There have been some great ideas as to how we, on the list, can help Gord get to number 1 in sales. Let's sincerely get this going. HARMONY is the new classic Lightfoot!
Can everyone interested send name and your location, so we can distribute radio/retail/TV each of us can call? I know it may sound and be a bit like work, but for me it will be a labour of love.
Thanks,
Sean

I live in Minneapolis and would be happy to help!

Thanks. Great city! Anyone else out there ready to enlist?
Sean

Well you know I'm on board here in Phoenix.

The stations to call here are KKLT &
K-EZ. Both are adult contemporary and I can guarantee you,no other station here will touch GL. Power 92 is all rap/hip-hop & R&B,104.7 fm (I forget their new call letters) is pop top 40 but I know in their modern day music opinion,Gord is not what they'd play. (Heck,I'd wonder if they had ever even heard of him!)

Call K-Lite (KKLT) at 602-274-6200 (I have but I'll try again.) K-Ez 480-966-6236 and maybe even Mix 96.9,they play 80's-90's and todays stuff,they might go for it. 602-279-5577. Wish me luck! You too! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif

------------------
"A knight of the road,going back to a place where he might get warm." ;) - Borderstone

Excellent! Come on! Let's get Gord a number 1, again!!!
Sean

I'm in Colorado - a little over 100 miles from Denver and about 150 or so from Colorado Springs. Be happy to offer any help I can.

[This message has been edited by brink (edited May 23, 2004).]

Here is the list so far:
Searam (Sean) - los Angeles/Atlanta
Gaby/SiverHeels/John Fowler - U.K.
Germangordfan - Minneapolis
Brink - Colorado

Any other troopers???
Sean

I'm in Ottawa, and there are a few stations here that might touch so more of GL's stuff.
Kiss FM(100.3). Bob FM( 93.9 ), Oldies 1310(AM 1310). Let's do what we can up here in Eastern Ontario.

quote:Originally posted by searam:
Here is the list so far:
Searam (Sean) - los Angeles/Atlanta
Gaby/SiverHeels/John Fowler - U.K.
Germangordfan - Minneapolis
Brink - Colorado
Doug - Ottawa
We need some more help. Any takers?

Sean

I'm just across the river from St. Louis.

I think we should post this message at the Google Newsgroup as well. There might be some different Lightheads who would like to help us.

i've got toronto area, durham region covered.
char

quote:Originally posted by searam:


Now we have:
GJA - St. Louis
CHAR1 - Tornoto/ Durham

We seem to be getting a great network of folks who want to work on promoting Gord's CD to stations. It was also mentioned by GJA, that this should be put on Google to find other "Lightheads". Great idea! Who can do that???
Sean

"Hi Sean,
I so appreciate your efforts and the efforts of the fans but concentrating on retail is a more beneficial cause. We need to sell records.
If a retailer isn't stocking the cd, requests to order in the product are what will get it stocked.
I cannot send out a list of radio stations as that does go against label policy. Here in Canada with us and in the US with SpinART.
In each city is a AC station and I'm sure the fans know which ones they are and they just need to request the track.
You guys absolutely rock!!!
Cheers
Nanci"

O.K., everyone. Here is an email from my friend, Nanci, at LINUS. We can change direction a little and help get Gord to the top! Hope "y'all" had a great weekend!
Sean

Well, I've emailed Corny O'Connell at WFUV in New York. He does a (radio only - not streaming audio)program on Thursday nights at 8pm called the WFUV CD of the Week, during which a new release is spun in its entirety without interruption. I don't know if he takes requests but he got mine, for HARMONY. This week's CD is the Diana Krall album, "The Girl in the Other Room." If I hear back from him, or see HARMONY on their June program schedule, I'll let you know. I also gave him Nanci's email address if he needs a DJ copy.

I have now sent the following e-mail to my favo(u)rite local radio station
http://www.1067litefm.com/_template/images/logotop.jpg
http://www.1067litefm.com/_template/images/tagline.jpg
I had first found that they have a request page at:- http://www.1067litefm.com/requests.html
so requested my fave Harmony track Inspiration Lady
They also have a "Contact Lite fm Programming" page at:- http://www.1067litefm.com/contactus.html
on which I pasted the follwing text
"HI Programming at 1067LiteFM
I am an expatriate Brit and ex-resident of Montreal now living within your broadcast area and have for several years listened to your generally excellent "lite" music and the series of usually nicely varied sets of "lite songs" from which I have been made aware of several interesting previously unknown (to me) artists. I said "generally" because to my mind there is one glaring omission in the roster of artists that you play. I admit to being heavily biased but for 35 years now I have been a devotee of the great Canadian Troubadour Gordon Lightfoot,yet in over three years I have yet to hear any of his prodigious output on your station. not even such past hits as If You Could Read My Mind or any others not even a cover version. I have just submitted a request for what I believe will be the first single from his brand new 20th album of original material "Harmony", produced under unusual circumstances from demos he had made just before nearly dying from a serious aneurism in September 2002 and finished by his band while he was flat on his back in hospital. He now has a new Canadian label Linus Entertainment who would no doubt be most pleased to send you a DJ copy of the CD. If you visit their site:- http://www.linusentertainment.com/ar...n/gordon.shtml
there is a link to a delightful video of the song I have just requested "Inspiration Lady".I look forwards to hearing this on my radio and seeing Gordon's name in your playlist where he so rightly belongs
Yours sincerely
John Fowles" Note Sean i have an "s" on the end not "r"!!

feel free to use any of my text in your promotions

------------------
My Gordon Lightfoot webring
starts at
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/lightfoot



[This message has been edited by johnfowles (edited May 25, 2004).]

I apologise, John. Great work from John and Auburn Annie. In fact, everyone that has expressed interest in helping out has done a fab job! I have called two stations in Atlanta, the program director's, that I know to request rotation (getting INSPIRATION LADY) in their daily list. I, for one, have got to try. I believe HARMONY is a truly great CD, especially in light of the extreme way it was put together. If we do not concentrate our efforts now, while the album is high on the charts, we will lose out.
Please remeber what Nanci asked - to call retail stores to get HARMONY in their bins!
Thank you all,
Sean

Just curious, anyone have any connections at XM Radio, the satellite station? I am not up on these newer venues, but that might be a great oppportunity we are missing!
Sean

No connections, but go to http://www.xmradio.com/programming/directory.jsp and there's a list of all their programs. If you click on each, they give you a description of the kind of music on that channel, and there's a place to the left to request a song.

I left requests on Channel 15 (The Village - folk), channel 22 (Mix - adult pop), Channel 23 (The Heart - romance), Channel 24 (Sunny - smooth vocals), Channel 25 (The Blend - singer/songwriters), Channel 26 (XM Live - self explanatory - requested either of the two live cuts), Channel 45 (XM Cafe - soft pop/rock), Channel 50 (The Loft - mellow rock) and Channel 71 (Watercolors - cool/lite jazz - requested No mistake About It).

They ask for your name, email, city/state, artist and song, with a box for comments to the DJ if you want.

Thanks, Annie. I will go to the site and make requests! Are there any more folks interested in helping out???
Sean

I'm in Northern Indiana and just found my copy of Harmony last night at the mall. They only had one cd. I told them they should have more. Also been to two other music stores in the area and they never heard of it until I enlightened them that Gordon was very much still in demand and has a new album that they should have in their store.... Randy

Sean: I have Michigan covered from Motown north to the Mackinac Bridge. Will let y'all know when the payoff hits the airwaves here. Shouldn't be quite as difficult as other parts of the country since Gord's popularity has remained higher here through the years.

SuiM

Hi, Lil! What were the other stores? Perhaps if they are a chain, we could all strengthen our efforts at the same time! Does anyone know if there are any "chain stores" that actually do not have HARMONY stocked?
Sean

quote:Originally posted by searam:
"Hi Sean,
I so appreciate your efforts and the efforts of the fans but concentrating on retail is a more beneficial cause. We need to sell records.
If a retailer isn't stocking the cd, requests to order in the product are what will get it stocked.

<snip>

Cheers
Nanci"

O.K., everyone. Here is an email from my friend, Nanci, at LINUS. We can change direction a little and help get Gord to the top! Hope "y'all" had a great weekend!
Sean

What you guys are doing with the radio stations IS a focus on retail. It won't do any good to petition our local retailers to stock the CD if they don't have people asking for it - they'll order however many you want to purchase, but they aren't going to order a massive quantity based on one request and they certainly won't be ordering any if you request it but don't commit to buying it from them. In order to convince people that they want to buy the CD you have to make sure they know the CD exists and hearing songs on the radio is the sure way of letting people who may not have followed his career know that. Once they start hearing the songs on the radio, then they'll start seeking the CD out from their local music outlet and that's what will increase the buying.

Nanci and Janice are both right. It will take a mix of both approaches to make an impact. Having spent a part of my past life in both commercial radio and retail, I encourage both efforts to go forward. The element that drives what a lot of stores stock is what they see climbing the charts. To move Harmony up the charts we need to have both airplay and sales.

What Janice and Somewhereupinmichigan (hope I spelled them correctly!) said is true. We have a window of opportunity both in requesting airplay, which will further sales, and requesting stocking of the CD, which will move the CD up the charts. It is a "double-edged-sword". One cannot work without the other. What we are accomplishing is both. Look, I want Gord's new work to become the 21st century standard, which it will. I am only trying to get us all working toward the same goal, and I see that it is happening.
Thanks to all for the great ideas and hard work done to make HARMONY rise even further, Record companies do it, so can we!
Sean

quote:I am only trying to get us all working toward the same goal, and I see that it is happening.
Thanks to all for the great ideas and hard work done to make HARMONY rise even further, Record companies do it, so can we!
Sean[/B]

I just hope everybody concerned is grateful.

[This message has been edited by SilverHeels (edited May 26, 2004).]

quote:Originally posted by johnfowles:
I have now sent the following e-mail to my favo(u)rite local radio station
http://www.1067litefm.com/_template/images/logotop.jpg
http://www.1067litefm.com/_template/images/tagline.jpg
I had first found that they have a request page at:- http://www.1067litefm.com/requests.html
so requested my fave Harmony track Inspiration Lady
They also have a "Contact Lite fm Programming" page at:- http://www.1067litefm.com/contactus.html
on which I pasted the follwing text
"HI Programming at 1067LiteFM
I am an expatriate Brit and ex-resident of Montreal now living within your broadcast area and have for several years listened to your generally excellent "lite" music and the series of usually nicely varied sets of "lite songs" from which I have been made aware of several interesting previously unknown (to me) artists. I said "generally" because to my mind there is one glaring omission in the roster of artists that you play. I admit to being heavily biased but for 35 years now I have been a devotee of the great Canadian Troubadour Gordon Lightfoot,yet in over three years I have yet to hear any of his prodigious output on your station. not even such past hits as If You Could Read My Mind or any others not even a cover version. I have just submitted a request for what I believe will be the first single from his brand new 20th album of original material "Harmony", produced under unusual circumstances from demos he had made just before nearly dying from a serious aneurism in September 2002 and finished by his band while he was flat on his back in hospital. He now has a new Canadian label Linus Entertainment who would no doubt be most pleased to send you a DJ copy of the CD. If you visit their site:- http://www.linusentertainment.com/ar...n/gordon.shtml
there is a link to a delightful video of the song I have just requested "Inspiration Lady".I look forwards to hearing this on my radio and seeing Gordon's name in your playlist where he so rightly belongs
Yours sincerely
John Fowles" Note Sean i have an "s" on the end not "r"!!

feel free to use any of my text in your promotions



John,

<<He now has a new Canadian label Linus Entertainment who would no doubt be most pleased to send you a DJ copy of the CD. If you visit their site:- >>

This bit intrigues me. From my past experience with record companies, DJ copies are sent out to ALL radio stations in time for release date of record. How else will the record get played over the air????????

quote:Originally posted by SilverHeels:

This bit intrigues me. From my past experience with record companies, DJ copies are sent out to ALL radio stations in time for release date of record. How else will the record get played over the air????????


No, DJ copies are sent out selectively to stations based on format. The big record companies probably send out huge numbers when they are pushing their multi-million selling artists, but even they thin it out significantly for someone whose records don't sell all that well. For the smaller companies and independents, the lists are smaller still. With stations coming and going, and changing formats all the time, most record companies have pretty poor lists.

When I was doing this for previous Lightfoot CDs, I was often told by DJs that they COULDN'T get a copy of a CD; in a couple of cases, I bought one and sent it myself, as did some other Lightheads (Jenney, for one). With the Rhino releases, I would contact Thane Tierney when I heard from a DJ who didn't have the CD, and Thane would give his name and station to the people who handle this.

Although the cost to the record company is much less than to us, they make a business decision based on costs vs expected sales. Even in the case of a Norah Jones, I can't imagine that they sent her recent CD to hip-hop stations.


------------------
Valerie Magee

Visit my business site at mageenet.biz and Cathy Cowette's web site at cathycowette.com

[This message has been edited by vlmagee (edited May 26, 2004).]

How cool is that - first reply from a very well known Minneapolis Radio station! Let's keep going!

Hi Claudia:

Glad to hear you're a fan of the show. Thanks for listening.

I haven't seen the new Gordon Lightfoot CD, but will take a look in the new release section of the station music library. If I can find it, I'll play something for you.

Thanks again for the kind words,

Jackson Buck
KFAI-FM

I got a note from Peter at XMLive that he hadn't yet seen a copy of the CD (I explained there were only two live cuts out of 11) and referred him to Nanci at Linus.

Great! Good going, Annie! This is becoming very productive! I have to say that Gord should be proud of this!
Sean

I just got a mail from Peter from xlive as well. He said they're just playing live stuff and I also told him about the two live songs on that CD. He's probably quite amazed by the sudden interest in Gordon...;)

If Gordon only knew about this...It probably would give him a good laugh and he would be happy to have so devoted fans!

Here's another possibility...quite often my wife falls to sleep listening to a nationally syndicated show on one of our local stations called "Delilah." You can call in requests at 1-888-6DELILAH between 7 p.m. and Midnight (ET, I think). For those who are not familiar with the show it is a soft, light rock format and the host, Delilah, mixes in a lot of comment and inspirational chit-chat. It seems to me that Gord's Inspiration Lady is a perfect fit for her format. So tonight I tried to phone in a request for it but, of course, ended up getting a busy signal. I imagine this is more often the case than not BUT if many of us were to start calling in until we scored some contacts, this would be a pretty good way to get Gord back in the national limelight...yes?

The store that I found Harmony is called; FYE. The stores that told me they didn't know anything about it are; MEDIA PLAY, and CIRCUIT CITY. On a positive note,I was online at ; CD UNIVERSE ,and they have Gordon's Harmony listed as the number three most currently popular album to buy, and they have them too. Randy

quote:Originally posted by SomewhereupinMichigan:
Nanci and Janice are both right. It will take a mix of both approaches to make an impact. Having spent a part of my past life in both commercial radio and retail, I encourage both efforts to go forward. The element that drives what a lot of stores stock is what they see climbing the charts. To move Harmony up the charts we need to have both airplay and sales.

I didn't mean to imply that it was an "either" "or" situation. Nanci said, "...but concentrating on retail is a more beneficial cause..." and I just wanted to point out that the push for air play is just as much a focus on retail as asking your favorite music store to stock the CD, where as she seemed to indicate that it was not. As someone said, the two actions go hand in hand to sell CDs, which is the goal.

This is great news from everyone! Being new to the group, I am so amazed and proud of what everyone is doing! I will ask Nanci to tell Gord about all of this. I wish Gord every success that he has earned, and congratulations to everyone for this outstanding effort!!! Hats off to us all!
Sean

Three stations in the "HIGH COUNTRY" in Colorado have played the new songs. Two of them End of All Time and one No Hotel they thought the story and song were great.

AHHHHHH . . . that's what happened to Delilah! She used to have an early evening slot on one of the L.A. AC stations. She had a very sweet voice.


quote:Originally posted by SomewhereupinMichigan:
Here's another possibility...quite often my wife falls to sleep listening to a nationally syndicated show on one of our local stations called "Delilah." You can call in requests at 1-888-6DELILAH between 7 p.m. and Midnight (ET, I think).

I have been here in L.A. for two months now, and I am not familiar with this jock. Violet, can you think of the station?
Sean