Led Zeppelin









Led Zeppelin was an English rock band, and is one of the most successful and influential groups in popular music history. Led Zeppelin consisted of four men: Jimmy Page (guitar), Robert Plant (lead vocals, harmonica), John Bonham (drums), and John Paul Jones (bass guitar and keyboards).

Formed in 1968, Led Zeppelin were innovators who never lost mainstream appeal. While the band is perhaps best known as pioneers of hard rock and heavy metal, they also drew inspiration from many other musical genres, including blues, rockabilly, reggae, soul, funk, jazz, Celtic, Indian, Arabic, folk, pop, Latin and country.Over 25 years after disbanding in response to drummer John Bonham's death in 1980, Led Zeppelin continue to be held in high regard for their artistic achievements, commercial success, and broad influence. To date, the group is reported to have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide, including 109.5 million sales in the United States.

History:

The early days (1968-1970)In 1968, while bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones still dominated the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, newer, heavier styles of rock and roll were being played by groups like The Who, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream. In that same year, a new British band, Led Zeppelin, began to form their own distinctly thunderous sound, and would play a critical role in the creation of a new musical genre, hard rock.

The formation/The New YardbirdsThe beginnings of Led Zeppelin can be traced to Jimmy Page, who had joined the rock band The Yardbirds in 1966, to play bass guitar after bassist Paul Samwell-Smith quit the group. Shortly thereafter, Page switched from bass to lead guitar creating a lineup that featured both Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck playing dual lead (Chris Dreja moved from rhythm guitar to take over on bass). Following the departure of Jeff Beck in October 1966, The Yardbirds, tired from constant touring and recording, were beginning to wind down. Page discussed forming a supergroup with himself and Beck on guitar, and The Who's Keith Moon and John Entwistle on drums and bass, respectively. Vocalists Donovan, Steve Winwood and Steve Marriott were also considered for the project. The group never formed, although Page, Beck and Moon did record a song together in 1966, "Beck's Bolero", which is featured on Beck's 1968 album, Truth. The recording session also included bassist John Paul Jones, who told Page that he would be interested in collaborating with him on future projects.The Yardbirds played their final gig in July 1968, after which vocalist Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty left the band, wishing to pursue a shared interest in folk music. However, The Yardbirds were still committed to perform several concerts in Scandinavia, so McCarty and Relf authorised Page and Dreja to use the Yardbirds name to fulfil the band's obligations. Page and Dreja began putting a new line-up together. Page's first choice for lead singer, Terry Reid, declined the offer, but suggested a singer he knew of who played on the Birmingham scene called Robert Plant. Plant accepted the position, and also recommended John Bonham from nearby Redditch who also played regularly in Birmingham bands. Plant and Bonham had recently played in the Band of Joy together. When Dreja opted out of the project to become a photographer (he would later take the photograph that appeared on the back of Led Zeppelin's debut album), John Paul Jones contacted Page about the empty position. Page, being familiar with his credentials, gladly accepted him as the band's new bassist.

The band completed the Scandinavian tour as the New Yardbirds. After some discussion, the name "Led Zeppelin" was chosen as a new name, based upon a name (Lead Zeppelin) that Keith Moon had suggested during his discussions with Page about a possible supergroup. Moon got the name from John Entwistle's term for a bad gig, describing it as "going over" (some sources say "going down") "like a lead zeppelin". The group deliberately dropped the 'a' in Lead at the suggestion of their manager, Peter Grant, to prevent people from pronouncing it as "leed".






Deb's Top 5 Songs Of The Day:


Bryan Adams, Summer Of 69
Cat Stevens, The First Cut Is The Deepest
Deep Purple, Smoke On The Water
Disturbed, Down With The Sickness
Doobie Brothers, Listen To The Music




Local Artist Of The Day:

Them One Guys

Promote Your CD









Congratulations! Your debut CD is now recorded, replicated, packaged, and ready for market. It’s an amazing feeling to see the fruit of your labor in front of you, nicely packaged as a CD that’s ready to be sold alongside the big wigs in the industry. One small problem: you don't have the backing and capital that the big wigs do to promote your CD... and you just know your CD can be a huge success in the market.

Promoting a CD can seem like a daunting task at first, especially if you haven't done anything like this before. Here are a few tips and ideas on how you can get started promoting, and selling your music CD.

1. First, you should plan a launch party. Tell all your friends and fans when the CD is going to launch, and generate some buzz. Let local papers and shops know as well, and have them help you spread the word.

2. Network - tell everyone you know about your new CD. Ransack that mental rolodex of yours, and hit everyone you know, and tell them to do the same. Believe it or not, this is probably your best resource!

3. Have a website before your CD launches, and use it to promote your CD. Set up a page on myspace and other similar sites that allow navigators to sample your new tracks.

4. Look into setting up an email list for your fans. Before the CD launches, send out an email letting everyone know. It’s cheap, it’s easy and it’s a fast way to get the word out about this and other upcoming events.

5. Write a press release and put it on your website. You can find lots of examples and instructions of how to do this online.

6. Contact the music reporter(s) at your local newspaper(s). Don't leave out the smaller papers - sometimes they are the heart and soul of the local music scene.

6. Offer a free copy of your CD to local radio stations. Remember the school stations - they frequently tend to favor local artists. If they play it, it could pay off quite well for you.

7. Approach internet radio stations, and offer them the rights to play your CD for free. Every time they play a track, you receive free advertising.

8. Call DJ's and DJ companies and offer a free copy. If they play your CD, that's more free advertising.

9. Get a barcode for your CD. This can help encourage retailers to sell your CD.

10. Get your CD sold at online distributers, such as cdbaby.com or amazon.com

11. Sell merchandise with your name or the band's name on it. This is not only a little extra revenue - it's great advertising.

12. Find out if there is a music show on your local TV stations, and see if you can be featured.

13. Cross-promotional deals - Talk to another similar band, and work out a cross-promotional deal. ie. They promote your CD at their shows, and you promote their CD at your show. Or even better...

14. Work out cross-promotional deal with several bands. Each band contributes a track or two to a sampler CD. Then each band gives away the sampler CD as a "bonus" with every CD they sell of their own.

15. Naturally, you should promote your CD at every show you play

There are lots of things you can do to realize your dream faster. These are some simple ideas on how you can begin to promote your CD, and get the word out to your future fans. Good luck!








Deb's Top 5 Songs Of The Day:


Avenged Sevenfold, Seize The Day
Led Zeppelin, Since I've Been Loving You
Ozzy Osbourne, Diary Of A Madman
The Doors, Peace Frog
Billy Joel, My Life



Local Artist Of The Day:



Calveris