Remembering Steve Popovich

I should be in Nashville today for Steve Popovich’s memorial, but I couldn’t afford the trip—and Steve would understand. But I write about him now because I couldn’t say everything, of course, in the appreciation piece I wrote for examiner.com on June 8 the day after he died in Murfreesboro at 68.

Examiner.com’s not really a blog, so I wrote it in third person—and it was quite good. But it could never be good enough. Steve was too big a figure in my life and so many others—and if he didn’t know it, I know they did and I’m sure many of them are there right now testifying.

As I wrote in Examiner, Steve was the one guy who lived up to the cliché, "he would give you the shirt off his back.” And no, I don’t have a closet full of Steve’s shirts like I said in Examiner, but he gave me plenty more than clothes.

For there was no truer friend than Steve Popovich. And there was no greater music man. As my friend and genius Nashville music historian Robert K. Oermann wrote in Musicrow.com, Steve was "one of the most colorful record executives in the history of Music Row”—having signed such legendary artists as Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, polka king Frank Yankovic, Lynn Anderson, Billy Swan and Johnny Paycheck to Mercury Records when he ran its Nashville operations from 1986 to 1988.

But this was long after he helped establish the likes of Santana, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Mac Davis and Chicago during a stint at CBS Records in the 1960s and '70s, then became vice president of A&R at Epic Records, where he signed or helped guide the careers Michael Jackson, The Jacksons, Cheap Trick, The Charlie Daniels Band, Ted Nugent, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones and Boston.

Still, he was probably best known for his own label Cleveland International Records, home of Meat Loaf's 1977 album debut Bat Out Of Hell, one of the biggest selling albums ever. After his stint at Mercury he returned to Cleveland and restarted Cleveland International in 1995, releasing albums representing his typically wide musical interests with titles from Grammy-winning polka acts Brave Combo and Eddie Blazonczyk & The Versatones, as well as country music great David Allan Coe. I wrote CD liner notes on many of these discs.

I first met Steve, I don’t know, soon after I moved to New York, probably around 1985 in Nashville. I know it was in March, at a Country Radio Seminar hospitality suite at the Opryland Hotel.

I knew who he was, of course, and was suitably awestruck. What I didn’t know, and never would have imagined, was how down-to-earth this record business legend was, and that he would become one of my dearest friends and supporters. Then again, he was born the son of a coal miner in Nemacolin, Pennsylvania, and began in the music industry by unloading trucks at a Columbia Records warehouse in 1962. I was a kid from Wisconsin, 10 years younger, who knew his name first from the records he was thanked on.

It was only fitting, I guess, that I first learned of Steve’s death while waiting for Eric Burdon to go on at B.B. King’s. Eric Burdon & The Animals, the most working class of the British Invasion, and Steve Popovich was nothing if not working class as a record executive.

Fitting, too, that Eric’s first song was his autobiographical “When I Was Young.” Eric had just turned 70, though you wouldn’t know it by how young he still sounds. And Steve the last few years was finally turning the corner in diligently exercising and losing weight, while doting on his grandchildren. Pictures I saw in the various Internet obits and tributes all showed him to have kept that boyish quality of being forever a young man in love with music.

And it was a love of all music. It was Steve who gave me a full appreciation of polka music and its many styles, who brought me to Cleveland to be part of it and eventually convince my editor and friend Tim White to put polka on the cover of Billboard. Not everyone got it, of course, but I’ll never forget another late friend and great record man, Dave Nives, joining me in Central Park to seen Eddie Blazonczyk & The Versatones—the great Chicago “push” Polish polka band—shaking his head in amazement and declaring, “This is rock ‘n’ roll.”

And to top it off, out of nowhere, Steve decided to offer $50 to the best polka dancers (I was one of the judges).

I'd see Steve whenever he came to New York, of course. "Bruth-uh!" he'd call a day in advance, then instruct me to meet him at the Warwick Hotel, or at a gig the next night. The last time was last year, when he brought his son Steve, Jr., to attend a charity dinner honoring his friend Steve (Little Steven) Van Zandt. He would have bought me a ticket but I told him I'd meet him after at City Winery, where his former Cleveland International artist Ian Hunter was playing. He was always loyal to his friends--especially if they were his artists.

But most of the time I'd see Steve in Nashville. It's been many years, now, but there was a place I'd always meet him at on weekend nights after I left the Grand Ole Opry, usually around 11, 11: 30. I'd head down to the Stockyard's Bullpen Lounge, the famed lounge downtown that no one I knew really went to but me and Steve, who held court at the center table. We'd be there to see Tommy Riggs, the great Nashville lounge singer, who at 450-plus was even fatter than Steve, and who died in 2000 at 57. No one sang "If You Don't Know Me By Now" like Tommy, and none other than Jimmy Webb was a devoted fan.

"You almost have to go back to Brook Benton or Billy Eckstine to find a true baritone singer like Tommy," a grieving Webb told me after Riggs died. "He was of that school: a tremendously gifted guy who never strained a note—and the greatest friend a guy could ever have."

The greatest friend a guy could ever have. He said it about Tommy--and Tommy was indeed that--but I'll borrow the great songwriter's words for my friend Steve. After the legendary Columbia Records a&r executive Mitch Miller died last year, Steve recalled that he and the fellow legends--John Hammond, Goddard Lieberson--were at the label when he was starting out in the warehouse. And Steve would have none of the scorn that was later heaped on Miller for denigrating rock 'n' roll as, among other things, "musical baby food."

"Columbia had a lot of hits then," he said, speaking of the early 1960s. "Streisand was happening, Steve [Lawrence] and Eydie [Gorme], Patti Page, Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash--what a genius music man!" he said of Miller. "He'd have breakfast with Leonard Bernstein and lunch with Mahalia Jackson and dinner with Johnny Cash. He was all things to all people."

Steve Popovich, too, was all things to all people. Miller, he said, was "one of those guys who should be honored in Washington with a presidential award." And Steve was one of those guys who deserves a statue in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But he'll always have a place in my heart, at the very least.

Wednesday morning magazine roundup

If you're as shocked as Us by Lauren and Kyle's "shocking split," well, it's cover story is for you. Us? We went straight to Alicia Silverstone's baby boy. Bachelorette Ashley is "betrayed again" according to Life & Style (again, we hurried over to meet Kim Zolciak's baby boy--even though we don't even know Kim). But with Teresa's husband facing prison, we thought it best not to plan on meeting her unborn baby boy, revealed in In Touch's cover "pregnancy bombshell"--but we did feel sorry for Amber and her "my baby doesn't know me" lament. After all this, we felt almost reassured to lear that "Brad hurts Jen again" by way of OK! USA, after looking away from the "Reality TV Shockers!" cover.

Heidi Klum looks good on the cover of Glamour, but she gets progressively better as you flip the "bonus covers (the topless third one's the keeper). Curvy but clothed Christina Hendricks captures the cover of Lucky, while Taylor Swift boosts her best back-to-school style at Teen Vogue.

But let's man up for a moment with Sports Illustrated's "Where are they now?" double-issue, a young Yogi Berra behind the plate to go with "The Meaning of Yogi" cover story. Being from Cheesehead Land, we were especially pleased to see that among the "Catching up with..." inside looks is the great Green Bay Packers Glory Years' fullback Jim Taylor. As for the 40 best sports songs of all time? How Dylan's No. 1 "Who Killed Davey Moore?" beat Fogerty's "Centerfield" (No. 7) is beyond us--way beyond.

Finally, Time Out New York has a "Must-see Museums" cover story, while suggesting fun things for the July 4 weekend and listing 25 of the city's best hot dogs.

Monday morning magazine roundup

Time’s 10th annual History Issue runs The Constitution through a paper shredder and asks “Does it still matter?” Inside Joe Klein reports that Obama’s drawdown in Afghanistan pleases no one, but worse is the revelation that a beetle is eating America.

Speaking of history, the Royal Wedding is so over that it’s time to dust off Diana, which editrix Tina Brown does in her “Diana at 50—If she were here now” cover—accompanied by an illustration projecting a now Diana with Kate. The double ish also highlights the “revolt of the Obama fan club.”

Obama is the focus of The New Yorker's "Obama and Afghanistan" examination, but the big feature is “The Love Code,” i.e., the “formula” for sex and love being refined by programmers, mathematicians and psychologists at work on ever more sophisticated online dating sites. The cute July 4 cover illustration, though, shows a doggie leaning out the window and looking down at a sea of flags.

Entertainment Weekly has a “gory and gothic” True Blood preview on its three “collector’s covers” and also hypes a sneak peek at Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit and Tom Hanks’ account of “surviving a global movie promo tour.” The Hollywood Reporter, meanwhile, identifies “late night’s unsung hero” as cover boy Jimmy Kimmel, looking smart outside his Hollywood Boulevard offices and hanging with a bunch of street performers. The summer double issue also makes note of its midyear box-office report, and more important, “who plays golf where.”

Finally, Billboard’s got Jill “I understand this industry” Scott on the cover (she’s back with major live plans, a new deal with Warner Bros. and the best album debut of her career) and wonders if Sony Music’s CEO Doug Morris will catch rival major UMG.

Wednesday morning magazine roundup

Rolling Stone’s summer double issue has Katy Perry “turning it up on the cover,” an allusion, perhaps, to her pointed “Katy’s Kisses” silver bustier.  Inside are Al Gore’s “Climate of Denial” essay on “the media and the merchants of pollution” and Matt Taibbi’s timely “Michele Bachmann’s holy war.” 

Spin goes with “Kanye’s bud” Bon Iver firing one up for its “success issue” also featuring Arctic Monkeys, Black Lips, My Morning Jacket, etc., and answering the musical question, “Can porn stars rock?” 

Arctic Monkeys get noted on Zink’s summer issue cover, too, but the pic goes to a snakeskinned-out Jessie J—“pop’s new rock star.” Fader’s summer issue fronts Soulja Boy and Vybz Kartel (alternately front and back), while The Source picks “F.A.M.E. Monster” Chris Brown, with Lil Wayne boasting above: “I’ve dominated the last few summers!” 

The Casey Anthony Trial takes People’s cover, with the margin going to Pink’s baby girl and Jen’s romance--and more substantial for us, a farewell to Clarence Clemons. But Jen comes out on top of Us Weekly, which wonders if she “pulled an Angelina” in landing her new man. Angelina’s and Brad’s “secret wedding” in France, meanwhile, is revealed in In Touch.

But back to Jen. “I am not a home wrecker,” she tells Life & Style, where cover girl/bachelorette Ashley is said to be “tortured for her looks,” though not noticeably in its bikini shot. Star wonders whether the Kardashians’ shows will survive, now that they’re “ripped apart” by off-camera scandals (new sex tape, custody battle, secret pregnancy—the usual). But OK! USA begs to differ in suggesting that Kim and Kris are “bigger than the royals,” what with her $10 million wedding.

Beyonce is “dressed to kill” on the cover of W’s “Listen up!” issue focusing on “fashion’s new beat” with “music and style” features on Kanye West, Florence Welch, Pharrell Williams, etc., as well as Gaga’s guru and Christina Aguilera exclusively baring all.

Pretty pic of “Hollywood’s smartest ‘dumb blonde’” Lisa Kudrow on the cover of More’s “under $100 issue.” Reality star Audrina Patridge does indeed look “hot in the heat” on the top of Shape—as does Transformers’ Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, revealing her “hot-body secrets” for Women’s Health. Men’s Health, by the way, offers True Blood’s Stephen Moyer, but it just ain’t the same. 

Finally, it’s cheap eats at Time Out New York (36 affordable meals at top restaurants), plus cool walking tours and a Gay Pride guide.

Monday morning magazine roundup

It’s tip-off time according to Time’s gimmicky “Baracketology” cover, which plots the president’s Republican challengers on an NCAA Basketball Tournament-style grid--with instructions to “fill in the blanks and send us your picks” for posting in the coming weeks. Inside, Turkey is named the Middle East’s “new power player,” while Fareed Zakaria wonders “what happened to conservative thinking.”

Over at Newsweek, it’s jovial Bill Clinton tallying 14 ways to save America’s jobs (“we could put a million people to work retrofitting buildings all over America”). Highlighted on top: “The deadly hunt for Zawahiri” and “Inside John Galliano’s meltdown.”

The New Yorker has fun with dog owners who look like their dogs and vice versa on the cover, with inside features including “Busting a Billionaire,” about the biggest insider-trading case in history and what it says about the failure to hold Wall Street accountable, and “Gaga vs. Beyonce,” which concludes that Gaga offers “a firmer guiding hand” than the “quiet meritocrat” Beyonce.

New York’s summer double-issue somehow ties together beer, ice cream and voyeurism, and calls out “the stinkiest block in New York” (“the stretch of Broome Street between Allen and Eldridge”).

Finally, Billboard reports that Pitbull is “going global” on its cover, what with his “big new album, major tour, and blue chip partners.” Also showcased is XL’s Richard Russell, enjoying his best year ever with Vampire Weekend, Dizzee, The Prodigy and Adele.

Wednesday morning magazine roundup

It’s been, what, a week since we’ve seen Princess Kate on a magazine cover? Thanks, People, we were wondering what happened to her—and your “Princess Diaries” tells us all about “her new role as duchess and wife…dazzling the world with her real-girl glamour.” Yep, real-world glamour. Otherwise, Anthony Weiner’s “marriage” makes the margin, placing below Jordin Sparks’ “amazing body” but above Gabrielle Giffords “courage and recovery.”

Us competes with a “Harry & Pippa!” cover revealing their “love secrets,” hinting at a secret date between the royal siblings. Its margin lives up to the “Hot vacation photos!” tease with Kim falling out of her bikini; she “sets the record straight” at OK USA (she DID NOT cheat on Kris), which fronts Teen Mom Maci, who’s “finally a bride!” But what about poor Amber? We’ll have to wait until next week for that train wreck.

Real Houswives Of New Jersey’s Teresa takes the cover of In Touch with a “shocking exclusive”—her “prison nightmare” about her husband being locked up for 10 years (“My life without Joe”). Angelina’s half-mill birthday gift makes the margin, but Anj does better on Star, grabbing the cover for her “secrets and lies”—at least according to the tell-all book she successfully stopped. And at Life & Style we learn that yes, Bachelorette Ashley is engaged—and more about Kim, Pippa and Will and Kate.

But what about Jen? Marie Claire gives us her new men, new hair and “a bold next move.” Vogue has a luscious Emma Watson (is she old enough for us to say that) and her “life after Harry Potter”—and illustrating the issue’s “must-have Fall looks.” Fergie’s “hot-bod secrets” should lure readers of Allure, while Elle states the obvious regarding Emma Stone: “She’s gorgeous, hilarious, and cool.” At In Style, Eva Longoria answers our questions about fashion, makeup and the single life, and at Self Zooey Deschanel shows us how to never be bored working out again.

For the men, GQ offers Chris Evans as “one very buff Captain America.” And speaking of movie stars, the mag rightly wonders why Republicans are freaking out when Barack Obama has become the new Reagan. Ebony features Tyrese and Taraji on two hot “bringing the heat” “collector’s edition” covers, and Maxim displays “the lips that saved the world!”—Victoria’s Secret “angel” turned Transformers “mega-babe” Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s, that is.

To go with its “Mental Machine” mechanical brain illustration, Wired’s cover story deals with the “feedback loops” that apparently drive our brains and behavior. Recalls Time’s recent cartoon brain cover representing “the science of optimism.” And finally, Time Out New York has a “Staycations” cover with 46 “cheap and easy ways to escape without leaving town,” No. 1, according to the fab cover, diving into a Midtown swimming pool/subway stairwell.

Monday morning magazine roundup

Light Monday with all the double-issues from last week, but Time's in with a "What recovery?" cover, a torn dollar bill depicting "the five myths about the economy," i.e., the downturn is a temporary blip, the Fed can save us, the private sector will make it all better, we can move where the jobs are and entrepreneurs are our greatest strength. Of major interest, too, may be the inside piece on E. Coli ("Is a U.S. outbreak coming?") and "Faith in the Arab Spring."

The Eonomist, meanwhile, shows a pensive Barack Obama standing tall over his squabbling Republican challengers while thinking out loud "…and yet I could still lose."

Entertainment Weekly's cover goes to the week's top-grossing Super 8, with J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg discussing "their cool retro thriller" along with "growing up geeky" and their passion for movies. The ish also presents its "summer TV preview."

The Hollywood Reporter offers an "Emmys 2011 Drama Actor Rountable" with best actor contenders Tom Selleck, Michael C. Hall, Timothy Olyphant, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi and Andre Braugher. "Emmy speech ghostwriter" Kathy Griffin is also highlighted, as is "The confessions of Keith Olbermann."

Billboard's covers may be graphically striking, but they're getting hard to read--much to our irritation. And no, it's not because we used to work there for 25 years! A Selena Gomez pinup pose on a ships steering wheel goes with the question: "Can [she] steer clear of the post-Disney curse?" But the only inside story you don't have to strain your neck to read is the "Nashville Scene: Country Summit wrap-up."

Finally, hip-hopper Lupe Fiasco takes the cover of Jet, but in light of last night's clinching of the NBA Finals by the Dallas Mavericks, the inside bit on Lebron--"Was it worth it?"--is no doubt being echoed by Miami Heat fans, much to the delight of us Knicks backers.

Wednesday morning magazine roundup

Yes, it's Thursday. But the magazines came in too late yesterday for us to review them--and now some of the key ones are already gone. But here's a few worth noting, starting with the July issue of Mojo, which focuses on "Bob Marley--The Legend" and looks inside his "musical revolution" with contributions from Johnny Marr, Sly Dunbar, Jah Wobble, Lee "Scratch" Perry and Rita Marley. Rolling Stone, meanwhile, "gets baked" with cover boy Zach Galifianakis, inside features covering Keith Olbermann's "side of the story," True Blood's "secrets of the new season" and "backstage with U2."

People goes with Bachelorette Ashley "fighting back," having been "so betrayed by the men who were supposed to adore her." This story, of course, takes precedence over "President Obama--On being a good father," no doubt because he's not posing in his underpants while being one. Over at Us, Christina tells us how she "battled back" from a painful divorce, a drunken arrest, public humiliation, etc., etc., etc. Inside is Sean and Scarlett's split, and Kim's "greedy prenup," though Kim is "caught cheating!" on the "Stop the wedding!" cover of In Touch with "kinky texts and wild phone sex"--which to be honest, we've kind of had enough of at this point.

But Kim's "wedding slim-down" takes up cover margin space at Life & Style, which counters People with Ashley desperately taking heartbreaker Bentley back ("Is she crazy," the cover asks? No, we're crazy for caring). Star's got "Eating Disorder Confessions" on its cover (anorexia, bulimia and starvation diets abound) and pictures Jen and Justin on the top for moving in together--though Jen takes some flack back at In Touch for being a "homewrecker." And OK! returns us to poor Ashley, "stabbed in the heart" by Bentley.

Finally, Men's Fitness gives us muscle man Vin Diesel on the cover. But we're picking up Men's Health for a second look at the "political muscle" cover of "America's fittest congressman" Aaron Schock. Anthony Weiner looks pretty fit in his shirtless pics, too, but we're betting will never see his abs gracing the cover of Men's Health--or any other family magazine, for that matter.

Monday morning magazine roundup

A lot of double issues this week starting with Time's "Health Special Report," which puts Dr. Oz on the cover with "Lessons from my cancer scare," and of more universal interest, "Is your cell phone safe?" Inside Joe Klein suggests that both the President and Paul Ryan misread their mandates regarding Medicare in "The politics of self-delusion." Newsweek, meanwhile, has Mitt Romney clicking his heels in its double-issue cover, "The Mormon moment--How the outsider faith creates winners."

New York gives us the "Best Doctors 2011" double-issue, naming 1,144 physicians in every specialty. Inside is a guide to where to eat, shop, and nap along the High Line's new second section. The New Yorker's "summer fiction issue" includes Jeffrey Eugenides, Vladimir Nabokov, Jhumpa Lahiri, Aleksandar Hemon, George Saunders and Laura Groff on its cover illustration of a summer reading room; also cited is Elizabeth's Kolbert's take on "the extreme-weather forecast."

The Hollywood Reporter puts "The Split Personality of Chelsea Handler" on the cover while revealing that she wants to utilize her brain more, suggesting, perhaps, that she's done with her show. Inside are Hangover Part II, "Emmy Dark Horses" and "First Look: Costumes of X-Men" features.

Finally, Billboard goes with Jason Aldean on top, the "Indie spirit, country heart, rock 'n' roll soul" story about his and his Broken Bow label's rise to the top. Also covered is the "YouTube vs. Vevo" live-streaming battle, and the trouble rock radio is in--as evidenced by "format flips."

Wednesday morning magazine roundup

The Royal Wedding seems like ages ago now, seeing newlyweds Will and Kate on the cover of Vanity Fair, which delves into their "new life." And God bless atheist Christopher Hitchens, continuing to crank out cantankerous copy while bravely fighting esophageal cancer. This month it's "Pakistan's Bin Laden betrayal."

At Cosmo, Rihanna "finally reveals her deepest feelings"--finally!--on the cover, which also fronts "Your breast myths--busted" (damn!), but we can all take heart that, yes, "the boobgasm does exist." In fact!

Blake's on the cover of Glamour talking clothes and guys, while Florence and the Machine's Florence Welch is "red hot!" on the cover of Nylon's music issue--though we're way more interested in being "at home with Stevie Nicks" than "on the tour bus with Jared Leto."

The Caylee Anthony murder case is People's cover feature, with its margin getting over-excited over its exclusive! "Meredith Vieira, Why I walked away from Today" report.

If you're just dying to know how Leo won Blake's heart, it was candlelit dinners, helicopter rides, a private yacht--all this and so, so much more according to Us. Of equal interest, surely, is "Courteney and Jen--What tore them apart?" and the answer to another life-meaning question, "Justin & Ashley: Shocking new couple?"

Speaking of Jen, her and Brad's "emotional reunion" is the cover "world exclusive" of In Touch, the margin hyping Kim's "bridezilla demands." (Gee, maybe her next "reality show" could be Bridezilla Meets Frankenstein. Just hoping....)

Star weighs Angelina in at 99 lbs.! OMG! New fears of "anorexia & heroin relapse," for sure. "Kim's Wedding Surprise"(Bridezilla's pregnancy) greets viewers of OK! USA; the three Kardash sisters grace the cover of Life & Style ("A wedding and two babies!") That's two babies, not counting the Kardash sis of your choosing.

Lucky offers Lauren Conrad's "great body, no gym needed" fit tips for the lazy (hope it's not gender-specific).

Bradley Cooper, whom "everybody wants, right now," is on the cover of Esquire's "summer double issue"--with a woman's hand sneaking down his tailored suit's slacks. Sexier for us, though, is the tiny "now with bocce!" tease in the upper right corner, leading us to a nice little Esquire endorsement of the "great summertime game," along with a how-to make your own bocce court instructional.

Details counters with "Ryan Reynolds is just like you (except for the whole sexiest-man-alive thing)" cover; flip the ish over there's a more casual Reynolds repping an "everything you need to look great--from head to toe" guide.

Finally, Time Out New York gives you "your perfect weekend"--and throws in a NYC jazz guide at its web site for good measure.