"Babe, I love you so
I want you to know"
Did I tell you I went to Vail for the World Championships?
That's right, you think you know everything about my life, but that would be untrue. With a laptop and phone you can be anywhere, and the second week of February found me in Colorado where it was unseasonably warm yet sunny, where the world's best ski racers were screaming down the hill for fame and fortune and at the end of each day there was a medal ceremony and a show. By name brand talent. The Barenaked Ladies were astoundingly good, they realize that playing the songs is not enough, telling stories, putting on a show, is key to longevity.
And KC and the Sunshine Band put on a show!
That's right, the seventies disco kings.
I have no idea how much Vail paid them to perform. Had to be six figures, because there were sixteen people on stage and they stayed at one of the best hotels in town, at least Harry Casey (KC!) did, he talked about the singer at the Sonnenalp, and the assembled multitude barely fit on the tiny stage, but...
It was my favorite show of the year.
They don't do this anymore. Have the band come out and vamp, set the mood.
And then the dancers... Big ones tall ones short ones small ones, covering all the bases and eventually...
Harry hits the stage.
AND HE'S OLD AND FAT!
You wince. Your memories are shot to hell. And then he takes the mic and says he knows he's put on weight, and they're gonna change the name of the act to KFC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND! Cracked us up, put us immediately at ease. And that he was the 'N Sync of his era and Justin Timberlake was gonna look like this in forty years, HA!
And you forget how many hits he had.
Actually, KC was responsible for arguably the first disco hit, George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby," which we didn't even know was disco when it topped the chart back in 1974.
And then there was "Get Down Tonight."
Life used to be different. You'd drive across this great country of ours pushing the buttons on your AM radio looking for music.
Actually, in 1976, my car had FM too. But driving from Utah to Colorado for a competition there was nothing on that band. But there was..."Get Down Tonight."
And it stuck in my head. I coursed through the bumps with that song in my brain.
And there began a string of hits. KC was a fixture on the charts.
And then he disappeared. "Behind The Music" said it was a breakup with his songwriting partner, who knows, but his chart run was done. Not that KC is finished making music, he told us he had a new album in the pipeline, he played one of its tracks, which was actually quite good, but come on, who's gonna buy it?
And you forget how many hits he's got. We're all shake, shake, shakin' our bootys to that ubiquitous song from way back when. And the groove of "That's the Way (I Like It)" had us dancing too. Even the youngsters. That's what's funny about the hits of yore, everybody knows them, even if they weren't alive back then. They hear them at bar mitzvah parties, family functions, they're in their DNA.
And the boogie twins, "Boogie Shoes" and "I'm Your Boogie Man."
And the funniest thing is KC is dancing too. Twirling like he's twenty five, in a line with the girls. It's funny, it puts a smile on your face.
And then he stops the show and says he's going to sing his last hit.
Actually, he's going on. And I'm thinking I'll never know it. Because I too know disco by osmosis, I was never a fan.
And then...
"I love you"
It's an unmistakable melody. Drifting down from the heavens like a bygone body, coming back to haunt our memories, make us remember when...
The world was simpler. We could still be bored. We were addicted to the radio. We talked on the phone. And music was our only companion as we journeyed from one destination to another.
"I need your love
I'm down on my knees
Beggin' please, please, please
Don't go"
How do I know this song? I'm waiting for it to kick into high gear. But that's the COVER, from years later! I learned that when I did some research, it was a big hit for KWS in the nineties, actually it's a soundalike version of Double You's reworking. And I couldn't pull the name of either of these acts out of my ass, but somehow they got inside me, and...all I could say at 8,000 feet, under the stars, listening to the man who made it a hit initially, back in 1980, actually it was the first number one of the eighties, he told us so, is...I LOVE THIS SONG!
And now I can't get it out of my head.
I'm walking down the street, sitting in front of the computer, I woke up this morning and I heard in my head...
PLEASE DON'T GO!
Now that's a hit record, that's what we're all looking for. It's more important than the money, it's not exactly fame, it's about AFFECTING people, changing the culture.
"If you leave, at least in my lifetime
I've had one dream come true
I was blessed to be loved
By someone as wonderful as you"
I'm realizing the song is gonna end. You know that moment, during the show, when they play your favorite and you're smiling and seizing the moment and you realize it's going to end but you're hoping and praying it doesn't? IT WAS JUST LIKE THAT!
And just like that, KC and his merry band of musicians and backup singers left the stage, left Colorado, vanished into thin air.
But the memory remains.
"Babe, I love you so
I want you to know
That I'm gonna miss your love
The minute you walk out that door"
KC, COME BACK!
You played your songs I didn't even know I loved and my life flashed before my eyes. You made me feel happy and in the groove when the truth is the world has never been more challenged, we've all got more questions than answers.
But that's the power of music.
PLEASE DON'T GO!
YouTube: http://bit.ly/1g1kqxc
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/1EzMUKV
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Saturday 21 March 2015
Friday 20 March 2015
Girls
I really like this show.
The problem with Lena Dunham is she's overhyped.
Once upon a time you labored in obscurity, you gained traction slowly and then were universally applauded.
Now it's the reverse. You haven't got your shit together, you emerge with tons of publicity, the press says you're great and we say you're undeserving of the attention and after checking you out we ignore you.
I watched "Tiny Furniture."
That's right, Lena's feature that got a testimonial in the "New Yorker." It was barely one step better than watching paint dry.
I'm gonna tell you something, we live in the land of publicity. And if you're smart, you won't be thrilled when you see your name in the paper, when Howard Stern mentions you, rather you'll have a whole campaign, a picture of the destination you want to arrive at and then you'll manipulate the press to land get you there.
That's right, the press is not a mirror, but a tool. Something you use to achieve your goal. That's what Steve Jobs did best, other than create astounding products, he got the press to tell his story. And at first few were watching, but Steve was so good we now even watch the execrable Tim Cook tell us stories. Tim was born to gain efficiencies, not speak in front of audiences, he should not do the Apple presentations, but we watch because of the glow of Jobs's greatness. The same way we go to see the classic rock acts again and again even though they haven't recorded anything worth listening to in eons. Then again, Tim Cook introduces new products and I've just about had it with my old favorites, I'm done seeing them in concert.
And I'm done with the movies. Oh, I know there are great ones, I know that Hollywood dominates the conversation but is not the only option. It's just that... The tsunami of hype offends me. I love not going, I love not giving them my money. I'm a one man protest against the bullshit. I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore, their lowest common denominator high concept dreck that is windowed to the point where when I'm excited about seeing it I can't. There are so many small pics I'd watch on demand if only I could. After the review titillates me. The small stories, about people.
Like "Girls."
I tried once before, with the premiere. And for all I know it might have gotten better, but when the show launched, four seasons ago, the hype on Lena Dunham was so overwhelming, all the "Voice of a Generation" ridiculousness, that my expectations were so high that nothing could fulfill them.
Lena Dunham is a minor talent.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
Why does everybody have to be Jay Z, why does everybody have to dominate?
But what Lena Dunham attempts to do is chronicle the world she sees.
That's what musicians do, that's what Taylor Swift got famous on, before she went on react and defaulted to Max Martin and became all about the glitter and the fame as opposed to the honesty and the heartbreak. Come on, I'm supposed to have sympathy for you because you've got haters? And you bake cookies and deliver presents so people will like you? Have you no dignity?
No, Taylor Swift does not.
Write another song about me Tay-Tay, go for it.
Or be a mensch and ignore all this, because most people won't even see it.
And most people have never seen "Girls." And I'm not sure most people would even like "Girls." Because they can't handle the truth.
And the truth is we are all not winners. We're all lost, looking for a location to reside. And just when we think we've got it together, we find out we do not.
Like Hannah/Lena going to graduate school in Iowa. With the cream of the crop. Although most of these people never make it, if they publish at all it's to a tiny audience. They're all about resumes, like the losers who win undercard Grammys... Feel good about yourself, even though you affect almost no one.
That's the American game, you've got to see yourself reflected, you can't have any self-esteem, despite your parents saying you're great...that's right, you've got to hear it from others again and again and again.
But the truth is even those who went to Ivy League schools will falter. We all falter, some sooner than others. You might get a gig at the prestigious law firm but then you don't make partner. The love of your life cheats on you, leaving you with your heart broken and nothing but a title.
Our parents are crazy.
And today's generation has a relationship with their parents unlike the one the baby boomers had with theirs. All this best friend/advice stuff. We were on our own. Hannah leans on her mother and father, ain't that a laugh, and it is.
And Hannah is not beautiful, but that does not hold her back. She flies on her personality, which opens doors at the same time it makes people squirm.
And then you've got Shoshanna/Zosia Mamet, who thinks she's entitled to a career after graduation and she can't even get a job.
And Marnie/Allison Williams may be beautiful but she's strong in all the wrong ways and picks bad men.
And the men themselves... Don't know whether to be sensitive or macho or friendly or obstinate... Society has made them blink. For every fraternity brother raping a drunk partygoer, there are scores of nerds who've digested the politically correct behavior manual and are afraid to make a move. But they don't do stories on them.
Except in "Girls."
Judd Apatow is not the only person doing good work in comedy.
Lena Dunham isn't in the league of Woody Allen, but she's trying.
And HBO is giving them a runway.
Meanwhile, the somnambulant press eats it all up and regurgitates such a fawning report that the truth embodied in the series is eviscerated.
I'm watching "Girls" on HBO Go. On my iPad. It's more intimate than the big screen.
And "Girls" is an intimate story. About growing up. The old envy the young but I wouldn't want to be in my twenties again, with all those questions and almost no answers. Forget that these people are actors, in real life they'd be struggling losers, whose parents would be debating whether to pay their bills or cut them off, tearing their hair out all the while.
I sometimes feel I'm not made for this world. One where everybody is starting a business that will change the world and rain down millions. Used to be everybody had a screenplay, now everybody's got a business plan.
I never wrote a screenplay and I never went to business school and I'm thinking if I can just lay down my truth I've got a chance.
Lena Dunham has.
And she's winning.
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The problem with Lena Dunham is she's overhyped.
Once upon a time you labored in obscurity, you gained traction slowly and then were universally applauded.
Now it's the reverse. You haven't got your shit together, you emerge with tons of publicity, the press says you're great and we say you're undeserving of the attention and after checking you out we ignore you.
I watched "Tiny Furniture."
That's right, Lena's feature that got a testimonial in the "New Yorker." It was barely one step better than watching paint dry.
I'm gonna tell you something, we live in the land of publicity. And if you're smart, you won't be thrilled when you see your name in the paper, when Howard Stern mentions you, rather you'll have a whole campaign, a picture of the destination you want to arrive at and then you'll manipulate the press to land get you there.
That's right, the press is not a mirror, but a tool. Something you use to achieve your goal. That's what Steve Jobs did best, other than create astounding products, he got the press to tell his story. And at first few were watching, but Steve was so good we now even watch the execrable Tim Cook tell us stories. Tim was born to gain efficiencies, not speak in front of audiences, he should not do the Apple presentations, but we watch because of the glow of Jobs's greatness. The same way we go to see the classic rock acts again and again even though they haven't recorded anything worth listening to in eons. Then again, Tim Cook introduces new products and I've just about had it with my old favorites, I'm done seeing them in concert.
And I'm done with the movies. Oh, I know there are great ones, I know that Hollywood dominates the conversation but is not the only option. It's just that... The tsunami of hype offends me. I love not going, I love not giving them my money. I'm a one man protest against the bullshit. I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore, their lowest common denominator high concept dreck that is windowed to the point where when I'm excited about seeing it I can't. There are so many small pics I'd watch on demand if only I could. After the review titillates me. The small stories, about people.
Like "Girls."
I tried once before, with the premiere. And for all I know it might have gotten better, but when the show launched, four seasons ago, the hype on Lena Dunham was so overwhelming, all the "Voice of a Generation" ridiculousness, that my expectations were so high that nothing could fulfill them.
Lena Dunham is a minor talent.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
Why does everybody have to be Jay Z, why does everybody have to dominate?
But what Lena Dunham attempts to do is chronicle the world she sees.
That's what musicians do, that's what Taylor Swift got famous on, before she went on react and defaulted to Max Martin and became all about the glitter and the fame as opposed to the honesty and the heartbreak. Come on, I'm supposed to have sympathy for you because you've got haters? And you bake cookies and deliver presents so people will like you? Have you no dignity?
No, Taylor Swift does not.
Write another song about me Tay-Tay, go for it.
Or be a mensch and ignore all this, because most people won't even see it.
And most people have never seen "Girls." And I'm not sure most people would even like "Girls." Because they can't handle the truth.
And the truth is we are all not winners. We're all lost, looking for a location to reside. And just when we think we've got it together, we find out we do not.
Like Hannah/Lena going to graduate school in Iowa. With the cream of the crop. Although most of these people never make it, if they publish at all it's to a tiny audience. They're all about resumes, like the losers who win undercard Grammys... Feel good about yourself, even though you affect almost no one.
That's the American game, you've got to see yourself reflected, you can't have any self-esteem, despite your parents saying you're great...that's right, you've got to hear it from others again and again and again.
But the truth is even those who went to Ivy League schools will falter. We all falter, some sooner than others. You might get a gig at the prestigious law firm but then you don't make partner. The love of your life cheats on you, leaving you with your heart broken and nothing but a title.
Our parents are crazy.
And today's generation has a relationship with their parents unlike the one the baby boomers had with theirs. All this best friend/advice stuff. We were on our own. Hannah leans on her mother and father, ain't that a laugh, and it is.
And Hannah is not beautiful, but that does not hold her back. She flies on her personality, which opens doors at the same time it makes people squirm.
And then you've got Shoshanna/Zosia Mamet, who thinks she's entitled to a career after graduation and she can't even get a job.
And Marnie/Allison Williams may be beautiful but she's strong in all the wrong ways and picks bad men.
And the men themselves... Don't know whether to be sensitive or macho or friendly or obstinate... Society has made them blink. For every fraternity brother raping a drunk partygoer, there are scores of nerds who've digested the politically correct behavior manual and are afraid to make a move. But they don't do stories on them.
Except in "Girls."
Judd Apatow is not the only person doing good work in comedy.
Lena Dunham isn't in the league of Woody Allen, but she's trying.
And HBO is giving them a runway.
Meanwhile, the somnambulant press eats it all up and regurgitates such a fawning report that the truth embodied in the series is eviscerated.
I'm watching "Girls" on HBO Go. On my iPad. It's more intimate than the big screen.
And "Girls" is an intimate story. About growing up. The old envy the young but I wouldn't want to be in my twenties again, with all those questions and almost no answers. Forget that these people are actors, in real life they'd be struggling losers, whose parents would be debating whether to pay their bills or cut them off, tearing their hair out all the while.
I sometimes feel I'm not made for this world. One where everybody is starting a business that will change the world and rain down millions. Used to be everybody had a screenplay, now everybody's got a business plan.
I never wrote a screenplay and I never went to business school and I'm thinking if I can just lay down my truth I've got a chance.
Lena Dunham has.
And she's winning.
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Life Happens While You're Not Paying Attention
Kind of like the Supreme Court.
You vote for some guy who says he'll lower your taxes, but the truth is this President gets to appoint a Supreme Court justice who serves for life and when a case comes up long after the exec is gone, you find out that the court is tilted in opposition to your desires but it's just too late.
Kind of like this "managed services" article in today's "Wall Street Journal," wherein it's stated HBO, Showtime and Sony don't want to be on the regular internet, but in a separate channel with faster service, like the one that provides your phone connection.
Huh. Wasn't net neutrality supposed to solve this problem?
But we all get frustrated when our Netflix drops out. Happened to me watching "House of Cards" last weekend. Of course, I bitch about Time Warner, if we only had more speed and capacity. Then again, metropolises gave monopolies to cable providers decades ago and we've got no choice to switch to.
Wanna know how to get rich?
Predict the future.
I'm reading this book "Becoming Steve Jobs." It's gonna be released on Tuesday. And in it both Jobs and Bill Gates see where the future is going and capitalize on it. Gates most famously by putting his energies behind software. Bill wrote a screed saying software should be paid for, not be a free add-on, and this was back in the seventies! IBM was so uninformed that it gave away the store, allowing Microsoft to license DOS to other manufacturers. Hell, IBM thought it was all about hardware. Isn't it interesting it's a services company now.
And that's where Dell is going. And the pivot is so important.
That's another point made in the book. That Jobs rarely ended up where he thought he was going. Pixar was a hardware and software company and the thought of making movies was an afterthought, a hobby at best. But when Steve saw the opportunity to change direction, he did. Too many people are married to the past, who they are. You went to school for one thing so that's what you must do. So you're chained to your desk as the world changes and then your desk is taken away, and you with it.
But, despite being able to change, Jobs always looked beyond. For the new new thing. Where we were going as opposed to where we've been. Hell, the Homebrew Computer Club was not excited by the Apple computer. They didn't want to make money, they were hobbyists! Making it easy was a detriment.
So where is music going?
One thing we know is the complainers are lost.
If you keep complaining about the loss of recorded music revenue, you didn't read today's "Wall Street Journal" article wherein it is stated that roadies can earn $200,000. And that they don't do drugs as much as gourmet food. The landscape changes, can you change with it?
What we know is distribution has been solidified. Streaming has won, it's eclipsed the sale of CDs, it's eviscerated piracy. These are all good things. Think about how you're going to get your music heard, not how the financial odds are stacked against you.
And live has been organized and streamlined. You can rail about consolidation, but no one bitches that Live Nation stiffed them. Furthermore, Live Nation has the deep pockets to pay huge guarantees. And if you can't get into a Live Nation building, if you can't get your act booked, welcome to the real world, where losers abound and winners are rare.
But winners profit in the music sphere.
But what does the future hold?
The future is about music and mindshare.
Let's start with the second first.
Sure, music is everywhere, but the landscape is chaotic, only dedicated fans know what's going on.
Oh, don't talk to me about radio. That's like defending the steamship when you can travel by air. 18-24 year olds watch so much less TV, youngsters have never known good radio, stop being myopic and know that music discovery is a land of endless rabbit holes that most people are afraid of.
Music discovery will be fixed. We will know what to listen to. Someone will tell us. This person may not end up as rich as Bill Gates, but he or she will be very powerful and will use their position to exact a toll.
So far this problem has been addressed by techies, who believe in algorithms and endless choice. But music discovery is a human endeavor, that knows about limits. Power users bitch all day long that they can't customize their Macs and iPhones, but most people love the devices' simplicity. Where's the simplicity in music discovery? Give me very few choices of very good stuff.
As for the music itself... We're waiting for the next big breakthrough.
We had classic rock.
We had rap.
Electronic music is not it.
What is the sound that will enrapture the populace, get everybody listening like the Beatles?
Don't laugh, it's gonna happen, spontaneously. You won't be prepared.
It will be done by people who have paid their dues, who have facility with the sound they are making. This is what Gladwell had right in "Outliers," with the Beatles playing thousands of hours before most had ever heard of them. This is why Max Martin is so successful, because of the time he's put in.
Right now we've got old men making new music with young people fronting it.
But these old men are cynical, they don't speak from the heart, and therefore their reach is limited.
As for the retreads... Rock is dead. Hip-hop too.
But melody, changes and good voices are not.
So where are we going?
That's the question you should ask.
When Napster appeared you should have known the CD was dead.
When Tunecore allowed everybody to place their music on iTunes, when SoundCloud burgeoned, you should have known there would be a race to quality, that people would migrate to the winners.
When it was revealed that the success of Baauer's "Harlem Shake" was manipulated, you should have known that the viral video was dead. Has there been one since? No.
When Apple announces the Watch you should know that convenience is key. That we want instant access to all our information and just like we don't want to be in front of our desktop computer to access our e-mail, we don't want to pull out our handset to see our texts.
Evolution happens.
But what's even more interesting is revolution.
The seeds of revolution are being planted as I write this.
There will be economic revolution. The rich can't rig the game and pull away from the poor and get away with it, not for long.
But artistic revolution is even more exciting. Movies went into a backwater and TV filled the vacuum. Did you see the TV revolution happening? When HBO aired "Dream On" and "Larry Sanders" did you know the "Sopranos" and "Game of Thrones" were coming?
They did.
Kinda.
HBO realized licensing films was a death march. Too much money and too much competition. They had to go another way.
Don't listen to the complainers. They're so mired in the past they can't see the future. They're advocating getting back together with your old girlfriend, and how often does that work?
Stop imitating success. The Apple II's reign ended. The Mac survives on a totally different operating system.
Believe in yourself and your mission.
But know that every day bricks are falling and doors are closing that are going to impede your progress and your style. And it's your job to stay ahead of the game, to navigate these waters, to use change to your advantage.
That's what Tim Westergren did. Pandora wasn't launched in a day.
That's what Daniel Ek did. He was a hotshot programmer who'd already made his millions.
But then they triumph and you don't like how it all turned out and you try to turn back the hands of time.
That's a worthless endeavor. Enter the world while it's still malleable.
One bold pioneer's gonna blow music wide open, just you watch.
But it could be years.
"Streaming TV Services Seek to Sidestep Web Congestion: HBO, Sony and Showtime want separate lanes, spurring net neutrality concerns": http://on.wsj.com/1xk5bPk
"Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader": http://amzn.to/1Hcvz0H
"Roadies: Unlikely Survivors in the Music Business": http://on.wsj.com/1C1JbIU
"Sales of Streaming Music Top CDs in Flat Year for Industry": http://nyti.ms/1C6GHsU
"People 18 to 24 trailed the weekly averages for all adults in most media usage categories...": http://nyti.ms/19Foicc
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You vote for some guy who says he'll lower your taxes, but the truth is this President gets to appoint a Supreme Court justice who serves for life and when a case comes up long after the exec is gone, you find out that the court is tilted in opposition to your desires but it's just too late.
Kind of like this "managed services" article in today's "Wall Street Journal," wherein it's stated HBO, Showtime and Sony don't want to be on the regular internet, but in a separate channel with faster service, like the one that provides your phone connection.
Huh. Wasn't net neutrality supposed to solve this problem?
But we all get frustrated when our Netflix drops out. Happened to me watching "House of Cards" last weekend. Of course, I bitch about Time Warner, if we only had more speed and capacity. Then again, metropolises gave monopolies to cable providers decades ago and we've got no choice to switch to.
Wanna know how to get rich?
Predict the future.
I'm reading this book "Becoming Steve Jobs." It's gonna be released on Tuesday. And in it both Jobs and Bill Gates see where the future is going and capitalize on it. Gates most famously by putting his energies behind software. Bill wrote a screed saying software should be paid for, not be a free add-on, and this was back in the seventies! IBM was so uninformed that it gave away the store, allowing Microsoft to license DOS to other manufacturers. Hell, IBM thought it was all about hardware. Isn't it interesting it's a services company now.
And that's where Dell is going. And the pivot is so important.
That's another point made in the book. That Jobs rarely ended up where he thought he was going. Pixar was a hardware and software company and the thought of making movies was an afterthought, a hobby at best. But when Steve saw the opportunity to change direction, he did. Too many people are married to the past, who they are. You went to school for one thing so that's what you must do. So you're chained to your desk as the world changes and then your desk is taken away, and you with it.
But, despite being able to change, Jobs always looked beyond. For the new new thing. Where we were going as opposed to where we've been. Hell, the Homebrew Computer Club was not excited by the Apple computer. They didn't want to make money, they were hobbyists! Making it easy was a detriment.
So where is music going?
One thing we know is the complainers are lost.
If you keep complaining about the loss of recorded music revenue, you didn't read today's "Wall Street Journal" article wherein it is stated that roadies can earn $200,000. And that they don't do drugs as much as gourmet food. The landscape changes, can you change with it?
What we know is distribution has been solidified. Streaming has won, it's eclipsed the sale of CDs, it's eviscerated piracy. These are all good things. Think about how you're going to get your music heard, not how the financial odds are stacked against you.
And live has been organized and streamlined. You can rail about consolidation, but no one bitches that Live Nation stiffed them. Furthermore, Live Nation has the deep pockets to pay huge guarantees. And if you can't get into a Live Nation building, if you can't get your act booked, welcome to the real world, where losers abound and winners are rare.
But winners profit in the music sphere.
But what does the future hold?
The future is about music and mindshare.
Let's start with the second first.
Sure, music is everywhere, but the landscape is chaotic, only dedicated fans know what's going on.
Oh, don't talk to me about radio. That's like defending the steamship when you can travel by air. 18-24 year olds watch so much less TV, youngsters have never known good radio, stop being myopic and know that music discovery is a land of endless rabbit holes that most people are afraid of.
Music discovery will be fixed. We will know what to listen to. Someone will tell us. This person may not end up as rich as Bill Gates, but he or she will be very powerful and will use their position to exact a toll.
So far this problem has been addressed by techies, who believe in algorithms and endless choice. But music discovery is a human endeavor, that knows about limits. Power users bitch all day long that they can't customize their Macs and iPhones, but most people love the devices' simplicity. Where's the simplicity in music discovery? Give me very few choices of very good stuff.
As for the music itself... We're waiting for the next big breakthrough.
We had classic rock.
We had rap.
Electronic music is not it.
What is the sound that will enrapture the populace, get everybody listening like the Beatles?
Don't laugh, it's gonna happen, spontaneously. You won't be prepared.
It will be done by people who have paid their dues, who have facility with the sound they are making. This is what Gladwell had right in "Outliers," with the Beatles playing thousands of hours before most had ever heard of them. This is why Max Martin is so successful, because of the time he's put in.
Right now we've got old men making new music with young people fronting it.
But these old men are cynical, they don't speak from the heart, and therefore their reach is limited.
As for the retreads... Rock is dead. Hip-hop too.
But melody, changes and good voices are not.
So where are we going?
That's the question you should ask.
When Napster appeared you should have known the CD was dead.
When Tunecore allowed everybody to place their music on iTunes, when SoundCloud burgeoned, you should have known there would be a race to quality, that people would migrate to the winners.
When it was revealed that the success of Baauer's "Harlem Shake" was manipulated, you should have known that the viral video was dead. Has there been one since? No.
When Apple announces the Watch you should know that convenience is key. That we want instant access to all our information and just like we don't want to be in front of our desktop computer to access our e-mail, we don't want to pull out our handset to see our texts.
Evolution happens.
But what's even more interesting is revolution.
The seeds of revolution are being planted as I write this.
There will be economic revolution. The rich can't rig the game and pull away from the poor and get away with it, not for long.
But artistic revolution is even more exciting. Movies went into a backwater and TV filled the vacuum. Did you see the TV revolution happening? When HBO aired "Dream On" and "Larry Sanders" did you know the "Sopranos" and "Game of Thrones" were coming?
They did.
Kinda.
HBO realized licensing films was a death march. Too much money and too much competition. They had to go another way.
Don't listen to the complainers. They're so mired in the past they can't see the future. They're advocating getting back together with your old girlfriend, and how often does that work?
Stop imitating success. The Apple II's reign ended. The Mac survives on a totally different operating system.
Believe in yourself and your mission.
But know that every day bricks are falling and doors are closing that are going to impede your progress and your style. And it's your job to stay ahead of the game, to navigate these waters, to use change to your advantage.
That's what Tim Westergren did. Pandora wasn't launched in a day.
That's what Daniel Ek did. He was a hotshot programmer who'd already made his millions.
But then they triumph and you don't like how it all turned out and you try to turn back the hands of time.
That's a worthless endeavor. Enter the world while it's still malleable.
One bold pioneer's gonna blow music wide open, just you watch.
But it could be years.
"Streaming TV Services Seek to Sidestep Web Congestion: HBO, Sony and Showtime want separate lanes, spurring net neutrality concerns": http://on.wsj.com/1xk5bPk
"Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader": http://amzn.to/1Hcvz0H
"Roadies: Unlikely Survivors in the Music Business": http://on.wsj.com/1C1JbIU
"Sales of Streaming Music Top CDs in Flat Year for Industry": http://nyti.ms/1C6GHsU
"People 18 to 24 trailed the weekly averages for all adults in most media usage categories...": http://nyti.ms/19Foicc
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Rhinofy-Dylan Covers
BLOWIN' IN THE WIND
Peter, Paul & Mary
We had no idea who Bob Dylan was, but Peter, Paul & Mary were STARS!
If you were Jewish and went to summer camp...
No, scratch that, if you went to summer camp at all, I heard this at Boy Scout camp, you knew "Blowin' In The Wind."
The folk boom was in full bloom, everyone was playing a guitar, especially counselors and religious leaders, and the masses sang along. That's right, rather than rapping, believing they were going to be stars, the youth of yesterday sang along to songs with melodies, changes and meaningful lyrics, rejoicing in the pure pleasure of music.
The sound was just as important as the lyrics.
Credit their mutual manager, Albert Grossman, for placing this with Peter, Paul & Mary, kick-starting Dylan's career.
MR. TAMBOURINE MAN
The Byrds
It was FOLK ROCK!
That's right, the Beatles put a stake in the heart of folk music, before Jimi Hendrix put a stake in the heart of surf music, and the Byrds emerged with a sound that hearkened back to what had come before, but was positively today, well, yesterday, 1965.
This is the sound that paved the way for Tom Petty. With the twangy Rickenbacker.
It was a smoothed down iteration of the original, but the Byrds cover had magic nonetheless.
IT AIN'T ME BABE
The Turtles
Sincere and completely different from the Byrds' song, but also a huge smash. Howard Kaylan's vocal is impeccable. Both sincere and nasal and angry, you really felt it was his song, even though it wasn't.
A HARD RAIN'S A-GONNA FALL
Bryan Ferry
At this point, Roxy Music meant almost nothing in America, they'd had nothing resembling a hit, but the band was huge in the U.K. and in '73 Mr. Ferry stepped out and cut a solo album of covers. One can argue the most indelible cut is his cover of the recently departed Lesley Gore's "It's My Party," but it's this cover of Dylan's famous song that opens the album and sets the mood, tells you that this is not your father's covers album, not a Roxy Music LP, and that Ferry loves the material but has no reservation about making it his own.
IT'S ALRIGHT MA (I'M ONLY BLEEDING)
Roger McGuinn
You've got no idea how big the movie "Easy Rider" was. And upon its soundtrack was this cover of my favorite Dylan cut. You've just got to listen to the words, it's gem after gem.
Unfortunately, the "Easy Rider" soundtrack on Spotify is sans this take, but you can hear it on YouTube here: http://bit.ly/1xkM1sA
However, there is a live version by the Byrds on Spotify, which I'm including.
McGuinn whittles off the burrs and makes the song more palatable, bringing people to the party, whereupon they can partake of the original recording which has so much edge and anger it'll revolutionize you.
As for "Easy Rider"... It was not an immediate hit, the film grew over time. But what's marked about it is its counterculture vibe and ethos. Today it's all about fitting in, or complaining when you don't. To have a major motion picture that was not part of the establishment emboldened the populace. But that was art in the sixties...
YOU AIN'T GOIN' NOWHERE
The Byrds
From the album that heralded country rock, that made the airwaves safe for Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Eagles.
At least that was the legend. You used to read all about how Gram Parsons joined the band and pulled it into country and Southern California followed.
But no one writes about that anymore.
Nothing on "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" was a hit, but those who heard it were influenced, the same way they say about Patti Smith's debut.
I first heard "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" played on guitar by my closest friend Marc. I got it immediately. Back when songs were songs and not records.
MY BACK PAGES
The Byrds
"I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now"
You've just got to grow up to know this is true.
And if you don't believe this, you haven't, not yet.
HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED
Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt
And here's a special treat, from the 1990 Christic Institute concert at the Shrine in L.A.
You'll immediately fall into the groove, just like they do, your knee will be pumping, you'll feel the electricity, you'll want nothing so much as to be there.
This is why we go to the live show, to have an experience like this.
Jackson's guitar is enough, just like it was with Dylan, you don't need a whole band to get everybody going.
And Bruce blows the harmonica, showing he listened to all those early Dylan records.
And Bonnie exudes a sexuality that no guy can, I'd say she holds her own with the boys, but you can argue strongly she owns it.
If you listen to one track from this playlist, if you don't even like this song, check this out. IT'LL MAKE YOU A BELIEVER IN EVERYBODY INVOLVED!
Needless to say, it's not on Spotify. Check it out here on YouTube: http://bit.ly/1FMhPb3
IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH, IT TAKES A TRAIN TO CRY
"Super Session"
I know, I'm supposed to like the Bloomfield side better, but I've always preferred Stills's.
Sure, the centerpiece of side two was "Season Of The Witch," but this was the second cut that hooked me, a complete reworking of the original. It exudes such fearlessness, such intensity, such YOUTH, it's infectious!
JUST LIKE A WOMAN
Richie Havens
Pretty famous in its era, off the album "Mixed Bag," the album that contained "Handsome Johnny," that Havens played so aggressively at Woodstock, this was the album that sold in the wake of that film, every baby boomer knows it.
ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER
Jimi Hendrix
Gave him a hit, and despite all that fame, he didn't have one previously.
I believe "Are You Experienced" is the definitive statement, even if it does sound more dated than Jimi's other work, but I've come to recognize the magic of "Electric Ladyland," and believe me, "All Along The Watchtower" is not the best track on that record. Sure, I love "Crosstown Traffic" and "Voodoo Chile," but my favorite is "Burning of the Midnight Lamp."
WICKED MESSENGER
Faces
At this point, Rod Stewart is a joke.
But once upon a time he was iconic.
He was unknown, but then he hooked up with the remnants of Small Faces, bringing Ronnie Wood along with him, and this opened their initial LP together.
It stings, it rolls, Rod wails but so does Ronnie on his slide and Ian McLagan on the organ.
Great.
DEAR LANDLORD
Joe Cocker
A completely different arrangement from the original, but give Joe props for picking the song out. Joe reworks the lyric a bit, but I'm gonna quote the original, because you need to know it:
"Now, each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true
And if you don't underestimate me
I won't underestimate you"
MIGHTY QUINN
Manfred Mann
Who expected Manfred Mann to have another hit? A seemingly unintelligible novelty song that most people had no idea was written by Dylan, because Bob hadn't released it yet.
IF NOT FOR YOU
George Harrison
Released shortly after Bob's take on "New Morning," it was part of the triple-album boxed set "All Things Must Pass," which was played incessantly, along with Stephen Stills's solo debut, in dorm rooms the winter of 1971.
Listen here: http://bit.ly/1t2lIF6
IF NOT FOR YOU
Olivia Newton-John
Her initial hit, back before we realized she was a complete lightweight, before the acting, before the execrable "Have You Never Been Mellow."
FATHER OF DAY, FATHER OF NIGHT
Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Have success once, why not try to replicate it?
One of my favorite cuts off "New Morning," Manfred Mann's new band got a good amount of airplay on this.
KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR
Warren Zevon
From his final LP, when he knew he was gonna die.
Oh, the gravitas.
Yup, famous songwriter makes someone else's song his own.
However, I prefer Zevon's cover of "Back In The High Life," which you think was done because of his imminent death, but was recorded years before this news.
MOST LIKELY YOU GO YOUR WAY (AND I'LL GO MINE)
Todd Rundgren
From the LP "Faithful," wherein the wizard tries on side one to replicate famous songs faithfully. Superfluous, but Todd fanatics bought it and know it.
HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED
Johnny Winter
The irony is the magic in this track is more in the recently departed Winter's vocal than his guitar playing.
YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME LONESOME WHEN YOU GO
Shawn Colvin
Famous for her originals, Shawn is an incredible interpreter. This is from her covers album "Cover Girl" which was hurt by added instrumentation on too many tracks, but this is Shawn alone on the guitar. Gets you.
Spotify link: http://bit.ly/1Czsgy0
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Peter, Paul & Mary
We had no idea who Bob Dylan was, but Peter, Paul & Mary were STARS!
If you were Jewish and went to summer camp...
No, scratch that, if you went to summer camp at all, I heard this at Boy Scout camp, you knew "Blowin' In The Wind."
The folk boom was in full bloom, everyone was playing a guitar, especially counselors and religious leaders, and the masses sang along. That's right, rather than rapping, believing they were going to be stars, the youth of yesterday sang along to songs with melodies, changes and meaningful lyrics, rejoicing in the pure pleasure of music.
The sound was just as important as the lyrics.
Credit their mutual manager, Albert Grossman, for placing this with Peter, Paul & Mary, kick-starting Dylan's career.
MR. TAMBOURINE MAN
The Byrds
It was FOLK ROCK!
That's right, the Beatles put a stake in the heart of folk music, before Jimi Hendrix put a stake in the heart of surf music, and the Byrds emerged with a sound that hearkened back to what had come before, but was positively today, well, yesterday, 1965.
This is the sound that paved the way for Tom Petty. With the twangy Rickenbacker.
It was a smoothed down iteration of the original, but the Byrds cover had magic nonetheless.
IT AIN'T ME BABE
The Turtles
Sincere and completely different from the Byrds' song, but also a huge smash. Howard Kaylan's vocal is impeccable. Both sincere and nasal and angry, you really felt it was his song, even though it wasn't.
A HARD RAIN'S A-GONNA FALL
Bryan Ferry
At this point, Roxy Music meant almost nothing in America, they'd had nothing resembling a hit, but the band was huge in the U.K. and in '73 Mr. Ferry stepped out and cut a solo album of covers. One can argue the most indelible cut is his cover of the recently departed Lesley Gore's "It's My Party," but it's this cover of Dylan's famous song that opens the album and sets the mood, tells you that this is not your father's covers album, not a Roxy Music LP, and that Ferry loves the material but has no reservation about making it his own.
IT'S ALRIGHT MA (I'M ONLY BLEEDING)
Roger McGuinn
You've got no idea how big the movie "Easy Rider" was. And upon its soundtrack was this cover of my favorite Dylan cut. You've just got to listen to the words, it's gem after gem.
Unfortunately, the "Easy Rider" soundtrack on Spotify is sans this take, but you can hear it on YouTube here: http://bit.ly/1xkM1sA
However, there is a live version by the Byrds on Spotify, which I'm including.
McGuinn whittles off the burrs and makes the song more palatable, bringing people to the party, whereupon they can partake of the original recording which has so much edge and anger it'll revolutionize you.
As for "Easy Rider"... It was not an immediate hit, the film grew over time. But what's marked about it is its counterculture vibe and ethos. Today it's all about fitting in, or complaining when you don't. To have a major motion picture that was not part of the establishment emboldened the populace. But that was art in the sixties...
YOU AIN'T GOIN' NOWHERE
The Byrds
From the album that heralded country rock, that made the airwaves safe for Crosby, Stills & Nash and the Eagles.
At least that was the legend. You used to read all about how Gram Parsons joined the band and pulled it into country and Southern California followed.
But no one writes about that anymore.
Nothing on "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" was a hit, but those who heard it were influenced, the same way they say about Patti Smith's debut.
I first heard "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" played on guitar by my closest friend Marc. I got it immediately. Back when songs were songs and not records.
MY BACK PAGES
The Byrds
"I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now"
You've just got to grow up to know this is true.
And if you don't believe this, you haven't, not yet.
HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED
Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt
And here's a special treat, from the 1990 Christic Institute concert at the Shrine in L.A.
You'll immediately fall into the groove, just like they do, your knee will be pumping, you'll feel the electricity, you'll want nothing so much as to be there.
This is why we go to the live show, to have an experience like this.
Jackson's guitar is enough, just like it was with Dylan, you don't need a whole band to get everybody going.
And Bruce blows the harmonica, showing he listened to all those early Dylan records.
And Bonnie exudes a sexuality that no guy can, I'd say she holds her own with the boys, but you can argue strongly she owns it.
If you listen to one track from this playlist, if you don't even like this song, check this out. IT'LL MAKE YOU A BELIEVER IN EVERYBODY INVOLVED!
Needless to say, it's not on Spotify. Check it out here on YouTube: http://bit.ly/1FMhPb3
IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH, IT TAKES A TRAIN TO CRY
"Super Session"
I know, I'm supposed to like the Bloomfield side better, but I've always preferred Stills's.
Sure, the centerpiece of side two was "Season Of The Witch," but this was the second cut that hooked me, a complete reworking of the original. It exudes such fearlessness, such intensity, such YOUTH, it's infectious!
JUST LIKE A WOMAN
Richie Havens
Pretty famous in its era, off the album "Mixed Bag," the album that contained "Handsome Johnny," that Havens played so aggressively at Woodstock, this was the album that sold in the wake of that film, every baby boomer knows it.
ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER
Jimi Hendrix
Gave him a hit, and despite all that fame, he didn't have one previously.
I believe "Are You Experienced" is the definitive statement, even if it does sound more dated than Jimi's other work, but I've come to recognize the magic of "Electric Ladyland," and believe me, "All Along The Watchtower" is not the best track on that record. Sure, I love "Crosstown Traffic" and "Voodoo Chile," but my favorite is "Burning of the Midnight Lamp."
WICKED MESSENGER
Faces
At this point, Rod Stewart is a joke.
But once upon a time he was iconic.
He was unknown, but then he hooked up with the remnants of Small Faces, bringing Ronnie Wood along with him, and this opened their initial LP together.
It stings, it rolls, Rod wails but so does Ronnie on his slide and Ian McLagan on the organ.
Great.
DEAR LANDLORD
Joe Cocker
A completely different arrangement from the original, but give Joe props for picking the song out. Joe reworks the lyric a bit, but I'm gonna quote the original, because you need to know it:
"Now, each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true
And if you don't underestimate me
I won't underestimate you"
MIGHTY QUINN
Manfred Mann
Who expected Manfred Mann to have another hit? A seemingly unintelligible novelty song that most people had no idea was written by Dylan, because Bob hadn't released it yet.
IF NOT FOR YOU
George Harrison
Released shortly after Bob's take on "New Morning," it was part of the triple-album boxed set "All Things Must Pass," which was played incessantly, along with Stephen Stills's solo debut, in dorm rooms the winter of 1971.
Listen here: http://bit.ly/1t2lIF6
IF NOT FOR YOU
Olivia Newton-John
Her initial hit, back before we realized she was a complete lightweight, before the acting, before the execrable "Have You Never Been Mellow."
FATHER OF DAY, FATHER OF NIGHT
Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Have success once, why not try to replicate it?
One of my favorite cuts off "New Morning," Manfred Mann's new band got a good amount of airplay on this.
KNOCKIN' ON HEAVEN'S DOOR
Warren Zevon
From his final LP, when he knew he was gonna die.
Oh, the gravitas.
Yup, famous songwriter makes someone else's song his own.
However, I prefer Zevon's cover of "Back In The High Life," which you think was done because of his imminent death, but was recorded years before this news.
MOST LIKELY YOU GO YOUR WAY (AND I'LL GO MINE)
Todd Rundgren
From the LP "Faithful," wherein the wizard tries on side one to replicate famous songs faithfully. Superfluous, but Todd fanatics bought it and know it.
HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED
Johnny Winter
The irony is the magic in this track is more in the recently departed Winter's vocal than his guitar playing.
YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME LONESOME WHEN YOU GO
Shawn Colvin
Famous for her originals, Shawn is an incredible interpreter. This is from her covers album "Cover Girl" which was hurt by added instrumentation on too many tracks, but this is Shawn alone on the guitar. Gets you.
Spotify link: http://bit.ly/1Czsgy0
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Tuesday 17 March 2015
Never Say Never
Coke is in a tailspin, McDonald's is dying, a star football player retires after one year of play, Apple offers twenty five TV channels for $30-$40 and SXSW is now a tech, not a music, festival. Dude, what happened to my country?
If you're expecting the past to come back, if you're lamenting the loss of the way it used to be, you're missing today's big story, which is millennials have seized control of the country and their values are not the same as their parents'.
Let's start with McDonald's. Used to be the debate was whether they employed horse meat. But everybody agreed they had the best french fries. Their competition was Burger King, which promised customization, and Wendy's, which offered a bigger burger and slightly better quality. What McDonald's sold was consistency, it was the same everywhere, from Amsterdam to Austin.
But it turns out the younger generation wants fresh. Burger King had it right about customization, but its menu is out of date and too limited. Now it's about where your food was grown and how and if it's bland and boring customers avoid it. Hell, Whole Foods is challenged because their competition, the mainstream markets, have gone healthy and organic too, Whole Paycheck can't charge the same high prices anymore.
And then there's Coke. There was even a hit song based on a Coke commercial. And now not only is the flagship drink history, inroads are being made on Diet Coke. Turns out it makes you fat. And no one wants chemicals. They want water. They want healthy. And Coke is diversifying, but the company is struggling.
And then comes football. The media, controlled by oldsters, and the sport's brain dead fans, would have you believe it's impenetrable, a monolith that cannot be destroyed. But football will be marginalized in my lifetime. Look, boxing took a dive. Turns out someone has to play. And if people can rally to save animals, with PETA, they can certainly rally to save other human beings. Football is just too ugly, you get too hurt. Fans will be pariahs, just like those who still wear fur.
And Apple's TV announcement... This is kind of like digital photography. We heard for over a decade that Kodak and film were going to be in trouble, then seemingly overnight digital photography took hold and the landscape was revolutionized. Photos were suddenly free to take, and everybody took zillions. Which is kind of a good thing. Then again, how many TV networks are going to die. They've all be propped up by cable payments. That's right, the cable companies pay those channels you don't watch with your dollars, that's why they're so profitable. But they do get lousy ratings and people are pissed about their cable bills and...Viacom's channels have already been kicked off a system. Do you really need MTV and VH1? And Nickelodeon's ratings have tanked. As for Philippe Daumann, who replaced Tom Freston (who's backing Vice, which is soon to own news), he's one of America's highest paid executives who's overseeing a failing business. Put Les Moonves in that category too. Turns out
Les is not prepared for the future. CBS is in a much better state than its sister company Viacom, but what happens when the payments evaporate, because people are sick of paying and only want the big channels? Like photography, they'll be able to get free stuff in droves online. But the usual suspect cable channels are in trouble.
And then we've got SXSW. Where the big story is Meerkat, not a band. Brands have taken over South By. That's what happens when you're beholden to corporations, they eat your soul and leave you with nothing. A band hasn't broken out of SXSW in eons. It's all promotion. And there's so much noise, you can't hear the music. We need a new festival with fewer bands, but it won't fly because the first thing the pricks in charge will do is sign up sponsors, and you've got death before you've begun.
Like the Firesign Theatre said, everything you know is wrong. Or at least up for grabs. The sands are shifting. He not busy being born is dying.
Challenge your precepts. Look for truth.
The CD is dead.
Vinyl is irrelevant.
People are listening to music, they just don't know what to listen to.
The old guard keeps beating the drum of radio.
The techies are all about playlists and algorithms, thinking scale is everything.
But humanity is everything. Human curation. That's the thread in all these stories. Not machine values, but personal values. Who you are, what you think, what you put in your body.
The world will be saved by people. Who think. And lead thereupon.
I love tech, but it's soulless. The devices are just tools.
We need leaders, who embrace the human values that are transforming our landscape. Who use megaphones not to promote the products of sponsors, but their thoughts on what is right and wrong and how to live.
Coke rots your insides.
McDonald's makes you sick and fat.
Football gives you brain damage.
Cable is far too expensive, and you're paying for what you don't watch.
And tech drives the culture more than music.
We find these truths to be self-evident.
Assuming you've got your head out of your ass, assuming you report to people, with feelings and emotions, as opposed to the dollar.
That's right, while our whole country worshipped cash, its underlying values changed.
This is important.
"49ers' Chris Borland, Citing Safety, Is Latest to Retire Early From N.F.L.": http://goo.gl/sJf6OO
"Apple Plans Web TV Service in Fall": http://goo.gl/YEiKgN
"How Meerkat conquered all at SXSW": http://goo.gl/qVHgH7
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If you're expecting the past to come back, if you're lamenting the loss of the way it used to be, you're missing today's big story, which is millennials have seized control of the country and their values are not the same as their parents'.
Let's start with McDonald's. Used to be the debate was whether they employed horse meat. But everybody agreed they had the best french fries. Their competition was Burger King, which promised customization, and Wendy's, which offered a bigger burger and slightly better quality. What McDonald's sold was consistency, it was the same everywhere, from Amsterdam to Austin.
But it turns out the younger generation wants fresh. Burger King had it right about customization, but its menu is out of date and too limited. Now it's about where your food was grown and how and if it's bland and boring customers avoid it. Hell, Whole Foods is challenged because their competition, the mainstream markets, have gone healthy and organic too, Whole Paycheck can't charge the same high prices anymore.
And then there's Coke. There was even a hit song based on a Coke commercial. And now not only is the flagship drink history, inroads are being made on Diet Coke. Turns out it makes you fat. And no one wants chemicals. They want water. They want healthy. And Coke is diversifying, but the company is struggling.
And then comes football. The media, controlled by oldsters, and the sport's brain dead fans, would have you believe it's impenetrable, a monolith that cannot be destroyed. But football will be marginalized in my lifetime. Look, boxing took a dive. Turns out someone has to play. And if people can rally to save animals, with PETA, they can certainly rally to save other human beings. Football is just too ugly, you get too hurt. Fans will be pariahs, just like those who still wear fur.
And Apple's TV announcement... This is kind of like digital photography. We heard for over a decade that Kodak and film were going to be in trouble, then seemingly overnight digital photography took hold and the landscape was revolutionized. Photos were suddenly free to take, and everybody took zillions. Which is kind of a good thing. Then again, how many TV networks are going to die. They've all be propped up by cable payments. That's right, the cable companies pay those channels you don't watch with your dollars, that's why they're so profitable. But they do get lousy ratings and people are pissed about their cable bills and...Viacom's channels have already been kicked off a system. Do you really need MTV and VH1? And Nickelodeon's ratings have tanked. As for Philippe Daumann, who replaced Tom Freston (who's backing Vice, which is soon to own news), he's one of America's highest paid executives who's overseeing a failing business. Put Les Moonves in that category too. Turns out
Les is not prepared for the future. CBS is in a much better state than its sister company Viacom, but what happens when the payments evaporate, because people are sick of paying and only want the big channels? Like photography, they'll be able to get free stuff in droves online. But the usual suspect cable channels are in trouble.
And then we've got SXSW. Where the big story is Meerkat, not a band. Brands have taken over South By. That's what happens when you're beholden to corporations, they eat your soul and leave you with nothing. A band hasn't broken out of SXSW in eons. It's all promotion. And there's so much noise, you can't hear the music. We need a new festival with fewer bands, but it won't fly because the first thing the pricks in charge will do is sign up sponsors, and you've got death before you've begun.
Like the Firesign Theatre said, everything you know is wrong. Or at least up for grabs. The sands are shifting. He not busy being born is dying.
Challenge your precepts. Look for truth.
The CD is dead.
Vinyl is irrelevant.
People are listening to music, they just don't know what to listen to.
The old guard keeps beating the drum of radio.
The techies are all about playlists and algorithms, thinking scale is everything.
But humanity is everything. Human curation. That's the thread in all these stories. Not machine values, but personal values. Who you are, what you think, what you put in your body.
The world will be saved by people. Who think. And lead thereupon.
I love tech, but it's soulless. The devices are just tools.
We need leaders, who embrace the human values that are transforming our landscape. Who use megaphones not to promote the products of sponsors, but their thoughts on what is right and wrong and how to live.
Coke rots your insides.
McDonald's makes you sick and fat.
Football gives you brain damage.
Cable is far too expensive, and you're paying for what you don't watch.
And tech drives the culture more than music.
We find these truths to be self-evident.
Assuming you've got your head out of your ass, assuming you report to people, with feelings and emotions, as opposed to the dollar.
That's right, while our whole country worshipped cash, its underlying values changed.
This is important.
"49ers' Chris Borland, Citing Safety, Is Latest to Retire Early From N.F.L.": http://goo.gl/sJf6OO
"Apple Plans Web TV Service in Fall": http://goo.gl/YEiKgN
"How Meerkat conquered all at SXSW": http://goo.gl/qVHgH7
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Monday 16 March 2015
House Of Cards-No Spoilers!
Who you marry is the most important decision you will make in your life.
Trust me, I did it wrong. My ex was a financial disaster. That's another thing they don't prepare you for, retirement. No one is sitting at home, telling you you've got to save because you're gonna outlive your money and social security is not enough and even though you don't think you're gonna live forever, it's gonna be close.
But this marriage thing... We've got this inane proposition in the States that you marry for love. What hogwash. I'm beginning to think the Indians have it right, with their arranged marriages. Would you go into the most important decision in your life running on emotion instead of utilizing cold, hard, calculation? If you're running on your gut, if you make every decision based on how you feel, you're gonna lose, guaranteed.
As for love... I hate to tell you, everybody can be replaced. Love is situational. And the best place to meet your betrothed is in college. Because graduates' marriages sustain. That's what the statistics tell us. So pull yourself up by your bootstraps, finish your higher education, and latch on to someone who takes life as seriously as you do, as opposed to the hottie who swaggers and plays good pool.
And I know all this now, but it's reinforced by watching this year's season of "House Of Cards."
This is how it's going to be in the future, dropping all the episodes at once, doling out material just doesn't work in an instant on/on demand culture. We want it all, we want it now, and we want to go deep. That's what's so wrong about the pundits talking about a short attention span culture. No, the truth is we have incredible attention spans, if something is great.
And "House Of Cards" is great.
I wondered how they were going to switch it up, just not be repetitive. And they do this by having Frank and Claire not always win.
That's the way life is. They serve you lemons, and they taste horrible. You're swallowing and the tough, those who survive and make it, take their medicine but continue to slog on. If you think you can instantly make lemonade, you think you can read "Anna Karenina" in a day, and you can't, and you should read it, because it's the best book ever written.
Anyway, Frank and Claire are a team.
You can't do it alone, no way. Forget your skills, let's talk about emotions. You've got 'em, you need someone to confess to, bounce ideas off of. Someone who has your back and will not only conspire, but has the same interests, and I'm not talking about watching sports, I'm talking about achievement, accomplishment and the aforementioned retirement. There's a reason spouses can't testify against each other in court, or why they can exercise this privilege, more accurately, because...
Not that spouses don't fight. That's the mark of a great relationship, when you can have a knock-down, drag-out yet make peace thereafter and soldier on. As for those who claim they never argue, their relationships are a joke, that just means someone is not airing their complaints, and a person like this is no good as a partner, because it's the yin and yang, the push and pull, the compromise that moves you forward. Life is about compromise. You make your argument, you lose some, you win some, and you know that you can cry all you want to but the only person who cares is your spouse, who will ultimately nurse you back to health and tell you to buck up.
I'm not saying you shouldn't love your partner. But if you know what love is, you're lying. Hell, at this point I think love is first and foremost commitment, knowing someone will be there for you through thick and thin, because without commitment, you've got nothing, no foundation. Sure, you can have fun screwing intermittently, but who are you going to confess to when you find out you're HIV positive?
No one.
And the thing about marriages is they don't necessarily end up at the perceived destination. They're not bullets, or trains, you give it a go and adjust.
But we never hear this lesson.
We just hear about the "Bachelor" and Tinder and a bunch of other crap to take your mind off of what's important. The truth is the successful don't waste their time on gossip, unless they profit from it. I'm talking about TMZ/Kardashian gossip. As for business gossip, the world runs on it.
Sure, "House Of Cards" runs on plot twists. But even more it runs on truth, human truth. Little nuggets, aphorisms, are uttered regularly, and you see how the game is played.
And life is a game, get over it. Would you just run out on the baseball field without knowing the rules? Come on. Everybody can win at the game of life if you just hunker down and learn the rules and hone your skills. We hear every day from losers "I can't do this" and "I can't do that." No, you choose not to do this or that and you're afraid of falling on your face so you don't put yourself in uncomfortable positions.
I live for art (well, skiing too, read Aleksandar Hemon's article on the allure of the sport in today's "New York Times" here: http://nyti.ms/1LhuJTg), but somehow people have confused art with marketing and promotion. Sure, there's a skill in being able to draw attention to something, but it's the essence that allures. And we've now got television shows that will hook us better than any album, keep us paying attention for longer, because those who make them are shooting for the stars and those who pay for them are getting out of the way and letting the creators test limits.
That's right, creating and paying are two different skills, never forget that.
And they go hand in hand, as a partnership.
So you don't have to watch "House Of Cards." If you do, I'd start with the first season, it's more riveting.
But how are you planning to improve yourself? How are you planning to get ahead? How do you plan to win?
And we all want to win, we've all got goals. But very few of us get a manual, very few of get instructions, or we're myopic or the lessons we receive are incomplete.
But we listen to the rabble-rousers tell us what's important, we hone our bodies not our minds and get caught in eddies and riptides and when we're in our forties and our looks start to fade and our choices become prisons we start to have regrets.
Don't let this happen to you.
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Trust me, I did it wrong. My ex was a financial disaster. That's another thing they don't prepare you for, retirement. No one is sitting at home, telling you you've got to save because you're gonna outlive your money and social security is not enough and even though you don't think you're gonna live forever, it's gonna be close.
But this marriage thing... We've got this inane proposition in the States that you marry for love. What hogwash. I'm beginning to think the Indians have it right, with their arranged marriages. Would you go into the most important decision in your life running on emotion instead of utilizing cold, hard, calculation? If you're running on your gut, if you make every decision based on how you feel, you're gonna lose, guaranteed.
As for love... I hate to tell you, everybody can be replaced. Love is situational. And the best place to meet your betrothed is in college. Because graduates' marriages sustain. That's what the statistics tell us. So pull yourself up by your bootstraps, finish your higher education, and latch on to someone who takes life as seriously as you do, as opposed to the hottie who swaggers and plays good pool.
And I know all this now, but it's reinforced by watching this year's season of "House Of Cards."
This is how it's going to be in the future, dropping all the episodes at once, doling out material just doesn't work in an instant on/on demand culture. We want it all, we want it now, and we want to go deep. That's what's so wrong about the pundits talking about a short attention span culture. No, the truth is we have incredible attention spans, if something is great.
And "House Of Cards" is great.
I wondered how they were going to switch it up, just not be repetitive. And they do this by having Frank and Claire not always win.
That's the way life is. They serve you lemons, and they taste horrible. You're swallowing and the tough, those who survive and make it, take their medicine but continue to slog on. If you think you can instantly make lemonade, you think you can read "Anna Karenina" in a day, and you can't, and you should read it, because it's the best book ever written.
Anyway, Frank and Claire are a team.
You can't do it alone, no way. Forget your skills, let's talk about emotions. You've got 'em, you need someone to confess to, bounce ideas off of. Someone who has your back and will not only conspire, but has the same interests, and I'm not talking about watching sports, I'm talking about achievement, accomplishment and the aforementioned retirement. There's a reason spouses can't testify against each other in court, or why they can exercise this privilege, more accurately, because...
Not that spouses don't fight. That's the mark of a great relationship, when you can have a knock-down, drag-out yet make peace thereafter and soldier on. As for those who claim they never argue, their relationships are a joke, that just means someone is not airing their complaints, and a person like this is no good as a partner, because it's the yin and yang, the push and pull, the compromise that moves you forward. Life is about compromise. You make your argument, you lose some, you win some, and you know that you can cry all you want to but the only person who cares is your spouse, who will ultimately nurse you back to health and tell you to buck up.
I'm not saying you shouldn't love your partner. But if you know what love is, you're lying. Hell, at this point I think love is first and foremost commitment, knowing someone will be there for you through thick and thin, because without commitment, you've got nothing, no foundation. Sure, you can have fun screwing intermittently, but who are you going to confess to when you find out you're HIV positive?
No one.
And the thing about marriages is they don't necessarily end up at the perceived destination. They're not bullets, or trains, you give it a go and adjust.
But we never hear this lesson.
We just hear about the "Bachelor" and Tinder and a bunch of other crap to take your mind off of what's important. The truth is the successful don't waste their time on gossip, unless they profit from it. I'm talking about TMZ/Kardashian gossip. As for business gossip, the world runs on it.
Sure, "House Of Cards" runs on plot twists. But even more it runs on truth, human truth. Little nuggets, aphorisms, are uttered regularly, and you see how the game is played.
And life is a game, get over it. Would you just run out on the baseball field without knowing the rules? Come on. Everybody can win at the game of life if you just hunker down and learn the rules and hone your skills. We hear every day from losers "I can't do this" and "I can't do that." No, you choose not to do this or that and you're afraid of falling on your face so you don't put yourself in uncomfortable positions.
I live for art (well, skiing too, read Aleksandar Hemon's article on the allure of the sport in today's "New York Times" here: http://nyti.ms/1LhuJTg), but somehow people have confused art with marketing and promotion. Sure, there's a skill in being able to draw attention to something, but it's the essence that allures. And we've now got television shows that will hook us better than any album, keep us paying attention for longer, because those who make them are shooting for the stars and those who pay for them are getting out of the way and letting the creators test limits.
That's right, creating and paying are two different skills, never forget that.
And they go hand in hand, as a partnership.
So you don't have to watch "House Of Cards." If you do, I'd start with the first season, it's more riveting.
But how are you planning to improve yourself? How are you planning to get ahead? How do you plan to win?
And we all want to win, we've all got goals. But very few of us get a manual, very few of get instructions, or we're myopic or the lessons we receive are incomplete.
But we listen to the rabble-rousers tell us what's important, we hone our bodies not our minds and get caught in eddies and riptides and when we're in our forties and our looks start to fade and our choices become prisons we start to have regrets.
Don't let this happen to you.
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