Patrick Spence is the CEO of Sonos. We discuss the creation of products, the marketing thereof, the company's place in the landscape as well as Patrick's history at BlackBerry!
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/patrick-spence/id1316200737?i=1000530385254
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1uOydgmOruLfH5SUrxOaIb?si=s9-LVIZVQIu99PmpoUcrrA&dl_branch=1
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast?returnFromLogin=1&
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Thursday 29 July 2021
Wednesday 28 July 2021
I Won't Stay For Long
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3i8CRuw
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3l6OzYp
Streaming is the best thing that ever happened to David Crosby because with the magic of a click, the movement of a finger, you can hear his exquisite new track "I Won't Stay for Long."
This guy has a terrible reputation. As someone who won't play by the rules. You know the rules, don't you? You hold your tongue, are humble and self-deprecating because the key to life is getting along and using the ensuing relationships to your advantage.
But not David Crosby. He can't hold his tongue. After all these years he's incorrigible, he told me he can't help himself. Then again, when you're almost eighty years old are you really interested in changing?
That's right, August 14th. And Crosby looks it. Which is refreshing. He's got those two shocks of white hair stumbling out of the sides of his head, he's had no plastic surgery, up close and personal he's got liver spots, but beneath the skin he's an authentic artist.
Who is difficult.
Then again, the greatest artists always are. They've got to do it their way, they need to get their art down unfiltered, and if you create people are always telling you how to do it, but the artist knows best. Oh, you can shave off the rough edges for commercial success, but that's not Crosby's goal in recording, he hears songs in his head and he's got to get them down.
And are you paying attention?
Probably not. The story is all about his wars with Neil Young and Graham Nash. He's in a bind re Neil, having dissed his now wife Daryl Hannah. This is a friend dilemma. Do you tell them about your experience or squelch your thoughts? And the truth is love is always the strongest bond. Think of all the acts that break up based on love relationships, and then there are divorces and the act is back together (can you say Guns N' Roses?)
Not that I want to apologize for Crosby. He's every bit as difficult as the legend. If he doesn't want to talk about something he locks eyes and intimidates you. You can argue or change the subject to what he wants to talk about. Which is his just released new album "For Free."
WHO CARES!
We've heard this mantra again and again, my latest work is my best, I'm at my peak, and then you listen to the music, scratch your head and stop listening. Hell, you can count on two hands the great work done by classic rock artists in the twenty first century. But David Crosby's "For Free" is one of them. It's not perfect throughout, some tracks resonate more than others, but "I Won't Stay for Long" is just as good as he says it is.
The music Crosby is making is out of time, or perfectly in time, depending upon your perspective. It's only about the music, Crosby ain't a brand, no corporation wants to tie up with this guy and Crosby probably wouldn't take the money anyway. Then again, you get old enough and you're no longer worried about credibility, you come to realize you're not going to be here forever, you're going to be forgotten so...
So if you throw off all the trappings, all the expectations, maybe you have a chance of achieving something great, grasping the brass rail once again.
Then again, Crosby still has his voice, he sounds as good as ever, whereas seemingly everybody else's voice has suffered the ravages of age, there's been attrition.
And Crosby has one of the sweetest voices ever, in an era that doesn't even consider melody, where subtlety is sacrificed, it's all about being in your face grabbing for attention, but that's not what Crosby is doing on "I Won't Stay for Long," on the entire new album "For Free." You should be able to drop the needle and be drawn in, the music should be enough to not only gain your attention but keep it, no dancing, no diversion should be necessary, the track should stand on its lonesome, and if it's great you don't want to lose the mood it's created, you want to hear it again and again.
This is not what we expected. As a matter of fact, we expect nothing from our classic rock faves other than to get on stage and play the hits of yore. They're living jukeboxes, some acts don't even have any original members, it's about the songs, but one thing is for sure "For Free" is about David Crosby.
And this ain't Crosby, Stills & Nash, never mind Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or Crosby & Nash, it's just David Crosby, previously seen as the weakest link he's now triumphing. It's all him.
So he told me he's too old to go back on the road, it's just too difficult. Who knows if this will be the case once covid fully fades. Oh yes, he's been vaccinated, because one thing is for sure, David Crosby is smart and he's not afraid of owning his position, vocalizing it. There are those sixties values, he's not afraid of losing fans, he's not running a business, he's creating art!
You can tell from the opening track, "River Rise," with its optimism, never mind the Michael McDonald vocals.
And "Rodriguez for a Night" is the new Steely Dan track you've been waiting to hear that has not been forthcoming, yes, the lyrics were written by Donald Fagen, but it's not only the words but the groove, the instrumentation, "Rodriguez for a Night" hearkens back to that sound that stood alone, and still does.
But really it's all about the closing cut, "I Won't Stay for Long."
"I'm standing on the porch
Like it's the edge of a cliff"
Crosby is up front and center. He's at the school assembly, doing a solo. Captivating the audience, enthralling them, especially when his voice goes up, when he hits the higher notes with emphasis.
"I've got a place of my own
A little slice"
It's all personal. We're always looking for connection, we only need one person, but we live inside our brains and oftentimes it's only music that has a chance of resonating, can make us feel less alone, because it's human, it breathes, it reflects life.
"I just need to be close today
I need to be with you today"
That's what our music represented. Far different from what is being sold today. The artists stood apart, from the establishment and corporations, they were middle class denizens looking at the world for themselves and dropping their wisdom upon the rest of us. The music was our school and compass. We followed it, we needed to get closer, that's why all those people went to Woodstock, why all those people needed to go to shows, to get closer!
And if you can remember those days, and fewer and fewer of us can, you're on the edge of the abyss. So much of what you put faith in is unsatisfying, nearly worthless, possessions, he with the most toys does not win. Only a record can get us through, if only there were a new record.
"I don't know if I'm dying or about to be born"
You get old enough and no one cares what you think, even though you've gathered so much wisdom. You want to feel so alive, but so many of your contemporaries have surrendered, they're nearly dead, in spirit if not body.
So I know you've given up on new music. And if you look at the anemic physical album sales you know that it's not only oldsters who have given up. Do you really want to lay down ten bucks plus for a CD with nowhere to play it, never mind not wanting to ultimately listen to it, it being so inferior to what came before, what you remember.
Which is why streaming is such a bonus. Crosby won't make any real dough on YouTube or Spotify, but he can be heard, and that's what an artist really wants, for people to experience their art, which is why if you're an artist beware of paywalls.
So now it costs you nothing to listen to David Crosby's "I Won't Stay for Long," you've only got to click.
And you should.
And you will tell everybody you know about it, because it's more than refreshing, it's manna from heaven.
Check it out.
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Listen to the podcast:
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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YouTube: https://bit.ly/3l6OzYp
Streaming is the best thing that ever happened to David Crosby because with the magic of a click, the movement of a finger, you can hear his exquisite new track "I Won't Stay for Long."
This guy has a terrible reputation. As someone who won't play by the rules. You know the rules, don't you? You hold your tongue, are humble and self-deprecating because the key to life is getting along and using the ensuing relationships to your advantage.
But not David Crosby. He can't hold his tongue. After all these years he's incorrigible, he told me he can't help himself. Then again, when you're almost eighty years old are you really interested in changing?
That's right, August 14th. And Crosby looks it. Which is refreshing. He's got those two shocks of white hair stumbling out of the sides of his head, he's had no plastic surgery, up close and personal he's got liver spots, but beneath the skin he's an authentic artist.
Who is difficult.
Then again, the greatest artists always are. They've got to do it their way, they need to get their art down unfiltered, and if you create people are always telling you how to do it, but the artist knows best. Oh, you can shave off the rough edges for commercial success, but that's not Crosby's goal in recording, he hears songs in his head and he's got to get them down.
And are you paying attention?
Probably not. The story is all about his wars with Neil Young and Graham Nash. He's in a bind re Neil, having dissed his now wife Daryl Hannah. This is a friend dilemma. Do you tell them about your experience or squelch your thoughts? And the truth is love is always the strongest bond. Think of all the acts that break up based on love relationships, and then there are divorces and the act is back together (can you say Guns N' Roses?)
Not that I want to apologize for Crosby. He's every bit as difficult as the legend. If he doesn't want to talk about something he locks eyes and intimidates you. You can argue or change the subject to what he wants to talk about. Which is his just released new album "For Free."
WHO CARES!
We've heard this mantra again and again, my latest work is my best, I'm at my peak, and then you listen to the music, scratch your head and stop listening. Hell, you can count on two hands the great work done by classic rock artists in the twenty first century. But David Crosby's "For Free" is one of them. It's not perfect throughout, some tracks resonate more than others, but "I Won't Stay for Long" is just as good as he says it is.
The music Crosby is making is out of time, or perfectly in time, depending upon your perspective. It's only about the music, Crosby ain't a brand, no corporation wants to tie up with this guy and Crosby probably wouldn't take the money anyway. Then again, you get old enough and you're no longer worried about credibility, you come to realize you're not going to be here forever, you're going to be forgotten so...
So if you throw off all the trappings, all the expectations, maybe you have a chance of achieving something great, grasping the brass rail once again.
Then again, Crosby still has his voice, he sounds as good as ever, whereas seemingly everybody else's voice has suffered the ravages of age, there's been attrition.
And Crosby has one of the sweetest voices ever, in an era that doesn't even consider melody, where subtlety is sacrificed, it's all about being in your face grabbing for attention, but that's not what Crosby is doing on "I Won't Stay for Long," on the entire new album "For Free." You should be able to drop the needle and be drawn in, the music should be enough to not only gain your attention but keep it, no dancing, no diversion should be necessary, the track should stand on its lonesome, and if it's great you don't want to lose the mood it's created, you want to hear it again and again.
This is not what we expected. As a matter of fact, we expect nothing from our classic rock faves other than to get on stage and play the hits of yore. They're living jukeboxes, some acts don't even have any original members, it's about the songs, but one thing is for sure "For Free" is about David Crosby.
And this ain't Crosby, Stills & Nash, never mind Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or Crosby & Nash, it's just David Crosby, previously seen as the weakest link he's now triumphing. It's all him.
So he told me he's too old to go back on the road, it's just too difficult. Who knows if this will be the case once covid fully fades. Oh yes, he's been vaccinated, because one thing is for sure, David Crosby is smart and he's not afraid of owning his position, vocalizing it. There are those sixties values, he's not afraid of losing fans, he's not running a business, he's creating art!
You can tell from the opening track, "River Rise," with its optimism, never mind the Michael McDonald vocals.
And "Rodriguez for a Night" is the new Steely Dan track you've been waiting to hear that has not been forthcoming, yes, the lyrics were written by Donald Fagen, but it's not only the words but the groove, the instrumentation, "Rodriguez for a Night" hearkens back to that sound that stood alone, and still does.
But really it's all about the closing cut, "I Won't Stay for Long."
"I'm standing on the porch
Like it's the edge of a cliff"
Crosby is up front and center. He's at the school assembly, doing a solo. Captivating the audience, enthralling them, especially when his voice goes up, when he hits the higher notes with emphasis.
"I've got a place of my own
A little slice"
It's all personal. We're always looking for connection, we only need one person, but we live inside our brains and oftentimes it's only music that has a chance of resonating, can make us feel less alone, because it's human, it breathes, it reflects life.
"I just need to be close today
I need to be with you today"
That's what our music represented. Far different from what is being sold today. The artists stood apart, from the establishment and corporations, they were middle class denizens looking at the world for themselves and dropping their wisdom upon the rest of us. The music was our school and compass. We followed it, we needed to get closer, that's why all those people went to Woodstock, why all those people needed to go to shows, to get closer!
And if you can remember those days, and fewer and fewer of us can, you're on the edge of the abyss. So much of what you put faith in is unsatisfying, nearly worthless, possessions, he with the most toys does not win. Only a record can get us through, if only there were a new record.
"I don't know if I'm dying or about to be born"
You get old enough and no one cares what you think, even though you've gathered so much wisdom. You want to feel so alive, but so many of your contemporaries have surrendered, they're nearly dead, in spirit if not body.
So I know you've given up on new music. And if you look at the anemic physical album sales you know that it's not only oldsters who have given up. Do you really want to lay down ten bucks plus for a CD with nowhere to play it, never mind not wanting to ultimately listen to it, it being so inferior to what came before, what you remember.
Which is why streaming is such a bonus. Crosby won't make any real dough on YouTube or Spotify, but he can be heard, and that's what an artist really wants, for people to experience their art, which is why if you're an artist beware of paywalls.
So now it costs you nothing to listen to David Crosby's "I Won't Stay for Long," you've only got to click.
And you should.
And you will tell everybody you know about it, because it's more than refreshing, it's manna from heaven.
Check it out.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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Mailbag
From: Tom Rush
Subject: Re: Blue
Bob,
I had the honor of being the first to record Joni's songs — before she did — on my Circle Game album. (I tried to get Jac Holzman at Elektra to sign her up, he said she sounded too much like Judy Collins.) My recollection is that, while she very much wanted to be a STAR, she was not calculating to write hit songs. Because she was (and is) a true artist she wrote her truth, take it or leave it.
The fact that the music business sausage factory couldn't figure out how to sell her work is more an indictment of the industry than an indication of any failing on Joni's part. The fact that her Blue album is being celebrated 50 years later it a testament to her importance. As with Dylan, she's been hugely influential on the music scene in general, and on generations of new artists, without ever selling the tonnage required to have a wall full of platinum albums at home. (I'm told, by the way, that if you take one of those albums out of its frame and play it on a turntable — it usually turns out to be somebody else's album. Mind you, I've never had any of my own to test the theory.) (And I'm assuming they went through a platinum CD phase, and then probably a platinum SD Card, but what do they do now? Platinum Downloads, if they ever existed, would be passé. How do you hang a Platinum Digital Stream on your bathroom wall? What has the world come to?!?)
Tom Rush
______________________________
From: Steve Lukather
Subject: Re: Billboard 200 Album Chart-This Week In July 1975
Yes I remember. I Remember real music played and written by real people! Not 14 writers .. one just to plug in the drum machine.
'I play drum machine'. People SAY that! hahahahahaha
It was the year I graduated high school. Jeff Porcaro was IN Steely Dan and our High School band was called 'Still life' with Me, Michael Landau, John Pierce, Carlos Vega , Steve Porcaro our leader back then.
David Paich ( the musical genius he is) as well as Jeff Porcaro used to come to our high school gigs and sit in. We were a Steely Dan tribute band before their ever was ' tribute ' bands. A magical time.
We were all deep into our musical studies and playing any gig we could and working and ... well and..
Boz Scaggs loved us ( we loved him and still do) He gave us all our shot and then... we put out our 1st record out and 'the hipsters' have pissed on us for 45 years.
Such is life...
I still won. I am still here and I am grateful.
Sorry our musical era WAS better!
Sue me.. like everyone else does.
Luke
______________________________
From: Robert Kacerow
Subject: RE: God Gave Rock And Roll To You
Bob,
As a long-time fan of the Al Kooper, the Zombies, and Argent since the early days of my youth, I was pleased and gratified with your commentary on Russ Ballard, and his many contributions to Rock & Roll music over the years. Russ, like so many others in the Music business are often overlooked by the mainstream media and fans.
I've followed Russ's career and music contributions very early-on; from his formative days in the Roulettes backing Adam Faith, then morphing into Unit 4+2, and breaking into the US market with "Concrete & Clay", and then ultimately finding further success with the evolution of Argent subsequent to the demise of the Zombies. Bob, you and I are of the same age, and I became a concert addict way back in grade school. As I got older and became financially successful; every year for the last 21 years I make an annual pilgrimage to the UK for two weeks, to attend as many R & R concerts as possible in that short amount of time. I'll see many British 60's acts (Hollies, Searchers, Manfreds, Fortunes, etc.) who either don't, or can't, tour the US anymore for an array of issues, be it financial, Visas, or lack of fan interest and support.
Back in 2016 at a Manfreds concert in London, I bumped into Russ in the lobby during intermission; he was having a beer and chatting with friends. I approached Russ and introduced myself as a long-time US fan, and asked if he would be receptive to letting me get a picture with him. He was quite surprised and graciously agreed. As we were standing there, I recounted to him all of his music career and contributions over the years as I knew it. He was quite flabbergasted to be hearing this from a US fan in London all these years later. He kept asking and saying to me "Who Are You?", "Is this some kind of a set-up you're pulling?". I laughed and laughed and said "No, I'm just one of your loyal fans and wanted to thank you for all that you've given to me over the years." He was quite the gentleman and professional as my wife snapped-away on her camera, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy that moment of unanticipated fan attention.
He still tours regularly in Europe and was about to commence a tour in support of a new CD release when Covid hit in March of last year. He's chomping at the bit to get back out there later this year. When I saw your commentary on Russ I took the liberty to copy and pass your comments over to him. I gave him your contact details, but don't know if he replied directly to you or not. I've pasted below his response that he sent back to me. Thank you Bob for your kind words from this long-time Russ Ballard fan.
Regards,
Bob Kacerow
"Thanks for this, Bob, Great piece of writing. It's good to know there's people listening. You are right, many want to be rich and famous but don't want to put the work in. I do appreciate your words, cheers. I still go in to my studio everyday and enjoy writing and recording, same as ever. Psychiatrists say the key to well being is to be completely engaged in to something, and with music we are.....it is a passion, and, I believe most people never find one - they have to pay the bills and so they settle for a job that pays. In the studio 5/6 hours flys by and I come in to the house feeling blissful. Somehow we have to find a way for future generations to find then follow a passion. It could be a different world, - (You don't want to hit someone when you're feeling good.) I wish you and yours the very best and if you're ever in East Herts. I'll treat you to a curry...Russ (PS - 68 is young my friend).
______________________________
From: Kevin Carroll
Subject: Robert Palmer
Hey Bob,
Hope this finds you well. Just got your note on the chart. I've been finding myself in a Robert Palmer place lately. I had a few connections with him. When I started in radio, Vinegar Joe was taking a shot in the US and they were on a promo tour in 1973. They came for a visit and he was extremely engaging. He wanted to learn more than hype. I added the record. It stiffed.
Years later, I went to work for WB and we had distribution of Island. We were humping "Bad Case Of Loving You". I dressed up in a doctors outfit to deliver a major station, got a photo in the trades and the add, and a call from Robert thanking me.
Fast forward to the release of his Clues. It was brilliant. Inspired by Gary Numan, "Johnny And Mary" and "Looking For Clues" still stand up today. Robert came with me to do a promo run. Mind you, this was unusual then, but his passion for his new sound drove him to take a personal approach. It worked.
He was undoubtedly one of the most charming artists I ever had the pleasure to work with. I think his music and artistry are largely overlooked. He, like Lowell George sometimes tend to be forgotten for their moment . And if you haven't heard Robert do "Spanish Moon"…
Dig in on Robert…I forgot how good it was. But will never forgot what a class act he was.
Best, Kevin
______________________________
From: alexander Mair
Subject: TouTube monetization
Mr. Beato made one big factual error in your interview…you need 4000 hours in twelve months, not one month, to monetize the video. You also need 1000+ subscribers.
______________________________
Subject: Re: Harry Wayne Casey-This Week's Podcast
Bob:
Loved the podcast with Harry Casey. I found it very interesting when he mentioned that he still listens to everything out there pop, country, r&b, ect. Back in 1977/78 I was working as an order picker and 12" buyer at Tone. KC and Rick used to come down to the warehouse at least once a week and pick up a copy of every new release and I mean everything. Doobie Brothers, Santana, Dolly Parton, whatever. Those guys listened to everything. Glad to hear he's still at it.
Jay Rosenberg
______________________________
From: Shammy Dee
Subject: Re: It's Not A Hit
I've been thinking about this for a while.
I argue that Cardi B and Billie Eilish are the last superstars we'll see until whatever is the next turn in this business.
As a DJ, I feel the streaming decentralization of hits and artists make my work a bit harder. It's hard to know what the crowd likes because the crowd is way more into their own tastes. Like you said, who listens to radio anymore? The older crowds don't dance to current hits and younger crowds can be fickle with their tastes. I can play a smash hit one night to a raving crowd and play it again the following night and the crowd will empty out the dancefloor.
The challenge has been making it harder to call what tracks will work, but that's part of what makes a DJ great.
Maybe I'll be playing a "Drivers License" remix by Olivia soon...Who knows?!
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out for artists in future years.
-Shammy
______________________________
From: William Perkins
Subject: Re: Can't You See At Love Rocks
RE: Toy Caldwell/MTB
Toy Caldwell apparently once said he would always treasure the first five words Duane Allman ever said to him: "Your strings are on wrong!". Toy's original band was called "Toy Factory". I think "Marshall Tucker" may have been a blind piano tuner from South Carolina they knew..? Great guys, great band, and great producer, Paul Hornsby, who was in Hour Glass band with Duane, Gregg, and Producer Johnny Sandlin. Capricorn was the hottest indy label in the world for a while there in the 1970's. I remember receiving a $997,000.00 royalty check one Friday afternoon for the Allman's and racing it to their bank to pick up interest on it for them for the weekend! I still treasure my years around all of those guys. A true musical and spiritual time and family!
Willie Perkins
______________________________
Subject: Re: Can't You See At Love Rocks
Bob,
You are correct. There isn't a guitar to be had in America right now because of unprecedented demand and we are seeing record enrollment at School of Rock. An outgrowth of the pandemic seems to be a renaissance in self expression not fully satisfied by beat-making, EDM and rap lyrics. There also is a frenzy to make music together, a feeling only achievable in an ensemble.
Long live Rock and Roll!
Rob Price
______________________________
From: Chip Lovitt
Subject: Re: Can't You See At Love Rocks
Great column, once again. And it drove me to one of my favorite Capricorn Records' tunes, from Alex Taylor, brother of James, who recorded an LP, which I still have, called Alex Taylor with Friends and Neighbors. This cut, "Southbound," knocked me out enough back then to buy the LP....but dig the lineup.
Scott Boyer and Tommy Talton of Cowboy on guitars, Johnny Sandlin on bass, and co-written by Greg Allman...how's this for a groove? You gotta love Phil Walden and what Capricorn Records gave to the musical world! I love how it starts off as an acoustic, Taylorish tune, then the band kicks in. Keep up the good work!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypVt3oogd7o&list=PLZzxIheiq5_PUKkLBE6e_cAXKe31olVjq&index=9
______________________________
From: Martin Media
Subject: Re: More B.J. Thomas
BJ Thomas was recovering from his second near-death overdose when his wife converted him to Christianity in the mid 1970s, leading to his decision to sign a gospel deal with Word Records. Stan Moser, head of the label, told B.J. he didn't want a "gospel" record, he wanted a "B.J. Thomas" record for the Christian market. So he hired a young producer, Chris Christian, to craft a "Christian pop" record. At the time, 20,000 units was considered a good-selling gospel record. Christian and B.J. put together "Home Where I Belong" and the dam burst, becoming the first Christian record to sell over 500,000 units (and over a million to this day).
The success of "HWIB" brought Chris Christian a 25-record production deal. I talked to Chris yesterday, after B.J. died, and he told me that without the success of "HWIB," Chris likely never would have been able to secure the resources to hunt down other talent in the field and find someone like an Amy Grant, whose first album was also produced by Chris. Grant went on to become the biggest concert draw in contemporary Christian history, selling out the Forum in L.A. in 1986 at the height of her game.
The same trajectory, sadly, did not result for B.J. - without whom none of this would have likely been possible. I was just starting out as a fledgling promoter of shows in churches and hired B.J. for a concert in the late 70s. The audiences at that time were not interested in hearing B.J. sing anything but his gospel hits. Some idiots in the audience would boo him when he broke into "Raindrops" or "Hooked On a Feeling," screaming stuff like "What about Jesus!" After enduring a few years of this crap, B.J. rightfully and predictably stopped performing in gospel settings and spent the last 40 years of his life singing all of his songs for everybody, staying married to the same woman who saw him through his turbulent 70s. The secular audiences were more forgiving, ironically, when he would break out "Home Where I Belong" or "Without a Doubt" in his shows.
This is the song that started it all for BJ in his "second career":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wQgx98jmZQ
Brian Martin
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Subject: RE: More Throw It Back
I would like to become an industry titan and I deserve to be one but cannot seem to get any traction by being a bankruptcy lawyer in St. Louis. I figure the system is rigged against me. Am I right? What does that Azoff guy have that I don't have!? I think it is because I am a Protestant and no one respects us in the industry? BOB, I AM MAD AS HELL AND NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! I plan on getting on Facebook and getting my hundreds of Friends to march on Capitol Records (if they still have a building) and come "armed to the teeth" to fight like hell and take the music industry back from the Jewish lawyers and their black rapper cabal!
I know you are with me on this Bob. I am an aggrieved, White, arguably straight, conventionally married, midwestern male and the whole world is TRYING TO TAKE MY CHEESE... which I don't even have yet but desperately feel like I deserve.
Pay attention Bob! Biden is senile and he is a genius working for the Chinese to tax us into communism!
WAKE UP and follow the money Bob... follow the money!
Maybe someone should do a Go Fund Me page for me?
Think on it Bob...become part of my movement and give me your name, time, eyeballs and money.
I think that's all I got... now I have to get back to work because I like eat. I wish people would shut the fuck up.
Thanks.
Michael A. Becker
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From: Donovan Pyle
Subject: Re: Woodstock 99 On HBO
My friends and I started the fire the third night during the chili pepper's set, but we didn't destroy anything.
We did it because there was so much trash on the ground at the back of the field that we couldn't even find a place to sit down and relax during the show.
We literally piled up a bunch of trash and burned it so that we'd have a clean place to sit and listen.
Remember: this was the last night of the festival, and it was extremely hot in upstate New York that weekend…everyone was exhausted.
In fact, we had been at the Phish show about an hour away the weekend before, and the experience was the polar opposite of what we saw at Woodstock.
The main difference was the Phish really appreciated and took take of their audience by making sure everyone had a good time — no one had to spend all their money on water.
It's a shame that others by the front of the stage saw our fire and took it as a que to burn down the left speaker stack, forcing the chili peppers to stop their show more than once.
It was a really strange weekend, but I'll never forget dropping out and watching James Brown open the festival Thursday at noon — he just incredible.
Donovan
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From: R.T. Parker
Subject: Re: Woodstock 99 On HBO
Almost had some sort of PTSD from watching this documentary.
My best friend and I went. I had just turned 21. We had been contacted by a Baltimore Sun reporter, on some Woodstock99 message board on AOL (flashback??) we agreed to take her along for the ride.
We all drove up Wednesday night and arrived in a town that was little prepared for the deluge. They took all of our food and drink at the gate. We had some light snacks hidden in our bags. We were young and broke, definitely no money for alcohol. And certainly not for $4 water. The $10 cheeseburger keeps getting brushed under the rug.
They had wiped out huge swaths of forest to make room for tent camping, so we slept on wood chips. If they had left some trees, the experience may have been different. It felt more like a refugee camp than a peaceful campground.
I have a picture taken on a yellow Kodak disposable camera, of my buddy and I laying on the tarmac, with our faces in the small shadow of a metal Drum trash can, just to escape the sun for one minute.
We got separated from the reporter on Day 2 and never saw or heard from her again. No cell Phones. Zero idea of how she got home.
We left Sunday around 3pm to make the trip back to Maryland. We were toast. And broke. I stopped at a rest stop in NJ somewhere and called my dad from a pay phone. He was sooo relieved to hear we had left. Said the place had descended into chaos. And that they had been watching the news and were worried for days.
Different times. Certainly a pivotal time in my life. Unforgettable is so many ways, good and bad.
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Re: Class Action Park
I visited Action Park in 1995 when I was living in Manhattan with my future wife. She had a house in the Hamptons at the time so she took a bit of persuading to visit. We went on the first ride we saw which was the crazy water slide with the vertical loop. The lack of a queue and the fact that they weighed you and got you to remove all your jewelry should have alerted us to how crazy and terrifying the ride was going to be. Turns out we were there on one of the few occasions the loop ride was actually in service. Perhaps the worst part of the ride was the run off area at the end which consisted of a plastic sheet in a puddle and was supposed to collect you after the crazy speeds reached in the ride. A horrible experience all round but at least now I get to feel like the people who really were on the boat with the Sex Pistols on the Thames. The loop is legendary for being the most dangerous slide ever invented and at least I am one of the few who can say they were there!
Andrew Harting
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Re: Class Action Park
Are you kidding! You want to talk clueless.
Those of us who grew up in Orange County, CA had LION COUNTRY SAFARI. That eventually turned into Irvine Meadows then whatever else came after that.. now its a water park. (I think)
Yep.. wild animals, lions, tigers you name it roaming free with cars full of families driving through and taking pictures. Of course there were the usual idiots who would get out of the car to get close to the lion and get attacked. The park had open top Jeeps painted like a zebra with guys with rifles shooting at the animals if they got out of hand. IT WAS INSANE..
Jesus, they had my high school prom there one year.
Its amazing we survived the 70's and 80's at all.
Jean Sievers
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Re: Class Action Park
I had the pleasure of going to Action Park in the mid 90s... To me, it was by far the greatest theme park of all time. The danger was real and boy was it fun!
Clint Weiler
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Re: Class Action Park
There is an excellent oral history of Action Park that has the voice of a large proportion of the people that used to work there, including Gene's son Andy. It sounds like heaven and hell at the same time, both for the patrons and the staff. I'm not sure if it covers all the same ground, but it was an incredible read - https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/536412/action-park-water-park-oral-history. How it managed to survive so long is astounding to me!
Joel Beeson
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Re: Class Action Park
It was the Greatest Shit Show on Earth! I still have a burn bruise from where there was no water on a part of the water slide and my skin got scraped. It was awesome. My orthodox Jewish friends and I were balls to the wall and we had the best time. We got to see how the non Jews lived and looked. So awesome! Wish you had gotten there. There was nothing like it. Rock on!
Etan G/thejewishrapper
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Re: Class Action Park
I went to Action Park a few times, in my twenties and my thirties.
That cliff? I can still feel how it felt to fall that far (and how careful you had to be to aim for a clear spot). The Rapids? I kid you not, there was one part where it was exactly like you were being flushed down a toilet, the whirlpool was so strong and the drop so steep. The trapeze swing? The first time I went, I didn't realize the trick to it, or have the upper body strength for it, and I took the kind of face splat that the peanut gallery lived to witness (and jeer), but every time after, I triumphed! The slide that shot you out in the air at least ten feet above the ice-cold pool?!
I could go on and on.
*AND* I was always very aware that many of the kids there were practically marauders. There was an animalistic energy (think restless inner city teens raging with hormones, totally unleashed and completely aware of how much they could get away with) that was obvious, and something I was always careful to very clear of.
Recently I told some young friends I had been there, they were in awe: "*YOU* WENT THERE??" Instant cred.
I'm sixty now, and I would go again_in_a_New_York_minute.
Bill McKinley/DaddyB
Madrid, Spain
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Re: Class Action Park
Bob, growing up in New Jersey my friends and I ventured to Action Park a bunch and everyone got hurt. It was full of thrills but after you got hurt too many times often we would just stand at the pool where the crazy water slide dumped out to watch all the bathing tops fly off the girls. That place wouldn't last a week without being shut down in today's litigious times.
Gregg Simon
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Re: Class Action Park
I went to high school from 83-87 in a NJ town just fifteen miles away from Action Park.
It was a given that the park was dangerous. I remember hearing the horrible news that someone had drowned in the wave pool, trapped inside the wave mechanism as I recall. Can you imagine being the person who discovered the deceased?
Everyone at school called it TRACTION PARK. I remember one kid came to school with the skin shredded off of his thigh from the Alpine Slide. We all laughed, because it reaffirmed the obvious. The place was incredibly unsafe.
I did a lot of stupid things as a teenager, but I never went to Action Park.
Greg Renoff
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Re: Class Action Park
I loved going to Action Park as a kid. I grew up in northern New Jersey in a small mountain town called Ringwood which is a watershed for Northern New Jersey. Action Park was about 20 minutes West. New York City was 20 minutes South East.
But let's get to the point. I've been to many water parks and adventure parks and NOTHING compares to the Action Park experience. It was the greatest time possible.
It's all true what they say about the experience in that movie. I saw that doc too. But it was so much more.
People had orange stains on their arms from losing skin on the Alpine Slide. We have an Alpine Slide here in Park City. It's cool but not the same. First of all, the track is made out of some kind of poly/fiberglass. The Action Park track was concrete. When you went down the slide you could easily go too fast and fly off. Death and injury loomed and when you are 10 years old, that's the magic! That's freedom! That's fun!
There was a sign that said, "Dip Ahead." The track would drop down 5 or more feet. If you didn't slow down you would be air-born and maybe land on the track if you were lucky with a compressed spine from the impossibly hard impact.
I remember the first time I saw that sign. I had just learned to read. I was riding the slide, sharing the cart with my mom, maybe 4 years old. At the end of the slide, I was looking around for some guy who was the "dip" they warned about.
That place birthed in me a love for adventure. There are too many details to share. Too many pictures to paint. It was the best time possible. And it lives in my heart.
Nicole Paradiso
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Re: Class Action Park
Grew up one town over from Quassy. Wild Mouse, or The Monster as they called it, is hands down the scariest coaster I've ever been on due to the impending sense of death.
Adam King
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Re: Class Action Park
LOL. I went to Action Park many times, and was bruised many times too. Definitely dangerous which of course was a big part of the attraction. Show your friends you are not a sissy, etc. How about some of the water slides? I went airborne one time, and later some were seriously injured and they had to shut that one down.
The toned down version is today called Mountain Creek and some of the rides from Action are still there, but as you say highly monitored and much safer (but less fun).
Robert Heiblim
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Re: Class Action Park
I'm only 30 but when i was at summer camp in starucca pa they took us multiple times to the reopened mountain creek, none of us had been to action park but heard rumors of it. Even as tamed down mountain creek that was the most unbounded and reckless water park ive ever been to. This was the mid 2000's and was just like it was in the documentary, whole place run by children. In line at the cannonball run everyone was shouting obscenities, multiple fights broke out, i witnessed multiple kids being taken out on back boards from the cliff jump ( i was almost one of them, i took a running start and landed on my back. My back was red for 5 days) i walked around barefoot and my feet became shredded, i went to the infirmary and was told to stand in the circle and win a prize (they had no prize to give after i won, the old guy in the doc was still there and said eh the spray must be watered down) they served sooo much alcohol next to the wave pool, which only going to disney, hershey and dorney park before this was such a eye opener. The giant straight up and down slide, the main attraction was watching girls bikini tops come flying off. We went on the rapids tube ride and near the end another raft came careening at us and everyone in both rafts were ejected into the wading pool at the end. Even as mountain creek and reopened to be a safe environment, that place has left such a profound mark on my life. Friends from camp have also watched class action park and we all sat around in disbelief that we actually went to this place, multiple times.
Matt Gevurtz
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Re: Class Action Park
I went to Action Park as a kid and the memorable line among friends was "if you didn't get hurt, you were never there."
I loved the documentary. Brought back so many memories. And I showed it to my teenage kids who both couldn't believe that such a place existed. THEY WANTED TO GO THERE TOO!
Jaime Feldman
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From: Carlos Duron
Subject: Re: Eric Clapton
My wife and myself just went through the COVID hell, I've been over the disease for a week today and my wife is still isolated, I was supposed to get my first dose the following Monday after I got ill , she has one dose and according to the doctors that saved her life. COVID is not an ideology or a set of legal rights that can just be bypassed at your convenience, it's grueling it taxes your body to the limit. Look out for yourself and get your shots.
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Re: The Unvaccinated
There's a woman on my tennis team that told me in December she wasn't going to get vaccinated because she once fainted after getting a flu shot. Well now she's got Covid and is whining in our group text about how tired she is and how much it sucks. If only you could've done something to prevent that, Karen*!
*Obviously not her name. :)
Sarah Martin
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Re: The Unvaccinated
I'm on a production right now in ATLANTA! They won't mandate vaccines! A film shoot=cruise ship. Afraid of a lawsuit.
Peter
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Re: The Unvaccinated
I just saw my father for the first time in almost eighteen months and he was sick as fuck!
He won't get the vaccine and I can't believe he still came knowing how sick he was?
He truly believes its not real, or he just isn't scared? But the worst part is he would risk my daughters and my safety.
I don't think I'll see him again for a long while but the hardest part is knowing we are not important enough…
Thanks for hammering home this idea. Bob, you are one of the last truth speakers left.
Adam Franklin
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Re: The Unvaccinated
I'm angry.
Datapoint 1: My brother is an ER doc in San Antonio. Text from him yesterday, "Happy birthday to me. I have COVID" He also pointed out that his fully vaccinated status will save his life as he has fairly minor symptoms. But, he knows he got it in the ER, where he and everyone are fully vaccinated and masked up. He sees several patients a day, says the feel in the hospital is like it was when it was bad over the winter. "All are unvaccinated (the bad ones). Vast majority are ignorant. Quoting Tucker Carlson bullshit." "I am pissed all of the time."
Datapoint 2: My daughter. She caught it in April, midway between her first & second shot, from the family whose kids she regularly babysits. The parents had been sick for several days, didn't bother to think critically that it may have been COVID, and therefore didn't tell her until she started to feel sick. She quarantined in her room (the normal state for a teen) and somehow the rest of us didn't get sick. She got better, had her second shot (with strong 24 hour reaction to it as expected).
But here's the thing. Last weekend, she says the dad says he's sick again, going to get tested. Although his quick test was negative, he and his wife have no intention of getting vaccinated, "don't believe in that." The family are pretty outwardly normal, successful professionals, very comfortable financially. So, my daughter is more than a little freaked out.
I'm angry, and tired of this crap, like this is just a matter of respect for differences of opinion. Argh
You're right. I don't envy you the vitriol you're no doubt receiving right now. But, you're right. 100%.
Tom Grueskin
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Re: The Unvaccinated
Right on! We are going 100% vacc for all locations starting Monday. Not just NY, everywhere. Enough!
Michael Dorf
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Subject: Re: Re-Lefsetz/Aaron Lewis/Borchetta
Seriously if I were you I would stay away from the politics nowadays it's just too divisive. There are two camps of people in this country and only one of them believes in the founding tenants of freedom of speech and the right to be left alone to do as they will. We want our borders closed and only a merit based immigration policy to others who can prove they understand our culture and can add to it in a positive way. American First, PERIOD. We know we will never be allowed to do that and eventually it's going to come to a fight. This country is going to break up and Balkanize..it's already happening now as you can see the mass movement of people many to the freer states and out of places like New York and your beloved California.
The fatal mistake the left makes is their hubris. You also lack self awareness and there's a fundamental misunderstanding of white leaning heritage individual liberty loving Americans by the left. You have to understand Bob that if the left keeps pushing we're going to stop try not to push back. We have a lot of patience and Have given you guys a lot of room to see if this mass insanity will Peter out but it seems to only be expanding.
You see, we are not afraid of you at all. We are afraid of what you might force us to do to you and we understand the consequences of that and you do not. We are the ones who join the military (were but are getting out since it went woke), serve in combat arms, who are the tip of the spear and kill other human beings. We actually understand violence and we don't want that to happen here in the United States. But all we see is the left pushing and pushing and pushing and eventually it's going to come to violent head and you're not going to like the results because it's going to be swift and fast and there will be many bodies stacked. Again we do not want this we are not pushing for this we are being pushed and we understand who is pushing us and why.
So Bob please stop writing about the divisive political stuff we all know where you stand. Don't add to the problem. Maybe take a step back and try to figure out a way to be a voice of reason and maybe help calm things down a bit so it doesn't go where it's surely heading and make no mistake, if that happens inside a week I will be the most far left radical remaining in the country and probably the darkest too..because unfortunately there is an anti-white race element to the left's insane war on Heritage Americans. I'm appealing for peace. Or at least an armistice because this will not end well if it continues.
Sean Mormelo
Subject: Re: Blue
Bob,
I had the honor of being the first to record Joni's songs — before she did — on my Circle Game album. (I tried to get Jac Holzman at Elektra to sign her up, he said she sounded too much like Judy Collins.) My recollection is that, while she very much wanted to be a STAR, she was not calculating to write hit songs. Because she was (and is) a true artist she wrote her truth, take it or leave it.
The fact that the music business sausage factory couldn't figure out how to sell her work is more an indictment of the industry than an indication of any failing on Joni's part. The fact that her Blue album is being celebrated 50 years later it a testament to her importance. As with Dylan, she's been hugely influential on the music scene in general, and on generations of new artists, without ever selling the tonnage required to have a wall full of platinum albums at home. (I'm told, by the way, that if you take one of those albums out of its frame and play it on a turntable — it usually turns out to be somebody else's album. Mind you, I've never had any of my own to test the theory.) (And I'm assuming they went through a platinum CD phase, and then probably a platinum SD Card, but what do they do now? Platinum Downloads, if they ever existed, would be passé. How do you hang a Platinum Digital Stream on your bathroom wall? What has the world come to?!?)
Tom Rush
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From: Steve Lukather
Subject: Re: Billboard 200 Album Chart-This Week In July 1975
Yes I remember. I Remember real music played and written by real people! Not 14 writers .. one just to plug in the drum machine.
'I play drum machine'. People SAY that! hahahahahaha
It was the year I graduated high school. Jeff Porcaro was IN Steely Dan and our High School band was called 'Still life' with Me, Michael Landau, John Pierce, Carlos Vega , Steve Porcaro our leader back then.
David Paich ( the musical genius he is) as well as Jeff Porcaro used to come to our high school gigs and sit in. We were a Steely Dan tribute band before their ever was ' tribute ' bands. A magical time.
We were all deep into our musical studies and playing any gig we could and working and ... well and..
Boz Scaggs loved us ( we loved him and still do) He gave us all our shot and then... we put out our 1st record out and 'the hipsters' have pissed on us for 45 years.
Such is life...
I still won. I am still here and I am grateful.
Sorry our musical era WAS better!
Sue me.. like everyone else does.
Luke
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From: Robert Kacerow
Subject: RE: God Gave Rock And Roll To You
Bob,
As a long-time fan of the Al Kooper, the Zombies, and Argent since the early days of my youth, I was pleased and gratified with your commentary on Russ Ballard, and his many contributions to Rock & Roll music over the years. Russ, like so many others in the Music business are often overlooked by the mainstream media and fans.
I've followed Russ's career and music contributions very early-on; from his formative days in the Roulettes backing Adam Faith, then morphing into Unit 4+2, and breaking into the US market with "Concrete & Clay", and then ultimately finding further success with the evolution of Argent subsequent to the demise of the Zombies. Bob, you and I are of the same age, and I became a concert addict way back in grade school. As I got older and became financially successful; every year for the last 21 years I make an annual pilgrimage to the UK for two weeks, to attend as many R & R concerts as possible in that short amount of time. I'll see many British 60's acts (Hollies, Searchers, Manfreds, Fortunes, etc.) who either don't, or can't, tour the US anymore for an array of issues, be it financial, Visas, or lack of fan interest and support.
Back in 2016 at a Manfreds concert in London, I bumped into Russ in the lobby during intermission; he was having a beer and chatting with friends. I approached Russ and introduced myself as a long-time US fan, and asked if he would be receptive to letting me get a picture with him. He was quite surprised and graciously agreed. As we were standing there, I recounted to him all of his music career and contributions over the years as I knew it. He was quite flabbergasted to be hearing this from a US fan in London all these years later. He kept asking and saying to me "Who Are You?", "Is this some kind of a set-up you're pulling?". I laughed and laughed and said "No, I'm just one of your loyal fans and wanted to thank you for all that you've given to me over the years." He was quite the gentleman and professional as my wife snapped-away on her camera, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy that moment of unanticipated fan attention.
He still tours regularly in Europe and was about to commence a tour in support of a new CD release when Covid hit in March of last year. He's chomping at the bit to get back out there later this year. When I saw your commentary on Russ I took the liberty to copy and pass your comments over to him. I gave him your contact details, but don't know if he replied directly to you or not. I've pasted below his response that he sent back to me. Thank you Bob for your kind words from this long-time Russ Ballard fan.
Regards,
Bob Kacerow
"Thanks for this, Bob, Great piece of writing. It's good to know there's people listening. You are right, many want to be rich and famous but don't want to put the work in. I do appreciate your words, cheers. I still go in to my studio everyday and enjoy writing and recording, same as ever. Psychiatrists say the key to well being is to be completely engaged in to something, and with music we are.....it is a passion, and, I believe most people never find one - they have to pay the bills and so they settle for a job that pays. In the studio 5/6 hours flys by and I come in to the house feeling blissful. Somehow we have to find a way for future generations to find then follow a passion. It could be a different world, - (You don't want to hit someone when you're feeling good.) I wish you and yours the very best and if you're ever in East Herts. I'll treat you to a curry...Russ (PS - 68 is young my friend).
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From: Kevin Carroll
Subject: Robert Palmer
Hey Bob,
Hope this finds you well. Just got your note on the chart. I've been finding myself in a Robert Palmer place lately. I had a few connections with him. When I started in radio, Vinegar Joe was taking a shot in the US and they were on a promo tour in 1973. They came for a visit and he was extremely engaging. He wanted to learn more than hype. I added the record. It stiffed.
Years later, I went to work for WB and we had distribution of Island. We were humping "Bad Case Of Loving You". I dressed up in a doctors outfit to deliver a major station, got a photo in the trades and the add, and a call from Robert thanking me.
Fast forward to the release of his Clues. It was brilliant. Inspired by Gary Numan, "Johnny And Mary" and "Looking For Clues" still stand up today. Robert came with me to do a promo run. Mind you, this was unusual then, but his passion for his new sound drove him to take a personal approach. It worked.
He was undoubtedly one of the most charming artists I ever had the pleasure to work with. I think his music and artistry are largely overlooked. He, like Lowell George sometimes tend to be forgotten for their moment . And if you haven't heard Robert do "Spanish Moon"…
Dig in on Robert…I forgot how good it was. But will never forgot what a class act he was.
Best, Kevin
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From: alexander Mair
Subject: TouTube monetization
Mr. Beato made one big factual error in your interview…you need 4000 hours in twelve months, not one month, to monetize the video. You also need 1000+ subscribers.
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Subject: Re: Harry Wayne Casey-This Week's Podcast
Bob:
Loved the podcast with Harry Casey. I found it very interesting when he mentioned that he still listens to everything out there pop, country, r&b, ect. Back in 1977/78 I was working as an order picker and 12" buyer at Tone. KC and Rick used to come down to the warehouse at least once a week and pick up a copy of every new release and I mean everything. Doobie Brothers, Santana, Dolly Parton, whatever. Those guys listened to everything. Glad to hear he's still at it.
Jay Rosenberg
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From: Shammy Dee
Subject: Re: It's Not A Hit
I've been thinking about this for a while.
I argue that Cardi B and Billie Eilish are the last superstars we'll see until whatever is the next turn in this business.
As a DJ, I feel the streaming decentralization of hits and artists make my work a bit harder. It's hard to know what the crowd likes because the crowd is way more into their own tastes. Like you said, who listens to radio anymore? The older crowds don't dance to current hits and younger crowds can be fickle with their tastes. I can play a smash hit one night to a raving crowd and play it again the following night and the crowd will empty out the dancefloor.
The challenge has been making it harder to call what tracks will work, but that's part of what makes a DJ great.
Maybe I'll be playing a "Drivers License" remix by Olivia soon...Who knows?!
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out for artists in future years.
-Shammy
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From: William Perkins
Subject: Re: Can't You See At Love Rocks
RE: Toy Caldwell/MTB
Toy Caldwell apparently once said he would always treasure the first five words Duane Allman ever said to him: "Your strings are on wrong!". Toy's original band was called "Toy Factory". I think "Marshall Tucker" may have been a blind piano tuner from South Carolina they knew..? Great guys, great band, and great producer, Paul Hornsby, who was in Hour Glass band with Duane, Gregg, and Producer Johnny Sandlin. Capricorn was the hottest indy label in the world for a while there in the 1970's. I remember receiving a $997,000.00 royalty check one Friday afternoon for the Allman's and racing it to their bank to pick up interest on it for them for the weekend! I still treasure my years around all of those guys. A true musical and spiritual time and family!
Willie Perkins
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Subject: Re: Can't You See At Love Rocks
Bob,
You are correct. There isn't a guitar to be had in America right now because of unprecedented demand and we are seeing record enrollment at School of Rock. An outgrowth of the pandemic seems to be a renaissance in self expression not fully satisfied by beat-making, EDM and rap lyrics. There also is a frenzy to make music together, a feeling only achievable in an ensemble.
Long live Rock and Roll!
Rob Price
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From: Chip Lovitt
Subject: Re: Can't You See At Love Rocks
Great column, once again. And it drove me to one of my favorite Capricorn Records' tunes, from Alex Taylor, brother of James, who recorded an LP, which I still have, called Alex Taylor with Friends and Neighbors. This cut, "Southbound," knocked me out enough back then to buy the LP....but dig the lineup.
Scott Boyer and Tommy Talton of Cowboy on guitars, Johnny Sandlin on bass, and co-written by Greg Allman...how's this for a groove? You gotta love Phil Walden and what Capricorn Records gave to the musical world! I love how it starts off as an acoustic, Taylorish tune, then the band kicks in. Keep up the good work!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypVt3oogd7o&list=PLZzxIheiq5_PUKkLBE6e_cAXKe31olVjq&index=9
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From: Martin Media
Subject: Re: More B.J. Thomas
BJ Thomas was recovering from his second near-death overdose when his wife converted him to Christianity in the mid 1970s, leading to his decision to sign a gospel deal with Word Records. Stan Moser, head of the label, told B.J. he didn't want a "gospel" record, he wanted a "B.J. Thomas" record for the Christian market. So he hired a young producer, Chris Christian, to craft a "Christian pop" record. At the time, 20,000 units was considered a good-selling gospel record. Christian and B.J. put together "Home Where I Belong" and the dam burst, becoming the first Christian record to sell over 500,000 units (and over a million to this day).
The success of "HWIB" brought Chris Christian a 25-record production deal. I talked to Chris yesterday, after B.J. died, and he told me that without the success of "HWIB," Chris likely never would have been able to secure the resources to hunt down other talent in the field and find someone like an Amy Grant, whose first album was also produced by Chris. Grant went on to become the biggest concert draw in contemporary Christian history, selling out the Forum in L.A. in 1986 at the height of her game.
The same trajectory, sadly, did not result for B.J. - without whom none of this would have likely been possible. I was just starting out as a fledgling promoter of shows in churches and hired B.J. for a concert in the late 70s. The audiences at that time were not interested in hearing B.J. sing anything but his gospel hits. Some idiots in the audience would boo him when he broke into "Raindrops" or "Hooked On a Feeling," screaming stuff like "What about Jesus!" After enduring a few years of this crap, B.J. rightfully and predictably stopped performing in gospel settings and spent the last 40 years of his life singing all of his songs for everybody, staying married to the same woman who saw him through his turbulent 70s. The secular audiences were more forgiving, ironically, when he would break out "Home Where I Belong" or "Without a Doubt" in his shows.
This is the song that started it all for BJ in his "second career":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wQgx98jmZQ
Brian Martin
______________________________
Subject: RE: More Throw It Back
I would like to become an industry titan and I deserve to be one but cannot seem to get any traction by being a bankruptcy lawyer in St. Louis. I figure the system is rigged against me. Am I right? What does that Azoff guy have that I don't have!? I think it is because I am a Protestant and no one respects us in the industry? BOB, I AM MAD AS HELL AND NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE! I plan on getting on Facebook and getting my hundreds of Friends to march on Capitol Records (if they still have a building) and come "armed to the teeth" to fight like hell and take the music industry back from the Jewish lawyers and their black rapper cabal!
I know you are with me on this Bob. I am an aggrieved, White, arguably straight, conventionally married, midwestern male and the whole world is TRYING TO TAKE MY CHEESE... which I don't even have yet but desperately feel like I deserve.
Pay attention Bob! Biden is senile and he is a genius working for the Chinese to tax us into communism!
WAKE UP and follow the money Bob... follow the money!
Maybe someone should do a Go Fund Me page for me?
Think on it Bob...become part of my movement and give me your name, time, eyeballs and money.
I think that's all I got... now I have to get back to work because I like eat. I wish people would shut the fuck up.
Thanks.
Michael A. Becker
______________________________
From: Donovan Pyle
Subject: Re: Woodstock 99 On HBO
My friends and I started the fire the third night during the chili pepper's set, but we didn't destroy anything.
We did it because there was so much trash on the ground at the back of the field that we couldn't even find a place to sit down and relax during the show.
We literally piled up a bunch of trash and burned it so that we'd have a clean place to sit and listen.
Remember: this was the last night of the festival, and it was extremely hot in upstate New York that weekend…everyone was exhausted.
In fact, we had been at the Phish show about an hour away the weekend before, and the experience was the polar opposite of what we saw at Woodstock.
The main difference was the Phish really appreciated and took take of their audience by making sure everyone had a good time — no one had to spend all their money on water.
It's a shame that others by the front of the stage saw our fire and took it as a que to burn down the left speaker stack, forcing the chili peppers to stop their show more than once.
It was a really strange weekend, but I'll never forget dropping out and watching James Brown open the festival Thursday at noon — he just incredible.
Donovan
______________________________
From: R.T. Parker
Subject: Re: Woodstock 99 On HBO
Almost had some sort of PTSD from watching this documentary.
My best friend and I went. I had just turned 21. We had been contacted by a Baltimore Sun reporter, on some Woodstock99 message board on AOL (flashback??) we agreed to take her along for the ride.
We all drove up Wednesday night and arrived in a town that was little prepared for the deluge. They took all of our food and drink at the gate. We had some light snacks hidden in our bags. We were young and broke, definitely no money for alcohol. And certainly not for $4 water. The $10 cheeseburger keeps getting brushed under the rug.
They had wiped out huge swaths of forest to make room for tent camping, so we slept on wood chips. If they had left some trees, the experience may have been different. It felt more like a refugee camp than a peaceful campground.
I have a picture taken on a yellow Kodak disposable camera, of my buddy and I laying on the tarmac, with our faces in the small shadow of a metal Drum trash can, just to escape the sun for one minute.
We got separated from the reporter on Day 2 and never saw or heard from her again. No cell Phones. Zero idea of how she got home.
We left Sunday around 3pm to make the trip back to Maryland. We were toast. And broke. I stopped at a rest stop in NJ somewhere and called my dad from a pay phone. He was sooo relieved to hear we had left. Said the place had descended into chaos. And that they had been watching the news and were worried for days.
Different times. Certainly a pivotal time in my life. Unforgettable is so many ways, good and bad.
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
I visited Action Park in 1995 when I was living in Manhattan with my future wife. She had a house in the Hamptons at the time so she took a bit of persuading to visit. We went on the first ride we saw which was the crazy water slide with the vertical loop. The lack of a queue and the fact that they weighed you and got you to remove all your jewelry should have alerted us to how crazy and terrifying the ride was going to be. Turns out we were there on one of the few occasions the loop ride was actually in service. Perhaps the worst part of the ride was the run off area at the end which consisted of a plastic sheet in a puddle and was supposed to collect you after the crazy speeds reached in the ride. A horrible experience all round but at least now I get to feel like the people who really were on the boat with the Sex Pistols on the Thames. The loop is legendary for being the most dangerous slide ever invented and at least I am one of the few who can say they were there!
Andrew Harting
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
Are you kidding! You want to talk clueless.
Those of us who grew up in Orange County, CA had LION COUNTRY SAFARI. That eventually turned into Irvine Meadows then whatever else came after that.. now its a water park. (I think)
Yep.. wild animals, lions, tigers you name it roaming free with cars full of families driving through and taking pictures. Of course there were the usual idiots who would get out of the car to get close to the lion and get attacked. The park had open top Jeeps painted like a zebra with guys with rifles shooting at the animals if they got out of hand. IT WAS INSANE..
Jesus, they had my high school prom there one year.
Its amazing we survived the 70's and 80's at all.
Jean Sievers
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
I had the pleasure of going to Action Park in the mid 90s... To me, it was by far the greatest theme park of all time. The danger was real and boy was it fun!
Clint Weiler
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
There is an excellent oral history of Action Park that has the voice of a large proportion of the people that used to work there, including Gene's son Andy. It sounds like heaven and hell at the same time, both for the patrons and the staff. I'm not sure if it covers all the same ground, but it was an incredible read - https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/536412/action-park-water-park-oral-history. How it managed to survive so long is astounding to me!
Joel Beeson
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
It was the Greatest Shit Show on Earth! I still have a burn bruise from where there was no water on a part of the water slide and my skin got scraped. It was awesome. My orthodox Jewish friends and I were balls to the wall and we had the best time. We got to see how the non Jews lived and looked. So awesome! Wish you had gotten there. There was nothing like it. Rock on!
Etan G/thejewishrapper
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
I went to Action Park a few times, in my twenties and my thirties.
That cliff? I can still feel how it felt to fall that far (and how careful you had to be to aim for a clear spot). The Rapids? I kid you not, there was one part where it was exactly like you were being flushed down a toilet, the whirlpool was so strong and the drop so steep. The trapeze swing? The first time I went, I didn't realize the trick to it, or have the upper body strength for it, and I took the kind of face splat that the peanut gallery lived to witness (and jeer), but every time after, I triumphed! The slide that shot you out in the air at least ten feet above the ice-cold pool?!
I could go on and on.
*AND* I was always very aware that many of the kids there were practically marauders. There was an animalistic energy (think restless inner city teens raging with hormones, totally unleashed and completely aware of how much they could get away with) that was obvious, and something I was always careful to very clear of.
Recently I told some young friends I had been there, they were in awe: "*YOU* WENT THERE??" Instant cred.
I'm sixty now, and I would go again_in_a_New_York_minute.
Bill McKinley/DaddyB
Madrid, Spain
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
Bob, growing up in New Jersey my friends and I ventured to Action Park a bunch and everyone got hurt. It was full of thrills but after you got hurt too many times often we would just stand at the pool where the crazy water slide dumped out to watch all the bathing tops fly off the girls. That place wouldn't last a week without being shut down in today's litigious times.
Gregg Simon
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
I went to high school from 83-87 in a NJ town just fifteen miles away from Action Park.
It was a given that the park was dangerous. I remember hearing the horrible news that someone had drowned in the wave pool, trapped inside the wave mechanism as I recall. Can you imagine being the person who discovered the deceased?
Everyone at school called it TRACTION PARK. I remember one kid came to school with the skin shredded off of his thigh from the Alpine Slide. We all laughed, because it reaffirmed the obvious. The place was incredibly unsafe.
I did a lot of stupid things as a teenager, but I never went to Action Park.
Greg Renoff
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
I loved going to Action Park as a kid. I grew up in northern New Jersey in a small mountain town called Ringwood which is a watershed for Northern New Jersey. Action Park was about 20 minutes West. New York City was 20 minutes South East.
But let's get to the point. I've been to many water parks and adventure parks and NOTHING compares to the Action Park experience. It was the greatest time possible.
It's all true what they say about the experience in that movie. I saw that doc too. But it was so much more.
People had orange stains on their arms from losing skin on the Alpine Slide. We have an Alpine Slide here in Park City. It's cool but not the same. First of all, the track is made out of some kind of poly/fiberglass. The Action Park track was concrete. When you went down the slide you could easily go too fast and fly off. Death and injury loomed and when you are 10 years old, that's the magic! That's freedom! That's fun!
There was a sign that said, "Dip Ahead." The track would drop down 5 or more feet. If you didn't slow down you would be air-born and maybe land on the track if you were lucky with a compressed spine from the impossibly hard impact.
I remember the first time I saw that sign. I had just learned to read. I was riding the slide, sharing the cart with my mom, maybe 4 years old. At the end of the slide, I was looking around for some guy who was the "dip" they warned about.
That place birthed in me a love for adventure. There are too many details to share. Too many pictures to paint. It was the best time possible. And it lives in my heart.
Nicole Paradiso
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
Grew up one town over from Quassy. Wild Mouse, or The Monster as they called it, is hands down the scariest coaster I've ever been on due to the impending sense of death.
Adam King
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
LOL. I went to Action Park many times, and was bruised many times too. Definitely dangerous which of course was a big part of the attraction. Show your friends you are not a sissy, etc. How about some of the water slides? I went airborne one time, and later some were seriously injured and they had to shut that one down.
The toned down version is today called Mountain Creek and some of the rides from Action are still there, but as you say highly monitored and much safer (but less fun).
Robert Heiblim
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
I'm only 30 but when i was at summer camp in starucca pa they took us multiple times to the reopened mountain creek, none of us had been to action park but heard rumors of it. Even as tamed down mountain creek that was the most unbounded and reckless water park ive ever been to. This was the mid 2000's and was just like it was in the documentary, whole place run by children. In line at the cannonball run everyone was shouting obscenities, multiple fights broke out, i witnessed multiple kids being taken out on back boards from the cliff jump ( i was almost one of them, i took a running start and landed on my back. My back was red for 5 days) i walked around barefoot and my feet became shredded, i went to the infirmary and was told to stand in the circle and win a prize (they had no prize to give after i won, the old guy in the doc was still there and said eh the spray must be watered down) they served sooo much alcohol next to the wave pool, which only going to disney, hershey and dorney park before this was such a eye opener. The giant straight up and down slide, the main attraction was watching girls bikini tops come flying off. We went on the rapids tube ride and near the end another raft came careening at us and everyone in both rafts were ejected into the wading pool at the end. Even as mountain creek and reopened to be a safe environment, that place has left such a profound mark on my life. Friends from camp have also watched class action park and we all sat around in disbelief that we actually went to this place, multiple times.
Matt Gevurtz
______________________________
Re: Class Action Park
I went to Action Park as a kid and the memorable line among friends was "if you didn't get hurt, you were never there."
I loved the documentary. Brought back so many memories. And I showed it to my teenage kids who both couldn't believe that such a place existed. THEY WANTED TO GO THERE TOO!
Jaime Feldman
______________________________
From: Carlos Duron
Subject: Re: Eric Clapton
My wife and myself just went through the COVID hell, I've been over the disease for a week today and my wife is still isolated, I was supposed to get my first dose the following Monday after I got ill , she has one dose and according to the doctors that saved her life. COVID is not an ideology or a set of legal rights that can just be bypassed at your convenience, it's grueling it taxes your body to the limit. Look out for yourself and get your shots.
______________________________
Re: The Unvaccinated
There's a woman on my tennis team that told me in December she wasn't going to get vaccinated because she once fainted after getting a flu shot. Well now she's got Covid and is whining in our group text about how tired she is and how much it sucks. If only you could've done something to prevent that, Karen*!
*Obviously not her name. :)
Sarah Martin
______________________________
Re: The Unvaccinated
I'm on a production right now in ATLANTA! They won't mandate vaccines! A film shoot=cruise ship. Afraid of a lawsuit.
Peter
______________________________
Re: The Unvaccinated
I just saw my father for the first time in almost eighteen months and he was sick as fuck!
He won't get the vaccine and I can't believe he still came knowing how sick he was?
He truly believes its not real, or he just isn't scared? But the worst part is he would risk my daughters and my safety.
I don't think I'll see him again for a long while but the hardest part is knowing we are not important enough…
Thanks for hammering home this idea. Bob, you are one of the last truth speakers left.
Adam Franklin
______________________________
Re: The Unvaccinated
I'm angry.
Datapoint 1: My brother is an ER doc in San Antonio. Text from him yesterday, "Happy birthday to me. I have COVID" He also pointed out that his fully vaccinated status will save his life as he has fairly minor symptoms. But, he knows he got it in the ER, where he and everyone are fully vaccinated and masked up. He sees several patients a day, says the feel in the hospital is like it was when it was bad over the winter. "All are unvaccinated (the bad ones). Vast majority are ignorant. Quoting Tucker Carlson bullshit." "I am pissed all of the time."
Datapoint 2: My daughter. She caught it in April, midway between her first & second shot, from the family whose kids she regularly babysits. The parents had been sick for several days, didn't bother to think critically that it may have been COVID, and therefore didn't tell her until she started to feel sick. She quarantined in her room (the normal state for a teen) and somehow the rest of us didn't get sick. She got better, had her second shot (with strong 24 hour reaction to it as expected).
But here's the thing. Last weekend, she says the dad says he's sick again, going to get tested. Although his quick test was negative, he and his wife have no intention of getting vaccinated, "don't believe in that." The family are pretty outwardly normal, successful professionals, very comfortable financially. So, my daughter is more than a little freaked out.
I'm angry, and tired of this crap, like this is just a matter of respect for differences of opinion. Argh
You're right. I don't envy you the vitriol you're no doubt receiving right now. But, you're right. 100%.
Tom Grueskin
______________________________
Re: The Unvaccinated
Right on! We are going 100% vacc for all locations starting Monday. Not just NY, everywhere. Enough!
Michael Dorf
______________________________
Subject: Re: Re-Lefsetz/Aaron Lewis/Borchetta
Seriously if I were you I would stay away from the politics nowadays it's just too divisive. There are two camps of people in this country and only one of them believes in the founding tenants of freedom of speech and the right to be left alone to do as they will. We want our borders closed and only a merit based immigration policy to others who can prove they understand our culture and can add to it in a positive way. American First, PERIOD. We know we will never be allowed to do that and eventually it's going to come to a fight. This country is going to break up and Balkanize..it's already happening now as you can see the mass movement of people many to the freer states and out of places like New York and your beloved California.
The fatal mistake the left makes is their hubris. You also lack self awareness and there's a fundamental misunderstanding of white leaning heritage individual liberty loving Americans by the left. You have to understand Bob that if the left keeps pushing we're going to stop try not to push back. We have a lot of patience and Have given you guys a lot of room to see if this mass insanity will Peter out but it seems to only be expanding.
You see, we are not afraid of you at all. We are afraid of what you might force us to do to you and we understand the consequences of that and you do not. We are the ones who join the military (were but are getting out since it went woke), serve in combat arms, who are the tip of the spear and kill other human beings. We actually understand violence and we don't want that to happen here in the United States. But all we see is the left pushing and pushing and pushing and eventually it's going to come to violent head and you're not going to like the results because it's going to be swift and fast and there will be many bodies stacked. Again we do not want this we are not pushing for this we are being pushed and we understand who is pushing us and why.
So Bob please stop writing about the divisive political stuff we all know where you stand. Don't add to the problem. Maybe take a step back and try to figure out a way to be a voice of reason and maybe help calm things down a bit so it doesn't go where it's surely heading and make no mistake, if that happens inside a week I will be the most far left radical remaining in the country and probably the darkest too..because unfortunately there is an anti-white race element to the left's insane war on Heritage Americans. I'm appealing for peace. Or at least an armistice because this will not end well if it continues.
Sean Mormelo
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Tuesday 27 July 2021
My Favorite Lyrics Playlist
Spotify Playlist: https://spoti.fi/3rAuBXq
THE LATE SHOW
Everyone I've ever known has wished me well
Anyway, that's how it seems, it's hard to tell
Maybe people only ask you how you're doing
'Cause that's easier than letting on how little they could care
But when you know that you've got a real friend somewhere
Suddenly all the others are so much easier to bear
Now, to see things clear it's hard enough, I know
While you're waiting for reality to show
Without dreamin' of the perfect love
And holding it so far above
If you stumbled onto someone real, you'd never know
You could be with somebody who is lonely too
(Sometimes it doesn't show)
He might be trying to get across to you
(Words can be so slow)
When your own emptiness is all that's gettin' through
There comes a point when you're not sure why you're still talking
I passed that point long ago
(Long ago)
LATE FOR THE SKY
Now, for me some words come easy
But I know that they don't mean that much
Compared with the things that are said when lovers touch
You never knew what I loved in you
I don't know what you loved in me
Maybe the picture of somebody you were hoping I might be
DEAR LANDLORD
Now, each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true
And if you don't underestimate me
I won't underestimate you
SIGN ON THE WINDOW
Build me a cabin in Utah
Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout
Have a bunch of kids who call me "pa"
That must be what it's all about,
That must be what it's all about
IT'S ALRIGHT, MA (I'M ONLY BLEEDING)
Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you
While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole that he's in
MONEY TALKS
Show me a man who says he can live without bread
And I'll show you a man who's a liar and in debt.
There's no one alive who can't be purchased or enticed
There's no man alive who wouldn't sell for a price,
Money talks and we're the living proof,
There ain't no limit to what money can do
Money talks, money talks.
BABY I'M A STAR
Hey, look me over
Tell me do you like what you see?
Hey, I ain't got no money
But honey I'm rich on personality
Hey, check it all out
Baby I know what it's all about
Before the night is through
You will see my point of view
Even if I have to scream and shout
Baby I'm a (star)
Might not know it now
Baby but I are, I'm a (star)
I don't want to stop, 'til I reach the top
Sing it (we are all stars!)
SHOWER THE PEOPLE
You can run but you cannot hide
This is widely known
Now what you plan to do with your foolish pride
When you're all by yourself alone
Once you tell somebody
The way that you feel
You can feel it beginning to ease
I think it's true what they say
About the squeaky wheel
Always getting the grease
Better to
Shower the people you love with love
Yes and show them the way that you feel
I know things are gonna be just fine
If you only will, what I like to do to you
IF HE'S EVER NEAR
They say just once in life
You find someone that's right
But the world looks so confused
I can't tell false from true
… And love's so hard to find
In this state of mind
Oh i hope I'll know him
I hope I'll know him
If he's ever near
LIFE DURING WARTIME
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
This ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey,
I ain't got time for that now
Transmit the message, to the receiver,
Hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, a couple of visas,
You don't even know my real name
I'M BAD, I'M NATIONWIDE
Well I was rollin' down the road in some cold blue steel
I had a blues man on the back, and a beautician at the wheel
We going downtown in the middle of the night
We laughing and I'm jokin' and we feelin' alright
Oh I'm bad, I'm nationwide
Yes I'm bad, I'm nationwide
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM LIFE
What do you want from life
To kidnap an heiress
or threaten her with a knife
What do you want from life
To get cable TV
and watch it every night
There you sit
a lump in your chair
Where do you sleep
and what do you wear
when you're sleeping
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH
There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?
DON'T TAKE ME ALIVE
I'm a bookkeeper's son
I don't want to shoot no one
Well I crossed my old man back in Oregon
Don't take me alive
Got a case of dynamite
I could hold out here all night
Yes I crossed my old man back in Oregon
Don't take me alive
THE FINER THINGS
While there is time
Let's go out and feel everything
If you hold me
I will let you into my dreams
For time is a river rolling into nowhere
We must live while we can
And we'll drink our cup of laughter
TUNNEL OF LOVE
Well, it ought to be easy, it ought to be simple enough
Yeah, man meets woman and they fall in love
But this house is haunted and the ride gets rough
You've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above
If you want to ride on down, down in through this tunnel of love
REAL LOVE
Darlin', I know I'm just another head on your pillow
If only just tonight, girl, let me hear you lie just a little
Tell me I'm the only man that you ever really loved
Honey, take me back in my memory place
When it was all very right, so very nice, so very nice
MY OLD MAN
My old man, he's a singer in the park
He's a walker in the rain
He's a dancer in the dark
We don't need no piece of paper from the city hall
Keeping us tied and true no, my old man
Keeping away my blues
SONG FOR SHARON
A woman i knew just drowned herself
The well was deep and muddy
She was just shaking off futility
Or punishing somebody
My friends were calling up all day yesterday
All emotions and abstractions
It seems we all live so close to that line
And so far from satisfaction
PHIL COLLINS
Just as I thought I'd make it
You walk back into my life
Just like you never left
Just as I'd learned to be lonely
You call up to tell me
You're not sure if you're ready
Oh, but ready or not, you'll take what you've got and leave
Oh, leave me alone with my heart
I'm putting the pieces back together again
Just leave, leave me alone with my dreams
I can do without you, know what I mean
YOUR TURN NOW
The moon was yellow
And the sky was cool
The night can make a promise of love
Or it can make you a fool
Would anybody know it If the real thing shined?
You've seen so many movies
You'd probably think it was a line
SOMETHING SO RIGHT
When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
I'm the first to admit it
But the last one to know
When something goes right
Well it's likely to lose me
It's apt to confuse me
It's such an unusual sight
I can't get used to something so right
Something so right
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THE LATE SHOW
Everyone I've ever known has wished me well
Anyway, that's how it seems, it's hard to tell
Maybe people only ask you how you're doing
'Cause that's easier than letting on how little they could care
But when you know that you've got a real friend somewhere
Suddenly all the others are so much easier to bear
Now, to see things clear it's hard enough, I know
While you're waiting for reality to show
Without dreamin' of the perfect love
And holding it so far above
If you stumbled onto someone real, you'd never know
You could be with somebody who is lonely too
(Sometimes it doesn't show)
He might be trying to get across to you
(Words can be so slow)
When your own emptiness is all that's gettin' through
There comes a point when you're not sure why you're still talking
I passed that point long ago
(Long ago)
LATE FOR THE SKY
Now, for me some words come easy
But I know that they don't mean that much
Compared with the things that are said when lovers touch
You never knew what I loved in you
I don't know what you loved in me
Maybe the picture of somebody you were hoping I might be
DEAR LANDLORD
Now, each of us has his own special gift
And you know this was meant to be true
And if you don't underestimate me
I won't underestimate you
SIGN ON THE WINDOW
Build me a cabin in Utah
Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout
Have a bunch of kids who call me "pa"
That must be what it's all about,
That must be what it's all about
IT'S ALRIGHT, MA (I'M ONLY BLEEDING)
Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you
While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole that he's in
MONEY TALKS
Show me a man who says he can live without bread
And I'll show you a man who's a liar and in debt.
There's no one alive who can't be purchased or enticed
There's no man alive who wouldn't sell for a price,
Money talks and we're the living proof,
There ain't no limit to what money can do
Money talks, money talks.
BABY I'M A STAR
Hey, look me over
Tell me do you like what you see?
Hey, I ain't got no money
But honey I'm rich on personality
Hey, check it all out
Baby I know what it's all about
Before the night is through
You will see my point of view
Even if I have to scream and shout
Baby I'm a (star)
Might not know it now
Baby but I are, I'm a (star)
I don't want to stop, 'til I reach the top
Sing it (we are all stars!)
SHOWER THE PEOPLE
You can run but you cannot hide
This is widely known
Now what you plan to do with your foolish pride
When you're all by yourself alone
Once you tell somebody
The way that you feel
You can feel it beginning to ease
I think it's true what they say
About the squeaky wheel
Always getting the grease
Better to
Shower the people you love with love
Yes and show them the way that you feel
I know things are gonna be just fine
If you only will, what I like to do to you
IF HE'S EVER NEAR
They say just once in life
You find someone that's right
But the world looks so confused
I can't tell false from true
… And love's so hard to find
In this state of mind
Oh i hope I'll know him
I hope I'll know him
If he's ever near
LIFE DURING WARTIME
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
This ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey,
I ain't got time for that now
Transmit the message, to the receiver,
Hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, a couple of visas,
You don't even know my real name
I'M BAD, I'M NATIONWIDE
Well I was rollin' down the road in some cold blue steel
I had a blues man on the back, and a beautician at the wheel
We going downtown in the middle of the night
We laughing and I'm jokin' and we feelin' alright
Oh I'm bad, I'm nationwide
Yes I'm bad, I'm nationwide
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM LIFE
What do you want from life
To kidnap an heiress
or threaten her with a knife
What do you want from life
To get cable TV
and watch it every night
There you sit
a lump in your chair
Where do you sleep
and what do you wear
when you're sleeping
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH
There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?
DON'T TAKE ME ALIVE
I'm a bookkeeper's son
I don't want to shoot no one
Well I crossed my old man back in Oregon
Don't take me alive
Got a case of dynamite
I could hold out here all night
Yes I crossed my old man back in Oregon
Don't take me alive
THE FINER THINGS
While there is time
Let's go out and feel everything
If you hold me
I will let you into my dreams
For time is a river rolling into nowhere
We must live while we can
And we'll drink our cup of laughter
TUNNEL OF LOVE
Well, it ought to be easy, it ought to be simple enough
Yeah, man meets woman and they fall in love
But this house is haunted and the ride gets rough
You've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above
If you want to ride on down, down in through this tunnel of love
REAL LOVE
Darlin', I know I'm just another head on your pillow
If only just tonight, girl, let me hear you lie just a little
Tell me I'm the only man that you ever really loved
Honey, take me back in my memory place
When it was all very right, so very nice, so very nice
MY OLD MAN
My old man, he's a singer in the park
He's a walker in the rain
He's a dancer in the dark
We don't need no piece of paper from the city hall
Keeping us tied and true no, my old man
Keeping away my blues
SONG FOR SHARON
A woman i knew just drowned herself
The well was deep and muddy
She was just shaking off futility
Or punishing somebody
My friends were calling up all day yesterday
All emotions and abstractions
It seems we all live so close to that line
And so far from satisfaction
PHIL COLLINS
Just as I thought I'd make it
You walk back into my life
Just like you never left
Just as I'd learned to be lonely
You call up to tell me
You're not sure if you're ready
Oh, but ready or not, you'll take what you've got and leave
Oh, leave me alone with my heart
I'm putting the pieces back together again
Just leave, leave me alone with my dreams
I can do without you, know what I mean
YOUR TURN NOW
The moon was yellow
And the sky was cool
The night can make a promise of love
Or it can make you a fool
Would anybody know it If the real thing shined?
You've seen so many movies
You'd probably think it was a line
SOMETHING SO RIGHT
When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
I'm the first to admit it
But the last one to know
When something goes right
Well it's likely to lose me
It's apt to confuse me
It's such an unusual sight
I can't get used to something so right
Something so right
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Your Favorite Lyric-SiriusXM This Week
Tune in today, July 27th, 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
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive
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Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863
Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive
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The Unvaccinated
"As Virus Cases Rise, Another Contagion Spreads Among the Vaccinated: Anger - Frustrated by the prospect of a new surge, many Americans are blaming the unvaccinated. A tougher stance may backfire, some experts warn.": https://nyti.ms/3BPGJZ6
How come we've got to be nice to them when they're not nice to us!
I can't stop following the news. That's where all the action is. It was in the arts in the twentieth century, movies and music, and in tech from the late nineties until the early teens, but now it's all news. And all we hear is we need to stop talking about it, stay in our lanes.
That's right, wankers keep telling us it's the same as it ever was when it's not! Democracy is at risk. Call it creeping fascism. Call it creeping authoritarianism. But whenever you bite back, all we hear is cries from the right, the same people who had their panties in a twist when they were called deplorables!
They were and are deplorables, that's right. If Hillary Clinton had only had a backbone and doubled-down, she might have won. But she was so busy triangulating and trying to appease that her mealy-mouthed approach satisfied almost no one and she lost.
And who won? A lying bloviator whose acolytes refused to hold him accountable, impeached twice he skated and then he pardoned all his lackeys. Consequences? Zero!
I thought there would be riots in the street when they eviscerated abortion. But nothing ever happens. It's the right that's out protesting, not the left. If it doesn't directly affect you, people don't care. But this covid thing? It affects everybody!
Never have I felt more powerless. The news reports the heinosity but absolutely nothing happens. I went to the L.A. Holocaust museum and was stunned to find out the truth/reality was printed in the newspaper. But since Americans were here and not there, and most weren't Jewish, people shrugged their shoulders and nothing happened. It's not radically different today.
The problem is most people are not in the crossfire. They think they know what is going on on the right, but truly they have no idea. And the truth is you've got a bunch of crazies, religious in the belief of their cause if not truly religious, or both, circling the wagons, arming up, changing life for those around them and willing to fight to the death to insure their way of life dominates.
States keep passing these anti-voter laws under the falsehood that there's voter fraud and the U.S. Senate can't even get together and pass a law embracing people's right to vote! That's like saying captains are only giving life preservers to those who are rich and taking them away from those who are poor and there's nothing you can do about it. As for the Republican heavy Supreme Court, good luck with that. The court of last resort is tilted, it keeps telling us there's no racism in America and no voting protections are needed. Huh?
Whenever things don't go the right's way, whenever it looks like they might not go their way, they're up in arms, crying, loudly. Never mind their insane agenda being promoted everywhere, one of hatred and exclusion. But try to call them on it and all you hear is FOUL!
That's right. We're supposed to respect the unvaccinated. We're supposed to love them. We're supposed to try and understand them. But there's no reciprocal effort! We're laughable snowflakes. Communists. Who are ending life in America as we (they) know it.
And Joe Biden blows the whistle on Facebook and what do all the media outlets say? FOUL JOE! Blame the people, not the institution. So Joe backs away. EVERYBODY KNOWS YOU GET DISINFORMATION ONLINE, PRIMARILY SOCIAL MEDIA, but when Joe states the truth he's at fault. Why?
I hear from these people every day. They tell me not to be afraid, to go out and live my life like they do. Meanwhile, their unvaccinated brethren are getting infected and overwhelming hospitals. But it's not them yet. And then you have the mother whose kids got covid who is still refusing vaccination.
And there are all these excuses. It's not approved. It might have unknown side effects in the future. It's got chips in it. Forget the truth, they've got a fountain of misinformation which they believe in and are not backing down. And it's not only about vaccinations!
They're not getting the shots. Will we stop hearing all this b.s. about how to appeal to them? It's like a baby refusing medical treatment by crying, saying they haven't had the procedure before, are you gonna listen to a baby or force them to do the right thing?
So they do focus groups. Of people who say they're open to vaccination. And what do they find out at the end, THEY'RE NOT! It was all a ruse. To make you think we can make progress, that they can be swayed, when they can't!
And any effort we take to convince them otherwise is criticized for being too harsh. We can't knock on their doors, that's like the Gestapo. As for papers/vaccine passports? That's like a fascist country. Talk about one's head spinning. These are the same bozos who keep telling us their bodies are temples and we can't tell them what to do while they insist we can't have abortions. It's ridiculous on the surface.
And I'm abused with falsehoods every day. They're laughing at me. They're telling me to take ivermectin, a parasitic primarily for animals, every day and covid will just go away. Presently all the studies say otherwise but I'm scratching my head wondering why these people are always promoting cockamamie unproven therapies, like hydroxychloroquine, which turned out to have a negative effect, when the highly researched and tested covid vaccines must not enter their bodies, it's too high a risk.
Those on the right, and they're the lion's share of the unvaccinated, have already divided the country, it's them versus us, end of story. But on the left we're all kumbaya, trying to put our arms around those who want no part of us, to make them feel included. Is this the next military strategy, love our enemy?!
Macron had enough in France. Bottom line, without proof of vaccination you can't live a public life, you're excluded from buildings and events. But we can't do this in the U.S. As a matter of fact, Republican state governments have already passed laws outlawing anti-covid behavior. Meanwhile, their guy, the one whose name begins with a "T," did his best to act like an autocrat, and the rest of us just had to suffer, tough noogies. Biden still has national powers, but he won't use them, for fear of pissing people off. Did this ever cross Trump's mind? NEVER!
Delve into right wing media. It's all hate all the time. The left is excoriated. And not in subtle tones. And Biden's words are twisted.
"Opinion: In the real world, Biden is tough on Cuba. In the right-wing world, he's pro-Communist.": https://wapo.st/378NB5G
And that's from Max Boot, a noted conservative!
So here's what has to happen folks. Zero tolerance, just like on the right. If someone won't get vaccinated, read them the riot act. Make them squirm. Level the hatred on their shoulders that they direct towards us. Is it going to undermine discourse in America? Of course not, there is none!
Let's draw the lines perfectly clear. If you haven't been vaccinated, you can't work at a hospital/in health care and you can't work in any government job. End of story. Black and white. Because THE REST OF US are sick of being AT RISK!
Just like those people who won't get measles shots relying on herd immunity. Why do we keep doing the heavy lifting for the lazy takers? Let's turn the right's anti-welfare rhetoric on its head!
And start passing laws saying you can't go to a show without a vaccination card period. The concert industry refuses to address this issue, but the "Washington Post" did.
"Summer music festivals have returned - just in time for the latest coronavirus surge": https://wapo.st/2Vc5bmM
The young and unvaccinated are mingling, spreading covid, but we must have our music, the show must go on, all we get is crickets from the concert industry! And since it takes days at a minimum to find out if you're infected, causation is rarely explored, superspreader events just continue.
And you won't die if you get it anyway. WRONG! Even babies are dying. Until it happens to them they don't believe it's true.
But now it's happening to US!
This is war folks. Stop backing down. Stop being fearful of alienating people who don't agree with you and will never agree with you. The only way out of this is truth. Isn't that what Superman said, "Truth, justice and the American Way"? I doubt Superman would be immune to covid, after all kryptonite got him. Truth is not misinformation on Fox and online. Justice is not a Supreme Court telling us everything is hunky-dory and no intervention is necessary. The American Way is not what the unvaccinated are preaching. The American Way is about coming together for the good of everybody, without it there's no chance of beating covid, you don't even have a country!
That's what we're fighting for right now, our country. But one side keeps telling you to put down your arms. And the leaders on the left are all about appeasement, like Neville Chamberlain. Therefore the real issues, the hard work, is kicked down the line in the name of "peace" and then it's ultimately too late to achieve.
Chamberlain believed England was safe, when the truth was nothing of the sort.
General Milley warned of a "Reichstag Moment" but instead of addressing the issue, those on the right say the armed forces shouldn't weigh in on politics.
It's always the same, obfuscation, rules, but when we bring out the big rule book, when we want to create laws protecting society, it's NO GO!
Fight. I'm not telling you to pick up arms, I'm just telling you to stop being somnambulant. They're coming for you and your way of life. You think you're immune, but you're not.
How about saving the real America, one of many colors, one where immigrants are embraced and aid us not only in picking crops but pushing technological boundaries. One in which you're free to live your life as a gay or trans person if you choose. One in which we can acknowledge the racial sins of the past. Is that asking too much? NO! But our words keep getting twisted by the right, they want to drag us all into the hole they're living in, where it's every person for themselves and you depend on the church to get you through. These people are even buying fake religious health insurance, thinking they're covered when they're not!
They keep telling us to have faith in ourselves. Well, it's about time we do so. We know this anti-vaccine behavior is insane, putting us all at risk, and enough with the carrots, now comes the stick. They talk about a political wall, we need a social wall, excluding all these unvaccinated idiots from everyday life. No school, no nothing. Get the jab, then we can talk!
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How come we've got to be nice to them when they're not nice to us!
I can't stop following the news. That's where all the action is. It was in the arts in the twentieth century, movies and music, and in tech from the late nineties until the early teens, but now it's all news. And all we hear is we need to stop talking about it, stay in our lanes.
That's right, wankers keep telling us it's the same as it ever was when it's not! Democracy is at risk. Call it creeping fascism. Call it creeping authoritarianism. But whenever you bite back, all we hear is cries from the right, the same people who had their panties in a twist when they were called deplorables!
They were and are deplorables, that's right. If Hillary Clinton had only had a backbone and doubled-down, she might have won. But she was so busy triangulating and trying to appease that her mealy-mouthed approach satisfied almost no one and she lost.
And who won? A lying bloviator whose acolytes refused to hold him accountable, impeached twice he skated and then he pardoned all his lackeys. Consequences? Zero!
I thought there would be riots in the street when they eviscerated abortion. But nothing ever happens. It's the right that's out protesting, not the left. If it doesn't directly affect you, people don't care. But this covid thing? It affects everybody!
Never have I felt more powerless. The news reports the heinosity but absolutely nothing happens. I went to the L.A. Holocaust museum and was stunned to find out the truth/reality was printed in the newspaper. But since Americans were here and not there, and most weren't Jewish, people shrugged their shoulders and nothing happened. It's not radically different today.
The problem is most people are not in the crossfire. They think they know what is going on on the right, but truly they have no idea. And the truth is you've got a bunch of crazies, religious in the belief of their cause if not truly religious, or both, circling the wagons, arming up, changing life for those around them and willing to fight to the death to insure their way of life dominates.
States keep passing these anti-voter laws under the falsehood that there's voter fraud and the U.S. Senate can't even get together and pass a law embracing people's right to vote! That's like saying captains are only giving life preservers to those who are rich and taking them away from those who are poor and there's nothing you can do about it. As for the Republican heavy Supreme Court, good luck with that. The court of last resort is tilted, it keeps telling us there's no racism in America and no voting protections are needed. Huh?
Whenever things don't go the right's way, whenever it looks like they might not go their way, they're up in arms, crying, loudly. Never mind their insane agenda being promoted everywhere, one of hatred and exclusion. But try to call them on it and all you hear is FOUL!
That's right. We're supposed to respect the unvaccinated. We're supposed to love them. We're supposed to try and understand them. But there's no reciprocal effort! We're laughable snowflakes. Communists. Who are ending life in America as we (they) know it.
And Joe Biden blows the whistle on Facebook and what do all the media outlets say? FOUL JOE! Blame the people, not the institution. So Joe backs away. EVERYBODY KNOWS YOU GET DISINFORMATION ONLINE, PRIMARILY SOCIAL MEDIA, but when Joe states the truth he's at fault. Why?
I hear from these people every day. They tell me not to be afraid, to go out and live my life like they do. Meanwhile, their unvaccinated brethren are getting infected and overwhelming hospitals. But it's not them yet. And then you have the mother whose kids got covid who is still refusing vaccination.
And there are all these excuses. It's not approved. It might have unknown side effects in the future. It's got chips in it. Forget the truth, they've got a fountain of misinformation which they believe in and are not backing down. And it's not only about vaccinations!
They're not getting the shots. Will we stop hearing all this b.s. about how to appeal to them? It's like a baby refusing medical treatment by crying, saying they haven't had the procedure before, are you gonna listen to a baby or force them to do the right thing?
So they do focus groups. Of people who say they're open to vaccination. And what do they find out at the end, THEY'RE NOT! It was all a ruse. To make you think we can make progress, that they can be swayed, when they can't!
And any effort we take to convince them otherwise is criticized for being too harsh. We can't knock on their doors, that's like the Gestapo. As for papers/vaccine passports? That's like a fascist country. Talk about one's head spinning. These are the same bozos who keep telling us their bodies are temples and we can't tell them what to do while they insist we can't have abortions. It's ridiculous on the surface.
And I'm abused with falsehoods every day. They're laughing at me. They're telling me to take ivermectin, a parasitic primarily for animals, every day and covid will just go away. Presently all the studies say otherwise but I'm scratching my head wondering why these people are always promoting cockamamie unproven therapies, like hydroxychloroquine, which turned out to have a negative effect, when the highly researched and tested covid vaccines must not enter their bodies, it's too high a risk.
Those on the right, and they're the lion's share of the unvaccinated, have already divided the country, it's them versus us, end of story. But on the left we're all kumbaya, trying to put our arms around those who want no part of us, to make them feel included. Is this the next military strategy, love our enemy?!
Macron had enough in France. Bottom line, without proof of vaccination you can't live a public life, you're excluded from buildings and events. But we can't do this in the U.S. As a matter of fact, Republican state governments have already passed laws outlawing anti-covid behavior. Meanwhile, their guy, the one whose name begins with a "T," did his best to act like an autocrat, and the rest of us just had to suffer, tough noogies. Biden still has national powers, but he won't use them, for fear of pissing people off. Did this ever cross Trump's mind? NEVER!
Delve into right wing media. It's all hate all the time. The left is excoriated. And not in subtle tones. And Biden's words are twisted.
"Opinion: In the real world, Biden is tough on Cuba. In the right-wing world, he's pro-Communist.": https://wapo.st/378NB5G
And that's from Max Boot, a noted conservative!
So here's what has to happen folks. Zero tolerance, just like on the right. If someone won't get vaccinated, read them the riot act. Make them squirm. Level the hatred on their shoulders that they direct towards us. Is it going to undermine discourse in America? Of course not, there is none!
Let's draw the lines perfectly clear. If you haven't been vaccinated, you can't work at a hospital/in health care and you can't work in any government job. End of story. Black and white. Because THE REST OF US are sick of being AT RISK!
Just like those people who won't get measles shots relying on herd immunity. Why do we keep doing the heavy lifting for the lazy takers? Let's turn the right's anti-welfare rhetoric on its head!
And start passing laws saying you can't go to a show without a vaccination card period. The concert industry refuses to address this issue, but the "Washington Post" did.
"Summer music festivals have returned - just in time for the latest coronavirus surge": https://wapo.st/2Vc5bmM
The young and unvaccinated are mingling, spreading covid, but we must have our music, the show must go on, all we get is crickets from the concert industry! And since it takes days at a minimum to find out if you're infected, causation is rarely explored, superspreader events just continue.
And you won't die if you get it anyway. WRONG! Even babies are dying. Until it happens to them they don't believe it's true.
But now it's happening to US!
This is war folks. Stop backing down. Stop being fearful of alienating people who don't agree with you and will never agree with you. The only way out of this is truth. Isn't that what Superman said, "Truth, justice and the American Way"? I doubt Superman would be immune to covid, after all kryptonite got him. Truth is not misinformation on Fox and online. Justice is not a Supreme Court telling us everything is hunky-dory and no intervention is necessary. The American Way is not what the unvaccinated are preaching. The American Way is about coming together for the good of everybody, without it there's no chance of beating covid, you don't even have a country!
That's what we're fighting for right now, our country. But one side keeps telling you to put down your arms. And the leaders on the left are all about appeasement, like Neville Chamberlain. Therefore the real issues, the hard work, is kicked down the line in the name of "peace" and then it's ultimately too late to achieve.
Chamberlain believed England was safe, when the truth was nothing of the sort.
General Milley warned of a "Reichstag Moment" but instead of addressing the issue, those on the right say the armed forces shouldn't weigh in on politics.
It's always the same, obfuscation, rules, but when we bring out the big rule book, when we want to create laws protecting society, it's NO GO!
Fight. I'm not telling you to pick up arms, I'm just telling you to stop being somnambulant. They're coming for you and your way of life. You think you're immune, but you're not.
How about saving the real America, one of many colors, one where immigrants are embraced and aid us not only in picking crops but pushing technological boundaries. One in which you're free to live your life as a gay or trans person if you choose. One in which we can acknowledge the racial sins of the past. Is that asking too much? NO! But our words keep getting twisted by the right, they want to drag us all into the hole they're living in, where it's every person for themselves and you depend on the church to get you through. These people are even buying fake religious health insurance, thinking they're covered when they're not!
They keep telling us to have faith in ourselves. Well, it's about time we do so. We know this anti-vaccine behavior is insane, putting us all at risk, and enough with the carrots, now comes the stick. They talk about a political wall, we need a social wall, excluding all these unvaccinated idiots from everyday life. No school, no nothing. Get the jab, then we can talk!
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Monday 26 July 2021
Class Action Park
HBO Max trailer: https://bit.ly/373tWUQ
This is the second documentary on Action Park. I didn't think I needed to see it, but waiting for Felice to come home I dove in.
Warning... This thing is made on the cheap, with commentary by comedians. But the truth is it's a real life Jackass, where you don't have "stars" like Johnny Knoxville doing it for the money, but regular people doing it for fun. You remember fun, don't you?
Ever been to a water park? I guess at this point it's like vaccination, either you've jumped right in or never will. But the truth is they're damn fun. They started in the eighties. I remember driving into the heat to go to Raging Waters one night. The best time for amusement parks is always near closing time, the lines evaporate and you can go down your favorite ride ad infinitum. That's how I got over my fear of inverted roller coasters, riding Magic Mountain's Revolution three times in a row, it would have been more, but they threw us off to close the park.
Not that I'm into amusement parks these days. I can't remember the last time I went to one. And today they're mostly vomit wheels. Whether you get scared or not, your body is gonna take punishment.
But you can be scared by nature, kind of like how little kids like to play with cardboard boxes more than the toys they contain. Kind of like the twenty foot cliff at Action Park. Doesn't look that high from below. But near the end of the show, they give the diver's perspective, and unless you're an Acapulco cliff diver, you'd think twice.
And the truth is at Action Park there was no supervision. No one to make sure you didn't jump onto someone else in the water, and that always bugs me, water safety is paramount, but the attractions themselves? FASCINATING!
So the bottom line is the creator of Action Park, Gene Mulvihill, was a crook. Through and through. I've worked for one, a sociopath. They're big dreamers, they don't believe the rules apply to them and they run through employees because it's hard to be loyal to someone who is insane.
The best part of the story is how Mulvihill deals with the law. He creates his own fake insurance company. He fights every lawsuit. And if he loses, good luck collecting. He was almost judgment proof in his own twisted way. And since the community was making so much money off of him, since he brought tourists to the area, they were loath to crack down.
So...
I don't know what it was like growing up elsewhere, but in the sixties New York radio stations would blast ads for amusement parks. They were never close. You'd have to get your parents to drive you, and my parents never would. Then again, when I was in grade school the day classes ended my mother and Ted the obstetrician took us all to Rye Beach, aka Playland Park. They had this circular ride, you stood against the wall, and then the floor dropped out, you were held up by centrifugal force. I was too scared to go on that, and the Wild Mouse...you know, where the car is attached to the track in the middle, so you think you're going over the edge and at the very last minute you don't.
I came to love the Wild Mouse at Lake Quassapaug, now called "Quassy," when I went with the school summer playground group, you had to earn enough points, but I was much older then. Eleven and twelve.
So, there's so much b.s. in the commentary, about this being the last time kids roamed free, but the truth is prior to the baby boomers' kids, kids did run free. As long as you were home for dinner, it didn't matter where you went. And it's not like your parents quizzed you when you got home. And you always got injured, stitches were a regular feature of the summer. If you didn't get stitches or break a bone you got no respect, you just weren't putting it on the line enough, you weren't engaged, and we all wanted to be engaged. Back when all the action was outside as opposed to inside, like it is today.
And if you have any money today, the summer is about enrichment. Your kids go to sleepaway camp at first, but when old enough they go save the whales in some faraway place or take computer classes at universities, it's all about looking good on your college applications. But then there are those who work, or laze around, and those are the kids who populated Action Park. There wasn't a single adult in evidence!
So it comes down to the rides. Ever been on an alpine slide? They're very cool. The first one in America was at Bromley Mountain, in Vermont. They held distribution rights. And the game is to ride the whole thing without pulling on the brake. If you're going fast enough you fly through the air. It's quite a sensation.
But that paradigm has been killed, maybe because too many people were killed, or at least maimed. Flying off the track was a real possibility. Now they've got "mountain coasters." Same concept, except now the sled is attached to the track and you can never break free. You can go fast, but your life is never in danger.
There were three alpine slides at Action Park.
And then they had the Colorado Rapids ride. When you grow up you always want to ride the rapids, especially if you live in the metropolis, far from any raging water. But instead of making it a float trip, Mulvihill made it an actual rapids ride, with all the attendant risks. In addition it was crowded, and you could be bumped off your raft or get into fights... Put a bunch of teenagers together and you're always gonna have fights.
A water tube that shoots you out ten feet in the air? I'm ready to go on that right now!
Jumping into the water from a swinging rope? We dreamed of living that rural life!
But it wasn't only water. There were also autos. But unlike at Disneyland, there was no rail keeping you from driving off course. That was a thing back then, they had a Grand Prix track in the Valley, then again it was never cheap and I never went, but I wish I had.
And then a speedboat ride, where you piloted your own vessel! I mean they're really cooking, with only the banks keeping you in place.
In other words, Action Park was a THRILL PARK! It was far beyond amusement. It required judgment, because you could get hurt, and many people did!
That's the big story. As well as the loop which you see and want to ride, but are too scared to. It's a deal you make with yourself, you go to the theme park and if a ride is scary, you convince yourself it was designed by engineers, licensed by the state, there's no way it could fail. But not at Action Park...
So the amazing thing is all this happened thirty five years ago. Seems like yesterday to me, but it's not. Pre-cellphone, pre-internet was truly a different generation. There was so much less SUPERVISION! You can't even commit petty crime anymore, there are cameras EVERYWHERE! That was a big thing as a youth, stealing and breaking minor things. I'd like to tell you otherwise, but I'd be lying.
And not only is Rikki Rachtman representing MTV at the park, on either side of him are members of Alice In Chains. Jerry Cantrell is still around, Layne Staley O.D.'ed over two decades ago! But here Layne just looks like a suburban doofus out for fun in the sun.
I knew the story, from the previous documentary, I'd seen the rides, but I still kept watching. Because of the freedom, of the rides. And the truth is the older you get, the more prone to injury you become, and it takes longer than ever to recover. But if you're young, bruises are a fact of life. You get banged up and get up. The hurt lasts a couple of days at most.
So the truth is Action Park wasn't much wilder than so much of America's entertainment facilities, it's just that the rides were dangerous and it was close to New York City, millions of people, so many went there and experienced it.
And the truth is Gene Mulvihill was ahead of his time. He bought the Great Gorge and Vernon Valley ski areas and created Action Park for summer revenue. Ergo those mountain coasters now populating ever more ski areas. And they all have zip lines. And none of this is cheap. And some mountains make more in the summer than they do in the winter!
But this is not a business story so much as an emotional story. You know the commentary is overblown, but you're taken back to a different time, which is so appealing. When risk was part of life. And I'm talking physical, not viruses on your devices. Your parents insisted you leave the house during the summer, you couldn't stay inside. And you had an endless tan and were like a fish in water and you lived for envelope-pushing activities.
Hell, maybe that's why I'm a skier. The thrill, the excitement, the riding of the edge, knowing that you could get hurt at any time.
But really it's the freedom. No one is in control but you.
By time Action Park opened I'd already moved out west. So I never went. And I never went to Lion Country Safari before that, another advertised "mecca." Why they were all in New Jersey... Bon Jovi legitimized the state but you've got to know, if you live in New England, New York, you look down on New Jersey. Don't shoot the messenger, but it's true.
So if you're still a child at heart, if you still like to be exhilarated, feel alive, you'll be titillated by Class Action Park. I wouldn't quite say engrossed, but it's hard to turn off. Doesn't matter if you ever went there. It's evidence of a bygone time.
Something is lost in every great leap forward. And with technology it's a sense of freedom, privacy. Not only were your parents clueless, you could move across the country and no one had any idea what you were up to, everybody you ever knew was not just a click away. The world was bigger, there were more holes to fall in. And in truth I like the new world better, but I'm fully aware of what has been sacrificed. And a lot of it is evidenced in "Class Action Park."
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This is the second documentary on Action Park. I didn't think I needed to see it, but waiting for Felice to come home I dove in.
Warning... This thing is made on the cheap, with commentary by comedians. But the truth is it's a real life Jackass, where you don't have "stars" like Johnny Knoxville doing it for the money, but regular people doing it for fun. You remember fun, don't you?
Ever been to a water park? I guess at this point it's like vaccination, either you've jumped right in or never will. But the truth is they're damn fun. They started in the eighties. I remember driving into the heat to go to Raging Waters one night. The best time for amusement parks is always near closing time, the lines evaporate and you can go down your favorite ride ad infinitum. That's how I got over my fear of inverted roller coasters, riding Magic Mountain's Revolution three times in a row, it would have been more, but they threw us off to close the park.
Not that I'm into amusement parks these days. I can't remember the last time I went to one. And today they're mostly vomit wheels. Whether you get scared or not, your body is gonna take punishment.
But you can be scared by nature, kind of like how little kids like to play with cardboard boxes more than the toys they contain. Kind of like the twenty foot cliff at Action Park. Doesn't look that high from below. But near the end of the show, they give the diver's perspective, and unless you're an Acapulco cliff diver, you'd think twice.
And the truth is at Action Park there was no supervision. No one to make sure you didn't jump onto someone else in the water, and that always bugs me, water safety is paramount, but the attractions themselves? FASCINATING!
So the bottom line is the creator of Action Park, Gene Mulvihill, was a crook. Through and through. I've worked for one, a sociopath. They're big dreamers, they don't believe the rules apply to them and they run through employees because it's hard to be loyal to someone who is insane.
The best part of the story is how Mulvihill deals with the law. He creates his own fake insurance company. He fights every lawsuit. And if he loses, good luck collecting. He was almost judgment proof in his own twisted way. And since the community was making so much money off of him, since he brought tourists to the area, they were loath to crack down.
So...
I don't know what it was like growing up elsewhere, but in the sixties New York radio stations would blast ads for amusement parks. They were never close. You'd have to get your parents to drive you, and my parents never would. Then again, when I was in grade school the day classes ended my mother and Ted the obstetrician took us all to Rye Beach, aka Playland Park. They had this circular ride, you stood against the wall, and then the floor dropped out, you were held up by centrifugal force. I was too scared to go on that, and the Wild Mouse...you know, where the car is attached to the track in the middle, so you think you're going over the edge and at the very last minute you don't.
I came to love the Wild Mouse at Lake Quassapaug, now called "Quassy," when I went with the school summer playground group, you had to earn enough points, but I was much older then. Eleven and twelve.
So, there's so much b.s. in the commentary, about this being the last time kids roamed free, but the truth is prior to the baby boomers' kids, kids did run free. As long as you were home for dinner, it didn't matter where you went. And it's not like your parents quizzed you when you got home. And you always got injured, stitches were a regular feature of the summer. If you didn't get stitches or break a bone you got no respect, you just weren't putting it on the line enough, you weren't engaged, and we all wanted to be engaged. Back when all the action was outside as opposed to inside, like it is today.
And if you have any money today, the summer is about enrichment. Your kids go to sleepaway camp at first, but when old enough they go save the whales in some faraway place or take computer classes at universities, it's all about looking good on your college applications. But then there are those who work, or laze around, and those are the kids who populated Action Park. There wasn't a single adult in evidence!
So it comes down to the rides. Ever been on an alpine slide? They're very cool. The first one in America was at Bromley Mountain, in Vermont. They held distribution rights. And the game is to ride the whole thing without pulling on the brake. If you're going fast enough you fly through the air. It's quite a sensation.
But that paradigm has been killed, maybe because too many people were killed, or at least maimed. Flying off the track was a real possibility. Now they've got "mountain coasters." Same concept, except now the sled is attached to the track and you can never break free. You can go fast, but your life is never in danger.
There were three alpine slides at Action Park.
And then they had the Colorado Rapids ride. When you grow up you always want to ride the rapids, especially if you live in the metropolis, far from any raging water. But instead of making it a float trip, Mulvihill made it an actual rapids ride, with all the attendant risks. In addition it was crowded, and you could be bumped off your raft or get into fights... Put a bunch of teenagers together and you're always gonna have fights.
A water tube that shoots you out ten feet in the air? I'm ready to go on that right now!
Jumping into the water from a swinging rope? We dreamed of living that rural life!
But it wasn't only water. There were also autos. But unlike at Disneyland, there was no rail keeping you from driving off course. That was a thing back then, they had a Grand Prix track in the Valley, then again it was never cheap and I never went, but I wish I had.
And then a speedboat ride, where you piloted your own vessel! I mean they're really cooking, with only the banks keeping you in place.
In other words, Action Park was a THRILL PARK! It was far beyond amusement. It required judgment, because you could get hurt, and many people did!
That's the big story. As well as the loop which you see and want to ride, but are too scared to. It's a deal you make with yourself, you go to the theme park and if a ride is scary, you convince yourself it was designed by engineers, licensed by the state, there's no way it could fail. But not at Action Park...
So the amazing thing is all this happened thirty five years ago. Seems like yesterday to me, but it's not. Pre-cellphone, pre-internet was truly a different generation. There was so much less SUPERVISION! You can't even commit petty crime anymore, there are cameras EVERYWHERE! That was a big thing as a youth, stealing and breaking minor things. I'd like to tell you otherwise, but I'd be lying.
And not only is Rikki Rachtman representing MTV at the park, on either side of him are members of Alice In Chains. Jerry Cantrell is still around, Layne Staley O.D.'ed over two decades ago! But here Layne just looks like a suburban doofus out for fun in the sun.
I knew the story, from the previous documentary, I'd seen the rides, but I still kept watching. Because of the freedom, of the rides. And the truth is the older you get, the more prone to injury you become, and it takes longer than ever to recover. But if you're young, bruises are a fact of life. You get banged up and get up. The hurt lasts a couple of days at most.
So the truth is Action Park wasn't much wilder than so much of America's entertainment facilities, it's just that the rides were dangerous and it was close to New York City, millions of people, so many went there and experienced it.
And the truth is Gene Mulvihill was ahead of his time. He bought the Great Gorge and Vernon Valley ski areas and created Action Park for summer revenue. Ergo those mountain coasters now populating ever more ski areas. And they all have zip lines. And none of this is cheap. And some mountains make more in the summer than they do in the winter!
But this is not a business story so much as an emotional story. You know the commentary is overblown, but you're taken back to a different time, which is so appealing. When risk was part of life. And I'm talking physical, not viruses on your devices. Your parents insisted you leave the house during the summer, you couldn't stay inside. And you had an endless tan and were like a fish in water and you lived for envelope-pushing activities.
Hell, maybe that's why I'm a skier. The thrill, the excitement, the riding of the edge, knowing that you could get hurt at any time.
But really it's the freedom. No one is in control but you.
By time Action Park opened I'd already moved out west. So I never went. And I never went to Lion Country Safari before that, another advertised "mecca." Why they were all in New Jersey... Bon Jovi legitimized the state but you've got to know, if you live in New England, New York, you look down on New Jersey. Don't shoot the messenger, but it's true.
So if you're still a child at heart, if you still like to be exhilarated, feel alive, you'll be titillated by Class Action Park. I wouldn't quite say engrossed, but it's hard to turn off. Doesn't matter if you ever went there. It's evidence of a bygone time.
Something is lost in every great leap forward. And with technology it's a sense of freedom, privacy. Not only were your parents clueless, you could move across the country and no one had any idea what you were up to, everybody you ever knew was not just a click away. The world was bigger, there were more holes to fall in. And in truth I like the new world better, but I'm fully aware of what has been sacrificed. And a lot of it is evidenced in "Class Action Park."
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The Brandi Carlile Book
https://amzn.to/3x9ytj8
I didn't grow up like that. I don't know ANYBODY WHO GREW UP LIKE THAT!
Brandi's parents had her when they were barely out of their teens. Not that she was planned. It was a shotgun wedding. At least that's what we used to call them, before having babies out of wedlock was de rigueur, when it became almost a badge of honor for unmarried educated women.
Not that her parents were world-beaters. They met at the Red Lion Hotel, where her father was a prep cook and her mother a hostess. Yes, a twenty and twenty one year old on a fast trip to nowhere.
Not that this was ancient times. Actually, Brandi's parents are younger than I am. HOW DID THEY PLAN TO SURVIVE!
The eighties were a time of huge transition. That's when income inequality began. The educated boomers paid lower taxes and climbed the economic ladder and everybody else was left behind. Then Clinton came along and eviscerated welfare and now we've got a permanent underclass. How do they get by?
Not well. Living in trailers. Alcoholic. It's brutal. The kids may know nothing else, but they suffer, greatly.
Brandi's family moves so many times that she falls behind in school and eventually she and her brother drop out. I didn't know ANYBODY who dropped out of high school, at least when I was growing up. Oh, there was this one guy, who thought school was b.s. And they accepted him at Kenyon College without a high school degree, and after less than a year he dropped out of there and got a gig at the library. Obviously this guy had mental issues. But the rest of us?
This was the sixties. Life was a boiling cauldron of excitement. Opportunities were on the horizon. We knew we were going to college from the moment we entered kindergarten, and everybody I knew did...go to college that is. There's a college for everybody, don't you know? If your parents can afford it, they can send you to a school where you're helped through the classes. And parents do this because they know without a college degree you're nowhere today. You can't even work as a receptionist. A college degree is the new high school degree. Do I approve of this? Do I think those without college degrees can't perform? Absolutely not. However I do remember Daniel Glass's words, that he hires college graduates not for what they've learned, but because the degree demonstrates they can complete something, which too many people cannot.
So we read about kids who drop out and then enter the workforce. They see it coming. And they want that bread to live better than a student. But Brandi lounges at home and then eventually gets some low-level work and starts playing live.
Oh, did I mention Brandi's gay?
Not that there's anything wrong with that, but when you're growing up off the beaten path in Washington there are no role models, you're on your own.
I just can't imagine it. Hell, Brandi is of the generation of my contemporaries' kids. They invested in PRE-SCHOOL admissions! They had their kids on the path of economic success from day one, literally, but not Brandi.
So...
Her love of music keeps her alive.
Her mother performed, and then Brandi did too. Entered competitions. Brandi was game. But she never ever won. That didn't happen until she became a professional. That's the way it always is. Those who make it are rarely recognized on the way up, they're too different, unique. Competitions are about criteria established by the group, rules. Whereas the greats are originals who break the rules, if they're even aware of them.
So, Brandi knows she can sing. She networks and gets an act together and is hooked up with Chip Hooper who laughs, tells her he can't do anything for her because they're a BAR BAND!
Chip. It's funny how once Brandi gains traction, there's commonality, but before that... As for Chip, he's no longer with us. And she says how his favorite songwriter was Shawn Colvin. I'm the one who told her manager, Ron Fierstein, to go with Chip. But unlike Brandi I'm not invited to the singalongs at Joni Mitchell's house today. I mean I've met Joni multiple times, and she's not the woman in the songs, she's not soft and mellow, anything but, if you connect with her have your wits about you! I mean I know Elton and Bonnie Raitt, but I'm not part of their everyday social circle. If you're in the business and you read this book there comes a point where you feel inadequate, at least I did.
So, Brandi and the twins, i.e. "Brandi Carlile," get a deal with Columbia and make a record with T-Bone Burnett and there's friction. Brandi is not about to be steamrolled by anybody. Even though she regrets some of her actions in hindsight. But the bottom line here is that first LP (well, in reality the second, but the first was a glorified demo) done by T-Bone is her most successful and then she ultimately gets dropped from Columbia and has to go independent. This used to be the kiss of death, once you lost your major label deal you were on the downhill slide. But speaking of those aforementioned rules, they no longer apply, everything's up for grabs. Brandi continues to make music, goes on the road, appeals to her fans and the rest of the world ignores here. Until...
"The Joke."
One cannot overstate the skill of Dave Cobb. He's the new Don Was. Squared. Acts that have been kicking around forever work with Dave and ultimately break through. Can you say "Chris Stapleton"? Brandi works with Cobb and he needs another track, one as good as "The Story," from ten years before. That's the last thing an act wants to hear, to replicate what they've done far in the past. They like to believe what they've done since is every bit as good, even though many times it is not. And then almost instantly Brandi writes "The Joke," inspired by her interaction with a friend's son, and the rest is history.
Yup, one song. That's all it took. And suddenly Brandi Carlile becomes a household name. Nominated for a slew of Grammys, appearing everywhere! It's not like she didn't have it, she just needed seasoning and someone to push her in the right direction. And unlike too many wannabes, Brandi has that voice, it was her secret weapon, it's still her secret weapon. Too many of today's acts plot their success on paper, whereas it's the fundamentals that ultimately serve your career, without underpinnings, you won't last.
Not that Brandi seems to change.
Oh, well, she changes along the way. She tries being a boy. That doesn't work. She embraces her feminine identity and has a relationship with a woman seventeen years older, who is still part of her life. She meets a woman who works for McCartney and gets married and has kids and you've got a great illustration how gay people are just like straight people, they want the same things, even though their partners are of the same sex. Yes, Brandi can't stop talking about her kids.
And fishing. And...
Despite all the trappings, the advantages of stardom, on so many levels Brandi is still the same. Living in a log cabin in the woods. Embracing the outdoors. And then she gets on a plane to play the starmaking game.
Oh, that's another thing. Making it requires constant work. You've got to hop on a plane on a moment's notice, fly for a one hour meeting, turn around, go home, and then maybe come back the very next day. You're so fried you wouldn't be able to enjoy the money, even if you had it. Lifestyle only happens when you're not working. Because first and foremost you're a musician, not a star.
So Brandi is pinching herself when she gets to meet her heroes. She and Elton are connecting constantly. Then again, they're both outsiders, both gay, they've got a lot in common in a world that thinks it understands them but does not.
The truth is when you break through you get inundated with offers, and in 2018 Brandi decides to take each and every one of them, including the offer to write this book. And if you're not in the business you may not know that these offers rarely come around again, you've got to make hay when the sun shines, you've got to work even harder when you've worked so hard to get where you are.
And it's clear that she wrote every word. No cowriter is credited and it sounds like her voice.
And it's written from the perspective of a performer. Unlike the male rock star books, Brandi's is more intimate, she reveals more of her feelings without sensationalism. It's truly her story.
But, once again, it's not my story.
But when you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.
And Brandi needed this, there was no safety net in sight. And she was a fan of the music, not of stardom, being a brand never occurred to her.
And that I can certainly relate to, the music. Which takes second place in all discussions these days. It's always about the money. Chart positions. But Brandi Carlile has a CAREER! She can play music profitably for the rest of her days. As for the acts on the hit parade?
So during lockdown Brandi cut a new album. And although it's not scheduled for release until fall, she's now out on the road. I came across a story in "Rolling Stone," there was a video, an audience recording by a fan. And these are almost always a waste of time. You get the feeling, yet little more. But if you watch this clip you'll instantly get it. Brandi's voice is loud and clear, the twins' harmonies enrich the sound and there are no machines involved, it's just the basics, human beings, their voices, the essence.
"Brandi Carlile Performs 'In These Silent Days' Songs at Forest Hills Stadium Show - 'They don't make nights more gorgeous than this," singer-songwriter proclaimed while belting her hits and covers to New York audience'": https://bit.ly/3BFV0HT
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I didn't grow up like that. I don't know ANYBODY WHO GREW UP LIKE THAT!
Brandi's parents had her when they were barely out of their teens. Not that she was planned. It was a shotgun wedding. At least that's what we used to call them, before having babies out of wedlock was de rigueur, when it became almost a badge of honor for unmarried educated women.
Not that her parents were world-beaters. They met at the Red Lion Hotel, where her father was a prep cook and her mother a hostess. Yes, a twenty and twenty one year old on a fast trip to nowhere.
Not that this was ancient times. Actually, Brandi's parents are younger than I am. HOW DID THEY PLAN TO SURVIVE!
The eighties were a time of huge transition. That's when income inequality began. The educated boomers paid lower taxes and climbed the economic ladder and everybody else was left behind. Then Clinton came along and eviscerated welfare and now we've got a permanent underclass. How do they get by?
Not well. Living in trailers. Alcoholic. It's brutal. The kids may know nothing else, but they suffer, greatly.
Brandi's family moves so many times that she falls behind in school and eventually she and her brother drop out. I didn't know ANYBODY who dropped out of high school, at least when I was growing up. Oh, there was this one guy, who thought school was b.s. And they accepted him at Kenyon College without a high school degree, and after less than a year he dropped out of there and got a gig at the library. Obviously this guy had mental issues. But the rest of us?
This was the sixties. Life was a boiling cauldron of excitement. Opportunities were on the horizon. We knew we were going to college from the moment we entered kindergarten, and everybody I knew did...go to college that is. There's a college for everybody, don't you know? If your parents can afford it, they can send you to a school where you're helped through the classes. And parents do this because they know without a college degree you're nowhere today. You can't even work as a receptionist. A college degree is the new high school degree. Do I approve of this? Do I think those without college degrees can't perform? Absolutely not. However I do remember Daniel Glass's words, that he hires college graduates not for what they've learned, but because the degree demonstrates they can complete something, which too many people cannot.
So we read about kids who drop out and then enter the workforce. They see it coming. And they want that bread to live better than a student. But Brandi lounges at home and then eventually gets some low-level work and starts playing live.
Oh, did I mention Brandi's gay?
Not that there's anything wrong with that, but when you're growing up off the beaten path in Washington there are no role models, you're on your own.
I just can't imagine it. Hell, Brandi is of the generation of my contemporaries' kids. They invested in PRE-SCHOOL admissions! They had their kids on the path of economic success from day one, literally, but not Brandi.
So...
Her love of music keeps her alive.
Her mother performed, and then Brandi did too. Entered competitions. Brandi was game. But she never ever won. That didn't happen until she became a professional. That's the way it always is. Those who make it are rarely recognized on the way up, they're too different, unique. Competitions are about criteria established by the group, rules. Whereas the greats are originals who break the rules, if they're even aware of them.
So, Brandi knows she can sing. She networks and gets an act together and is hooked up with Chip Hooper who laughs, tells her he can't do anything for her because they're a BAR BAND!
Chip. It's funny how once Brandi gains traction, there's commonality, but before that... As for Chip, he's no longer with us. And she says how his favorite songwriter was Shawn Colvin. I'm the one who told her manager, Ron Fierstein, to go with Chip. But unlike Brandi I'm not invited to the singalongs at Joni Mitchell's house today. I mean I've met Joni multiple times, and she's not the woman in the songs, she's not soft and mellow, anything but, if you connect with her have your wits about you! I mean I know Elton and Bonnie Raitt, but I'm not part of their everyday social circle. If you're in the business and you read this book there comes a point where you feel inadequate, at least I did.
So, Brandi and the twins, i.e. "Brandi Carlile," get a deal with Columbia and make a record with T-Bone Burnett and there's friction. Brandi is not about to be steamrolled by anybody. Even though she regrets some of her actions in hindsight. But the bottom line here is that first LP (well, in reality the second, but the first was a glorified demo) done by T-Bone is her most successful and then she ultimately gets dropped from Columbia and has to go independent. This used to be the kiss of death, once you lost your major label deal you were on the downhill slide. But speaking of those aforementioned rules, they no longer apply, everything's up for grabs. Brandi continues to make music, goes on the road, appeals to her fans and the rest of the world ignores here. Until...
"The Joke."
One cannot overstate the skill of Dave Cobb. He's the new Don Was. Squared. Acts that have been kicking around forever work with Dave and ultimately break through. Can you say "Chris Stapleton"? Brandi works with Cobb and he needs another track, one as good as "The Story," from ten years before. That's the last thing an act wants to hear, to replicate what they've done far in the past. They like to believe what they've done since is every bit as good, even though many times it is not. And then almost instantly Brandi writes "The Joke," inspired by her interaction with a friend's son, and the rest is history.
Yup, one song. That's all it took. And suddenly Brandi Carlile becomes a household name. Nominated for a slew of Grammys, appearing everywhere! It's not like she didn't have it, she just needed seasoning and someone to push her in the right direction. And unlike too many wannabes, Brandi has that voice, it was her secret weapon, it's still her secret weapon. Too many of today's acts plot their success on paper, whereas it's the fundamentals that ultimately serve your career, without underpinnings, you won't last.
Not that Brandi seems to change.
Oh, well, she changes along the way. She tries being a boy. That doesn't work. She embraces her feminine identity and has a relationship with a woman seventeen years older, who is still part of her life. She meets a woman who works for McCartney and gets married and has kids and you've got a great illustration how gay people are just like straight people, they want the same things, even though their partners are of the same sex. Yes, Brandi can't stop talking about her kids.
And fishing. And...
Despite all the trappings, the advantages of stardom, on so many levels Brandi is still the same. Living in a log cabin in the woods. Embracing the outdoors. And then she gets on a plane to play the starmaking game.
Oh, that's another thing. Making it requires constant work. You've got to hop on a plane on a moment's notice, fly for a one hour meeting, turn around, go home, and then maybe come back the very next day. You're so fried you wouldn't be able to enjoy the money, even if you had it. Lifestyle only happens when you're not working. Because first and foremost you're a musician, not a star.
So Brandi is pinching herself when she gets to meet her heroes. She and Elton are connecting constantly. Then again, they're both outsiders, both gay, they've got a lot in common in a world that thinks it understands them but does not.
The truth is when you break through you get inundated with offers, and in 2018 Brandi decides to take each and every one of them, including the offer to write this book. And if you're not in the business you may not know that these offers rarely come around again, you've got to make hay when the sun shines, you've got to work even harder when you've worked so hard to get where you are.
And it's clear that she wrote every word. No cowriter is credited and it sounds like her voice.
And it's written from the perspective of a performer. Unlike the male rock star books, Brandi's is more intimate, she reveals more of her feelings without sensationalism. It's truly her story.
But, once again, it's not my story.
But when you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.
And Brandi needed this, there was no safety net in sight. And she was a fan of the music, not of stardom, being a brand never occurred to her.
And that I can certainly relate to, the music. Which takes second place in all discussions these days. It's always about the money. Chart positions. But Brandi Carlile has a CAREER! She can play music profitably for the rest of her days. As for the acts on the hit parade?
So during lockdown Brandi cut a new album. And although it's not scheduled for release until fall, she's now out on the road. I came across a story in "Rolling Stone," there was a video, an audience recording by a fan. And these are almost always a waste of time. You get the feeling, yet little more. But if you watch this clip you'll instantly get it. Brandi's voice is loud and clear, the twins' harmonies enrich the sound and there are no machines involved, it's just the basics, human beings, their voices, the essence.
"Brandi Carlile Performs 'In These Silent Days' Songs at Forest Hills Stadium Show - 'They don't make nights more gorgeous than this," singer-songwriter proclaimed while belting her hits and covers to New York audience'": https://bit.ly/3BFV0HT
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Sunday 25 July 2021
Woodstock 99 On HBO
Trailer: https://bit.ly/2UPJqtd
The original Woodstock would have been forgotten if it weren't for the album and the movie. Suddenly, those who were not there, those who had no clue, got the message and they wanted in.
But you couldn't do it anymore. Remember Powder Ridge? Because no town wanted to be subjected to that. The great unwashed arriving in their burg, probably without tickets, to camp out and cause trouble. Then again, conventional wisdom was they were so stoned that nothing untoward would happen other than petty crime, theft, and that's very different from Woodstock 99.
Finally, in 1973, there was another festival, Watkins Glen. It had even more attendees, 600,000. People still got in free. But unless you were there, you don't remember it. There were superstar acts, and rain, but in four years the culture had changed, the touring industry had matured, now the acts got the lion's share of the cash, credit Peter Grant and Led Zeppelin. If the show was gonna sell out anyway, why not take all the money?
But the eighties were different. There was Live Aid, but that was a television event. Sure, you could brag about being there, but like a football game, it was a better experience on TV.
And the eighties had MTV. And CDs. And suddenly, these acts were making so much money... Then again, Michael Milken and his ilk were making more, and they were making it every year, year after year, no musician could compete. But greed got the thumbs-up. It was a free-for-all. Ronald Reagan got the government out of our pockets and it's never been the same since. Most people had never heard of Goldman Sachs before his term. Everybody wasn't a business major. Ivy League graduates weren't titillated by offers from McKinsey and BlackRock. Your goal was to be a doctor or a lawyer.
And then everything changed.
The next big disruption in the live sphere was when the Eagles regrouped and went on tour in 1994. It was all set up by a concert on MTV and for the first time a rock act charged what the tickets were worth. The Eagles broke the $100 barrier, and the only people who were complaining were members of the press. Because those who went were thrilled to experience the music.
But the press always has its own agenda.
The press was caught flat-footed by the original Woodstock. But the wheels started to turn thereafter. "Rolling Stone" was taken seriously after the Patty Hearst exposé. The baby boomers gained a foothold, and they're still in control.
But none of them were interviewed for this documentary.
Serendipity can only happen once. The excitement of innovation cannot be repeated. Therefore, there could never be another Woodstock, which lost money and only got into the black years later as a result of the film.
We see this again and again. With Radiohead's "In Rainbows." How long did name your own price last? And Kickstarter institutionalized pay for perks, but when was the last time you even heard about that platform, never mind a band using it? PledgeMusic went under. Financial shenanigans. Because it's always about the money.
Like Woodstock 99.
Once every show started to sell out, it looked like easy money. But concert promotion decades later is a formula business run by very experienced companies. Which is why Woodstock 2019 failed. You can't start from zero, you can't build it in a day and take all the money. Talk to Michael Rapino or Jay Marciano, you have to plan on losing money at festivals before you make it. You have to build the brand, demonstrate a good experience. And then, if you have the right lineup, you have a cash machine.
Coachella was such a financial disaster it was sold to AEG.
But now it's a cash cow.
Promoting sellout acts is not so profitable. But if you create a successful festival, you can make a ton of bread, even if you pay the acts seven figures. I could do the math for you but this is an opaque business that punters do not understand, they're still mad at Ticketmaster, as if the company pocketed all those fees.
But people are still lining up to buy tickets. And price seems to be no object.
As for the number of festivals? We're past the peak. And what has survived, at least in the U.S., is those based on the modern paradigm: you party all day and then retreat to your hotel room at night. Quality of life is everything. People want more than popcorn and pizza, and they'll pay for it.
ACL and Lollapalooza are the paradigm. JazzFest too. Put the festival in a metropolis, with infrastructure. You want to be close to the population. Because most people don't want to camp.
Woodstock 99 was built on the old paradigm. Tents. Being locked into a space. But despite being over twenty years ago, the upscale revolution had already started, most people had no desire to be treated like animals, today even kids want amenities, and college campuses are glorified country clubs.
So what you've got with Woodstock 99 is a dash for cash. Forget the b.s. about peace and love. There's a brand name, why not capitalize on it? Hell, that's what they did with Pabst Blue Ribbon! Second-rate beer goes out of business and then someone buys the brand and lays down the bro marketing.
And the truth is seemingly everything went wrong at Woodstock 99, but it was foreseeable.
Phish did festivals on decommissioned military bases, but their audience was of one mind, looking out for each other, the band itself was philanthropic, then again one mud-filled event killed not only their festivals, but the band itself for a while.
So, the number one criterion for the organizers of Woodstock 99 was security. They didn't want anyone to get in for free. And if they laid down a good enough lineup, whose costs were fixed, and the festival sold out...it was all math. That's why you got $4 bottles of water. This was a financial venture through and through.
But not doing a festival every year, not being in touch with the public, the promoters blew it.
Today security is technology. Wristbands with chips.
Woodstock 99 was the last mass gathering before cellphone mass adoption, before high speed internet, as for the angst of the attendees being based on fear of Y2K...that's a joke.
There's a lot of good stuff uttered by the talking heads, but a lot of inaccurate stuff too.
Because they lack perspective. They were not at the original Woodstock. They were not concert promoters. Hell, the documentary would have benefited from including experts in security and food and beverage from today, but instead all we got was journalists, especially those who worked for MTV.
Now how many of those people have careers today?
None in music television. And music television doesn't mean anything. So, they have contempt for everybody involved. From Michael Lang to John Scher to the attendees. It's not radically different from reading about youth issues in establishment media, it's laughable, they don't get it right.
Bottom line... IT WAS THE LINEUP!! All that talent for one price. As for it being Woodstock... Who was gonna be excited by that when it was on an Air Force base! And the truth is, the lineup was damn good. But the bookers didn't realize this wasn't their fathers' Woodstock.
The acts appealed to males and had a hard edge. Who did you think was going to attend?
As for complaints they didn't book more women... This was a for profit venture, and money goes for guarantees, and maximum revenue. Did three hundred thousand women want to camp on the tarmac? What other names would draw people in quantity? Who else was happening? It's sad that there weren't more female acts, but look how the three that were there went over, not well.
But it's hard to speak the truth. Because the politically correct police will attack you in hindsight.
Young boys went to the Woodstock movie to see boobs! That was one of the attractions of going to a festival, maybe you'd see some private parts! Meanwhile, today all you have to do is go on Google!
And then there's crowd psychology, which the promoters didn't seem aware of. Get six figures of horny young boys egged on by each other and you've got no idea what will happen. And it was no longer 1969, where there were still people south of the Mason-Dixon line out of the loop. MTV was everywhere, everybody got the memo, people who never would have gone to the original Woodstock.
So, there wasn't enough infrastructure. Not enough inside security. The site was good for keeping gatecrashers out, but bad for people and greed was rampant. And crowds turn on a dime, you'd think concert promoters would at least know this.
So really, there's no link to the original Woodstock. Only the name. And Michael Lang, of course.
And really, there's no link to today. Where's Fred Durst now?
As for aggression...it's only gotten worse. Can you say "Charlottesville"? Can you say "January 6th"? And they had a country festival in Vegas and a gunman shot the place up from a hotel window. Then again, seemingly every week there's a new mass shooting.
So really, Woodstock 99 was the dividing line, between old and new.
And it was not an anomaly. If anything, things have gotten worse. Certainly income inequality. Hell, think of all the people who can't even afford to go, forget whether they want to! What does John Scher say, you've got to bring money?
So, do you need to watch this doc?
No, but you'll find it interesting. Especially the commenters saying Kurt Cobain and grunge were peace and love and already passé. And the truth is by this time, Alanis Morissette was almost an oldies act. Jewel too. Their heyday was behind them.
But Metallica remains.
Because it's Metallica that represents the ethos of so many of the Woodstock 99 attendees. The underrepresented. A commenter in the documentary says the attendees were all upper middle class denizens. I don't buy that, never underestimate the need of metalheads to see their favorite acts.
But now metal angst is its own private backwater, with little mainstream penetration. There's no MTV to promote it.
You get the angst in hip-hop.
As for pop? In this film Dexter Holland beats up inflatable Backstreet Boys. But in many ways he and those who cheered were right. Because this was the last hurrah of rock credibility. It was all money, all the time thereafter. Brands, merchandise... Meanwhile, this same audience is not buying it.
So if you want to see a lot of boobs, watch this documentary.
Then again, there are boobs everywhere these days. And Woodstock 99 didn't start it. I remember seeing Guns N' Roses at the Forum back in 1991 and they were flashing boobs on the big screen and I was shocked, I'd never seen this before.
Nothing rationalizes the abuse and rape at Woodstock 99.
Then again, we can't have a discussion about hormones and attire, it's all black and white. But it isn't. Kind of like romance at work... That's where you meet your significant other!
But today we're completely polarized. One group wants to be free to walk over fire without getting burned and the other wants to put out the fire so no one can get across. And there's no discussion.
Then again, I'd be fearful if I was a woman walking alone at night. That was one of Elayne Boosler's best jokes. She's on a date in Manhattan and the guy asks if she wants to walk by the river. And she says she would have but she brought her vagina along, if she'd known she would have left it at home!
But there was no humor in this documentary. Just judgment.
Did a bunch of people have a good time? Absolutely, John Scher is right about that.
Was there very little rioting and abuse, were security systems in place, was infrastructure adequate, was food and water adequately priced? NO WAY! You only have to look at the images. You can bitch about MTV's skew all day long, but when you see the pictures of the fires...
Then again, I experienced the same thing back in 2000, at Glen Helen, the worst amphitheatre in creation, when I went to see AC/DC. The infrastructure resembled a war outpost, concrete blocks, with no greenery. Going to the bathroom/concessions during the break was like "Day of the Locusts," I was getting squished and there was no security, it was a free-for-all. And during the band's set, bonfires were lit on the lawn. As for exiting the unpaved parking lot? It took over an hour and there wasn't an employee in sight.
So, people are greedy. They want theirs. And when they don't get it, they feel entitled to agitate, fight back, now more than ever, especially online.
As for physical revolt/fires/abuse... Woodstock 99 might have been the first time we saw it on a mass scale, but it was rampant before that and rampant thereafter. And, unfortunately, you get young, inexperienced people sexualized by media who flaunt their assets and people are turned on and abuse them because that's what the culture tells them. Ever listen to the lyrics of these songs?
This is not an excuse. No one should be raped. No one should feel unsafe. But when it's all about the money, corners will be cut. Money might be wasted when the government is involved, although money is wasted in every business, but the profit motive isn't paramount. Which is why for-profit prisons need prisoners and are so bad.
In reality, Woodstock 99 was a prison, it's just that those in charge didn't think so, they were too busy patting themselves on the back and counting their money.
Concert promotion, festivals, are a mature business, not for amateurs.
The sixties and early seventies were the wild west of the music business. But those days are through.
Same deal with tech. It was all over by 2010, now the powers are institutionalized and you can't compete with them.
All we're left with is the consequences.
At Woodstock 99 it was rape, abuse and hyperthermia.
On Facebook it's disinformation.
But the money is so good, no one wants to deal with the consequences. They just deny them and hope that you forget as they plow on.
Like Mark Zuckerberg.
Like Michael Lang.
Like John Scher.
Hell, MTV literally is no longer "Music Television," they struck ""Music" from the moniker. And the big hit show on network today is not "In Concert," but "Shark Tank." Woodstock 99 should not be dismissed as a one-off, forgotten, the truth is it was a harbinger and we're all to blame.
But we're not doing much about it.
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The original Woodstock would have been forgotten if it weren't for the album and the movie. Suddenly, those who were not there, those who had no clue, got the message and they wanted in.
But you couldn't do it anymore. Remember Powder Ridge? Because no town wanted to be subjected to that. The great unwashed arriving in their burg, probably without tickets, to camp out and cause trouble. Then again, conventional wisdom was they were so stoned that nothing untoward would happen other than petty crime, theft, and that's very different from Woodstock 99.
Finally, in 1973, there was another festival, Watkins Glen. It had even more attendees, 600,000. People still got in free. But unless you were there, you don't remember it. There were superstar acts, and rain, but in four years the culture had changed, the touring industry had matured, now the acts got the lion's share of the cash, credit Peter Grant and Led Zeppelin. If the show was gonna sell out anyway, why not take all the money?
But the eighties were different. There was Live Aid, but that was a television event. Sure, you could brag about being there, but like a football game, it was a better experience on TV.
And the eighties had MTV. And CDs. And suddenly, these acts were making so much money... Then again, Michael Milken and his ilk were making more, and they were making it every year, year after year, no musician could compete. But greed got the thumbs-up. It was a free-for-all. Ronald Reagan got the government out of our pockets and it's never been the same since. Most people had never heard of Goldman Sachs before his term. Everybody wasn't a business major. Ivy League graduates weren't titillated by offers from McKinsey and BlackRock. Your goal was to be a doctor or a lawyer.
And then everything changed.
The next big disruption in the live sphere was when the Eagles regrouped and went on tour in 1994. It was all set up by a concert on MTV and for the first time a rock act charged what the tickets were worth. The Eagles broke the $100 barrier, and the only people who were complaining were members of the press. Because those who went were thrilled to experience the music.
But the press always has its own agenda.
The press was caught flat-footed by the original Woodstock. But the wheels started to turn thereafter. "Rolling Stone" was taken seriously after the Patty Hearst exposé. The baby boomers gained a foothold, and they're still in control.
But none of them were interviewed for this documentary.
Serendipity can only happen once. The excitement of innovation cannot be repeated. Therefore, there could never be another Woodstock, which lost money and only got into the black years later as a result of the film.
We see this again and again. With Radiohead's "In Rainbows." How long did name your own price last? And Kickstarter institutionalized pay for perks, but when was the last time you even heard about that platform, never mind a band using it? PledgeMusic went under. Financial shenanigans. Because it's always about the money.
Like Woodstock 99.
Once every show started to sell out, it looked like easy money. But concert promotion decades later is a formula business run by very experienced companies. Which is why Woodstock 2019 failed. You can't start from zero, you can't build it in a day and take all the money. Talk to Michael Rapino or Jay Marciano, you have to plan on losing money at festivals before you make it. You have to build the brand, demonstrate a good experience. And then, if you have the right lineup, you have a cash machine.
Coachella was such a financial disaster it was sold to AEG.
But now it's a cash cow.
Promoting sellout acts is not so profitable. But if you create a successful festival, you can make a ton of bread, even if you pay the acts seven figures. I could do the math for you but this is an opaque business that punters do not understand, they're still mad at Ticketmaster, as if the company pocketed all those fees.
But people are still lining up to buy tickets. And price seems to be no object.
As for the number of festivals? We're past the peak. And what has survived, at least in the U.S., is those based on the modern paradigm: you party all day and then retreat to your hotel room at night. Quality of life is everything. People want more than popcorn and pizza, and they'll pay for it.
ACL and Lollapalooza are the paradigm. JazzFest too. Put the festival in a metropolis, with infrastructure. You want to be close to the population. Because most people don't want to camp.
Woodstock 99 was built on the old paradigm. Tents. Being locked into a space. But despite being over twenty years ago, the upscale revolution had already started, most people had no desire to be treated like animals, today even kids want amenities, and college campuses are glorified country clubs.
So what you've got with Woodstock 99 is a dash for cash. Forget the b.s. about peace and love. There's a brand name, why not capitalize on it? Hell, that's what they did with Pabst Blue Ribbon! Second-rate beer goes out of business and then someone buys the brand and lays down the bro marketing.
And the truth is seemingly everything went wrong at Woodstock 99, but it was foreseeable.
Phish did festivals on decommissioned military bases, but their audience was of one mind, looking out for each other, the band itself was philanthropic, then again one mud-filled event killed not only their festivals, but the band itself for a while.
So, the number one criterion for the organizers of Woodstock 99 was security. They didn't want anyone to get in for free. And if they laid down a good enough lineup, whose costs were fixed, and the festival sold out...it was all math. That's why you got $4 bottles of water. This was a financial venture through and through.
But not doing a festival every year, not being in touch with the public, the promoters blew it.
Today security is technology. Wristbands with chips.
Woodstock 99 was the last mass gathering before cellphone mass adoption, before high speed internet, as for the angst of the attendees being based on fear of Y2K...that's a joke.
There's a lot of good stuff uttered by the talking heads, but a lot of inaccurate stuff too.
Because they lack perspective. They were not at the original Woodstock. They were not concert promoters. Hell, the documentary would have benefited from including experts in security and food and beverage from today, but instead all we got was journalists, especially those who worked for MTV.
Now how many of those people have careers today?
None in music television. And music television doesn't mean anything. So, they have contempt for everybody involved. From Michael Lang to John Scher to the attendees. It's not radically different from reading about youth issues in establishment media, it's laughable, they don't get it right.
Bottom line... IT WAS THE LINEUP!! All that talent for one price. As for it being Woodstock... Who was gonna be excited by that when it was on an Air Force base! And the truth is, the lineup was damn good. But the bookers didn't realize this wasn't their fathers' Woodstock.
The acts appealed to males and had a hard edge. Who did you think was going to attend?
As for complaints they didn't book more women... This was a for profit venture, and money goes for guarantees, and maximum revenue. Did three hundred thousand women want to camp on the tarmac? What other names would draw people in quantity? Who else was happening? It's sad that there weren't more female acts, but look how the three that were there went over, not well.
But it's hard to speak the truth. Because the politically correct police will attack you in hindsight.
Young boys went to the Woodstock movie to see boobs! That was one of the attractions of going to a festival, maybe you'd see some private parts! Meanwhile, today all you have to do is go on Google!
And then there's crowd psychology, which the promoters didn't seem aware of. Get six figures of horny young boys egged on by each other and you've got no idea what will happen. And it was no longer 1969, where there were still people south of the Mason-Dixon line out of the loop. MTV was everywhere, everybody got the memo, people who never would have gone to the original Woodstock.
So, there wasn't enough infrastructure. Not enough inside security. The site was good for keeping gatecrashers out, but bad for people and greed was rampant. And crowds turn on a dime, you'd think concert promoters would at least know this.
So really, there's no link to the original Woodstock. Only the name. And Michael Lang, of course.
And really, there's no link to today. Where's Fred Durst now?
As for aggression...it's only gotten worse. Can you say "Charlottesville"? Can you say "January 6th"? And they had a country festival in Vegas and a gunman shot the place up from a hotel window. Then again, seemingly every week there's a new mass shooting.
So really, Woodstock 99 was the dividing line, between old and new.
And it was not an anomaly. If anything, things have gotten worse. Certainly income inequality. Hell, think of all the people who can't even afford to go, forget whether they want to! What does John Scher say, you've got to bring money?
So, do you need to watch this doc?
No, but you'll find it interesting. Especially the commenters saying Kurt Cobain and grunge were peace and love and already passé. And the truth is by this time, Alanis Morissette was almost an oldies act. Jewel too. Their heyday was behind them.
But Metallica remains.
Because it's Metallica that represents the ethos of so many of the Woodstock 99 attendees. The underrepresented. A commenter in the documentary says the attendees were all upper middle class denizens. I don't buy that, never underestimate the need of metalheads to see their favorite acts.
But now metal angst is its own private backwater, with little mainstream penetration. There's no MTV to promote it.
You get the angst in hip-hop.
As for pop? In this film Dexter Holland beats up inflatable Backstreet Boys. But in many ways he and those who cheered were right. Because this was the last hurrah of rock credibility. It was all money, all the time thereafter. Brands, merchandise... Meanwhile, this same audience is not buying it.
So if you want to see a lot of boobs, watch this documentary.
Then again, there are boobs everywhere these days. And Woodstock 99 didn't start it. I remember seeing Guns N' Roses at the Forum back in 1991 and they were flashing boobs on the big screen and I was shocked, I'd never seen this before.
Nothing rationalizes the abuse and rape at Woodstock 99.
Then again, we can't have a discussion about hormones and attire, it's all black and white. But it isn't. Kind of like romance at work... That's where you meet your significant other!
But today we're completely polarized. One group wants to be free to walk over fire without getting burned and the other wants to put out the fire so no one can get across. And there's no discussion.
Then again, I'd be fearful if I was a woman walking alone at night. That was one of Elayne Boosler's best jokes. She's on a date in Manhattan and the guy asks if she wants to walk by the river. And she says she would have but she brought her vagina along, if she'd known she would have left it at home!
But there was no humor in this documentary. Just judgment.
Did a bunch of people have a good time? Absolutely, John Scher is right about that.
Was there very little rioting and abuse, were security systems in place, was infrastructure adequate, was food and water adequately priced? NO WAY! You only have to look at the images. You can bitch about MTV's skew all day long, but when you see the pictures of the fires...
Then again, I experienced the same thing back in 2000, at Glen Helen, the worst amphitheatre in creation, when I went to see AC/DC. The infrastructure resembled a war outpost, concrete blocks, with no greenery. Going to the bathroom/concessions during the break was like "Day of the Locusts," I was getting squished and there was no security, it was a free-for-all. And during the band's set, bonfires were lit on the lawn. As for exiting the unpaved parking lot? It took over an hour and there wasn't an employee in sight.
So, people are greedy. They want theirs. And when they don't get it, they feel entitled to agitate, fight back, now more than ever, especially online.
As for physical revolt/fires/abuse... Woodstock 99 might have been the first time we saw it on a mass scale, but it was rampant before that and rampant thereafter. And, unfortunately, you get young, inexperienced people sexualized by media who flaunt their assets and people are turned on and abuse them because that's what the culture tells them. Ever listen to the lyrics of these songs?
This is not an excuse. No one should be raped. No one should feel unsafe. But when it's all about the money, corners will be cut. Money might be wasted when the government is involved, although money is wasted in every business, but the profit motive isn't paramount. Which is why for-profit prisons need prisoners and are so bad.
In reality, Woodstock 99 was a prison, it's just that those in charge didn't think so, they were too busy patting themselves on the back and counting their money.
Concert promotion, festivals, are a mature business, not for amateurs.
The sixties and early seventies were the wild west of the music business. But those days are through.
Same deal with tech. It was all over by 2010, now the powers are institutionalized and you can't compete with them.
All we're left with is the consequences.
At Woodstock 99 it was rape, abuse and hyperthermia.
On Facebook it's disinformation.
But the money is so good, no one wants to deal with the consequences. They just deny them and hope that you forget as they plow on.
Like Mark Zuckerberg.
Like Michael Lang.
Like John Scher.
Hell, MTV literally is no longer "Music Television," they struck ""Music" from the moniker. And the big hit show on network today is not "In Concert," but "Shark Tank." Woodstock 99 should not be dismissed as a one-off, forgotten, the truth is it was a harbinger and we're all to blame.
But we're not doing much about it.
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