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Friday, May 15, 2009
Artist scheduled to play summer Fraze show dies after battle with cancer
NBA basketball star turned professional musician Wayman Tisdale has passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 44.
Tisdale was scheduled to play this summer at the Fraze Pavilion as part of Boney James and Norman Brown’s Summer Storm show on Aug. 15.
According to Tisdale’s biography on his personal Web site, he was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2007 after he fell down a flight of steps and broke his leg at his home in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2007. Knee replacement surgery and months of chemotherapy followed. His right leg was amputated above the knee in 2008.
“It really showed me what’s important in life, man. It’s not getting as many houses as I can, not driving the biggest cars,” Tisdale said. “What’s important is family and being healthy.”
“Rebound,” the bass guitarist’s eighth album, released in 2008, was written with the message “if I can do it, you can do it,” according to Tisdale.
Tisdale, a three-time All-American at Oklahoma played 12 seasons in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 15.3 points for his career. He was on the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.
After he retired from the court he became an award-winning jazz musician. Tisdale’s death was announced on the Oklahoma Senate floor Friday by Senate Majority Leader Todd Lamb, who led the chamber in prayer according to an Associated Press report.
Below I posted a video of Tisdale that was shot by ESPN. He obviously had a great smile and a contagious energy. Stay tuned for any news regarding any more changes with the Fraze show.
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TweetPerformance Tax threatens radio stations
Buried in the rubble of more high-profile congressional legislation such as H.R.1 — the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — and H.R. 15 — the National Health Insurance Act — is bill H.R.848, The Performance Rights Tax.
If passed it will result in a quantum shift in the eighty year-old relationship between the recording industry and commercial radio.
A performance tax is a fee that record labels want the government to impose on local radio stations for airing music free of charge for listeners. Critics argue that niche and minority stations, such as Dayton’s WDAO will fold if the bill is approved by congress.
“We can’t afford additional expenses,” said WDAO owner Jim Johnson. “Especially the way the economy is now. Passage of this bill also hurts up and coming artists. Radio stations will limit the number of new artists they promote in favor of the established artists with a successful track record.”
New Orleans radio DJ and music promoter George Williams said the Performance Tax has the potential to cause harm to smaller and independent radio stations.
“It’s no secret that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is on the warpath against radio, the medium that has driven more sales for them than any other,” Williams said. “After more than eight decades of radio promoting music for free, the RIAA is seeking to enhance their diminishing bottom line by creating a new revenue stream in a way that will injure radio, particularly minority and niche stations.”
In recent years, the record labels have seen sales of CD’s decline as more listeners opt for digital downloads. However, radio remains the number one promotional vehicle for music.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) estimates that radio already provides up to $2.4 billion annually in music sales for artists and record labels. Critics claim that by pushing a tax on local radio, record labels are biting the hand that feeds them.
“If this bill passes it means another expense which takes away from our bottom line,” said WDAO’s Johnson. “That’s something we don’t need.”
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