Mac Pro Refresh June 10, 2013

NEW MAC PROThe long awaited new Mac Pro was unveiled today by Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco .

Every professional user in music, film, photography and the visual arts was anticipating this long overdue refresh.

It is an absolutely stunning small cylinder. The machine is 1/8th the size of the current Mac Pro tower and has 6 Thunderbolt ports and PCIe flash storage. It looks like it cold fit in a suitcase. It looks like mini R2-D2.

We are all holding our fingers on street price. I can’t wait to see what this thing can do.

http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/

 

 

Phil Ramone, March 30, 2013

Phil A & R

Phil Ramone was one of the greatest record producers of all time, one of the all time standard bearers of versatility and excellence in the production world, and simply one of the longest held and greatest heroes in my musical life. I last saw Phil in 2009 in London, which was funny as it was rare to see him in London.

My A & R Rolodex Card from 1979.

My A & R Rolodex Card from 1979.

Everything that I could ever be as a record producer has some piece of Phil in it.   Thanks Phil!

Phil was very calm, and I am not calm.

That is maybe the greatest lesson on sessions I could take from him

Godspeed Phil!

BRIT AWARDS SHOW 2013

BRITS 3

(February 20th 2013)

We had phenomenal seats in the first section stage right for this years Brits, and I can only Thank Geoff Taylor and the BPI ticketing office for this. It was great to see my old friend Robbie Williams back onstage in full form. Justin Timberlake was outstanding singing to a live band. Emeli Sande cleaned house as I told her she would, and also ended the show with a stunning and real performance. Overall the show was smooth and lacked any outrageous controversy that the Brits are known for. We got a surprise and met MPG Chairman Steve Levine and his wife backstage after the show. The champagne was flowing. Millie looked awesome in her black bandage dress….. It’s always a special night to be so close to the action for a show that is going out to many millions. Looking forward to many more with so many special people surrounding my world.

Separate photo album for Brits and MPG Awards 2013, and London Fashion Week 2013 being put up soon.

Music Producers Guild Awards 2013

2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been confirmed to attend the MPG Awards in London on February 7th, two weeks before the Brits.

To say that it will be a special night is an understatement. The Guild is honoring its greatest member and founding patron Sir George Martin. Arguably the greatest record producer of all time and without question the guiding steward of the greatest band in history, Sir George will receive the “Outstanding Contribution To British Music Award” (The MPG’s highest honor).

George Martin is not only one of the most talented persons in the history of popular music, but one of the most generous, interested and nicest people one could ever meet.

It has been one of the great privileges of my musical life to have had the interaction I have had with him, and I along with everyone else am very excited and look forward to seeing him again on the 7th.

I have had to give up my Grammy Tickets for the second year in a row as I will be in London from February 7th forward, for work, meetings on my film, and the Brit Awards on the 20th, and beyond.

During Grammy Week in LA, The Producers and Engineer’s Wing of the Recording Academy is honoring Quincy Jones, one of my greatest heroes. I would have loved to be there but London is calling.

Brit Awards 2013

 

I’m very happy to announce that the BPI has confirmed and seen fit to allocate two industry VIP tickets to me for the 2013 Brit Awards and BPI After Show Party. I must be doing something right.

I will also be on the guest list for at least two major label group parties following the official BPI gig.

My Lawyers, Agent, Manager, and everyone surrounding me in the music industry know to never ever doubt my Rolodex or my relentless determination.

Report on the night to follow. Can’t say more than every beautiful woman I know in London could be in the same room at the same time.

 

 

 

Designer David Koma

 

I’m quite fortunate to have been in and around the major fashion world for many years now by virtue of the intersection of orbits surrounding the music business. I’ve been to two major fashion shows in my life, Herve Leger (when Herve owned it) and Dolce and Gabbana. I’ve have had the surreal experience of getting into it with Suzy Menkes on one occasion in Paris. I’ve also been invited to many smaller shows over the years that showcase rising fashion talent. It’s no secret that I have more than a passing interest in fashion photography and that  I’ve spent a significant amount of time at Central St Martins over the years and was pleased to do so again in 2012 at the stunning new campus in King’s Cross.

I don’t know what comes first, the relentless hard work or the magic. Or do they exists as one?  Then forcefully finding the reasonable balance between art and commerce without destroying artistic vision. If one thing is certain it’s that some of the most brilliant artists in fashion design history have become close to fully formed at St Martins.

David Koma is one of these designers. I was aware of David right after his graduate showcase at St. Martins, long before Kylie came calling.

His stunning, jaw dropping sculptural designs and modern baby-doll dresses make a woman look so good that it hurts. I’ve rarely seen a designer hit so hard right out of the gate.When I saw Kylie at the amfAR inspiration gala 2010 in LA she was wearing a stunning dress that David had made.

I’ve contacted David about the possibility of dressing a new girl group.

David Koma is a stunning visual force and inspiring artist.

2013 London Fashion Week show in February .

Guess who’s coming with me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emeli Sande’

 

I will now be meeting with the brilliant Emeli Sande’ on January 15th before I leave for London.

Emeli  is a unique and exceptional organic talent that I have been touting from the very beginning. The broader public in the States is probably most familiar from her performances at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, resulting in the biggest selling album of the year in the UK.

Adrian has done a remarkable job in keeping Emeli above the fray and letting her be herself, much as Richard and Jonathan have done with Adele.

I couldn’t possibly more highly advise lovers of real talent to support this singer.

Adele Adkins on Emeli….”How incredible is she?”

The Old, The New, and No Parking!

My A & R Rolodex Card from 1979.

My A & R Rolodex Card from 1979.

September 30th 2012 By George Glennon

Note: Phil Ramone’s legendary A & R Studios in Mid-Town Manhattan were in the building at the corner of 52nd St and Seventh Ave that was torn down to build the Equitable Tower.

When I was still a teenager I went to New York City in a quest to meet the Great Phil Ramone because at the time I thought in my teenaged head that I was going to be the next Billy Joel, and who better to help me than Phil. When I walked into the administrative offices of A&R Studios, which were at 322 W 48th Street back then, I guess my blind naivete must have been oddly charming or else they thought I was someone else because they sent me over to the studio at 52nd Street and Seventh Ave.  Of course I just thought this was normal at the time, and only looking back realize how absurd it was for them to just send me over.

This was the first time I was going to step foot in a real recording studio in my life. This famous studio had played host to Sinatra and Streisand before Phil took a Billy Joel who was all over the place and focused him into …well… Billy Joel. When I entered the lobby on the ground floor on Seventh Avenue it was really dirty and there were cardboard boxes thrown everywhere. There was trash on the stairs as well and I started to wonder if I was in the right place. Then I saw a small display case with fogged up glass that contained  Phoebe Snow and Steve Forbert albums, one of which had fallen inside the case. I knew I must be in the right place now and I started to get a serious reality check.

When I went up the old elevator to the studio they told me that Phil was not there but out of town. I told them the offices sent me over so they offered to show me around. The place seemed old to me. Could Sinatra have really laid down tracks here? …And Billy’s records which were still all over the charts at the time?  It was a real eye opener, and the reality of the place compared to what had been in my head, taught me my first great lesson about the music business.

Fast Forward: The first time I set foot in Number 2 Studio at Abbey Road I literally got down on my hands and knees and kissed the parquet floor. The same floor that has been in there for decades and was present on June 6th 1962. I excused myself to Samantha  (then the head of Abbey Road Interactive) who took me down to Number 2 that morning. The studio smelled old to me and looked smaller in person. The old blue double entry doors are the same. Could this really be the room the greatest songs in history were recorded in?

Both A&R Studios, and Abbey Road number 2 produced many of the greatest recordings in history, both were/are not technologically advanced, were/are old, and they had/have NO PARKING.

Many new multi-million dollar studios with fresh paint, lost of extra room, cutting edge technology, a bottomless checkbook, and “Plenty of free parking”….. come and go out of business quite frequently !  They usually die a downward death right from the day they open. Even with all the hired spin to say its not really so……the business dies.

While Abbey Road Number 2 is booked solid 365 at top rates, and continues to put out hits. Abbey Road endures because it has “It”…..and money can’t buy “It” and you can’t fake “It”, and spin can’t save you if you don’t have “”It” and  Free Parking has nothing to do with having “It”.

“In any creative art, there is nothing that can stop water from finding its own level……In the full measure of time the cream always rises to the top and the crap always sinks to the bottom. ”

 

 

Hal David

 

Hal David, one of the most legendary songwriters in the history of popular music and one of my biggest heroes, has died.

When I was a kid growing up , my mother would incessantly play the records of Dionne Warwick and the Carpenters. As a kid I couldn’t stand these records for “Old people”.

Only when I started to make records and write songs for real did I come to understand how great these songs and records are. Certainly among the greatest pop songs ever written.  They hold up decades later.

The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Bacharach-David, Motown.  No Arguments, No Debate…….The Top of the Pyramid.

Anyone that is involved in the big time of the song business and music publishing in pop music, is standing on the shoulders of Hal David.

I bow down to Hal David. I will never come close.

George Glennon, September 2, 2012