Free Radio Alliance To Lobby Congress Today…

Tuesday, May, 5, 2009 by Mel Phillips.

Tony Bennett has become the latest advocate for performance rights but today belongs to the Free Radio Alliance which plans a “Congressional Staff briefing” on the negative impact the performance tax will have on the radio industry.  The NAB-backed coalition will be joined by a group of Spanish Broadcasting executives and personalities who will be supporting The Local Radio Freedom Act.  That’s the resolution opposing performance royalties on broadcast radio.  It’s a movement that just gained the support of four more Senators and six more members of the House, bringing the total number to 184 co-sponsors…

House backers of the resolution want 218 backers which would be a majority of the 435-member House.  They believe that number will send a message to leadership that there is not enough support to push through the royalty act legislation.  Even if the drive falls short of 218, resolution proponents think Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers and other co-sponsors of H.R. 848 could back off their push to make the measure law…

Neither the House nor Senate opponents of the Performance Royalties Act should take anything for granted in their drive to snuff the resolution in light of a recent ‘wrist-slapping’ atmosphere that seems to be hovering over Washington.  The latest example being the Supreme Court asking the courts to re-examine the “Boobgate” decision giving those deemed guilty of the incident a pass.  We could be seeing a new era of law enforcement in media developing right before our eyes…  

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1862] Cinco de Mayo: The Mexican militia defeats the French army in the Battle of Puebla, in Mexico. Sounds like a good reason to celebrate Cinco de Mayo to me…
2. 1891] Practice man, practice: The Music Hall opens in Manhattan. It will later be renamed Carnegie Hall…
3. 1900] Bullets to follow: ‘The Billboard’ which will later be changed to Billboard Magazine starts publishing weekly after debuting as a monthly in 1894…
4. 1904] That’s why the award was named for him: Pitching for the Boston Pilgrims, 37-year old pitcher Cy Young completes the first perfect game in the modern era (when the pitching rubber was moved to 60′, 6″). Young beats the Philadelphia A’s…
5. 1925] What’s the Scope?: Dayton, Tennessee biology teacher John T. Scopes is arrested for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. 84 years later it’s still being debated…
6. 1955] Rolling 5’s: On 5/5/55, Boston and Detroit combine for 5 runs with the Tigers winning 3-2. It is the only game scheduled in the American League…
7. 1961] Reporting from the back window: Alan Shepard makes a 15-minute sub-orbital flight from Cape Canaveral which I reported on when I worked at WKKO in Brevard County, Florida. I did the report looking out of the studio window, a few miles from the launch for News Associates in Washington, D.C., which I probably helped put out of business with my report…
8. 1973] The greatest horse of our generation: The great Secretariat wins the Kentucky Derby in record time (1:59:02). The record still exists. Of course Big Red would go on to win the Triple Crown in ‘73…
9. 1978] Joining the 3,000 hit club: Pete Rose picks up his 3,000th hit as a member of the Reds…
10. 1986] R&RHOF approved: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is approved for Cleveland. Although he doesn’t get any credit for it, the world of music can thank Norm N. Nite for that approval. No one worked harder to get the Hall built in Cleveland than Norm…

Music Memories:

• 1962] Number One on this date: “Soldier Boy“ - Shirelles…
• 1968] Released on this date: “Bad Moon Rising“ - Creedence Clearwater Revival…
• 1968] Curtains: The Buffalo Springfield bow out with a concert in Long Beach (CA).  Here they are on “The Smothers Brothers Show”.

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday”: Edyta Sliwinska (27), Brian Williams (50), Reporter John Miller (51), Mary Hopkin (59), Bob Seger (64), Kurt Loder (64), Michael Palin (66) and Pat Carroll (82)…

Timeline Countdown: 5 days until Mother’s Day, 20 days until Memorial Day and 48 days until Father’s Day…

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