THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
This was a number two hit for Hugo Montenegro back in 1968, it was a cover of the original theme from the flick done by Ennio Morricone.
Yes, it's strange, but the sixties were full of instrumental hits, and when this broke most people had no idea who Clint Eastwood was, it was only after this that we started to hear about spaghetti westerns, Clint didn't break through big in American films until the seventies, so this certainly wasn't a hit on his coattails.
Many boomers can whistle the riff, just ask them!
NO MATTER WHAT SHAPE (YOUR STOMACH'S IN)
The original number three hit was by the T-Bones, who ultimately morphed into Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds. Sure, it became ubiquitous as the soundtrack to that Alka-Seltzer commercial, but that does not mean we loved it any less, it's HOOKY!
LOVE IS BLUE
This one went to number one, in the iteration by French composer Paul Mauriat. Yes, a Frenchman had a number one! Baby boomers loved this, despite it being the antithesis of the youth sound prevalent 1967, because a hit is a hit, you can't deny it.
CLASSICAL GAS
Mason Williams was a writer for the Smothers Brothers' TV show, but he recorded this cut that although having the term "classical" in the title definitely seemed part of the youth oeuvre.
If you can play this on the guitar, you're really good, at least in my book, I certainly couldn't!
The track is loaded with changes, it's infectious.
A TASTE OF HONEY
There wasn't a household with a record player that did not own Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass's "Whipped Cream & Other Delights." I was either too young or too ignorant to be turned on by the cover, but you can do some web research and find out about the model and where she is today, I certainly did!
THE LONELY BULL
The Beatles had done a take of "A Taste Of Honey," back in '63, albeit with lyrics, but at that time most people had no idea who Herb Alpert was, even though he hit with this back in '62, when the Beatles were unknown in America. Once "A Taste Of Honey" broke, we all looked backward, "The Lonely Bull" regained airplay. I always preferred it to "A Taste Of Honey," now that's a HOOK!
SOUL FINGER
The Bar-Kays are most famous for being decimated by the plane crash that took down Otis Redding, but before that they had a hit with this lighthearted romp, that always makes me feel good, because of the swagger, because of the trumpet trill.
JAVA
Speaking of the trumpet, this was a huge hit alongside the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion back in '64. But it was so left field, we didn't resent it, we embraced it. Listening all these years later, it's astounding how little is on the record, how it breathes in the verses.
WIPEOUT
Yes, there was a long history of surf instrumentals before the Beatles, but this was the greatest, featured at every bar mitzvah party and school dance, I even owned the single. You can dig deeper with the Ventures, but this Surfaris hit is the piece de resistance.
LOVE THEME FROM ROMEO AND JULIET
Felice's father had one of the last instrumental hits of the decade, Nino Rota wrote it, but Hank had the number one hit.
The movie was a phenomenon, and so was the single.
THEME FROM A SUMMER PLACE
This was a hit for Percy Faith way back in 1960, but it continued to get airplay throughout the decade. It always made you feel good, footloose and fancy free, thinking about the good times.
THEME FROM EXODUS
This powerful and meaningful cover of the soundtrack song by pianists Ferrante and Teicher went to number two at the turn of the decade, from the fifties to the sixties, back when it didn't have to be British to be good. You can just see the movie in your head. Life is full of thrills and disappointments, we do our best to soldier on with the goal in mind.
THE STRIPPER
David Rose's classic was cut in 1958, but didn't see release until it was chosen to be a b-side of "Ebb Tide" in 1962. Is there anybody who doesn't know this?
I don't think so.
THE IN CROWD
This was a live take, and it made it all the way up to number five! Sure, it's a great song, but this recording just swings! Something happens live that just doesn't go down in the studio. Listen, this will blow your mind, from the era when being able to play was a given.
WALK, DON'T RUN
Can I really leave this Ventures smash out? I don't think so! The kings of instrumental surf music created an indelible hit that everybody who picked up a guitar played, however inefficiently! Meanwhile, the magic is in the break!
TELSTAR
And if I'm mentioning "Walk, Don't Run," I guess this list can't be complete without the Tornados smash, which had no lyrics, but we all sang along to!
OUT OF LIMITS
The Marketts surf hit has also withstood the test of time, so I must include it.
HAWAII FIVE-O
I wanted to leave this off for two reasons, one, I wasn't going to mention any more surf tracks, and two, I already listed a Ventures cut, but despite being famous as a TV theme, the truth is this is one of the hits that has sustained over the decades. It sounds like Hawaii and surf, doesn't it?
MEMPHIS
Lonnie Mack is being forgotten to the sands of time, but guitar players all knew him from this 1963 instrumental take, if not more.
TEQUILA
A monster hit for the Champs, "Tequila" has become indelibly linked in my mind with Pee-wee Herman's big shoe dance in his first film, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure."
At the time we didn't know Tim Burton was a genius, this was his feature film debut, we thought it was about Pee-wee, whose big screen follow-up, "Big Top Pee-Wee," was a disappointment.
But Pee-wee recovered on TV, but it was this film that put him over the top, before this he was a joke, who guest spotted and annoyed.
And "Big Adventure" is great throughout, but the big shoe dance is the peak.
Check out the long version here: http://bit.ly/1aKrLFq
If you just want to see the dance, click here: http://bit.ly/1fqcqYm
GRAZING IN THE GRASS
I actually prefer the Friends Of Distinction's vocal version, with the "I can dig it, he can dig it, she can dig it, we can dig it, they can dig it, you can dig it" part, but the truth is Hugh Masekela's instrumental iteration is superior.
GREEN ONIONS
This Booker T. & the MG's cut had its initial chart success in 1962, but it got a rebirth via inclusion in the soundtrack to "American Graffiti," that's how many people found out about it.
Originally I saw this playlist as having three components, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," "Love Is Blue" and "A Taste Of Honey." But then the more I streamed and the more I researched, I kept remembering iconic hits, back from when it didn't have to fit a formula to succeed, music was inclusive and instrumentals were a regular feature on the hit parade!
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/1pQJjVe
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Friday 22 August 2014
Wednesday 20 August 2014
Midnight Rider
In 1973, the Allman Brothers were the biggest band in the land. Sure, Duane had died two years before, not long after the commercial and artistic breakthrough known as "Fillmore East," but the band carried on, ate a peach, lost Berry and emerged with an album so ubiquitous, we were all ramblin' men and women.
They headlined Watkins Glen, the biggest rock festival to that date, "Brothers and Sisters" ate up the chart, and then Gregg Allman dropped a solo LP.
It was not like today, where we don't expect anybody to step out and do anything good, and if they release product, we check it out, shrug and move on. No, music used to be a commitment, you had to go to your local store and buy the record, and having laid down your cash you dropped the needle and digested it.
And there's not a soul alive who didn't see "Laid Back" as a disappointment, only because of the high quality of what had come before. But all these years later, one can see it's peppered with highlights, like the definitive version of Jackson Browne's "These Days," in the incarnation that most people heard it first, and also "Queen of Hearts" and "Please Call Home." But the track that got all the airplay opened the album, yes "Laid Back" started with a version of "Midnight Rider."
It was many people's introduction to the Allmans, the third cut on "Idlewild South" that galloped like a horse, that was so infectious you could never burn out it.
But Gregg's version was different.
It was slow and swampy, all about the groove, but one thing remained the same, Gregg Allman's voice.
Now that's a rock star.
He was good-looking and reticent, tall and charismatic, and not only could he sing, he played, he was an integral part of the band, back when you led with your music, not your appearance.
"I've got to run to keep from hidin'
And I'm bound to keep on ridin'"
I get the urge to hide away on a regular basis, the feedback blows me away, both negative and positive, once I labored in obscurity, now I'm an international punching bag, but when you've got more questions than answers you've only got one choice, to keep on ridin'.
"But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no
Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider"
America is an outlaw culture, baby boomers understand this, the great American pastime was to get behind the wheel of your automobile when gas was far short of a buck a gallon and set off across this great country of ours, where you might call home collect every once in a while, but truly you were off the grid, no one knew where you were going, where you were, which is exactly how you liked it, because we don't really want to be caught, we want to be free.
"I've gone by the point of caring"
That's who I was worried I've become, a member of the over-the-hill gang, yes the baby boomers have a handful of years left at the helm of this country, and then we're done, the music business transition is almost complete, if you're not running the company, you're not older than sixty, maybe fifty. And then I hear something like "Midnight Rider."
This was back when all the swagger was in the grooves. When the goal was to drop the needle on your big rig and get closer to the music, fire up a doobie, drink some Jack or Bud, and settle into the most important thing in life, the elixir, the glue, music.
And I'm driving east on Pico, pushing the buttons on the satellite since Howard is on reruns, and I hear this.
And I'm brought back to art class at Middlebury, with this playing in the background, when you connected with the opposite sex not on what you wore, but what was between your ears.
Music was our soundtrack, our most valued companion, we went nowhere without it, even if it meant listening to the radio.
"And the road goes on forever"
I realized this afternoon that the road really does go on forever. That you've got no choice but to keep on keepin' on. That around every bend are not only unforeseen potholes, but pleasures. That within the grooves of our old favorites is hope, as powerful as it was back in 1973.
Laid back my ass, we're still groovin', we're still setting the pace, because we've got the power of music in us, no one is going to catch us midnight riders!
YouTube: http://bit.ly/1pQmh0E
Spotify: http://spoti.fi/VGKHh7
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They headlined Watkins Glen, the biggest rock festival to that date, "Brothers and Sisters" ate up the chart, and then Gregg Allman dropped a solo LP.
It was not like today, where we don't expect anybody to step out and do anything good, and if they release product, we check it out, shrug and move on. No, music used to be a commitment, you had to go to your local store and buy the record, and having laid down your cash you dropped the needle and digested it.
And there's not a soul alive who didn't see "Laid Back" as a disappointment, only because of the high quality of what had come before. But all these years later, one can see it's peppered with highlights, like the definitive version of Jackson Browne's "These Days," in the incarnation that most people heard it first, and also "Queen of Hearts" and "Please Call Home." But the track that got all the airplay opened the album, yes "Laid Back" started with a version of "Midnight Rider."
It was many people's introduction to the Allmans, the third cut on "Idlewild South" that galloped like a horse, that was so infectious you could never burn out it.
But Gregg's version was different.
It was slow and swampy, all about the groove, but one thing remained the same, Gregg Allman's voice.
Now that's a rock star.
He was good-looking and reticent, tall and charismatic, and not only could he sing, he played, he was an integral part of the band, back when you led with your music, not your appearance.
"I've got to run to keep from hidin'
And I'm bound to keep on ridin'"
I get the urge to hide away on a regular basis, the feedback blows me away, both negative and positive, once I labored in obscurity, now I'm an international punching bag, but when you've got more questions than answers you've only got one choice, to keep on ridin'.
"But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no
Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider"
America is an outlaw culture, baby boomers understand this, the great American pastime was to get behind the wheel of your automobile when gas was far short of a buck a gallon and set off across this great country of ours, where you might call home collect every once in a while, but truly you were off the grid, no one knew where you were going, where you were, which is exactly how you liked it, because we don't really want to be caught, we want to be free.
"I've gone by the point of caring"
That's who I was worried I've become, a member of the over-the-hill gang, yes the baby boomers have a handful of years left at the helm of this country, and then we're done, the music business transition is almost complete, if you're not running the company, you're not older than sixty, maybe fifty. And then I hear something like "Midnight Rider."
This was back when all the swagger was in the grooves. When the goal was to drop the needle on your big rig and get closer to the music, fire up a doobie, drink some Jack or Bud, and settle into the most important thing in life, the elixir, the glue, music.
And I'm driving east on Pico, pushing the buttons on the satellite since Howard is on reruns, and I hear this.
And I'm brought back to art class at Middlebury, with this playing in the background, when you connected with the opposite sex not on what you wore, but what was between your ears.
Music was our soundtrack, our most valued companion, we went nowhere without it, even if it meant listening to the radio.
"And the road goes on forever"
I realized this afternoon that the road really does go on forever. That you've got no choice but to keep on keepin' on. That around every bend are not only unforeseen potholes, but pleasures. That within the grooves of our old favorites is hope, as powerful as it was back in 1973.
Laid back my ass, we're still groovin', we're still setting the pace, because we've got the power of music in us, no one is going to catch us midnight riders!
YouTube: http://bit.ly/1pQmh0E
Spotify: http://spoti.fi/VGKHh7
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Why Things Don't Last
1. Channel Overload
Used to be there were 5,000 albums a year and only a few got on the radio and if you didn't get airplay or press, you were doomed. Now there are a zillion products, all easily promoted online, and unless your friend verifies quality and interest or a track becomes a phenomenon, you don't care, and suddenly most people don't care, and it's gone. There's a fiction perpetrated by the record labels that terrestrial radio reaches everybody, but the truth is with so many other options for hearing music, radio is a sliver of the marketplace. To make it everywhere you need not only radio, but video and... Actually, that which is ubiquitous lives online, not on terrestrial radio. Terrestrial radio is a ghetto. You can cross over from terrestrial radio to the internet, you can rise simultaneously from both, but to be gigantic, known by everybody, you need to make it on both terrestrial radio and the internet, whereas you can spike quite nicely online and function well without terrestrial
radio, terrestrial radio is the dollop of cream atop the sundae. Online is on demand, terrestrial radio is not, and that's why it's doomed amongst youngsters, who don't want to wait, who believe everything should be instant. The only thing no longer instant is sex. You can hear anything online when you want, research anything online when you want, connect with all your friends instantly via a plethora of communication techniques, but sex is still something you yearn for, although the internet has made porn ubiquitous, one can argue we live in a masturbatory fantasy culture.
2. Limited Time
They're making no more time, everything has to fight for attention and very little sustains, because there's constantly something new in the offing. Everyone is going ever faster, so the old paradigm of needing time to digest something is taboo. Industry has accepted this, art has not. Industry realizes the product has to be perfect in the first iteration and continue to work thereafter. Not buying a car in its first year is history, as is the fear that the electric windows will break. And with manufacturing so cheap, repairs (and repairmen!) have fallen by the wayside, why not buy something shiny and brand new! Yes, we all treasure some old favorites, but very few. So if you're an artist, yelling may get you noticed for a day, but it won't keep you atop the pyramid.
3. Competition
I used to read "Rolling Stone," now I read "Fast Company." Oh, I still get "Rolling Stone," it's just that the magazine no longer knows what it wants to be, and covers the travails of too many nitwits. I remember when I salivated over the words of musicians. Now I salivate over the words of entrepreneurs, because they're thoughtful, they've got something to say. I'm a media junkie, so I've got all my magazines and all my websites and constant updates on my phone, so this squeezes out available time for competing media.
4. Howard Stern
He has single-handedly diminished my satellite radio music listening by hooking me. Many of us are hooked by something that pulls us down the rabbit hole, leaving little time for anything else. Used to be Howard Stern was on just a few hours a day, if you missed it, you had to wait for tomorrow. Now Stern is available 24/7, and I'm not driving 24/7, so most of the time I'm in my car there's new Stern programming. We see this phenomenon in television. The late night talk show ratings have been decimated by the DVR, never mind on demand. We're no longer victims of what's on the tube, everything's available all the time.
5. Cultural Norms
We used to go to the movies to be part of the cultural discussion. But once we realized no one else was going, we didn't either. Furthermore, there is no cultural discussion left, because we all share different experiences, there's very little commonality. This makes that which is successful even more so, because we want to talk about it with others, leading to a superstar and no-star world.
6. Dominance
With everything at our fingertips, we gravitate to the few that break through. Look at smartphones, there are multiple competing ecosystems, but iOS and Android dominate, Windows phone is an also-ran and BlackBerry is a joke. We only want the very best all the time and therefore it takes an incredible effort to penetrate our consciousness and stay there. Furthermore, the more successful something is, the more it continues to grow, reinforcing its success. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
7. Fatigue
With so much new music, many people stop paying attention to the whole sphere, they go back to their favorites if they listen at all. Yes, when everybody yells, it becomes a noise you ignore. And you just retreat and burrow down deeper into the hole you already inhabit.
8. Quality
Easy to recognize, hard to achieve, especially when it comes to art. Good used to be good enough, today good is awful, something no one cares about. We're all in search of excellence, and if we don't find it we don't waste time, as we did in the three network and limited terrestrial radio world, we move on. This is why major labels use the usual suspects to create obvious hit singles, anything less, and the product is doomed. Sure, you can come from left field and dominate, but this is too scary to creators who grew up in a world where your personal network is everything, they're fearful of being ostracized, left out, even worse in today's connected society, ignored. But since art is not quantifiable, creators blame the system and the audience when the truth is people are surfing for greatness 24/7 and if they find it they tell everybody they know about it. A great media campaign can gain notice for a day, but it cannot sustain the underlying product. For that to happen, the product
must be exceptional. Purveyors want to deny this rule, they believe smoke and mirrors still work. Cynics want to say promotion is everything. But the truth is once distribution has been flattened, which is the essence of the internet, only true excellence rises. As a result, you can remember Avicii's "Wake Me Up," it becomes the most played track in Spotify history, but you cannot remember number two, never mind number ten. And that which spikes and lasts, however temporarily, is usually a twist, it's usually innovative. "Wake Me Up" merged acoustic and electronic, "Gangnam Style" introduced a whole new style of pony dancing and made fun of consumption. The sieve rejects nearly everything but that which titillates, usually because of its cutting edge newness. Your past history will gain you attention, but it won't make you sustain. You can either play with the usual suspects, the Max Martins and Dr. Lukes, or you can risk failing on your own, like Lady Gaga. But Gaga didn't realize
it's about product, not revenue, she stayed on the road, out of the internet spotlight, for far too long, and then she overhyped that which did not deserve it. It's damn hard to create innovative excellence, but that's what we're all looking for, that is what lasts.
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Used to be there were 5,000 albums a year and only a few got on the radio and if you didn't get airplay or press, you were doomed. Now there are a zillion products, all easily promoted online, and unless your friend verifies quality and interest or a track becomes a phenomenon, you don't care, and suddenly most people don't care, and it's gone. There's a fiction perpetrated by the record labels that terrestrial radio reaches everybody, but the truth is with so many other options for hearing music, radio is a sliver of the marketplace. To make it everywhere you need not only radio, but video and... Actually, that which is ubiquitous lives online, not on terrestrial radio. Terrestrial radio is a ghetto. You can cross over from terrestrial radio to the internet, you can rise simultaneously from both, but to be gigantic, known by everybody, you need to make it on both terrestrial radio and the internet, whereas you can spike quite nicely online and function well without terrestrial
radio, terrestrial radio is the dollop of cream atop the sundae. Online is on demand, terrestrial radio is not, and that's why it's doomed amongst youngsters, who don't want to wait, who believe everything should be instant. The only thing no longer instant is sex. You can hear anything online when you want, research anything online when you want, connect with all your friends instantly via a plethora of communication techniques, but sex is still something you yearn for, although the internet has made porn ubiquitous, one can argue we live in a masturbatory fantasy culture.
2. Limited Time
They're making no more time, everything has to fight for attention and very little sustains, because there's constantly something new in the offing. Everyone is going ever faster, so the old paradigm of needing time to digest something is taboo. Industry has accepted this, art has not. Industry realizes the product has to be perfect in the first iteration and continue to work thereafter. Not buying a car in its first year is history, as is the fear that the electric windows will break. And with manufacturing so cheap, repairs (and repairmen!) have fallen by the wayside, why not buy something shiny and brand new! Yes, we all treasure some old favorites, but very few. So if you're an artist, yelling may get you noticed for a day, but it won't keep you atop the pyramid.
3. Competition
I used to read "Rolling Stone," now I read "Fast Company." Oh, I still get "Rolling Stone," it's just that the magazine no longer knows what it wants to be, and covers the travails of too many nitwits. I remember when I salivated over the words of musicians. Now I salivate over the words of entrepreneurs, because they're thoughtful, they've got something to say. I'm a media junkie, so I've got all my magazines and all my websites and constant updates on my phone, so this squeezes out available time for competing media.
4. Howard Stern
He has single-handedly diminished my satellite radio music listening by hooking me. Many of us are hooked by something that pulls us down the rabbit hole, leaving little time for anything else. Used to be Howard Stern was on just a few hours a day, if you missed it, you had to wait for tomorrow. Now Stern is available 24/7, and I'm not driving 24/7, so most of the time I'm in my car there's new Stern programming. We see this phenomenon in television. The late night talk show ratings have been decimated by the DVR, never mind on demand. We're no longer victims of what's on the tube, everything's available all the time.
5. Cultural Norms
We used to go to the movies to be part of the cultural discussion. But once we realized no one else was going, we didn't either. Furthermore, there is no cultural discussion left, because we all share different experiences, there's very little commonality. This makes that which is successful even more so, because we want to talk about it with others, leading to a superstar and no-star world.
6. Dominance
With everything at our fingertips, we gravitate to the few that break through. Look at smartphones, there are multiple competing ecosystems, but iOS and Android dominate, Windows phone is an also-ran and BlackBerry is a joke. We only want the very best all the time and therefore it takes an incredible effort to penetrate our consciousness and stay there. Furthermore, the more successful something is, the more it continues to grow, reinforcing its success. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
7. Fatigue
With so much new music, many people stop paying attention to the whole sphere, they go back to their favorites if they listen at all. Yes, when everybody yells, it becomes a noise you ignore. And you just retreat and burrow down deeper into the hole you already inhabit.
8. Quality
Easy to recognize, hard to achieve, especially when it comes to art. Good used to be good enough, today good is awful, something no one cares about. We're all in search of excellence, and if we don't find it we don't waste time, as we did in the three network and limited terrestrial radio world, we move on. This is why major labels use the usual suspects to create obvious hit singles, anything less, and the product is doomed. Sure, you can come from left field and dominate, but this is too scary to creators who grew up in a world where your personal network is everything, they're fearful of being ostracized, left out, even worse in today's connected society, ignored. But since art is not quantifiable, creators blame the system and the audience when the truth is people are surfing for greatness 24/7 and if they find it they tell everybody they know about it. A great media campaign can gain notice for a day, but it cannot sustain the underlying product. For that to happen, the product
must be exceptional. Purveyors want to deny this rule, they believe smoke and mirrors still work. Cynics want to say promotion is everything. But the truth is once distribution has been flattened, which is the essence of the internet, only true excellence rises. As a result, you can remember Avicii's "Wake Me Up," it becomes the most played track in Spotify history, but you cannot remember number two, never mind number ten. And that which spikes and lasts, however temporarily, is usually a twist, it's usually innovative. "Wake Me Up" merged acoustic and electronic, "Gangnam Style" introduced a whole new style of pony dancing and made fun of consumption. The sieve rejects nearly everything but that which titillates, usually because of its cutting edge newness. Your past history will gain you attention, but it won't make you sustain. You can either play with the usual suspects, the Max Martins and Dr. Lukes, or you can risk failing on your own, like Lady Gaga. But Gaga didn't realize
it's about product, not revenue, she stayed on the road, out of the internet spotlight, for far too long, and then she overhyped that which did not deserve it. It's damn hard to create innovative excellence, but that's what we're all looking for, that is what lasts.
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Tuesday 19 August 2014
Paying To Play The Super Bowl
http://on.wsj.com/1oO7TXZ
You're surprised?
This is what happens when nerds inherit the earth and "it's just business" replaces the old saw "it's only rock 'n roll."
Name the three biggest tracks of last summer. It's easy, like taking candy, from a baby!
We've got "Get Lucky."
And "Blurred Lines."
And "Royals."
What do the first two have in common? They're fading away, they're not radiating. No one has mentioned Daft Punk since the Grammys and Robin Thicke has become a public joke.
But not Lorde.
The two biggest phenomena of the past five years are both women, and both refused to play the game, refused to turn up the marketing to ten and yell from the rooftops...I'M HERE, PAY ATTENTION, BUY MY STUFF!
That's right, Adele refused to play arenas, she didn't do any endorsements. And despite being a teenager, Lorde knows the game better than the old men who believe they run this business. That in order to get into the hearts of the young, you've got to both have their values and be a leader.
The young are not famous. Stop reciting the litany of YouTube stars and branding by prepubescents. No, the truth is most young people are in school, playing sports, living their lives not much different than it ever was. If you believe they believe selling out is the way to go, your child has been offered a million dollar deal with Pepsi. But that never happens, that only happens to the rich and famous.
Give Steve Jobs credit. He hewed to his own beliefs. But everybody else is compromising, cutting corners, trying to play the game so they can get rich.
Come on, for all the ink Wierd Al has gotten, he's already last month's news, no one's talking about him and his tracks don't populate the Spotify Top Lists. And that's what it's about, staying power.
And it turns out despite all the hogwash about men dominating the charts, it really comes down to women. Because Lorde and Adele spoke from their hearts and left money on the table.
The NFL has never left money on the table. It squeezes everybody in the chain, believing it's forever, whereas most people can't even name the last two Super Bowl winners and attendance is flagging and the press is bad and...
But the sport gets a pass, because we need something to believe in.
Once upon a time we believed in music.
Who owns the best performance in Super Bowl history? Prince! Who didn't sell tickets simultaneously. He's toured to big numbers ever since on that one performance, but most acts are all about the short term, where am I going this summer, as opposed to where I'll be five years from now.
If you think no act will pay the NFL for that exposure, you've never been exposed to the wannabes. If Ashley Madison is willing to sponsor a football stadium, believe you me someone without the cachet of Coldplay and Katy Perry will pony up, because that's America, where everything's for sale and it goes to the highest bidder.
Or does it?
Everything's a promotional exercise. Who can top who. From Jay Z to Beyonce to Weird Al to Taylor Swift. They're all Internet savvy, they all will sell their souls to the highest corporate bidder, and other than Ms. Swift, whose new effort hangs in the balance, their music has faded away.
It wasn't always like this.
But the truth is the good old days were back when the business was being developed. No one knew the rules, they were being codified. Sid Bernstein ripped off the Beatles so Peter Grant demanded 90/10 deals and after Bill Graham ripped off CSNY, Michael Cohl created a new paradigm where the artists got tons of dough, they just couldn't ask Cohl how he got the money back.
It was the wild west.
But it's the wild west no more.
Except in the music itself. That's what we're all looking for, the elixir that tickles our brain cells, something we have not heard before, that we hunger for and tweet about. Because we want to share greatness.
Sharing built Lorde.
No one's sharing the new Tom Petty other than the media he manipulated.
So, call the doctor, I think we're headed for a crash.
But you know what the doctor says in that famous Eagles song, he's coming, but you got to pay him cash.
And sure, the Eagles wanted to get paid. But they own the best-selling album in history because of the music.
You remember music, don't you?
Adele does.
And so does Lorde.
So there is an antidote to the mercenary ways.
Yup, we've pushed the new paradigm to the wall. Did you read that celebrity fragrances crashed Elizabeth Arden?
Check it out: http://nyti.ms/1pJBvVj
And know that it all comes down to the music.
Same as it ever was.
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You're surprised?
This is what happens when nerds inherit the earth and "it's just business" replaces the old saw "it's only rock 'n roll."
Name the three biggest tracks of last summer. It's easy, like taking candy, from a baby!
We've got "Get Lucky."
And "Blurred Lines."
And "Royals."
What do the first two have in common? They're fading away, they're not radiating. No one has mentioned Daft Punk since the Grammys and Robin Thicke has become a public joke.
But not Lorde.
The two biggest phenomena of the past five years are both women, and both refused to play the game, refused to turn up the marketing to ten and yell from the rooftops...I'M HERE, PAY ATTENTION, BUY MY STUFF!
That's right, Adele refused to play arenas, she didn't do any endorsements. And despite being a teenager, Lorde knows the game better than the old men who believe they run this business. That in order to get into the hearts of the young, you've got to both have their values and be a leader.
The young are not famous. Stop reciting the litany of YouTube stars and branding by prepubescents. No, the truth is most young people are in school, playing sports, living their lives not much different than it ever was. If you believe they believe selling out is the way to go, your child has been offered a million dollar deal with Pepsi. But that never happens, that only happens to the rich and famous.
Give Steve Jobs credit. He hewed to his own beliefs. But everybody else is compromising, cutting corners, trying to play the game so they can get rich.
Come on, for all the ink Wierd Al has gotten, he's already last month's news, no one's talking about him and his tracks don't populate the Spotify Top Lists. And that's what it's about, staying power.
And it turns out despite all the hogwash about men dominating the charts, it really comes down to women. Because Lorde and Adele spoke from their hearts and left money on the table.
The NFL has never left money on the table. It squeezes everybody in the chain, believing it's forever, whereas most people can't even name the last two Super Bowl winners and attendance is flagging and the press is bad and...
But the sport gets a pass, because we need something to believe in.
Once upon a time we believed in music.
Who owns the best performance in Super Bowl history? Prince! Who didn't sell tickets simultaneously. He's toured to big numbers ever since on that one performance, but most acts are all about the short term, where am I going this summer, as opposed to where I'll be five years from now.
If you think no act will pay the NFL for that exposure, you've never been exposed to the wannabes. If Ashley Madison is willing to sponsor a football stadium, believe you me someone without the cachet of Coldplay and Katy Perry will pony up, because that's America, where everything's for sale and it goes to the highest bidder.
Or does it?
Everything's a promotional exercise. Who can top who. From Jay Z to Beyonce to Weird Al to Taylor Swift. They're all Internet savvy, they all will sell their souls to the highest corporate bidder, and other than Ms. Swift, whose new effort hangs in the balance, their music has faded away.
It wasn't always like this.
But the truth is the good old days were back when the business was being developed. No one knew the rules, they were being codified. Sid Bernstein ripped off the Beatles so Peter Grant demanded 90/10 deals and after Bill Graham ripped off CSNY, Michael Cohl created a new paradigm where the artists got tons of dough, they just couldn't ask Cohl how he got the money back.
It was the wild west.
But it's the wild west no more.
Except in the music itself. That's what we're all looking for, the elixir that tickles our brain cells, something we have not heard before, that we hunger for and tweet about. Because we want to share greatness.
Sharing built Lorde.
No one's sharing the new Tom Petty other than the media he manipulated.
So, call the doctor, I think we're headed for a crash.
But you know what the doctor says in that famous Eagles song, he's coming, but you got to pay him cash.
And sure, the Eagles wanted to get paid. But they own the best-selling album in history because of the music.
You remember music, don't you?
Adele does.
And so does Lorde.
So there is an antidote to the mercenary ways.
Yup, we've pushed the new paradigm to the wall. Did you read that celebrity fragrances crashed Elizabeth Arden?
Check it out: http://nyti.ms/1pJBvVj
And know that it all comes down to the music.
Same as it ever was.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
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What I Hate About America
NO ONE CAN SACRIFICE
Everybody's for change, just as long as it doesn't negatively impact them. They can't lose their job, they can't make less money, you've got to leave that to the march of capitalism, and then these same citizens cry to the government to protect them. Ugh.
Unless we're all willing to work together on solutions that benefit us all, we're screwed. How come in families we know compromise is king, but when it comes to politics, it's taboo.
MONEY IS KING
If someone is rich, they're admirable. Making money is the highest form of personal achievement, unless you're poor, then you hate those with the cash.
Which way do you want to have it? Whatever you've got, that rules?
But the truth is money has ruined art. It doesn't matter how good or bad something is, it's all about how much money it makes. No, let me restate that, if it makes a ton of money, it's good!
MISINFORMATION
We're living in the information age people! Don't trust the hearsay of your friends when all you have to do is Google to get the information.
And this is where it becomes complicated, the rich and powerful are all about information and truth. Sure, they try to bend it, but they know it and understand it. Which is why anybody with a brain wants to hang with the rich and powerful, they're the only ones who know what's going on!
CONFORMITY
Being a member of the group is paramount to the millennial. You don't want to stick out, if you're a social pariah you can't participate on social media!
In the sixties, it was all about letting your freak flag fly. Now it's about being just like everybody else.
Even in art. The millennials don't want to do hard time honing their craft and converting skeptics one by one, they just want to imitate those who are successful, which is why so much art is me-too!
Yup, watch my YouTube cover, because I haven't got a single original thing to say in my music.
THE FICTION THAT THE YOUNG RULE THE WORLD
Check the age of the people running Apple, or Amazon. And even the meisters at Google are now middle-aged. And kids aren't always on to the new trend, especially if it's about more than mugging. Oldsters embraced Twitter first.
PEOPLE WHO ONLY READ ONE NEWS SOURCE
It builds bias. Because most outlets have a viewpoint. Yours can only be informed if you get information from multiple sources.
GOVERNMENT'S REFUSAL TO INVEST IN AMERICA
Infrastructure is flagging, we could have put America to work repairing roads and bridges and sewers when interest rates were negligible and no one had a job. Instead, we're gonna wait until the economy revives and we have to pay more for money and workers. This is a country? Why is it no one wants to believe we're gonna get to the future?
MISPERCEPTION
Despite data being rampant, publicity rules. With so much information at our fingertips he who yells loudest usually convinces America he matters, even though in truth he might not, no one may be buying his product.
SKINNINESS
Sure, we have an obesity problem in America, but how about those oldsters shrinking by the minute? Especially women, who seem to believe if they don't eat they're better than the rest of us, even though they lack brainpower and the ability to move. Despite living in a foodie culture, the older and richer you are, the more food is taboo.
THE HORSE RACE
I had to hear about the 2016 election from the moment Obama was elected in 2012. It's like our whole news media has been overrun by the sports page, who's winning, who's up, who's down. It's like debating how good the Yankees or the Packers will be three seasons from now, how much time do you want to waste on that?
PHONINESS
Kim Kardashian lies about having plastic surgery and her only goal is to extract dollars from our wallets. American commerce is too often built on lies. If you buy this it will make you beautiful and successful. From religion to cosmetics, everybody wants your money under the pretense that giving it to them will somehow make you better. But if you want to get better, read a book.
ARTISTS HAVE NO BACKBONE
Show up in Ferguson, write a song about it, take a stand. But you're afraid to, afraid it's going to turn off some theoretical segment of the public. When did artists become such wimps?
ENTITLEMENT
I'm all about entitlement programs, a safety net for Americans...health, homes and welfare. But don't confuse this with the right to be a success. Just because you made it, that does not mean people have to buy it. Just because you put it on Spotify, that does not mean people have to stream it.
PRUDISHNESS
Everybody wants to do it, but you can't talk about it, unless you're in private with your friends or significant other. Sex has to be fiction, the same way truth has to be in cartoons. Because people just can't handle naked bodies and desire.
THE CLICK ECONOMY
It's like we're all being tricked every day, and the profitable websites which are responsible for this cannot be criticized.
CORPORATIONS AS PEOPLE
People die. People have a social conscience. People don't make every decision based on money (although with the veneration of companies, people have moved further in this direction.) Why is the number one goal of artists to get money from corporations? If they really think the money is free, they've never heard of the chilling effect, and they know nothing about economics...it's hard to get money from companies, they want something in return, and they always get it.
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Everybody's for change, just as long as it doesn't negatively impact them. They can't lose their job, they can't make less money, you've got to leave that to the march of capitalism, and then these same citizens cry to the government to protect them. Ugh.
Unless we're all willing to work together on solutions that benefit us all, we're screwed. How come in families we know compromise is king, but when it comes to politics, it's taboo.
MONEY IS KING
If someone is rich, they're admirable. Making money is the highest form of personal achievement, unless you're poor, then you hate those with the cash.
Which way do you want to have it? Whatever you've got, that rules?
But the truth is money has ruined art. It doesn't matter how good or bad something is, it's all about how much money it makes. No, let me restate that, if it makes a ton of money, it's good!
MISINFORMATION
We're living in the information age people! Don't trust the hearsay of your friends when all you have to do is Google to get the information.
And this is where it becomes complicated, the rich and powerful are all about information and truth. Sure, they try to bend it, but they know it and understand it. Which is why anybody with a brain wants to hang with the rich and powerful, they're the only ones who know what's going on!
CONFORMITY
Being a member of the group is paramount to the millennial. You don't want to stick out, if you're a social pariah you can't participate on social media!
In the sixties, it was all about letting your freak flag fly. Now it's about being just like everybody else.
Even in art. The millennials don't want to do hard time honing their craft and converting skeptics one by one, they just want to imitate those who are successful, which is why so much art is me-too!
Yup, watch my YouTube cover, because I haven't got a single original thing to say in my music.
THE FICTION THAT THE YOUNG RULE THE WORLD
Check the age of the people running Apple, or Amazon. And even the meisters at Google are now middle-aged. And kids aren't always on to the new trend, especially if it's about more than mugging. Oldsters embraced Twitter first.
PEOPLE WHO ONLY READ ONE NEWS SOURCE
It builds bias. Because most outlets have a viewpoint. Yours can only be informed if you get information from multiple sources.
GOVERNMENT'S REFUSAL TO INVEST IN AMERICA
Infrastructure is flagging, we could have put America to work repairing roads and bridges and sewers when interest rates were negligible and no one had a job. Instead, we're gonna wait until the economy revives and we have to pay more for money and workers. This is a country? Why is it no one wants to believe we're gonna get to the future?
MISPERCEPTION
Despite data being rampant, publicity rules. With so much information at our fingertips he who yells loudest usually convinces America he matters, even though in truth he might not, no one may be buying his product.
SKINNINESS
Sure, we have an obesity problem in America, but how about those oldsters shrinking by the minute? Especially women, who seem to believe if they don't eat they're better than the rest of us, even though they lack brainpower and the ability to move. Despite living in a foodie culture, the older and richer you are, the more food is taboo.
THE HORSE RACE
I had to hear about the 2016 election from the moment Obama was elected in 2012. It's like our whole news media has been overrun by the sports page, who's winning, who's up, who's down. It's like debating how good the Yankees or the Packers will be three seasons from now, how much time do you want to waste on that?
PHONINESS
Kim Kardashian lies about having plastic surgery and her only goal is to extract dollars from our wallets. American commerce is too often built on lies. If you buy this it will make you beautiful and successful. From religion to cosmetics, everybody wants your money under the pretense that giving it to them will somehow make you better. But if you want to get better, read a book.
ARTISTS HAVE NO BACKBONE
Show up in Ferguson, write a song about it, take a stand. But you're afraid to, afraid it's going to turn off some theoretical segment of the public. When did artists become such wimps?
ENTITLEMENT
I'm all about entitlement programs, a safety net for Americans...health, homes and welfare. But don't confuse this with the right to be a success. Just because you made it, that does not mean people have to buy it. Just because you put it on Spotify, that does not mean people have to stream it.
PRUDISHNESS
Everybody wants to do it, but you can't talk about it, unless you're in private with your friends or significant other. Sex has to be fiction, the same way truth has to be in cartoons. Because people just can't handle naked bodies and desire.
THE CLICK ECONOMY
It's like we're all being tricked every day, and the profitable websites which are responsible for this cannot be criticized.
CORPORATIONS AS PEOPLE
People die. People have a social conscience. People don't make every decision based on money (although with the veneration of companies, people have moved further in this direction.) Why is the number one goal of artists to get money from corporations? If they really think the money is free, they've never heard of the chilling effect, and they know nothing about economics...it's hard to get money from companies, they want something in return, and they always get it.
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Shake It Off
http://bit.ly/1uP02eX
Is this progress?
Once upon a time Taylor Swift became the biggest star in the world by testifying from the depths of her soul.
And now she's soulless.
Shake it off? Isn't this one step away from the rappers boasting how much better they are than us? I'd say this is tone deaf, but then the Swifties would bring up that song she wrote about me, how I excoriated Ms. Swift for her duet with Stevie Nicks on the Grammys.
But the truth is Taylor Swift was our best and our brightest, our cutting edge star. You don't become the biggest star in the world by being phony, but honest.
You remember honesty, don't you? It comes right after despair and right before laughter.
When Taylor Swift sang about being a geek, about having crushes, about being mistreated, we could all relate, because that's the human condition. We're all terrorized by intimacy, but there's nothing we want more.
Now the video is excellent. Ms. Swift has put in her 10,000 hours, or at least 6k, she's no longer geeky, she seems comfortable in front of the camera, she radiates charisma.
But what is her message here? That she's untouchable?
Every day people e-mail me that I'm a shithead, believe me it gets to you, but that's the price for playing. And if you play to the haters, you're never gonna be embraced by the lovers. Because the lovers know life is hard and it's easier to stay in the shadows and judge as opposed to play.
And Taylor Swift was most famous for playing. Not only music, but life.
That's right, she became a national punch line for dating and writing about it, but isn't the truth that she was living out the rock star fantasy? How come it's all right for guys to become famous and utilize this to screw their fantasies but for some reason it was not cool for Taylor Swift?
She earned it. As for writing about it, she was young, and inexperienced in life, but that's what her fans loved about her, her honesty.
And now she blinked.
She was working in that bastion of truth known as country music, now she's just another faceless pop singer, boosted by Max Martin and Shellback. There's no difference between her and Katy Perry and the rest of those young women backed up by the old men. They bought insurance. It's as if your parents hired someone to take your SATs for you, so you could get into an Ivy. Sure, you achieved your goal, but don't you feel crummy inside, isn't there a telltale heart?
Then again, Taylor Swift never went to college, she never got to grow up outside the spotlight. She's been stunted by her fame. Despite our Facebook/social media economy, the truth is most people are anonymous.
But the biggest stars are bigger than ever, like Taylor Swift.
Sure, she's allowed to make her pop album. But if you consider 1989 to be a good year, you had to be born in it.
I'd prefer Taylor had gone into the studio with the late Gus Dudgeon, someone who could produce a sound to match her lyrics.
But those were the old days, when we bought an album to hear what the artist had to say, when the artists were clueless and didn't even know if they had a hit, and the label couldn't force them to record one.
It doesn't matter. She's got her deal with Keds, she's winning at the only game America cares about, money.
But the truth is America is about its underbelly, the loneliness and heartbreak of being a number in this overwhelming world. Taylor Swift used to write about this. She was our best exponent. She was a hero.
Now she's just a usual suspect.
And that's sad.
We need hope.
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Is this progress?
Once upon a time Taylor Swift became the biggest star in the world by testifying from the depths of her soul.
And now she's soulless.
Shake it off? Isn't this one step away from the rappers boasting how much better they are than us? I'd say this is tone deaf, but then the Swifties would bring up that song she wrote about me, how I excoriated Ms. Swift for her duet with Stevie Nicks on the Grammys.
But the truth is Taylor Swift was our best and our brightest, our cutting edge star. You don't become the biggest star in the world by being phony, but honest.
You remember honesty, don't you? It comes right after despair and right before laughter.
When Taylor Swift sang about being a geek, about having crushes, about being mistreated, we could all relate, because that's the human condition. We're all terrorized by intimacy, but there's nothing we want more.
Now the video is excellent. Ms. Swift has put in her 10,000 hours, or at least 6k, she's no longer geeky, she seems comfortable in front of the camera, she radiates charisma.
But what is her message here? That she's untouchable?
Every day people e-mail me that I'm a shithead, believe me it gets to you, but that's the price for playing. And if you play to the haters, you're never gonna be embraced by the lovers. Because the lovers know life is hard and it's easier to stay in the shadows and judge as opposed to play.
And Taylor Swift was most famous for playing. Not only music, but life.
That's right, she became a national punch line for dating and writing about it, but isn't the truth that she was living out the rock star fantasy? How come it's all right for guys to become famous and utilize this to screw their fantasies but for some reason it was not cool for Taylor Swift?
She earned it. As for writing about it, she was young, and inexperienced in life, but that's what her fans loved about her, her honesty.
And now she blinked.
She was working in that bastion of truth known as country music, now she's just another faceless pop singer, boosted by Max Martin and Shellback. There's no difference between her and Katy Perry and the rest of those young women backed up by the old men. They bought insurance. It's as if your parents hired someone to take your SATs for you, so you could get into an Ivy. Sure, you achieved your goal, but don't you feel crummy inside, isn't there a telltale heart?
Then again, Taylor Swift never went to college, she never got to grow up outside the spotlight. She's been stunted by her fame. Despite our Facebook/social media economy, the truth is most people are anonymous.
But the biggest stars are bigger than ever, like Taylor Swift.
Sure, she's allowed to make her pop album. But if you consider 1989 to be a good year, you had to be born in it.
I'd prefer Taylor had gone into the studio with the late Gus Dudgeon, someone who could produce a sound to match her lyrics.
But those were the old days, when we bought an album to hear what the artist had to say, when the artists were clueless and didn't even know if they had a hit, and the label couldn't force them to record one.
It doesn't matter. She's got her deal with Keds, she's winning at the only game America cares about, money.
But the truth is America is about its underbelly, the loneliness and heartbreak of being a number in this overwhelming world. Taylor Swift used to write about this. She was our best exponent. She was a hero.
Now she's just a usual suspect.
And that's sad.
We need hope.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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