https://spoti.fi/2MdtjNv
But it's not.
Used to be buying skis was easy. You chose the racing model from a handful of well-established brands. Now, Volkl, K2 and Rossignol remain, but the shops are inundated with indie brands, some expensive and custom, like Wagner, others off the shelf and in much wider use, i.e. Liberty. How did this happen?
The means of sales and production ended up in the hands of the proletariat. Just like in music.
I have to remind you that in the Napster era, the oldsters cried out that no one would make music anymore, just the opposite proved true, seemingly everybody's making music, and unless you were a superstar of yesteryear or a hitmaker today, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle.
There was a limited number of acts. You were exposed to them in print, on radio and in your friends' bedrooms. Today you don't know where to start.
But yesterday I did. I decided to go past the Spotify Top 50, and what I found is a plethora of product, most of it good, very little of it great. Wading through the dross is difficult, but sometimes worth it. But didn't somebody else used to do this for us? We keep speaking of curation... Terrestrial radio only plays the hits, and online, its an endless stream of playlists.
You've got to go deep. I clicked on "Genres & Moods" in Spotify.
Funny, rock is in the fourth row, that's how far it's fallen. But none of those playlists appealed to me, and when I eventually checked out "Rock This," I knew why. No total excellence. No one who could sing, play and write. Furthermore, does rock even sound good on headphones? It ends up a wash.
So I went to "Folk & Acoustic." And clicked on "Infinite Acoustic." That's where I found the Sound Stage Studios version of Ray LaMontagne's "Such A Simple Thing." But what followed was an endless parade of names I frequently hadn't heard of playing songs that were not memorable. Oh, if it was the seventies, and I'd purchased their album, maybe I would have played it enough to become entranced. But that's not how we do it these days.
But after becoming bored, I clicked over to "Roots Rising." And I heard "People Change" by Mipso. Do you know Mipso? I certainly didn't.
Nor did I know the following act, Mt. Joy. Or the Dead Tongues. These are the indie skis of music, not on a major. What are the reference points?
And if you pull up "People Change," you'll probably turn it off. It starts slow and it never really revs up. If you were in a coffee house and the band was on stage you'd probably get it, the mood would be set. But there's nothing special about the track, nothing that sticks out about the song, except for these lines:
"The thing about people is they change
When they walk away"
Whew! Hearing that resonated. You dream about old loves, and then you run into them and they're not the same, you don't click, they've been frozen in your mind but the world moved on, as did they.
And I yearned for more of this, this is what I look to music for, the insight.
Although "People Change" has 26,245,043 streams. Which means some people have found it. Were they the grazers, the hometown fans or people deep into this scene? Can you go deep into multiple scenes these days? Rock, country and EDM? Never mind Americana. Maybe you can be an expert in one, but that's almost a full-time job.
But "Such A Simple Thing," it hooked me when I wasn't listening. Oh, you know what I mean. I wasn't paying attention, it was in the background, but it jumped out.
Now Ray LaMontagne is on a major, RCA, but he began in a completely different era, 2004, when there was so much less music, we hadn't anointed hip-hop as the only sound and MTV and VH1 were in their last throes. Would Ray LaMontagne get signed to a major today? Doubtful.
Not that he'll be on a major for long, his last album, from which "Such A Simple Thing" emanates, is a stiff on Spotify. Only three tracks are in seven digits. Some are in low sixes. But "Such A Simple Thing" has 31,990,734, which I thought was a lot until I looked up Mipso's number.
But this probably means that AAA/non-comm stations featured it, and it was eaten up by grazers, who like it but probably won't go to the gig.
Confounding reality once again.
And the reality is...
There is good music out there, even great, but it's hard to find it. If you don't make hip-hop music, you're hard to find on Spotify. Fans have to reach down deep into your genre to discover you, many clicks down, and don't forget that Amazon patented "1-Click." So it's easy to be a professional, but easy to be broke. Getting attention is a Sisyphean job. There's a disconnection between production and consumption. And the truth is this job is not being tackled, probably because the solution is not lucrative, except for the beneficiaries, the acts raised up.
And the Sound Stage Studios iteration of "Such A Simple Thing," on the "Infinite Acoustic" playlist, supersedes the take on the 2018 album "Part Of The Light," Ray emotes, you can get the message without knowing the lyrics, the repressed anger, the depression, the glimmer of hope. She's left before. Will she clue him in before she does so again?
And I'm wondering how many playlists Spotify's curators curate. If they just feature new music willy-nilly. I mean sometimes there's great stuff, and sometimes there's not, but there's still endless playlists every week with new stuff. And like the rest of tech, there's no help, no one telling you what's truly worth your time.
But this Sound Stage Studios take of Ray LaMontagne's "Such A Simple Thing" is.
"People Change": https://spoti.fi/2CfxzY1
"Such A Simple Thing" album version: https://spoti.fi/2snvcxE
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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Saturday 12 January 2019
The Rain
It doesn't rain the same way in Southern California as it does on the east coast.
The same way it doesn't snow in Colorado like it does in Utah.
In Utah, it dumps, oftentimes four inches an hour, you can barely see in front of you, you're in a cocoon of flakes, it's quiet, you feel like you're removed from the rest of the world and that feels good.
On the east coast, rain is a regular feature. Make plans outdoors and you can be sure they'll be interrupted by Mother Nature. Whereas rain is rare in SoCal. And oftentimes brief. Just when you're curled up with a book, the sun will come out. God dang it. I was just getting ready to break out the board games, now I've got to go outside.
My Mac fizzled out. Just after I upgraded it to 10.14.2. I was convinced that was the problem, software. But Apple was convinced it was RAM. But that seemed unlikely, since the computer had booted up in safe mode before it bit the dust completely, and the RAM had come from Apple itself. And the machine was only four years old, and had never ever been moved from its perch. I'd purchased the warranty, but of course it had expired a year earlier.
Turns out you can converse with Apple tech online for free. Not that I was looking to save a buck, but after all my troubleshooting failed, I gave it a shot.
Ultimately, after wasting ninety minutes, they don't type so fast and are busy looking up knowledge base articles, the tech made an appointment for me at the Apple Store. In Santa Monica. I preferred Century City, because they lend you a cart to carry your machine, but Century City was a day later, and I was worried about it conflicting with my radio show, so I made an appointment for Monday at four p.m. on the Third Street Promenade.
I had to schlepp the damn thing myself, there is no back door.
But there were a ton of employees.
The Apple Store has changed. First of all, there's no Genius Bar. Just a bunch of tables. So you're not sure who to talk to, even though the space is inundated with help, as if they'd drafted a community college class and forced it to stand around against its will. Everybody's wearing a red shirt, and they're not lookers, and they come in every race and shape and age...yup, they even have a sexagenarian for oldsters, and I cornered someone and told them I had a reservation, and they said to park my ass at a nearby table and then nothing happened.
Thank god I didn't make the appointment in Century City, I ended up being there for an hour and a half. I kept asking if they knew I was there, they kept telling me to sit at my table and be quiet.
But ultimately they gave me Julia, who they said was one of their best techs.
A graduate of Occidental, she was an Apple lifer. She started in Pasadena and had transferred to Santa Monica only five months previously. She was living in Culver City, and at these wages she had to have a roommate, but boy was she into her job.
She knew what she was talking about.
This was very different from AppleCare, where unless you get booted upstairs, you know more than the techs.
And she too thought it was the RAM.
But she called me later and said it was not.
But then I got a call on Tuesday from Christian telling me it was the RAM SLOTS! Two of them were dead, I needed a new logic board. $600 and change, which sounds expensive until you realize the computer itself cost $4600, actually a bit more, and of course I said yes.
Today it was ready. I asked for help carrying it to my car.
They said no, that employees could not leave the store. But if I waited fifteen or twenty minutes, they could call a cart from Promenade management.
I wasn't gonna wait that long.
So I lifted the machine, I'd saved the box, that's the kinda guy I am, and carried it and when it came time to turn the corner, to the parking structure, there was a young woman on her phone and I ever so gently told her I was coming, she wasn't looking up, and I didn't want to bump into her.
She then raised her eyes and put me down, telling me to walk around her.
And I did, but she didn't know how heavy the computer was, and it ruined my whole day. I'll never see her again, but when people yell at me I think it's my fault.
And the computer worked, it was fixed!
But some of the bookmarks had been changed.
And my messages weren't synching.
Eventually I got some of the past week's messages to synch, but certain ones wouldn't. I was gonna call Apple, but then I got carried away and it was too late and I was chatting online with help once again.
I'd already done an hour's worth of research. To no avail.
And to tell you the truth, the hour I spent in chat was worthless.
And I got frustrated, I wanted the problem solved, I didn't want to waste time another day.
But when you're in this situation, you cannot stop. You keep thinking you can make it work, even though you've done everything twice or three times. And your brain is foggy and you can't tear yourself away, even though I know from experience that perspective is a good thing, and sometimes the problem's unfixable.
But in the process I was developing theories.
It was only the SMS messages that weren't synching.
And then I plugged my iPhone into the charger, it synched with the cloud and it all worked.
Oh, there's much more to the story, but the point is upon solving the problem I felt so good. After tearing myself away for a late dinner, I was getting new insights, I felt I knew what was going on, and when I checked my machine and it all worked, I felt fantastic!
And then I went out hiking.
I upgraded to an Unlimited Plan. There are three of them on Verizon, I know it makes no sense. But I kept on having to buy more data and then they said for five bucks more I could go unlimited, so I went for it. And have been using data like crazy ever since.
Which means I streamed while I hiked.
And I'm going from playlist to playlist, queuing up gems from the past, and then...
I feel a raindrop on my arm.
Hmm... Did I spit?
But then it happened again.
The iPhone Xs Max is supposed to be waterproof, but are my headphones? And I'm starting to walk faster, and it's raining harder. And I make it to the bathroom whereupon I find out from Dark Sky that not only is it going to rain for hours, it's gonna pour many days next week.
Which reminds me of 1998, when it rained for seven days straight. I remember having cabin fever and driving out to Norm's, a cheap eats place that got torn down, worrying about getting stranded in the deep water.
You see there's nowhere for it to go. Too many hills, too much concrete. Just a little bit of rain and L.A. is inundated with rivers finding their own way.
But I made it back to the house tonight. And wondered what to read while I was icing my knees. I'd finished the Sally Rooney book the night before, and I was just starting a new one when...
I heard this sound.
I figured it was industrial. The fridge or something.
But the dishwasher wasn't on, it was two in the morning, it was quiet except for...
THE RAIN!
I jumped up, figuring it might stop soon and I wanted to see it. And I opened the front door and it was a veritable curtain, like being high on a mountaintop, in the elements. Could my car wash away?
And you wouldn't play in this rain, nor would you sing.
You just stay home until it stops.
But it's not supposed to stop for a while.
And Barbra Streisand famously said she wished it would rain. But the irony is, unlike in the movie, she stayed in SoCal, because living is too good, as is the weather.
But every once in a while, less now than in the past, it starts to pour.
Kinda like the snow turning into rain, in that old Dan Fogelberg song.
It's coming down heavy now, I'm in for the duration. But through the magic of the internet I can connect with you.
It wasn't like that back in 1998.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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The same way it doesn't snow in Colorado like it does in Utah.
In Utah, it dumps, oftentimes four inches an hour, you can barely see in front of you, you're in a cocoon of flakes, it's quiet, you feel like you're removed from the rest of the world and that feels good.
On the east coast, rain is a regular feature. Make plans outdoors and you can be sure they'll be interrupted by Mother Nature. Whereas rain is rare in SoCal. And oftentimes brief. Just when you're curled up with a book, the sun will come out. God dang it. I was just getting ready to break out the board games, now I've got to go outside.
My Mac fizzled out. Just after I upgraded it to 10.14.2. I was convinced that was the problem, software. But Apple was convinced it was RAM. But that seemed unlikely, since the computer had booted up in safe mode before it bit the dust completely, and the RAM had come from Apple itself. And the machine was only four years old, and had never ever been moved from its perch. I'd purchased the warranty, but of course it had expired a year earlier.
Turns out you can converse with Apple tech online for free. Not that I was looking to save a buck, but after all my troubleshooting failed, I gave it a shot.
Ultimately, after wasting ninety minutes, they don't type so fast and are busy looking up knowledge base articles, the tech made an appointment for me at the Apple Store. In Santa Monica. I preferred Century City, because they lend you a cart to carry your machine, but Century City was a day later, and I was worried about it conflicting with my radio show, so I made an appointment for Monday at four p.m. on the Third Street Promenade.
I had to schlepp the damn thing myself, there is no back door.
But there were a ton of employees.
The Apple Store has changed. First of all, there's no Genius Bar. Just a bunch of tables. So you're not sure who to talk to, even though the space is inundated with help, as if they'd drafted a community college class and forced it to stand around against its will. Everybody's wearing a red shirt, and they're not lookers, and they come in every race and shape and age...yup, they even have a sexagenarian for oldsters, and I cornered someone and told them I had a reservation, and they said to park my ass at a nearby table and then nothing happened.
Thank god I didn't make the appointment in Century City, I ended up being there for an hour and a half. I kept asking if they knew I was there, they kept telling me to sit at my table and be quiet.
But ultimately they gave me Julia, who they said was one of their best techs.
A graduate of Occidental, she was an Apple lifer. She started in Pasadena and had transferred to Santa Monica only five months previously. She was living in Culver City, and at these wages she had to have a roommate, but boy was she into her job.
She knew what she was talking about.
This was very different from AppleCare, where unless you get booted upstairs, you know more than the techs.
And she too thought it was the RAM.
But she called me later and said it was not.
But then I got a call on Tuesday from Christian telling me it was the RAM SLOTS! Two of them were dead, I needed a new logic board. $600 and change, which sounds expensive until you realize the computer itself cost $4600, actually a bit more, and of course I said yes.
Today it was ready. I asked for help carrying it to my car.
They said no, that employees could not leave the store. But if I waited fifteen or twenty minutes, they could call a cart from Promenade management.
I wasn't gonna wait that long.
So I lifted the machine, I'd saved the box, that's the kinda guy I am, and carried it and when it came time to turn the corner, to the parking structure, there was a young woman on her phone and I ever so gently told her I was coming, she wasn't looking up, and I didn't want to bump into her.
She then raised her eyes and put me down, telling me to walk around her.
And I did, but she didn't know how heavy the computer was, and it ruined my whole day. I'll never see her again, but when people yell at me I think it's my fault.
And the computer worked, it was fixed!
But some of the bookmarks had been changed.
And my messages weren't synching.
Eventually I got some of the past week's messages to synch, but certain ones wouldn't. I was gonna call Apple, but then I got carried away and it was too late and I was chatting online with help once again.
I'd already done an hour's worth of research. To no avail.
And to tell you the truth, the hour I spent in chat was worthless.
And I got frustrated, I wanted the problem solved, I didn't want to waste time another day.
But when you're in this situation, you cannot stop. You keep thinking you can make it work, even though you've done everything twice or three times. And your brain is foggy and you can't tear yourself away, even though I know from experience that perspective is a good thing, and sometimes the problem's unfixable.
But in the process I was developing theories.
It was only the SMS messages that weren't synching.
And then I plugged my iPhone into the charger, it synched with the cloud and it all worked.
Oh, there's much more to the story, but the point is upon solving the problem I felt so good. After tearing myself away for a late dinner, I was getting new insights, I felt I knew what was going on, and when I checked my machine and it all worked, I felt fantastic!
And then I went out hiking.
I upgraded to an Unlimited Plan. There are three of them on Verizon, I know it makes no sense. But I kept on having to buy more data and then they said for five bucks more I could go unlimited, so I went for it. And have been using data like crazy ever since.
Which means I streamed while I hiked.
And I'm going from playlist to playlist, queuing up gems from the past, and then...
I feel a raindrop on my arm.
Hmm... Did I spit?
But then it happened again.
The iPhone Xs Max is supposed to be waterproof, but are my headphones? And I'm starting to walk faster, and it's raining harder. And I make it to the bathroom whereupon I find out from Dark Sky that not only is it going to rain for hours, it's gonna pour many days next week.
Which reminds me of 1998, when it rained for seven days straight. I remember having cabin fever and driving out to Norm's, a cheap eats place that got torn down, worrying about getting stranded in the deep water.
You see there's nowhere for it to go. Too many hills, too much concrete. Just a little bit of rain and L.A. is inundated with rivers finding their own way.
But I made it back to the house tonight. And wondered what to read while I was icing my knees. I'd finished the Sally Rooney book the night before, and I was just starting a new one when...
I heard this sound.
I figured it was industrial. The fridge or something.
But the dishwasher wasn't on, it was two in the morning, it was quiet except for...
THE RAIN!
I jumped up, figuring it might stop soon and I wanted to see it. And I opened the front door and it was a veritable curtain, like being high on a mountaintop, in the elements. Could my car wash away?
And you wouldn't play in this rain, nor would you sing.
You just stay home until it stops.
But it's not supposed to stop for a while.
And Barbra Streisand famously said she wished it would rain. But the irony is, unlike in the movie, she stayed in SoCal, because living is too good, as is the weather.
But every once in a while, less now than in the past, it starts to pour.
Kinda like the snow turning into rain, in that old Dan Fogelberg song.
It's coming down heavy now, I'm in for the duration. But through the magic of the internet I can connect with you.
It wasn't like that back in 1998.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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Friday 11 January 2019
Baby Shark
https://bit.ly/2aJcHbW
Is it time to redo the "Billboard" chart once again?
Or is this the harbinger of a new dawn, wherein radio is less relevant and hip-hop is not America's sound and a non-major label song can triumph?
In case you missed the memo, and I did until yesterday, "Baby Shark" entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 32.
WHAT?
Now this is also evidence of the internet era. Known quantities drop their albums and the music is instantly forgotten. Whereas newbies can struggle for years to get notice of their songs.
And one thing about "Baby Shark," IT'S HOOKY!
"Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Baby shark!"
Sure, the lyrics are stupid, but isn't that the case with so many songs?
Now if you're completely flummoxed, and I understand your pain, the derivation of "Baby Shark" is unclear. Some say it was a camp song twenty years ago, others point to a German version in this century. Actually, you can listen to the various iterations, but one thing's for sure, the Pinkfong! take is the hit. Proving once again that instrumentation and arrangement can be the difference between a smash and a stiff.
And speaking of Pinkfong!, it's a Korean company, making children's music. In an industry landscape where kids are irrelevant and hip-hop is all that matters.
And it's still all that matters on Spotify and Apple Music.
It's nowhere on either of their top charts.
But "Baby Shark" does have 50 million streams on Spotify, it's just that they all didn't happen yesterday.
And weirdly enough, "Baby Shark" is selling on iTunes. It's number forty there. Proving...
What, parents are oldsters who are afraid of streaming or don't want to pay $10 a month because they're inundated with bills? Why own this?
Especially when you can stream it for free on YouTube where it has TWO BILLION VIEWS!
But it was released almost three years ago, in June of 2016.
So, is "Billboard"'s weighting off, putting too much emphasis on sales, which are de minimis? Only 3,000 tracks were downloaded last week.
But the truth is there were 20 million streams, but nearly three quarters of them were video.
In other words, YouTube, the scourge of the industry.
So what have we learned?
That a catchy song has no ceiling, that it can live in the ecosystem for years, quite happily, and eventually blow up, or not.
Why now?
Well, there was a cover by James Corden.
But late night TV doesn't matter, right?
Or maybe we've got to credit "Billboard," for unearthing this hit. Maybe the Bible had it right, and it's the industry that's wrong.
And, of course, there's the dance craze, even easier to do than the Macarena. But when that novelty song hit the airwaves were still controlled, by MTV and major labels. Now?
So I don't think this is a one-off.
First and foremost, "Baby Shark" turns out to have penetration beyond what we consider to be hits, the Spotify Top 50. Expect everybody to know it soon.
It's catchy, it's fun, it's what we've lost as music has become a manipulated format where up to thirty writers try to get the sound of the street, and end up missing.
"Baby Shark" had nothing to do with a major label, nothing to do with radio and nothing to do with hip-hop, it made it all on its lonesome.
You can too.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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Is it time to redo the "Billboard" chart once again?
Or is this the harbinger of a new dawn, wherein radio is less relevant and hip-hop is not America's sound and a non-major label song can triumph?
In case you missed the memo, and I did until yesterday, "Baby Shark" entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number 32.
WHAT?
Now this is also evidence of the internet era. Known quantities drop their albums and the music is instantly forgotten. Whereas newbies can struggle for years to get notice of their songs.
And one thing about "Baby Shark," IT'S HOOKY!
"Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo
Baby shark!"
Sure, the lyrics are stupid, but isn't that the case with so many songs?
Now if you're completely flummoxed, and I understand your pain, the derivation of "Baby Shark" is unclear. Some say it was a camp song twenty years ago, others point to a German version in this century. Actually, you can listen to the various iterations, but one thing's for sure, the Pinkfong! take is the hit. Proving once again that instrumentation and arrangement can be the difference between a smash and a stiff.
And speaking of Pinkfong!, it's a Korean company, making children's music. In an industry landscape where kids are irrelevant and hip-hop is all that matters.
And it's still all that matters on Spotify and Apple Music.
It's nowhere on either of their top charts.
But "Baby Shark" does have 50 million streams on Spotify, it's just that they all didn't happen yesterday.
And weirdly enough, "Baby Shark" is selling on iTunes. It's number forty there. Proving...
What, parents are oldsters who are afraid of streaming or don't want to pay $10 a month because they're inundated with bills? Why own this?
Especially when you can stream it for free on YouTube where it has TWO BILLION VIEWS!
But it was released almost three years ago, in June of 2016.
So, is "Billboard"'s weighting off, putting too much emphasis on sales, which are de minimis? Only 3,000 tracks were downloaded last week.
But the truth is there were 20 million streams, but nearly three quarters of them were video.
In other words, YouTube, the scourge of the industry.
So what have we learned?
That a catchy song has no ceiling, that it can live in the ecosystem for years, quite happily, and eventually blow up, or not.
Why now?
Well, there was a cover by James Corden.
But late night TV doesn't matter, right?
Or maybe we've got to credit "Billboard," for unearthing this hit. Maybe the Bible had it right, and it's the industry that's wrong.
And, of course, there's the dance craze, even easier to do than the Macarena. But when that novelty song hit the airwaves were still controlled, by MTV and major labels. Now?
So I don't think this is a one-off.
First and foremost, "Baby Shark" turns out to have penetration beyond what we consider to be hits, the Spotify Top 50. Expect everybody to know it soon.
It's catchy, it's fun, it's what we've lost as music has become a manipulated format where up to thirty writers try to get the sound of the street, and end up missing.
"Baby Shark" had nothing to do with a major label, nothing to do with radio and nothing to do with hip-hop, it made it all on its lonesome.
You can too.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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Thursday 10 January 2019
Article Of The Day
"To Cover China, There's No Substitute for WeChat - Li Yuan conducts much of her work on the WeChat mobile app, including spotting trends -and prodding sources to get back to her": https://nyti.ms/2TFfNEx
I know, I know, you're inundated with lists of articles to read every day, and if you're like me, you end up reading none of them. Information overload has consequences. I never go to the movie theatre, except on my birthday, because it's a tradition (along with a hot fudge sundae and a pastrami on rye), not because I hate the movies, not because I'm protesting, but because I don't have the time. Never mind driving to the multiplex, the film doesn't start when I get there, it's not on demand, like the rest of our culture. And unlike gigs, it's not live. I mean going to a concert is an event, is that what movies are going to turn into? Quite possibly.
So I don't understand all this excitement about awards season, because I haven't seen the flicks, and most others have not seen many either. Used to be I lived for the movies, before they became so high concept as to defy reality, before the golden era of television.
And speaking of television, with nearly 500 scripted series a year, who can get a handle on it, other than the critics. That's who awards shows are for, the critics and old wave media, stuck in a circling the drain paradigm that the public wants no part of.
I mean who cares who wins the Oscar?
Same deal with the Grammys, although we're always interested whether it will be a rapper or a woman or both. That's more important than the music, because most people have not heard it. We're all down in our niches, if we're paying attention at all. That's right, just like I've excised movies, waiting for them to come to TV and ignoring them once they do, there are people who've completely tuned out music.
Not that the industry acknowledges it.
The music industry is the same as it ever was. Focusing on radio and a Top Ten. Sure, it's now streaming instead of sales, but despite being on demand, there's no kowtowing to the public's desires, no effort to make it comprehensible.
And I read four newspapers a day to try to get a hold on things. I mean you can learn about music from kids, which I don't have, but the world issues? Everybody's ignorant these days, that's the dirty little secret, if someone tells you they know, they probably don't.
And the papers are all different. As are their owners. Do you believe Jeff Bezos led with his unit? Isn't that interesting, how we never really change, how business is always secondary to lust and desire and love. Hell, Sumner Redstone summoned escorts.
And the flaw of the "New York Times" is too often it's living in the past, it's anti-tech.
But starting a few months back, they began this new series, about how their reporters utilize tech, it's published on Tech Thursday.
What bothers me is people covering tech who don't have all the services, who don't use the latest tech. When they say a 6s is enough. Sure, have a Samsung, as a matter of fact you should have both! But get the latest edition. And subscribe to all the video services. It's your gig, you can write it off, I have a hard time taking your opinion seriously if you didn't buy a ticket.
And this week's story is on the China correspondent.
And she uses WeChat.
Most Americans have no idea of the power of WeChat, as Li Yuan says, it's "the equivalent of WhatsApp plus Facebook plus PayPal pus Uber plus GrubHub plus many other things."
Whew!
Got that?
On one hand, you don't want to give one company that much power.
On the other hand, think of the ease of use! The connectedness!
And most people in China skipped the laptop and went straight to the mobile phone.
Which is why you must not still be using your 5s, never mind your 6s. You need the power and the features to experience the present, never mind the future.
And China's a nearly cashless society.
But it's a censored society.
And in this one brief article you get more insight into China than you do hearing the blubbering of the D.C.'ites.
And speaking of D.C...
Are we really talking about physical walls when technology does such a good job?
The issue with China is not tariffs, it's how the nation has already superseded us in so many ways, and will continue to gain power. For all those America First, USA! USA! people, this is unfathomable.
But if you read this article, not so much.
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I know, I know, you're inundated with lists of articles to read every day, and if you're like me, you end up reading none of them. Information overload has consequences. I never go to the movie theatre, except on my birthday, because it's a tradition (along with a hot fudge sundae and a pastrami on rye), not because I hate the movies, not because I'm protesting, but because I don't have the time. Never mind driving to the multiplex, the film doesn't start when I get there, it's not on demand, like the rest of our culture. And unlike gigs, it's not live. I mean going to a concert is an event, is that what movies are going to turn into? Quite possibly.
So I don't understand all this excitement about awards season, because I haven't seen the flicks, and most others have not seen many either. Used to be I lived for the movies, before they became so high concept as to defy reality, before the golden era of television.
And speaking of television, with nearly 500 scripted series a year, who can get a handle on it, other than the critics. That's who awards shows are for, the critics and old wave media, stuck in a circling the drain paradigm that the public wants no part of.
I mean who cares who wins the Oscar?
Same deal with the Grammys, although we're always interested whether it will be a rapper or a woman or both. That's more important than the music, because most people have not heard it. We're all down in our niches, if we're paying attention at all. That's right, just like I've excised movies, waiting for them to come to TV and ignoring them once they do, there are people who've completely tuned out music.
Not that the industry acknowledges it.
The music industry is the same as it ever was. Focusing on radio and a Top Ten. Sure, it's now streaming instead of sales, but despite being on demand, there's no kowtowing to the public's desires, no effort to make it comprehensible.
And I read four newspapers a day to try to get a hold on things. I mean you can learn about music from kids, which I don't have, but the world issues? Everybody's ignorant these days, that's the dirty little secret, if someone tells you they know, they probably don't.
And the papers are all different. As are their owners. Do you believe Jeff Bezos led with his unit? Isn't that interesting, how we never really change, how business is always secondary to lust and desire and love. Hell, Sumner Redstone summoned escorts.
And the flaw of the "New York Times" is too often it's living in the past, it's anti-tech.
But starting a few months back, they began this new series, about how their reporters utilize tech, it's published on Tech Thursday.
What bothers me is people covering tech who don't have all the services, who don't use the latest tech. When they say a 6s is enough. Sure, have a Samsung, as a matter of fact you should have both! But get the latest edition. And subscribe to all the video services. It's your gig, you can write it off, I have a hard time taking your opinion seriously if you didn't buy a ticket.
And this week's story is on the China correspondent.
And she uses WeChat.
Most Americans have no idea of the power of WeChat, as Li Yuan says, it's "the equivalent of WhatsApp plus Facebook plus PayPal pus Uber plus GrubHub plus many other things."
Whew!
Got that?
On one hand, you don't want to give one company that much power.
On the other hand, think of the ease of use! The connectedness!
And most people in China skipped the laptop and went straight to the mobile phone.
Which is why you must not still be using your 5s, never mind your 6s. You need the power and the features to experience the present, never mind the future.
And China's a nearly cashless society.
But it's a censored society.
And in this one brief article you get more insight into China than you do hearing the blubbering of the D.C.'ites.
And speaking of D.C...
Are we really talking about physical walls when technology does such a good job?
The issue with China is not tariffs, it's how the nation has already superseded us in so many ways, and will continue to gain power. For all those America First, USA! USA! people, this is unfathomable.
But if you read this article, not so much.
--
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Wednesday 9 January 2019
The Sopranos
Now the criminals are techies. They hide in plain sight and get a pass from the government, because with billions of dollars they define the game.
Like the Mafia used to, with a lot less cash.
I was just watching the episode where Adriana gets whacked. Christopher leaves her T-Bird in long term parking at the airport. Not only was I worried about fingerprints, old school, but cameras, new school. Blue collar crime is passe, there's a camera everywhere, especially in the U.K. That's how they found those Russians who poisoned the ex-spy and his daughter, they went to the film, you always go to the film these days, it's a regular plot point on television and in movies.
But the rich people don't even have to hire lawyers, the IRS has been neutered and they hide under the rubric of being job-creating envelope pushers who make our society great.
Not that I'm anti-tech, but the last year has been about the turning tide in tech, but we're still only at the tip of the iceberg.
In the twenty years since the Soprano family used flip-phones, a lot has changed.
Steve Jobs tacitly agreed not to poach from Google.
Facebook sold your data and its site to the highest bidder. As for the vaunted social graph where you can connect with everybody, you've got to pay for that now, otherwise you can't reach anybody.
Amazon puts you out of business if you don't sell to them, this has happened so many times that it's not only well-known, there's a chilling effect, why start a company that will be crushed or sold for pennies.
Or laid off on the highest bidder who will bury it, like Tumblr and Yahoo.
Marissa Mayer got whacked and then Tumblr had no champion, without porn it will never survive, it's too 2007.
And Tim Armstrong laid AOL off on Verizon and then got canned when it all didn't add up. Meanwhile, we ate the bill, those of us invested in the telco, and you probably are, even if it's via an index fund.
And for those with little, the joke is on you.
That's what the Mafia was about, the dream, of a high life for the uneducated, the street smart. "The Godfather" gave the Mob gravitas. "Donnie Brasco" illustrated that the family was based on small time crookdom, but...
Those without portfolio could get a leg up. They could rely on their brothers. Like those at Georgetown Prep, or the college fraternity.
Once again, there's a dividing line, and chances are you're on the wrong side of it.
Meanwhile, you keep hearing about how these companies made it legitimately, but the dirty little secret is...
They did not.
Forget the foreign bribes, how about Microsoft insisting that manufacturers pay for Windows on every machine, even if it wasn't installed. That put a dent in Linux way back when.
Yup, you work hard, you follow the rules, and you lose. Even if you got an education.
As for those without, they're so disillusioned they're on drugs. They started on opioids prescribed by pill mills, Purdue Pharma got rich, and then they ended up buying heroin and fentanyl on the street and we want them to go straight, but why, so they can get a minimum wage job that doesn't pay the bills?
And what I loved about "The Sopranos," and it is my favorite TV show of all time, and I believe it is the best, is the way real life was illustrated, how Meadow suggested punishing her by taking away her gas credit card.
Forget the fact that no one uses a gas credit card anymore, they use Mastercard, Visa or Amex for the points, this middle class existence doesn't exist either. Mom and Dad are both out working. You're on your own. And if you happen to get in trouble, it's someone else's fault, like the teachers, those damn schools, why are they always singling out my child?
And those with money live a completely different lifestyle, often behind gates, they go to private schools, oftentimes fly private and don't want anybody taking their spot at first class institutions, which are need blind, which you probably don't even know the definition of, which is the way they like it.
The poor and the rich, the lower middle class and the upper middle class, don't even mix.
And sure, the standard of living is higher in many ways, everybody has a smartphone and a flat screen, but hope has been eviscerated, upward mobility has been eviscerated.
Which is how Trump got elected. The downtrodden feel screwed by the elites.
But the joke is now on the elites, because they're not elite enough. They can't afford concierge doctors, never mind NetJet accounts.
So everybody with a brain and an education buys insurance, metaphorically anyway. Used to be your parents told you to be a doctor or lawyer, but those professions no longer rain down enough cash, now they tell you to become a banker. Or maybe a techie, but competition is too rough in that field.
So the winners live a lifestyle most people are unaware of, they've got no real idea how the truly rich live.
And these are not rock stars, rock stars don't make billions, never have. These are faceless nerds, both male and female, who worked hard and then realized...there was no law, there was no oversight, so...
They raped and pillaged.
And I know you can't utilize the term "rape" anymore, but while the politically correct police are checking your language, Sheryl Sandberg is pulling the wool over your eyes, saying you can have it all when the truth is only she can have it all, and she's doing everything in her power to keep it that way, screw morality.
That's just like the Mafia, it's never enough. The Mob never gives an inch.
But the truth is the law decimated the Mob.
But there are not enough lawmen left. The government won't fund the people who go after white collar crime. The FBI has been denigrated, courts are overbooked, and you think it's about keeping immigrants from crawling over a theoretical wall to take your job.
They don't want your job, they're doing all the stuff you won't do.
As for your job...
You're angry it's a dead end, from which you'll probably get fired anyway. You're trying to climb a greased pole, but when anybody tells you that, you deny it, believing the USA is better than socialist countries like Denmark, where there's free education and free health care, because you've got the American Dream.
But the American Dream is more achievable in socialist Europe than it is here, just check the "Wall Street Journal," they published the figures.
So you're mad as hell and you're not gonna take it anymore. So you vote against your interests, and get hung up on irrelevant issues like gay marriage and abortion when the truth is you can't make it here.
Which is why you used to wake up in the morning and get yourself a gun but...
All those bad guys have been caught, use a gun and end your life, you can wreak a lot of havoc, but you're not gonna escape.
And your mama may have told you you'd be the chosen one, but the call never comes, you never get your chance.
But you're looking good on Instagram so you think you're making progress, when the truth is you're only making Zuck's pocketbook fatter.
But still, if you tune into "The Sopranos," all these years later, you'll find more truth than you'll get in the newspaper. Hell, wasn't Manafort a Soprano?
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Like the Mafia used to, with a lot less cash.
I was just watching the episode where Adriana gets whacked. Christopher leaves her T-Bird in long term parking at the airport. Not only was I worried about fingerprints, old school, but cameras, new school. Blue collar crime is passe, there's a camera everywhere, especially in the U.K. That's how they found those Russians who poisoned the ex-spy and his daughter, they went to the film, you always go to the film these days, it's a regular plot point on television and in movies.
But the rich people don't even have to hire lawyers, the IRS has been neutered and they hide under the rubric of being job-creating envelope pushers who make our society great.
Not that I'm anti-tech, but the last year has been about the turning tide in tech, but we're still only at the tip of the iceberg.
In the twenty years since the Soprano family used flip-phones, a lot has changed.
Steve Jobs tacitly agreed not to poach from Google.
Facebook sold your data and its site to the highest bidder. As for the vaunted social graph where you can connect with everybody, you've got to pay for that now, otherwise you can't reach anybody.
Amazon puts you out of business if you don't sell to them, this has happened so many times that it's not only well-known, there's a chilling effect, why start a company that will be crushed or sold for pennies.
Or laid off on the highest bidder who will bury it, like Tumblr and Yahoo.
Marissa Mayer got whacked and then Tumblr had no champion, without porn it will never survive, it's too 2007.
And Tim Armstrong laid AOL off on Verizon and then got canned when it all didn't add up. Meanwhile, we ate the bill, those of us invested in the telco, and you probably are, even if it's via an index fund.
And for those with little, the joke is on you.
That's what the Mafia was about, the dream, of a high life for the uneducated, the street smart. "The Godfather" gave the Mob gravitas. "Donnie Brasco" illustrated that the family was based on small time crookdom, but...
Those without portfolio could get a leg up. They could rely on their brothers. Like those at Georgetown Prep, or the college fraternity.
Once again, there's a dividing line, and chances are you're on the wrong side of it.
Meanwhile, you keep hearing about how these companies made it legitimately, but the dirty little secret is...
They did not.
Forget the foreign bribes, how about Microsoft insisting that manufacturers pay for Windows on every machine, even if it wasn't installed. That put a dent in Linux way back when.
Yup, you work hard, you follow the rules, and you lose. Even if you got an education.
As for those without, they're so disillusioned they're on drugs. They started on opioids prescribed by pill mills, Purdue Pharma got rich, and then they ended up buying heroin and fentanyl on the street and we want them to go straight, but why, so they can get a minimum wage job that doesn't pay the bills?
And what I loved about "The Sopranos," and it is my favorite TV show of all time, and I believe it is the best, is the way real life was illustrated, how Meadow suggested punishing her by taking away her gas credit card.
Forget the fact that no one uses a gas credit card anymore, they use Mastercard, Visa or Amex for the points, this middle class existence doesn't exist either. Mom and Dad are both out working. You're on your own. And if you happen to get in trouble, it's someone else's fault, like the teachers, those damn schools, why are they always singling out my child?
And those with money live a completely different lifestyle, often behind gates, they go to private schools, oftentimes fly private and don't want anybody taking their spot at first class institutions, which are need blind, which you probably don't even know the definition of, which is the way they like it.
The poor and the rich, the lower middle class and the upper middle class, don't even mix.
And sure, the standard of living is higher in many ways, everybody has a smartphone and a flat screen, but hope has been eviscerated, upward mobility has been eviscerated.
Which is how Trump got elected. The downtrodden feel screwed by the elites.
But the joke is now on the elites, because they're not elite enough. They can't afford concierge doctors, never mind NetJet accounts.
So everybody with a brain and an education buys insurance, metaphorically anyway. Used to be your parents told you to be a doctor or lawyer, but those professions no longer rain down enough cash, now they tell you to become a banker. Or maybe a techie, but competition is too rough in that field.
So the winners live a lifestyle most people are unaware of, they've got no real idea how the truly rich live.
And these are not rock stars, rock stars don't make billions, never have. These are faceless nerds, both male and female, who worked hard and then realized...there was no law, there was no oversight, so...
They raped and pillaged.
And I know you can't utilize the term "rape" anymore, but while the politically correct police are checking your language, Sheryl Sandberg is pulling the wool over your eyes, saying you can have it all when the truth is only she can have it all, and she's doing everything in her power to keep it that way, screw morality.
That's just like the Mafia, it's never enough. The Mob never gives an inch.
But the truth is the law decimated the Mob.
But there are not enough lawmen left. The government won't fund the people who go after white collar crime. The FBI has been denigrated, courts are overbooked, and you think it's about keeping immigrants from crawling over a theoretical wall to take your job.
They don't want your job, they're doing all the stuff you won't do.
As for your job...
You're angry it's a dead end, from which you'll probably get fired anyway. You're trying to climb a greased pole, but when anybody tells you that, you deny it, believing the USA is better than socialist countries like Denmark, where there's free education and free health care, because you've got the American Dream.
But the American Dream is more achievable in socialist Europe than it is here, just check the "Wall Street Journal," they published the figures.
So you're mad as hell and you're not gonna take it anymore. So you vote against your interests, and get hung up on irrelevant issues like gay marriage and abortion when the truth is you can't make it here.
Which is why you used to wake up in the morning and get yourself a gun but...
All those bad guys have been caught, use a gun and end your life, you can wreak a lot of havoc, but you're not gonna escape.
And your mama may have told you you'd be the chosen one, but the call never comes, you never get your chance.
But you're looking good on Instagram so you think you're making progress, when the truth is you're only making Zuck's pocketbook fatter.
But still, if you tune into "The Sopranos," all these years later, you'll find more truth than you'll get in the newspaper. Hell, wasn't Manafort a Soprano?
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-TuneIn: http://tunein.com/lefsetz
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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Tuesday 8 January 2019
Mailbag
From: JEFF GARLIN
Subject: Hello from Jeff Garlin
I dig your writing. Thank you. Great piece on Bob Einstein. Bob was the producer of the first cable show. It was on showtime. It was called bizarre. That was where Super Dave started. There you go. Thanks again.
Sent by my my my
______________________________________
Subject: Re: Super Dave
Hey Bob,
Bizarre was a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired from 1980 to 1986. The show was hosted by John Byner, and produced by CTV at the CFTO Glen-Warren Studios in suburban Toronto for first-run airing in Canada on CTV and in the United States on the Showtime premium cable network.
John Byner was hilarious, as were his Biggot Family sketches, but it was Bob Einstein's Super Dave Osborne who made an immediate and long lasting impression with viewers. Bizarre became extremely popular in Canada, as did Super Dave. I don't know if the bulk of Americans "got it", i hope so. Super Dave eventually got his own show. As you mentioned Bob went on to much more throughout his career and I also hope that his influwence in the comedic world is fully recognized. Thanks for recognizing a true talent, Long live the legacy of Bob Einstein.
Stephen Marsh
Halifax, N.S.
______________________________________
From: Paul Flattery
Subject: Re: Bohemian Rhapsody
Totally agree with you Bob. I was skeptical going in to see this movie, especially having worked with the band (VH-1 Rock Honors) and how they were responsible for two really major events in my life:
1. Bruce Gowers and I knew each other in the UK at London Weekend TV and even shared an agent (Jon Roseman). After Bruce's video of "Bohemian Rhapsody" literally put music videos on the map in England, Roseman decided to form a music video production company and asked me to head it. I did and within a month I was out in Los Angeles to establish the US version of the company. I've been here ever since and after a very successful career in music videos/music television crossed over to TV, being part of the team that created the Billboard Music Awards and now doing 10 -12 specials every year. That career would not have been possible without Queen's video of "Bohemian Rhapsody"
2. My youngest son was born autistic and was also an "elective mute" - he wouldn't talk and couldn't read or write. It was only hearing "We Are The Champions" on the radio that provided him the impetus to get over that hurdle - he wanted to learn the lyrics. And that song made him want to read and write and he did. When I told that to Brian May while interviewing him for VH-1's "Rock Honors" he was genuinely moved, signed the sheet music to "We Are The Champions" to him and said bring him to the show (in Vegas). I did and they met then he sat as the lone person in the audience as they rehearsed. An image I'll never forget.
______________________________________
Subject: Re: Bohemian Rhapsody
Hi Bob
Brilliant article about Queen, thanks. Working with them at Elektra was an adventure I loved.
I have to comment on the one person who got no credit in the movie save "Are you ready, Roy" bit or in subsequent Queen reviews - Roy Thomas Baker.
A mad genius and has as much to do with the sound and success as anyone and deserves much of the credit for what ended up on disc and ultimately on radio.
Best regards
Bill Berger
______________________________________
From: barbara stevens
Subject: RE: Re-Springsteen On Broadway On Netflix
There's something fascinating here....
Appears all responses are from men
______________________________________
From: Sara Josep
Subject: Re: Re-Springsteen On Broadway On Netflix
Bruce lost me when I saw pictures of him vacationing on creepy David Geffens yacht with Oprah and Tom Hanks.
______________________________________
From: Andy Vale
Subject: Re: BLACKPINK
I tried to get tickets to see BTS when they came to the O2 in London a few months ago. £200 standing tickets were all sold out in seconds.
Are they on the radio? Barely.
Are they on the TV? Occasionally.
But I still can't escape Rita Ora, who is pitching to a similar audience yet hasn't sold out the same venue despite tickets being about 20% of the price.
It's nuts how many people in the media are still sleeping on K-pop, as they generally have on almost anything that's not English speaking.
______________________________________
From: Lewis Varrilly
Subject: Re: Apple
Hey Bob,
Greetings from London.
This is I think the first time replying to one of your mails. I'm not really in a position to comment on the Apple business too much but I happen to manage the artist who's music they've used in their latest commercial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8LJXcQhD0k
We've had a crazy few days since launch. Presently 41 in the US Shazam chart and climbing.
We have no label behind us (no interest from anyone), PR team, radio and historically no playlist support from any DSP. This is our 4th major sync in the last 12 month.
Anyway check it out if you get a few mins. I think he shares many similarities with the great Syd Barrett The true essence of the word artist. His album is out now.
Here's our latest vid we shot in a hot air balloon over the hills in the outskirts of Barcelona - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APhqVGA7pyw
Best,
Lewis
______________________________________
Subject: HOF
Happy for my buddies in Def Leppard and their HOF nod. Ridiculously killer albums and songs.They've worked their asses off and put on one of the best shows going while all being great guys, I was lucky enough to produce a single for them a few years back. Phil Collen is one of my best buds and there isn't a better guy in the biz.
But regarding the R&R Hall of Fame and it's ability to overlook other legends...I worked with Joe Cocker for over ten years, six albums and over forty countries and saw what he did to people. We opened the 25th anniversary concert at Woodstock and people relived that incredible performance he laid down in 1969. And I saw his team work to get him recognized at HOF, but nothing. Now he's gone. Who deserved it more than him that's not already in there? Seriously?!!
And how about Keith Emerson/ELP? Incredible. Now dear Keith is gone also.
And Spinal Tap? I've been musical director of the band for 28 years now…who wouldn't say they belong? That movie has been on every tour bus for the last 35 years. We got a private tour of the museum years back, got to troll the basement with the white gloves and stuff, all good. But then the unavoidable exit through the gift shop…and….a few hundred t-shirts that say "Hello Cleveland!" and "It Goes To 11!" Never asked the band permission. Shifty folks there, a lot of politics and bullshit going on.
I know this is the usual "who should be in the HOF (and I do NOT mean instead of Def Leppard, although I could mention about 25 acts that have no business being there before Joe and Keith…and Spinal Tap) but COME ON!
Keith Emerson?!!! Joe fucking Cocker!!!! Really fucking lame
CJ Vanston
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From: Fachtna O Ceallaigh
Subject: Re: The Show's The Thing: The Legendary Promoters Of Rock
bob,
hi from windy dublin.
barsalona/skydel, barry fey, bill graham, john and ivy bauer, ron delsener and others - all of them promoters who got excited by the challenge of getting people in the door to check out an unknown act and then with creativity and magic and raw determination, by hook or by crook, built up these acts with their passion and their perseverance. they knew their markets inside out, they were ready to take risks and the best of them were both beautiful and crazy. they had to be.
some of us were lucky enough to benefit from them and the pleasure of their company.
fachtna o ceallaigh
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Subject: Re: 2019
I received a CD of Celine Dion Christmas music over the holidays and I literally had no idea what to do with it. It was a surreal moment. I haven't seen a music CD in years, and I forgot about them. I was in Radio when we started using CD's and now, I have no CD player to play this thing except on the PC in my office. The sound system in my living room with the Denon CD player is long gone. Then I thought who gives a CD as a gift anymore? Truly strange.
Keith Michaels
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From: matt nathanson
Subject: Re: Artist Of The Year
i always joke that in my next life i'm gonna come back as ed sheeran's career.
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Subject: Re: Pretty Ballerina
Re: Renee
Bob - I was a sophomore at The High School of Music and Art when Renee was a senior. She was a tall, statuesque, unapproachable, gorgeous blonde. We knew who she was, and we loved the song. All we could do was stare.
Ritchie Gold.
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From: robert Fisher
Subject: Breaking Bob Marley in the UK
Hi Bob
In the early 70's Island Records was based at Basing Street and alongside the label there were the studios, a management company and a booking agency. I was lucky enough to be working in the agency and I remember Chris Blackwell coming through the door one morning to announce he'd signed a band called Bob Marley and the Wailers
He told us to book a college tour, something no other reggae act had done (normally they would play dancehalls ). Blackwell was adamant he would not play dancehalls he wanted to play to students
To college kids reggae wasn't really taken seriously at that time. Pretty much all they had heard were a handful of novelty records so booking the tour was a mountain to climb. However we got the job done and of course Bob went down a storm everywhere and got himself an avid fanbase who helped spread the word.
The rest of the story you already know but to me the college tour was the critical move. Blackwell called it just right it would certainly have been much much harder if not impossible to get the ball rolling otherwise
Incidentally Blackwell famously had a motto on the office wall
"if you don't promote a strange thing happens ….….nothing"
That could also have read
"if you don't promote to the right audience a strange thing happens …..nothing"
All the best
Bob
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From: Blaine Leeds
Subject: Re: Tricky Dick And The Man In Black
Happy to show you around my home state of Arkansas any time, Bob. The part of our state one sees from the hotels on front street in Memphis (although it shines like a National Guitar like the Mississippi side of the river) is only the beginning. Arkansas is home to the beautiful Ozark Mountains (just south of where Jason Bateman and Laura Linney film their show in southern Missouri) with unfortunately zero ski slopes.
Actually you could take in lots in our lovely state in a three day weekend. Highly recommend Alice Walton's triumph, the Crystal Bridges Art Museum, the gem of our state. Also, see the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn park and enjoy a natural warm spring water spa like Al Capone used to do in Hot Springs, plus the Clinton Library and presidential center in Little Rock (where Sweet Connie had the whole band and that's a natural fact). Connie's dad used to own a grocery store in my home town of Clarksville (not the one from the Monkees song).
Music history abounds with The King Biscuit Blues festival in Helena, near Levon Helm's home town of Marvel back when he was Mark Levon Helms (with an S).
Plus you'll never have more appreciation for what the great Glen Campbell accomplished when you drive through his hometown of Delight (don't blink, no stoplights or post office, I don't believe).
Also, Al Green (Forest City), Conway Twitty (Helena), Jim Ed Brown (Arkadelphia, Supposedly, The Beatles listened to Jim Ed and His sisters sing gospel harmony to practice), Charlie Rich (Colt), Floyd Cramer (Huttig), Randy Goodrum (Songwriter "Foolish Heart" by Steve Perry, "I'll be Over You" by Toto, "You Needed Me" Anne Murray of Hot Springs) are all music contributors from Arkansas - The Land of Opportunity or The Natural State.
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From: Bob Moczydlowsky
Subject: Re: Wyatt
My dad always told me that you get exactly one day of skiing with your kid when you share exactly the same ability level... and is one of the best days of your life. Van isn't there yet, but it won't be long...
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From: Ian Lee
Subject: Re: Coachella Lineup
There are 2 different businesses. This lineup is like a proclamation of it.
One is bands built the "old fashioned way" ie: good records and touring.
Two is the new thing. Internet buzz acts collect in a field a few times each summer. The ADD kids are the target here.
I've been aware, since buying my first bus 4 short years ago, that "touring might end" in our society.
I've invested every dime I've made over the past 4 years into buying nicer buses (I now have 4). 2 years ago I financed 2 newer buses.
Basically putting myself on the hook for 400k over those 2 years. They'll be paid off at the end of this year. I'm booked out solid for 5-6 months with indie rock bands I love.
I go after tours and bands I love and have some connection to as a musician.
I've never been hit up by one of the acts on this line up.
Theoretically the bands with the mid size fonts are my future business. My future survival. And I have no connection to them.
So my conclusion is. They don't tour. They don't build their act the old fashioned way. Which means they're a different business.
I've bet my life on the old fashioned way.
My hope is that touring continues to be the way in which people connect to artists they care about.
The competition to touring is the iPhone. I wonder how Steve Jobs would feel about it
Cheers
Ian
www.affordabletoursolutions.com
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From: Lon Marchand
Subject: Re: Coachella Lineup
The Bonnaroos, ACLs and Hangouts of the world have long sold out their original audience to try and keep the 17-22 crowd happy on spring break/fall break/summer break. Coachella not doing anything that different. These fests realize that it's not a return audience that they want but a return demographic.
Then the grandfather of it all, Jazz Fest, is booking the Stones this year, adding an extra 8th day (with different music each day! Coachella and ACL seek to replicate the same weekend twice), selling 50k more tickets than 2018 and catering to the same smiling faces year after year.
If festivals become out of favor with the younger crowd, which model will survive?
Lon
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Subject: Re: The Bird Box Phenomenon
Bob,
My friend, Josh Malerman, is the author of the book. He's a long time musician in Detroit in an awesomely creative band, The High Strung.
We tried to sign them many times but never got a chance.
Josh has been writing forever and it really shows how long it takes for most creatives to be known and to experience success - sometimes never.
I remember how we met. Josh wrote one of those "blanket" emails to a bunch of music industry folks.
I communicated back that it was rude to not even research who we were and send a spammy email. "You'd want me to treat you like the unique person and artist you are, why wouldn't you want to treat me the same?"
We talked on the phone and he apologized for that. His lovely attitude started a friendship that has been going on for 18 years.
He's such a thoughtful, creative, amazing man. You'd love him. Check him out.
Peace out, brother.
Tim White
Fundamental/Wildwood/Red/Delta/Nate Starkman Records.
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Subject: Re: The Bird Box Phenomenon
Bob,
Bird Box is a testament to old fashioned hard work and here's why- the author of the book the movie is based on, Josh Malerman, is also lead singer/songwriter of The High Strung. If you've watched Shameless, you've heard their song in the opening credits. I met them in Brooklyn nearly 20 years ago. Aside from truly being high strung, they were and still are some of the best people (and musicians) I've ever met. They would stay at my place over the years when passing through Austin for SXSW (when it was still about music). Josh would always sneak off for a few hours that next day, with typewriter in tow. He loved to write, and loved Stephen King. He made it a practice to write everyday. Fast forward some 18 books later he gets Bird Box published. He's published several more since. Now his first published book gets made into a movie and smashes viewership records for Netflix.
It doesn't happen overnight, but it does happen. Reminds me of something my friend, Tim Latham, used to say, "It's a war of attrition. You just have to last longer than everyone else."
Last longer and keep creating. It's what Josh Malerman has done and continues to do. I couldn't be prouder of my friend and I'm excited to see what happens next for him.
Aaron Franz
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Subject: Re: The Beach Boys At The Vilar
Talk about being the total polar opposite of what I recently witnessed at the Brian Wilson show. He's doing a bunch of setlists now (including a full on Christmas show). Montreal got the "greatest hits of The Beach Boys." They played to a semi-full house (the top floor of the theatre was blacked out). The band is smoking hot, but Brian was hardly "there." I'd say he "sung" for (maybe) 10 minutes total. If that. The show lasted well under 90 minutes and was mostly musical jams that didn't even include Brian Wilson. The teleprompter was similar to ones that politicians use at their lectern (that small pane of glass) which sat at the edge of his piano. For over 90% of the show, Brian is just staring off into space. Hard to know where he truly "was." I'm not sure his piano is even plugged in. His inter-song banter is a mumbling of what song was next, usually way too early, or as the last song was still being played out. We were sitting close enough to notice the band constantly eyeballing each other, in that awkward way. A friend of mine - who is a medical psychologist- wondered aloud if Wilson is even in shape to consent to doing a tour/show like this based on his physical state. It was sad and tragic... not the celebration of his genius/music that it should be. I went to see Brian Wilson and the music of The Beach Boys. I left with a bad taste in my mouth and a deep sadness that this genius seems be being trotted out to tour, without much concern for his physical/mental well-being. While musicians like McCartney, Elton, Phil Collins and others are doing everything they can to leave their fans with a real "final lap," this show felt much more like last gasp of air without the artist's consent. That doesn't sit well with me and it should make the industry feel as uncomfortable about it as the audience, clearly, felt that night.
MITCH JOEL
Six Pixels Group
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From: John Parikhal
Subject: Re: The Beach Boys At The Vilar - reply
In 1967, my buddy and I jumped into a Barracuda (back seats lay flat so you can sleep in the car), added 2 sleeping bags and started driving towards San Francisco from the east coast.
Why?
Because we'd heard the Beach Boys a lot and now Scott McKenzie was telling us to go west and wear flowers in our hair. "All across the nation, such a strange vibration, people in motion…"
People in motion.
Before the internet, before we really knew what was there in California, just because of the music, which was our newspaper, our uniting force as young people, we travelled 6 thousand miles in 3 weeks.
Just because of the music.
John
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From: Ken Kragen
Subject: RE: Super Dave
Bob: After Tommy Smothers discovered Bob Einstein and brought him on to the original writing staff for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, I managed him for a few years. Most of the obits on Bob mention the Smothers show but concentrate on the more recent Super Dave and Curb Your Enthusiasm appearances. I'd like to add some classic comic memories of Bob from those late '60's and early '70's times.
One of Bob Einstein's first and most memorable bits on Smothers was as Officer Judy, the motorcycle riding policeman who, among other things drove onto the set and wrote a ticket for Liberace for playing the piano too fast. He was in many skits on the show with Steve Martin, Rob Reiner and our other incredibly creative writing team.
Also, what comes to me immediately when I think of Bob is two characters he created to guest on the Steve Allen talk show. The first was the CBS Censor who talked about censoring the Smothers show and ended up using words that had to be bleeped to hysterical laughter from the audience. The other was when he went on Allen's show as the "Bird Man from Alcatraz" and Steve Allen let his bird escape the cage and fly into the rafters while Bob berated him for losing his only source of income and fame.
Another bit I remember vividly was actually on "Super Dave" where Bob was in the parking lot waiting for his guest for that episode to arrive. A car appeared driving erratically around the lot and finally pulled up in front of Bob. The driver's door opened and the blind Ray Charles got out of the driver's seat.
Bob Einstein created comedy that was unique, hysterically funny, and totally relatable and we will all miss him greatly. Ken
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From: Lee Michaels
HI BOB ... Long time ... i just started a you tube channel ... it is called "Pathetic Hasbeens" i posted my first video ...i'm the test case ... i have a green screen in my studio here in venice ..i want to get other artists to appear on the channel ... my concept is to present artists of past success ... as they are now ... want to present them in a positive honest way .... a sort of no frills ( to close for comfort ) approach ....perhaps u have some ideas & input u could share with me ... i would love to show u my studio/sound stage ... after we could have lunch at Killer Shrimp if u have time ... let me know ...thank you Lee
"Girl Like You": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHdcl89eUDo
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Subject: Re: AOC
The #1 worst thing about Aoc and a lot of the new freshmen Dems is how hardline they are for BDS and against Israel. It's reached a point that it is scary how sharply the world is against Israel. They can't be anti semites so they mask it as being against a country full of Jews. I'm in Israel right now and met with the top promoters out here. They can't book an international act to save their lives. Ariana Grande won't even come here and her manager is supposed to be a Zionist. Yeah these young new Dems are great but they bring with them the unbelievably dangerous BDS ideologies that the alta kockers refused to buy into. Used to be that the Dems were the party of the Jews. But now we're fucked.
Subject: Hello from Jeff Garlin
I dig your writing. Thank you. Great piece on Bob Einstein. Bob was the producer of the first cable show. It was on showtime. It was called bizarre. That was where Super Dave started. There you go. Thanks again.
Sent by my my my
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Subject: Re: Super Dave
Hey Bob,
Bizarre was a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired from 1980 to 1986. The show was hosted by John Byner, and produced by CTV at the CFTO Glen-Warren Studios in suburban Toronto for first-run airing in Canada on CTV and in the United States on the Showtime premium cable network.
John Byner was hilarious, as were his Biggot Family sketches, but it was Bob Einstein's Super Dave Osborne who made an immediate and long lasting impression with viewers. Bizarre became extremely popular in Canada, as did Super Dave. I don't know if the bulk of Americans "got it", i hope so. Super Dave eventually got his own show. As you mentioned Bob went on to much more throughout his career and I also hope that his influwence in the comedic world is fully recognized. Thanks for recognizing a true talent, Long live the legacy of Bob Einstein.
Stephen Marsh
Halifax, N.S.
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From: Paul Flattery
Subject: Re: Bohemian Rhapsody
Totally agree with you Bob. I was skeptical going in to see this movie, especially having worked with the band (VH-1 Rock Honors) and how they were responsible for two really major events in my life:
1. Bruce Gowers and I knew each other in the UK at London Weekend TV and even shared an agent (Jon Roseman). After Bruce's video of "Bohemian Rhapsody" literally put music videos on the map in England, Roseman decided to form a music video production company and asked me to head it. I did and within a month I was out in Los Angeles to establish the US version of the company. I've been here ever since and after a very successful career in music videos/music television crossed over to TV, being part of the team that created the Billboard Music Awards and now doing 10 -12 specials every year. That career would not have been possible without Queen's video of "Bohemian Rhapsody"
2. My youngest son was born autistic and was also an "elective mute" - he wouldn't talk and couldn't read or write. It was only hearing "We Are The Champions" on the radio that provided him the impetus to get over that hurdle - he wanted to learn the lyrics. And that song made him want to read and write and he did. When I told that to Brian May while interviewing him for VH-1's "Rock Honors" he was genuinely moved, signed the sheet music to "We Are The Champions" to him and said bring him to the show (in Vegas). I did and they met then he sat as the lone person in the audience as they rehearsed. An image I'll never forget.
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Subject: Re: Bohemian Rhapsody
Hi Bob
Brilliant article about Queen, thanks. Working with them at Elektra was an adventure I loved.
I have to comment on the one person who got no credit in the movie save "Are you ready, Roy" bit or in subsequent Queen reviews - Roy Thomas Baker.
A mad genius and has as much to do with the sound and success as anyone and deserves much of the credit for what ended up on disc and ultimately on radio.
Best regards
Bill Berger
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From: barbara stevens
Subject: RE: Re-Springsteen On Broadway On Netflix
There's something fascinating here....
Appears all responses are from men
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From: Sara Josep
Subject: Re: Re-Springsteen On Broadway On Netflix
Bruce lost me when I saw pictures of him vacationing on creepy David Geffens yacht with Oprah and Tom Hanks.
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From: Andy Vale
Subject: Re: BLACKPINK
I tried to get tickets to see BTS when they came to the O2 in London a few months ago. £200 standing tickets were all sold out in seconds.
Are they on the radio? Barely.
Are they on the TV? Occasionally.
But I still can't escape Rita Ora, who is pitching to a similar audience yet hasn't sold out the same venue despite tickets being about 20% of the price.
It's nuts how many people in the media are still sleeping on K-pop, as they generally have on almost anything that's not English speaking.
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From: Lewis Varrilly
Subject: Re: Apple
Hey Bob,
Greetings from London.
This is I think the first time replying to one of your mails. I'm not really in a position to comment on the Apple business too much but I happen to manage the artist who's music they've used in their latest commercial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8LJXcQhD0k
We've had a crazy few days since launch. Presently 41 in the US Shazam chart and climbing.
We have no label behind us (no interest from anyone), PR team, radio and historically no playlist support from any DSP. This is our 4th major sync in the last 12 month.
Anyway check it out if you get a few mins. I think he shares many similarities with the great Syd Barrett The true essence of the word artist. His album is out now.
Here's our latest vid we shot in a hot air balloon over the hills in the outskirts of Barcelona - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APhqVGA7pyw
Best,
Lewis
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Subject: HOF
Happy for my buddies in Def Leppard and their HOF nod. Ridiculously killer albums and songs.They've worked their asses off and put on one of the best shows going while all being great guys, I was lucky enough to produce a single for them a few years back. Phil Collen is one of my best buds and there isn't a better guy in the biz.
But regarding the R&R Hall of Fame and it's ability to overlook other legends...I worked with Joe Cocker for over ten years, six albums and over forty countries and saw what he did to people. We opened the 25th anniversary concert at Woodstock and people relived that incredible performance he laid down in 1969. And I saw his team work to get him recognized at HOF, but nothing. Now he's gone. Who deserved it more than him that's not already in there? Seriously?!!
And how about Keith Emerson/ELP? Incredible. Now dear Keith is gone also.
And Spinal Tap? I've been musical director of the band for 28 years now…who wouldn't say they belong? That movie has been on every tour bus for the last 35 years. We got a private tour of the museum years back, got to troll the basement with the white gloves and stuff, all good. But then the unavoidable exit through the gift shop…and….a few hundred t-shirts that say "Hello Cleveland!" and "It Goes To 11!" Never asked the band permission. Shifty folks there, a lot of politics and bullshit going on.
I know this is the usual "who should be in the HOF (and I do NOT mean instead of Def Leppard, although I could mention about 25 acts that have no business being there before Joe and Keith…and Spinal Tap) but COME ON!
Keith Emerson?!!! Joe fucking Cocker!!!! Really fucking lame
CJ Vanston
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From: Fachtna O Ceallaigh
Subject: Re: The Show's The Thing: The Legendary Promoters Of Rock
bob,
hi from windy dublin.
barsalona/skydel, barry fey, bill graham, john and ivy bauer, ron delsener and others - all of them promoters who got excited by the challenge of getting people in the door to check out an unknown act and then with creativity and magic and raw determination, by hook or by crook, built up these acts with their passion and their perseverance. they knew their markets inside out, they were ready to take risks and the best of them were both beautiful and crazy. they had to be.
some of us were lucky enough to benefit from them and the pleasure of their company.
fachtna o ceallaigh
______________________________________
Subject: Re: 2019
I received a CD of Celine Dion Christmas music over the holidays and I literally had no idea what to do with it. It was a surreal moment. I haven't seen a music CD in years, and I forgot about them. I was in Radio when we started using CD's and now, I have no CD player to play this thing except on the PC in my office. The sound system in my living room with the Denon CD player is long gone. Then I thought who gives a CD as a gift anymore? Truly strange.
Keith Michaels
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From: matt nathanson
Subject: Re: Artist Of The Year
i always joke that in my next life i'm gonna come back as ed sheeran's career.
______________________________________
Subject: Re: Pretty Ballerina
Re: Renee
Bob - I was a sophomore at The High School of Music and Art when Renee was a senior. She was a tall, statuesque, unapproachable, gorgeous blonde. We knew who she was, and we loved the song. All we could do was stare.
Ritchie Gold.
______________________________________
From: robert Fisher
Subject: Breaking Bob Marley in the UK
Hi Bob
In the early 70's Island Records was based at Basing Street and alongside the label there were the studios, a management company and a booking agency. I was lucky enough to be working in the agency and I remember Chris Blackwell coming through the door one morning to announce he'd signed a band called Bob Marley and the Wailers
He told us to book a college tour, something no other reggae act had done (normally they would play dancehalls ). Blackwell was adamant he would not play dancehalls he wanted to play to students
To college kids reggae wasn't really taken seriously at that time. Pretty much all they had heard were a handful of novelty records so booking the tour was a mountain to climb. However we got the job done and of course Bob went down a storm everywhere and got himself an avid fanbase who helped spread the word.
The rest of the story you already know but to me the college tour was the critical move. Blackwell called it just right it would certainly have been much much harder if not impossible to get the ball rolling otherwise
Incidentally Blackwell famously had a motto on the office wall
"if you don't promote a strange thing happens ….….nothing"
That could also have read
"if you don't promote to the right audience a strange thing happens …..nothing"
All the best
Bob
______________________________________
From: Blaine Leeds
Subject: Re: Tricky Dick And The Man In Black
Happy to show you around my home state of Arkansas any time, Bob. The part of our state one sees from the hotels on front street in Memphis (although it shines like a National Guitar like the Mississippi side of the river) is only the beginning. Arkansas is home to the beautiful Ozark Mountains (just south of where Jason Bateman and Laura Linney film their show in southern Missouri) with unfortunately zero ski slopes.
Actually you could take in lots in our lovely state in a three day weekend. Highly recommend Alice Walton's triumph, the Crystal Bridges Art Museum, the gem of our state. Also, see the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn park and enjoy a natural warm spring water spa like Al Capone used to do in Hot Springs, plus the Clinton Library and presidential center in Little Rock (where Sweet Connie had the whole band and that's a natural fact). Connie's dad used to own a grocery store in my home town of Clarksville (not the one from the Monkees song).
Music history abounds with The King Biscuit Blues festival in Helena, near Levon Helm's home town of Marvel back when he was Mark Levon Helms (with an S).
Plus you'll never have more appreciation for what the great Glen Campbell accomplished when you drive through his hometown of Delight (don't blink, no stoplights or post office, I don't believe).
Also, Al Green (Forest City), Conway Twitty (Helena), Jim Ed Brown (Arkadelphia, Supposedly, The Beatles listened to Jim Ed and His sisters sing gospel harmony to practice), Charlie Rich (Colt), Floyd Cramer (Huttig), Randy Goodrum (Songwriter "Foolish Heart" by Steve Perry, "I'll be Over You" by Toto, "You Needed Me" Anne Murray of Hot Springs) are all music contributors from Arkansas - The Land of Opportunity or The Natural State.
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From: Bob Moczydlowsky
Subject: Re: Wyatt
My dad always told me that you get exactly one day of skiing with your kid when you share exactly the same ability level... and is one of the best days of your life. Van isn't there yet, but it won't be long...
______________________________________
From: Ian Lee
Subject: Re: Coachella Lineup
There are 2 different businesses. This lineup is like a proclamation of it.
One is bands built the "old fashioned way" ie: good records and touring.
Two is the new thing. Internet buzz acts collect in a field a few times each summer. The ADD kids are the target here.
I've been aware, since buying my first bus 4 short years ago, that "touring might end" in our society.
I've invested every dime I've made over the past 4 years into buying nicer buses (I now have 4). 2 years ago I financed 2 newer buses.
Basically putting myself on the hook for 400k over those 2 years. They'll be paid off at the end of this year. I'm booked out solid for 5-6 months with indie rock bands I love.
I go after tours and bands I love and have some connection to as a musician.
I've never been hit up by one of the acts on this line up.
Theoretically the bands with the mid size fonts are my future business. My future survival. And I have no connection to them.
So my conclusion is. They don't tour. They don't build their act the old fashioned way. Which means they're a different business.
I've bet my life on the old fashioned way.
My hope is that touring continues to be the way in which people connect to artists they care about.
The competition to touring is the iPhone. I wonder how Steve Jobs would feel about it
Cheers
Ian
www.affordabletoursolutions.com
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From: Lon Marchand
Subject: Re: Coachella Lineup
The Bonnaroos, ACLs and Hangouts of the world have long sold out their original audience to try and keep the 17-22 crowd happy on spring break/fall break/summer break. Coachella not doing anything that different. These fests realize that it's not a return audience that they want but a return demographic.
Then the grandfather of it all, Jazz Fest, is booking the Stones this year, adding an extra 8th day (with different music each day! Coachella and ACL seek to replicate the same weekend twice), selling 50k more tickets than 2018 and catering to the same smiling faces year after year.
If festivals become out of favor with the younger crowd, which model will survive?
Lon
______________________________________
Subject: Re: The Bird Box Phenomenon
Bob,
My friend, Josh Malerman, is the author of the book. He's a long time musician in Detroit in an awesomely creative band, The High Strung.
We tried to sign them many times but never got a chance.
Josh has been writing forever and it really shows how long it takes for most creatives to be known and to experience success - sometimes never.
I remember how we met. Josh wrote one of those "blanket" emails to a bunch of music industry folks.
I communicated back that it was rude to not even research who we were and send a spammy email. "You'd want me to treat you like the unique person and artist you are, why wouldn't you want to treat me the same?"
We talked on the phone and he apologized for that. His lovely attitude started a friendship that has been going on for 18 years.
He's such a thoughtful, creative, amazing man. You'd love him. Check him out.
Peace out, brother.
Tim White
Fundamental/Wildwood/Red/Delta/Nate Starkman Records.
______________________________________
Subject: Re: The Bird Box Phenomenon
Bob,
Bird Box is a testament to old fashioned hard work and here's why- the author of the book the movie is based on, Josh Malerman, is also lead singer/songwriter of The High Strung. If you've watched Shameless, you've heard their song in the opening credits. I met them in Brooklyn nearly 20 years ago. Aside from truly being high strung, they were and still are some of the best people (and musicians) I've ever met. They would stay at my place over the years when passing through Austin for SXSW (when it was still about music). Josh would always sneak off for a few hours that next day, with typewriter in tow. He loved to write, and loved Stephen King. He made it a practice to write everyday. Fast forward some 18 books later he gets Bird Box published. He's published several more since. Now his first published book gets made into a movie and smashes viewership records for Netflix.
It doesn't happen overnight, but it does happen. Reminds me of something my friend, Tim Latham, used to say, "It's a war of attrition. You just have to last longer than everyone else."
Last longer and keep creating. It's what Josh Malerman has done and continues to do. I couldn't be prouder of my friend and I'm excited to see what happens next for him.
Aaron Franz
______________________________________
Subject: Re: The Beach Boys At The Vilar
Talk about being the total polar opposite of what I recently witnessed at the Brian Wilson show. He's doing a bunch of setlists now (including a full on Christmas show). Montreal got the "greatest hits of The Beach Boys." They played to a semi-full house (the top floor of the theatre was blacked out). The band is smoking hot, but Brian was hardly "there." I'd say he "sung" for (maybe) 10 minutes total. If that. The show lasted well under 90 minutes and was mostly musical jams that didn't even include Brian Wilson. The teleprompter was similar to ones that politicians use at their lectern (that small pane of glass) which sat at the edge of his piano. For over 90% of the show, Brian is just staring off into space. Hard to know where he truly "was." I'm not sure his piano is even plugged in. His inter-song banter is a mumbling of what song was next, usually way too early, or as the last song was still being played out. We were sitting close enough to notice the band constantly eyeballing each other, in that awkward way. A friend of mine - who is a medical psychologist- wondered aloud if Wilson is even in shape to consent to doing a tour/show like this based on his physical state. It was sad and tragic... not the celebration of his genius/music that it should be. I went to see Brian Wilson and the music of The Beach Boys. I left with a bad taste in my mouth and a deep sadness that this genius seems be being trotted out to tour, without much concern for his physical/mental well-being. While musicians like McCartney, Elton, Phil Collins and others are doing everything they can to leave their fans with a real "final lap," this show felt much more like last gasp of air without the artist's consent. That doesn't sit well with me and it should make the industry feel as uncomfortable about it as the audience, clearly, felt that night.
MITCH JOEL
Six Pixels Group
______________________________________
From: John Parikhal
Subject: Re: The Beach Boys At The Vilar - reply
In 1967, my buddy and I jumped into a Barracuda (back seats lay flat so you can sleep in the car), added 2 sleeping bags and started driving towards San Francisco from the east coast.
Why?
Because we'd heard the Beach Boys a lot and now Scott McKenzie was telling us to go west and wear flowers in our hair. "All across the nation, such a strange vibration, people in motion…"
People in motion.
Before the internet, before we really knew what was there in California, just because of the music, which was our newspaper, our uniting force as young people, we travelled 6 thousand miles in 3 weeks.
Just because of the music.
John
______________________________________
From: Ken Kragen
Subject: RE: Super Dave
Bob: After Tommy Smothers discovered Bob Einstein and brought him on to the original writing staff for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, I managed him for a few years. Most of the obits on Bob mention the Smothers show but concentrate on the more recent Super Dave and Curb Your Enthusiasm appearances. I'd like to add some classic comic memories of Bob from those late '60's and early '70's times.
One of Bob Einstein's first and most memorable bits on Smothers was as Officer Judy, the motorcycle riding policeman who, among other things drove onto the set and wrote a ticket for Liberace for playing the piano too fast. He was in many skits on the show with Steve Martin, Rob Reiner and our other incredibly creative writing team.
Also, what comes to me immediately when I think of Bob is two characters he created to guest on the Steve Allen talk show. The first was the CBS Censor who talked about censoring the Smothers show and ended up using words that had to be bleeped to hysterical laughter from the audience. The other was when he went on Allen's show as the "Bird Man from Alcatraz" and Steve Allen let his bird escape the cage and fly into the rafters while Bob berated him for losing his only source of income and fame.
Another bit I remember vividly was actually on "Super Dave" where Bob was in the parking lot waiting for his guest for that episode to arrive. A car appeared driving erratically around the lot and finally pulled up in front of Bob. The driver's door opened and the blind Ray Charles got out of the driver's seat.
Bob Einstein created comedy that was unique, hysterically funny, and totally relatable and we will all miss him greatly. Ken
______________________________________
From: Lee Michaels
HI BOB ... Long time ... i just started a you tube channel ... it is called "Pathetic Hasbeens" i posted my first video ...i'm the test case ... i have a green screen in my studio here in venice ..i want to get other artists to appear on the channel ... my concept is to present artists of past success ... as they are now ... want to present them in a positive honest way .... a sort of no frills ( to close for comfort ) approach ....perhaps u have some ideas & input u could share with me ... i would love to show u my studio/sound stage ... after we could have lunch at Killer Shrimp if u have time ... let me know ...thank you Lee
"Girl Like You": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHdcl89eUDo
______________________________________
Subject: Re: AOC
The #1 worst thing about Aoc and a lot of the new freshmen Dems is how hardline they are for BDS and against Israel. It's reached a point that it is scary how sharply the world is against Israel. They can't be anti semites so they mask it as being against a country full of Jews. I'm in Israel right now and met with the top promoters out here. They can't book an international act to save their lives. Ariana Grande won't even come here and her manager is supposed to be a Zionist. Yeah these young new Dems are great but they bring with them the unbelievably dangerous BDS ideologies that the alta kockers refused to buy into. Used to be that the Dems were the party of the Jews. But now we're fucked.
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Monday 7 January 2019
Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame-SiriusXM This Week
Tune in tomorrow, Tuesday January 8, on Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.
Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863
Twitter: @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive
Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive
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Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863
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Bohemian Rhapsody
So what have we learned?
It was the worst-reviewed Golden Globe winner in 33 years: https://bit.ly/2CUTuoO Not that I needed Rotten Tomatoes to tell me this, I've been tracking it all along. Excoriated in the press, I've yet to find one person who didn't absolutely adore it.
This movie should have been a nonstarter. Aged rock band's surviving members shepherd a biopic to the screen. The story is too old, not intriguing enough, and everybody will tell you you don't want the subjects involved, they can never agree on anything and they want a whitewash.
But "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the highest grossing biopic of all time, with a $743,677,266 gross, with $193,644,966 of that in the U.S.
Furthermore, "Bohemian Rhapsody," the song, was not that big of a phenomenon when it was released back in '75. "A Night At The Opera" was a breakthrough for a band who famously listed "No Synthesizers" in the credits. Their debut, back in '73, came out on Elektra in the U.S., the home of another band that resurfaced decades later, the Doors. It was Columbia and Warner Brothers who could push this stuff, not Elektra.
But the second album got more traction and the third established a true beachhead, primarily "Killer Queen."
But the amazing thing about "A Night At The Opera" was its breadth, its different styles. To tell you the truth, "I'm In Love With My Car" and "39" and "You're My Best Friend" resonated with me more than "Bohemian Rhapsody." "Bohemian Rhapsody" was not "Stairway To Heaven," it was not "Free Bird," it did not sit atop the annual Memorial 500, it was just another arty track in a healthy, diverse scene.
One can argue quite strongly that the subsequent "We Will Rock You"/"We Are The Champions" had greater impact two years later, but neither "A Day At The Races" nor "News Of The World" were as consistent as "A Night At The Opera," the band's apotheosis. And after the relatively hitless "Jazz," which did contain "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race," the band came back with "The Game" and the infectious "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Another One Bites The Dust" and then Queen was done, they switched labels in the U.S. and never had another hit, and in the rest of the world the situation was not a whole lot better.
But now they're LEGENDS? SUPERSTARS? How did this HAPPEN?
That's right, we had not only Zeppelin, but the Eagles, and before they died, Skynyrd. The truth was, there was a plethora of great acts in the seventies, an era where there was 24 track recording and enough money to get the sound down and the bands could play live and the PA's could support them.
Credit "Wayne's World." It's just that simple, Wayne and Garth made "Bohemian Rhapsody," a nearly-forgotten classic rock track, a national staple.
Just like "The Sopranos" gave credibility to Journey and made Steve Perry a legend.
The question is...WHO ELSE CAN BE BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD?
It seems we're just a placement away from bringing old acts back. But it can't be manipulated, it's got to be serendipitous, which makes it so hard to accomplish.
And everyone knows Freddie Mercury died of AIDS.
BUT THEY WENT TO SEE THE MOVIE ANYWAY!
And like I said, the critics savaged the film. Proving their worth in the internet world.
And speaking of the internet world, it's the endless repeats of "Wayne's World" on cable and streaming that kept the legend of "Bohemian Rhapsody" alive.
So what is resonating with the public? Which knows the story and the song?
THE NARRATIVE!
The classic rock narrative is irresistible. People with nothing do hard work and ultimately succeed doing it their way.
This is radically different from today's music paradigm.
Then again, wasn't this the story of N.W.A. and "Straight Outta Compton"?
Act too dangerous, too out there for the business, plays by its own rules and resonates with the public.
In other words, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is "Behind The Music" on steroids.
But that formula became long in the tooth. And most acts are not as charismatic as Queen and Mercury.
Now I'm not sure movie studios should rush to do biopics, they usually fail. But "Bohemian Rhapsody" tapped into something.
The power of music.
The power of rock and the roll.
The power of outsiders.
The power of doing it your way.
We're looking for dominance, for a beacon, something to believe in, and Freddie Mercury and Queen fit the bill.
In a country that's divided, that doesn't resemble the seventies whatsoever, the public hungers for something better, a time where music was more important than politics, when a musician was richer than a banker, when the rock star life was truly lived by rock stars.
I doubt "Bohemian Rhapsody" will win Best Picture at the Oscars.
But that doesn't matter. Because it will play ad infinitum on cable and streaming services. Funny, oftentimes film outlives the music it is based upon.
In other words, the remaining members of Queen achieved their goal beyond their wildest dreams. Queen is now forever, watch those ticket counts soar.
But if Freddie Mercury were still here he'd be laughing.
You see it was not like today, you didn't make music for mainstream attention, to be a member of the group, you reveled in your role as an outsider, the world came to YOU!
Shows sold out, you were rich, and your lifestyle...let's just say that smartphone cameras have killed the road, at least sexually.
You were the other, you not only won the game, you defined it.
You didn't study hard in school, you didn't take a traditional path, you created your career out of whole cloth, you gave the middle finger to the establishment.
And your audience couldn't get enough of you.
It's this ethos the public is hungry for.
We don't want brands, we want personalities. Who can't manage perfume companies and the rest of the mercenary penumbra in today's world.
We want people who can say no. People others are begging to perform, be involved with.
We want leaders, beacons, people who take hold of the system, shake it up, and made it work for them instead of vice versa.
That was Queen.
But it was so many more.
Queen was not the Beatles, they weren't even the Eagles when it comes to hits and ticket counts. But now they're the biggest band in the world, decades later.
When you get it right, you get it right for all time.
Take risks, do it your way, the public will clamor for you.
But that's not today's paradigm, not really.
But people don't change, that's still what we're looking for.
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It was the worst-reviewed Golden Globe winner in 33 years: https://bit.ly/2CUTuoO Not that I needed Rotten Tomatoes to tell me this, I've been tracking it all along. Excoriated in the press, I've yet to find one person who didn't absolutely adore it.
This movie should have been a nonstarter. Aged rock band's surviving members shepherd a biopic to the screen. The story is too old, not intriguing enough, and everybody will tell you you don't want the subjects involved, they can never agree on anything and they want a whitewash.
But "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the highest grossing biopic of all time, with a $743,677,266 gross, with $193,644,966 of that in the U.S.
Furthermore, "Bohemian Rhapsody," the song, was not that big of a phenomenon when it was released back in '75. "A Night At The Opera" was a breakthrough for a band who famously listed "No Synthesizers" in the credits. Their debut, back in '73, came out on Elektra in the U.S., the home of another band that resurfaced decades later, the Doors. It was Columbia and Warner Brothers who could push this stuff, not Elektra.
But the second album got more traction and the third established a true beachhead, primarily "Killer Queen."
But the amazing thing about "A Night At The Opera" was its breadth, its different styles. To tell you the truth, "I'm In Love With My Car" and "39" and "You're My Best Friend" resonated with me more than "Bohemian Rhapsody." "Bohemian Rhapsody" was not "Stairway To Heaven," it was not "Free Bird," it did not sit atop the annual Memorial 500, it was just another arty track in a healthy, diverse scene.
One can argue quite strongly that the subsequent "We Will Rock You"/"We Are The Champions" had greater impact two years later, but neither "A Day At The Races" nor "News Of The World" were as consistent as "A Night At The Opera," the band's apotheosis. And after the relatively hitless "Jazz," which did contain "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race," the band came back with "The Game" and the infectious "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Another One Bites The Dust" and then Queen was done, they switched labels in the U.S. and never had another hit, and in the rest of the world the situation was not a whole lot better.
But now they're LEGENDS? SUPERSTARS? How did this HAPPEN?
That's right, we had not only Zeppelin, but the Eagles, and before they died, Skynyrd. The truth was, there was a plethora of great acts in the seventies, an era where there was 24 track recording and enough money to get the sound down and the bands could play live and the PA's could support them.
Credit "Wayne's World." It's just that simple, Wayne and Garth made "Bohemian Rhapsody," a nearly-forgotten classic rock track, a national staple.
Just like "The Sopranos" gave credibility to Journey and made Steve Perry a legend.
The question is...WHO ELSE CAN BE BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD?
It seems we're just a placement away from bringing old acts back. But it can't be manipulated, it's got to be serendipitous, which makes it so hard to accomplish.
And everyone knows Freddie Mercury died of AIDS.
BUT THEY WENT TO SEE THE MOVIE ANYWAY!
And like I said, the critics savaged the film. Proving their worth in the internet world.
And speaking of the internet world, it's the endless repeats of "Wayne's World" on cable and streaming that kept the legend of "Bohemian Rhapsody" alive.
So what is resonating with the public? Which knows the story and the song?
THE NARRATIVE!
The classic rock narrative is irresistible. People with nothing do hard work and ultimately succeed doing it their way.
This is radically different from today's music paradigm.
Then again, wasn't this the story of N.W.A. and "Straight Outta Compton"?
Act too dangerous, too out there for the business, plays by its own rules and resonates with the public.
In other words, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is "Behind The Music" on steroids.
But that formula became long in the tooth. And most acts are not as charismatic as Queen and Mercury.
Now I'm not sure movie studios should rush to do biopics, they usually fail. But "Bohemian Rhapsody" tapped into something.
The power of music.
The power of rock and the roll.
The power of outsiders.
The power of doing it your way.
We're looking for dominance, for a beacon, something to believe in, and Freddie Mercury and Queen fit the bill.
In a country that's divided, that doesn't resemble the seventies whatsoever, the public hungers for something better, a time where music was more important than politics, when a musician was richer than a banker, when the rock star life was truly lived by rock stars.
I doubt "Bohemian Rhapsody" will win Best Picture at the Oscars.
But that doesn't matter. Because it will play ad infinitum on cable and streaming services. Funny, oftentimes film outlives the music it is based upon.
In other words, the remaining members of Queen achieved their goal beyond their wildest dreams. Queen is now forever, watch those ticket counts soar.
But if Freddie Mercury were still here he'd be laughing.
You see it was not like today, you didn't make music for mainstream attention, to be a member of the group, you reveled in your role as an outsider, the world came to YOU!
Shows sold out, you were rich, and your lifestyle...let's just say that smartphone cameras have killed the road, at least sexually.
You were the other, you not only won the game, you defined it.
You didn't study hard in school, you didn't take a traditional path, you created your career out of whole cloth, you gave the middle finger to the establishment.
And your audience couldn't get enough of you.
It's this ethos the public is hungry for.
We don't want brands, we want personalities. Who can't manage perfume companies and the rest of the mercenary penumbra in today's world.
We want people who can say no. People others are begging to perform, be involved with.
We want leaders, beacons, people who take hold of the system, shake it up, and made it work for them instead of vice versa.
That was Queen.
But it was so many more.
Queen was not the Beatles, they weren't even the Eagles when it comes to hits and ticket counts. But now they're the biggest band in the world, decades later.
When you get it right, you get it right for all time.
Take risks, do it your way, the public will clamor for you.
But that's not today's paradigm, not really.
But people don't change, that's still what we're looking for.
--
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Sunday 6 January 2019
Re-Springsteen On Broadway On Netflix
Re: https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2019/01/04/springsteen-on-broadway-on-netflix/
_________________________________________
It's unwatchable. Akin to paint drying. Problem is that Bruce has told his life story five thousand times. It's old hat. And the intimacy of what he's doing, the mix of the music with his little stage show shtick relies on the theater itself -- you have to be there, or else it just doesn't work. A disappointing project.
Paul Cantor
_________________________________________
You're wrong in this one, Bob. I went in w/ low expectations and was knocked out. These songs sound even better than the originals. And the stories — the script, as it were is both revealing and heartfelt. Self-deprecating, even. Who knew "Dancing in the Dark" was so friggin' good stripped down and naked?
I fear you're becoming the "critic" who sees everything not as it is but as the critic thinks his audience sees it.
And "zero charisma?" LOL c'mon, Bob. Jeezus.
Dave Curtis
_________________________________________
Bang on, Bob. You nailed this one. The spoken parts are what mattered. I watched Growin' Up and My Hometown then fast-forwarded every other song. Out of curiosity, I did watch the first song he performed with Patti, but found it odd that she'd be singing back-up on a song that was about Bruce's relationship with Julianne Philips (though I guess she DID play a part in the dissolution of that relationship).
Oh, and after his Vietnam monologue, I found myself listening to him play slide and eventually realized he was singing Born In The USA, which was interesting both because it seemed to capture the tumult of the times and also because, musically, it was 180 degrees from a song he's long been almost embarrassed to play in its original form, such did its success change his life.
But, yeah, generally for the superfan.
Cheers
AKD
-------------------
Andy Dayes, CFA
_________________________________________
Happy New Year! I loved the level of insight and honesty that he brought to it. You pose a great question though.
I don't know how many artists truly have the skill to write and create a show like this or more importantly who would be willing to reveal the very elements that you've articulated made this great!
Best Always,
Ritch Esra
_________________________________________
Bruce was great when he had to prove it all night. I saw those early shows at the Roxy and he was great.
But when he got huge with Born In The USA, his ego took over and he became full of hisself. Thats when I split.
So disappointing.
Stu Cohen
_________________________________________
Loved it until he started into the religious diatribe at the end.
Jesus Christ! Didn't know he was so pious!
Lin Wolen in Honolulu
_________________________________________
I'm not a huge Bruce fan, but wanted to go see this show in person. When I couldn't get tickets, at least none I wanted to afford, I was happy this was on Netflix.
I was struck by the storytelling, and the sincerity behind the delivery, most notably when Bruce's father attempted his version of an apology.
The bare bones delivery of the music also enhanced the storytelling, and when the show ended, the first thing that came to mind is how real talent makes a superstar. Bruce is real talent, and I feel fortunate to have witnessed it, along with the stories behind the music.
Once again, thanks Bob.
Glenn Moran
_________________________________________
I think the clue is in the title Bob - it just seemed to have a little too much Broadway in it. I enjoyed it - would I watch it again, no.
Better by far, for me, is Loudon Wainwright's show about his father and family, also on Netflix. Acerbic and loving at the same time. The songs are not so popular but you get a much greater sense of the characters involved.
Kind regards
Philip Haines
_________________________________________
I was a major fan of Bruce in my teens-as a teen in Philly it was almost required.
As an adult I have had two knocks against him. He sings the factory songs and pretends to be the friend of the working man, but I have more factory time than him (lasted two weeks the enrolled in college) and he never had a day job in his life.
He finally confesses to both in the show. Made it worth watching for me.
Laurence Cavanaugh
_________________________________________
Bob, he's not a favorite of mine. Nondescript songs, no funky groove or complexity in the rhythms, a stodgy incredibly over-rated band. Maybe he was better early on in the clubs. What could be more boring than Bruce's 3-hour arena show? Answer: Bruce alone onstage for 2 hours...BUT I LOVED THIS SHOW, thought it was brilliant start-to-finish. He's a really good actor! Dig the facial expressions, and the skillful way he plays while delivering the monologues. This is a hell of a great performance. Paul Lanning
_________________________________________
I enjoyed the hell out of it Bob.
And here's to hoping Broadway maintains some sense of purity/integrity as it now moves into this realm.
All the others can take the Vegas residency cash..
Craig Finley
_________________________________________
Spot on...this IS an endurance test and I'm a big fan. I can not imagine sitting through this live in a cramped Broadway theater. A five hour flight to the East Coast enabled me. The highlights for me were the story of reconciliation with his father prior to his son's birth and his recitation of the Lord's Prayer...very powerful.
Andy Paciocco
_________________________________________
I watched the show in three sittings. It's deep, and there's a lot to ponder. I didn't want it to be a slog, so I had to take in pieces. It is very still, and in our amped-up world, it is difficult to slow life to the pace of a one-man show and ignore the siren song of iMessage and the thousand other distractions. For some, it's just a guy reading a book into a camera for two and a half hours. But for others, it's can't-look-away voyeurism. If you can manage to stay attentive, you'll see him carefully dismantle his life as if it were a bomb. It is intricate and terribly intimate work, and you are left with the sense that he knew he was playing with emotional fire from the start, but his drive to know himself was inseparable from his need to be noticed—to be a star.
The show is the book, and the book is his journey to escape the trauma's of his childhood and to know himself fully. How many of us are compelled to run toward the fire? Most of us are running away. The rest of us are uninterested or afraid of what we'd find if we took a deep dive into our own psyches.
I've been a fan since forever. Never a super fan, but I respected his drive and his talent. Now I'm a bigger, more appreciative fan for having read the book. Spoiler alert, it is not like any rock star book you've read. It is literature, not the stuff of tabloids.
Jon Sinton
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Call me crazy, but the whole time I was watching this (I watched the whole thing), I kept thinking that this performance and format worked better than I would have expected. I'll bet the one guy who's being driven a little nuts by the success of this is Bob Dylan.
Robert Miranda
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I thought it was a very good and heartfelt show. NFLX reportedly paid 20 mil for rights so what is wrong for that ?
The show basically sold out for two years on B way and grossed 2 mil a week; https://www.broadwayworld.com/grossesshow.cfm?show=SPRINGSTEEN-ON-BROADWAY&year=2017
For me at 76 he got small town USA and the 50's perfectly. Brought tears to my eyes several times. Maybe a little corny in spots-but ok. He's earned to do whatever he wants
Michael Harpster
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Hey Bob!
I have to disagree with you on some of what you say about BoB. I do not consider myself a Springsteen fan, but this film converted me. To my eye it was the most revealing 'pulling back of the curtain' I have experienced. Much moreso than many interviews I have done for my radio station. I think this film has that power to convert that a regular concert does not have. Not saying it's perfect or an easy viewer, but I was compelled to watch it all the way through and found myself wanting more!
Love your newsletter and thoughtful musings!
Darren Redick
Planet Rock (UK)
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Bob,
Based on this, I'll watch it.
Read his book, liked it. Told the truth and he can actually write!
Cool.
Rik Shafer
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I listened to album of this show and it was riveting. It blew me away. Then I tried watching it on Netflix and it didn't hold my attention. What seemed so HUGE on record seemed so small on tv.
Bruce Berman
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We had exactly the same experience and have yet to finish. My favorite Bruce song is Glory Days, but in the video he throws like a girl, evidence of his admission that he makes it up, that he never worked with his hands or served, but had the self boasted genius to channel/make it up.
Too bad he's not Dylan!
Fred C. Klein, Esq.
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I am not a Bruce superfan or really even a fan. But, I am enjoying this show. I agree about the music slowing it down.
Barry Fante
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"He's both damaged and privileged."
That's exactly what I took away from the book as a non-fan who respects his hardworking craftsmanship but doesn't really enjoy it.
Well said, Bob.
Matt Kohut
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I'm not a rabid Bruce fan - even though I'm a Jersey guy - but I liked it. The highlight for me was Born in the USA. Played on a 12-string, turned into a slide guitar piece, played like a Delta bluesman might. Slow. Serious. Not an anthem. And way more powerful than the original. Gotta respect the guy for doing that.
Dave Thorn
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Preach it, Brother Bob!
I came away from Bruce's Netflix show feeling it was about 40 minutes too long and bordering on self-indulgence. I was fast-forwarding through the last three songs.
I did like his honesty ("...the guy that wrote "Born to Run" didn't know how to drive!), and though people griped online about the cursing, I found it humanized him.
But in all? Didn't live up to the hype, to me.
—Rob Maurer
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You are most definitely the wrong guy to review that show if you declare him void of charisma.
As for Netflix, I'm cannot articulate the joy it has brought to people who can't afford $1500. tickets and a weekend in the CVS Apple.
I hitchhiked out of Winooski Vermont on clear crisp winter mornings (you haven't seen New York if you haven't cruised Route 8 on a sun splashed winter day wondering if the person who picked you up is going to kill you) to see the River show in Buffalo and Montreal.
Remember when a phone call to Mom was collect, from a smelly dorm phone...if some drunk hadn't ripped it from the wall? And your mother talked so fast because she accepted a collect call and G-d knows we can't pay that bill so half the time you got rejected only because the ask told them you were ok? I'm lucky enough to. I hitched to get free of that dormitory but I digress.
Mom thought I was nuts.
She's 90 now and last week she rang me after watching that film at my urging and the joy it gave her made my day X365. We were St. Rose of Lima folks from Buffalo, not Freehold, but the bell rang hard. It's clanging for her still. Won't stop talking about it.
Tears and joy is a great concoction.
Stay healthy in 2019 and beyond, Bob.
Daniel Dwyer
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Terrific review. It was an endurance test.
I never even got to the concert part of the Springsteen Netflix show and I'm a fan (but not a super-fan). After about 15 minutes, I figured it was going to be all talk and since I'd read the book, I already knew the story.
It is the for super-fan like my friend David who's seen him live over 50 times.
What Netflix and so many miss is that TV isn't the greatest for music, especially live music, no matter how big the screen or how fabulous the sound system. There's no crowd, no anticipation, there's getting up for something to eat or go to the bathroom, there's close-ups that are too close, etc.
John Parikhal
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when it comes to Springsteen, you just don't get it. That's cool though, not many do.
Happy New Year.
Dan Cignarella
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The Netflix Bruce show caught me by surprise: it had me in tears at several points. I figure something that connects & makes someone feel a real emotion (besides political anger) is a good thing these days.
Wallace Collins
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It was based on his book, allegedly, which was tough to read but better listening to in the car. (Go figure!)
Yes, a tough slog, because he dropped the narrative thread early on. Big mistake.
But he does have great plugs, so he's got that goin' for him.
Hope you have a healthier year, Bobalu!
Richard Pachter
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Bob, I saw your piece on Springsteen. I saw the Broadway performance, I watched the Netflix show, I am a super fan. I even read your entire blog!
Ted Utz
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Good morning Mr. Lefsetz,
Regarding your critique of Netflix' broadcast of Springsteen on Broadway.
You are off the mark in characterizing the viewing of his show as an "endurance test." Just let the story unfold.
I am not a "fan" (as in fanatic) of his work, but I do enjoy it. The only album of his I own is Brilliant Disguise.
He has a story to tell, nothing more. It was just a one man show (that is until Mrs. Springsteen joined him on stage).
His years as a troubadour brings with it wisdom earned by both joy and sadness.
Sharing his upbringing, and explaining what his family and meant and means to him, has a resonance that will transcend any generation.
His ambivalence in not being sent to Vietnam (despite receiving his draft notice) was raw, but an honest reckoning.
Yes I agree, Born to Run doesn't quite translate on just an acoustic guitar, but hey. . .he wrote it and damn it, he can play it any way he pleases.
His statement, be an ancestor, not a ghost . . .it could have been lifted from the Talmud.
Endurance test? Bruce Springsteen may be many things, but boring isn't one of them.
Regards,
Phil Hurwitz
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Hi Bob ,
Even though I am a long time Springsteen admirer I agreed with many of your points
The press has fawned all over this
Too much I agree
His true importance and relevance was long ago
He is still very good , but greatness is Tempe
1980 concert or any others of that era
No one could touch him and E street band
Go back and watch them .......
Having said that I have read many of your articles and find you to be one of the best writers , you have a ability to get to the heart of the matter !
Cheers
Dana Shutt
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I was lucky enough to get stuck in a Nor'easter in NYC last February and walked over to Walter Kerr and got a single ticket for $300 from someone that couldn't make it to the city. Being there live was, as I told friends and family, soul moving. I'm not a super fan either. In fact, I've only seem him live once and get what you mean, I'm with you on those fans.
Since February I had been scouring for reasonable tickets to take my wife to experience what I did but could never find anything reasonable ($600/tix would have been reasonable to me!!). So when it came out on Netflix we both watched it together, in three parts. I agree, it's too long for one sitting. With his moving story telling, we both had tears in our eyes for most of it. Bruce is a unique human being in this world, and his performance shows that.
After we watched it my wife turned to me and said, "why did you not try harder and get tickets, you clearly didn't do a good job of saying how good it was." Nothing I can do about that now.
I was lucky enough to see it live, and for much less than most, I think, and will always have a great memory of it.
David Irwin
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I love Springsteen but thank you for speaking the truth with love. I thought it was nice. It was great to have on while you were doing something else. I fell asleep at one point. But I was happy I watched it. He is a real guy. And a real star. I thought if nothing else it was a brilliant experiment. There are not many people who make good music who also tell good stories. There is a guy in my genre, Todd Snider, who does an excellent show, known more for his stories than the songs... but this was good. A review that fell in line directly with my opinion as a 57 year old Bruce fan... but rabid Bruce fans... they are the worst. He has written some epic and transformational music to but to compare his output in the last 20 years to his first 4-6 albums is just silly.
"You Need Hatred"... and that is hard to sustain when the world has anointed you as a genius AND YOU GOT PAID...and you had you supermodel wife... and you figured out a lot of shit. It leads to wisdom but wisdom does not equate to good art or at least good rock and roll.
PEACE!
Michael A. Becker
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Bruce's fans are 1/3 the issue.
There is no bigger fake jive mo fo than Jon Landau. Plus sycophants like Marsh and Jan Wenner. It's an inside job the likes of which isn't anything remotely resembling actual rock and roll. Rock n roll is shambolic. Team Bruce went corporate as quick as it could '81-84.
I wish I didn't know now what I didnt know then
but I do, and as a result Bruce is less special.
Dennis Pelowski
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I love Bruce Springsteen...and the E Street Band!!! I saw them in back in the mid 70's at the Paramount Theater in Portland, Oregon and they rocked. I didn't know any of their songs until that day. But Bruce is not a great solo artist or a great speaker. I turned this off after 23 minutes. And people paid on average $450 a show for this. Yes, the Elvis thing was cool and yes, him reliving his childhood was cool but most of your podcasts are more enthralling than his jibber jabber. (BTW-when are these coming back?). The last few concerts I saw with him and the band there was way too much of his garble. Lots of great musicians are good storytellers. Not Bruce.
Randy Schaaf
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Thought the same. Watched the first 45 and thought to myself this is great but I can't take anymore right now. I'll watch it in chunks til it's done.
Dan Millen
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I'm not a super fan. Have seen him maybe half dozen times live. Shows ranged from disappointing to best ever, including the iconic "Born in the USA" at Brendan Byrne Arena in 1984. Ok, I was a super fan for a week and became obsessed with getting a ticket for a subsequent show that week.
Loved his book, for me, the play was an extension of the book. Since I'm the same age as Springsteen and experienced similar emotional turmoil, much of his story resonates with me.
Never could have seen him live on Broadway, so, thanks, Netflix.
Randi Swindel
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Jimmy Iovine's experience with Bruce on HBOs 'the Defiant One's' was an eye opener. Force of will.
I was grateful that Netflix made this show available... and thought it was a beautiful show. I could not justify the price on Broadway but sitting with a big screen at home on a chilly soCal night still made for a memorable experience.
Rob Meder
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Get the audiobook Bob, he reads it and it's much more informative. That man was a scamp in the 70s, and a fair bit of the 80s too.
I felt much like you did, but I wanted to hear the songs as the stories replicated the book albeit in a much truncates form.
GaryC
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I am not a super Bruce fan. And I almost always agree with you. But i am guessing you only saw the Netflix show and not the live version? Rock and Roll just does not work for 2 hours on a tv.
Andrew Zacks
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I agree with most. And I'm a huge Bruce guy. Stilll I'd rather see the River revamp tour than the Bruce/ Broadway broadcast. And frankly, I'd rather see a full out Bruce and the e street band show on Netflix.. The only thing I disagree with is few can do this. I tried to think of ANYONE who could. Dylan? Just went to see him and he didn't utter a word. Neil Young? Maybe but for how long? Everyone else including Henley comes off so pretentious to me. As for Bruce, he's earned the right .. but ...
Brian Lukow
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Endurance test?
Geez that's a bit drastic. I'm sure you've (we, they) watched and or have binged watched much less stimulating shows/programs over the years. Mr. Springsteen is one of the most compelling storytellers of our generation and if you can't handle two and a half hours of pure entertainment like it outta be whats this world coming to?
And I'm not even a superfan, so there !
Doug Pomerantz
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Nick Cave did some interesting stops on his tour during 2018. Conversations with his fans tour. I don't know how well acquainted you are with his music, but his fans are rabid! (as am I about his work and persona). https://www.nickcave.com/news/so-what-do-you-want-to-know/
~Inessa (www.theinessablog.com)
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You hate his fans? I repeat, Ariana Grande is headlining a festival. And Taylor Swift. Fuck that.
It's not only about their fans. At least he plays music.
It's about the music.
Harold Love
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Part of Bruce's show is the recounting of his strained relationship with his mentally father. He went into this in more detail in his biography. His insights and observations helped me heal a little more at 60 years old from my connection to my sullen Pop.
Tim Pringle
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Bob, You described "Bruce on Broadway" eloquently, but I guess I was moved much more by watching than you: I was totally blown away! I knew I would like it, but I LOVED IT. I was touched emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Me and my sweetheart were fixed to the tv screen for over two hours.
I am a fan for sure, but I don't think one could classify me as a super fan. I have seen him many times, but I don't collect his bootleg shows and there are many more die hards than myself.
I guess I do have a different kind of experience when it comes to Bruce though. I was fortunate enough to be part of the collective group of men and women who's mission at Columbia was to get him the recognition that we all knew he deserved. And we weren't going to give up until that happened, There is nothing like working an artist you believe in, sometimes working for years, and then getting to see their success come to fruition. It is such a fucking rush, and with Bruce it was extra special.
So when I watched the show the night it aired on Netflix, of course this experience enhanced my reaction compared to the average fan. This show touched me in a different way than his live concerts have. I was smiling, laughing and even crying at times. Maybe you are right about needing to be a fan to totally get it. Personally I felt his passion, energy and charisma, and it filled me up.
Warmly,
Alan Oreman
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Hi Bob
Longtime Springsteen fan here in (where else?) Jersey. I've been to 30 shows since the reunion and to be honest his music is one of the very few that can move me to tears. With that said, I avoided going to Broadway to see this because I knew it would end up on Netflix or HBO. I watched it Christmas Eve and turned to my wife and said "I don't like this at all..." I'm glad I didn't too because it proves that not everything he does is a home run in my eyes.
Lou Verile, Jr.
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I love your work but sometimes it's a test of endurance to read you rambling about other tests of endurance. I'll avoid the debate here as I'm a biased Bruce Believer but I guess I would ask this. Can you name another piece of artwork in the past 10 years by an artist who's been close the level of stardom as Bruce has in which there is this type of authenticity and vulnerability? I can't; which is why this was legendary
Mark Burrell
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Just saw this on Netflix myself, and thanks for bringing up what he says about Elvis on TV...I am the same age as Bruce, and no one ever has described the impact of Elvis showing up on Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan as seen through the eyes of a 7 year old boy in a way that reminded me so much of my own experience. I also liked how he looked back on it and pointed out that if the authorities really understood how righteously subversive what was being harbingered in that moment, powerful forces might have cracked down on it.
You frame the questions the show asks well. What are we learning from this presentation? What it's like to be Bruce? What it's like to have the fire in the belly? What it's like to have parents who are mysteries and idols? Do we only find it interesting to the extent that we dig the musician? Or does he engage us because, to quote him having some fun in the show, "That's how good I am!" I was never a Bruce idolator, but a contemporary who has enjoyed a special thing he does, and I was moved by the show.
Joe Lee Henderson
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Pretty spot on Bob. You wrote almost exactly what I was thinking when watching it. Best Terry Tompkins
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Bruce has no charisma ? Really ? And you hate Springsteen fans ? Aren't you the same person who recently
quoted Rodney King: "Can't we all get along" ? I enjoy most of your takes but I disagree with you on this one.
You mentioned some positive points as well but several comments in this piece seemed quite harsh. First time
writing to you and wishing you a Happy and healthy ( slightly belated ) New Year.
Dave Shoemaker
Lake Forest Ca
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Funny this should arrive in my mailbox the morning after I tried to watch it.
I made it to about the 30 minute mark you recommended then I was out.
Not sure what I expected here. I can tell you I tried like hell to get tickets regardless that it would require travelling from Toronto.
I'm now wondering if I'd have been disappointed had I attended or if this just had to be a live experience.
Never gonna know I guess.
John Bowes
Bowmanville, Ontario
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Hey Bob I had heard about the broadway show but didn't know it was on Netflix until your email.
I watched it last night and I found it to be pretty good. I'm not a huge Bruce fan but I really enjoyed it.
Andrew Einhorn
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I agree with a lot of your observations. My wife and I, not superfans, slogged through the whole thing, and thought it was worth it, but only just. Her observation, which I also agreed with, is that it would have been much less a slog, if he added some levity - humour - to it. I few more laughs would have gone a LONG way. You really got the sense that he suffers from depression, which is interesting, and relatable, but not entertaining.
Richard Moignard
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I watched the Springsteen Netflix show on the morning it came out. I heard about it on this newsletter I get-from music guy in LA. I knew that it was going to be released-but drifting along in my own little world so I didn't know when.
I wanted to go to the Broadway show-but there was no way. I'm a single dad with a small arts business and I have a kid with a college fund and summer camp and there was no way I was gonna drop two grand on an evening in New York City. That's ski week money. That's half the summer of mountain climbing for my kid. That's a full week in Los Angeles at my sisters place-with a luxury rented car outside and golf every day.
I was incredibly grateful that he released it. It was not wasted on me that he mentioned his mom is very ill. I think that's what kept him off the road and… We've all been there, haven't we?
I've been a fan for decades-not a super fan-but I've listen to all the records and I've been to a dozen shows and because I'm a guitar player I've learned to play and sing a lot of those songs. Springsteen dropped Born In The USA when friends and I were all about 20. The really important musical stuff happened when I was younger and I really didn't get hip to it till later - Greetings from Asbury Park and all that. But that workingman 69 Chevy blue jeans and leather jacket thing? That was pretty much the story of my late teens, early adulthood years. Darkness On The Edge Of Town Was what was playing the first time I turned on the first stereo system my dad helped me set up in my room-24 seven. WNEW. That's how much of an impact he had around here in the Northeast.
The deepest moment for me was when he revealed that this "character"? This motorcycle boots and leather jacket guy who works in a factory all day and races in the street at night? It was never him. It was his dad. He looked up from his 17-year-old world, latched onto this workingman character-this broken hearted male who wants to break free-and all the time it was his dad. That must've taken years of therapy to figure out. That's what makes him more interesting then say, Eric Clapton… I love Clapton... But we will never know where those songs came from particularly. Did I mention how big an effect that whole shtick had on all my friends?
I had the reverse journey as he did-I moved out of New York City so I could have some space and some light and tinker with my car and play music in the garage and all that… Because he made it sound good to me… More honest than the hyped up media world I had growing up in New York City. The world of my dad and his friends… The madman. Madison Avenue. Apartments and restaurants and not many trees.
And now I long to get out of here… And when he revealed that all along that lust for "the other life… The sophisticated life in NY… was what drove him along to find Mike Appel and take the bus up to the city…. There is some irony there if I thought about it for more than a second. Poor man want to be rich-rich man want to be king…
With Gratitude,
Matt Peyton
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Hi Bob,
I'm a diehard fan , over 200 live shows. For me a Bruce show is therapy, but not Springsteen on Broadway. I was fortunate enough to see it twice, yet it was only the 2nd time -a week before the end of the run that I understood, appreciated and lauded his performance. Bruce is the 'Boss' of all of his personal endeavors and nothing gets approved for any show until Bruce gives it his ok. The first time I saw him was the 3rd week in October 2017. He seemed anxious and it appeared he was often checking the promptor. The last time, a week before closing in December, 2018 I saw/heard an amazingly creative artist weave his literary prose and cuts from his songbook into a Broadway show. One could argue that it wasn't a musical, eg. no pit orchestra, no chorus but this show was a blend of Bruce at his finest. His nuanced stories which then floated into a perfect song from his vast repertoire to memorialize the moment, was brilliant. Tears flowed often hearing about how Vietnam changed his life, not by going, but by the death of rock n roll icons from his hometown that he idolized ,that never came back. Bruce Springsteen has a heart, cares about people. When mentioning The Big Man , he teared up- exactly like a best buddy would. It was real, it was a painful loss both professionally and personally. Moreover Bruces' tribute to his mom, Adele, was perhaps the most meaningful ; a son sings about his mom, whom he just had announced was battling Alzheimer's. If the show didn't move everyone or have everyone understand that he's still just a kid from Jersey- sometimes rebellious-but a man dedicated to be truthful in his life and in his work and allowed us to share all of that with us. He is and will be be known as a songwriter, musician, poet and a man who never was afraid to speak his mind - mostly thru music- about this great country in which we live ( despite our leader(?)who has just entered the terrible twos).
Sent from my iPhone
sari leon
p.s. The biggest disappointment from Broadway? The ticket prices , which I would think the 'Boss' had some input, ergo Netflix
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I watched the entire show and I'm not a huge fan. Some great songs.
Like you I find his cultish fans annoying. Like all musics fans who can't get over any one particular band.
The show got a bit long in places. Then again most movies could be cut twenty minutes and it would be an improvement.
His acting is better than lots of stage actors. While at times he seemed to be overacting just a bit, generally there weren't too many false notes. Were those real tears?
Every song didn't work as an acoustic piece but it was interesting to see them as they were conceived with one instrument not a band.
Elvis and The Beatles might have changed the world. For you and many others it was the Beatles. But Elvis primed the world for all of you and your buddies to pick up guitars and join bands. Hank Williams might have done the same.
Springsteen's honesty about his never having been a working class joe or a hot rod car obsessed rebel was refreshing. He's fans don't seem to to be interested in this fact.
As he said. I made it up. That's how good I am. How's that for the "stay in your lane" PC crowd.
The hard nose father, kind loving mother and softer sensitive son stuff might not have been your Connecticut life experience but many people in lots of small towns born in the USA can and do relate. Just like they do to the fantasy escape from the factory town, he imagined, with his fast car and good enough girlfriend.
Small town provincial unattractive kid risks it all and makes it big in your tainted yet beloved music industry.
Isn't that rock and roll at its best.
Unlike you I'm not sure music ever really changes the world in some giant historical way. Music helped convince boys to go to war once just as it helped stop a war once. But it's likely the wars would have and will continue to exist no matter the state of music or the current slate of musicians.
But it's always nice to have an ever changing soundtrack to our memories.
No matter how distorted, disturbed, sentimental, nostalgic, beautiful or romanticized or imagined they may be.
Hang in there Bob
You might get your music and world revolution yet.
Me. I'm just looking for another backing track to today's adventure.
Jack Haynes
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Yeah
From someone who was a child when I started touring with him
He's a phony and landau is Svengali
He doesn't care about anyone but himself
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It's unwatchable. Akin to paint drying. Problem is that Bruce has told his life story five thousand times. It's old hat. And the intimacy of what he's doing, the mix of the music with his little stage show shtick relies on the theater itself -- you have to be there, or else it just doesn't work. A disappointing project.
Paul Cantor
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You're wrong in this one, Bob. I went in w/ low expectations and was knocked out. These songs sound even better than the originals. And the stories — the script, as it were is both revealing and heartfelt. Self-deprecating, even. Who knew "Dancing in the Dark" was so friggin' good stripped down and naked?
I fear you're becoming the "critic" who sees everything not as it is but as the critic thinks his audience sees it.
And "zero charisma?" LOL c'mon, Bob. Jeezus.
Dave Curtis
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Bang on, Bob. You nailed this one. The spoken parts are what mattered. I watched Growin' Up and My Hometown then fast-forwarded every other song. Out of curiosity, I did watch the first song he performed with Patti, but found it odd that she'd be singing back-up on a song that was about Bruce's relationship with Julianne Philips (though I guess she DID play a part in the dissolution of that relationship).
Oh, and after his Vietnam monologue, I found myself listening to him play slide and eventually realized he was singing Born In The USA, which was interesting both because it seemed to capture the tumult of the times and also because, musically, it was 180 degrees from a song he's long been almost embarrassed to play in its original form, such did its success change his life.
But, yeah, generally for the superfan.
Cheers
AKD
-------------------
Andy Dayes, CFA
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Happy New Year! I loved the level of insight and honesty that he brought to it. You pose a great question though.
I don't know how many artists truly have the skill to write and create a show like this or more importantly who would be willing to reveal the very elements that you've articulated made this great!
Best Always,
Ritch Esra
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Bruce was great when he had to prove it all night. I saw those early shows at the Roxy and he was great.
But when he got huge with Born In The USA, his ego took over and he became full of hisself. Thats when I split.
So disappointing.
Stu Cohen
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Loved it until he started into the religious diatribe at the end.
Jesus Christ! Didn't know he was so pious!
Lin Wolen in Honolulu
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I'm not a huge Bruce fan, but wanted to go see this show in person. When I couldn't get tickets, at least none I wanted to afford, I was happy this was on Netflix.
I was struck by the storytelling, and the sincerity behind the delivery, most notably when Bruce's father attempted his version of an apology.
The bare bones delivery of the music also enhanced the storytelling, and when the show ended, the first thing that came to mind is how real talent makes a superstar. Bruce is real talent, and I feel fortunate to have witnessed it, along with the stories behind the music.
Once again, thanks Bob.
Glenn Moran
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I think the clue is in the title Bob - it just seemed to have a little too much Broadway in it. I enjoyed it - would I watch it again, no.
Better by far, for me, is Loudon Wainwright's show about his father and family, also on Netflix. Acerbic and loving at the same time. The songs are not so popular but you get a much greater sense of the characters involved.
Kind regards
Philip Haines
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I was a major fan of Bruce in my teens-as a teen in Philly it was almost required.
As an adult I have had two knocks against him. He sings the factory songs and pretends to be the friend of the working man, but I have more factory time than him (lasted two weeks the enrolled in college) and he never had a day job in his life.
He finally confesses to both in the show. Made it worth watching for me.
Laurence Cavanaugh
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Bob, he's not a favorite of mine. Nondescript songs, no funky groove or complexity in the rhythms, a stodgy incredibly over-rated band. Maybe he was better early on in the clubs. What could be more boring than Bruce's 3-hour arena show? Answer: Bruce alone onstage for 2 hours...BUT I LOVED THIS SHOW, thought it was brilliant start-to-finish. He's a really good actor! Dig the facial expressions, and the skillful way he plays while delivering the monologues. This is a hell of a great performance. Paul Lanning
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I enjoyed the hell out of it Bob.
And here's to hoping Broadway maintains some sense of purity/integrity as it now moves into this realm.
All the others can take the Vegas residency cash..
Craig Finley
_________________________________________
Spot on...this IS an endurance test and I'm a big fan. I can not imagine sitting through this live in a cramped Broadway theater. A five hour flight to the East Coast enabled me. The highlights for me were the story of reconciliation with his father prior to his son's birth and his recitation of the Lord's Prayer...very powerful.
Andy Paciocco
_________________________________________
I watched the show in three sittings. It's deep, and there's a lot to ponder. I didn't want it to be a slog, so I had to take in pieces. It is very still, and in our amped-up world, it is difficult to slow life to the pace of a one-man show and ignore the siren song of iMessage and the thousand other distractions. For some, it's just a guy reading a book into a camera for two and a half hours. But for others, it's can't-look-away voyeurism. If you can manage to stay attentive, you'll see him carefully dismantle his life as if it were a bomb. It is intricate and terribly intimate work, and you are left with the sense that he knew he was playing with emotional fire from the start, but his drive to know himself was inseparable from his need to be noticed—to be a star.
The show is the book, and the book is his journey to escape the trauma's of his childhood and to know himself fully. How many of us are compelled to run toward the fire? Most of us are running away. The rest of us are uninterested or afraid of what we'd find if we took a deep dive into our own psyches.
I've been a fan since forever. Never a super fan, but I respected his drive and his talent. Now I'm a bigger, more appreciative fan for having read the book. Spoiler alert, it is not like any rock star book you've read. It is literature, not the stuff of tabloids.
Jon Sinton
_________________________________________
Call me crazy, but the whole time I was watching this (I watched the whole thing), I kept thinking that this performance and format worked better than I would have expected. I'll bet the one guy who's being driven a little nuts by the success of this is Bob Dylan.
Robert Miranda
_________________________________________
I thought it was a very good and heartfelt show. NFLX reportedly paid 20 mil for rights so what is wrong for that ?
The show basically sold out for two years on B way and grossed 2 mil a week; https://www.broadwayworld.com/grossesshow.cfm?show=SPRINGSTEEN-ON-BROADWAY&year=2017
For me at 76 he got small town USA and the 50's perfectly. Brought tears to my eyes several times. Maybe a little corny in spots-but ok. He's earned to do whatever he wants
Michael Harpster
_________________________________________
Hey Bob!
I have to disagree with you on some of what you say about BoB. I do not consider myself a Springsteen fan, but this film converted me. To my eye it was the most revealing 'pulling back of the curtain' I have experienced. Much moreso than many interviews I have done for my radio station. I think this film has that power to convert that a regular concert does not have. Not saying it's perfect or an easy viewer, but I was compelled to watch it all the way through and found myself wanting more!
Love your newsletter and thoughtful musings!
Darren Redick
Planet Rock (UK)
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Bob,
Based on this, I'll watch it.
Read his book, liked it. Told the truth and he can actually write!
Cool.
Rik Shafer
_________________________________________
I listened to album of this show and it was riveting. It blew me away. Then I tried watching it on Netflix and it didn't hold my attention. What seemed so HUGE on record seemed so small on tv.
Bruce Berman
_________________________________________
We had exactly the same experience and have yet to finish. My favorite Bruce song is Glory Days, but in the video he throws like a girl, evidence of his admission that he makes it up, that he never worked with his hands or served, but had the self boasted genius to channel/make it up.
Too bad he's not Dylan!
Fred C. Klein, Esq.
_________________________________________
I am not a Bruce superfan or really even a fan. But, I am enjoying this show. I agree about the music slowing it down.
Barry Fante
_________________________________________
"He's both damaged and privileged."
That's exactly what I took away from the book as a non-fan who respects his hardworking craftsmanship but doesn't really enjoy it.
Well said, Bob.
Matt Kohut
_________________________________________
I'm not a rabid Bruce fan - even though I'm a Jersey guy - but I liked it. The highlight for me was Born in the USA. Played on a 12-string, turned into a slide guitar piece, played like a Delta bluesman might. Slow. Serious. Not an anthem. And way more powerful than the original. Gotta respect the guy for doing that.
Dave Thorn
_________________________________________
Preach it, Brother Bob!
I came away from Bruce's Netflix show feeling it was about 40 minutes too long and bordering on self-indulgence. I was fast-forwarding through the last three songs.
I did like his honesty ("...the guy that wrote "Born to Run" didn't know how to drive!), and though people griped online about the cursing, I found it humanized him.
But in all? Didn't live up to the hype, to me.
—Rob Maurer
_________________________________________
You are most definitely the wrong guy to review that show if you declare him void of charisma.
As for Netflix, I'm cannot articulate the joy it has brought to people who can't afford $1500. tickets and a weekend in the CVS Apple.
I hitchhiked out of Winooski Vermont on clear crisp winter mornings (you haven't seen New York if you haven't cruised Route 8 on a sun splashed winter day wondering if the person who picked you up is going to kill you) to see the River show in Buffalo and Montreal.
Remember when a phone call to Mom was collect, from a smelly dorm phone...if some drunk hadn't ripped it from the wall? And your mother talked so fast because she accepted a collect call and G-d knows we can't pay that bill so half the time you got rejected only because the ask told them you were ok? I'm lucky enough to. I hitched to get free of that dormitory but I digress.
Mom thought I was nuts.
She's 90 now and last week she rang me after watching that film at my urging and the joy it gave her made my day X365. We were St. Rose of Lima folks from Buffalo, not Freehold, but the bell rang hard. It's clanging for her still. Won't stop talking about it.
Tears and joy is a great concoction.
Stay healthy in 2019 and beyond, Bob.
Daniel Dwyer
_________________________________________
Terrific review. It was an endurance test.
I never even got to the concert part of the Springsteen Netflix show and I'm a fan (but not a super-fan). After about 15 minutes, I figured it was going to be all talk and since I'd read the book, I already knew the story.
It is the for super-fan like my friend David who's seen him live over 50 times.
What Netflix and so many miss is that TV isn't the greatest for music, especially live music, no matter how big the screen or how fabulous the sound system. There's no crowd, no anticipation, there's getting up for something to eat or go to the bathroom, there's close-ups that are too close, etc.
John Parikhal
_________________________________________
when it comes to Springsteen, you just don't get it. That's cool though, not many do.
Happy New Year.
Dan Cignarella
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The Netflix Bruce show caught me by surprise: it had me in tears at several points. I figure something that connects & makes someone feel a real emotion (besides political anger) is a good thing these days.
Wallace Collins
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It was based on his book, allegedly, which was tough to read but better listening to in the car. (Go figure!)
Yes, a tough slog, because he dropped the narrative thread early on. Big mistake.
But he does have great plugs, so he's got that goin' for him.
Hope you have a healthier year, Bobalu!
Richard Pachter
_________________________________________
Bob, I saw your piece on Springsteen. I saw the Broadway performance, I watched the Netflix show, I am a super fan. I even read your entire blog!
Ted Utz
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Good morning Mr. Lefsetz,
Regarding your critique of Netflix' broadcast of Springsteen on Broadway.
You are off the mark in characterizing the viewing of his show as an "endurance test." Just let the story unfold.
I am not a "fan" (as in fanatic) of his work, but I do enjoy it. The only album of his I own is Brilliant Disguise.
He has a story to tell, nothing more. It was just a one man show (that is until Mrs. Springsteen joined him on stage).
His years as a troubadour brings with it wisdom earned by both joy and sadness.
Sharing his upbringing, and explaining what his family and meant and means to him, has a resonance that will transcend any generation.
His ambivalence in not being sent to Vietnam (despite receiving his draft notice) was raw, but an honest reckoning.
Yes I agree, Born to Run doesn't quite translate on just an acoustic guitar, but hey. . .he wrote it and damn it, he can play it any way he pleases.
His statement, be an ancestor, not a ghost . . .it could have been lifted from the Talmud.
Endurance test? Bruce Springsteen may be many things, but boring isn't one of them.
Regards,
Phil Hurwitz
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Hi Bob ,
Even though I am a long time Springsteen admirer I agreed with many of your points
The press has fawned all over this
Too much I agree
His true importance and relevance was long ago
He is still very good , but greatness is Tempe
1980 concert or any others of that era
No one could touch him and E street band
Go back and watch them .......
Having said that I have read many of your articles and find you to be one of the best writers , you have a ability to get to the heart of the matter !
Cheers
Dana Shutt
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I was lucky enough to get stuck in a Nor'easter in NYC last February and walked over to Walter Kerr and got a single ticket for $300 from someone that couldn't make it to the city. Being there live was, as I told friends and family, soul moving. I'm not a super fan either. In fact, I've only seem him live once and get what you mean, I'm with you on those fans.
Since February I had been scouring for reasonable tickets to take my wife to experience what I did but could never find anything reasonable ($600/tix would have been reasonable to me!!). So when it came out on Netflix we both watched it together, in three parts. I agree, it's too long for one sitting. With his moving story telling, we both had tears in our eyes for most of it. Bruce is a unique human being in this world, and his performance shows that.
After we watched it my wife turned to me and said, "why did you not try harder and get tickets, you clearly didn't do a good job of saying how good it was." Nothing I can do about that now.
I was lucky enough to see it live, and for much less than most, I think, and will always have a great memory of it.
David Irwin
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I love Springsteen but thank you for speaking the truth with love. I thought it was nice. It was great to have on while you were doing something else. I fell asleep at one point. But I was happy I watched it. He is a real guy. And a real star. I thought if nothing else it was a brilliant experiment. There are not many people who make good music who also tell good stories. There is a guy in my genre, Todd Snider, who does an excellent show, known more for his stories than the songs... but this was good. A review that fell in line directly with my opinion as a 57 year old Bruce fan... but rabid Bruce fans... they are the worst. He has written some epic and transformational music to but to compare his output in the last 20 years to his first 4-6 albums is just silly.
"You Need Hatred"... and that is hard to sustain when the world has anointed you as a genius AND YOU GOT PAID...and you had you supermodel wife... and you figured out a lot of shit. It leads to wisdom but wisdom does not equate to good art or at least good rock and roll.
PEACE!
Michael A. Becker
_________________________________________
Bruce's fans are 1/3 the issue.
There is no bigger fake jive mo fo than Jon Landau. Plus sycophants like Marsh and Jan Wenner. It's an inside job the likes of which isn't anything remotely resembling actual rock and roll. Rock n roll is shambolic. Team Bruce went corporate as quick as it could '81-84.
I wish I didn't know now what I didnt know then
but I do, and as a result Bruce is less special.
Dennis Pelowski
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I love Bruce Springsteen...and the E Street Band!!! I saw them in back in the mid 70's at the Paramount Theater in Portland, Oregon and they rocked. I didn't know any of their songs until that day. But Bruce is not a great solo artist or a great speaker. I turned this off after 23 minutes. And people paid on average $450 a show for this. Yes, the Elvis thing was cool and yes, him reliving his childhood was cool but most of your podcasts are more enthralling than his jibber jabber. (BTW-when are these coming back?). The last few concerts I saw with him and the band there was way too much of his garble. Lots of great musicians are good storytellers. Not Bruce.
Randy Schaaf
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Thought the same. Watched the first 45 and thought to myself this is great but I can't take anymore right now. I'll watch it in chunks til it's done.
Dan Millen
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I'm not a super fan. Have seen him maybe half dozen times live. Shows ranged from disappointing to best ever, including the iconic "Born in the USA" at Brendan Byrne Arena in 1984. Ok, I was a super fan for a week and became obsessed with getting a ticket for a subsequent show that week.
Loved his book, for me, the play was an extension of the book. Since I'm the same age as Springsteen and experienced similar emotional turmoil, much of his story resonates with me.
Never could have seen him live on Broadway, so, thanks, Netflix.
Randi Swindel
_________________________________________
Jimmy Iovine's experience with Bruce on HBOs 'the Defiant One's' was an eye opener. Force of will.
I was grateful that Netflix made this show available... and thought it was a beautiful show. I could not justify the price on Broadway but sitting with a big screen at home on a chilly soCal night still made for a memorable experience.
Rob Meder
_________________________________________
Get the audiobook Bob, he reads it and it's much more informative. That man was a scamp in the 70s, and a fair bit of the 80s too.
I felt much like you did, but I wanted to hear the songs as the stories replicated the book albeit in a much truncates form.
GaryC
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I am not a super Bruce fan. And I almost always agree with you. But i am guessing you only saw the Netflix show and not the live version? Rock and Roll just does not work for 2 hours on a tv.
Andrew Zacks
_________________________________________
I agree with most. And I'm a huge Bruce guy. Stilll I'd rather see the River revamp tour than the Bruce/ Broadway broadcast. And frankly, I'd rather see a full out Bruce and the e street band show on Netflix.. The only thing I disagree with is few can do this. I tried to think of ANYONE who could. Dylan? Just went to see him and he didn't utter a word. Neil Young? Maybe but for how long? Everyone else including Henley comes off so pretentious to me. As for Bruce, he's earned the right .. but ...
Brian Lukow
_________________________________________
Endurance test?
Geez that's a bit drastic. I'm sure you've (we, they) watched and or have binged watched much less stimulating shows/programs over the years. Mr. Springsteen is one of the most compelling storytellers of our generation and if you can't handle two and a half hours of pure entertainment like it outta be whats this world coming to?
And I'm not even a superfan, so there !
Doug Pomerantz
_________________________________________
Nick Cave did some interesting stops on his tour during 2018. Conversations with his fans tour. I don't know how well acquainted you are with his music, but his fans are rabid! (as am I about his work and persona). https://www.nickcave.com/news/so-what-do-you-want-to-know/
~Inessa (www.theinessablog.com)
_________________________________________
You hate his fans? I repeat, Ariana Grande is headlining a festival. And Taylor Swift. Fuck that.
It's not only about their fans. At least he plays music.
It's about the music.
Harold Love
_________________________________________
Part of Bruce's show is the recounting of his strained relationship with his mentally father. He went into this in more detail in his biography. His insights and observations helped me heal a little more at 60 years old from my connection to my sullen Pop.
Tim Pringle
_________________________________________
Bob, You described "Bruce on Broadway" eloquently, but I guess I was moved much more by watching than you: I was totally blown away! I knew I would like it, but I LOVED IT. I was touched emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Me and my sweetheart were fixed to the tv screen for over two hours.
I am a fan for sure, but I don't think one could classify me as a super fan. I have seen him many times, but I don't collect his bootleg shows and there are many more die hards than myself.
I guess I do have a different kind of experience when it comes to Bruce though. I was fortunate enough to be part of the collective group of men and women who's mission at Columbia was to get him the recognition that we all knew he deserved. And we weren't going to give up until that happened, There is nothing like working an artist you believe in, sometimes working for years, and then getting to see their success come to fruition. It is such a fucking rush, and with Bruce it was extra special.
So when I watched the show the night it aired on Netflix, of course this experience enhanced my reaction compared to the average fan. This show touched me in a different way than his live concerts have. I was smiling, laughing and even crying at times. Maybe you are right about needing to be a fan to totally get it. Personally I felt his passion, energy and charisma, and it filled me up.
Warmly,
Alan Oreman
_________________________________________
Hi Bob
Longtime Springsteen fan here in (where else?) Jersey. I've been to 30 shows since the reunion and to be honest his music is one of the very few that can move me to tears. With that said, I avoided going to Broadway to see this because I knew it would end up on Netflix or HBO. I watched it Christmas Eve and turned to my wife and said "I don't like this at all..." I'm glad I didn't too because it proves that not everything he does is a home run in my eyes.
Lou Verile, Jr.
_________________________________________
I love your work but sometimes it's a test of endurance to read you rambling about other tests of endurance. I'll avoid the debate here as I'm a biased Bruce Believer but I guess I would ask this. Can you name another piece of artwork in the past 10 years by an artist who's been close the level of stardom as Bruce has in which there is this type of authenticity and vulnerability? I can't; which is why this was legendary
Mark Burrell
_________________________________________
Just saw this on Netflix myself, and thanks for bringing up what he says about Elvis on TV...I am the same age as Bruce, and no one ever has described the impact of Elvis showing up on Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan as seen through the eyes of a 7 year old boy in a way that reminded me so much of my own experience. I also liked how he looked back on it and pointed out that if the authorities really understood how righteously subversive what was being harbingered in that moment, powerful forces might have cracked down on it.
You frame the questions the show asks well. What are we learning from this presentation? What it's like to be Bruce? What it's like to have the fire in the belly? What it's like to have parents who are mysteries and idols? Do we only find it interesting to the extent that we dig the musician? Or does he engage us because, to quote him having some fun in the show, "That's how good I am!" I was never a Bruce idolator, but a contemporary who has enjoyed a special thing he does, and I was moved by the show.
Joe Lee Henderson
_________________________________________
Pretty spot on Bob. You wrote almost exactly what I was thinking when watching it. Best Terry Tompkins
_________________________________________
Bruce has no charisma ? Really ? And you hate Springsteen fans ? Aren't you the same person who recently
quoted Rodney King: "Can't we all get along" ? I enjoy most of your takes but I disagree with you on this one.
You mentioned some positive points as well but several comments in this piece seemed quite harsh. First time
writing to you and wishing you a Happy and healthy ( slightly belated ) New Year.
Dave Shoemaker
Lake Forest Ca
_________________________________________
Funny this should arrive in my mailbox the morning after I tried to watch it.
I made it to about the 30 minute mark you recommended then I was out.
Not sure what I expected here. I can tell you I tried like hell to get tickets regardless that it would require travelling from Toronto.
I'm now wondering if I'd have been disappointed had I attended or if this just had to be a live experience.
Never gonna know I guess.
John Bowes
Bowmanville, Ontario
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Hey Bob I had heard about the broadway show but didn't know it was on Netflix until your email.
I watched it last night and I found it to be pretty good. I'm not a huge Bruce fan but I really enjoyed it.
Andrew Einhorn
_________________________________________
I agree with a lot of your observations. My wife and I, not superfans, slogged through the whole thing, and thought it was worth it, but only just. Her observation, which I also agreed with, is that it would have been much less a slog, if he added some levity - humour - to it. I few more laughs would have gone a LONG way. You really got the sense that he suffers from depression, which is interesting, and relatable, but not entertaining.
Richard Moignard
_________________________________________
I watched the Springsteen Netflix show on the morning it came out. I heard about it on this newsletter I get-from music guy in LA. I knew that it was going to be released-but drifting along in my own little world so I didn't know when.
I wanted to go to the Broadway show-but there was no way. I'm a single dad with a small arts business and I have a kid with a college fund and summer camp and there was no way I was gonna drop two grand on an evening in New York City. That's ski week money. That's half the summer of mountain climbing for my kid. That's a full week in Los Angeles at my sisters place-with a luxury rented car outside and golf every day.
I was incredibly grateful that he released it. It was not wasted on me that he mentioned his mom is very ill. I think that's what kept him off the road and… We've all been there, haven't we?
I've been a fan for decades-not a super fan-but I've listen to all the records and I've been to a dozen shows and because I'm a guitar player I've learned to play and sing a lot of those songs. Springsteen dropped Born In The USA when friends and I were all about 20. The really important musical stuff happened when I was younger and I really didn't get hip to it till later - Greetings from Asbury Park and all that. But that workingman 69 Chevy blue jeans and leather jacket thing? That was pretty much the story of my late teens, early adulthood years. Darkness On The Edge Of Town Was what was playing the first time I turned on the first stereo system my dad helped me set up in my room-24 seven. WNEW. That's how much of an impact he had around here in the Northeast.
The deepest moment for me was when he revealed that this "character"? This motorcycle boots and leather jacket guy who works in a factory all day and races in the street at night? It was never him. It was his dad. He looked up from his 17-year-old world, latched onto this workingman character-this broken hearted male who wants to break free-and all the time it was his dad. That must've taken years of therapy to figure out. That's what makes him more interesting then say, Eric Clapton… I love Clapton... But we will never know where those songs came from particularly. Did I mention how big an effect that whole shtick had on all my friends?
I had the reverse journey as he did-I moved out of New York City so I could have some space and some light and tinker with my car and play music in the garage and all that… Because he made it sound good to me… More honest than the hyped up media world I had growing up in New York City. The world of my dad and his friends… The madman. Madison Avenue. Apartments and restaurants and not many trees.
And now I long to get out of here… And when he revealed that all along that lust for "the other life… The sophisticated life in NY… was what drove him along to find Mike Appel and take the bus up to the city…. There is some irony there if I thought about it for more than a second. Poor man want to be rich-rich man want to be king…
With Gratitude,
Matt Peyton
_________________________________________
Hi Bob,
I'm a diehard fan , over 200 live shows. For me a Bruce show is therapy, but not Springsteen on Broadway. I was fortunate enough to see it twice, yet it was only the 2nd time -a week before the end of the run that I understood, appreciated and lauded his performance. Bruce is the 'Boss' of all of his personal endeavors and nothing gets approved for any show until Bruce gives it his ok. The first time I saw him was the 3rd week in October 2017. He seemed anxious and it appeared he was often checking the promptor. The last time, a week before closing in December, 2018 I saw/heard an amazingly creative artist weave his literary prose and cuts from his songbook into a Broadway show. One could argue that it wasn't a musical, eg. no pit orchestra, no chorus but this show was a blend of Bruce at his finest. His nuanced stories which then floated into a perfect song from his vast repertoire to memorialize the moment, was brilliant. Tears flowed often hearing about how Vietnam changed his life, not by going, but by the death of rock n roll icons from his hometown that he idolized ,that never came back. Bruce Springsteen has a heart, cares about people. When mentioning The Big Man , he teared up- exactly like a best buddy would. It was real, it was a painful loss both professionally and personally. Moreover Bruces' tribute to his mom, Adele, was perhaps the most meaningful ; a son sings about his mom, whom he just had announced was battling Alzheimer's. If the show didn't move everyone or have everyone understand that he's still just a kid from Jersey- sometimes rebellious-but a man dedicated to be truthful in his life and in his work and allowed us to share all of that with us. He is and will be be known as a songwriter, musician, poet and a man who never was afraid to speak his mind - mostly thru music- about this great country in which we live ( despite our leader(?)who has just entered the terrible twos).
Sent from my iPhone
sari leon
p.s. The biggest disappointment from Broadway? The ticket prices , which I would think the 'Boss' had some input, ergo Netflix
_________________________________________
I watched the entire show and I'm not a huge fan. Some great songs.
Like you I find his cultish fans annoying. Like all musics fans who can't get over any one particular band.
The show got a bit long in places. Then again most movies could be cut twenty minutes and it would be an improvement.
His acting is better than lots of stage actors. While at times he seemed to be overacting just a bit, generally there weren't too many false notes. Were those real tears?
Every song didn't work as an acoustic piece but it was interesting to see them as they were conceived with one instrument not a band.
Elvis and The Beatles might have changed the world. For you and many others it was the Beatles. But Elvis primed the world for all of you and your buddies to pick up guitars and join bands. Hank Williams might have done the same.
Springsteen's honesty about his never having been a working class joe or a hot rod car obsessed rebel was refreshing. He's fans don't seem to to be interested in this fact.
As he said. I made it up. That's how good I am. How's that for the "stay in your lane" PC crowd.
The hard nose father, kind loving mother and softer sensitive son stuff might not have been your Connecticut life experience but many people in lots of small towns born in the USA can and do relate. Just like they do to the fantasy escape from the factory town, he imagined, with his fast car and good enough girlfriend.
Small town provincial unattractive kid risks it all and makes it big in your tainted yet beloved music industry.
Isn't that rock and roll at its best.
Unlike you I'm not sure music ever really changes the world in some giant historical way. Music helped convince boys to go to war once just as it helped stop a war once. But it's likely the wars would have and will continue to exist no matter the state of music or the current slate of musicians.
But it's always nice to have an ever changing soundtrack to our memories.
No matter how distorted, disturbed, sentimental, nostalgic, beautiful or romanticized or imagined they may be.
Hang in there Bob
You might get your music and world revolution yet.
Me. I'm just looking for another backing track to today's adventure.
Jack Haynes
_________________________________________
Yeah
From someone who was a child when I started touring with him
He's a phony and landau is Svengali
He doesn't care about anyone but himself
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