JIMMY CASTOR R.I.P. ROCK IN PERPETUITY!

“Finally September arrives, and I enter the High School of Music and Art, with an attitude that could only be described as “Bronx Bravado,” with a little nerd thrown in. I admit I’m not very intimidating, with my big horn — rimmed glasses, neatly pressed striped cotton shirt, “good pants” and my shiny book bag, but I’m a tiger on the inside… at least in my own mirror!

I get to ride a bus and a subway to and from school everyday, then climb one of the highest hills in Manhattan to the top of St. Nicholas Terrace in Harlem, where the High School of Music and Art proudly stands.

I guess I always knew that a brush with a star could bring instant neighborhood fame. I am sorta looked up to because I went to Sunday school with James Merchant, who sings with Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (“Why Do Fools Fall In Love?”).

After attending my first day of classes, I become aware real fast that I’m no longer in the ethnic majority. I also realize quickly, how financially-challenged I am, compared to my more affluent Jewish classmates. While they make fun of the meals served in the lunch room, I really enjoy them. They are more diverse and tastier than what I’m used to and I can’t wait for lunch period to come around!

Every day something really cool in the cafeteria happens about ten minutes before the bell rings for the next class. A group of five African-American and Hispanic guys sing doo-wop songs that sound as good as the records! “In The Still Of The Night,” “Gloria,” and “Speedo.”

Occasionally, one of the upper classmen, Jimmy Castor, who co-wrote “I Promise To Remember” for Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, sings lead with the group. Jimmy is drooled over by the girls and admired by the guys — a position I wanted to be in. I know that I’ve come to the right place. I can barely keep up with the other kids — who actually learned something in their old neighborhood schools. I get by with a B — average that at least keeps me from being thrown out of this sanctuary!”

“! was a freshman and Jimmy Castor was a senior and we never spoke a word to each other, but to be around him from time to time, made me feel like one of the guys.”

for the next 50 years, I followed his career and was proud to say I went to school him, then FACEBOOK came along, which I call the “Great Equalizer”. I sent him a friend request along with a paragraph about our shared history, and he confirmed me. I’ll never know if he ever really remembered me, but I’ll never forget him and his eternal funkiness!.

Jimmy Castor R.I.P. ROCK IN PERPETUITY!

Respectfully, Artie Wayne 

COPYRIGHT 2012 BY ARTIE WAYNE https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/about-artie-wayne/

 From my new book, “I DID IT FOR A SONG” now available at AT AMAZON or Barnes & Noble or from Smashwords

TO READ SOME OF THE COMMENTS  CLICK  HERE

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ETTA JAMES R.I.P. ROCK IN PERPETUITY!

I USUALLY ONLY WRITE ABOUT PEOPLE I KNEW…BUT LIKE MILLIONS OF OTHERS WHEN I HEAR “AT LAST”, I FEEL LIKE I KNEW HER!

When my friend Alan O’Day (“UNDERCOVER ANGEL “, “ANGIE BABY”) heard about Ettas’ passings as well as his mentor Johnny Otis, he emailed me this…

“I feel a major loss in their passing. Both of these R&B icons played major roles in my career. My first experience in a “pro” recording studio was with Johnny producing & engineering, in the late 50’s, at a place called Eldo Records in Hollywood.  And although I didn’t meet her until years later, Etta was one of my inspirations in learning to sing soul-style.  Specifically her album “At Last”, which she autographed for me. The influences of both these people on our pop music culture is sadly underrated.  Each of them helped break the color barrier, each of them helped add such richness to my early life in music.  May their wonderful talents grace the choirs in heaven!”

ETTA JAMES MAY YOU ROCK IN PERPETUITY!

Respectfully, Artie Wayne

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THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC!

We’ve all watched the extensive coverage of Congresswoman Gabby Gifford’s extraordinary medical progress after being shot last year. We’ve seen her go through music therapy that helped her regained her voice.

We heard the incredible story of wounded Iraqi war hero, J.R. Martinez, who was blown up in a road side bomb attack, his painful ordeal and his remarkable recovery. Then we saw him soar on the wings of music as he won the top prize on this seasons’ “DANCING WITH THE STARS”.

I became more and more inspired as I watched J.R. grow stronger and get better as a dancer every week. I realized that the healing forces within his body were not only responding to the rigorous training his partner, Karina Smirnoff, was putting him through, but also through what I call “HEALING BEATS”.

In many modern dance recordings there are “sampled” rhythms and sounds that date back to early man, which were used in tribal ceremonies to promote healing, among other things. When you dance to these “HEALING BEATS”, you feel better and your body re-calibrates itself over a period of time! I believe that’s what’s happening with me as you’ll see in this two minute video directed by Wedigo “Wally” Watson.

As I continue stem cell therapy (from my own cells not embryos) and dancing to “HEALING BEATS”, I’ll report my progress.

IF YOU WANT TO READ THE FOUR ARTICLES THAT LED UP TO THIS “GIANT STEP” CLICK ONTO THE TITLES BELOW

ARTIE WAYNE R.I.P. ROCK IN PERPETUITY!

HOW I HELPED TO SAVE MY OWN LIFE!

MY MEDICAL MIRACLE!

“IF YOU CAN ONLY LIFT ONE FINGER…… YOU STILL CAN POINT THE WAY!”

COPYRIGHT 2012 BY ARTIE WAYNE HTTP://ARTIEWAYNE.COM

TO REACH WEDIGO WATSON  http://www.youtube.com/wally1435

photo at top J.R. MARTINEZ AND KARINA SMIRNOFF WHO WON THIS SEASONS’ “DANCING WITH THE STARS”

SPECIAL THANKS TO ROBIN MUNSON FOR SUGGESTING THE TITLE “THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC!”

Copyright 2012 by Artie Wayne

WHILE FIGHTING LARGE CORPORATIONS WHO ARE TRYING TO KEEP ROYALTIES AWAY ME AND THOUSANDS OF OTHER ARTISTS, SONGWRITERS AND PUBLISHERS, MY ONLY SOURCE OF INCOME IS FROM THE SALE OF MY BOOK. ” I DID IT FOR A SONG”, WITH OVER 100 STORIES FROM THE MUSIC BUSINESS OF THE ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. I HOPE YOU’LL CONSIDER BUYING ONE DIRECTLY FROM ME THROUGH PAYPAL FOR ONLY $9.99 AT  artiewayne@gmail.com OR BY CHECK TO…ARTIE WAYNE  P.O. BOX 1105, DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA 92240

THANKS AND REGARDS, ARTIE

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“IF YOU CAN ONLY LIFT ONE FINGER…… YOU STILL CAN POINT THE WAY!”

If you’ve been following my blog then you know the battles I’ve taken on and fought for with all my heart. I’ve shamed large corporations out of withholding millions of dollars in royalties from songwriters who didn’t earn at least $250 (the amount that had to be earned before a check was issued.)

When I ranted about Time Warner cable sending out programs where the sound wasn’t in synch with the picture, hundreds of customers all over the country who were suffering with the same problem bombarded the company with complaints, who corrected the problem immediately!

I’m proud to say that I helped to break the controversial Tommy James book, “ME, THE MOB, AND THE MUSIC”, which is being brought to the screen by Martin Scorcese. In the hard hitting interview I did with my former label mate, we exposed practices by the legendary Morris Levy, whose company Roulette Records, back in the sixties  was said to have made more 45’s than singles.

I also exposed a “JACK-OFFICER” (a guy at a company who keeps telling you the check is in the mail.) when I wrote a blog about up one of the companies’ dubious past which included being started by the NAZIS, I was sent a check for what the company owed me, from LA by messenger to my desert home four hours later!

I was impressed when “Biz”Stone, the guy who started TWITTER contacted me to apologize for his company signing me up “by mistake” and making things right again.

When I discovered that YouTube was paying some artists like Lady GaGa and Justin Bieber every time their video was played, while lesser artists and songwriters received nothing (although their videos were viewed millions of times)…I was livid! I became more outraged when I also found out that a large group of publishers are signing a deal with YouTube on January 16, 2012 for future rights to their music, and getting part of a 4 million dollar settlement, which may or may not be divided with the writers!

When I talked to my friend Jeremy Blietz, an executive at Warner Brothers Music, he told me that his company is not going to sign what the other publishers are. He said that WBM is making its own deal with YouTube and assured me that every writer will be equally and fairly compensated.

I told Jeremy about my suspicions of gross underpayment of royalties by the Universal Music Group (which now owns Motown records on my two Michael Jackson cuts in four posthumously released CDs).

It’s hard to believe that Michael was the biggest music artist of 2011 earning over 170 million dollars, and I earned less than five grand in packages that included his biggest Motown solo hits “BEN”, “I’LL BE THERE”, “GOTTA’ BE THERE”, “ROCKIN’ ROBIN” and the classic “LITTLE CHRISTMAS TREE” (Clinton, jr./ Wayne).

Then I told him I located 99 pages in a google search listing for “Little Christmas Tree”, with dozens of new videos put up, with items like mp3 downloads, and ringtones for sale. Jeremy a man of a few words emailed me, “Hi Artie, I’ll look into this and get back to you shortly.”

Best regards, Jeremy Blietz

Vice President, Administration

Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Considering my relationship with Warners over the past 40 years, since I was General Professional Mgr. and earned millions of dollars for the company, I know Jeremy will do everything he can to see that justice is done!

Finally, after my medical miracle last week, I’m having my dance in the wheelchair videotaped to show potential investors what THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC is all about.

I want to create an instructional video package to motivate people who have physical problems who need to exercise but won’t! The series is called, THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC and features abbreviated popular dance music clips BY GAGA, BIEBER etc., which stimulate us on cerebral, primal, and emotional levels. Short enough not to tire out a disabled person, but not long enough to be considered competition to the artists commercially released recording.

I’ve discovered a common denominator in all of the music that has worked a miracle on me, and I can explain what it is and show each viewer how to benefit from it.

Eventually I want to shoot a video with me showing movements to a group of people of all ages who are physically challenged and watch their faces light up when they see how much they enjoy it!

This could lead to a TV special (or series) THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC featuring people like J.R. Martinez, who overcame incredible odds to become this year’s winner of “DANCING WITH THE STARS”,  my friend, and former Quincy Jones, one of the geniuses behind, “WE ARE THE WORLD”, with segments that show how congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot earlier this year, regained her voice through music therapy.

It will also feature guest superstar performers who will interact with a physically challenged audience.Finally it will also feature a riveting special appearance by Steven Hawking and his voice synthesizer, who personifies my philosophy, “IF YOU CAN ONLY LIFT ONE FINGER YOU STILL CAN POINT THE WAY”

Regards, Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.com 

IF YOU HAVEN’T READ ABOUT MY MEDICAL MIRACLE CLICK ONTO https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/my-medical-miracle/

photo at top taken during a demonstration in 1988 that was passing by the UNIQUE CLOTHING WAREHOUSE in the East Village, N.Y.

NOW YOU CAN BUY MY NEW BOOK ,“I DID IT FOR A SONG” AT AMAZON or Barnes & Noble or from Smashwords

TO READ A CHAPTER OR TWO FOR FREE CLICK  HERE

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WISHING YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ARTIE WAYNE ON THE WEB!

“IF YOU CAN ONLY LIFT ONE FINGER…YOU STILL CAN POINT THE WAY!”

IF YOU HAVEN’T HEARD ABOUT THE MEDICAL MIRACLE ARTIE EXPERIENCED LAST WEEK CLICK ON TO           https://artiewayne.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/my-medical-miracle/

copyright 2012 by Artie Wayne http://artiewayne.com