980 hit, "Night Games". 1981 was also the year Ray's voice could be heard all over the world in movie theaters as he was picked to sing the theme song of the all-star ensemble comedy movie, Cannonball Run. Ray is heard singing "Cannonball" during the opening credits and during race scenes at various spots in the movie in addition to singing the ballad, "Just for the Hell of It", during a love scene. 35 years ago, 1976, Ray signed with Warner Brothers and had a string of hit singles culminating in the late 1976 release of "In The Mood", clucked like a choir of chickens. Earlier in 1976 Ray won a Grammy in the Best Arrangement category for his 1975 recording of "Misty".
40 years ago, 1971, Ray kicked off that year having a huge hit in England about a small woman named Bridget...Ray's hilarious "Bridget the Midget (The Queen of the Blues)" hit late in 1970, actually, but it didn't have it's impact until early 1971 where it reached the Top-50 on the America Hot 100 and the runner-up slot on the U.K. music chart. Later in 1971 he began a series of gospel releases: "All My Trials" and "A Mama and a Papa". Each of these songs would reach the Adult-Contemporary Top-10 while a late 1971 release, "Turn Your Radio On", would reach the Country Top-20 and serve as the title of his 1972 gospel album. 45 years ago, 1966, Ray reached the Hot 100 with "Freddie Feelgood" but most of his activity was behind the scenes producing/arranging and or playing on sessions by other artists on the Monument label. 50 years ago, 1961, Ray reached the Top-40 for the first time with the comical "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick Dissolving Fast Acting Pleasant Tasting Green and Purple Pills".
23 years ago this month, February 1988, Ray Stevens found himself the focus of a column written by the late Paul Harvey. The column dealt with the public image and perception of religious figures in the wake of the televangelist scandals. Ray's single, "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?", had long since reached it's peak by the time this column was written but the song was still getting exposure from those discovering it month's after it's original release. Paul's column and earlier mentions of it on his radio commentaries wasn't the only non-country music exposure afforded to Ray's song, either. The song found it's way into the pages of Newsweek as well as discussion on The Tonight Show and other pop-culture forums. The song was nominated for a Grammy in 1988, too!
The song hit during the spring of 1987...specifically the first week of May...and as you can see nearly a year after it's peak in the summer of 1987 it was still a topic of conversation on into 1988. Chet Atkins and Margaret Archer wrote the song and it appeared originally on Ray's 1987 album, Crackin' Up.
Meanwhile...
In Ray Stevens history 5 years ago, 2006, Curb Records issued two DVD releases of limited animation music videos from Ray. The collections are called Gourmet Restaurant and Teenage Mutant Kung Fu Chickens. 10 years ago, 2001, Ray issued the single "Osama Yo' Mama" which ultimately became the name of his top-selling 2002 Curb Records CD. 15 years ago, 1996, Ray's direct-to-video movie, Get Serious, was released to retail stores for the first time and would go on to spend almost half a year on the video chart in Billboard. Curb Records issues Great Gospel Songs which is actually a re-release of his 1972 gospel album with a few additional songs added. 20 years ago, 1991, Ray opened up his theater in Branson, Missouri and helped popularize the tourism industry in that area for 3 consecutive seasons. 25 years ago, 1986, Ray won his first of 9 consecutive Music City News Comedian of the Year awards. His 1985 comedy album, I Have Returned, reached the #1 slot on Billboard's Country Albums chart in 1986.
A single released by Ray 25 years ago in 1986 spoofed a well-known television program which went by the name of The People's Court. At the time of this recording the show was an established hit and Judge Wapner had the same sort of public fame and recognition as Judge Judy would have decades later. In this song the court room programs blend together as elements of The People's Court and Divorce Court combine. One element from Divorce Court, the soft-spoken narration by Jim Peck, is spoofed in Ray's recording. As far as the defendant and plaintiff Ray portrays Arlo and his wife, Myrna Louise. The wife is accused of becoming obsessed with the likes of exercising, health food consumption, and general neglect of her duties as a wife. Arlo, who runs a convenience store, has a difficult time changing his ways which causes friction with the wife who simply wants her husband to be healthy. The Judge grills Arlo and asks if a lot of the outrageous claims from Myrna Louise is true...to which Arlo gleefully admits to. You all can probably guess who the court sides with. Toward the end of the song each of them are "interviewed" by the court reporter and Arlo offers poignant advice about future marital endeavors.Meanwhile...
30 years ago, 1981, Ray appeared on the soap opera, Texas, and was still genuinely promoting himself as a "singer of serious songs" with the release of One More Last Chance on RCA which featured his late 1980 hit, "Night Games". 1981 was also the year Ray's voice could be heard all over the world in movie theaters as he was picked to sing the theme song of the all-star ensemble comedy movie, Cannonball Run. Ray is heard singing "Cannonball" during the opening credits and during race scenes at various spots in the movie in addition to singing the ballad, "Just for the Hell of It", during a love scene. 35 years ago, 1976, Ray signed with Warner Brothers and had a string of hit singles culminating in the late 1976 release of "In The Mood", clucked like a choir of chickens. Earlier in 1976 Ray won a Grammy in the Best Arrangement category for his 1975 recording of "Misty".
40 years ago, 1971, Ray kicked off that year having a huge hit in England about a small woman named Bridget...Ray's hilarious "Bridget the Midget (The Queen of the Blues)" hit late in 1970, actually, but it didn't have it's impact until early 1971 where it reached the Top-50 on the America Hot 100 and the runner-up slot on the U.K. music chart. Later in 1971 he began a series of gospel releases: "All My Trials" and "A Mama and a Papa". Each of these songs would reach the Adult-Contemporary Top-10 while a late 1971 release, "Turn Your Radio On", would reach the Country Top-20 and serve as the title of his 1972 gospel album. 45 years ago, 1966, Ray reached the Hot 100 with "Freddie Feelgood" but most of his activity was behind the scenes producing/arranging and or playing on sessions by other artists on the Monument label. 50 years ago, 1961, Ray reached the Top-40 for the first time with the comical "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick Dissolving Fast Acting Pleasant Tasting Green and Purple Pills".
23 years ago this month, February 1988, Ray Stevens found himself the focus of a column written by the late Paul Harvey. The column dealt with the public image and perception of religious figures in the wake of the televangelist scandals. Ray's single, "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex?", had long since reached it's peak by the time this column was written but the song was still getting exposure from those discovering it month's after it's original release. Paul's column and earlier mentions of it on his radio commentaries wasn't the only non-country music exposure afforded to Ray's song, either. The song found it's way into the pages of Newsweek as well as discussion on The Tonight Show and other pop-culture forums. The song was nominated for a Grammy in 1988, too!
The song hit during the spring of 1987...specifically the first week of May...and as you can see nearly a year after it's peak in the summer of 1987 it was still a topic of conversation on into 1988. Chet Atkins and Margaret Archer wrote the song and it appeared originally on Ray's 1987 album, Crackin' Up.
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