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Contact Patric J. Miller
Producer/Arranger (retired)

 

The Press...
The fluff and hubbub that comes with 15 minutes of fame.

Press, and promotion are pretty much the same beast in the music business. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as "bad press." I would tend to disagree (ask Lindsay Lohan). As it all came down, I enjoyed most of the press and attention for the original broadcast, as everyone in Eugene, and all of those associated with it were genuinely enthused and gracious.

There was a wonderful article in the Register Guard...that has simply dissapeared from my archives (read that a folder of stuff stuck in the very back of a file cabinet in my basement, along with clip art and pictures from The Music News, a music newspaper I published in the 90s).

Once we got the Emmy, and the album was in the process of the "when the hell are they going to release this thing" mode, I was more mercenary with my intentions, and frankly, come off as a bit of a jerk (bit?) in a couple of the interviews. Almost every picture from that era has me in the same white zip up, and pink shirt, or cream silk sport jacket and heavily "product laden" hair. Argh. Don Johnson I was not...but jeans, sport jacket and white Nikes made me look hip, without being pretentious. Uhm...right!

Here are a few of the clippings I found in "the folder."

 

This is the ad that ran in TV Guide. "The Little Match Girl" was being touted as the special of the year, as Cosby was rolling high in the ratings that year.

We squashed them like a bug, winning our rating slot and the week.

Bwahahahaha!

 

When the press started coming out for previews of the show, it was fun to read the reviwer's comments, as they all seemed to enjoy the special in general.

I really felt like I had "hit the big time" when my Father-in-law called to read me the extensive article in the New York Times (which he got as a Portland stock broker).

Local press is cool... but having the reviewer for the NY Times call your music "finger-snapping good," felt special.

Here is the online link to the story:

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/21/arts/tv-review-claymation-christmas-on-cbs.html

Promotional Stills Sent to me in the Claymation Christmas Celebration Press Kit
for me to use when I was being interviewed.

 

When the Emmy nomination was announced, the articles about the voting system started (as they do every year).

Peter Farrell wrote an extensive article about the nomination, and was very flattering, if not aprehensive about our chances of winning.

I especially like his comment that, "In fact, I'd rather watch a repeat of it (The Claymation Christmas Celebration) Sunday than sit through the dumb awards."

Me too, Peter. Me too.


It was a wonderful honor, and I would sound petty to say otherwise. I would like to thank all of the people who supported and believed in me through all of the...Never mind.

The Emmy, and the related story are really kind of a mixed bag. Great fun...and honor...and the beginning of realizing that I really wanted nothing to do with the whole "Hollywood" way of life.

The Emmy sits somewhere at what was WVP and is now Laika (can you say Uncle Phil?)

I have this swell pin, and the memories of the night.

 

 

 

 

 

This was an extensive interview about the whole creative process of the projects, the upcoming release of the album, and all that went into both.

It was shortly after the Emmy Awards, and was actually an article that was both factual, and didn't come off making me sound like an egocentric jerk.

Part of the reason, is that writer, Andy Widders-Ellis, knew me from other local music connections, so he had a personal basis from which to position the story.

As he was also a writer for a couple of national music publications, it covered a lot of the production and creative process. All and all...not bad press.
 

This article DID make me sound like an egocentric jerk. But after asking to listen to the tape of the interview, I realize that Linda actually wrote exactly what I said...just as I said it.

My bad.

I was an overly-hip, jerk, caught up in sounding like I thought someone who had just won an Emmy and was waiting for a major record label release to come out was supposed to sound. I guess I was playing a role, rather than just being myself.

OK...so maybe I was just asking the universe and Karma to kick me a bit. Oh well...by seeing ourselves through the eyes of others we grow...right?

I can only hope...

This is the full page advertisement that Atlantic took out in both R&R and Billboard magazines. It was pretty cool to see it, but was just one more way of flaunting the Raisins in the promotions...which as I said, inflamed the legal hassles with Priority records (the OTHER Raisin record label).

It came out just before Thanksgiving, in a desperate attempt to offset the late shipping date, brought about by the aforementioned legal scuffle.

Nobody really knows how many units shipped and sold. I do know that tons of people bought it overseas (as we have friends in England) and it was played on radio stations for more than 10 years following...and yet we never saw a single copy sold on foreign royalty statements. I also know that Sam Goody sold more through their chain, than the entire number of units reported being shipped and sold for the whole country...again, from an inside source at Sam Goody.

But hey..."welcome to the record business, kid!"

Whatever the case...making the record was a hell of a lot more fun than living the waiting, sluething game in the two years following- before we saw the album in cutout bins at discount stores.

OK then... Thanks Atlantic! It was swell doing business with you.