A Curator of Strategy, Leadership, Spirituality, and Rock and Roll…. "Changing the world…one "contact" at a time…."
The Byrds were an iconic band when I was growing up, although they were well before my time, the music is in a sense timeless. The song Eight Miles High was always one where there seemed there was this confluence of a million things all happening at once and as I did some “research” I …
The massive military bureaucracy is daunting to any junior or mid level solider, marine, airman, sailor dare we say—any person working in a bureaucracy—giving way to an entirely different form of innovation. If an Airman on a flight-line has a problem or a solider in field finds or discovers a new tool—it can take years …
Continue reading "Bootleg Innovation in the Military–or what happens when Punk Rock goes Mainstream"
This has been one of those songs we have loved since day one. It did an incredible job of capturing not only the issues of the day, but also drew an awesome linage of how we got there. Its lyrics are made of rapid-fire brief allusions to over one hundred headline events between March …
Continue reading "We didn’t start the fire… The History Lesson"
It is probably just me...but ever since 1983--I seem to hear Bono's words...ever single New Year's Day...and does anything really change...on New Year's Day? "New Year's Day" is a song by rock band U2. It is on their 1983 album War and it was released as the album's lead single in January 1983. Written about the Polish Solidarity movement, "New Year's Day" is driven …
Another great song..."This Is Your Life." It was a popular song by the alternative rock/Christian band Switchfoot, and their third single. "This Is Your Life" first appeared on the group's 2003 album The Beautiful Letdown and peaked at #30 on the US Modern Rock charts. The single also hit the U.S. Top 40 peaking at No. 31 ...but as I …
A while ago, while at Catalyst East in Atlanta, Jon Acuff mentioned John Mayer's song "Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967" in reference to dreams, the power of vision, and tenacity. Of course, I don't recall Mr Acuff's exact words--but that's what I walked away with. So a few months later... I Googled the song...and …
Continue reading "Walt Grace and The Power of a Dream–DeMarco Banter"
In 1946, the late, great, legendary Ray Charles heard "Lucky" Millinder’s band was coming to town. Charles worked miracles to arrange an audition, and he was sure this was his chance to get noticed--if he could connect and play with Millinder, that would almost guarantee a ticket to the big time. When his opportunity came, the …
Continue reading "Ray Charles, Self-Leadership, Resilience, Preparedness, and Talent–DeMarco Banter"
Wow… who does not love this song? It peaked at #71 on the UK singles chart, and was an elegy for Neil Young's first car, a 1948 Buick Roadmaster hearse. This was apparently a different hearse than the one Stills spotted Young driving around Los Angeles in 1966 which led to the formation of Buffalo Springfield. Neil's beloved Pontiac hearse, "Mort" (a.k.a. "Mortimer …
Continue reading "Neil: Talk to me…. Long May You Run? DeMarco Banter"
By J. William DeMarco So true...think about it and then ponder...who are you serving? Yourself? Your office or organization? Your family? Your wallet? God? Bob Dylan took five months off at the beginning of 1979 to attend Bible school. His subsequent album Slow Train Coming reached No.3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and included …
Continue reading "Bob Says ya “Gotta Serve Somebody” … Do you?"
By J. William DeMarco I am sure there are others out there like me... maybe? Writers with a million notes and thoughts scattered between computers..in word, pages, Evernote, iPads, iPhones, and when there is finally time to sit down and ponder which ideas to pull on... you start looking for your muse. Sometimes it shows …
Continue reading "Where is My Muse or 5 Steps to Helping a Muse Find You–DeMarco Banter"
