Mama never told me it would be like this.
As a matter of fact, my mother still doesn't know how the world works. Like most people, she wants to believe you work hard, marry right, put your nose to the grindstone and it all works out.
But it doesn't really happen that way at all.
My father knew. And always got in trouble for it. No one wanted to hear what he had to say, except the people who made a lot of money on his words, lawyers and property owners whose land was taken by the government whom my father convinced the amount offered was unjust. He had some big victories. My father got a flat fee, under the law appraisers must, but attorneys got a third of the increase, and when the gap is between seventy nine thousand and a couple of million...you love my dad.
But regular people did not.
Because my father always wanted to lift the end of the carpet, to uncover the truth.
As he told me more than once, "there are no miracles."
The person driving a hundred thousand dollar car with no visible means of support... He's inherited millions, or is on the way to bankruptcy. Because if it looks inexplicable, it is.
So they tell us to work hard, get into a good college and it will all work out.
Only it doesn't.
Let's forget the losers. Those who drop out, who watch reality television and dream of winning a hundred grand. Because a hundred grand doesn't go far, and it certainly doesn't last. Winners don't only score once, but again and again. Which is why the smart people become record executives, not recording stars.
So you graduate from college and take a job at the factory. Call it the law firm, the bank, the brokerage house. You think you're winning, but you're afraid of risk, like Jennifer Lawrence's character in this movie you don't like change.
But change is constant. Winners know this. And adjust on the fly.
Naked ambition is plentiful.
The smarts to pull it off?
I don't know how accurate this movie is. Probably not very. But the moral of the story...there's truth.
Small time players want fame. They think if they get their name in the paper, they've won. I've never understood the people who allow their houses to be featured in the real estate section, even the multi-million dollar trophy homes in the "Wall Street Journal" "Mansion" section. Oh, you're unaware of this Friday feature? This is where the nouveau riche keep score. But the truly rich don't want their name anywhere, they don't want any light upon their affairs, because if you comb through their history...it's ugly.
Kind of like independent promotion. How did your record go to number one?
And who can you trust? Your spouse? Your lover? Nobody?
You've got no real friends, it's only business. And those who you're not in business with, if they've got time for you at all, it's only until it conflicts with their shot, because everybody's hustling.
That's how the record business was built. By lying, cheating, independent scumbags. The most revered man in modern record business history? Ahmet Ertegun? They did a feature on him in the "New Yorker" but they didn't mention that he specialized in underpaying his artists, if he paid them at all. Because those writing for magazines...they don't understand. Just like those working for the government.
How did Eliot Spitzer get in trouble?
It was his personality. He thought he was bigger than the game, lived outside the law.
As do most of the winners in society. They don't do what's right, but what's expedient. And the great unwashed buy the image, because they never get to meet the men and women they adore.
Kind of like the musical stars. If you think they're nice, friendly people you haven't met any. They're oftentimes mercurial pricks who step over others to succeed. Kind of like Madonna. A brilliant person who used Jellybean and so many more to achieve her goal, to the point where she's revered and you overpay to see her.
But she's smart. She understands you use what you've got. That most of what you need to win is not taught in school. You employ cunning and manipulation to make others feel good as you achieve your goal and leave them behind. Yup, no one talks shit about Madonna, because they were glad to get picked for the role. She chose THEM!
Which is kind of how Bridget Anne Kelly got used and abused by Chris Christie. Hell, she may be out on the sidewalk today, but she was close to power for years.
She and her cronies may have messed up traffic, but they didn't think it was wrong because that's what winners do, bend rules. And sometimes the cops get them, the press outs them, but then the game continues, because new players are born every minute and the public has a short attention span, because their lives are so lame they've got to put the winners on a pedestal. Or as Helen Kushnick told Jay Leno..."I've been serving you steak dinners for the last eighteen years, I just haven't bothered showing you how I slaughtered the cow." Yes, Jay Leno was a nice guy, a good comic, but he never would have succeeded without Kushnick, who fought for him and held off all comers.
So you watch a movie like "American Hustle" and the unsophisticated see Amy Adams's tits and Bradley Cooper's perm and the unannounced cameo by, spoiler alert, Robert DeNiro. But the sophisticated see an accurate reflection of life not only in the seventies, but today. Where hustlers are independent, they never work for anybody else other than themselves. Where you win by constantly adjusting the formula, not by consulting the textbook written by a professor who never earned a legitimate dollar himself. Where the thrills are visceral and you never know who to trust and you try to avoid getting caught and very few win. Big.
So I applaud the makers of this movie. Because they accurately reflected life in these United States. The only question is whether the audience is smart enough to understand this. To realize no matter how much education you've got, that does not mean you can win. That music business school will prepare you for a nonexistent job at the label, but it'll never teach you how to be the next David Geffen or Irving Azoff.
The winners write history. They see laws and morals as something to be bent.
You may not like it, but it's the truth.
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Saturday 18 January 2014
Friday 17 January 2014
Rhinofy-Come and Go Blues
I read Warren Haynes played "Come and Go Blues" at the Gregg Allman tribute.
It's hard to convey how big "Brothers and Sisters" was.
Duane died in '71, after Bill Graham had them close the Fillmore and their double album tour-de-force was released.
But still, most people didn't know who the Allmans were. No, that's not true, all the hipsters, everybody who was paying attention to album radio, did. But unlike today, the media was not hip, the Allmans were not anointed, despite the quality of their music and the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley.
But then came "Brothers and Sisters" in the fall of '73, with its ubiquitous hit, "Ramblin' Man."
Never underestimate the power of Top Forty, its ability to jet you into the stratosphere. Suddenly, the Allmans were the biggest band in America. You were subjected to "Ramblin' Man" everywhere, to the point you abhorred it. And people started to name their dogs and their daughters "Jessica."
But my favorite cut on "Brothers and Sisters" was "Come and Go Blues."
"People say that you're no good
But I wouldn't cut you loose baby if I could"
You want your friends to like your significant other. Even worse is when you venture to the dark side and start to date, never mind get involved with, someone they disapprove of, who they believe is no good.
"I seem to stay down on the ground
Baby I'm too far gone to turn around"
And this was Gregg Allman! You fall and you cannot pick yourself back up.
"Oh, if only you would make up your mind
Take me where you go, leave me layin' behind"
Definitive answers... We hate the lack of clarity. Are we in or are we out?
"Woman, you got those come and go blues
Yes you do
Lord, you got those come and go blues"
The curse of my life. I wish someone had told me... If they're indecisive, move on. It means they just don't love you enough, even if they love you for a while.
There was this girl in high school... Like "Godfather III," just when I thought it was done, she'd call. Not apologetic, but as if nothing had happened, as if we'd spoken just the day before. And you know how it is...when they're present, they want to get together, they want to be your significant other, until...
"'Round and round, 'round we go
Don't ask me why I stay here, I don't know"
You lose perspective, you're neither here nor there. It tastes so good, and then you go hungry.
"Well maybe I'm a fool to care"
That's the worst part...you know your predicament, you know you're in limbo, you know you're being toyed with, your friends no longer want to hear about it.
"Here I'll stay locked in your web
Till that day I might find someone else"
But you can't. Especially when they're gone. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. No one else looks as good.
"Sail on, my darlin', sail on
You just go your way and I'll go mine
But it seems to me that I once heard
That everything is finally cured by time"
But it's not! You never lose the attraction. It's just that you learn not to participate, not to play. And it is a game. It's even worse when they don't even know they're playing it, because if you call them on it they don't know what you're talking about.
But it wasn't only that girl in high school... My life has been riddled by this curse. My ex moved out, but didn't want to get a divorce. So, do you have hope or file papers?
The latter. I'm telling you now.
So fifteen years after the original an alternate take was released on the Allmans' boxed set "Dreams," it became my go-to version.
But looking on YouTube for the Hot Lanta performance earlier this month I came across this, Gregg Allman with Warren Haynes doing "Come and Go Blues" acoustically:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-aSM3I832I
It's even better this way. Because it's more world-weary. Without extraneous instruments, you hear the heart. Then again, all these years later, Gregg Allman is wiser, he's not as pained, you don't hear the wistfulness, his vocal borders on anger, he's resigned, he's learned.
And now you have too.
But you really haven't. Because that's the nature of love, there is no school, you're destined, sentenced, to figure it all out by yourself. Only you live in your body, only you have your hormones, and you find it impossible to deny them.
And that's what it takes to extricate yourself from the syndrome...willpower.
Maybe they don't love you enough, maybe this is their style, but it never works out, even when you have them it's only for a short while, don't fall prey, you can lose your money, your house, your life. Yes, come and go blues people can drive you to suicide, just do a bit of research on Sarah Miles. Just because they're great when they're there...
So listen to the original.
Listen to the "Dreams" take.
Listen to Gregg's live version.
Even listen to Hank Williams, Jr.'s rendition.
They're all good, the more you listen the more you can't stop. Because there's a human truth encapsulated in the lyrics and sound.
But unlike people, the songs are there, readily available to soothe us when we've got more questions than answers.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
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It's hard to convey how big "Brothers and Sisters" was.
Duane died in '71, after Bill Graham had them close the Fillmore and their double album tour-de-force was released.
But still, most people didn't know who the Allmans were. No, that's not true, all the hipsters, everybody who was paying attention to album radio, did. But unlike today, the media was not hip, the Allmans were not anointed, despite the quality of their music and the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley.
But then came "Brothers and Sisters" in the fall of '73, with its ubiquitous hit, "Ramblin' Man."
Never underestimate the power of Top Forty, its ability to jet you into the stratosphere. Suddenly, the Allmans were the biggest band in America. You were subjected to "Ramblin' Man" everywhere, to the point you abhorred it. And people started to name their dogs and their daughters "Jessica."
But my favorite cut on "Brothers and Sisters" was "Come and Go Blues."
"People say that you're no good
But I wouldn't cut you loose baby if I could"
You want your friends to like your significant other. Even worse is when you venture to the dark side and start to date, never mind get involved with, someone they disapprove of, who they believe is no good.
"I seem to stay down on the ground
Baby I'm too far gone to turn around"
And this was Gregg Allman! You fall and you cannot pick yourself back up.
"Oh, if only you would make up your mind
Take me where you go, leave me layin' behind"
Definitive answers... We hate the lack of clarity. Are we in or are we out?
"Woman, you got those come and go blues
Yes you do
Lord, you got those come and go blues"
The curse of my life. I wish someone had told me... If they're indecisive, move on. It means they just don't love you enough, even if they love you for a while.
There was this girl in high school... Like "Godfather III," just when I thought it was done, she'd call. Not apologetic, but as if nothing had happened, as if we'd spoken just the day before. And you know how it is...when they're present, they want to get together, they want to be your significant other, until...
"'Round and round, 'round we go
Don't ask me why I stay here, I don't know"
You lose perspective, you're neither here nor there. It tastes so good, and then you go hungry.
"Well maybe I'm a fool to care"
That's the worst part...you know your predicament, you know you're in limbo, you know you're being toyed with, your friends no longer want to hear about it.
"Here I'll stay locked in your web
Till that day I might find someone else"
But you can't. Especially when they're gone. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. No one else looks as good.
"Sail on, my darlin', sail on
You just go your way and I'll go mine
But it seems to me that I once heard
That everything is finally cured by time"
But it's not! You never lose the attraction. It's just that you learn not to participate, not to play. And it is a game. It's even worse when they don't even know they're playing it, because if you call them on it they don't know what you're talking about.
But it wasn't only that girl in high school... My life has been riddled by this curse. My ex moved out, but didn't want to get a divorce. So, do you have hope or file papers?
The latter. I'm telling you now.
So fifteen years after the original an alternate take was released on the Allmans' boxed set "Dreams," it became my go-to version.
But looking on YouTube for the Hot Lanta performance earlier this month I came across this, Gregg Allman with Warren Haynes doing "Come and Go Blues" acoustically:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-aSM3I832I
It's even better this way. Because it's more world-weary. Without extraneous instruments, you hear the heart. Then again, all these years later, Gregg Allman is wiser, he's not as pained, you don't hear the wistfulness, his vocal borders on anger, he's resigned, he's learned.
And now you have too.
But you really haven't. Because that's the nature of love, there is no school, you're destined, sentenced, to figure it all out by yourself. Only you live in your body, only you have your hormones, and you find it impossible to deny them.
And that's what it takes to extricate yourself from the syndrome...willpower.
Maybe they don't love you enough, maybe this is their style, but it never works out, even when you have them it's only for a short while, don't fall prey, you can lose your money, your house, your life. Yes, come and go blues people can drive you to suicide, just do a bit of research on Sarah Miles. Just because they're great when they're there...
So listen to the original.
Listen to the "Dreams" take.
Listen to Gregg's live version.
Even listen to Hank Williams, Jr.'s rendition.
They're all good, the more you listen the more you can't stop. Because there's a human truth encapsulated in the lyrics and sound.
But unlike people, the songs are there, readily available to soothe us when we've got more questions than answers.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
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Thursday 16 January 2014
The Eagles Reopen The Forum
I never thought I'd see Bernie play with them again.
But it was that kind of night, a homecoming.
No, we didn't find out about the show on KMET, but we did all get in our cars and drive south to where a building always described as a wedding cake awaited our arrival.
But this time it was different.
This time it was only for us.
No Lakers, no Kings, just music.
And boy was the sound incredible.
Dolan told me they hired this company that put microphones all around the arena to ensure...
But I could tell from the very first note, it was all anybody talked about, how good the show sounded. Usually you go to the arena and if you don't know the song by heart, it's indecipherable noise. But here lyrics that are questionable on the record emerge perfectly intelligible.
As for the building itself...
Much has been made of the high-backed chairs. But little has been told of the resculpting, wherein the bottom level of the loge has been removed and the floor is bigger and downstairs there are bars and restrooms and upstairs there are name brand restaurants, local fare like Pink's and Carney's, and a dedicated merch booth. Hell, you can even drink outside on the patio. Now they take your ticket before you ascend.
But a building is nothing without people.
And those in attendance were not the downtown crowd. The Forum always had a South Bay feel. There were plenty of Hawaiian shirts and no suits.
And everybody was there to see the Eagles.
Yes, right now the Fabulous Forum is the number one music venue in the world, a ton of money was injected to make it so.
But almost no one will ever go there.
Except for us.
he natives and the transplants. Who understand finance is focused in New York and tech emerges from San Francisco, but there's nowhere we'd rather be than Los Angeles.
Randy Newman wrote a pretty good song.
ut the heart of the Southern California experience is the Eagles. Because they too picked up and left to come here, to live free and make it.
So funny aging, because you realize most people don't make it. Many never try. But most miss the target. They're afraid to work that hard, but mostly they're afraid to look at themselves, if you're not constantly evaluating and redressing your flaws you're never going to get the brass ring. And that's what the Eagles achieved, and have been on an endless victory lap ever since.
They didn't expect it to be this way. It wasn't until the country cover album "Common Thread" demonstrated how much love was still extant for the band, when their greatest hits album exceeded the sales of "Thriller," that they reunited. And sure, their solo careers never flew as high, but really we needed them. To remind us. Of how it once was and still could be.
Boy could they play. And sing too.
It's so different from the great unwashed of today who focus on fame and refuse to practice. But that's all the Eagles did. See the Beatles and rehearse in the garage. Every baby boomer alive picked up an instrument after the Fab Four appeared on "Ed Sullivan." But most of us gave up. A few soldiered on.
Glenn left Detroit. Don left Texas. And they came to the City of Angels to discover...
No one cared. That's how it is when you're not famous. You're irrelevant. You find others with the same problem, whether it be Jack Tempchin in San Diego or J.D. Souther in from the flatlands. And you play in bands, and you make friends and you get enough experience until you believe...you're ready.
That's what the Eagles did. After backing up Ronstadt they got hooked up with Bernie Leadon and...
They rented a rehearsal hall in the Valley for six bucks an hour and hunkered down.
They had an immediate hit, "Take It Easy," and then were exiled into the wilderness. Until suddenly, by a fluke, a random radio request, "Best Of My Love" from their third album, was played on a midwest station and caught on and became their first number one. The band went from struggling to selling out stadiums. It happens just about that fast. And then they proceeded to record "Hotel California" and become legends.
That's the truth, you can never leave.
Oh, there's an occasional east coaster who doesn't get it, who moves here for a while and returns, but the rest of us...we're lifers.
And we don't need to convince you. We just need to go to the Forum and revel in our blessedness.
There's no coat check, why would there be?
There's plenty of parking, Los Angeles doesn't believe in public transportation, it's the suburbs on steroids.
And we sit on our aged asses and listen to...the way it used to be.
You remember that, don't you?
Maybe you don't.
Well, let me tell you.
First and foremost you had to know how to play.
And if you were good and lucky you got a manager and a record deal and some radio action.
And if you were really good, it continued.
And you lived an undocumented life so wild and crazy, so fulfilling and fetter free, that to this day everybody wants to be a "rock star," whatever that means.
Want to know what it used to mean?
You destroy a hotel room out of boredom and your manager peels off hundreds to make it go away and no one really cares, because the very next night you're going to make tons more dough.
You can get laid every day. By different women. And you do. There is no AIDS. And they're lining up to blow you. The world runs on sex, just ask the President of France, and rock stars and their music were the epicenter of it. Still are.
You stay in the finest places and everyone knows your name. You can barely open your wallet because everybody wants to give you stuff for free.
And everybody hangs on every word.
That's the essence of the game, your music. Made only by you only for us. There are no middlemen. Corporations are abhorred. The label has no input. You lay it down raw and we want to hear everything you have to say. That's when album rock began. Not when they created the LP, but when classic acts could fill it.
So when you sit in the Forum and hear Bernie sing "Train Leaves Here This Morning" as Don and Glenn strum along on their guitars...
You're taken right back to the summer of '72, when you couldn't drive down the boulevard without hearing that acoustic intro with the refrain telling us to take it easy. You knew every note. And when the band plays "Witchy Woman," you revel in what is a greatest hit, even though you'll find it on no chart.
And when Don Henley sings the "Doolin' Dalton/Desperado (Reprise)" you're almost ready to pick up the tonearm and start the record again after this album ending cut.
And when Frey tells us he was inspired by the Beach Boys, mere miles from Hawthorne, where the Wilsons grew up and made their initial music, and that they've rearranged "Heartache Tonight" in tribute to "Barbara Ann" from "Beach Boys' Party"...
WE OWNED THAT ALBUM! WE KNOW WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT! WE DON'T WANT TO GO OUT FOR A PEE AND TEXT OUR FRIENDS, WE WANT TO STAND IN JOY AND CLAP ALONG!
Joy. That's what last night was about. A retrospective of what once was, when we were growing up and the whole world was in front of us.
But it's already gone at this point. At least most of it. But to be able to return to the scene of the crime with the greatest exponent of that era...
That's heaven.
P.S. You had to be there to hear the roar after Glenn Frey introduced Don Henley, the singer-songwriter-drummer-guitarist from Linden, Texas. It was loud and vociferous and never would have stopped if it hadn't been cut short to introduce Joe Walsh. There's nowhere else you can get this hit. No matter how rich you are. We revere our rock stars. Not for their fame, but their talent!
P.P.S. Yes, Joe Walsh keeps the second half of the show together. And reminds us there once was a paradigm known as the "guitar hero." Those were the days.
P.P.P.S. "Life in the fast lane, surely make you lose your mind." And your life. Some didn't make it, they're six feet under or have been cast to the wind. But these guys survived and can still do it every bit as well and we were there to see it and if that doesn't make you feel completely alive, you're dead.
"There are stars in the southern sky
And if ever you decide you should go
There is a taste of thyme sweetened honey
Down the seven bridges road"
Take the 405 to Manchester. Or La Cienega from downtown. Southward as you go. Because five more times this month the biggest band in Southern California history, in American history, is demonstrating what it was once like. When we were addicted to the radio, when going to the record store was a pilgrimage as important as a trip to Mecca or Jerusalem. When we couldn't wait to get home and break the shrinkwrap and hear what our favorites had to say. And there will be moments when there are so many guitars on stage you'd think you were at Guitar Center, or Fred Walicki's Westwood Music. But late in the show, the assembled multitude will stride up to the mics and sing a cappella the Steve Young song we know by heart from their live album. And you'll close your eyes or look to the sky and remember...not only the music, but the sex, the alcohol and the dope. Doing nothing without the music playing, going to the gig because that's what you did, never finding it too expensive to attend.
It's an experience that can't be captured on wax or film, you just have to go. And you should.
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But it was that kind of night, a homecoming.
No, we didn't find out about the show on KMET, but we did all get in our cars and drive south to where a building always described as a wedding cake awaited our arrival.
But this time it was different.
This time it was only for us.
No Lakers, no Kings, just music.
And boy was the sound incredible.
Dolan told me they hired this company that put microphones all around the arena to ensure...
But I could tell from the very first note, it was all anybody talked about, how good the show sounded. Usually you go to the arena and if you don't know the song by heart, it's indecipherable noise. But here lyrics that are questionable on the record emerge perfectly intelligible.
As for the building itself...
Much has been made of the high-backed chairs. But little has been told of the resculpting, wherein the bottom level of the loge has been removed and the floor is bigger and downstairs there are bars and restrooms and upstairs there are name brand restaurants, local fare like Pink's and Carney's, and a dedicated merch booth. Hell, you can even drink outside on the patio. Now they take your ticket before you ascend.
But a building is nothing without people.
And those in attendance were not the downtown crowd. The Forum always had a South Bay feel. There were plenty of Hawaiian shirts and no suits.
And everybody was there to see the Eagles.
Yes, right now the Fabulous Forum is the number one music venue in the world, a ton of money was injected to make it so.
But almost no one will ever go there.
Except for us.
he natives and the transplants. Who understand finance is focused in New York and tech emerges from San Francisco, but there's nowhere we'd rather be than Los Angeles.
Randy Newman wrote a pretty good song.
ut the heart of the Southern California experience is the Eagles. Because they too picked up and left to come here, to live free and make it.
So funny aging, because you realize most people don't make it. Many never try. But most miss the target. They're afraid to work that hard, but mostly they're afraid to look at themselves, if you're not constantly evaluating and redressing your flaws you're never going to get the brass ring. And that's what the Eagles achieved, and have been on an endless victory lap ever since.
They didn't expect it to be this way. It wasn't until the country cover album "Common Thread" demonstrated how much love was still extant for the band, when their greatest hits album exceeded the sales of "Thriller," that they reunited. And sure, their solo careers never flew as high, but really we needed them. To remind us. Of how it once was and still could be.
Boy could they play. And sing too.
It's so different from the great unwashed of today who focus on fame and refuse to practice. But that's all the Eagles did. See the Beatles and rehearse in the garage. Every baby boomer alive picked up an instrument after the Fab Four appeared on "Ed Sullivan." But most of us gave up. A few soldiered on.
Glenn left Detroit. Don left Texas. And they came to the City of Angels to discover...
No one cared. That's how it is when you're not famous. You're irrelevant. You find others with the same problem, whether it be Jack Tempchin in San Diego or J.D. Souther in from the flatlands. And you play in bands, and you make friends and you get enough experience until you believe...you're ready.
That's what the Eagles did. After backing up Ronstadt they got hooked up with Bernie Leadon and...
They rented a rehearsal hall in the Valley for six bucks an hour and hunkered down.
They had an immediate hit, "Take It Easy," and then were exiled into the wilderness. Until suddenly, by a fluke, a random radio request, "Best Of My Love" from their third album, was played on a midwest station and caught on and became their first number one. The band went from struggling to selling out stadiums. It happens just about that fast. And then they proceeded to record "Hotel California" and become legends.
That's the truth, you can never leave.
Oh, there's an occasional east coaster who doesn't get it, who moves here for a while and returns, but the rest of us...we're lifers.
And we don't need to convince you. We just need to go to the Forum and revel in our blessedness.
There's no coat check, why would there be?
There's plenty of parking, Los Angeles doesn't believe in public transportation, it's the suburbs on steroids.
And we sit on our aged asses and listen to...the way it used to be.
You remember that, don't you?
Maybe you don't.
Well, let me tell you.
First and foremost you had to know how to play.
And if you were good and lucky you got a manager and a record deal and some radio action.
And if you were really good, it continued.
And you lived an undocumented life so wild and crazy, so fulfilling and fetter free, that to this day everybody wants to be a "rock star," whatever that means.
Want to know what it used to mean?
You destroy a hotel room out of boredom and your manager peels off hundreds to make it go away and no one really cares, because the very next night you're going to make tons more dough.
You can get laid every day. By different women. And you do. There is no AIDS. And they're lining up to blow you. The world runs on sex, just ask the President of France, and rock stars and their music were the epicenter of it. Still are.
You stay in the finest places and everyone knows your name. You can barely open your wallet because everybody wants to give you stuff for free.
And everybody hangs on every word.
That's the essence of the game, your music. Made only by you only for us. There are no middlemen. Corporations are abhorred. The label has no input. You lay it down raw and we want to hear everything you have to say. That's when album rock began. Not when they created the LP, but when classic acts could fill it.
So when you sit in the Forum and hear Bernie sing "Train Leaves Here This Morning" as Don and Glenn strum along on their guitars...
You're taken right back to the summer of '72, when you couldn't drive down the boulevard without hearing that acoustic intro with the refrain telling us to take it easy. You knew every note. And when the band plays "Witchy Woman," you revel in what is a greatest hit, even though you'll find it on no chart.
And when Don Henley sings the "Doolin' Dalton/Desperado (Reprise)" you're almost ready to pick up the tonearm and start the record again after this album ending cut.
And when Frey tells us he was inspired by the Beach Boys, mere miles from Hawthorne, where the Wilsons grew up and made their initial music, and that they've rearranged "Heartache Tonight" in tribute to "Barbara Ann" from "Beach Boys' Party"...
WE OWNED THAT ALBUM! WE KNOW WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT! WE DON'T WANT TO GO OUT FOR A PEE AND TEXT OUR FRIENDS, WE WANT TO STAND IN JOY AND CLAP ALONG!
Joy. That's what last night was about. A retrospective of what once was, when we were growing up and the whole world was in front of us.
But it's already gone at this point. At least most of it. But to be able to return to the scene of the crime with the greatest exponent of that era...
That's heaven.
P.S. You had to be there to hear the roar after Glenn Frey introduced Don Henley, the singer-songwriter-drummer-guitarist from Linden, Texas. It was loud and vociferous and never would have stopped if it hadn't been cut short to introduce Joe Walsh. There's nowhere else you can get this hit. No matter how rich you are. We revere our rock stars. Not for their fame, but their talent!
P.P.S. Yes, Joe Walsh keeps the second half of the show together. And reminds us there once was a paradigm known as the "guitar hero." Those were the days.
P.P.P.S. "Life in the fast lane, surely make you lose your mind." And your life. Some didn't make it, they're six feet under or have been cast to the wind. But these guys survived and can still do it every bit as well and we were there to see it and if that doesn't make you feel completely alive, you're dead.
"There are stars in the southern sky
And if ever you decide you should go
There is a taste of thyme sweetened honey
Down the seven bridges road"
Take the 405 to Manchester. Or La Cienega from downtown. Southward as you go. Because five more times this month the biggest band in Southern California history, in American history, is demonstrating what it was once like. When we were addicted to the radio, when going to the record store was a pilgrimage as important as a trip to Mecca or Jerusalem. When we couldn't wait to get home and break the shrinkwrap and hear what our favorites had to say. And there will be moments when there are so many guitars on stage you'd think you were at Guitar Center, or Fred Walicki's Westwood Music. But late in the show, the assembled multitude will stride up to the mics and sing a cappella the Steve Young song we know by heart from their live album. And you'll close your eyes or look to the sky and remember...not only the music, but the sex, the alcohol and the dope. Doing nothing without the music playing, going to the gig because that's what you did, never finding it too expensive to attend.
It's an experience that can't be captured on wax or film, you just have to go. And you should.
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Wednesday 15 January 2014
Dead And Buried
DEAD AND BURIED
AOL E-MAIL
Because it comes late. We live in a Gmail world. Unless your business or educational institution provides e-mail, switch to Gmail, for the storage, for the usability, for the cutting edge updates. Kind of like buying an HP printer. Sure, an Epson or a Canon might be as good, but will they update the drivers to work with the new operating system right away? Doubtful.
REAL TIME CHATS
The only things we want in real time are sports and awards shows. We might be interested in what you have to say, but we don't want to dedicate an hour at the appointed time to find out.
ME TOO VOICES
We're entering an era of authority. In other words, you can write online but unless we already know who you are, we're not going to read it. Yes, if you write something better than the usual suspects, with greater insight and equal readability, you might go viral, otherwise, save your time and post photos to Pinterest, because hobbies are personal.
FEATURE PHONES
Buy your smartphone today. That's right, if you don't have one you've got about a three month window until all your friends start making fun of you. You might think you don't need one, but the truth is we all live on apps and believe you've got maps in your pocket.
COMMENT THREADS
They're on most blogs and YouTube too but no one reads them. They give you the illusion your voice counts, but the truth is it doesn't.
GROUPON AND LIVING SOCIAL
Fads. They're the essence of the internet. No different from PSY and Rebecca Black. Like one hit wonders, you get your money out fast and then move on. But the public is stupid and invests when these companies go public.
THE ALBUM
With no physical product there are no limits. We want as much good stuff as you can deliver. Think about how you can deliver it differently. Don't focus on one time events, but constant ones.
PAID SMARTPHONE APPS
No one wants to pay, they'd rather just hand over their data. We expect it to be free. If your business model is dependent upon people paying, reevaluate.
ON THE WAY OUT
THE HUFFINGTON POST
Because BuzzFeed does linkbait so much better.
SPAM
You can send it, but that doesn't mean we'll read it. If our filter doesn't get it, that doesn't mean we'll click on it. You think it's a direct to consumer world, that if you've got someone's e-mail address you can make contact. But the truth is you've got to know that person, or someone who does.
IN LIMBO
GOOGLE GLASS
Oh, we'll all be employing wearable computers, but will they be geeky glasses we can all see? Doubtful.
THE PERSONAL COMPUTER
Too much horsepower and limited mobility. For most people, their handset is enough. We live in a mobile era and now everybody knows it.
HYPE
We hate it. We can see through it. But if we see the same story enough, we know someone is behind it and it's worth paying attention to.
SLOW CONNECTIONS
The faster the connection, the better the economy. It's why Spotify started in Sweden and so many companies began where there was screamingly fast bandwidth. There was no Netflix before broadband. There will be no CD quality music without faster delivery. This is a national issue. Lobby your government and pay your taxes, it's for the good of us all.
EDUCATION
Kansas wants to eviscerate funding for public schools so fat cats can get richer with lower taxes. This is an under-covered story. How the right wing religious zealots and their rich Republican compatriots are undercutting public education. As for college... You can pay for it, but it's nothing more than an entry ticket unless you go to an elite institution that teaches you how to think. That publicity degree, that music business degree, it might get you in the door but it won't ensure a long term career. Whereas if you know how to analyze a problem you're prepared for change, and change is constant, now more than ever.
CAMERAS
Do we need a separate unit? As smartphone cameras get better, the need for anything else declines. Only hobbyists need a DSLR.
CROWDFUNDING
It will continue, but it's already passe. Let me see, I want to invest a ton of money so someone can create something I think I want but find out I don't really. Don't expect Amanda Palmer's next album to be funded by Kickstarter, she's smart enough to move on to the next thing. That's her skill, discovering what's hip and using it to connect with her fans. You definitely want to know who your fans are and connect with them on a regular basis, but please don't expect the rest of us to care.
TECH
Is there a new new thing? Doubtful. Right now the story is...storytelling. That's what TV does so well. If you can tell a story, the world is yours.
PHYSICAL BOOKS
The iPad killed e-books, or at least stalled their progress. Everyone got excited about e-readers and purchased them and bought books, we were in a heyday of reading. But then the iPad came out with additional capabilities, the Kindle Fire followed and e-books stalled. Luddites and publishers believe this is good for them, that it keeps brick and mortar bookstores and physical books in circulation. But that denies the number one rule of consumerism, distribution. Not everybody lives near a bookstore, printing and distributing books is expensive and wasteful. When everybody was buying Kindles and books publishing was getting a shot in the arm, reading was suddenly where it was at. Now all that's stalled, to the detriment of publishers and writers, they just don't know it yet. He how sits self-satisfied on the old ways loses out. Just like those who focus on CDs lose out. You can reach so many more people online. Figure out how to convert them and make money. Everybody knows about
Beyonce's new album. They could know about you too, if you just got your head out of your rear end. No, that's not true. They want to know about a very thin layer of popular titles, and most people can't deliver them.
RECORD DEALS
Major labels will continue to sign fewer artists and focus their efforts upon them. You can sign with an indie, you can put it out yourself, just don't expect anybody to pay attention.
60 MINUTES
Which failed to realize entertainment comes secondary to pith. Looking for spicy stories "60 Minutes" sacrificed its credibility and will not be taken seriously again. At least the "New York Times" fell on its sword after the Judith Miller affair. But "60 Minutes" can't do this, because it would require them to spend money where no one can see it, behind the scenes, and TV news is all about what you can see on screen and nothing else.
ON THE WAY UP
BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK
Better than the old iteration, he with enough money to dedicate to traditional media wins. For example, read their story on label services here: http://buswk.co/1b4i8f8
WI-FI
If you're afraid of data caps at AT&T and Verizon...you don't realize that wi-fi is becoming ever more ubiquitous and that you don't need a high cellular ceiling.
HEADPHONES
People will spend more on these than they will on desktop or home speakers. If for no other reason than people can see their purchase, there's a status component, but quality does matter.
HOME TECHNOLOGY
Only baby boomers are afraid of new technology, everybody younger has grown up with it and expects it to work and continue to do so. Odds are what you've got will be superseded before it breaks. So, the homes of Gen Y will all have Nest thermostats and so much more. There's a ton of money to be made here.
ONLINE SHOPPING
Because no one's got any time. They'd rather buy what they want and return it for free if they don't like it. Wasting time to drive to a brick and mortar store to find out what you want is not in stock is something you do only once.
CONSOLIDATION
It's the story of the age. Multiple players who merge to make one or who are killed by he who ultimately dominates. To make money today you've got to have an innovative product, priced right, i.e. cheaply, which gets better and better. Innovate or die applies across all spectra today. We don't want yesterday's news, or smartphone or computer or television... You use it and then throw it away.
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AOL E-MAIL
Because it comes late. We live in a Gmail world. Unless your business or educational institution provides e-mail, switch to Gmail, for the storage, for the usability, for the cutting edge updates. Kind of like buying an HP printer. Sure, an Epson or a Canon might be as good, but will they update the drivers to work with the new operating system right away? Doubtful.
REAL TIME CHATS
The only things we want in real time are sports and awards shows. We might be interested in what you have to say, but we don't want to dedicate an hour at the appointed time to find out.
ME TOO VOICES
We're entering an era of authority. In other words, you can write online but unless we already know who you are, we're not going to read it. Yes, if you write something better than the usual suspects, with greater insight and equal readability, you might go viral, otherwise, save your time and post photos to Pinterest, because hobbies are personal.
FEATURE PHONES
Buy your smartphone today. That's right, if you don't have one you've got about a three month window until all your friends start making fun of you. You might think you don't need one, but the truth is we all live on apps and believe you've got maps in your pocket.
COMMENT THREADS
They're on most blogs and YouTube too but no one reads them. They give you the illusion your voice counts, but the truth is it doesn't.
GROUPON AND LIVING SOCIAL
Fads. They're the essence of the internet. No different from PSY and Rebecca Black. Like one hit wonders, you get your money out fast and then move on. But the public is stupid and invests when these companies go public.
THE ALBUM
With no physical product there are no limits. We want as much good stuff as you can deliver. Think about how you can deliver it differently. Don't focus on one time events, but constant ones.
PAID SMARTPHONE APPS
No one wants to pay, they'd rather just hand over their data. We expect it to be free. If your business model is dependent upon people paying, reevaluate.
ON THE WAY OUT
THE HUFFINGTON POST
Because BuzzFeed does linkbait so much better.
SPAM
You can send it, but that doesn't mean we'll read it. If our filter doesn't get it, that doesn't mean we'll click on it. You think it's a direct to consumer world, that if you've got someone's e-mail address you can make contact. But the truth is you've got to know that person, or someone who does.
IN LIMBO
GOOGLE GLASS
Oh, we'll all be employing wearable computers, but will they be geeky glasses we can all see? Doubtful.
THE PERSONAL COMPUTER
Too much horsepower and limited mobility. For most people, their handset is enough. We live in a mobile era and now everybody knows it.
HYPE
We hate it. We can see through it. But if we see the same story enough, we know someone is behind it and it's worth paying attention to.
SLOW CONNECTIONS
The faster the connection, the better the economy. It's why Spotify started in Sweden and so many companies began where there was screamingly fast bandwidth. There was no Netflix before broadband. There will be no CD quality music without faster delivery. This is a national issue. Lobby your government and pay your taxes, it's for the good of us all.
EDUCATION
Kansas wants to eviscerate funding for public schools so fat cats can get richer with lower taxes. This is an under-covered story. How the right wing religious zealots and their rich Republican compatriots are undercutting public education. As for college... You can pay for it, but it's nothing more than an entry ticket unless you go to an elite institution that teaches you how to think. That publicity degree, that music business degree, it might get you in the door but it won't ensure a long term career. Whereas if you know how to analyze a problem you're prepared for change, and change is constant, now more than ever.
CAMERAS
Do we need a separate unit? As smartphone cameras get better, the need for anything else declines. Only hobbyists need a DSLR.
CROWDFUNDING
It will continue, but it's already passe. Let me see, I want to invest a ton of money so someone can create something I think I want but find out I don't really. Don't expect Amanda Palmer's next album to be funded by Kickstarter, she's smart enough to move on to the next thing. That's her skill, discovering what's hip and using it to connect with her fans. You definitely want to know who your fans are and connect with them on a regular basis, but please don't expect the rest of us to care.
TECH
Is there a new new thing? Doubtful. Right now the story is...storytelling. That's what TV does so well. If you can tell a story, the world is yours.
PHYSICAL BOOKS
The iPad killed e-books, or at least stalled their progress. Everyone got excited about e-readers and purchased them and bought books, we were in a heyday of reading. But then the iPad came out with additional capabilities, the Kindle Fire followed and e-books stalled. Luddites and publishers believe this is good for them, that it keeps brick and mortar bookstores and physical books in circulation. But that denies the number one rule of consumerism, distribution. Not everybody lives near a bookstore, printing and distributing books is expensive and wasteful. When everybody was buying Kindles and books publishing was getting a shot in the arm, reading was suddenly where it was at. Now all that's stalled, to the detriment of publishers and writers, they just don't know it yet. He how sits self-satisfied on the old ways loses out. Just like those who focus on CDs lose out. You can reach so many more people online. Figure out how to convert them and make money. Everybody knows about
Beyonce's new album. They could know about you too, if you just got your head out of your rear end. No, that's not true. They want to know about a very thin layer of popular titles, and most people can't deliver them.
RECORD DEALS
Major labels will continue to sign fewer artists and focus their efforts upon them. You can sign with an indie, you can put it out yourself, just don't expect anybody to pay attention.
60 MINUTES
Which failed to realize entertainment comes secondary to pith. Looking for spicy stories "60 Minutes" sacrificed its credibility and will not be taken seriously again. At least the "New York Times" fell on its sword after the Judith Miller affair. But "60 Minutes" can't do this, because it would require them to spend money where no one can see it, behind the scenes, and TV news is all about what you can see on screen and nothing else.
ON THE WAY UP
BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK
Better than the old iteration, he with enough money to dedicate to traditional media wins. For example, read their story on label services here: http://buswk.co/1b4i8f8
WI-FI
If you're afraid of data caps at AT&T and Verizon...you don't realize that wi-fi is becoming ever more ubiquitous and that you don't need a high cellular ceiling.
HEADPHONES
People will spend more on these than they will on desktop or home speakers. If for no other reason than people can see their purchase, there's a status component, but quality does matter.
HOME TECHNOLOGY
Only baby boomers are afraid of new technology, everybody younger has grown up with it and expects it to work and continue to do so. Odds are what you've got will be superseded before it breaks. So, the homes of Gen Y will all have Nest thermostats and so much more. There's a ton of money to be made here.
ONLINE SHOPPING
Because no one's got any time. They'd rather buy what they want and return it for free if they don't like it. Wasting time to drive to a brick and mortar store to find out what you want is not in stock is something you do only once.
CONSOLIDATION
It's the story of the age. Multiple players who merge to make one or who are killed by he who ultimately dominates. To make money today you've got to have an innovative product, priced right, i.e. cheaply, which gets better and better. Innovate or die applies across all spectra today. We don't want yesterday's news, or smartphone or computer or television... You use it and then throw it away.
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"Governor Christie Traffic Jam"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHV0LLvhXM
The inside joke is the corpulent Christie is a huge fan of the Boss.
And who really is the Boss? The people with all the money or those with all the fans, the artists?
That's the power of performers... The ability to move the masses. Back when they used to stand for something, way before they were just vessels for endorsements, two-dimensional icons for behind the scenes players to attach advertising messages.
If you think anybody cares about Springsteen's new album, you're a fan of the man who never misses a show and have probably flown to a gig to boot. Because albums are too labored, not spontaneous.
Yes, once music was not for tomorrow, just today. Ask the English rockers, they thought they were going back to the factory, they didn't believe they'd be plying the boards decades later.
So what we've got here is a late night comedian with a sense of humor about himself who is willing to break the format established by Carson and honed by Letterman that everyone believes they must adhere to.
Now I'm not saying Jimmy Fallon will triumph at 11:30, because the truth is his audience does not believe in appointment television, we no longer believe in appointment anything, you tell me I've got to tune in to see plastic-surgeried "stars" hype their latest worthless projects as the hosts fawn over them? Ecch...
But we've always got time for creativity. Assuming we can consume it on our own timetable.
All entertainment is now a web play, not only music. Can you put it online where everybody can see it?
And not only does Mr. Fallon know this, but suddenly Mr. Springsteen.
So what we've got here is a concept. Fleshed out. On the spot. Kind of like the best songs of yore, like "Satisfaction," which were written in a burst of inspiration and laid to wax moments later, in a matter of hours. Today we labor over our art to the point where it's so overworked no one can relate to it, all the inspiration is smoothed over and the magic is eviscerated.
But not here.
Come on... You like piling on Christie, right? Mess with our taxes, cut off our unemployment, but don't mess with our CARS! That's an American right, the ability to get in your low mileage machine and scorch the earth of this great nation of ours.
And if you can't...
Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen has a new album to sell.
Radio isn't gonna play it. Come on, he's too old for Top Forty and his music doesn't sound right and he hasn't written a hit in eons.
But all the ancient rag writers have weighed in, as if reviews mean anything in this cacophonous world.
But a little skit on late night TV evidencing more than a smidge of creativity and a sense of humor... We're ready for that!
Fallon does a pretty good Boss. He's actually more comprehensible than the man himself. But it's the moments of interaction that make you smile. But not as much as the nuances... The need to pee, the "Jerseyland" reference. This is the best of high school in action. Or "Your Show Of Shows." That's what we're looking for, a bolt of creativity, not slick, worthless, me-too product.
So what we've got here is a burst of publicity for Springsteen that actually eclipses the new album. If he were smart, he'd appear on Fallon's show in skits like this on a regular basis, we're much more interested in stuff like this than his new music.
That's the new paradigm... Being in the game on a regular basis. Sure, you want to go on the road, but if you're not feeding those who might be interested, you're gonna be forgotten.
But the Boss deserves props. Because he's never sold out, never done endorsements, he can nakedly make fun of Christie not worrying about payback...what is Chris gonna do, prevent him from playing in Newark, at the Meadowlands?
That's the power of art!
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The inside joke is the corpulent Christie is a huge fan of the Boss.
And who really is the Boss? The people with all the money or those with all the fans, the artists?
That's the power of performers... The ability to move the masses. Back when they used to stand for something, way before they were just vessels for endorsements, two-dimensional icons for behind the scenes players to attach advertising messages.
If you think anybody cares about Springsteen's new album, you're a fan of the man who never misses a show and have probably flown to a gig to boot. Because albums are too labored, not spontaneous.
Yes, once music was not for tomorrow, just today. Ask the English rockers, they thought they were going back to the factory, they didn't believe they'd be plying the boards decades later.
So what we've got here is a late night comedian with a sense of humor about himself who is willing to break the format established by Carson and honed by Letterman that everyone believes they must adhere to.
Now I'm not saying Jimmy Fallon will triumph at 11:30, because the truth is his audience does not believe in appointment television, we no longer believe in appointment anything, you tell me I've got to tune in to see plastic-surgeried "stars" hype their latest worthless projects as the hosts fawn over them? Ecch...
But we've always got time for creativity. Assuming we can consume it on our own timetable.
All entertainment is now a web play, not only music. Can you put it online where everybody can see it?
And not only does Mr. Fallon know this, but suddenly Mr. Springsteen.
So what we've got here is a concept. Fleshed out. On the spot. Kind of like the best songs of yore, like "Satisfaction," which were written in a burst of inspiration and laid to wax moments later, in a matter of hours. Today we labor over our art to the point where it's so overworked no one can relate to it, all the inspiration is smoothed over and the magic is eviscerated.
But not here.
Come on... You like piling on Christie, right? Mess with our taxes, cut off our unemployment, but don't mess with our CARS! That's an American right, the ability to get in your low mileage machine and scorch the earth of this great nation of ours.
And if you can't...
Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen has a new album to sell.
Radio isn't gonna play it. Come on, he's too old for Top Forty and his music doesn't sound right and he hasn't written a hit in eons.
But all the ancient rag writers have weighed in, as if reviews mean anything in this cacophonous world.
But a little skit on late night TV evidencing more than a smidge of creativity and a sense of humor... We're ready for that!
Fallon does a pretty good Boss. He's actually more comprehensible than the man himself. But it's the moments of interaction that make you smile. But not as much as the nuances... The need to pee, the "Jerseyland" reference. This is the best of high school in action. Or "Your Show Of Shows." That's what we're looking for, a bolt of creativity, not slick, worthless, me-too product.
So what we've got here is a burst of publicity for Springsteen that actually eclipses the new album. If he were smart, he'd appear on Fallon's show in skits like this on a regular basis, we're much more interested in stuff like this than his new music.
That's the new paradigm... Being in the game on a regular basis. Sure, you want to go on the road, but if you're not feeding those who might be interested, you're gonna be forgotten.
But the Boss deserves props. Because he's never sold out, never done endorsements, he can nakedly make fun of Christie not worrying about payback...what is Chris gonna do, prevent him from playing in Newark, at the Meadowlands?
That's the power of art!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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Tuesday 14 January 2014
Rhinofy-Love Is Alive
I don't know why "Dream Weaver" survives and "Love Is Alive" has been forgotten.
I knew who Gary Wright was, but I didn't know his music. Because Spooky Tooth got no airplay anywhere I lived, and in the seventies you had to buy an album to hear it, and nobody I knew owned any of the act's work.
But then Gary Wright made a deal with Warner Brothers and made "The Dream Weaver" and in the summer of '75, "Love Is Alive" was all over FM radio.
It was different from today. There were no iPods, at best you had a tape player, satellite radio was inconceivable, we were addicted to FM, hell, they even made a movie about it. And we'd push the buttons and wallow in a glorious sound that evidenced the youth of the U.S.A.
I was working at Hollywood Sporting Goods, on Hollywood Boulevard. In addition to the wackos, one day H.R. Haldeman came in looking for Tretorns. I sold him a pair, even though the discount price in the newspaper ad he brought in didn't apply. And I remember distinctly listening to "Love Is Alive" in my car waiting to go in for my shift, listening to the radio during lunch.
The rap was it was all keyboards. That's what the deejay said. And most certainly it was about the sound.
But really, it was all about that change.
"My heart is on fire
My soul's like a wheel that's turning
My love is alive
My love is alive"
The track started off all exuberant. Not so different from the emotion and attitude in so many other tracks. But when you hit the chorus, it was like Gary Wright got down on one knee, put his hand over his heart and testified.
But it was more than that.
It was that synthesizer bass all over the track.
The otherworldly synths.
And the drums. Slapping. Gary Wright didn't have the best voice, but the track pulsed with power, it was undeniable.
Every time that intro sound came through the speakers my heart started to glow. The backbeat, the synthesizer bass, the ethereal synth and then...
THE RIFF!
Before this they'd been on guitars. Which made this one novel, you were entreated to come join the party, of the seventies, the sixties were finally done, but music was still burgeoning.
"Well I think it's time to get ready
To realize just what I have found
I have lived only half of what I am
It's all clear to me now"
It was different back then. No one was on the fast track, at least no one I knew. We didn't meet with campus recruiters, we had no plans after college, our main goal was to find ourselves. You turned on the music and hit go!
"There's a mirror moving inside my mind
Reflecting the love that you shine on me
Hold on now to that feelin'
Let it flow, let it grow, yeah, yeah"
That's what we were all doing. Looking for love. Hookup culture was decades away. Nobody got married early. We were all looking for fulfillment, enrichment and satisfaction.
And no date went on without music.
No sex transpired without music.
It inspired us.
It made us who we were.
And "Love Is Alive" was part of it. "Dream Weaver" is kitschy nostalgia, "Love Is Alive" is seventies essence. A decade that gets a bad rap but featured some amazing music.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/IWKyR9
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I knew who Gary Wright was, but I didn't know his music. Because Spooky Tooth got no airplay anywhere I lived, and in the seventies you had to buy an album to hear it, and nobody I knew owned any of the act's work.
But then Gary Wright made a deal with Warner Brothers and made "The Dream Weaver" and in the summer of '75, "Love Is Alive" was all over FM radio.
It was different from today. There were no iPods, at best you had a tape player, satellite radio was inconceivable, we were addicted to FM, hell, they even made a movie about it. And we'd push the buttons and wallow in a glorious sound that evidenced the youth of the U.S.A.
I was working at Hollywood Sporting Goods, on Hollywood Boulevard. In addition to the wackos, one day H.R. Haldeman came in looking for Tretorns. I sold him a pair, even though the discount price in the newspaper ad he brought in didn't apply. And I remember distinctly listening to "Love Is Alive" in my car waiting to go in for my shift, listening to the radio during lunch.
The rap was it was all keyboards. That's what the deejay said. And most certainly it was about the sound.
But really, it was all about that change.
"My heart is on fire
My soul's like a wheel that's turning
My love is alive
My love is alive"
The track started off all exuberant. Not so different from the emotion and attitude in so many other tracks. But when you hit the chorus, it was like Gary Wright got down on one knee, put his hand over his heart and testified.
But it was more than that.
It was that synthesizer bass all over the track.
The otherworldly synths.
And the drums. Slapping. Gary Wright didn't have the best voice, but the track pulsed with power, it was undeniable.
Every time that intro sound came through the speakers my heart started to glow. The backbeat, the synthesizer bass, the ethereal synth and then...
THE RIFF!
Before this they'd been on guitars. Which made this one novel, you were entreated to come join the party, of the seventies, the sixties were finally done, but music was still burgeoning.
"Well I think it's time to get ready
To realize just what I have found
I have lived only half of what I am
It's all clear to me now"
It was different back then. No one was on the fast track, at least no one I knew. We didn't meet with campus recruiters, we had no plans after college, our main goal was to find ourselves. You turned on the music and hit go!
"There's a mirror moving inside my mind
Reflecting the love that you shine on me
Hold on now to that feelin'
Let it flow, let it grow, yeah, yeah"
That's what we were all doing. Looking for love. Hookup culture was decades away. Nobody got married early. We were all looking for fulfillment, enrichment and satisfaction.
And no date went on without music.
No sex transpired without music.
It inspired us.
It made us who we were.
And "Love Is Alive" was part of it. "Dream Weaver" is kitschy nostalgia, "Love Is Alive" is seventies essence. A decade that gets a bad rap but featured some amazing music.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/IWKyR9
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Lunch At The Grill
"Let's go down to the Sunset Grill"
I never talk on the telephone and I never go to lunch.
That's just how busy I am. Actually, that's because everybody wants to waste my time, selling me their wares. Don't ask to pick my brain, ask what you can do for ME!
But I have a long-standing tradition of going to lunch with Don Passman and we'd been working on a date for months and today was the day.
Don reserved the number one table. The one I'd previously occupied with Irving and Penske. But that's another story...
And on the steps of the Grill, the Beverly Hills outlet, on the alley, not the hamburger stand in the Don Henley song, I ran into my dentist. The most expensive in the world. Who saved my tooth. Shouldn't he be back in the office practicing? But I guess everybody's living the lifestyle of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills.
Also on the steps we encountered Bruce Ramer, Don's law partner. Who was intimate and cracked jokes. Was this his personality or could it be that inside the clubhouse everybody's friends? I'm not sure.
And after sitting down, Bernie Yuman came by.
Huh?
He knew me but I didn't know him.
And then Don told me Bernie was the manager of Siegfried and Roy, the Vegas connection.
And then came Jerry Bruckheimer.
Now it was getting ridiculous. I don't know Jerry, but Don does. I felt like I was doing myself a disservice sitting in front of the computer at home, that some things never changed, that business was personal, and you were best to show up.
And as I was contemplating this, someone sat right down next to me in the booth.
TROY CARTER!
I just read the "Fast Company" piece last night! (http://bit.ly/1ajoWWg)
We discussed John Mayer and POPwater and talked about getting together and I wondered if there was no one who was not here.
But then Irving came by and I knew it was untrue, that everybody was here. And for the moment, I was exactly where it was happening.
P.S. Do you think I don't know you're making fun of me right now? All you big shots with your hundreds of Twitter followers? The truth is business is not democratic, each and every one is run by a club. And you know if you're inside. And as George Carlin would say, you're not. Sorry.
P.P.S. Reach a level of success and you become gun-shy. You're afraid to play because of the blowback. Which is why you can't meet the stars. They're afraid of your smartphones and your inability to understand that just because you've listened to their music or seen their TV shows, you really know nothing about them and they know nothing about you.
P.P.P.S. I heard about the history of Gang, Tyre, Ramer and Brown. Gang started off in the thirties taking everything that came through the door. Specialization comes down the road. You take every gig that's offered on the way in.
P.P.P.P.S. Gene Salomon told me his eleven year old was already over One Direction. They got a year. That's right, while you're plotting your next album, the audience is already forgetting about you.
P.P.P.P.P.S. We discussed the future of the music business. I said there will be fewer acts who will become more successful. Everybody hates to hear this. They want to believe the Internet gives them opportunity. But the truth is in the era of cacophony, when everything is at our fingertips, we gravitate to excellence, authorized by our compatriots. Don't shoot the messenger. People would rather listen to the work of the superstar than your wannabe band. As for listening to your CD a few times...Gene told me he doesn't watch TV, I don't either, other than Bill Maher, we don't have any time, no one's got any time.
P.P.P.P.P.P.S. I met with Michael Gudinski at the Peninsula before this. It was that kind of day, a Beverly Hills one. Gudinski flew in for the Peter Grosslight tribute at the Forum. That's the biggest story in the music business this week, the reopening of the gussied up L.A. Forum with the Eagles. You might think what happens on your blog is important, but the truth is this is a controlled business, run by the usual suspects, and the only people knocking on the door to get in are those who cannot. Because those who could truly revolutionize the business don't want in, there's not enough money involved, never mind opportunity.
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. And that's a day in the life in L.A. Where right now it's 77 degrees in Santa Monica and there's not a cloud in the sky. Yes, you can make it anywhere, but then why do all the techies move to San Francisco?
http://thegrill.com/locations/the-grill-beverly-hills-california
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I never talk on the telephone and I never go to lunch.
That's just how busy I am. Actually, that's because everybody wants to waste my time, selling me their wares. Don't ask to pick my brain, ask what you can do for ME!
But I have a long-standing tradition of going to lunch with Don Passman and we'd been working on a date for months and today was the day.
Don reserved the number one table. The one I'd previously occupied with Irving and Penske. But that's another story...
And on the steps of the Grill, the Beverly Hills outlet, on the alley, not the hamburger stand in the Don Henley song, I ran into my dentist. The most expensive in the world. Who saved my tooth. Shouldn't he be back in the office practicing? But I guess everybody's living the lifestyle of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills.
Also on the steps we encountered Bruce Ramer, Don's law partner. Who was intimate and cracked jokes. Was this his personality or could it be that inside the clubhouse everybody's friends? I'm not sure.
And after sitting down, Bernie Yuman came by.
Huh?
He knew me but I didn't know him.
And then Don told me Bernie was the manager of Siegfried and Roy, the Vegas connection.
And then came Jerry Bruckheimer.
Now it was getting ridiculous. I don't know Jerry, but Don does. I felt like I was doing myself a disservice sitting in front of the computer at home, that some things never changed, that business was personal, and you were best to show up.
And as I was contemplating this, someone sat right down next to me in the booth.
TROY CARTER!
I just read the "Fast Company" piece last night! (http://bit.ly/1ajoWWg)
We discussed John Mayer and POPwater and talked about getting together and I wondered if there was no one who was not here.
But then Irving came by and I knew it was untrue, that everybody was here. And for the moment, I was exactly where it was happening.
P.S. Do you think I don't know you're making fun of me right now? All you big shots with your hundreds of Twitter followers? The truth is business is not democratic, each and every one is run by a club. And you know if you're inside. And as George Carlin would say, you're not. Sorry.
P.P.S. Reach a level of success and you become gun-shy. You're afraid to play because of the blowback. Which is why you can't meet the stars. They're afraid of your smartphones and your inability to understand that just because you've listened to their music or seen their TV shows, you really know nothing about them and they know nothing about you.
P.P.P.S. I heard about the history of Gang, Tyre, Ramer and Brown. Gang started off in the thirties taking everything that came through the door. Specialization comes down the road. You take every gig that's offered on the way in.
P.P.P.P.S. Gene Salomon told me his eleven year old was already over One Direction. They got a year. That's right, while you're plotting your next album, the audience is already forgetting about you.
P.P.P.P.P.S. We discussed the future of the music business. I said there will be fewer acts who will become more successful. Everybody hates to hear this. They want to believe the Internet gives them opportunity. But the truth is in the era of cacophony, when everything is at our fingertips, we gravitate to excellence, authorized by our compatriots. Don't shoot the messenger. People would rather listen to the work of the superstar than your wannabe band. As for listening to your CD a few times...Gene told me he doesn't watch TV, I don't either, other than Bill Maher, we don't have any time, no one's got any time.
P.P.P.P.P.P.S. I met with Michael Gudinski at the Peninsula before this. It was that kind of day, a Beverly Hills one. Gudinski flew in for the Peter Grosslight tribute at the Forum. That's the biggest story in the music business this week, the reopening of the gussied up L.A. Forum with the Eagles. You might think what happens on your blog is important, but the truth is this is a controlled business, run by the usual suspects, and the only people knocking on the door to get in are those who cannot. Because those who could truly revolutionize the business don't want in, there's not enough money involved, never mind opportunity.
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. And that's a day in the life in L.A. Where right now it's 77 degrees in Santa Monica and there's not a cloud in the sky. Yes, you can make it anywhere, but then why do all the techies move to San Francisco?
http://thegrill.com/locations/the-grill-beverly-hills-california
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F-150
It'd be like Justin Timberlake making a country record.
What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where all the creativity comes in business, and the artists keep repeating themselves, hoping that they'll get a different result?
One in which T-Mobile's John Legere is shaking up the wireless industry and the automobile market leader, Ford, is revolutionizing its F-150 pickup.
This is what musicians used to do. Remember the Beatles? One thing we knew about that band is every album would be different, they didn't repeat themselves, and unlike every other sixties group, they're gonna last.
The F-150 has been the best selling automobile for thirty two years straight in the United States. It accounts for forty percent of Ford's profits. You don't mess with an icon, do you?
OF COURSE YOU DO!
Because Ford could see the handwriting on the wall. That stringent fuel economy laws are going to apply and the public is wary of high gas prices. So they switched the body to aluminum, downsized the engines and got five more miles per gallon than their competitors. Sound like a triumph?
IT DOES TO ME!
But the customers won't like it! They're used to their steel trucks! They want big, V8 engines! Never mess with a successful product!
But this is how Detroit got its lunch eaten by Japan in the first place.
This is all about the power of the individual, Alan Mulally. Who reengineered Ford's finances, who did not take money from the government, who authorized this plan.
With all this hogwash about teams and getting along, the truth is triumphs are always the domain of individual visionaries. From Steve Jobs to Mr. Mulally. If you're looking for consensus, you're headed for mediocrity, or failure.
Kind of like today's music.
How many people wrote the song? The label weighed in with its input?
No wonder it's headed for the middle of the market and soon to be forgotten. No one's betting the farm in music, they're all just hoping the same crops grow until they retire.
Doug Morris, our lauded leader, looks back more than forward. I'd like to know what apps he uses on his iPhone.
Lucian Grainge is positively old school. Let me see... I'll buy up market share and pay for the best artists. Not a bad strategy, but not a revolutionary strategy.
Hell, look at Jim Dolan in the concert space. He's investing when everybody else is crying. Who else is gonna spend a hundred million to redo the Forum? Look what he did to the Beacon. People want to go to a first class venue and be treated right, but most concerts are held in places akin to prisons.
But it's the music that gets them there...
And what we've got is classic rock acts and a bunch of spectacle. Yup, most new shows are like the circus, with dancing and acrobatics...can you hear me Pink? What's that got to do with what goes in the ears?
But too many people have watched reality singing competitions. They think being beautiful is a prerequisite to making it. And if you can blow the door down like one of the three little pigs, you're ready.
Look at country, where they're replicating the rock sound of the seventies while leaving the outlaws out. Talk about a controlled environment.
As for rock, it's already dead.
At least there's a bit of innovation in EDM.
As for hip-hop... The goal is to sell out. If music isn't enough for you, I don't want to listen.
So what we've got is people salivating over the latest tech products. Companies thinking outside the box because they know competition is fierce. We're wowed on a regular basis.
But in music, all we've got is complaints! They're stealing my music, they won't listen to the whole album...
Want me to listen to the whole album?
MAKE IT DIFFERENT! MAKE IT INTRIGUING! TAKE A RISK!
But the only people willing to take risks are the untalented who have not made it.
Every day I read about ridiculous albums I don't need to hear. Kind of like Peter Gabriel's cover album and its reverse. Huh? MAKE NEW MUSIC PETER! YOU USED TO TEST LIMITS, NOW YOU'RE ABOUT COMMERCE!
As for the new acts... Tell me what Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters have done that's any different from what transpired forty years ago. So he's a good imitation of what once was. SO WHAT!
You can't buy a Chevy Vega and no one wants the Ford Pinto.
But we keep putting a new body on musical trash and expect the public to get excited about it.
The problem is us.
P.S. You want an aluminum auto body? Then get a Tesla Model S, Audi A8 or a Jaguar, no mainstream automobile features one. Because they're expensive and hard to work on. So what we've got here is a mainstream company LEADING the public to a new world for the benefit of all. Do you see that in music? The land of the compliant? Where what's featured on radio today ain't much different from what Mariah Carey was doing two decades ago?
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What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where all the creativity comes in business, and the artists keep repeating themselves, hoping that they'll get a different result?
One in which T-Mobile's John Legere is shaking up the wireless industry and the automobile market leader, Ford, is revolutionizing its F-150 pickup.
This is what musicians used to do. Remember the Beatles? One thing we knew about that band is every album would be different, they didn't repeat themselves, and unlike every other sixties group, they're gonna last.
The F-150 has been the best selling automobile for thirty two years straight in the United States. It accounts for forty percent of Ford's profits. You don't mess with an icon, do you?
OF COURSE YOU DO!
Because Ford could see the handwriting on the wall. That stringent fuel economy laws are going to apply and the public is wary of high gas prices. So they switched the body to aluminum, downsized the engines and got five more miles per gallon than their competitors. Sound like a triumph?
IT DOES TO ME!
But the customers won't like it! They're used to their steel trucks! They want big, V8 engines! Never mess with a successful product!
But this is how Detroit got its lunch eaten by Japan in the first place.
This is all about the power of the individual, Alan Mulally. Who reengineered Ford's finances, who did not take money from the government, who authorized this plan.
With all this hogwash about teams and getting along, the truth is triumphs are always the domain of individual visionaries. From Steve Jobs to Mr. Mulally. If you're looking for consensus, you're headed for mediocrity, or failure.
Kind of like today's music.
How many people wrote the song? The label weighed in with its input?
No wonder it's headed for the middle of the market and soon to be forgotten. No one's betting the farm in music, they're all just hoping the same crops grow until they retire.
Doug Morris, our lauded leader, looks back more than forward. I'd like to know what apps he uses on his iPhone.
Lucian Grainge is positively old school. Let me see... I'll buy up market share and pay for the best artists. Not a bad strategy, but not a revolutionary strategy.
Hell, look at Jim Dolan in the concert space. He's investing when everybody else is crying. Who else is gonna spend a hundred million to redo the Forum? Look what he did to the Beacon. People want to go to a first class venue and be treated right, but most concerts are held in places akin to prisons.
But it's the music that gets them there...
And what we've got is classic rock acts and a bunch of spectacle. Yup, most new shows are like the circus, with dancing and acrobatics...can you hear me Pink? What's that got to do with what goes in the ears?
But too many people have watched reality singing competitions. They think being beautiful is a prerequisite to making it. And if you can blow the door down like one of the three little pigs, you're ready.
Look at country, where they're replicating the rock sound of the seventies while leaving the outlaws out. Talk about a controlled environment.
As for rock, it's already dead.
At least there's a bit of innovation in EDM.
As for hip-hop... The goal is to sell out. If music isn't enough for you, I don't want to listen.
So what we've got is people salivating over the latest tech products. Companies thinking outside the box because they know competition is fierce. We're wowed on a regular basis.
But in music, all we've got is complaints! They're stealing my music, they won't listen to the whole album...
Want me to listen to the whole album?
MAKE IT DIFFERENT! MAKE IT INTRIGUING! TAKE A RISK!
But the only people willing to take risks are the untalented who have not made it.
Every day I read about ridiculous albums I don't need to hear. Kind of like Peter Gabriel's cover album and its reverse. Huh? MAKE NEW MUSIC PETER! YOU USED TO TEST LIMITS, NOW YOU'RE ABOUT COMMERCE!
As for the new acts... Tell me what Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters have done that's any different from what transpired forty years ago. So he's a good imitation of what once was. SO WHAT!
You can't buy a Chevy Vega and no one wants the Ford Pinto.
But we keep putting a new body on musical trash and expect the public to get excited about it.
The problem is us.
P.S. You want an aluminum auto body? Then get a Tesla Model S, Audi A8 or a Jaguar, no mainstream automobile features one. Because they're expensive and hard to work on. So what we've got here is a mainstream company LEADING the public to a new world for the benefit of all. Do you see that in music? The land of the compliant? Where what's featured on radio today ain't much different from what Mariah Carey was doing two decades ago?
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Monday 13 January 2014
Potpourri
1. "The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves" by Stephen Grosz
http://amzn.to/1eAR7lP
I think everybody should read this book.
We live in a funny world, everybody's a winner, everybody's complete. But I must say I've got more questions than answers. And reading this book stimulated me more than anything that's passed before my eyeballs in months.
I was turned on to it by Michiko Kakutani. Yes, the reviewer Carrie talks about in "Sex and the City." Ms. Kakutani had it on her ten best list. (http://nyti.ms/IYE8Rn) And I was looking for something new to read, and I don't want to be disappointed after "The Goldfinch" and Ms. Kakutani had the Tartt book listed as number one, so I decided to check out the sample chapter.
I got hooked.
What Mr. Grosz does is tell stories about patients, thinly fictionalized.
He's not a psychopharmacologist, he's not a feel good guru. Rather he sits with his patients five days a week trying to figure them out, learning about himself in the process.
There are few definitive answers, like life, there are only guideposts. But the insight is breathtaking. I especially liked the chapter wherein he stated closure was a fallacy. There are things I can't get over that make me feel bad about myself. Mr. Grosz said to avoid just this syndrome. Society tells us to get over it, but maybe we just can't, maybe we learn how to cope as it returns to our consciousness again and again.
If you think you have all the answers, this is not the book for you.
If you think you're all right, you just need some business guidance, this is not the book for you.
If you sometimes feel isolated, or believe you're working against yourself, or that you keep repeating the same patterns.
THIS IS YOUR BOOK!
2. "The Scent of Pine" by Lara Vapnyar
http://amzn.to/1aiPw4X
Reading "The Examined Life" made me want to meet Ms. Kakutani. Because I read about the book nowhere else and it made me wonder what made Michiko pick it. Makes me think she's got more questions than answers.
And now I'm dying to meet Ms. Vapnyar.
I read a review of her book too. And went to download the sample chapter, but it wasn't available yet. That's what I hate about hype, it's all buildup for something that's got nothing to do with me. Kinda like the Golden Globes. If I can't immediately watch the movies they promote, what's the use?
So I downloaded some of Ms. Vapnyar's previous work and couldn't get into it.
But after finishing "The Examined Life" yesterday, I remembered that "The Scent of Pine went on sale the previous Tuesday and downloaded a sample.
The initial few pages didn't hook me.
And now I can't put it down.
What intrigued me about Ms. Vapnyar was that she moved to the United States from Russia and shortly thereafter became a novelist. Huh? I mean even if you studied English in Russia, were you ready, were you fluent enough in the language?
But I have never ever read such an accurate description of two people falling in love. The awkwardness, the desire, the exchange of stories. It's so funny, we're wandering in the wilderness and suddenly someone is listening to us, or vice versa, and we go down the rabbit hole and immediately want to know everything about them.
The book is set half in the U.S. and half in Russia. Half today, half yesterday. And I kept thinking that maybe the Russians had it right. In America everybody's trying to be rich and famous. In Russia, it's about living, the stories, what happens between me and you.
If you want to know what happens between two people, read this book.
3. "The Billionaire's Playlist: How an oligarch got into the American music Business" by Connie Bruck
http://nyr.kr/1kym9lQ
She called me. I didn't have much to say, no one at Warner who knows anything will talk. And the article gives you essentially no insight into Len's travails at the music company.
But it does give you a whole lot of history.
This is not the most readable article. But if you wade through it, and you're gonna have to buy the "New Yorker," the whole thing is not available for free online, you will recognize the divide between Len Blavatnik and yourself. We think we want to be rich and famous like the musicians. But the musicians want to be rich and famous like the bankers. And the bankers are beholden to the oligarchs. And you don't want to know how the oligarchs made their money. Only here, it's delineated.
Are you willing to put your life on the line? Literally.
Are you willing to go to jail?
Not me. Maybe that's why I'm not an oligarch.
But Oxford took Mr. Blavatnik's money. For a school of government. Huh? Money talks, as Ray Davies once sang. If you're rich enough, you can buy anybody.
Also, the description of Lyor Cohen's legal travails... Funny how time has a way of paving over history.
Furthermore, Ms. Bruck makes the point that Blavatnik wants to pay the acts less and the execs via incentives. Is this the future of the music business? I don't think so. Is it the future of America and the world, quite definitely. If you think being an honest, forthright citizen who votes makes you win, you've got no idea what the game is.
4. "Meanwhile, she said, a team of reporters and editors has begun work on a major 2014 project: 'a deep look at the global rich.'"
http://nyti.ms/1lQavAN
"She" is the editor of the "New York Times," Jill Abramson. The above was from yesterday's article by the public editor, Margaret Sullivan.
This is the story of the age. The gap between them and us, the rich and the poor. And it is not pretty. The rich are supposed to have earned their essentially tax free status by creating jobs for the rest of us. They're supposed to be wiser, benevolent dictators. The truth is so far from this it's scary, but people don't want to believe it, because it eviscerates their hope. You don't want to play if you cannot win.
This is why we need the "Times." But whether you think we need it or not, enough people do to fund this kind of journalism.
Expect to be very angry in the coming months.
They came after Christie and they came after Ailes and in the U.K. they went after Murdoch. Despite screwing up Iraq, the press has gotten hold of something and with bullhorns but no facts possessed by the bloviating right wingers at Fox...expect turmoil. Money drives this country. And they're going after the money. This is a better movie than ever plays in the theatre. This is real life, this is not reality TV.
5. "The motivation comes from a belief that almost anything can be mastered if you're willing to put in the hours to master it. If you're going to do something, do it as best as you can."
Jeff Shiffrin talking about his daughter Mikaela
http://nyti.ms/1ft24ep
It's that time of year again. When the Winter Olympics fill the screen during the doldrums of February. And our best hope for a skiing medal is the aforementioned Mikaela Shiffrin.
What I hate about hype is you don't know how much is true.
But everyone agrees that Mikaela Shiffrin didn't race, she practiced.
Now think about this... Imagine if instead of posting to YouTube and Instagram and tweeting and facebooking about your music you took ten years out and practiced your instrument, only occasionally playing live... Then you might be world class.
In other words, just showing up does not make you world class. You've got to have the hunger and the desire when no one is watching and listening.
And yes, it does help to have rich parents.
Mikaela Shiffrin is already the slalom world champion.
Not everybody can win.
But someone will. And it'll be less about desire and promotion and attitude than plain hard work, mostly in the wilderness.
6. Shaun White
http://nyti.ms/1d26qBz
Nobody likes him.
The story of the year is the death of snowboarding.
Yes, despite all the Olympic run-up, sales are nosediving, as is participation. Sure, skis are mini-snowboards now, but the real reason is snowboarding is possessed by Gen-X, and like kids from every generation, from baby boomers to Alex Keaton, they want nothing to do with what their parents are up to.
But the "New York Times" doesn't know this, they haven't reported the story yet, but it's been in the "Boston Globe" (http://b.globe.com/IMwdpI) and "Vail Daily" (http://bit.ly/1ePEFiF). So the "Times" runs a feature on Shaun White, it's as bad as the talking head features on TV, conceptually anyway.
But the writer gets it right.
People don't like Shaun White.
Oh, his sponsors and those who don't know him do. But in the community? He's a loner who's out for himself.
And the story is interesting, but the point is most people have no idea what it takes to make it, the determination and self-sacrifice. Chances are if you're a bro everybody adores, you're never going to triumph.
Many successful musicians are pricks. They had to be, to make it.
7. "The Crash Reel"
thecrashreel.com
I met Kevin Pearce.
Huh?
Mr. Pearce was the only person who could beat Shaun White. They emphasize how Mr. White is not a bro in this film.
But that's not its point.
Kevin Pearce was the snowboarder who crashed in the halfpipe just before the last Olympics, in Vancouver, in 2010.
He had a traumatic brain injury.
This is the story, primarily of that injury.
I wish everybody could see this film, but with the cacophony that is media today, chances are slim. But you can pull it up on demand on HBO right now, and you should.
Yes, the initial part is all about snowboarding.
But then comes the injury.
What happens to the losers?
That's what we never read about in America...those who don't triumph, those who endure endless hardship. Like Kevin's parents, who have another child with Down's syndrome.
He knows he has it! The kid with Down's is frustrated about it!
And wants Kevin not to compete anymore.
But Kevin won't listen. To his family, his doctors... He wants to go back out on the hill.
Thank god he realizes he just doesn't have it anymore, before he has another TBI, traumatic brain injury, like his compatriot at the end of the film, whose arm is paralyzed and whose speech is slurred and whose only desire is to get back on the hill.
You have to know when to give up. Just because you didn't win at one thing doesn't mean you can't win at another. And what is winning anyway? That's what the Russians have right, the lower class ones. They know life isn't something you tote up on a scorecard.
Watch "The Crash Reel" and you'll be embarrassed to watch football, because when you see those brain scans, they're even worse!
And yes, Kevin comes from a rich family too. His Irish father has a great American story, he built an empire on glassblowing. He overcame his dyslexia to do it.
So, some people slip through, they overcome great hardship and difficulties to do so.
But don't believe just because they did you can too.
And don't be disillusioned if you don't make it, just pick yourself up and...
EVALUATE YOUR DIRECTION BEFORE YOU PUT ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF ANOTHER!
You don't want to be like that snowboarder after his third TBI who is barely functional. You don't want to turn fifty and be lugging your equipment up stairs to play covers for those not interested still believing you're one step away from making it. If you're having fun, if you're paying the bills, more power to you. But if you've sacrificed everything, have no house, no children, no car, no health insurance because you think there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...eek.
8. "In the end, I made my decision the way I make all decisions I've brutalized with analysis - by giving up and awaiting logistical intervention."
http://nyti.ms/1hRpYk9
This is why we read. To find out we're not alone, that there are others just like us.
I have a hard time making a decision. Taking risks too. I so much want to make the RIGHT decision that...
I end up waiting for enough information for the choice to be clear.
But oftentimes that's too late.
Unsure of what day to fly, I wait, and then can't fly any day, because it's gotten too expensive.
It's a thrill to see yourself elsewhere, to feel connected.
And that's my job here.
--
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--
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--
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http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
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http://amzn.to/1eAR7lP
I think everybody should read this book.
We live in a funny world, everybody's a winner, everybody's complete. But I must say I've got more questions than answers. And reading this book stimulated me more than anything that's passed before my eyeballs in months.
I was turned on to it by Michiko Kakutani. Yes, the reviewer Carrie talks about in "Sex and the City." Ms. Kakutani had it on her ten best list. (http://nyti.ms/IYE8Rn) And I was looking for something new to read, and I don't want to be disappointed after "The Goldfinch" and Ms. Kakutani had the Tartt book listed as number one, so I decided to check out the sample chapter.
I got hooked.
What Mr. Grosz does is tell stories about patients, thinly fictionalized.
He's not a psychopharmacologist, he's not a feel good guru. Rather he sits with his patients five days a week trying to figure them out, learning about himself in the process.
There are few definitive answers, like life, there are only guideposts. But the insight is breathtaking. I especially liked the chapter wherein he stated closure was a fallacy. There are things I can't get over that make me feel bad about myself. Mr. Grosz said to avoid just this syndrome. Society tells us to get over it, but maybe we just can't, maybe we learn how to cope as it returns to our consciousness again and again.
If you think you have all the answers, this is not the book for you.
If you think you're all right, you just need some business guidance, this is not the book for you.
If you sometimes feel isolated, or believe you're working against yourself, or that you keep repeating the same patterns.
THIS IS YOUR BOOK!
2. "The Scent of Pine" by Lara Vapnyar
http://amzn.to/1aiPw4X
Reading "The Examined Life" made me want to meet Ms. Kakutani. Because I read about the book nowhere else and it made me wonder what made Michiko pick it. Makes me think she's got more questions than answers.
And now I'm dying to meet Ms. Vapnyar.
I read a review of her book too. And went to download the sample chapter, but it wasn't available yet. That's what I hate about hype, it's all buildup for something that's got nothing to do with me. Kinda like the Golden Globes. If I can't immediately watch the movies they promote, what's the use?
So I downloaded some of Ms. Vapnyar's previous work and couldn't get into it.
But after finishing "The Examined Life" yesterday, I remembered that "The Scent of Pine went on sale the previous Tuesday and downloaded a sample.
The initial few pages didn't hook me.
And now I can't put it down.
What intrigued me about Ms. Vapnyar was that she moved to the United States from Russia and shortly thereafter became a novelist. Huh? I mean even if you studied English in Russia, were you ready, were you fluent enough in the language?
But I have never ever read such an accurate description of two people falling in love. The awkwardness, the desire, the exchange of stories. It's so funny, we're wandering in the wilderness and suddenly someone is listening to us, or vice versa, and we go down the rabbit hole and immediately want to know everything about them.
The book is set half in the U.S. and half in Russia. Half today, half yesterday. And I kept thinking that maybe the Russians had it right. In America everybody's trying to be rich and famous. In Russia, it's about living, the stories, what happens between me and you.
If you want to know what happens between two people, read this book.
3. "The Billionaire's Playlist: How an oligarch got into the American music Business" by Connie Bruck
http://nyr.kr/1kym9lQ
She called me. I didn't have much to say, no one at Warner who knows anything will talk. And the article gives you essentially no insight into Len's travails at the music company.
But it does give you a whole lot of history.
This is not the most readable article. But if you wade through it, and you're gonna have to buy the "New Yorker," the whole thing is not available for free online, you will recognize the divide between Len Blavatnik and yourself. We think we want to be rich and famous like the musicians. But the musicians want to be rich and famous like the bankers. And the bankers are beholden to the oligarchs. And you don't want to know how the oligarchs made their money. Only here, it's delineated.
Are you willing to put your life on the line? Literally.
Are you willing to go to jail?
Not me. Maybe that's why I'm not an oligarch.
But Oxford took Mr. Blavatnik's money. For a school of government. Huh? Money talks, as Ray Davies once sang. If you're rich enough, you can buy anybody.
Also, the description of Lyor Cohen's legal travails... Funny how time has a way of paving over history.
Furthermore, Ms. Bruck makes the point that Blavatnik wants to pay the acts less and the execs via incentives. Is this the future of the music business? I don't think so. Is it the future of America and the world, quite definitely. If you think being an honest, forthright citizen who votes makes you win, you've got no idea what the game is.
4. "Meanwhile, she said, a team of reporters and editors has begun work on a major 2014 project: 'a deep look at the global rich.'"
http://nyti.ms/1lQavAN
"She" is the editor of the "New York Times," Jill Abramson. The above was from yesterday's article by the public editor, Margaret Sullivan.
This is the story of the age. The gap between them and us, the rich and the poor. And it is not pretty. The rich are supposed to have earned their essentially tax free status by creating jobs for the rest of us. They're supposed to be wiser, benevolent dictators. The truth is so far from this it's scary, but people don't want to believe it, because it eviscerates their hope. You don't want to play if you cannot win.
This is why we need the "Times." But whether you think we need it or not, enough people do to fund this kind of journalism.
Expect to be very angry in the coming months.
They came after Christie and they came after Ailes and in the U.K. they went after Murdoch. Despite screwing up Iraq, the press has gotten hold of something and with bullhorns but no facts possessed by the bloviating right wingers at Fox...expect turmoil. Money drives this country. And they're going after the money. This is a better movie than ever plays in the theatre. This is real life, this is not reality TV.
5. "The motivation comes from a belief that almost anything can be mastered if you're willing to put in the hours to master it. If you're going to do something, do it as best as you can."
Jeff Shiffrin talking about his daughter Mikaela
http://nyti.ms/1ft24ep
It's that time of year again. When the Winter Olympics fill the screen during the doldrums of February. And our best hope for a skiing medal is the aforementioned Mikaela Shiffrin.
What I hate about hype is you don't know how much is true.
But everyone agrees that Mikaela Shiffrin didn't race, she practiced.
Now think about this... Imagine if instead of posting to YouTube and Instagram and tweeting and facebooking about your music you took ten years out and practiced your instrument, only occasionally playing live... Then you might be world class.
In other words, just showing up does not make you world class. You've got to have the hunger and the desire when no one is watching and listening.
And yes, it does help to have rich parents.
Mikaela Shiffrin is already the slalom world champion.
Not everybody can win.
But someone will. And it'll be less about desire and promotion and attitude than plain hard work, mostly in the wilderness.
6. Shaun White
http://nyti.ms/1d26qBz
Nobody likes him.
The story of the year is the death of snowboarding.
Yes, despite all the Olympic run-up, sales are nosediving, as is participation. Sure, skis are mini-snowboards now, but the real reason is snowboarding is possessed by Gen-X, and like kids from every generation, from baby boomers to Alex Keaton, they want nothing to do with what their parents are up to.
But the "New York Times" doesn't know this, they haven't reported the story yet, but it's been in the "Boston Globe" (http://b.globe.com/IMwdpI) and "Vail Daily" (http://bit.ly/1ePEFiF). So the "Times" runs a feature on Shaun White, it's as bad as the talking head features on TV, conceptually anyway.
But the writer gets it right.
People don't like Shaun White.
Oh, his sponsors and those who don't know him do. But in the community? He's a loner who's out for himself.
And the story is interesting, but the point is most people have no idea what it takes to make it, the determination and self-sacrifice. Chances are if you're a bro everybody adores, you're never going to triumph.
Many successful musicians are pricks. They had to be, to make it.
7. "The Crash Reel"
thecrashreel.com
I met Kevin Pearce.
Huh?
Mr. Pearce was the only person who could beat Shaun White. They emphasize how Mr. White is not a bro in this film.
But that's not its point.
Kevin Pearce was the snowboarder who crashed in the halfpipe just before the last Olympics, in Vancouver, in 2010.
He had a traumatic brain injury.
This is the story, primarily of that injury.
I wish everybody could see this film, but with the cacophony that is media today, chances are slim. But you can pull it up on demand on HBO right now, and you should.
Yes, the initial part is all about snowboarding.
But then comes the injury.
What happens to the losers?
That's what we never read about in America...those who don't triumph, those who endure endless hardship. Like Kevin's parents, who have another child with Down's syndrome.
He knows he has it! The kid with Down's is frustrated about it!
And wants Kevin not to compete anymore.
But Kevin won't listen. To his family, his doctors... He wants to go back out on the hill.
Thank god he realizes he just doesn't have it anymore, before he has another TBI, traumatic brain injury, like his compatriot at the end of the film, whose arm is paralyzed and whose speech is slurred and whose only desire is to get back on the hill.
You have to know when to give up. Just because you didn't win at one thing doesn't mean you can't win at another. And what is winning anyway? That's what the Russians have right, the lower class ones. They know life isn't something you tote up on a scorecard.
Watch "The Crash Reel" and you'll be embarrassed to watch football, because when you see those brain scans, they're even worse!
And yes, Kevin comes from a rich family too. His Irish father has a great American story, he built an empire on glassblowing. He overcame his dyslexia to do it.
So, some people slip through, they overcome great hardship and difficulties to do so.
But don't believe just because they did you can too.
And don't be disillusioned if you don't make it, just pick yourself up and...
EVALUATE YOUR DIRECTION BEFORE YOU PUT ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF ANOTHER!
You don't want to be like that snowboarder after his third TBI who is barely functional. You don't want to turn fifty and be lugging your equipment up stairs to play covers for those not interested still believing you're one step away from making it. If you're having fun, if you're paying the bills, more power to you. But if you've sacrificed everything, have no house, no children, no car, no health insurance because you think there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...eek.
8. "In the end, I made my decision the way I make all decisions I've brutalized with analysis - by giving up and awaiting logistical intervention."
http://nyti.ms/1hRpYk9
This is why we read. To find out we're not alone, that there are others just like us.
I have a hard time making a decision. Taking risks too. I so much want to make the RIGHT decision that...
I end up waiting for enough information for the choice to be clear.
But oftentimes that's too late.
Unsure of what day to fly, I wait, and then can't fly any day, because it's gotten too expensive.
It's a thrill to see yourself elsewhere, to feel connected.
And that's my job here.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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