"45 RPM (Recollections Per Minute): The Morrell Archives Volume 3": http://amzn.to/2uTnMpP
He shits on Clive Davis.
I received this in the mail with a note from a friend saying "Arista Part, MUST READ!"
So I did.
Didn't take me long. Hell, I finished the whole book in less than two hours.
But I did read it, because I remember when.
I've got no idea who Dave Morrell is. And to tell you the truth, the book is not well-written and the mistakes will make you wince, but I could not help but turn the pages, because the stories are from my era, when music ruled the world and radio was the midwife.
Most labels still believe this to be true. Now I don't want to shit on the majors that much, they're more clued-in than you think they are, but they believe in taking the path of least resistance, which is radio. Radio's got the most mindshare, it's the easiest way to break a record.
For now.
So Morrell's friends with John Lennon and tells tales of doing dope with Mick Jagger and much less famous people but if you've been around the music business you know this guy, if not this particular one. The truth is the guys, and it's almost always guys, running these labels get all the press, and the people who get the work done don't. Furthermore, after dedicating their lives 24/7, they get kicked out, go independent, rely on scraps, if they didn't get out early and go into the video business, now defunct, or real estate, where the promotion person's skills really shine.
They can sell anything to anybody. They're always upbeat. And they're always up for a good time. They're a special breed. One which needs little sleep that delivers on deadlines and is always working.
Used to be it was a free-floating party, with players moving from label to label, but that was before the great consolidation. They'd change the label head and he'd fire everybody and most, but not all, would find jobs at a new company. It was a game of musical chairs, with the most networked ending up with new gigs.
So Morrell is a singles promo man at Warner Brothers. He goes on how James Taylor and Maria Muldaur and America all had hits with him, but none after he left. And this is factually true, did he make the difference? Possibly. You'd have to reconstruct history to prove it, and no one's gonna do that. You see history is left to those who write it down. And generally speaking, no one is telling the tales of the worker bees. Except for every outcast who believes they've got a book in them, I receive them all the time, self-published, available on Amazon, and none of these people can write, which is a prerequisite for a book, but they all have amazing stories, like Morrell.
But this is less of a starfucking adventure than a business tale.
He talks about the acts that are willing to work, like Melissa Manchester, who calls Bob Dylan for advice after Clive insists she record a song she doesn't want to, and John Denver, who sends him a personal note, and rags on pricks like Lou Reed who gets him to toke up and then reports him for it, but mostly it's about the slog, working for the man, and the points he puts up on the board.
He references Rick Sklar, the most powerful man in radio, whom I saw at the Century Plaza at four AM after staying up all night with promo people, Rick said he kept himself on New York time, wearing a suit and a smile, just months before he died on the operating table. Morrell got records on WABC and got no thanks. And I know how hard that was.
Took Scott Muni out with Bobby Bare to get the former to add the latter's country novelty song and Muni did, after bonding all night over alcohol and military tales.
It's all people I tell you.
And most of them are forgotten.
Unless they insist on being known.
I'm shocked at all the people in this book I know and wonder where they are today.
And I'm shocked at all the people with big gigs I never knew, like the guy who got fired by Clive in the northwest... Did the guy ever get another job in the record business?
That's what's so strange. The acts remain, the workers do not. Except on the live side, where everybody's a lifer. You get your picture taken with household names, share a joke and a toke, and then you're out on your ass with no access shortly thereafter, even though you were a big part of their success.
But successful acts know the game, they'll kiss up to anybody who can get them ahead.
So Clive is clueless. He drones on and on, boring his troops while unaware of their achievements.
What's the truth?
I don't know and it doesn't even matter.
But what does matter is you cannot believe everything you read.
But usually you only read it from the winners, who've been working their reps. Like Jimmy with "The Defiant Ones."
Morrell is playing on a smaller scale. He brushed up against greatness, but it didn't stick. He worked Elvis's records, but never met the man.
And all this happened decades ago. When music drove the culture and we all knew it and wanted to be in in it.
Those days are through.
Music still remains.
But it's not like it used to be.
Morrell is talking about what once was.
And if you were there, you will remember.
And feel old.
P.S. Morrell quit Arista for a job at Capitol, so this isn't the usual sour grapes, or is it?
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Saturday 19 August 2017
Judy
http://spoti.fi/2vMwvJh
The song misses, the vocal is imperfect, BUT THE GUITAR PLAYING IS OUTSTANDING!
My best listening is done now. Long after midnight. When the rest of the world is asleep and I have room to move around, physically and mentally, when it's my planet. I don't get the competition to sleep little and get up early. First and foremost I can't do this, i.e. write, unless I've had a good night's sleep, and sometimes the highlight of my day is my dreams, and I find the sunrise creepy. The whole world waking up. I prefer the fade-out instead of the fade-in.
And to tell you the truth, my day was upsetting. But it started to turn a couple of hours ago when I heard myself referenced on the WrapUp Show. I've never had the experience of driving around and having my song come on the radio, never will, but when Howard or Gary mention me I've got to believe it's somewhat similar.
And then I listened to Paul Schrader on the Bret Easton Ellis podcast. It's intellectual in a world where every other show is middlebrow, or below. Ellis doesn't pander, it's all about concepts. And I preferred the episode with Peter Bogdanovich, who doesn't seem to realize how smug he comes across, but Schrader said something absolutely brilliant. That films stopped mattering when they no longer gave us answers, told us how to live. That's right, those of us who lived through the second golden era, from "Bonnie and Clyde" to "Heaven's Gate," learned how to behave from watching movies. Hell, everything I know about sex I learned at the cinema, truly. Same deal with the music. Used to be we listened for insight, that was the essence of the golden era, classic rock, we believed the acts were more experienced, knew more than we did, and by listening a path would open for us to walk down and live our lives. That's why everybody went to Woodstock, not to graze and be seen like at today's festivals, but to get closer to the music, to be with like-minded people on an adventure.
And in 1969, Crosby, Stills & Nash were burgeoning. They didn't peak until they added Young and released "Deja Vu" the following March. And then the band imploded and some of the solo albums were stellar, but there was never that exquisite peak again. To the point where young 'uns are completely unaware of the magic. And I'm not sure "Judy" will close them, but it will give them a glimpse of what once was, when being a skilled axeman was key, when arrangement still mattered, when music was sweet instead of sour.
But not too sweet.
I knew Stephen and Judy were on tour. But I didn't know there was a record. Hell, I never know there's a record anymore, not even a show. I just read a review of Willie Nelson at the Shrine, who knew he was in town?
But honestly, I didn't need to go. The truth is there's nothing new with these oldsters, if you've seen it, you've seen it. Not that fans will tell you this, the same fans who go to every Dylan show, huh?
Now to tell you the truth, the track that blew my mind at this hour this week was the Barenaked Ladies and the Persuasions doing the latter's "Good Times," it was on my Discover Weekly playlist.
"Judy" was on my Release Radar playlist.
And I was gonna do a whole post on the Barenaked Ladies/Persuasions album, yes, that's right, there's an entire LP, quite appealing, did you know the Barenaked Ladies also have a live album from Red Rocks?
Like I said, we're all out of the loop. We used to need to keep up. But then music stopped driving the culture and we lost the need, even though a great song still resonates so, but how do you find them?
I want to be pointed to them.
And this week's Release Radar, fresh tonight, opened with a Yusuf song that I only had to hear once, not even all the way through.
And then the same thing with this London Grammar track. It was good, but did I ever need to hear it again?
And then Thomas Rhett's "Grave" was close to spectacular, with production you rarely hear in country tracks, I'm not sure if it's a hit, but I marveled, this guy has talent and range.
And then I got to "Judy." And it was right in the pocket.
Maybe you're not a rock fan. Maybe you're into beats. But for those of you who grew up in the AOR era, who love a good change, who remember when music came before money, you'll get it.
How can this be?
All the classic acts put out execrable LPs every couple of years. They overpolish crap. It's creepy.
And then we get "Judy."
And Stills's voice is a bit creepy. Not as bad as it can be live, but nowhere near as good as it used to be.
But Judy Collins's harmonies are exquisite, if buried.
But the PLAYING!
It's one thing to have technique, it's quite another to put the notes together with melodies and changes such that the end result is appealing.
Now fall is coming.
And if you went to college back in the seventies, you know the drill. The first thing you do when you move into the dorm is to set up your stereo. And then you put on a new record while you unpack. And then people come over and you sit around and get high in front of the speakers, nodding your noggins to songs that are not quite foreground yet not quite background, they're integral to the experience, like oil in an engine. And you're sitting there and all of a sudden you lock on to the sound, it's like you can see into the speakers and see what the act is doing, you wonder how they do it, how they came up with this stuff.
And then you go to the show and have the religious experience.
And it's not about selfies, it's not about being a member of the group, it's solely about you, in your own mind, bonding with the music.
That's the experience I'm having right now.
"Good Times": http://spoti.fi/2v0oE87
The song misses, the vocal is imperfect, BUT THE GUITAR PLAYING IS OUTSTANDING!
My best listening is done now. Long after midnight. When the rest of the world is asleep and I have room to move around, physically and mentally, when it's my planet. I don't get the competition to sleep little and get up early. First and foremost I can't do this, i.e. write, unless I've had a good night's sleep, and sometimes the highlight of my day is my dreams, and I find the sunrise creepy. The whole world waking up. I prefer the fade-out instead of the fade-in.
And to tell you the truth, my day was upsetting. But it started to turn a couple of hours ago when I heard myself referenced on the WrapUp Show. I've never had the experience of driving around and having my song come on the radio, never will, but when Howard or Gary mention me I've got to believe it's somewhat similar.
And then I listened to Paul Schrader on the Bret Easton Ellis podcast. It's intellectual in a world where every other show is middlebrow, or below. Ellis doesn't pander, it's all about concepts. And I preferred the episode with Peter Bogdanovich, who doesn't seem to realize how smug he comes across, but Schrader said something absolutely brilliant. That films stopped mattering when they no longer gave us answers, told us how to live. That's right, those of us who lived through the second golden era, from "Bonnie and Clyde" to "Heaven's Gate," learned how to behave from watching movies. Hell, everything I know about sex I learned at the cinema, truly. Same deal with the music. Used to be we listened for insight, that was the essence of the golden era, classic rock, we believed the acts were more experienced, knew more than we did, and by listening a path would open for us to walk down and live our lives. That's why everybody went to Woodstock, not to graze and be seen like at today's festivals, but to get closer to the music, to be with like-minded people on an adventure.
And in 1969, Crosby, Stills & Nash were burgeoning. They didn't peak until they added Young and released "Deja Vu" the following March. And then the band imploded and some of the solo albums were stellar, but there was never that exquisite peak again. To the point where young 'uns are completely unaware of the magic. And I'm not sure "Judy" will close them, but it will give them a glimpse of what once was, when being a skilled axeman was key, when arrangement still mattered, when music was sweet instead of sour.
But not too sweet.
I knew Stephen and Judy were on tour. But I didn't know there was a record. Hell, I never know there's a record anymore, not even a show. I just read a review of Willie Nelson at the Shrine, who knew he was in town?
But honestly, I didn't need to go. The truth is there's nothing new with these oldsters, if you've seen it, you've seen it. Not that fans will tell you this, the same fans who go to every Dylan show, huh?
Now to tell you the truth, the track that blew my mind at this hour this week was the Barenaked Ladies and the Persuasions doing the latter's "Good Times," it was on my Discover Weekly playlist.
"Judy" was on my Release Radar playlist.
And I was gonna do a whole post on the Barenaked Ladies/Persuasions album, yes, that's right, there's an entire LP, quite appealing, did you know the Barenaked Ladies also have a live album from Red Rocks?
Like I said, we're all out of the loop. We used to need to keep up. But then music stopped driving the culture and we lost the need, even though a great song still resonates so, but how do you find them?
I want to be pointed to them.
And this week's Release Radar, fresh tonight, opened with a Yusuf song that I only had to hear once, not even all the way through.
And then the same thing with this London Grammar track. It was good, but did I ever need to hear it again?
And then Thomas Rhett's "Grave" was close to spectacular, with production you rarely hear in country tracks, I'm not sure if it's a hit, but I marveled, this guy has talent and range.
And then I got to "Judy." And it was right in the pocket.
Maybe you're not a rock fan. Maybe you're into beats. But for those of you who grew up in the AOR era, who love a good change, who remember when music came before money, you'll get it.
How can this be?
All the classic acts put out execrable LPs every couple of years. They overpolish crap. It's creepy.
And then we get "Judy."
And Stills's voice is a bit creepy. Not as bad as it can be live, but nowhere near as good as it used to be.
But Judy Collins's harmonies are exquisite, if buried.
But the PLAYING!
It's one thing to have technique, it's quite another to put the notes together with melodies and changes such that the end result is appealing.
Now fall is coming.
And if you went to college back in the seventies, you know the drill. The first thing you do when you move into the dorm is to set up your stereo. And then you put on a new record while you unpack. And then people come over and you sit around and get high in front of the speakers, nodding your noggins to songs that are not quite foreground yet not quite background, they're integral to the experience, like oil in an engine. And you're sitting there and all of a sudden you lock on to the sound, it's like you can see into the speakers and see what the act is doing, you wonder how they do it, how they came up with this stuff.
And then you go to the show and have the religious experience.
And it's not about selfies, it's not about being a member of the group, it's solely about you, in your own mind, bonding with the music.
That's the experience I'm having right now.
"Good Times": http://spoti.fi/2v0oE87
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Friday 18 August 2017
Tina Fey On Weekend Update
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVvpXZxXWZU
They've got Ann Coulter and the bimbos on Fox.
But we've got Tina Fey.
I oftentimes wonder, do those people on Fox really believe what they're saying? Like Tucker Carlson, interrupting guests like his predecessor Bill O'Reilly, if you got him alone, in the basement, after a game of pool, would he really be spewing this right wing hatred? Is that the world we really want, where it's every person for themselves and the government is out of the equation? Government, and taxes are bad. And what is good? The winners of this world? Should we call them "Deacon Blues"?
Now I'm one of those who believe SNL hasn't been good since the original cast left. And don't criticize me for being an old fart, did they ever find a new Beatles, huh? It's old wave media rallying around Lorne Michaels but the emperor has no clothes. A lot of set-up and no jokes. But Tina Fey...
She could have starred next to Belushi and Aykroyd, held her own.
And she never fails.
You're watching this clip thinking it's not that funny, and then you burst out laughing, about Donald JOHN Trump tearing down statues to build condos. And did you know those statues were built long after the Civil War? It'd kind of be like erecting Hitler statues in Germany today. Or Richard Nixon sculptures in Vietnam. They're not antiquities, just reinforcements of white power.
Then again, did you see what Jon Stewart's said?
"White supremacists, man. I don't know what to tell you. It's a free market. If you guys feel like you're losing out, fucking work harder. I don't know what to tell you. If you're a white supremacist, if you think you're the master race, how come we're all kicking your ass so easily? You're the master race! How come you're not winning everything? Why aren't the Olympics dominated by you? You're the master race. What do you have left? Golf and tennis, maybe, maybe. And even then, the first black people you came across, you're like, 'We can't play this game anymore.' Williams sisters, Tiger Woods. Okay"
They keep saying the left has no sense of humor. I beg to differ. We've got almost all of the comedians. Hell, Dennis Miller went right and now we never hear him anymore, he's probably doing privates for the Koch Brothers. That's the truth, if you want to go right there's untold bucks in it. Whereas left wing comedians earn their money the old-fashioned way, on innovative yuks.
Fox girls bleach their hair, put on the pumps and primp and you can't focus on what they say because you're too busy ogling them. And if they had any self-respect, they'd rebel. But other than Megyn Kelly, none of them has. It's like Roger Ailes is still alive. Is this the equality Gloria Steinem, et al, fought for forty years ago? And don't decry Gloria and her Ms. followers, all women are following in their footsteps, taking advantage of the openings they created.
And there were women comedians on SNL prior to Tina Fey.
But none of them were quite this funny.
Tina can hold her own with the boys. She makes those two johnny-come-latelies on the set look like high school students.
First and foremost she comes out in a sweatshirt and glasses. No contacts, no blond hair. She's gonna close us on her brain. And boy, does she. Only an insecure, inadequate man would prefer a Fox babe.
And she owns her truth! She admits being a virgin at UVA, if you read her book you know she didn't have sex until 24. Has anybody made love to Ann Coulter? Unless it's a hate ____?
Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist, humor's supposed to be edgy. If you don't occasionally go over the line, you're not doing it right.
And Tina holds our attention for six minutes, you can't take your eyes off her. In a short-attention span era she's long-form.
Calling Trump "gorgeous," that's the cutting humor only a woman can get away with. Assuming she's willing to go there, and the great thing about Fey is she is, she's not holding back like the apolitical, non-swearing Seinfeld, she says Donald John Trump is a "jackass" name. That's right, a woman who's not afraid to get down in the gutter, be like the boys, is the one who wins our heart.
As for right wing rallies in New York City, unlike the Democratic elites, trying to apologize for their status, cowering, Tina talks about drag queens kicking the protesters' ass. That's a New Yorker! One who will take no shit! Who will stand up for what they believe in! That's why New York is the greatest city in the world!
Although I prefer to live in Los Angeles. But with all the millennials moving to the metropolis, when can we stop paying fealty to those left behind in the hinterland, remember what Sam Kinison said about starving Africans? Don't send them food, send them SUITCASES! They've got to MOVE! TO WHERE THE JOBS ARE!
Then they whip out the cake and Tina digs in and she's channeling the physical comedy of Lucy, but there's not only facial expressions, but continued quips. And like the right, and unlike too many on the left, she calls out the enemy, talking about Ann Coulter crawling out of her Roach Motel.
But the piece-de-resistance is:
"And also, who drove the car into the crowd, HILLARY'S E-MAILS?"
If you don't burst out laughing you still believe Hillary is single-handedly responsible for the deaths in Benghazi and that's much worse than anything Trump has done. And there you've got the problem right there, false equivalencies.
And she's really eating the cake, in our skinny-minnie culture wherein every woman is supposed to be full when they're silently starving.
And then calling Paul Ryan a "pussy"... What is he gonna say, how is he gonna respond to a woman, she's nailed him right there.
And she goes on and on, with a dig at Hollywood and audiences at the end.
And all you can do is marvel. Her six minutes are far superior to ANYTHING that's aired on SNL this decade. And the two guys next to her look like real life Waynes and Garths, you just sit there and say WOW!
That's the power of Tina Fey.
That's the power of entertainers.
Unlike Hillary Clinton, we have to own our strengths, our positions, not pussyfoot around them, not give in. Hell, the one thing Clinton had right was too many of these people on the right ARE deplorables, she shouldn't have apologized, she should have DOUBLED-DOWN!
Now screw those two guys. Tina Fey should have this spot every week. Maybe on HBO with Amy Poehler. A counterpart to John Oliver and Bill Maher. Because HBO stands for freedom, anything goes, there are no ads and no one blinks.
Or maybe even Netflix.
Or if Google truly wanted to win, YouTube.
But not Apple. Where mediocre crap sits behind a paywall as smug old men tell us they know better.
No, sometimes a woman knows better.
LIKE TINA FEY!
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They've got Ann Coulter and the bimbos on Fox.
But we've got Tina Fey.
I oftentimes wonder, do those people on Fox really believe what they're saying? Like Tucker Carlson, interrupting guests like his predecessor Bill O'Reilly, if you got him alone, in the basement, after a game of pool, would he really be spewing this right wing hatred? Is that the world we really want, where it's every person for themselves and the government is out of the equation? Government, and taxes are bad. And what is good? The winners of this world? Should we call them "Deacon Blues"?
Now I'm one of those who believe SNL hasn't been good since the original cast left. And don't criticize me for being an old fart, did they ever find a new Beatles, huh? It's old wave media rallying around Lorne Michaels but the emperor has no clothes. A lot of set-up and no jokes. But Tina Fey...
She could have starred next to Belushi and Aykroyd, held her own.
And she never fails.
You're watching this clip thinking it's not that funny, and then you burst out laughing, about Donald JOHN Trump tearing down statues to build condos. And did you know those statues were built long after the Civil War? It'd kind of be like erecting Hitler statues in Germany today. Or Richard Nixon sculptures in Vietnam. They're not antiquities, just reinforcements of white power.
Then again, did you see what Jon Stewart's said?
"White supremacists, man. I don't know what to tell you. It's a free market. If you guys feel like you're losing out, fucking work harder. I don't know what to tell you. If you're a white supremacist, if you think you're the master race, how come we're all kicking your ass so easily? You're the master race! How come you're not winning everything? Why aren't the Olympics dominated by you? You're the master race. What do you have left? Golf and tennis, maybe, maybe. And even then, the first black people you came across, you're like, 'We can't play this game anymore.' Williams sisters, Tiger Woods. Okay"
They keep saying the left has no sense of humor. I beg to differ. We've got almost all of the comedians. Hell, Dennis Miller went right and now we never hear him anymore, he's probably doing privates for the Koch Brothers. That's the truth, if you want to go right there's untold bucks in it. Whereas left wing comedians earn their money the old-fashioned way, on innovative yuks.
Fox girls bleach their hair, put on the pumps and primp and you can't focus on what they say because you're too busy ogling them. And if they had any self-respect, they'd rebel. But other than Megyn Kelly, none of them has. It's like Roger Ailes is still alive. Is this the equality Gloria Steinem, et al, fought for forty years ago? And don't decry Gloria and her Ms. followers, all women are following in their footsteps, taking advantage of the openings they created.
And there were women comedians on SNL prior to Tina Fey.
But none of them were quite this funny.
Tina can hold her own with the boys. She makes those two johnny-come-latelies on the set look like high school students.
First and foremost she comes out in a sweatshirt and glasses. No contacts, no blond hair. She's gonna close us on her brain. And boy, does she. Only an insecure, inadequate man would prefer a Fox babe.
And she owns her truth! She admits being a virgin at UVA, if you read her book you know she didn't have sex until 24. Has anybody made love to Ann Coulter? Unless it's a hate ____?
Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist, humor's supposed to be edgy. If you don't occasionally go over the line, you're not doing it right.
And Tina holds our attention for six minutes, you can't take your eyes off her. In a short-attention span era she's long-form.
Calling Trump "gorgeous," that's the cutting humor only a woman can get away with. Assuming she's willing to go there, and the great thing about Fey is she is, she's not holding back like the apolitical, non-swearing Seinfeld, she says Donald John Trump is a "jackass" name. That's right, a woman who's not afraid to get down in the gutter, be like the boys, is the one who wins our heart.
As for right wing rallies in New York City, unlike the Democratic elites, trying to apologize for their status, cowering, Tina talks about drag queens kicking the protesters' ass. That's a New Yorker! One who will take no shit! Who will stand up for what they believe in! That's why New York is the greatest city in the world!
Although I prefer to live in Los Angeles. But with all the millennials moving to the metropolis, when can we stop paying fealty to those left behind in the hinterland, remember what Sam Kinison said about starving Africans? Don't send them food, send them SUITCASES! They've got to MOVE! TO WHERE THE JOBS ARE!
Then they whip out the cake and Tina digs in and she's channeling the physical comedy of Lucy, but there's not only facial expressions, but continued quips. And like the right, and unlike too many on the left, she calls out the enemy, talking about Ann Coulter crawling out of her Roach Motel.
But the piece-de-resistance is:
"And also, who drove the car into the crowd, HILLARY'S E-MAILS?"
If you don't burst out laughing you still believe Hillary is single-handedly responsible for the deaths in Benghazi and that's much worse than anything Trump has done. And there you've got the problem right there, false equivalencies.
And she's really eating the cake, in our skinny-minnie culture wherein every woman is supposed to be full when they're silently starving.
And then calling Paul Ryan a "pussy"... What is he gonna say, how is he gonna respond to a woman, she's nailed him right there.
And she goes on and on, with a dig at Hollywood and audiences at the end.
And all you can do is marvel. Her six minutes are far superior to ANYTHING that's aired on SNL this decade. And the two guys next to her look like real life Waynes and Garths, you just sit there and say WOW!
That's the power of Tina Fey.
That's the power of entertainers.
Unlike Hillary Clinton, we have to own our strengths, our positions, not pussyfoot around them, not give in. Hell, the one thing Clinton had right was too many of these people on the right ARE deplorables, she shouldn't have apologized, she should have DOUBLED-DOWN!
Now screw those two guys. Tina Fey should have this spot every week. Maybe on HBO with Amy Poehler. A counterpart to John Oliver and Bill Maher. Because HBO stands for freedom, anything goes, there are no ads and no one blinks.
Or maybe even Netflix.
Or if Google truly wanted to win, YouTube.
But not Apple. Where mediocre crap sits behind a paywall as smug old men tell us they know better.
No, sometimes a woman knows better.
LIKE TINA FEY!
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Mailbag
From: #1 Act
Subject: Re: Comparing Mediabase Charts
Hey, Bob.
I remember a few weeks ago our radio rep telling us that our single wasn't testing well in Chicago and the very next day we got a report from management saying that Chicago was our NUMBER ONE streaming market on Spotify. That's quite telling.
(please keep this anonymous if reposting).
_________________________________________
Subject: RE: Comparing Mediabase Charts
Still my favorite:
Joel Adams 315,000,000 streams, 0 plays on Mediabase.
Peter Paterno, Esq.
King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, LLP
_________________________________________
From: chris stein
Subject: Re: Google's Hip-Hop Video
Back in the old days when we did one of our few appearances on SNL, we got to choose a second musical act that'd play on the show. We asked the Funky Four Plus One More. Long story short this is generally considered to be the first national appearance of a Hip Hop act on live US TV. But the thing is this: I was desperate for the group to perform along with their DJ scratching. But try and explain scratching to the uninitiated, it's tough. After negotiations with the SNL tech crew it all came down to one small missing patch cord that the group needed to supply. A couple of the very amused kids were sent in a limo to their respective apartments but came up empty. The Funky Four wound up playing to a tape.
It was close. (Fab 5's inbox has been exploding all day btw!)
_________________________________________
From: Jeff Bhasker
Subject: Re: Why We've Got No Protest Music
Dear Bob,
Regarding this topic and article you missed the big one: no draft.
I had a long think about this question while I was working on my protest album Born On the Forth of July
https://m.soundcloud.com/kravenworks/sets/billykravenbornonthefourthofjuly
and that's what I came up with.
At the time, that was the culture. Now it is not. Which is also why hip hop is streaming.
It's an expression of culture in a racially charged time. Streaming has desegregated music and made it free.
Too bad the message is get high and rich and celebrate the self. But hey, times haven't really changed that much.
JB
_________________________________________
From: Quincy Jones
Subject: Re: Re-Citizen Cope
My Brother Roberto....By the way...in 1963, Paul Anka wrote the "B-Side for Leslie Gores's 1st single:.."It's My Party"...it was titled:.."Danny"..we met to discuss this at a cafe on 57th st..with his manager...Irving Feld..whose dream back then, was to Own Ringling Bros. Circus...keep reflecting on all of this kinda stuff....Sorry 2 bother U, but I had to get it out...\(^o^)/...Big huggies 2 U & Felice...XoXo...Love Y'awl...Quincy
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: Bieber Stops
Hi Bob,
It's Beth Winer, Urge Overkill's manager.
This post really hit home.
Urge has chosen to stay off the road and tour minimally to prevent the very things you are talking about.
Maybe they'll hit the road again. We'll see. If everyone feels good about it. The thought of it seems scary. We take baby steps.
When Urge released "Exit the Dragon," in 1995, the plug was pulled on the tour primarily because of the health of the band.
There are no regrets.
The stuggles you talk about are real, and each musician and manager knows that it is a very personal and difficult decision to know how much touring is effective and rewarding financially and personally, and how much is tipping the scales towards risking lives.
Every day one of my artists is alive is another day I am hopeful the conservative decisions I make are the correct ones.
Love your blog.
Take care,
Beth Winer
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: The Defiant Ones-Episode Two
Hey Bob-I'm finally getting around to watching this series and it's been great. Just finished episode two five minutes ago and I've been saving your e-mails to read once I watched the show. And yes, you are correct sir, that was Jimmy & Stevie at Richard Perry's Studio 55. I cut my teeth working for Richard from 1980-1987 and remember those days of Jimmy cutting Stevie and Bob Seger at 55 very well. I actually met Seger for the first time as we stood next to each other in the 55 head, relieving ourselves...he could not have been nicer. But more than anything I just wanted to give a shoutout to Richard Perry. Perhaps he's not as famous as Jimmy now but he truly is one of the great record producers of all time. And while his reputation certainly proceeds him there is no question he made some of the greatest records of all time. As the opening line of his bio once read, "he has produced more hits by more artists over a longer period of time than any producer in the history of recorded music". I think that still holds true. Richard was one of a kind, the last of the great "song" producers and a man who had his own label and owned his own studio long before it was the in vogue thing to do. THE DEFIANT ONES has made me think of those days at Studio 55 when I got to work with and run into the greatest artists and producers on a daily basis...how lucky I am!
Brad Rosenberger
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: Noel Monk's Van Halen Book
Hi Bob,
A very interesting write re Noel Monk. Your mentioning Blackie Lawless brings back memories.
I signed Blackie and WASP when I was at Capitol Records. I saw them live at The Troubadour, was blown away with the live show. It was a hard sell at the company, successful here but bigger in Europe. That had a great manager Rob Smallwood. He made the difference, as you succinctly noted with regards to Mr. Monk.
Don
Don Grierson
Music Industry Consultant / Executive Producer / A&R
www.dongrierson.com
_________________________________________
Subject: RE: Is All Publicity Good Publicity?
Bob,
I have worked for several founders, some successful some wildly so. The key is vision, a 'screw the rules' attitude, relentlessness, and speed. Corporate 'adults' are about process, professionalism, and other CYA and kumbayah hogwash necessary to live together on a ship going nowhere fast. We brought in a big company exec who was going to help us "grow to the next level," and all we got were processes, meetings to plan meetings, and a falling stock price. All the creative and fun people left, and the drones stayed. Ever try to innovate in a big company? Their systems and processes are designed to minimize risk, not exploit an opportunity. Uber did just that and not having Kalanick at the helm will make them as boring and irrelevant as Apple is with Tim Cook.
Rich
richard eichen
managing principal
return on efficiency, llc
_________________________________________
From: Les Garland
Subject: RE: The First Day In August
hi bob...it was on the first day of august (back in '81) when mtv: music television launched...it's true that people have never looked at music the same way again :-)
best to you,
garland
_________________________________________
Subject: Hype and HAIM
Hi Bob
Overtime I hear you talk about hype, the band HAIM pops into my head. Undoubtedly talented, the band gets a ton of press, and yet... have they ever put out anything that sparks the popular imagination? What is up with them? Am I missing something or do they just have a really good publicist?
Dave Richards
Yafrekinmonke
http://www.npr.org/2017/07/30/540097793/haim-has-something-to-tell-you-about-sisterhood-and-songwriting
_________________________________________
From: WAM
Subject: Re: Dude, I'm Still Alive!
Too bad music isn't.... still alive that is...
Take a look at this photo of a metal club in NJ - Dingbatz:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8577455,-74.147588,3a,75y,360h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3IXlwu4Co9nejA-g7w1erw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Note the street sign
_________________________________________
From: James Spencer
Subject: Re: Ozark
Yep, VERY addictive show...Next season, Byrd should mosey over to Branson, and bankroll a production show..As one who's worked in Vegas shows, believe me, you can squander a HUGE ton of dough, very quickly, financing these extravaganzas..Great money laundering scam!
_________________________________________
From: Coleman Sisson
Subject: Re: Tesla Model 3
I am a 60-year-old techie and my dad (mechanic) wanted a reliable truck to haul stuff in. My mother wanted a pink Cadillac (she got one). I drive a Z06 corvette. My 27-year-old son wants a Tesla and my 15-year-old son doesn't want to drive at all. He says he won't need to. Shit is changing, Bob, and it's always for the better.
Keep up the great work. I love reading your stuff and I read every book you recommend…usually to the end. ;-)
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: Garth Brooks At The Forum
Bob,
Back on January 31, 1993, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena hosted the Super Bowl. Garth was the Halftime Show. He was HUUUGE at the time, playing The Forum on Friday, two nights prior.
Anyway, for a few days prior to game day, the NFL builds a mini city outside of the hosting Super Bowl venue called "The Super Bowl Experience". On Saturday, the day before the game, I drive over to check it out. It was a chilly day, even lightly drizzling. Walking among the food stands and such, I saw a tiny little stage (empty), with not much more than a small group of people obviously waiting for something to happen. Maybe like 50-100 people. I asked one of them what they were waiting for and was told that Garth Brooks was going to come out to play. I knew that Garth was in town to play the Halftime Show (and The Forum), but um, I was pretty certain that these people had it wrong; Garth wasn't coming…maybe if we're lucky, one of his band members might pop out to entertain for a few minutes.
But ok, I'll stand here with the rest of these fools and see if there's even a tiny possibility that anyone associated with Garth's crew might come out.
A few minutes later, HOLY FUCK, Garth himself strolls out onto this tiny stage with his acoustic guitar, greets the crowd and asks if it was ok that he played a few songs for us. ARE U FRICKING KIDDING? He played for a good 30-45 minutes and all the hits people wanted to hear. I was SHOCKED. No fanfare, no billboards, no advance info that I had seen anywhere. But he did come out. He did play. And he was GREAT. And humble. And gracious. And not worried a bit about the rather small size of the crowd (nothing like the 20k at The Forum the night before). Nor was he worried about the cold and the drizzle.
I became a fan and a believer right there. I'll never forget it!
John Van Nest
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: Garth Brooks At The Forum
I met Garth back in 1993 at Jeff Hanna/Matraca Bergs wedding in Nashville. He was exactly as Joe Walsh described him. I talked to him for about an hour and it was special.
Such a regular guy and so engaging.
Val Garay
_________________________________________
Subject: RE: Protest Music
Bob,
Barry McGuire??? You've got to be kidding. "Eve of Destruction" was an incredible song, but give credit where is credit is due; to the writers, P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri, and Lou Adler.
The real pioneering artists of that period were, of course, The Weavers, and in particular, Pete Seeger, but also Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman; and of course Joan Baez, an early supporter and believer in Bob Dylan, who helped nurture his career early on.
Tim Hardin was another great writer; "Reason To Believe," "The Lady Came from Baltimore," "If I Were A Carpenter," "Misty Roses," and others. One can only imagine how many more important songs he would've penned had he not died so young.
All the best,
Seymour Stein
_________________________________________
Subject: RE: Protest Playlist
Hey Bob,
Very good choices all around! I would add one Bob Dylan song: "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll." This one needs the listener's full attention, but it's well worth it. Dylan weaves the story carefully event by event, one outrage after another. At each step, he warns us that we shouldn't be upset yet, but wait for more. And when the final punchline comes, it hits like a hammer, and we can finally let our outrage explode. The event that it chronicles really happened and should be a much more prominent part of our country's racial history.
Best,
John Boylan
_________________________________________
From: Gary Dell'Abate
Subject: Re: The Vice Video
I watch Vice News every night. It's the best news on TV.
But that report was on a different level. They literally took you inside the entire weekend.
And the reporter was never confrontational or contentious.
No need. The alt right people's words and thoughts are so powerful you can judge for yourself.
I hope this gets folks watching because the quality of the show is amazing.
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: The Room Where It Happens
All true Bob. I was an Italian kid from the south shore of Long Island who was lucky enough to get into Hamilton, a great Little Ivy school like Middlebury, in 1979. It was a world of blue blazers, khaki pants and penny loafers and private school kids who spoke Connecticut english through partially clenched teeth whose parents were white shoe law firm partners and Bank presidents. Leave It To Beaver on steroids. Needless to say, I had very little in common with my classmates but hey, I was there for the education, or so I told myself. And an education was what I got but not in the way that I thought I would and certainly not an education that had anything to do with music. But being with the sons and daughters of the high and mighty for those four years, I learned how they lived, how they talked, how they thought, who and what they valued. I learned how to watch. I learned most importantly how to hang. Not just to be 'in the room' but to how to stay there. I have found it is both an art and a skill and a useful one. It gave me the confidence to sit down with some of the most famous and talented people in the history of music and feel like I belonged.
Michael Pagnotta
_________________________________________
From: Jonathan Bock
Subject: Re: The Room Where It Happens
Bob, love your stuff.
I grew up in Appleton WI and then went to Yale. We share a lot in common. Learning how to manage as a middle class kid in a rich kid culture. I applied to middlebury and actually got in, but then I got into Yale. I was a classical pianist and guitarist and a good singer and poor kid, and got into acapella there at Yale in the Spizzwinks and then the Whiffenpoof's and it changed my world. I eventually went to medical school and became a vocal cord surgeon - Laryngologist/ENT.
What struck me is that these are all real people who are just 5 steps ahead. They were mostly awesome people. They actually loved me and I loved them. They didn't wish me ill- just didn't know or understand my world. I went home in the summers to throw logs in a paper mill while they did unpaid internships or travelled. I was doing 12 hour overnight shifts at a wood pulp mill in Kimberly Wisconsin. I'd come back to Yale in the fall and hear what these kids were doing and I was like, "I threw logs, and drank Busch Light at campfires".
I'm now one of the only trained vocal cord surgeons in Wisconsin, and an associate professor at the med school in Milwaukee.
http://doctors.froedtert.com/PhysicianDirectory/BockJonathanM.htm
And I still perform with a pretty successful cover band here as lead singer and guitarist. Playing at the Wisconsin State Fair in 2 weeks!
http://www.bockenplautz.com/
Let me know if you're here ever in Milwaukee and dinner is on me.
JB
_________________________________________
From: Peter Burnside
Subject: Re: The Room Where It Happens
This reminds me of a story from when I was in university. I was offered an opportunity to do the census to make some extra money Figured it would be my middle class hood but instead I got the primo old money neighbourhood in Toronto. Learned some major life lessons over the few weeks I had to go door to door and hand out the short or dreaded long form census.
First lesson. People in the mansions were universally polite. This is class. I'm some just out of high school kid (OK I did go to private school with their kids so was not totally out of place) but they were all really nice to me, some kid making a few bucks an hour knocking on their door and handing out government forms. Even those who got stuck with the mega form were just "Oh well, bad luck for us!" The jerks in the same hood in the small houses were totally different. With the exception of the seniors who were happy to chat with anybody, they were just nasty. I was taking time of their busy lives and heaven help me if I had to drop off the long form, they went ballistic. Assholes who thought they mattered.
So I keep seeing some kid on a skateboard delivering newspapers while I'm dropping forms. After several days we acknowledge each other. On one of my last days I enter the gates of some massive property, skateboarder follows me in. Asks what I'm doing here and I say "delivering the census" and ask what he's up to. "I live here" is the reply and sure enough he kicks up his board and disappears in the front door. I knock on the door, aware it's the long form version that is to be delivered. As per usual, I get invited inside (never saw what a small house looked like on the inside!) and chat with the family only to quickly figure out that they own not only one of the local papers, but dozens of them.around the world.
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: Amazon Echo Show
Bob --
Amazon story for you. I paid my way through college playing the hits on an Indiana radio station. A pal who worked there with me left for a career in the technology side of broadcasting -- helped get Sirius and XM on, same with WWE Network and more, then took early retirement.
He's an auto racing nut, so -- being from Indiana -- one of the places he bought was a small, middle-class house within walking distance of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Most don't realize the largest annual single-day event in the world is the Indy 500 -- and the NASCAR event there, the Brickyard 400, draws tens of thousands of fans, as well.
On Friday night, my pal needed something from Menard's (a midwestern version of Home Depot), and something from a health food store. Neither retailer had what he wanted -- so, he goes home and orders it on Amazon. Being a Prime member, he gets two-day free delivery.
Problem was that two-day meant Sunday -- the day of the Brickyard 400 -- and the streets are closed and traffic in the area is nothing short of total gridlock.
Midday Sunday, there is a knock on my friend's door -- there is a guy on his front porch on a bike...with a box from Amazon.
He explained that Amazon drove a semi to a supermarket parking lot a couple of miles away -- and hired couriers on bicycles to deliver in that area where no cars or trucks could move.
"Sir," he told my astonished friend, "we can't let a little thing like 100,000 people temporarily in the area prevent Amazon from keeping its promise."
Every retailer wants to bitch that Amazon and e-retailing is what's killing them. That's only part of the story.
It's because no other company is so committed to customers that they would take a semi to a supermarket parking lot and hire bicycle couriers at their own expense to keep their promise.
They'd rather keep grinding harder on the old plan that doesn't work anymore.
Scott McKain
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: Reviews Are Everything
I was looking the the other day at a newer film company call Broad Green and one of their films called Wish Upon:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=wishupon.htm To your point I went back to look at the daily grosses:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=wishupon.htm As you can see, the film opened sort of ok on Friday but fell on Sat and Sun-the game was over on Friday night about 10 pm.
In the old days (80"s) we could get three days-no more. These folks spent about 20 million plus on a product that the audience did not care for. That fact was knowable before release but marketers somehow think that they can spin the product.
It is true that product that delivers to an audience can also be mis marketed but if the product doesn't work with a definable audience-as we used to say- gornisht helfen.
Michael Harpster
http://www.orangegrovefilms.com/
http://www.wetransmedia.com/
_________________________________________
From: Jason Kronick
Subject: Re: Reviews Are Everything
100% I get 4-5 calls every week due 25 5star reviews from yelp. .I don't pay dime.... (piano technician)
_________________________________________
Subject: Re: Warner Music Revenue Soars
Bob... vinyl hasn't peaked. That WSJ article is using an incredible click-bait-y title. We've already shown that there's growth in our mid-year sales report. Much more detailed than anything in the WSJ article.
Jeffrey Smith
Public Relations | Strategic Partnerships
Discogs | Discogs.com | @thejeffreysmith
_________________________________________
From: Billy Fields
Subject: RE: Warner Music Revenue Soars
Bob,
That WSJ article is NOT correct and I'm the cat that was quoted.
There is no correlation between quality issues and slowing vinyl sales. Truth is, the vast majority of labels are doing fine work when it comes to making LPs. Some suck at it, but there's nothing new here-it's how it's always been. You got good players and bad players.
Vinyl sales through mid-year:
Discogs: +13.92%
Nielsen: +3.2%
BuzzAngle: +20.4%
What business (any business) has 11 straight years of growth and is still going up? You say it yourself every time you wax rhapsodic about your favorite music-your best memories revolve around the record! …and there's nothing wrong with that.
Stop telling your readers that vinyl sales are over. They are here to stay, albeit, a niche segment of revenue inside the larger streaming business.
I think it was the same outlet, WSJ, that said sales of new vinyl would eclipse $1B this year…
B
_________________________________________
Subject: Neil Shah's vinyl piece is a total fabrication.
Don't get snookered by Shah's bullshit or Nielsen's numbers Bob.
1) Nielsen/Soundscan claims about single digit (millions) annual vinyl sales?
Well URP alone pressed well over 11 MILLION records last year.
Rainbo close to 10 MILLION
RTI close to 4 MILLION
QRP closer to 2 MILLION
And there are many more presses in America working at full capacity.
VINYL IS NOT "OVER" NOR HAS IT PEAKED.
And then there are European giants like Record Industry, GZ Media and Pallas and Optimal and many others.
At least 60 million records were pressed worldwide last year and not to sit on wholesaler or retail shelves (nor do they).
The records are selling. Nielsen/Soundscan is a leaky sieve of defective information collecting.
https://www.analogplanet.com/content/why-wsj-writer-neil-shahs-career-over
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/08/09/wall-street-journal-neil-shah-fabrication/
"Last week, contradicting Nielsen/Soundscan's reports, Sony Music revealed that revenue from physical formats, namely CDs and vinyl, jumped to $304 million for Q1 2017. It also reported increasing sales in prior financial quarters."
Michael Fremer
editor, analogplanet.com
senior contributing editor, Stereophile
_________________________________________
From: Barbara Barna Abel
Subject: Re: Charlottesville
LOVE your newsletter and often tweet about it. This finally got me to write to the mailbag:
"P.P.S. The left is so deep into identity politics they've lost touch with the greater good. Until Democrats unite to win, the party is hopeless."
Damn right. We're at a get-over-ourselves tipping point. Alas, it's nothing new. It's a running gag in Life of Brian when the would-be radicals can't get anything done because they can't stop arguing about their name: The Judean People's Front vs. The People's Front of Judea.
I saw this first hand when I was member of the Women's Action Coalition in the early 90s. The group did powerful and impactful actions but I was gobsmacked when planning for the March for Women's Lives in 1992 was derailed by:
- a petite woman loudly complaining that she was not accommodated (nay, not heard) by the cost-effective decision to order one-size-fits-all L/XL T-shirts for the group.
- vigorous debate on what age a boy becomes a man in deference to a small group of lesbian separatists who were concerned about having men on the bus from Washington DC that put out many women with children (both cis-gender and LGBTQ.) In the end there were multiple buses.
Just thinking about it triggers me.
Barbara Barna Abel
Brooklyn, NY
_________________________________________
From: Peter Benedek
Subject: Re: Bill de Blasio Will Push for Tax on Wealthy to Fix Subway
And ya know what, the people who pay the tax should get free metro cards good for the year.
_________________________________________
From: Marlon Young
To: Bob Lefsetz
Re: Greta Van Fleet
Thank you for the kind words,
Glad you are digging the ep!!
More coming soon, and it's just as great, or better.
_____
From: Bob Lefsetz
To: Marlon Young
Re: Greta Van Fleet
Tell me more about yourself and how you became involved with Greta Van Fleet!
_____
From: Marlon Young
To: Bob Lefsetz
Re: Greta Van Fleet
I feel like I'm typing my life story to you
And pretty sure that's not what you asked!! Ha
_____
From: Bob Lefsetz
To: Marlon Young
Re: Greta Van Fleet
It is!!! Type away!
_____
From: Marlon Young
To: Bob Lefsetz
Re: Greta Van Fleet
I was born in Pontiac Michigan,
I started playing guitar at 3 or 4 years old.
My father was a great guitar player and singer, but like his father who came here
From Alabama he went to work for General Motors,
He played on the weekends and packed
The same 300-400 seat club for years,
By the age of 10 I was sitting in with his band, playing anything from Merle haggard to CCR to Elvis
I had some bands as a teen
Then at some point around 12 grade
Just didn't care about it.
I met a girl in bama while visiting my grandparents and moved the min I graduated.
That lasted 1 1/2 to 2 years.
I came home and you guessed it got a job at a factory!!
Started playing in pick up bands again
A lot of country bars
But blues rock hell whatever we needed to do to get paid our 75 bucks plus drinks!!
11 years in the plant and on and off music
Then they closed the plant.
I was lost , dating a girl who was connected at the u a w I asked her to get me in skilled trades at a plant,
She said but you can't let music get in the way, and it's still odd to me to this day, she was late for work on the morning we were having this long talk about me giving up
And getting a solid job,
Well she left, about 4 hours later
The phone rings, it's someone I never met from Minneapolis who says he manages a girl named Shannon curfman, who Clive had signed.
Would I like to audition ,the recommendation was from jack holder ( black oak Arkansas) who I had met once in a studio in Nashville,
So I call my girl tell her hold off on the job, ha
Go audition the next week and 2 days later I'm on stage in Orlando opening
For mellencamp.
That ends, I decide to come to la
Where Shannon had moved to try and write, Clive hates everything we did
Shannon gets dropped and I'm back to square one.
Then I'm in a studio in Burbank and I bump into kid rock, I had played with him briefly before the Atlantic deal.
I reconnect and play on a track for him.
I meet his long time engineer al Sutton.
We become buds
He asked me to come to Detroit to play on some records for him,
So I do,
He says hey kid rock is kinda talking about doing a new record maybe with Rick Rubin and may need some songs,
So I start writing, I give al a song called
"Blue jeans and a rosary "
He takes it to kid, and kid hits me says I'm cutting it, plays it for Rubin who gave it thumbs up.
Then Bob invites me to his studio and we just start writing,
I end up helping him with like 7 songs on the rock and roll Jesus record.
Which Rubin didn't do, kid and Cavollo did.
Then we wrote the entire born free record together which was done by Rubin.
I had the pleasure to be on those sessions and meet and hear Blake mills, and a bunch of great players.
I have been writing and touring with kid since 2007
Now to Greta
al calls me one day and says this band came in the studio that you should come in and work on with me,
We have done many records together as producers , most of which never got signed cpl did pop evil,
Another called citizen zero
Anyway that band he called about was Gretta, they already had some things cut we cut some moreI sent it to my legal nick Ferrara who sent it to flom.
I was floored by them, I know they sound like Zeppelin but it's real,
They grew up listening to their dads collection, he is a blues man so it's howling wolf, Dixon, jimmy reed
And I guess that's the same shit page and plant listened to!!
So that's kinda my story ,
I aspire to produce, and help find young great talent. So maybe after your post I won't be so unknown!! Haha
Thank you for asking about me,
I would also like to know more about you,
I've picked up a lot from your writings but still don't know a lot.
Again thank you so much for the kind words.
P.s
Check out Billy Raffoul another
Young kid I found in Detroit area,
Levitan has him now.
_________________________________________
From: Songpickr
Subject: Re: Spotify Suggestions
Hi Bob,
Sitting at LAX, killing some time and waiting for my flight back to Berlin.
It's been about 2,5 years ago (March 2015) that you wrote about my little Songpickr playlist and named it the "Playlist of the Year".
https://open.spotify.com/user/holgerchristoph/playlist/6YwIqXS0auLevGXID24D7C?si=0yOok3nr
I still keep doing the list but a lot has changed in the ecosystem. Not my curation but the way Spotify treat independent user playlists for example. They have taken back full editorial control. Has anybody noticed they have deleted all user playlists from Browse end of August 2015? It's a wonder the press did not pick this up. Official word is because of "Playola" but nobody ever offered me money, I have never asked for money, I have never accepted money. Of course I cannot speak for other curators. Truth is they realized the value of curation and engagement with their audience. Why leave it to anybody else?
Has anybody noticed they removed in-client user to user communication / messaging? That they have removed "discovered in playlist xyz" in the "About" tab on artist pages which was an important traffic driver for user playlists? Sure, everybody knows and most love "Discover Weekly", "Release Radar" and other data driven personalization efforts. All this is eating into traffic for user curated playlist. And it's hard if you do anything beyond Urban, Dance, Pop, Top50.
It would be easy to growth-hack, feature what's trending and hot. SEO optimize by using the biggest stars and hits. Target to teens and twens. But this would be so boring. Why do what everybody else is doing? I am still looking for timeless, organic, authentic, real artists with great songs. I am catering to 40+ users to be honest. Not many playlists target these users and if they do it is around legacy acts. I don't live in the past. I am influenced by the past but I want to surface new talent. Most people stop discover new music when they turn 35-40. Why is that? Because they feel they are out of touch with culture and trends. They think new music sucks. Look at the charts. There's nothing in for me. But that perception is wrong. There is more talent and great music than ever. There is fantastic new music! The War on Drugs, Sturgill Simpson, The Alabama Shakes, Dan Auerbach made it. Do you know David Ramirez, Tyler Childers, The Teskey Brothers, Benjamin Booker or The Texas Gentlemen? You will hear from them, believe me! Their talent is undeniable. And these are just a handful random examples.
Many of the artists who have been featured in my Songpickr playlist very early - often with under 1.000 plays - now have Mio of streams or are signed to bigger Indie and even Major labels, some got synch deals, got festival gigs, radio airplay, even Grammy's and at least increased their fan base.
I am not taking credit for breaking any of the above mentioned artists and my playlist is far from driving Mio of streams. All I am hoping for that real music still has a chance and that music fans find something exciting beyond the mainstream. That has been my motivation and will forever be my motivation.
Hope you still enjoy my curation and find new music you love.
Kind regard,
Songpickr
Subject: Re: Comparing Mediabase Charts
Hey, Bob.
I remember a few weeks ago our radio rep telling us that our single wasn't testing well in Chicago and the very next day we got a report from management saying that Chicago was our NUMBER ONE streaming market on Spotify. That's quite telling.
(please keep this anonymous if reposting).
_________________________________________
Subject: RE: Comparing Mediabase Charts
Still my favorite:
Joel Adams 315,000,000 streams, 0 plays on Mediabase.
Peter Paterno, Esq.
King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, LLP
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From: chris stein
Subject: Re: Google's Hip-Hop Video
Back in the old days when we did one of our few appearances on SNL, we got to choose a second musical act that'd play on the show. We asked the Funky Four Plus One More. Long story short this is generally considered to be the first national appearance of a Hip Hop act on live US TV. But the thing is this: I was desperate for the group to perform along with their DJ scratching. But try and explain scratching to the uninitiated, it's tough. After negotiations with the SNL tech crew it all came down to one small missing patch cord that the group needed to supply. A couple of the very amused kids were sent in a limo to their respective apartments but came up empty. The Funky Four wound up playing to a tape.
It was close. (Fab 5's inbox has been exploding all day btw!)
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From: Jeff Bhasker
Subject: Re: Why We've Got No Protest Music
Dear Bob,
Regarding this topic and article you missed the big one: no draft.
I had a long think about this question while I was working on my protest album Born On the Forth of July
https://m.soundcloud.com/kravenworks/sets/billykravenbornonthefourthofjuly
and that's what I came up with.
At the time, that was the culture. Now it is not. Which is also why hip hop is streaming.
It's an expression of culture in a racially charged time. Streaming has desegregated music and made it free.
Too bad the message is get high and rich and celebrate the self. But hey, times haven't really changed that much.
JB
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From: Quincy Jones
Subject: Re: Re-Citizen Cope
My Brother Roberto....By the way...in 1963, Paul Anka wrote the "B-Side for Leslie Gores's 1st single:.."It's My Party"...it was titled:.."Danny"..we met to discuss this at a cafe on 57th st..with his manager...Irving Feld..whose dream back then, was to Own Ringling Bros. Circus...keep reflecting on all of this kinda stuff....Sorry 2 bother U, but I had to get it out...\(^o^)/...Big huggies 2 U & Felice...XoXo...Love Y'awl...Quincy
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Subject: Re: Bieber Stops
Hi Bob,
It's Beth Winer, Urge Overkill's manager.
This post really hit home.
Urge has chosen to stay off the road and tour minimally to prevent the very things you are talking about.
Maybe they'll hit the road again. We'll see. If everyone feels good about it. The thought of it seems scary. We take baby steps.
When Urge released "Exit the Dragon," in 1995, the plug was pulled on the tour primarily because of the health of the band.
There are no regrets.
The stuggles you talk about are real, and each musician and manager knows that it is a very personal and difficult decision to know how much touring is effective and rewarding financially and personally, and how much is tipping the scales towards risking lives.
Every day one of my artists is alive is another day I am hopeful the conservative decisions I make are the correct ones.
Love your blog.
Take care,
Beth Winer
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Subject: Re: The Defiant Ones-Episode Two
Hey Bob-I'm finally getting around to watching this series and it's been great. Just finished episode two five minutes ago and I've been saving your e-mails to read once I watched the show. And yes, you are correct sir, that was Jimmy & Stevie at Richard Perry's Studio 55. I cut my teeth working for Richard from 1980-1987 and remember those days of Jimmy cutting Stevie and Bob Seger at 55 very well. I actually met Seger for the first time as we stood next to each other in the 55 head, relieving ourselves...he could not have been nicer. But more than anything I just wanted to give a shoutout to Richard Perry. Perhaps he's not as famous as Jimmy now but he truly is one of the great record producers of all time. And while his reputation certainly proceeds him there is no question he made some of the greatest records of all time. As the opening line of his bio once read, "he has produced more hits by more artists over a longer period of time than any producer in the history of recorded music". I think that still holds true. Richard was one of a kind, the last of the great "song" producers and a man who had his own label and owned his own studio long before it was the in vogue thing to do. THE DEFIANT ONES has made me think of those days at Studio 55 when I got to work with and run into the greatest artists and producers on a daily basis...how lucky I am!
Brad Rosenberger
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Subject: Re: Noel Monk's Van Halen Book
Hi Bob,
A very interesting write re Noel Monk. Your mentioning Blackie Lawless brings back memories.
I signed Blackie and WASP when I was at Capitol Records. I saw them live at The Troubadour, was blown away with the live show. It was a hard sell at the company, successful here but bigger in Europe. That had a great manager Rob Smallwood. He made the difference, as you succinctly noted with regards to Mr. Monk.
Don
Don Grierson
Music Industry Consultant / Executive Producer / A&R
www.dongrierson.com
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Subject: RE: Is All Publicity Good Publicity?
Bob,
I have worked for several founders, some successful some wildly so. The key is vision, a 'screw the rules' attitude, relentlessness, and speed. Corporate 'adults' are about process, professionalism, and other CYA and kumbayah hogwash necessary to live together on a ship going nowhere fast. We brought in a big company exec who was going to help us "grow to the next level," and all we got were processes, meetings to plan meetings, and a falling stock price. All the creative and fun people left, and the drones stayed. Ever try to innovate in a big company? Their systems and processes are designed to minimize risk, not exploit an opportunity. Uber did just that and not having Kalanick at the helm will make them as boring and irrelevant as Apple is with Tim Cook.
Rich
richard eichen
managing principal
return on efficiency, llc
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From: Les Garland
Subject: RE: The First Day In August
hi bob...it was on the first day of august (back in '81) when mtv: music television launched...it's true that people have never looked at music the same way again :-)
best to you,
garland
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Subject: Hype and HAIM
Hi Bob
Overtime I hear you talk about hype, the band HAIM pops into my head. Undoubtedly talented, the band gets a ton of press, and yet... have they ever put out anything that sparks the popular imagination? What is up with them? Am I missing something or do they just have a really good publicist?
Dave Richards
Yafrekinmonke
http://www.npr.org/2017/07/30/540097793/haim-has-something-to-tell-you-about-sisterhood-and-songwriting
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From: WAM
Subject: Re: Dude, I'm Still Alive!
Too bad music isn't.... still alive that is...
Take a look at this photo of a metal club in NJ - Dingbatz:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8577455,-74.147588,3a,75y,360h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s3IXlwu4Co9nejA-g7w1erw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Note the street sign
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From: James Spencer
Subject: Re: Ozark
Yep, VERY addictive show...Next season, Byrd should mosey over to Branson, and bankroll a production show..As one who's worked in Vegas shows, believe me, you can squander a HUGE ton of dough, very quickly, financing these extravaganzas..Great money laundering scam!
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From: Coleman Sisson
Subject: Re: Tesla Model 3
I am a 60-year-old techie and my dad (mechanic) wanted a reliable truck to haul stuff in. My mother wanted a pink Cadillac (she got one). I drive a Z06 corvette. My 27-year-old son wants a Tesla and my 15-year-old son doesn't want to drive at all. He says he won't need to. Shit is changing, Bob, and it's always for the better.
Keep up the great work. I love reading your stuff and I read every book you recommend…usually to the end. ;-)
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Subject: Re: Garth Brooks At The Forum
Bob,
Back on January 31, 1993, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena hosted the Super Bowl. Garth was the Halftime Show. He was HUUUGE at the time, playing The Forum on Friday, two nights prior.
Anyway, for a few days prior to game day, the NFL builds a mini city outside of the hosting Super Bowl venue called "The Super Bowl Experience". On Saturday, the day before the game, I drive over to check it out. It was a chilly day, even lightly drizzling. Walking among the food stands and such, I saw a tiny little stage (empty), with not much more than a small group of people obviously waiting for something to happen. Maybe like 50-100 people. I asked one of them what they were waiting for and was told that Garth Brooks was going to come out to play. I knew that Garth was in town to play the Halftime Show (and The Forum), but um, I was pretty certain that these people had it wrong; Garth wasn't coming…maybe if we're lucky, one of his band members might pop out to entertain for a few minutes.
But ok, I'll stand here with the rest of these fools and see if there's even a tiny possibility that anyone associated with Garth's crew might come out.
A few minutes later, HOLY FUCK, Garth himself strolls out onto this tiny stage with his acoustic guitar, greets the crowd and asks if it was ok that he played a few songs for us. ARE U FRICKING KIDDING? He played for a good 30-45 minutes and all the hits people wanted to hear. I was SHOCKED. No fanfare, no billboards, no advance info that I had seen anywhere. But he did come out. He did play. And he was GREAT. And humble. And gracious. And not worried a bit about the rather small size of the crowd (nothing like the 20k at The Forum the night before). Nor was he worried about the cold and the drizzle.
I became a fan and a believer right there. I'll never forget it!
John Van Nest
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Subject: Re: Garth Brooks At The Forum
I met Garth back in 1993 at Jeff Hanna/Matraca Bergs wedding in Nashville. He was exactly as Joe Walsh described him. I talked to him for about an hour and it was special.
Such a regular guy and so engaging.
Val Garay
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Subject: RE: Protest Music
Bob,
Barry McGuire??? You've got to be kidding. "Eve of Destruction" was an incredible song, but give credit where is credit is due; to the writers, P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri, and Lou Adler.
The real pioneering artists of that period were, of course, The Weavers, and in particular, Pete Seeger, but also Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman; and of course Joan Baez, an early supporter and believer in Bob Dylan, who helped nurture his career early on.
Tim Hardin was another great writer; "Reason To Believe," "The Lady Came from Baltimore," "If I Were A Carpenter," "Misty Roses," and others. One can only imagine how many more important songs he would've penned had he not died so young.
All the best,
Seymour Stein
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Subject: RE: Protest Playlist
Hey Bob,
Very good choices all around! I would add one Bob Dylan song: "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll." This one needs the listener's full attention, but it's well worth it. Dylan weaves the story carefully event by event, one outrage after another. At each step, he warns us that we shouldn't be upset yet, but wait for more. And when the final punchline comes, it hits like a hammer, and we can finally let our outrage explode. The event that it chronicles really happened and should be a much more prominent part of our country's racial history.
Best,
John Boylan
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From: Gary Dell'Abate
Subject: Re: The Vice Video
I watch Vice News every night. It's the best news on TV.
But that report was on a different level. They literally took you inside the entire weekend.
And the reporter was never confrontational or contentious.
No need. The alt right people's words and thoughts are so powerful you can judge for yourself.
I hope this gets folks watching because the quality of the show is amazing.
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Subject: Re: The Room Where It Happens
All true Bob. I was an Italian kid from the south shore of Long Island who was lucky enough to get into Hamilton, a great Little Ivy school like Middlebury, in 1979. It was a world of blue blazers, khaki pants and penny loafers and private school kids who spoke Connecticut english through partially clenched teeth whose parents were white shoe law firm partners and Bank presidents. Leave It To Beaver on steroids. Needless to say, I had very little in common with my classmates but hey, I was there for the education, or so I told myself. And an education was what I got but not in the way that I thought I would and certainly not an education that had anything to do with music. But being with the sons and daughters of the high and mighty for those four years, I learned how they lived, how they talked, how they thought, who and what they valued. I learned how to watch. I learned most importantly how to hang. Not just to be 'in the room' but to how to stay there. I have found it is both an art and a skill and a useful one. It gave me the confidence to sit down with some of the most famous and talented people in the history of music and feel like I belonged.
Michael Pagnotta
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From: Jonathan Bock
Subject: Re: The Room Where It Happens
Bob, love your stuff.
I grew up in Appleton WI and then went to Yale. We share a lot in common. Learning how to manage as a middle class kid in a rich kid culture. I applied to middlebury and actually got in, but then I got into Yale. I was a classical pianist and guitarist and a good singer and poor kid, and got into acapella there at Yale in the Spizzwinks and then the Whiffenpoof's and it changed my world. I eventually went to medical school and became a vocal cord surgeon - Laryngologist/ENT.
What struck me is that these are all real people who are just 5 steps ahead. They were mostly awesome people. They actually loved me and I loved them. They didn't wish me ill- just didn't know or understand my world. I went home in the summers to throw logs in a paper mill while they did unpaid internships or travelled. I was doing 12 hour overnight shifts at a wood pulp mill in Kimberly Wisconsin. I'd come back to Yale in the fall and hear what these kids were doing and I was like, "I threw logs, and drank Busch Light at campfires".
I'm now one of the only trained vocal cord surgeons in Wisconsin, and an associate professor at the med school in Milwaukee.
http://doctors.froedtert.com/PhysicianDirectory/BockJonathanM.htm
And I still perform with a pretty successful cover band here as lead singer and guitarist. Playing at the Wisconsin State Fair in 2 weeks!
http://www.bockenplautz.com/
Let me know if you're here ever in Milwaukee and dinner is on me.
JB
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From: Peter Burnside
Subject: Re: The Room Where It Happens
This reminds me of a story from when I was in university. I was offered an opportunity to do the census to make some extra money Figured it would be my middle class hood but instead I got the primo old money neighbourhood in Toronto. Learned some major life lessons over the few weeks I had to go door to door and hand out the short or dreaded long form census.
First lesson. People in the mansions were universally polite. This is class. I'm some just out of high school kid (OK I did go to private school with their kids so was not totally out of place) but they were all really nice to me, some kid making a few bucks an hour knocking on their door and handing out government forms. Even those who got stuck with the mega form were just "Oh well, bad luck for us!" The jerks in the same hood in the small houses were totally different. With the exception of the seniors who were happy to chat with anybody, they were just nasty. I was taking time of their busy lives and heaven help me if I had to drop off the long form, they went ballistic. Assholes who thought they mattered.
So I keep seeing some kid on a skateboard delivering newspapers while I'm dropping forms. After several days we acknowledge each other. On one of my last days I enter the gates of some massive property, skateboarder follows me in. Asks what I'm doing here and I say "delivering the census" and ask what he's up to. "I live here" is the reply and sure enough he kicks up his board and disappears in the front door. I knock on the door, aware it's the long form version that is to be delivered. As per usual, I get invited inside (never saw what a small house looked like on the inside!) and chat with the family only to quickly figure out that they own not only one of the local papers, but dozens of them.around the world.
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Subject: Re: Amazon Echo Show
Bob --
Amazon story for you. I paid my way through college playing the hits on an Indiana radio station. A pal who worked there with me left for a career in the technology side of broadcasting -- helped get Sirius and XM on, same with WWE Network and more, then took early retirement.
He's an auto racing nut, so -- being from Indiana -- one of the places he bought was a small, middle-class house within walking distance of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Most don't realize the largest annual single-day event in the world is the Indy 500 -- and the NASCAR event there, the Brickyard 400, draws tens of thousands of fans, as well.
On Friday night, my pal needed something from Menard's (a midwestern version of Home Depot), and something from a health food store. Neither retailer had what he wanted -- so, he goes home and orders it on Amazon. Being a Prime member, he gets two-day free delivery.
Problem was that two-day meant Sunday -- the day of the Brickyard 400 -- and the streets are closed and traffic in the area is nothing short of total gridlock.
Midday Sunday, there is a knock on my friend's door -- there is a guy on his front porch on a bike...with a box from Amazon.
He explained that Amazon drove a semi to a supermarket parking lot a couple of miles away -- and hired couriers on bicycles to deliver in that area where no cars or trucks could move.
"Sir," he told my astonished friend, "we can't let a little thing like 100,000 people temporarily in the area prevent Amazon from keeping its promise."
Every retailer wants to bitch that Amazon and e-retailing is what's killing them. That's only part of the story.
It's because no other company is so committed to customers that they would take a semi to a supermarket parking lot and hire bicycle couriers at their own expense to keep their promise.
They'd rather keep grinding harder on the old plan that doesn't work anymore.
Scott McKain
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Subject: Re: Reviews Are Everything
I was looking the the other day at a newer film company call Broad Green and one of their films called Wish Upon:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=wishupon.htm To your point I went back to look at the daily grosses:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=wishupon.htm As you can see, the film opened sort of ok on Friday but fell on Sat and Sun-the game was over on Friday night about 10 pm.
In the old days (80"s) we could get three days-no more. These folks spent about 20 million plus on a product that the audience did not care for. That fact was knowable before release but marketers somehow think that they can spin the product.
It is true that product that delivers to an audience can also be mis marketed but if the product doesn't work with a definable audience-as we used to say- gornisht helfen.
Michael Harpster
http://www.orangegrovefilms.com/
http://www.wetransmedia.com/
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From: Jason Kronick
Subject: Re: Reviews Are Everything
100% I get 4-5 calls every week due 25 5star reviews from yelp. .I don't pay dime.... (piano technician)
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Subject: Re: Warner Music Revenue Soars
Bob... vinyl hasn't peaked. That WSJ article is using an incredible click-bait-y title. We've already shown that there's growth in our mid-year sales report. Much more detailed than anything in the WSJ article.
Jeffrey Smith
Public Relations | Strategic Partnerships
Discogs | Discogs.com | @thejeffreysmith
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From: Billy Fields
Subject: RE: Warner Music Revenue Soars
Bob,
That WSJ article is NOT correct and I'm the cat that was quoted.
There is no correlation between quality issues and slowing vinyl sales. Truth is, the vast majority of labels are doing fine work when it comes to making LPs. Some suck at it, but there's nothing new here-it's how it's always been. You got good players and bad players.
Vinyl sales through mid-year:
Discogs: +13.92%
Nielsen: +3.2%
BuzzAngle: +20.4%
What business (any business) has 11 straight years of growth and is still going up? You say it yourself every time you wax rhapsodic about your favorite music-your best memories revolve around the record! …and there's nothing wrong with that.
Stop telling your readers that vinyl sales are over. They are here to stay, albeit, a niche segment of revenue inside the larger streaming business.
I think it was the same outlet, WSJ, that said sales of new vinyl would eclipse $1B this year…
B
_________________________________________
Subject: Neil Shah's vinyl piece is a total fabrication.
Don't get snookered by Shah's bullshit or Nielsen's numbers Bob.
1) Nielsen/Soundscan claims about single digit (millions) annual vinyl sales?
Well URP alone pressed well over 11 MILLION records last year.
Rainbo close to 10 MILLION
RTI close to 4 MILLION
QRP closer to 2 MILLION
And there are many more presses in America working at full capacity.
VINYL IS NOT "OVER" NOR HAS IT PEAKED.
And then there are European giants like Record Industry, GZ Media and Pallas and Optimal and many others.
At least 60 million records were pressed worldwide last year and not to sit on wholesaler or retail shelves (nor do they).
The records are selling. Nielsen/Soundscan is a leaky sieve of defective information collecting.
https://www.analogplanet.com/content/why-wsj-writer-neil-shahs-career-over
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/08/09/wall-street-journal-neil-shah-fabrication/
"Last week, contradicting Nielsen/Soundscan's reports, Sony Music revealed that revenue from physical formats, namely CDs and vinyl, jumped to $304 million for Q1 2017. It also reported increasing sales in prior financial quarters."
Michael Fremer
editor, analogplanet.com
senior contributing editor, Stereophile
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From: Barbara Barna Abel
Subject: Re: Charlottesville
LOVE your newsletter and often tweet about it. This finally got me to write to the mailbag:
"P.P.S. The left is so deep into identity politics they've lost touch with the greater good. Until Democrats unite to win, the party is hopeless."
Damn right. We're at a get-over-ourselves tipping point. Alas, it's nothing new. It's a running gag in Life of Brian when the would-be radicals can't get anything done because they can't stop arguing about their name: The Judean People's Front vs. The People's Front of Judea.
I saw this first hand when I was member of the Women's Action Coalition in the early 90s. The group did powerful and impactful actions but I was gobsmacked when planning for the March for Women's Lives in 1992 was derailed by:
- a petite woman loudly complaining that she was not accommodated (nay, not heard) by the cost-effective decision to order one-size-fits-all L/XL T-shirts for the group.
- vigorous debate on what age a boy becomes a man in deference to a small group of lesbian separatists who were concerned about having men on the bus from Washington DC that put out many women with children (both cis-gender and LGBTQ.) In the end there were multiple buses.
Just thinking about it triggers me.
Barbara Barna Abel
Brooklyn, NY
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From: Peter Benedek
Subject: Re: Bill de Blasio Will Push for Tax on Wealthy to Fix Subway
And ya know what, the people who pay the tax should get free metro cards good for the year.
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From: Marlon Young
To: Bob Lefsetz
Re: Greta Van Fleet
Thank you for the kind words,
Glad you are digging the ep!!
More coming soon, and it's just as great, or better.
_____
From: Bob Lefsetz
To: Marlon Young
Re: Greta Van Fleet
Tell me more about yourself and how you became involved with Greta Van Fleet!
_____
From: Marlon Young
To: Bob Lefsetz
Re: Greta Van Fleet
I feel like I'm typing my life story to you
And pretty sure that's not what you asked!! Ha
_____
From: Bob Lefsetz
To: Marlon Young
Re: Greta Van Fleet
It is!!! Type away!
_____
From: Marlon Young
To: Bob Lefsetz
Re: Greta Van Fleet
I was born in Pontiac Michigan,
I started playing guitar at 3 or 4 years old.
My father was a great guitar player and singer, but like his father who came here
From Alabama he went to work for General Motors,
He played on the weekends and packed
The same 300-400 seat club for years,
By the age of 10 I was sitting in with his band, playing anything from Merle haggard to CCR to Elvis
I had some bands as a teen
Then at some point around 12 grade
Just didn't care about it.
I met a girl in bama while visiting my grandparents and moved the min I graduated.
That lasted 1 1/2 to 2 years.
I came home and you guessed it got a job at a factory!!
Started playing in pick up bands again
A lot of country bars
But blues rock hell whatever we needed to do to get paid our 75 bucks plus drinks!!
11 years in the plant and on and off music
Then they closed the plant.
I was lost , dating a girl who was connected at the u a w I asked her to get me in skilled trades at a plant,
She said but you can't let music get in the way, and it's still odd to me to this day, she was late for work on the morning we were having this long talk about me giving up
And getting a solid job,
Well she left, about 4 hours later
The phone rings, it's someone I never met from Minneapolis who says he manages a girl named Shannon curfman, who Clive had signed.
Would I like to audition ,the recommendation was from jack holder ( black oak Arkansas) who I had met once in a studio in Nashville,
So I call my girl tell her hold off on the job, ha
Go audition the next week and 2 days later I'm on stage in Orlando opening
For mellencamp.
That ends, I decide to come to la
Where Shannon had moved to try and write, Clive hates everything we did
Shannon gets dropped and I'm back to square one.
Then I'm in a studio in Burbank and I bump into kid rock, I had played with him briefly before the Atlantic deal.
I reconnect and play on a track for him.
I meet his long time engineer al Sutton.
We become buds
He asked me to come to Detroit to play on some records for him,
So I do,
He says hey kid rock is kinda talking about doing a new record maybe with Rick Rubin and may need some songs,
So I start writing, I give al a song called
"Blue jeans and a rosary "
He takes it to kid, and kid hits me says I'm cutting it, plays it for Rubin who gave it thumbs up.
Then Bob invites me to his studio and we just start writing,
I end up helping him with like 7 songs on the rock and roll Jesus record.
Which Rubin didn't do, kid and Cavollo did.
Then we wrote the entire born free record together which was done by Rubin.
I had the pleasure to be on those sessions and meet and hear Blake mills, and a bunch of great players.
I have been writing and touring with kid since 2007
Now to Greta
al calls me one day and says this band came in the studio that you should come in and work on with me,
We have done many records together as producers , most of which never got signed cpl did pop evil,
Another called citizen zero
Anyway that band he called about was Gretta, they already had some things cut we cut some moreI sent it to my legal nick Ferrara who sent it to flom.
I was floored by them, I know they sound like Zeppelin but it's real,
They grew up listening to their dads collection, he is a blues man so it's howling wolf, Dixon, jimmy reed
And I guess that's the same shit page and plant listened to!!
So that's kinda my story ,
I aspire to produce, and help find young great talent. So maybe after your post I won't be so unknown!! Haha
Thank you for asking about me,
I would also like to know more about you,
I've picked up a lot from your writings but still don't know a lot.
Again thank you so much for the kind words.
P.s
Check out Billy Raffoul another
Young kid I found in Detroit area,
Levitan has him now.
_________________________________________
From: Songpickr
Subject: Re: Spotify Suggestions
Hi Bob,
Sitting at LAX, killing some time and waiting for my flight back to Berlin.
It's been about 2,5 years ago (March 2015) that you wrote about my little Songpickr playlist and named it the "Playlist of the Year".
https://open.spotify.com/user/holgerchristoph/playlist/6YwIqXS0auLevGXID24D7C?si=0yOok3nr
I still keep doing the list but a lot has changed in the ecosystem. Not my curation but the way Spotify treat independent user playlists for example. They have taken back full editorial control. Has anybody noticed they have deleted all user playlists from Browse end of August 2015? It's a wonder the press did not pick this up. Official word is because of "Playola" but nobody ever offered me money, I have never asked for money, I have never accepted money. Of course I cannot speak for other curators. Truth is they realized the value of curation and engagement with their audience. Why leave it to anybody else?
Has anybody noticed they removed in-client user to user communication / messaging? That they have removed "discovered in playlist xyz" in the "About" tab on artist pages which was an important traffic driver for user playlists? Sure, everybody knows and most love "Discover Weekly", "Release Radar" and other data driven personalization efforts. All this is eating into traffic for user curated playlist. And it's hard if you do anything beyond Urban, Dance, Pop, Top50.
It would be easy to growth-hack, feature what's trending and hot. SEO optimize by using the biggest stars and hits. Target to teens and twens. But this would be so boring. Why do what everybody else is doing? I am still looking for timeless, organic, authentic, real artists with great songs. I am catering to 40+ users to be honest. Not many playlists target these users and if they do it is around legacy acts. I don't live in the past. I am influenced by the past but I want to surface new talent. Most people stop discover new music when they turn 35-40. Why is that? Because they feel they are out of touch with culture and trends. They think new music sucks. Look at the charts. There's nothing in for me. But that perception is wrong. There is more talent and great music than ever. There is fantastic new music! The War on Drugs, Sturgill Simpson, The Alabama Shakes, Dan Auerbach made it. Do you know David Ramirez, Tyler Childers, The Teskey Brothers, Benjamin Booker or The Texas Gentlemen? You will hear from them, believe me! Their talent is undeniable. And these are just a handful random examples.
Many of the artists who have been featured in my Songpickr playlist very early - often with under 1.000 plays - now have Mio of streams or are signed to bigger Indie and even Major labels, some got synch deals, got festival gigs, radio airplay, even Grammy's and at least increased their fan base.
I am not taking credit for breaking any of the above mentioned artists and my playlist is far from driving Mio of streams. All I am hoping for that real music still has a chance and that music fans find something exciting beyond the mainstream. That has been my motivation and will forever be my motivation.
Hope you still enjoy my curation and find new music you love.
Kind regard,
Songpickr
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Thursday 17 August 2017
Spotify Suggestions
http://spoti.fi/2iaCId0
"Come"
Jain
This has 44,634,669 streams on Spotify and 66,937,245 on YouTube and you'll think there's nothing special until you hit the chorus/hook and then you'll find you're hooked. Two minutes and forty seconds of specialness. Maybe we're returning to that era, a pullback from the seventies ethos where acts wanted to be able to stretch out to a full album side, as long as they cared to. But a lot of those extended plays were dreck, whereas today if you've got somebody's attention you want to deliver, immediately, make your mark and leave.
This isn't in French, but her accent is so heavy it'll take you a few plays to realize she's singing in English. (Or is she..?)
Furthermore, it was released originally nearly two years ago.
And there was a TV push, she was on Colbert earlier this year, but we're no longer living in the nineties, when being on Letterman was a badge of honor and made a difference, it's nearly irrelevant these days, grants you a video at most, no, you've got to make it on streaming services and Jain has, just not in America, but now since "Despacito"...
Granted there are a lot more Latinos then French people in the U.S., but have barriers been broken, has the definition of a hit single broadened? Put Bieber on this and it's Top Five, guaranteed. You can't listen without moving your head, it just makes you feel good, whatever it means.
Meanwhile, Jain is charismatic/adorable, check out the video, it's French in a way that is entrancing, all about minimalist style. The video put "Despacito" over the top. Today, when tracks take so long to build could "Come" still make it?
I think so!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDXOzr0GoA4&feature=youtu.be
And she was excellent on Colbert: http://bit.ly/2plW91i
"Letra (feat. JC Ramirez)"
Sweet
That Sweet?
I have no idea, on both Spotify and iTunes they're crediting the old English band, is this a sample, even though I don't hear it, but I couldn't find anything whatsoever on Google, it's a black hole. But if you let this play in the background you'll find yourself nodding your head, despite once again being unable to understand what they're singing about, unless you speak Spanish.
This stood out in my Discover Weekly playlist.
"House of the White Rose Bouquet"
Ray Wylie Hubbard
As did this. I had to wake up my phone to see who it was. And I've always heard Ray's name, but never been hooked.
But this time...
The production is superior to his voice, but Ray's telling a story.
This is the essence of not only country, but music, it's what truly bonds us to an act, when they leave a little blood on the saddle. You'll either get this or you won't, but if you do...
"Woulda Left Me Too"
Ryan Griffin
This is not a hit, but the song is. Yup, like in the days of Clive's Arista, when he asked prospective A&R people what unrecognized/unheralded songs when covered could be hits.
This is a great line, "woulda left me too," like the old days of country, it's the twist that closes you.
A ready-made hit for a non-writer star in Nashville.
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"Come"
Jain
This has 44,634,669 streams on Spotify and 66,937,245 on YouTube and you'll think there's nothing special until you hit the chorus/hook and then you'll find you're hooked. Two minutes and forty seconds of specialness. Maybe we're returning to that era, a pullback from the seventies ethos where acts wanted to be able to stretch out to a full album side, as long as they cared to. But a lot of those extended plays were dreck, whereas today if you've got somebody's attention you want to deliver, immediately, make your mark and leave.
This isn't in French, but her accent is so heavy it'll take you a few plays to realize she's singing in English. (Or is she..?)
Furthermore, it was released originally nearly two years ago.
And there was a TV push, she was on Colbert earlier this year, but we're no longer living in the nineties, when being on Letterman was a badge of honor and made a difference, it's nearly irrelevant these days, grants you a video at most, no, you've got to make it on streaming services and Jain has, just not in America, but now since "Despacito"...
Granted there are a lot more Latinos then French people in the U.S., but have barriers been broken, has the definition of a hit single broadened? Put Bieber on this and it's Top Five, guaranteed. You can't listen without moving your head, it just makes you feel good, whatever it means.
Meanwhile, Jain is charismatic/adorable, check out the video, it's French in a way that is entrancing, all about minimalist style. The video put "Despacito" over the top. Today, when tracks take so long to build could "Come" still make it?
I think so!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDXOzr0GoA4&feature=youtu.be
And she was excellent on Colbert: http://bit.ly/2plW91i
"Letra (feat. JC Ramirez)"
Sweet
That Sweet?
I have no idea, on both Spotify and iTunes they're crediting the old English band, is this a sample, even though I don't hear it, but I couldn't find anything whatsoever on Google, it's a black hole. But if you let this play in the background you'll find yourself nodding your head, despite once again being unable to understand what they're singing about, unless you speak Spanish.
This stood out in my Discover Weekly playlist.
"House of the White Rose Bouquet"
Ray Wylie Hubbard
As did this. I had to wake up my phone to see who it was. And I've always heard Ray's name, but never been hooked.
But this time...
The production is superior to his voice, but Ray's telling a story.
This is the essence of not only country, but music, it's what truly bonds us to an act, when they leave a little blood on the saddle. You'll either get this or you won't, but if you do...
"Woulda Left Me Too"
Ryan Griffin
This is not a hit, but the song is. Yup, like in the days of Clive's Arista, when he asked prospective A&R people what unrecognized/unheralded songs when covered could be hits.
This is a great line, "woulda left me too," like the old days of country, it's the twist that closes you.
A ready-made hit for a non-writer star in Nashville.
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Letterman On Stern
We underestimate talent.
Used to be we were looking for the unique voice, now me-tooism reigns. Maybe it's the millennial ethos of fitting in, where boomers were all about being square pegs in a round hole, letting their freak flags fly.
And technically, David Letterman is a baby boomer.
Now most people leave TV and are instantly forgotten. Did Jay Leno really host the "Tonight Show"? And does anybody under forty even know who Johnny Carson was? And to tell you the truth, I was addicted to Dave at 12:35, but ultimately lost interest at 11:35, the show was slicker, less wacky and more formulaic, but then Dave retired.
And grew a hillbilly beard and morphed into a cantankerous grandpa that we just cannot get enough of, even though we know so little.
And I've stopped watching late night TV all together, except for Bill Maher and John Oliver on HBO, the former because he'll speak the truth, the latter because he goes so deep, and Maher's "New Rules" is far superior to "Weekend Update" and Oliver created a new formula and that's what late night talk shows have become, a formula.
But they weren't when Dave took over. Or at least he shook them up. He turned late night into a comedy show, with bits, but now he's into interviewing like his predecessor and mentor Johnny.
But I don't need to repeat Dave's CV, his history, other than to say he's signed a deal for six shows with Netflix. Netflix stole comedy from HBO and Disney is delusional if it believes we're gonna pay a separate fee to view their wares. In music we have everything in one place for one small monthly fee, in TV/movies it's like being pecked to death by ducks. Hell, I'd cut the cord if Spectrum didn't charge me almost as much just for internet, it's a racket I tell you.
And Howard gets overeager with these big celebrities, he wants to get all his questions in, but Dave hung back, didn't interrupt, waited for calm to appear, and then cracked one funny joke after another.
Well, not that quickly. It wasn't Rodney Dangerfield rat-a-tat-tat. He waited for his moments, and then without set-up, without announcing he was gonna drop one, he came out with lines so funny I burst out laughing, even though I was listening on headphones and no one else was there.
Howard brought up Dave's mother Dorothy's death. Letterman said she died at 96. That she was playing racquet ball just the day before.
You almost believed him. After all, she seemed so young and healthy on his show.
But of course it wasn't true. And the way Dave revealed this was both self-deprecatory and hysterical at the same time. As if you were in the basement with your teenage buddies and your friend had gotten you with a joke.
This was not brief.
That's why Dave said he wouldn't go on talk shows. Because the producer would say he had to fill eight minutes, with previously delineated stories, there could be no holes. Whereas on satellite, which I listened to via the app, when I wanted to, on demand, Letterman could stretch out.
He didn't want to leave.
A pro knows when to go. After eighty minutes Dave took his exit. But you could tell this was the highlight of his day. Performers like to perform. And we like to be with people, even if we are famous.
And being famous...
Friends come to visit the Lettermans in Montana. And at the end of the day, Dave, his wife Regina and son Harry do a post mortem, oftentimes asking each other of recalcitrant guests...WHEN ARE THEY GONNA LEAVE?
That's family, those intimate moments, when you share truth, when you're all on the same page.
And yes, Dave denigrated guests. Talked about taking up skiing at 63. And the changes in his personality.
Which Howard seconded, talking about himself. One learned more about Howard in this one interview than we do in a year's worth of shows.
Jerry Seinfeld comes over regularly. Billy Joel too. Howard's part of the club, and you didn't lament your loss of status in the gutter with him as much as want to be included in this group.
Howard and Dave both testified about Jerry. How he's always doing something, breaking the mold. And this was inspirational.
And Howard and Dave talked about Dave's dinner with Steve. You had no idea who they were talking about, and then Dave said his wife enjoyed it, but didn't think she could do it again, she felt inadequate, because Steve was so ESTEEMED!
It was Steve Martin.
And there was this great story about going to Jack Paar's house and realizing the host had gone to bed when Dave and his producer Hal Gurnee were still at the dinner table.
It was old Hollywood. As in an era when our entertainers were much more interesting than our business people. When it was less about wealth than access. When you believed if you could just gain status you too could be graced by the words and jokes of these household names.
Howard and Dave earned their status. And neither of them partake of this access that often. They feel uncomfortable. That's right, if guests come to your house do you have to entertain them? Do you have to contribute comedy at the dinner table? These guys were just as anxious in social situations as you and me.
But they were talking about it.
You won't learn how to be famous. There are not a plethora of anecdotes. Dave is a bit hoarse from just flying back from India. But in these days where we're connected but isolated, typing to each other in front of a screen, it's a revelation to just hear two people talk.
Especially when one is so skewed and so experienced that he can throw off punch lines that get you squealing.
Yes, these are maladjusted people. You come away believing that Dave really hates himself that much.
But on some level, DON'T WE ALL?
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Used to be we were looking for the unique voice, now me-tooism reigns. Maybe it's the millennial ethos of fitting in, where boomers were all about being square pegs in a round hole, letting their freak flags fly.
And technically, David Letterman is a baby boomer.
Now most people leave TV and are instantly forgotten. Did Jay Leno really host the "Tonight Show"? And does anybody under forty even know who Johnny Carson was? And to tell you the truth, I was addicted to Dave at 12:35, but ultimately lost interest at 11:35, the show was slicker, less wacky and more formulaic, but then Dave retired.
And grew a hillbilly beard and morphed into a cantankerous grandpa that we just cannot get enough of, even though we know so little.
And I've stopped watching late night TV all together, except for Bill Maher and John Oliver on HBO, the former because he'll speak the truth, the latter because he goes so deep, and Maher's "New Rules" is far superior to "Weekend Update" and Oliver created a new formula and that's what late night talk shows have become, a formula.
But they weren't when Dave took over. Or at least he shook them up. He turned late night into a comedy show, with bits, but now he's into interviewing like his predecessor and mentor Johnny.
But I don't need to repeat Dave's CV, his history, other than to say he's signed a deal for six shows with Netflix. Netflix stole comedy from HBO and Disney is delusional if it believes we're gonna pay a separate fee to view their wares. In music we have everything in one place for one small monthly fee, in TV/movies it's like being pecked to death by ducks. Hell, I'd cut the cord if Spectrum didn't charge me almost as much just for internet, it's a racket I tell you.
And Howard gets overeager with these big celebrities, he wants to get all his questions in, but Dave hung back, didn't interrupt, waited for calm to appear, and then cracked one funny joke after another.
Well, not that quickly. It wasn't Rodney Dangerfield rat-a-tat-tat. He waited for his moments, and then without set-up, without announcing he was gonna drop one, he came out with lines so funny I burst out laughing, even though I was listening on headphones and no one else was there.
Howard brought up Dave's mother Dorothy's death. Letterman said she died at 96. That she was playing racquet ball just the day before.
You almost believed him. After all, she seemed so young and healthy on his show.
But of course it wasn't true. And the way Dave revealed this was both self-deprecatory and hysterical at the same time. As if you were in the basement with your teenage buddies and your friend had gotten you with a joke.
This was not brief.
That's why Dave said he wouldn't go on talk shows. Because the producer would say he had to fill eight minutes, with previously delineated stories, there could be no holes. Whereas on satellite, which I listened to via the app, when I wanted to, on demand, Letterman could stretch out.
He didn't want to leave.
A pro knows when to go. After eighty minutes Dave took his exit. But you could tell this was the highlight of his day. Performers like to perform. And we like to be with people, even if we are famous.
And being famous...
Friends come to visit the Lettermans in Montana. And at the end of the day, Dave, his wife Regina and son Harry do a post mortem, oftentimes asking each other of recalcitrant guests...WHEN ARE THEY GONNA LEAVE?
That's family, those intimate moments, when you share truth, when you're all on the same page.
And yes, Dave denigrated guests. Talked about taking up skiing at 63. And the changes in his personality.
Which Howard seconded, talking about himself. One learned more about Howard in this one interview than we do in a year's worth of shows.
Jerry Seinfeld comes over regularly. Billy Joel too. Howard's part of the club, and you didn't lament your loss of status in the gutter with him as much as want to be included in this group.
Howard and Dave both testified about Jerry. How he's always doing something, breaking the mold. And this was inspirational.
And Howard and Dave talked about Dave's dinner with Steve. You had no idea who they were talking about, and then Dave said his wife enjoyed it, but didn't think she could do it again, she felt inadequate, because Steve was so ESTEEMED!
It was Steve Martin.
And there was this great story about going to Jack Paar's house and realizing the host had gone to bed when Dave and his producer Hal Gurnee were still at the dinner table.
It was old Hollywood. As in an era when our entertainers were much more interesting than our business people. When it was less about wealth than access. When you believed if you could just gain status you too could be graced by the words and jokes of these household names.
Howard and Dave earned their status. And neither of them partake of this access that often. They feel uncomfortable. That's right, if guests come to your house do you have to entertain them? Do you have to contribute comedy at the dinner table? These guys were just as anxious in social situations as you and me.
But they were talking about it.
You won't learn how to be famous. There are not a plethora of anecdotes. Dave is a bit hoarse from just flying back from India. But in these days where we're connected but isolated, typing to each other in front of a screen, it's a revelation to just hear two people talk.
Especially when one is so skewed and so experienced that he can throw off punch lines that get you squealing.
Yes, these are maladjusted people. You come away believing that Dave really hates himself that much.
But on some level, DON'T WE ALL?
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Billy Raffoul
http://bit.ly/2vHq9ut
If this were the nineties, he'd already be a star.
That's the power of video, that's the power of a monoculture.
You won't get it if you listen to the new single "Driver" on Spotify. You won't even get it if you listen to the version of "Dark Four Door" on Spotify. But if you watch the above video, you'll be closed!
Oh, I know, I know, some of you will say it's manipulated, it's over-dramatic, but somehow Billy Raffoul's performance is the antidote to everything popular today. It's simple, it's one man and his guitar, singing from his gut, there's an authenticity emerging from his soul.
But maybe it's because he's Canadian.
Canada is different. It's harder to be gigantic, but it's easier to get noticed, and the government supports you, such that there's a broader swath of music making it, not just hip-hop and pop.
So you watch this video and want to see Raffoul live. A guy who didn't bother to change his name to "Keys" or "Legend," there's no fakery involved.
And if you're in the target demo, and I mean under the age of 25, if you're not jaded, having seen it all, Raffoul speaks to you, and embodies the part, i.e. the girls want to get next to him and the boys want to be him. Never ever underestimate the power of one person and a guitar. If you can convey your story sans effects...
Now you've got to credit Frank Ockenfels, who shot this clip. Everybody's got a camera today, but few know how to use it. And without the swirling images too often employed in this supposedly short attention span era, you can't take your eyes off of Raffoul, he's all there is.
Now Raffoul may enter through the side door. He's the featured vocalist on one track of Avicii's new EP. And I won't say it's blown up, but in one week it's had greater play than that of any of Raffoul's cuts which have been in the marketplace longer. And the truth is today, anything that starts hot usually fails, not that Avicii's EP can't fail either, but now it's not about bludgeoning the gatekeepers but penetrating the public consciousness, getting people familiar with a song/sound and having them spread the word and listen until it blows up.
So, it used to be the label pushed the button and you were a star. Or didn't get off the starting line and failed miserably. But we knew your story, we knew you were coming.
And the truth is we still know hip-hop artists are coming, there's a whole culture there.
But it's nonexistent elsewhere. It's like after a war. Bombed out, people numb, unable to pick up the pieces. Everybody but hip-hoppers and popsters missed the streaming memo.
But will acts like Billy Raffoul emerge in the aftermath? Acts you want to see not to clip your coupon but to bond with the emotion of live?
Time will tell.
But Billy's a secret today.
He should be more than that.
Avicii - "You Be Love" (feat. Billy Raffoul): http://spoti.fi/2vHmeht
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If this were the nineties, he'd already be a star.
That's the power of video, that's the power of a monoculture.
You won't get it if you listen to the new single "Driver" on Spotify. You won't even get it if you listen to the version of "Dark Four Door" on Spotify. But if you watch the above video, you'll be closed!
Oh, I know, I know, some of you will say it's manipulated, it's over-dramatic, but somehow Billy Raffoul's performance is the antidote to everything popular today. It's simple, it's one man and his guitar, singing from his gut, there's an authenticity emerging from his soul.
But maybe it's because he's Canadian.
Canada is different. It's harder to be gigantic, but it's easier to get noticed, and the government supports you, such that there's a broader swath of music making it, not just hip-hop and pop.
So you watch this video and want to see Raffoul live. A guy who didn't bother to change his name to "Keys" or "Legend," there's no fakery involved.
And if you're in the target demo, and I mean under the age of 25, if you're not jaded, having seen it all, Raffoul speaks to you, and embodies the part, i.e. the girls want to get next to him and the boys want to be him. Never ever underestimate the power of one person and a guitar. If you can convey your story sans effects...
Now you've got to credit Frank Ockenfels, who shot this clip. Everybody's got a camera today, but few know how to use it. And without the swirling images too often employed in this supposedly short attention span era, you can't take your eyes off of Raffoul, he's all there is.
Now Raffoul may enter through the side door. He's the featured vocalist on one track of Avicii's new EP. And I won't say it's blown up, but in one week it's had greater play than that of any of Raffoul's cuts which have been in the marketplace longer. And the truth is today, anything that starts hot usually fails, not that Avicii's EP can't fail either, but now it's not about bludgeoning the gatekeepers but penetrating the public consciousness, getting people familiar with a song/sound and having them spread the word and listen until it blows up.
So, it used to be the label pushed the button and you were a star. Or didn't get off the starting line and failed miserably. But we knew your story, we knew you were coming.
And the truth is we still know hip-hop artists are coming, there's a whole culture there.
But it's nonexistent elsewhere. It's like after a war. Bombed out, people numb, unable to pick up the pieces. Everybody but hip-hoppers and popsters missed the streaming memo.
But will acts like Billy Raffoul emerge in the aftermath? Acts you want to see not to clip your coupon but to bond with the emotion of live?
Time will tell.
But Billy's a secret today.
He should be more than that.
Avicii - "You Be Love" (feat. Billy Raffoul): http://spoti.fi/2vHmeht
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Wednesday 16 August 2017
The Vice Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P54sP0Nlngg
Nothing happens fast anymore.
Last week Vice was a news outlet for youngsters, not the prepubescent set the music industry caters to, but the late teens to thirtysomethings with a brain who like to stay informed, who like to mull over issues and form their own opinions, absent the ravings of dictatorial oldsters who believe they know better, these same personages who called the election wrong, who marginalized Bernie Sanders and dismissed Donald Trump, heard anything about Debbie Wasserman Schultz recently?
Today, Vice is the purveyor of note, the breakthrough news service, the one with the embedded reporter letting the right wing protesters speak for themselves, but standing up to them when they show no remorse and get the facts wrong.
We're used to journalism grads. Coiffed and pampered, people looking like robots who read the news sans emotion, told that no opinion should be exuded or expressed. And that's how we got into this mess, false equivalencies in the media.
Or else we've got the bloviators, believing their opinion is correct, yelling over anybody who dares to interrupt them.
And now we've got this young woman who looks like the audience allowing the perpetrators to tell their own story.
I heard about it from Felice first. She's addicted to the HBO show, she watches it every night, but she doesn't tell me about it every night, but this time she did. That's the essence of today's society, you have to create something that ignites word of mouth. And too many lowest common denominator players believe that means train-wreck content, that which gets you to drop your jaw and stop. But train-wreck doesn't last, it's seen for what it is, candy, and you can't live on candy, you need protein.
Then Jake called me from Toronto. Had to iMessage me the link. It was that powerful. And Vice didn't advertise it, didn't take a victory lap, but it did post it to YouTube for all to see. Just like with Spotify, while oldsters and the ignorant are bitching they're getting ripped-off, upstarts use the new tools to get ahead. That's right, while rockers were bitching about getting paid, rappers were posting their content on Soundcloud and Spotify and suddenly hip-hop became the sound of the nation. Not that any news outlet picked up on this, they were too busy repeating the protestations of the oldsters. Come on, when was the last time David Lowery had a hit, impacted the culture?
So the Vice video was lying in wait, for people to see it. Once again, the enemy is not nonpayment, but OBSCURITY!
So I watched it. Jake was so passionate about it. Not only do you respect the opinions of friends, you want to be a member of the club, you want to be able to talk intelligently, discuss what you've seen.
And you cannot watch the Vice video without feeling like you're being pulled into an alternative reality that was somehow not depicted in the mainstream media. We got the usual story. ABOUT something instead of the real thing. But watching the Vice video you were truly in the belly of the beast.
And when I watched it the Vice video had under a million views. Was this truly possible? Had the counter not just caught up?
So I tweeted about it. Because I couldn't help myself, I was that moved. And I e-mailed Tom Freston, who shepherded MTV into the stratosphere and now helps guide Vice. Because you give kudos when due.
And then I got in my car and every news outlet was talking about it.
That's right, I listen to the news in my car. On the satellite. That's one reason to sign up for Sirius in these challenging times. They've got Fox and CNN and MSNBC and more, and I flip between them to get the different viewpoints, to get the lay of the land.
And they're all mentioning the Vice video.
There was no promotion, the print media was far behind, hell, the L.A. "Times" app didn't even feature the Trump story, half a day after it had happened.
This is how the modern world works.
You labor in obscurity for years, unable to break through, and then you get lucky. It's not like the Vice majordomos sat in their office and rubbed their palms and declared this was gonna be their breakthrough moment, this is what they do, every weeknight on HBO, all over their websites. But they got lucky.
I know, I know, it's hard to employ that term in the midst of a national crisis, when three people died, I still haven't gotten over how Heather Heyer perished, never mind those two state troopers in the helicopter. But what touched me in my Twitter feed today was the GoFundMe for Tyler Magill, who suffered a stroke as a "result of blunt force trauma to his carotid artery after he was hit with a Torch on Friday night." (https://www.gofundme.com/tylers-stroke-of-genius) And in one day, $66,240 has been donated.
And now 2,245,310 people have watched the Vice video on Charlottesville.
People are mislabeled, they're seen as somnambulant, self-centered pricks who just don't give a damn. But this is untrue. Think of all those people who donated to Tyler. Think of all those people who just had to watch the Vice video.
Nothing stays the same. We thought after the fall of the wall tyrants were done in Eastern Europe. Hell, after the treaty we believed that nukes were on the wane.
We thought network news was forever.
But then the screw turned.
News turned into an on demand item, constantly available. And although Al Jazeera failed in America, after mountains of publicity, Vice has started to gain steam, by doing it just a little bit different, telling the stories people are truly interested in, at length, because people have time for all that is riveting, and while you're railing about talking heads on cable you're gonna miss the takeover of the news by this upstart who has been there for years, but whose time has come.
Yesterday Vice finally had a hit. And in today's world, one hit makes you a star. Most acts can't follow that hit, there's no there there, but not with Vice, it's been making content for years, there's more where that came from, all eyes are on Vice today.
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Nothing happens fast anymore.
Last week Vice was a news outlet for youngsters, not the prepubescent set the music industry caters to, but the late teens to thirtysomethings with a brain who like to stay informed, who like to mull over issues and form their own opinions, absent the ravings of dictatorial oldsters who believe they know better, these same personages who called the election wrong, who marginalized Bernie Sanders and dismissed Donald Trump, heard anything about Debbie Wasserman Schultz recently?
Today, Vice is the purveyor of note, the breakthrough news service, the one with the embedded reporter letting the right wing protesters speak for themselves, but standing up to them when they show no remorse and get the facts wrong.
We're used to journalism grads. Coiffed and pampered, people looking like robots who read the news sans emotion, told that no opinion should be exuded or expressed. And that's how we got into this mess, false equivalencies in the media.
Or else we've got the bloviators, believing their opinion is correct, yelling over anybody who dares to interrupt them.
And now we've got this young woman who looks like the audience allowing the perpetrators to tell their own story.
I heard about it from Felice first. She's addicted to the HBO show, she watches it every night, but she doesn't tell me about it every night, but this time she did. That's the essence of today's society, you have to create something that ignites word of mouth. And too many lowest common denominator players believe that means train-wreck content, that which gets you to drop your jaw and stop. But train-wreck doesn't last, it's seen for what it is, candy, and you can't live on candy, you need protein.
Then Jake called me from Toronto. Had to iMessage me the link. It was that powerful. And Vice didn't advertise it, didn't take a victory lap, but it did post it to YouTube for all to see. Just like with Spotify, while oldsters and the ignorant are bitching they're getting ripped-off, upstarts use the new tools to get ahead. That's right, while rockers were bitching about getting paid, rappers were posting their content on Soundcloud and Spotify and suddenly hip-hop became the sound of the nation. Not that any news outlet picked up on this, they were too busy repeating the protestations of the oldsters. Come on, when was the last time David Lowery had a hit, impacted the culture?
So the Vice video was lying in wait, for people to see it. Once again, the enemy is not nonpayment, but OBSCURITY!
So I watched it. Jake was so passionate about it. Not only do you respect the opinions of friends, you want to be a member of the club, you want to be able to talk intelligently, discuss what you've seen.
And you cannot watch the Vice video without feeling like you're being pulled into an alternative reality that was somehow not depicted in the mainstream media. We got the usual story. ABOUT something instead of the real thing. But watching the Vice video you were truly in the belly of the beast.
And when I watched it the Vice video had under a million views. Was this truly possible? Had the counter not just caught up?
So I tweeted about it. Because I couldn't help myself, I was that moved. And I e-mailed Tom Freston, who shepherded MTV into the stratosphere and now helps guide Vice. Because you give kudos when due.
And then I got in my car and every news outlet was talking about it.
That's right, I listen to the news in my car. On the satellite. That's one reason to sign up for Sirius in these challenging times. They've got Fox and CNN and MSNBC and more, and I flip between them to get the different viewpoints, to get the lay of the land.
And they're all mentioning the Vice video.
There was no promotion, the print media was far behind, hell, the L.A. "Times" app didn't even feature the Trump story, half a day after it had happened.
This is how the modern world works.
You labor in obscurity for years, unable to break through, and then you get lucky. It's not like the Vice majordomos sat in their office and rubbed their palms and declared this was gonna be their breakthrough moment, this is what they do, every weeknight on HBO, all over their websites. But they got lucky.
I know, I know, it's hard to employ that term in the midst of a national crisis, when three people died, I still haven't gotten over how Heather Heyer perished, never mind those two state troopers in the helicopter. But what touched me in my Twitter feed today was the GoFundMe for Tyler Magill, who suffered a stroke as a "result of blunt force trauma to his carotid artery after he was hit with a Torch on Friday night." (https://www.gofundme.com/tylers-stroke-of-genius) And in one day, $66,240 has been donated.
And now 2,245,310 people have watched the Vice video on Charlottesville.
People are mislabeled, they're seen as somnambulant, self-centered pricks who just don't give a damn. But this is untrue. Think of all those people who donated to Tyler. Think of all those people who just had to watch the Vice video.
Nothing stays the same. We thought after the fall of the wall tyrants were done in Eastern Europe. Hell, after the treaty we believed that nukes were on the wane.
We thought network news was forever.
But then the screw turned.
News turned into an on demand item, constantly available. And although Al Jazeera failed in America, after mountains of publicity, Vice has started to gain steam, by doing it just a little bit different, telling the stories people are truly interested in, at length, because people have time for all that is riveting, and while you're railing about talking heads on cable you're gonna miss the takeover of the news by this upstart who has been there for years, but whose time has come.
Yesterday Vice finally had a hit. And in today's world, one hit makes you a star. Most acts can't follow that hit, there's no there there, but not with Vice, it's been making content for years, there's more where that came from, all eyes are on Vice today.
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Tuesday 15 August 2017
Protest Playlist
http://spoti.fi/2i45KLh
"We Can't Make It Here"
James McMurtry
2006
My favorite track of the century, although I do prefer the acoustic take rushed out for the election that is now hard to find, it's my most played song in my iTunes library with an indelible hook that is undeniable, the words are just an accessory, but it's the words that the track is remembered for.
Check out this YouTube video of the acoustic take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug
"Fuck Tha Police"
N.W.A.
1988
Believe me, they didn't play this on MTV, it's a track you read about more than heard, but it it incited imitators and ultimately revolution, known as the L.A. Riots of 1992, in the wake of the Rodney King trial, it's then we learned that everything said by N.W.A. and Ice-T was true. Yup, you live in a bubble, you've got no idea what's happening in others' worlds even though you think you do. You decry the hillbillies hooked on dope, you read J.D. Vance's book, the right wing prick who hooked up with the wrongheaded Peter Thiel and feel good about yourself. Why are African-Americans the problem? Put yourself in their shoes, your race identifiable by the color of your skin, with a legacy of enslavement, but too many whites just think black people are takers, as they wear their jeans low, baseball caps sideways and rap along to their records.
"Ohio"
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
1970
Written in the wake of Kent State. Great art is about inspiration, whereas everything today is belabored. Neil Young got a bolt of inspiration and wrote and had the band record this almost immediately, it was on the airwaves with its undeniable guitar sound while we were still licking our wounds.
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
Bob Dylan
1965
I could quote "Masters Of War," Blowin' In The Wind," "The Times They Are A-Changin'," but this is the one that resonates with me.
By time Dylan hit the big time, his protest days were behind him. But due to the efforts of his manager, Albert Grossman, his songs were covered and known in the folk world, his reputation was sealed. That's right, the work you're doing now, when no one is paying attention, just might be that which cements your reputation.
Now you should listen to this because of the truth screaming from every lyric. That's what we want from art, the unvarnished truth, because it resonates.
My favorite verse:
"For them that obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Do what they do just to be
Nothing more than something they invest in"
And the irony today is that this applies to many of the so-called "winners," doing jobs they hate for the money, like in finance.
Ah, what the hell, I'll quote one more:
"While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in"
Sound like today?
https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/its-alright-ma-im-only-bleeding/
"Eve Of Destruction"
Barry McGuire
1965
We barely knew what the Vietnam War was. And suddenly there was this song emanating from the transistor informing us the world was doomed.
It certainly looked like it.
But then the youth rebelled and changed minds about the military industrial state and ultimately the war was stopped.
And then all these protesters sold out, had babies and became best friends with their progeny whose idea of rocking the boat is sending nude selfies online.
"Ain't Got No"
"Hair (Original Broadway Cast Recording)"
1968
The "Hamilton" of its day, but much more ubiquitous, its songs were remade into huge, dominating singles on AM radio, from "Good Morning, Starshine" to "Easy To Be Hard" to "Aquarius"...
My mother was and is a culture vulture, she bought the original OFF BROADWAY cast album from 1967, we played it incessantly, I'm including that take which is a bit different, I prefer it.
"Hamilton" has untold impact, it's just that it takes so much longer to percolate and rise to the top today.
"My Shot"
"Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)"
2015
The hip-hop ethos filtered down to its original essence.
It starts with belief and desire, you've got to believe in yourself and desire the goal. People have no idea how hard it takes to make it, those who try and lose get it a bit, and those who've won can't believe they've made it, it's akin to climbing Everest without oxygen.
This is a protest against the system, in support of the individual.
Individuals change this world, never forget it!
"Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
"Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)"
2015
Featuring the famous line:
"Immigrants, we get the job done"
We're all immigrants, except for the few, abused natives. "Hamilton" brings us all together, you might not know it but it's the best and biggest musical enterprise of this decade, SEE IT! (If you can get tickets...)
"All My Trials"
Joan Baez
1960
Never underestimate her impact. She was the Taylor Swift of her day, assuming Taylor looked inward instead of throwing daggers outward.
Baez was beautiful with an exquisite voice, the women wanted to be her and the men wanted to...
The folk music, hootenanny scene got youngsters picking up the guitar, so they could play these songs and sing along. That was a regular exercise, sitting around singing songs, another thing lost to the past and the self-lionization of social media.
"Blowin' In The Wind"
Peter, Paul and Mary
1963
They made it famous. The first time most people heard Bob Dylan.
"I Ain't Marching Anymore"
Phil Ochs
1965
The power of one man and his guitar. Phil's songs may not have charted on the hit parade, but they percolated, people knew them.
"War"
Edwin Starr
1970
"What is it good for?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHIN'!"
"Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud"
James Brown
1968
That's the difference between yesterday and today, black people were protesting their underclass status and now white people are trying to maintain their superiority. James Brown instigated pride in his audience, and that should never be underestimated.
"Everyday People"
Sly and the Family Stone
1968
Music can bring people together, it's more powerful than the news, when done right it trumps all other info, "Everyday People" is INFECTIOUS!
"Get Up, Stand Up"
The Wailers
1973
Funny how this sound which was stiff upon release transcends decades and maintains, Marley wasn't just for then, he was FOREVER! This is almost hermetically sealed, you have a huge desire to get CLOSER!
"This Land Is Your Land"
Woody Guthrie
1945
Do you think he was in it for the money?
It's when you're true to the sound, to the essence, to your inner being, that you last.
And the truth is, when you last there's tons of dough. But even more, your work has impact.
That's the power of ART!
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"We Can't Make It Here"
James McMurtry
2006
My favorite track of the century, although I do prefer the acoustic take rushed out for the election that is now hard to find, it's my most played song in my iTunes library with an indelible hook that is undeniable, the words are just an accessory, but it's the words that the track is remembered for.
Check out this YouTube video of the acoustic take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug
"Fuck Tha Police"
N.W.A.
1988
Believe me, they didn't play this on MTV, it's a track you read about more than heard, but it it incited imitators and ultimately revolution, known as the L.A. Riots of 1992, in the wake of the Rodney King trial, it's then we learned that everything said by N.W.A. and Ice-T was true. Yup, you live in a bubble, you've got no idea what's happening in others' worlds even though you think you do. You decry the hillbillies hooked on dope, you read J.D. Vance's book, the right wing prick who hooked up with the wrongheaded Peter Thiel and feel good about yourself. Why are African-Americans the problem? Put yourself in their shoes, your race identifiable by the color of your skin, with a legacy of enslavement, but too many whites just think black people are takers, as they wear their jeans low, baseball caps sideways and rap along to their records.
"Ohio"
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
1970
Written in the wake of Kent State. Great art is about inspiration, whereas everything today is belabored. Neil Young got a bolt of inspiration and wrote and had the band record this almost immediately, it was on the airwaves with its undeniable guitar sound while we were still licking our wounds.
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
Bob Dylan
1965
I could quote "Masters Of War," Blowin' In The Wind," "The Times They Are A-Changin'," but this is the one that resonates with me.
By time Dylan hit the big time, his protest days were behind him. But due to the efforts of his manager, Albert Grossman, his songs were covered and known in the folk world, his reputation was sealed. That's right, the work you're doing now, when no one is paying attention, just might be that which cements your reputation.
Now you should listen to this because of the truth screaming from every lyric. That's what we want from art, the unvarnished truth, because it resonates.
My favorite verse:
"For them that obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Do what they do just to be
Nothing more than something they invest in"
And the irony today is that this applies to many of the so-called "winners," doing jobs they hate for the money, like in finance.
Ah, what the hell, I'll quote one more:
"While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in"
Sound like today?
https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/its-alright-ma-im-only-bleeding/
"Eve Of Destruction"
Barry McGuire
1965
We barely knew what the Vietnam War was. And suddenly there was this song emanating from the transistor informing us the world was doomed.
It certainly looked like it.
But then the youth rebelled and changed minds about the military industrial state and ultimately the war was stopped.
And then all these protesters sold out, had babies and became best friends with their progeny whose idea of rocking the boat is sending nude selfies online.
"Ain't Got No"
"Hair (Original Broadway Cast Recording)"
1968
The "Hamilton" of its day, but much more ubiquitous, its songs were remade into huge, dominating singles on AM radio, from "Good Morning, Starshine" to "Easy To Be Hard" to "Aquarius"...
My mother was and is a culture vulture, she bought the original OFF BROADWAY cast album from 1967, we played it incessantly, I'm including that take which is a bit different, I prefer it.
"Hamilton" has untold impact, it's just that it takes so much longer to percolate and rise to the top today.
"My Shot"
"Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)"
2015
The hip-hop ethos filtered down to its original essence.
It starts with belief and desire, you've got to believe in yourself and desire the goal. People have no idea how hard it takes to make it, those who try and lose get it a bit, and those who've won can't believe they've made it, it's akin to climbing Everest without oxygen.
This is a protest against the system, in support of the individual.
Individuals change this world, never forget it!
"Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
"Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)"
2015
Featuring the famous line:
"Immigrants, we get the job done"
We're all immigrants, except for the few, abused natives. "Hamilton" brings us all together, you might not know it but it's the best and biggest musical enterprise of this decade, SEE IT! (If you can get tickets...)
"All My Trials"
Joan Baez
1960
Never underestimate her impact. She was the Taylor Swift of her day, assuming Taylor looked inward instead of throwing daggers outward.
Baez was beautiful with an exquisite voice, the women wanted to be her and the men wanted to...
The folk music, hootenanny scene got youngsters picking up the guitar, so they could play these songs and sing along. That was a regular exercise, sitting around singing songs, another thing lost to the past and the self-lionization of social media.
"Blowin' In The Wind"
Peter, Paul and Mary
1963
They made it famous. The first time most people heard Bob Dylan.
"I Ain't Marching Anymore"
Phil Ochs
1965
The power of one man and his guitar. Phil's songs may not have charted on the hit parade, but they percolated, people knew them.
"War"
Edwin Starr
1970
"What is it good for?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHIN'!"
"Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud"
James Brown
1968
That's the difference between yesterday and today, black people were protesting their underclass status and now white people are trying to maintain their superiority. James Brown instigated pride in his audience, and that should never be underestimated.
"Everyday People"
Sly and the Family Stone
1968
Music can bring people together, it's more powerful than the news, when done right it trumps all other info, "Everyday People" is INFECTIOUS!
"Get Up, Stand Up"
The Wailers
1973
Funny how this sound which was stiff upon release transcends decades and maintains, Marley wasn't just for then, he was FOREVER! This is almost hermetically sealed, you have a huge desire to get CLOSER!
"This Land Is Your Land"
Woody Guthrie
1945
Do you think he was in it for the money?
It's when you're true to the sound, to the essence, to your inner being, that you last.
And the truth is, when you last there's tons of dough. But even more, your work has impact.
That's the power of ART!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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--
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Walmart Stands Up To Trump
"Walmart's C.E.O. Joins Group to Rebuke Trump Over Charlottesville": http://nyti.ms/2wNE2G3
What kind of crazy fucked-up world do we live in where corporations speak truth to power and artists are silent?
One in which corporations are much more powerful than artists, one in which they incite belief far exceeding that of individuals. Come on, is there a single artist you believe in as much as Nike, Apple, Amazon or Adidas! They enlarged their logos and we went right along. We wanted to advertise where our fealty was paid. Hell, I'll argue fashion is bigger than music, they lowered the price of clothing and no one bitched, allowing everyday people to change their look on a whim, and you'd think these same corporations would play it safe, worry about alienating customers.
And many still do.
But not all.
Yes, it takes a few good men, and women, to lead the way.
Like the CEO of Merck. And now Elon Musk and Bob Iger.
Musk, the new Steve Jobs, whose company depends upon government subsidies. GM killed the electric car, Musk resuscitated it, and in the not too distant future it will be the standard. Musk is an American hero. Musicians? As for Iger, Disney plays to both sides of the aisle. They've got more to lose than anybody.
But they took a stand.
Now it was different in the sixties. We had beatniks and then hippies, and college was cheap and not a trade school, and the Vietnam War had all the young worried about getting their asses shot off.
Now the young are somnambulant. Beaten into submission by economic realities. Either striving to leave the hoi polloi behind or complaining they can't make it here anymore. Trump appealed to the latter, but so far he hasn't delivered on his promises, despite his proclamations and protestations.
So what happens now?
Looks like the pushback is working.
The people stopped the demise of the ACA.
And now business leaders are saying NO MAS! They're afraid to NOT take a stand, they don't want to be aligned with a President who just doubled-down on his defense of the perpetrators on Saturday while blaming the left simultaneously.
Soon he's going to be a party of one.
They've got him on the run.
Who?
The press and the corporations.
The press needles him by speaking the truth.
The corporate titans are people he respects, who he believes are on his side, and when he finds out they're not, he's enraged.
Wasn't Walmart the enemy? Weren't they hollowing out downtowns?
True. But it turns out people are inured to low prices. And convenience. And now Amazon has eaten Walmart's lunch.
America is schizophrenic. It wants the comfort of the past while embracing the advantages of the new. Like that inane opinion piece in yesterday's L.A. "Times" telling Jeff Bezos to raise prices on books to save bookstores. Yeah, when the bookstore has every title in print, when it delivers right away to my house, when the prices are lower so I can read more.
Luddites are on the left and the right. But thank god we have some forward-thinking people pushing our nation into the future.
We love to connect with our devices.
But the Luddites keep telling us the internet will eat our brains.
Right-wingers decry subsidies to Tesla while ignoring subsidies to oil and farms.
And the public is frequently too stupid to know what's going on.
But sunlight illuminates the truth.
I'm not saying we're all gonna get along. I'm not saying either the right or the left is perfect. All I'm saying is elections are not the end of the story, just the beginning. And we have a right to stand up and be heard.
Very exciting times. Who wouldn't rather watch the news than listen to the hit parade?
"A Combative Trump Criticizes 'Alt-Left' Groups in Charlottesville": http://nyti.ms/2w85wZN
"A bookseller's advice for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos": http://lat.ms/2w3jyvM
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What kind of crazy fucked-up world do we live in where corporations speak truth to power and artists are silent?
One in which corporations are much more powerful than artists, one in which they incite belief far exceeding that of individuals. Come on, is there a single artist you believe in as much as Nike, Apple, Amazon or Adidas! They enlarged their logos and we went right along. We wanted to advertise where our fealty was paid. Hell, I'll argue fashion is bigger than music, they lowered the price of clothing and no one bitched, allowing everyday people to change their look on a whim, and you'd think these same corporations would play it safe, worry about alienating customers.
And many still do.
But not all.
Yes, it takes a few good men, and women, to lead the way.
Like the CEO of Merck. And now Elon Musk and Bob Iger.
Musk, the new Steve Jobs, whose company depends upon government subsidies. GM killed the electric car, Musk resuscitated it, and in the not too distant future it will be the standard. Musk is an American hero. Musicians? As for Iger, Disney plays to both sides of the aisle. They've got more to lose than anybody.
But they took a stand.
Now it was different in the sixties. We had beatniks and then hippies, and college was cheap and not a trade school, and the Vietnam War had all the young worried about getting their asses shot off.
Now the young are somnambulant. Beaten into submission by economic realities. Either striving to leave the hoi polloi behind or complaining they can't make it here anymore. Trump appealed to the latter, but so far he hasn't delivered on his promises, despite his proclamations and protestations.
So what happens now?
Looks like the pushback is working.
The people stopped the demise of the ACA.
And now business leaders are saying NO MAS! They're afraid to NOT take a stand, they don't want to be aligned with a President who just doubled-down on his defense of the perpetrators on Saturday while blaming the left simultaneously.
Soon he's going to be a party of one.
They've got him on the run.
Who?
The press and the corporations.
The press needles him by speaking the truth.
The corporate titans are people he respects, who he believes are on his side, and when he finds out they're not, he's enraged.
Wasn't Walmart the enemy? Weren't they hollowing out downtowns?
True. But it turns out people are inured to low prices. And convenience. And now Amazon has eaten Walmart's lunch.
America is schizophrenic. It wants the comfort of the past while embracing the advantages of the new. Like that inane opinion piece in yesterday's L.A. "Times" telling Jeff Bezos to raise prices on books to save bookstores. Yeah, when the bookstore has every title in print, when it delivers right away to my house, when the prices are lower so I can read more.
Luddites are on the left and the right. But thank god we have some forward-thinking people pushing our nation into the future.
We love to connect with our devices.
But the Luddites keep telling us the internet will eat our brains.
Right-wingers decry subsidies to Tesla while ignoring subsidies to oil and farms.
And the public is frequently too stupid to know what's going on.
But sunlight illuminates the truth.
I'm not saying we're all gonna get along. I'm not saying either the right or the left is perfect. All I'm saying is elections are not the end of the story, just the beginning. And we have a right to stand up and be heard.
Very exciting times. Who wouldn't rather watch the news than listen to the hit parade?
"A Combative Trump Criticizes 'Alt-Left' Groups in Charlottesville": http://nyti.ms/2w85wZN
"A bookseller's advice for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos": http://lat.ms/2w3jyvM
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Protest Music
It's about the money.
Why would you expect artists who've spent the complete century complaining about recorded music revenue to suddenly put their livelihoods at risk?
Those who lived through the sixties have been waiting for a reaction. Another Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, even Barry McGuire, to stand up and sing it to the man. But they don't realize it may be music, but we live in a completely different era.
Folk singers were not about the money. They were about truth and unity. This land is your land, this land is my land, instead of get off my property! That's right, that's the ethos of so much of today's audience, and performers don't want to piss them off.
Pissing people off used to be de rigueur. The essence of music. It made you question your preconceptions and yourself. Music pushed the envelope.
Now they do that in television.
You couldn't make that much money in music. You thought you were rich, and then came MTV. Suddenly everybody knew your name, your music came out on digital discs and you were richer than ever before. And when you make big coin, you become conservative. That's what disruption is all about, read "Clayton Christensen's "The Innovator's Dilemma" for explanation. It's the lazy and fat that get overtaken.
But it hasn't happened in music. Except in business. Because there's not enough money in being an artist for intelligent, talented people to come along and disrupt the scene. That's right, we haven't had a new sound this millennium. Used to be new sounds came along to replace the old ones every three or four years. Remember hair band music being replaced by grunge? It was a reaction to the sold-out spandex-clad bands putting money before sound. Hell, Kurt Cobain made it on sound, songwriting, but his authenticity was undeniable.
And then he killed himself. The machine wanted him to perform, he couldn't take it anymore
And of course there's more to the story, but that just proves the point, there's a tension between artists and businessmen, artists are frequently unstable, mentally-challenged people who channel the truth. We don't have those people anymore.
Except for the wannabes. Clamoring that they need attention, even though their music is unworthy. They'll take a risk because there are no consequences. But if you're a star...
These complacent people don't want to risk their livelihood.
In the sixties acts literally said music should be free. The exact opposite of what we've been hearing for the past seventeen years. The acts were in it with the audience, now the acts want to jet away and have nothing to do with the listeners at the same time saying they love their fans.
Which is why Jeff Bezos is so damn rich and the players are not. But the truth is everybody in Hollywood is invested in startups, envious of that cash. It's be like Camus cashing in on cars. Artists are about speaking truth to power, getting it right. No longer.
They all use the same people, making streamlined tunes to climb the chart. They want to get rich. It's one of the few ways for the uneducated to make it. And do you expect these strivers from the underclass to fully understand the world situation? These are not the middle class musicians of the sixties.
They invaded Iraq.
There was no music.
They crashed the economy.
There was no music.
Trump got elected.
There was no music.
A woman dies in Charlottesville...
Why would you expect music now?
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Why would you expect artists who've spent the complete century complaining about recorded music revenue to suddenly put their livelihoods at risk?
Those who lived through the sixties have been waiting for a reaction. Another Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, even Barry McGuire, to stand up and sing it to the man. But they don't realize it may be music, but we live in a completely different era.
Folk singers were not about the money. They were about truth and unity. This land is your land, this land is my land, instead of get off my property! That's right, that's the ethos of so much of today's audience, and performers don't want to piss them off.
Pissing people off used to be de rigueur. The essence of music. It made you question your preconceptions and yourself. Music pushed the envelope.
Now they do that in television.
You couldn't make that much money in music. You thought you were rich, and then came MTV. Suddenly everybody knew your name, your music came out on digital discs and you were richer than ever before. And when you make big coin, you become conservative. That's what disruption is all about, read "Clayton Christensen's "The Innovator's Dilemma" for explanation. It's the lazy and fat that get overtaken.
But it hasn't happened in music. Except in business. Because there's not enough money in being an artist for intelligent, talented people to come along and disrupt the scene. That's right, we haven't had a new sound this millennium. Used to be new sounds came along to replace the old ones every three or four years. Remember hair band music being replaced by grunge? It was a reaction to the sold-out spandex-clad bands putting money before sound. Hell, Kurt Cobain made it on sound, songwriting, but his authenticity was undeniable.
And then he killed himself. The machine wanted him to perform, he couldn't take it anymore
And of course there's more to the story, but that just proves the point, there's a tension between artists and businessmen, artists are frequently unstable, mentally-challenged people who channel the truth. We don't have those people anymore.
Except for the wannabes. Clamoring that they need attention, even though their music is unworthy. They'll take a risk because there are no consequences. But if you're a star...
These complacent people don't want to risk their livelihood.
In the sixties acts literally said music should be free. The exact opposite of what we've been hearing for the past seventeen years. The acts were in it with the audience, now the acts want to jet away and have nothing to do with the listeners at the same time saying they love their fans.
Which is why Jeff Bezos is so damn rich and the players are not. But the truth is everybody in Hollywood is invested in startups, envious of that cash. It's be like Camus cashing in on cars. Artists are about speaking truth to power, getting it right. No longer.
They all use the same people, making streamlined tunes to climb the chart. They want to get rich. It's one of the few ways for the uneducated to make it. And do you expect these strivers from the underclass to fully understand the world situation? These are not the middle class musicians of the sixties.
They invaded Iraq.
There was no music.
They crashed the economy.
There was no music.
Trump got elected.
There was no music.
A woman dies in Charlottesville...
Why would you expect music now?
--
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