"You can turn the clock to zero honey
I'll sell the stock, we'll spend all the money
We're starting up a brand new day"
Playlist: https://spoti.fi/2WWUP7W
1
Sting's career was in the doldrums. After stunning the populace with the double album "...Nothing Like the Sun," with not only the classics "Be Still My Beating Heart," "Englishman in New York" and "We'll Be Together," there was his slow twist on Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing," as good as Clapton and the Dominos' in its own unique way, and the piece-de-resistance, the ethereal "They Dance Alone (Cueca Solo)," Sting released a dud, 1991's "Soul Cages."
Word was Sting was arrogant, people were pissed he broke up the Police, but with "Dream of the Blue Turtles" with "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," and the aforementioned "...Nothing Like the Sun," Sting changed people's perceptions, he truly stood on his own, one of the few performers to equal the success of their previous act after going solo. Turns out there was more in Sting than white boy reggae, three-piece rock, he was testing limits, stretching the paradigm, he had his own hard-earned cred.
But "Soul Cages"... It did contain the ditty "All This Time," but this jaunty number was a trifle compared to the gravitas Sting had evidenced previously. So few were eager for what came thereafter, they were not waiting with bated breath for Sting's next album. Furthermore, MTV, which broke hits, was the world's radio station, yes, radio program directors followed in the television outlet's wake, had shifted emphasis, not only were there half hour non-music shows, the paradigm was expensive videos, of grunge and hip-hop acts, where was the space for Sting? IT DIDN'T EXIST!
But Sting switched gears, from bombast to subtlety, he was less in your face and unlike so many of his contemporaries in the rearview mirror he didn't lose his sense of melody and changes, maybe they'd eluded him on "Soul Cages" but on "Ten Summoner's Tales" they were back in full force, as demonstrated by the initial single, "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You."
"Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world
You could say I lost my faith in the people on TV
You would say I lost my belief in our politicians
They all seem like game show hosts to me"
Today too much music is fantasy, but the most successful tracks are always a reflection of the human condition. Those of us who'd grown up in the sixties were scratching our heads in this new world. Those late night infomercial people, how did they get on TV? In this pre-internet era the box was just an avenue to get rich. As for politicians...this is when the right started to filibuster the plans of the left. Government was seen as evil. The United States resembled nothing but a game show, just as phony, meanwhile, instead of boasting that he had the answers, Sting claimed to be lost just like the rest of us, albeit still with hope...in everyday people, one on one instead of one to many.
"I could be lost inside their lies without a trace
But every time I close my eyes I see your face"
A bridge? The magic of the Beatles' compositions. Furthermore, once again there was that turning in, the rejection of the exterior for the interior, he didn't fit into the game, he was playing his own personal game.
And despite all this pessimism the track ultimately contained a nugget of optimism, that was its essence, he still had faith in...you.
But there was more. If you listened to the album you discovered a track buried in the middle of the first side that was dreamy, completely un-Police-like, an ethereal piece that contained the essence of those tracks that penetrate our bodies and minds and change our moods, make us feel not so lonely as we bond with their composer/singers, "Fields of Gold." It ultimately became a hit single, but my point is if you listened to "Ten Summoner's Tales" when it was released, when expectations were low, when few were paying attention, you were wowed. The album also contained "It's Probably Me," "Shape of My Heart," "Seven Days" and "She's Too Good for Me," it was a triumph, which was embraced commercially and artistically, kudos.
And then there was a victory lap, a greatest hits album...which contained two new songs as good as the rest of the "hits" and a remix that redefined a cut from "Soul Cages."
It takes chutzpah to put a slow, dreamy song as the opener, a new number on a greatest hits LP, but Sting pulled it off, "When We Dance" contains a magical chorus that closes you on first listening:
"When we dance, angels will run and hide their wings"
And the final cut on the LP, the other completely new track, was just the opposite, it was upbeat, jaunty, you could envision Sting and compatriots performing "This Cowboy Song" on stage, its rhythm was undeniable, you fell right into the groove.
"I've been the lowest of the low on the planet
I've been a sinner all my days"
Once again, Sting was admitting his faults, telling us his truth, illustrating he's truly just one of us, but his cowboy song will ultimately link him to his love and us, the LP ends on a note of optimism. But in between....
There's a remix of "Why Should I Cry for You" which transforms a so-so cut into something transcendent, the hook is evident and the coda puts it over the top.
And then came "Mercury Falling."
2
It's now 1996. The people Sting came up with, made it with, were already done, oldies acts at best. But somehow Mr. Sumner had carved out his own path. This is what the greats do, become singular, they're not competing with anybody else, they're just doing what they do.
But you've got to deliver.
"Mercury Falling" was a dud. If you go your own way, you've got to fire on all cylinders, deserve your attention, but somehow Sting lost his way, he seemed to get caught up in the penumbra of fame as opposed to concentrating on what it stems from, the art, the music. There were no hits off "Mercury Falling," none, in an ever more concentrated business where the hit was everything. If you were a dedicated fan you could find things to like, but the album was ignored by everybody else.
And then came the internet. Napster. What was once known was suddenly no longer relevant. It was the fall of 1999. Seemingly everybody had a subscription to AOL, that's where the action was, online. As for music? Pop divas and rappers with over the top videos. There was no place for Sting, but down on his recording career luck, he delivered, with "Brand New Day."
That was the title of both the album and the single. But at the time, all the press, the hoopla, was about "Desert Rose," which followed "Brand New Day" on the singles chart. You see Sting tied up with Jaguar and the track was a hit and there were hosannas all around, there was a new way to break a record, to have a hit. But Sting never had another, NEVER EVER!
Was it just the way the cookie crumbled, did Sting never deliver the choice cut again, was he now too out of time, possibly all, but isn't it interesting that after selling out, tying up with the corporation, the public moved on. You see the corporations have all the money. You can take it, but don't think you won't be tainted. You'll have momentary success, but then what?
Sting put out "Sacred Love," with no hits. Then he put out a classical album, "Songs from the Labyrinth," and ultimately went on a Police reunion tour, which people were excited about, but Sting was not. By the time of its conclusion, it was evident from his statements that it was purely a dash for cash, and he wasn't passionate about these old songs, and the end result was a sour taste in the audience's mouth.
Then a Christmas album of unknown songs that nobody was awaiting and nobody wanted, never mind the negative imprimatur of such a thing amongst the cognoscenti, now you're just in it for the money, kind of like Rod Stewart making albums from the Great American Songbook...this was the guy who was hanging out with Shanghai Lil on the Peking Ferry???
Then symphonic renditions of his hits. Make me puke. Is there any reason for such an LP?
Then the failed Broadway effort, that couldn't even be resuscitated by Sting's appearance on stage, remember "The Last Ship"? If so, you're one of the very few.
And now Sting was truly floundering. He put out an LP employing the old formula, "57th & 9th," a hearkening back to what once was, done quickly, like the Police, but the publicity eclipsed the songs.
And then the lowest of the low. "My Songs." Yes, a rerecording of his old songs. Why? It's not like he was doing it for licensing purposes, the record came out on A&M.
Sting has lost touch with his audience, he's floundering, he's not sure who he is, who he wants to be anymore. How can a man with such talent, who was big on doing it his way, become so lost doing it other people's way?
Sting's got a few choices. He can try and write a hit. But the style of music he writes is locked out of hit radio, which is all hip-hop and pop. Then again, maybe he could get action on Hot AC, it's worked well for Michael Buble.
Or he could go deeper into his own desires, he must have enough money, bond his hard core to him, of which there were never that many, Sting became a singles artist and the hard core is more about the albums, and with his uneven output, the truth is people are still more passionate about the Police.
Then again, it's nearly impossible for anybody who's been to the mountaintop to return there. They just don't have the same desire.
But what Sting truly needs is...
A brand new day.
3
"How many of you people out there
Been hurt in some kind of love affair
And how many times do you swear that you'll never love again"
The focus is on youth, puppy love to marriage. But what happens after that? Too often divorce. And divorce wounds you, not everybody can pick themselves up off the mat and get back into the game. Once you reach your fifties many single people are licking their wounds saying they'll never love again, they just don't want to risk the pain, they're happy alone, or so they say.
"How many lonely sleepless nights
How many lies, how many fights
And why would you want to put yourself through all that again"
"Brand New Day" is the antithesis of a Spotify single, it doesn't grab you by the throat immediately, rather there's a thirty second intro akin to daybreak, fog lifting, your old buddy coming back to town to commiserate, but also inspire.
"'Love is pain,' I hear you say
Love has a cruel and bitter way
Of paying you back for all the faith you ever had in your brain"
Faith. A running theme in Sting's work. And the truth is you can't go forward without it, you have to have faith that this time things are going to work out. But you're afraid of losing, and it keeps you from playing.
"How could it be that what you need the most
Can leave you feeling just like a ghost
You never want to feel so sad and lost again"
This is a revelation in an era of winners. No one admits loss these days, at least not publicly, you're supposed to go off the grid and nurse your wounds alone.
The truth is being single during the pandemic tests your limits, people are getting depressed, committing suicide, turns out no man is an island, as much as you consider yourself a rock the truth is you can't make it alone, we're all part of a society, that's one thing we've learned in the past year, we might not all agree but even argument makes us feel alive.
And then the verse switches.
"One day you could be looking
Through an old book in rainy weather
You see a picture of her smiling at you
When you were still together"
That's the internet. That's Facebook. That's why it's a boomer platform, unlike the young 'uns, who never lose touch with anybody, boomers are eager to find out what happened to everybody, how they look, what they did and...is there still a spark there?
That was a big story for a while, people leaving their spouses for old flames. But that almost never works out, the past is a fantasy, the pain evaporates and only the good moments are remembered and when you get back together it usually takes a very brief period of time until you realize why you broke up in the first place.
"You could be walking down the street
And who should you chance to meet
But that same old smile you've been thinking of all day"
Boomers stay home. They've made and lost friends, never mind loves. They're licking their wounds inside, they're loath to try new things, have new experiences, but the truth is once you walk out the front door you've got no idea what will happen, interaction pays unforeseen dividends, but can you jump the hurdle, cross the border and get back into the game?
And this first verse is one of the longest in a hit song. Sting has a story to tell, directly to the listener, his compatriots, he's not preaching, he's not self-congratulating, he's being intimate, inviting, it's hard not to listen.
"You can turn the clock to zero, honey
I'll sell the stock, we'll spend all the money
We're starting up a brand new day"
You're never too old to begin again. It's your choice. And don't be a hoarder, spend, unless you don't have it, unfortunately too many boomers never thought the future would come, they never prepared for it.
"Turn the clock all the way back
I wonder if she'll take me back
I'm thinking in a brand new way"
If you can't participate, if you can't join in, get therapy, you need to change your way of thinking, you're never too old to gain insight.
"Turn the clock to zero sister
You'll never know how much I missed her
Starting up a brand new day"
You miss the excitement, the thrill of being alive, which you get from listening to this song, time to act on its premise and look for that excitement in your own personal life, there's nothing better than a natural high, there's nothing better than a great conversation, feeling alive.
"Turn the clock to zero, boss
The river's wide we'll swim across
Started up a brand new day"
That's what we're hungrily waiting for, not so much January 1st but January 20th.
I can't wait to get the vaccine, to start living my life normally again, but just like he cocked up containing the virus last spring, Trump and his minions are hobbling the distribution of the vaccine, once again they're laying responsibility on the states, but in this case if the vaccine sits on the shelf it expires, and on today's schedule it will take seven years to reach herd immunity:
"America's Vaccine Rollout Is Already a Disaster": https://nym.ag/2KPUPUQ
Trump's going to leave office and fade away. We've seen this movie a million times before, anybody still listening to Sarah Palin? And in four years he'll be so old. And sure, the right has brainwashed the public into thinking the left is the enemy, and Trump has channeled people's frustration, but it's less about him than this American life, which has gone off the rails for the last forty years, read this for explanation: https://bit.ly/2WWAO1o
I'm ready to live again.
I did my duty and stayed home, I didn't want to risk getting infected and dying, I don't like gambling, especially with my life.
But there's so much I haven't done. But now I've got hope. Please, let me get the shot. I ain't no anti-vaxxer, I'll risk a potential temporary side effect, better than risking my life. For years this country has been run on fear. To the point we're all depressed, blaming each other, yelling at each other, progress is anathema, in my lifetime hope has gone from ever present into the dumper, talk about depression. But now I can see a little light, and hopefully you can too. This is not a right or left issue, this is a health issue. This isn't about winning or losing, this about living or dying. And I'll choose life. At least for myself. I'll let you choose for yourself, then again explain again how you won't wear a mask but someone you don't know can't have an abortion? I'm sick of musicians shooting each other. I'm sick of scapegoating. I'm sick of everything being about the money. I just can't wait, I'm looking forward to A BRAND NEW DAY!
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Thursday 31 December 2020
Christie Tate-This Week's Podcast
Christie Tate is the author of the best seller "Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life." On paper it appears that Christie has it all, she's #1 in her law school class, but her life is a mess. Group therapy unlocks Christie's life, and the result is a fulfilling job, marriage and more, but there are many bumps along the way. Listen to hear details of her journey!
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/christie-tate/id1316200737?i=1000503971224
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2nv0kOJbdwRZ2l5F9nfgiv?si=X3II0q6jT1-lxv5OE7LqgA
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/The-Bob-Lefsetz-Podcast
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/christie-tate-80507661
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https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/christie-tate/id1316200737?i=1000503971224
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2nv0kOJbdwRZ2l5F9nfgiv?si=X3II0q6jT1-lxv5OE7LqgA
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/The-Bob-Lefsetz-Podcast
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/christie-tate-80507661
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Wednesday 30 December 2020
Hilaria Baldwin
Alec Baldwin finally got his comeuppance.
For years Alec has been telling us he's better than us, that he's unjustly persecuted, that he knows better, now we know that that's all B.S.
Do I expect you to care about the Hilaria kerfuffle? OF COURSE NOT! But there are a lot of lessons to be learned here, and they involve everyone, including you.
The first decade of this century was about fact-checking, revealing the truth. The internet was still small, social media was not mature, but if the mainstream media got it wrong, there was a chorus of correctors online who pointed out the mistake.
But that was back when mainstream media ruled. Now there's a cacophony of "news" sources. And the internet is overrun with so much crap that you can lie in plain sight and get away with it until you don't. Like Donald Trump.
The "New York Times" bought Donald's B.S., believed everything he was saying was true. But after becoming president, reporters dug deeper and discovered a treasure trove of lies, uncovering the fact that Trump was a terrible businessman, who squandered his father's empire whilst ripping off his relatives, paying few taxes and telling us he was not only god's gift to women, but god's gift to the world.
But then the truth came out.
This is not about people who believe in conspiracy theories, this is about the United States turning into Canada and the U.K. Canada is a giant high school, everybody knows everybody else, you can't get too uppity in the Great White North. The U.K. has a long tradition of building people up and then tearing them down. Because really, are these "stars" any better than us?
Well, in the U.K. there's a heavy class system. Without the American Dream. As in born to poverty, live in poverty. Of course there are exceptions, but people know their place. No one knows their place in America, it's open season, your dream can become true...only the odds of that are better in Canada and overseas, despite citizens of our broken country believing otherwise. You can read it in the "Wall Street Journal," but facts are now secondary to beliefs, it's beliefs that keep this country going, because if you concentrate on reality, it's too scary, you can see that the income gap keeps widening and it's almost unbridgeable.
Which is why those with money, who are intelligent, stay silent.
But today's billionaires didn't inherit the money, most of them earned it. And were working so hard that they're unaware of their own blind spots. They believe they're perfect deities, when odds are they're less complete than those on the street. Sure, Elon Musk might have pushed forward Tesla, but everyone now agrees he's positively crazy. Steve Jobs had a reputation as a tyrant, but no one thought he was living on Pluto, disconnected from reality.
So, we've got a cadre of boasting billionaires who are just ripe for denigration.
Meanwhile, the entertainment business has always been built on quicksand, truth is anathema. The film didn't gross what they say it did nor did the gig sell out. But, people believe what you tell them, and mainstream media doesn't have enough cash to pursue the truth in these minor league avenues. But if you rise above, beware of the public, the proletariat, the people who've been subjected to your lies forever.
Bottom line, in the early days of the internet you could not get away with lying. Now, the odds of escaping are higher. But if someone decides to investigate...
Hilaria Baldwin wasn't born in Mallorca, she grew up privileged speaking English, but now she has a Spanish accent and doesn't know the word for "cucumber" in English: https://bit.ly/3o1xFcl If she stayed home and shut up, no one would care. But she built an entire career on myths. We were subjected to her antics. Turns out she's no better than the rest of us. Maybe more highly educated, but truly just another girl from Boston.
As for Alec himself, turns out his real name is ALEXANDER!
Hothead Alec constantly corrects people, with intensity, when they call him "Alex" instead of "Alec." BUT THE TRUTH IS HE'S ALEX!
Baldwin has been getting away with this charade until...his wife, trading on his fame, took it too far. If she'd stayed home, or had been honest, the truth never would have come out. Yes, I believe "Alec" Baldwin is intelligent, he's great on Howard Stern, but I no longer believe everything he says. It's always somebody else's fault, Kim Basinger, the person on the street, but now we know it's him. Hilaria and Alec could have come clean, admitted the truth and moved on, but they're still obfuscating and Alec is still defending his wife, doesn't he realize HE'S LOSING ALL CREDIBILITY!
But the Baldwins live in a bubble. Despite "Alec" talking about his hardscrabble upbringing, which is grossly overstated, he's got no idea what's going on in the real world. Sure, he's a good actor, an entertainer, but he needed to be more than that, he needed to be seen as three-dimensional, a public intellectual, ain't that a laugh.
Meanwhile, CAA and a host of entertainment outlets bought into the grift. Because you don't want to alienate a star, you need them to make your money! Imagine if Hilaria was a reporter for the "New York Times"...she'd be fired immediately, her career would be ruined. But the court of public opinion can be just as harsh.
Sure, you can fake it, but don't ask everybody to buy it.
Come on, do you think the people who grew up with "Hilary" accepted her name change and fake accent? They rolled their eyes. Down in the pit where most people live if you lie and act superior, you're ostracized. In ass-kissing Hollywood it's de rigueur, but Tinseltown and its denizens are no longer immune.
Be wary of lying if you're a celebrity. Raise your head high enough and it's going to be chopped off. In addition, none of us are perfect, none of us are free of skeletons in the closet.
Next "Hilary" will lose gigs and cry about it. Bemoan the personal persecution.
Then there's noted racist Mel Gibson...if you can make them money, Hollywood will forgive ANYBODY!
Don't confuse this with the faux pas of the hoi polloi, who lose their jobs after one misstep. These celebrities tend to be loaded and they can always work at the 7-11 or in the boiler room like the rest of us. We made them stars, we can eviscerate their shaky foundations and careers just as easily.
So I enjoy Alex and Hilary being cut down to size. They call it schadenfreude, I'll own it. I know how hard it is to make it. But when you get to the top and you gain further success on falsehoods, it boils my blood. Even worse is the hangers-on, those born on third base, those adjacent to fame. It's just like having rich parents...why should you get ahead of the rest of us in line, what did you do to earn this honor?
Celebrities are also into assets. They gain success and buy a slew of cars and a pad in the hills but...the world is changing, assets are now secondary to your identity, to experiences. To function in the new world, to sustain, you must have credibility, something that cannot be bought but only earned, something that is very fragile, that you can lose instantly. Yes, if you want a long life in today's world, credibility is key. As for those going with the flow, the idiots on social media and reality TV...they don't get it, the joke is on them, they're fungible, people are lining up to replace them, credibility is not a factor, which is why their time in the spotlight doesn't last. Yes, we need people to believe in.
Oh, don't give me the exceptions. The point is, if you want to play in the major leagues of life today, your history is going to be investigated, what you said back in high school, what you posted on social media, that's gonna surface. Be prepared. But the truth is, the young 'uns know this. They scrub bad history from the internet. It's only the self-satisfied old, who believe they're entitled to their success, who are out of the loop. Furthermore, in the modern world, it's all about data, the lies of yore won't work in today's economy. The internet is about truth. I know that sounds phony, but when it comes to the big sites...you can buy a few listens, a few views, but you can't make it to a billion. And those who keep telling us they're that successful, we can just go online and find out that they're not.
We should be excoriating the Administration for their screw-ups in rolling out the vaccine. There are so many important issues to be addressed in today's society, many of them truly life and death. But in an era where the president lies and challenges the plain truth that he lost the election, the average citizen feels powerless when it comes to the big issues. But when it comes to the small?
You're just like everybody else. You're no better. And if you want to rise above, have your house in order, because there are millions waiting to tear you down, your life and career are a ticking time bomb, beware!
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For years Alec has been telling us he's better than us, that he's unjustly persecuted, that he knows better, now we know that that's all B.S.
Do I expect you to care about the Hilaria kerfuffle? OF COURSE NOT! But there are a lot of lessons to be learned here, and they involve everyone, including you.
The first decade of this century was about fact-checking, revealing the truth. The internet was still small, social media was not mature, but if the mainstream media got it wrong, there was a chorus of correctors online who pointed out the mistake.
But that was back when mainstream media ruled. Now there's a cacophony of "news" sources. And the internet is overrun with so much crap that you can lie in plain sight and get away with it until you don't. Like Donald Trump.
The "New York Times" bought Donald's B.S., believed everything he was saying was true. But after becoming president, reporters dug deeper and discovered a treasure trove of lies, uncovering the fact that Trump was a terrible businessman, who squandered his father's empire whilst ripping off his relatives, paying few taxes and telling us he was not only god's gift to women, but god's gift to the world.
But then the truth came out.
This is not about people who believe in conspiracy theories, this is about the United States turning into Canada and the U.K. Canada is a giant high school, everybody knows everybody else, you can't get too uppity in the Great White North. The U.K. has a long tradition of building people up and then tearing them down. Because really, are these "stars" any better than us?
Well, in the U.K. there's a heavy class system. Without the American Dream. As in born to poverty, live in poverty. Of course there are exceptions, but people know their place. No one knows their place in America, it's open season, your dream can become true...only the odds of that are better in Canada and overseas, despite citizens of our broken country believing otherwise. You can read it in the "Wall Street Journal," but facts are now secondary to beliefs, it's beliefs that keep this country going, because if you concentrate on reality, it's too scary, you can see that the income gap keeps widening and it's almost unbridgeable.
Which is why those with money, who are intelligent, stay silent.
But today's billionaires didn't inherit the money, most of them earned it. And were working so hard that they're unaware of their own blind spots. They believe they're perfect deities, when odds are they're less complete than those on the street. Sure, Elon Musk might have pushed forward Tesla, but everyone now agrees he's positively crazy. Steve Jobs had a reputation as a tyrant, but no one thought he was living on Pluto, disconnected from reality.
So, we've got a cadre of boasting billionaires who are just ripe for denigration.
Meanwhile, the entertainment business has always been built on quicksand, truth is anathema. The film didn't gross what they say it did nor did the gig sell out. But, people believe what you tell them, and mainstream media doesn't have enough cash to pursue the truth in these minor league avenues. But if you rise above, beware of the public, the proletariat, the people who've been subjected to your lies forever.
Bottom line, in the early days of the internet you could not get away with lying. Now, the odds of escaping are higher. But if someone decides to investigate...
Hilaria Baldwin wasn't born in Mallorca, she grew up privileged speaking English, but now she has a Spanish accent and doesn't know the word for "cucumber" in English: https://bit.ly/3o1xFcl If she stayed home and shut up, no one would care. But she built an entire career on myths. We were subjected to her antics. Turns out she's no better than the rest of us. Maybe more highly educated, but truly just another girl from Boston.
As for Alec himself, turns out his real name is ALEXANDER!
Hothead Alec constantly corrects people, with intensity, when they call him "Alex" instead of "Alec." BUT THE TRUTH IS HE'S ALEX!
Baldwin has been getting away with this charade until...his wife, trading on his fame, took it too far. If she'd stayed home, or had been honest, the truth never would have come out. Yes, I believe "Alec" Baldwin is intelligent, he's great on Howard Stern, but I no longer believe everything he says. It's always somebody else's fault, Kim Basinger, the person on the street, but now we know it's him. Hilaria and Alec could have come clean, admitted the truth and moved on, but they're still obfuscating and Alec is still defending his wife, doesn't he realize HE'S LOSING ALL CREDIBILITY!
But the Baldwins live in a bubble. Despite "Alec" talking about his hardscrabble upbringing, which is grossly overstated, he's got no idea what's going on in the real world. Sure, he's a good actor, an entertainer, but he needed to be more than that, he needed to be seen as three-dimensional, a public intellectual, ain't that a laugh.
Meanwhile, CAA and a host of entertainment outlets bought into the grift. Because you don't want to alienate a star, you need them to make your money! Imagine if Hilaria was a reporter for the "New York Times"...she'd be fired immediately, her career would be ruined. But the court of public opinion can be just as harsh.
Sure, you can fake it, but don't ask everybody to buy it.
Come on, do you think the people who grew up with "Hilary" accepted her name change and fake accent? They rolled their eyes. Down in the pit where most people live if you lie and act superior, you're ostracized. In ass-kissing Hollywood it's de rigueur, but Tinseltown and its denizens are no longer immune.
Be wary of lying if you're a celebrity. Raise your head high enough and it's going to be chopped off. In addition, none of us are perfect, none of us are free of skeletons in the closet.
Next "Hilary" will lose gigs and cry about it. Bemoan the personal persecution.
Then there's noted racist Mel Gibson...if you can make them money, Hollywood will forgive ANYBODY!
Don't confuse this with the faux pas of the hoi polloi, who lose their jobs after one misstep. These celebrities tend to be loaded and they can always work at the 7-11 or in the boiler room like the rest of us. We made them stars, we can eviscerate their shaky foundations and careers just as easily.
So I enjoy Alex and Hilary being cut down to size. They call it schadenfreude, I'll own it. I know how hard it is to make it. But when you get to the top and you gain further success on falsehoods, it boils my blood. Even worse is the hangers-on, those born on third base, those adjacent to fame. It's just like having rich parents...why should you get ahead of the rest of us in line, what did you do to earn this honor?
Celebrities are also into assets. They gain success and buy a slew of cars and a pad in the hills but...the world is changing, assets are now secondary to your identity, to experiences. To function in the new world, to sustain, you must have credibility, something that cannot be bought but only earned, something that is very fragile, that you can lose instantly. Yes, if you want a long life in today's world, credibility is key. As for those going with the flow, the idiots on social media and reality TV...they don't get it, the joke is on them, they're fungible, people are lining up to replace them, credibility is not a factor, which is why their time in the spotlight doesn't last. Yes, we need people to believe in.
Oh, don't give me the exceptions. The point is, if you want to play in the major leagues of life today, your history is going to be investigated, what you said back in high school, what you posted on social media, that's gonna surface. Be prepared. But the truth is, the young 'uns know this. They scrub bad history from the internet. It's only the self-satisfied old, who believe they're entitled to their success, who are out of the loop. Furthermore, in the modern world, it's all about data, the lies of yore won't work in today's economy. The internet is about truth. I know that sounds phony, but when it comes to the big sites...you can buy a few listens, a few views, but you can't make it to a billion. And those who keep telling us they're that successful, we can just go online and find out that they're not.
We should be excoriating the Administration for their screw-ups in rolling out the vaccine. There are so many important issues to be addressed in today's society, many of them truly life and death. But in an era where the president lies and challenges the plain truth that he lost the election, the average citizen feels powerless when it comes to the big issues. But when it comes to the small?
You're just like everybody else. You're no better. And if you want to rise above, have your house in order, because there are millions waiting to tear you down, your life and career are a ticking time bomb, beware!
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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All Of My Heart
"But I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll walk in the room with my heart"
ABC
Spotify - https://spoti.fi/38Mx1ZX
YouTube - https://bit.ly/3hvJipy
1
I've become addicted to Siggi's coffee yogurt.
Those playing the home game know that for years, decades in fact, I was addicted to Dannon coffee yogurt. But in the race to Greekify all yogurt in the wake of the success of Chobani, Dannon, caught flat-footed, remade their entire yogurt line and the old standbys, like coffee, became either completely unavailable or rarely. I'd comb the shelves, hustling from supermarket to supermarket in search of my drug. Eventually I'd order it, by the caseload, twelve per flat. But then availability nearly flattened and I decided to break my addiction, especially since Dannon coffee yogurt contained so much sugar.
I switched to Siggi's skyr, after dabbling in the aforementioned Chobani, and Fage. But Siggi's was occasionally bitter. But then I discovered the previously mentioned triple cream (https://bit.ly/38GyeBS) and I'd possibly found nirvana, yogurt akin to ice cream, but triple cream is more of a snack, for later in the day. Then I discovered the flat containers of Siggi's whole milk yogurt. I know, I know, dieters prefer non-fat or low-fat, but that's like eating cardboard, you've got to live a little, and I'll never forget the dearly departed Continental whole milk yogurt available in Southern California grocery stores in the seventies, scrumptious.
There weren't that many flavors available, but I was down with mixed berries, strawberry and rhubarb, and blueberry. And when I had too much of those, I switched to vanilla. And then, after years, they introduced coffee.
Now I've tried every coffee yogurt out there, they're pale imitations of the Dannon original, mostly inedible. So I was wary of Siggi's coffee. And I must admit, upon initial consumption, I was disappointed. It was not sweet, it tasted more like coffee. I am not a coffee drinker, never was, however I like coffee flavored products, so I was on the fence with Siggi's. I ordered it intermittently. And then I got hooked.
How many can you get at one time? I'd order fourteen from Instacart, but they'd deliver four, maybe six. And sometimes none. And today, it was completely unavailable, I've only got one left in the fridge, I anticipate jonesing, but I need something to get me started in the morning so I switched the order to mixed berries, strawberry and rhubarb, and vanilla, four of each, and now I'm waiting to see if the shopper can even find those. And in the throes of my anxiety about availability, Felice said "she'd pray on it."
2
Disco died and took corporate rock with it. At the turn of the decade, from the seventies to the eighties, the music industry was in the dumper.
And then came MTV.
It wasn't widely available at first. And upon its advent it was filled mostly with clips by classic acts made for the Continent, when European radio stations were locked up with local repertoire and it was hard to break through via the aural airwaves and the best way to reach your audience was via TV play of clips.
Americans were caught flat-footed. Sure, Blondie had made an album of videos, but the U.S. was still running on the old paradigm. Meanwhile, MTV was gaining traction, expanding its footprint, and in 1982 a slew of new English groups arrived to fill the vacuum of programming. And they were HUGE! Some were one hit wonders, some, like Culture Club, became legends, but one thing is for sure, the music scene was completely reinvigorated. And then came the CD and the modern music business was born, the one with so much dough, the one that the powers-that-be tried to protect from Napster, the one old cronies from the last century are still trying to bring back, decrying streaming all the while.
We don't have a concomitant sound in the streaming era. Usually new technology changes the art, but if that's so, we're still waiting for it. What we have right now is cacophony. The last gasp of what used to be, pop and the evolution of eighties hip-hop, and sure, Latin is growing, but there's no new sound capturing the hearts of the entire western world. We do have niches applauded greatly, but when you check them out... Phoebe Bridgers, this is all we can come up with? There's something there, but it's not even close to Suzanne Vega, who was blown up by MTV, having made her mark on the landscape before that, with a haunting debut album, but where is something universal?
Like "Thriller."
Michael Jackson's breakthrough was "Off the Wall." Many around in those days still prefer that first Quincy Jones LP. But "Off the Wall" came out in 1979, as disco was dying, so not enough people heard the incredible "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You." Those who did not reject the dance floor, African-Americans, they embraced "Off the Wall," but it took years to seep into the ears of mainstream America. But then came "Thriller." And along with the Motown 25th anniversary special and the moonwalk Michael Jackson threw off his boy band history and became the world's biggest star. Because of MTV. But the English new wave bands came first.
3
Now despite the overstated footprint of the evangelicals, the pandering to religious zealots by politicians, there are many of us who joke about religion. As a matter of fact, atheism is on the rise, especially amongst the young 'uns, the Jesus freak wave that began nearly half a century ago is dying, not that most people are aware of this, getting info from their own biased silos. If America knew the truth we'd live in a whole different country. But one of the staples of the believers is the phrase "I'll pray on it." Ripe for mockery, right? Well, at least in my world. And when Felice declared her intention to pray for my Siggi's ABC's "All of My Heart" immediately took over my brain...yes, I hoped and I prayed, that maybe someday, there'd be enough Siggi's coffee for me and those who desired it. And I could not get this ABC song out of my head.
MTV was akin to the internet. In that everybody was fascinated by it. Oldsters and youngsters. You could go to somebody's house and spend an entire evening watching the channel. Can you imagine that today? Especially in 1982, when MTV was not yet available everywhere and the English new wave was pitching fastballs again and again and again. Amongst the successes were Eurythmics, Modern English, Kajagoogoo, Madness, A Flock of Seagulls, Tears For Fears...and ABC.
ABC had already broken in the U.K. by time Americans were exposed to the band on MTV. "Tears Are Not Enough" was a hit and the act's initial LP, "The Lexicon of Love," entered the U.K. chart at number one. But the first exposure most Americans got was with "Poison Arrow."
"Shoot that poison arrow
Shoot that poison arrow to my heart"
One listen told you this was not Jefferson Starship, not even Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Poison Arrow" was not seventies, it was purely EIGHTIES!
The eighties. In retrospect, it was the beginning of the end, the lowering of taxes and the start of income inequality, not that we knew that at the time. Instead, the seventies were done, with their hangover from the sixties, Iran...we were optimistic, we were happy, even if 1984 was looming.
"No rhythm in cymbals, no tempo in drums
Love on arrival, she comes when she comes"
Where were the guitars? Instead we got synths. And not only was the music shiny, so were the clothes. America was still ruled by bell bottoms, everybody was dressing down, but all these English acts had a look, clothing was part of the sell, it helped define the image, and so many of the acts dressed UP! Albeit with a twist. This is when fashion truly fused with music, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
Now we were lucky in Los Angeles to have KROQ, which featured all these numbers when not only the rest of the FM band in the city, but throughout the country, was still invested in classic rock. KROQ was a clubhouse and what kept you inside, tuned-in, was all this "experimental" stuff that came from the U.K.
And if you were a dedicated follower of music, and fashion, you divined who was real and who was not, who was a one hit wonder and who was not, and if word was the band was worthwhile, had cred, you purchased the album. And since you paid, you went deep. And you became hooked on songs that never got airplay, at least in the U.S., like "All of My Heart."
This was back when there were still two sides. Oftentimes not even forty minutes of music total. Whereas once CDs truly went big nearly a decade later, albums only had one side and could be as long as seventy minutes, in most cases they were unfathomable. But with the old two-sided albums... You played one side and then the other, and the one you cottoned to first, the one that impressed you most, you'd play over and over again waiting for it to reveal itself, and when it ultimately did, you flipped the record, or the cassette, to the other side.
4
I'm not sure why I liked the second side of "Lexicon of Love" more, maybe it was its opening cut, "The Look of Love." But the second side is the one I played most, and that's how I discovered "All of My Heart."
The intro was magical, ethereal, more akin to classical music than rock. But then the track took a swift turn into a jaunt.
"Once upon a time when we were friends
I gave you my heart, the story ends
No happy ever after, now we're friends"
This was the beginning of the modern paradigm, where boys and girls are friends, hang in groups. The seventies were more solitary, you stayed at home, you smoked dope, but in the eighties you wanted to go OUT!
"Wish upon a star if that might help
The stars collide if you decide
Wish upon a star if that might help"
What is this...PETER PAN? There was no wishing upon a star in classic rock, just like there's no crying in baseball. But it was not only the lyrics that were different, but Martin Fry's delivery too, he was going up and down the scale, emoting.
"What's it like to have loved and to lose her touch
What's it like to have loved and to lose that much"
A PRE-CHORUS! Never mind melody. This is the antithesis of today's rhythm-based music. Today's music roots you to the ground, ABC lifted you into the stratosphere.
But then comes the piece-de-resistance:
"Well I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll walk in the room with my heart"
The music changes, there's a new hook, the "strings" swoop in the background and Fry pleads like he's in a forties movie. It's a clean break from what we'd heard before, the Brits were changing the paradigm.
"Add and subtract but as a matter of fact
Now that you're gone I still want you back"
This is the opposite of the macho of what came before and established itself after. The singer was subservient! He was on the losing end. The woman was in control, it was her choice, she had the power, he's PLEADING!
"Remembering, surrendering
Remembering that part
All of my heart"
The lead is taken over by the background singers, but then Martin comes back, with all of his heart.
And then, after the aural denouement, we're back into the jaunty verse.
And then the formula is repeated for over five minutes, you luxuriate in this sound. It's akin to Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, but less affected, more rooted in reality. "All of My Heart" looks forward and backward at the same time. It's a new sound, with modern instrumentation, but it hearkens back to the pre-Beatle era, to the pre-rock era, to the forties, but it was the eighties.
I liked "All of My Heart" so much I bought the second album, "Beauty Stab," without hearing it first. It was a disappointment, both in my ears and commercially. I stopped buying but ABC kept playing. The third LP, "How to Be a...Zillionaire," had success with "Be Near Me" and "Vanity Kills," and I liked them, but neither was "All of My Heart." The big surprise was 1987's "When Smokey Sings," from the fourth album "Alphabet City." A huge smash, it was out of time, not just in sound, but the scene had moved on, MTV had become somewhat calcified, now it was about seeing the dollars on screen, dancing, whereas in 1982 it was more DIY, conception ruled, the rest of the world had caught up with the English new wave. And although Guns N' Roses were breaking, it was also the heyday of the hair bands and ultimately their ballads, which would be wiped from the map by grunge and then hip-hop and pop, but back in '82, it was all very cutting edge and exciting.
5
No one's going out to a club. We're all watching different shows, on demand, on streaming television. And it's TV that's the cutting edge medium, music has become a diversion, a second-class citizen, at least recorded music, all the innovation and excitement is happening live. But never underestimate the magic of a perfectly executed track. And the ones we remember most are the breakthroughs, that take what came before and twist those elements along with new ones into a new appealing concoction. Like ABC and "All of My Heart."
The Eighties were the last hurrah, the last heyday, when all eyes were focused on the sounds made by musicians. After all, Live Aid was in '85, can you name an equivalent event subsequently?
Not that there are not great records thereafter. Of course we had Nirvana, and then Alanis Morissette gained the world's attention with her music and personal, direct lyrics. But Kurt Cobain killed himself. And Alanis could never follow up "Jagged Little Pill." And then came the internet, and even though distribution has been figured out, streaming won, there are still pockets of performers who refuse to accept this, and the scene is run as if it were still the pre-internet era.
Of course, one cannot discount the rise of hip-hop. But once the era of sampling ended, when you could no longer steal without consequence, when artists no longer wanted to share publishing revenue, it evolved into an era of beats, melody was mostly gone. And at this point, hip-hop has had a lifespan almost as long as rock. So it's no longer new. That's what we're awaiting, innovators. And occasionally we get someone, like Lil Nas X, but then he sold out to the majors and the audience no longer owned "Old Town Road" and Sony couldn't stop pushing it and its success down our throats to the point that we've got a sour taste in our mouths. Then again something is definitely happening on TikTok, music is the core of that service, and the great thing is it's out of the control of the usual suspects, so innovation can take place, not a moment too soon.
That is the battle of today, the establishment versus the upstarts. Unfortunately, upstarts like Facebook and Google have become the establishment. Remember when Google's motto was to do no harm? Ain't that a laugh. But, the tools of creation are in the hands of the proletariat, and people are intertwining what once was and what still is into new forms. The establishment doesn't like this, but this is where creativity is happening. Sure, there's too much of a money mentality amongst creators online, but not all of them are in it for the bucks.
But back in '82, MTV reinvigorated a moribund music business. Suddenly you could market worldwide and sell overpriced CDs all over the globe and no one wants change. But only by going forward, with everything up for grabs, can we recapture the cultural zeitgeist.
I remember when ABC had all of my heart.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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You'll walk in the room with my heart"
ABC
Spotify - https://spoti.fi/38Mx1ZX
YouTube - https://bit.ly/3hvJipy
1
I've become addicted to Siggi's coffee yogurt.
Those playing the home game know that for years, decades in fact, I was addicted to Dannon coffee yogurt. But in the race to Greekify all yogurt in the wake of the success of Chobani, Dannon, caught flat-footed, remade their entire yogurt line and the old standbys, like coffee, became either completely unavailable or rarely. I'd comb the shelves, hustling from supermarket to supermarket in search of my drug. Eventually I'd order it, by the caseload, twelve per flat. But then availability nearly flattened and I decided to break my addiction, especially since Dannon coffee yogurt contained so much sugar.
I switched to Siggi's skyr, after dabbling in the aforementioned Chobani, and Fage. But Siggi's was occasionally bitter. But then I discovered the previously mentioned triple cream (https://bit.ly/38GyeBS) and I'd possibly found nirvana, yogurt akin to ice cream, but triple cream is more of a snack, for later in the day. Then I discovered the flat containers of Siggi's whole milk yogurt. I know, I know, dieters prefer non-fat or low-fat, but that's like eating cardboard, you've got to live a little, and I'll never forget the dearly departed Continental whole milk yogurt available in Southern California grocery stores in the seventies, scrumptious.
There weren't that many flavors available, but I was down with mixed berries, strawberry and rhubarb, and blueberry. And when I had too much of those, I switched to vanilla. And then, after years, they introduced coffee.
Now I've tried every coffee yogurt out there, they're pale imitations of the Dannon original, mostly inedible. So I was wary of Siggi's coffee. And I must admit, upon initial consumption, I was disappointed. It was not sweet, it tasted more like coffee. I am not a coffee drinker, never was, however I like coffee flavored products, so I was on the fence with Siggi's. I ordered it intermittently. And then I got hooked.
How many can you get at one time? I'd order fourteen from Instacart, but they'd deliver four, maybe six. And sometimes none. And today, it was completely unavailable, I've only got one left in the fridge, I anticipate jonesing, but I need something to get me started in the morning so I switched the order to mixed berries, strawberry and rhubarb, and vanilla, four of each, and now I'm waiting to see if the shopper can even find those. And in the throes of my anxiety about availability, Felice said "she'd pray on it."
2
Disco died and took corporate rock with it. At the turn of the decade, from the seventies to the eighties, the music industry was in the dumper.
And then came MTV.
It wasn't widely available at first. And upon its advent it was filled mostly with clips by classic acts made for the Continent, when European radio stations were locked up with local repertoire and it was hard to break through via the aural airwaves and the best way to reach your audience was via TV play of clips.
Americans were caught flat-footed. Sure, Blondie had made an album of videos, but the U.S. was still running on the old paradigm. Meanwhile, MTV was gaining traction, expanding its footprint, and in 1982 a slew of new English groups arrived to fill the vacuum of programming. And they were HUGE! Some were one hit wonders, some, like Culture Club, became legends, but one thing is for sure, the music scene was completely reinvigorated. And then came the CD and the modern music business was born, the one with so much dough, the one that the powers-that-be tried to protect from Napster, the one old cronies from the last century are still trying to bring back, decrying streaming all the while.
We don't have a concomitant sound in the streaming era. Usually new technology changes the art, but if that's so, we're still waiting for it. What we have right now is cacophony. The last gasp of what used to be, pop and the evolution of eighties hip-hop, and sure, Latin is growing, but there's no new sound capturing the hearts of the entire western world. We do have niches applauded greatly, but when you check them out... Phoebe Bridgers, this is all we can come up with? There's something there, but it's not even close to Suzanne Vega, who was blown up by MTV, having made her mark on the landscape before that, with a haunting debut album, but where is something universal?
Like "Thriller."
Michael Jackson's breakthrough was "Off the Wall." Many around in those days still prefer that first Quincy Jones LP. But "Off the Wall" came out in 1979, as disco was dying, so not enough people heard the incredible "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You." Those who did not reject the dance floor, African-Americans, they embraced "Off the Wall," but it took years to seep into the ears of mainstream America. But then came "Thriller." And along with the Motown 25th anniversary special and the moonwalk Michael Jackson threw off his boy band history and became the world's biggest star. Because of MTV. But the English new wave bands came first.
3
Now despite the overstated footprint of the evangelicals, the pandering to religious zealots by politicians, there are many of us who joke about religion. As a matter of fact, atheism is on the rise, especially amongst the young 'uns, the Jesus freak wave that began nearly half a century ago is dying, not that most people are aware of this, getting info from their own biased silos. If America knew the truth we'd live in a whole different country. But one of the staples of the believers is the phrase "I'll pray on it." Ripe for mockery, right? Well, at least in my world. And when Felice declared her intention to pray for my Siggi's ABC's "All of My Heart" immediately took over my brain...yes, I hoped and I prayed, that maybe someday, there'd be enough Siggi's coffee for me and those who desired it. And I could not get this ABC song out of my head.
MTV was akin to the internet. In that everybody was fascinated by it. Oldsters and youngsters. You could go to somebody's house and spend an entire evening watching the channel. Can you imagine that today? Especially in 1982, when MTV was not yet available everywhere and the English new wave was pitching fastballs again and again and again. Amongst the successes were Eurythmics, Modern English, Kajagoogoo, Madness, A Flock of Seagulls, Tears For Fears...and ABC.
ABC had already broken in the U.K. by time Americans were exposed to the band on MTV. "Tears Are Not Enough" was a hit and the act's initial LP, "The Lexicon of Love," entered the U.K. chart at number one. But the first exposure most Americans got was with "Poison Arrow."
"Shoot that poison arrow
Shoot that poison arrow to my heart"
One listen told you this was not Jefferson Starship, not even Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Poison Arrow" was not seventies, it was purely EIGHTIES!
The eighties. In retrospect, it was the beginning of the end, the lowering of taxes and the start of income inequality, not that we knew that at the time. Instead, the seventies were done, with their hangover from the sixties, Iran...we were optimistic, we were happy, even if 1984 was looming.
"No rhythm in cymbals, no tempo in drums
Love on arrival, she comes when she comes"
Where were the guitars? Instead we got synths. And not only was the music shiny, so were the clothes. America was still ruled by bell bottoms, everybody was dressing down, but all these English acts had a look, clothing was part of the sell, it helped define the image, and so many of the acts dressed UP! Albeit with a twist. This is when fashion truly fused with music, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
Now we were lucky in Los Angeles to have KROQ, which featured all these numbers when not only the rest of the FM band in the city, but throughout the country, was still invested in classic rock. KROQ was a clubhouse and what kept you inside, tuned-in, was all this "experimental" stuff that came from the U.K.
And if you were a dedicated follower of music, and fashion, you divined who was real and who was not, who was a one hit wonder and who was not, and if word was the band was worthwhile, had cred, you purchased the album. And since you paid, you went deep. And you became hooked on songs that never got airplay, at least in the U.S., like "All of My Heart."
This was back when there were still two sides. Oftentimes not even forty minutes of music total. Whereas once CDs truly went big nearly a decade later, albums only had one side and could be as long as seventy minutes, in most cases they were unfathomable. But with the old two-sided albums... You played one side and then the other, and the one you cottoned to first, the one that impressed you most, you'd play over and over again waiting for it to reveal itself, and when it ultimately did, you flipped the record, or the cassette, to the other side.
4
I'm not sure why I liked the second side of "Lexicon of Love" more, maybe it was its opening cut, "The Look of Love." But the second side is the one I played most, and that's how I discovered "All of My Heart."
The intro was magical, ethereal, more akin to classical music than rock. But then the track took a swift turn into a jaunt.
"Once upon a time when we were friends
I gave you my heart, the story ends
No happy ever after, now we're friends"
This was the beginning of the modern paradigm, where boys and girls are friends, hang in groups. The seventies were more solitary, you stayed at home, you smoked dope, but in the eighties you wanted to go OUT!
"Wish upon a star if that might help
The stars collide if you decide
Wish upon a star if that might help"
What is this...PETER PAN? There was no wishing upon a star in classic rock, just like there's no crying in baseball. But it was not only the lyrics that were different, but Martin Fry's delivery too, he was going up and down the scale, emoting.
"What's it like to have loved and to lose her touch
What's it like to have loved and to lose that much"
A PRE-CHORUS! Never mind melody. This is the antithesis of today's rhythm-based music. Today's music roots you to the ground, ABC lifted you into the stratosphere.
But then comes the piece-de-resistance:
"Well I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You'll walk in the room with my heart"
The music changes, there's a new hook, the "strings" swoop in the background and Fry pleads like he's in a forties movie. It's a clean break from what we'd heard before, the Brits were changing the paradigm.
"Add and subtract but as a matter of fact
Now that you're gone I still want you back"
This is the opposite of the macho of what came before and established itself after. The singer was subservient! He was on the losing end. The woman was in control, it was her choice, she had the power, he's PLEADING!
"Remembering, surrendering
Remembering that part
All of my heart"
The lead is taken over by the background singers, but then Martin comes back, with all of his heart.
And then, after the aural denouement, we're back into the jaunty verse.
And then the formula is repeated for over five minutes, you luxuriate in this sound. It's akin to Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music, but less affected, more rooted in reality. "All of My Heart" looks forward and backward at the same time. It's a new sound, with modern instrumentation, but it hearkens back to the pre-Beatle era, to the pre-rock era, to the forties, but it was the eighties.
I liked "All of My Heart" so much I bought the second album, "Beauty Stab," without hearing it first. It was a disappointment, both in my ears and commercially. I stopped buying but ABC kept playing. The third LP, "How to Be a...Zillionaire," had success with "Be Near Me" and "Vanity Kills," and I liked them, but neither was "All of My Heart." The big surprise was 1987's "When Smokey Sings," from the fourth album "Alphabet City." A huge smash, it was out of time, not just in sound, but the scene had moved on, MTV had become somewhat calcified, now it was about seeing the dollars on screen, dancing, whereas in 1982 it was more DIY, conception ruled, the rest of the world had caught up with the English new wave. And although Guns N' Roses were breaking, it was also the heyday of the hair bands and ultimately their ballads, which would be wiped from the map by grunge and then hip-hop and pop, but back in '82, it was all very cutting edge and exciting.
5
No one's going out to a club. We're all watching different shows, on demand, on streaming television. And it's TV that's the cutting edge medium, music has become a diversion, a second-class citizen, at least recorded music, all the innovation and excitement is happening live. But never underestimate the magic of a perfectly executed track. And the ones we remember most are the breakthroughs, that take what came before and twist those elements along with new ones into a new appealing concoction. Like ABC and "All of My Heart."
The Eighties were the last hurrah, the last heyday, when all eyes were focused on the sounds made by musicians. After all, Live Aid was in '85, can you name an equivalent event subsequently?
Not that there are not great records thereafter. Of course we had Nirvana, and then Alanis Morissette gained the world's attention with her music and personal, direct lyrics. But Kurt Cobain killed himself. And Alanis could never follow up "Jagged Little Pill." And then came the internet, and even though distribution has been figured out, streaming won, there are still pockets of performers who refuse to accept this, and the scene is run as if it were still the pre-internet era.
Of course, one cannot discount the rise of hip-hop. But once the era of sampling ended, when you could no longer steal without consequence, when artists no longer wanted to share publishing revenue, it evolved into an era of beats, melody was mostly gone. And at this point, hip-hop has had a lifespan almost as long as rock. So it's no longer new. That's what we're awaiting, innovators. And occasionally we get someone, like Lil Nas X, but then he sold out to the majors and the audience no longer owned "Old Town Road" and Sony couldn't stop pushing it and its success down our throats to the point that we've got a sour taste in our mouths. Then again something is definitely happening on TikTok, music is the core of that service, and the great thing is it's out of the control of the usual suspects, so innovation can take place, not a moment too soon.
That is the battle of today, the establishment versus the upstarts. Unfortunately, upstarts like Facebook and Google have become the establishment. Remember when Google's motto was to do no harm? Ain't that a laugh. But, the tools of creation are in the hands of the proletariat, and people are intertwining what once was and what still is into new forms. The establishment doesn't like this, but this is where creativity is happening. Sure, there's too much of a money mentality amongst creators online, but not all of them are in it for the bucks.
But back in '82, MTV reinvigorated a moribund music business. Suddenly you could market worldwide and sell overpriced CDs all over the globe and no one wants change. But only by going forward, with everything up for grabs, can we recapture the cultural zeitgeist.
I remember when ABC had all of my heart.
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Tuesday 29 December 2020
The New Year-SiriusXM This Week
Songs about the future: beginnings, starting over, looking forward...
Tune in today, December 29th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.
Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863
Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive
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Tune in today, December 29th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.
Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863
Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive
Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive
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Monday 28 December 2020
Homeland Elegies
https://amzn.to/3n46JHX
1
This is the best book of the year.
But it's not that easy to read.
Readability. It's the number one criterion for a good book. Oftentimes that which is lauded is all about style, plot is secondary, it's like the self-congratulatory publishing industry, and the graduates of the writing factories, can only anoint something that aligns with their values, not those of the public. It's a self-reinforcing game, keeping people away from books, when we need them more than ever before, not only are they a respite from our overloaded, tedious lives, when done right they're instructional, like "Homeland Elegies."
But if you're not employing a dictionary when you read the book...you're lying, or you're skipping over words you do not know. You wonder, does the writer, Ayad Akhtar, really know these words or is he searching the thesaurus to insert a ten dollar word when a dime one would suffice? This is the peril of rewriting. I don't think anybody would use half of these out there words in regular conversation. I looked most of them up, but then I didn't bother, the meaning was clear enough from the context, and the constant journey to the dictionary was hurting my reading flow.
And the flow is another thing that you might find off-putting. The paragraphs are endless. The sentences therein are oftentimes long. However, the sentences are not jam-packed with too many meanings. This is another flaw of the circle jerk of the publishing industry and its acolytes noted above. They believe that writing is about the aforementioned rewriting, and they add so many qualifiers and concepts in each sentence that they ultimately resemble nothing you've ever come across previously. As if you built your pigpen with Brazilian wood and gold nails spaced every inch, when every six will do. It's a goddamn pigpen, WE GET IT!
The foregoing are qualifiers. I don't want you to buy "Homeland Elegies," give up reading it and then inundate my inbox with hate. First and foremost I treasure my credibility. Once you sacrifice that you've got nothing left. Actually, our entire nation is in a crisis of credibility, further hastened by Trump and his antics. What next, declaring that the Rays really won the World Series? Numbers don't matter, facts don't matter, there was some cheating behind the scenes that tilted the tables. And if the Dodgers defend their victory they're seen as monsters who won't acknowledge the will of the people!
But I did not buy "Homeland Elegies," I borrowed it from the library, via the Libby app.
Hmm... This is the disadvantage of physical. One of the many. You cannot go to the library, at least I wouldn't in these Covid days. But with Libby, you can search the inventory, and if you cannot instantly get the book you want, you can reserve it. I pooh-poohed Libby until I used it. I was thrown off by the long wait times, but then I found out frequently they let you jump the line. You can have the hot book for seven instead of twenty one days and...most of the old books are instantly available. So, if I want it now, I buy it from the Kindle store. But if I'm not sure, I reserve it. Actually, I reserve stuff I don't end up reading. I download the book and find out I'm not interested. But I also reserve/download books that my research tells me are good, but don't appeal to me on the surface, like "Homeland Elegies."
Seemingly every publication lists the book in their year's best. But on the surface, it seemed like another of those minority/foreign jobs... Yes, some African books are tremendous, like "Americanah," but too often the cognoscenti embrace books from the oppressed, as if the fact they wrote it is reason enough to focus on it, when oftentimes it is not.
Are you getting the feeling that my reading is exclusive?
I did a book podcast last week. Everything I said seemed to be contrary to what the host was proffering. Like about recommendations. Isn't that why we need indie bookstores? Isn't it all about personal recommendations? I NEVER USE PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS! I DON'T TRUST THEM! People rarely have any idea what another will truly like. And reading a book is a significant investment of time. So I do my own research. I read book reviews, I google lists, I'm trying to find consensus, along with what appeals to me. Kinda like my streaming TV choices. I ask people what they are watching and they almost always say what's on HBO and the big Netflix hits. But there's so much great stuff out there if you'd just do a little research. And so much crap too. I know people who watch shows with ratings far below 50% on RottenTomatoes. What do they expect? Of course it sucks! Why buy into the advertising? That's so last century.
But I did get "Homeland Elegies" on a recommendation. I certainly didn't buy it, no way, I trust essentially nobody. But I got e-mail from this guy David Moody, who told me: "I often agree with your views on fiction, and wanted to share this with you - it's the best book I've read this year." So I reserved it. Well, I got on the waiting list. I believe it was gonna be 13 weeks before I'd be able to get it, which was just fine with me, because based on what I'd read, I didn't think I'd like it anyway.
But at the end of a hike on Friday night, I checked the Libby app on my phone, and they were allowing me to jump in front of the line, if I wanted "Homeland Elegies," I could have it RIGHT NOW for seven days!
So I downloaded it to my Kindle.
I don't know the formula Libby employs that allows you to jump ahead, but it happens every once in a while, and it doesn't last, if you don't click to download it when you see it, it often disappears.
Seven days... Enough time to read the book if you start it right away. Which I always do. Because I hate the pressure to complete. Then again, I pressure myself, I do not want the book to disappear before I finish it, no way.
And, the fact I've only got it for seven days is an incentive to jump in. If you pay, you read, at least I do. If you borrow? But if you're gifted the desirable for a brief period? You want to check it out, see what all the fuss is about.
2
It's a fish out of water book. But not really. What it really is is the Muslim experience in America. Until it turns into a spot on analysis of America, better articulated than anywhere I've previously read, and I read a lot. Unfortunately, some of the worst writing is in newspapers. However the absolute worst is that made for internet consumption. On the internet it's just the facts, with maybe a tiny bit of spin. In the newspaper...there's a formula, you lay the facts down drily, from most important to least. Style is...the one employed by the newspaper. The worst is "The New Yorker." Everything's in the same style, dry, over-researched, they could drain the passion from an orgy. What resonates most is when a writer employs their own style to convey the message such that it resonates with, informs the reader. It's often about context. And Ayad Akhtar nails it over and over again.
Racism. What does it feel like to be brown in America?
Well, first and foremost you don't belong. You're told to go back to your own country, even if you were born in the United States. And you have to be on guard 24/7, for fear of saying the wrong thing, playing into someone's biases to your ultimate disadvantage. White people don't think about this. Well, long-haired northerners did back in the sixties, when they journeyed to the redneck south, but the truth is whites rule in America.
But life ain't so good for so many whites either.
When you start "Homeland Elegies," you're convinced it's nonfiction. But right there on the cover it says "A Novel." The truth lies somewhere in between.
So...
Can you ask for money from your parents to keep your passion alive?
Generally speaking, this is taboo in our society. Rich parents might pay for endless schooling, but at some point you've got to jump ship and get a real job, preferably one that will keep you living in the style you grew up in, like at the bank. But if you're an artist? Well-to-do people don't want their children to be artists, which is why so many artists come from the lower classes...when you got nothing, you got nothing to lose. But if you take the artistic path, rewards come very slowly, if at all. Can you live on so little money waiting to see if you connect in the marketplace, while your compatriots are buying homes, having families, vacationing on islands?
And it's not about the mind in America, it's about the MONEY!
You may not like this book if you believe Reagan is a saint. Akhtar writes about the schism at that time, when regulations were eliminated and wealth lionized, when shareholder value became everything and the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. The elite on the left won't accept this, these "winners" keep saying it's about racism. But is every Trump supporter a racist? OF COURSE NOT! And forget those with money, who just don't want to pay taxes, it's the blue collar people, the workers who the Democrats gave up on. Trump gave them hope! False hope, but hope nonetheless. Do you have hope in Biden's America? I'd like to say I do, but politics is all about money, and if you ain't got none, you're irrelevant. And there are poor people, some fine, on both sides of the fence, and they're disillusioned.
"There is a culture here, for sure, and it has nothing to do with all the well-meaning nonsense. It's about racism and money worship - and when you're on the correct side of both those things? That's when you really belong. Because that's when you start to represent the best of what they think they are..."
It's a club. And most are not in it. And despite lip service to the contrary, it's about keeping the status quo. Liberals don't want the underprivileged living in their neighborhoods, taking the place of their progeny at Ivy League institutions...those at the top CANNOT SUFFER! It's a self-reinforcing paradigm, but it gets worse.
3
There's this story about a Black talent agent, whose father was a law clerk at the D.C. Court of Appeals, who ultimately punts and moves back to Alabama, where he has less power than he imagined, but this is after he is wooed by the right. Yes, every team needs its token Black person, someone with values just like the organization, who will make no waves and fill the diversity slot. And they need all the minorities this way, Arab Americans too...to get them off the hook, so those seeking change will focus on another organization.
So, this guy's father, the lawyer, is working in D.C. during the Bork years, when those on the left were fearful that if the judge got on the Supreme Court, we'd return to the days of back-alley abortions, and separate lunch counters and...
But Ayad details how Bork did not get the seat, but ultimately had more influence on America than if he did:
"It was as an antitrust ideologue - who believed that the only meaningful check on corporate power should be the competitive threat of other corporations and that the consumer's benefit should be the only metric to gauge whether the government had cause to intervene - that Bork and his ideas would fundamentally reshape our country."
You can buy it cheap at Walmart, but not only was downtown eviscerated, so were those jobs. That was the start, in Reagan's 80s.
So...
"Homeland Elegies" is not a polemic. Akhtar does a brilliant job of weaving these viewpoints into real life situations.
Never mind the racism...
Never mind the sex. Akthar does a better job of describing coitus than any I've read this year, maybe ever, because sex takes place in the head, what is going on in the noggin of the participant?
So, Akhtar becomes a successful writer, the son of two doctors who immigrated from Pakistan. But is today's America actually worse than Pakistan? That's a question throughout this book.
4
I don't want to tell you any more, because I don't want to ruin it. But "Homeland Elegies" nails today's America better than any of the bloviating on cable television, on any website. You see politics, government, choices, affect us all, even if we say we're not interested, what does that look like?
Everybody in America should read "Homeland Elegies." Yet, as a result of reduced tax bases as a result of the corporatization, the Walmarting of America, there is less money for schools, and the evangelical and rich want private ones anyway, so how many Americans could even read this book? Not most of 'em, no way. But Akhtar makes today's America come alive. It's peopled by average citizens, being bumped around in the pinball machine of life. Essentially faceless, almost always powerless, beholden to the bean counters squeezing every last penny out of the system for the owners of this country.
Art is the only way out of this mess.
"Mary and I conversed for an hour, mostly about capitalism, the collapse of our national politics, and what part (if any) an artist could play in helping shape the world anew."
He's not talking about BRANDS! And he's not talking about world domination. Akhtar is talking about message. Baked into story. That's what we live for. The music, the movies, the television. But there's no money for the arts in America, it's going to the oil companies instead, art has no value, even though it's America's most influential export.
5
I don't think I convinced you to read "Homeland Elegies." I'm pretty sure most people didn't even make it this far.
It'd be easier for me to recommend some readable junk, the kind this country consumes and spits out, empty calories, like superhero movies. That would move me up the ladder of influencers, which I could brag about on social media to the point I garner enough followers to monetize my reach. Message is secondary, getting rich is everything. But very few can become rich, while the rest of us work 24/7, have trouble making ends meet, and are supposed to be happy playing the online lottery of social media, or Powerball.
Once I got into "Homeland Elegies" I could not put it down. It drew me into a world, more interesting than the one I'm living in during this Covid era. Check it out.
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1
This is the best book of the year.
But it's not that easy to read.
Readability. It's the number one criterion for a good book. Oftentimes that which is lauded is all about style, plot is secondary, it's like the self-congratulatory publishing industry, and the graduates of the writing factories, can only anoint something that aligns with their values, not those of the public. It's a self-reinforcing game, keeping people away from books, when we need them more than ever before, not only are they a respite from our overloaded, tedious lives, when done right they're instructional, like "Homeland Elegies."
But if you're not employing a dictionary when you read the book...you're lying, or you're skipping over words you do not know. You wonder, does the writer, Ayad Akhtar, really know these words or is he searching the thesaurus to insert a ten dollar word when a dime one would suffice? This is the peril of rewriting. I don't think anybody would use half of these out there words in regular conversation. I looked most of them up, but then I didn't bother, the meaning was clear enough from the context, and the constant journey to the dictionary was hurting my reading flow.
And the flow is another thing that you might find off-putting. The paragraphs are endless. The sentences therein are oftentimes long. However, the sentences are not jam-packed with too many meanings. This is another flaw of the circle jerk of the publishing industry and its acolytes noted above. They believe that writing is about the aforementioned rewriting, and they add so many qualifiers and concepts in each sentence that they ultimately resemble nothing you've ever come across previously. As if you built your pigpen with Brazilian wood and gold nails spaced every inch, when every six will do. It's a goddamn pigpen, WE GET IT!
The foregoing are qualifiers. I don't want you to buy "Homeland Elegies," give up reading it and then inundate my inbox with hate. First and foremost I treasure my credibility. Once you sacrifice that you've got nothing left. Actually, our entire nation is in a crisis of credibility, further hastened by Trump and his antics. What next, declaring that the Rays really won the World Series? Numbers don't matter, facts don't matter, there was some cheating behind the scenes that tilted the tables. And if the Dodgers defend their victory they're seen as monsters who won't acknowledge the will of the people!
But I did not buy "Homeland Elegies," I borrowed it from the library, via the Libby app.
Hmm... This is the disadvantage of physical. One of the many. You cannot go to the library, at least I wouldn't in these Covid days. But with Libby, you can search the inventory, and if you cannot instantly get the book you want, you can reserve it. I pooh-poohed Libby until I used it. I was thrown off by the long wait times, but then I found out frequently they let you jump the line. You can have the hot book for seven instead of twenty one days and...most of the old books are instantly available. So, if I want it now, I buy it from the Kindle store. But if I'm not sure, I reserve it. Actually, I reserve stuff I don't end up reading. I download the book and find out I'm not interested. But I also reserve/download books that my research tells me are good, but don't appeal to me on the surface, like "Homeland Elegies."
Seemingly every publication lists the book in their year's best. But on the surface, it seemed like another of those minority/foreign jobs... Yes, some African books are tremendous, like "Americanah," but too often the cognoscenti embrace books from the oppressed, as if the fact they wrote it is reason enough to focus on it, when oftentimes it is not.
Are you getting the feeling that my reading is exclusive?
I did a book podcast last week. Everything I said seemed to be contrary to what the host was proffering. Like about recommendations. Isn't that why we need indie bookstores? Isn't it all about personal recommendations? I NEVER USE PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS! I DON'T TRUST THEM! People rarely have any idea what another will truly like. And reading a book is a significant investment of time. So I do my own research. I read book reviews, I google lists, I'm trying to find consensus, along with what appeals to me. Kinda like my streaming TV choices. I ask people what they are watching and they almost always say what's on HBO and the big Netflix hits. But there's so much great stuff out there if you'd just do a little research. And so much crap too. I know people who watch shows with ratings far below 50% on RottenTomatoes. What do they expect? Of course it sucks! Why buy into the advertising? That's so last century.
But I did get "Homeland Elegies" on a recommendation. I certainly didn't buy it, no way, I trust essentially nobody. But I got e-mail from this guy David Moody, who told me: "I often agree with your views on fiction, and wanted to share this with you - it's the best book I've read this year." So I reserved it. Well, I got on the waiting list. I believe it was gonna be 13 weeks before I'd be able to get it, which was just fine with me, because based on what I'd read, I didn't think I'd like it anyway.
But at the end of a hike on Friday night, I checked the Libby app on my phone, and they were allowing me to jump in front of the line, if I wanted "Homeland Elegies," I could have it RIGHT NOW for seven days!
So I downloaded it to my Kindle.
I don't know the formula Libby employs that allows you to jump ahead, but it happens every once in a while, and it doesn't last, if you don't click to download it when you see it, it often disappears.
Seven days... Enough time to read the book if you start it right away. Which I always do. Because I hate the pressure to complete. Then again, I pressure myself, I do not want the book to disappear before I finish it, no way.
And, the fact I've only got it for seven days is an incentive to jump in. If you pay, you read, at least I do. If you borrow? But if you're gifted the desirable for a brief period? You want to check it out, see what all the fuss is about.
2
It's a fish out of water book. But not really. What it really is is the Muslim experience in America. Until it turns into a spot on analysis of America, better articulated than anywhere I've previously read, and I read a lot. Unfortunately, some of the worst writing is in newspapers. However the absolute worst is that made for internet consumption. On the internet it's just the facts, with maybe a tiny bit of spin. In the newspaper...there's a formula, you lay the facts down drily, from most important to least. Style is...the one employed by the newspaper. The worst is "The New Yorker." Everything's in the same style, dry, over-researched, they could drain the passion from an orgy. What resonates most is when a writer employs their own style to convey the message such that it resonates with, informs the reader. It's often about context. And Ayad Akhtar nails it over and over again.
Racism. What does it feel like to be brown in America?
Well, first and foremost you don't belong. You're told to go back to your own country, even if you were born in the United States. And you have to be on guard 24/7, for fear of saying the wrong thing, playing into someone's biases to your ultimate disadvantage. White people don't think about this. Well, long-haired northerners did back in the sixties, when they journeyed to the redneck south, but the truth is whites rule in America.
But life ain't so good for so many whites either.
When you start "Homeland Elegies," you're convinced it's nonfiction. But right there on the cover it says "A Novel." The truth lies somewhere in between.
So...
Can you ask for money from your parents to keep your passion alive?
Generally speaking, this is taboo in our society. Rich parents might pay for endless schooling, but at some point you've got to jump ship and get a real job, preferably one that will keep you living in the style you grew up in, like at the bank. But if you're an artist? Well-to-do people don't want their children to be artists, which is why so many artists come from the lower classes...when you got nothing, you got nothing to lose. But if you take the artistic path, rewards come very slowly, if at all. Can you live on so little money waiting to see if you connect in the marketplace, while your compatriots are buying homes, having families, vacationing on islands?
And it's not about the mind in America, it's about the MONEY!
You may not like this book if you believe Reagan is a saint. Akhtar writes about the schism at that time, when regulations were eliminated and wealth lionized, when shareholder value became everything and the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. The elite on the left won't accept this, these "winners" keep saying it's about racism. But is every Trump supporter a racist? OF COURSE NOT! And forget those with money, who just don't want to pay taxes, it's the blue collar people, the workers who the Democrats gave up on. Trump gave them hope! False hope, but hope nonetheless. Do you have hope in Biden's America? I'd like to say I do, but politics is all about money, and if you ain't got none, you're irrelevant. And there are poor people, some fine, on both sides of the fence, and they're disillusioned.
"There is a culture here, for sure, and it has nothing to do with all the well-meaning nonsense. It's about racism and money worship - and when you're on the correct side of both those things? That's when you really belong. Because that's when you start to represent the best of what they think they are..."
It's a club. And most are not in it. And despite lip service to the contrary, it's about keeping the status quo. Liberals don't want the underprivileged living in their neighborhoods, taking the place of their progeny at Ivy League institutions...those at the top CANNOT SUFFER! It's a self-reinforcing paradigm, but it gets worse.
3
There's this story about a Black talent agent, whose father was a law clerk at the D.C. Court of Appeals, who ultimately punts and moves back to Alabama, where he has less power than he imagined, but this is after he is wooed by the right. Yes, every team needs its token Black person, someone with values just like the organization, who will make no waves and fill the diversity slot. And they need all the minorities this way, Arab Americans too...to get them off the hook, so those seeking change will focus on another organization.
So, this guy's father, the lawyer, is working in D.C. during the Bork years, when those on the left were fearful that if the judge got on the Supreme Court, we'd return to the days of back-alley abortions, and separate lunch counters and...
But Ayad details how Bork did not get the seat, but ultimately had more influence on America than if he did:
"It was as an antitrust ideologue - who believed that the only meaningful check on corporate power should be the competitive threat of other corporations and that the consumer's benefit should be the only metric to gauge whether the government had cause to intervene - that Bork and his ideas would fundamentally reshape our country."
You can buy it cheap at Walmart, but not only was downtown eviscerated, so were those jobs. That was the start, in Reagan's 80s.
So...
"Homeland Elegies" is not a polemic. Akhtar does a brilliant job of weaving these viewpoints into real life situations.
Never mind the racism...
Never mind the sex. Akthar does a better job of describing coitus than any I've read this year, maybe ever, because sex takes place in the head, what is going on in the noggin of the participant?
So, Akhtar becomes a successful writer, the son of two doctors who immigrated from Pakistan. But is today's America actually worse than Pakistan? That's a question throughout this book.
4
I don't want to tell you any more, because I don't want to ruin it. But "Homeland Elegies" nails today's America better than any of the bloviating on cable television, on any website. You see politics, government, choices, affect us all, even if we say we're not interested, what does that look like?
Everybody in America should read "Homeland Elegies." Yet, as a result of reduced tax bases as a result of the corporatization, the Walmarting of America, there is less money for schools, and the evangelical and rich want private ones anyway, so how many Americans could even read this book? Not most of 'em, no way. But Akhtar makes today's America come alive. It's peopled by average citizens, being bumped around in the pinball machine of life. Essentially faceless, almost always powerless, beholden to the bean counters squeezing every last penny out of the system for the owners of this country.
Art is the only way out of this mess.
"Mary and I conversed for an hour, mostly about capitalism, the collapse of our national politics, and what part (if any) an artist could play in helping shape the world anew."
He's not talking about BRANDS! And he's not talking about world domination. Akhtar is talking about message. Baked into story. That's what we live for. The music, the movies, the television. But there's no money for the arts in America, it's going to the oil companies instead, art has no value, even though it's America's most influential export.
5
I don't think I convinced you to read "Homeland Elegies." I'm pretty sure most people didn't even make it this far.
It'd be easier for me to recommend some readable junk, the kind this country consumes and spits out, empty calories, like superhero movies. That would move me up the ladder of influencers, which I could brag about on social media to the point I garner enough followers to monetize my reach. Message is secondary, getting rich is everything. But very few can become rich, while the rest of us work 24/7, have trouble making ends meet, and are supposed to be happy playing the online lottery of social media, or Powerball.
Once I got into "Homeland Elegies" I could not put it down. It drew me into a world, more interesting than the one I'm living in during this Covid era. Check it out.
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Friday 25 December 2020
José Feliciano - Feliz Navidad 50th Anniversary
https://bit.ly/34HgmWk
2020 is the year of the Latin breakthrough. Bad Bunny was Spotify's most streamed artist of the year. Latin represented 30% of the global YouTube chart. And Latin is growing faster than any other genre. Proving, once again, that technology, distribution, affects the music being heard.
Used to be records broke on radio. Now they break online. And as word spreads, people play them over and over again and we can see their popularity in raw numbers. Yes, the internet has finally eviscerated the music business's propensity for lying. Well, not completely, there's still subterfuge, but even Justin Bieber couldn't buy a hit, couldn't run the numbers up. You might be able to make a dent by gaming the system, buying streams, but the top of the chart is all genuine. What is happening?
We no longer have a cohesive Top Ten. Ten tracks that everybody listens to. The business is doing its best to anoint said ten, newspapers print the manipulated numbers, but one check online shows them to be phony.
According to the disinformation society made up of the industry and the media, Taylor Swift was the artist of the year, with two breakthrough albums, that topped the chart consistently. Only in the real world, this is completely untrue. Check it out for yourself. She's got not one single track in the U.S. Top Tracks of 2020 nor the global edition.
"Top Tracks of 2020 USA": https://spoti.fi/2WIorFR
"Top Tracks of 2020": https://spoti.fi/38xYheF
I won't bother commenting on the quality of Taylor Swift's two lps, but I will say turnabout is fair play and leave it at that.
Once again, the media is out of touch with what is really going on. Hell, on a more important level it had no idea what was going on in the 2020 Presidential race, had no idea so many people would support Trump, and that the issue of packing the court was a nonstarter, although there's a chance the Democrats will eke out two victories in Georgia, but odds are not in their favor. But what do odds even mean these days?
TV might be a walled garden, Fox News might have undue influence, but that's not the case online, where there are no boundaries, and everybody can get a track on Spotify.
Then again, if we go to pure streaming numbers, the majors will lose control of the chart, and that just can't happen!
In other words, what is perceived to be big is just not so. Rock rules on the road, the Spotify Top 50 doesn't correspond. But forever, touring gets no respect, it's all about record sales/streams. But don't ticket sales represent true demand, when people put their dollars down for ducats?
What we've got here is a multifarious music business. The usual suspect powers have lost control. As for their supposed market share, how much of that is made up of distributed indies?
As for genres... Turns out people have a desire for much more than hip-hop and pop. Hip-hop did put a dent in rock, no doubt about it, not that rock did not shoot itself in the foot, not that rock is not moribund, but will Latin eclipse hip-hop as the next major genre?
I'm not holding my breath, but the history of the modern music business is just when something becomes gigantic, supposedly indomitable, it's replaced by something new, with energy, and the old falls by the wayside, can you say "hair bands," that were eclipsed by grunge?
Then again, rockers have been anti-streaming from day one. Meanwhile, hip-hop artists and fans embraced the new distribution format, as did Latin fans and even country fans. Want to win in today's world, don't criticize Spotify, EMBRACE IT! Check the numbers, if you're at the top of the chart you're making more money than ever before. And you're gonna get paid until the end of the track's copyright. As for the de minimis numbers of old acts that once had record deals...maybe people just don't want to listen to your music that much, or maybe you're really a live act. You cannot change the past.
And the past is filled with dirgey celebrity/charity records. Songs no one would put on an album under their own name. Meanwhile, this rendition of "Feliz Navidad" is upbeat, it swings! It's hard to stay motionless while you're listening to it. Especially today, if you want traction, publicity only goes so far, it's got to be in the grooves.
So, I dare you to watch this clip and know who everybody is. No way. Most of the acts are Latin, and those who know the Latin acts probably won't know Big & Rich, never mind Sam Moore and Tommy Shaw. And the youngsters probably won't know Moore or Shaw either. But Styx sells tickets every summer, and Sam, with his departed partner Dave, are the original soul men.
Hold on, they're coming. The Latinos. And we've seen the same thing with hip-hop. All the oldsters who are racist would be stunned to find out their kids love the "urban" sound. Ditto on the music of the minority group known as "Latinos." As for "Latinx"...if you've been following this story, most Latinos don't like it and don't use it, just like Black people may be against police brutality, but not policing in general.
Then again, now I've gotten your hackles up, by speaking truth. Ain't that America, where not only do people not utter the truth, but people can't HANDLE THE TRUTH! Especially on the left, with trigger warnings...IT'S A DAMN BOOK!
But today we embrace the holiday spirit, and nothing I've seen this year has done a better job of it than this clip. Watch it.
Oh yeah, before you do, click "SHOW MORE" under José's name, to see who's involved, you can't tell the players without a scorecard!
P.S. For more Latin info/statistics, I point you to this fact-filled "Billboard" article, "Inside Latin Music's Global Takeover": https://bit.ly/37QyYW9
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2020 is the year of the Latin breakthrough. Bad Bunny was Spotify's most streamed artist of the year. Latin represented 30% of the global YouTube chart. And Latin is growing faster than any other genre. Proving, once again, that technology, distribution, affects the music being heard.
Used to be records broke on radio. Now they break online. And as word spreads, people play them over and over again and we can see their popularity in raw numbers. Yes, the internet has finally eviscerated the music business's propensity for lying. Well, not completely, there's still subterfuge, but even Justin Bieber couldn't buy a hit, couldn't run the numbers up. You might be able to make a dent by gaming the system, buying streams, but the top of the chart is all genuine. What is happening?
We no longer have a cohesive Top Ten. Ten tracks that everybody listens to. The business is doing its best to anoint said ten, newspapers print the manipulated numbers, but one check online shows them to be phony.
According to the disinformation society made up of the industry and the media, Taylor Swift was the artist of the year, with two breakthrough albums, that topped the chart consistently. Only in the real world, this is completely untrue. Check it out for yourself. She's got not one single track in the U.S. Top Tracks of 2020 nor the global edition.
"Top Tracks of 2020 USA": https://spoti.fi/2WIorFR
"Top Tracks of 2020": https://spoti.fi/38xYheF
I won't bother commenting on the quality of Taylor Swift's two lps, but I will say turnabout is fair play and leave it at that.
Once again, the media is out of touch with what is really going on. Hell, on a more important level it had no idea what was going on in the 2020 Presidential race, had no idea so many people would support Trump, and that the issue of packing the court was a nonstarter, although there's a chance the Democrats will eke out two victories in Georgia, but odds are not in their favor. But what do odds even mean these days?
TV might be a walled garden, Fox News might have undue influence, but that's not the case online, where there are no boundaries, and everybody can get a track on Spotify.
Then again, if we go to pure streaming numbers, the majors will lose control of the chart, and that just can't happen!
In other words, what is perceived to be big is just not so. Rock rules on the road, the Spotify Top 50 doesn't correspond. But forever, touring gets no respect, it's all about record sales/streams. But don't ticket sales represent true demand, when people put their dollars down for ducats?
What we've got here is a multifarious music business. The usual suspect powers have lost control. As for their supposed market share, how much of that is made up of distributed indies?
As for genres... Turns out people have a desire for much more than hip-hop and pop. Hip-hop did put a dent in rock, no doubt about it, not that rock did not shoot itself in the foot, not that rock is not moribund, but will Latin eclipse hip-hop as the next major genre?
I'm not holding my breath, but the history of the modern music business is just when something becomes gigantic, supposedly indomitable, it's replaced by something new, with energy, and the old falls by the wayside, can you say "hair bands," that were eclipsed by grunge?
Then again, rockers have been anti-streaming from day one. Meanwhile, hip-hop artists and fans embraced the new distribution format, as did Latin fans and even country fans. Want to win in today's world, don't criticize Spotify, EMBRACE IT! Check the numbers, if you're at the top of the chart you're making more money than ever before. And you're gonna get paid until the end of the track's copyright. As for the de minimis numbers of old acts that once had record deals...maybe people just don't want to listen to your music that much, or maybe you're really a live act. You cannot change the past.
And the past is filled with dirgey celebrity/charity records. Songs no one would put on an album under their own name. Meanwhile, this rendition of "Feliz Navidad" is upbeat, it swings! It's hard to stay motionless while you're listening to it. Especially today, if you want traction, publicity only goes so far, it's got to be in the grooves.
So, I dare you to watch this clip and know who everybody is. No way. Most of the acts are Latin, and those who know the Latin acts probably won't know Big & Rich, never mind Sam Moore and Tommy Shaw. And the youngsters probably won't know Moore or Shaw either. But Styx sells tickets every summer, and Sam, with his departed partner Dave, are the original soul men.
Hold on, they're coming. The Latinos. And we've seen the same thing with hip-hop. All the oldsters who are racist would be stunned to find out their kids love the "urban" sound. Ditto on the music of the minority group known as "Latinos." As for "Latinx"...if you've been following this story, most Latinos don't like it and don't use it, just like Black people may be against police brutality, but not policing in general.
Then again, now I've gotten your hackles up, by speaking truth. Ain't that America, where not only do people not utter the truth, but people can't HANDLE THE TRUTH! Especially on the left, with trigger warnings...IT'S A DAMN BOOK!
But today we embrace the holiday spirit, and nothing I've seen this year has done a better job of it than this clip. Watch it.
Oh yeah, before you do, click "SHOW MORE" under José's name, to see who's involved, you can't tell the players without a scorecard!
P.S. For more Latin info/statistics, I point you to this fact-filled "Billboard" article, "Inside Latin Music's Global Takeover": https://bit.ly/37QyYW9
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Thursday 24 December 2020
Jacob Collier-This Week's Podcast
Jacob Collier's "Djesse Vol. 3" was the surprise of the Grammy nominations, landing a spot for Album of the Year. Jacob is fully aware that other artists were excluded, and he is a fan of both the Weeknd and Lady Gaga, but separate yourself from the blowback and Collier's story is both fascinating and inspirational. Only 26, Collier is a digital native who explored Logic and posted a video to YouTube and then all hell broke loose. Hang in there, it's a wild ride.
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jacob-collier/id1316200737?i=1000503399066
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/jacob-collier-80383543
https://open.spotify.com/episode/03Q4RcBret9JCfOmMcJad5?si=Ami0NoWBT5G68K-bGemZ2g
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/The-Bob-Lefsetz-Podcast
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https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jacob-collier/id1316200737?i=1000503399066
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/jacob-collier-80383543
https://open.spotify.com/episode/03Q4RcBret9JCfOmMcJad5?si=Ami0NoWBT5G68K-bGemZ2g
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/The-Bob-Lefsetz-Podcast
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Wednesday 23 December 2020
More Disco Demolitiion Night
I was the format designer and consultant at THE LOOP back in the Disco Demolition era. Race or Homophobia was never even remotely discussed as a component of the promotion. It was all about the Midwest 16-34 Men that the station targeted and their disdain for the disco movement. The factors that DID play into it were the 180 degree opposites from the Loop's hard rock fueled audience perceptions, Including:
Rock was about power guitars and real drummers
Disco was about electronics
Rock was about sweaty live events
Disco was about slick clubs with a bouncer in case you didn't look hot enough
Rock was long hair
Disco wasn't
Rock was about smoking dope and groovin
Disco was about cocaine and champagne
Rock was about dressing down
Disco was about dressing up
...the list goes on, but the point was a rock statement not a racial one...
It's unfortunate that perceptions of it being a homophobic or racist promotion. I certainly, in hindsight, see that. But at the time those negative feelings were completely off our radar.
The station pioneered a lot of elements that re-enforced the ROCK movement. And I'm sure everyone involved is saddened that it became perceived by some as a culture killer.
Lee Abrams
____________________________________
I'm late to the party on this but since I was in the thick of it as a consultant, here's what happened.
First, history is a narrative laid upon carefully selected facts that tell different stories. With that as backdrop...
Steve Dahl was a brilliant promoter and disc jockey. He could think up stunts that electrified Chicago. Disco demolition was just one of them. It was more about the fact that disco was getting a lot more attention than rock at the time so the idea of blowing up disco records seems like a good idea. In all my time knowing Steve Dahl or any of the other people involved, there was never anything racist about it. After all, the biggest disco band in the world was the Bee Gees and they were white.
That's another part of the problem. The Bee Gees documentary.
In a carefully selected clip, it showed black records being thrown into a bin to be blown up. However it didn't show that the majority of the records were white. One of the radio guys I worked with for years was standing beside the bin when the records were thrown in and said there were far more by bands like Loverboy and other white rock acts than there were black. His comment was that people simply grabbed any record to throw it in the bin just to see it blowing up. Once again, history is written by the exclusion of facts rather than the inclusion of facts.
Now, let's turn to the question of disco demolition being anti-gay. I was interviewed some years ago by a guy writing a thesis on disco demolition being an anti-gay phenomenon and suggesting that disco backlash was against gays.
We discussed it at length and I was clear that I never saw any evidence of it in the research I was doing at the time. Rather people were reacting against the whole glam and glitz of the scene.
Studio 54 was an exclusionary club that left people out and it was highly connected to disco. It was in the news all the time with people being left on the street because they weren't cool enough or glam enough. People don't like to be left out.
So part of the backlash was against a club scene that made "ordinary" people feel like they could never be part of it - rather than anything to do with gays.
In spite of my observations and strong research to back it up, the writer went on to publish a thesis that distorted what I said, claiming that the anti-disco movement was anti-gay. An example of academic destruction. You can Google it.
Also, during this time a lot of disco radio stations were popping up all over the country. I could see the backlash coming against disco music in all the research I was doing and I spoke in front of the largest conference of disco radio owners in the country, warning them that they may end up with problems. This was within weeks of Steve Dahl's disco demolition. I remember how they laughed out loud. Within a year none of them were on the air.
So, in the interest of setting the record straight, musical trends come and go. If I wanted to push the case, I would say that there is a bias against white males in commercial radio because most of them are pop stations that don't play any rock. Of course, that would be ridiculous. Yet I'm sure someone will figure out a way to claim that it's true.
By the way, I think that the Bee Gees documentary on HBO has restirred the pot. Which is too bad because it's a fabulous piece of entertainment devoid of real politics.
John Parikhal
____________________________________
Thanks for posting both of these. Amazing how people can twist something to fit their narrative.
I know–with 100% certainty–that Dave Logan and Lee Abrams would have had NOTTTTHHHHHING to do with some sort of racist or homophobic plot. Lee, like me, is just a nice, Jewish kid from Flossmoor, Illinois. And Dave is as count-on-able as they come. They, along with Dahl, were just some young, irreverent rock guys looking to have some fun.
Ultimately, it helped Logan fulfill a lifelong dream, to win one for the Tigers. LOL.
Best regards,
Scott Struber
____________________________________
Those two contrasting letters regarding Disco Demolition Night are very instructive, and I didn't want to let the moment pass without commentary. I like to say that the difference between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives often don't believe white supremacy is even real, while liberals know full well it is but are in denial about their own role within it.
I have no doubt Steve Dahl was completely blind to the racial and heteronormative undercurrents of the anti-disco movement. Part of what makes whiteness and hetero maleness a form of privilege is that you don't ever have to examine your own motivations and biases. They're just the default of the culture.
But when black people tell you they feel the undercurrent of racism, when gay people tell you they feel the undercurrent of homophobia, it doesn't do to dismiss them as oversensitive. To be a marginalized minority is to be ever-aware of the way the dominant culture suppresses your voice and marginalizes your views and opinions. The fact that suppression is often unconscious doesn't mean it's not there. That the person doing the suppressing is a liberal with a self-image as a non-racist, non-homophobe does not mean their actions can't be racist or homophobic.
It's not an accident the target of the ire was disco, an extremely pluralistic genre that openly celebrated blackness and gayness in an era when both were conspicuously absent from most of the mainstream media.
This is not to condemn Dahl or the other anti-disco showmen of the era. The culture has moved on a lot since 1978 and more and more of us have begun to confront our own unconscious biases and the way we privilege our own viewpoint to the exclusion of others. But never mistake the white cis-het viewpoint for some kind of absolute truth. It's just one version of the truth, albeit the one with the biggest army and the deepest pockets.
Jonathan Steigman
____________________________________
Whether Steve Dahl intended for Disco Demolition to be racist & homophobic is completely missing the point:
Dahl provided a venue for racists and homophobes to rally. It was a huge mistake.
Do racists know they're racist? Hardly. The culture of the past 100 years has produced racists & homophobes on both sides of the aisle.
Is Steve Dahl a racist/homophobe? Who cares?
Bill Seipel
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Sign me up for #teamVince. I'm relieved to see you would print a letter from someone who points out your dog whistle to your primarily white fan base. As a 13 year old in 1978, I thought disco demolition night was a last gasp from the ancestors of Confederates, before the country moved to the path Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. paved 10 years earlier.
White guys only appreciate black people making music at their nieces and daughters weddings.
Black people who read you know that if Darius Rucker fronted the Red Hot Chili Peppers, they would be called a hip hop group. RHCP can break through with a Stevie Wonder song, while Living Coulour, King's X and Fishbone never got the promotional support they deserved.
Please bring that podcast to fruition.
I will always tell smart people to read you,
Steve Smith
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Revisionist history? I'm sorry, Paul "friend of Steve Dahl's" Natkin, but one of America's biggest actors, Bob Odenkirk, did an episode of Drunk HIstory about this, and took the standard "Disco sucks" perspective. There's many videos of Dahl dogwhistling in interviews about how he shouldn't have to wear glitter to leave the house. Dahl has been pleading and bleating his case that he was just earnestly not into disco for so long, he's the epitome of the "empty vessels make the most noise" idiom. The only revisionist history that happens about the disco demolition is from Dahl and his defenders. Oh, and "He found himself unemployed because of progress so he took up a mantle against something inanimate and abstract instead of adapting" is the origin story for like half of all villains.
Trevor Risk
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Bob, a big segment of music fans dug the dance music trends in the 70s and 80s. The labels, operating true to form, milked the disco style dry, running it-and themselves-into the ground. But throughout the era, there were plenty of alternate listening options for those whose music discovery ability went beyond tuning in the local top-40 station.
To deem someone's creative output unworthy is ignorant. To stage a massive public event encouraging such ignorance is wrongful conduct.
It was a hateful, stupid, racist, homophobic, anti-music, anti-common sense reflection of America's worst. Pigs.
Yesteryear's "Disco Sucks" acolytes are today's Trump voters. Paul Lanning
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When disco happened, my contemporaries and I hated it for a number of reasons, including the dumbing down of the drum parts (I'm a drummer), the lack of guts or soul in the music itself, and disco's extolling the dancing/dancers to the exclusion of the musicians. I remember an article in People Magazine around 1979 that made that very point, i.e., that the dancers were the stars, and not the musicians, to the point where the live concert business was suffering.
Never once did my friends and I even consider a racist or homophobic reason for hating the disco genre. After all, blues, R&B and rock owe their existence directly to the Black community that essentially created it. Also, it might be noted that the Bee Gees, undeniably -- however reluctantly -- the poster child group of Disco, were White and straight.
Now, I cannot attest to what my African-American friends and associates thought of Disco Demolition or anti-disco sentiments at the time, but I never heard or saw any hint of this -- or a homophobic -- viewpoint at the time. In fact, the first time such a notion has been asserted, to my knowledge, was in the Bee Gees documentary.
As a historian by education, I have always been wary of revisionism, i.e., altering historical analysis or conclusions to fit a current trend or fad. Without disrespecting Vince Lawrence, it seems to me as if his recollection of that period is revisionism, pure and simple.
Douglas Weinstein
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Woah man did that dude piss me off.
The first disco record I heard was coming out of a stereo in my house. I had no idea who the artist was. If they were black, gay or from New Zealand. It was Fly Robin Fly and the sound of that record turned my stomach.
I worked retail in Bklyn, on Kings Highway, the disco capital of the US back then, during that era and found records like Push Push In The Bush, YMCA, Take The Time etc to be vapid, sometimes sexist and unlistenable.
You'll find at least a half a dozen Donna Summer tracks in my phone.
Larry Tepper
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Here's how history works. It doesn't matter how straight white guys saw it. It matters how Black and Gay people saw it.
Seek to understand.
Bryson Jones
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I'm with Vince. I also saw it as racist and homophobic and I happen to be white and straight.
Frank Malfitano
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I am born, raised and living in Puerto Rico.
Back in the 70's I was into Salsa, Rock and Jazz.
Could not stand Disco. Disco Demolition was not "racist" to me.
I would much rather listen to Freddie Hubbard or George Benson, both black.
Not to mention all the Salsa guys…or the Blues guys behind Rock.
Joey Sala
San Juan, PR
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Good Day Bob,
I really don't know how society moves forward
as one. We can't agree on facts, we can't agree on the past, and we definitely can't agree on how to proceed in the future.
I wasn't at disco demolition night as I was only 3 at the time, and have never lived in Chicago either. Amazing that the organizers of the event see it one way and some other guy who claims to have been there that night sees it completely differently. I don't make a habit of calling people liars without evidence so I tend to believe Paul Natkin's account. I feel Mr. Lawrence lost a great deal of credibility as soon as he made a not so subtle plea for public exposure at your expense.
At the end of the day I suppose my opinion isn't all that relevant on this matter, but what a depressing reality that one man's reaction to having lost his job because of a segment of his industry that he strongly disliked for musical taste reasons has been twisted into him being a racist and homophobe. I never knew the guy so I can't comment on his personal views, but isn't it possible that he just hated disco music? I hate rap music - no matter what color the rapper. My ears just hate the sound - nothing more, nothing less. I prefer guitars, real drums played by a drummer, melody sung by someone who can sing, and bass mixed in at the appropriate level. Doesn't make me a racist.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, bro.
Tim W
in Calgary
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Bob, Paul Natkin is one of the great rock photographers, based in Chicago. I'd love for you to do a post about rock photographers and seek out their perspectives on the music of the 60s, 70s and the 80s.
I would agree that Dahl did not promote the night at Comiskey as anything but a night to celebrate rock and roll by destroying disco records. However, there were many in the audience and in general who hated disco because of the audience it attracted: people of color and non-heterosexual.
Mark Guncheon
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Excellent note from Chicago's great photographer Paul Natkin.
He's absolutely right on every point. I was one of the crazed teenagers on the field, rock and roll Kid listening to The Loop FM 98.
We spent most of the time before the game getting lubricated and getting our smoke on for the night. I think we just enjoyed running around the field for kicks, but when a 12-inch record started flying past my head by inches, I scurried back to the lower-level stands to watch the rest. Plenty of footage on YouTube will show you what that action was like that night!
Dfactor Dave
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I remember when I first heard the 12" disco remix of Blondie's "Heart of Glass" and thinking, "uh-oh, we're fucked."
And lo and behold "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" came along.
Dave Curtis
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I was a 13 year old Cubs fan at the time and from my suburban Chicago seat, I was mostly glad to see Comiskey Park get trashed. I was definitely a Loop listener and Steve Dahl fan and had no racial animosity. Probably naive at the time.
Take care!
Sam Schauer
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Some of us hated disco because we thought that compared to funk, soul and jazz it sounded like insipid crap played by machines, and we were too insecure and self-conscious to let loose & party down with the folks who got off on it - regardless of their skin color or sexual orientation. But hey, I'm glad that many people found joy and comfort in Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive".
For me, it was never about the people. The music just left me cold.
Joe Paulino
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This is a great conversation. Until today I never considered the possibility that the disco demolition stunt was racist, but that may be my own ignorance. I guess I never considered disco to be race-specific.
Bird
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Agree with you and Paul. Nice to share the two perspectives.
Kyle J. Ferraro
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Far too often white people don't "see" things as racist. It's how we got to this moment.
Peter Buffett
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Once again, a clear picture of America today. Two diametrically opposed takes on the same event.
David Rubin
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As someone your age, I remember being disappointed that disco was becoming so popular at the expense of rock. I vaguely remember something about disco demolition. I never heard of Steve Dahl before but I understand his thinking. And DJs are always out there and promoting stuff. so if you have a gimmick like blowing up a record to get people's attention and it works, you keep doing it.
I was saddened that rock was being replaced. Why are all these people liking this music? Didn't matter if it was good, bad, whatever. It was taking over from the rock music that I loved.
And as a cover band musician, we sure as hell learned disco songs. ( I did like Richard Finch's bass lines on KC songs).
Same thing with Hip Hop today, replacing what came before it. And something new will replace hip hop some day.
Dale Janus
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merry hanukkah, xmas, and happy safe new year..
wow, u got thrown right in the eye of the hurricane.
no matter what you say, peoples perception of events,
thru the lens of years, will never line up.
our reality vs.vince's realty will never line up.
nothing you can say about innocence etc
will ever be acknowledged.
\the cancel button is in front of U.
i feel for you, and hope you stay BOB.
you r a solid caring human. thats all that matters.
stay safe, and warm..
with all my respect,
marc brickman
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Very interesting, contrasting views.
It may not have been a racist homophobic thing, but I liked Disco in the late 1970s, Donna Summer, and some others, and thought the whining of the rock people was annoying. Yes, Disco is very seasy to do badly, and that is partly why some disliked it, and its minimal lyrics, something I never liked about it, made it sound plastic at times, but rock is not much better. There is the term three-chord rock and all that screaming. It's sad you can't like both genres for the unique contributions to American culture that they are.
Best
David
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Hello, my name is Jim Marcus. As a member of the Box Boys and Die Warzau, I was part of the dance music scene here in Chicago, both house and industrial. I've continuously worked here as a remixer, engineer, producer, artist, etc. since the early 80's and when Disco Demolition happened I was a young session musician. As an LGBTQ person myself, it was clear exactly from what perspective this event happened and I very much saw the same thing Vince Lawrence did.
I remember sitting with friends that night in the studio and feeling unsafe in my own city. It seemed like the entire city had decided what it thought about the black and gay musicians that had just begun to gain acceptance on the air. Steve Dahl himself talked about how uncomfortable he was in clubs, as a heterosexual male, how he felt out of his element. His obvious discomfort at being around gay people was amplified in his followers, and that kind of othering of LGBTQ people was pervasive at the event.
It seems easy to us now to look back and call out what is Disco and what wasn't, the truth is that many of the records that were burned that night were just records from black artists. And much of the vitriol was aimed squarely at the fluid, gender playful, disco fans and artists who were finally finding a way to be themselves ion public.
If you are not gay, trans, bisexual, etc. you may have no idea what freedoms Disco offered people. Steve Dahl wrote about intimidation and disenfranchisement when walking into a dance club, but never considered for a moment that the people at home in that club were HONESTLY intimidated and disenfranchised by a community that saw policemen sit in their cars while gay and trans people were beaten in the streets.
If Dahl himself wants to deny that he was racist or homophobic, I would love to see him come to it honestly, by asking himself why he stood there in front of thousands of, nearly to the person, white straight males, screaming and circulating the message. He can maybe explain why he didn't hear what they screamed back. Because I guarantee you that those of us in the city who were different, gay, trans, black, latino, we got the message loud and clear.
Regards,
Jim Marcus
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I commend you for posting these two opposing views, but I believe anyone of good faith and any conscience whatsoever must admit that it's Vince Lawrence's perspective that is the correct one.
Racism and xenophobia is so intrinsic to the very genesis and fabric of this country that all of us white men, in particular, even those among us who try and wish to be allies can't help but suffer from living within the limited perspective of simply being white men.
Any white person who denies that simple and obvious phenomenon or that disco hatred was clearly just thinly veiled hatred for the "other", black and gay people is utterly deluding themselves, which is itself racist and xenophobic as hell! It's akin to Trump voters denying their obvious racism and screaming about economic anxiety as they adorn their $80k pickup trucks with a million MAGA flags and brandish their $2k AR-15s demanding haircuts. They're only fooling fools.
I enjoyed the Bee Gees documentary immensely and was actually tempted to respond vociferously about how wrong and obviously biased your recollection of the disco demolition was, but Vincent's response was so much more powerful, not just because he was there and in the film, but because he has the lifetime experience of systemic racism that us white guys NEVER will.
Thank you Vince for setting the record straight! Anyone who disagrees is telling on themselves.
I'd love to hear Vincent absolutely demolish Steve Dahl's dim white guy perspective, again, so I'm hoping Vincent's suggestion of a podcast can happen. More people need to be taught how deep is their hate before they can understand how deep their love could and should be.
And I think the Bee Gees would agree.
Martin Ferrini
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Steve Dahl was a fat bastard socially inept and couldn't get laid even if he had speed boat on Gilligan's Island.
I am not going to get into the "hemming and hawing" ...heres the bottom.line ...
The major label promotion people hated and I do mean hated disco ( the lifestyle and the music ) . They especially hated that all the hot chicks and the best drugs were ready available in a club where they just did not fit in . They hated that the PDs in their respective markets ( many of which were closet gay ) were finding songs on their respective labels that weren't "priorities " and adding them with nothing more than a " by the way we are adding song x I heard it at a disco over the weekend ". The label reps thought disco was a gay thing and anybody whom liked it was gay as well . I know this to be 100% true because I went thru it whn I moved from being the RFC / WB East Coast Dance Music Rep to joining Atlantic as the Boston Rep. . Shit ..I got fired for getting a song I liked added at 4 Boston stations. Stacy Lattisaw " Let Me Be Your Angle " ...was not a priority and was not on Atlantic radar. Vince Feracci called me that Tuesday afternoon " If you want to get records played at radio that you like you should get a job at radio .. YOURE FIRED !!" I took Vince advise ....
I became Sunny Joe Whites Asst MD then MD at Kiss 108 .
Back to Dahl . This too I know to be a fact ..... the record companies drop shipped 1000s of records ( cutouts ) to Chicago because 90% of the morons he reached didnt hve disco records in their collection to blow up.
Bottom Line : before disco clubs were 100% segregated ....white , black,gay ,straight ' hispanic .... the Disco brought us all together under one roof... I saw the desegregation happen..I was part of it ...
It was wonderful !!!
Joey Carvello
Billboard Disco Deejay Of The Year 1978 /Boston
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I was at the ballgame. at the time i was a 21 white kid from the suburbs of NYC, I was not really a fan of disco, but i did not go to protest music, hell I had been to disco's to meet girls, it was a right of passage in the late 70's.
I was visiting my sister in Chicago and was told about the event at a local bar. I attended because I am a huge baseball fan and a double header made sense. I paid full price for good box seats. Most of the people that stormed the field had general admission as the promotion was bring a disco record to plow up between games and you get in with GA seats for 98 cents ( station # was 98 point something FM )
The demonstration was a dud, The records were put into a large contained box in center field, the all you saw was smoke. Steve Dahl was kind of funny until the crowd started to boo. He was dressed up in a old army jacket and helmet, like he was protesting Viet Nam or something.
The crowd was acting up during the first game, those that could not get the GA tickets and still had their records were using them as frisbee's. I know the Detroit third baseman was wearing a batting helmet while fielding, he was quoted in the news defending disco music before the game.
I for one was not happy when the crowd ran ointo the field, tore up the infield, ripped the bases out and would not leave. I was really not happy when the second game was forfeited. The White Sox owner announced any valid ticket could be used for another game, like a rainout. I was leaving Chicago before the next home game, so i gave my ticket to my sister to give out.
In retrospect I was witness to history first hand, had a story to tell. At the time i thought it was a dumb idea that went wrong.
Tom Melle
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Two great letters providing a very different perspective on this unique event in my home town.
I did not attend the game. I was a Cubs fan living on the southside (Sox Country). I was 19 in 1978, a white kid from an immigrant family, first year dating my wife of 34 years, the most beautiful woman and only Cuban I had ever met. Chicago was and still is a highly segregated city, and as in 1978 remains racist. However, for some reason it never occured to me that others would have an issue with my choice of spouse. My wife was also an immigrant, and despite growing up much of her childhood and young adult life in Chicago she swears she never experienced racism. Hard to believe given the tough neighborhoods we lived in, schools we attended, but that is her perspective and I know she believes it.
I didn't march with Dr. King, I was only a child when he and 20,000 (whites, blacks, browns, nuns, priests, rabbis, business leaders, politicians, etc.) locked arm-in-arm proudly marched down California Ave to Marquette Park on the southside of Chicago. However, I did view the event from the safety of my best friend's front porch (later County District Attorney) and it was not a pretty sight. I haven't lived in Chicago for some 35 years, but spent half my time working there during the last 9 years. It certainly has improved over the years, but there's much more work to do.
I listened to Steve because I was into Classic Rock and he had a good shtick with his side-kick Gary...of course at the time it was just Rock, not yet Classic...but it never occured to me then or until you brought it up that it was some kind of racist or homophobic event. Couldn't walk a block in Chicago without running into a racist or homophobic, but I knew plenty of folks that went to the event and talked about it for years afterwards and none of us had that angle. The big news then and still now is that the Sox forfeited a game. And if I recall it was the effective end of Steve's career, such as it was.
Bill Veeck, Sox owner, was the master of promotion and he was the furthest thing from a racist...he was an upstanding guy...so I understand why no one would have associated Bill with promoting such an event.
Had I walked in different shoes back then, black or gay, I suspect I too would've had an entire different view and I appreciate the comments from Mr. Lawrence. Different people experiencing the same event, living at the same time, in the same place, and with different recollections. And all very real, no doubt.
Thanks for sharing their letters.
E Kelly
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Thank you for presenting e-mails of both perspectives (Vince Lawrence and Paul Natkin). My heart still races from the thought of the Disco Demolition. I was 10 years old and I remember the spray painted buildings with Disco Sucks and the light posts carved with WBLS - We Black Love Sh*t . WBLS was top R&B Station. Mr. Natkin may have not realized that the actions were racist or homophobic but it was. The ramifications of those actions were felt throughout black neighborhoods. It was a direct attack on the music we loved and it caused a divide.
Thanks for reading.
Jeff James
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it's likely bordering on the absurd levels of obvious to say no one care what I think about race. Certainly, as a middle-aged white dude, I have very little to offer except my own experience. It may be useful.
I was anti-disco. I had no idea at the time this position was infused with race. I never thought Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, or Al Green were disco. I loved those artists then as I do now. We can debate the Bee Gees, but history has changed my thinking about the demolition.
I live in the south and lack a lot of the self-loathing white guilt that I probably should feel. At the same time, I'm all about tearing down the statues of the traders of the confederacy and I don't care about the rebel flag one way or the other. Burn it. I'll hand you a match. Fly it behind your truck. I'll thank you silently for outing yourself as an asshole.
What I do care about is music. I saw this interview https://youtu.be/dTvNjPFjlNE?t=3301 with Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and it literally turned me 180 degrees on Saturday Night Fever and disco in general. The Bee Gees doc did a lot to affirm my newfound appreciation for what they accomplished in the mid 70's in Miami.
In the clear light of history and hindsight, yea, the Disco demolition was a racist act. I'm pretty sure the people that came up with the idea weren't racist. What all this has taught me in retrospect is that when it comes to prejudice, intent is irrelevant. Very few people mean to be racist or prejudice. We just are, unless we consciously review our thoughts and actions and screen for it. Even then, we often miss. We're human.
In July 1979, I wouldn't have thought twice about blowing up bad dance records (or bad rock records for that matter) and never considered race. Blowing shit up is awesome. Why I never thought in the '90s to suggest that a station blow up hair metal bands is beyond me. The argument that "it's been done" would have been preposterous on its face. We re-did every successful promotion over and over. Hair metal, as a genre, deserved every gram of explosive disco ever got. So there you have it. Guilty.
Manning of course is correct. Albhy Galuten is an undeniable genius. The Cocteau Twins, Blue Nile, and the Beastie Boys all have proven me wrong about the legitimacy of loops and drum machines.
Sure, I still hate Roland 808 high-hats, but I get Migos. Are Roland 808's cultural signaling? Hell if I know. Probably. So what? Yes, I realize now I was racist and homophobic about Disco. There is no one to forgive me but myself and there is no one to apologize to for my ignorance. This is the problem of race in our time. We can be nice. We can ally. We can protest, but we cannot fix what was done. All we can do face our miserable failings and work for better tomorrow.
Perhaps we can reconsider the music we missed, too. There's always that.
Tom Barnes
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I'm waiting for what, I'm sure, will be an interesting and polarized reaction to Disco Demolition and figured I'd add my account of that night to the forthcoming scrum.
Full disclosure: I've known Steve Dahl for almost 45 years and in fact, was his roommate in Detroit when we first met. So, yep, we've been friends for a long, long time.
Back in July 1979, I was scheduled to fly to Chicago to do a presentation at the MCA Records Distribution offices for one of the bands I was managing. I lived in LA at the time. So Steve offered to let me stay with him and Janet (Steve's wife) while I was in town. "But," Steve told me, "you may wanna come in a couple of days earlier, because we're doing this promotion that might be interesting." He laid out the plans, but really had no idea how it would go. The way he convinced me to come was the game(s): A doubleheader between the ChiSox and Tigers. I'm a dyed in the wool Tigers fan.
Now, it might be helpful to elaborate here about something that Paul Natkin referenced in an earlier email to you. That is, what was the partial genesis for Steve's "anti-disco" attitude. During his years in Detroit, Steve's popularity skyrocketed as the morning air personality at Rock Radio AORs WABX and subsequently WWWW (W4). At the time there was even a third AOR station in the market—WRIF. WRIF was a part of the ABC Radio Network's chain of Album Rock stations, which included several others like KLOS (LA). Steve was becoming quite a star in Detroit, so ABC decided to back the truck up to Steve's door, dump a bunch of money, and hire him. But to go to their Chicago AOR station, WDAI. Their strategy was twofold: (1) Bring Steve to Chicago to bolster their struggling station, WDAI, and (2) get him the hell outta Detroit where he was kicking WRIF's ass.
Shortly after arriving in Chicago (within months), WDAI flipped formats from Rock to DISCO and canned Dahl. For Steve, shock and anger ensued. And that's when WLUP (The Loop) swooped in and hired him.
As for that night at Comiskey Park, it was one of the most insane events I've ever experienced. When we pulled into Comiskey's parking lot, there were literally thousands of people milling around. The game was sold out (50,000) and they couldn't get in. Steve looked at me and said, "I think this thing is gonna be bigger than we thought." No kidding. WLUP had a private press box right next to both the White Sox and Tigers broadcast booths, so we all had a really good view of the insanity. After the first game, a huge pile of records were set up and Steve came out. The crowd went bananas—many having kept their 12" vinyl and throwing them around like frisbees. When the explosion blew up, the crowd erupted and flooded the ball field. Absolutely burying Steve. We honestly feared for the guy's life. Scary.
Of course, the doubleheader's second game was canceled. And for what it's worth, after that night Steve Dahl became a huge, iconic and enduring celebrity in Chicago.
I expect most of your readers will be addressing the question of racism and homophobia, and rightfully so. Was that the intent of WLUP, the Chicago White Sox or Steve Dahl? I honestly do not think so. However, it's obvious that the event has had ramifications over the years that have proven unsettling, upsetting and even emblematic of some of the deepest problems that our nation confronts. Lord knows the last four years' Administration here in the US have shown us that we have a very long ways to go.
PS. One anecdote (out of so many). Being a huge baseball fan, I poked my head into the teams' broadcast booths where there were guys like Al Kaline doing the game. The White Sox analyst at the time was Jimmy Piersall, a former outfielder who was infamous for his genuinely bizarre antics on the playing field, as well as the movie based on his life, "Fear Strikes Out." Well, after the explosion, he stormed into The Loop's press box and grabbed me (of all people) by the collar, screaming at me as he reared back to punch me in the face! Fortunately Comiskey Park Security quietly intervened.
Anyway, that's some of my Disco Demolition experience, Bob.
There's so much more, but I'm tired of typing!
Play ball!
And Happy Holidays.
Hugh Surratt
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Boy- this one is out of control! I have known Steve Dahl
for +/- 40 years. Disco Demolition was never intended to
be political, racial, or for that matter- even serious.
It was for people who suddenly were forced to listen to nothing but Disco on the radio- whether they liked it or not.
Steve Dahl still lives in Chicago.
He has been on the radio his whole life.
He talks about what ever is going on- with no judgement.
I have never heard him radicalize about anything.
The only agenda I have ever heard from him on the air
is common sense.
Honest!
Joe Walsh
Rock was about power guitars and real drummers
Disco was about electronics
Rock was about sweaty live events
Disco was about slick clubs with a bouncer in case you didn't look hot enough
Rock was long hair
Disco wasn't
Rock was about smoking dope and groovin
Disco was about cocaine and champagne
Rock was about dressing down
Disco was about dressing up
...the list goes on, but the point was a rock statement not a racial one...
It's unfortunate that perceptions of it being a homophobic or racist promotion. I certainly, in hindsight, see that. But at the time those negative feelings were completely off our radar.
The station pioneered a lot of elements that re-enforced the ROCK movement. And I'm sure everyone involved is saddened that it became perceived by some as a culture killer.
Lee Abrams
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I'm late to the party on this but since I was in the thick of it as a consultant, here's what happened.
First, history is a narrative laid upon carefully selected facts that tell different stories. With that as backdrop...
Steve Dahl was a brilliant promoter and disc jockey. He could think up stunts that electrified Chicago. Disco demolition was just one of them. It was more about the fact that disco was getting a lot more attention than rock at the time so the idea of blowing up disco records seems like a good idea. In all my time knowing Steve Dahl or any of the other people involved, there was never anything racist about it. After all, the biggest disco band in the world was the Bee Gees and they were white.
That's another part of the problem. The Bee Gees documentary.
In a carefully selected clip, it showed black records being thrown into a bin to be blown up. However it didn't show that the majority of the records were white. One of the radio guys I worked with for years was standing beside the bin when the records were thrown in and said there were far more by bands like Loverboy and other white rock acts than there were black. His comment was that people simply grabbed any record to throw it in the bin just to see it blowing up. Once again, history is written by the exclusion of facts rather than the inclusion of facts.
Now, let's turn to the question of disco demolition being anti-gay. I was interviewed some years ago by a guy writing a thesis on disco demolition being an anti-gay phenomenon and suggesting that disco backlash was against gays.
We discussed it at length and I was clear that I never saw any evidence of it in the research I was doing at the time. Rather people were reacting against the whole glam and glitz of the scene.
Studio 54 was an exclusionary club that left people out and it was highly connected to disco. It was in the news all the time with people being left on the street because they weren't cool enough or glam enough. People don't like to be left out.
So part of the backlash was against a club scene that made "ordinary" people feel like they could never be part of it - rather than anything to do with gays.
In spite of my observations and strong research to back it up, the writer went on to publish a thesis that distorted what I said, claiming that the anti-disco movement was anti-gay. An example of academic destruction. You can Google it.
Also, during this time a lot of disco radio stations were popping up all over the country. I could see the backlash coming against disco music in all the research I was doing and I spoke in front of the largest conference of disco radio owners in the country, warning them that they may end up with problems. This was within weeks of Steve Dahl's disco demolition. I remember how they laughed out loud. Within a year none of them were on the air.
So, in the interest of setting the record straight, musical trends come and go. If I wanted to push the case, I would say that there is a bias against white males in commercial radio because most of them are pop stations that don't play any rock. Of course, that would be ridiculous. Yet I'm sure someone will figure out a way to claim that it's true.
By the way, I think that the Bee Gees documentary on HBO has restirred the pot. Which is too bad because it's a fabulous piece of entertainment devoid of real politics.
John Parikhal
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Thanks for posting both of these. Amazing how people can twist something to fit their narrative.
I know–with 100% certainty–that Dave Logan and Lee Abrams would have had NOTTTTHHHHHING to do with some sort of racist or homophobic plot. Lee, like me, is just a nice, Jewish kid from Flossmoor, Illinois. And Dave is as count-on-able as they come. They, along with Dahl, were just some young, irreverent rock guys looking to have some fun.
Ultimately, it helped Logan fulfill a lifelong dream, to win one for the Tigers. LOL.
Best regards,
Scott Struber
____________________________________
Those two contrasting letters regarding Disco Demolition Night are very instructive, and I didn't want to let the moment pass without commentary. I like to say that the difference between conservatives and liberals is that conservatives often don't believe white supremacy is even real, while liberals know full well it is but are in denial about their own role within it.
I have no doubt Steve Dahl was completely blind to the racial and heteronormative undercurrents of the anti-disco movement. Part of what makes whiteness and hetero maleness a form of privilege is that you don't ever have to examine your own motivations and biases. They're just the default of the culture.
But when black people tell you they feel the undercurrent of racism, when gay people tell you they feel the undercurrent of homophobia, it doesn't do to dismiss them as oversensitive. To be a marginalized minority is to be ever-aware of the way the dominant culture suppresses your voice and marginalizes your views and opinions. The fact that suppression is often unconscious doesn't mean it's not there. That the person doing the suppressing is a liberal with a self-image as a non-racist, non-homophobe does not mean their actions can't be racist or homophobic.
It's not an accident the target of the ire was disco, an extremely pluralistic genre that openly celebrated blackness and gayness in an era when both were conspicuously absent from most of the mainstream media.
This is not to condemn Dahl or the other anti-disco showmen of the era. The culture has moved on a lot since 1978 and more and more of us have begun to confront our own unconscious biases and the way we privilege our own viewpoint to the exclusion of others. But never mistake the white cis-het viewpoint for some kind of absolute truth. It's just one version of the truth, albeit the one with the biggest army and the deepest pockets.
Jonathan Steigman
____________________________________
Whether Steve Dahl intended for Disco Demolition to be racist & homophobic is completely missing the point:
Dahl provided a venue for racists and homophobes to rally. It was a huge mistake.
Do racists know they're racist? Hardly. The culture of the past 100 years has produced racists & homophobes on both sides of the aisle.
Is Steve Dahl a racist/homophobe? Who cares?
Bill Seipel
____________________________________
Sign me up for #teamVince. I'm relieved to see you would print a letter from someone who points out your dog whistle to your primarily white fan base. As a 13 year old in 1978, I thought disco demolition night was a last gasp from the ancestors of Confederates, before the country moved to the path Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. paved 10 years earlier.
White guys only appreciate black people making music at their nieces and daughters weddings.
Black people who read you know that if Darius Rucker fronted the Red Hot Chili Peppers, they would be called a hip hop group. RHCP can break through with a Stevie Wonder song, while Living Coulour, King's X and Fishbone never got the promotional support they deserved.
Please bring that podcast to fruition.
I will always tell smart people to read you,
Steve Smith
____________________________________
Revisionist history? I'm sorry, Paul "friend of Steve Dahl's" Natkin, but one of America's biggest actors, Bob Odenkirk, did an episode of Drunk HIstory about this, and took the standard "Disco sucks" perspective. There's many videos of Dahl dogwhistling in interviews about how he shouldn't have to wear glitter to leave the house. Dahl has been pleading and bleating his case that he was just earnestly not into disco for so long, he's the epitome of the "empty vessels make the most noise" idiom. The only revisionist history that happens about the disco demolition is from Dahl and his defenders. Oh, and "He found himself unemployed because of progress so he took up a mantle against something inanimate and abstract instead of adapting" is the origin story for like half of all villains.
Trevor Risk
____________________________________
Bob, a big segment of music fans dug the dance music trends in the 70s and 80s. The labels, operating true to form, milked the disco style dry, running it-and themselves-into the ground. But throughout the era, there were plenty of alternate listening options for those whose music discovery ability went beyond tuning in the local top-40 station.
To deem someone's creative output unworthy is ignorant. To stage a massive public event encouraging such ignorance is wrongful conduct.
It was a hateful, stupid, racist, homophobic, anti-music, anti-common sense reflection of America's worst. Pigs.
Yesteryear's "Disco Sucks" acolytes are today's Trump voters. Paul Lanning
____________________________________
When disco happened, my contemporaries and I hated it for a number of reasons, including the dumbing down of the drum parts (I'm a drummer), the lack of guts or soul in the music itself, and disco's extolling the dancing/dancers to the exclusion of the musicians. I remember an article in People Magazine around 1979 that made that very point, i.e., that the dancers were the stars, and not the musicians, to the point where the live concert business was suffering.
Never once did my friends and I even consider a racist or homophobic reason for hating the disco genre. After all, blues, R&B and rock owe their existence directly to the Black community that essentially created it. Also, it might be noted that the Bee Gees, undeniably -- however reluctantly -- the poster child group of Disco, were White and straight.
Now, I cannot attest to what my African-American friends and associates thought of Disco Demolition or anti-disco sentiments at the time, but I never heard or saw any hint of this -- or a homophobic -- viewpoint at the time. In fact, the first time such a notion has been asserted, to my knowledge, was in the Bee Gees documentary.
As a historian by education, I have always been wary of revisionism, i.e., altering historical analysis or conclusions to fit a current trend or fad. Without disrespecting Vince Lawrence, it seems to me as if his recollection of that period is revisionism, pure and simple.
Douglas Weinstein
____________________________________
Woah man did that dude piss me off.
The first disco record I heard was coming out of a stereo in my house. I had no idea who the artist was. If they were black, gay or from New Zealand. It was Fly Robin Fly and the sound of that record turned my stomach.
I worked retail in Bklyn, on Kings Highway, the disco capital of the US back then, during that era and found records like Push Push In The Bush, YMCA, Take The Time etc to be vapid, sometimes sexist and unlistenable.
You'll find at least a half a dozen Donna Summer tracks in my phone.
Larry Tepper
____________________________________
Here's how history works. It doesn't matter how straight white guys saw it. It matters how Black and Gay people saw it.
Seek to understand.
Bryson Jones
____________________________________
I'm with Vince. I also saw it as racist and homophobic and I happen to be white and straight.
Frank Malfitano
____________________________________
I am born, raised and living in Puerto Rico.
Back in the 70's I was into Salsa, Rock and Jazz.
Could not stand Disco. Disco Demolition was not "racist" to me.
I would much rather listen to Freddie Hubbard or George Benson, both black.
Not to mention all the Salsa guys…or the Blues guys behind Rock.
Joey Sala
San Juan, PR
____________________________________
Good Day Bob,
I really don't know how society moves forward
as one. We can't agree on facts, we can't agree on the past, and we definitely can't agree on how to proceed in the future.
I wasn't at disco demolition night as I was only 3 at the time, and have never lived in Chicago either. Amazing that the organizers of the event see it one way and some other guy who claims to have been there that night sees it completely differently. I don't make a habit of calling people liars without evidence so I tend to believe Paul Natkin's account. I feel Mr. Lawrence lost a great deal of credibility as soon as he made a not so subtle plea for public exposure at your expense.
At the end of the day I suppose my opinion isn't all that relevant on this matter, but what a depressing reality that one man's reaction to having lost his job because of a segment of his industry that he strongly disliked for musical taste reasons has been twisted into him being a racist and homophobe. I never knew the guy so I can't comment on his personal views, but isn't it possible that he just hated disco music? I hate rap music - no matter what color the rapper. My ears just hate the sound - nothing more, nothing less. I prefer guitars, real drums played by a drummer, melody sung by someone who can sing, and bass mixed in at the appropriate level. Doesn't make me a racist.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, bro.
Tim W
in Calgary
____________________________________
Bob, Paul Natkin is one of the great rock photographers, based in Chicago. I'd love for you to do a post about rock photographers and seek out their perspectives on the music of the 60s, 70s and the 80s.
I would agree that Dahl did not promote the night at Comiskey as anything but a night to celebrate rock and roll by destroying disco records. However, there were many in the audience and in general who hated disco because of the audience it attracted: people of color and non-heterosexual.
Mark Guncheon
____________________________________
Excellent note from Chicago's great photographer Paul Natkin.
He's absolutely right on every point. I was one of the crazed teenagers on the field, rock and roll Kid listening to The Loop FM 98.
We spent most of the time before the game getting lubricated and getting our smoke on for the night. I think we just enjoyed running around the field for kicks, but when a 12-inch record started flying past my head by inches, I scurried back to the lower-level stands to watch the rest. Plenty of footage on YouTube will show you what that action was like that night!
Dfactor Dave
____________________________________
I remember when I first heard the 12" disco remix of Blondie's "Heart of Glass" and thinking, "uh-oh, we're fucked."
And lo and behold "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" came along.
Dave Curtis
____________________________________
I was a 13 year old Cubs fan at the time and from my suburban Chicago seat, I was mostly glad to see Comiskey Park get trashed. I was definitely a Loop listener and Steve Dahl fan and had no racial animosity. Probably naive at the time.
Take care!
Sam Schauer
____________________________________
Some of us hated disco because we thought that compared to funk, soul and jazz it sounded like insipid crap played by machines, and we were too insecure and self-conscious to let loose & party down with the folks who got off on it - regardless of their skin color or sexual orientation. But hey, I'm glad that many people found joy and comfort in Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive".
For me, it was never about the people. The music just left me cold.
Joe Paulino
____________________________________
This is a great conversation. Until today I never considered the possibility that the disco demolition stunt was racist, but that may be my own ignorance. I guess I never considered disco to be race-specific.
Bird
____________________________________
Agree with you and Paul. Nice to share the two perspectives.
Kyle J. Ferraro
____________________________________
Far too often white people don't "see" things as racist. It's how we got to this moment.
Peter Buffett
____________________________________
Once again, a clear picture of America today. Two diametrically opposed takes on the same event.
David Rubin
____________________________________
As someone your age, I remember being disappointed that disco was becoming so popular at the expense of rock. I vaguely remember something about disco demolition. I never heard of Steve Dahl before but I understand his thinking. And DJs are always out there and promoting stuff. so if you have a gimmick like blowing up a record to get people's attention and it works, you keep doing it.
I was saddened that rock was being replaced. Why are all these people liking this music? Didn't matter if it was good, bad, whatever. It was taking over from the rock music that I loved.
And as a cover band musician, we sure as hell learned disco songs. ( I did like Richard Finch's bass lines on KC songs).
Same thing with Hip Hop today, replacing what came before it. And something new will replace hip hop some day.
Dale Janus
____________________________________
merry hanukkah, xmas, and happy safe new year..
wow, u got thrown right in the eye of the hurricane.
no matter what you say, peoples perception of events,
thru the lens of years, will never line up.
our reality vs.vince's realty will never line up.
nothing you can say about innocence etc
will ever be acknowledged.
\the cancel button is in front of U.
i feel for you, and hope you stay BOB.
you r a solid caring human. thats all that matters.
stay safe, and warm..
with all my respect,
marc brickman
____________________________________
Very interesting, contrasting views.
It may not have been a racist homophobic thing, but I liked Disco in the late 1970s, Donna Summer, and some others, and thought the whining of the rock people was annoying. Yes, Disco is very seasy to do badly, and that is partly why some disliked it, and its minimal lyrics, something I never liked about it, made it sound plastic at times, but rock is not much better. There is the term three-chord rock and all that screaming. It's sad you can't like both genres for the unique contributions to American culture that they are.
Best
David
____________________________________
Hello, my name is Jim Marcus. As a member of the Box Boys and Die Warzau, I was part of the dance music scene here in Chicago, both house and industrial. I've continuously worked here as a remixer, engineer, producer, artist, etc. since the early 80's and when Disco Demolition happened I was a young session musician. As an LGBTQ person myself, it was clear exactly from what perspective this event happened and I very much saw the same thing Vince Lawrence did.
I remember sitting with friends that night in the studio and feeling unsafe in my own city. It seemed like the entire city had decided what it thought about the black and gay musicians that had just begun to gain acceptance on the air. Steve Dahl himself talked about how uncomfortable he was in clubs, as a heterosexual male, how he felt out of his element. His obvious discomfort at being around gay people was amplified in his followers, and that kind of othering of LGBTQ people was pervasive at the event.
It seems easy to us now to look back and call out what is Disco and what wasn't, the truth is that many of the records that were burned that night were just records from black artists. And much of the vitriol was aimed squarely at the fluid, gender playful, disco fans and artists who were finally finding a way to be themselves ion public.
If you are not gay, trans, bisexual, etc. you may have no idea what freedoms Disco offered people. Steve Dahl wrote about intimidation and disenfranchisement when walking into a dance club, but never considered for a moment that the people at home in that club were HONESTLY intimidated and disenfranchised by a community that saw policemen sit in their cars while gay and trans people were beaten in the streets.
If Dahl himself wants to deny that he was racist or homophobic, I would love to see him come to it honestly, by asking himself why he stood there in front of thousands of, nearly to the person, white straight males, screaming and circulating the message. He can maybe explain why he didn't hear what they screamed back. Because I guarantee you that those of us in the city who were different, gay, trans, black, latino, we got the message loud and clear.
Regards,
Jim Marcus
____________________________________
I commend you for posting these two opposing views, but I believe anyone of good faith and any conscience whatsoever must admit that it's Vince Lawrence's perspective that is the correct one.
Racism and xenophobia is so intrinsic to the very genesis and fabric of this country that all of us white men, in particular, even those among us who try and wish to be allies can't help but suffer from living within the limited perspective of simply being white men.
Any white person who denies that simple and obvious phenomenon or that disco hatred was clearly just thinly veiled hatred for the "other", black and gay people is utterly deluding themselves, which is itself racist and xenophobic as hell! It's akin to Trump voters denying their obvious racism and screaming about economic anxiety as they adorn their $80k pickup trucks with a million MAGA flags and brandish their $2k AR-15s demanding haircuts. They're only fooling fools.
I enjoyed the Bee Gees documentary immensely and was actually tempted to respond vociferously about how wrong and obviously biased your recollection of the disco demolition was, but Vincent's response was so much more powerful, not just because he was there and in the film, but because he has the lifetime experience of systemic racism that us white guys NEVER will.
Thank you Vince for setting the record straight! Anyone who disagrees is telling on themselves.
I'd love to hear Vincent absolutely demolish Steve Dahl's dim white guy perspective, again, so I'm hoping Vincent's suggestion of a podcast can happen. More people need to be taught how deep is their hate before they can understand how deep their love could and should be.
And I think the Bee Gees would agree.
Martin Ferrini
____________________________________
Steve Dahl was a fat bastard socially inept and couldn't get laid even if he had speed boat on Gilligan's Island.
I am not going to get into the "hemming and hawing" ...heres the bottom.line ...
The major label promotion people hated and I do mean hated disco ( the lifestyle and the music ) . They especially hated that all the hot chicks and the best drugs were ready available in a club where they just did not fit in . They hated that the PDs in their respective markets ( many of which were closet gay ) were finding songs on their respective labels that weren't "priorities " and adding them with nothing more than a " by the way we are adding song x I heard it at a disco over the weekend ". The label reps thought disco was a gay thing and anybody whom liked it was gay as well . I know this to be 100% true because I went thru it whn I moved from being the RFC / WB East Coast Dance Music Rep to joining Atlantic as the Boston Rep. . Shit ..I got fired for getting a song I liked added at 4 Boston stations. Stacy Lattisaw " Let Me Be Your Angle " ...was not a priority and was not on Atlantic radar. Vince Feracci called me that Tuesday afternoon " If you want to get records played at radio that you like you should get a job at radio .. YOURE FIRED !!" I took Vince advise ....
I became Sunny Joe Whites Asst MD then MD at Kiss 108 .
Back to Dahl . This too I know to be a fact ..... the record companies drop shipped 1000s of records ( cutouts ) to Chicago because 90% of the morons he reached didnt hve disco records in their collection to blow up.
Bottom Line : before disco clubs were 100% segregated ....white , black,gay ,straight ' hispanic .... the Disco brought us all together under one roof... I saw the desegregation happen..I was part of it ...
It was wonderful !!!
Joey Carvello
Billboard Disco Deejay Of The Year 1978 /Boston
____________________________________
I was at the ballgame. at the time i was a 21 white kid from the suburbs of NYC, I was not really a fan of disco, but i did not go to protest music, hell I had been to disco's to meet girls, it was a right of passage in the late 70's.
I was visiting my sister in Chicago and was told about the event at a local bar. I attended because I am a huge baseball fan and a double header made sense. I paid full price for good box seats. Most of the people that stormed the field had general admission as the promotion was bring a disco record to plow up between games and you get in with GA seats for 98 cents ( station # was 98 point something FM )
The demonstration was a dud, The records were put into a large contained box in center field, the all you saw was smoke. Steve Dahl was kind of funny until the crowd started to boo. He was dressed up in a old army jacket and helmet, like he was protesting Viet Nam or something.
The crowd was acting up during the first game, those that could not get the GA tickets and still had their records were using them as frisbee's. I know the Detroit third baseman was wearing a batting helmet while fielding, he was quoted in the news defending disco music before the game.
I for one was not happy when the crowd ran ointo the field, tore up the infield, ripped the bases out and would not leave. I was really not happy when the second game was forfeited. The White Sox owner announced any valid ticket could be used for another game, like a rainout. I was leaving Chicago before the next home game, so i gave my ticket to my sister to give out.
In retrospect I was witness to history first hand, had a story to tell. At the time i thought it was a dumb idea that went wrong.
Tom Melle
____________________________________
Two great letters providing a very different perspective on this unique event in my home town.
I did not attend the game. I was a Cubs fan living on the southside (Sox Country). I was 19 in 1978, a white kid from an immigrant family, first year dating my wife of 34 years, the most beautiful woman and only Cuban I had ever met. Chicago was and still is a highly segregated city, and as in 1978 remains racist. However, for some reason it never occured to me that others would have an issue with my choice of spouse. My wife was also an immigrant, and despite growing up much of her childhood and young adult life in Chicago she swears she never experienced racism. Hard to believe given the tough neighborhoods we lived in, schools we attended, but that is her perspective and I know she believes it.
I didn't march with Dr. King, I was only a child when he and 20,000 (whites, blacks, browns, nuns, priests, rabbis, business leaders, politicians, etc.) locked arm-in-arm proudly marched down California Ave to Marquette Park on the southside of Chicago. However, I did view the event from the safety of my best friend's front porch (later County District Attorney) and it was not a pretty sight. I haven't lived in Chicago for some 35 years, but spent half my time working there during the last 9 years. It certainly has improved over the years, but there's much more work to do.
I listened to Steve because I was into Classic Rock and he had a good shtick with his side-kick Gary...of course at the time it was just Rock, not yet Classic...but it never occured to me then or until you brought it up that it was some kind of racist or homophobic event. Couldn't walk a block in Chicago without running into a racist or homophobic, but I knew plenty of folks that went to the event and talked about it for years afterwards and none of us had that angle. The big news then and still now is that the Sox forfeited a game. And if I recall it was the effective end of Steve's career, such as it was.
Bill Veeck, Sox owner, was the master of promotion and he was the furthest thing from a racist...he was an upstanding guy...so I understand why no one would have associated Bill with promoting such an event.
Had I walked in different shoes back then, black or gay, I suspect I too would've had an entire different view and I appreciate the comments from Mr. Lawrence. Different people experiencing the same event, living at the same time, in the same place, and with different recollections. And all very real, no doubt.
Thanks for sharing their letters.
E Kelly
____________________________________
Thank you for presenting e-mails of both perspectives (Vince Lawrence and Paul Natkin). My heart still races from the thought of the Disco Demolition. I was 10 years old and I remember the spray painted buildings with Disco Sucks and the light posts carved with WBLS - We Black Love Sh*t . WBLS was top R&B Station. Mr. Natkin may have not realized that the actions were racist or homophobic but it was. The ramifications of those actions were felt throughout black neighborhoods. It was a direct attack on the music we loved and it caused a divide.
Thanks for reading.
Jeff James
____________________________________
it's likely bordering on the absurd levels of obvious to say no one care what I think about race. Certainly, as a middle-aged white dude, I have very little to offer except my own experience. It may be useful.
I was anti-disco. I had no idea at the time this position was infused with race. I never thought Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, or Al Green were disco. I loved those artists then as I do now. We can debate the Bee Gees, but history has changed my thinking about the demolition.
I live in the south and lack a lot of the self-loathing white guilt that I probably should feel. At the same time, I'm all about tearing down the statues of the traders of the confederacy and I don't care about the rebel flag one way or the other. Burn it. I'll hand you a match. Fly it behind your truck. I'll thank you silently for outing yourself as an asshole.
What I do care about is music. I saw this interview https://youtu.be/dTvNjPFjlNE?t=3301 with Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and it literally turned me 180 degrees on Saturday Night Fever and disco in general. The Bee Gees doc did a lot to affirm my newfound appreciation for what they accomplished in the mid 70's in Miami.
In the clear light of history and hindsight, yea, the Disco demolition was a racist act. I'm pretty sure the people that came up with the idea weren't racist. What all this has taught me in retrospect is that when it comes to prejudice, intent is irrelevant. Very few people mean to be racist or prejudice. We just are, unless we consciously review our thoughts and actions and screen for it. Even then, we often miss. We're human.
In July 1979, I wouldn't have thought twice about blowing up bad dance records (or bad rock records for that matter) and never considered race. Blowing shit up is awesome. Why I never thought in the '90s to suggest that a station blow up hair metal bands is beyond me. The argument that "it's been done" would have been preposterous on its face. We re-did every successful promotion over and over. Hair metal, as a genre, deserved every gram of explosive disco ever got. So there you have it. Guilty.
Manning of course is correct. Albhy Galuten is an undeniable genius. The Cocteau Twins, Blue Nile, and the Beastie Boys all have proven me wrong about the legitimacy of loops and drum machines.
Sure, I still hate Roland 808 high-hats, but I get Migos. Are Roland 808's cultural signaling? Hell if I know. Probably. So what? Yes, I realize now I was racist and homophobic about Disco. There is no one to forgive me but myself and there is no one to apologize to for my ignorance. This is the problem of race in our time. We can be nice. We can ally. We can protest, but we cannot fix what was done. All we can do face our miserable failings and work for better tomorrow.
Perhaps we can reconsider the music we missed, too. There's always that.
Tom Barnes
____________________________________
I'm waiting for what, I'm sure, will be an interesting and polarized reaction to Disco Demolition and figured I'd add my account of that night to the forthcoming scrum.
Full disclosure: I've known Steve Dahl for almost 45 years and in fact, was his roommate in Detroit when we first met. So, yep, we've been friends for a long, long time.
Back in July 1979, I was scheduled to fly to Chicago to do a presentation at the MCA Records Distribution offices for one of the bands I was managing. I lived in LA at the time. So Steve offered to let me stay with him and Janet (Steve's wife) while I was in town. "But," Steve told me, "you may wanna come in a couple of days earlier, because we're doing this promotion that might be interesting." He laid out the plans, but really had no idea how it would go. The way he convinced me to come was the game(s): A doubleheader between the ChiSox and Tigers. I'm a dyed in the wool Tigers fan.
Now, it might be helpful to elaborate here about something that Paul Natkin referenced in an earlier email to you. That is, what was the partial genesis for Steve's "anti-disco" attitude. During his years in Detroit, Steve's popularity skyrocketed as the morning air personality at Rock Radio AORs WABX and subsequently WWWW (W4). At the time there was even a third AOR station in the market—WRIF. WRIF was a part of the ABC Radio Network's chain of Album Rock stations, which included several others like KLOS (LA). Steve was becoming quite a star in Detroit, so ABC decided to back the truck up to Steve's door, dump a bunch of money, and hire him. But to go to their Chicago AOR station, WDAI. Their strategy was twofold: (1) Bring Steve to Chicago to bolster their struggling station, WDAI, and (2) get him the hell outta Detroit where he was kicking WRIF's ass.
Shortly after arriving in Chicago (within months), WDAI flipped formats from Rock to DISCO and canned Dahl. For Steve, shock and anger ensued. And that's when WLUP (The Loop) swooped in and hired him.
As for that night at Comiskey Park, it was one of the most insane events I've ever experienced. When we pulled into Comiskey's parking lot, there were literally thousands of people milling around. The game was sold out (50,000) and they couldn't get in. Steve looked at me and said, "I think this thing is gonna be bigger than we thought." No kidding. WLUP had a private press box right next to both the White Sox and Tigers broadcast booths, so we all had a really good view of the insanity. After the first game, a huge pile of records were set up and Steve came out. The crowd went bananas—many having kept their 12" vinyl and throwing them around like frisbees. When the explosion blew up, the crowd erupted and flooded the ball field. Absolutely burying Steve. We honestly feared for the guy's life. Scary.
Of course, the doubleheader's second game was canceled. And for what it's worth, after that night Steve Dahl became a huge, iconic and enduring celebrity in Chicago.
I expect most of your readers will be addressing the question of racism and homophobia, and rightfully so. Was that the intent of WLUP, the Chicago White Sox or Steve Dahl? I honestly do not think so. However, it's obvious that the event has had ramifications over the years that have proven unsettling, upsetting and even emblematic of some of the deepest problems that our nation confronts. Lord knows the last four years' Administration here in the US have shown us that we have a very long ways to go.
PS. One anecdote (out of so many). Being a huge baseball fan, I poked my head into the teams' broadcast booths where there were guys like Al Kaline doing the game. The White Sox analyst at the time was Jimmy Piersall, a former outfielder who was infamous for his genuinely bizarre antics on the playing field, as well as the movie based on his life, "Fear Strikes Out." Well, after the explosion, he stormed into The Loop's press box and grabbed me (of all people) by the collar, screaming at me as he reared back to punch me in the face! Fortunately Comiskey Park Security quietly intervened.
Anyway, that's some of my Disco Demolition experience, Bob.
There's so much more, but I'm tired of typing!
Play ball!
And Happy Holidays.
Hugh Surratt
____________________________________
Boy- this one is out of control! I have known Steve Dahl
for +/- 40 years. Disco Demolition was never intended to
be political, racial, or for that matter- even serious.
It was for people who suddenly were forced to listen to nothing but Disco on the radio- whether they liked it or not.
Steve Dahl still lives in Chicago.
He has been on the radio his whole life.
He talks about what ever is going on- with no judgement.
I have never heard him radicalize about anything.
The only agenda I have ever heard from him on the air
is common sense.
Honest!
Joe Walsh
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