On The Media

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The Day the Music Died

October 05, 2007

When CBS fired Dan Rather over Memogate two years ago, the longtime newsman wasn’t the only one who lost a paycheck.

Talked instead about Ukraine.

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It's the right segment but you have to go in 6 minutes to hear the Neal Fox/Thank You, Dan Rather story.

It looks like the segment is right if you go 6 min. in.

But the interview is not on the download.

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It IS on the download. Also about 6 minutes in.

Mr. Fox,

I listened to the broadcast yesterday with my husband, and both of us were left wondering the same thing: please tell us under what theory you believed Dan Rather and CBS should carry you through your golden years? Especially since you didn't take time to secure an exclusive contract with CBS in your youth? If you really are only living off of the proceeds from the sale of your home, what happened to your retirement plans? Your IRAs? Your investments??? What were you doing while the rest of us worked 40+ hours a week creating new ideas, new products every day and saving, saving, saving?

Sorry to say, but Mr. Rather has been the butt of too many jokes these days and he shouldn't go on the block for your financial incompetence.

Dear Mr. Fox,

I think it's refreshing and funny that you can make a muscial about Dan Rather and how the end of your musical jingle/overture was affected.

Hope the show goes well!

Dear Mr. Fox,

Whether it was CBS or Dan Rather that cooked the goose that laid your golden eggs, the question remains, What did you do with all that gold you had gathered in the meantime?

Hello all.

First let me make this very clear: This is tongue-in-cheek.

If you've seen my web site or YouTube video this would be clear. It's hard to get everything into a 5 minute interview.

I obviously don't expect Dan to be my retirement plan. And as far as making jokes at Dan's expense, the show is not a bash Dan show at all. It's about what a composer's life is like more than anything else.

Also, to answer another question, I didn't sit around with a drink by the pool those 13 years. I've written two book musicals (script, music and lyrics) and two one-man shows. One is multimedia and I did all the animation and video as well as perform in it.

I've written and recorded 7 albums on my own label. I've illustrated and composed the music for a children's book series aimed at interesting minority children in reading.

And many other things.

I did not want to take this space to blow my own horn, but I also don't want to let this confusion go by without comment.

Thanks,

Neal

Neal,

Quickly then, I would have to say that "On the Media" did you a great disservice. Honestly, the tone of the piece doesn't make you very sympathetic to the general population and, if you were hoping the segment would provide free publicity, you might find your projected ticket sales taking a dive or finding people in your audiences interested in bashing Rather instead of hearing your story. After all, the show's not titled "What a Composer's Life is Like" is it? That's not as catchy. You can't disagree that the content of the piece makes you out to be a guy who lived off of 30 seconds of air-time and nothing else. I'm glad to hear that's not the case.

Amanda.

I can't be completely objective. Knowing myself the way I do, I thought it was funny. The people who heard it that know me, agreed.

But we're not expecting to sell tickets based on this interview. Just to attract attention. We've gotten a lot of good press in South Florida and the blog and web site are were we expect to sell the idea.

I thought Alicia Zuckerman (the writer) did a great job and I'll never complain about getting publicity. It's very hard to get any attention these days without resorting to sex, drugs and violence. Hopefully, the spot will get some people to learn more about me and my work.

But you're right. One can't tell how others might take it. Life is a bit of a crap shoot.

Thanks, Neal, for the entertaining interview.

In response to Amanda's comments -- I found it interesting that you felt it to be unacceptable for somebody to become very successful and be in a position to be able to live off the fruits of their labors, rather than living from paycheck to paycheck. I think it's wonderful when somebody "makes it" in this manner. And in the music business (which is often feast or famine, unfortunately), having a gig like the Dan Rather gig is wonderful, as it allows one to continue creating in the "famine" periods.

Something to consider, which Amanda may not be aware of, is this: What all went into that success ? Possibly years as a starving artist, the occasional jingle, the occasional tune picked up, student loans, ever increasing credit card debt, the high cost of digital studio equipment (which really is required for this type of work), which I believe can easily go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and so on. These "overnight successes" usually aren't really overnight successes. They're the result of years and years and years of study and work and diligence and stick-tuitiveness. I applaud Neil for having pulled it off !! And I hope he regains it again. He's a wonderful songwriter and I've loved what music of his that I've heard. A really talented guy.

JoJo, I all for people become succesful and live off the fruits of their labors.

But I do think it's a bad idea to rely solely on one piece you made some umpteen years ago.

It's too bad for mr. Fox, that CBS didn't take mr. Fox' Katie Couric jingle. But the tone of this interview made it seem like as if they really depended on that stream of income that they received from that jingle.

I'm not in the media business, so it might be that I just don't understand the idea that I need to rely on money coming from something I made a number of years ago.

I'm a software tester, and I need to work every day to make my pay. If I create a testscript today, I can't demand my company to pay me money for that every time someone uses that script. That's simply not the way my work is done.