Mike Jacob`s article about Rick Carroll.

JUNE 12, 2014
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THE Sands REPORT
UNIFYING THE ALT COMMUNITY
Back In The Days When
Jocks Were Given A Choice
W
band, and he was looking for a band to play high school
concerts for KEZY in Anaheim. A mutual friend introduced us, and it changed my life.”
ho is the father of the Alternative format as we know it
today? You’re forgiven if you
don’t know the answer is Rick
Carroll, who brought Top 40
formatics to the wacky “new wave” music he
began playing at KROQ in the late 1970s.
It’s been almost exactly 25 years since Rick
died, and since it’s Father’s Day this weekend, I figured this might be a good time to
remember dear old “dad.”
I missed the opportunity to personally meet Rick
when he never showed up for an appointment he had
requested in Burbank. Of course, Rick had a reputation
for being “quirky,” no doubt. But those who did have
the pleasure of meeting him, never forgot. One of those
was Mike Jacobs, now retired from record promotion.
STOLEN
DANCE
He recalls,
“I met Rick
in 1978—I was managing a local
Learn This Song.
By MILKY CHANCE
Mike remembers Rick as a pioneer, yes, but something much
more. He tells me, “Rick had
great ears, and the ability to surround himself with great people,
and he listened to them. He didn’t
care what anyone said, he went
with his gut.”
Rick Carroll
But lest you think that Rick came to KROQ with some
grand scheme to turn the universe onto Modern Rock
music and make it a “world famous” station, you would
be mistaken. “One of his first ‘big ideas’ was to do a
Beatles weekend—for which I used to tease him relentlessly in later years,” laughs noted KROQ jock Freddy
Snakeskin, who is still heard on KROQ2.
“Fortunately KROQ’s owner, Ken Roberts, was
aware of the inroads the station had already
started making with some of the revolution-
Contact: Richa rd San ds (415 ) 383 - 5955 • ri c ha rd @ t hesa nd s re p o r t.co m
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THE SANDS REPORT ● page 2 of 5
ary punk and new wave music
last jock hired by Carroll at KROQ,
that had started appearing, so
and he, too, loved that “jock choice,
Rick’s marching orders were
final song of the hour, every hour”
to impose some kind of strucconcept. “WTF? Really? Jock choice?
“My Sweet Summer”
“GOOD
4
IT”
ture on it, not tear the whole
I loved him for that, no rules. He
thing down.” Freddy adds that
never bitched about a song, ever.
there wasn’t a sufficient level of
Well maybe to Freddy, but not to
# 2 Most Added!
good-quality ‘new music’ around
me,” Halloran says with a smile.
New this week at WBOS, KPNT,
that they could build an entire
KRBZ, WLUM and more
format upon, so at least in the
Mike learned a lot in the short
On: KROQ, Alt 98.7, Live 105, KTBZ,
first couple of years, KROQ still
time he worked for Carroll. “Rick,
KXTE, KCXX 91X, and KBZT...
played a lot of traditional AOR
along with Larry Groves, invented
music, as well. “Our strategy was
the idea that one could take the
Already 17*!
to fool people looking for
underground scene, and by applying
K-WEST (one dial position
enough pressure through tons of
down from 106.7) in hopes they’d stick around—which
exposure, through airplay and constant sunshine, then
they did. ‘Come for the Zeppelin, stay for the B-52’s,’”
the stinky little mushroom-like underground would
he joshed, remembering the plan at the time.
be forced up, through the boggy deep and into the real
world,” he says somewhat cryptically, before quickly
Want to hear something else “revolutionary”? Rick
concluding, “Sadly, that has been lost today.”
allowed his jocks to pick one song an hour to play,
whether they found it at the local import store, or
Carroll’s impact wasn’t only on radio. It was also felt in
brought in from home! “Those jock choices really made
the concert promotion business. Famed manager Jim
things unpredictable, and that very musical unpredictGuerinot, owner of Rebel Waltz, reflects back. “My
ability is probably the one thing most all of today’s radio
relationship with Rick and KROQ in this period was
stations lack,” Snakeskin says. “I don’t know exactly
two-fold—as manager of as yet-unsigned Social
how most PD’s today would take to the idea of giving
Distortion, and as a concert promoter.
their jocks one free play an hour, but I have a very good
idea—the very notion scares them to death!”
“As a concert promoter, we could feel the
power of KROQ in Los Angeles and Orange
Mike Halloran of 91X has the distinction of being the
County and how different it was than anywhere
“I WANNA GET BETTER”
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THE SANDS REPORT ● page 3 of 5
When Jocks Were Given A Choice (Con’t)
ı
else nationwide. The Cure and Depeche Mode went
from clubs to stadiums here. Bands like Oingo Boingo
and The Smiths were multiple arenas when they were
only ballroom acts in other parts of the country. He was
very, very advanced promotionally in a way that is still
practiced on KROQ and still peerless.”
Mike Jacobs remembers Carroll’s philosophy, and thinks
it’s still applicable: “Play the shit out of songs, make
them familiar, fuck research. Make it a
hit. Most of those songs are still
around today. You think The
“Have some
Cure would have researched
balls. Stand up and early? Also, have personalities.
take shots.”
Combine this with music that
nobody else is playing...and two
hour power rotations. Those used to drive the jocks
crazy. They’d say, “I’m gonna puke if I hear it once more,’
and he’d reply, ‘Good—the audience is just getting it.’”
“LAST WEEK’S SANDS REPORT
WAS FANTASTIC. GREAT INSIGHT
FROM SETH. I FORWARDED
THIS EDITION TO EVERYONE ON
MY STAFF. THANKS BUDDY.
—JOHNNY MAZE, KICT/KFXJ
Selfie City
It’s the Live
105 programming team, old
and new! This
past weekend,
I met up with
newly installed
PD Jacent
Jackson for
some lunchtime
pizza, and it
only seem appropriate that
we take a rare
selfie together!
Jacobs sums up what he learned from Carroll. “Have
some balls. Stand up and take shots. The biggest wins
come from the biggest risks in life—so fight for things.”
Rick Carroll changed this business, and his influence is
still felt today. That’s why Jacobs helped start a scholar
scholarship fund in Rick’s name at his alma mater, Cal
State University at Sacramento. You can find
out more by clicking here.
Rush your Alt selfies to pics@thesandsreport.com
Our Mai l i n g Address : Th e San ds Re p o r t • 38 M il le r Ave nue, # 4 69 • M i ll Va l ley, CA 94941
“Call Me In The Afternoon”
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THE SANDS REPORT ● page 4 of 5
Added/New in the Top 50
WRDA-Atlanta No adds
KROX-Austin Rise Against, Spoon
WBOS-Boston Dirty Heads,
J. Roddy Walston
WEND-Charlotte No adds
WKQX-Chicago Chvrches,
Milky Chance, Rise Against
CD102.5-Columbus Hozier,
Joywave, Kings of Leon,
Milky Chance, Phantogram
KDGE-Dallas No adds
KTCL-Denver Rise Against
89X-Detroit Rise Against,
Tokyo Police Club
KTBZ-Houston Coldplay, Kings
of Leon, Lorde, Dirty Heads, Rise
Against, Semi Precious Weapons,
30 Seconds to Mars
WRZX-Indianapolis Linkin Park
WXXJ-Jacksonville No adds
Alt 98.7-L.A. Capitol Cities,
Phantogram
WLUM-Milwaukee Dirty
Heads, Meg Myers
KCMP-Minneapolis Clap
Your Hands Say Yeah, Itch,
Jenny Lewis, Spoon, Tom
Petty, Yann Tiersen
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Music Choice Band of
Skulls, Lorde, Manchester
Orchestra, OK Go, The Griswolds,
Pretty Reckless, Vance Joy
WBUZ-Nashville Rise Against,
J. Roddy Walston
WROX-Norfolk American Authors,
Chvrches, J. Roddy Walston,
Rise Against
WJRR-Orlando Godsmack,
Rise Against
WRFF-Philadelphia No adds
WXDX-Pittsburgh No adds
KNRK-Portland No adds
KRBZ-Kansas City OK Go,
Phantogram
Premium Choice No adds
KXTE-Las Vegas No adds
WBRU-Providence Foster The
People, Magic!
KROQ-L.A. Cage The Elephant,
The Eeries, Rise Against
Buzzing At Alt
KKDO-Sacramento No report
Rise Against
Dirty Heads
Phantogram
Bleachers
J. Roddy Walston
Milky Chance
X96-Salt Lake City Rise Against
KHTB-Salt Lake City Rise Against
KBZT-San Diego Phantogram,
Rise Against
91X-San Diego Coldplay, Linkin Park,
Rise Against
Live 105-SF Rise Against
The End-Seattle Lana Del Rey,
St. Vincent
KPNT-St. Louis Dirty Heads,
Rise Against
Sirius/XM Alt Nation Bastille,
Catfish and The Bottlemen
97X-Tampa No adds
DC-101-DC Milky Chance
➤ #1 MOST ADDED @ ALTERNATIVE 34 STATIONS
US Tour
This Fall
➤
➤
KROQ-101WKQX-LIVE 105-KTBZ-89X-KTCL
KPNT-91X-FM94/9-X96-KHTB-96X-WBUZ
WRXL-KMYZ-WZNE-KROX-KFRR-WXXJ
KFMA-KRAB-WWWX-KNOB-KNRQ-KRZQ
WRRV-WCYY-KXNA AND MORE
ALREADY #33* #1 SPIN GAINER MEDIABASE
ALREADY #10 SONG ITUNES ALT PAGE
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THE SANDS REPORT ● page 5 of 5
The Big List
Thursday Music Meeting &
Three Dot Lounge
A
huge week for Rise Against, which broke out of the gate
as #1 most added by a mile. KROQ, WKQX, Live 105, 91X
and 31 others came in out of the box on “I Don’t Want To
Be Here Anymore” which was enough to put an enormous
smile on the face of Jeff Stacey (as did KROQ starting
to play Lana Del Rey!)...Right up there with Kongos, Bleachers is
the biggest breakout of the year. “I Wanna Get Better” is Top 3 in
real-time, and growing. Plus with just Alt airplay alone, it’s selling
10,000 units a week! By the way, those digital sales have increased
every week since the release. More RCA news: Cage is now firmly
Top 10, with the new Kings of Leon impacting this week for Dennis
Blair, Jeff Gillis and team...Does anyone have more on their plates
than Ron Cerrito and Amanda Walk? The Republic/Islanders have a
ton of great product on their multi-tasking hands. The new Phantogram scored adds at Alt 98.7, CD102.5, KRBZ among others.
Milky Chance had another big week, with WKQX, DC101 and more.
Tove Lo is now Top 20. PLUS there’s a new one from Neon Trees,
and American Authors...Good stuff at Glassnote. Huge adds from
101WKQX (welcome Wade Linder!) and WROX on Chvrches. Nerf’s
airplay on Half Moon Run is generating a lot of Shazaming plus he’s
getting super research back. Oh, and don’t forget about Panama
Wedding!...Mike DePippa has to be stoked about Jack White. The
album is just out and already sitting at #1 on iTunes! The Rolling Stone coverboy will be at Bonnaroo this weekend...J. Roddy
Walston and the Business is feeling mighty real...I love hearing DH
“My Sweet Summer” on Live 105...Band to watch: Twin Atlantic...
Hey, I gotta go. Thanks for stopping by today! —Richard Sands
CLICK AND LISTEN:
• Bleachers “I Wanna Get Better”
http://bit.ly/1nOo9ml
• Chvrches “Recover”
http://bit.ly/1i0wsNo
• Dirty Heads! “My Sweet Summer”
http://bit.ly/1ioPXeX
• Facebook Page for breaking news
www.facebook.com/thesandsreport
• Follow on Twitter
@thesandsreport
• Foster The People “Best Friend”
http://bit.ly/1kndqQb
• Half Moon Run “Call Me In The...”
http://bit.ly/1s4iArb
• Kings of Leon “Family Tree”
http://bit.ly/Ucmlw2
• Neon Trees “Text Me In The Morning”
http://bit.ly/1hPEbQ8
• Panama Wedding “Of All The People”
http://bit.ly/Ros0NI
• Rise Against “I Don’t Want...”
http://bit.ly/THvUm4
• Tove Lo “Habits (Stay High)”
http://bit.ly/1p8o7M3
• Jack White “Lazaretto”
http://bit.ly/1k1tKGi
IMPACTING SOON:
Kings of Leon “Family Tree” (RCA)
Neon Trees “Text Me In...” (Island)
The Griswolds “Beware The Dog” (WindUp)
Send dates to richard@thesandsreport.com
Th e San ds Re po r t ™ Spa n n in g Th e G l o b e To B r i n g Yo u I nfo r m a t i o n Yo u Ca n U se ! ®
“Lazaretto”
APPEARING
ON CONAN
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COMPLETELY SOLD OUT
PERFORMING AT BONAROO THIS WEEKEND
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