00:00If you don't know, The Orchard does its holiday party here every year for the last, like, decade and a
00:03half.
00:04It's a lot more rowdy than this, and some of you should visit. It's fun.
00:10Thank you. It's really an honor to introduce Richard Goderer.
00:14It's important to me that you guys know who he is.
00:16He's the heart and soul of our company, and he means music through and through.
00:19And if you don't know who he is, even after my little intro, find out more. I encourage you.
00:25It's not every day you get to work with alongside a living legend.
00:28Richard Goderer is one of the few people on this planet who has truly touched every corner of the music
00:34business.
00:35From songwriter and artist, producer, label head, entrepreneur, and digital visionary.
00:42Keeping it indie every step of the way.
00:45If you don't know Richard, I suggest you read Ed Chrisman's amazing article, recent two-piece article,
00:50in which he was in Billboard this last month.
00:53It chronicles his remarkable six decades and counting.
00:57From his first number one hit, My Boyfriend's Back, let's not forget about I Want Candy,
01:02to co-founding Sire Records, to producing the definitive sounds of Blondie and the Go-Go's.
01:07Yet its greatest achievement might be his foresight into the future of music itself.
01:12In 1997, long before broadband, when physical was the only option,
01:18Richard co-founded The Orchard, building the digital blueprint for the modern independent sector,
01:23years before the rest of the world caught up.
01:26He didn't just create a company, he created a culture.
01:30And with it, the infrastructure that allows independent artists and labels to thrive in today's global marketplace.
01:36If you spend five minutes with Richard, which could have been anywhere in the world,
01:41you've likely shared a laugh, heard a remarkable story, certainly consumed some amazing wine.
01:48Richard is as much as an entrepreneur as he is a tremendous human being.
01:52For me, it's been the privilege of a lifetime to work alongside him for so many years.
01:56He is more than just an industry icon.
01:59He's the essence of The Orchard, the independent sector, and a dear friend.
02:03So please join me.
02:04Richard, it's my honor to present you with this Lifetime Achievement Award.
02:17Thank you, thank you.
02:19First of all, thanks, Brad.
02:22Thanks.
02:23Everyone at The Orchard, the culture, and Brad brought it out.
02:28It has nothing to do with success, nothing to do with business, nothing to do with anything.
02:33It's do you like the people you see every day?
02:36Do you feel comfortable?
02:38And can you then do something that brings independent culture to the world?
02:44And we do that.
02:46I'd like to say one thing.
02:48I really appreciate this from Billboard.
02:54And when I got here, I thought I was the oldest person in the room.
02:58I'm going to be 86 tomorrow, but I act like...
03:01Yeah, yeah.
03:02No, I mean, a day after tomorrow, you see, you get old, you forget.
03:06But the truth is, the oldest entity in the room is Billboard.
03:13Yeah, and I know that because I looked it up through the newest entity in the room, Gemini.
03:22Yeah, yeah.
03:24Yeah, Billboard is the only, only person, entity, that knows more about the changes in the music business that have
03:35occurred from the birth of rock and roll than I do.
03:40Yeah, so congratulations to Billboard.
03:45Okay, I'll be real quick because I don't have any notes or anything.
03:48So I started out life in the business as a songwriter.
03:53And to me, that's still the most important thing in the world.
03:57The song is what matters.
03:59And I was just a kid, and I didn't care about much.
04:04I wanted to write songs, have a good time, fun, meet girls, which I still do, and get high.
04:13Yeah, and there was a time you could go to jail for a long time for trying to get high.
04:21And I started writing songs, and I wrote with two other people, Bob Feldman and Jerry Goldstein.
04:28Jerry Goldstein is in the room tonight.
04:30We were friends.
04:32We've been partners for over 60 years.
04:35He's here, and we wrote some interesting songs together.
04:42One of them, My Boyfriend's Back, which was number one in 1963.
04:48Yeah, yeah, but nobody knows My Boyfriend's Back.
04:52You know what they know after 30 years?
04:55The Hess truck's back, and you're...
04:57Yeah, the Hess truck.
04:59So it shows you the value of the song, okay?
05:02Okay, after that, I got together with Seymour Stein from Sire Records at a very important moment in music history.
05:13AM radio switched to FM radio.
05:16Sire went out and licensed records from out of the United States into America.
05:24They got played on FM radio, and Sire grew.
05:28We had an amazing number one record with Hocus Pocus by Focus.
05:33If anybody knows that...
05:35Yeah, yeah.
05:36There was a guy that went,
05:37Yody, yody, yody, yody, yody, yody, yody, yody, yody, yody.
05:40Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.
05:41That was it.
05:43And it sold millions and millions of records.
05:46So that was good.
05:48I went on, produced.
05:49I got into CBGB scene, Go-Go's, Blondie, more records, and then the business hit me.
06:00After a while, if you're not making hits, no one wants to hire you anymore.
06:05So I said, what do I do?
06:07I thought, ah, you know, I should go back to what my mother wanted me to do, go to law
06:12school.
06:13But I couldn't do that.
06:15How do I get out of this shit already?
06:17And then one morning, I wake up, and where am I?
06:21I'm on the Lower East Side in a storefront on Orchard Street.
06:27Well, if anybody wants to try to figure out what comes next, it does.
06:33That storefront is now on 52 storefronts across the world.
06:40There's 52 Orchard offices.
06:43And from the beginning, all we cared about was bringing independent music to the world
06:55from anywhere in the world.
06:57Makes no difference what language you sing.
07:00Makes no difference about anything.
07:04Music is a shared culture that breaks down barriers between people.
07:10The Orchard stands for that, believes in it, and it's proven true because people sing in
07:19Spanish, and you know who I probably mean without having to mention him, and others that sing
07:26in a language that isn't a predominant language in this country, but is so enormously successful.
07:33And the last person I would thank now tonight is J. Irving.
07:39J. Irving, with Human Resources, brought us one of the most amazing artists I've ever experienced,
07:47and she's going to be honored tonight.
07:50And the honor is not just because of her great talent.
07:53It's because of her insistence on being independent.
07:59Independent, independent, that's the important word.
08:02She has choices.
08:03She could have made other choices.
08:05She chose to be independent.
08:07And I hope you all enjoy the presentation.
08:11I'm just a bypass.
08:12The presentation when they bring Ray to the stage because she's truly great.
08:17Thank you very much.
08:19Thank you very much.
Comments