Jack’s Third Show with Billy Idol, Blondie, Devo, The Psychedelic Furs, REO Speedwagon, Twisted Sister

Saturday, September 27, 2008 - Billy Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X. He then embarked on a successful solo career, aided by a series of stylish music videos, making him one of the first MTV stars. Idol continues to tour with guitarist Steve Stevens and has a fan base all around the world. Along with Duran Duran, Billy Idol was one the first pop/rock artists to achieve massive success in the early ’80s due to a then brand-new U.S. television network, MTV. Mixing his bad-boy good looks with an appealing blend of pop hooks, punk attitude, and a dance beats, Idol quickly rocketed to stardom, before hard living derailed his career and almost proved fatal.

Blondie was the most commercially successful band to emerge from the much vaunted punk/new wave movement of the late ’70s. The group was formed in New York City in August 1974 by singer Deborah Harry (b. July 1, 1945, Miami), formerly of Wind in the Willows, and guitarist Chris Stein (b. Jan. 5, 1950, Brooklyn) out of the remnants of Harry’s previous group, the Stilettos.  In August, Chrysalis Records bought their contract from Private Stock and in October reissued Blondie and released the second album, Plastic Letters. Blondie expanded to a sextet in November with the addition of bassist Nigel Harrison (born Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England), as Infante switched to guitar. Blondie broke commercially in the U.K. in March 1978, when their cover of Randy and the Rainbows’ 1963 hit “Denise,” renamed “Denis,” became a Top Ten hit, as did Plastic Letters, followed by a second U.K. Top Ten, “(I’m Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear.” Blondie turned to U.K. producer/songwriter Mike Chapman for their third album, Parallel Lines, which was released in September 1978 and eventually broke them worldwide. “Picture This” became a U.K. Top 40 hit, and “Hanging on the Telephone” made the U.K. Top Ten, but it was the album’s third single, the disco-influenced “Heart of Glass,” that took Blondie to #1 in both the U.K. and the U.S. “Sunday Girl” hit #1 in the U.K. in May, and “One Way or Another” hit the U.S. Top 40 in August. Blondie followed with their fourth album, Eat to the Beat, in October. Its first single, “Dreaming,” went Top Ten in the U.K., Top 40 in the U.S. The second U.K. single, “Union City Blue,” went Top 40. In March 1980, the third U.K. single from Eat to the Beat, “Atomic,” became the group’s third British #1. (It later made the U.S. Top 40.) Meanwhile, Harry was collaborating with German disco producer Giorgio Moroder on “Call Me,” the theme from the movie American Gigolo. It became Blondie’s second transatlantic chart topper. Blondie’s fifth album, Autoamerican, was released in November 1980, and its first single was the reggaeish tune “The Tide Is High,” which went to #1 in the U.S. and U.K. The second single was the rap-oriented “Rapture,” which topped the U.S. pop charts and went Top Ten in the U.K. But the band’s eclectic style reflected a diminished participation by its members - Infante sued, charging that he wasn’t being used on the records, though he settled and stayed in the lineup. But in 1981, the members of Blondie worked on individual projects, notably Harry’s gold-selling solo album, KooKoo. The Best of Blondie was released in the fall of the year. The Hunter, Blondie’s sixth and last new album, was released in July 1982, preceded by the single “Island of Lost Souls,” a Top 40 hit in the U.S. and U.K. “War Child” also became a Top 40 hit in the U.K., but The Hunter was a commercial disappointment. At the same time, Stein became seriously ill with the genetic disease pemphigus. As a result, Blondie broke up in October 1982, with Deborah Harry launching a part-time solo career while caring for Stein, who eventually recovered. In 1998, the original line-up of Harry, Stein, Destri and Burke reunited to tour Europe, their first series of dates in 16 years; a new LP, No Exit, followed early the next year. 

Devo (pronounced DEE-vo or dee-VO, often spelled “DEVO” or “DEV-O”) is an American New Wave music group formed in Akron, Ohio in 1973. They are best known for their 1980 hit “Whip It”, which made it to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their style has been variously classified as punk, art rock and post-punk, but they are most often remembered for their late 1970s and early 1980s New Wave sound which, along with others (such as Gary Numan, Peter Gabriel, and The B-52’s) ushered in the synth pop sound of the 1980s.

The Psychedelic Furs, whose name belies their punk-influenced music, were formed in England in 1977 by brothers Richard Butler (vocals) and Tim Butler (bass), along with saxophone player Duncan Kilburn and guitarist Roger Morris. By the time they released their self-titled debut album in 1980, the group had become a sextet, adding guitarist John Ashton and drummer Vince Ely. That album, featuring Butler’s hoarse voice (the tone of which suggested John Lydon without the sneer) was a bigger hit in England, where it reached the Top 20, than in the U.S.
Talk Talk Talk (1981) did better, reaching the U.S. Top 100 and producing two British singles chart entries, one of which was “Pretty in Pink,” later also a hit in the U.S. when a new version was used as the title song of a film. Forever Now (1982) saw the band reduced to a quartet with the departure of Kilburn and Morris. The rest moved to the U.S., turned to producer Todd Rundgren, and scored a U.S. Top 50 hit with “Love My Way.” Ely then left, and the remaining trio of the two Butlers and Ashton made Mirror Moves (1984), the biggest Psychedelic Furs hit yet.

REO Speedwagon took its name from the REO Speed Wagon, a flatbed truck, manufactured by the REO Motor Car Company. (”R.E.O.” are initials of the company’s founder, Ransom Eli Olds, who also founded Oldsmobile, once a division of General Motors.)REO Speedwagon was formed by students attending the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois in the fall of 1967 to play cover songs in campus bars.

Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from New York City. Their work fuses the shock tactics of Alice Cooper, the rebellious mood of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and the extravagant image of glam rock bands such as New York Dolls and Kiss, notably the makeup. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands. The band is generally categorized as glam metal for their earlier work, although that is a somewhat derogatory label to those in the genre so the band does not consider itself “glam metal”.  Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, CA 92618, Contact: 949.855.8095.

 

 

How to Use Simple Classified Ads (Offline and Online)To Bring in an Endless River of Super-Hot Leads Who Want to Buy from You

(This is one of the most powerful of all lead generation tools)

By Ben Hart

This is another installment in my list building series.  There is no piece of marketing knowledge more important than knowing how to build your list of leads — of people who are interested in exactly what you are selling. Your list of super-hot, ready-to-buy-from-you leads is your most valuable asset.

Even if you never use classified ads, the principles outlined here apply to all marketing.  So you should keep reading regardless of whether you ever try classified ads.  I have made millions of dollars by following exactly the strategy I’m describing to you here. This is one of the very best strategies there is for building your list of super-qualified leads.  I first got started in direct marketing about 20 years ago by spending $150 on some classified ads. I used classified ads to build my lists of qualified leads – that is, my mailing lists.

Since that time, a little over 20 years ago, my direct marketing letters, ads and programs have generated nearly $1 BILLION in sales . . . largely because I understood how to build a big list of qualified leads – a big chunk of it by using classified ads.  And I still use good old fashioned classified ads as a major weapon in my marketing arsenal.  What I usually do in my classified ad is offer a free book.  Here is one example:

FREE BOOK - “How to Write Great Sales Letters” One of America’s top mail-order copywriters reveals all his secrets in this 236-page book. To get your free copy, call: 1-800-XYZ-XYZX - Or go to www.xyzxyzxyz.com - And that’s it.  Pretty simple, isn’t it?  I run this ad in the “Business Opportunities” section of Entrepreneur magazine, The Wall Street Journal and other business publications.  The reason these leads are so productive and profitable for me is I know that  anyone who answers this ad is motivated to be successful in business.  I know this  because:

 1.      They read Entrepreneur magazine and The Wall Street Journal.

 2.      They are looking in the “Business Opportunities” section

 3.      They answered my ad and clearly want to learn

 And I run an Internet variation of this ad on Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing and other pay-per-click programs on the Internet.  I run this ad on Craigslist, Yahoo Classifieds and other classified ad sites. I run this ad in ezines that are read by entrepreneurs. I even run a version of this ad on eBay.

Here’s something else I know about people who answer this ad.  I know that anyone who answers this ad will respond to direct marketing offers . . . because they just answered my ad.  This is extremely important to know.  Many people (about half the population) will never answer an ad or a direct mail marketing letter. Half the population are not “direct marketing responsive” (to use industry jargon).

They go to stores to buy their stuff.  Of they only buy if they are actively searching for a specific product or service.  So you need to know whether your prospects are “direct marketing responsive.”

I also know that these names and addresses are current (which is not the case for many lists you rent).

So I know a lot of key information about anyone who answers a little classified ad like this. I have built lists of hundreds of thousands of super-qualified leads by using this exact approach over and over again for two decades.  A big portion of these leads became buyers – have, in fact, bought tens of millions of dollars in books and other products from me over the last two decades.  I also built a big portion of the Christian Coalition membership list this way during the 1990s.

I started by running a classified ad offering a free copy of my bestselling book Faith & Freedom: The Christian Roots of American Liberty.  The ad said this:

 FREE BOOK: Faith & Freedom: The Christian Roots of American Liberty, Documents the strong Christian faith of America’s Founding Fathers.  To Get Your FREE Copy Call: 1-XYZ-XYZ-XYZQ.  I did not use a toll-free number for this ad because I could not afford to at the time. But this tiny little ad worked great.  I ran this ad is Christian publications and built an enormous mailing list.  I was also able to distribute hundreds of thousands of copies of my book.  And classified ads are super cheap. 

I used this list to build a large portion of the Christian Coalition’s membership base of 2,000,000 members and supporters – a list that generated $27 MILLION per year in membership fees and donations for the organization.  Classified ads are a great list building tool.  There continues to be a unique fascination with classified ads.  People love reading them.  People read them even if they are not looking for anything specific.  People will read a classified ad before they will read a big display ad run by a department store, produced by a big ad agency.  I think people like reading classified ads because these ads are written mostly by real people – average folks – not ad agencies (and also by some direct marketers like me who understand how to use classified ads).  It’s sort of like the “Letters-to-the-Editor” section of the newspaper.  Many people will read the “Letters-to-the-Editor” before they will read the articles.  The “Letters-to-the-Editor” section is one of the most popular sections of any newspaper – because people like to read letters written by average folks (real people) who are not professional writers.  Same with so-called “reality” shows on TV.

People prefer to watch real people rather than actors and slickly-produced, highly-scripted shows.  I think that’s what’s going on with classified ads.  Most classified ads are written by amateurs. So people like to read them.  And the classifieds are broken down by category.  So readers can go directly to the category that interests them.  There’s really no easier way to build a huge list of super-qualified leads than by using classified ads exactly as I have described here.   And there’s no easier way to make money.  The Yellow Pages operate basically the same way.  So you can often adapt a successful classified ad campaign for the Yellow Pages.  By the way, EBAY is really just a jazzed up classified ads service.  That’s all it is.

 All those programs you see advertised about how to make money on EBAY are almost exactly the same as how to make money with classified ads.  In fact, that’s what the entire Internet is.  It’s just a big classified ads listing service.  People type in keywords and keyword phrases into search engine browsers that best describe what they are looking for.  Those are your categories.  It’s no different in principle than the old fashioned classified ads or Yellow pages – just a whole lot more efficient, targeted and detailed.  So start thinking of your Internet marketing that way – like a gigantic classified ads service – classified ads on super-steroids.

Classified ads are huge on the Internet. Craigslist.org is one of the biggest and most famous.  Classified ads on Craigslist are free.  MySpace.com and  Yahoo have huge classified ad sections. There are countless others, most free on the Internet.  But don’t forget about good old fashioned print for your classified ad lead-generation and marketing campaign.  Remember, advertising  that’s printed on paper still has far more impact than digital advertising – I think because print is still just more real to people.

Key Steps To Success For Using Classified Ads

STEP #1

Start studying the classified ad sections in magazines and publications (online and offline) that reach your target audience – the more targeted the publication, website or ezine, the better.

STEP #2

Study the categories to see if any category fits your product niche.  Or (even better) study the categories to figure out what product you should consider selling.  That’s what I prefer to do. I prefer to figure out first if there’s a market for my product before I go to the trouble and expense of developing it.

STEP #3

Look for categories that have lots of ads.  When you see lots of ads selling the same kinds of products, that means the ads are working and these kinds of products sell well.

STEP #4

Select a category in a niche that you love doing anyway.  If you love golf, consider selling golf stuff.  You won’t have much fun or success if you are not selling something dealing with a subject that you don’t love, or at least like a lot. Sell something that you are passionate about and that you believe in – not something just because you think you can make money selling it.

STEP #5

Go to your public library and ask for the Standard Rates and Data Sservices Directory of Trade Publications.  If it’s a decent sized library, they will have it.  Here you will find all the business and industry publications in existence broken down by category.  Focus on the trade and industry publications that most suit your market niche. 

STEP #6

Make sure you are able to deliver your promised product the instant people call . . . or who fill out your form on your site’s “landing page.”  Those who request your free product will be skeptical of your ad’s claims.  You want to exceed expectations by a huge margin.  If you do that, you’ll have no trouble making subsequent sales with your follow-up communications.

STEP #7

Be sure to track the performance of your ads. You’ll find that ads will perform much better in some publications and websites than others.  And the headline on your ad can make a 1,000% difference in your response.  Each ad should have it’s own phone number and landing page so you can track an ad’s performance. 

STEP #8

But don’t worry so much about the tracking mechanics when you first start out.  Just start running your ads.  When you find one that works, then start testing different ads and tracking results precisely.  But just get started.  As the Nike ad says, “Just do it.”

STEP #9

Don’t be discouraged by ads that fail.  You probably will fail at first.  It takes some trial and error to get the hang of it.  But classified ads are super cheap, so failure is no big deal.  All you need is for one ad to work and you’re off to the races.  If 10 ads fail and one works, you’re far better off than if you win the lottery.

STEP #10

Once you find an ad that’s working, keep running it until it stops working . . . which might be never. That is, a successful classified ad can often run profitably forever.

 STEP #11

Once you achieve success with a classified ad campaign, experiment with direct response display ads that follow the same theme – just more detail.  So the display ad version offering the free book would include a picture of the book and more bullet items on the big benefits of getting this free book.

STEP #12

Test the same offer using different media – direct mail, radio, even TV (if you hit a home run).  Very often a successful classified ad campaign transfers over to other advertising media.  Experimenting with classified ads is a great way to launch your education in direct marketing for very low risk – and can even be the start of a big new career for you in direct marketing.  In a big publication with hundreds of thousands of readers, your 25-word ad might cost $35.  A 25-word classified ad in the Washington Post will cost you about $65, with its million-reader circulation.  It gets cheaper if you run the ad for a week or a month . . . or perpetually until you decide to stop it.  So you don’t need many responses for your ad to pay off.

Your classified ads will usually work best in specialty publications that specifically target your niche market.  Will classified ads work for any product or service?  Nope.  No advertising medium will work for everything.  A saw is a great tool, but not if you want to hammer a nail into a piece of wood.  But classified ads are a great tool for the right product.  Classified ads can be a great tool.  And understand this.  Not all classified ad sections are alike.  The classified ad section in the Washington Post will be very different from the classified ads section in Popular Mechanics.  You will find entirely different categories of products being sold in different publications targeting different audiences.

 That’s why it’s so important for you to study the SRDS Directory of Trade Publications.  That’s where you will find all the publications that target your specific market. That’s where you will find the best classified ad sections for you.  You can also just type “classified ads” into Google — or better, “classified ads” plus the category of product or service you are selling.  So,  for example, if you are selling golf equipment, just type “classified ads golf.”  You’ll come up with a big list of places to test your ads.  Then offer something of value free designed to appeal to golf fanatics — perhaps a free book titled “Three Steps to Long Straight Drives” or “America’s 50 Golf Destinations for Those on a Budget” or maybe a FREE sleeve to Titleist golf balls.  Whatever it is, you need to offer something of value free to build your big list of hard-core golf fanatics so that you can keep coming back at them later with golf offers.

Remember, you don’t primarily use classified ads to sell.  You don’t have enough space for that.  You use classified ads to build your list of leads by offering something of value free that will appeal to your target market.  I’m not sure success in business can get any easier or simpler than this.

www.MarketingRocketFuel.com

Movies on the Beach - Newport Dunes

 

Join us on Friday and Saturdays from May through September for our free Movies on the Beach. Brings the kids, lounge chairs and treats to see movies for the whole family on our giant screen.

View Movie Schedule (seasonal)

MAY 24th: Lilo and Stitch; 30th: Cars; 31st: Bee Movie; JUNE: 4th: Fireworks!!; 5th: High School Musical; 11th: How to eat Fried Worms; 12th: Monster House; 18th: Master of Disguise; 19th: Madagascar; 25th: Mulan; 26th: Surfs Up; 6th: Incredibles; 7th: Enchanted; 13th: Mighty Ducks; 14th: R.V.; 20th: Aladdin; 21st: Finding Nemo; 27th: Happy Feet; 28th: Ratitouille; July: 1st: Troll in Central Park; 2nd: The Little Mermaid; 8th: Happily Never After ;9th: Alvin and the Chipmunks; 15th: Bridge to Terebithia; 16th: Nancy Drew; 22nd: Night at the Museum; 23rd: Little Rascals; 29th: Curious George; 30th: TBD. Movies will start at dusk behind Moe B’s Corner - * Movies may be shown behind Moe B’s Water Sports if it is windy.