dkrc Chapter 47 An Unexpected "Deification"
Chapter 47 An Unexpected "Deification"
After his radio debut, Zeke threw himself into the Casablanca promotional campaign, working non-stop alongside the singles director, known as "Dinoble the Fucking Man."
The publicity team worked 15 hours a day, from dawn till dusk, traveling to all the small towns scattered throughout California, visiting small record stores and local radio stations. Even so, Zeke enjoyed it and didn't feel tired at all.
"YMCA" has already become a hit in nightclubs across the country, with almost everyone on the dance floor swaying to the melody, but its popularity on the radio and in retail has not kept pace with the nightclubs.
Their team's core mission is to address this weakness, ensuring the song truly resonates with everyone and taking single sales to the next level.
Casablanca is leveraging the endorsement of NBC and the YMCA to aggressively expand its reach and build reputation for the company and Village People, while Zeke is also benefiting greatly from this intensive promotional campaign.
This gain is not just in terms of reputation.
As he frequently appeared on various radio programs, he had become quite well-known on the West Coast as the songwriter of "YMCA." Some radio stations even contacted him and offered to pay him appearance fees, which made Zeke very happy, as it meant he had another way to make money.
But the more important takeaway was that, under the tutelage of "Dinoble the Fucking F***er" and TJ, he figured out the unspoken rules of the record industry that many big-name artists, even top stars, might not know, and the key to Casablanca's ability to gain a foothold in the fiercely competitive record market.
Dinoble doesn't shy away from sharing his experience: "The secret to success is to exchange free products for record store sales reports."
Initially, they only sent out YMCA singles, but now there are a lot of disco competitors on the market, the most prominent being the soundtrack to Weekend Fever that Zeke and Henry had robbed. Thanks to the movie's popularity, the soundtrack's sales have soared, putting considerable pressure on YMCA.
In order to maintain their advantage in the retail sector and attract more record stores to fully promote "YMCA", their free gifts were constantly upgraded. Later, no matter which album or single from Casablanca the record store wanted, as long as it could cooperate with their promotion, the company would give it away for free.
Zik had also asked Dinoble whether these free records would affect the artists' royalties.
His position was unique; he wasn't an artist, but rather more of an employee. Dinoble directly explained the unspoken rules to him:
Even for commercially distributed records given away for free, these amounts still need to be recorded when calculating artist royalties. Typically, royalties need to be paid to the artist for records given away for non-promotional purposes.
Some artist contracts stipulate a certain number of promotional gifts, but in most cases, record companies conceal these gifts and never record them.
"We will only be forced to pay these royalties if the artist's business manager or accountant is thorough enough in auditing the accounts and finds discrepancies."
"However, such things are very rare; the vast majority of celebrities work with makeshift teams..."
Dinoble spoke casually, making no attempt to conceal these underhanded accounting practices.
Qi Ke suddenly realized what was going on and thought to himself that he must be more careful in the future.
As the promotion continued, Zeke witnessed firsthand the power of "Dinoble the Fucking F***er," who always came up with outrageous yet effective tricks to promote the song.
On the very night that Zeke joined the publicity team, Dinoble, in an attempt to win over Rick, the program director of KHJ, the most influential radio station on the East Coast, actually staked out a men's restroom stall in the KHJ office building for several hours. He had calculated that Rick would always go to the restroom, waiting patiently for him, just to get a chance to play a song.
When Rick finally came in to use the restroom, Dinoble immediately played "YMCA" at maximum volume on his portable record player. This unexpected move, coupled with the song's excellence, moved Rick so much that he immediately added it to his playlist and gave "YMCA" a regular primetime slot.
In addition, Dinoble had many other shady tactics: he once took Zick to a baseball game with a radio program director, sitting behind him the whole time and playing "YMCA" on repeat on his personal device, subtly making the director remember the song.
On another occasion, to promote Village People, he paid someone to hang a huge banner from the window of the 20th floor, which read "Village People's YMCA Sweeps the Charts" and was positioned directly opposite the radio station's office to ensure that everyone at the station could see it.
Zeke finally understood that Casablanca's success was no accident. They had Neil Bogart's keen insight, a capable and ruthless leader like Dinoble, and a well-established set of unspoken rules that always gave them an edge in the competition.
Under Dinoble's leadership, the publicity campaign progressed rapidly, quickly meeting Neil Bogart's expectations. Zeke was finally able to return to school to continue his studies.
During the few days he was busy with his appearances, something happened that made him both laugh and cry, and it also unexpectedly made him a "god".
The main character is the Sex Pistols, whom Zeke was forced to criticize by a DJ on the KRLA radio show.
Their performance in San Francisco on January 14th was met with a very lukewarm reception. Not only was the attendance low, but they were also met with fierce hostility from the audience. San Francisco residents clearly didn't buy into the act of these British anarchists, booing throughout the performance. Some local bands even disrupted the show and imitated the Texas guy who threw objects in protest.
After the performance, the band completely collapsed on stage. Lead singer Rodton, who had a mouthful of rotten teeth, shouted on stage, "This is all rotten! Don't you feel like you've been ripped off?" He then threw down the microphone and stormed off.
A few days later, news spread throughout the streets of San Francisco: lead singer Rodton had been kicked out of the band, and the Sex Pistols were on the verge of disbanding.
This news caused a stir on almost all of the top 40 radio stations across the United States. DJs rushed to celebrate on their shows, calling it "the most disastrous tour in music history" and mocking FM Avant-Garde and Warner for making a mistake by treating a bunch of lunatics as treasures, ultimately ending up with nothing to show for their efforts.
Zik learned of this in the school library. He was engrossed in studying a French dictionary when a group of classmates excitedly ran over, surrounding him and shouting:
"Zek! You're amazing! You practically disbanded the Sex Pistols with your words!"
He rolled his eyes inwardly, thinking to himself, "This is probably a side effect of fame."
As DJs continued to praise him on the show, his reputation as a "genius songwriter" and "future superstar" spread throughout the West Coast. His status at school also rose, and he could feel the gazes of his classmates wherever he went, some envious, some admiring, and some curious.
This feeling of being constantly watched made Zeke somewhat understand a part of Judy's life as a child star. It seemed glamorous, but in reality, there was not much private space. Every move was being watched, and even the smallest things could be magnified.
He quickly waved his hand in denial: "Don't talk nonsense, this has nothing to do with me. I was just saying it casually at the time. The disbandment was due to their own internal problems."
The students clearly didn't believe him and continued to flatter him. Helpless, Qi Ke could only let them be.
He suspected that this precise sniping was most likely related to Neil Bogart, as Warner Bros. was promoting someone he was hostile to.
Moreover, San Francisco is no ordinary city. It not only has hippies, but is also one of the birthplaces of the civil rights movement. It has a developed economy, open and diverse ideas, and is a gathering place for the gay community.
San Francisco has the largest gay community in the United States, with numerous gay bathhouses filled with men from all over seeking pleasure. According to some dubious media outlets, two out of every five men in San Francisco are gay.
While the data may not be reliable, its extent is evident.
Disco is deeply loved by the gay community; in other words, this city is disco's domain, and it is almost the place where Casablanca's influence is most deeply ingrained.
Zick remembered that he had clearly heard Neil assigning extra tasks to the publicity staff on the phone at the company. Coincidentally, it was on the 14th. It is highly likely that Casablanca was also behind the Sex Pistols' crushing defeat.
In the evening, Zeke finished his studies at the library and returned to the cliffside cabin.
Marco had already prepared dinner and reported the latest news: "Zick, the Sex Pistols' manager responded today, saying the band won't disband and that bassist Sid will be the new lead singer. However, he didn't mention you in the response."
Zik nodded, feeling a slight sense of relief. He later learned that his remarks on KRLA radio that day were even more radical and dangerous than he remembered, and that he had only spoken in desperation after being pressured by the DJ.
His remarks about guns, Texas, and their short time on the scene were quoted by several radio stations as a satire of handguns, causing quite a stir.
Herbert, a lawyer in New York, even called him specifically to remind him in a serious tone: "Zick, you must be careful what you say to the media in the future, and keep your mouth shut. If some madman hears what you say and shoots the band, you might get implicated and even be sued."
Looking back now, Zeke is also a little scared, and has been quietly paying attention to how things are developing these days.
But he had no choice. In that situation, he couldn't very well yell at Warner, could he?
Warner Music is Casablanca's old rival and former employer, with far greater backing. As a mere songwriter, he simply cannot afford to offend them.
The only possible target was sex guns, but unexpectedly, it caused such a huge uproar.