Oh, I know, it's not cool to like Toto. Just ask my buddy Steve Lukather, he's gotten so much abuse he's got a hair trigger, if you bring up the band's name he figures you're going to complain.
But I'm not.
Hell, I don't even own a copy of "IV," you didn't have to! "Rosanna" was all over the radio! It was ubiquitous!
But it's Lukather's solo composition that I still want to listen to all these years later. Oh, and "Make Believe"... Hell, that's how I go to know Steve. I wrote how much I loved hearing it on XM, despite its kinda corny, kinda stupid lyrics, and Steve took offense...and I told him that this was about as positive as I get!
And I still love hearing "Make Believe"... It's the David Paich piano intro, the saxophone, the track positively SWINGS! On paper it's nothing, but on wax it puts you in an exquisite mood and lifts you out of your seat. And then there's the break...
"Always remember...
The day we met in the pouring rain"
It's so SUNNY! Oh, I know it's dark and precipitating, but music when done right embodies joy, and you can hear it in this cut. Hell, listening to it I make believe my life has no pitfalls, that it's an endless highway of good times.
But "Make Believe" is not the track I'm writing about.
Once again, the piano sets the mood. This is heavy, this is meaningful. And the strings...arranged by David Paich's father, Marty...when was the last time you heard a real orchestra on a pop record?
And the verses are sincere, but it's the way they're sung that truly resonates, like Steve is singing from the depths of his heart, that he really means it.
But what puts the track over the top is the chorus...
"You know I won't hold you back now
The love we had just can't be found
You know I can't hold you back now"
It's the way the words are EMPHASIZED!
And the way the strings swirl. And the piano fills.
And the way the whole band comes in before the last line...and then drops out.
But first and foremost, it's about TIMOTHY B. SCHMIT'S VOICE!
Background vocals. They never get any respect. But Crosby & Nash sweetened James Taylor's records, Flo & Eddie added beauty to Zappa's material, and here Timothy B. truly delivers. Oh, there's ultimately a great Lukather solo, the recording works on every level, but what puts it over the top is TIMOTHY B!
The little things matter.
Sure, you've got to write the song. You've got to be able to play. But sometimes the littlest sound, the littlest vocal, makes all the difference.
And I'm sure Mr. Schmit didn't get a royalty, he doesn't go to sleep thinking about "I Won't Hold You Back," but he made it a hit!
Ain't that music. We hear something and are bonded to it and oftentimes it's years later before we realize exactly why.
I heard this on the satellite minutes ago.
But it's only when I pulled it up on Spotify, on the good speakers, that it all became clear...IT'S ABOUT TIMOTHY B!
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz
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Saturday 23 March 2013
Tim Hortons
That was a mistake.
Because of sky high cholesterol, which is now being battled by Crestor, thank you very much, I see a nutritionist. We discovered that my cholesterol is mostly genetic, but we also discovered I'm insulin resistant. And I could explain the science to you, well, maybe I can't, but the end result is if I eat carbs, not the good stuff, like lettuce and spinach, but the truly good stuff, like pasta and bread and processed sugars, I get high and then I crash and I end up waking hungover, like I am right now.
Oh, those were the days. When I drank all night and could barely get out of bed the next day. One of the great things about not drinking is not waking up feeling terrible the next day. Then again, maybe you're the kind of person who can have one or two drinks. I never was. Don't call me unless you're ready to PARTY!
But around midnight last night, Jake got a hankering for something sweet. He wanted to go to Tim Hortons.
Donuts. Or should I say "doughnuts," that's what we used to call them before someone decided the people eating them could not comprehend the moniker. It's kind of like Homer Simpson and beer. If you contemplate donuts and your stomach turns and you say ICK, you're a supermodel who tries to convince us you never get hungry and this is just your god-given metabolism, even though you have an eating disorder and won't admit it. Has anyone ever concocted something more pleasurable than fried dough? Mmm...
But being midnight, finding an emporium that was open was difficult. We were driving around town, until we found an enterprise out of an Edward Hopper painting that looked closed, but wasn't.
Unfortunately, they were closing soon, so selection was slim.
What donut do you prefer?
For tasting purposes, I go with your standard glazed, the Krispy Kreme supreme. That's what my dad used to buy us as kids. My mother never woke up until ten, but my father got up at the crack of dawn, and went out to do god knows what before he came home and woke us up for school. But oftentimes, on his journey, he'd purchase donuts, for our breakfast. Mmm... Glazed, from Dunkin' Donuts, before the chain became famous for cheap coffee.
But left to my own devices, at this advanced age, my favorite donut is an apple fritter. Purchased from the Winchell's at Pico and Sepulveda. I think it's still a Winchell's, there was a donut roll-up in L.A., the names changed, but the employees, and donuts, remained the same.
An apple fritter.
It does have apple bits.
But what I like most is it's firm, almost burned, and laden with a frosting of glaze. It's like injecting dope. It tastes good and I get instantly high.
But there were no apple fritters at Tim Hortons last night.
And no glazed.
And while I was contemplating my choice, Jake ordered a Canadian Maple.
Canadian Maple? I'd never go for that. I never go for gold on top of my donut. But I'm in Canada! What exactly is a Canadian Maple donut?
Maple on top, cream in the middle.
SOLD!
Along with a hole, which looked glazed but wasn't, and I was informed by Jake is called a "Timbit." How cute!
That Timbit was swallowed in one bite.
And then I went for the Canadian Maple.
Maple frosting... I've been missing out! And matched with the cream inside... A veritable mouth orgasm, a subtle one, but those are the ones that last longest, that you never forget, like a good spaghetti carbonara.
I could have eaten twelve. If I was still in college, I would have bought a bagful. I held back from getting more, but I wanted to!
And as we sat there sipping our hot chocolate, I saw myself in a long continuum of Canadian donut scarfers. In from the biting cold, enjoying a respite.
As for the hot chocolate...
Everything's different in Canada. Well, that's an overstatement, some very basic things are different, and they're better.
When you go to the parking garage, you insert your credit card on the way in, there is no ticket, the system remembers you! Seems kind of obvious, doesn't it? Saves paper, you never lose your ticket... But never forget, the USA is the greatest country in the world!
And then there are the pop-tops on Tim's hot drinks. They fold back and snap into place, you don't cut your lip as you drink.
And when you're done, you roll up the rim.
Now that's something I've done for eons, when bored, when conversation continues, but sustenance has run out.
But at Tim Hortons, you roll up the rim to see if you've won a prize.
But I will tell you this is quite an enterprise. I spilled the remnants of my hot chocolate upon attempting this feat, which I finally accomplished, however, I did not win a prize.
If you're flummoxed, go here, it'll tell you how to play:
http://www.rolluptherimtowin.com/en/in-restaurant-how-to-play.php
P.S. After Jake was honored by the MMF, we celebrated at the Soho House. Where I ran into more people than I thought I knew in Toronto. Well, not really, but one person I ran into was Jian Ghomeshi. I first met Jian outside the Troubadour, where his band, Moxy Fruvous, was opening for...I don't remember. And I'm thinking to myself there's already one Canadian comedy, art rock band, Barenaked Ladies, is there room for another? Turns out there wasn't, at least not south of the border. So Jian created a radio interview show, and now it's not only the most powerful way to sell musical artists in Canada, it's syndicated in the U.S. Furthermore, Jian's gonna do a live show in New York City, 800 tickets were sold at $35 a pop. So there is life after rock and roll. If you hit a wall, don't be afraid to do a 180. If you're truly that creative and inspired, there are other opportunities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jian_Ghomeshi
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Because of sky high cholesterol, which is now being battled by Crestor, thank you very much, I see a nutritionist. We discovered that my cholesterol is mostly genetic, but we also discovered I'm insulin resistant. And I could explain the science to you, well, maybe I can't, but the end result is if I eat carbs, not the good stuff, like lettuce and spinach, but the truly good stuff, like pasta and bread and processed sugars, I get high and then I crash and I end up waking hungover, like I am right now.
Oh, those were the days. When I drank all night and could barely get out of bed the next day. One of the great things about not drinking is not waking up feeling terrible the next day. Then again, maybe you're the kind of person who can have one or two drinks. I never was. Don't call me unless you're ready to PARTY!
But around midnight last night, Jake got a hankering for something sweet. He wanted to go to Tim Hortons.
Donuts. Or should I say "doughnuts," that's what we used to call them before someone decided the people eating them could not comprehend the moniker. It's kind of like Homer Simpson and beer. If you contemplate donuts and your stomach turns and you say ICK, you're a supermodel who tries to convince us you never get hungry and this is just your god-given metabolism, even though you have an eating disorder and won't admit it. Has anyone ever concocted something more pleasurable than fried dough? Mmm...
But being midnight, finding an emporium that was open was difficult. We were driving around town, until we found an enterprise out of an Edward Hopper painting that looked closed, but wasn't.
Unfortunately, they were closing soon, so selection was slim.
What donut do you prefer?
For tasting purposes, I go with your standard glazed, the Krispy Kreme supreme. That's what my dad used to buy us as kids. My mother never woke up until ten, but my father got up at the crack of dawn, and went out to do god knows what before he came home and woke us up for school. But oftentimes, on his journey, he'd purchase donuts, for our breakfast. Mmm... Glazed, from Dunkin' Donuts, before the chain became famous for cheap coffee.
But left to my own devices, at this advanced age, my favorite donut is an apple fritter. Purchased from the Winchell's at Pico and Sepulveda. I think it's still a Winchell's, there was a donut roll-up in L.A., the names changed, but the employees, and donuts, remained the same.
An apple fritter.
It does have apple bits.
But what I like most is it's firm, almost burned, and laden with a frosting of glaze. It's like injecting dope. It tastes good and I get instantly high.
But there were no apple fritters at Tim Hortons last night.
And no glazed.
And while I was contemplating my choice, Jake ordered a Canadian Maple.
Canadian Maple? I'd never go for that. I never go for gold on top of my donut. But I'm in Canada! What exactly is a Canadian Maple donut?
Maple on top, cream in the middle.
SOLD!
Along with a hole, which looked glazed but wasn't, and I was informed by Jake is called a "Timbit." How cute!
That Timbit was swallowed in one bite.
And then I went for the Canadian Maple.
Maple frosting... I've been missing out! And matched with the cream inside... A veritable mouth orgasm, a subtle one, but those are the ones that last longest, that you never forget, like a good spaghetti carbonara.
I could have eaten twelve. If I was still in college, I would have bought a bagful. I held back from getting more, but I wanted to!
And as we sat there sipping our hot chocolate, I saw myself in a long continuum of Canadian donut scarfers. In from the biting cold, enjoying a respite.
As for the hot chocolate...
Everything's different in Canada. Well, that's an overstatement, some very basic things are different, and they're better.
When you go to the parking garage, you insert your credit card on the way in, there is no ticket, the system remembers you! Seems kind of obvious, doesn't it? Saves paper, you never lose your ticket... But never forget, the USA is the greatest country in the world!
And then there are the pop-tops on Tim's hot drinks. They fold back and snap into place, you don't cut your lip as you drink.
And when you're done, you roll up the rim.
Now that's something I've done for eons, when bored, when conversation continues, but sustenance has run out.
But at Tim Hortons, you roll up the rim to see if you've won a prize.
But I will tell you this is quite an enterprise. I spilled the remnants of my hot chocolate upon attempting this feat, which I finally accomplished, however, I did not win a prize.
If you're flummoxed, go here, it'll tell you how to play:
http://www.rolluptherimtowin.com/en/in-restaurant-how-to-play.php
P.S. After Jake was honored by the MMF, we celebrated at the Soho House. Where I ran into more people than I thought I knew in Toronto. Well, not really, but one person I ran into was Jian Ghomeshi. I first met Jian outside the Troubadour, where his band, Moxy Fruvous, was opening for...I don't remember. And I'm thinking to myself there's already one Canadian comedy, art rock band, Barenaked Ladies, is there room for another? Turns out there wasn't, at least not south of the border. So Jian created a radio interview show, and now it's not only the most powerful way to sell musical artists in Canada, it's syndicated in the U.S. Furthermore, Jian's gonna do a live show in New York City, 800 tickets were sold at $35 a pop. So there is life after rock and roll. If you hit a wall, don't be afraid to do a 180. If you're truly that creative and inspired, there are other opportunities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jian_Ghomeshi
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Friday 22 March 2013
Michael Cohl At CMW
He didn't say a thing.
Well, that's not completely true, but he held his cards very close to his vest, and really didn't show any.
What did we learn?
That he learned from the Sullivans you can charge venues to play there, as opposed to the reverse.
First and foremost, Michael Cohl looks like a homeless person. Well, not exactly, but if he were flying commercial, people would look at him askance. With a weak chin covered by a full beard, and casual clothing, Michael Cohl is everything the rock stars once were, driven by the beat of their own drummer, beholden to nobody. Yup, the rock stars are all now endorsed by clothing companies. But richer than almost any of them, Michael Cohl gets to wear what he wants, knowing it's what's inside that counts.
So how did Cohl become who he is?
Bottom line, I bet most people reading this are clueless as to who Michael Cohl is.
Michael Cohl invented the modern touring system. A worldwide venture where you pay the act a lump sum, and you figure out how to make a profit.
Does this involve scalping tickets and other shenanigans?
Larry LeBlanc didn't ask that question. But how did Michael Cohl put the Jacksons' Victory tour in the black, when it was running solidly in the red?
He didn't say.
All he said was he netted $300,000 at a gig and the Sullivans agreed to put him in charge.
Mmm...
But there were a few adventures before that, like when he called up Donald Tarlton, his competitor, and opened the conversation with "Hi, partner."
Yup, the Bee Gees' agent was playing them against each other. So Cohl decided to join forces with Donald to not only drive prices down, but gain territory. Hell, they ended up operating across the nation, putting Norman Perry in Vancouver under the banner of Perryscope, and it was years until people uncovered the ruse.
That's a concert promoter. Someone who flies by the seat of their pants.
After Bill Graham abused his people, and Cohl vowed to never work with them again, he called Steve O'Rourke for Prince Rupert Loewenstein's number, he had an offer for the Stones. $40 million for forty gigs.
He closed that deal. And that's when everybody paying attention realized there was a new boss in town.
When you read in the press that U2 or the Police or whatever major star is inking a triple digit worldwide tour deal? Michael Cohl invented that paradigm. Along with selling his company five times. Being a kingpin at Live Nation. And then being blown out and saving "Spider-Man."
Huh?
Yup, Bono called him. It was Cohl who decided to fire Julie Taymor, it just took a few weeks for him to convince Bono and Edge. Because if they hadn't come up with an end to the play by now, they were never going to.
A strategist. A power broker. A money man.
But ultimately a cipher.
Used to be guys like Cohl ran record companies. Before they were all bought by conglomerates and the employees had no skin in the game. Lose a few of your own bucks, and you never forget the lesson. Cohl overpaid for Buck Owens, he learned the hard way.
Cohl's explanation?
The charts were manipulated. Everybody lies. There were not as many Owens fans as appeared on paper.
Whew!
You think you know what's going on, but until you get your hands dirty and know the players, you're clueless. Business is not a game played in a vacuum.
Cohl made it on his wits.
Is it any wonder promoters are now more powerful than labels? All the promoters started out as entrepreneurs, unable to sleep at night, worried about losing their shirts. They know where every dollar is buried. Find an A&R guy who knows the same thing...
Still, I didn't learn much about Cohl.
But he did tell a story that explains everything.
It was 1987 and Pink Floyd was reuniting, without Roger Waters, and fear was rampant, promoters weren't sure they could sell any tickets. Cohl convinced the aforementioned O'Rourke, the band's manager, to let him put up one date for sale. If tickets moved, the tour was on. If they didn't, David Gilmour would suddenly get sick.
And encapsulated there is everything you need to know about the music business. Don't believe what you read. Bluster and fear go hand in hand.
As for the show?
Sold out instantly, two more dates, which were on hold, went just as fast. The tour was a monster.
But without Michael Cohl, the whole thing was a no-go.
Someone's got to take a risk, someone's got to lay down the cash.
And that's the promoter.
Just don't ask him how he did it.
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Well, that's not completely true, but he held his cards very close to his vest, and really didn't show any.
What did we learn?
That he learned from the Sullivans you can charge venues to play there, as opposed to the reverse.
First and foremost, Michael Cohl looks like a homeless person. Well, not exactly, but if he were flying commercial, people would look at him askance. With a weak chin covered by a full beard, and casual clothing, Michael Cohl is everything the rock stars once were, driven by the beat of their own drummer, beholden to nobody. Yup, the rock stars are all now endorsed by clothing companies. But richer than almost any of them, Michael Cohl gets to wear what he wants, knowing it's what's inside that counts.
So how did Cohl become who he is?
Bottom line, I bet most people reading this are clueless as to who Michael Cohl is.
Michael Cohl invented the modern touring system. A worldwide venture where you pay the act a lump sum, and you figure out how to make a profit.
Does this involve scalping tickets and other shenanigans?
Larry LeBlanc didn't ask that question. But how did Michael Cohl put the Jacksons' Victory tour in the black, when it was running solidly in the red?
He didn't say.
All he said was he netted $300,000 at a gig and the Sullivans agreed to put him in charge.
Mmm...
But there were a few adventures before that, like when he called up Donald Tarlton, his competitor, and opened the conversation with "Hi, partner."
Yup, the Bee Gees' agent was playing them against each other. So Cohl decided to join forces with Donald to not only drive prices down, but gain territory. Hell, they ended up operating across the nation, putting Norman Perry in Vancouver under the banner of Perryscope, and it was years until people uncovered the ruse.
That's a concert promoter. Someone who flies by the seat of their pants.
After Bill Graham abused his people, and Cohl vowed to never work with them again, he called Steve O'Rourke for Prince Rupert Loewenstein's number, he had an offer for the Stones. $40 million for forty gigs.
He closed that deal. And that's when everybody paying attention realized there was a new boss in town.
When you read in the press that U2 or the Police or whatever major star is inking a triple digit worldwide tour deal? Michael Cohl invented that paradigm. Along with selling his company five times. Being a kingpin at Live Nation. And then being blown out and saving "Spider-Man."
Huh?
Yup, Bono called him. It was Cohl who decided to fire Julie Taymor, it just took a few weeks for him to convince Bono and Edge. Because if they hadn't come up with an end to the play by now, they were never going to.
A strategist. A power broker. A money man.
But ultimately a cipher.
Used to be guys like Cohl ran record companies. Before they were all bought by conglomerates and the employees had no skin in the game. Lose a few of your own bucks, and you never forget the lesson. Cohl overpaid for Buck Owens, he learned the hard way.
Cohl's explanation?
The charts were manipulated. Everybody lies. There were not as many Owens fans as appeared on paper.
Whew!
You think you know what's going on, but until you get your hands dirty and know the players, you're clueless. Business is not a game played in a vacuum.
Cohl made it on his wits.
Is it any wonder promoters are now more powerful than labels? All the promoters started out as entrepreneurs, unable to sleep at night, worried about losing their shirts. They know where every dollar is buried. Find an A&R guy who knows the same thing...
Still, I didn't learn much about Cohl.
But he did tell a story that explains everything.
It was 1987 and Pink Floyd was reuniting, without Roger Waters, and fear was rampant, promoters weren't sure they could sell any tickets. Cohl convinced the aforementioned O'Rourke, the band's manager, to let him put up one date for sale. If tickets moved, the tour was on. If they didn't, David Gilmour would suddenly get sick.
And encapsulated there is everything you need to know about the music business. Don't believe what you read. Bluster and fear go hand in hand.
As for the show?
Sold out instantly, two more dates, which were on hold, went just as fast. The tour was a monster.
But without Michael Cohl, the whole thing was a no-go.
Someone's got to take a risk, someone's got to lay down the cash.
And that's the promoter.
Just don't ask him how he did it.
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CMW Crowdfunding Panel
Never send the B team.
There's a reason why Pandora is so successful. Tim Westergren. The company's tireless leader is not only willing to show up everywhere, he's impassioned, he's a believer, hell, I've always said Westergren's selling a religion, not a radio service.
And that's how I felt about Benji Rogers of PledgeMusic yesterday.
Crowdfunding. Is it forever? If you haven't gotten e-mail from disgruntled pledgers, pissed that the project they donated to didn't come through, you're not...ME! That's the number one challenge facing the sphere. People who pony up cash and end up with nothing.
PledgeMusic gives them their money back.
Furthermore, after a project is funded, Pledge holds the hands of the creators and updates the donors, keeping the relationship alive.
Do Kickstarter and Indiegogo do this? From what I can understand, no. They certainly don't give money back, as for a continuing relationship with the creators...
I need someone to look me in the eye and tell me the truth. I need to know I'm getting it straight from the horse's mouth. Otherwise I'm left with questions, and I hate uncertainty.
Now that's not the only problem confronting crowdfunding sites, there's also the issue of veracity. People manipulating the platforms to their own ends. In other words, did "Veronica Mars" really need the money, or was the whole campaign a marketing manipulation?
I got e-mail to that effect.
But I also got e-mail from a tech entrepreneur that many would know telling me his next project was already funded, but he was going to put it up on Kickstarter for the marketing boost.
Hmm... Will this alienate donors?
And then there was that guy from Protest The Hero on the panel. He raised a lot of money, the most successful item being a pizza party at the donor's house, but did he gain any new fans? He got a ton of publicity, but did it grow his audience?
Maybe an itty-bitty bit.
Then again, all these companies are now promoting themselves as kind of a social network. A way to round up your fans and bond yourself to them. But it always worries me when a company changes focus. As we say in the music business, it's not about the money...IT'S ABOUT THE MONEY!
That's why crowdfunding is successful!
And too many in attendance, even on the panel, were ignorant to the fact that a benefit of crowdfunding is you end up with ownership, i.e. copyright. And if you don't think that's key in the music business, please read Don Passman's book.
As for musicians... That's all PledgeMusic does.
But Pledge charges more. 15%. That includes credit card fees. Whereas Kickstarter and Indiegogo are about one third of that, before credit card fees.
Then again, I'm always someone who wants to pay extra for the best. Which brings us to the science of pricing, some people raise the price just for this effect.
But doing only music, Pledge can hold your hand, all the sites counsel you as to what will sell, but Pledge can tell you what a signed CD should go for and how much vinyl costs to ship and I want my questions answered, I want someone who's done it, I want no surprises. And Benji Rogers of Pledge Music told me they're funding two to three records a day. That they've even got a recommendation engine.
Yup, Benji's a salesman.
But he sold me.
The grapevine says that on Pledge you don't have to reach your goal to get the money. Benji says this is untrue, they've got a super secret insider formula that they don't reveal to the public. I think that's good for the public, but for insiders...where's the truth here?
Then again, founders are mostly enthusiastic. If you use Slacker, you'll give up Pandora. Spotify is something completely different (although it does have a radio service now.) Misinformation rules. The way you triumph is by getting ahead of your customers with your version of the truth.
And the best person to sell the story is the man or woman himself.
I wish Yancey Strickler was on yesterday's panel. I don't know who actually runs Indiegogo.
But yesterday, Benji Rogers won the competition, first and foremost by being there.
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There's a reason why Pandora is so successful. Tim Westergren. The company's tireless leader is not only willing to show up everywhere, he's impassioned, he's a believer, hell, I've always said Westergren's selling a religion, not a radio service.
And that's how I felt about Benji Rogers of PledgeMusic yesterday.
Crowdfunding. Is it forever? If you haven't gotten e-mail from disgruntled pledgers, pissed that the project they donated to didn't come through, you're not...ME! That's the number one challenge facing the sphere. People who pony up cash and end up with nothing.
PledgeMusic gives them their money back.
Furthermore, after a project is funded, Pledge holds the hands of the creators and updates the donors, keeping the relationship alive.
Do Kickstarter and Indiegogo do this? From what I can understand, no. They certainly don't give money back, as for a continuing relationship with the creators...
I need someone to look me in the eye and tell me the truth. I need to know I'm getting it straight from the horse's mouth. Otherwise I'm left with questions, and I hate uncertainty.
Now that's not the only problem confronting crowdfunding sites, there's also the issue of veracity. People manipulating the platforms to their own ends. In other words, did "Veronica Mars" really need the money, or was the whole campaign a marketing manipulation?
I got e-mail to that effect.
But I also got e-mail from a tech entrepreneur that many would know telling me his next project was already funded, but he was going to put it up on Kickstarter for the marketing boost.
Hmm... Will this alienate donors?
And then there was that guy from Protest The Hero on the panel. He raised a lot of money, the most successful item being a pizza party at the donor's house, but did he gain any new fans? He got a ton of publicity, but did it grow his audience?
Maybe an itty-bitty bit.
Then again, all these companies are now promoting themselves as kind of a social network. A way to round up your fans and bond yourself to them. But it always worries me when a company changes focus. As we say in the music business, it's not about the money...IT'S ABOUT THE MONEY!
That's why crowdfunding is successful!
And too many in attendance, even on the panel, were ignorant to the fact that a benefit of crowdfunding is you end up with ownership, i.e. copyright. And if you don't think that's key in the music business, please read Don Passman's book.
As for musicians... That's all PledgeMusic does.
But Pledge charges more. 15%. That includes credit card fees. Whereas Kickstarter and Indiegogo are about one third of that, before credit card fees.
Then again, I'm always someone who wants to pay extra for the best. Which brings us to the science of pricing, some people raise the price just for this effect.
But doing only music, Pledge can hold your hand, all the sites counsel you as to what will sell, but Pledge can tell you what a signed CD should go for and how much vinyl costs to ship and I want my questions answered, I want someone who's done it, I want no surprises. And Benji Rogers of Pledge Music told me they're funding two to three records a day. That they've even got a recommendation engine.
Yup, Benji's a salesman.
But he sold me.
The grapevine says that on Pledge you don't have to reach your goal to get the money. Benji says this is untrue, they've got a super secret insider formula that they don't reveal to the public. I think that's good for the public, but for insiders...where's the truth here?
Then again, founders are mostly enthusiastic. If you use Slacker, you'll give up Pandora. Spotify is something completely different (although it does have a radio service now.) Misinformation rules. The way you triumph is by getting ahead of your customers with your version of the truth.
And the best person to sell the story is the man or woman himself.
I wish Yancey Strickler was on yesterday's panel. I don't know who actually runs Indiegogo.
But yesterday, Benji Rogers won the competition, first and foremost by being there.
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Thursday 21 March 2013
CMW Day One
Steve Lillywhite said Brian May is overlooked as a guitar great, that Clapton and Beck had impeccable technique, but May had an incredible sound!
I may be too old for this. Despite all the hype that fifty is the new forty and sixty is the new fifty, if not forty five, despite all the press about Botox and facelifts, the dirty little secret is we were not made to last forever. And as you age, physical problems arise. If you're a baby boomer and you don't have aches and pains, you're lying.
Once upon a time we were young. We felt we would live forever.
But this is untrue.
Just like our parents lionized the big bands, and Frank Sinatra, we were enamored of the Beatles and the Stones and even U2 and all of those acts are so long in the tooth that the younger generation really doesn't care. Lillywhite was incredibly dynamic on stage, telling inside stories of producing some of the best bands in history, and the audience sat there...like zombies.
It's 2013. "I Will Follow" is more than thirty years old. Edge may wear hats, but we know he's bald. And the odds of U2 having another hit are nonexistent. Because Top Forty radio doesn't play the kind of music they make. And if they contemporize their sound, add beats, it will just be creepy.
Rock and roll drove our world. It was the most important thing in our lives.
It's not the most important thing in a young person's life. It can matter, but it's turned into entertainment, a way of making money, it doesn't change the world, it's a follower medium. Lillywhite referenced being blown away by Beatle songs, because each and every one of them sounded different. Today we live in a land of imitation. Admit it, when was the last time a record blew your mind?
Probably in the heyday of the rap era. Yes, those in attendance would be more interested in hearing from Dr. Dre, one of the rap producers, than Lillywhite. Because rock is dead.
It didn't used to be.
Tonight I went to an awards show. And THOP played.
THOP, you remember, The Pursuit Of Happiness!
And "I'm An Adult Now" was not their first song this evening. But only moments after Moe Berg stepped to the mic, it was clear, this is a star.
A star is not born, he's not prepackaged and made, a star is developed. Over years. You learn to present your material and win over the audience. And to do it right, to ring the bell, you need to have a hit record, and "I'm An Adult Now" was.
"I can't even look at young girls anymore
People will think I'm some kind of pervert
Adult sex is either boring or dirty
Young people can get away with murder"
"Pervert." Bring that to your record company today and they'll say to remove it, because radio won't play it. There's a disconnect between the filter and the audience. You can't talk about drugs and friends with benefits in country music, even though those are core elements of the audience that's listening. Phoniness and self-righteousness rule. Used to be music cut through that, not anymore. People just want to know where and how to sell out.
"Speaking of hearing, I can't take too much loud music
I mean I like to play it, but I sure don't like the racket
Noise, but I can't hear anything
Just guitars screaming, screaming, screaming
Some guy is screaming in a leather jacket"
That's how I feel. Its not the amplification that bothers me, but the fact that everything's an affectation. You're wearing a leather jacket... Didn't Elvis do that fifty years ago? You think you're rebelling, but you're conforming. Remember David Byrne, not the irrelevant pontificator of today, but the rock star of yore? Did you see anybody else in a big suit before Byrne? Did you hear anybody yelp just like him? When you listened to Al Green's "Take Me To The River," could you imagine the Talking Heads' take?
OF COURSE NOT!
Our business has become one of self-congratulation while in the background everybody's fighting for scraps. It mirrors America at large. Where the winners take all and the losers have no idea what hit them. And just like bankers, the music business creates nothing. Come on, where's the great catalog of the last twenty years.
It's been a long day. I wasn't in such a melancholy mood earlier. I hosted a crowdfunding panel where Benji Rogers from PledgeMusic was so passionate, I truly got excited.
Passion. That's what it's about.
Calculation?
That's cold. And hard to relate to. Math is imperfect. But art is messy.
So if you're looking for the answer, I can't provide one.
All I know is I'm looking to be blown away. Like with Brian May.
Have you ever heard "Keep Yourself Alive"? From the initial Queen LP?
Yup, it was a vinyl album. There were no cassettes. It probably didn't even come out on 8-track, there was little demand. But when you dropped the needle on "Keep Yourself Alive," you encountered a band that was gonna grab you by the throat, lift you off the floor, and not let you go until you admitted they were the best thing you ever heard.
And maybe at that point they weren't.
But on the fourth album, they were. Sure, "A Night At The Opera" had "Bohemian Rhapsody," but it also had the almost California sounding "You're My Best Friend," and the positively screeching "I'm In Love With My Car."
And what did Queen do next?
Hell, after writing the sports anthems of the century, "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions," they came up with the acoustic, almost rockabilly "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and the thumping, bass-heavy "Another One Bites The Dust."
You bought your Queen albums not to get more of what came before, but to be wowed by something you'd never heard before.
That's what we're looking for.
And if anybody tells you otherwise, they're lying.
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I may be too old for this. Despite all the hype that fifty is the new forty and sixty is the new fifty, if not forty five, despite all the press about Botox and facelifts, the dirty little secret is we were not made to last forever. And as you age, physical problems arise. If you're a baby boomer and you don't have aches and pains, you're lying.
Once upon a time we were young. We felt we would live forever.
But this is untrue.
Just like our parents lionized the big bands, and Frank Sinatra, we were enamored of the Beatles and the Stones and even U2 and all of those acts are so long in the tooth that the younger generation really doesn't care. Lillywhite was incredibly dynamic on stage, telling inside stories of producing some of the best bands in history, and the audience sat there...like zombies.
It's 2013. "I Will Follow" is more than thirty years old. Edge may wear hats, but we know he's bald. And the odds of U2 having another hit are nonexistent. Because Top Forty radio doesn't play the kind of music they make. And if they contemporize their sound, add beats, it will just be creepy.
Rock and roll drove our world. It was the most important thing in our lives.
It's not the most important thing in a young person's life. It can matter, but it's turned into entertainment, a way of making money, it doesn't change the world, it's a follower medium. Lillywhite referenced being blown away by Beatle songs, because each and every one of them sounded different. Today we live in a land of imitation. Admit it, when was the last time a record blew your mind?
Probably in the heyday of the rap era. Yes, those in attendance would be more interested in hearing from Dr. Dre, one of the rap producers, than Lillywhite. Because rock is dead.
It didn't used to be.
Tonight I went to an awards show. And THOP played.
THOP, you remember, The Pursuit Of Happiness!
And "I'm An Adult Now" was not their first song this evening. But only moments after Moe Berg stepped to the mic, it was clear, this is a star.
A star is not born, he's not prepackaged and made, a star is developed. Over years. You learn to present your material and win over the audience. And to do it right, to ring the bell, you need to have a hit record, and "I'm An Adult Now" was.
"I can't even look at young girls anymore
People will think I'm some kind of pervert
Adult sex is either boring or dirty
Young people can get away with murder"
"Pervert." Bring that to your record company today and they'll say to remove it, because radio won't play it. There's a disconnect between the filter and the audience. You can't talk about drugs and friends with benefits in country music, even though those are core elements of the audience that's listening. Phoniness and self-righteousness rule. Used to be music cut through that, not anymore. People just want to know where and how to sell out.
"Speaking of hearing, I can't take too much loud music
I mean I like to play it, but I sure don't like the racket
Noise, but I can't hear anything
Just guitars screaming, screaming, screaming
Some guy is screaming in a leather jacket"
That's how I feel. Its not the amplification that bothers me, but the fact that everything's an affectation. You're wearing a leather jacket... Didn't Elvis do that fifty years ago? You think you're rebelling, but you're conforming. Remember David Byrne, not the irrelevant pontificator of today, but the rock star of yore? Did you see anybody else in a big suit before Byrne? Did you hear anybody yelp just like him? When you listened to Al Green's "Take Me To The River," could you imagine the Talking Heads' take?
OF COURSE NOT!
Our business has become one of self-congratulation while in the background everybody's fighting for scraps. It mirrors America at large. Where the winners take all and the losers have no idea what hit them. And just like bankers, the music business creates nothing. Come on, where's the great catalog of the last twenty years.
It's been a long day. I wasn't in such a melancholy mood earlier. I hosted a crowdfunding panel where Benji Rogers from PledgeMusic was so passionate, I truly got excited.
Passion. That's what it's about.
Calculation?
That's cold. And hard to relate to. Math is imperfect. But art is messy.
So if you're looking for the answer, I can't provide one.
All I know is I'm looking to be blown away. Like with Brian May.
Have you ever heard "Keep Yourself Alive"? From the initial Queen LP?
Yup, it was a vinyl album. There were no cassettes. It probably didn't even come out on 8-track, there was little demand. But when you dropped the needle on "Keep Yourself Alive," you encountered a band that was gonna grab you by the throat, lift you off the floor, and not let you go until you admitted they were the best thing you ever heard.
And maybe at that point they weren't.
But on the fourth album, they were. Sure, "A Night At The Opera" had "Bohemian Rhapsody," but it also had the almost California sounding "You're My Best Friend," and the positively screeching "I'm In Love With My Car."
And what did Queen do next?
Hell, after writing the sports anthems of the century, "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions," they came up with the acoustic, almost rockabilly "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and the thumping, bass-heavy "Another One Bites The Dust."
You bought your Queen albums not to get more of what came before, but to be wowed by something you'd never heard before.
That's what we're looking for.
And if anybody tells you otherwise, they're lying.
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Leno/Fallon
We hate him, but he wins.
In other words, the execs come and go, but the talent remains.
Jimmy Fallon has a terrific show. But if NBC lets Jay Leno go, he'll just jump to ABC and trounce everybody. Comedians are not athletes, their skills don't wane over time. This is ageism at its worst.
Who hates Leno?
Insiders and hipsters.
It's kind of like firing Nickelback, giving them away because of critical backlash. But the mainstream public LOVES Nickelback.
You don't have to go. You don't have to watch Leno.
I far prefer Letterman, but Dave hasn't been the same since he went to 11:35 two decades back. He junked the wrestling shoes, put on three piece suits and playing to everybody, lost some of his edge. I've missed Dave for years, he was unmissable at 12:35. And if he does anything worth seeing... I'll catch it on the replay on YouTube.
So much is made of the YouTube antics of Kimmel and Fallon. But they're using it to fight up the ladder. Going from down below to higher up. Whereas Leno is the perennial king! He beat Dave and they demoted him to ten p.m., and then he won again at 11:35, replacing Conan, the previous great young hope, who might still be on television, but is no longer part of the national discussion.
And putting Fallon on an hour earlier is actually the safe thing to do. The chat show is decades old, and the last person to reinvent it was Letterman himself, with the help of Merrill Markoe. Johnny Carson didn't always make jokes, he sometimes listened. How much sillier can we get, maybe we need a return to substance!
But one thing's for sure... Late night TV doesn't mean what it used to. If for no other reason than you can punch up something on your DVR instead of being subjected to the hype of two-dimensional stars. Yup, these actors and actresses and celebrities are only on to sell, and since they're selling, they're appearing EVERYWHERE! You can get the story, assuming you care, online the next day.
The fact that this is big news is jaw-dropping.
Other than the fact that they're screwing Jay Leno one more time.
He won, he's the king, he continues to be the king, but you're gonna put him out to pasture all in the name of making the show younger even though the latest info says that older people do buy products and young demos are not everything.
Just bugs me the way they're piling up on Leno.
He's starting to fight back. Something he's refused to do before. Maybe we're finally getting a new, edgier Jay, one closer to Rodney Dangerfield, one who gets no respect, but deserves much.
"'Tonight,' With New Host, Set to Reclaim Its New York Roots": http://nyti.ms/Zx9CkX
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In other words, the execs come and go, but the talent remains.
Jimmy Fallon has a terrific show. But if NBC lets Jay Leno go, he'll just jump to ABC and trounce everybody. Comedians are not athletes, their skills don't wane over time. This is ageism at its worst.
Who hates Leno?
Insiders and hipsters.
It's kind of like firing Nickelback, giving them away because of critical backlash. But the mainstream public LOVES Nickelback.
You don't have to go. You don't have to watch Leno.
I far prefer Letterman, but Dave hasn't been the same since he went to 11:35 two decades back. He junked the wrestling shoes, put on three piece suits and playing to everybody, lost some of his edge. I've missed Dave for years, he was unmissable at 12:35. And if he does anything worth seeing... I'll catch it on the replay on YouTube.
So much is made of the YouTube antics of Kimmel and Fallon. But they're using it to fight up the ladder. Going from down below to higher up. Whereas Leno is the perennial king! He beat Dave and they demoted him to ten p.m., and then he won again at 11:35, replacing Conan, the previous great young hope, who might still be on television, but is no longer part of the national discussion.
And putting Fallon on an hour earlier is actually the safe thing to do. The chat show is decades old, and the last person to reinvent it was Letterman himself, with the help of Merrill Markoe. Johnny Carson didn't always make jokes, he sometimes listened. How much sillier can we get, maybe we need a return to substance!
But one thing's for sure... Late night TV doesn't mean what it used to. If for no other reason than you can punch up something on your DVR instead of being subjected to the hype of two-dimensional stars. Yup, these actors and actresses and celebrities are only on to sell, and since they're selling, they're appearing EVERYWHERE! You can get the story, assuming you care, online the next day.
The fact that this is big news is jaw-dropping.
Other than the fact that they're screwing Jay Leno one more time.
He won, he's the king, he continues to be the king, but you're gonna put him out to pasture all in the name of making the show younger even though the latest info says that older people do buy products and young demos are not everything.
Just bugs me the way they're piling up on Leno.
He's starting to fight back. Something he's refused to do before. Maybe we're finally getting a new, edgier Jay, one closer to Rodney Dangerfield, one who gets no respect, but deserves much.
"'Tonight,' With New Host, Set to Reclaim Its New York Roots": http://nyti.ms/Zx9CkX
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Wednesday 20 March 2013
Spadina Garden
Jews. They eat Chinese food on Sunday nights. It's even in Clive's book!
I'm in Toronto. For Canadian Music Week. I had a rather uneventful flight in, although I did notice there was constantly a queue for the bathroom, are two loos in a 737 enough? And the flight attendants, they had attitude. Remember when gas used to come with service? Not long from now you're gonna go on the plane and get your own drinks. Then again, why drinks and no food? I know, they'll charge you NOT to clean up. Buying an airline ticket is no longer a simple feat. The extras are both dazzling and daunting. And despite being Gold on American, I learned in the paper that on certain flights, 80% of the passengers have priority access. Yup, they sold that too, used to be you had to EARN your status. No more!
And we waited an hour in immigration. When I say we, I mean me and Ralph Simon. I've never waited this long before, but it gave us a chance to catch up. Once upon a time a publisher, Clive Calder's partner, Ralph is now a majordomo in the mobile business. And he still has roots in Africa. He squired a dignitary to the TED conference. What Ralph liked most about TED was the access. You wanted to talk to Sergey, he was RIGHT THERE!
And, Ralph gave me a copy of Prince Rupert Loewenstein's book. You know, the Stones' financial advisor. It just came out in the U.K.
And after getting Candice's life story on the drive in, Jake and I went to Spadina Garden.
Yes, it's about life stories. That's what's most fascinating about this traveling circus known as rock and roll. You think it's about the music, but if you're in it you know it's about the people.
Jake wanted to take me for sushi.
But after telling Larry LeBlanc about Spadina Garden, the Chinese restaurant right around the block, where Cohl used to hang out, I asked him, WHY AREN'T WE GOING THERE?
It's Cantonese!
We didn't know from Hunan back in the sixties. We thought there was only one kind of Chinese food. The only difference was the locations.
My mother never cooked on Sunday night. We always went out. Usually Chinese, sometimes Italian.
The pizza in Bridgeport...
Pizza is kind of like bagels, it's been bastardized. Pizza is a round pie with a very thin crust underneath and a huge brown crust on the outside that is laden with tomato sauce, cheese and an oil slick on top. If you lift a piece with one hand, the toppings slide off. If you eat a bite as soon as you sit down, the roof of your mouth is scarred for a week.
Yes, we had toppings back in Connecticut. Sausage more than pepperoni. And green peppers. And ONIONS! I LOVE onions! Remember that Soupy Sales character, Onions Oregano?
Now I'm getting way too far off point.
But of course I'll eat Cantonese, I want to be in touch with my roots.
Yup, one thing about Jews, we're tribal. You can grow up in New York or Toronto or Calgary, but we all speak the same language.
Which brings me back to bagels...
A bagel is first and foremost plain, otherwise referred to as a "water bagel." If you're not risking a broken tooth when you first bite down, throw it away. The inside should be chewy. There should be substance. If you think the bagel is related to bread, soft and doughy, then it's not a bagel.
Jews all know from Chinese food. I'm not sure of the history, but if you find a Jew who doesn't know how to order at a Chinese restaurant, he's a convert!
And Jake wants ribs...
That's the first thing that entices you as a little kid, the spare ribs. You make your parents order them. They get burned out on them, but you never do. They're nothing like BBQ, they're thin and red and there's very little meat, but boy are they delicious.
But in Toronto, it turns out the ribs are fried. Who knew? This old dog can always learn new tricks.
And Jake ordered Szechuan chicken, and green beans, and then he asked me if I wanted any soup.
SOUP! They've got war wonton soup?
I don't know when they decided to call it "war," it was just "wonton" growing up, but it's still the same. You've got a liquid just this side of dishwater, with some snap peas, a bit of pork and dumplings. To eat wonton soup is to be jetted back to my youth, to make me believe life isn't about acquisitions, but experiences.
NO! CHICKEN CORN SOUP!
Huh? I'd never heard of it. And my corn days are through, I don't need that much starch, but I haven't had corn soup since the sixties, when every now and then I had corn chowder... SURE!
I'm that kind of eater. If you believe in it, I'll try it.
And that was the highlight of the night, the corn chowder soup. There was very little corn, but a ton of egg drop, which I normally hate, but was perfect this evening. And a bit of chicken. Jake says it's even better with crab, but this was pretty damn good.
But what made it better was the hot sauce. You know, that seedy pasty stuff that's too hot for amateurs? Jake ordered some of that and stirred it in the soup.
Hell, I'm up for adventure!
And I LOVE heat!
I just couldn't stop eating it.
Not that it needed to be featured on Triple-D, but the whole experience titillated me and warmed my heart.
Yes, warm.
It's freezing cold in Toronto. It may be the first day of spring, but there were flurries in the air when I landed.
And you need your winter coat, and some gloves and a hat. And when you walk inside you stamp your feet and let the heat wash over you. And food is not only sustenance, but a way to warm yourself from the inside.
So we're sitting in this dump of a place, with Formica tables, they could clear it out and turn it into a drugstore overnight, and the lights are bright and I'm eating way too much, even though I'm almost hungry again, and we're talking about our lives and I tell myself...
I'm right where I wanna be.
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I'm in Toronto. For Canadian Music Week. I had a rather uneventful flight in, although I did notice there was constantly a queue for the bathroom, are two loos in a 737 enough? And the flight attendants, they had attitude. Remember when gas used to come with service? Not long from now you're gonna go on the plane and get your own drinks. Then again, why drinks and no food? I know, they'll charge you NOT to clean up. Buying an airline ticket is no longer a simple feat. The extras are both dazzling and daunting. And despite being Gold on American, I learned in the paper that on certain flights, 80% of the passengers have priority access. Yup, they sold that too, used to be you had to EARN your status. No more!
And we waited an hour in immigration. When I say we, I mean me and Ralph Simon. I've never waited this long before, but it gave us a chance to catch up. Once upon a time a publisher, Clive Calder's partner, Ralph is now a majordomo in the mobile business. And he still has roots in Africa. He squired a dignitary to the TED conference. What Ralph liked most about TED was the access. You wanted to talk to Sergey, he was RIGHT THERE!
And, Ralph gave me a copy of Prince Rupert Loewenstein's book. You know, the Stones' financial advisor. It just came out in the U.K.
And after getting Candice's life story on the drive in, Jake and I went to Spadina Garden.
Yes, it's about life stories. That's what's most fascinating about this traveling circus known as rock and roll. You think it's about the music, but if you're in it you know it's about the people.
Jake wanted to take me for sushi.
But after telling Larry LeBlanc about Spadina Garden, the Chinese restaurant right around the block, where Cohl used to hang out, I asked him, WHY AREN'T WE GOING THERE?
It's Cantonese!
We didn't know from Hunan back in the sixties. We thought there was only one kind of Chinese food. The only difference was the locations.
My mother never cooked on Sunday night. We always went out. Usually Chinese, sometimes Italian.
The pizza in Bridgeport...
Pizza is kind of like bagels, it's been bastardized. Pizza is a round pie with a very thin crust underneath and a huge brown crust on the outside that is laden with tomato sauce, cheese and an oil slick on top. If you lift a piece with one hand, the toppings slide off. If you eat a bite as soon as you sit down, the roof of your mouth is scarred for a week.
Yes, we had toppings back in Connecticut. Sausage more than pepperoni. And green peppers. And ONIONS! I LOVE onions! Remember that Soupy Sales character, Onions Oregano?
Now I'm getting way too far off point.
But of course I'll eat Cantonese, I want to be in touch with my roots.
Yup, one thing about Jews, we're tribal. You can grow up in New York or Toronto or Calgary, but we all speak the same language.
Which brings me back to bagels...
A bagel is first and foremost plain, otherwise referred to as a "water bagel." If you're not risking a broken tooth when you first bite down, throw it away. The inside should be chewy. There should be substance. If you think the bagel is related to bread, soft and doughy, then it's not a bagel.
Jews all know from Chinese food. I'm not sure of the history, but if you find a Jew who doesn't know how to order at a Chinese restaurant, he's a convert!
And Jake wants ribs...
That's the first thing that entices you as a little kid, the spare ribs. You make your parents order them. They get burned out on them, but you never do. They're nothing like BBQ, they're thin and red and there's very little meat, but boy are they delicious.
But in Toronto, it turns out the ribs are fried. Who knew? This old dog can always learn new tricks.
And Jake ordered Szechuan chicken, and green beans, and then he asked me if I wanted any soup.
SOUP! They've got war wonton soup?
I don't know when they decided to call it "war," it was just "wonton" growing up, but it's still the same. You've got a liquid just this side of dishwater, with some snap peas, a bit of pork and dumplings. To eat wonton soup is to be jetted back to my youth, to make me believe life isn't about acquisitions, but experiences.
NO! CHICKEN CORN SOUP!
Huh? I'd never heard of it. And my corn days are through, I don't need that much starch, but I haven't had corn soup since the sixties, when every now and then I had corn chowder... SURE!
I'm that kind of eater. If you believe in it, I'll try it.
And that was the highlight of the night, the corn chowder soup. There was very little corn, but a ton of egg drop, which I normally hate, but was perfect this evening. And a bit of chicken. Jake says it's even better with crab, but this was pretty damn good.
But what made it better was the hot sauce. You know, that seedy pasty stuff that's too hot for amateurs? Jake ordered some of that and stirred it in the soup.
Hell, I'm up for adventure!
And I LOVE heat!
I just couldn't stop eating it.
Not that it needed to be featured on Triple-D, but the whole experience titillated me and warmed my heart.
Yes, warm.
It's freezing cold in Toronto. It may be the first day of spring, but there were flurries in the air when I landed.
And you need your winter coat, and some gloves and a hat. And when you walk inside you stamp your feet and let the heat wash over you. And food is not only sustenance, but a way to warm yourself from the inside.
So we're sitting in this dump of a place, with Formica tables, they could clear it out and turn it into a drugstore overnight, and the lights are bright and I'm eating way too much, even though I'm almost hungry again, and we're talking about our lives and I tell myself...
I'm right where I wanna be.
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Tuesday 19 March 2013
Then/Now-Niche Edition
THEN
Howard Stern left terrestrial too early, he became societally marginalized.
NOW
Howard is king of his niche and reaches a larger audience than any of the late night talk shows. Reminds me of Bryan Adams recording "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You." AOR considered him a sell-out. Soon AOR was toast and Adams had a career as a crooner.
THEN
If you were all over the press, everybody had heard your music.
NOW
Almost no one has heard Amanda Palmer's music.
THEN
If you had a tiny core audience, you were financially challenged.
NOW
If you have a tiny core audience, you can raise enough money to make your album on Kickstarter, and own the copyright to boot. Just don't think since you raised all that cash anybody other than the core is going to be interested in what you produce.
THEN
Albums all cost the same price.
NOW
Hard core fans will pay for special packages, delivered most famously by Topspin. If you're not tapping the deep pockets of your hard core fans, you're leaving money on the table.
THEN
You put out one album every three years, it took that long to reach every potential audience member.
NOW
You release music constantly, to satiate the core, no one beyond it cares. In the old days, your favorite act released an album when you were in high school and when the next one came out you were married and had babies. Now, if an act waits until the summer to follow up their fall release, it's too long.
THEN
Music was scarce, so when we bought albums we played them.
NOW
Music is plentiful. Only the hard core wants to go beyond the hits. Are you playing to the core or to the masses who don't care?
THEN
You were on late night TV and everybody knew your name.
NOW
You're on late night TV and all you get is a stinking high-priced video.
THEN
If you opened for a major act, you believed you'd made it.
NOW
You play the festival and you're forgotten within the year.
THEN
Marketing was top-down. You spent a lot of money and convinced everybody they should pay attention. I.e. Mariah Carey.
NOW
Marketing is from the ground up and Tommy Mottola is out of work and Mariah Carey is on a TV show that no one talks about anymore.
THEN
Major labels were interested in careers.
NOW
Major labels are interested in hit singles. They've got to make the quarterly numbers, for their bonuses. Short term corporate thinking hasn't only hurt the industrial companies.
THEN
The Police traveled around the world, breaking their music, playing wherever their visionary manager had been with his CIA father.
NOW
You create YouTube videos at home, all in search of virality.
THEN
It was about the music.
NOW
It's about the marketing. Just because you know how to use Final Cut Pro and can create an interesting visual, that does not mean anybody wants to listen to your music.
THEN
There was a bar. Either you were signed to a major label or were irrelevant.
NOW
There is no bar, everybody gets to play. And the public is so overwhelmed in this chaotic world that it's hard to get anybody to even listen to your music.
THEN
There were record reviews in magazines and newspapers and they meant something.
NOW
Everybody's got a blog and believes they're a writer and the audience is so overwhelmed with opinions that they pay attention to almost none of them.
THEN
If you had a hit, it could not be escaped. They played it at the game, in public spaces...
NOW
They play classic rock in public places. You think your number one record is known by everybody, but you're sorely mistaken.
THEN
The mainstream media was self-satisfied, believed it was in charge.
NOW
The mainstream media is self-satisfied, believes it's in charge, when the truth is most people trust narrow but deep websites more than the smorgasbord of news in the mainstream.
THEN
The mainstream blanded itself out ever further to not alienate anybody and gain viewers.
NOW
Bland network TV has sinking ratings, sometimes eclipsed by what's on cable, which has to be edgy to survive.
THEN
Your song was written by Diane Warren.
NOW
Your song is written by you, otherwise no one cares. The essence of success is honesty.
THEN
The Top Forty divas use more outside songwriters and producers than ever before.
NOW
The day your hits dry up you can't sell a ticket and the nobodies no one knows continue to ply the boards and earn a living.
THEN
There were stadium shows.
NOW
Only Taylor Swift can sell out a stadium.
THEN
You could live off the money from your record deal.
NOW
If you even have a deal, compensation is low, you're dependent on the promoter to keep you alive.
THEN
The most powerful person in the music business was the head of the label.
NOW
The most powerful person in the music business is the promoter. Lucian Grainge gets all the ink, but Michael Rapino has all the money. And he with the money triumphs. Universal folds and people still make music. Promoters go under and artists starve.
THEN
You had to buy the record to listen to it. And it was expensive. So if you bought it, you played it and became a fan.
NOW
All music is free. And if it's not exceptional, you don't play it, even if the act is a superstar or coming off a number one record.
THEN
We were interested in what classic rock artists had to say.
NOW
We don't think any classic rock artist has anything to say worth hearing. We don't want to hear any new material, only the old stuff. Meanwhile, the artists are delusional, they think their new stuff is just as good.
THEN
Bands were rigid, solo albums were rare.
NOW
Everybody's got a solo project, everybody's putting covers up on YouTube. We're in a heyday of creativity.
THEN
You couldn't get enough music news.
NOW
There's more music news than anyone can read, and most of it is playing to the lowest common denominator so you ignore it.
THEN
You had no idea what people thought of you and your music.
NOW
People are hating and loving you all over the web at the same time. If you don't believe in yourself, you become paralyzed and irrelevant.
THEN
Taking chances could kill careers.
NOW
If what you do doesn't resonate, you just create something new. Now, more than ever, is the time to take an artistic risk.
THEN
What you wore was important.
NOW
Most people have no idea what you look like. Your music is paramount. Ignore the Top Forty wonders, they're two-dimensional, time-stamped ciphers.
THEN
Being the first to use a new computer technique got you kudos, from Michael Jackson employing morphing technology in the "Black Or White" video to Aerosmith releasing the first digital single to...
NOW
We've got future shock. There are so many new technologies that we're drawn to basics, i.e. music.
THEN
We had universal anthems, like "Stairway To Heaven" and "Free Bird."
NOW
Nothing lasts.
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Howard Stern left terrestrial too early, he became societally marginalized.
NOW
Howard is king of his niche and reaches a larger audience than any of the late night talk shows. Reminds me of Bryan Adams recording "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You." AOR considered him a sell-out. Soon AOR was toast and Adams had a career as a crooner.
THEN
If you were all over the press, everybody had heard your music.
NOW
Almost no one has heard Amanda Palmer's music.
THEN
If you had a tiny core audience, you were financially challenged.
NOW
If you have a tiny core audience, you can raise enough money to make your album on Kickstarter, and own the copyright to boot. Just don't think since you raised all that cash anybody other than the core is going to be interested in what you produce.
THEN
Albums all cost the same price.
NOW
Hard core fans will pay for special packages, delivered most famously by Topspin. If you're not tapping the deep pockets of your hard core fans, you're leaving money on the table.
THEN
You put out one album every three years, it took that long to reach every potential audience member.
NOW
You release music constantly, to satiate the core, no one beyond it cares. In the old days, your favorite act released an album when you were in high school and when the next one came out you were married and had babies. Now, if an act waits until the summer to follow up their fall release, it's too long.
THEN
Music was scarce, so when we bought albums we played them.
NOW
Music is plentiful. Only the hard core wants to go beyond the hits. Are you playing to the core or to the masses who don't care?
THEN
You were on late night TV and everybody knew your name.
NOW
You're on late night TV and all you get is a stinking high-priced video.
THEN
If you opened for a major act, you believed you'd made it.
NOW
You play the festival and you're forgotten within the year.
THEN
Marketing was top-down. You spent a lot of money and convinced everybody they should pay attention. I.e. Mariah Carey.
NOW
Marketing is from the ground up and Tommy Mottola is out of work and Mariah Carey is on a TV show that no one talks about anymore.
THEN
Major labels were interested in careers.
NOW
Major labels are interested in hit singles. They've got to make the quarterly numbers, for their bonuses. Short term corporate thinking hasn't only hurt the industrial companies.
THEN
The Police traveled around the world, breaking their music, playing wherever their visionary manager had been with his CIA father.
NOW
You create YouTube videos at home, all in search of virality.
THEN
It was about the music.
NOW
It's about the marketing. Just because you know how to use Final Cut Pro and can create an interesting visual, that does not mean anybody wants to listen to your music.
THEN
There was a bar. Either you were signed to a major label or were irrelevant.
NOW
There is no bar, everybody gets to play. And the public is so overwhelmed in this chaotic world that it's hard to get anybody to even listen to your music.
THEN
There were record reviews in magazines and newspapers and they meant something.
NOW
Everybody's got a blog and believes they're a writer and the audience is so overwhelmed with opinions that they pay attention to almost none of them.
THEN
If you had a hit, it could not be escaped. They played it at the game, in public spaces...
NOW
They play classic rock in public places. You think your number one record is known by everybody, but you're sorely mistaken.
THEN
The mainstream media was self-satisfied, believed it was in charge.
NOW
The mainstream media is self-satisfied, believes it's in charge, when the truth is most people trust narrow but deep websites more than the smorgasbord of news in the mainstream.
THEN
The mainstream blanded itself out ever further to not alienate anybody and gain viewers.
NOW
Bland network TV has sinking ratings, sometimes eclipsed by what's on cable, which has to be edgy to survive.
THEN
Your song was written by Diane Warren.
NOW
Your song is written by you, otherwise no one cares. The essence of success is honesty.
THEN
The Top Forty divas use more outside songwriters and producers than ever before.
NOW
The day your hits dry up you can't sell a ticket and the nobodies no one knows continue to ply the boards and earn a living.
THEN
There were stadium shows.
NOW
Only Taylor Swift can sell out a stadium.
THEN
You could live off the money from your record deal.
NOW
If you even have a deal, compensation is low, you're dependent on the promoter to keep you alive.
THEN
The most powerful person in the music business was the head of the label.
NOW
The most powerful person in the music business is the promoter. Lucian Grainge gets all the ink, but Michael Rapino has all the money. And he with the money triumphs. Universal folds and people still make music. Promoters go under and artists starve.
THEN
You had to buy the record to listen to it. And it was expensive. So if you bought it, you played it and became a fan.
NOW
All music is free. And if it's not exceptional, you don't play it, even if the act is a superstar or coming off a number one record.
THEN
We were interested in what classic rock artists had to say.
NOW
We don't think any classic rock artist has anything to say worth hearing. We don't want to hear any new material, only the old stuff. Meanwhile, the artists are delusional, they think their new stuff is just as good.
THEN
Bands were rigid, solo albums were rare.
NOW
Everybody's got a solo project, everybody's putting covers up on YouTube. We're in a heyday of creativity.
THEN
You couldn't get enough music news.
NOW
There's more music news than anyone can read, and most of it is playing to the lowest common denominator so you ignore it.
THEN
You had no idea what people thought of you and your music.
NOW
People are hating and loving you all over the web at the same time. If you don't believe in yourself, you become paralyzed and irrelevant.
THEN
Taking chances could kill careers.
NOW
If what you do doesn't resonate, you just create something new. Now, more than ever, is the time to take an artistic risk.
THEN
What you wore was important.
NOW
Most people have no idea what you look like. Your music is paramount. Ignore the Top Forty wonders, they're two-dimensional, time-stamped ciphers.
THEN
Being the first to use a new computer technique got you kudos, from Michael Jackson employing morphing technology in the "Black Or White" video to Aerosmith releasing the first digital single to...
NOW
We've got future shock. There are so many new technologies that we're drawn to basics, i.e. music.
THEN
We had universal anthems, like "Stairway To Heaven" and "Free Bird."
NOW
Nothing lasts.
--
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--
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Monday 18 March 2013
Then/Now-Media Edition
THEN
MTV was our national jukebox.
NOW
There is no national jukebox. There is no universality. Want everyone to know your name? Then KILL someone. Making music doesn't lead to ubiquity.
THEN
Being on the cover of "Rolling Stone" meant you made it.
NOW
Being on the cover of "Rolling Stone" means you've already made it and the magazine is kissing your butt, your PR person negotiated interview parameters, all so they could sell more copies on the newsstand.
THEN
TV shows were on network and they were either hits immediately or canceled.
NOW
The best TV shows are on cable, and most take years to gain traction, as a result, there's little backlash. People don't complain about "Walking Dead," "Breaking Bad" or "Sons Of Anarchy," because they've earned their keep. Try to jam Lena Dunham down our throats and there's backlash. And backlash draws attention now, but burns your career our faster. Wanna last? Start slow.
THEN
Albums sold double digit millions.
NOW
You're lucky to sell one million. Except for Adele. Then again, isn't it interesting that she can sing and write. What a concept, TALENT!
THEN
CNN was on 24/7 and featured news.
NOW
There's little news on CNN and if you want to know what's happening, you go to the web. Hell, CNN's site is better than the channel!
THEN
You couldn't sell a record unless you had major distribution.
NOW
Anybody can sell a record. Don't be sour grapes. If you haven't made it, it's your fault, the barriers to entry are incredibly low.
THEN
The charts meant everything.
NOW
Charts are meaningless. Then again, youngsters don't care about who's winning, only who THEY'RE interested in.
THEN
David Bowie comes back and he's not only in the press, he's all over MTV and the radio and he has a hit with "Let's Dance."
NOW
David Bowie comes back and he's not on the radio and there's no music on MTV and he doesn't have a hit.
THEN
Rap was a view from the street.
NOW
Rap is a view from 36,000 feet, outside the window of a private jet.
THEN
Honesty was in rock.
NOW
Honesty is in country.
THEN
Musicians were leaders.
NOW
Musicians are followers.
THEN
You discovered new acts when they opened for your favorites.
NOW
You discover new acts at festivals, you don't even bother to get there in time to hear the opening act at a regular show.
THEN
TV networks had 90+% of the audience.
NOW
TV networks have less than 30% of the audience.
THEN
Only insiders knew who ran record companies.
NOW
The execs are more famous than the acts.
THEN
The key to success was a good manager.
NOW
The key to success is a good manager.
THEN
It was all about the album.
NOW
It's all about the single.
THEN
The radio was the tribal drum.
NOW
The mobile phone is the tribal drum.
THEN
You could see upcoming bands in clubs.
NOW
Challenged record companies have stopped supporting clubs so it's difficult to see new acts at a fair price in an intimate setting. Oh, you can go see crap acts at a cheap price in an intimate setting, but who has that much time to waste?
THEN
Radio was the filter.
NOW
There is no filter.
THEN
Jimmy Iovine was all about the music.
NOW
Jimmy Iovine is all about the money.
THEN
You salivated over magazines and fanzines, which there were not enough of.
NOW
You rely on websites, of which there are far too many, almost none of them of high quality.
THEN
Record reviews mattered.
NOW
Record reviews are irrelevant.
THEN
You were thrilled to be inside the building.
NOW
You can't stop bitching about security, the seats, and the lines at the poor, overpriced concessions.
THEN
You came home from the gig and told everybody about it the next day at school.
NOW
You're at the gig and you tell everybody about it from your phone.
THEN
You didn't think your opinion was universal and deserved to spread.
NOW
You're pissed if you don't have millions of followers.
THEN
It was clear who had talent.
NOW
Everybody thinks they have talent.
THEN
Stars were in bed with their fans.
NOW
Stars are angry with their fans, pissed that they're stealing their music and won't buy their crappy albums.
THEN
Music was expensive and everybody had little of it.
NOW
Music is cheap and everybody has more than they want.
THEN
People wanted your free music.
NOW
People don't want your free music, hell, they've got the music of superstars free on their computer!
THEN
Facebook was cool.
NOW
Facebook isn't cool. If bands can fade, why can't websites?
THEN
You spent hours downloading music from P2P services.
NOW
You just watch what you want on YouTube. Just like the deficit, piracy in music is a red herring. It's just too much effort. The reason you can't sell your music in prodigious amounts is it's just not good enough, not enough people care. When we had limited options and unlimited time we were interested in your substandard work, now with unlimited options and little time we are only interested in the very best.
THEN
The A&R man said he couldn't hear a single.
NOW
There is no A&R man, none with any signing power.
THEN
The record company was the bank.
NOW
The concert promoter is the bank.
THEN
Videos were expensive and mattered.
NOW
Videos are cheap and matter.
THEN
You had to wait hours for your favorite video to come up on MTV.
NOW
You dial up your favorites on YouTube and listen to them whenever you want, as many times as you want...but you must still endure the commercials.
THEN
You didn't have time for TV because you were listening to music.
NOW
You don't have time for music because you're watching TV.
THEN
Movie stars wouldn't appear in TV series.
NOW
Movie stars are eager to appear in TV series.
THEN
Record companies were cool.
NOW
HBO and Showtime are cool.
THEN
Documentaries were rare, you went to the theatre to see them.
NOW
Everybody's got a documentary and you can watch them all online but you don't want to, because you haven't got enough time.
THEN
The man wasn't to be trusted.
NOW
Where do I sell out?
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MTV was our national jukebox.
NOW
There is no national jukebox. There is no universality. Want everyone to know your name? Then KILL someone. Making music doesn't lead to ubiquity.
THEN
Being on the cover of "Rolling Stone" meant you made it.
NOW
Being on the cover of "Rolling Stone" means you've already made it and the magazine is kissing your butt, your PR person negotiated interview parameters, all so they could sell more copies on the newsstand.
THEN
TV shows were on network and they were either hits immediately or canceled.
NOW
The best TV shows are on cable, and most take years to gain traction, as a result, there's little backlash. People don't complain about "Walking Dead," "Breaking Bad" or "Sons Of Anarchy," because they've earned their keep. Try to jam Lena Dunham down our throats and there's backlash. And backlash draws attention now, but burns your career our faster. Wanna last? Start slow.
THEN
Albums sold double digit millions.
NOW
You're lucky to sell one million. Except for Adele. Then again, isn't it interesting that she can sing and write. What a concept, TALENT!
THEN
CNN was on 24/7 and featured news.
NOW
There's little news on CNN and if you want to know what's happening, you go to the web. Hell, CNN's site is better than the channel!
THEN
You couldn't sell a record unless you had major distribution.
NOW
Anybody can sell a record. Don't be sour grapes. If you haven't made it, it's your fault, the barriers to entry are incredibly low.
THEN
The charts meant everything.
NOW
Charts are meaningless. Then again, youngsters don't care about who's winning, only who THEY'RE interested in.
THEN
David Bowie comes back and he's not only in the press, he's all over MTV and the radio and he has a hit with "Let's Dance."
NOW
David Bowie comes back and he's not on the radio and there's no music on MTV and he doesn't have a hit.
THEN
Rap was a view from the street.
NOW
Rap is a view from 36,000 feet, outside the window of a private jet.
THEN
Honesty was in rock.
NOW
Honesty is in country.
THEN
Musicians were leaders.
NOW
Musicians are followers.
THEN
You discovered new acts when they opened for your favorites.
NOW
You discover new acts at festivals, you don't even bother to get there in time to hear the opening act at a regular show.
THEN
TV networks had 90+% of the audience.
NOW
TV networks have less than 30% of the audience.
THEN
Only insiders knew who ran record companies.
NOW
The execs are more famous than the acts.
THEN
The key to success was a good manager.
NOW
The key to success is a good manager.
THEN
It was all about the album.
NOW
It's all about the single.
THEN
The radio was the tribal drum.
NOW
The mobile phone is the tribal drum.
THEN
You could see upcoming bands in clubs.
NOW
Challenged record companies have stopped supporting clubs so it's difficult to see new acts at a fair price in an intimate setting. Oh, you can go see crap acts at a cheap price in an intimate setting, but who has that much time to waste?
THEN
Radio was the filter.
NOW
There is no filter.
THEN
Jimmy Iovine was all about the music.
NOW
Jimmy Iovine is all about the money.
THEN
You salivated over magazines and fanzines, which there were not enough of.
NOW
You rely on websites, of which there are far too many, almost none of them of high quality.
THEN
Record reviews mattered.
NOW
Record reviews are irrelevant.
THEN
You were thrilled to be inside the building.
NOW
You can't stop bitching about security, the seats, and the lines at the poor, overpriced concessions.
THEN
You came home from the gig and told everybody about it the next day at school.
NOW
You're at the gig and you tell everybody about it from your phone.
THEN
You didn't think your opinion was universal and deserved to spread.
NOW
You're pissed if you don't have millions of followers.
THEN
It was clear who had talent.
NOW
Everybody thinks they have talent.
THEN
Stars were in bed with their fans.
NOW
Stars are angry with their fans, pissed that they're stealing their music and won't buy their crappy albums.
THEN
Music was expensive and everybody had little of it.
NOW
Music is cheap and everybody has more than they want.
THEN
People wanted your free music.
NOW
People don't want your free music, hell, they've got the music of superstars free on their computer!
THEN
Facebook was cool.
NOW
Facebook isn't cool. If bands can fade, why can't websites?
THEN
You spent hours downloading music from P2P services.
NOW
You just watch what you want on YouTube. Just like the deficit, piracy in music is a red herring. It's just too much effort. The reason you can't sell your music in prodigious amounts is it's just not good enough, not enough people care. When we had limited options and unlimited time we were interested in your substandard work, now with unlimited options and little time we are only interested in the very best.
THEN
The A&R man said he couldn't hear a single.
NOW
There is no A&R man, none with any signing power.
THEN
The record company was the bank.
NOW
The concert promoter is the bank.
THEN
Videos were expensive and mattered.
NOW
Videos are cheap and matter.
THEN
You had to wait hours for your favorite video to come up on MTV.
NOW
You dial up your favorites on YouTube and listen to them whenever you want, as many times as you want...but you must still endure the commercials.
THEN
You didn't have time for TV because you were listening to music.
NOW
You don't have time for music because you're watching TV.
THEN
Movie stars wouldn't appear in TV series.
NOW
Movie stars are eager to appear in TV series.
THEN
Record companies were cool.
NOW
HBO and Showtime are cool.
THEN
Documentaries were rare, you went to the theatre to see them.
NOW
Everybody's got a documentary and you can watch them all online but you don't want to, because you haven't got enough time.
THEN
The man wasn't to be trusted.
NOW
Where do I sell out?
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Clive's Book-Final?
No one has ever finished this book, not unless they were paid to do so, because the last two thirds is UNREADABLE!
Think I'm on a vendetta? Then peruse the review in yesterday's "New York Times": http://nyti.ms/110BzWa
How come the message didn't get out? How come no one has said reading this book is like listening to your grandpa tell his life story? Even worse, every little detail. Sure, you want to hear about the old country, and the journey therefrom, but when he starts talking about stuff you know about, and don't care about, then your eyes roll into the back of your head. You suddenly have to pee, you need to go outside, you need to ESCAPE!
"The Soundtrack Of My Life" was riveting up until he got fired from CBS. Because those acts changed the world. As for Barry Manilow and Ace of Base, do we really need the gory details?
But let's go back to said firing. Clive was completely innocent. Just like the who's who of record biz folk he lists as upstanding citizens. That was too much for me to take. That's like saying Eliot Spitzer doesn't exist, that "Hit Men" wasn't written, that payola never happened and the music business is one big happy playground, hey, let's go on the slide!
That's wrong. The music biz is full of crooks. Play it straight and you have a hard time surviving. But if there was ever blame to be taken, ever fault, ever illicit activity, Clive was not there. He didn't know Milli Vanilli couldn't sing, he didn't know what happened to TLC's money, he was too busy taking credit to be guilty.
This ain't a book, it's a recounting of every facet of Clive's career. I mean every single band that ever had some action. It would be like hearing about every date you ever went on, EVER! Think that gets old?
Then again, Clive's not an author.
What's wrong with our country that everybody thinks they can do everything? Just because he can run a record company, and interspersed amongst the endless choppy stories is some good advice, that does not mean he can write a book.
Want to know a dirty little secret? Pay attention here, because this is gold, SOMETIMES YOU'VE GOT TO LEAVE THE BEST STUFF OUT!
In service of the story.
There is no story in Clive's book. Just an endless rehashing of his life. That ain't a book, that's a document to be placed on the shelf of a museum, for scholars to study.
But Clive got a deal with Simon & Schuster, snookered the mainstream press to hype it without reading it, and most people just don't care, and those who purchased the book ended up with a doorstop.
I'm still a hundred pages from the end. It's sheer torture. Every time there's a new chapter, I put it down. But I wanted to get to the end so I could speak authoritatively.
I'll get there, but...
The main point of Clive's book is father knows best. He's got the experience, he knows the game, and if you don't play it his way, you're screwed. From Melissa Manchester to Curtis Stigers, she or he who wouldn't do it Clive's way never reached their potential... HOW COME THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO CLIVE?
A book should have a story, an arc, it should be a fun read.
An endless recounting of your life is not a story.
Kind of like Arista music. That's the true problem here. If Clive had signed Guns N' Roses, that would be interesting. Then again, he did make a deal with Puffy for Biggie, and the legendary rapper gets less space than Deborah Cox. You remember Deborah Cox, right?
As for statistics, Clive keeps talking about chart positions of Arista records that I can't even remember. How's that for legacy?
And long into Arista's existence he complains that they had to find new hits, because they had no catalog. After decades? Isn't that your problem, that you signed stuff with the shelf life of a cookie?
Mr. Davis is old and rich. I have no desire to personally bring him down. What I mean by that is if he wants to live in his illusory world, that's fine by me. Let him be Chauncey Gardiner.
But as for the rest of the public... Can we stop this myth that he's the man with the golden ears, that he's somehow better than us?
He's a record executive. He had some hits.
But his real skill is self-mythologizing.
But the myth won't last, certainly not based on this book, because it's so damn bad.
Clive goes on about albums needing multiple singles. Remaking foreign LPs so the acts would have careers. Where was that thinking here?
And the only interesting thing from the Arista years is the Whitney Houston excerpt. If he were smart, and hip, and insightful, all the things he claims to be, he would have sold this chapter as a Kindle Single for $2.99. THAT people are interested in, not this hagiography.
But Clive doesn't want money. He's not like the other Clive, Clive Calder, who had the biggest score in the history of the music business and then disappeared, POOF! (Then again, Clive says he had the same deal... Then why isn't he so damn rich!) No, Clive wants the fame, the glory, and this book ain't gonna help his cause a single bit. Because it's no damn good and in today's era you grow from the ground up and Clive is still living in the twentieth century, when you whip the mainstream media into a frenzy, figuring the heat will rain down on the populace and you'll end up with success. But that paradigm is toast. Just like Clive.
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Think I'm on a vendetta? Then peruse the review in yesterday's "New York Times": http://nyti.ms/110BzWa
How come the message didn't get out? How come no one has said reading this book is like listening to your grandpa tell his life story? Even worse, every little detail. Sure, you want to hear about the old country, and the journey therefrom, but when he starts talking about stuff you know about, and don't care about, then your eyes roll into the back of your head. You suddenly have to pee, you need to go outside, you need to ESCAPE!
"The Soundtrack Of My Life" was riveting up until he got fired from CBS. Because those acts changed the world. As for Barry Manilow and Ace of Base, do we really need the gory details?
But let's go back to said firing. Clive was completely innocent. Just like the who's who of record biz folk he lists as upstanding citizens. That was too much for me to take. That's like saying Eliot Spitzer doesn't exist, that "Hit Men" wasn't written, that payola never happened and the music business is one big happy playground, hey, let's go on the slide!
That's wrong. The music biz is full of crooks. Play it straight and you have a hard time surviving. But if there was ever blame to be taken, ever fault, ever illicit activity, Clive was not there. He didn't know Milli Vanilli couldn't sing, he didn't know what happened to TLC's money, he was too busy taking credit to be guilty.
This ain't a book, it's a recounting of every facet of Clive's career. I mean every single band that ever had some action. It would be like hearing about every date you ever went on, EVER! Think that gets old?
Then again, Clive's not an author.
What's wrong with our country that everybody thinks they can do everything? Just because he can run a record company, and interspersed amongst the endless choppy stories is some good advice, that does not mean he can write a book.
Want to know a dirty little secret? Pay attention here, because this is gold, SOMETIMES YOU'VE GOT TO LEAVE THE BEST STUFF OUT!
In service of the story.
There is no story in Clive's book. Just an endless rehashing of his life. That ain't a book, that's a document to be placed on the shelf of a museum, for scholars to study.
But Clive got a deal with Simon & Schuster, snookered the mainstream press to hype it without reading it, and most people just don't care, and those who purchased the book ended up with a doorstop.
I'm still a hundred pages from the end. It's sheer torture. Every time there's a new chapter, I put it down. But I wanted to get to the end so I could speak authoritatively.
I'll get there, but...
The main point of Clive's book is father knows best. He's got the experience, he knows the game, and if you don't play it his way, you're screwed. From Melissa Manchester to Curtis Stigers, she or he who wouldn't do it Clive's way never reached their potential... HOW COME THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO CLIVE?
A book should have a story, an arc, it should be a fun read.
An endless recounting of your life is not a story.
Kind of like Arista music. That's the true problem here. If Clive had signed Guns N' Roses, that would be interesting. Then again, he did make a deal with Puffy for Biggie, and the legendary rapper gets less space than Deborah Cox. You remember Deborah Cox, right?
As for statistics, Clive keeps talking about chart positions of Arista records that I can't even remember. How's that for legacy?
And long into Arista's existence he complains that they had to find new hits, because they had no catalog. After decades? Isn't that your problem, that you signed stuff with the shelf life of a cookie?
Mr. Davis is old and rich. I have no desire to personally bring him down. What I mean by that is if he wants to live in his illusory world, that's fine by me. Let him be Chauncey Gardiner.
But as for the rest of the public... Can we stop this myth that he's the man with the golden ears, that he's somehow better than us?
He's a record executive. He had some hits.
But his real skill is self-mythologizing.
But the myth won't last, certainly not based on this book, because it's so damn bad.
Clive goes on about albums needing multiple singles. Remaking foreign LPs so the acts would have careers. Where was that thinking here?
And the only interesting thing from the Arista years is the Whitney Houston excerpt. If he were smart, and hip, and insightful, all the things he claims to be, he would have sold this chapter as a Kindle Single for $2.99. THAT people are interested in, not this hagiography.
But Clive doesn't want money. He's not like the other Clive, Clive Calder, who had the biggest score in the history of the music business and then disappeared, POOF! (Then again, Clive says he had the same deal... Then why isn't he so damn rich!) No, Clive wants the fame, the glory, and this book ain't gonna help his cause a single bit. Because it's no damn good and in today's era you grow from the ground up and Clive is still living in the twentieth century, when you whip the mainstream media into a frenzy, figuring the heat will rain down on the populace and you'll end up with success. But that paradigm is toast. Just like Clive.
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Sunday 17 March 2013
Justin Timberlake
Talk about overexposed.
Are we still living in 2000, when it was all about the first week and most people still had not discovered Napster?
Yup, that's when JT was at his peak.
You want to know the big arts story this week?
The "Veronica Mars" Kickstarter project. They've raised in excess of three million bucks by going to those who care, the fans, as opposed to JT, who's positively living in the past, believing that saturation marketing will convince all of us who don't care to. Huh? You're just pissing us off!
Meanwhile, I'm here to tell you sexy never left, but cool is back. Manufactured is trouble. Hubris is fatal. Hell, when the "New York Times" writes articles about the Taylor Swift backlash, about her bad Q ratings, you know that it's over.
Taylor Swift? You haven't got enough publicity? You're appearing in "Vanity Fair"? WHY? So we can make fun of you? Taking on comediennes is like having a guitar battle with Clapton, even Gary Clark, Jr., you just can't win.
Yup, Taylor's pissed at Amy Poehler and Tina Fey for making fun of her at the Golden Globes. Don't know that? You're lucky. "Vanity Fair" spammed the media and every non-thinking news outlet reproduced it.
Want some advice Taylor?
STFU!
You don't see Carrie Underwood trying to cross over, splashed all over the media. No, she stays in her own little backwater, therefore the country people protect her. Who's going to protect Taylor Swift?
And who exactly is going to protect Justin Timberlake?
Last I checked, his core audience has babies. Thank god tickets are sold digitally, because none of his fans could leave home to line up. As to whether they can get babysitters for the gig... Well, people only go to one show a year, and Justin Timberlake, whose last tour, before you grew pubes, didn't sell out, bought insurance this time, he's going out with Jay-Z, because he's afraid, very afraid. Not as afraid as Miley Cyrus, who's tabloid fodder and has lost her music career, but still scared.
Can't you see it? The desperation? What if I'm not big enough?
Want to know today's underground music story?
Prince at SXSW!
He didn't promote it, everybody else did!
That's how you want to do it today.
But that just doesn't fit in with your world domination, conquer all philosophy. You want to dun everybody into submission. You think if you're Gene Simmons and you screw thousands of girls, people will care. The only people who care about Mr. Simmons are the ones who in declining numbers go to Kiss shows. The rest of us have no problem ignoring him.
You see in the old world it was top down. Get the big kahunas to write about you so the little people will find out.
But now it's positively reversed. The little people build your career. And it happens very slowly. And when we see dinosaurs like Justin Timberlake BEGGING US to pay attention we have the classic twenty first century response. We laugh at him. We feel superior to him. We look down upon him just like the nincompoops on reality TV.
And when his album fails...
OF COURSE IT'S GONNA FAIL!
Come on, even U2's album failed.
If you're a superstar, we don't even want the album, unless we're hard core fans. We want the undeniable single.
Now if you're not a superstar, this rule doesn't apply. Make a ton of music, satiate your fans.
Then again, I'm a Ry Cooder fan, and I've stopped paying attention. I laughed when I heard a song of his on the satellite. Reminded me of him talking about making a new album...
You know Ry. Guitarist extraordinaire who gets tons of ink, but can't sell a record?
Welcome to 2013. When it's not only cult people like Ry Cooder, but stars like Timberlake and Bowie.
They think everybody cares.
But everybody doesn't.
Even "The New Yorker" writes about Bowie.
End result?
A TARNISHING OF THE LEGACY! BECAUSE WE JUST DON'T CARE!
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Are we still living in 2000, when it was all about the first week and most people still had not discovered Napster?
Yup, that's when JT was at his peak.
You want to know the big arts story this week?
The "Veronica Mars" Kickstarter project. They've raised in excess of three million bucks by going to those who care, the fans, as opposed to JT, who's positively living in the past, believing that saturation marketing will convince all of us who don't care to. Huh? You're just pissing us off!
Meanwhile, I'm here to tell you sexy never left, but cool is back. Manufactured is trouble. Hubris is fatal. Hell, when the "New York Times" writes articles about the Taylor Swift backlash, about her bad Q ratings, you know that it's over.
Taylor Swift? You haven't got enough publicity? You're appearing in "Vanity Fair"? WHY? So we can make fun of you? Taking on comediennes is like having a guitar battle with Clapton, even Gary Clark, Jr., you just can't win.
Yup, Taylor's pissed at Amy Poehler and Tina Fey for making fun of her at the Golden Globes. Don't know that? You're lucky. "Vanity Fair" spammed the media and every non-thinking news outlet reproduced it.
Want some advice Taylor?
STFU!
You don't see Carrie Underwood trying to cross over, splashed all over the media. No, she stays in her own little backwater, therefore the country people protect her. Who's going to protect Taylor Swift?
And who exactly is going to protect Justin Timberlake?
Last I checked, his core audience has babies. Thank god tickets are sold digitally, because none of his fans could leave home to line up. As to whether they can get babysitters for the gig... Well, people only go to one show a year, and Justin Timberlake, whose last tour, before you grew pubes, didn't sell out, bought insurance this time, he's going out with Jay-Z, because he's afraid, very afraid. Not as afraid as Miley Cyrus, who's tabloid fodder and has lost her music career, but still scared.
Can't you see it? The desperation? What if I'm not big enough?
Want to know today's underground music story?
Prince at SXSW!
He didn't promote it, everybody else did!
That's how you want to do it today.
But that just doesn't fit in with your world domination, conquer all philosophy. You want to dun everybody into submission. You think if you're Gene Simmons and you screw thousands of girls, people will care. The only people who care about Mr. Simmons are the ones who in declining numbers go to Kiss shows. The rest of us have no problem ignoring him.
You see in the old world it was top down. Get the big kahunas to write about you so the little people will find out.
But now it's positively reversed. The little people build your career. And it happens very slowly. And when we see dinosaurs like Justin Timberlake BEGGING US to pay attention we have the classic twenty first century response. We laugh at him. We feel superior to him. We look down upon him just like the nincompoops on reality TV.
And when his album fails...
OF COURSE IT'S GONNA FAIL!
Come on, even U2's album failed.
If you're a superstar, we don't even want the album, unless we're hard core fans. We want the undeniable single.
Now if you're not a superstar, this rule doesn't apply. Make a ton of music, satiate your fans.
Then again, I'm a Ry Cooder fan, and I've stopped paying attention. I laughed when I heard a song of his on the satellite. Reminded me of him talking about making a new album...
You know Ry. Guitarist extraordinaire who gets tons of ink, but can't sell a record?
Welcome to 2013. When it's not only cult people like Ry Cooder, but stars like Timberlake and Bowie.
They think everybody cares.
But everybody doesn't.
Even "The New Yorker" writes about Bowie.
End result?
A TARNISHING OF THE LEGACY! BECAUSE WE JUST DON'T CARE!
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