Geneva senior promotes The Clarks
BILL JORDAN
of Geneva is starting his promotional career early, while
still at Hiram College.
By BRIAN EWIG
Staff Writer
HIRAM - Bill Jordan's in charge of the words. He figures the music will
take care of itself.
Jordan, 21, is a senior at Hiram College. He's also the up-and-coming
pitchman for an up-and-coming rock n' roll band called The Clarks.
College officials point with pride to the "once-in-a-lifetime"
opportunity
that has come Jordan's way. Their enthusiasm is echoed in the voice of
Jordan, a Geneva High School graduate and former student at
Austinburg Elementary School.
"It's hard to call it work," Jordan said of his recent gig promoting
The
Clarks.
Jordan has spent the past few months criss-crossing northeast Ohio in
his 1987 Mercury Grand Marquis. ("A big, giant blue (car)," he
calls it.)
His mission: deliver the latest in MCA Records promotional materials to
every record store and teen hangout he can find. Jordan said he's
probably visited 100 stores - in Saybrook, Kent, Lakewood and all points
in between - so far.
That sounds like a heavy-duty effort, but don't tell that to Jordan. He's
got his own reasons for loving the push, push, push of promotion.
Chalk it up to a growing fascination with the music of The Clarks.
"The Clarks have been my favorite band for a good three, four years
now," Jordan said from his Hiram College dorm room during a recent
telephone interview.
The band has cut four albums. Jordan describes their style as "American
rock" blended with traces of country and blues music.
Jordan's interest in The Clarks extends back to 1994 - when the former
baseball ace and lifelong writer graduated from Geneva High School.
The Geneva native and minister's son packed his bags and departed for
Hiram College, with the intention of studying journalism.
Jordan said the idea of affecting positive social change through reporting
was attractive to him. But it soon became obvious Jordan was not
temperamentally equipped to be a journalist.
"I got more interested in the theory of communication," he said.
"The
notion of constant deadlines and being placed on stories (that weren't my
idea) became less and less attractive to me."
Happily, Hiram has a public relations office. Jordan took to it like a fish
to water.
He had considerable PR experience under his belt when MCA Records
approached the college looking for an energetic upperclassman who
could promote The Clarks locally.
It doesn't take a college grad to guess what happened next. Jordan
jumped at the opportunity - and his initial overtures to MCA were
quickly embraced.
"A couple hours later, I got a message from WACO Music (the company
that handles The Clarks)," Jordan said. "It was a welcome surprise."
Jordan will graduate from Hiram with a communications degree in May
1998. His long-range career plans are uncertain - but he's hoping he can
continue plugging his favorite band in and around Ashtabula County.
"Really, (the job for MCA) is indefinite," he said. "There's
no set dates to
this. Hopefully, I can keep on doing this for a long time."
Jordan said he will continue to explore promotion in the pop music
scene. For now, he'll continue to hawk the sample CDs and posters -
while staying on the lookout for his chance to advance to the next rung
on the career ladder.
"I'm hoping to eventually move into the creative side of the advertising,"
he said.
If his track record so far is any indication, Geneva's Mr. Jordan is fairly
certain to find just what he's looking for.
By ALEXANDER GARRETT
London Observer Service
LONDON - Once they were content with a Donny Osmond poster on the
wall, a fluffy pink pajama case and a transistor radio. Today's teenage
girls, by contrast, are more likely to take drugs and hold frank
discussions on oral sex with their moms. A mobile phone will probably
be seen as a necessity.
British advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, inspired by the success
of
the Spice Girls and observing that "society is becoming increasingly
female," decided to find out what tomorrow's women will really be like.
The agency conducted lengthy face-to-face interviews with 45 girls aged
13 to 18. Interviews took place in bedrooms, at school and even on
shopping expeditions.
The first surprising finding, according to Elaine Pettifer, co-author of
the
research, is that the relationship between teenage girls and their moms
has become stronger and much more open. Mom, it appears, is no longer
a source of embarrassment.
"She has become part of their tribe - one of their friends," says
Pettifer.
She was shocked to find that some girls even discussed sexual techniques
- including oral sex - with their mothers, while many were allowed to
have their boyfriends to stay the night.
Most of those interviewed had been offered drugs, and even 13-year-olds
knew where they could buy them. "Not all of them were taking drugs,
but those that were tended to treat them like a brand of shampoo,"
says
Pettifer.
She believes that the harsh realities of divorce, alcoholism and other
modern ills that teenage girls are exposed to at home or, failing that,
through the media, mean they are more mature and controlled in their
behavior. The very term teenager, she suggests, has virtually become old-
fashioned as little girls turn overnight into mini-adults.
One remarkable claim made by O&M is that teenage girls spend half
their money on bus fares. They have an estimated $8 billion disposable
income.
Having a mobile phone to keep in touch with friends and parents is
considered absolutely "de rigueur."
But for the advertisers the research was designed for, the news is that
tomorrow's women are going to be anything but pushovers. Teenage girls
may be self-professed label queens, but they are also "incredibly
marketing- and advertising-literate" according to Pettifer.
She says: "They have grown up with advertising thrust down their
throats, and they have great expectations in choice and quality."
Kristy Stevens is a freshman at Conneaut High School this
year.
The phrase you can often here Kristy using is "cheese and rice."
It's sort of a toned-down version of
another phrase, we've been told.
Unlike most kids, Kristy doesn't like to clean the toilets at home. But
she did say, "Yes, we have a brush."
She last got a new toothbrush just last month. (No, she's not using it on
the toilet.)
She was disappointed in the movie "Hoodlum" and likes to "party
and chill" with her man."
By coincidence, a past Teen Spotlight was Kristy's cousin, Amanda. She too
said she liked to "party." We
figure it must be a Stevens thing.
If you are in college or are planning for it, don't expect to be partying
hardy all of the time. It may be more like partying hardly, at least when
it comes to massive quantities of booze.
Ohio Parents for Drug Free Youth has launched Ohio's binge drinking
prevention initiative. The goal: Change attitudes about the assumed
"rite of passage" of student binge drinking on college campuses.
Involved in the prevention program are many Ohio colleges, including
most state universities.
The initiative uses an environmental approach to identify and examine
the role campus environment plays in promoting "binge activity."
(At
least that's what the organization says. We aren't sure what that means.)
Does this mean college students will go back to fish swallowing?
Edgewood High School's band wants to play at the Navy Memorial in
old D.C. To help pay for the event, Buckeye Band Boosters are
sponsoring Buckeye Boo. (You knew that, right?)
This is the last weekend to be scared. Check it out Friday and Saturday
from 8 p.m. to midnight and Sunday from 7:30 to 10 p.m.
Just show up at Edgewood and spooky buses will take you to the
location. Be sure to buy a shirt or key chain, too.
Come to think of it, you don't really have to show up all three days. Just
one will do.
Now find something else on this page to read.