Monster Mash was a hit and became a Halloween Classic, and while you can make a great living as a successful songwriter, and the residuals can come in for years on a "one hit wonder," Bobby's novelty song has kept ringing the cash registers for the last 47 years.
(MAKE THAT 49 YEARS in 2011!)
I remember how happy we all were for Bobby when this song hit! Wes Bryan
I'm over here doing the "Transylvania Twist" since I'm related to Vlad the Impaler!
Christine Trzyna
video replaced October 2012
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
WES BRYAN RARE RECORD : I'LL CRY MY LOVE AND PIERE LA FITTE on BLUE STAR
On my own label BLUE STAR, I put out a single 45 RPM with "I'LL CRY MY LOVE" on one side and "PIERE LA FITTE" on the other. Piere La Fitte was about my favorite pirate. My cousin Dean went into the recording studio with me to produce some of the sound effects on the record. (The song was originally written and demoed as a presentation for a movie.)
Sunday, October 23, 2011
(397) MEDIA IN THE LATE 1950'S and EARLY 1960'S : SYNDICATED COLUMNISTS
Christine and I watch the e-Bay auctions to see if anything is for sale under the Wes Bryan category that I don't own or haven't seen in years or don't know about and once in a while I'm surprised. Once in a while a magazine comes up for sale that I know there was an article - or a mention - in.
In the 1950's and early 1960's there were a few important and powerful writers - columnists - who were syndicated, which means that whatever they wrote was printed in small newspapers that couldn't afford their own music critic, all about the same time. These articles went over the wire to reach news rooms where local journalists worked, and typesetters made the article fit.
Some of these writers did mention me and my colleagues in their columns, and recently some of these columns have started appearing on databases that make it easier to research than cranking the old microfilm.
We're going to blog about a few of them.
In the 1950's and early 1960's there were a few important and powerful writers - columnists - who were syndicated, which means that whatever they wrote was printed in small newspapers that couldn't afford their own music critic, all about the same time. These articles went over the wire to reach news rooms where local journalists worked, and typesetters made the article fit.
Some of these writers did mention me and my colleagues in their columns, and recently some of these columns have started appearing on databases that make it easier to research than cranking the old microfilm.
We're going to blog about a few of them.
Friday, October 21, 2011
BROWSER UPDATED TO INTERNET EXPLORER 9.0.3
This blog is now being posted using Internet Explorer 9.0.3. And we use Windows 7. The COMPATIBILITY VIEW OPTION should help you view WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC on older browsers and correct problems such as out of place menus, images, and texts.
We are fond of our design and have not updated to the newer Google Blogger options, especially as this is a custom designed blog which is holding a lot of content. However, we did check the functioning on another Google Blogger that has been upgraded and didn't notice a difference.
WE HOPE THIS INFORMATION HELPS YOU VIEW OUR BLOG ON YOUR COMPUTER!
Wes and Christine
We are fond of our design and have not updated to the newer Google Blogger options, especially as this is a custom designed blog which is holding a lot of content. However, we did check the functioning on another Google Blogger that has been upgraded and didn't notice a difference.
WE HOPE THIS INFORMATION HELPS YOU VIEW OUR BLOG ON YOUR COMPUTER!
Wes and Christine
Thursday, October 20, 2011
(396) WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A LABEL YOU MARKET YOURSELF
What does a musical artist do when they don't have a label?
Today there are so many Independent ("Indie") artists who know the answer to that question!
You pay for your own studio time and record not just a demo to send around to agents but a CD for sale on the Internet. You have a web site. You use Social Networking sites to reach your fans. The Internet means that you have potential International Readership. (Just as we've experienced here at WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC - Hello Latvia!)
Today you can be your own company, your own boss, the talent and the marketing department. If you are successful, you make money, and more money than if you had a contract with a label. Sell enough and the major labels may even come calling.
Earlier in this blog I may've mentioned that I was surprised - maybe even shocked - to learn several years ago that I was on the net - the Rockabilly Hall of Fame site and RCS Discography. (Christine calls this "Web Presence.") It took me some time to get used to it. I had lived the life of a private citizen for many years at that point.
Steve Jobs, one of three founders of Apple Computers, has just passed on, and there's been so much media coverage of this inventor and business mogul who became a billionaire. (Christine uses PC's for this blog but swears by Apple.)
In the early 1960's all this was not technologically possible. Wasn't possible for another 30 years or so.
Marketing depended before the age of the Internet on word of mouth - who you knew or who you could network with personally. It was by ads placed individually in newspapers or trade journals or by writers who were syndicated.
Small labels that so many of us depended on often didn't have the marketing power that the big labels did so you had to entertain on live radio programs or television shows.
Today there are so many Independent ("Indie") artists who know the answer to that question!
You pay for your own studio time and record not just a demo to send around to agents but a CD for sale on the Internet. You have a web site. You use Social Networking sites to reach your fans. The Internet means that you have potential International Readership. (Just as we've experienced here at WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC - Hello Latvia!)
Today you can be your own company, your own boss, the talent and the marketing department. If you are successful, you make money, and more money than if you had a contract with a label. Sell enough and the major labels may even come calling.
Earlier in this blog I may've mentioned that I was surprised - maybe even shocked - to learn several years ago that I was on the net - the Rockabilly Hall of Fame site and RCS Discography. (Christine calls this "Web Presence.") It took me some time to get used to it. I had lived the life of a private citizen for many years at that point.
Steve Jobs, one of three founders of Apple Computers, has just passed on, and there's been so much media coverage of this inventor and business mogul who became a billionaire. (Christine uses PC's for this blog but swears by Apple.)
In the early 1960's all this was not technologically possible. Wasn't possible for another 30 years or so.
Marketing depended before the age of the Internet on word of mouth - who you knew or who you could network with personally. It was by ads placed individually in newspapers or trade journals or by writers who were syndicated.
Small labels that so many of us depended on often didn't have the marketing power that the big labels did so you had to entertain on live radio programs or television shows.
Monday, October 17, 2011
(395) READERS OPINIONS! WHEN DO YOU BECOME A CLASSIC?
Christine Trzyna here!
I've been thrift shopping. You see I have a collection that I try to add to this time of the year.
There's this one particular owner-operated (not a charity) thrift store that has the very best deals so I've been going there frequently. I noticed that every Saturday this owner-operator plays the Beatles, one album after another. I imagine this has been the case for years, that he is a total Beatles fan, and that the ambiance of that music has actually helped his sales over time, though I also note, that the majority of the shoppers seem to be Spanish speaking - Hispanic.
During the week, however, what's playing is Classic Hits of the 1950's.
So I was thinking about this notion of Classic.
When does a musical artist become a Classic?
WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?
I've been thrift shopping. You see I have a collection that I try to add to this time of the year.
There's this one particular owner-operated (not a charity) thrift store that has the very best deals so I've been going there frequently. I noticed that every Saturday this owner-operator plays the Beatles, one album after another. I imagine this has been the case for years, that he is a total Beatles fan, and that the ambiance of that music has actually helped his sales over time, though I also note, that the majority of the shoppers seem to be Spanish speaking - Hispanic.
During the week, however, what's playing is Classic Hits of the 1950's.
So I was thinking about this notion of Classic.
When does a musical artist become a Classic?
WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?
Saturday, October 15, 2011
(394) CHANGE WAS IN THE AIR
No doubt change was in the air.
One of the things that started happening about this time is that executives from various labels started changing labels.
Some of us who had been musical artists, singer-songwriters, and "Singing - Acting Sensations" started moving from making demos to music production.
There was a shuffle there, as the popularity of The Beatles and phenomenal sales of their records started creating more competition for chart space. (But keep in mind that a single or an album didn't necessarily have to chart to eventually sell enough to earn a Gold.)
Many of my peers who had put in more time entertaining than I did and who were identified with the 1950's started to feel it in their pocketbooks which meant that their labels were feeling it in their pockets too: eventually so many of those talented artists who had kept us all entertained, who had provided us the soundtrack of our youthful lives, would slowly loose coverage in the media too.
BUT NOT ELVIS!
One of the things that started happening about this time is that executives from various labels started changing labels.
Some of us who had been musical artists, singer-songwriters, and "Singing - Acting Sensations" started moving from making demos to music production.
There was a shuffle there, as the popularity of The Beatles and phenomenal sales of their records started creating more competition for chart space. (But keep in mind that a single or an album didn't necessarily have to chart to eventually sell enough to earn a Gold.)
Many of my peers who had put in more time entertaining than I did and who were identified with the 1950's started to feel it in their pocketbooks which meant that their labels were feeling it in their pockets too: eventually so many of those talented artists who had kept us all entertained, who had provided us the soundtrack of our youthful lives, would slowly loose coverage in the media too.
BUT NOT ELVIS!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
THE LADY (BARBARA GRAY) AND THE KING : MYSTERY OF THE KISSED SOLVED : VANITY FAIR LINK
Linking here to the classic photo of Elvis kissing a mystery woman near 55 years ago - a mystery solved - in an article by Lenora Jane Estes, in August Vanity Fair magazine. The photo was taken by Alfred Wertheimer. Now Barbara Gray, the kissed, has been identified.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
(393) AMERICAN MUSIC : SYLVESTER CROSS DIES : I KEEP WORKING WITH BOONE AND CAPEHEART
1964 seemed like a happy time to me when I was living it, and in my memory.
We songwriters were not especially concerned about the effects of the so called British Invasion of the Beatles and other groups would have on our own careers. Shows like Shindig celebrated rock and roll in Great Britain and the United States and we had confidence in our talents and abilities.
But that year there was a big change coming for those of us who were on contract with American Music, the big music publishing house that I had come to Los Angeles to work for, where Jerry Capeheart, who once worked with Eddie Cochran and who had signed me on staff was my boss.
Sylvester Cross, the owner of American Music died. I'd signed a five year contract but it was cut short. We kept going to work until Sylvester's wife sold the American Music catalogue for a song (!) and shut down operations.
I kept working for Jerry and for Pat Boone, making demos.
We songwriters were not especially concerned about the effects of the so called British Invasion of the Beatles and other groups would have on our own careers. Shows like Shindig celebrated rock and roll in Great Britain and the United States and we had confidence in our talents and abilities.
But that year there was a big change coming for those of us who were on contract with American Music, the big music publishing house that I had come to Los Angeles to work for, where Jerry Capeheart, who once worked with Eddie Cochran and who had signed me on staff was my boss.
Sylvester Cross, the owner of American Music died. I'd signed a five year contract but it was cut short. We kept going to work until Sylvester's wife sold the American Music catalogue for a song (!) and shut down operations.
I kept working for Jerry and for Pat Boone, making demos.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
ARNOLD H. GLASGOW Quote on Friendship
"A loyal friend laughs at your jokes when they're not so good and sympathizes with your problems when they're not so bad."
From A Little Book of Friendship
Published by History and Heraldry 2002
From A Little Book of Friendship
Published by History and Heraldry 2002
Saturday, October 1, 2011
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