Management Craft

Butterfly Flap - Journey's New Lead Singer Arnel Pineda

I am captivated by the story of the new lead singer for the band Journey, Arnel Pineda. They interviewed the band on the Sunday Morning Show  this  morning.

Journey's founder found Arnel, who was born and lived in the Philippines, on You Tube. He was in a cover band in the Philippines and a fan had loaded up several songs from their performances.

One thing led to another and Arnel was asked to come to California to audition to be the new lead singer for Journey.

Arnel had been, at times, homeless, eating street scraps, and sleeping on benches. Now he is the lead singer for Journey and he was found on You Tube.

This a fascinating. But there is more.

The other Journey band members are so jazzed about Arnel - his spirit, his passion, his story - that they feel invigorated and renewed as creative artists. In the Sunday Morning interview, one band member said that knowing Arnel makes him want to be a better human being.

They have released a three CD set that includes 11 new songs (comes out Tuesday).

I am blown away by the butterfly effect in action here. Imagine all the little flaps that occurred to make this happen. What are the odds?

Crazy-wonderful things can happen when we - and those around us - flap, flap, flap.

Pandora is Addictive Music!

I don't know whether to curse or thank him.....

I was talking with Wayne Turmel a couple days ago, recording a podcast for an upcoming Cranky Middle Manager show (congrats on 1 year and 48 shows so far!) and mentioned I was keen on Fiona Apple for mood music for a particular type of writing.

He told me about Pandora and warned me that if I gave it a try, I would become addicted. Yep! Addicted within 20 minutes. Super addicted. Listening to it right now.

What is Pandora? Well, it is musical magic. You tell them a song or artist that you like a lot and they create a radio station with great stuff like that. Pandora creates customized radio stations with very little effort on my part (I love that). They match up tones, styles, artists, and genres. It's cool what they connect, but it caught me off guard at first. I got a little creeped out because they were connecting seemingly unconnected stuff that I loved (on my Fiona Apple station, they played Depeche Mode - how did they know that I like both? Why were they connected? I'm curious now..). It gave me the feeling that I am way too predictable. Then I got over it and enjoyed the music.

You gotta check out Pandora.

This is a brilliant advancement. What's next? What's next in your industry and what part will you play in offering up new magic? I love this kind of stuff and think about how your employees will feel when they know they are part of something cool and cutting edge. I would guess that it is a blast to work for Pandora.

Great Quote

"Tonight's the night the world begins again." Goo Goo Dolls, Better Days

Great new song on my iPod.

What an opportunity to see things this way.

More Mood Music

OK - So I have my cushy headphones plugged into my ibook to get some end of the evening destressin' going. You know, stripping my mind of the worries, details, and projects of the day to facilitate quality rest and intersting dreams. I just gotta share some GREAT tunes with you. This is totally related to management because our success depends on us being able to focus and relax our brains (I'd share it even if it didn't relate, though :-)

You GOTTA go to itunes and buy Home by Marc Broussard. Listen to it with headphones, pretty loud. Be prepared to be amazed. It's full, soulful, rockin' and intricate. Love it!

I really like the rhythm and whimsy of Bruce Hornsby's Gonna Be Some Changes Made. This song has great movement and artistry. Well written. Just a smidgen of Sting.

Can you say COOL? Rick Bruan does in Daddy-O. Such a sexy groove and fluid sound. I love brass instruments. OK, so this is not Wynton Marsalis playing Flight of the Bumble Bee (his Baroque CD is one of my favorites), but it's a well played cool jazz tune. Perfect for my pre-sleep chill-down.

Another super cool song is Art of Love by Michael Franks. It's so darned perky and relaxing at the same time.

How about some Cold Duck by Al Jarreau. This is a great chillin' song, but also a great driving song. Jarreau is such an overlooked talent by the younger generation I think (hint, hint,).

I've blogged before that I really dig Dead Can Dance's song Spider's Stratagem - it is one of the most UNIQUE songs I have heard. Amazing, really. Unfortunately, this one''s not available on itunes. But the CD is great (Into the Labyrinth).

Did I mention Home by Marc Broussard? I'm playin' it again....... Go spend $.99 and buy it right now.

All except Dead Can Dance are available on itunes. Enjoy, and please share your favorite mood music with me.