The Suzi Quatro Movie

We signed up for Topic to watch "Follow the Money."

They say the best TV is made by the Danes and the Israelis so we ponied up the five bucks to watch the Danish show about institutional corruption. The first two seasons were pretty good. The third, made years later, was great. But who is going to pay the extra money for Topic?

But since we had, I decided to comb the listings to see what else was available.

So we watched "When the Dust Settles." Which I highly recommend, which you also won't watch because it's on Topic. It's about a terrorist attack and how the people involved are affected and having finished that, we switched to "Autonomies," one of two highly recommended Israeli shows on Topic, the other being "Commandments." And "Commandments" got slightly better ratings, but they were remaking "Autonomies" in English and this usually indicates the more exhilarating show so we dove in. It's EXCELLENT! In the future Israel is divided into two fiefdoms, one of the uber-religious, the other of the less ritualistic Jews. And there's a custody battle and... You know when you're watching a great show, there's just this added element, a visceral feeling. But I wasn't going to tell you about "Autonomies" either, because it's on Topic.

But so is the Suzi Quatro documentary, "Suzi Q." And having just finished reading Jonathan Lee's new book "The Great Mistake," which is good but not as good as the reviews, I decided to watch "Suzi Q" on my new M1 iPad Pro, the speed is astounding.

Suzi Quatro. She was big in England.

What troubles me about these rock docs is they're oftentimes made with an inaccurate spin. Like that BeeGees one. Watching it you'd think the BeeGees were as big as the Beatles in the sixties when the truth is they were seen as a singles group with a number of hits and no gravitas.

As for Suzi Quatro... Most Americans of my vintage are aware of her because she played Leather Tuscadero on "Happy Days." But this was after the show peaked and even though there were only three networks, most dyed-in-the-wool rockers never watched prime time television.

The U.S. was quite different from the U.K. In many ways still is. In the U.K. the charts were dominated by what was played on the BBC, which dominated radio. So there was a unified culture. Whereas in the U.S. there was a bifurcation, there were AM and FM. FM was everywhere in the seventies and you only listened to AM if you didn't have FM in the car (or a tape deck!) or you were out of the loop. Therefore, in the U.S. it was all about album artists, hit singles on AM were a backwater. And that's why Suzi Quatro never broke in the U.S. "Can the Can"? If an FM station played it the phones would have blown up with complaints!

But stunningly, "Suzi Q" admits Quatro never broke in America, which lent credibility. That was my litmus test.

And the truth is there a documentary on everybody these days, and it's all hagiography and done on a budget and unless you're a diehard fan you don't need to watch.

But I recommend watching "Suzi Q." If for no other reason than the inclusion of Mickie Most and Mike Chapman, who both deserve documentaries more than most acts being featured.

Also, you can tell "Suzi Q" was not made on a shoestring. Some money was involved. And the truth is it ultimately devolves into a high budget "Behind the Music," with the uplifting ending about continued inroads into the music sphere, but before that...

Suzi Quatro needed to make it. HAD TO MAKE IT! Most people don't, but most people are not that dedicated, are unwilling to drop out of high school and go on the road with their teen band. I'd never heard of the Pleasure Seekers, nor Cradle, but this was when bands could still be regional, when if you never got on the radio and never got press you could be completely unknown.

But I knew about Suzi Quatro.

This was the heyday of the rock magazines. "Rolling Stone" was now mainstream, coveted for its political coverage as well as its music news and reviews. But "Creem" was all music, and before it turned into a Kiss devotee rag, when it still had credibility, it featured acts that rocked from both sides of the pond. You read about Suzi Quatro even though she meant nothing here.

But this was a very small pool of people. The talking heads in this picture were not typical. You had to follow the scene, be devoted in order to be aware of Suzi Quatro and her hits. Kind of like Marc Bolan and T. Rex. Over here, he had just one infectious big hit "Bang a Gong (Get it On)," but over there he was a monster, with multiple top ten successes, his career was a juggernaut.

Detailed in the weekly music press, "Melody Maker" and the "NME," which were part information and part gossip but ready by everybody and much more powerful than anything in the U.S. They were all about the new, they loved to boost the new, but once you made it the fangs came out, on some level it was like sports coverage. With the attendant winners and losers.

And then came Bowie...

By 1972 there was the glam rock movement in the U.K.

Over here...we got Alice Cooper. Who might have had glam makeup and clothing, but whose music was definitely more traditional rock.

And then by '73 Bowie had broken in the U.S. and eventually people knew who Roxy Music were, but it was really two different scenes. And this maintained until the advent of MTV, which was built on the back of new English acts.

So there was a quite tiny coterie of acolytes who were aware of Suzi Quatro, and knew she was American, but most never ever heard the records. You had to buy them to hear them. But the image...

Suzi was cute and sexy all at the same time. She was irresistible!

And she wasn't fake. She played the bass and sang.

But meant nothing.

So...

Suzi comes from a musical family. She slogs it out in the trenches and when her brother Mike brings Mickie Most to a rehearsal, the English producer signs her to a deal with his RAK Records and flies her over to London to make a record, which she does not.

She's a lonely young girl living in a tiny apartment on the fringe of depression. She believes in herself, but she's been cut off from the troops at home, since she sacrificed the band, her sisters, in pursuit of solo fame and...Mickie's got no idea what to do with her.

Mickie Most. Let's see, he had hits with the Animals, Herman's Hermits, Lulu, Hot Chocolate, he even produced the Arrows' original version of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" ultimately brought to the top of the chart by Joan Jett six years later in 1981.

Joan Jett. She's featured heavily in this documentary. She talks about being confused for Suzi. But... Joan can't hold a candle to Suzi, who paved the way and had more hits. Suzi started before the Beatles, she was a lifer. She was not part of Kim Fowley's two-dimensional Runaways which got tons more ink than airplay. The Runaways were totally artificial, Suzi Quatro was much more authentic, more real.

But Mickie couldn't make hits with her. But Mike Chapman came along and said he'd write a song for her, he was new and hungry, and then in the studio he focused on Suzi's assets, the range of her voice with edge, and voila, hits!

No one under the age of fifty, certainly forty, ever talks about Mike Chapman anymore. As a matter of fact, I don't think most people have any idea who he was (or is, he's still alive!) But for a while there, starting over there and then coming to Los Angeles, Chapman owned the airwaves. More lightweight stuff in the U.K., but over here he took the overhyped and musically overlooked Blondie from nowhere to everywhere with "Parallel Lines," a record that jumped out of the speakers from the very first note and kept us hanging on throughout, on a twisting, turning adventure that was far from monochromatic. And Mike had hits as both a writer and producer, sometimes both, like with Suzi Quatro, other times acts just picked up his songs. He was Mutt Lange before Mutt Lange.

And then Mike faded away. His Dreamland Records stiffed and his time was over.

Sustaining is nearly impossible. You've got to change to sustain, and almost no one is willing to do this. Because you risk losing your old fans and you're essentially starting all over. Even Garth Brooks tried to reinvent himself as rocker Chris Gaines but was rejected by the public, it's very hard.

But David Bowie did it. Madonna did it.

And so has Max Martin. Who is more than a knob twirler. A hell of a lot of his records could be issued under his name, they're essentially his, like with Chapman and so many of his acts. But Martin continues to be on top of the game over two decades later. He doesn't desire widespread acclaim, but if you pay attention you know, and are just wowed.

So you see the starmaking machinery in action. The leather jumpsuit. The press. It was a different era. There were winners and losers. If you had no deal you were already a loser. And very few acts could get deals. It was very different from today.

And very different because in order to play you had to pay your dues, learn and rehearse, and you couldn't self-promote online, your best advertisement was your live gigs, so you trudged across the country trying to convert people one by one, and it was far from easy.

So, Suzi Quatro makes it and then her hits dry up and she goes into legitimate theatre and then hosts a chat show and writes a book and...this is when the documentary falls apart.

Unfortunately, either the real Suzi is relatively two-dimensional and vapid or the filmmakers didn't capture her essence. Was the magic all an illusion, or under it all was she really a rock chick?

We see Lita Ford, a true rock chick, who looks like it, but Suzi who is much older looks younger, but they never illuminate the dark spots, other than Suzi complaining that she missed growing up and her father and sister wouldn't acknowledge her success.

The truth is most famous people do it for the acknowledgement. They're trying to fill a hole from childhood that just can't be filled. And usually after they realize this, they can no longer create, at least at the previous high level. There's a dream that things will change, but they don't.

So, Suzi...

Sex?

Drugs?

You might have been faithful to your bandmate/boyfriend/husband, but certainly in the seventies you were hit upon, what was the experience like?

The grind is so heavy that everyone self-medicates. How did Suzi cope?

And Suzi does delineate the grind, the radio station visits, the press conferences, which is why you should watch this if you wanna make it, but the toll, the real effects, the person inside? To a great degree all we get is facts.

How did she decide to go into legitimate theatre? Which her husband disapproved of. Was she just that hungry, or scared she would drop off the radar screen or did she just need the money?

And ultimately she becomes an entertainer. And the truth is the greats are singular, their careers are not this malleable. They can do one thing and one thing only. Be a rock star. Write and record these songs and play them live. So when you're taking every paycheck that comes along, you look more like John Davidson than John Lennon. Then again, even Steven Tyler became a judge on "American Idol...BECAUSE OF THE MONEY!

We never hear about the money. Did she make any? Did she spend it or does she still have it? Does she need to work to survive?

Suzi keeps saying she's just a regular American mom when the truth is her upbringing and road work were anything but typical. Come on, what was it like as a woman trying to sustain your career as you raised kids, and what price did they pay?

And it all happened so long ago. It appears Suzi has had a facelift (and men get them too!), but the truth is she's 71 and it's all in the rearview mirror. As are we. Those of us who are aware of her. Her fans. It's over. Done. All she wrote.

But it's bigger than Suzi...

Forget the sixties, the seventies are done, the era when rock became ubiquitous and rained down so many dollars.

And the MTV era? Poof! History!

As is grunge.

Rap survives, but it's no longer the fresh, breakthrough sound it once was.

But my point here is you watch this movie and if you followed the dots back then, you suddenly realize there are not many dots in the future. And this history will not survive, other than the Beatles it's a blip on the radar screen, never mind being addicted to the rock press, yearning to see your favorites on TV and going to the show because that's the only place where you could get that hit.

So, as you can tell, I've got mixed feelings. Ultimately I'm thumbs-up on "Suzi Q," I just wanted the filmmakers to push the envelope just a bit more. And to tamp down the adulation and constant testimony as to how great Suzi was. No, she was a moment in time. She had a career and hits and meant something in the U.K. As for everybody wanting to be her...the truth is the next big female star after Debbie Harry was Pat Benatar, who didn't play an instrument but had outrageous pipes and was birthed by...

Mike Chapman. And his number two, Peter Coleman.

Listen to Pat's very first album, 1979's "In the Heat of the Night."

She made John Mellencamp a star. Without her cover and the money it rained down he and his team would have been far more discouraged. I could go track by track, "Heartbreaker," I Need a Lover," "If You Think You Know How to Love Me," "We Live for Love"... The energy alone!

But Pat Benatar is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, yet Joan Jett is. And if you lived through the era, Jett had merely a sliver of Benatar's mindshare and success. Hell, remember the joke in "Fast Times"?

But Benatar doesn't fit the narrative. She's not a grungy rock chick who came from nowhere and beat the odds to...exactly what? Image and little success?

And once again, the thread is the Commander, Mike Chapman.

But Benatar did not need Chapman and Coleman to continue to succeed, unlike Suzi Quatro, she moved on to Keith Olsen and had even greater success!

Not that I need to put down anyone who had any success. I'm just trying to add some context, some flavor, some reality.

We're constantly bombarded by these documentaries telling us someone from the past was the giant they were not. And youngsters' perception is skewed. Kind of like the new "All Things Must Pass" remix... Just give a listen to "My Sweet Lord," it's been remixed to the point where the magic is gone, it's no longer a hit, it sounds like something coming from a transistor radio in the next room. Why can't they leave the past alone? Let us remember the way it was? Have youngsters exposed to the original article, which thrilled us so much to begin with. We age, we show the lines and experience, but too many classic rockers get plastic surgery to look like they did way back when, when the joke is their dash for relevance is laughable. No one looks identical after a facelift, no one!

Not that my words are gonna stop anybody.

And I haven't read a single negative word about this George Harrison remix, and there are all these hosannas about the Beatles remixes when they're tripe, which Geoff Emerick told me and so many others but he's now gone and nobody who was there then is in control now. Let's repaint the Sistine Chapel! How about redoing the Mona Lisa, it's not clear whether she is smiling or not, rumor has it Leonardo was rushed at the end, let's subtly change it so she's smiling. Huh? THAT'S SACRILEGIOUS!

But since "Suzi Q" is not on Netflix, nobody will see it.

Are you in it for the money or the reach?

It's all about the reach in art. You make these documentaries, you play them at film festivals, then you put them behind paywalls that disincentivize people to ever see them. Maybe we need a rock doc streaming outlet, this stuff 24/7! The new MTV/VH1 model. But even though story is the hook, all we've got is live performance, which doesn't translate to the flat screen.

But l recommend "Suzi Q," not so you'll be convinced she's a forgotten superstar, but to demonstrate how hard it is to make it, how you have to dedicate yourself and still pay dues once you've had a hit, how you end up in the maelstrom and only those in it with you can understand your plight. That's why the audience reveres you, YOU'RE DIFFERENT!

But Suzi keeps telling us she's just the same.

I don't buy it.


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Rod Argent-This Week's Podcast

Rod Argent started out in the Zombies, for which he wrote the classics "She's Not There," "Tell Her No" and "Time of the Season." After the band broke up Argent formed a group under his own name and with Chris White composed their Top Five hit "Hold Your Head Up." Then with partner Peter Van Hooke he produced Tanita Tikaram's multi-platinum album "Ancient Heart" with its MTV staple "Twist in My Sobriety." And now he's in the Zombies once again! Not only does Rod tell the stories of the acts and the hits, he details what it was like growing up in the U.K. in the days of shortages, when the world was still in black and white. Argent is an amazing raconteur, you'll love hearing his stories!

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rod-argent/id1316200737?i=1000531070715

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast

https://open.spotify.com/episode/41QT6AYGndPSgRoHlGZdmF?si=qcFhLuqQSp-gPo1Kppt4nQ&dl_branch=1

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast?


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Re-Covid/Concerts/Long Haulers

I've been on tour for a couple of weeks now. We have no CCO, the TM asked nothing about vaccinations when hiring crew ("it's everyone's own decision"), and the venues, while largely outdoors, have not required local hands to mask. Many of the venue staff working indoors are wearing masks but not all. These venues are all in the South, where Delta is spiking in large numbers.

I've heard from friends on other tours, several report tour members with positive tests. They were only tested after showing symptoms. No one else was tested and only the symptomatic were isolated. It seems the norm with tours is not to test; the tours can say no staff has tested positive but do not say that they are not tested.

I feel fairly safe about my own health, being fully vaccinated. I worry about being asymptomatic and infecting those whom we contact, including our artists, who are quite coy about their own vaccinations. One claims to be unvaccinated. Band management says they have seen his vaccination card. Why the obfuscation? How do I interact with this person?

We all need the income, but I do wonder how long we will maintain the tour.
Every time I sneeze from pollen allergies I wonder what's really up. When I see local hands coughing up lungers and spitting off the side of dock, and then see 5000 unmasked folks in the audience pressing against the barricades, I have to wonder if we are producing super spreader events.

If you should decide to print this, please do not use my name. I'm sure I don't have to explain why.

_______________________________

After over 40 years of touring, I'm sitting this summer out

I have better things to do than wonder which stagehand contact will kill me

I told my boss that by the time I hand him his first guitar I've been in contact with at least 16 locals; unloading the truck, pushing the ramp, uncasing the gear

Then I get on a bus with 10 other crew who themselves have been in contact with their 16 stagehands...

I just read a great Farley Mowat book ( the Boat Who Wouldn't Float) and am enjoying my time where I can choose who I am in contact with

Vaxed and masked !

Mk Bitterman

_______________________________

What you say is so true. Here in France 1 million people made appointments to get vaccinated since the Macron government mandated vaccine certificates to enter restaurants, cafes, museums, concerts etc. It works. And the 200,000 (.002 % of the total population of 67 million) who took to the streets are whining about the infringement on their personal liberty and proclaiming that they would rather not go to restaurants or cinemas because their rights are being infringed and that's what's most important; I hope they enjoy staying home during their August vacation traveling time which as you may know is sacred here in France and other parts of Europe.

Glenn in Paris

_______________________________

yikes. this is really serious. we're still sorting out our COVID protocols; we have required all our tour personnel to be fully vaccinated and email us their vax cards - two people chose not to return to work instead and have been replaced. but all sorts of decisions about paid VIP meetngreet guests, personal guests, local crew interactions, catering areas, etc, still need to be finalized.

Toby Mamis
ALIVE ENTERPRISES

_______________________________

I used to be an agent in touring, and left during the pandemic to manage an artist I discovered who ended up signing with one of the majors a few months later. We're planning his first debut headline dates for January '22 and I'm just so hesitant to fully pull the trigger, especially when I see stories like this. Luckily the artist really cares about his fans and wants to make sure people are protected if (and when) we do shows, but I'm afraid that even January will be too soon. This pandemic isn't over yet... and maybe it never will be. Yet, it feels like the collective attitude from the masses is that they just don't care. I mean, look at the crowds at Lolla and Rolling Loud. I heard that recently there was a show at one of the 500 caps in LA and upwards of 100 people went home with Covid. And yet, stories like this that you shared are far too common, and far too unreported. Thank you for sharing.

I hope the country (and the world) comes to their senses and gets vaccinated. It's absurd how much misinformation is spread, and how many people are uneducated on how the vaccine works and becomes effective for the general population. We're letting this virus run rampant and develop faster than our medicine, and it feels like we're going to be battling this virus for another decade+ at this rate... I hate to think about what it will mean for touring.

_______________________________

Spot on Bob,

I will not re-open my show after 8 years in Las Vegas, until it is safe for my cast, crew and obviously punters.

No one is going to be ill or die on my watch, but I am getting grief from local press as I seem to be the only Show Producer in Vegas doing so.

Never been a follower, or worked for a corporate.

Stay safe.

Sir Harry Cowell

_______________________________

Spot on (no surprise). A mess.

I'm in a full time cover band that plays weddings, events, and busy tourist spots in the northeast. Starting 3/7/2019 we were suddenly unemployed. Good news; we made it though. Mid-May 2021 bookings went from zero to 100 and I have been playing to hundreds of people a night (in very close quarters), 3 or 4 nights a week, within about a 300 mile radius. And we, and everyone at the gig…staff, audience…all go home, wherever that is.

I still mask indoors, but at venues we play there's no chance of staying safe. You're constantly near someone.
And I come home to my (vaxxed) immunocompromised (cancer, stage 4) wife every Monday with around four states worth of dirt on me and everything I carry, worrying that this might be the time I got accidentally spit on by the wrong person at the bar. Ultimately to fire up Facebook and see another braying moron standing up for "their freedom", still somehow completely ignorant to the irrefutable fact that This. Fucking Isn't. Only. About. You.

jeff.g

_______________________________

I can't thank you enough for for shedding light on long covid. I did an interview with billboard about my battle with it which really only touched the surface of how insane it's been for me. It's a real struggle for so many that is still flying under the radar. It's infuriating when people won't get vaccinated citing high survival rates when the truth is you may survive but not with your quality of life intact. Though I am improved 16 months later I still battle with various symptoms and liver damage that I am hoping will resolve. This happened to me at 37 if I was 20 years older I probably would have been dead. So many people think they are untouchable and it can't effect them (particularly young people) and those are the ones delta is going to take down. Pre vaccine I would have had sympathy for anyone who got covid but if covid cuts you down and you didn't get vaccinated at this point that's just karma. The fact that it's not govt mandated is a joke. Society is in for a rude awakening at some point with hundreds of thousands of long haulers many quite young on disability and in need of constant medical care. It's a fucking mess.

Thanks again,
Jarred Arfa

_______________________________

You mention Russian Roulette and catching that one bullet, but even the empty chambers can drastically impact your life. We have an antivaxer friend who's family caught it from her husband, a police officer who's partner came to work coughing sick for several days. After a week of being sick at home she ended up in the hospital for ten days. She was never intubated, but can you imaging the cost of ten days of in-patient hospital care? Even if you get a moderate case, you can still end up with a pile of bills that have a substantial impact on your family - and that's if you are the lucky one in the hospital.

David Anderson

_______________________________

I have a friend in the hospital right now who's fully vaccinated, caught a variant and deadly ill…
It's bonkers out there!

Fiona Bloom

_______________________________

When I saw Sir Lewis skip the tire change and start alone, then ask the pit where he was on track related to other drivers, then nearly pass out on the podium just before the Champagne Fail, it all said Long COVID to me. By the reports of victims, it's usually the milder first cases that may get the Long COVID symptoms (there are as many as 100 symptoms) and up to 30% of first COVID infections will go Long. It's a horror movie nightmare experience, and you think you might die, or might want to. The best place to see the firsthand reports is on FB at Survivor Corps group. My Long symptoms persisted for over 3 months and all the while my labs and BP, were normal. Docs are just now accepting that it is a "real thing ". They have little to no idea how to treat it. How Lewis was able to make that drive, I will never know.
Thanks for raising awareness, Bob.

Jim Long

_______________________________

I, too, have some lingering long haul symptoms. Mostly occasional dizziness, just like Hamilton. But I'm not an F1 driver and it in no way hampers me from leading a normal life. I fought the virus and I won. But two people I know have been hospitalized with thromboses following their second jab. I'm a lot more comfortable risking another bout with the virus than deliberately injecting myself with an experimental drug that mimics it. Sorry, but I'm sticking with the devil I know.

Lawrence Shore

_______________________________

It's so scary - Long Covid is all I'm thinking about. My cousin in NYC got covid last November. She still doesn't have her taste back. Her doctor has her "training" her brain with distinct smells and tastes like lemon etc. She is so depressed.

I was never worried about dying from the original covid - but we were very very very careful - cause I didn't want to be a burden - didn't want to infect my wife - have to quarantine - go to the hospital - take a ventilator from someone who was sick and compromised. And wanted to squash this thing like the countries who united and handled it.

But - losing my taste? Fatigue? Dizziness? For how long? That's so scary.

We are back to being very careful - no office - no parties - no inside anything.

We are in Act 2 - and we are in the unknown again.

Stay safe Bob. Thx.

Peter van Roden

_______________________________

One of the main differences between LC and ME/CFS is that LC patients are much more likely to experience shortness of breath. But both are umbrella terms
with a host of symptoms, many of which overlap, with some persisting others variable - and, what helps one person might not help another.

I was in a Rugby team - that was a breeze compared to ME/CFS fatigue..
I was in a long distance cross country team - the fatigue of that was nothing compared to ME/CFS
I was in a physcal day job and attending/taking meetings until midnight 6 nights a week, that was a doddle compared to ME/CFS
I contracted infective hepatitis from a plumber and was so weak I could barely crawl to the toilet - that tiredness felt benevolent compared to ME/CFS.

So when Lewis Hamilton says "The level of fatigue you get is different and it's a real challenge.".
He's only hinting at how devastating the fatigue of Long covid can be.

Then there's "brain fog", a ridiculously benign term for a seriously debilitating condition or episodes.
I lost a job because it - so then a severe economic and life upheaval ensues for person, family and friends.

Linden Coll

_______________________________

You want to have your mind blown about long covid? Join this Facebook group of more than 13,000 and read some of the heart rending posts about the life altering after effects experienced by covid survivors, many of whom weren't even dangerously ill with the virus. One of the group's founders, Amanda Finley, has been very instrumental in bringing long covid into the public eye. https://www.facebook.com/groups/COVIDLongHaulers

Laurie LaCross-Wright

_______________________________

I read that thread you shared on touring during COVID and saw this a few times:

"Live Nation has a clause that states an artist can't mention Covid or the pandemic as the reason for cancelling a show."

Is this true from what you have heard?

I have seen some recent shows cancelled with that excuse and in the past I chalked that up to poor ticket sales. That may still be the case but now I am wondering if there is another aspect to this.

Sam Hunt & Zac Brown Band Stadium Concert Cancelled "Due To Unforeseen Circumstances"
Jason Isbell's Kansas City area concert is canceled due to 'unforeseen circumstances'
Willie Nelson show at Ozarks Amphitheater postponed 'due to unforeseen circumstances'
Tanya Bartevyan *Unfortunately, this concert has been canceled due to unforeseen circumstances
Due to unforeseen circumstances, The Commodores concert scheduled for this weekend

More:
https://www.google.com/search?q=%E2%80%9Cunforeseen+circumstances.%E2%80%9D+concert&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS961US961&oq=%E2%80%9Cunforeseen+circumstances.%E2%80%9D+concert&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l2.9328j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

- Paul Kersh

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Aella

"America's Sex Recession"

Apple: https://apple.co/3A6nDMH

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3xoqxuq

First I listened to the Daily. Turns out that when you're vaccinated few antibodies populate your nose, and it's from your proboscis that most Covid droplets emanate. Therefore, if you get a breakthrough infection, you're just as contagious as the unvaccinated. So you may not have a bad case of Covid, but those susceptible around you, the unvaccinated and the immune-challenged, are at full risk.

Having finished that, I listened to Ken Burns on Sway. And ended up confused as to whether I liked him or not. On one hand he's apologizing for the perception of his success, on another he's a Luddite, yet he wants to get the history right. But he is smart, and was interesting to listen to.

Then it was past ten and I was halfway down the trail and I was wondering what to listen to next. The truth is there are many podcasts, but few worth listening to. And I'm scrolling through my list and I think of Bari Weiss, who I don't always agree with, but is uber intelligent (as well as uber self-confident!) So I scroll through Bari's offerings and really none of them are ringing my bell, but then I see one entitled "America's Sex Recession." I'm up for a discussion of sex in the pandemic era, interested to hear Bari's spin on it, especially since she's been married to a man and is now engaged to a woman, her perspective would be unique.

And Bari's going on about men having less sex and the reasons therefor. And she gets to blaming it on the internet. And then she plays a segment from the movie "Her" where the protagonist falls in love with an operating system. The crazy thing is when you listen to the clip you get it, the tone of voice the woman behind the OS employs. Most men are rejected by women, or experience a flat affect in return, but this OS woman's voice is engaging, I caught the tone immediately, the one you get when the woman you're speaking to likes you.

Which doesn't happen that often.

So I'm rounding a curve thinking about something else, that happens, especially when hiking, and then I start to realize that it's no longer the computer speaking, but a real person. Bari is talking to Aella.

Hmm... Never heard of her. But as her story unfolded I was riveted.

Turns out Aella is a sex worker. She started on MyFreeCams and then became an escort IRL and now is on OnlyFans. And she's at the tippity-top of OnlyFans, and that's where all the money is, just like on Spotify.

And then as I step onto the rocky shortcut, Aella says she spends 80% of her time marketing and 20% actually creating.

And that's when I thought of writing this, telling you to listen to this podcast. Which is ultimately just an interview with Aella. The first half being the facts, the second half being her perspective.

So it turns out she got burned out on MyFreeCams, playing the ratings game. To get on the home page... It comes down to how much you're making per hour. So, you've got to get customers to pay from the very start. And you've got to be on the service constantly to build an audience to begin with. It's a job, with pressure! You think you just set up a cam and you're off to the races, making dough, but that is patently untrue.

But on OnlyFans, you're ultimately in business for yourself. There are multiple ways to play. You can charge a high monthly fee and provide all content. A low monthly fee and upsell some content. Aella employs a hybrid model. A lot for free, but she upsells too.

All the marketing is done on Reddit. She's posting multiple times a day. The posts are automated/timed, to when the best reception/most views occur.

So Bari starts talking to Aella about her relationship with her members. And Aella says the great thing about OnlyFans is the men are not in competition with one another, you can't see what someone else is doing so you believe you've got a one on one relationship with the provider, in this case Aella. On MyFreeCams you can see the whales dropping bucks and you get discouraged, believing you'll never have a chance. As for the reality of the relationship on OnlyFans? The truth is some women have content farms responding to subscribers, it's all false, but not Aella.

And then the discussion centers on what men want. It turns out their primary interest is in connecting. They don't want to talk about sex so much as who Aella is, and who they are. Almost like a real date. Conventional wisdom is men are wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am but this is totally false, that's just a sliver of the population.

And Aella is so intelligent, and neither smug nor off-putting in any way.

So Bari asks which form of monetization Aella prefers. And she says escorting.

This makes no sense to me. Putting yourself at risk with men?

But Aella said she's high-priced, and her customers...

Are usually men who can't make it with women. They just don't know how to play the game. Forget having sex with a woman, they don't know how to talk to a woman at all, and they're hiring Aella to learn how to do it. So one customer just wants to be held. Another is so weird he can't connect with anybody. But Aella says she's weird enough that they could relate. She says she continues to think about these customers. And yes Bari, she is somewhat like a therapist. God, if men listened to this podcast Aella would be overbooked! But right now, during the pandemic, she's only on OnlyFans.

So what we've got here is a woman with her own business making bank with very few customers, relatively speaking. She's not reaching everybody, she's not Ariana Grande, but she's in control of her own life and is more than making a living.

So I thought of musical groups. And all that marketing. Then I thought how that's what acts are good at these days, online marketing, it's only the music that is unappealing. Conversely, you can have great music and without the marketing you can't make it. And the truth is Reddit and other social media platforms are more powerful than traditional media for almost all acts. And all we hear about is Facebook, almost no one talks about Reddit.

So who is Aella? Where did she come from?

I'm driving home now, steaming via Bluetooth to my sound system. And it turns out Aella was raised in a strict evangelical Christian household. With even a censoring device on the television. She saw "Titanic," but she didn't know that Leonardo and Kate had a love relationship. She was living in darkness. She went to public school for a bit at fourteen, but her parents immediately extricated her when they found out they had internet in the classroom. Sure, they had internet at home, but only a few sites were approved.

So Aella goes off to college, her eyes start opening and then she runs out of cash and her parents refuse to foot the bill. So she works in a factory. Sixty hours a week at ten bucks an hour. And then a friend tells her about camming.

Now ultimately Aella says that looks do matter. That once you're even slightly overweight, your revenue goes down, way down. And when I looked her up later I could see that Aella was almost painfully thin. Oh, she's 29, she's been doing this for ten years.

And she's talking about her body, she had plastic surgery because her nose was crooked. And she experimented with injectables, but no one seemed to notice the difference. And Bari starts wondering about plastic surgery and Aella says she sees he body as a tool, nothing more.

And then Bari starts bringing up hot points. About the killing of... And Aella went crazy. Sure, Asians were killed, but that wasn't the point, Asians should not be discriminated against, but the truth is those women were SEX WORKERS, that was what it was all about! And now she doesn't trust the press.

You can try listening to sex podcasts. They're unlistenable. You've got hosts who are constantly laughing, it's R-rated discourse that doesn't satisfy and certainly doesn't titillate. As for the ones interviewing those involved in the game... The truth is too often they're outcasts, you can't relate to them, never mind they can't even tell a good story. But Aella? It's like sitting down with your next door neighbor's adult child and being impressed as this smart woman tells you her tale and wrestles with the concepts. This wasn't lowest common denominator sexual innuendoes, this was intelligent conversation, this was impressive!

So at first I was fascinated by the business issues. How much selling it took to make a living. That marketing seemed abhorrent to me, but is it necessary to make bread?

Then I was wowed by the truth about men. We just read about these blowhard "winners," who manipulate women and then discard them, it being all about sex, when the truth is this is not representative of men at large whatsoever.

Then there was the insane Christian upbringing.

And finally, the viewpoint. There's an expert in every field online, but instead we get journalists telling the story and too often getting it wrong.

You want to listen to this.


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David Crosby-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in today, August 3rd, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

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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From The Trenches

"Touring During a Pandemic: My Covid Breakthrough Story": https://bit.ly/3ymQRXp

Update: https://bit.ly/3iij7ok


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Covid/Concerts

"Crowded Lollapalooza music festival could bring cascade of Covid cases, experts warn - Infectious disease experts worry that precautions were insufficient, and infections may have spread among the 100,000 daily audience": https://bit.ly/2WSvsrj

So this is how it appears to be playing out. Corporations are closing their doors to the unvaccinated, you can't work for Disney or Google if you haven't gotten the shot(s), but there's still a large vocal constituency that refuses to get jabbed. Now what?

Well, you can blame the Democrats for one. Always cowering in the face of Republican advances. The Democrats don't act, they react. And it's hard to win a battle if you're always playing defense. There was so much right wing blowback about vaccine passports that the Democrats shut up about them, worried about alienating those who would never vote for a Democrat anyway. And now there's no good way to establish whether someone is vaccinated or not.

Getting a fake vaccine card is much easier than getting a fake driver's license. Never mind that my card is on a flimsy piece of paper that looks like it was made at home to begin with. Never mind the fact that most people carry the image on their phone, and in pictures the fake can look real.

"Fake COVID-19 vaccination cards are 100% a thing at Lollapalooza in Chicago. You can get it with a single-day wristband for $50. I have confirmed that it does work.": https://bit.ly/3flYMNe

They may have turned away 600 unvaccinated people at the Lollapalooza gate, but expect that number to go way down once the word spreads, once people are prepared with their fake documents. Then what?

Well it looks like the concert industry is similar to the Olympic committee. Money is everything. So the games go on, without attendees, athletes get infected and have to drop out and NBC loses a bucket of cash on the TV rights. Is this a victory?

Never mind the Olympics were a thing before everybody knew the East Germans and Russians doped and it was all political anyway. And just try watching the damn games. Go on your Roku, good luck jumping through the hoops of authorization. NBC is so worried about getting ripped-off, people watching for free, that most people aren't even bothering. You always start free with technology, the key is to get enough people using the device or platform to spread the word and reach critical mass. But NBC doesn't realize it's competing with more than network, more than cable, even more than streaming. They're competing with the damn smartphone itself, which works much better than their clunky interface.

So, promoters can say they're requiring vaccination but it really doesn't mean anything. If an unvaccinated person wants to go, they'll find a way. But the promoter will say they've done their duty.

So now who do we sue?

The mayor who wants the revenue?

Never mind that infections show up in excess of a week past the date of the event and so many people don't call in their illness.

So what we've got here is a mess. Created by those supposedly in the know, on the right side of the discussion, but not much better than those spreading disinformation.

And it's one thing to require vaccination at left-leaning, middle class white Lollapalooza. But how about in the deep south at a country show?

Now speaking of country, Luke Bryan, a bland performer if there ever was one, brought Morgan Wallen on stage last week. To hosannas. Turns out the media is not as powerful as it thinks it is. And if you take matters into your own hands you can make a difference, change the course of action, win in the end. The media was canceling Wallen, the same media which believes Twitter reflects the headspace of the public. No, it's a self-selecting minority! Twitter's not worthless, but if you want to draw broad conclusions, beware.

As for DaBaby... It was musicians who canceled him first. Showing you don't need the stinking media to lead the way.

So, what is going to happen with shows?

It's too soon to know. It hangs in the balance. Yesterday Fauci said the spread of the Delta variant would get worse before it gets better. And even if you successfully held mass events in weeks past, we're in a different era today. Delta is gangbusters and very transmissible. But promoters are wary of shutting the business down.

Hell, if I ran the world they would. You've got to penalize the unvaccinated. And if the rest of us have to suffer, I'd rather suffer now than for years to come.

So it turns out nobody really runs this country. It's a collection of tiny fiefdoms that no one really has the temperature of. I'd say it's the wild west without guns, but now with all these permitless carry laws we've got those too.

So what's end game?

In Europe they're making all the car companies go electric, they're worried about the environment. In the U.S. the story is Elon Musk, not Tesla. These same people who won't get vaccinated won't buy electric cars until dealers stop selling them.

But we can change behavior.

I bought a 1974 BMW that required you to put on your seatbelt before you started the car, all 1974 models had this. People were plenty pissed, they got rid of that the following year, but that's truly what made everybody start wearing seatbelts. And now if you don't buckle up there's a ding so annoying you want to shoot your car, or yourself.

There are now laws on the books that you can't drive without being buckled in. If they didn't already exist there'd be tens of millions fighting the powers that be not to have them, because they want to have the freedom to die!

Biden could lead. But he's so busy trying to be bipartisan that he's lost our faith, mine anyway. The right is playing chess and the left is playing checkers. No, scratch that, no matter what the left wants to play the right won't play at all! Imagine knocking on your next door neighbor's door and finding out your buddy doesn't want to play baseball. Would you go home and sulk, beholden to his behavior or...would you just go to the damn field and play with those who were there? And, of course, once you start playing your next door neighbor, and everybody else, wants to get into the game.

You've got to have character. You've got to lead.

Corporations got the memo. No unvaxxed people in the building. When is the government gonna get the memo? Why isn't the justice department suing Florida and the rest of these states with live free and die statutes?

And yes, this is about life and death.

And people are stupid. And they seem to only learn from experience. We protect people on the highways, in national parks, how come we can't protect them against Covid-19?

Forget the arguments, you're already convinced.

But now we've got to leave the others behind and wait for them to wake up. Stop catering to them, you cannot win them over. But if they can't go to a show, can't get on a plane, can't go to a restaurant, can't do almost anything where the public congregates, they're gonna change their minds and get the jab, because it's just too damn lonely looking at the four walls of your house.

What we need is more leadership. A national vaccination database. Don't tell me about privacy when I can find anybody's address online instantly. Never mind social security. We need to close the doors to the unvaccinated and open them only to the vaccinated. We want the unvaxxed to be on the outside looking in. With it being THEIR CHOICE whether to participate.

Who's got the balls?

Doesn't seem like anybody other than private companies that don't let the public through their doors to begin with. Everybody's always waiting for someone else to make the decision, to lay down an edict.

But that's America today. No one wants to take a risk. But you can't advance if you don't.

I mean are we really going to be dealing with this Covid issue for years?

Right now it looks like it.

And that's completely untenable.


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The Rickie Lee Jones Book

"Last Chance Texaco": https://amzn.to/37gCYhm

It's amazing she's alive.

This book has not gotten enough press. It's the absolute best book about being an artist in the rock world that I've ever read. It's beyond honest.

Most people are feeding the starmaking machinery behind the popular song, but not Rickie Lee, she stands alone, she does it her way or else it's the highway, where she spent a lot of time.

She grew up in Phoenix. When she wasn't running away. Stealing a car with a boyfriend and driving to L.A. Living in a cave in Big Sur. Hitchhiking from California to Ontario on a verbal agreement despite only being fifteen years old. You'll be riveted by the course of her life. But the reason "Last Chance Texaco" is so damn good is because of the underlying truth revealed. We're not only seeing the world through Rickie Lee's eyes, she's telling us how she feels about it. You remember feelings, don't you? Gone in today's arts all in service to building a brand. You show no weakness in America today, otherwise people will push you to the side, you will not be taken seriously, you won't ever get the big money.

But Rickie Lee Jones was never concerned with the big money.

Now this was the late sixties and early seventies folks. Which is fifty years ago, but it wasn't as quaint and unsophisticated as some might believe. Sure, there was no internet, but it was far from the wild west. I grew up in the suburbs, where parents focused on their progeny getting into elite institutions of higher education. But Rickie Lee? She didn't even graduate from high school!

She was kicked out for a bad attitude. This happens again and again. Rickie Lee is canceled for just being who she is. Have you ever experienced this? I certainly have. You're not trying to make trouble, but your identity just does not square with conventional precepts and you must pay the price. For some reason they believe you're stupid, but then when you demonstrate greater intelligence than they possess they come down even harder. Become an automaton. Hew to the rules. Don't color outside the lines. And then you'll become a productive member of society.

Yeah, one in which there's no lifetime employment and nobody cares about anybody else. The boomers were sold a bill of goods. Prepared for a world that was crumbling and ultimately did not exist. They thought becoming professionals, doctors or lawyers, would be enough to insure success, to put them at the top of the economic ladder, but by the end of the eighties Michael Milken was making half a billion dollars a year in finance and they weren't even in the stock market.

So Rickie Lee knows her family is insane. They come from nothing and continue living on the bottom. Her father rages and her mother's mood swings are unpredictable. Rickie Lee comes home from school one day to find out her mother has pulled all her teeth. Why? Because they were hurting her. Huh?

Her older sister Janet spins wild, gets pregnant and then lords her age over Rickie, jealous that she didn't get to be a free teenager.

Meanwhile, the family keeps moving.

So Rickie Lee is in school, and everybody HATES HER! She's just being herself but she can get no traction. She's got cooties. Being popular is the number one goal in school, certainly if you go to public school. To be on the other end of the spectrum is to be a dreaded pariah, and Rickie Lee describes her feelings so well.

But ultimately she is rescued by the Beatles. She's a Beatles fanatic. How many books have been written about this? How many movies made? But Rickie Lee nails the mania, what it felt like to be a young girl inspired and changed by the foursome from Liverpool. She delineates how it was different back then, and it certainly was, despite wankers constantly telling us that it's the same today, that we're just too old to recognize it.

But no, back then we followed the music, lived for the music!

Rickie Lee snuck in to see Hendrix.

She even went to the Devonshire Downs festival, a pre-Woodstock event that no one who wasn't there seems to remember, if they even heard about it: https://bit.ly/2VuwiJK She had to make her way to Northridge, California in June of 1969 at the age of fourteen, because she needed to be closer to the music, she couldn't miss it. And Rickie Lee was not the only one. But most other people asked mommy and daddy to lend them the car, pay for it all, but not Rickie Lee.

So she lives a peripatetic lifestyle, bouncing all over the west coast, being brought home by the law only to run away again. She keeps talking about her large breasts covering up her young age, but there's also constant interaction with boys/men, crashing at their places, and you know what that means...

But she can sing.

But despite getting a few breaks, after years she's ready to give up, but she calls her mother who bad vibes her, saying she always wanted to be a singer and she hangs in there until Lowell George decides to cut "Easy Money" and...

I don't care if you've never even heard of Rickie Lee Jones. If you consider yourself an artist, you need to read this book. Because it's the perspective, where she's coming from, that blows your mind. You feel alone, and then you read her book and you find yourself on the same page and you can't believe it. If you're looking to get rich, learn how to network, jump from one traditional stone to another, don't even bother, that's not what this book is about. It's about seeing the world through a young woman's eyes who was broke, kicked around, and through sheer force of will ultimately succeeded.

Oh, Rickie Lee is confident. She knows her talent, knows she has a backbone. But she also knows she's on the cutting edge of women's power. She's breaking trail. And that's the hardest job there is. It's easy to follow in footsteps, but to slog through twenty inches of snow all alone, with no real idea where you're going, that's nearly impossible!

And Rickie Lee's got an artist's mentality. She hangs with Tom Waits and Chuck E. Weiss and then she doesn't. When it no longer works, she moves on. Constantly, throughout her life. And she knows she's no longer in the mainstream, sometimes she can't even get a backstage pass, but that doesn't bother her.

So, the traditional male rock book is a few pages about their upbringing, then how they made the records and tales of the road, with a little dope thrown in for good measure. Rickie admits she got hooked on heroin for three years, but since then she's been clean. And she ain't dropping names, she's telling her story, her real story.

And you know she wrote it. Because of the style.

And it's imperfect. Sometimes the timeline doesn't add up. But you keep reading anyway, believing it's more like poetry. Rickie Lee is uneducated but smarter than seemingly everybody who's got a Ph.D. in the arts. She forged her own way, she didn't need to be told what to do, what hoops to jump through, that was anathema!

So the truth is I almost jumped up to write this screed multiple times while I was reading the book. But first I hadn't finished it, and then it was so late at night and...

I'm not quite conveying the experience of reading "Last Chance Texaco."

My expectations were low. Because these rock books are almost always a disappointment. I can't even name a good one. Except for Kathy Valentine's "All I Ever Wanted." Isn't it interesting that the two best rock books were written by women? And not prissy ones. Pinups. Not manufactured icons. I guess women can be more honest, they're less worried how they're perceived. Rickie Lee Jones doesn't care at all how she's perceived! She takes a swing at Annie Leibovitz even though the photographer barely figures in and Rickie Lee is not busy putting down everybody else.

So I'm reading "Last Chance Texaco" and I'm stunned to find someone who is on my page, who thinks the way I do, and that I did not expect. Do you know what it's like not to fit in in this world? One in which the goal seems to repress your personality enough to have scores of friends with whom you can trade favors to look good and succeed? We live in a world where you can't even say anything negative! Oh, don't tell me about social media, when it comes to business diss the powers that be at your peril. When they say you'll never work in this town again...the streets are littered with people who got a toehold and then lost it. You need to kiss ass to get in and stay in. Sure, there are exceptions, like there are to every rule, then again, it's the exceptions we're drawn to.

I mean who are we drawn to in today's musical landscape? The wet behind the ears Billie Eilish with a manufactured look who can barely sing?

Or Ariana Grande who can only sing?

Never mind the rappers looking to test limits for publicity.

The emperor ain't wearing many clothes, if any at all, but everybody has bought in to the paradigm, for economic success.

But not Rickie Lee Jones. Not so many who grew up in that age and were influenced by the thinking of artists back in that era.

"Last Chance Texaco" is a personal read. Just you and the page. And you'll love being in the cocoon. And even when she makes it Rickie Lee is still trying to figure it out, after betrayals, making her own mistakes, but she soldiers on.

If you just want to read history, there's probably a better place. As a matter of fact, almost all of the book takes place before Rickie Lee even makes it. This is not an album by album paint-by-numbers concoction. This is the story of a person, with a life, whose uniqueness aligned with the general public and then did not. Someone who didn't change herself to stay on the ride of fame and fortune.

Nothing I write here can equal the experience of reading "Last Chance Texaco." I'd stop by and fill up, because this might be the last chance you get to find out how it really was, growing up when music meant everything, and was worth dedicating your life to.

P.S. I did not read "Last Chance Texaco" for lessons, but I kept coming across wisdom and I want to share some of it here.

"She was a bully and bullies can only eat the fearful."

All the parents complaining about the bullying of their kids don't realize they need to stand down and shut up. There are bullies throughout life, and if you don't learn how to deal with them at a young age, you're going to be hurt by them later. They prey on your fear. Stand up to them and they move on.

"'The Lew King Show' was my first lesson in the dark corridors of the music biz, where favors are exchanged and sins offered up as collateral."

"...plus the many songs that are only sung in childhood but are remembered by a few adults whose hearts keep a piece of the enchantment of their youth."

She's talking about the early years, being on the playground, she's not talking about the hit parade, but those songs you sing in school. Like 'Song of the Volga Boatmen' and 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.'" Amazing how they go through my brain on a regular basis.

"He needed more to life than survival."

Bingo! This is it. Not only do you want more, but do you want what satisfies you as opposed to what is safe.

"Dad is about living right now, having some nice things, meeting interesting people."

My eyes bugged out. This is what it's all about, the interesting people! Learning where they came from, what they have to say, these interactions are more satisfying than any possession.

"I knew better than to ask twice."

The couples therapist we see constantly wonders why I never ask again. If you did so in my family, you were hit, abused physically and mentally, you learned to hold your tongue.

"I would never be the 'seamstress for the band' - I was the band."

Not that my parents ever told me this. Somebody was always better. But the shrink I saw in the seventies told me my dream of being an A&R man was specious, why not be president of the label? I still don't think I'm good enough. And it wasn't until maybe two years ago that I realized everybody else was just normal, my mother always told me they were better and who was I to think I could compete? Never mind their opinion ruling.

"It's a great moment when the underdog becomes the alpha dog for the same reason she was once the 'ugly duckling.'"

Rickie Lee is called ugly, and it hurts. Today your looks are a key element of your success, you can't even get your foot in the door if you're not beautiful.

"The Beatles were the source, the holy miracle that gave rise to the religion of the new hippie culture. None that came before them (or after) had the Beatles spark that could inspire an entire generation to devote themselves to music as their personal salvation."

You had to be there to understand.

"Perhaps we grow out of people like we grow out of shoes. They become uncomfortable, too loose or too tight. We remember how much we liked them at first, but now they just don't fit. There is no use saying hello backstage. We would not remember why it had ever mattered so much. A sad glance, just enough to break the heart. No, best leave it lie where it fell. It was good, our journey together, but then we crossed a bridge, and it was over."

You think friendship is supposed to last forever. I've wrestled with this. But people and situations change.

"More goes into the words than what you intend."

Your subconscious adds layers you're not even aware of.

"In the lower echelons, little favors mean everything. Respect is currency."

Thank the stagehands and they never forget you.

"Things had been getting better, so when I fell, I fell further. It seemed as if they would never go my way. Getting closer to the mountain had made the mountaintop seems unreachable. What had I been thinking? Who did I think I was?"

Artists have self-doubt. If you've got none, you're not an artist. Also, artists have a hard time keeping perspective, they can't see what they've already gained, the perch they are on.

"My deepest emotions are universal; the further inside myself I go, the closer I am to mankind. When I sing, you can hear your own teardrops falling on my windowsill."

I've been telling songwriters, prose writers, this for years. The personal is universal! But somehow they think by trying to appeal to everybody they can reach everybody, wrong. That's why "Last Chance Texaco" is so good, it's not written worried about audience perception, you can relate to Rickie Lee's personal feelings.

"But even the greatest moments of life simply slide off our skin with the lightness of fairy dust. They are wonderful but do not have weight. The greatest moments of life don't embed like the hurts of sadness and tragedy."

Win the gold medal and you're elated today. But tomorrow? And you can remember the bad review, the loss from twenty years ago, and feel it nearly as deeply.

"If you're broke you can't get a free anything, but if you've got money, people give you everything for free."

"...since I had learned from my mom to hide good things so nobody could take them."

I don't tell people about my victories, my triumphs, so I can own the good feeling. Others don't have the right reaction, they don't understand what the wins mean to me, or they undercut them, or even worse they ignore them. This was what it was like for me growing up.

"My first lesson in the complex ways money hammers friendship."

It's all hunky-dory and then you make it and those surrounding you...want some of what you've got, or resent you for having it.

"I had not yet learned that every single moment, every accomplishment, deserves a hallelujah and a smile to celebrate the here and now of it (that is like nowhere else). But when it's over, well, it's done."

The good feelings never last. They fade and become myths, you're not even sure you experienced them.

"It has always been hard for me to wait out anger. The unresolved is painful."

The waiting is the hardest part. We're all looking for resolution. We all have varying degrees to which we can handle the lack of resolution. My fuse used to be very short, it's gotten longer, but not by a whole hell of a lot.

"If an act insists on not changing and making the music audience come to them they can end up an oldies act."

Many people might come to see you, but you'll never have another hit and you'll dread singing the same damn songs over and over every damn night.

"Show business is the business of showing your life to the whole wide world."

Know that up front. And he or she who shows the most has the best odds of connecting with the public.

"Fame was never meant for the fifteen-minute brand. This troubadour life is only for the fiercest hearts, only for those vessels that can be broken to smithereens and still keep beating out the rhythm for a new song."


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Long Covid

Lewis Hamilton is one of the most fit athletes on the planet.

Today the Formula 1 race was in Budapest. That's Hungary in case you didn't know. Not that I could have pulled it out of my ass. And when they showed an aerial picture of the Danube running through town, it all came together, like in BLUE DANUBE? These tidbits of information are buried in our brains, only to surface at unexpected moments, knitting together stories heretofore unknown.

So the truth is if you watch Formula 1 two things happen. You want to travel, go everywhere, and you want to go out and participate in sports.

As for the activity effect, that's not limited to car racing. I had the same feeling after watching "Wide World of Sports." When it ended, we'd go outside and throw the football, we'd heat up our bodies and drink up the atmosphere. And although it's true I'd rather read than talk to most people, being out in the elements and being physical heats up not only your body but your mind.

As for travel...

I subscribe to skiing and travel sites on Instagram. I rarely post, but I love looking at the pictures from around the world. I've long loved trekkingtoes, but yesterday I came across earthbestshots and not only was I mesmerized, I longed to get on a plane to go anywhere! Anywhere that was different from here. That's the thrill. Knowing that people thousands of miles away in a completely different environment live full lives in a world equal to our own, it's stimulating and exciting.

Now if you haven't yet watched today's race on the DVR you can stop right here. But if you already did, if you don't follow Formula 1 at all, let me say there was a major crack-up on the very first turn, a bunch of cars were eliminated and Max Verstappen's car was damaged and Lewis Hamilton emerged unscathed, far ahead of the field.

And the Hamilton/Verstappen rivalry has ben the talk of the circuit for the last two weeks, after their collision at Silverstone. I don't care which side you take, but what bugged me was Christian Horner, Mr. Ginger Spice, continuing to complain about it. Even Max O.D.'ed on the questions, preferring just to race. But everybody in life is just looking for that edge, they're working the refs, what ever happened to sportsmanship, gracious losers? Those seem to have disappeared with the sixties.

But that's why I like Lewis Hamilton. He is always gracious, he is a good sportsman, he's the opposite of so many lauded athletes.

But he drives the best car, a Mercedes. Red Bull was faster earlier in the season, but it looks like Mercedes made some tweaks and...

Valterri Bottas rear-ended Lando Norris, who hit Verstappen and then Valterri ended up running into Sergio Perez, taking him out of the race. Ultimately Bottas got a penalty, to be incurred in the next race, but the bottom line is Bottas's Mercedes and Perez's Red Bull were out, and Verstappen's Red Bull was damaged.

And then they halted the race.

And in the time the driving was stopped, so did the rain. Such that when the race began again, everybody but Hamilton, the leader, came in for new tires, slicks, which are faster than the rain tires Hamilton was still on.

So Hamilton came in on the next lap and went from first to fourteenth, from ahead to behind, because you lose on average twenty seconds during a pit stop.

And then Lewis started catching up. There were still sixty plus laps left of this seventy lap race. And, as stated earlier, he had the fastest car.

But he had to battle Fernando Alonso for fourth, who was in a slower car but displayed incredible defensive maneuvers, and after finally passing Alonso and then Carlos Sainz, Hamilton ended up in third.

Do we care about anyone who does not win?

Yes, when there's an annual driver's championship, and a manufacturer's too.

So ever since Liberty took over Formula 1 the operation has been lifted up to the forefront of international sports. It's been professionalized. Previously, Bernie Ecclestone ran it with an iron fist, and made money, but he was so busy cutting corners he wouldn't invest in making the sport bigger.

I was listening to a ski racing podcast last night and it was mentioned that the President & CFO Emeritus at Salesforce was the new head of the F.I.S. And he wants to bring the sport into the twenty first century. There are too many legacy elements holding it back. Like TV rights parceled out to the countries that hold the races. Progress happens. And if you're not constantly looking over the horizon, reinventing yourself, you get left behind. On top today, beaten and forgotten tomorrow.

So, when the race is over, they talk to the drivers. Formula 1 is a cornucopia of information. Every car has a camera, every driver has a mic and so much data/information is exhibited to the public.

But something was weird here.

Esteban Ocon, the winner, was so giddy as to barely be able to talk, it was his first ever Formula 1 victory.

Sebastian Vettel, a former World Drivers' Champion, finished second. In an Aston Martin. Which previously had been seen as less than competitive, a second-tier car in a sport where most of the action seems to reside in the second tier, since Hamilton has run away with the races for years. Vettel was smiling, he was happy, but he was far from ecstatic. Maybe it was his German heritage, maybe it just wasn't that big a deal to him.

And then came Hamilton.

They're talking to him and he's not saying much. I figure internally he's angry. Strategy kept him from winning. He wants to win, he's not happy with third place. But although having a flat affect, he was congratulating Ocon, like I said, he's not a sore sport. But he wasn't saying much, he was different from how he normally is. I chalked it up to the less than spectacular result, after all winning not only gives you the glory, but the points.

And then they have the podium ritual. You know, the anthem and the passing out of trophies and...

Hamilton comes to the stage drinking. I wondered if it was a beer. But hi-def is so good you can see it's water.

And then after the trophies are passed out, everybody involved, the three drivers and the representative of the manufacturer of the winning car, all have giant bottles of champagne. And they shake them and spray them. And Ocon is covered in fizz. But Hamilton is hanging back. He's still standing on the podium when no one else is. Finally he shakes his champagne bottle, but he only squirts a little bit, a tiny spray. Ultimately Vettel takes a big swig from his bottle, Hamilton just a tiny one, and I'm wondering...does he not drink? Lewis seems so passive. He seems so tired.

But a Formula 1 race is grueling. And he came from the back of the pack to third and that's a lot of hard driving and strategy, but no other driver seems so knackered. And he's bending from the waist and he seems to have a problem getting air and...

Unlike too many outfits, Formula 1 has an incredible website, formula1.com, which updates constantly and gives you unbiased information so good you almost don't even need to watch the race.

And I waited until after the race was over to check my device. I was fearful someone would tweet or e-mail me the result and therefore ruin my watching experience.

And first I checked Twitter. There were endless updates. Including that Hamilton had been taken to the doctor.

Huh? I mean he wasn't in an accident. What exactly was wrong with him?

Well, I went to the Formula 1 site and read:

"Lewis Hamilton saw his Mercedes team doctor after fighting back to second in the Hungarian Grand Prix, with his team saying he was 'suffering from fatigue and mild dizziness' and Hamilton himself later revealing he'd had blurred vision while on the podium."

Whoa, that's a mistake, right? I mean I watched, Hamilton came in THIRD! It really bugs me when they have low level employees working the website, how can we rely on the data? (Your website is your front door and must always be up-to-date and correct, you'd be stunned who relies on it, don't sacrifice your credibility for stupid mistakes.)

But just making sure as I'm writing this screed I found this other story on formula1.com, posted since the race ended so many hours ago:

"Vettel loses second-place finish in Hungary after disqualification for fuel sample issue": https://f1.com/3idch3w

It's a sport of rules, and although too many want to argue them, substitute their feelings for those of the stewards, in this case Vettel was penalized for not having the necessary liter of fuel at the end of the race.

So, Hamilton is now second.

But, that's not why I'm writing this. Back to Hamilton's fatigue. The above quote is from an article entitled:

"Hamilton says he's still suffering effects of Covid as he's treated for 'fatigue and dizziness' after gruelling run to third in Hungary": https://f1.com/2VtofNG

Hamilton got Covid at the end of last year.
This is what he had to say today:

"'I'm ok, had real big dizziness and everything got a bit blurry on the podium. I've been fighting all year really with staying healthy after what happened at the end of last year and it's still, it's a battle.

I haven't spoken to anyone about it but I think (the effects of Covid are) lingering. I remember the effects of when I had it and training has been different since then. The level of fatigue you get is different and it's a real challenge.

I continue to train and prepare the best way I can. Today, who knows what it is? Maybe it's hydration, I don't know, but I've definitely not had this experience. Had something similar at Silverstone but this is way worse.'"

One of the wankers who won't get the vaccine, even though she's in the target demo, over sixty five, said worse case scenario she'd get Covid and recover, no big deal. But if Lewis Hamilton, one of the fittest men on the planet, is still being affected eight months later, what are her odds? Not good!

But she's wearing a mask everywhere!

But then there were those women on cnn.com who were hypervigilant, said they wore their masks everywhere, but they got it. And we can question how vigilant they really were, but when you dive down it turns out almost no one is that vigilant, and you can catch the Delta variant in a matter of moments, it's as transmissible as chicken pox!

Lisa's sister still has not fully regained her taste and smell. Her mother is still fatigued. They caught the virus thirteen months ago, they survived but Lisa's father did not.

It never affects you, you believe you're immune.

As far as someone else having a problem? Keep telling yourself how healthy you are, how nothing will happen to you. Because you're superior to Lewis Hamilton?

Another thing about Formula 1 is they wear masks. Everybody. And although sometimes people let the mask slide down from their nose, at least there's an edict and everyone's trying, unlike in our own House of Representatives...THEY DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' MASKS!

But it's not only about you, it's about us too. You get it and infect us. Some of whom got the shot but got no antibodies, like me.

But that's not what you're thinking about, you're only thinking about yourself.

And at this late date there is still tons of misinformation. The truth can't supersede falsehood and the reality is most people now have their own private truth, backed up by some cockamamie information they found online.

I'd say to have Lewis Hamilton do testimonials, ads, but the truth is the people Formula 1 appeals to have already gotten the message, Europe has better vaccination rates than the U.S! And there are other countries that just need more vaccines. But Arkansas has to throw out tens of thousands of expired doses because too many of the state's residents prefer to play Russian roulette.

Get one of those six bullets and you die. Like those odds? I'd never play, not with the almost certain risk of a fatal result.

And, like Lewis Hamilton with Covid-19, you might not die as a result of getting it, but you may be hobbled in a world where no one other than your family and friends care if you die or are crippled. And then these same people who don't want their "freedom" to be impinged beg to be compensated by the government. Is your head spinning yet?

Not that anything I write here will change anybody's mind. That's the truth, most of the unvaccinated are never ever going to get the shot unless they're held down against their will and jabbed. Which would be the worst crisis of their lifetime, being saved from a potentially lethal virus!

But the problem is the elites are overeducated and think they know better.

Yes, sometimes they do.

Instead of rejecting science, living in a box, you'd be better off hoovering up information, seeing how the winners of this world make it and survive. I mean you want low taxes on the rich so when you make it you'll have a financial advantage, why not emulate other behaviors of the elite?

But you'd rather rationalize.

Looks like we've got creeping vaccine passport requirements. It's only going to get tighter. Let's see if you can live without going to a restaurant, or flying on a plane to see grandma, never mind going to a concert

And when you're experiencing fatigue from the virus you won't have a team doctor to check you out instantly. It's going to cost you as the mistrusted medical edifice rakes in profits that you feel must be maintained because otherwise we have socialism, medical care for everybody, and that can't happen.

Meanwhile, they're laughing in the rest of the world. While DeSantis keeps insisting his constituents have a right to die.

Oh, what a country!


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