A lot of musicians over the years have claimed to be the inventors of rock and roll. Many of the claims were clearly overstated. However, a man who was a true musical pioneer, and who had a better claim than many, died a few days ago, aged 79. He even had a name that sounded like rock and roll rhythm – Bo Diddley. He was paid a heartfelt and glowing tribute by Mick Jagger, who said “He was an enormous influence on popular music in general, and the Stones in particular. We shall never see his like again”. Well said, Mick. A MediaMaster award for the big man.
The BBC Board of Governors wins the MediaMug gong for a bizarre piece of management (nothing new there then). They have employed a team of expensive consultants to find out whether they have been paying too much money to their big stars (J Ross, G Norton etc). The conclusion of the study was – er – no. Much the same conclusion could have been reached by stopping a few BBC staff in the corridors at Shepherds Bush and asking them what they thought (which is what I did). The upshot was that a lot of money was spent finding out that money wasn’t wasted (except for that latest exercise, of course). Oh dear.
Presentation Tip of the Week
By Alan Stevens, Media Coach www.mediacoach.co.uk
