Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
Hold on, when the train is moving / through the sound of change / And tell those boys back in town / that there will be a call / Oooo train is comin’ on / Oooo train is comin’ on / A train is comin’ your way / and it sounds like, / just like a chase straight through the season / or why not through your heart / It makes us see the strength that / surrounds us in all / our failures / Just like the train in the film Doctor Zhivago
Years ago I took a job doing A&R for Richard Branson’s label V2 Records. Often people ask me about signing the White Stripes to the label. I often fondly tell them the story of meeting Swedish singer Nicoali Dunger and his manager Per.
I was asked by Mercury Rev to meet Nicolai while he was in LA and arranged to meet him at Hugo’s on Santa Monica Blvd. I drank coffee and talked fast. They smiled, nodded, and said “Ya, ya, ya.” At some point they gave me a CD. I remember liking the cover and flipped it over to view the track listing.
“You have a song called “Doctor Zhivago’s Train.”
They smiled. “Ya, ya, ya.”
“No, that’s a really cool name for a song.”
“Ya, ya, ya.”
“I’m actually going to listen to this.”
The two looked at me confused and amazed. Driving away I popped in the CD and was absolutely blown away by the album. I called my new boss and told him along with the garage two piece from Detroit, we need to sign the greatest soul singer of this era.
My boss laughed me off, but I never gave up on Nicolai and “Doctor Zhivago’s Train.” I helped release the album with a friend.
Over the past two weeks I’ve helped more artists than I can count. Many of those artists are in this mix. I am truly humbled by it all.
Jack, sorry you’re not in this one…next.
Idelic Single of the Week: shame – Jacklen Ro – Self Control
The gods of rock ‘n’ roll keep smiling.
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