Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / March 3, 1988, edition 1 / Page 17
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Z\iz Charlotte Thursday, March 3,1988 ENTERTAINMENT Section [ Sports/9B Gamcs/7B THE CHARLOTTE POST A JOURNAL OF FIDUCIARY FUNK By William Jamea Brock Poat Entertainment Editor Magazine publishing has al ways been a dicey game. True, there are phenomen2d success storles--such as that of Mal colm Forbes. But for every Forbes magazine, there Is also a Look. It's a game In which an Investment can be here today, gone tonight. Still, that doesn't deter some publishers from tak ing the plunge. Stanley Bethel Is just such a publisher. He took the plunge to the tune of a $60,000 capital Investment to publish Rhythm & Business. "It is a fantastic publication. All of us need to know as much as possible about what we are doing in the music business." "Rockin' Ray " Gooding PMYtMMvBUSINEM PROGRESS THROUGH COMMUNICATION JANUARY 1988«200. $3 (CAN) " Rocking Ray " Gooding January 1988 Cover RHYTHM BUSINESS Page IB DOES A COMBO OF SHOW GLITZ AND BUSINESS SAVVY HAVE LEGS? YES! Tina Turner in RHYTHM & BUSINESS art by JASON "The industry has long needed a fine magazine such as this. I wish Stan and his people a lot of success." Maurice Williams "I had $20,000 that I could lay my hands on fairly quickly," Be thel said from his office In Los Angeles. "I borrowed another $40,000 from the bank. But I am the sole owner—there are no other stockholders. Sure, pub lishing Is risky. Every business venture entails a certain amount of risk. There Is no guarantee that any business will automatlcadly succeed. You have to have a good product and manage wisely In any enter prise. I think we're doing that." Just what Is It that Bethel Is doing? What Is Rhythm & Business? Aren't there enough flossy showbiz fanzines being printed already? And who will read Bethel's new magazine? 'We draw our readership from the music business Itself." Be thel said. "InlUally, we planned on being a trade publication that would Inform people In the Maurice Williams Industry about trends, events and happenings on the busi ness end of show business. The critics are rlght-there are al ready plenty of publications that deal with the show end of It. However, our magazine proved to be so popular that we are going to news stand sales before the end of the year." Imagine a magazine like Busi ness Week devoted primarily to Rock'n'Roll, Pop and Rhythm & Blues--and that's what Rhythm & Business Is all about. With a smattering of po litical analysis thrown In for seasoning and flavor. First off. It Is a slick publica tion. Printed on the same quali ty stock as. say. Playboy —or any of the upscale magazines aimed at affluent readers. And It Is filled with Insightful and In formative articles; many of them Illustrated with beautiful four- color photography. The magazine's typography Is crisp and modem—but never re sorts to the cliche avant garde mannerisms that mark the typi cal belles ars/lettres tome. This publication communi cates very well. Business & Rhythm's Janu ary 1988 Issue was chosen for this article, prlmju'lly because of a timely story al^ut Jesse Jackson's efforts to enlist black radio stations to help get out his voter registration message. There Is also an editorial along the same lines In the Issue. Publisher Bethel gave his per mission to The Charlotte Post to reprint the editorial as a part of this article. The editorial content of Rhythm & Business Is equally Impressive. The January 1988 Issue begins with a vignette on R&B legend Ray Charles, as an attention-grabber. It goes from there to a front story on CBS Records Black Music Division chief Ruben Rodriguez, who has helped the label gamer a hefty share of the record market over the last two years. The cover story Is on beautiful Mell'sa Morgan, the multl- tadented singer/composer and businesswoman. The story lay out and color shot of Mell'sa Is almost worth the cover price of the magazine. The hot graph ics are primarily due to the tal ents of Tony Raymond. Art Di rector on the magazine. 'We're generating contempo rary graphics." Raymond said. 'We &gan the magazine with a certain graphic concept—and It has paid off. We contemplate making only a few typographic changes In upcoming Issues. Stan has stood back and let our creative people have their heads. It's working well." Stanley Bethel began Rhythm & Business In January 1987, opening offices In Los Angeles. The first Issue of the publica tion came out In March of that same year. By the end of 1988, the publisher projects a circula tion of more than 250,000 mag azines distributed nationwide. That figure Includes projected news stand copies In print. See RHYTHM & BLUE8 / P. 8 OVERNIGHT SENSATION BARBARA NAIL By William James Brock Post Entertainment Editor You know the story. A bright kid gets out of college, crisp new degree In Communications In hand, and Immediately lands a job doing the weather spot or something on the radio. A year or so later the bright kid Is Pro gram Director, Music Coordina tor—or some other upscale title. And the rest Is history. It happens that way In the mo vies. The real world Is some what different. It took Barbara Nall nine years to become an overnight sensation on the ra dio. And most of those she worked without getting paid. "I started out In radio as a vol unteer with WFAE-FM," Nall said. "That was In 1979. That shows you how hard people will work for something they really want. And I really wanted It." Before her radio days Barbara Nall had been a tailor. She had learned needlecraft from her grandmother as a young girl. Being creative, and needing to cam a living after high school In the 1960s, she gravitated toward working In the retail clothing business. "It was a time when the coun try was In turmoil," she said. "And there wasn't much oppor tunity for black people--evcn those who could afford to go to college. My dad worked In the mill and mom worked In a laun dry. They never made much money—and there were myself, a sister and two brothers to raise. But my p>arents taught me to work hard and tough It out." Tough It out she did. Nall mar ried fairly young, but It lasted only a few years. After her di vorce she and her flvc-year-old son John moved to Winston- Salem. The first job she got was In a clothing store that had sep arate restrooms marked "white" and "colored." "I worked one day and quit," she said. "John and I really needed the money--but I just could not work there faced with that sort of overt prejudice." Nall returned to Charlotte, where she had to work several jobs at a time to make ends meet. Many days she would have to take young John to work with her--because she could not afford to pay a babysitter. "It was tough," she said. "But we had no choice. I had to pro vide for John and myself." Finally, she got a fairly good job as a tailor at Wilson's Mens Store at Eastland Mall. She re mained there until she became a paid member of the WFAE staiff In March 1987. "In 1976 I decided that the tai loring craft was not creative enough for me anymore," Nall said. "I had always listened to the radio a lot—so It struck me 1 might like to get Into that. I had always been very shy, so I also hoped It would help me out with that adso." She made the rounds of Char lotte radio stations. It was the old Catch-22. She couldn't get a job without experlence--and she couldn't get any experience unless she could learn on the job. It looked hopeless. "I had learned from my grand mother that nothing Is ever really hopeless," she said. "She was a very strong woman." Her break came In 1979, when she heard a WFAE spot that of fered radio training In exchange for volunteer work at the public radio facility. Nall applied and was accepted.. She did every job Imaginable at the station, while keeping her tailor's job and attending CPCC classes In voice. After a while she became an on-the-alr an nouncer. She did blues, jazz , folk music—anything that would help her learn her craft. "I'm a perfectionist," Nall said. "I never stop trying to make my show a little better." Her main show Is the over night shift—midnight to six a. m.—where she spins jazz and talks with her listeners. Nall has another ace up her sleeve. She recently became the pro- Sec BARBARA NAIL / P. SB ]J© OEM AIL Even as a young girl she was an overwhelming singer. Par ishioners In the black churches of Philadelphia In the early 1900s began a "Fund For Marian Anderson's Future." She had the voice and spirit of a true artist even In her youth. Her astounding contralto transpMjrted Marian Anderson to the heights of musical acclaim. She dramatized the fulfillment of black dreams. When she sang Verdi, as the first black to per form with the Met, blacks and whites In the audience wept op>enly. She also loved the sad splritu- ed songs of the black people. Her rich range and power trans formed even these Into art truly her own. And she triumphed over prejudice through the glory of song. In 1939 the DAR barred Ander son from performing at Consti tution Hall because she was black. In outrage, the U.S. gov ernment Invited her to hold her concert at the Lincoln Memorial Instead. More than 75,000 p>eo- ple came to hear her mighty voice. The DAR concert, which featured a white soprano, at tracted only about 1,500 people. Marian Anderson revealed her greatness later In her comments to news reporters. She chose not to castigate the DAR for Its ac tion. "When you are all right on the Inside," the diva said," you don't need to worry about out side things like that. I love mu sic - I have no hatred for any thing or anybody In the world."
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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March 3, 1988, edition 1
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