I just peed blood.
Just when you think you're out of the woods, when you're relaxing, feeling good, life throws you a curve ball. Assuming you're interested in living for a long, healthy time.
At dinner Dave called his body an "adventure suit." He's 65, qualifies for Medicare, but won't go to the doctor. He's got some heart arrhythmia, a few other self-diagnosed symptoms, but he believes when it's time to go it's time to go, and his dad lived to 94, albeit with diabetes. Dave gave up the chocolate ice cream two years back, he was worried the Big D would bite him too, but not worried enough to go to the doctor. Too many males are not worried enough to go to the doctor. And then they die, like Warren Zevon. You think you can see inside your body, but you cannot. You feel fine and then you feel awful, like Garry Shandling. My hematologist had a heart attack whilst running a mini-race at the specialists' annual convention. Life can bite you in the ass, you feel fine, and then you're done.
Or at least messed up.
That's what happened to me yesterday.
I'm staying at a friend's house in Atla, Utah.
I know, I know, winter's over, pack up the skis, go to Coachella. But the truth is skiing provides something elusive in this world, and that's known as freedom. When I'm out in the fresh air, surrounded by mountains, I feel fully alive. And when I'm sliding down I can think of nothing else, I experience a sensation akin to orgasm, only it's endlessly repeatable. If I ran the world everybody would ski, not because I want them to be like me, but because I want them to have the experience, I want them to smile, I want them to feel free.
But it's been unseasonably cold here in Utah. In the twenties. Oh, it was near sixty the day before I came, but then the temperature dropped, eight inches of snow fell, and it was a winter wonderland, to the point that Jackson wanted to catch the early tram. That's right, our benefactor has the privilege of getting in the box an hour early, and on a powder day...
That meant getting up at 6:15.
I've gone to bed many times at that hour, but have rarely arisen.
It was dark out. I ate some yogurt and lox. I stretched. Got suited up.
And then I started walking to the trail, to ski down to the lift.
I immediately found it slippery. I even called out to the guys behind. I was taking it ever so slowly.
And I ascended the brief hill, passed the main drag, I only had to walk down the road separating the condominiums, maybe two hundred feet, then I could put my boards on and go.
And then it happened. I slipped.
Happened that fast, but as I was falling I said...I'm gonna break my shoulder.
Really, I'm tipping over, I lose control of my skis, it's rock hard ice, blue ice is what they call it, and I already know this is gonna be bad.
WHAM!
I could not have hit any harder. Like someone taking a sledgehammer to your shoulder.
But it gets worse...
I FELL AGAIN!
I know that sounds ridiculous, I know that sounds like I screwed up, but the truth is it was just that slippery, I was paying attention, taking baby steps...
This time I fell on my hip and my shoulder.
WHAM AGAIN!
And now I was in shock.
How could this happen? I hadn't even hit the slopes yet. How could I go through a complete season accident free and then...
I'm too old to do the woulda, coulda, shoulda. But I'm also so old that I know that any injury takes forever to heal.
I wanted to go back home. Not only to the house, but to Santa Monica. But that would require retracing my icy steps. That seemed dumb. I figured the sun would melt the road for the return trip.
Alas, that did not happen. And I slipped again on the way back. Only this time I caught myself. All those years practicing in Vermont paid off. My skis clattered to the ground, took a few dings...
But now I'm getting ahead of myself.
I'm a walking zombie. What else was there to do but ski?
And the snow... It was lighter than anything I'd experienced in Colorado all year. That's what Utah is famous for, the Greatest Snow On Earth, the lake strips out the moisture and it's like plowing through down.
And I'm in my own brain, because everybody knows there are no friends on a powder day.
We hook up with the aforementioned Dave, the Guru, who led us to some powder shots.
And then it was time for lunch.
I had a hard time making it back to the house. And I slipped.
And when I got inside...
The motion of my arm was greatly restricted.
This was bad...
I called Felice, I texted my physical therapist. I'm at a loss in these situations. It was illegal to go to the doctor growing up, my mother had a mother who was a hypochondriac, as a result we put some Robitussin on our injuries and soldiered on. Yes, that's a Chris Rock reference, but like him we didn't want to pay for the doctor.
And I've gotten into so much trouble for not going to the doctor. I lost a body part. Bernie Sanders has one thing right, we need universal coverage, a single payer system, health care should be a right, because bad things always happen while you're broke.
Felice insisted I go to the clinic.
So I did.
They took x-rays, which were negative, no break in the shoulder. As for my hip, the physician said I wouldn't have been able to ski if I'd broken it, there was zero chance of a problem, other then a bruise, but he'd x-ray it anyway if I wanted. I may have OCD, but I'm not dumb, I said no. And he gave me a sling and told me my vacation was finished but...
My physical therapist said the opposite. Said to forgo the sling, to move the arm, leaving it stationary was the exact wrong thing, and if I felt up to it, to ski.
So I followed her instructions and got a better night's sleep than I expected, things always get worse at night, be on your guard, and I woke up to sunshine.
I didn't want to go out, I was emotionally impaired, but I was here.
So I did.
I drove.
I'm never walking that path again, even if it's completely clear.
And I skied the groomers. Had trouble extending my left arm for a pole plant but I was out there, I felt proud of myself.
Until an hour ago. When I was sitting on the throne and I suddenly experienced extreme pain, a short burst, I'd had it before, it's when you're peeing blood.
And there was plenty.
WTF???
I had no pain, what was going on? Was I internally bleeding, was I gonna die?
Or should I ignore the whole damn thing, because after that I had some regular urine.
So I did what everybody does in this modern age, I went online. And found...nothing. None of the causes of blood in the urine applied. So I Googled "peeing blood trauma." And then some results said it could happen. But I've had enough kidney stones, it didn't seem like I fell on my kidney, I know where it is, but maybe I blocked it or maybe the blood was coming from my shoulder and it's ten o'clock at night and I'm in the middle of nowhere far from home, what the hell should I do? Jump in the car and drive to a hospital in Salt Lake? Ignore the whole damn thing?
So I texted the physical therapist. Her father's a doctor. An OB/GYN, but she's an expert on so many things.
She was concerned.
This didn't feel good, I wanted her to blow it off.
So I had to bring out the big gun, I had to call my doctor. I felt so guilty, on a SATURDAY NIGHT?
But he picked up right away. And spoke with me at length. And said if it goes away, to continue my trip and see a urologist when I get back, and to get an MRI on my shoulder while I'm at it. But when am I gonna do this? I'm booked solid all next week, morning, noon and night. I told him this, he said nothing is as important as your health. And that's right, but my barometer is out of whack. I'm either flipping or ignoring. I can run to the hospital if I cut an artery, shy of that I think I'm gonna be okay, and I feel guilty when I go to the doctor and they find nothing wrong.
I just peed again. A smidge of blood and then regular urine. That's a good sign.
But I won't be falling asleep anytime soon.
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Saturday 16 April 2016
Thursday 14 April 2016
Steve Jobs Rules
DESIGN COUNTS
Would Tesla have sold a fraction of Model S's if it looked like the electric cars of yore? No, it looks like a Ferrari, and therefore early adopters, who want to look cool, purchased it. Few knew it goes like stink, with acceleration times exceeding all but the highest performance cars, but that's secondary to the looks.
IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY HE WHO HOLDS BACK IS COOLEST
It's not only Jobs, but Beyonce, who dropped her new album unannounced a couple of Christmases back. Sure, if you're a nobody you've got to get the word out. But once you're a somebody you're better off proffering less information. Adele gets this. Sure, there was monstrous hype when "25" came out, but before that...crickets. If we can't know what we want to know we're ever more curious.
OUTFITS ARE PASSE
That's right, Steve Jobs wore the same damn thing whenever he was in public. Whereas the fading Hollywood stars line up with designers and the public fawns at cheap fashion, which is fodder for the masses.
IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE THAT COUNTS
Functionality rules. Hell, wasn't there that campaign "Intel Inside"? If someone is brushing up their exterior to impress you, know that they're insecure and don't get it.
IGNORE THE HATERS UNTIL THEY GET TRACTION
Steve and Apple never responded, they rarely do this day, until the sound becomes deafening. Remember the iPhone 4 fracas, about the lack of reception depending upon how you held the device? An exasperated Steve Jobs took time from his holiday in Hawaii to say it was irrelevant and give free bumpers to everyone, and that's the last you heard of it.
STREAMLINE YOUR OFFERINGS
A broad product line just confuses the customer. Sure, you can customize, change horsepower and RAM, but when Steve returned to Apple there were so many models that buyers couldn't make sense of them. Give people too much choice and they don't buy at all.
ALIGN YOURSELF WITH WINNERS
That was the "Think Different" campaign. Dead legends burnished Apple's image when it needed it.
FUNCTIONALITY IS KING
We're in a dark era where TV remotes still have a ton of buttons, all-in-ones don't work, and it's ever-harder to use too many devices, this is the downfall of Android, every device is different. Keep It Simple Stupid. Techies will always want to put in more features. Isn't it funny that the power users have bitched ad infinitum that Apple's devices were not customizable to the nth degree but it's Microsoft's Windows that has faded and apps are developed for the iOS platform first. Don't cater to the bleeding edge, it'll make your company crater. Apple is the most valuable company in the world!
PICK YOUR SUCCESSOR AND MAKE IT STICK
I can complain all day long about Tim Cook, but Steve chose him and he's remained at the helm, there's no doubt about who's in charge, as opposed to the fiasco at Disney with Thomas Staggs. You've got to present a unified front to the outside. Furthermore, Steve told Tim not to look back, but forward, that's how Disney got in trouble in the first place, by asking what Walt would do, well, Walt was dead and didn't live in a changed world so his values may have been important but as for his direction, who knows?
KEEP THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION OPEN
I know this sounds contradictory, but the truth is Jobs worked the press, all successful corporate stars work the press, they maintain relationships, no matter what is said, and cull favors and coverage. Burn relationships with the press at your peril. And know that the press is poorly paid and if you give them a first class experience, a peek, an exclusive, they're thrilled and will be on your team.
THE EXPERIENCE IS KING
Who knew what Steve Jobs owned, what his everyday lifestyle was about? Only nitwits are accumulating houses and cars to impress others under the mistaken impression that they've won. You've got to love your work and love to do it. Millennials know it's all about access, oldsters think it's about ownership. But the youth rule in the future, always.
BETTER TO GET IT RIGHT THAN BE FIRST
The iPod was not the first MP3 player and there was other music jukebox software before iTunes. If you're caught behind, you may not have lost, as long as you leapfrog the competition by doing something better.
ABANDON THE PAST
Whether it be the legacy ports that were axed on the iMac or the CD-ROM drives that were left off of later computers or the killing of the iPod by the iPhone, Jobs refused to be shackled to the past. This is the music business's Achilles heel, always trying to protect what was in a world that doesn't care. Now it's trying to protect MP3s when the truth is Napster was nearly twenty years ago!
PEOPLE FORGIVE YOU WHEN YOU PUT THE PRODUCT AHEAD OF YOURSELF
For all the b.s. about what a tyrant Steve Jobs was, the truth is Apple employees stayed on because they wanted to work on insanely great products. Steve was less about self-aggrandizement than product aggrandizement.
GETTING IT RIGHT
The little things count. Sometimes 1% makes all the difference. Don't sacrifice the product just to avoid hurting someone's feelings.
PRICE
People will pay stratospheric prices for what they deem superior.
DICTATORSHIP
It was clear who was in charge, at too many companies it's not.
Steve Jobs is already in the rearview mirror. Those who lived through the first decade of this century will never forget him, but the products he championed are already in the process of being superseded and unlike music, once your products are gone, you're done.
But that does not undercut his legacy. Jobs took on the big boy and won. That's right, Steve neutered Microsoft. And Steve was a new kind of CEO, he believed in his products and sold them himself, his personal enthusiasm made you want to buy. Hell, look at the present Apple presentations, they're flat, because no one's got the same showmanship, Tim Cook should defer to Craig Federighi or another employee with personality as opposed to dully hosting these presentations himself, hell, if Jony Ive can only be on tape, maybe Cook should only be too.
And too often we lose the thread, we experience greatness and then leave it behind.
He who proffers easy to use products that do their job and look cool will win in the end.
But too often companies ship too early or compromise the product or decide by committee and the result fails.
Jobs's lessons are forever. Learn them.
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Would Tesla have sold a fraction of Model S's if it looked like the electric cars of yore? No, it looks like a Ferrari, and therefore early adopters, who want to look cool, purchased it. Few knew it goes like stink, with acceleration times exceeding all but the highest performance cars, but that's secondary to the looks.
IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY HE WHO HOLDS BACK IS COOLEST
It's not only Jobs, but Beyonce, who dropped her new album unannounced a couple of Christmases back. Sure, if you're a nobody you've got to get the word out. But once you're a somebody you're better off proffering less information. Adele gets this. Sure, there was monstrous hype when "25" came out, but before that...crickets. If we can't know what we want to know we're ever more curious.
OUTFITS ARE PASSE
That's right, Steve Jobs wore the same damn thing whenever he was in public. Whereas the fading Hollywood stars line up with designers and the public fawns at cheap fashion, which is fodder for the masses.
IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE THAT COUNTS
Functionality rules. Hell, wasn't there that campaign "Intel Inside"? If someone is brushing up their exterior to impress you, know that they're insecure and don't get it.
IGNORE THE HATERS UNTIL THEY GET TRACTION
Steve and Apple never responded, they rarely do this day, until the sound becomes deafening. Remember the iPhone 4 fracas, about the lack of reception depending upon how you held the device? An exasperated Steve Jobs took time from his holiday in Hawaii to say it was irrelevant and give free bumpers to everyone, and that's the last you heard of it.
STREAMLINE YOUR OFFERINGS
A broad product line just confuses the customer. Sure, you can customize, change horsepower and RAM, but when Steve returned to Apple there were so many models that buyers couldn't make sense of them. Give people too much choice and they don't buy at all.
ALIGN YOURSELF WITH WINNERS
That was the "Think Different" campaign. Dead legends burnished Apple's image when it needed it.
FUNCTIONALITY IS KING
We're in a dark era where TV remotes still have a ton of buttons, all-in-ones don't work, and it's ever-harder to use too many devices, this is the downfall of Android, every device is different. Keep It Simple Stupid. Techies will always want to put in more features. Isn't it funny that the power users have bitched ad infinitum that Apple's devices were not customizable to the nth degree but it's Microsoft's Windows that has faded and apps are developed for the iOS platform first. Don't cater to the bleeding edge, it'll make your company crater. Apple is the most valuable company in the world!
PICK YOUR SUCCESSOR AND MAKE IT STICK
I can complain all day long about Tim Cook, but Steve chose him and he's remained at the helm, there's no doubt about who's in charge, as opposed to the fiasco at Disney with Thomas Staggs. You've got to present a unified front to the outside. Furthermore, Steve told Tim not to look back, but forward, that's how Disney got in trouble in the first place, by asking what Walt would do, well, Walt was dead and didn't live in a changed world so his values may have been important but as for his direction, who knows?
KEEP THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION OPEN
I know this sounds contradictory, but the truth is Jobs worked the press, all successful corporate stars work the press, they maintain relationships, no matter what is said, and cull favors and coverage. Burn relationships with the press at your peril. And know that the press is poorly paid and if you give them a first class experience, a peek, an exclusive, they're thrilled and will be on your team.
THE EXPERIENCE IS KING
Who knew what Steve Jobs owned, what his everyday lifestyle was about? Only nitwits are accumulating houses and cars to impress others under the mistaken impression that they've won. You've got to love your work and love to do it. Millennials know it's all about access, oldsters think it's about ownership. But the youth rule in the future, always.
BETTER TO GET IT RIGHT THAN BE FIRST
The iPod was not the first MP3 player and there was other music jukebox software before iTunes. If you're caught behind, you may not have lost, as long as you leapfrog the competition by doing something better.
ABANDON THE PAST
Whether it be the legacy ports that were axed on the iMac or the CD-ROM drives that were left off of later computers or the killing of the iPod by the iPhone, Jobs refused to be shackled to the past. This is the music business's Achilles heel, always trying to protect what was in a world that doesn't care. Now it's trying to protect MP3s when the truth is Napster was nearly twenty years ago!
PEOPLE FORGIVE YOU WHEN YOU PUT THE PRODUCT AHEAD OF YOURSELF
For all the b.s. about what a tyrant Steve Jobs was, the truth is Apple employees stayed on because they wanted to work on insanely great products. Steve was less about self-aggrandizement than product aggrandizement.
GETTING IT RIGHT
The little things count. Sometimes 1% makes all the difference. Don't sacrifice the product just to avoid hurting someone's feelings.
PRICE
People will pay stratospheric prices for what they deem superior.
DICTATORSHIP
It was clear who was in charge, at too many companies it's not.
Steve Jobs is already in the rearview mirror. Those who lived through the first decade of this century will never forget him, but the products he championed are already in the process of being superseded and unlike music, once your products are gone, you're done.
But that does not undercut his legacy. Jobs took on the big boy and won. That's right, Steve neutered Microsoft. And Steve was a new kind of CEO, he believed in his products and sold them himself, his personal enthusiasm made you want to buy. Hell, look at the present Apple presentations, they're flat, because no one's got the same showmanship, Tim Cook should defer to Craig Federighi or another employee with personality as opposed to dully hosting these presentations himself, hell, if Jony Ive can only be on tape, maybe Cook should only be too.
And too often we lose the thread, we experience greatness and then leave it behind.
He who proffers easy to use products that do their job and look cool will win in the end.
But too often companies ship too early or compromise the product or decide by committee and the result fails.
Jobs's lessons are forever. Learn them.
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Wednesday 13 April 2016
One More Steve Miller E-Mail
In defense of the mono-gender criticism of the Steve Miller Band personnel over the years, Steve asked my very talented wife Diane Steinberg Lewis to join the band back in 1983 to play keyboards and sing but she had prior commitments.
We also auditioned a female singer songwriter to join us in 2008 after our beloved Norton Buffalo succumbed to lung cancer to help with our harmony stack and play guitar but we went in another direction.
Also many world class female rhythm section players have only started surfacing in the last 10 or 15 years and we have had the same core band now for over 25 years. But who knows what might happen in the near future??
Also Steve did have a very big rock star selected to induct him who is a friend of his but the RRHOF said "No. You don't get to pick who inducts you. We pick them." So Steve honestly did not know who the Black Keys were and frankly didn't care and was extremely disappointed before he even showed up.
And as for Mr Miller being called an asshole and boorish for his bully pulpit moment, you spineless non artists who said it, you are disqualified from being able to make such a statement because you've never stood inside a rock star's shoes nor have an inkling to what it like to be abused and exploited.
Kenny Lee Lewis- Steve Miller Band
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We also auditioned a female singer songwriter to join us in 2008 after our beloved Norton Buffalo succumbed to lung cancer to help with our harmony stack and play guitar but we went in another direction.
Also many world class female rhythm section players have only started surfacing in the last 10 or 15 years and we have had the same core band now for over 25 years. But who knows what might happen in the near future??
Also Steve did have a very big rock star selected to induct him who is a friend of his but the RRHOF said "No. You don't get to pick who inducts you. We pick them." So Steve honestly did not know who the Black Keys were and frankly didn't care and was extremely disappointed before he even showed up.
And as for Mr Miller being called an asshole and boorish for his bully pulpit moment, you spineless non artists who said it, you are disqualified from being able to make such a statement because you've never stood inside a rock star's shoes nor have an inkling to what it like to be abused and exploited.
Kenny Lee Lewis- Steve Miller Band
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Re-Steve Miller At The R&RHOF
Great post!
Given Steve Miller's reputation within the industry as a whole, I'm amazed he got in at all.
Nonetheless, I think it's worth pointing out that the initial fracas was posted on the NY Times site.
All the rebuttals I have read (admitedly, just two, The Black Keys and RRHOF President Joel Peresman) have been in Rolling Stone.
I think that says something about the legitimacy of it all.
Keith R. Higgons
__________________________________________
Thank you Bob. The sooner this travesty is dismantled ( in the name of rock n roll ) the better.
Nikki Sixx
__________________________________________
You are such a prince of the pen among thieves and the disingenuous. Thanks for your righteous and profound words about our beloved Joker. Fuck the whining Black Keys. They will be day old bread by next decade. But The Joker will be playing in space stations into the next millennia like in Guardians of the Galaxies!
Kenny Lee Lewis- Steve Miller Band
__________________________________________
As you know the reference to Les Paul as his Godfather is pure shit ... and you can quote me on that online. Bud Miller
__________________________________________
bob;
just luverly !
please continue to piss on the parade of wafflers !
and left turn into alexander hamilton ...
saw the lin-manuel miranda fellow on charlie rose last night.
like john & paul in hamburg ; like marc anthony in the streets of salsa this mr. miranda dug himself a reservoir in his trenches.
what a pleasure to behold his discipline and passion !
and thank you charlie rose.
very best, o
Andrew Loog Oldham
__________________________________________
Yeah, like any other self respecting set of corporate entities the music business is of course filled with "gangsters and crooks". In other news snow is cold.
I'm even gladder now that I voted for Steve for the HOF. I was a big fan and saw him many times early on. I saw him play in a high school parking lot in San Francisco
in '67 or '68 to what must have been all of twenty kids; dues and all...
Chris Stein
__________________________________________
Wow dead on about Steve. Only thing that counts is him going on stage playing that great guitar, singing like nobody else and writing some of the best songs in rock history.
Chuck Morris
__________________________________________
When I was fourteen years old and playing in a blues band in Dallas, Steve Miller invited me to play with him onstage. Since then he's continued to be a mentor in music, business, and bullshit detecting, and I've had the chance to play with the SMB a few nights and the change to have long, winding conversations with him on many nights. I'm by no means special. Steve has done so much in terms of helping and educating young musicians - taking them onstage, inviting them to the studio, giving workshops, giving life advice. For RS or anyone else to characterize him as a grumpy, out-of-touch old man is wholly bullshit. Steve doesn't suffer fools and is skeptical of show business types (hence, his success), but he's as warm as they come to those he loves and to those outside of the biz. I was so proud of what he did this week, and I think it was totally in character of the person I've gotten to know the last ten years.
Thanks for all the great fucking emails,
Max Marshall
__________________________________________
To me the most notable element of the Rolling Stone piece was how the guys from the Black Keys felt like Steve Miller owed it to them to know who they were! And they even admitted it! That's hilarious.
Timothy Bluhm
__________________________________________
And Dan's last 3? albums aren't even streaming. How does he expect to make new fans and make more money if you can't even hear his music where ALL THE OTHER MUSIC IS?
Justin Bartek
__________________________________________
Jann Wenner does not just fly private. He OWNs his Gulfstream.
Jan Burden
__________________________________________
I love the Black Keys so nothing against them.
I've certainly met my fair share of rock n' roll heroes who were disappointing in person and I'm sure Pat and Dan disappointed some fans themselves by not being present in the moment. Shit happens.
I met one particular rock star from a band that I absolutely worship on a comeback tour did two sold out shows in a row with on back to back nights. The singer thanked me profusely each night for promoting the shows, he was totally genuine in doing so, the second night we dorked out for a half hour on our favorite rock heroes and influences, and he even let me play his guitar and sing a couple songs together. It was a truly magical moment that I will never forget.
Next morning I randomly bumped into him in a bagel shop and he didn't even recognize me. It happens.
Granted not a direct comparable situation to Steve Miller not hiding his vexation with the Black Keys, but just goes to show our heroes are often disappointing in person, and Steve Miller obviously doesn't want to play the game anymore, and why should he?
Dan Millen
__________________________________________
Bob: Steve Miller was one of the first major rock acts to sell his music for commercials.
Check out the use of "The Joker" in the famed UK Levi 501 ads in 1990 that later came to MTV.
Levis piggy-backed on that music tip with those rock type videos for years.
So exactly how does an artist sell out, Steve?
Were you thinking 501s when you wrote "The Joker?"
I think not.
If you didn't like what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stood for and didn't like the way you were treated up to that night, you shouldn't have attended.
Larry LeBlanc
__________________________________________
Pretty funny quote from an interview he did a few years ago in the USA today, talking about young musicians needing to pay their dues.
"I want them to understand what it is you have to do when you want to do this. I want them to see the trucks drive up and (the crew) unload the grimy equipment."
Must've been tough.
Don Bartlett
__________________________________________
The Rock Hall of Fame is beyond pointless.
Most other halls commemorate people in a field to have a record of their contributions.
Rock (and all music frankly) already does that by existing. It's recorded! If it's any good, everybody knows about it and enjoys it.
Good music is its own timeless celebration that we all curate and keep alive every day.
Fuck Jann Wenner and the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
Jeremy Segal
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Bob, thanks for this line:
"Listening to Steve Miller's music. And the prog rockers and hard rockers who have not been let in, because they're too out there and too scruffy to be involved. The whole thing is so p.c. as to be laughable."
I wasn't sure if you understood "our" hard rock heavy metal world. Been toiling in it since the '90s with BraveWords etc... But to the point. Why are we even talking about Steve Miller, Cheap Trick and of course Deep Purple? It's beyond embarrassing that these artists just got in. And you know the list who still AREN"T in which is a bloody travesty. And I'm not even talking about our key metal people like Motorhead, Maiden and Priest etc...
Let's respect our elders FIRST.
But really … ELO, Yes, Journey, Moody Blues, The Cars, Grand Funk Railroad. Weren't the latter one of the greatest live bands in the '70s? Sold tons of records and they were all over the radio. Isn't that enough? Really!?!
This is a slap in the face to all of us. All of us that LIVE by the riff!
And the Deep Purple situation is sad, as one of the greatest keyboardists of all time (Jon Lord) never saw the honour due to his passing in 2012. A damn shame he didn't leave us with it already in his heart and on his sleeve.
Maybe we can apply "smoke on the water" to another piece of real estate?
Thanks for being a voice of reason.
"Metal" Tim Henderson
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Amen!
Alex M. Bustos
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"He's Steve Miller and Dan Auerbach is not." Steve Miller acting like a rock and roll star at the rock and roll hall of fame and Dan Auerbach is acting like he's some kind of a bad, bad man for being rock and roll. Go fuck yourself, Dan.
And don't worry, boys, you'll have your plaque one day, I'm sure, you've stolen enough riffs. No need to suck up this early, though, it's a bit gauche.
Which leads of course to the fact that Auerbach is THE most calculating rock star. His image is all about which little known African guitarist he's going to produce this week, doing his good deed to help the struggling, get his write-up in RS or in Spin.
Why do I feel that it's never about the music for Auerbach? It's about the money, the image. He disses Miller in RS right after intro'ing him. Dude, if you really loved his music you would not care what Miller said. He could insult your kids and if you bowed down at the altar of Miller's music you would not care because he delivered the tunes, man, the joy. This shows both the Hall's and the Key's calculating behavior: get a hip band that doesn't really care to come up and intro Miller, they'll do it, they're already salivating to be obsolete and in the Hall.
You did it for the publicity, it's clear now. Miller's speech and comments didn't fit into your vision of how it would help your brand and now you're distancing itself. It's clear that for whatever reason you did it it couldn't have been about the music.
The Black Keys are the shittiest band to ever put on leather jackets. No one ever forget that.
- Dan Grgas
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Bwahhh!! It's an insult to Steve that the Hall asked two hipster stooges to introduce him.
The Black Keys are amongst the least talented, most derivative crap America has to offer, as fake as 2 Turntables Beck, and it makes me love Miller even more for letting on that he cares not one whit about them. Auerbach - claiming he gets inspiration from the Hall?
Complaining that he took 3 days out of his life without pay??
What a yahoo, what a toadie.
Dennis Pelowski
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SO glad you wrote this. 100% correct. These dudes were butt hurt that a legend didn't know who they were. Steve Miller achieved the status of master of freak flag psychedelic white blues by 1969, and he progressed, regressed, and kept on keepin' on for the next 46 years. More than likely, Black Keys will be forgotten within ten years, as their songs have very little (or in my opinion, no) longevity. They come across as entitled, pitiful, corporate lackeys in this article who appear eager to stroke the corporate dong. About as far away from rock n roll as one can get.
I worked the Big Day Out tour in 2011. Apparently, Black Keys cancelled due to 'exhaustion'; the truth was that they cancelled because they got higher offers, elsewhere. They were low on the bill in Australia, but they still upset MANY fans.
(if you print this, please don't use my name as the festival info is somewhat sensitive)
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I saw what the Black Keys said about Steve Miller and the thought I had was "Will anybody know who the Black Keys are 40 years from now?" I suppose they had the money to bring their entourage. Sorry, Bob, that Steve didn't remember you. Don't worry. You are very relevant. Maybe there is a place for you in a hall of fame. Music writers HOF?
J Kauchick
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The Keys probably got the call because jack White wouldn't do anything
like this.
George Sulmers
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What about the honesty exhibited by Danny Seraphine? What's your opinion? Did he shoot himself in the foot or did he absolutely say the right things to his former band mates?
NELSON DUFFLE
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Who the fuck is Dan Auerbach?
Mike Donahue
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Speaking truth to power is one thing, being an asshole is another.
Sean E. McGowan
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"He's Steve Miller and Dan Auerbach is not."
Ha! So true.
David DiSanzo
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Agree with everything, Bob, but Auerbach did score one point - how can Miller call the RRHOF a boy's club when he's never hired a female band member? Choose your battles, Joker...
Michael Witthaus
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Great writing, Mr. Lefsetz!!!! Agree with everything in this one!!! Steve Miller is the shit!!!! He's still got it!!!
He has every right to tell it like it tiz!!!!
Disappointed in Dan. Upset because Steve Miller did not know who he is????
That's bullshit!!
Thanks for getting it right!!!
Charlie Feldman
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Steve Miller? Is that the abracadrabra shit? And black keys? Who?
Chris Lusher
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The RRHOF is such a fucking joke. Kudos to Steve Miller for not being afraid to tell the truth.
Tim Fricke
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The fact these clueless leaders at the RRHOF don't respect the artists that line their walls and pockets is very unfortunate. Every artist will tell you friends and family have shaped each artist with life moments and perspectives to influence the writing process.
To have the balls to ask for $10k a ticket is a slap in the face to these artists and the leaders really need to be taken out of that position and put somewhere on wall street, so they can play games with money. I 100% with Steve that a artist, WHO IS PERFORMING, should be given more than 1 ticket to the show. It's not like the revenue from adding more assets to the location, the sponsorships thru the tv shows and revenue streams all over the place are not enough to justify someones' pockets, it just comes down to pure greed and stupidity.
Also, no offense to the Black Keys, but for them to get 10 more seconds of spotlight to themselves, they are the ones who should be grateful to even be able to induct a living legend... and yes, like him or not, Steve Miller is a legend. When you look at Steve's ramp as a bitch fest, first find out WHY first.
After hearing his side, I agree 100% with Steve and back his position.
Richard Hofherr
7th heaven
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When you are being inducted into anything, you find out who's introducing you! In the history of baseball, football, name any sport, has an inductee EVER been clueless as to who was given the honor to introduce them? Can you imagine a lifetime achievement honoree at the Grammys or Oscars not knowing who was "standing up" for 'em and why? It speaks volumes about Steve Miller.
You are being very generous giving him a pass on common courtesy and common sense. Everything you said about the RRHoF may be true, and Auerbach should have just walked into the sunset, but it doesn't mean Miller gets a pass for boorish behavior.
Gregg Terrence
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I now regret buying the Black Keys album.
Todd Devonshire
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Bravo, Bob!
Tony D'Amelio
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#pussies
Bob Kranes
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"It's almost like he doesn't have respect for the younger generations and how hard it is in the business today. When he made his first record, he did it at Olympic Studios with Glyn Johns"
Yup, Steve had it made. I love Black Keys, but that statement is more disrespectful than what Mr Miller said the night of his induction
Chris Adams
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Bob,
Brilliant piece
thanks
Chris
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The RnR HOF is Bullshit. We all knew that from the start. Music is subjective and you can't have a club of the best of something subjective with no discernible rhyme or reason of inclusion. At the very core of Rock and Roll the premise of having a HOF is completely flawed. Steve's also right that the music business is more fragmented than it has been over the last 50 years. Artists that aren't at the very top are getting raped of their art now more than ever and that absolutely sucks. That said and while I highly admire Steve Miller the artist, Steve Miller the person is a dick. Maybe being a dick is part of being an American but I don't approve. Not here, not in an election or anywhere else. No one likes to be told to fuck off, especially in their own home. Auerbach had it right, there's a time and place for that. If he wanted to prove a point he should have done as the surviving members of The Sex Pistols did when they posted a note comparing the hall to "urine in wine" or his
fellow Bay Area inductee Jerry Garcia did when just skipped the event altogether and sent in a cardboard cutout of himself along with his band mates. Using the Hall as a bully pulpit to prove your point only makes him seem like an ass and didn't prove a point or solve anything. Either keep your mouth shut and act accordingly or pick the right venue to vent but not both. The Hall's still bullshit and always will be. He's just a member of the Bullshit Rock and Roll Hall of Fame now. And he looks like a dick.
Bob Bernstein
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The only thing that would make the Rock N Roll hall of fame "Rock n Roll" is if Keith Richards burned it to the ground.
Daniel Strohl
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It's a disgrace that the annual Rock Hall inductions are dominated by one side drama after another. KISS, Blondie, Van Halen, NWA, now Steve Miller. It's always some fake controversy that drives the headlines. This person won't play with this person. This musician hates Jann. This band member won't attend if another band member is allowed to attend. Do these musicians think that fans enjoy this kind of faux controversy?
I don't doubt that the induction process is very dysfunctional, because let's face it, every year this stuff goes on, but hey Steve, how about just putting your energies towards paying tribute to your influences, your band, and your fans, and get on with something else in your life? You're not speaking truth to power. You're just bitching at a moment when you're being lionized for your contributions to music history.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this type of absurd behavior doesn't seem to happen with the Baseball or Football HOF inductions.
It's an honor, supposedly, to be inducted to the Rock Hall. Right?
Greg Renoff
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Steve Miller earned the right to his bully pulpit. I often thought he was boxed out because of Scaggs' relationship with Wenner. When I contributed to Rolling Stone thirty plus years ago, I remember seeing Scaggs on the elevator on Fifth Avenue at least a couple of times.
Miller always had it right. As a true cypher of American gestalt, he should have been among the earliest inductees. Ocasek is getting in on the strength of one and a half albums and some of the worst live shows in history.
Right the hell on.
Mr. Gross
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well said Bob
Deborah Wilker
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It's so laughable when people dictate what they think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should be. That's the exact mentality that everyone railed against back in the day when rock music mattered! Should we be honoring the music? The spirit behind that music? The celebrity stars? The people who sold multiple units or the people who mattered and influenced others? To me, the whole Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is an oxymoron.
Great blog!
Dennis LeBlanc
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Thanks for the post about Steve Miller. Interesting to see how folks are reacting to his rant. Lots of haters out there who forget to just listen to the music and enjoy. I guess in the age of the internet, it is easier to be judgemental versus just dancing to the music. Oh well, it's only rock and roll. For those who doubt his virtuosity and his massive catalog, check out his show from Starlight Theater 7-8-89. Great show, killer band and song after song that takes me back.
Steve Katz
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When I read that they flew all the way from Nashville, leaving their kids for three days and Steve Miller didn't know who they were....so what? There was a time when the genius pianist Keith Jarrett would shush a room if someone coughed or sneezed before continuing to play and most journalists wrote about that instead of his genius. That's fine but it only means they don't get it. Most people know to be honest means they might hurt feelings and it's brave to be honest, perhaps a sign of wisdom.
bob wiseman
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I liked Danny Seraphine's (Chicago) little speech. Looked like ole Walt wanted to kill him on the spot......
Don Bartenstein
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Thank you, thank you, thank you Bob...after the Boss and Bryan Adams did what rockers used to do....this came off as wimpy ass self-aggrandizing with the whiff of status climbing for publicity juice by who??!...Black Keys....give me a break....Pat Britton
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Auerbach's comments appear mostly just sour grapes that Steve Miller never knew who the Black Keys were. That's perhaps a warning how forgotten todays version of 'rock' music might be even 20 years from now.
Great words Bob. Thank you and Steve Miller for calling a spade! Dante Canil
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Tell me again, who is Dan Auerbach?
Roger Maltby
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The saddest part of the induction ceremonies anymore is realizing that the folks making the introduction speeches will be inducted themselves by Wenner and crew. Bob Ritchie, Dave Matthews and this Black Keys guy. Not exactly Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan. Eeeek.
J. Holdren
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I was crazy mad about Space Cowboy and have the deep grooves in the vinyl to prove it.
They are ALL "alta kaka rockers."
I wrote the Cruisin' 70s record review column for my college newspaper. Thank you for bringing that feeling back.
Fran Denmark
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You are incorrect. "I love the wimps in N.C. who believe they're entitled to see Bruce, as if by buying the "River" and overpaying for a scalped ticket it's all about them." It is all about the fans period. I do not care about an artist's politics or religion...as long as they are not a member of a cult or the like. A commitment is a commitment and Mr. Springsteen broke it. Although I only care for one or two of his songs overall, if I did pay to go to a concert to see anyone, I want to hear to songs and be entertained. That is what they do...entertain. I do not want to hear any "artist" and their "views" at a concert for which I'm paying to attend.
Patricia Caffrey
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This was literally kinda startling. Dan Auerbach allowed himself to be USED by the man as a propaganda tool for purposes of damage control. Far and away one of the most UN-rock & roll things I've ever seen... and I've seen that "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" movie. The whole thing sounded a little sour-grapey to me: "Why didn't he know who we were? I'll show HIM!" In general, I prefer not to judge the younger generation because they, like all of us, have to make their own way in this world. But make no mistake: there has been a line in the sand for some time now, and Mr. Auerbach has firmly planted himself on the side that has Pat Boone singing "Tutti Frutti".
Keep 'em flying,
West Anthony.
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Miller's "Baby's House" (cowritten with the great Nicky Hopkins) is one of my most favorite songs of that era. Brilliant and moving. And nine minutes fer chrissakes.
Dave Curtis
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"I love the wimps in N.C. who believe they're entitled to see Bruce, as if by buying the "River" and overpaying for a scalped ticket it's all about them."
Hm. What about the fans who cleared their schedules, maybe cancelled work (paid by the day) and were left bitterly disappointed who had nothing to do with governmental decisions? Even if they did vote Republican, should they be left disappointed? Are lefty rock stars going to stop playing states that vote Republican?
erpietri
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And to be fair. - old people say crazy sh@$.
Rob Max
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Although not an artist, I am human and thus grateful to everyone who helped along the way. Artists should be grateful too...and polite, respectful, etc.
Being an artist doesn't mean you have to act like an asshole....certainly not an excuse!
Jim Lewi
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Whoever thought Rock and Roll needed a Hall of Fame? Oh yeah wait a minute. Now I remember. Some guy who rode on the backs of everyone from The Grateful Dead and John Lennon to whoever today is willing to be a whore for some publicity. Not anyone who ever played it. Not anyone who ever made it. Yeah I'm still trying to forget that guy.
John Brower
P.S. I'm not finished...lol. The Barclay Center? $10,000 a seat. I don't smell teen spirit. RS It smells like Rotten Shit to me.
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While he was up there railing against the machine, he should have thanked Paul Pena for penning "Jet Airliner."
If the Rock Hall was worth a shit, they'd be recognizing more guys like him; the brilliant unsung heroes of the era.
dB
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Right on, Brother Lefsetz! Steve Miller hasn't done anything in decades that interests me and I think the Black Keys make fine music, but Miller is right and the Keys sound like crybabies. And WTF do they mean, how many women are in the Steve Miller Band? The same number inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, boys.
Margaret Moser
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Amen, so well put..
James Craik
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Time to delete all of my Black Keys albums. What a bunch of pussies. "The most unpleasant part was being around him." Give me a break, are you 7 years old???? I nominate Auerbach to be the first recipient of a lifetime achievement award in the Puss & Whine Hall of Fame.
Joe Weinstein
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Nice Bob. When done right music is dangerous and makes people uncomfortable and might even change shit. The G n R show at the ballyhooed T Mobile arena, here in the Entertainment Capital of the world was anything but dangerous. A threeunion, clean corporate cash grab. I'm embarrassed that I went. Live and learn. Rock on Bob.
Kurt Lambeth
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In honour of Steve Miller, I'm listening to Fly Like an Eagle, of course on vinyl and it sounds great!!!
Doug Gillis
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nice one lefty
Pete Anderson
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In response to your Steve Miller At The R&RHOF...Superb, spot on...I can hardly believe Auerbach made that play...it's going to burn him in more ways than one.
Best regards,
Mick
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The Black Keys inducting Steve Miller...what, was Kanye West not available!?
Thanks for touching on Boz Scaggs. This guy just keeps making great albums. Records like the soulful Memphis, Come On Home, and last year's dreamy The Last Tango on 16th St. have all three been essential listening for me the past few years. Yeah, he became overexposed with Silk Degrees (kind of like the Saturday Night Fever syndrome for the Bee Gees.) He was overnight success... on his seventh record.
I have him booked in concert in about three weeks. Ninety percent of the stuff that we book doesn't speak to my ears, but booking Boz Scaggs is an honor!! So many venue buyers don't even know who he is, as they're so much younger than his music career on the radio. You have to take them way way back to Silk Degrees, when he had only been making records for a decade, to remind them why he's relevant!
Fifty plus years into his career & I don't think Boz Scaggs is in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, but frankly it's been a joke for so long I don't keep up. I'm scared to even think about who they might have induct him. Mos Def?
Lavon Pagan
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How do the always changing personnel (and they do change a lot of their staff rather frequently) choose who will do the "inductions?' Shouldn't the act/ the inductee have some say who will be inducting him/her/them? That's how other honors work - at least ones I know about/have worked on.
Little Steven inducting the Rascals could not have been more perfect. You knew Little Steven loved this group - this was no bullshit. And then, when he (sorry to sort of quote Dion) "tore open his shirt" and revealed the original, dopey Young Rascals shirts… well… what could have been better for all of us who loved the Rascals.
Lou Reed inducting Dion? Could not have been better. Well, Paul Simon might have wanted to induct Dion, but the dark knight of the NY streets inducting the King of the NY Streets… perfect.
What do the Black Keys have to do with Steve Miller. Agree with you about Boz, but on his website, he doesn't even list himself as a former member of Steve Miller. He "played with Steve Miller", or some other euphemism.
So- Sir Paul ? Ben Sidran who is meaningless to the rock and roll community? Isn't there anybody out there but us who liked and still likes Steve Miller?
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so does not deserve to exist. I visited once, taken by a friend who was doing a show and then a Q&A about a movie. It's a museum to Jann and Rolling Stone.
If you want to see a Hall of Fame done right take a trip to Cooperstown, NY. Whether you like, love, hate or indifferent to baseball, this is a real museum, with a real reason to visit.
As for Hamilton… hey, I think I'd been sending you notes about it since I saw it when it was off-bway.
Great piece.
Amy Krakow
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Keep stirring the pot Bob! Love it!
Who cares what Dan Auerbach says about Steve M anyway. Miller has watched the music he loves being co-opted by people who have little concern for anything but their own reflection........
If there is a cultural revolution on the way, I'm sure Bob Lefsetz will be on the front lines!.....could you say the same for the executive committee of the RRHOF?
or as the words go.......Do Do Do Do Do Do Do.....Living in the USA!
Steve Chrismar
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Fuckin pussies.
...Seriously, Bob.
I'm sick and tired of this unconditional entitlement adopted by the millennials.
What the fuck does Steve Miller owe Auerbach?
As if anybody owes this crowd of crybabies anything other than a good old fashioned ass whooping. Which is what would have happened back in Miller's time if you complained, or cried like a bitch. Shit, your own english teacher would draw blood in setting you straight.
Miller has balls of steel. And he's always been one of my favorite artists. And I've wondered, man, his music is so simple, most of his hits are on the verge of pop, and yet - he keeps on rockin me, baby!
Aaron Kelley
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Couldn't agree with you more on this one, Bob.
Steve Miller has lived it for decades, from the inside and that makes his opinions relevant. Wenner has merely written about it from the outside. And, as Zappa allegedly said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." 'Nuff said.
Bob Kennedy
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Seriously, why were the Black Keys asked to induct Steve Miller? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy their music but what is the connection? Did Steve Miller influence and inform their work? If so, did anyone share with Steve Miller? Look, I'm not a big fan of Steve Miller but his music was unescapable in early seventies, I enjoyed it, and still do. But, I blame the RRHOF for the poor communication between the two artists. Unfortunately, a bitter and uniformed inductee chose the platform to take a well deserved swipe at an institution that maintains little credibility and the Black Keys were caught in the middle.
Andrew Paciocco
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Fuck yeah Bob! I'm with you on that one.
Michael Hardy
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The fact that Steve Miller doesn't know who the Black Keys are is strong indicator of how out of touch he is and how little he cares about what's relevant in modern music. There is nothing sadder than seeing a once great artist (although he's not part of my life's sound track, I still respect his work) slowly slipping head first into anger and rage as a result of no longer being relevant. Yeah, we all know the business sucks but all that misdirected animosity isn't going to inspire anyone to try and change it. Perhaps if he gave the Key's "El Camino" a listen he might lighten up and enjoy some very solid writing.
It ain't a simplistic 3 chord 4/4 time signature but I'm sure he'll still get it. Being obsolete... it must be hell on an artist. Cheers.
Tom Bjelic
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preach it brother bob!
Adrian Rice
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Right On!!!
Jeff Laufer
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You get it exactly right- there is absolutely no correlation between the real person and the persona. You never know what you're going to find. Especially with musicians. I've met plenty of huge stars, as probably a lot of your readers have as well. I can count the pleasant surprises on one hand. Came very, very close to meeting John Lennon, but didn't. (One of those strange stories...)
And I'm glad now, though the word is he was usually quite polite and tolerant to fans.
It's best to never meet your hero's in the arts. The risk is too great you will never be able to enjoy their work again.
Re the RR HOF: I tuned out the day they said "Cleveland" and haven't paid another lick of attention since. It's always been a phony, compromised joke to me.
Oh, and I keep Steve Miller's greatest hits in fairly regular rotation. Never met him...
Timothy Sullivan
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Bob, here's a little Steve Miller vignette from earlier in 2016.
I'd gone to the Met to see the event surrounding their acquisition of one of my friend Ken Parker's archtop guitars. After the official Met event, many of the attendees went across the street to someone's lovely 5th Avenue abode for an after party. There were five of Ken's guitars in attendance and, soon enough, a group of us commandeered an empty room to play the things. That's what they're for, right? So what if they start at $35K?!?
Well, as often happens when a group of guitarists who are more or less strangers to each other, the question "What are we gonna play?" rears its head. Steve Miller, there with no fanfare whatsoever, grabbed one of the guitars, sat down in the middle of the circle and said, "hell, let's just play a blues." "What key?" "B flat" says I, as if there was a horn player around the corner wanting a piece. "No, that's too hard. Let's do G" says Steve and off we go. Steve led the jam for the better part of an hour, smiling all the way, teaching us the lick to "The Joker" (as if all of us didn't already know it, hell, everyone else in the circle could play rings around him technically speaking, but of course not one of us has ever or will ever write a lick as memorable and widely known as that one, to say nothing of all those songs that were ubiquitous on the radio in my teens when radio MATTERED) and being simultaneously a Rock Star and just another guitar-addled geek. The assembled
crowd ate it up and every one of us, player or listener, went home happy to have spent that time in his presence.
Not only did I nail the riff, I sang the harmony part on "The Joker" with all my heart. And I rarely sing!
So yeah, he's Steve Miller and I'm not. And he's earned a big pass in my book. But then, I absolutely loathe the RRHOF, on all kinds of levels.
Kingsley Durant
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I feel like the Black Keys' reaction is like our Instagram society where everything has to be "positive" and tries to look successful.
Like the corporate world actually.
Opinions used to be key, now it's considered dangerous if they don't follow the herd.
The Kardashian's are the new paradigm and you better not talk crap otherwise you'll be excluded.
"Kill your idols" used to be written on Axl Rose's shirt at the time I discovered them, I was 13 in 92.
Now it would read "kneel harder, bow lower".
Music started for me as a way of raising the middle finger without uttering a word.
Now it's an advertisement platform for big companies and the likes, they don't invest but just reap benefits from the "culture".
How long will there be a culture anyway? Will millennials build on the TMZ era we live in to create a lasting movement?
Ben The Glorious Bastard
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When I was going to San Francisco State college in the 60s I saw Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs play at a famous, at the time, small club on Fillmore Street, called the Matrix. They had a 4 man jazz combo, drums, bass and the two of them alternating vocals and lead guitar. Boz had a song getting some air play on local radio called "We were always Sweethearts" or something like that. They were great together. I also saw the Airplane one night in that club with Signe ?, a attractive blonde lead singer, that preceded Grace Slick. All the new San Francisco sound bands played there.
Around the same time 65/66, before Carol Doda, I saw a great R & B group called the Checkmates at the Condor. They had a fantastic lead singer Sonny Charles. I lost track of him and many years later I was staying at the run down Sands Casino in Vegas attending the Consumer Electronics Show. It was the only place I could get a room. I came back to the hotel about 1am and had to pass by the cocktail lounge on the way to my room. I heard this great R & B song and a vocalist that sounded familiar. It was Sonny Charles with a group very similar to his old Checkmates. He was in his mid to late 60s, but hadn't lost a step in his performance and sounded great. But the lounge was nearly empty and when he finished one song, I was the only one that applauded. It was a sad scene. And it bothered me that a guy this talented had to end his career this way. Well, a few years later I received a promo CD of Steve Miller's latest blues album "Bingo" to review for "The Reader" a weekly San Diego
magazine. I loved the new CD and was wonderfully surprised that Miller's new lead singer was none other than Sonny Charles.
So what ever one says negative about Steve doesn't register with me since there is I'm sure a great story to be told about Steve's resurrection of Mr Charles who now tours with him. At 75 Sonny still sounds great, is fun to watch perform and finally gets some love from the fans. A rare happy ending in the music business.
best, alan segal san diego
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I know no act likes buying tickets for the RNRHOF induction ceremony but that's how they have always done it.
Bottom line though, it is like a (career) breath of fresh air for any of the people who get in. It revives careers like a new hit song or album. They are NEWS again, instead of just being great vintage rockers or whatever. I love that there is a Hall of Fame and I am glad to see people get their just acknowledgement. It is a huge badge of honor. Yes everyone in the business, promoters - are rip offs – ask any act - so are the record companies and I guess the hall is too, but let me ask you something…
WHERE WOULD THESE ACTS BE WITHOUT THE RECORD COMPANIES AND PROMOTERS WHO SIGNED THEM AND PROMOTED THEM WHEN THEY WERE NOTHING?
That is no excuse to take advantage of artists but there are literally a million bands out there BEGGING for attention from me and everyone else, just to get on a show. They will PAY for it, (not that I charge them) and there just aren't enough shows to go around. And radio…how about radio, they won't play NOTHIN anymore unless you are one of those lucky ones who got on board years ago! We have been complaining for years the radio doesn't play anything, LOOK AT IT NOW!!!
So for anyone who bitches about getting in the hall of fame, I think you should rethink using this as a platform to bitch about all the assholes in our business. It aint like you are broke, and not getting paid a ton of money all along. You could always turn it down. So you gotta pay for the band members to come. I have to pay to go there too when I want to see one of my favorite acts get in there, because it is a special feeling and moment you can't get anywhere else. I am so proud of these guys and that I get to work with them for all of these years.
I look forward to seeing the show I couldn't attend this year on TV in a couple weeks. I am so happy for my friends Cheap Trick and Chicago, who I am promoting shows with in July, (especially my friend Danny Seraphine who should be invited back into the band), the mighty Deep Purple (Roger and Ian are 2 of my prize musician friends, like royalty) and Steve Miller (and I miss Norton Buffalo SO MUCH who helped shape the sound).
Steve Miller's early albums, the sound that introduced me to the great Ben (Space Cowboy) Sidran and Boz Scaggs who I got to work with after and since…all bands I have promoted for the last 40 years. I love them all—what an HOF class! Come on you guys, celebrate the fact we have this unbelievable right to make money doing this for living…yes I would PAY to do it, and I do. Think of what the rest of the world has to do to buy our concert tickets and are (mostly) happy when they do!
Danny Zelisko
P.S. Bob – don't take it out on Steve that he doesn't remember you. I have been bringing him checks for decades and he never remembers me.
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THAT'S rock and roll.
Rock and roll used to be about sticking it to the man. Now it's about licensing deals and featured artists and collaborations and earworms.
"Rock and Roll Hall of Fame"??? Give me a break. It's a Hall of Sales Achievement.
They induct this man -- whose music is still being played on the radio (terrestrial and satellite) and at college parties and sports arenas and in commercials today -- into a supposed guild of greats, and they won't reserve a few extra chairs at the ceremony to allow his band and their supportive spouses to attend.
Guess what?? The songs that built Steve Miller's career were recorded and performed by The Steve Miller BAND. Without the other members and their contributions, you've simply got another guy with a guitar who knows how to write good songs. Plenty of those around. But without the band to back him up, Steve Miller doesn't necessarily achieve the greatness which qualifies him to be inducted in the first place.
Instead, extra seats are billed to the band members and their wives at ten grand apiece!
The Rock Hall is a joke. It exists as a tourist attraction, a convenient way for Big Music to appear to pay homage to Their former indentured servants...while raking in $23.50 a ticket from Joe and Joan Schmoe.
N.W.A. didn't even perform at the ceremony, as is customary when an artist is inducted. According to Ice Cube, the group "didn't feel like we were supported enough to do the best show we could put on."
(BREAKING NEWS: Big Music unsupportive of controversial artist.)
The thing is, N.W.A. are now one of only five rap artists in the Hall -- and the only reason a "crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube from the gang called Niggaz With Attitudes" gets inducted is because of the coincidental success (read: $160 million domestic gross) of the film Straight Outta Compton. N.W.A. proved to be undeniable, so Big Music couldn't actively deny them any longer.
Make no mistake, there was a heyday in music. There was a time when the artists were the millionaires and called the shots. When music helped shape and define the culture, not the other way around.
Music used to be the best platform for expressing social and cultural discontent, moving millions to seek truth and become one with humanity.
And then They shut it down. "Stop, in the name of...money!"
It's all about sales. All the time. That's why it's major news when a bill gets introduced to pay producers, mixers, and engineers royalties for their respective roles in the creation of hits. Because They don't want to pay anyone except Themselves.
Jann Wenner is revered by Big Music now, but when he created Rolling Stone he was anti-establishment. He was on the same side as the artists.
And now...he's charging them ten grand to sit in his building, at an event honoring the music which they were an integral part of creating?
Piss on Rolling Stone. And you too, Jann Wenner. You used to stand for something. You made the magazine whose cover aspiring artists wished most to grace. Now you recycle the same drivel about the same artists issue after issue, and cater to Big Music's priorities.
Because Big Music pays. And They pay well those who do Their bidding.
Steve Miller did enough of Their bidding to earn a Hall of Fame performance, and I'm glad, because it afforded him the platform and opportunity to cry "BULLSHIT!!" for everyone to hear.
But he's a dying breed. Today's artists are afraid to take a position on anything, lest they potentially lose a single fan.
And that doesn't just apply to the famous and well-known artists. I just left a touring band in which saying anything that could potentially be interpreted as offensive or alienating to anyone was off-limits; potential social media posts had to first be approved by the group.
It's as if everything today has to be homogenized and pasteurized for the masses. Soft. Safe. Easy. Inoffensive.
Because the offended minority has a voice now: the internet. And the internet allows them to connect with each other and express their particular opinions and thoughts.
So what ends up happening is, enough of these offended individuals connect and become a group voice. They stoke the fires of the negative and fuel the flames with posts and comments, throwing their vitriolic pearls into the great ocean of cyberspace.
Because they know there are no rules on the internet, nothing governing what is actually truth and what isn't. (There's a reason Snopes is incredibly popular.) "WWW" may as well stand for "Wild Wild West". Anyone can literally post anything about anything. And a negative social campaign which goes viral can crush almost any business.
If you're mad enough, and enough people agree with you, your voice may be heard.
So artists play it safe, staying in their lane, only posting positive things, smiles, show updates, etc. Everything is rosy in their world. They play the angles, secretly hoping for that call from Big Music someday, and they know they need to be squeaky clean in order to get it.
But we all know it's bullshit. Life isn't perfect. Everyone has issues from time to time. Everyone has opinions about this or that social or cultural happening.
Where are the artists??? Where are the ones who speak out against injustice??
Steve Miller just did. So did Bruce Springsteen. They are 72 and 66 years old, respectively.
What do you have to say, Justin Bieber...?
http://noisey.vice.com/blog/its-time-to-start-taking-justin-bieber-seriously
John Kay
P.S. I've never liked the Black Keys. Bought two of their albums and played them each three times. Took them to Salvation Army.
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As I played on or cowrote all your favorite Steve Miller Band songs - Seasons, Space Cowboy, Baby's Calling Me Home - I feel compelled to remind you that there is something called the Stockholm syndrome where you identify with the people who are abusing you, and your saying that it's ok for a pop star to be abusive because they're a pop star makes me think you - and a lot of other people - might be suffering from it.
Ben Sidran
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Given Steve Miller's reputation within the industry as a whole, I'm amazed he got in at all.
Nonetheless, I think it's worth pointing out that the initial fracas was posted on the NY Times site.
All the rebuttals I have read (admitedly, just two, The Black Keys and RRHOF President Joel Peresman) have been in Rolling Stone.
I think that says something about the legitimacy of it all.
Keith R. Higgons
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Thank you Bob. The sooner this travesty is dismantled ( in the name of rock n roll ) the better.
Nikki Sixx
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You are such a prince of the pen among thieves and the disingenuous. Thanks for your righteous and profound words about our beloved Joker. Fuck the whining Black Keys. They will be day old bread by next decade. But The Joker will be playing in space stations into the next millennia like in Guardians of the Galaxies!
Kenny Lee Lewis- Steve Miller Band
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As you know the reference to Les Paul as his Godfather is pure shit ... and you can quote me on that online. Bud Miller
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bob;
just luverly !
please continue to piss on the parade of wafflers !
and left turn into alexander hamilton ...
saw the lin-manuel miranda fellow on charlie rose last night.
like john & paul in hamburg ; like marc anthony in the streets of salsa this mr. miranda dug himself a reservoir in his trenches.
what a pleasure to behold his discipline and passion !
and thank you charlie rose.
very best, o
Andrew Loog Oldham
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Yeah, like any other self respecting set of corporate entities the music business is of course filled with "gangsters and crooks". In other news snow is cold.
I'm even gladder now that I voted for Steve for the HOF. I was a big fan and saw him many times early on. I saw him play in a high school parking lot in San Francisco
in '67 or '68 to what must have been all of twenty kids; dues and all...
Chris Stein
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Wow dead on about Steve. Only thing that counts is him going on stage playing that great guitar, singing like nobody else and writing some of the best songs in rock history.
Chuck Morris
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When I was fourteen years old and playing in a blues band in Dallas, Steve Miller invited me to play with him onstage. Since then he's continued to be a mentor in music, business, and bullshit detecting, and I've had the chance to play with the SMB a few nights and the change to have long, winding conversations with him on many nights. I'm by no means special. Steve has done so much in terms of helping and educating young musicians - taking them onstage, inviting them to the studio, giving workshops, giving life advice. For RS or anyone else to characterize him as a grumpy, out-of-touch old man is wholly bullshit. Steve doesn't suffer fools and is skeptical of show business types (hence, his success), but he's as warm as they come to those he loves and to those outside of the biz. I was so proud of what he did this week, and I think it was totally in character of the person I've gotten to know the last ten years.
Thanks for all the great fucking emails,
Max Marshall
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To me the most notable element of the Rolling Stone piece was how the guys from the Black Keys felt like Steve Miller owed it to them to know who they were! And they even admitted it! That's hilarious.
Timothy Bluhm
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And Dan's last 3? albums aren't even streaming. How does he expect to make new fans and make more money if you can't even hear his music where ALL THE OTHER MUSIC IS?
Justin Bartek
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Jann Wenner does not just fly private. He OWNs his Gulfstream.
Jan Burden
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I love the Black Keys so nothing against them.
I've certainly met my fair share of rock n' roll heroes who were disappointing in person and I'm sure Pat and Dan disappointed some fans themselves by not being present in the moment. Shit happens.
I met one particular rock star from a band that I absolutely worship on a comeback tour did two sold out shows in a row with on back to back nights. The singer thanked me profusely each night for promoting the shows, he was totally genuine in doing so, the second night we dorked out for a half hour on our favorite rock heroes and influences, and he even let me play his guitar and sing a couple songs together. It was a truly magical moment that I will never forget.
Next morning I randomly bumped into him in a bagel shop and he didn't even recognize me. It happens.
Granted not a direct comparable situation to Steve Miller not hiding his vexation with the Black Keys, but just goes to show our heroes are often disappointing in person, and Steve Miller obviously doesn't want to play the game anymore, and why should he?
Dan Millen
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Bob: Steve Miller was one of the first major rock acts to sell his music for commercials.
Check out the use of "The Joker" in the famed UK Levi 501 ads in 1990 that later came to MTV.
Levis piggy-backed on that music tip with those rock type videos for years.
So exactly how does an artist sell out, Steve?
Were you thinking 501s when you wrote "The Joker?"
I think not.
If you didn't like what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stood for and didn't like the way you were treated up to that night, you shouldn't have attended.
Larry LeBlanc
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Pretty funny quote from an interview he did a few years ago in the USA today, talking about young musicians needing to pay their dues.
"I want them to understand what it is you have to do when you want to do this. I want them to see the trucks drive up and (the crew) unload the grimy equipment."
Must've been tough.
Don Bartlett
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The Rock Hall of Fame is beyond pointless.
Most other halls commemorate people in a field to have a record of their contributions.
Rock (and all music frankly) already does that by existing. It's recorded! If it's any good, everybody knows about it and enjoys it.
Good music is its own timeless celebration that we all curate and keep alive every day.
Fuck Jann Wenner and the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.
Jeremy Segal
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Bob, thanks for this line:
"Listening to Steve Miller's music. And the prog rockers and hard rockers who have not been let in, because they're too out there and too scruffy to be involved. The whole thing is so p.c. as to be laughable."
I wasn't sure if you understood "our" hard rock heavy metal world. Been toiling in it since the '90s with BraveWords etc... But to the point. Why are we even talking about Steve Miller, Cheap Trick and of course Deep Purple? It's beyond embarrassing that these artists just got in. And you know the list who still AREN"T in which is a bloody travesty. And I'm not even talking about our key metal people like Motorhead, Maiden and Priest etc...
Let's respect our elders FIRST.
But really … ELO, Yes, Journey, Moody Blues, The Cars, Grand Funk Railroad. Weren't the latter one of the greatest live bands in the '70s? Sold tons of records and they were all over the radio. Isn't that enough? Really!?!
This is a slap in the face to all of us. All of us that LIVE by the riff!
And the Deep Purple situation is sad, as one of the greatest keyboardists of all time (Jon Lord) never saw the honour due to his passing in 2012. A damn shame he didn't leave us with it already in his heart and on his sleeve.
Maybe we can apply "smoke on the water" to another piece of real estate?
Thanks for being a voice of reason.
"Metal" Tim Henderson
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Amen!
Alex M. Bustos
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"He's Steve Miller and Dan Auerbach is not." Steve Miller acting like a rock and roll star at the rock and roll hall of fame and Dan Auerbach is acting like he's some kind of a bad, bad man for being rock and roll. Go fuck yourself, Dan.
And don't worry, boys, you'll have your plaque one day, I'm sure, you've stolen enough riffs. No need to suck up this early, though, it's a bit gauche.
Which leads of course to the fact that Auerbach is THE most calculating rock star. His image is all about which little known African guitarist he's going to produce this week, doing his good deed to help the struggling, get his write-up in RS or in Spin.
Why do I feel that it's never about the music for Auerbach? It's about the money, the image. He disses Miller in RS right after intro'ing him. Dude, if you really loved his music you would not care what Miller said. He could insult your kids and if you bowed down at the altar of Miller's music you would not care because he delivered the tunes, man, the joy. This shows both the Hall's and the Key's calculating behavior: get a hip band that doesn't really care to come up and intro Miller, they'll do it, they're already salivating to be obsolete and in the Hall.
You did it for the publicity, it's clear now. Miller's speech and comments didn't fit into your vision of how it would help your brand and now you're distancing itself. It's clear that for whatever reason you did it it couldn't have been about the music.
The Black Keys are the shittiest band to ever put on leather jackets. No one ever forget that.
- Dan Grgas
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Bwahhh!! It's an insult to Steve that the Hall asked two hipster stooges to introduce him.
The Black Keys are amongst the least talented, most derivative crap America has to offer, as fake as 2 Turntables Beck, and it makes me love Miller even more for letting on that he cares not one whit about them. Auerbach - claiming he gets inspiration from the Hall?
Complaining that he took 3 days out of his life without pay??
What a yahoo, what a toadie.
Dennis Pelowski
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SO glad you wrote this. 100% correct. These dudes were butt hurt that a legend didn't know who they were. Steve Miller achieved the status of master of freak flag psychedelic white blues by 1969, and he progressed, regressed, and kept on keepin' on for the next 46 years. More than likely, Black Keys will be forgotten within ten years, as their songs have very little (or in my opinion, no) longevity. They come across as entitled, pitiful, corporate lackeys in this article who appear eager to stroke the corporate dong. About as far away from rock n roll as one can get.
I worked the Big Day Out tour in 2011. Apparently, Black Keys cancelled due to 'exhaustion'; the truth was that they cancelled because they got higher offers, elsewhere. They were low on the bill in Australia, but they still upset MANY fans.
(if you print this, please don't use my name as the festival info is somewhat sensitive)
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I saw what the Black Keys said about Steve Miller and the thought I had was "Will anybody know who the Black Keys are 40 years from now?" I suppose they had the money to bring their entourage. Sorry, Bob, that Steve didn't remember you. Don't worry. You are very relevant. Maybe there is a place for you in a hall of fame. Music writers HOF?
J Kauchick
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The Keys probably got the call because jack White wouldn't do anything
like this.
George Sulmers
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What about the honesty exhibited by Danny Seraphine? What's your opinion? Did he shoot himself in the foot or did he absolutely say the right things to his former band mates?
NELSON DUFFLE
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Who the fuck is Dan Auerbach?
Mike Donahue
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Speaking truth to power is one thing, being an asshole is another.
Sean E. McGowan
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"He's Steve Miller and Dan Auerbach is not."
Ha! So true.
David DiSanzo
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Agree with everything, Bob, but Auerbach did score one point - how can Miller call the RRHOF a boy's club when he's never hired a female band member? Choose your battles, Joker...
Michael Witthaus
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Great writing, Mr. Lefsetz!!!! Agree with everything in this one!!! Steve Miller is the shit!!!! He's still got it!!!
He has every right to tell it like it tiz!!!!
Disappointed in Dan. Upset because Steve Miller did not know who he is????
That's bullshit!!
Thanks for getting it right!!!
Charlie Feldman
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Steve Miller? Is that the abracadrabra shit? And black keys? Who?
Chris Lusher
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The RRHOF is such a fucking joke. Kudos to Steve Miller for not being afraid to tell the truth.
Tim Fricke
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The fact these clueless leaders at the RRHOF don't respect the artists that line their walls and pockets is very unfortunate. Every artist will tell you friends and family have shaped each artist with life moments and perspectives to influence the writing process.
To have the balls to ask for $10k a ticket is a slap in the face to these artists and the leaders really need to be taken out of that position and put somewhere on wall street, so they can play games with money. I 100% with Steve that a artist, WHO IS PERFORMING, should be given more than 1 ticket to the show. It's not like the revenue from adding more assets to the location, the sponsorships thru the tv shows and revenue streams all over the place are not enough to justify someones' pockets, it just comes down to pure greed and stupidity.
Also, no offense to the Black Keys, but for them to get 10 more seconds of spotlight to themselves, they are the ones who should be grateful to even be able to induct a living legend... and yes, like him or not, Steve Miller is a legend. When you look at Steve's ramp as a bitch fest, first find out WHY first.
After hearing his side, I agree 100% with Steve and back his position.
Richard Hofherr
7th heaven
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When you are being inducted into anything, you find out who's introducing you! In the history of baseball, football, name any sport, has an inductee EVER been clueless as to who was given the honor to introduce them? Can you imagine a lifetime achievement honoree at the Grammys or Oscars not knowing who was "standing up" for 'em and why? It speaks volumes about Steve Miller.
You are being very generous giving him a pass on common courtesy and common sense. Everything you said about the RRHoF may be true, and Auerbach should have just walked into the sunset, but it doesn't mean Miller gets a pass for boorish behavior.
Gregg Terrence
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I now regret buying the Black Keys album.
Todd Devonshire
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Bravo, Bob!
Tony D'Amelio
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#pussies
Bob Kranes
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"It's almost like he doesn't have respect for the younger generations and how hard it is in the business today. When he made his first record, he did it at Olympic Studios with Glyn Johns"
Yup, Steve had it made. I love Black Keys, but that statement is more disrespectful than what Mr Miller said the night of his induction
Chris Adams
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Bob,
Brilliant piece
thanks
Chris
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The RnR HOF is Bullshit. We all knew that from the start. Music is subjective and you can't have a club of the best of something subjective with no discernible rhyme or reason of inclusion. At the very core of Rock and Roll the premise of having a HOF is completely flawed. Steve's also right that the music business is more fragmented than it has been over the last 50 years. Artists that aren't at the very top are getting raped of their art now more than ever and that absolutely sucks. That said and while I highly admire Steve Miller the artist, Steve Miller the person is a dick. Maybe being a dick is part of being an American but I don't approve. Not here, not in an election or anywhere else. No one likes to be told to fuck off, especially in their own home. Auerbach had it right, there's a time and place for that. If he wanted to prove a point he should have done as the surviving members of The Sex Pistols did when they posted a note comparing the hall to "urine in wine" or his
fellow Bay Area inductee Jerry Garcia did when just skipped the event altogether and sent in a cardboard cutout of himself along with his band mates. Using the Hall as a bully pulpit to prove your point only makes him seem like an ass and didn't prove a point or solve anything. Either keep your mouth shut and act accordingly or pick the right venue to vent but not both. The Hall's still bullshit and always will be. He's just a member of the Bullshit Rock and Roll Hall of Fame now. And he looks like a dick.
Bob Bernstein
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The only thing that would make the Rock N Roll hall of fame "Rock n Roll" is if Keith Richards burned it to the ground.
Daniel Strohl
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It's a disgrace that the annual Rock Hall inductions are dominated by one side drama after another. KISS, Blondie, Van Halen, NWA, now Steve Miller. It's always some fake controversy that drives the headlines. This person won't play with this person. This musician hates Jann. This band member won't attend if another band member is allowed to attend. Do these musicians think that fans enjoy this kind of faux controversy?
I don't doubt that the induction process is very dysfunctional, because let's face it, every year this stuff goes on, but hey Steve, how about just putting your energies towards paying tribute to your influences, your band, and your fans, and get on with something else in your life? You're not speaking truth to power. You're just bitching at a moment when you're being lionized for your contributions to music history.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this type of absurd behavior doesn't seem to happen with the Baseball or Football HOF inductions.
It's an honor, supposedly, to be inducted to the Rock Hall. Right?
Greg Renoff
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Steve Miller earned the right to his bully pulpit. I often thought he was boxed out because of Scaggs' relationship with Wenner. When I contributed to Rolling Stone thirty plus years ago, I remember seeing Scaggs on the elevator on Fifth Avenue at least a couple of times.
Miller always had it right. As a true cypher of American gestalt, he should have been among the earliest inductees. Ocasek is getting in on the strength of one and a half albums and some of the worst live shows in history.
Right the hell on.
Mr. Gross
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well said Bob
Deborah Wilker
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It's so laughable when people dictate what they think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should be. That's the exact mentality that everyone railed against back in the day when rock music mattered! Should we be honoring the music? The spirit behind that music? The celebrity stars? The people who sold multiple units or the people who mattered and influenced others? To me, the whole Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is an oxymoron.
Great blog!
Dennis LeBlanc
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Thanks for the post about Steve Miller. Interesting to see how folks are reacting to his rant. Lots of haters out there who forget to just listen to the music and enjoy. I guess in the age of the internet, it is easier to be judgemental versus just dancing to the music. Oh well, it's only rock and roll. For those who doubt his virtuosity and his massive catalog, check out his show from Starlight Theater 7-8-89. Great show, killer band and song after song that takes me back.
Steve Katz
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When I read that they flew all the way from Nashville, leaving their kids for three days and Steve Miller didn't know who they were....so what? There was a time when the genius pianist Keith Jarrett would shush a room if someone coughed or sneezed before continuing to play and most journalists wrote about that instead of his genius. That's fine but it only means they don't get it. Most people know to be honest means they might hurt feelings and it's brave to be honest, perhaps a sign of wisdom.
bob wiseman
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I liked Danny Seraphine's (Chicago) little speech. Looked like ole Walt wanted to kill him on the spot......
Don Bartenstein
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Thank you, thank you, thank you Bob...after the Boss and Bryan Adams did what rockers used to do....this came off as wimpy ass self-aggrandizing with the whiff of status climbing for publicity juice by who??!...Black Keys....give me a break....Pat Britton
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Auerbach's comments appear mostly just sour grapes that Steve Miller never knew who the Black Keys were. That's perhaps a warning how forgotten todays version of 'rock' music might be even 20 years from now.
Great words Bob. Thank you and Steve Miller for calling a spade! Dante Canil
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Tell me again, who is Dan Auerbach?
Roger Maltby
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The saddest part of the induction ceremonies anymore is realizing that the folks making the introduction speeches will be inducted themselves by Wenner and crew. Bob Ritchie, Dave Matthews and this Black Keys guy. Not exactly Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan. Eeeek.
J. Holdren
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I was crazy mad about Space Cowboy and have the deep grooves in the vinyl to prove it.
They are ALL "alta kaka rockers."
I wrote the Cruisin' 70s record review column for my college newspaper. Thank you for bringing that feeling back.
Fran Denmark
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You are incorrect. "I love the wimps in N.C. who believe they're entitled to see Bruce, as if by buying the "River" and overpaying for a scalped ticket it's all about them." It is all about the fans period. I do not care about an artist's politics or religion...as long as they are not a member of a cult or the like. A commitment is a commitment and Mr. Springsteen broke it. Although I only care for one or two of his songs overall, if I did pay to go to a concert to see anyone, I want to hear to songs and be entertained. That is what they do...entertain. I do not want to hear any "artist" and their "views" at a concert for which I'm paying to attend.
Patricia Caffrey
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This was literally kinda startling. Dan Auerbach allowed himself to be USED by the man as a propaganda tool for purposes of damage control. Far and away one of the most UN-rock & roll things I've ever seen... and I've seen that "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" movie. The whole thing sounded a little sour-grapey to me: "Why didn't he know who we were? I'll show HIM!" In general, I prefer not to judge the younger generation because they, like all of us, have to make their own way in this world. But make no mistake: there has been a line in the sand for some time now, and Mr. Auerbach has firmly planted himself on the side that has Pat Boone singing "Tutti Frutti".
Keep 'em flying,
West Anthony.
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Miller's "Baby's House" (cowritten with the great Nicky Hopkins) is one of my most favorite songs of that era. Brilliant and moving. And nine minutes fer chrissakes.
Dave Curtis
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"I love the wimps in N.C. who believe they're entitled to see Bruce, as if by buying the "River" and overpaying for a scalped ticket it's all about them."
Hm. What about the fans who cleared their schedules, maybe cancelled work (paid by the day) and were left bitterly disappointed who had nothing to do with governmental decisions? Even if they did vote Republican, should they be left disappointed? Are lefty rock stars going to stop playing states that vote Republican?
erpietri
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And to be fair. - old people say crazy sh@$.
Rob Max
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Although not an artist, I am human and thus grateful to everyone who helped along the way. Artists should be grateful too...and polite, respectful, etc.
Being an artist doesn't mean you have to act like an asshole....certainly not an excuse!
Jim Lewi
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Whoever thought Rock and Roll needed a Hall of Fame? Oh yeah wait a minute. Now I remember. Some guy who rode on the backs of everyone from The Grateful Dead and John Lennon to whoever today is willing to be a whore for some publicity. Not anyone who ever played it. Not anyone who ever made it. Yeah I'm still trying to forget that guy.
John Brower
P.S. I'm not finished...lol. The Barclay Center? $10,000 a seat. I don't smell teen spirit. RS It smells like Rotten Shit to me.
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While he was up there railing against the machine, he should have thanked Paul Pena for penning "Jet Airliner."
If the Rock Hall was worth a shit, they'd be recognizing more guys like him; the brilliant unsung heroes of the era.
dB
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Right on, Brother Lefsetz! Steve Miller hasn't done anything in decades that interests me and I think the Black Keys make fine music, but Miller is right and the Keys sound like crybabies. And WTF do they mean, how many women are in the Steve Miller Band? The same number inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, boys.
Margaret Moser
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Amen, so well put..
James Craik
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Time to delete all of my Black Keys albums. What a bunch of pussies. "The most unpleasant part was being around him." Give me a break, are you 7 years old???? I nominate Auerbach to be the first recipient of a lifetime achievement award in the Puss & Whine Hall of Fame.
Joe Weinstein
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Nice Bob. When done right music is dangerous and makes people uncomfortable and might even change shit. The G n R show at the ballyhooed T Mobile arena, here in the Entertainment Capital of the world was anything but dangerous. A threeunion, clean corporate cash grab. I'm embarrassed that I went. Live and learn. Rock on Bob.
Kurt Lambeth
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In honour of Steve Miller, I'm listening to Fly Like an Eagle, of course on vinyl and it sounds great!!!
Doug Gillis
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nice one lefty
Pete Anderson
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In response to your Steve Miller At The R&RHOF...Superb, spot on...I can hardly believe Auerbach made that play...it's going to burn him in more ways than one.
Best regards,
Mick
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The Black Keys inducting Steve Miller...what, was Kanye West not available!?
Thanks for touching on Boz Scaggs. This guy just keeps making great albums. Records like the soulful Memphis, Come On Home, and last year's dreamy The Last Tango on 16th St. have all three been essential listening for me the past few years. Yeah, he became overexposed with Silk Degrees (kind of like the Saturday Night Fever syndrome for the Bee Gees.) He was overnight success... on his seventh record.
I have him booked in concert in about three weeks. Ninety percent of the stuff that we book doesn't speak to my ears, but booking Boz Scaggs is an honor!! So many venue buyers don't even know who he is, as they're so much younger than his music career on the radio. You have to take them way way back to Silk Degrees, when he had only been making records for a decade, to remind them why he's relevant!
Fifty plus years into his career & I don't think Boz Scaggs is in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, but frankly it's been a joke for so long I don't keep up. I'm scared to even think about who they might have induct him. Mos Def?
Lavon Pagan
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How do the always changing personnel (and they do change a lot of their staff rather frequently) choose who will do the "inductions?' Shouldn't the act/ the inductee have some say who will be inducting him/her/them? That's how other honors work - at least ones I know about/have worked on.
Little Steven inducting the Rascals could not have been more perfect. You knew Little Steven loved this group - this was no bullshit. And then, when he (sorry to sort of quote Dion) "tore open his shirt" and revealed the original, dopey Young Rascals shirts… well… what could have been better for all of us who loved the Rascals.
Lou Reed inducting Dion? Could not have been better. Well, Paul Simon might have wanted to induct Dion, but the dark knight of the NY streets inducting the King of the NY Streets… perfect.
What do the Black Keys have to do with Steve Miller. Agree with you about Boz, but on his website, he doesn't even list himself as a former member of Steve Miller. He "played with Steve Miller", or some other euphemism.
So- Sir Paul ? Ben Sidran who is meaningless to the rock and roll community? Isn't there anybody out there but us who liked and still likes Steve Miller?
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame so does not deserve to exist. I visited once, taken by a friend who was doing a show and then a Q&A about a movie. It's a museum to Jann and Rolling Stone.
If you want to see a Hall of Fame done right take a trip to Cooperstown, NY. Whether you like, love, hate or indifferent to baseball, this is a real museum, with a real reason to visit.
As for Hamilton… hey, I think I'd been sending you notes about it since I saw it when it was off-bway.
Great piece.
Amy Krakow
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Keep stirring the pot Bob! Love it!
Who cares what Dan Auerbach says about Steve M anyway. Miller has watched the music he loves being co-opted by people who have little concern for anything but their own reflection........
If there is a cultural revolution on the way, I'm sure Bob Lefsetz will be on the front lines!.....could you say the same for the executive committee of the RRHOF?
or as the words go.......Do Do Do Do Do Do Do.....Living in the USA!
Steve Chrismar
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Fuckin pussies.
...Seriously, Bob.
I'm sick and tired of this unconditional entitlement adopted by the millennials.
What the fuck does Steve Miller owe Auerbach?
As if anybody owes this crowd of crybabies anything other than a good old fashioned ass whooping. Which is what would have happened back in Miller's time if you complained, or cried like a bitch. Shit, your own english teacher would draw blood in setting you straight.
Miller has balls of steel. And he's always been one of my favorite artists. And I've wondered, man, his music is so simple, most of his hits are on the verge of pop, and yet - he keeps on rockin me, baby!
Aaron Kelley
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Couldn't agree with you more on this one, Bob.
Steve Miller has lived it for decades, from the inside and that makes his opinions relevant. Wenner has merely written about it from the outside. And, as Zappa allegedly said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." 'Nuff said.
Bob Kennedy
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Seriously, why were the Black Keys asked to induct Steve Miller? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy their music but what is the connection? Did Steve Miller influence and inform their work? If so, did anyone share with Steve Miller? Look, I'm not a big fan of Steve Miller but his music was unescapable in early seventies, I enjoyed it, and still do. But, I blame the RRHOF for the poor communication between the two artists. Unfortunately, a bitter and uniformed inductee chose the platform to take a well deserved swipe at an institution that maintains little credibility and the Black Keys were caught in the middle.
Andrew Paciocco
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Fuck yeah Bob! I'm with you on that one.
Michael Hardy
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The fact that Steve Miller doesn't know who the Black Keys are is strong indicator of how out of touch he is and how little he cares about what's relevant in modern music. There is nothing sadder than seeing a once great artist (although he's not part of my life's sound track, I still respect his work) slowly slipping head first into anger and rage as a result of no longer being relevant. Yeah, we all know the business sucks but all that misdirected animosity isn't going to inspire anyone to try and change it. Perhaps if he gave the Key's "El Camino" a listen he might lighten up and enjoy some very solid writing.
It ain't a simplistic 3 chord 4/4 time signature but I'm sure he'll still get it. Being obsolete... it must be hell on an artist. Cheers.
Tom Bjelic
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preach it brother bob!
Adrian Rice
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Right On!!!
Jeff Laufer
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You get it exactly right- there is absolutely no correlation between the real person and the persona. You never know what you're going to find. Especially with musicians. I've met plenty of huge stars, as probably a lot of your readers have as well. I can count the pleasant surprises on one hand. Came very, very close to meeting John Lennon, but didn't. (One of those strange stories...)
And I'm glad now, though the word is he was usually quite polite and tolerant to fans.
It's best to never meet your hero's in the arts. The risk is too great you will never be able to enjoy their work again.
Re the RR HOF: I tuned out the day they said "Cleveland" and haven't paid another lick of attention since. It's always been a phony, compromised joke to me.
Oh, and I keep Steve Miller's greatest hits in fairly regular rotation. Never met him...
Timothy Sullivan
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Bob, here's a little Steve Miller vignette from earlier in 2016.
I'd gone to the Met to see the event surrounding their acquisition of one of my friend Ken Parker's archtop guitars. After the official Met event, many of the attendees went across the street to someone's lovely 5th Avenue abode for an after party. There were five of Ken's guitars in attendance and, soon enough, a group of us commandeered an empty room to play the things. That's what they're for, right? So what if they start at $35K?!?
Well, as often happens when a group of guitarists who are more or less strangers to each other, the question "What are we gonna play?" rears its head. Steve Miller, there with no fanfare whatsoever, grabbed one of the guitars, sat down in the middle of the circle and said, "hell, let's just play a blues." "What key?" "B flat" says I, as if there was a horn player around the corner wanting a piece. "No, that's too hard. Let's do G" says Steve and off we go. Steve led the jam for the better part of an hour, smiling all the way, teaching us the lick to "The Joker" (as if all of us didn't already know it, hell, everyone else in the circle could play rings around him technically speaking, but of course not one of us has ever or will ever write a lick as memorable and widely known as that one, to say nothing of all those songs that were ubiquitous on the radio in my teens when radio MATTERED) and being simultaneously a Rock Star and just another guitar-addled geek. The assembled
crowd ate it up and every one of us, player or listener, went home happy to have spent that time in his presence.
Not only did I nail the riff, I sang the harmony part on "The Joker" with all my heart. And I rarely sing!
So yeah, he's Steve Miller and I'm not. And he's earned a big pass in my book. But then, I absolutely loathe the RRHOF, on all kinds of levels.
Kingsley Durant
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I feel like the Black Keys' reaction is like our Instagram society where everything has to be "positive" and tries to look successful.
Like the corporate world actually.
Opinions used to be key, now it's considered dangerous if they don't follow the herd.
The Kardashian's are the new paradigm and you better not talk crap otherwise you'll be excluded.
"Kill your idols" used to be written on Axl Rose's shirt at the time I discovered them, I was 13 in 92.
Now it would read "kneel harder, bow lower".
Music started for me as a way of raising the middle finger without uttering a word.
Now it's an advertisement platform for big companies and the likes, they don't invest but just reap benefits from the "culture".
How long will there be a culture anyway? Will millennials build on the TMZ era we live in to create a lasting movement?
Ben The Glorious Bastard
__________________________________________
When I was going to San Francisco State college in the 60s I saw Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs play at a famous, at the time, small club on Fillmore Street, called the Matrix. They had a 4 man jazz combo, drums, bass and the two of them alternating vocals and lead guitar. Boz had a song getting some air play on local radio called "We were always Sweethearts" or something like that. They were great together. I also saw the Airplane one night in that club with Signe ?, a attractive blonde lead singer, that preceded Grace Slick. All the new San Francisco sound bands played there.
Around the same time 65/66, before Carol Doda, I saw a great R & B group called the Checkmates at the Condor. They had a fantastic lead singer Sonny Charles. I lost track of him and many years later I was staying at the run down Sands Casino in Vegas attending the Consumer Electronics Show. It was the only place I could get a room. I came back to the hotel about 1am and had to pass by the cocktail lounge on the way to my room. I heard this great R & B song and a vocalist that sounded familiar. It was Sonny Charles with a group very similar to his old Checkmates. He was in his mid to late 60s, but hadn't lost a step in his performance and sounded great. But the lounge was nearly empty and when he finished one song, I was the only one that applauded. It was a sad scene. And it bothered me that a guy this talented had to end his career this way. Well, a few years later I received a promo CD of Steve Miller's latest blues album "Bingo" to review for "The Reader" a weekly San Diego
magazine. I loved the new CD and was wonderfully surprised that Miller's new lead singer was none other than Sonny Charles.
So what ever one says negative about Steve doesn't register with me since there is I'm sure a great story to be told about Steve's resurrection of Mr Charles who now tours with him. At 75 Sonny still sounds great, is fun to watch perform and finally gets some love from the fans. A rare happy ending in the music business.
best, alan segal san diego
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I know no act likes buying tickets for the RNRHOF induction ceremony but that's how they have always done it.
Bottom line though, it is like a (career) breath of fresh air for any of the people who get in. It revives careers like a new hit song or album. They are NEWS again, instead of just being great vintage rockers or whatever. I love that there is a Hall of Fame and I am glad to see people get their just acknowledgement. It is a huge badge of honor. Yes everyone in the business, promoters - are rip offs – ask any act - so are the record companies and I guess the hall is too, but let me ask you something…
WHERE WOULD THESE ACTS BE WITHOUT THE RECORD COMPANIES AND PROMOTERS WHO SIGNED THEM AND PROMOTED THEM WHEN THEY WERE NOTHING?
That is no excuse to take advantage of artists but there are literally a million bands out there BEGGING for attention from me and everyone else, just to get on a show. They will PAY for it, (not that I charge them) and there just aren't enough shows to go around. And radio…how about radio, they won't play NOTHIN anymore unless you are one of those lucky ones who got on board years ago! We have been complaining for years the radio doesn't play anything, LOOK AT IT NOW!!!
So for anyone who bitches about getting in the hall of fame, I think you should rethink using this as a platform to bitch about all the assholes in our business. It aint like you are broke, and not getting paid a ton of money all along. You could always turn it down. So you gotta pay for the band members to come. I have to pay to go there too when I want to see one of my favorite acts get in there, because it is a special feeling and moment you can't get anywhere else. I am so proud of these guys and that I get to work with them for all of these years.
I look forward to seeing the show I couldn't attend this year on TV in a couple weeks. I am so happy for my friends Cheap Trick and Chicago, who I am promoting shows with in July, (especially my friend Danny Seraphine who should be invited back into the band), the mighty Deep Purple (Roger and Ian are 2 of my prize musician friends, like royalty) and Steve Miller (and I miss Norton Buffalo SO MUCH who helped shape the sound).
Steve Miller's early albums, the sound that introduced me to the great Ben (Space Cowboy) Sidran and Boz Scaggs who I got to work with after and since…all bands I have promoted for the last 40 years. I love them all—what an HOF class! Come on you guys, celebrate the fact we have this unbelievable right to make money doing this for living…yes I would PAY to do it, and I do. Think of what the rest of the world has to do to buy our concert tickets and are (mostly) happy when they do!
Danny Zelisko
P.S. Bob – don't take it out on Steve that he doesn't remember you. I have been bringing him checks for decades and he never remembers me.
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THAT'S rock and roll.
Rock and roll used to be about sticking it to the man. Now it's about licensing deals and featured artists and collaborations and earworms.
"Rock and Roll Hall of Fame"??? Give me a break. It's a Hall of Sales Achievement.
They induct this man -- whose music is still being played on the radio (terrestrial and satellite) and at college parties and sports arenas and in commercials today -- into a supposed guild of greats, and they won't reserve a few extra chairs at the ceremony to allow his band and their supportive spouses to attend.
Guess what?? The songs that built Steve Miller's career were recorded and performed by The Steve Miller BAND. Without the other members and their contributions, you've simply got another guy with a guitar who knows how to write good songs. Plenty of those around. But without the band to back him up, Steve Miller doesn't necessarily achieve the greatness which qualifies him to be inducted in the first place.
Instead, extra seats are billed to the band members and their wives at ten grand apiece!
The Rock Hall is a joke. It exists as a tourist attraction, a convenient way for Big Music to appear to pay homage to Their former indentured servants...while raking in $23.50 a ticket from Joe and Joan Schmoe.
N.W.A. didn't even perform at the ceremony, as is customary when an artist is inducted. According to Ice Cube, the group "didn't feel like we were supported enough to do the best show we could put on."
(BREAKING NEWS: Big Music unsupportive of controversial artist.)
The thing is, N.W.A. are now one of only five rap artists in the Hall -- and the only reason a "crazy motherfucker named Ice Cube from the gang called Niggaz With Attitudes" gets inducted is because of the coincidental success (read: $160 million domestic gross) of the film Straight Outta Compton. N.W.A. proved to be undeniable, so Big Music couldn't actively deny them any longer.
Make no mistake, there was a heyday in music. There was a time when the artists were the millionaires and called the shots. When music helped shape and define the culture, not the other way around.
Music used to be the best platform for expressing social and cultural discontent, moving millions to seek truth and become one with humanity.
And then They shut it down. "Stop, in the name of...money!"
It's all about sales. All the time. That's why it's major news when a bill gets introduced to pay producers, mixers, and engineers royalties for their respective roles in the creation of hits. Because They don't want to pay anyone except Themselves.
Jann Wenner is revered by Big Music now, but when he created Rolling Stone he was anti-establishment. He was on the same side as the artists.
And now...he's charging them ten grand to sit in his building, at an event honoring the music which they were an integral part of creating?
Piss on Rolling Stone. And you too, Jann Wenner. You used to stand for something. You made the magazine whose cover aspiring artists wished most to grace. Now you recycle the same drivel about the same artists issue after issue, and cater to Big Music's priorities.
Because Big Music pays. And They pay well those who do Their bidding.
Steve Miller did enough of Their bidding to earn a Hall of Fame performance, and I'm glad, because it afforded him the platform and opportunity to cry "BULLSHIT!!" for everyone to hear.
But he's a dying breed. Today's artists are afraid to take a position on anything, lest they potentially lose a single fan.
And that doesn't just apply to the famous and well-known artists. I just left a touring band in which saying anything that could potentially be interpreted as offensive or alienating to anyone was off-limits; potential social media posts had to first be approved by the group.
It's as if everything today has to be homogenized and pasteurized for the masses. Soft. Safe. Easy. Inoffensive.
Because the offended minority has a voice now: the internet. And the internet allows them to connect with each other and express their particular opinions and thoughts.
So what ends up happening is, enough of these offended individuals connect and become a group voice. They stoke the fires of the negative and fuel the flames with posts and comments, throwing their vitriolic pearls into the great ocean of cyberspace.
Because they know there are no rules on the internet, nothing governing what is actually truth and what isn't. (There's a reason Snopes is incredibly popular.) "WWW" may as well stand for "Wild Wild West". Anyone can literally post anything about anything. And a negative social campaign which goes viral can crush almost any business.
If you're mad enough, and enough people agree with you, your voice may be heard.
So artists play it safe, staying in their lane, only posting positive things, smiles, show updates, etc. Everything is rosy in their world. They play the angles, secretly hoping for that call from Big Music someday, and they know they need to be squeaky clean in order to get it.
But we all know it's bullshit. Life isn't perfect. Everyone has issues from time to time. Everyone has opinions about this or that social or cultural happening.
Where are the artists??? Where are the ones who speak out against injustice??
Steve Miller just did. So did Bruce Springsteen. They are 72 and 66 years old, respectively.
What do you have to say, Justin Bieber...?
http://noisey.vice.com/blog/its-time-to-start-taking-justin-bieber-seriously
John Kay
P.S. I've never liked the Black Keys. Bought two of their albums and played them each three times. Took them to Salvation Army.
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As I played on or cowrote all your favorite Steve Miller Band songs - Seasons, Space Cowboy, Baby's Calling Me Home - I feel compelled to remind you that there is something called the Stockholm syndrome where you identify with the people who are abusing you, and your saying that it's ok for a pop star to be abusive because they're a pop star makes me think you - and a lot of other people - might be suffering from it.
Ben Sidran
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Steve Miller At The R&RHOF
"Black Keys: We Regret Inducting Steve Miller After Rock Hall Insults": http://goo.gl/2yio8O
He didn't remember who I was either.
That's right, I came up to him backstage, at the Hollywood Bowl, he was opening for Journey. I'd raved about his recent performance at the Greek, we'd exchanged e-mail, which was not brief. He was standing in a circle of fans, soaking up the adulation, and I went up to say hi and got no reaction, even when I explained who I was.
Did it smart?
Of course it did, it's not something I'll forget.
But it drew a line in the sand, he's Steve Miller and I'm not.
He's Steve Miller and Dan Auerbach is not.
Been a crazy kind of week here at the old rock and roll trading post. The sound may be dead, but the purveyors are still alive, positively live wires. Bruce Springsteen refused to play North Carolina and then Steve Miller eviscerated record companies and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in one fell swoop.
Whew!
That's what a rock star does, speak from his heart without worrying about consequences.
I love the wimps in N.C. who believe they're entitled to see Bruce, as if by buying the "River" and overpaying for a scalped ticket it's all about them. That's been the change in society, the elevation of nobodies to somebodies, at least in their own mind. Why don't you sacrifice everything and try to make it, it's nearly impossible.
Oh, it looks easy to be a star, but the truth is when you're starting out no one's on your team, and back then not even your parents, isn't that what the Boss so famously says? You've got to save up for your own equipment, the kids in school make fun of you, and then you survive in dumps looking for your one big break. Springsteen got a record deal and a ton of publicity but no real sales action, nothing happened until he went on the road and played hours-long sets convincing the public one by one, such that when he got it right on wax the whole thing exploded.
As for Steve Miller... He went to San Francisco before there was a sound, he'd been playing from before the Beatles broke through. When music wasn't a road to riches, but something you did for personal satisfaction, to get your emotions out, to connect.
Imagine not doing it for the money. Everybody today thinks about the money first. And they make decisions accordingly. Hell, Auerbach is bitching in the above story that he just can't make enough. If only he wrote a song as good as Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough"!
Not that I need to rag on Auerbach, but he doesn't have the best reputation either.
That's right, the closest people to Steve Miller have bad things to say.
But when my baby's callin' me home, when I feel like the space cowboy, when I get in that 707...I hear his songs in my head.
Back in '69, when I had to see "Brave New World" live. Have you heard "Seasons"? Even Paul McCartney played with him. And speaking of pricks, have you heard any of the stories about John Lennon? The boy who rose from the streets but never really left them? You can clean a person up, but their insides remain. Lennon struggled. And he just couldn't handle the two-faced phonies who glommed on to him once he became famous.
As for Miller deriding the record exec...
They come and go, the acts remain. You're stuck on the label and the entire team has been replaced. All the relationships you made, PFFTT! Meanwhile, everybody's wining and dining on your money. Should Miller be grateful? That's twenty first century b.s., where you keep thanking everybody fearful they'll turn on you and ruin your career.
As for the Rock Hall itself... If you ask me, they should have shut the doors long ago. Now it's all about personal agendas. Jann Wenner's personal agenda, Rosemary Carroll's personal agenda, all the horseshit those who don't actually play employ to make themselves feel good.
You know what makes me feel good?
Listening to Steve Miller's music. And the prog rockers and hard rockers who have not been let in, because they're too out there and too scruffy to be involved. The whole thing is so p.c. as to be laughable.
And then you've got an alta kacher calling them out and everybody gets their knickers in a twist?
That's what's so astounding about this Steve Miller thing. The reach it's gotten. That's the power of truth. That's the power of the bully pulpit. And for Dan Auerbach to go complaining to "Rolling Stone," the engine of the atrocities, is kinda like Hillary Clinton coming out for the banks. No one wants this truth Dan. But you're afraid to call out the iniquities behind the curtain, as Mr. Miller did. 10k for a ticket? It's at Barclays? When is enough money enough? Hell, Jann Wenner flies private when most of the inductees do not!
I don't even watch the show on HBO anymore. Phony speeches by people looking for their own moment of publicity, a big party when the truth is when done right music is dangerous, it challenges preconceptions, it makes you uncomfortable before you embrace it as the shit.
Why in hell were the Black Keys the inductors here anyway? Can you explain the nexus to me?
Hey Dan, why don't you air your dirty laundry with Pat? Create some sparks? He who lives in a glass house shouldn't throw stones.
If only Boz Scaggs inducted Miller. But maybe he's not warm on the guy himself. Then again, Boz took a risk, went solo, and straight into the dumper before he became the biggest star in the land.
That's rock and roll, it's about following your muse, even if it leads you to the graveyard.
There is no guaranteed success.
And if you want people fun to hang with personally go back to your high school reunion and converse with those who never left town, who are working for the man.
Glory days indeed. The ones wherein all these faceless, nameless people drove around in their Chevys listening to the "Joker," dreaming about running when the truth is they were born to stay in place.
If you can't separate the music from the man, you haven't met any famous people. It's rough out there, hate to disillusion you.
But there once was a note, pure and easy, playing so free, like a breath rippling by. And this note kept us going. Something the money in your wallet will not. And probably none of these tracks are eternal, but for a while back there, in the sixties and seventies, they created a whole movement, they turned society upside down, they illustrated possibilities and rode shotgun as we tried to be our best selves...as well as getting high and laid.
That's why there IS a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Because of the revolution.
And the revolutionaries don't bitch, they just carry on. They make change. They make a difference.
Like Alexander Hamilton.
That show is the most rock and roll thing that's happened this year. And it's hip-hop and it's theatre but the truth is...it gets you right in the heart, we're stunned that Lin-Manuel Miranda came up with the concept and executed so well. Kind of like Keith with the riff from "Satisfaction" and the rest of the Stones with the lyrics and recording. Where did the inspiration come from? How did they get it so right? Do the people who did this, achieved such greatness, deserve our accolades?
ABSOLUTELY!
Don't ever forget it. It's about the work. If you want to be liked, if you want to get along, labor at the factory, park your ass in the cubicle farm.
But make no mistake, those people are nothing like Steve Miller or John Lennon or Don Henley, who had the audacity to reach for the stars and got there.
You don't have the balls to reach for the brass ring. You didn't change society. And you want to piss on those who did?
That's bullshit.
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He didn't remember who I was either.
That's right, I came up to him backstage, at the Hollywood Bowl, he was opening for Journey. I'd raved about his recent performance at the Greek, we'd exchanged e-mail, which was not brief. He was standing in a circle of fans, soaking up the adulation, and I went up to say hi and got no reaction, even when I explained who I was.
Did it smart?
Of course it did, it's not something I'll forget.
But it drew a line in the sand, he's Steve Miller and I'm not.
He's Steve Miller and Dan Auerbach is not.
Been a crazy kind of week here at the old rock and roll trading post. The sound may be dead, but the purveyors are still alive, positively live wires. Bruce Springsteen refused to play North Carolina and then Steve Miller eviscerated record companies and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in one fell swoop.
Whew!
That's what a rock star does, speak from his heart without worrying about consequences.
I love the wimps in N.C. who believe they're entitled to see Bruce, as if by buying the "River" and overpaying for a scalped ticket it's all about them. That's been the change in society, the elevation of nobodies to somebodies, at least in their own mind. Why don't you sacrifice everything and try to make it, it's nearly impossible.
Oh, it looks easy to be a star, but the truth is when you're starting out no one's on your team, and back then not even your parents, isn't that what the Boss so famously says? You've got to save up for your own equipment, the kids in school make fun of you, and then you survive in dumps looking for your one big break. Springsteen got a record deal and a ton of publicity but no real sales action, nothing happened until he went on the road and played hours-long sets convincing the public one by one, such that when he got it right on wax the whole thing exploded.
As for Steve Miller... He went to San Francisco before there was a sound, he'd been playing from before the Beatles broke through. When music wasn't a road to riches, but something you did for personal satisfaction, to get your emotions out, to connect.
Imagine not doing it for the money. Everybody today thinks about the money first. And they make decisions accordingly. Hell, Auerbach is bitching in the above story that he just can't make enough. If only he wrote a song as good as Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough"!
Not that I need to rag on Auerbach, but he doesn't have the best reputation either.
That's right, the closest people to Steve Miller have bad things to say.
But when my baby's callin' me home, when I feel like the space cowboy, when I get in that 707...I hear his songs in my head.
Back in '69, when I had to see "Brave New World" live. Have you heard "Seasons"? Even Paul McCartney played with him. And speaking of pricks, have you heard any of the stories about John Lennon? The boy who rose from the streets but never really left them? You can clean a person up, but their insides remain. Lennon struggled. And he just couldn't handle the two-faced phonies who glommed on to him once he became famous.
As for Miller deriding the record exec...
They come and go, the acts remain. You're stuck on the label and the entire team has been replaced. All the relationships you made, PFFTT! Meanwhile, everybody's wining and dining on your money. Should Miller be grateful? That's twenty first century b.s., where you keep thanking everybody fearful they'll turn on you and ruin your career.
As for the Rock Hall itself... If you ask me, they should have shut the doors long ago. Now it's all about personal agendas. Jann Wenner's personal agenda, Rosemary Carroll's personal agenda, all the horseshit those who don't actually play employ to make themselves feel good.
You know what makes me feel good?
Listening to Steve Miller's music. And the prog rockers and hard rockers who have not been let in, because they're too out there and too scruffy to be involved. The whole thing is so p.c. as to be laughable.
And then you've got an alta kacher calling them out and everybody gets their knickers in a twist?
That's what's so astounding about this Steve Miller thing. The reach it's gotten. That's the power of truth. That's the power of the bully pulpit. And for Dan Auerbach to go complaining to "Rolling Stone," the engine of the atrocities, is kinda like Hillary Clinton coming out for the banks. No one wants this truth Dan. But you're afraid to call out the iniquities behind the curtain, as Mr. Miller did. 10k for a ticket? It's at Barclays? When is enough money enough? Hell, Jann Wenner flies private when most of the inductees do not!
I don't even watch the show on HBO anymore. Phony speeches by people looking for their own moment of publicity, a big party when the truth is when done right music is dangerous, it challenges preconceptions, it makes you uncomfortable before you embrace it as the shit.
Why in hell were the Black Keys the inductors here anyway? Can you explain the nexus to me?
Hey Dan, why don't you air your dirty laundry with Pat? Create some sparks? He who lives in a glass house shouldn't throw stones.
If only Boz Scaggs inducted Miller. But maybe he's not warm on the guy himself. Then again, Boz took a risk, went solo, and straight into the dumper before he became the biggest star in the land.
That's rock and roll, it's about following your muse, even if it leads you to the graveyard.
There is no guaranteed success.
And if you want people fun to hang with personally go back to your high school reunion and converse with those who never left town, who are working for the man.
Glory days indeed. The ones wherein all these faceless, nameless people drove around in their Chevys listening to the "Joker," dreaming about running when the truth is they were born to stay in place.
If you can't separate the music from the man, you haven't met any famous people. It's rough out there, hate to disillusion you.
But there once was a note, pure and easy, playing so free, like a breath rippling by. And this note kept us going. Something the money in your wallet will not. And probably none of these tracks are eternal, but for a while back there, in the sixties and seventies, they created a whole movement, they turned society upside down, they illustrated possibilities and rode shotgun as we tried to be our best selves...as well as getting high and laid.
That's why there IS a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Because of the revolution.
And the revolutionaries don't bitch, they just carry on. They make change. They make a difference.
Like Alexander Hamilton.
That show is the most rock and roll thing that's happened this year. And it's hip-hop and it's theatre but the truth is...it gets you right in the heart, we're stunned that Lin-Manuel Miranda came up with the concept and executed so well. Kind of like Keith with the riff from "Satisfaction" and the rest of the Stones with the lyrics and recording. Where did the inspiration come from? How did they get it so right? Do the people who did this, achieved such greatness, deserve our accolades?
ABSOLUTELY!
Don't ever forget it. It's about the work. If you want to be liked, if you want to get along, labor at the factory, park your ass in the cubicle farm.
But make no mistake, those people are nothing like Steve Miller or John Lennon or Don Henley, who had the audacity to reach for the stars and got there.
You don't have the balls to reach for the brass ring. You didn't change society. And you want to piss on those who did?
That's bullshit.
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Tuesday 12 April 2016
Mailbag
From: Benjamin Bamsey
Subject: CNNi Thank You
Bob,
I produce the 9p "CNN Newsroom L.A." show. Thank you for coming on the program last night. I've been reading your letters for years and always appreciate your commentary. Great fun getting the guest perspective in your behind-the-scenes CNN experience post. You may have left a couple of things out and mixed up the order of the Bush brothers on live TV... but you hit a grand slam with your knowledge and energy. You are a music savant. Please come back and see us again!
http://www.cnn.com/videos/entertainment/2016/04/12/rockers-cancel-concerts-over-laws-lefsetz-intv.cnn
_____________________________________________
Subject: Andy 'Thundeclap' Newman
Hello Bob,
Yes, I know what you're talking about. I read your blog and find it very interesting. Thank you for that.
Andy was my friend of 30 years' standing and we were about to record one of my songs.
I feel absolutely devastated, I really miss that guy.
I have just posted a message on fb with a link to my blog on my website www.istvanetiam.com. you might want to check it out.
Regards,
István Etiam
_____________________________________________
Subject: Re: The End
Glad you got to experience a visit with Jim even though he didn't show up for you. He was kind of like that in real life too. I've been a few times and he did show up. Jim was probably the first one who connected me with the first internet-the internet of souls that have always been there if you were willing to find them.
Bill Siddons
_____________________________________________
From: Keith Blackmore
Subject: Re: The End
Bob
My wife and I went to Pere Lachaise on a cold clear day last month, me for the second time (after 30 years) and she for the first. We too visited Morrison's grave and many of the others you mention and took much the same view as you on the whole experience.
But what moved us to tears was another, new, grave, barely 50 yards from Jim's. It was for a beautiful young woman named Suzon Garrigues. She was 21. The photograph on her headstone was surrounded by countless small gestures of empathy - flowers, notes, beads, jewellery and even a pair of sunglasses.
Suzon went to a rock concert at the Bataclan last November with her 17 year-old brother. He survived. She did not.
_____________________________________________
From: Daniel Kortchmar
Subject: Re: Pop Music
Bob.. Some of us "oldsters" are not scratching our heads, or think vinyl is the only way to hear music and don't have a problem with streaming.. As for singles many of us grew up with singles
but in 45rpm form...
All we bought were singles! The first one I bought ( stole) was "shake rattle and roll"
backed with "honey hush" by Big Joe Turner. Please don't lump us together and don't assume we are all clueless.
Thanks,
D Kortchmar
_____________________________________________
From: Bob Ezrin
Subject: R.I.P. Phife Dawg
We lost another revolutionary artist today. I regret that I neglected to refer to ATCQ and especially Phife and Q-Tip in my Kanye rant. These were pioneers of a truly new art form and totally helped pave the hip hop road. When you revisit his work (check out "Butter") you realize what a towering talent Malik Taylor was and how far his group - and their brothers in De La Soul - pushed the boundaries of a formative genre. Sadly as powerful as his work was, that's as fragile as his body must have been to give out at the far too young age of 45.
Here's to Phife Dawg!
B
_____________________________________________
From: Andrew Oldham
bob;
keith emerson - the artist who showed immediate records the future it could not contain.
best, o
_____________________________________________
Subject: Re: Springsteen At The Sports Arena
Hi Bob,
Bruce Springsteen put the smile back on rock 'n roll when it was in danger of sinking into decadence and self-destruction. He declared this music we love to be an art form, as important and valuable as any other, and the unabashed courage of his convictions was so rapturous that he rightfully convinced all of us to share in that belief. No matter what it's shortcomings may be, there would be no Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame without his presence and legitimacy; because of his undeniable authenticity, rock stars can now sing for US Presidents; and, almost single handedly, he made rock 'n roll musicians acknowledge each other in a way we never did before, turning us into a community with a common life force. He has invited everyone from icons like Paul McCartney to punters like myself to join him on stage. Who else does that? The scope and range of his talent can be overwhelming but he never allowed it to distance himself from his fans. Whatever that promise he always talks about may be,
he has surely kept it. Once upon a time we were in competition (that didn't last long) and then we became fast friends and now the decades pass behind us oh too quickly but still from where I stand the man and the myth are inseparable. If the Beatles were about love and the Stones about sex, then Bruce is about hope. And hope springs eternal ... as in Springsteen.
From Paris,
Elliott Murphy
_____________________________________________
From: Jerry Hopkins
Subject: Re: What Happened To The Spine Of Rolling Stone?
Hey, Bob...
No one is more disappointed in Jann and Rolling Stone than the writers and others who bled for. Sure, it was the best job I ever had---he sent me to London for a year, to Switzerland to hang out with Leary in exile, to Kenya to find out why some fucking hippie commune got kicked off Lamu, and when I was living in Hawaii to LA, Settle and New York for a Jimi Hendrix ripoff story, for chrissake! We weren't paid much, but we had something we believed in. Now it's all fucking lists. Here's my favorite recent one: "10 Musicians You Need to Follow on Twitter."
Sadly, Jerry (first story printed in issue number 5)
_____________________________________________
Subject: Re: What Happened To The Spine Of Rolling Stone?
I'm convinced the uptick in vinyl sales over the last 5 years is directly proportionate to the downturn in baseball card, comic book and coin collecting.
It's a COLLECTION of items, not a method of discovery, true consumption or consumer referral.
Cliff Rigano
Director of Music Marketing
Sidney Frank Importing Company
_____________________________________________
From: Sarah K. Burris
Subject: Re: What Happened To The Spine Of Rolling Stone?
As a millennial and a reporter and political commentator I can tell you that Rolling Stone must be run by a bunch of old people who only write for themselves. What they cover and the perspective they cover it from is flat at best. The only thing RS publishes that is even remotely interesting is Matt Taibbi. He's unafraid to stir things up and throw some stones. He writes a story, it goes viral, everyone talks about it for a week (if they're lucky) and then it's back to normal.
Their cover stories are uninteresting and feature only big name musicians, who RS is using to appeal to the largest audience as possible to sell as many magazines as possible in a world where the non-tabloid is slowly dying. Oh, look, Bono is on the cover again. Yipee. Let me guess, Bono is saving the world again. Awesome. Read that story. Seen the movie. Donated to the cause. Tell me something different.
RS's chief problem is that they can't balance the immediacy of the web news vs. the comprehensive "month-later" of the magazine's commentary and story-telling. It's almost as if RS doesn't understand that they must operate in two silos on the same farm. Maybe the magazine can appeal to a mass audience but their web must be different. They need to be finding new artists with dedicated followings and showing them to the world. They need to do interviews - truly in-depth interviews - with musicians who are willing to really talk about issues that matter. Not fashion or bullshit. Any issue! World hunger, world peace, feminism, Donald Trump, the nature of music, the evolution of sound, the reemergence of the LP or whatever the hell you can get them to discuss on camera and throw it up on the web and tease for a longer feature in the magazine.
Those of us in Washington think of ourselves like the Hollywood for smart people. I understand that there are people in LA who get it and who are well informed. The problem is you don't hear from them because publicists and managers are too afraid of alienating the masses. An overly opinionated star isn't good for sales in middle America. How has that worked out for Taylor Swift? Beyonce? Seems like they're doing great Musician'ing while having an opinion. When Beyonce launched "Formation" why wasn't there a RS exclusive with her that talked about it and what she hoped it would mean to black America still fighting a war for equality? Was it because RS doesn't have the credibility anymore or because editorial didn't even try?
Finally, their social media is an embarrassment. They have 4.6 million fans on Facebook but they can't break 56 shares on a Taylor Swift article? I'm starting up FeministNews.us a pro-lady site - the demo we're targeting are the activist types young and old. We have 200k fans and we score a minimum of 200 shares on every article. Most of their videos can't break 100,000 views compared to Attn (the millennial news site) which has only 1.8 million fans and easily breaks 500k. Same with their twitter. They're knocking on the door of 5 million followers and can't get more than 140 retweets of a Taylor Swift gif? They obviously don't understand their audience and they're not delivering content that social media wants or cares about much less presenting it in a compelling and unique way.
And you're right, it is sad. It's the death of an institution that many of us hold a great amount of nostalgia for. Who hoped it would evolve to capture each generation from adolescence into our 20's and cling to hold on to in our 30's. Instead, it's like it grabbed onto Gen X and stayed with them forever. They should hire more millennials, embrace the different branches of the culture from nerd culture to hipster culture to activist and more. Instead, they're too damn old and too damn boring and in a few years, I half expect them to be yelling to turn the music down.
Just my 2 cents.
-s
_____________________________________________
From: Del Dias
Subject: Re: Shazam Industry Charts on 28th March 2016
Hi Bob
Is alan walker "faded" on your radar yet? Biggest track
On Shazam for 5 weeks in a row.
Here's the backstory.
Our company (AEI) has been around for 20 years, helping mostly young entrepreneurs build careers in the music industry. We're independent, profitable, self-funding and have 40 people in our London base.
Alan Walker - "Faded" starts with a kid called Billy who lives in a small town near Manchester, UK. He called my office 2 years ago having seen how we'd helped Luke Hood build a business around his "UKF" Youtube channel which encompassed compilations, festivals and more recently working with brands. (UKF was launched in 2009 by a 16yr old dubstep/drum&bass fan and quickly grew to be the largest genre channels on youtube, spearheading careers of acts like Nero, Flux Pavilion, to name a few. For UKF and most other channels that followed, Youtube was a funnel to other types of monetisation, mostly records and live. UKF has sold over 1 million compilation albums, and sold out 10k venues in London, throws parties internationally and has its own festival. Heineken launched a branded content series with UKF last year. We eventually acquired Luke's remaining stake in UKF and he is now 1/3 shareholder in our business, and a senior exec - aged 23. )
Luke inspired a whole generation of young entrepreneurs who realised they could make a living discovering and curating music on Youtube. A few of these guys (all barely in their twenties, male) gravitated towards our company - Majestic Casual, TheSoundYouNeed, AllTrapMusic, etc, all inspired by Luke's original model, and we helped them build their business, mainly providing business coaching, rights management/legal, accounting, product management/distribution to Spotify and iTunes, compilations, creative/artwork, marketing, PR services, events, sponsorship, etc in return for equity. Basically, providing the supporting infrastructure that enables theses business to scale quickly. Also an environment for these guys to mix with other people and a team who understand their business, and share their same independent values.
So back to Billy. Billy called my office in 2014, saying "I've got this youtube channel and I wondered if you could help me build it like you have done with UKF." I said "Sure - come in for a chat." He had 500k subscribers at the time. He was also working on minimum wage in construction, driving dumper trucks.
Billy is an avid gamer. Making youtube videos of gameplay is a huge phenomenon. Billy was frustrated that he couldn't use a Skrillex track as the background to one of his gaming videos without invoking the wrath of the label involved (Youtube's "Content ID" system flags up the unauthorised use of music and either disables monetisation for the creator of the video or at worse "strikes" the channel)
So Billy launched "NoCopyrightSounds" - a Youtube channel that provides gamers and youtubers with music that they can use in their videos without fear of getting stung by Youtube's copyright system, and royalty free. The only requirement from any youtuber using the video is that they credit the artist and link back to the original video on the channel.
So we got involved as we had done before, tightened up his agreements and made sure he was signing both master and publishing rights, and extended the reach of his music beyond Soundcloud and Youtube to all the other digital channels. At the time, this was pretty unique for music curation youtube channels in that everything he uploaded was owned on both master and publishing. This was essential in order to support the proposition of providing music to Youtube creators. I guess also pretty interesting at the time, was a record label that essentially gave its music away to people with an audience/fanbase for "free" and focused on monetisation secondly… a "freemium" record label?
The model clearly works as NCS has grown to 5million subscribers in less than 2 years, and Billy isn't working in construction any more. For me personally, that's the most important outcome - that we've helped someone build an independent business and career around their passion. Especially at a time when millennials are struggling to own homes, find stable careers, and often drowning in university debt. (20 years ago university was free, I owned a home pretty as soon as a I graduated - but in 1996 I couldn't make a living uploading songs to youtube…)
In November 2014, NCS signed a track from a Norwegian called Alan Walker on Youtube, and uploaded a track called "Fade" - the original is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM7SZ5SBzyY
The instrumental version was resonating on Youtube, and Spotify/iTunes numbers were impressive too. I couldn't figure out why at the time, but I knew there had to be something in it as my pre-teen kids loved it saying it reminded them of "minecraft" music. We got on a plane to Norway and signed more tracks from Alan….
Even before "Faded" which followed - the track had hit 40m youtube views, and 20m spotify plays. Zero marketing, no radio.
In December 2015, Sony Sweden released "Faded" - a vocal version of the song. It was an instant hit in the nordic countries and mainland Europe and is breaking into the Top 10 in the UK. Sony amplified the track's momentum by servicing it to radio and by stuffing it on the playlists it owns on Spotify. If Shazam is a barometer of future success, then the US is next and Alan Walker is going achieve Kygo level success.
I hope this is interesting to you - feel free to ask more.
Regards
Del
_____________________________________________
From: Matt Gaines
Bob-
Where is the revenue???? re:Lucinda....ps she's a favorite of mine...but she's got the same problems...
Well let's start with a genre that is a crock pot of other genres that doesn't even know what to call itself....
It used to be the place musicians went to die...Americana.
Americans ranks right behind .......GOSPEL...it's that tiny...so the audiences are tiny too....so the $$ are tiny too!!! just ask the 25 fans that show up for the signing your label put together at the local Barnes and Noble....what a joke...they are the 4th largest distributor of music....and almost bankrupt.::
As far as the music category..::At least go compete back in "Country and Western" as a genre...and let's differentiate that from what all the new comers in Nashville like to call "Country Pop"...I've never seen a Country Pop Grammy....you might find its a good fit and there's an audience there...
As far as revenue, I can't believe no one has said what Irving would say .. "I would sell a T-shirt over a song any day" ... No one has said "PR drives brand building"...it's not about promoting the music if you're looking for revenue..IT'S ABOUT BUILDING A BRAND...."but the ol school says...we'll tour these many dates and that covers your nut"....
Zipcodes???? hardly....what a archaeic way of thinking...how about....um...MOBILE....it's where everything happens- previews, plays and PURCHASES...
GEOLOCATION- who needs ZiPCODES?????? Are we really having this discussion???
Internet Access is Everywhere....I almost hate calling it mobile...but it's where everything happens....
Communicating with fans on FB and Twitter is Worthless unless you learn how to sell your 400,000 friends something for a dollar each year...sell them SOMETHING.
There's plenty of revenue out there but it's BRAND REVENUE not SPONSORSHIPS REVENUE.... The problem is you've spent your time building a relationship in FB when you should have been focused on brand experiences and sold that to a brand...there's your payday....I'm sure Lucinda would be happy then....
Matt Gaines
_____________________________________________
Subject: more north carolina
bob
PLEASE do not use my name or company should you print any of this (using private email rather than business email)---i do not want to OUT my daughter
i am the parent of a transgendered girl---at 19, she has presented herself as female for eight years now---i guarantee no one could tell by looking at her that she was born with male parts---she has had no surgery but has had hormone treatments for years---my daughter is a girl
should she be forced to use the mens room at any event, she would be looked at as an outsider in that environment
she has absolutely no desire to do anything in the women's rest room with anyone except that which the room is designed for
gender issues do not make for increased sexuality
just as many folks now accept that they have someone in their family who is gay, there will come a time when everyone realizes they also have a trans relative or friend---and that person should NOT be discriminated against
every time that bruce or bryan adams or billy ray cyrus does something that raises the consciousness of some folks who may not normally have given the issue any thought, it is a good thing---yes, the fans suffer BUT if you want to talk about suffering, think about the transgendered person who has NO CHOICE about how they were born
again---please, no names
_____________________________________________
Subject: SPRINGSTEEN
Bob,
In 1975 I was 7 years old, and my sister was 16. We would sit in her bedroom and she would play her records, and that year the one record that stood out to me was Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen. That entire album has been with me since back then. When I was in grade school I began to notice some of the boys in my class. It was 1979 and even though I was 11, I knew what I was feeling was something I had to keep to myself. I didn't even know what being "gay" was. I didn't come out of the closet until I was in my early 20s and now I'm 48. Bruce's music has always been part of my life, and now with the stand he took againt the anti-LGBT law in North Carolina, I am prouder than ever to be a supporter of his.
Russ Turk
_____________________________________________
Subject: Re: Even More Springsteen/North Carolina
"Hey Sean Mormelo-
Please jump off a cliff.
Love,
the World
(Kevin Lathrop)"
Spoken like a true NASTY little leftist. I'd expect nothing less from your ilk. Personal attacks, no compromise. We're heading for a bad confluence of events in this country when we're this divided.
I'm easy to find if you want to come try to throw me off the cliff.
Sean Mormelo
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Subject: CNNi Thank You
Bob,
I produce the 9p "CNN Newsroom L.A." show. Thank you for coming on the program last night. I've been reading your letters for years and always appreciate your commentary. Great fun getting the guest perspective in your behind-the-scenes CNN experience post. You may have left a couple of things out and mixed up the order of the Bush brothers on live TV... but you hit a grand slam with your knowledge and energy. You are a music savant. Please come back and see us again!
http://www.cnn.com/videos/entertainment/2016/04/12/rockers-cancel-concerts-over-laws-lefsetz-intv.cnn
_____________________________________________
Subject: Andy 'Thundeclap' Newman
Hello Bob,
Yes, I know what you're talking about. I read your blog and find it very interesting. Thank you for that.
Andy was my friend of 30 years' standing and we were about to record one of my songs.
I feel absolutely devastated, I really miss that guy.
I have just posted a message on fb with a link to my blog on my website www.istvanetiam.com. you might want to check it out.
Regards,
István Etiam
_____________________________________________
Subject: Re: The End
Glad you got to experience a visit with Jim even though he didn't show up for you. He was kind of like that in real life too. I've been a few times and he did show up. Jim was probably the first one who connected me with the first internet-the internet of souls that have always been there if you were willing to find them.
Bill Siddons
_____________________________________________
From: Keith Blackmore
Subject: Re: The End
Bob
My wife and I went to Pere Lachaise on a cold clear day last month, me for the second time (after 30 years) and she for the first. We too visited Morrison's grave and many of the others you mention and took much the same view as you on the whole experience.
But what moved us to tears was another, new, grave, barely 50 yards from Jim's. It was for a beautiful young woman named Suzon Garrigues. She was 21. The photograph on her headstone was surrounded by countless small gestures of empathy - flowers, notes, beads, jewellery and even a pair of sunglasses.
Suzon went to a rock concert at the Bataclan last November with her 17 year-old brother. He survived. She did not.
_____________________________________________
From: Daniel Kortchmar
Subject: Re: Pop Music
Bob.. Some of us "oldsters" are not scratching our heads, or think vinyl is the only way to hear music and don't have a problem with streaming.. As for singles many of us grew up with singles
but in 45rpm form...
All we bought were singles! The first one I bought ( stole) was "shake rattle and roll"
backed with "honey hush" by Big Joe Turner. Please don't lump us together and don't assume we are all clueless.
Thanks,
D Kortchmar
_____________________________________________
From: Bob Ezrin
Subject: R.I.P. Phife Dawg
We lost another revolutionary artist today. I regret that I neglected to refer to ATCQ and especially Phife and Q-Tip in my Kanye rant. These were pioneers of a truly new art form and totally helped pave the hip hop road. When you revisit his work (check out "Butter") you realize what a towering talent Malik Taylor was and how far his group - and their brothers in De La Soul - pushed the boundaries of a formative genre. Sadly as powerful as his work was, that's as fragile as his body must have been to give out at the far too young age of 45.
Here's to Phife Dawg!
B
_____________________________________________
From: Andrew Oldham
bob;
keith emerson - the artist who showed immediate records the future it could not contain.
best, o
_____________________________________________
Subject: Re: Springsteen At The Sports Arena
Hi Bob,
Bruce Springsteen put the smile back on rock 'n roll when it was in danger of sinking into decadence and self-destruction. He declared this music we love to be an art form, as important and valuable as any other, and the unabashed courage of his convictions was so rapturous that he rightfully convinced all of us to share in that belief. No matter what it's shortcomings may be, there would be no Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame without his presence and legitimacy; because of his undeniable authenticity, rock stars can now sing for US Presidents; and, almost single handedly, he made rock 'n roll musicians acknowledge each other in a way we never did before, turning us into a community with a common life force. He has invited everyone from icons like Paul McCartney to punters like myself to join him on stage. Who else does that? The scope and range of his talent can be overwhelming but he never allowed it to distance himself from his fans. Whatever that promise he always talks about may be,
he has surely kept it. Once upon a time we were in competition (that didn't last long) and then we became fast friends and now the decades pass behind us oh too quickly but still from where I stand the man and the myth are inseparable. If the Beatles were about love and the Stones about sex, then Bruce is about hope. And hope springs eternal ... as in Springsteen.
From Paris,
Elliott Murphy
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From: Jerry Hopkins
Subject: Re: What Happened To The Spine Of Rolling Stone?
Hey, Bob...
No one is more disappointed in Jann and Rolling Stone than the writers and others who bled for. Sure, it was the best job I ever had---he sent me to London for a year, to Switzerland to hang out with Leary in exile, to Kenya to find out why some fucking hippie commune got kicked off Lamu, and when I was living in Hawaii to LA, Settle and New York for a Jimi Hendrix ripoff story, for chrissake! We weren't paid much, but we had something we believed in. Now it's all fucking lists. Here's my favorite recent one: "10 Musicians You Need to Follow on Twitter."
Sadly, Jerry (first story printed in issue number 5)
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Subject: Re: What Happened To The Spine Of Rolling Stone?
I'm convinced the uptick in vinyl sales over the last 5 years is directly proportionate to the downturn in baseball card, comic book and coin collecting.
It's a COLLECTION of items, not a method of discovery, true consumption or consumer referral.
Cliff Rigano
Director of Music Marketing
Sidney Frank Importing Company
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From: Sarah K. Burris
Subject: Re: What Happened To The Spine Of Rolling Stone?
As a millennial and a reporter and political commentator I can tell you that Rolling Stone must be run by a bunch of old people who only write for themselves. What they cover and the perspective they cover it from is flat at best. The only thing RS publishes that is even remotely interesting is Matt Taibbi. He's unafraid to stir things up and throw some stones. He writes a story, it goes viral, everyone talks about it for a week (if they're lucky) and then it's back to normal.
Their cover stories are uninteresting and feature only big name musicians, who RS is using to appeal to the largest audience as possible to sell as many magazines as possible in a world where the non-tabloid is slowly dying. Oh, look, Bono is on the cover again. Yipee. Let me guess, Bono is saving the world again. Awesome. Read that story. Seen the movie. Donated to the cause. Tell me something different.
RS's chief problem is that they can't balance the immediacy of the web news vs. the comprehensive "month-later" of the magazine's commentary and story-telling. It's almost as if RS doesn't understand that they must operate in two silos on the same farm. Maybe the magazine can appeal to a mass audience but their web must be different. They need to be finding new artists with dedicated followings and showing them to the world. They need to do interviews - truly in-depth interviews - with musicians who are willing to really talk about issues that matter. Not fashion or bullshit. Any issue! World hunger, world peace, feminism, Donald Trump, the nature of music, the evolution of sound, the reemergence of the LP or whatever the hell you can get them to discuss on camera and throw it up on the web and tease for a longer feature in the magazine.
Those of us in Washington think of ourselves like the Hollywood for smart people. I understand that there are people in LA who get it and who are well informed. The problem is you don't hear from them because publicists and managers are too afraid of alienating the masses. An overly opinionated star isn't good for sales in middle America. How has that worked out for Taylor Swift? Beyonce? Seems like they're doing great Musician'ing while having an opinion. When Beyonce launched "Formation" why wasn't there a RS exclusive with her that talked about it and what she hoped it would mean to black America still fighting a war for equality? Was it because RS doesn't have the credibility anymore or because editorial didn't even try?
Finally, their social media is an embarrassment. They have 4.6 million fans on Facebook but they can't break 56 shares on a Taylor Swift article? I'm starting up FeministNews.us a pro-lady site - the demo we're targeting are the activist types young and old. We have 200k fans and we score a minimum of 200 shares on every article. Most of their videos can't break 100,000 views compared to Attn (the millennial news site) which has only 1.8 million fans and easily breaks 500k. Same with their twitter. They're knocking on the door of 5 million followers and can't get more than 140 retweets of a Taylor Swift gif? They obviously don't understand their audience and they're not delivering content that social media wants or cares about much less presenting it in a compelling and unique way.
And you're right, it is sad. It's the death of an institution that many of us hold a great amount of nostalgia for. Who hoped it would evolve to capture each generation from adolescence into our 20's and cling to hold on to in our 30's. Instead, it's like it grabbed onto Gen X and stayed with them forever. They should hire more millennials, embrace the different branches of the culture from nerd culture to hipster culture to activist and more. Instead, they're too damn old and too damn boring and in a few years, I half expect them to be yelling to turn the music down.
Just my 2 cents.
-s
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From: Del Dias
Subject: Re: Shazam Industry Charts on 28th March 2016
Hi Bob
Is alan walker "faded" on your radar yet? Biggest track
On Shazam for 5 weeks in a row.
Here's the backstory.
Our company (AEI) has been around for 20 years, helping mostly young entrepreneurs build careers in the music industry. We're independent, profitable, self-funding and have 40 people in our London base.
Alan Walker - "Faded" starts with a kid called Billy who lives in a small town near Manchester, UK. He called my office 2 years ago having seen how we'd helped Luke Hood build a business around his "UKF" Youtube channel which encompassed compilations, festivals and more recently working with brands. (UKF was launched in 2009 by a 16yr old dubstep/drum&bass fan and quickly grew to be the largest genre channels on youtube, spearheading careers of acts like Nero, Flux Pavilion, to name a few. For UKF and most other channels that followed, Youtube was a funnel to other types of monetisation, mostly records and live. UKF has sold over 1 million compilation albums, and sold out 10k venues in London, throws parties internationally and has its own festival. Heineken launched a branded content series with UKF last year. We eventually acquired Luke's remaining stake in UKF and he is now 1/3 shareholder in our business, and a senior exec - aged 23. )
Luke inspired a whole generation of young entrepreneurs who realised they could make a living discovering and curating music on Youtube. A few of these guys (all barely in their twenties, male) gravitated towards our company - Majestic Casual, TheSoundYouNeed, AllTrapMusic, etc, all inspired by Luke's original model, and we helped them build their business, mainly providing business coaching, rights management/legal, accounting, product management/distribution to Spotify and iTunes, compilations, creative/artwork, marketing, PR services, events, sponsorship, etc in return for equity. Basically, providing the supporting infrastructure that enables theses business to scale quickly. Also an environment for these guys to mix with other people and a team who understand their business, and share their same independent values.
So back to Billy. Billy called my office in 2014, saying "I've got this youtube channel and I wondered if you could help me build it like you have done with UKF." I said "Sure - come in for a chat." He had 500k subscribers at the time. He was also working on minimum wage in construction, driving dumper trucks.
Billy is an avid gamer. Making youtube videos of gameplay is a huge phenomenon. Billy was frustrated that he couldn't use a Skrillex track as the background to one of his gaming videos without invoking the wrath of the label involved (Youtube's "Content ID" system flags up the unauthorised use of music and either disables monetisation for the creator of the video or at worse "strikes" the channel)
So Billy launched "NoCopyrightSounds" - a Youtube channel that provides gamers and youtubers with music that they can use in their videos without fear of getting stung by Youtube's copyright system, and royalty free. The only requirement from any youtuber using the video is that they credit the artist and link back to the original video on the channel.
So we got involved as we had done before, tightened up his agreements and made sure he was signing both master and publishing rights, and extended the reach of his music beyond Soundcloud and Youtube to all the other digital channels. At the time, this was pretty unique for music curation youtube channels in that everything he uploaded was owned on both master and publishing. This was essential in order to support the proposition of providing music to Youtube creators. I guess also pretty interesting at the time, was a record label that essentially gave its music away to people with an audience/fanbase for "free" and focused on monetisation secondly… a "freemium" record label?
The model clearly works as NCS has grown to 5million subscribers in less than 2 years, and Billy isn't working in construction any more. For me personally, that's the most important outcome - that we've helped someone build an independent business and career around their passion. Especially at a time when millennials are struggling to own homes, find stable careers, and often drowning in university debt. (20 years ago university was free, I owned a home pretty as soon as a I graduated - but in 1996 I couldn't make a living uploading songs to youtube…)
In November 2014, NCS signed a track from a Norwegian called Alan Walker on Youtube, and uploaded a track called "Fade" - the original is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM7SZ5SBzyY
The instrumental version was resonating on Youtube, and Spotify/iTunes numbers were impressive too. I couldn't figure out why at the time, but I knew there had to be something in it as my pre-teen kids loved it saying it reminded them of "minecraft" music. We got on a plane to Norway and signed more tracks from Alan….
Even before "Faded" which followed - the track had hit 40m youtube views, and 20m spotify plays. Zero marketing, no radio.
In December 2015, Sony Sweden released "Faded" - a vocal version of the song. It was an instant hit in the nordic countries and mainland Europe and is breaking into the Top 10 in the UK. Sony amplified the track's momentum by servicing it to radio and by stuffing it on the playlists it owns on Spotify. If Shazam is a barometer of future success, then the US is next and Alan Walker is going achieve Kygo level success.
I hope this is interesting to you - feel free to ask more.
Regards
Del
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From: Matt Gaines
Bob-
Where is the revenue???? re:Lucinda....ps she's a favorite of mine...but she's got the same problems...
Well let's start with a genre that is a crock pot of other genres that doesn't even know what to call itself....
It used to be the place musicians went to die...Americana.
Americans ranks right behind .......GOSPEL...it's that tiny...so the audiences are tiny too....so the $$ are tiny too!!! just ask the 25 fans that show up for the signing your label put together at the local Barnes and Noble....what a joke...they are the 4th largest distributor of music....and almost bankrupt.::
As far as the music category..::At least go compete back in "Country and Western" as a genre...and let's differentiate that from what all the new comers in Nashville like to call "Country Pop"...I've never seen a Country Pop Grammy....you might find its a good fit and there's an audience there...
As far as revenue, I can't believe no one has said what Irving would say .. "I would sell a T-shirt over a song any day" ... No one has said "PR drives brand building"...it's not about promoting the music if you're looking for revenue..IT'S ABOUT BUILDING A BRAND...."but the ol school says...we'll tour these many dates and that covers your nut"....
Zipcodes???? hardly....what a archaeic way of thinking...how about....um...MOBILE....it's where everything happens- previews, plays and PURCHASES...
GEOLOCATION- who needs ZiPCODES?????? Are we really having this discussion???
Internet Access is Everywhere....I almost hate calling it mobile...but it's where everything happens....
Communicating with fans on FB and Twitter is Worthless unless you learn how to sell your 400,000 friends something for a dollar each year...sell them SOMETHING.
There's plenty of revenue out there but it's BRAND REVENUE not SPONSORSHIPS REVENUE.... The problem is you've spent your time building a relationship in FB when you should have been focused on brand experiences and sold that to a brand...there's your payday....I'm sure Lucinda would be happy then....
Matt Gaines
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Subject: more north carolina
bob
PLEASE do not use my name or company should you print any of this (using private email rather than business email)---i do not want to OUT my daughter
i am the parent of a transgendered girl---at 19, she has presented herself as female for eight years now---i guarantee no one could tell by looking at her that she was born with male parts---she has had no surgery but has had hormone treatments for years---my daughter is a girl
should she be forced to use the mens room at any event, she would be looked at as an outsider in that environment
she has absolutely no desire to do anything in the women's rest room with anyone except that which the room is designed for
gender issues do not make for increased sexuality
just as many folks now accept that they have someone in their family who is gay, there will come a time when everyone realizes they also have a trans relative or friend---and that person should NOT be discriminated against
every time that bruce or bryan adams or billy ray cyrus does something that raises the consciousness of some folks who may not normally have given the issue any thought, it is a good thing---yes, the fans suffer BUT if you want to talk about suffering, think about the transgendered person who has NO CHOICE about how they were born
again---please, no names
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Subject: SPRINGSTEEN
Bob,
In 1975 I was 7 years old, and my sister was 16. We would sit in her bedroom and she would play her records, and that year the one record that stood out to me was Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen. That entire album has been with me since back then. When I was in grade school I began to notice some of the boys in my class. It was 1979 and even though I was 11, I knew what I was feeling was something I had to keep to myself. I didn't even know what being "gay" was. I didn't come out of the closet until I was in my early 20s and now I'm 48. Bruce's music has always been part of my life, and now with the stand he took againt the anti-LGBT law in North Carolina, I am prouder than ever to be a supporter of his.
Russ Turk
_____________________________________________
Subject: Re: Even More Springsteen/North Carolina
"Hey Sean Mormelo-
Please jump off a cliff.
Love,
the World
(Kevin Lathrop)"
Spoken like a true NASTY little leftist. I'd expect nothing less from your ilk. Personal attacks, no compromise. We're heading for a bad confluence of events in this country when we're this divided.
I'm easy to find if you want to come try to throw me off the cliff.
Sean Mormelo
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