- 4/23/2025
Andre and Warner Brothers' George Stone
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00:00It's Andre Gardner, and there's a very interesting aspect of the music business that, you know, a lot of people don't really know about, and it has a lot to do with how we heard these wonderful songs that we play on MGK on the radio and in public places and got exposure.
00:15It was the work of the promotions department of these record labels, the men and women who would go out there week after week, meet with program directors, try to get them to play these records, give them reasons to play it, that really made the songs hits.
00:30You know, here in Philly, we had Herb Gordon at Columbia, we had Michael Lesnar at Capitol, and we had, of course, the wonderful people of the WIA group, Warner Electra Atlantic, which was a place down in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, owned by Warner Communications.
00:48You had Frankie Scara in Atlantic, you had Rick Alden in Electra, and you had my special guest at Warner Brothers, Mr. George Stone.
00:56And it's so nice for you to come here from your place here in Florida, right?
01:01Yes, I am, Andre, and thank you for having me.
01:04You know, we go back a long, long time, but it's really a pleasure to talk to you today, really. Thanks for having me.
01:12Yeah, we do go back a long time, and that was the thing, it was exciting for someone to be a music director of a radio station because you got to listen to these new songs as soon as they came out.
01:21You got to meet with the record people, and they would tell you why they wanted you to play this or why this song wasn't very, very important.
01:27Can you just give me a brief description of what a promo person's job, and of course, we're all talking about it in a day.
01:34This does not apply today, we'll get to that, but what was a promo person's main job?
01:39Well, our main responsibility, just as you said, was taking our new releases to the appropriate formats of radio, you know, rock, top 40, you know, so on and so forth.
01:53And meet with program directors and music directors, and even with that, you know, if you were able to talk to a disc jockey from those stations, you would also mention to them just to be on the lookout or keep an ear out for your music.
02:09So that's where it started, you know, and of course, we had people above us who would, you know, hammer us to try to get our music played.
02:18So, you know, the music had to fit the radio station, basically, you know, but that's how it started.
02:27You know, we would get the music, we would bring it and hope that those stations would play it.
02:31Okay, now you talk about you get the music.
02:33So you get the music, you're a local promo rep here with WIA, serving this region, and you're a national person, presumably would come to you with the priorities, if you will.
02:43Exactly.
02:44Or record companies.
02:45So there would be records that they really wanted to push for, and records like, yeah, play this for them, but it's not a real high priority.
02:52Is that basically, do I sound right how that worked?
02:54Well, you know what, Andre, some of the music, you know, that's true to a certain extent.
03:00I mean, every record from some companies, you know, from companies, you know, was a priority.
03:05And given the fact that you were responsible for a certain region or territory, as I was, you know, certain songs or records didn't necessarily fit that, you know, particular radio station.
03:17So, in a sense, I would kind of jumble the priority, or juggle, I should say, meaning that maybe priority record B made more sense than priority record A, you know, for that particular radio station.
03:33And that's how I think I worked music throughout my career.
03:37It just hadn't made sense for the station, and not to belabor that point, but there were times where I could go to somebody and say, listen, this is what, you know, what we really are trying to do, but wait on this one and pay attention to this instead.
03:54And that seemed to work for me over the years.
03:57I remember that.
03:58And so you had the latitude to do that.
04:00You had the latitude to decide.
04:01Well, on the QT, I did.
04:06Honestly, because there were times, you know, over the years that I would say to somebody, listen, here's what I think, and this is how I feel, okay?
04:15On the record, okay, this is what I need you to do, or I'd like you to do, but off the record, you can wait 10 minutes, you know, or wait two weeks.
04:25Let's prove to you.
04:26Let me prove to you.
04:27Because the other part of it, Andre, is, you know, not only your credibility, but your relationship with the people you're dealing with.
04:35How many times can I come to a program director and ask him to play a stiff over and over again?
04:39Right, right.
04:40You know, seriously.
04:41So after a while, I would go, okay, he's really passionate, you know, about this particular one.
04:46Let me pay attention a little bit more, you know?
04:49Yeah, I'm going to give that Roger Vidoras record another spin.
04:53Do you remember that record?
04:55I love that.
04:55Yeah, get used to it in the 79.
04:57I love that record.
04:58I'm just trying to pull all these great Warner Brothers records that might have been forgotten about.
05:03Let me ask you another great question, George.
05:05As a record promo guy, one of the things that I'm sure stuck in your craw and on the other promo people's for a long time were leaks.
05:13There was a story of a music industry person I know who used to play this gag where a record company person would come into his office and go, God, I got this song, man.
05:27I can't give it to you, but let's take a listen for it.
05:30And he'd be like, oh, great.
05:31This is good.
05:32Hey, wait, let's get some pizza.
05:34Let's get some pizza.
05:35Let's get some pizza.
05:35Call the intern.
05:37Hey, get us a pizza, will you?
05:39And that was code for going to back and record because the record turntable is connected to another studio.
05:45And then we're going to leak this on the air.
05:47So the record company person plays it for them.
05:48And on the way home, they turn on and hear, world exclusive, we got this song.
05:53You know, where the hell did you get this from?
05:55I mean, that must have driven you guys nuts to try to feel these leaks.
05:59Oh, Andre, I could tell you a handful of stories, but I won't.
06:05I'll give you a couple of examples.
06:07All right.
06:08I remember coming out.
06:11We were coming out with Fleetwood Mac Tusk.
06:13All right.
06:15And of course, everybody wanted to hear what Tusk was all about coming off of the White Album and rumors and all that success.
06:23And I won't mention the call letters.
06:26Okay.
06:26I just won't.
06:28Yeah.
06:29But they leaked a copy of Tusk.
06:32And it was a terrible, terrible quality of music.
06:37And, you know, and it was over a weekend.
06:40Of course, that's when most leaks happen, like on a Friday night at five o'clock or whatever.
06:44My phone started ringing at five, you know, 505 from the home office in California, including the attorney for Warner Brothers, you know, saying, hey, I'm sending you a cease and desist and you've got to take care of this and so on.
07:00And I remember it was a headache all weekend.
07:03And I remember seeing somebody from the radio station who was a senior officer at the station.
07:21Hey, how you doing?
07:22I said, I'm doing okay here.
07:24And I had to hand them the cease and desist, you know, on the spot.
07:28And of course, not that we got into like a fight or whatever, but I made it clear to said person that you got to get this off immediately.
07:39You know, and I think by, you know, the end of the weekend, it came off.
07:42But more importantly, the quality of the music was awful.
07:46So you did a disservice, not only to us, to the band, to your listeners.
07:51It was just, I understand you wanted to get a leg up, but it was, it was terrible.
07:56I mean, again, I could tell you a couple other stories that drove me absolutely insane.
08:00Well, that's going to be our part two.
08:02I'm too cheap to pay for Zoom.
08:04I only get like 25 minutes here.
08:06We'll do it whenever you tell me.
08:07I know that's the thing.
08:08You've got all these stories.
08:09I want to hear these stories, George.
08:10And it's funny you mention that, because I remember George Silva coming to WPST.
08:16I happen to be filling in on mornings and coming in with a 12-inch with Tusk and never make me cry.
08:22And that's putting it right on the air, legally, of course.
08:24Yeah, of course.
08:25Putting it on the air was an exciting time.
08:28Real quick, what was your, you guys had a friendly relationship with the other labels, right?
08:32Everybody got along pretty well, right?
08:34I mean, you were all fighting for time on radio, but everybody, by and large, like the radio community, got along.
08:40Absolutely.
08:41Andre, you know, I'm thinking of it, if you don't mind.
08:45When I first started, and I was very young, there were a lot of reps that, I mean, I looked up to right away, but they had been doing it for a long time.
08:54And, you know, Arthur Fields at the time was a capital when I started, and there were a couple of others.
08:59But this, I can't forget to mention to you, when I first started before promotion, and I worked in the warehouse, one of the first reps, other than in our office that I met, was Bobby Silver.
09:11And Bobby Silver, of course, is one of the best promotion people I ever worked for, worked with, and learned from.
09:20And, and I know I'm not the only one, but I remember being in the mail room, she called me one day from five different cities, asking me to send music to, you know, area stations along her way.
09:35And she did that from that point, and that was like 1974, 1975, to the day she retired, you know.
09:43So I always looked up for her, you know, to her, and then learned from, from her.
09:47The other was Maddie Humdinger Singer.
09:52Okay.
09:53Maybe.
09:53Yeah, I mean, he told me some lessons, especially early on, he was always dressed in a suit and a tie, but he made an important point to me, that George, listen, you know, keep your eyes and your ears open, and your mouth shut, and you're going to learn more that way.
10:10And isn't that the truth in everything that we do today?
10:13It's like, you want to learn something?
10:14Be observant.
10:16Right.
10:16You know.
10:17Use this more than this.
10:18Exactly.
10:19Yeah, and one of the other things that I learned from him was he was always very nice and very kind to all the receptionists and all the staff people at radio stations.
10:30And when you think of it, it makes perfect sense.
10:33If you're going to be rude and ignorant to the receptionist who not only sees you face to face, but answers the phone, you know, it's like, just be kind, you know.
10:43So, rest his soul, he did tell my brother Bill Gardner and George Duns to go pound sand, because they wouldn't add hard work by John Handy in 1976.
10:55We were like 14, and Maddie was trying to get that record on, they wouldn't budge.
11:00And he was like, oh, pound sand.
11:01He didn't say anything further.
11:03But he was ticked off at that time.
11:06I'm glad you recognize both those guys, George.
11:08This, by the way, is George Stone.
11:09He's a dear friend, a colleague, a promo man for Warner Brothers Records here in Philly for many, many years.
11:15And he's telling stories.
11:16And we're going to have more in the limited time I have on Zoom.
11:19But, George, I want to, before we wrap this part one up, I want to run a few artists by you.
11:24And I want you to give me a couple of sentences on your experience with them, how they were to work with, any story you have.
11:30And I'm just going to throw out someone who just passed.
11:34Gary Wright.
11:36Oh, geez.
11:36Andre, I never met Gary or worked with him personally, you know, like I had with some other artists.
11:44But when I started, your Dreamweaver, you know, was obviously becoming a big, big record.
11:50And we worked at it, of course, and it was awesome.
11:53But I never met Gary to work with him.
11:55I have heard, you know, from other colleagues, how wonderful of a human being and an artist that he was to work with.
12:03So, wait, man.
12:05Here's one for you.
12:06During his time with Warners, Alice Cooper.
12:09I loved working with Alice Cooper.
12:12Honestly, we did a record.
12:14I can't remember the name of the album.
12:16But Bernie Taupin helped write the songs with Alice for that particular record.
12:21And I have pictures somewhere.
12:22I may have sent them to you.
12:23If not, I'll send them to you.
12:25Please.
12:25But they were just awesome to work with.
12:27Everybody that they met, you know, they took pictures.
12:30They signed the autographs.
12:31They were just really, really accommodating.
12:33But I really enjoyed working with him.
12:35I really did.
12:36That's great.
12:37Here's another one.
12:38I'm dying to hear what you think.
12:41Prince.
12:41Oh, wow.
12:44Of course, you know, we worked with his music from the very, very beginning.
12:48And we had to end up releasing, you know, 1999 twice, I think, in order to, you know, it began timing, which again became a big hit.
12:58But when I first met Prince, it was at the old Latin Casino in Cherry Hill.
13:04I know you remember it became Emerald City.
13:09And I remember, as a matter of fact, George Silva and I both going backstage to see him and talk with him.
13:15Very low-key, reserved.
13:17But what a phenomenal, phenomenal artist that he was, honestly.
13:22You know, but he was quite the human being.
13:25One of the artists that I think I might be surprised to get your opinion on, and I'm hearing this more and more, particularly in the early days, Van Halen.
13:36Like, not quite as wild.
13:38I mean, wild, but still professional, right?
13:40Yes, exactly.
13:42Well, that's another one.
13:43I'm glad that you brought them up.
13:45Because the first single that we had from them was the King's remake, you know, You Really Got Me.
13:52And, of course, you know, Rock Station started to play it and all that kind of thing.
13:57And I remember picking him up in Philly.
14:01I think it was the, correct me if I'm wrong, by the specter or by the stadiums now, it was a holiday in back then.
14:08Oh, yeah.
14:09Or vice versa, right?
14:11But I remember picking him up, the four of them, you know, Alex, Michael, Davids, and Eddie.
14:20And we went and did radio interviews.
14:22And they were just frigging phenomenal to work with, right?
14:27And they did everything you asked of them.
14:30You're doing the interviews and ITs, station ITs and things.
14:33And through the years, it became more and more of a systematic, if you will, where they would do meet and greets, do pictures, sign autographs, you know.
14:45I mean, they were just really, really wonderful over the years.
14:50And, you know, people will argue, you know, were they better with David or Sammy or whatever?
14:55To me, two distinct sounds, even though the basis was there, you know.
15:01So, but I think when, I mean, David was who he was and, you know, but Sammy brought a different element to the band, I think.
15:09I got to ask you one more, George.
15:11George Harrison.
15:12Oh, wow.
15:13Andre, I think I've told you this over the course of years.
15:18You know, he was one of the first artists that I met at Warner Bros.
15:21And we had signed George and Tark Horse Records, and he was releasing 33 and a Third.
15:27And I was like 21, 22 years old.
15:32When I met him, I literally felt like a deer in headlights.
15:35It was like I was standing next to a people.
15:37But again, I mean, unbelievable that I was that fortunate, that lucky in my life to have met, you know, an artist like that.
15:46You know, of course, he's sorely missed.
15:48But what an experience to be in his company and to listen to him talk and just the music that he created over the years.
15:57You know, All Things Must Pass is probably still one of my favorite albums.
16:02I mean, for so many reasons.
16:04It really just was brilliant, in my opinion.
16:07But yeah, it was an honor and a pleasure to meet that band, let me tell you.
16:11Oh, my gosh.
16:13And you had that self-titled album of his in 1979 with Blow Away and Love Comes to Everyone.
16:18Just a wonderful one from George.
16:22This is George Stone.
16:24Great guy.
16:25Longtime friend and associate.
16:27Warner Bros. Records promo guy in Philly for many, many decades.
16:30Living a good life down in Florida now and well-deservedly so, George.
16:34I just had a quick question for you right now.
16:36I'm going to throw it at you now.
16:38Can you name me the or one of the best artists to work with on the promo circuit that really was the essence of they get it?
16:49They got what it took to go around and promote.
16:52Who's the first one that comes to mind?
16:54The first one that comes to mind, honestly, is Katie Lang.
16:58Oh, Katie Lang.
17:00Yeah.
17:01Yeah.
17:02Over the years, we had developed a nice relationship and a friendship.
17:06And I first saw her at the old Chestnut Cabaret.
17:10And then, of course, you know, when Constant Craving came out, which was a big, big record for her Grammy winning song.
17:20Both Sandy and I, actually, when she would come to town, we would see her backstage or go to dinner or whatever.
17:27But she always comes to mind.
17:29And I think just because of her overall talent, she reminded me of a cross between Barbra Streisand and Eliza Minnelli.
17:40Now, again, I know you're a classic rock station.
17:42I'm obviously talking about Katie Lang, but she's just a special, special artist to me.
17:47Oh, fantastic.
17:48George Stone, my special guest.
17:50Thank you so much for chatting.
17:51We have so much more to cover.
17:52So can I get you on video here, committing to a part two?
17:56Absolutely.
17:57You got it, Andre.
17:58I would do anything for you that you ask of me.
18:02Because, again, we have a friendship and a relationship going back, I think, now four decades.
18:08Yes, sir.
18:09If I'm not mistaken, when you and I first met, when you were in Shranton, WPST, I think you were still a teenager.
18:18I was 17 years old, 16, 17.
18:20Then I met you at Wi-Fi one time with Steve Rivers.
18:23Steve, I'm pretty proud of you.
18:24Yes, exactly.
18:25He was the programmer.
18:27I was introduced to you, and I instantly knew you were a good guy.
18:30That's why I can't wait to get some more stories out of you, my friend.
18:32Thank you for your time this afternoon.
18:34George Stone from Warner Brothers Records.
18:36Thanks for coming on and chatting about the business, man.
18:38Love it.
18:39Thank you, Andre.
18:39We'll talk again soon, buddy.
18:41Have a good one.
18:41We'll talk again soon.
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