11.21.07Howdy y'all,
We started CIMS in May of 1995. In the Fall of that year, I was invited by
Joe McFadden, a very early supporter, to go and be on a panel at the CEMA
convention in Montreal. I had been to NARM (to be mostly ignored) and was
excited to be around all of these national level industry people. CIMS had
yet to do its first project but there was an awareness that it was starting
soon thanks to some great press.
At the time, friends of mine managed a great Birmingham band named Brother
Cane. I was a very interested observer in what all was going on with that
band. Everyone was a friend in that camp. So, being naïve, I called the
managers and told them Brother Cane was barely mentioned in the Virgin
product presentation. Being new to the national scene, I was quick to point
out what I thought was wrong. Sometimes I was wrong and sometimes it got my
ass in hot water. Both were true in this instance.
I think I recall the band's management letting the product manager at Virgin
know that they had a report from inside the convention that their part of
the presentation was underwhelming. This is when I came face to face with
Joyce Castagnola for the first time. I definitely knew who she was already.
My friend had let me listen to her on the speaker phone. I was petrified.
So, she ended up only nipping me a little on the leg and let me go. I guess
she sized me up as not worth a full on lecture. Maybe she could tell I was
about to cry.
A month later, Terry Currier and I were struggling to come up with exactly
what this CIMS thing was supposed to do. We knew we wanted to "adopt" a band
and make a different. We also knew we wanted to charge a chunk of change for
all of the effort the stores were putting into said adoption. We had to find
a title that the stores would applaud and embrace and we had to find a label
willing to be a guinea pig.
Terry scoured the release schedule and suggested that we get behind Ben
Harper. He had a new album coming out called "Fight for Your Mind". Dude, I
loved that idea. I loved Ben's first record and knew my own store would kill
with the new one. I am kicking my heals at the brilliance of starting things
with CIMS by working with this great artist.
Ben Harper is on Virgin. Oh shit..... Joyce Castagnola!!! I was going to
have to sell my first CIMS job with Joyce. I sat on it for a few days. I
finally called Terry and admitted my child like fear of JOYCE. Terry said,
oh she is a sweet heart and he would be glad to call her. Fifteen minutes
later, he called back and said she was thrilled and gladly accepted our
offer of support. For many reasons, the title sold more the first month than
the life of the first record. A home run right off the bat for us.
Over the years, Joyce Castagnola became a great friend of our group. She has
retired from the game now but there is still much love for her support of
our CIMS.
On December 4th, we are releasing Ben Harper "Live at Twist and Shout". It
is a six song CD with a six song DVD. We went pro all the way recording this
indie retail exclusive. This release will mark 12 plus years of working with
Ben Harper's artistry. We thank the hard work of Wayne Green from
Everloving, Dominic Pandiscia from Virgin and calmer than Joyce, Mike Drumm
from Music Link and of course, Paul Epstein and Dawn Greaney from Twist. I
can say that this is exactly the kind of stuff Joyce hoped we would be
doing.
Watch a clip from Ben Harper "Live at Twist and Shout" here. Buy a copy for
someone for Christmas. It is really great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btmhm5GscNM
CIMS Top 20 Debuts for Tuesday - 11/20/07
NINE INCH NAILS -- Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D
U2 -- JOSHUA TREE
GORILLAZ -- D-SIDES
LED ZEPPELIN -- SONG REMAINS THE SAME
NOFX -- THEY'VE ACTUALLY GOTTEN WORSE
WINEHOUSE,AMY -- FRANK
BONNIE PRINCE BILLY -- ASK FORGIVENESS
BORIS & MERZBOW -- ROCK DREAM
MURPHY,JAMES & PAT MAHONEY -- FABRICLIVE 36
PSYCHOPATHICS FROM OUTER SPACE -- PSYCHOPATHICS FROM OUTER SPACE
FREEWAY -- FREE AT LAST
ELECTRIC WIZARD -- WITCHCULT TODAY
PHISH -- VEGAS 96
BACH,SEBASTIAN -- ANGEL DOWN
MCCARTNEY,PAUL -- AMOEBA'S SECRET
ATMOSPHERE -- SAD CLOWN BAD FALL NUMBER 10
GROBAN,JOSH -- NOEL
OPETH -- ROUNDHOUSE TAPES
SIX ORGANS OF ADMITTANCE -- SHELTER FROM THE ASH
ONEREPUBLIC -- DREAMING OUT LOUD
