Billy Kidd’s blog

Hey Kids,

Been really busy here in my spacious room at Baptist West since last Friday, what with reading magazines, surfing the net and changing channels on the TV remote, not to mention the fact that I'm restricted to bedrest only, but I had a quick minute to give you an update on my deal. Things are going as well as can be expected. Went to surgery for the third time in 5 days this am. They fitted me with an external fixator brace, (an "X-Fix" as they say in the trade. Learning the lingo quickly and considering a career switch to the medical field). It has rods that go completely through the bone from side to side and attach on the outsides of my leg. You've probably seen them. Pretty cool looking if it's on someone else. Should be no more surgery for 6 weeks when they remove it, assuming I have no more complications. The reason they had to take the internal plate and screws out that were put in after the wreck was due to infection that gathered around the hardware. (I was able to keep the screws and stuff and will be displaying them at a booth this year at the fair, for a nominal fee, of course). Hope to go home this weekend and should be back to work a week from Monday. I know it's hard for things to operate smoothly with me not there, but I'm sure you have been able to get by. (haha). Seriously, thanks to everyone for your calls and concern and I'll be back on the beat kickin' ass asap! (May have to use the left leg for a while).

God bless you All!

See you soon!

Billy Kidd

JULY 19, 2008

Here I go again. Just when I thought I was out of the woods and on the way to a full recovery from my motorcycle wreck, way back on May 27th, a new twist has occurred. Earlier in the week, a surgical screw used to hold a plate to my injured knee decided to try and escape. After xrays, my doctor determined another surgery would, obviously, be necessary to repair the damage. Surgery was scheduled for the following Wednesday. But then, two days later, my leg erupted with a nasty infection. It could not be determined what caused this infection (and it doesn't really matter). The bottom line is, they will have to go back in, remove all the plates, screws, etc., clean out the infection from the wound, and start over from square one. So, not only did I barely escape death AND ruin an awesome Harley I had only owned for a couple of months, all the hospital stays, therapy, pain and sickness I went through, I will get to experience all over again. (All because some 23 old girl wasn't paying attention and ran over me.) We, as bikers, hear these stories everyday. But only when it actually happens to us or someone close to us do we realize the dangers we face on the open road every time the kickstand goes up. Again, as I have adamantly appealed for in these posts and on the air to motorists in automobiles, PLEASE WATCH OUT FOR US! We are well aware of the fact that bikes are hard to see in traffic. That's why we take rider safety courses and pay extremely close attention to what's going on around us to avoid being hit  by another vehicle. But it only takes a split second for an accident to occur and for someone to be injured or, God forbid, killed. So PLEASE pay attention, bikers and motorists, to everything going on out there. We respect your right to enjoy the freedom of the open road, please do the same for us.

Also, I would like to wish a speedy recovery to City Commisioner Steve Hall, who was severely injured on his bike recently. And to all the riders who have been there, trust me, we truly feel your pain.  

Please Ride and Drive safe!

Billy Kidd

June 24th, 2008

Hey y'all,

BK here. Just wanted to take a moment to show my appreciation for all your kind thoughts and messages about my motorcycle wreck back on May 27th.  I was in the hospital 7 days, and it was 5 days on my back in bed before they could do surgery due to massive swelling and trauma. I was rearended on my Harley east of Asheville, NC coming back from the beach at about 4 in the afternoon on I-26. The car in front of me turned sideways in the rain and as I began slowing down, a 23 old girl in an SUV knocked the s#!t out of me from behind, sending me head on into the passenger side of the car. Never saw her coming. Too bad, because if she hadn't hit me, I would have been able to avoid the car in front. I was knocked out and the next thing I know, I wake up to ambulances, fire trucks, emt's and a big crowd surrounding me. Don't know how long I laid in the middle of the interstate in the rain before help arrived. I've been in intense pain for about a month now, but it gets a little better everyday (a big thanks to the person who invented morphine!). I am now sporting a 10 inch plate and nine 2" screws just below the right kneecap. Recovery has been slow but steady. I am extremely lucky to be alive, but unfortunately, my $36,000 custom Harley Ultraglide is totaled. (Dammit man) Hopefully I'll be able to put some weight on my leg in a few weeks. And yes, I will ride again! Thanks again for everything, especially the WIMZ staff and my friends who have offered and done so much, and to the WIMZ faithful who have shown so much concern. YOU ROCK! And to all my biker friends out there, please RIDE SAFE! And to the auto drivers out there who have hit motorcycles because you weren't paying attention, YOU SUCK.

Back when concert tickets and albums were almost the same price, I'd buy the new record before I went to the show.  That's what would happen.  The band would go on the road and play most of the new album and a few old hits.  If you didn't know the new material, you were lost in a cacophony of sound.  Shit, how great is hearing unfamiliar music live?  Pretty shitty for most folk.

Therefore, when people go to the show today, they only want to hear the hits.  They don't want to hear anything new.  And when you do fire up your new compositions, they immediately go to the bathroom, got get a drink.  New material is like the obligatory drum solo of yore, signal for a break.

Therefore, every act that is not a flash in the pan is an oldies act.  The customer, paying an overinflated price for a ducat, feels he DESERVES to hear the hits.  That's why you charged him so much, right?  That's why your new music must come with the ticket, it must be included, just like the TicketMaster fees, only this time the charge will be built in, it will be transparent to the end user.

I know, I know, you can't do this.  You need a big SOUNDSCAN NUMBER!

No you don't.  Maybe your dying label does, but you don't.  That's an old scorecard, for a dying game.  If anything, you should be interested in your BigChampagne numbers, how many people are trading your tracks.  That's the true indicator of popularity.

If all the money is in touring, why are you trying to sell your music?  Doesn't it make more sense to give it away, in the hope that people will have a better concert experience?

You want to grow.  But your audience won't let you.  They don't want to hear anything new.  But if the $100 ticket came with the new material, the audience would be motivated to play the new stuff, in ANTICIPATION of the show.  After a while, this will become the new behavior, people will know to listen to the free new music, because that's what the act is going to play!

Even the Eagles.  How many hits do they have?  That's all people want to hear.  But the band finally made a new album, they'd like to stretch out on stage.  How do they keep the audience from being disinterested?  By making sure each and every customer has the new music in ADVANCE!

Now the Eagles are not a perfect example.  They got a huge check from Wal-Mart.  But that paradigm is going to dry up, not quite as quickly as Radiohead's name your own price scheme, but quickly.  Because physical formats are on their way out.  It would be like Wal-Mart selling Smith-Corona typewriters cheaply in order to get you in the store.  Huh?

If you're a touring act, you've got to stop thinking of your new music as a revenue source.  Rather, it's an investment in your career, its vitality, its longevity.  The key is to get it in as many hands as possible so your sphere of influence, your customer base, doesn't shrink, but GROWS!

It's not like a classic act can get any significant radio airplay.  As for appearing on "Today", "Ellen" and "Leno"...a great percentage of the target audience doesn't watch those shows.  And, those that do, housewives in the case of the morning and afternoon shows, are they really going to get a babysitter and invest hundreds of dollars to come see you?  No, chances are your audience is those not watching the tube, those who leave the house, those with a LIFE!  How are you going to reach these people with your new music?

As it is, you're announcing your tour almost a year before it happens, getting all that revenue up front, before anybody else does...  If you give away the music with the ticket, the audience has a long time to become familiar with it!  Hell, the dropping of the album and the on sale date happen simultaneously!

I hope this is Live Nation's plan.  They're not gearing up to be a full service label, are they?  Hiring promotion people, et al?  Just record these albums and give them away!

Maybe not a complete album.  Maybe just the four or five tracks you plan to play in concert.

It's a new world.  It's time to adapt to it.  The goal is to build from the ground up.  Do everything you can to get fans exposed to your new material and bond them.  Don't worry so much about the casual buyer.  He's hard to reach, he probably won't buy a ticket, never mind a t-shirt, you can't make enough money on him.  Milk your core.  Via a symbiotic relationship.  You don't get paid for TV.  It's too hard and expensive to get on the radio.  Cut out the middle man, go directly to the fan!

THE BIKER

I saw you... hug your purse closer
to you in the grocery store line.
But, you didn't see me, put an extra $10.00 in
the collection plate last Sunday.
>                       >
I saw you... pull your child closer when we
passed each other on the sidewalk. But,
you didn't see me, playing Santa at the local
mall.
>                      
I saw you... change your mind about going into
> the restaurant. But, you didn't see me, attending
a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.
>                       >
I saw you... roll up your window and shake
> your head when I rode by.
>                      
But, you didn't see me, riding behind you when
you flicked your cigarette
butt out the car window.
>                       >
I saw you... frown at me when I smiled at your
children.
But, you didn't see me, when I took time off
from work to run toys to the homeless.
>                       >
I saw you... stare at my long hair.
But, you didn't see me, and my friends cut ten
inches off for Locks of Love.
>                       >
I saw you... roll your eyes at our leather
jackets and gloves.
But, you didn't see me and my brothers donate
> our old ones to those that had none.
>                       
I saw you... look in fright at my tattoos.
But, you didn't see me, cry as my children
were born and have their name
written over and in my heart.
>                       >
I saw you change lanes while rushing off to
> go some where.
But, you didn't see me, going home to be with
my family.
>                       >
I saw you complain about how loud and noisy
our bikes can be.
But, you didn't see me, when you were changing
the CD and drifted into my lane.
>                       >
I saw you, yelling at your kids in the car.
But, you didn't see me, pat my child's hands,
knowing he was safe behind me.
>                       >
I saw you, reading the newspaper or map as you
drove down the road.
But, you didn't see me, squeeze my wife's leg
when she told me to take the next turn.
>                       >
I saw you, race down the road in the rain.
But, you didn't see me, get soaked to the skin so my
son could have the car to go on his date
>                       >
I saw you, run the yellow light just to save a
few minutes of time.
But, you didn't see me, trying to turn right.
>                       >
I saw you cut me off because you needed to be
in the lane I was in.
But, you didn't see me, leave the road.
>                       >
I saw you, waiting impatiently for my friends
to pass.
But, you didn't see me. I wasn't there.
>                       >
I saw you go home to your family.  But, you
didn't see me.
Because, I died that day you cut me off.
>                       >
I was just a biker. A person with friends and
a family. 
>                      
But, you didn't see me.
>                       >  
Re-send this around in hopes that people will
understand the biker community.
I hope you never loose someone that rides.
>                       >  
EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE US, RESPECT OUR RIGHTS
TO RIDE WHAT WE CHOOSE AND TAKE A FEW EXTRA
SECONDS TO BE SURE WE'RE NOT IN 'YOUR' WAY 
>                      
LIVE TO RIDE .... RIDE TO LIVE

If you've been in Knoxville since the early seventies, you probably listened to the radio, right? Well a blog site has been created which has former Ktown radio personalities commenting and telling stories from "back in the day". Check it out:

 http://ktownradio.blogspot.com/