Mailbag

From: Elliott Murphy
Subject: Re: THE SECOND ACT OF ELLIOTT MURPHY

Hi Bob,

You are the only global network that matters! I wake up in Paris this morning and there's a heads up email from Norway label head Stig Slaattun telling me about your very insightful and generous piece on my film, then another from legendary Halifax club owner Mike Campbell, and one from the great John Oates down in Nashville, and Don Zakarin, famous music biz litigator who I once worked for, and from NY's Gary Borass of GB Records and so many more …

I learned much about myself in the making of THE SECOND ACT OF ELLIOTT MURPHY and then your fine essay put it into a larger context which I found very satisfying. The music business, that all-encompassing term that means everything and nothing, continues to fascinate, frustrate and facilitate the stuff dreams are made of. And nobody quits ...

Thank you for helping to shine a little light on my distant flame.

From Paris,
Elliott Murphy

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From: Ken Kragen
Subject: RE: The Product Is Not Enough

Bob: Good piece. Several similar things I have taught in my "Stardom Strategies for Musicians" at UCLA. Let me add some to what you've said and disagree with a bit of it as well.

First, you are totally correct that you can't sell anyone on anything if you don't first get their attention. However, to do that you need to 1) Have something unique or special to promote; 2) It has to have real substance to it. In other words it has to have something people will take action on if you get their attention; and 3) It has to be unexpected!! At that moment in my classes the UCLA Marching Band bursts through the doors in full uniform and playing like crazy. When they leave I say to the class, "Now I have your attention! But where is the Marching Band in everything you do? Where is your version of it? Where is your WOW factor?"

I then go on to teach them about my discovery of "The Magic of Threes" the fact that it takes at least 3 impressions in a concentrated period of time from different directions to get anyone's attention in the sea of noise we all now live in. Social Media can in fact be one of the directions but only one as it tends to be redundant to the recipient. Now if you are trying to get the attention of a single individual you can put just three things out there in a day or two or perhaps even a week targeted specifically to the individual. However, if you are reaching out to a large audience you need to put 6, 8, 10 things out there so the recipient receives at least three of them. Look at what the movie studios do to see how they surround you with every sort of thing from print to television to on line to even billboards.

This is not a "theory" from some academic tower. It's the stuff I actually did in my years managing superstar careers (Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Travis Tritt, Trisha Yearwood and many, many others). It's based on analyzing my successes and failures and seeing what was done or not done in each case. For example, Lionel Richie closed the 1984 Olympics with the #1 song "All Night Long." Two billion or more people saw that spectacular performance and it didn't advance his career one bit. Why? Because there was nothing around it. No record release, no touring, minimal press, etc. Six months later he hosted the American Music Awards and that same night recorded the song he wrote "We Are The World" to raise money for world hunger. He was on the cover of TV Guide that week when it had the biggest circulation in the country and he did lots of press before and after the AMA. He won 6 AMA's that night and 3 Grammy's a few weeks later. And yet nowhere near the number of people saw Lionel on all those things as saw him close the Olympics. But people saw multiple things with Lionel in a concentrated period of time and his career soared.

One of the tricks to doing the above is finding a central event or piece of exposure to build around and moving other things up or back to be close to it. I've often used holidays to build things around with several record releases scheduled to be close to Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas. The key is concentration around some central event.

One other thing. I disagree with you suggestion to lie because "everybody lies..." That's exactly the reason to not do it. You get attention by doing something unique or special, something unexpected. If everybody does it you can standout by doing the opposite! I teach my students that instead of lying they should "Get Caught Telling The Truth" and business will beat a path to their door. I built my career on that principal and I now have the United Nation's PEACE MEDAL and am a proud member of the Personal Managers Hall of Fame. Tell the truth because it works!

That's more than enough response for now.

Ken

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From: Holly Gleason
Subject: Re: The Product Is Not Enough

part of why tv -- late night, morning shows, even awards shows -- doesn't matter is this:
they're always playing "the new single," instead of what's going to connect with the viewers.
Midland? in NYC this week -- with TWO Grammy nominations. on non-country-skewing "Seth Myers"
They play the new single, to people who don't KNOW them, instead of the song that earned them TWO Grammy nods.

Uhm, hello? oh, and today was named Single of the Year in the Nashville Scene's annual Country/Americana Critics Poll

i predict no sales spike. because the new single is the safe follow-up, not the interesting new sound.

when I booked Kenny Chesney on "Conan" in 2002 -- because Letterman and Leno weren't having it,
i was able to get a guy nobody wanted on the hip show by promising Jim Pitt, "We won't do the single, we'll do the song that works for you."
It was "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems," the title track of the album where Kenny owned who he (and his audience) was.

Guess what? Sales spike. Ratings spike. A look at Kenny Chesney that wasn't more of the same...

AND they re-aired that episode 3 times. How do i know? All of a sudden, we'd see a sales spike. I'd call Jim, and yup, re-run.

In 1997, I believe, a songwriter named Matraca Berg won the CMA Song of the Year for "Strawberry Wine."
i'd started working on a CMA Awards performance for her in January, for a long sad ballad about aging called "Back When We Were Beautiful."
She stood on a bare stage with a piano player, a string quartet and a vulnerable, stunning song... and killed.
Vince Gill even called her "a poet" in his introduction.
Mat's label folded four or five weeks after the performance, but every time I was saw Walter Miller *after that night, he'd say the same thing:
"Les (Moonves) told me it was one of the five best music things he's ever seen on tv... and he says it again every time we talk about putting performances on shows."

You have to know the difference. You have to be able to tell what's a hit that's fun and will drive, versus ear candy or a ballad that matters versus a slow song someone thinks is important. AND you have to know what the audience will like. Often it's not what the people in power (promotion teams, the publisher or manager, even the artist) think. It's that asking yourself the hard questions that gets you there.

But, yes, marketing is important. Because people need to know why they care.

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From: jminiman
Subject: Re: The Grammys Are More Important Than Ever

You are dead on right with this one Bob.
The example that affected me personally was my wife watching Sturgill Simpson perform "All Around You", from his album, "A Sailor's Guide to Earth", on last year's broadcast. The album ended up winning the Grammy for Best Country Album. When my wife looked up his tour dates, we decided to travel to Austin for a vacation and combine it with seeing him play a sold out show at the Austin 360 Amphitheater this past September.

Once I saw him live he sold me. I've since purchased 2 T-shirt's and all three of his albums on vinyl because I WANT to support the guy so he will keep making music.

But all of that started with my wife seeing his performance on the Grammy's. Because country radio doesn't play him.

Jim Blaney
Nashville

PS. Here is a link to the YouTube of Sturgill busking live outside the Bridgestone Arena during the CMA's last October, where his Grammy winning record didn't even garner a nomination within the Country Music Industry. He initially did this on Facebook Live, and had his Grammy award in his guitar case.

https://youtu.be/-LrKYpAgT3s

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From: steve poltz
Subject: Re: The Elliott Murphy Documentary

Hey Bob,
I love Elliott! I met him through my pal Mike Campbell who runs The Carleton in Halifax Nova Scotia. I shared an in the round session with Elliott at HUFF (Halifax Urban Folk Festival).

He was so kind and giving. We hit it off so I texted him when I was in Paris and it just so happened that he was receiving an award that day. It was Oct 1, 2012 and he was awarded The Medaille de Vermeil de Ville de Paris in a ceremony presided by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë for recognition of his career as a musician and author.

The Hotel de Ville was packed with press and fans. It was incredible to see how much he was loved. We met up the next day for coffee and he was still glowing.

I want to see this documentary but I don't see it being streamed anywhere. I don't even own a DVD player. Why isn't it available for streaming? I'd gladly pay.

Cheers,
Steve Poltz

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From: Sean Kegelman
Subject: Re: The Elliott Murphy Documentary

This is one of the things that is so great about a global streaming platform like Spotify - an artist has access to a potential audience in over 60 countries and growing. This doesn't just benefit the top 100 or top 1000 artists, everyone one of the over of hundreds of thousands gets listeners from across the globe organically - this is without even ring picked up by recommendation engines like discover weekly, daily mix, etc.
hell, my kid who is a fledgling rapper with really only promotional awareness within his high school sphere in state, has quickly picked up listeners across dozens of countries in Latam, Europe and Asia.

P.S. Forgot disclosure - I work at Spotify.

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Subject: Re: The Fall

Dear Bob,

I couldn't agree with you more about how great "The Fall" is.

A point of interest, if you're a guitar nerd, like myself, you will notice something interesting about the surnames of many of the shows characters, which makes me suspect that the The Fall's writer Allan Cubitt is a guitar nerd also.

Keep up the good work and get well soon.

Graham Gouldman

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Subject: Re: The Fall

I've been subscribed to you since I was 17 (I'm 23). And I've just woken up to your review on The Fall, I acted in the second and third series. Made my day.

Tara Lee
X

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From: Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa
Subject: Re: The Fall

"The war between Catholics and Protestants"

There was no religious war in Northern Ireland. There was a war between Irish Nationalists who wanted a united Ireland independent of the UK and the British. Those within Northern Ireland who wish to remain part of the UK are called "unionists". It always suited the British to allow people abroad - especially in the US - to think of the war in Northern Ireland as a religious one - those crazy Irish fighting over their god. They could then be seen as trying to sort the whole thing out. The truth, however, is quite different. It is true that, broadly speaking, those who wanted to stay with the UK were Protestants and those who wanted a united Ireland were Roman Catholics however that does not mean the battle was over religion. It's an important difference.

Regards

Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa (a lapsed Protestant in favour of a united Ireland)
Dublin, Ireland

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Subject: Re: Recorded Versus Live

"Traditionally you make recordings, assemble enough of them where you can go on the road and repeat them."

Being older than you, I reserve the right to disagree. :) The goal of recording used to be to try and capture the magic of live performance, typically from an act that had been honing that performance for months on the road. Then the concept got flipped to trying to recreate what happened in the studio on stage. I think one reason classic records are considered "classics" is because they benefited from the filtering that happened on the road...you found out which songs worked, which didn't, and what specific elements wowed the crowds.

Craig Anderton

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Subject: Re: Recorded Versus Live

Just listening to your Andrew Loog Oldham podcast and deep in the zone. Wonderful stuff.

It's all in the mix. In the UK we had the three pillars: record companies provided the venture capital and marketing, Radio 1 allowed people to hear the music and the NME (and Melody Maker et al) provided the story and the look. Without each part the system fell over, acts couldn't scale.

Great acts know they have to play all three. It's why I had the 'good hair, good shoes' policy at NME from 2002 onwards - it's pop, it's part of a bigger cultural conversation, and just rocking up with the tunes doesn't cut it. Andrew Oldham understood the relationship between pop music and pop fashion. You have to have something to say, you have to have a look that makes fans want to change their clothes. It happened to me with The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays in '89-91 and I wanted to inspire the next generation.

Each act will flex between radio and live and sales - the mix will be different and the tunes will always be king - but a story gives you longevity. With the death of the music press on both sides of the Atlantic that element had been dialled-down and it's sad. People want something to believe in, celebrated heroes (of any gender) that power pop culture forward to new, undiscovered places. It's the element that drives Disney's Marvel empire now, but we used to have it in pop. If Ziggy Stardust appeared today the character should be bigger then ever, I fear he'd actually get lost in the Spotify algorithm. We need new story-telling places to get people enthused.

Conor McNicholas
Editor, NME 2002-2009

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Subject: Re: Marketing Is King

Bob, you're right about the whole paradigm being upended. I'm in the band The Sweet Remains, and except for some lone wolf DJs around the country (like Rosalie at KFOG), our music doesn't make it on the traditional platforms. We find our audience- or rather it finds us through streaming platforms. We just crossed 28 million plays on Spotify. We're not getting rich on those Spotify checks, but our music is getting to places we never would have. And we track where we're getting listens and tour there, whether that's Ann Arbor MI or Hamburg, Germany. We also made a feature film, loosely based on our experience in music, using our music as a core of the storytelling. That film premieres at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival next month.

The game has changed. But authenticity matters more than ever! And for a band like ours, there are new ways of connecting with people. But you still have to bring the goods at a live show!

-Rich Price (The Sweet Remains)

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From: Kenneth Green
Subject: Re: Marketing Is King

Hi Bob,
Hope all is well. Writing in reference to "Once you hear an artist say he's not getting paid enough, know that he or she does not have good representatives, or is not good enough period." At the risk of taking this one sentence completely out of context and given that the latter excuse occurs more frequently than the former, here are the alternatives:

Once you hear an artist say he's not getting paid enough...

..know that the bass player has decided that years of playing bass (usually way too loudly) has equipped him sufficiently to manage the band.
...know that the artist has already started looking for new representation and you WILL hear about it through the grapevine.
...know that the lead singer has a girlfriend in the south, a girlfriend out west, and a wife in the north. Each one of whom needs the rent paid and the car fixed.
...know that each member of the band has at least 2 children for whom they feel guilt for not being there for them during the formative years. Better give them each $1K per month, even though they're both over 21 and fully capable of making it on their own. Hell, they've done it without the artist thus far.
...know that the artist's wife is quietly biding her time until her rich father dies. Then she'll cash in and move on. In the meantime, the artist cuts financial corners and sells out his or her integrity (Wait! Is that still a thing?) so to fund the wife's life in that too-big, too-expensive home near that pretentious country club. She's extra special by association, ya know.
...know that the artist continuously over-plays key markets in an attempt to wring every last cent from a dwindling audience that is still hanging on to those two songs that were written over twenty years ago.
(In reference to #6) ...know that, despite his or her better judgement and to save face, the artist's agent is now complicit just to keep the artist on the roster and/or use the artist as leverage for the up-and-coming acts. Hell, 10% of something is usually better than 10% of nothing.
...know that supporting a life on the road (at least in the early days, out of your own pocket), providing for beneficial deals on the artist's behalf in an industry of conniving, two-faced "professionals" with opposing agendas," creating opportunities out of thin air, answering the artist's call at 3am to listen to him or her bitch about the guitar tech/merch guy/ex-wife/et al, providing free psychological services when the artist has that next break-down, bailing out that dumb-ass drummer, firing the guitar player so that no one else in the band actually has to confront another human being, etc was never and will never be enough.
...know that, more often than not, you are working for someone who considers you and your role in their career to be an impediment to their creativity and artistic expression.
Don't get me wrong. This partial list comes from a place of masochistic love, not bitterness. I have plenty of meaningful, heart-warming observations to go along with this list (though, none to do with money). It is merely my tragicomical observation on an era where two dimes and a nickel are supposed to take the place of one dollar.

Saving the rest for the book.
Best,
Ken Green

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From: Benjamin Rigby
Subject: Re: 61 Days In Church

Hi Bob.

Long time reader, first time reply-er. Being Eric's monitor technician on the road, I had the esteemed privilege of recording and mixing all of his performances this past tour.

When I was presented with this opportunity, I was immensely overwhelmed and exceedingly excited. Fast forward to 3 months later I was still locked away in the mixing room of my Nashville bachelor pad, a slave to my work. Without a doubt the most tedious, painstaking, (insert synonym for maddening) undertaking I've experienced.

Thanks for the feedback and a fair listen.

Ben R.

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Subject: Re: Tony Hawk-This Week's Podcast

Dear Bob Lefsetz,

The Tony Hawk Foundation helped us lots of shares and a $5K grant to help us raise the $350K to build the Rusty Berrings Skatepark in memory of my beloved son Tyler.

Here's a clip from the local community cable CATV on the opening and back story..

https://youtu.be/0fs7JYUEhWw

I hope that you are doing well and that your health is good.

Best wishes,

Buddy

Buddy Kirschner

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Subject: RE: Letterman On Netflix

One other point you don't notice in the US.

Netflix is GLOBAL. They are in every country that matters (except China), and nearly all of the ones that don't. They also carry local stuff you never see in the US, special to every market.
One reason Netflix is spending on their own stuff is so they have the rights and can show it globally, all day and date, without being tied down by studio region restrictions.
Spotify is very near global too.
Amazon Prime is only in a very few countries. People might see Donald Trump at Davos, but they won't see anything on Prime because it still isn't even in Switzerland.
Yes, I can watch the new Star Trek show here in Switzerland. It's on Netflix.

Mark Jeffrey

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From: Kohl Harrington
Subject: Re: Letterman On Netflix

My first film "Pet Fooled" landed on Netflix.

I couldn't get accepted to any "film festival". I don't even think film festivals were watching my film. I created individual links and received no views on those links but denials from festivals anyway...
fuck that game.

To be eligible for the "awards game" was a minimum of $20,000. Who is going to the theater to watch movies though...especially a documentary?

I wanted Netflix. Screw the rest.

Netflix put my film in 82 languages and in an insane amount of languages. Luckily the dice rolled that way and Netflix picked up my film from my distribution company. I now get letters from all across the world in every language. Even Singapore! And I made the the film basically by myself.

Are people calling me and begging to give me money for my next film? No. But Netflix gave me clout and credibility. I can now call and get serious responses from people. I can now bust the pavement and raise money unlike before where people laughed in my face and said "ok kid..."

Everything is constantly evolving and changing. I am excited to see where it all is headed.

As I make my projects currently, I am fascinated that people made films ON actual strips of film. I never had the experience of cutting and pasting strips of film together. I'm glad I didn't have to do that on my first feature. It feels like an impossible concept to be honest. So many around me "love" films shot on film. I just want to be moved when I see a film. I want to be impacted and challenged and at times entertained. To see others hold onto certain ways in which the world worked at one point in time is... fascinating.

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From: David Benson
Subject: Re: Ray Thomas

A great remembrance, Bob.

I spent 1991-92 circling the globe on Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" tour twisting knobs on synths, pushing faders, and humping cases into Antanov-124 cargo planes in the snow. Summer 1993 I was hitting play on 16 tracks of multi-track ADAT and rehearsing pickup orchestras for the 25th anniversary tour of "Days of Future Passed." We played all the markets and did at least 5 shows a week. Good times.

I knew that catalog inside and out back in those days (and from playing said tracks in my formative high school dance gigs) but had completely forgotten about "Legend of a Mind." We used to joke about the "spinners" and "pseudo DeadHeads" who followed the band from gig to gig. Since "Legend" was the 15 min closer it was time for the freaks to come out. The energy rivaled anything I saw on the MJ tour.

Ray was so integral to the band and the sound/vibe. And I'm so happy to see the band still out there killing it. That is truly the "Legend" that continues.

dB

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Subject: Fuzz Mailbag: Burlison v Little

Bob,

Though your readers mentioned both Grady Little's 1961 fuzz on "Don't Worry", and Paul Burlison's distorted tone on the Rock and Roll Trio's 1956 "Train Kept a Rollin'" recording - none brought up something often suggested - that as the house guitarist, it's actually Grady heard on that "Train" solo. (Taking nothing away from the excellent Paul Burlison, if that is even true).

IMHO, the solo on the 1956 "Train" is the birth of garage rock.

Keep Up the Good Work,
eric chaikin
LA, CA

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Subject: Re: Mailbag

RE: Fuzztone

And let us not forget the first example of "phasing!" The first time I heard Toni Fisher's "The Big Hurt" on a car radio ( '55 Ford T-Bird) I thought I was losing my mind!
Mark Sebastian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlE6eHEENg4

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Subject: Re: Mailbag

Bob.....

I was Ike and Tina's agent/manager from 1972 to 1976. Ike and Tina started a big tour for ICM that I set up while in residence, and we were flying to Houston for the very first gig, Ike and I had been up for a week, I stayed home he beat her with his shoe on the plane, and next thing I know she calls and asks me for a plane ticket to Los Angeles, I told her if Ike found out I would have been history in the real sense..She thinks for a half second, and says ok I'll call Mike Stewart, at UA (United Artists the label). During his time looking for Tina, weeks and weeks and Kilo's went by and one of the stories he told me while we were waiting outside hoping to spot Tina at a very very famous Sax playe'rs house, was the real deal about the fuzz tone. He was driving to recording Rocket 88, the first Rock and Roll Record. They were with BB King who happened by as they were stuck on the side of the road close to the Studio. (I believe SUN Recording)..... they were changing a tire and all the equipment was rained on, when they got to the studio the amps/speakers were wet and walla you have a fuzz tone. WAY BEFORE ANYONE.. From his mouth to my ears. AND YOU KNOW IKE DIDN'T LIE.........heh heh. (Hey Bob, please clean up my grammar, I am very tired) PLEASE.

Dennis Rubenstein

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Subject: Re: News Updates

Re: Why I Love Spotify

I'm a bit late to the party... but I did a binge watch of Amazon Prime Show, "Transparent"... 4 seasons in 3 days!
Anyway, I love the music that was placed in the series..Most songs I'd never heard of...
Well, I fire up Spotify and type in Transparent... and voila! Every song, every episode in order! It gets better...
I'm a fan of "Black Mirror".... I go to Spotify...I type in Black Mirror.. and again... every song in every episode in
order...

I plan on buying the stock during their IPO... this is how much I believe..

Kindest Cheers,
Jeff Laufer

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Subject: Re: The Golden Globes

hey bob -

good morning and i thank you. as a golden globe nominee for my song "The Eye Of a Tiger" as best song after Rocky III i did attend all the shows. we won the people's choice and grammy (when it started to not matter). the big treat with the golden globes and the academy awards were the ladies. if i were an actor carrying the life long academy award nominee tag it may get me a couple of million more per film but i'm not.

i'm a rebel bob. do you really give s fuck when your song is at number one for 7 weeks and number 1 in 29 countries? fuck no! but it does open the gates to a musical world outside of the USA. and i went everywhere to play and learn.

the shows are boring. i wonder what the fuck they're even about these days. you can guess a place for those who haven't a clue what's going on the other side of sunset. he'll bob, they believe the valley is another planet. it is not cool to do anything in the valley.

cellophane wrapped looking faces and where did the guy we called keith urban go? every time i see him he looks stranger then the last.

they forgot the craft bob. the older cats who do huge box office numbers stay away. some, like sly stallone is always making action hero movies. bad ass movies we can all like and go see it not. but the folks go because the movies are entertainment.

so there you have it, entertainment at the box office and no political speeches on the tv as if they're running for office. but maybe that it bob. just maybe they all think they would do a better job running the country with one if their own at the helm.

that one failed big time this issue year. and since it's been a year can we just move on and deal with it...! enough with the hashtags!

frankie s

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Re: Brooks

I haven't worn them for over 20 years but I loved Brooks when I ran
track and cross country in high school. So much more support and
lighter than anything else. The Saucony Jazz was close but Brooks the
best. Thanks for the reminder. Can't wait to replace my workout shoes.

Ben Patterson

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Re: Brooks

Hell yeah, Bob! I've been a New Balance guy forever, but when my last pair blew up, I did my research and scooped up a pair of Brooks "Beast" runners. Ya see, I don't/can't run. I'm 6'4", 280, with feet as flat as pancakes. If I jog around the block once, my ankles are sprained for 2 weeks. But I do spend a good bit of time at the gym (and on the mountain) and those particular Brooks runners are made for big dudes with big, wide feet. They're the most comfy shoes I've ever owned. At least for shoes that I would leave the house in (and that's saying a lot, considering I took your recommendation on the Allbirds a while back. They're super comfy too, but too soft/not enough support for any actual activities).

Best,
Ike

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Re: Brooks

Ha!
I still have serious Achilles tendinosis although it's much bette than it was - the result of continued physical therapy and high end custom orthotics. Was wearing Sauconys but they stopped working for me. Went back to Future Track where all my shoes come from and she put me in a pair of Brooks. Fell in love with them, they're a whole other level of shoe. Have a couple of pairs now of course worn with my orthotics. I do Tai chi in them, gardening, other exercises, you name it. Alas not sexy, but I can walk, which is a far cry from where I was.
Love these shoes, had no idea there was anything about them, they just worked and see, to be well made.

Wendy Waldman
Xx

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Re: Brooks

I've been wearing brooks addiction for at least 12 years, maybe more. Recommended originally by that running store out in the valley. And I don't run! I wear them to work out and sometimes I do some short running. But I have wide feet which limits me to brooks and new balance. And the guy at the store strongly recommended brooks so I went with them and love them. I just hate the color scheme changes every year and this year's color was awful so I went with the black. Enjoy!!

Gene Salomon

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Go to Top to Top to buy sneakers. The best service Straight and direct. If you aren't happy bring them back.

2621 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403

?(310) 829-7030?

Our trainer, Michael Mori, sent us there.

They sold me my Brooks. I have never worn a pair that felt so good.

Give them a try. I loved reading about what a great company Brooks is. I had no idea! Many thanks.

Chris Danes, MacTactics

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Re: Brooks

Brooks are dad-shoes. Now they are making a come-back. Love it.

Renée Schapiro

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Re: Brooks

I'm a marathon runner and I've worn Brooks for a decade. I love those things!

Gordon Chaffin

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Re: Brooks

Well, beware, because Brooks fucks with their models on a yearly basis as well. That said, the Addictions have been the most consistent running shoe for me in the past 8 years or so.

I've got major Achilles Tendon and heel spur issues owed to collapsing arches, have to wear custom orthotics, and my step is so sensitive to height and cushion that if the heel/stack height is just a fraction of an inch too low, or the shoe bed too cushiony in the heel, instant pain.

My podiatrist is a running enthusiast (her father literally wrote "The Runner's Repair Manual"), and even though conventional wisdom is to wear an orthotic with a neutral shoe, she always recommended Motion Control for me, and the Brooks Addiction in particular. I've tried the Beasts, I've gone for other MC shoes on sale from Saucony, NB and Asics, and always return to the Addictions.

But every year, the fit and feel changes ever-so-slightly. All these shoe companies have to fuck with the recipe, under the "new technologies" excuse. Remember when Howard bitched on-air about how Asics eliminated his favorite model? The head of Asics sent him new models. But, Howard had someone scour the internet to buy up any and all available pairs of the old model.

Rob Maurer

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Re: Brooks

I wore New Balance for 15 years, and I never found them to keep models in their catalog for more than a year or two. Even flagships like the 60x would evolve, sometimes radically. The only sneaker I can think of that's kept a consistent model in their lineup is Converse. Neither New Balance nor Brooks (which I switched to 7 or 8 years ago) does. The key to any shoe is to find one whose last matches your foot; once you know the last, you can find other shoes in a manufacturers line that use the same last, which gives you a good chance of finding a comfortable shoe. If you ask New Balance (or Brooks), they'll tell you the last of any shoe you have that you like, and they'll tell you what shoes they current make with the same last.

hyperbolium

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Re: Brooks

Yes indeed, Brooks Ghost!

Queenie Taylor

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Re: Brooks

As an avid wearer of New Balance and Adidas, I ironically purchased my first pair of Brooks just hours before your email came through! They ain't pretty, but they feel good! I am not a serious runner, though I work at KTLA and we have decided to enter the LA Marathon as a team in March. *Faints* I hope my new Brooks do well, because my Adidas were not up to the challenge of training. I'm sad I missed the deadline to be "endorsed" by Brooks!

Thanks,
Kison

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Re: Brooks

I run 3-4 times a week. I wore Saucony for my first marathon. Five years ago I tried Brooks because they felt comfortable. I would never buy a running shoe for looks/style. Within 30 days of owning Brooks I experienced horrible pain in my right foot. It was the dreaded planter fasciitis. It was the Brooks shoes. During my recovery I was attending a wedding anniversary party in Mexico. The gal sitting next to me was listening to me complain about PF. It turns out the same thing happened to her with Brooks shoes. I hear you on the marketing angle but I gave my Brooks away and waited 6 months to recover. No offense to Brooks but Saucony is my choice.

Richard King

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Re: Brooks

Have you ever tried on the Nike Monarchs?? It's one of the best selling shoes of all time. It's the quintessential 'Dad Shoe'. Super cheap, great walking shoe, not too stylish but still has a cult following. Check them out! https://www.nike.com/t/air-monarch-iv-extra-wide-mens-training-shoe-z8V44p

Dave Weisz - Nikehead

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Re: Brooks

Thanks for the shoutout Bob, we are going to build a great brand right in the middle of the run active lifestyle. Why? We get that runners run for themselves and we are not aspiring to be someone else like a star football player. The market is huge and global - watch this space!

BTW, great podcast with Tony Hawk!

Jim Weber
CEO Brooks

____________________________________

From: Stephen Hazan Arnoff
Subject: Re: Harvey's Tune

Bob

Simply love your daily messages. Thank you. Thought you would enjoy this snapshot: Mr. Brooks teaches bass in Jerusalem.

http://twitter.com/Lefsetz/status/956729445074665472

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