Mailbag

From: Peter Kafka
Re: Daily Mix

hey fyi:
per spotify, each person gets up to six mixes per day. depends on their listening habits. i have four.
the lists are actually endless - they start at 15 but if you make it that far they'll go on forever

________________________________

Re: Daily Mix

hi bob

just a quick note i thought you might find interesting. the other night my song played in the season finale of _________, a show i've never seen, but heard good things about, and the ratings were up because ________________.

during the show our song was streamed on spotify 40,700 times (don't worry, i'm not ordering the ferrari). what i wanted to tell you was that the apple music streamed 13,200 times in the same period.

99% of these plays were by people who had never heard of us, and went to check out the song after it was used in a key scene at the show's finale.

the point is, i believe you can deduce from these numbers, as a random test case, how far ahead spotify is from apple music.

we didn't have a video for the song, and the fan-created videos on youtube have been watched around 150,000 times.

P.S. two additional stats which occured due to these events: the song broke into the top 200 at apple itunes, and top 100 at amazon, so there's a relationship there that can be deduced as well.

________________________________

From: GLEN PHILLIPS
Subject: Re: Thank you

Bob -
Thanks for forwarding the comment. It's always good to hear some positive feedback. Some days more than others! I'd appreciate if it's easy for you to forward.
As for mentioning the depression - I think it's important to talk about. I wouldn't have mentioned it if I wanted to be secretive, so I'm happy that you brought t up.
Thanks again. Be well
g

________________________________

From: marvin etzioni
Subject: Re: Glen Phillips At The Levitt Pavilion

hi bob,
thank you for bringing attention to glen and his songs.

i met toad the wet sprocket when they were 19 or so,
prior to any label interest. their managers contacted me
and asked if i'd produce an album for them. so far
they had released a record on cassette only. to gain my
interest, they mailed me a boom box recording of a rehearsal
on cassette. it was 1987, going on 1988. distorted guitars,
with melodic vocals, and some kind of otherness the
band had when it played and jelled together. through the buzz,
i could hear songs. i wanted to see them live. i was invited to a show.
toad was slow, hypnotic, understated, and viseral. ten people were in the club.
i was in. i wanted to make an album as good as the dirutti column.
i produced the album "pale." in order to shop
the album, management called me to ask what three songs
they should go with. i suggested that we press up acetates of
"pale" (the entire album) and create a take it or leave it presentation to the labels.
that's what happened. geffen/dgc, virgin, and columbia were all in.
the list went on and on...
they went with donny ienner's columbia. "all i want" was written
after we recorded "pale" and i knew they had written a hit when
heard it live for the first time at an outdoor gig in santa barbara, before it was recorded.
pre REM,i brought mandolin to "come back down," the single from "pale,"
which was later used to great effect on "ocean."

toad still have a "houses of the holy" in them. i'm so glad to
be part of the early days of a great band.

marvin etzioni

________________________________

From: Tom Rush
Re: Tom Rush At McCabe's Guitar Shop

Bob,

Thanks for the many kind words! As I mentioned in our chat, there are many, many, many of us out there who play because, as you put it, we have no choice. Some make a living at it, some a very good living, for others it's a labor of love. Collectively we outweigh—in every metric—the mega-stars that the industry hypes, but are hidden, to quote you again, in plain sight.

My main regret for the evening at McCabe's, Bob, is that Matt Nakoa, my sometime-accompanist, had lost his voice to an allergy attack. In the normal course of events he does a few songs on his own during the show, and had he done so, I'm quite sure that your posting would have been entirely focused on him. He's an extraordinary talent, and I guarantee you that, sooner or later, you'll be writing about him.

Best,

TR

________________________________

From: Dan Wilson
Subject: Dan Wilson here

Bob it was fun to meet you and chat after the show. Thank you for the high praise. I've learned a lot from your writings and enjoyed myself in the process, so the respect is mutual.

Your recap of the night evoked a lot of what I was feeling. JT was just amazing. I've seen him play and from pretty close up, but those times were with a band and with lots of sound around the guitar. This was the first time I watched him alone make "that sound" with "those voicings," and in such a searching and loose way. For some reason that made the vibes even more powerful. Clowning around with Vince Gill, so innocent; listening to everyone else's songs and trying to add a little note or chord here or there; gallantly helping Kacey with her guitar strap, an innocent vulnerability that was amazing to see. Partly a persona, a little bit of theater I suppose, but it can't be done if it doesn't come from a real place. And speaking of vulnerability, his age showed a bit in the voice, but it made no difference. He was still channeling greatness.

I loved what you wrote about Joe Walsh. That dude is another thing entirely, I love him too.

I recently wrote a song that I love called "Yoko," and recorded it with some friends. I've decided to start putting songs online outside of the album structure - just share the songs and keep doing my thing. A Lefsetz-friendly idea, so I'll give you the link and if you wish you can enjoy it while your shoulder is healing.

Thank you for a fun conversation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HWSDRRg5Xw&utm_source=phplist5583&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Mailbag

Peace
Dan

________________________________

From: Jeff Russo
Re: Mountain

Hey Bob,

This made my day! Thank you for the very kind words. I wish that you could have come to our 20th anniversary show that we did at Molly Malones this past july. I still can't believe it's been 20 years.

It's good to know that our record and songs can still resonate with someone who has not yet been exposed to them. Rock on!

All the best,
Jeff

P.S. I am so geeked out that Bob Lefsetz wrote about our band!

________________________________

From: Tom Storms
Re: Tonic - "Mountain"
Bob,

I was totally blown away by your Lefsetz Letter regarding Tonic's Mountain. I signed the band originally to Atlas/Polydor, a fledgling label within A&M Records back in 1995 and have managed the band for the past 8 years. I've seen them play hundreds of gigs but I still watch them play that song at every show. Tonic continues to do around 30 shows per year while individually maintaining successful careers as songwriters, solo artists and as an Emmy nominated composer. Who would have thought Fargo's music was scored by the guitar player in Tonic? There's musical talent and survival talent…. They have both.

I wish you could have been at the 20th Anniversary of Lemon Parade show in LA on July 16th. Though they could have played larger venues they chose Molly Malone's, where it all started for them.

Thank you again for the letter. It made my week. Lastly, the band isn't 50, closer to 45…….. per Wikipedia.

Tom

________________________________

Subject: Rob Meurer RIP

Some ratfucker hit Rob Meurer as he crossed the street in L.A. two nights ago and he died yesterday from his injuries. Hit and run.

Rob was Christopher Cross's songwriting partner, a drummer, producer, musical visionary, and total mensch. He was a regular among your readers who'd reply and be printed - he was eloquent and intelligent about the business even when he disagreed with you. His loss is devastating to his family, friends, and fans.

Margaret Moser
________________________________

From: Kevin Rice
Subject: Re: MIke Posner At The Grammy Museum

Bob,
Long time reader and big fan here. I've been playing drums for Mike all this year and I can say you absolutely nailed it. He is the real deal. Pushes the band to learn new songs in sound check every day and improve upon the songs we already know. He decided recently to join the crew, load in and out, carrying gear and packing the truck after playing a show to ten thousand people because he wants to learn every aspect of his business. I've been touring as a drummer for years and I can tell you I've never seen a major artist join the crew to help load out...ever. Truly inspiring.

One correction, we are actually on tour opening for Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas, not Selena Gomez as you had written.

Thanks again for all that you do, fighting for truth in this crazy business we are in. Much respect.

Sincerely,
Kevin

________________________________

From: Josiahs Porter
Subject: MIke Posner At The Grammy Museum

-Sorry for the long reply-

Hi Bob -

I'm so happy that you wrote this piece on Mike, and even happier to had a chance to meet/interact with him. When I saw the subject line was re: Mike I had to instantly read.

I had the privilege to work for Mike a few years ago for about a year. We spent about 12 hours a day together.

During this time I got to know Mike quite well. He is one of the hardest working people in music. He starts writing songs from the minute he wakes up, until the early early ours of the following day. His ideas take form quickly; from iPhone voice note to a presentable, maliable song in just a few days. While I worked for him I remember him writing and developing a number of songs that were surefire hits. True to Mike Posner form these songs went on to climb the charts and take their place atop the Billboard Chart (without Mike as the featured artist). While his music has changed, his writing has always remained strong!

Mike's most recent success, I Took A Pill In Ibiza, also brought goose bumps and tears to my eyes. I got emotional because the song is so true to Mike. He exposes a very vulnerable side of himself. These vulnerabilities are all based on his real life experiences, not made up lyrics written to resonate with listeners. I was with Mike when we traveled to Europe; this experience eventually lending itself to I Took A Pill In Ibiza. This song felt like he was putting it all out there for the world to judge, take it or leave it. I'm happy people took it!

The best thing about working for Mike, even before the music, is his personality. He treats everyone he meets in life with respect. He purchased me a copy of Paulo Coelho's, The Alchemist, because he thought it had great value. We used to go to Skid Row in DTLA at 5am to work in the soup kitchens. Mike did this because he wanted to help others wherever he could: no cameras, no PR announcement, just genuine hospitality.

On occasion I text with Mike and get quick life updates. The last two occasions: to tell him I was getting married, and congratulate him on the success of I Took A Pill In Ibiza. Within 24-hours of telling him the engagement news there was a large bouquet of flowers on my doorstep congratulating me and my wife. This is just the kind of guy he is. He's a well mannered mid-West guy living out his dream. I'm happy you got to interact with Mike, one of the most talented, humble, and grateful people in music today.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

JP

________________________________

From: Mary Cutrufello
Subject: Re: MIke Posner At The Grammy Museum

jesus, bob, who is this guy...or am i the last person to get the memo? those songs are great!

i had my cup of coffee in the majors in 1998. i was 28. his description of how the back end of that feels is so spot-on. you tell people, "it's cool; i just do it for the love of the music now," and that's not untrue, but what you see up there changes you. that's the part you can't explain to your peeps back on the ground, who want to know the secret. and they all do.

ha. didn't really want to think about that this morning...

________________________________

From: john dittmar
Subject: Richard G.

Bob,
Regarding Richard Griffiths, let me tell you it's not only his eye (and
ears) for talent on the artist's side of the fence. When we started our
booking agency in 1990 with literally zero acts of any worth, he not only gave us a shot but greased the wheels for us to sign some of Epic's most important rock bands of the early 90's. We were hungry and he saw it when most label's wouldn't take our calls. A few short years later we were Pollstar's 'Booking Agency of the Year.'

In many ways, I owe my career to him.

John

________________________________

Subject: Re: The Twisted Sister Movie

In 1975, At 16, every Wednesday night - the Fore N' Aft in White Plains, my girlfriends & I would sneak out with our fake IDs (18 was drinking age) to see Twisted Sister - before they were signed & "We're Not Gonna Take It" took off. They'd play Bowie & T-Rex covers. They smashed Disco Records on stage. They rocked. They rolled. They were my intro to live shows. We all missed our prom & drove over 2 hrs. so we could go see them play in Huntington, only to get there & find the band was ill , so the Good Rats were there instead. AND we LEFT because they weren't there...
5 yrs. ago in cleaning out my mother's house, it pained me to have to throw out the piece of Disco record I'd saved all those years. And I still have an original T-shirt that I had made (they didn't even have merch yet!!) back then . Twisted Sister. Rock N' Roll.
Thanks for turning me on to this. It'll be fun to relive my youth.

Julie Coulter

________________________________

From: NIKKI SIXX
Subject: Re: VMA Ratings Crash

If more genres of music were visible on the VMA's ( etc ) more people would tune in to watch,listen and learn…YES LEARN…Music is important…It should be treated with respect. We get it,its for sale but so is a box of soap…

________________________________

From: Tom Johnston
Subject: Re: VMA Ratings Crash

Bob, thank you.

As one who has spent a lot of time doing it for real where you actually play your instrument and sing your song to an audience who knows the song because it resonates with them. Thus making performing a nightly human connection with the crowd no matter how big or small, or wherever you are. It's the real thing. Actual talent should be mandatory but isn't. And with all the young acts I see out on the road who haven't gotten through the "door" or made the infamous "connection", but are damn good players, singers, and writers paying real dues, it's disheartening.

Music used to be about just that, real music. But now the music business has dropped the music part in favor of the fast turnover with marginal talent. Financially it's making huge money, but it's lost it's soul in the process. Used to be that musically knowledgeable people ran the business and A&R meant something. Where labels used to compete and the playing field was bigger, and the quality artists had more places to go and outlets to move their product as well as a better chance at airplay!

I won't bring up all the artists who used to reach us with their talent, their, sound, which was original and identifiable, or all the truly great songs that reached us and made us feel a kaleidoscope of emotions. They wouldn't fit on the page anyway.

Today is about a much smaller roster. No one, with a few exceptions, is blown away by the amazing new song that either rocks with attitude, is so soulful/ funky, or both, or touches you in some way with what it's saying and how it's being delivered.

Your piece about the VMA's is spot on! It mirrors the industry.

TJ

________________________________

Subject: Re: VMA Ratings Crash

Bob the MTV awards have been a shit show for years.
There was a time when it was the most amazing ticket in town and almost impossible to get in.
In 1988 it was at the very small Universal Amphitheater. Every rock and pop star imaginable was there. It was indeed an insiders club and you had to earn your way in and everyone there was well respected by each other.
I walked onstage to open the show with Rod Stewart, Arsenio Hall shot the shit as we waited. Thomas Dolby walked to the front of the stage and said hello and shook my hand, then I said a few words to the guitar player of the Scorpions and we had a laugh.
The show started and Aerosmith and INXS were sitting next to each other in the front row and like little kids they kept making faces at me trying to em get me to screw up. When I did my guitar solo they they chucked things at me and and made the peace sign over their mouths ( the universal sign for eating *****). They were all just having fun and fun it was. These guys were superstars but there were no handlers or body guards. I was a kid and it was beyond a dream come true.
I went home to San Diego the next day where I was still staying at my parents house ( I would buy my own place there later that year) but when I went outside for a jog the neighbors all walked outside and applauded me.
They we're old and uncool so to speak
( they were probably 40 but to a 23 year old they seemed as old as dirt) BUT even they watched the MTV awards.
They were real and it was amazing. If someone cussed it was because they screwed up, not cuz a producer was trying to create a scandal.
It was real but it didn't last long. I was working with Mick Jagger in 2001 and I will never forget how he showed up at the MTV awards, walked the red carpet, walked inside straight to the backstage and into a limo. He didn't even stay for the beginning of the show!
Yep Bob it sucks now but it use to be amazing.

Stevie Salas

________________________________

From: Peter Shapiro
Subject: Re: VMA Ratings Crash

Amen. But maybe that's what helps give the event such a strong sense of community....??? Maybe not getting mainstream press coverage could be a strategy in a way. Ha. When Bonnaroo went mainstream it lost its mojo (said by someone who went to the first 10 but then stopped going)

________________________________

From: Justin Bolognino
Subject: Re: VMA Ratings Crash

Interesting the Dead-infused Lock'n Festival thrown by Peter Shapiro lives up to your urging in droves but gets absolute zero press coverage, like it didn't even exist.

________________________________

Subject: Re: Bad Company At The L.A. County Fair

Paul always was arguably the best singer in rock. For those who have doubts, go back to his albums with Free. Great band. Andy Fraser playing bass lines like a tuba player. Simon Kirk and Paul Kosoff. Laid back but intense brand of rock. Rock can be different, but not better.

- Al Staehely

________________________________

Subject: Re: Jealousy

I was the music director for WSM AM, the Grand Old Opry station, from 1974 to 1977. Mike Borchetta, who is Scott Borchetta's father, was an independent record promoter who called me about records. One thing I remember about Mike is that he never gave up on a record. He was relentless. In a city where every artist lived, every label had an office, and a record came out every five minutes he was the guy you wanted promoting your song. Did I say he never gave up? Because he didn't. Drove me crazy, but you sure knew about the artists he was promoting. I don't know Scott Borchetta but I do know he must have absorbed a lot from his Dad. Taylor Swift sure was lucky Scott believed in her just as his Dad believed in so many artists so long ago. So genes must have something to do with success as well as luck.

Mary Catherine Sneed

________________________________

Subject: Re: Jealousy
Re: Scott Borchetta

There was a label in the 80's that Mary Tyler Moore founded. It was run by three industry vets and was based in Nashville. I was fortunate enough to be in a band on that label and a young kid, Scott Borchetta, did our radio promotion. I had heard his Dad was from LA and was an industry heavyweight. The thing I remember about Scott is he worked his ass off. He stayed late, came in early, paid attention to details, and actually listened to us artists. Anything he's accomplished today is the result of hard work and guts. I'm thrilled he 's so successful and he deserves every bit of it.

Jeff Boggs
Columbia, TN

________________________________

From: BERTON AVERRE
Subject: Re: Jealousy

Jim Carrey had a great line. People would complain about the relatively high movie paydays certain stars would get, when viewed in comparison to the pay coming to many actors of greater talent: let's say, for example, a Tom Cruz getting way more money than a Robert Duvall. He said (and I'm paraphrasing by memory) "People talk about how brutal it is that the payscale in Hollywood is so unfair. The truly brutal part is that it is fair." Which I interpreted to mean that a certain actor will get 15M a film because his name is box office gold, enough so to appear above the title on the marquee; in showbiz parlance he can "open a movie". We might cringe to see who America shells out their moviegoing bucks to see, but the studios fork over 15M to a Tom Cruz for the simple fact that he earns it.

One thing I learned a long time ago. I didn't begrudge the success of another musician because I personally didn't like his stuff. If he sold a million albums, all that meant was a million people got enough enjoyment out of his music to spend their money on it. Exactly how does that hurt me?

________________________________

Subject: RE: Jealousy

Bob:

Years ago I was working as media advisor and advance guy for Ted Williams. Wherever we went, people would invariably ask him about his super-human eyesight, as if that were the reason he was so good. There were the tired legends: that he could see the baseball spinning; that he could read the label of an LP while it was playing.

He would erupt in fury and bellow: "Horseshit! I PRACTICED!"

You see there was a ballpark right across the street from the tiny San Diego home where he grew up, and while his father was run off sailing the seas and his mother devoted all of her time to the Salvation Army, Ted was there from dawn to dusk, hitting, hitting, hitting. Later, while his teammates in Boston were chasing girls, the phenom was across the river at M.I.T. discussing physics with the brainiacs to understand his craft even better. It's not HAVING what you've got, it's were you go with it.

Ted Doyle

________________________________

From: Bobbo
Subject: Re: Jealousy

It's funny - I have a friend who is doing well in the music biz, we are nearly at the same level and she is passing me. I have never been jealous of her because I know how much she works for it. The only time I was jealous was when she was gifted a Prius for a tour and I was all "man, she's gonna get better mpg than we are in the van!"

And I always think of this:

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." ~Calvin Coolidge

________________________________

Subject: Re: Can We Agree On A Top Ten?

Hi Bob!

Very perceptive piece today. I have some background that might be helpful, but please please please do not use my name if you choose to share them with your readers. I'm looking for work, and can't afford to piss anybody else off these days.

As someone who's worked in radio and in streaming, it's fairly easy to see why the Spotify charts are different from the mediabase charts and the Billboard charts. The people in charge of promotion at the labels don't talk to each other. The radio staff has different priorities than the streaming staff and the people in radio promotion are older while the streaming staff, which is called a marketing department, are all millennial's. They may as well be on different planets. That's why priorities are different, streaming services get exclusives and radio stations get early leaks, there's no communication about what is blowing up at streaming or radio, and hence the different platforms basically play different songs more often than they should.

Add to that the corruption of the charts. This isn't exactly new, but every chart is corrupt in one way or another. One way to get around the mediabase manipulation is to just look at plays from 6 AM to 7 PM on weekdays. That will eliminate all of the evening and overnight plays, where new songs are exposed to only the monitoring services since nobody is listening. It's hard to filter out the corporate ads at all the dinky stations that iHeart owns in order to drive songs up the chart, but getting rid of those off hours is a start.

Then there's the issue of all the bots that are generating plays on free streaming services, mainly Spotify and Pandora. Don't let anyone tell you it isn't happening, it is and all the people who used to be responsible for payola are now getting high school kids to set up botnets that request specific songs.

Billboard tried to deal with all this by assigning weights to different kinds of exposure, but it really doesn't work. If there is a system, the record industry figure out a way to game it. Always have, always will.

So getting a real top 10 may be as difficult as getting a pop song that isn't autotuned. Too many people, too many departments with different priorities, interests, and cultures will never generate a solidified list of popular music.

Again, please feel free to use any of this, but please don't use my name. I have to work for one of these people. Or at least I hope so.

________________________________

Subject: Re: More Exclusives

Re: "Spotify says the free tier causes conversion, you've got to taste it to embrace it, like dope. I was against the service being free on the mobile handset, but data said it caused conversion, so I was convinced. "

I run a digital distributor with a statistically small but culturally large catalog of a few hundred thousand tracks. A large portion of that content is Regional Mexican music and those fans just don't use subscription services yet. But they'll use the Spotify free tier which eclipses the revenues from YouTube's free tier. I would gladly license free tiers for Apple, Tidal, Deezer, Napster, Pandora, Amazon, Google Play, etc.. Full on free - not credit card backed three month trials. Music is not tv - you can't Netflix or HBO Go people from 2 week trials to full subscriptions with a new season of Game of Thrones - you need to build a relationship, get the service and convenience into their daily DNA and even then some won't pay. Apple built a huge advertising initiative for Apps and Radio - why not use it to support a free tier? Industry news can talk about major label Spotify negotiations and pre-IPO extensions - but investors can rest assured that Spotify (or YouTube) will win the streaming music race unless the majors license other free tiers for true competition.

Ben Patterson, DashGo

________________________________

Subject: Re: iPhone 7

Bob,

Re: Apple Music

I'm sure everybody has an Apple Music complaint. Can I add mine to the list? And this one boggles my mind. Select an artist page. Then you have options for Albums and Top Albums, as if I instinctively know or care about the difference. Now I would expect Albums to be comprehensive but it's not. Top Albums isn't comprehensive. And even if you combine both album lists, they're still not comprehensive -- some albums only reveal themselves if you search for them by title. This is particularly annoying when searching for specific albums by artists with big catalogues. One or two clicks should be enough to bring up every album available for streaming but that doesn't happen. There are still Easter Eggs in the system. It's crazy. Or sloppy. Probably both. I'm trying to figure out if Apple is overthinking it's streaming service or 'underthinking' it. Apple should forget the Jimmy Iovines; get some tech-savvy music consumers involved, tap them to prioritize 3-5 main functions, streamline those key functions and get rid of all the other useless crap like Connect or the For You algorithm that kept recommending I play The Elvis Christmas Album all summer long. And I'm not even an Elvis fan. But I sure do miss Steve Jobs.

David Veitch

________________________________

From: BERTON AVERRE
Subject: Re: Willy Wonka

One reason why Willy Wonka has staying power is the songwriting team of Newley/Bricusse. Purveyors of great musical theatre tunes like "What Kind of Fool Am I?" and "Who Can I Turn To", they came up with some songs that really were better than they needed to be. "Candy Man" of course became a hit, but "Imagination" is a song that any musical would be proud to lead off the show with. Terrific.

As for "The Producers" and Leo Bloom's blankie, if you mean by "incomprehensible" piss-your-pants funny, then yes. By the way, did you know that Mel got the name Leo Bloom from James Joyce's "Ulysses"?

________________________________

From: Dean Torrence
Subject: Saturday Night

Hey Bob,

It was great fun to hang with you Saturday night in the little old ladies hometown
and the location of one of my favorite Bobs Big Boys, it all seemed very appropriate

So glad you were there, lets "Do it Again" sometime on another beautiful so cal summer night!

________________________________

Subject: Dean Torrence

Hey Bob,

Love this piece! I met Dean Torrence in the late 1960s, when he and I shared an office space on Sunset, me with my early attempt at a production/publishing company, and Dean with his very successful business, Kitty Hawk Graphics. It's not well known these days, but in addition to his musical talents, Dean is a really fine graphics artist, and he designed many of the greatest album covers of that era, including ones for Harry Nilsson, the Beach Boys, Steve Martin, the Turtles, Linda Ronstadt, later Motown records, and the many covers he did for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, including their iconic "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" album. His work was whimsical, tasteful, original, and yet always in keeping with the music - and it was all done by hand, with a razor knife, rubber cement, and a ton of creativity, long before QuarkXpress and InDesign made the whole thing a cakewalk. Check this website and be amazed: http://rateyourmusic.com/list/dial35/dean_o__torrence_album_covers/?utm_source=phplist5583&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Mailbag

Best,
John Boylan

________________________________

Subject: Re: Dean Without Jan At The Levitt Pavilion

Bob,
Thank you for this!

Nail on the head for me. I've had the incredible honor of working with Dean in music, and more recently on The Beach Boys 2016 Official Tour Program, for which Dean provided the cover art. As far as I'm concerned he's still at the head of his class.

In Music,
David Beard

________________________________

From: Arny Schorr
Subject: RE: Jan Without Dean At The Levitt Pavilion

Perhaps a lesser known talent of Dean's revolves around the LP graphics he created. He did LP covers for the Turtles, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Canned Heat, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Temptations, Nilsson, created the original logo and cover art for Chicago Transit Authority, Captain and Tennille, Steve Martin, Anne Murray, Linda Ronstadt, Terry Melcher, and of course, Jan and Dean and the Beach Boys.

And a hell of a Walleyball player!

________________________________

From: Rock Singer
Subject: Re: Dean Without Jan At The Levitt Pavilion

Bob

No mention of the triumphed TAMI show or song "Here they come (From all over the world)" or that they aren't in the Rock Hall of fame - Jan & Dean were great and as safe as milk in my house - While you were on the East coast I was here in LA absorbing the culture or fad they represented - Yeah I had the blue Keds and blue Pendleton wore it everyday to school just to show the others I might be younger than you (back in 1963) but I still fit in - BTW I never washed it my mom washed it one day without me knowing and it fell apart in the washer - Even to this day it brings back great sadness to think that I'd have to go to school without it -

Sure at 13 I also tried to Surf but at the time I was too small to carry a long board down to the water so my friend Joe Torrato would help me get it into the water the only problem was I was on my own after that but at least I could tell everyone I wasn't a Hodad/Sand flea - I was a Surfer I fit in with the older High School kids even though I was in Jr High - Seriously you could get your ass kicked if you didn't fit in and tried to hang out with the older kids - Yeah that was me -

You had to have been here to feel the true impact Jan & Dean had on kids my age - A little later I can remember back in 1966 working at a place on Beverly Blvd called the Stat House delivering photo stats to Kittyhawk Productions up on Sunset just to catch a glimpse of my hero Dean Torrence - Yes I cherish growing up in LA and I think you would have too - If only -

RS

________________________________

From: Michael Katon
Subject: Re: Dean Without Jan At The Levitt Pavilion

Hey Bob,

I showed up in Hollywood in April of 1974...went straight to the Musician's Union (Local 47) with my guitar and signed up...in those days you had to prove you were a good enough musician to be in their union so you had to go in front of a 'board' and play your axe...I played an instrumental version of 'Something' by the Beatles...They said I was good enough so I paid my first 'dues' fee and they gave me my union card...they showed me how to sign up for the 'Musician's Referral Service' and said I could go in the lobby and post a 3"x5" card on the bulletin board to advertise myself for hire and also see if anyone needed a guitar player...
While I was tacking my card up on the bulletin board a fella tapped me on the shoulder and says,"Are you a good guitar player?"...I says,"I think I'm pretty good." Then the fella (who was dragging his foot and holding one arm with his other hand to keep it from flopping around) says,"Be down at A&M studios at 7:00pm Wednesday."...just tell the guard at the gate that you are there for Jan Berry."

So...OK...I figured out where A&M was on LaBrea and showed up at the appointed time and day...I tell the guard that I am there for Jan Berry...He says,"Yes...just go across the courtyard to the big sound stage with the open door."

So I drive over to the open door and walk in...I see a stage with a drum kit on it and a few microphones...

But what really caught my eye were the road/flight cases right next to me that had 'Leon Russell' and 'George Harrison' stenciled on them...but the huge soundstage was completely deserted...I kinda yelled,"Hello...here for Jan Berry." Only an echo back...

I walked back outside and saw some activity across the courtyard in a bungalow with a light on...

I walked up to the door and tapped on it and hear,"Come on in."

I walked in and there was a man behind a desk and a young boy on a couch...

I said,"Do you work here?" ...He kind of chuckled while looking at the boy and said,"Well...sort of."

I remembered that my Dad had always told me that whenever I met another person to state my name loud and clear and give them a good firm handshake...So I offered my hand and said,"Hello my name is Michael Katon."

He then said,"I'm Herb ,pleased to meet you."

At that instant I recognized his face and said,"Are you Herb Alpert?!" He chuckled again and said,"Yes."

I said that I was there for Jan Berry and he said,"Of course just go over to the big soundstage and he should be there shortly."...He also told me that Jan was welcome to come there any time he liked and use the studio whenever he liked because Jan & Dean had made A&M their first million...

So he wished me luck in Los Angeles and I walked back over to the sound stage and low and behold the fella that had tapped me on the shoulder was there and it was Jan Berry!

He handed me some guitar charts for some of the Jan & Dean hits and by that time a drummer and bass player showed up...he handed them charts as well and we immediately started rehearsing! It was a very strange evening...

To make a long story just a hair shorter...We rehearsed many times over the next few months...mostly at S.I.R. in Hollywood...we even went up to his house in Laurel Canyon...which was really sad as it was really filthy with a bunch of what looked like street kids sitting around smoking pot...

Sometimes Dean would show up at S.I.R. to check out the rehearsals...

I pulled him aside and asked him what was going on (as he never participated in the rehearsals)...He said that he and Jan would do some shows if Jan would get up to par and in shape to perform...

That never happened during the time I was involved and I eventually moved on...I was payed Union Scale for the rehearsals and picked up my checks at Local 47...
I kept the charts that Jan gave me that first night...I guess I might have 'stolen' them...I think they may be the original charts that 'The Wreaking Crew' used whilst recording those hits...

Anyway my first weeks/months in Hollywood were very interesting for a young fella fresh out of a small town in the mid-west...Thanks to a man named Jan Berry!,Michael Katon

________________________________

From: David Wallace
Subject: Re: A Hard Day's Night Live At The Hollywood Bowl

And they did it without monitors. Perfect harmony, nailing all those arrangements - in arenas and stadiums without being able to hear a damn thing. Every time I played a gig that was ruined by a bad monitor mix I would remind myself of that...

________________________________

From: Allen S. Miller
Subject: Re: Universal Ends Exclusives

Dear Bob,
I've been a fan of your insight for awhile, and once again your spot on. I was a team doctor at the 92 & 96 Olympics for several international track & field teams. My main job is keeping our athletes together physically for the competitions but mostly out of the news. I'm an over-educated babysitter for the UBER talented. The Olympic Games are a play the world's elite produce every four years to be entertained, where the athletes are just the talent. In the wake of the Lochte firestorm, I find it ironic that the sponsors pulled their support for "morality" issues. The same sponsors, who provide all forms of debauchery to lure an Athlete from one sponsor to another or to keep athletes "satisfied" while in the stable. Lochte, if you listen to him speak, he sounds like a naive teenager, that broke curfew. Why, because he spent his last 28 years in a pool only talking to his coach and a few others allowed in the circle.

People forget he is responsible for earning 54 medals all representing the USA. His years of devotion, training, commitment, and competition all in the name of the USA. They, the athletes live their lives in seconds, minutes or hours depending on the sport. They repeat this training 360 days a year relentlessly for the gold at the end of the rainbow. I don't know many people that can give up a lifetime of experiences, you and I take for granted for 1 race in four years, for those all important seconds. He wins races eluding that one product, one swimsuit is part of the winning combination. The bed he slept in gave him a good night's sleep so he could race again. Oh, let's not forget the clothes he wears are the mark of the sophisticated west, the mark of a champion. The USOC takes great pride in these accomplishments as if they had anything to do with it. Oh and the USA markets our country's greatness through the medal count to every news outlet worldwide. Yep, the Olympics are the greatest commercial for this country since Baywatch. People forget or don't understand the reason Tommie Smith raised his hand in defiance at the Mexico games in 1968. Well, this is it, the USA markets their greatness like it's their own, without doing anything to help.

Lochte gets drunk AFTER he wins, pees on a building and everybody deserts him. Anybody ask where he got drunk? I'll bet there is some sponsor party or sales rep in the background somewhere taking selfies for their Facebook page. Lochte now a pariah is making the apology tour on the morning shows, but each night I still see his accomplishments registered in the medal count. Yep, it's ok for the sponsors and the rich to indulge in every fantasy every four years at the party they throw for the world. But if one actor, the equivalent to an oscar nominated actor, pees on a building, well let's just destroy him because of immorality, how hypocritical. Micheal Phelps is excoriated for smoking pot at a party, yet it's ok and celebrated for the President's daughter to smoke in public at some concert. You have these sponsors providing anything and everything at these Olympic parties, especially anything that doesn't show up on a drug test. We have company exec's taking bonuses when companies lay off people and we throw a winner fo 54 medals under the bus for peeing on a building. Seriously? Yep were great all right, the medal count proves it.

________________________________

From: Dan Millen
Subject: RE: Chris Collingwood In A Backyard

Please don't attach my name to this if you print it, I don't want the people I'm referring to to get their panties all twisted if they figure out what town I'm from... as it is they may figure it out as I routinely call them on their bullshit, but a little mystery and plausible deniability goes a long way thanks!

I don't have much sympathy for brokeass journalists / music critics. Their free ride of excrement is over and I couldn't be happier!

There's a couple in my town that got fired or laid off after spending years writing for the major papers, sponging free drinks and free tix from promoters, clubs and other venues and always seemed to only exist to shit all over what real people are doing. In my tenure in this town, it seems like they never really enjoyed music to begin with as they've got nothing to say and nothing constructive to offer. Frankly they never really did.

Now, in order to feel relevant, they just troll everything on facebook they can find to crap on, and constantly try to one up everyone about their musical knowledge.

Most critics in my town always seemed heavily weighted to bands that either never made it or were buzzed about and then forgotten anyway. If you were a jamband or funk band or other solid groove based or reggae based touring or local band you could have two thousand people going apeshit for you regularly and they'd still crap on it. I used to get plugs in columns for my shows that read like this, from a MAJOR daily paper with photo captioned... and I quote: "I can't stand Jambands, but if you like them you can see __________ at ________ on date." And I'd have to grit my teeth and comp that guy drinks all night every time he wanted to cover one of my hipper shows, often being rude, never tipping, and leaving the venue so sloppy piss drunk as to be embarrassing.

Seriously, why bother to write anything at all?

I always gritted my teeth reading their nonsense so I'm happy that newsprint is dead, and they've all been replaced by younger people who actually seem to care about music and live shows, and haven't become crusty and jaded yet, and seem to be less likely to do so.

There is however one key pillar retired critic in my town who seemed to do things the right way, saved his money, never took a handout for good press and still goes out almost every night for the sheer love of music, and everyone loves him, so that's something. This guy will STILL never let me buy him a drink or put him on the guest list. Striking how his good karma took care of him as everyone at every venue in town loves him.

Onward and upward!

PS - Fountains of Wayne RULES! Didn't even know Collingwood had a new album, and now I do!

________________________________

Subject: Re: The Nix - Amazon / Walmart

"Because you support your local indie because Amazon is the enemy even though you've got a Prime membership for the free shipping of your vitamins and toilet paper."

Truer words were never typed! As a senior exec at a larger e-commerce company, I manage both our Walmart and Amazon retail accounts. Our sales are driven by products we directly import from China and if we only offered them on our sites and not Amazon we'd be screwed. I've dealt with Amazon for many years and have been out to the Seattle mother-ship for meetings. Here's what continually stuns me - that people love Amazon and hate Walmart. From where I sit, as both a consumer and someone who works directly with them, they are exactly the same yet somehow its cool to buy everything from Amazon and Walmart is the devil?

I am of an age that I actually remember when most folks thought Walmart was cool. Yep, that time actually existed. Sam Walton was a modern day folk hero who would fly his own plane from store to store and small towns were excited when a Walmart opened up. Fast forward a bit and people began to realize the aftermath of the Walmart business model. Artificially low prices to crush competition - low wage labor - near anti-trust demands of suppliers, etc. You know... everything Amazon does now! To put it simply, Amazon is an online Walmart but since you don't have to physically go to a store and be reminded of this fact its easy to overlook and pretend otherwise. From personal experience I can assure you that Amazon is every bit as ruthless as Walmart ever thought about being and pushes the limits of Anti-trust with our company on a monthly basis. One of my favorite things to do with our Amazon account manager when they piss me off is email them with something like "I'll go ahead and change the price of that item since you believe it to be interfering with another one of your listings..." They never respond faster! "To be clear, we never dictate pricing to our retailers,etc..." and then they call you to discuss it since they cannot risk a paper trail related to possible price fixing. To believe that Amazon is not clearly crushing all types of independent stores at a faster rate than Walmart is naive at best and I'm referring to both online and brick & mortar retailers.

Crazy part of this comparison is that I believe Walmart is the only retailer that can actually chase and catch up to Amazon at this point. Main reason being Walmart is the only company with the needed national warehouse infrastructure to compete at that level. Unfortunately, they are so focused on their retail stores that their e-commerce division is miles behind Amazon. But...don't count them out forever. You never know.

I have no issue with folks that love Amazon and Prime, as many of your purchases will help put my child through college, but please stop believing it is any different than shopping at Walmart. It's not.

Name withheld as I still have a few years left in this industry.

________________________________

Subject: Re: Signifiers Disappear

Hey Bob,
really liked this missive from you...sure you have a sense of me by now.... as you know i have been a singer/muso for over forty years...but you struck me with this one..i have pared down my expectations over the years...don't really care about the biz anymore but i'm proud of what i've done. just wanna protect it legally and maybe leave a catalogue for my two beautiful daughters to mine one day..i live in one room in a rooming house...poor as a church mouse lol..but material possessions mean little to me anymore...i've given a lot of stuff away over the last years...still help anyone i can wholeheartedly ...have major street cred where i live... real life is about giving..not taking...haven't driven in sixteen years..had new and used vehicles for years..don't give a fuck about it anymore...live downtown so i can walk anywhere i need to go..life is what you make it....still in demand musically...gonna be sixty years old in December...i'm most proud of my two professional daughters...oldest teaches high school in Toronto and the youngest a licensed Paralegal working for Allstate in Peterborough, On..that's the real gift in life...being able to give it in a real and proper way...some day i'll go out proud knowing i did the right thing.. was never a bum musician...always brought the money home for my wife and kids..what better achievement is there than that?...to hell with the Rockstar bullshit..fleeting with often shallow results....
love ya buddy,,please keep telling the truth....All the best! - Randy Dawson

________________________________

From: Phil Carson
Date: Thursday, September 1, 2016 at 4:12 PM?
To: Jason Flom
Subject: The signing of Twisted Sister

Hi Jason,

I read Bob Lefsetz' article and I was delighted to see that his friendship with you resulted in him watching and positively commenting on the movie. However, it did bring into focus your incorrect claim to have signed Twisted Sister.

I was a little surprised to read that you had told a UJA assembly that you had signed the band. You know that you had nothing whatsoever to do with the signing of Twisted Sister. You and I have discussed this matter before and, while you did not sign the band, you certainly broke them. I wish you would take pride in that instead of claiming that you had signed them. I have nothing but the greatest respect for all that you have achieved and if some of it started because you were incorrectly perceived as the signer of Twisted Sister, that's still OK with me. You have done a great deal in our business and your achievements need to be respected. However, can we put an end to this?

We both know the story, and it is correctly portrayed in the movie. On one of my visits to New York, you gave me a package containing a photograph, a hand-written memo and a cassette of a Twisted Sister demo. I took one look at the picture and the length of the memo and threw the whole lot in the trash bag on my Air India flight to London. The picture and the memo probably still reside, together with the unheard tape, in a landfill somewhere in Mumbai. Several months after that event, I went with Mick Jones to a live broadcast of The Tube TV show in Newcastle, England. There I encountered a band that I was absolutely unaware of and had certainly never heard before. My interest was piqued because their manager, Mark Puma, was an acquaintance of mine due to his work with Concerts East, a 70's promoter of Led Zeppelin. As the day wore on, I heard the band at rehearsals, but only became intrigued when Mick Jones told me that they were a big success in the New York area. I, therefore, agreed to go and see them at the Marquee a few nights later when they totally destroyed the audience. I told Mark Puma that I would sign them, but that I didn't want to meet the band! I later did agree to go backstage and hang out with them and found that they were a bunch of real professionals, although at the time I was less impressed by their musical skills than I was by their obvious audience connection. That is why I signed them.

On the following Tuesday, I called from London into the lawyers' lunch at 75 Rockefeller Plaza and announced that I had signed the band. At that point, Doug Morris told me that this was a band that you had brought to his attention on many occasions. He also told me that he said he would fire you if you ever mentioned them again. Since I was fireproof at Atlantic in those days, he made no such comment to me. However, when the record was released, there was absolutely no effort made by anyone at Atlantic Records other than you. You tirelessly and clandestinely worked the band until sales demanded that the Atlantic machine had to be activated.

You know all this to be true, but if you do require someone to remind you, please feel free to call Dee Snider, Jay Jay French or even Mick Jones. You really are a special talent, Jason and you certainly don't need this false accolade to be added to your list of achievements.

All the best to you,
Phil

________________________________

From: Jason Flom
Subject: Re: The signing of Twisted Sister
Date: September 1, 2016 at 2:21:35 PM PDT
To: Phil Carson

Phil-

I do feel badly that there seems to be a misunderstanding. I have never and would never take credit for something I did not do and I certainly have the utmost respect for you- I considered you a legend in the business when we met and I still do. One part of the story that you left out is that immediately after seeing the band in London you called me and said, "This is the greatest thing I've seen since I signed AC/DC!" We both know that at the time this all happened I could not technically "sign" anyone- I was a low level A&R rep (I was making twenty grand a year) who could only present things to senior executives in the hope that they would then sign them. That being said, whenever an A&R person in this business finds a band and presents them to his superior who had previously been unaware of said act I think we can agree that the original discoverer is said to have signed the band regardless of whether the exec signs it that day or three months later or has to have heard about it from several other people before making the decision. If this were not the case, then no one other than label presidents could ever be said to have signed a band! I have told this story dozens of times and I make it a point to include your involvement in the process because the fact is that if not for you this obviously would not have been possible. I loved Twisted Sister (still do) and I risked my job and my career for them and I'm proud that I did. In my view none of this should in any way diminish your role or have any effect other than a positive one. The fact is that I brought the band to you before anyone else did and you wisely did the deal so the fact is that we both can be said to have signed Twisted Sister.

Respectfully,

Jason Flom
Founder and CEO, Lava Records

cc Bob Lefsetz, Jay Jay French, Mick Jones

--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/?utm_source=phplist5583&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Mailbag
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz?utm_source=phplist5583&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Mailbag
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1&utm_source=phplist5583&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Mailbag

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5583&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Mailbag

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25&utm_source=phplist5583&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Mailbag

-- powered by phpList, www.phplist.com --