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2 weeks ago | 
oakiedog.substack.com | David Katznelson
Happy Duke Ellington Day, a day that should be a national holiday, celebrating the greatest American composer of the 20th century. From the 1920s to the 1970s, Duke Ellington consistently wrote, recorded and performed an ever evolutionary style of Jazz, a constantly defining style, leaving behind a musical legacy that is almost impossible to fully conceive.
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3 weeks ago | 
oakiedog.substack.com | David Katznelson
(to be read following the previous 2 Signals, Pt. 1 and Pt. 2)There are two ways to have longevity as an A&R person at a major label: don’t sign anything, or sign a band that bears a hit. During my A&R tenure in the ‘90s, I knew a lot of folks who opted for the former, hiding out at a label for a good amount of years, grooving on the lifestyle of seeing bands, taking meetings, eating well, buying records. The Signal From David Katznelson is a reader-supported publication.
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1 month ago | 
oakiedog.substack.com | Tomas Tranströmer |David Katznelson
(to be read following the previous Signal)Most great bands have a record or two in their catalog that are underrated, that for one reason or another never achieved the status of their more well-known releases, may it be from the changing of public taste, poor distribution/marketing, untimely release date…many reasons. These records are gifts to the fan, discoveries they make while record shopping or talking to a someone in-the-know.
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1 month ago | 
oakiedog.substack.com | David Katznelson
It has been a minute since the last Signal, and ever since its publication…ever since talking about the new Cheater Slicks/Don Howland single, I have been on a deep dive into the early days of both the ‘Slicks and Howland’s band The Bassholes, both whose records were released by In The Red.
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2 months ago | 
oakiedog.substack.com | James Merrill |David Katznelson
The first San Francisco Music Week has just concluded, which featured among MANY things a panel I was asked to moderate last Friday: the Legends panel featuring individuals who had made significant accomplishments in their career, framed by the era and style they embodied.
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2 months ago | 
oakiedog.substack.com | Lia Purpura |David Katznelson
Big news: Lomax Archive went live yesterday morning, a record label dedicated to releasing the music recorded primarily by Alan Lomax and his father John. I am honored to have worked with Anna Lomax Wood, her son Odysseus Chairetakis, Reed Watson and Robert Meitus to create the label, as well as to help curate the releases going forward.
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Feb 10, 2025 | 
oakiedog.substack.com | David Katznelson
Sure you know the names of Ike Turner, Little Richard, and Carl Perkins: they are more often than not referenced when the long-long-long times old story of the creation of rock ‘n’ roll is discussed, along with their song contributions Rocket 88, Tutti Frutti and Blue Suede Shoes respectively. But how about Roy Brown or Big Mama Thornton? Sister Rosetta Tharp or Sister Wynona Carr? I know much of the readership of The Signal knows these names.
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Feb 10, 2025 | 
oakiedog.substack.com | Anne Carson |David Katznelson
The road of the true music artist (of all artists) can be a hard road, a road that walks the tight rope of genius and insanity, of popularity and disfavor: in the world of ever changing, fickle public tastes, with always new generations of enthusiasts embracing evolved sounds and movements, even the greatest artists are faced with the reality that the limelight rarely stays on one stage, on one career.
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Feb 10, 2025 | 
oakiedog.substack.com | Arthur Sze |David Katznelson
When I tried to sign The Gories to Warner Bros. Records they had already pretty much broken up. I did not know that at the time, and to be honest, it is not a main driver of this story. But years and years later, after many reformations and tours, Gories guitarist Dan Kroha told me that when I reached out to him, the band was on fumes. But who is going to turn down found money, right?
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Feb 10, 2025 | 
oakiedog.substack.com | Tao Qian |David Katznelson
I have been thinking deeply about collecting “things” since the eruption of the LA Fires. Underneath the true horror of lives being lost and ruined, and the resultant (and caused-by) cataclysmic climate issues, lies a deep question about how humans tent their lives, and what they fill said tents with.
