Music For Earth Day

One of the last projects I worked on in Boston was music for Earth Day. Frankly, it went over like a lead balloon. The staff wasn't into it. Most didn't want to take the time to connect the music with environment. The staff was not eager to connect with Earth Day events. They were understaffed over worked. Day to day obstacles in the working environment didn't allow the staff to focus on this kind of stuff. Or, maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe it was a really lame idea. We never found out if the audience was into it either. By the time Earth Day came around, I was out of there.

Since then, I've heard from others that this kind of stunting does not make a huge difference with the audience. The three strengths I saw were the promotional possibilities, community connections with environmentally concerned groups, and making it seem like the station and its talent were topical and connected.

I wanted to take a broad approach to the music. The music just needed a loose connection. It did not need to be a slam dunk like "My Oklahoma Home" by Bill Cunningham, "Black Sky" by Sam Phillips or "Good Planets are Hard to Find" by Steve Forbert. Anything closely related...even by title...could have been used. I thought we could even stretch the format a little to for the sake of the theme.

My partial playlist:

Good Planets Are Hard to Find - Steve Forbert

Crossing Muddy Waters - John Hiatt

Show Me the River - Eastmountainsouth

Let It Rain - Eric Clapton

Same Rain - Sam Phillips

Blackberry Rain - The Kennedys

No Rain - Blind Melon

Mother Nature's Son - Sheryl Crow

Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles

The Mountains Win Again, Blues Traveler

The Sea - Morchcheeba

Into the Mystic - Van Morrison

Last of the Great Whales - Solas

Black Sky - Sam Phillips

This Hard Land - Bruce Springsteen

My Oklahoma Home - Bruce Springsteen

By The Rivers of Babylon - Jimmy Cliff

Wooden Ships - Crosby Still and Nash

River Jordan - Vusi Mahlasela

Morning Has Broken - Cat Stevens

The Wind - Cat Stevens

Thing of Beauty - Hot House Flowers

Fishin' Blues - Taj Mahal

Sunshine - Jonathan Edwards