61-720: James Arthur Griffin (August 10, 1943 – January 11, 2005) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the 1970s soft rock band Bread . He won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1970 as co-writer of " For All We Know ". Griffin was born in Cincinnati , Ohio and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee . His musical training began when his parents signed him up for accordion lessons. He attended Kingsbury High School in Memphis and Dorsey and Johnny Burnette were his neighbors and role models. After
122-444: A BMI award for "Apologize" sung by Ames in 1968. Griffin met Robb Royer through Maria Yolanda Aguayo (Griffin's future wife). The two hit it off immediately and became life-time collaborators both as performers and writers. Griffin was a staff writer with Viva Publishing and managed to get them to hire Royer as his co-writer in 1967. Viva was resistant to hiring Royer and instead wanted Griffin to write with another staff writer with
183-583: A "mellow rock" format in 1971. Albert Hammond scored a major hit single with " It Never Rains in Southern California " in 1972, which went top 10 in at least six countries including Canada and the U.S. at numbers 2 and 5, respectively. In the spring of 1972, Neil Young scored his only number-one single with " Heart of Gold ", from the album Harvest . Topping the charts in both the U.S. and Canada, this soft rock ballad featured backing vocals from Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor , heard near
244-441: A "stage gossip" column covering the private lives of entertainers, a "tent show" section covering traveling shows and a subsection called "Freaks to order". Donaldson also published news articles opposing censorship, supporting productions exhibiting good taste and decrying yellow journalism ." As railroads became more developed, Billboard enabled a mail-forwarding system for traveling entertainers. The location of an entertainer
305-531: A Colorado sounding station." By 1977, some radio stations, notably New York's WTFM and NBC -owned WYNY , had switched to an all-soft rock format. Chicago's WBBM-FM adopted a soft rock/album rock hybrid format in 1977 and was known as "Soft Rock 96" presenting the "Mellow sound of Chicago". Five years later, they would flip to a "Hot Hits" top 40 format. By the 1980s, tastes had changed and radio formats reflected this change, including musical artists such as Journey . A prominent counterpart of soft rock in
366-506: A No. 1 hit for Poco written by Ronnie Guilbeau. GYG was performing at numerous Nashville venues including the 2004 CRS Conference and making further plans to shop the CD to indie labels and take the act on the road at the time of Griffin's sickness and death. In early 2004, Griffin recorded a duet with Holly Cieri of his Oscar-winning song "For All We Know". During that same year, Griffin also collaborated with Michael Z. Gordon and Griffin recorded
427-540: A background in the music industry. Gervino was appointed editor-in-chief in April 2014. An NPR item covered a leaked version of Billboard ' s annual survey, which it said had more gossip and focused on less professional topics than had prior surveys. For example, the magazine polled readers on a lawsuit that singer Kesha filed against her producer, alleging sexual abuse. Gervino was fired in May 2016. A note from Min to
488-621: A dedicated section called Amusement Machines in March 1932. Billboard began covering the motion-picture industry in 1907 but, facing strong competition from Variety , centered its focus on music. It created a radio-broadcasting station in the 1920s. The jukebox industry continued to grow through the Great Depression and was advertised heavily in Billboard , which led to even more editorial focus on music. The proliferation of
549-540: A high-tech firm for tracking music airtime. Private investors from Boston Ventures and BPI executives repurchased a two-thirds interest in Billboard Publications for $ 100 million, and more acquisitions followed. In 1993, it created a division known as Billboard Music Group for music-related publications. In 1994, Billboard Publications was sold to Dutch media conglomerate Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen (VNU) for $ 220 million. VNU acquired
610-409: A lawsuit from Griffin. The dispute was not resolved until 1984. Griffin and Gates put aside their past differences for a Bread reunion tour in 1996–1997 with Botts and Knechtel. In 1977, Griffin released a third solo album, James Griffin , also on Polydor, with tracks recorded in 1974 and 1975. He teamed with Terry Sylvester (formerly of The Hollies) on the album Griffin & Sylvester in 1982 and
671-509: A set of self-study cassette tapes and four television franchises. It also acquired Photo Weekly that year. Over time, subjects that Billboard covered outside of the music world formed the basis of separate publications: Funspot magazine was created in 1957 to cover amusement parks and Amusement Business was created in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment. In January 1961, Billboard was renamed Billboard Music Week to emphasize its newly exclusive interest in music. Two years later, it
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#1732790502840732-481: A trade publication for the Broadway theatre industry called Backstage . In 1987, Billboard was sold again to Affiliated Publications for $ 100 million. Billboard Publications Inc. became a subsidiary of Affiliated Publications called BPI Communications. As BPI Communications, it acquired The Hollywood Reporter , Adweek , Marketing Week and Mediaweek , and also purchased Broadcast Data Systems ,
793-574: A weekly paper with a greater emphasis on breaking news. He improved editorial quality and opened new offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, London, and Paris, and also refocused the magazine on outdoor entertainment such as fairs, carnivals, circuses, vaudeville , and burlesque shows. A section devoted to circuses was introduced in 1900, followed by more prominent coverage of outdoor events in 1901. Billboard also covered topics including regulation, professionalism, economics and new shows. It had
854-555: Is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation . The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to the music industry . Its music charts include the Hot 100 , the 200 , and the Global 200 , tracking the most popular albums and songs in various music genres. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm and operates several television shows. Billboard
915-506: Is considered one of the most reputable sources of music industry news. The website includes the Billboard Charts, news separated by music genre, videos and a separate website. It also compiles lists, hosts a fashion website called Pret-a-Reporter and publishes eight different newsletters. The print magazine's regular sections include: Billboard is known for publishing several annual listicles on its website, in recognition of
976-530: The Billboard 200 , which tracks the top-selling albums, has become more popular as an indicator of commercial success. Billboard has also published books in collaboration with Watson-Guptill and a radio and television series called American Top 40, based on Billboard charts. A daily Billboard Bulletin was introduced in February 1997 and Billboard hosts about 20 industry events each year. Billboard
1037-711: The Clio Awards in advertising and the National Research Group in 1997, as well as Editor & Publisher in 1999. In July 2000, it paid $ 650 million to the publisher Miller Freeman . BPI was combined with other entities in VNU in 2000 to form Bill Communications Inc. By the time CEO Gerald Hobbs retired in 2003, VNU had grown substantially larger, but had a great deal of debt from the acquisitions. An attempted $ 7 billion acquisition of IMS Health in 2005 prompted protests from shareholders that halted
1098-482: The jukebox , phonograph and radio became commonplace. Many topics that it covered became the subjects of new magazines, including Amusement Business in 1961 to cover outdoor entertainment, so that Billboard could focus on music. After Donaldson died in 1925, Billboard was inherited by his and Hennegan's children, who retained ownership until selling it to private investors in 1985. The magazine has since been owned by various parties. The first issue of Billboard
1159-532: The "bible" of the recording industry. Billboard struggled after its founder William Donaldson died in 1925, and within three years, was once again heading towards bankruptcy . Donaldson's son-in-law Roger Littleford took command in 1928 and "nursed the publication back to health." His sons Bill and Roger became co-publishers in 1946 and inherited the magazine in the late 1970s after Littleford's death. They sold it to private investors in 1985 for an estimated $ 40 million. The investors cut costs and acquired
1220-436: The 1960s, when the service was discontinued, Billboard was still processing 1,500 letters per week. In 1920, Donaldson controversially hired black journalist James Albert Jackson to write a weekly column devoted to black performers. According to The Business of Culture: Strategic Perspectives on Entertainment and Media , the column identified discrimination against black performers and helped validate their careers. Jackson
1281-573: The 1990s, with artists from previous decades continuing to release new music, such as Genesis , whose 1992 soft rock single " Hold on My Heart " topped the Canadian singles chart and Billboard Adult Contemporary chart . Extreme 's 1991 single " More Than Words " was internationally successful, topping the national singles charts in at least five countries, including Canada and the United States. Mr. Big 's 1992 single " To Be with You "
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#17327905028401342-648: The Beatles and " I Love My Dog " by Cat Stevens , both from 1966. By 1968, hard rock had been established as a mainstream genre. From the end of the 1960s, it became common to divide mainstream rock music into soft and hard rock, with both emerging as major radio formats in the US. The Bee Gees were considered soft rock in the late 1960s. Major artists of that time included Bread , Carly Simon , Carole King , Cat Stevens and James Taylor . The Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts became more similar again toward
1403-463: The Bill Poster. A department for agricultural fairs was established in 1896. The Billboard Advertising publication was renamed The Billboard in 1897. After a brief departure over editorial differences, Donaldson purchased Hennegan's interest in the business in 1900 for $ 500 (equal to $ 15,100 today) to save it from bankruptcy. On May 5, Donaldson changed the publication from a monthly to
1464-702: The Burnette brothers moved to Los Angeles, California to further their music careers, Griffin went there to visit them, and managed to secure a recording contract with Reprise Records . His first album, Summer Holiday , was released in 1963. He had small roles in two films, For Those Who Think Young (1964) and None but the Brave (1965). In the 1960s, Griffin teamed with fellow songwriter Michael Z. Gordon to write songs for such diverse singers as Ed Ames , Gary Lewis , Bobby Vee , Brian Hyland , The Standells , Lesley Gore , Sandy Nelson and Cher . The pair won
1525-682: The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group, a unit of the holding company Eldridge Industries . Timothy White was appointed editor-in-chief in 1991, a position that he held until his unexpected death in 2002. White wrote a weekly column promoting music with "artistic merit" while criticizing music with violent or misogynistic themes, and also reworked the publication's music charts. Rather than relying on data from music retailers, new charts used data from store checkout scanners obtained by Nielsen SoundScan . White also wrote in-depth profiles on musicians, but
1586-617: The United States. New bands and artists emerged such as the Danish band Michael Learns to Rock , who saw massive popularity in Asia, with many singles becoming commercially successful in the continent starting with their 1991 hit " The Actor ", and Australian band Southern Sons , who enjoyed success on the ARIA Charts with three top 10 singles. Bibliography Billboard (magazine) Billboard (stylized in lowercase since 2013)
1647-523: The albums Blue Frontier (1992) and Aim for the Heart (1993). Their single, " A Long Time Ago " went Top 10 on Billboard'' s country chart in 1992 with "Two-Timin' Me" cracking the Top 20 later that year. Beginning in 1994 Griffin and Robb Royer collaborated with Grammy-nominated songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Todd Cerney to write songs and perform in local venues. Larry Knechtel also participated in
1708-413: The articles are written by staff writers, while some are written by industry experts. It covers news, gossip, opinion, and music reviews, but its "most enduring and influential creation" is the Billboard charts . The charts track music sales, radio airtime and other data about the most popular songs and albums. The Billboard Hot 100 chart of the top-selling songs was introduced in 1958. Since then,
1769-613: The band's permanent drummer, first appearing on their second album, On the Waters . In 1970, Griffin and Royer – under the pseudonyms Arthur James and Robb Wilson – wrote the lyrics for Fred Karlin 's music for the song " For All We Know ", featured in the film Lovers and Other Strangers . It won the Academy Award for Best Song .This song was later covered by The Carpenters on their third album. In 1971 Royer left Bread, but continued to provide songs co-written with Griffin for
1830-482: The collaboration and the group called themselves Toast (an obvious reference to Bread ). Griffin, Royer and Cerney began this collaboration when they wrote "Kyrie" in 1994. Knechtel also joined songwriting credits on the 1995 song "Slow Train". The group wrote, recorded and performed together at various Nashville Venues including the Bluebird Cafe , 3rd & Lindsley, and 12th & Porter. In 1998 they changed
1891-546: The company. According to Royer, Griffin convinced Viva to hire Royer by threatening "I will be writing with him. Do you really want to give away half the publishing on all those songs?". James Griffin sang songs that were featured in a few episodes of the TV series Ironside in the late sixties. In 1968, Griffin and Royer teamed with David Gates to form the band Bread using session drummer Jim Gordon for their first album and their initial gigs. Mike Botts soon replaced Gordon as
Jimmy Griffin - Misplaced Pages Continue
1952-476: The deal; it eventually agreed to an $ 11 billion takeover bid from investors in 2006. VNU changed its name to Nielsen in 2007, the namesake of a company that it had acquired for $ 2.5 billion in 1999. New CEO Robert Krakoff divested some of the previously owned publications, restructured the organization and planned some acquisitions before dying suddenly in 2007. He was subsequently replaced by Greg Farrar. Nielsen owned Billboard until 2009, when it
2013-534: The editorial staff indicated that senior vice president of digital content Mike Bruno would head the editorial department. On June 15, 2016, BillboardPH , the first Billboard chart company in Southeast Asia, mainly in the Philippines, was announced. On September 12, 2016, Billboard expanded into China by launching Billboard China in partnership with Vision Music Ltd. On September 23, 2020, it
2074-466: The end of the 1960s and into the early and mid-1970s when the texture of much of the music played on top 40 radio once more began to soften. The adult contemporary format began evolving into the sound that later defined it, with rock-oriented acts as Chicago , the Eagles and Elton John becoming associated with the format. The Carpenters' hit version of " (They Long to Be) Close to You " was released in
2135-486: The end of the song. In 1973, Paul McCartney and Wings had a U.S. number one with " My Love ", which also reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary charts of both the U.S. and Canada. Soft rock reached its commercial peak in the mid-to-late 1970s with acts such as Toto , England Dan & John Ford Coley , Air Supply , Seals and Crofts , America and the reformed Fleetwood Mac , whose Rumours (1977)
2196-507: The era such as Rupert Holmes and Hall & Oates , leading to the conflation. In the early 1980s, the radio format evolved into what came to be known as " adult contemporary " or " adult album alternative ", a format that has less overt rock bias than its forebear radio categorization. In Los Angeles, KOST 103.5 FM, under program director Jhani Kaye, debuted its soft adult contemporary format in November 1982. Soft rock persisted in
2257-516: The first female and youngest-ever executive editor at Billboard and led its first major redesign since the 1960s, designed by Daniel Stark and Stark Design. During Conniff's tenure, Billboard 's newsstand sales jumped 10%, ad pages climbed 22% and conference registrations rose 76%. In 2005, Billboard expanded its editorial outside the music industry into other areas of digital and mobile entertainment. In 2006, after leading Billboard's radio publication, former ABC News and CNN journalist Scott McKenzie
2318-476: The group. He was replaced by keyboardist/guitarist Larry Knechtel . They had a number one Billboard Hot 100 hit with the song, " Make It With You ". Other hits by Bread included " Baby I'm-a Want You ", " If " and " Everything I Own ". Although Griffin was a significant contributor to Bread's albums as a writer and singer, every one of the group's thirteen songs that made the Billboard Hot 100 chart
2379-482: The late 1970s and early 1980s came to be known as yacht rock ; its name coined in 2005 by the makers of the online video series Yacht Rock . Originating from California's session musicians, yacht rock only partially overlapped with soft rock; it could include soft to mid-level (but rarely ever purely hard) rock. Much of the "West Coast sound" of yacht rock bore similarity to some of the East Coast soft rockers of
2440-568: The most influential executives, artists and companies in the music industry, such as the following: Since 1990 Billboard established the Billboard Music Awards , an awards ceremony honors top album, artist and single in a number of different music genres which achieved the highest results during the year form sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring, and social engagement. The data are taken from Billboard and its data partners, including MRC Data and Next Big Sound . Through
2501-428: The name to "Radio Dixie" in an effort to be more commercially viable. The group disbanded in 1998, although Royer and Cerney continued to collaborate on song-writing. In 2003, Griffin, Rick Yancey and Ronnie Guilbeau began writing and performing as GYG, recording a CD of the same name. The CD included new material and well-known tunes like "Who's Gonna Know", a Remingtons tune recorded by Conway Twitty, and "Call It Love"
Jimmy Griffin - Misplaced Pages Continue
2562-868: The phonograph and radio also contributed to its growing music emphasis. Billboard published the first music hit parade on January 4, 1936 and introduced a Record Buying Guide in January 1939. In 1940, it introduced Chart Line, which tracked the best-selling records, and was followed by a chart for jukebox records in 1944 called Music Box Machine. By the 1940s, Billboard was more of a music-industry specialist publication. The number of charts that it published grew after World War II , as new music interests and genres became popular. It had eight charts by 1987, covering different genres and formats, and 28 charts by 1994. By 1943, Billboard had about 100 employees. The magazine's offices moved to Brighton, Ohio in 1946, then to New York City in 1948. A five-column tabloid format
2623-472: The song, "Something Else Altogether" which was slated to be the title song for the film, "The Devil and Daniel Webster". However, the film went into bankruptcy and the song was never used in the movie but was recently posted on YouTube and dedicated to Griffin. Griffin died of complications from cancer on January 11, 2005, at his home in Franklin, Tennessee , after undergoing treatment for several months; he
2684-653: The summer of 1970, followed by Bread 's " Make It with You ", both early examples of a softer sound that was coming to dominate the charts. The soft rock album Tapestry by Carole King, released in February 1971, became one of the best-selling albums of all time. The lead double-sided single from the album, " It's Too Late "/" I Feel the Earth Move ", spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 beginning in mid-June 1971. Los Angeles station KNX-FM , under program director Steve Marshall, introduced
2745-533: Was 61 years old. He was survived by his wife Marti, daughters Katy and Alexis, sons Jamey and Jacob, granddaughters Laura and Lilli and grandsons Gryffyn and Max. Soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock ) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock , relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. Soft rock
2806-551: Was a member of Black Tie with Randy Meisner and Billy Swan , which released When The Night Falls in 1985, co-produced by T-Bone Burnett . Robb Royer was also credited as a musician on the album. The album was remixed and reissued in the early 1990s, with Griffin's voice more prominent on some songs. The Black Tie single "Learning The Game" peaked at No. 59 on the Billboard country chart in 1991. In 1991 Griffin formed The Remingtons with Richard Mainegra and Rick Yancey. They released their first single that same year, followed by
2867-514: Was a number one hit in at least twelve countries. Eric Clapton 's 1992 single " Tears in Heaven " was also successful, topping the national singles charts in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and six other countries. Richard Marx 's 1994 single " Now and Forever " topped the Canadian adult contemporary chart and peaked in the top ten of the national singles charts in that country, Norway, and
2928-453: Was adopted in November 1950 and coated paper was first used in Billboard ' s print issues in January 1963, allowing for photojournalism. Billboard Publications Inc. acquired a monthly trade magazine for candy and cigarette machine vendors called Vend , and in the 1950s it acquired an advertising trade publication called Tide . By 1969, Billboard Publications Inc. owned 11 trade and consumer publications, Watson-Guptill Publications,
2989-523: Was announced that Penske Media Corporation would assume operations of the MRC Media & Info publications under a joint venture with MRC known as PMRC. The joint venture includes the management of Billboard . On January 13, 2024, Billboard shared the intent to further expand in Asia by announcing the launch of Billboard Korea . Billboard publishes a news website and weekly trade magazine that covers music, video and home entertainment. Most of
3050-409: Was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $ 500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. Billboard began focusing more on the music industry as
3111-624: Was named editorial director across all Billboard properties. Conniff launched the Billboard Women in Music event in 2007. Bill Werde was named editorial director in 2008, and was followed by Janice Min in January 2014, also responsible for editorial content at The Hollywood Reporter . The magazine became more of a general-interest music-news source rather than solely an industry trade, covering more celebrity and fashion news. Min hired Tony Gervino as editor although he did not have
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#17327905028403172-556: Was one of eight publications sold to e5 Global Media Holdings. e5 was formed by investment firms Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners for the purpose of the acquisition. The following year, the new parent company was renamed Prometheus Global Media . Three years later, Guggenheim Partners acquired Pluribus' share of Prometheus and became the sole owner of Billboard . In December 2015, Guggenheim Digital Media spun out several media brands, including Billboard , to its own executive Todd Boehly . The assets operate under
3233-425: Was prevalent on the radio throughout the 1970s and eventually metamorphosed into a form of the synthesized music of adult contemporary in the 1980s. The genre was pioneered by such artists as Fleetwood Mac , Elton John , James Taylor and Hall & Oates . Softer sounds in rock music could be heard in mid-1960s songs, such as " A Summer Song " by Chad & Jeremy (1964) and " Here, There and Everywhere " by
3294-601: Was published in Cincinnati , Ohio by William Donaldson and James Hennegan on November 1, 1894. Initially it covered the advertising and bill-posting industry and was known as Billboard Advertising . At the time, billboards, posters, and paper advertisements placed in public spaces were the primary means of advertising. Donaldson handled editorial and advertising, while Hennegan, who owned Hennegan Printing Co., managed magazine production. The first issues were just eight pages long. The paper had columns such as The Bill Room Gossip and The Indefatigable and Tireless Industry of
3355-419: Was renamed to simply Billboard . According to The New Business Journalism , by 1984, Billboard Publications was a "prosperous" conglomerate of trade magazines, and Billboard had become the "undisputed leader" in music-industry news. In the early 1990s, Billboard introduced Billboard Airplay Monitors , a publication for disc jockeys and music programmers. By the end of the 1990s, Billboard dubbed itself
3416-469: Was replaced by Keith Girard, who was subsequently fired in May 2004. Girard and a female employee filed a $ 29 million lawsuit alleging that Billboard fired them unfairly with an intent to damage their reputations and that they experienced sexual harassment, a hostile work environment and a financially motivated lack of editorial integrity. Email evidence suggested that human resources were given special instructions to watch minority employees. The case
3477-411: Was settled out of court in 2006 for an undisclosed sum. In the 2000s, economic decline in the music industry dramatically reduced readership and advertising from Billboard ' s traditional audience. Circulation declined from 40,000 in circulation in the 1990s to less than 17,000 by 2014. The publication's staff and ownership were also undergoing frequent changes. In 2004, Tamara Conniff became
3538-473: Was the best-selling album of the decade. Denver station KIMN-FM introduced a "mellow rock" album format in 1975. Program director Scott Kenyon told Billboard magazine, Michael Murphey's " Wildfire " is a perfect example; it feels like Colorado, you can tell it came from this part of the country. There's a sound of the Rockies... the best description is mellow rock. Take that kind of music and make it into
3599-498: Was the first black critic at a national magazine with a predominantly white audience. According to his grandson, Donaldson also established a policy against identifying performers by their race. Donaldson died in 1925. Billboard ' s editorial content changed focus as technology in recording and playback developed, covering "marvels of modern technology" such as the phonograph and wireless radios. The magazine began covering coin-operated entertainment machines in 1899 and created
3660-482: Was tracked in the paper's Routes Ahead column, and then Billboard would receive mail on the star's behalf and publish a notice in its Letter-Box column that it had mail for him or her. This service was first introduced in 1904 and became one of Billboard ' s largest sources of profit and celebrity connections. By 1914, 42,000 people were using the service. It was also used as the official address of traveling entertainers for draft letters during World War I . In
3721-591: Was written and sung by Gates, a situation that created friction between the two. After the release of Guitar Man in 1972, Bread went on hiatus. Griffin released a solo album, Breakin' Up Is Easy on Polydor Records in 1973, credited to 'James Griffin & Co'. Neither the album nor the singles, "Breakin' Up Is Easy", and "She Knows", made the Billboard charts . Bread reformed in 1976 for one final album, Lost Without Your Love . Gates, Botts, and Knechtel continued to record together on Gates's solo albums, and initially toured as 'David Gates & Bread', which led to
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