The world is falling apart. Maybe physically, with climate change. Maybe politically, with the rise of authoritarianism. But I'm talking emotionally.
There is too much information and no center. People aren't sure where they belong anymore.
Sure, there's a crisis of misinformation, mostly fostered online. But once you get past the effects of said falsehoods, the most interesting element is that people can post and get traction. And most people are still unaware of what they've written, proffered.
It used to be simple. You read the newspaper, you watched the network news, and you were caught up.
If you wanted to know about music, you just turned on the radio. And in the late sixties, when FM burgeoned, you knew that Top Forty was on AM, and more esoteric, boundary-pushing stuff was on FM.
And then MTV came along and made it appear we lived in a monoculture. The edges were shorn off. If it wasn't on MTV, it had a lot less meaning. Suddenly there were Top Forty stations on FM, getting their playlist from MTV. But then the internet came along and blew it all apart.
For a minute there, we were excited about the envelope-pushing.
Some got in in the late seventies, like Steve Jobs. Then there were others who entered in the eighties, using computers as tools, for desktop publishing, creating spreadsheets. And then came the internet revolution.
In the late nineties, there was a run on computers akin to the arrival of the Beatles and the British Invasion. Suddenly, all those who were computer illiterate and never planned to buy a computer laid down bucks just to play on AOL. Which was all point and click. It was very exciting.
And then came Napster and broadband and...
Today's landscape looks nothing like that of twenty years ago, but the oldsters still in control keep laying their skewed, ancient templates on top of a world they no longer fit.
Let's talk about the news business itself. If I hear one more ancient reporter talk about the death of local newspapers... Didn't they observe the death of record stores? What do they not get? Oh yeah, most still don't understand digital disruption. They like their assured jobs where like-minded people all travel in the same circle and everybody in Silicon Valley is screwing up the world. These reporters want someone to stop the world, and they want every innovator to get off, but that's not how it works.
So, the aughts were about physical items. You iPod and then your iPhone. The teens were all about software. And the twenties are all about consolidation, realizing the internet behemoths have way too much power and because of their market share and monetary power they can't be dethroned, try to compete with them and they'll force you to sell out to them.
So, Congress missed the purchase by Facebook of Instagram and WhatsApp, and everything in the "Wall Street Journal" articles isn't news to those living online, so once again the government is behind. No matter how much you clean up Facebook's practices, you cannot solve the underlying problems. There aren't enough people to police the posts, and AI is inefficient, so in truth we're talking about the margins. It looks like the center, change must be made, but it won't have the dramatic consequences all the bloviators believe it will.
You see there's just too much information.
The prognosticators, the old guard in music, had this one wrong too. If Napster wasn't shut down, if file-trading wasn't ended, no one would make music anymore. But just the opposite occurred, with the barrier to entry so low, seemingly everybody is making music these days, and you may never hear their tunes, but you'll have a hard time eluding their hype. Marketing has far outstripped the product. And marketing is easier. So marketing is what we've got. But in an on demand world the public, which hates advertising, can mostly avoid it. Apple comes down on the side of the consumer, focusing on privacy, and Wall Street and Main Street freak out, GIVE US OUR DATA! Like they're entitled to everybody's info, like every business entity is Cambridge Analytica.
But that's all top-down, let's talk bottom up.
There's not enough time for ANYBODY to keep up. That's right, NOBODY can keep up!
Oh, you can try by reading the "New York Times," our national newsgatherer, just tune in Fox, they quote it all the time. But the "Times" misses so much! Stories break online first. And then if the noise gets loud enough they decide whether to cover it. Which is why every reporter is addicted to Twitter. They're trying to keep their finger on the pulse! There are too many feeds and it's unclear which ones you must pay attention to. You self-curate, and no one else sees the exact same things, NOBODY! Same deal with Google results, which are customized to the searcher.
So, if the mainstream news can't keep its finger on the pulse, and if the "Times" is superior to other news outlets, how in hell is the general public supposed to keep up?
But since everyone has a microphone, the pillars of society have had their images demolished, rightly or wrongly. According to the right, you can't trust a thing in the "Times." But there is no alternative other than websites and social media. As for Fox News, it does almost no reporting. And for all the reporting on the outlet's power, check the ratings, almost no Americans even watch it. After all, they've got more visual programming than they can watch in a lifetime!
Forget three networks, forget pay cable, forget basic cable. Now there are all these streaming platforms, seemingly every DAY Netflix introduces new product. Not only can no one keep up, if they're not overwhelmed and dive in, they'll find that most of what they're watching no one else is, leaving them isolated.
This isolation is America's problem. Greater than online misinformation. Everybody's got their own smartphone with content customized for them and there are no points of connection, there is no overlap. And the end result is you feel disillusioned and depressed. It's like Mickey Mouse in "Fantasia," you can never catch up.
So you're looking for a group, a tribe. That's the power of Republicans, the right wing, you belong! And stunningly, elected officials feel they must be on the Trump train even though they were elected and he was not. You want to feel like you're included. As for the deep issues, most people are unaware of them. Immigrants are coming for your job and the Democrats are socialists who will eradicate the American way of life. That's enough, that's all most people have got. But they can sit with their buddies and feel like they belong. And there's always information online to support your position, ALWAYS!
As far as getting someone to leave their tribe... They're never going to do it unless there's a ready-made tribe eager to embrace them, make them feel warm and fuzzy. And the only people who've been able to do this are cults. And the truth is the right is akin to a cult, they'll embrace seemingly anyone. As for the Democrats? They're in disarray, living in the last century, the aughts at best, and with Manchin and Sinema their lack of cohesion is on display, adding fuel to the fire of the other team.
But forget politics, most people do. Most people are really damn busy.
Let's start with your job. Either you're making big bucks and your issue is keeping up with the Joneses or you're making few bucks and your issue is staying alive. Numbing, back-breaking work, then you go home, play with your kids, drink, watch TV and do it all over again.
But now the issues have come home. Critical race theory. What are your kids being taught? I mean that's important, right? We've been told forever to think for ourselves, should we just let the school board have its way?
And once again, this isn't about politics so much as the individual. You're told that you must care about everything, otherwise the world as you know it will come to an end, so you should do your best to get involved, get your voice heard, correct? That's almost more important than your position, as long as you align with your tribe.
So you're sitting at home..
What are you gonna eat?
Well, should you go to the store or have your groceries delivered? Should you order in via Uber Eats? Should you worry about eating too much junk food? There are so many more choices than before, so many decisions to be made that you become fatigued with the most basic issues.
And then you sit in front of the flat screen...
Or should you fire up your internet-connected device. Where you can watch what's on the flat screen or endless videos on YouTube, and TikTok and Snap...
Or maybe you should just play videogames.
And maybe you've got a clearly-defined passion. But then one day you become tired of it, you're looking for more stimulation, WHERE SHOULD YOU GO? The tyranny of choice is overwhelming.
The fashion industry says baggy is in and skinny is out. The public didn't get the memo, turns out most people are still wearing skinny jeans. None of the traditional power-wielding entities have the dictatorial power they once did.
As for clothing... You can buy a shirt for five bucks, maybe even less. Parents can't digest this, a kid can have a closet akin to a Beverly Hills housewife for the same price of school clothes decades ago. And not only do kids have to keep up on their social media feeds, they've got to look the part when they leave the house, assuming they do, but of course they all have to go to school, unless they're home-schooled, where even if the kids get a better education, they're not integrated with society, they only hear one opinion and lack socialization, they don't know how to hang with other kids, never mind get along.
So you're gonna dive in, get your handle on what's going on.
Well, first you watch "Squid Game," bigger than any other entertainment product at the moment, Adele doesn't even have a fraction of the power. And why are most people watching it? BECAUSE EVERYBODY ELSE IS WATCHING IT! They yearn to belong.
But after "Squid Game," then what? "Ted Lasso" is already in the rearview mirror, no one's talking about it anymore. They say the new season of "Succession" is secondary, but you haven't even caught up with the old seasons. And you can do your own research, forget all the misinformation out there, an agile surfer can hoover up a wealth of information unavailable anywhere else but online. And you find a great show, and you talk to people about it and...no one has seen it. And you can't convince them to. The investment is too great, and they don't know who to trust. So the smarter and more informed you are the more isolated you become.
It's even worse in music. We keep hearing that it's a hip-hop nation, that only pop has a chance of competing, yet the new IFPI report says that rock is the dominant world genre. Huh? Then how come it isn't in the Spotify Top 50? I mean how many people are even listening to that? Maybe it's just a sliver of society. And the playlists are created by humans manipulated by those controlling recordings and 60,000 tracks are added each and every DAY! No wonder many people give up, just go back to the old tunes, and when they burn out on those, they watch TV or play videogames... But if you say you're burned out on the oldies you're a pariah. But if you say you only listen to the oldies you're a pariah. You can no longer fit in!
The biggest bands in the world can come to your town and you don't even know. Then again, do you want to go for over a hundred bucks? Now it's a Broadway show, not a concert.
And if everybody says something good, you'd better not say it's bad. Because then you just show you don't get it. So stifle your personality to fit in, otherwise you'll have no friends.
And the old tribes have been blown apart. It's not only the news reporters, but the music cognoscenti with their black leather jackets, telling everybody what is good and what is bad. No one is listening to them anymore, no one has the time, no one even cares. If anything, they feel liberated to be able to listen to what sounds good to them. Never mind all of the pariahs of the past being seen as godhead today, like the Carpenters.
Doesn't matter the age. Babies are registered for elite schools. The truth is you could fall behind before five and never really recover. Unfortunately, this is true, therefore parents spend uber amounts of time piloting their kids' lives. Never mind the enrichment programs piled up to make their kids' college applications look good.
As for the kids... You can't leave home without being accompanied by a parent. Furthermore, you live in a police state, your parents track your phone. And there is a camera everywhere. You're locked down, and you can feel it. Maybe you can band together with like-minded kids online and influence the discussion, like the TikTokkers who got tickets for Trump's appearance in Oklahoma, but you can't keep the tribe together, not only does everybody have other interests, there's not another topic everybody can rally around. Just like Coldplay and Dave Matthews owe their huge ticket numbers to being the last acts to have made it before MTV/VH1/TV music paradigm imploded, Trump gained his national fame before network TV eroded to the point of minimization. I never even watch network TV, do you?
And then the old paragons of entertainment news keep telling us what's coming. We don't want to know what's coming, just tell us if it's worth paying attention when it's here!
And we can't go against our tribe, no way. You know what your tribe thinks, what it believes in, that's bedrock. And it's not only politics. If you go against the groupthink you're soon squeezed out. So not only is everybody busy hoovering up information to try and stay abreast of what is going on, they've got to keep up their image on social media and in real life.
And everything we were told was important is sinking. Sports... As for the Super Bowl, it's got nothing to do with the game, it's a national holiday with some of the best visual entertainment of the year, i.e. the commercials, and you know everybody is watching it, so you can argue about the quality of the commercials thereafter. The commercials outstripped the game DECADES AGO! The day after that's all anybody wants to talk about. Credit Steve Jobs, the outsider. Who bought more consecutive time than anybody and created a mini-movie, not only introducing the Macintosh but showing Madison Avenue there was a new way to sell a product, that was BETTER!
And there are still disrupters. Elon Musk being one. They keep selling more Teslas. Diehards, environmentalists buy them, but who are the rest of these purchasers? Maybe people are afraid of laying down big bucks for a gas-guzzler that will be worthless in only a handful of years, like your old MacPlus... Hell, you don't even want to have an Intel Mac! As for a 3G phone... All those technophobes are about to have their main communication method wiped away.
We need more points of communication. We need national rallying points. We need to make society more fluid. Then again, the odds of achieving the American Dream are higher in Europe, never mind Canada. That's right, you can play the lottery, but your odds of moving up the economic food chain have never been worse. Meanwhile, you keep being told it's your fault! You just need to work harder. But so many of these people are working multiple jobs and still falling behind economically. As for socially, emotionally, they've got almost no time for the rabbit holes delineated above.
So the gossip sites are still full, but you don't know who most of the people are. Even if you're in the target demo. Kinda like that old saw that if you've got a tech problem ask your youngster to tackle it. That turned out to be untrue, oldsters were better at solving tech problems, hardware and software. Then again, a lot of these problems have evaporated, with better equipment and operating systems.
And then we're told we've got to be able to fix our devices when the truth is in many cases we want them to break so we can buy new ones! And even if you can fix it, the cost is prohibitive. VCRs were a thousand bucks. You fixed 'em. Then they were under a hundred and you threw them away and bought a new one. Now they no longer exist. Kinda like the EU mandating connections, USB-C. Well, they missed USB-A and Mini-USB and...if you're stopping the wheels of progress, you're hurting society. Apple threw over their initial iPod multipin connector for Lightning, don't you think they would have wanted to support all those radios with docks in hotels? But they knew Bluetooth was gonna rule in the future when most people did not. Heard anybody complain about the lack of a headphone port in their smartphone recently? Remember when that was a big thing? As for iPods, Apple had to stop making them because they could no longer source the parts!
And speaking of parts, do you put thousands into your old car or get ripped-off on a new one, if you can find one. Yes, there's a chip shortage. And shipping delays too, you're being told to do your Christmas shopping NOW!
Meanwhile, there's no one at the center leading the way. The artists are all mini-brands. Hyping themselves to high heaven, just so make sure everyone on Vanuatu gets the memo Adele has a new album. The rest of us are overwhelmed. Adele's new album isn't even out and I'm tired of it and her.
But the marketing machine rolls on.
And money is everything, because if you ain't got it, not only do you fall behind, but your whole damn family. So those with the money and the power, they don't want to let any of it go. Even worse, they think they DESERVE IT! Why should they question this? They're part of a tribe that has been told for years they are the job creators, they worked really damn hard to make it, no one is bringing them down to earth. Hell, Bloomberg thought he was entitled to be President, and as soon as we got a look at him it was clear...NO WAY!
And then you've got people without portfolio, like Yang, who say they can fix it all. When have rank outsiders fixed a business? The lifers have acquired expertise. Andrew Lack blew up Sony Music and now no one even remembers him, never mind Bob Morgado. Hell, Time Warner no longer even owns Warner Music. And the cable system and HBO were sold off in pieces.
Confused yet?
Like I said, no one can keep up.
And what's the use of keeping up? It's easier to just live in the echo chamber of your tribe, that will keep you warm at night.
I'm overwhelmed. And if you tell me you're not, you're lying.
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Saturday 23 October 2021
Thursday 21 October 2021
New Covid
I was just talking to an English musician who is afraid to go on the road. Covid is raging, people aren't wearing masks and he doesn't trust the government. Which has pooh-poohed and botched the Covid response:
"Covid: UK's early response worst public health failure ever, MPs say": https://bbc.in/3jovPlN
As you will remember, it was just a month ago or so that Covid infections suddenly dropped in the U.K., no one knew why, maybe it was never going to come back. But now:
"UK government accused of being 'willfully negligent' as Covid cases mount": https://cnn.it/3m4P1qu
"On Thursday it reported 52,009 new infections, the highest mark since July.
The government has nonetheless ruled out moving to its 'Plan B' approach, which would see the introduction of vaccine passports and mandates in line with many European countries.
'We are sticking with our plan,' Boris Johnson said Thursday. 'The numbers of infections are high but we are within the parameters of what the predictions were.'
But in a scathing intervention on Wednesday, the British Medical Association (BMA) said Johnson's government 'has taken its foot off the brake, giving the impression that the pandemic is behind us and that life has returned to normal.'"
And the rest of Europe is freaking out:
"UK's neighbours criticise Covid policies as cases begin to surge across EU - Several European nations have questioned British response but there are growing signs of fresh wave across continent"
But it's always sunny in Philadelphia, er, the United States, because we're different, we're immune, right.
It wasn't like we didn't get a heads-up on the Delta variant. It was crawling all over the U.K. and Europe before it got here. And it was here for quite a while before anybody took action. And now there's a new variant. As a matter of fact, it's already here:
"COVID-19: New, infectious strain of Delta variant detected in the US": https://bit.ly/3m2LU2d
Rust never sleeps, nor does Covid. You might be out living your life willy-nilly, but Covid keeps mutating and each new iteration is MORE TRANSMISSIBLE!
But we can't take further action in the U.S. because of people's FREEDOM!
Yeah, right.
And then there's that bozo Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich who decided to get fired rather than get vaccinated. Now he's suing for illegal termination: https://es.pn/3C7qR41
Ain't that America. No one can lose out. Everyone thinks their way will prevail. You see Rolovich is a "devout" Catholic, and therefore he deserves an exemption.
What hogwash.
You've got to read this article:
"Many are searching for vaccine mandate loopholes. These are the people trying to stop them.": https://wapo.st/3B4tN0b
"Almost all of Troup's applicants for religious exemptions objected to taking a vaccine developed using fetal cell lines (whose origins can be traced back to cells from electively aborted fetuses several decades ago). So Troup and his team devised a strategy: Those employees would have to sign an agreement not to take any other medical treatments developed using fetal cell lines. Among the 28 medications on the list: Tylenol. Motrin. Preparation H. Claritin. Benadryl. Tums."
"'I very gently and politely asked, "Well, you know, tell me: What medicines on that list...do you think were not developed with fetal cells or tested on fetal cells?"' Troup recalls. 'The response was this diatribe about how evil the vaccine was, how much harm it causes, how data and reports are being covered up. Which told me that it really wasn't about fetal cells at all. It's all about a vaccine hesitancy.'"
In other words, the claimed religious exemptions are just b.s. And we should call everybody on their b.s. I'm sick and tired of the minority holding sway over the majority.
Fewer than 13% of Americans are anti-vaccine: https://bit.ly/3Ga7bPu This happens again and again, with guns, abortion, taxes on the rich, the majority supports the foregoing, but it never ever goes their way. You think there's not pent-up anger?
And the both sides media gives attention to anybody who causes a ruckus, who expounds upon their bogus position loudly, when the truth is they should be ignored or their position skewered.
It's hard to have faith in America today. Manchin takes money from fossil fuel companies and therefore there can't be strict climate controls. Yes, that's America, where companies are not only people, they're immune to the long hand of the government. People in West Virginia want what's in Biden's infrastructure bill:
"In deep red West Virginia, Biden's $3.5tn spending proposal is immensely popular - Working-class people – even Trump voters – understand the Build Back Better plan will benefit them": https://bit.ly/2Zg48EA
And then there's the inane Republican January 6th position. Nothing happened, there is no need to investigate...BUT WE SAW IT WITH OUR OWN TWO EYES!
As for Steve Bannon... That's what I want to do, next time I get a traffic ticket, just not show up. Maybe I'll claim a religious exemption when they come after me. Or sue saying I should be paid by the police for stopping me. Everything up is down.
And most of America knows it.
But this is the same America playing by the rules while the rest do not.
Do you know why Covid raged in the south over the summer? BECAUSE EVERYBODY WENT INSIDE! You need the A/C to survive. And as soon as the weather cooled, they went back outside and infection rates went down. And then it got cold again in the north and people went inside, and BINGO!, increased infection rates, especially amongst the unvaccinated.
But the vaccines don't work, you know that, right? And they kill your immune system and by December everybody who gets a booster will no longer have an immune system. PEOPLE E-MAIL ME THIS IDIOCY EACH AND EVERY DAY! They're in a paper war, albeit online. There are endless sites preaching this nonsense. If you believed these people you'd think millions of people have died from the vaccine and it's new and experimental and while we're at it, we should eliminate the need for any vaccines, while we hobble government's right to take action. No masks, no mandates... It would be utterly laughable if it wasn't so scary.
So America is open for business. And since the nincompoops are not abiding by the rules, the rest of the population shrugs its shoulders and gives up too. It's like letting the wild child in school ride herd over the rest of the students, and you know that never happens, because there are CONSEQUENCES! Actually, there are consequences for the unvaccinated, they could die. But the fact that the vaccinated can die too means the vaccine doesn't work. But the truth is the unvaccinated get infected and die at a much higher rate. And the vaccinated are infectious, can spread Covid, for a much shorter period of time than the unvaxxed. But good luck convincing these flat-earthers like Kyrie Irving of the truth, which is everywhere if you just look. But oh no, better to do your own research than depend upon experts. I've got it, you'd rather fly in a plane built by Facebook followers. Or maybe go to their health clinic. THEY DON'T EXIST! No one is holding them back, the main problem is THEY'VE GOT NO EXPERTISE!
So now what happens.
Well, we need more mandates and vaccine cards/documentation. But we can't even get voting laws passed, never mind the infrastructure bill, because one party keeps on saying no and Manchin and Sinema are whored-out to their donors as opposed to their constituents. After all, you can't continue to win without money!
We've got to close the window on these crybabies, like they do in reasonable countries, like France. The country is no longer a punch line. You can go unvaxxed, BUT YOU JUST CAN'T GO ANYWHERE! It's your CHOICE! Why can't we have the same damn thing in America?
Then there's that story that Paul Stanley's guitar tech died of Covid, HE FAKED HIS VACCINATION CARD! That was on the radio. Don't take it to the bank without further confirmation. But the bottom line is the guy did have Covid and he did die. How'd you like to work with that prick?
And it's not only the wingnuts, it's the above the law rich too:
"Broadway folks bragged about forging COVID tests to go to Tonys parties": https://bit.ly/3C3Pj6r
Seems like you're a sucker if you obey the rules.
Meanwhile, Biden is afraid of his shadow while the right wing press keeps going on about the drop in his approval ratings...WHICH THEY'RE CAUSING! It's the do-nothing right wing congresspeople who are doing their best to shut down the government, LITERALLY!
And no one can see further than their nose. The big problems? We can't afford to tackle them. This is like the jerk who refuses to buy health insurance and then gets into a major accident or gets cancer or... Oops! Then we end up taking care of this freeloader. But who is going to take care of us on climate change... NOBODY! And it's happening while we speak:
"Climate Change Poses a Widening Threat to National Security - Intelligence and defense agencies issued reports warning that the warming planet will increase strife between countries and spur migration." https://nyti.ms/3E5GQA6
It seems like the goal of many Americans is to be an ostrich, they never learned this parable in school. Then again, many believe God will save them, you know, that old powerful man in the sky. And you've got to know, just like they want monoclonal antibodies, just like when they go to the hospital to treat their infection, they want a complete pass when they wake up and need science. They're picking and choosing. Let's see, why don't we let Boeing pick and choose which parts they install in the airplane. As a matter of fact, Boeing is screwing up building their planes, and who is holding them to account? THE GOVERNMENT! Which wastes all your tax money and should be drowned in the bathtub. Yeah, right.
So Covid could die out. It's possible. But past is prologue, and looking at the U.K....it appears that a new wave is on the horizon, HOLD ON, IT'S COMING!
And no one is immune.
"One in three music industry jobs were lost during pandemic": https://bbc.in/3vxT3dX
"One in three jobs in the British music industry were lost during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report from trade body UK Music.
The research said there were 69,000 fewer jobs in music in 2020 than in 2019 - a drop of 35% - due to the 'devastating impact' of coronavirus."
You may want to go to the show, but there may be no show to go to! Ticket sales have slowed to a crawl, so many of the big acts are delaying their tours.
Yes, we live in a society, networked, where the actions of one affect the actions of another. You won't get vaccinated so other people are scared to go to the show and then there is no show... You call this victory?
Strict mandates. Vax cards. Masks. That's the only way to improve the situation.
Do I expect this to happen?
NO!
"Covid: UK's early response worst public health failure ever, MPs say": https://bbc.in/3jovPlN
As you will remember, it was just a month ago or so that Covid infections suddenly dropped in the U.K., no one knew why, maybe it was never going to come back. But now:
"UK government accused of being 'willfully negligent' as Covid cases mount": https://cnn.it/3m4P1qu
"On Thursday it reported 52,009 new infections, the highest mark since July.
The government has nonetheless ruled out moving to its 'Plan B' approach, which would see the introduction of vaccine passports and mandates in line with many European countries.
'We are sticking with our plan,' Boris Johnson said Thursday. 'The numbers of infections are high but we are within the parameters of what the predictions were.'
But in a scathing intervention on Wednesday, the British Medical Association (BMA) said Johnson's government 'has taken its foot off the brake, giving the impression that the pandemic is behind us and that life has returned to normal.'"
And the rest of Europe is freaking out:
"UK's neighbours criticise Covid policies as cases begin to surge across EU - Several European nations have questioned British response but there are growing signs of fresh wave across continent"
But it's always sunny in Philadelphia, er, the United States, because we're different, we're immune, right.
It wasn't like we didn't get a heads-up on the Delta variant. It was crawling all over the U.K. and Europe before it got here. And it was here for quite a while before anybody took action. And now there's a new variant. As a matter of fact, it's already here:
"COVID-19: New, infectious strain of Delta variant detected in the US": https://bit.ly/3m2LU2d
Rust never sleeps, nor does Covid. You might be out living your life willy-nilly, but Covid keeps mutating and each new iteration is MORE TRANSMISSIBLE!
But we can't take further action in the U.S. because of people's FREEDOM!
Yeah, right.
And then there's that bozo Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich who decided to get fired rather than get vaccinated. Now he's suing for illegal termination: https://es.pn/3C7qR41
Ain't that America. No one can lose out. Everyone thinks their way will prevail. You see Rolovich is a "devout" Catholic, and therefore he deserves an exemption.
What hogwash.
You've got to read this article:
"Many are searching for vaccine mandate loopholes. These are the people trying to stop them.": https://wapo.st/3B4tN0b
"Almost all of Troup's applicants for religious exemptions objected to taking a vaccine developed using fetal cell lines (whose origins can be traced back to cells from electively aborted fetuses several decades ago). So Troup and his team devised a strategy: Those employees would have to sign an agreement not to take any other medical treatments developed using fetal cell lines. Among the 28 medications on the list: Tylenol. Motrin. Preparation H. Claritin. Benadryl. Tums."
"'I very gently and politely asked, "Well, you know, tell me: What medicines on that list...do you think were not developed with fetal cells or tested on fetal cells?"' Troup recalls. 'The response was this diatribe about how evil the vaccine was, how much harm it causes, how data and reports are being covered up. Which told me that it really wasn't about fetal cells at all. It's all about a vaccine hesitancy.'"
In other words, the claimed religious exemptions are just b.s. And we should call everybody on their b.s. I'm sick and tired of the minority holding sway over the majority.
Fewer than 13% of Americans are anti-vaccine: https://bit.ly/3Ga7bPu This happens again and again, with guns, abortion, taxes on the rich, the majority supports the foregoing, but it never ever goes their way. You think there's not pent-up anger?
And the both sides media gives attention to anybody who causes a ruckus, who expounds upon their bogus position loudly, when the truth is they should be ignored or their position skewered.
It's hard to have faith in America today. Manchin takes money from fossil fuel companies and therefore there can't be strict climate controls. Yes, that's America, where companies are not only people, they're immune to the long hand of the government. People in West Virginia want what's in Biden's infrastructure bill:
"In deep red West Virginia, Biden's $3.5tn spending proposal is immensely popular - Working-class people – even Trump voters – understand the Build Back Better plan will benefit them": https://bit.ly/2Zg48EA
And then there's the inane Republican January 6th position. Nothing happened, there is no need to investigate...BUT WE SAW IT WITH OUR OWN TWO EYES!
As for Steve Bannon... That's what I want to do, next time I get a traffic ticket, just not show up. Maybe I'll claim a religious exemption when they come after me. Or sue saying I should be paid by the police for stopping me. Everything up is down.
And most of America knows it.
But this is the same America playing by the rules while the rest do not.
Do you know why Covid raged in the south over the summer? BECAUSE EVERYBODY WENT INSIDE! You need the A/C to survive. And as soon as the weather cooled, they went back outside and infection rates went down. And then it got cold again in the north and people went inside, and BINGO!, increased infection rates, especially amongst the unvaccinated.
But the vaccines don't work, you know that, right? And they kill your immune system and by December everybody who gets a booster will no longer have an immune system. PEOPLE E-MAIL ME THIS IDIOCY EACH AND EVERY DAY! They're in a paper war, albeit online. There are endless sites preaching this nonsense. If you believed these people you'd think millions of people have died from the vaccine and it's new and experimental and while we're at it, we should eliminate the need for any vaccines, while we hobble government's right to take action. No masks, no mandates... It would be utterly laughable if it wasn't so scary.
So America is open for business. And since the nincompoops are not abiding by the rules, the rest of the population shrugs its shoulders and gives up too. It's like letting the wild child in school ride herd over the rest of the students, and you know that never happens, because there are CONSEQUENCES! Actually, there are consequences for the unvaccinated, they could die. But the fact that the vaccinated can die too means the vaccine doesn't work. But the truth is the unvaccinated get infected and die at a much higher rate. And the vaccinated are infectious, can spread Covid, for a much shorter period of time than the unvaxxed. But good luck convincing these flat-earthers like Kyrie Irving of the truth, which is everywhere if you just look. But oh no, better to do your own research than depend upon experts. I've got it, you'd rather fly in a plane built by Facebook followers. Or maybe go to their health clinic. THEY DON'T EXIST! No one is holding them back, the main problem is THEY'VE GOT NO EXPERTISE!
So now what happens.
Well, we need more mandates and vaccine cards/documentation. But we can't even get voting laws passed, never mind the infrastructure bill, because one party keeps on saying no and Manchin and Sinema are whored-out to their donors as opposed to their constituents. After all, you can't continue to win without money!
We've got to close the window on these crybabies, like they do in reasonable countries, like France. The country is no longer a punch line. You can go unvaxxed, BUT YOU JUST CAN'T GO ANYWHERE! It's your CHOICE! Why can't we have the same damn thing in America?
Then there's that story that Paul Stanley's guitar tech died of Covid, HE FAKED HIS VACCINATION CARD! That was on the radio. Don't take it to the bank without further confirmation. But the bottom line is the guy did have Covid and he did die. How'd you like to work with that prick?
And it's not only the wingnuts, it's the above the law rich too:
"Broadway folks bragged about forging COVID tests to go to Tonys parties": https://bit.ly/3C3Pj6r
Seems like you're a sucker if you obey the rules.
Meanwhile, Biden is afraid of his shadow while the right wing press keeps going on about the drop in his approval ratings...WHICH THEY'RE CAUSING! It's the do-nothing right wing congresspeople who are doing their best to shut down the government, LITERALLY!
And no one can see further than their nose. The big problems? We can't afford to tackle them. This is like the jerk who refuses to buy health insurance and then gets into a major accident or gets cancer or... Oops! Then we end up taking care of this freeloader. But who is going to take care of us on climate change... NOBODY! And it's happening while we speak:
"Climate Change Poses a Widening Threat to National Security - Intelligence and defense agencies issued reports warning that the warming planet will increase strife between countries and spur migration." https://nyti.ms/3E5GQA6
It seems like the goal of many Americans is to be an ostrich, they never learned this parable in school. Then again, many believe God will save them, you know, that old powerful man in the sky. And you've got to know, just like they want monoclonal antibodies, just like when they go to the hospital to treat their infection, they want a complete pass when they wake up and need science. They're picking and choosing. Let's see, why don't we let Boeing pick and choose which parts they install in the airplane. As a matter of fact, Boeing is screwing up building their planes, and who is holding them to account? THE GOVERNMENT! Which wastes all your tax money and should be drowned in the bathtub. Yeah, right.
So Covid could die out. It's possible. But past is prologue, and looking at the U.K....it appears that a new wave is on the horizon, HOLD ON, IT'S COMING!
And no one is immune.
"One in three music industry jobs were lost during pandemic": https://bbc.in/3vxT3dX
"One in three jobs in the British music industry were lost during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report from trade body UK Music.
The research said there were 69,000 fewer jobs in music in 2020 than in 2019 - a drop of 35% - due to the 'devastating impact' of coronavirus."
You may want to go to the show, but there may be no show to go to! Ticket sales have slowed to a crawl, so many of the big acts are delaying their tours.
Yes, we live in a society, networked, where the actions of one affect the actions of another. You won't get vaccinated so other people are scared to go to the show and then there is no show... You call this victory?
Strict mandates. Vax cards. Masks. That's the only way to improve the situation.
Do I expect this to happen?
NO!
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Little Steven-This Week's Podcast
Stevie Van Zandt, aka "Miami Steve," aka "Little Steven," aka "Silvio Dante," has written an autobiography, "Unrequited Infatuations." We dig into the process of writing the book, and we also cover the landscape from New Jersey...back to New Jersey! Growing up with the radio, the greatness of the Beatles, struggling in Asbury Park, failing to make the E Street Band, going straight and doing construction, playing the oldies circuit, making the E Street Band, going solo, returning to the E Street Band and appearing in "The Sopranos" and... Steven says he's not good with money, but he's had a jam-packed career, his life is rich with experiences, listen as we go deep!
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stevie-van-zandt/id1316200737?i=1000539270201
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3riLXPYaKZDGtJHuEUMDFh?si=FCqh31NPQZWWqxJsC8f8mQ
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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https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stevie-van-zandt/id1316200737?i=1000539270201
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3riLXPYaKZDGtJHuEUMDFh?si=FCqh31NPQZWWqxJsC8f8mQ
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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Wednesday 20 October 2021
More Chappelle
This is hysterical! My inbox is blowing up! I don't get anywhere near this amount of response when I write about music. As George Drakoulias said to me on the Staples Center floor, he used to argue about records, not anymore. How did the cultural zeitgeist switch so much? Did music let us down or is it just that issues of gender and democracy have more gravitas.
Which is what Dave Chappelle is trying to address here, the society we live in.
I watched it.
But first I started listening in the car on my drive back from Santa Monica, starting around the recommended 55:00, when Chappelle goes deep, focusing on the trans comedian. And what did I think? WHAT IS ALL THE HOOPLA ABOUT! I mean this has been in the news for days and no one has actually written what Chappelle actually said?
Of course there is cherry-picking. Just like they do on the right. But in context, Chappelle gets a pass. The fact that trans people want him canceled is ridiculous.
Not that I think Chappelle needs to be applauded, to a great degree he's appealing to a dumbed-down public that believes it's oppressed when it is reaping the fruits, like white men. Then again, affirmative action is anathema, unless it is for white people!
So I got home and I started watching from the beginning. I was cruising along and then Chappelle made a very funny but quite offensive joke about Jews and Israel. And I found it funny that there was no blowback about this. I mean usually the ADL is on this stuff. So I'm thinking, Sarah Silverman made that absolutely brilliant joke about Asian people, that got her blowback, and it was years ago. It was an intellectual twist couched in stupidity and when you thought about it you couldn't stop laughing, it's still hilarious today. Then again, Silverman wasn't putting down Asians.
So the longer I watched "The Closer," the less funny and interesting it became. I mean the man doth protest too much. That's the nature of being a celebrity, the online hate. And the fact that he admits it gets to him, does that help the problem at all? A slew of articles in "The Wall Street Journal" have had a much greater effect. But there is no celebrity involved in that story, except for Mark Zuckerberg, and people want his money, maybe even his power, but they don't want to hang out with him and have sex, which is the essence of a big time celebrity. They radiate a charisma that draws you to them.
So the e-mail is flowing and suddenly I'm confronted with the issue confronting the antivaxxers. Do I double down on my position or am I open to saying I'm wrong.
I WAS WRONG!
Not about everything, but about the trans brouhaha re the special. I'll stand by a lot of peripheral things I said, but I don't want to muddy the water, I was wrong, plain and simple.
And that's the most important thing, but even more interesting was the feeling of belonging. Seemed like everybody had seen the special, I wanted to be a member of the club, so I could talk about it further. And I've learned seemingly better than Chappelle that you can't pay attention to the feedback, the rabble-rousers. I mean come on, you're Dave Chappelle and they're..?
As for Twitter not being a real place. Oh yes it is, it may be virtual but it's patently real. The news media keeps saying it's a self-selecting society whilst addicted and quoting from it. That's the world we now live in, where what happens online is seemingly always more interesting than real life. After all you can cater your online time to your interests. So why in hell did Netflix not use the online tools to spread the message?
It would have been very simple. Post an excerpt of the special on YouTube. It would have quieted people, put the protesters in perspective. But so worried about putting stuff outside the paywall, it didn't. Meanwhile, HBO posted John Oliver's complete episodes on YouTube and Bill Maher's show is available as a free podcast moments after it finishes airing. Want to clear the air? Put a little sunlight on the issue.
And I will say if you're a minority it's frustrating to be talked down to by white males time and time again, it's like you don't even count. It's kind of like Killer Mike on "Real Time" a couple of weeks ago. Mike said Blacks got Biden elected, they performed their magic and leveled the playing field in the Senate. But everything they were promised in return never arrived. Free community college, free child care... No, those must be secondary to the white issues, they've got to take one for the team. Huh? The Blacks vote time and again for Democrats and then they're told to get in the back of the bus.
Which is kind of Chappelle's point re the women's movement. He's got sympathy for Black people first. But he also understands the women's plight better than they do. He says celebrities should fire their agents and enable the woman in the mailroom, who can't get ahead. Look at LeBron James, he's got a team of Blacks from his hometown, led by his childhood friend Maverick Carter, and he seems to be doing better than all his contemporaries. Carter wasn't born into the business, but he was willing to learn, after all celebrity/Hollywood business is not rocket science. Oftentimes, it's just a matter of leverage, albeit with bullying.
So Chappelle's ultimate point, that the minority groups are too strident and they're doing their cause a disservice? I hear it. He's right about the trans people at Netflix. But why is the kerfuffle being kept alive in the press. Where people who don't watch the special spend their time and get a misimpression. Are these scribes just reporting, or is there an underlying issue...do they really just want to preach to their subscribers?
Can we never talk about trans people again, is the whole topic taboo?
OF COURSE NOT!
Then again, the suits are scared of the talent, if the talent is big enough, it has huge leverage and opportunity. Then again, Chappelle should make more money than most of the suits, he's the one drawing eyeballs. I mean Reed Hastings came up with the concept of Netflix, but why do the suits with little creativity end up richer than the talent, always?
Do I recommend you watch the Chappelle special?
You don't need to. Unless you want to weigh in on this subject, i.e. the trans debate, whether Chappelle should be canceled.
And Chappelle really saves himself with his ending bit, about the trans comedian, but before that you'll wince at times. Not that he should not be able to say what he does, but to a degree he's fanning the flames of biased people. First and foremost the Chappelle fans, who believe he can do no wrong. I think it's fine to blow back, and people should. I mean this is his whole routine, talking about how hard it is to be a comedian and speak your truth? Not that there aren't great observations contained therein, but the ultimate spin...this is my last special for a while, but I've just got to tell you how I've been burdened and... It's like the special doesn't exist in context, it's just for the people who watch it.
And that would be fine, except what are the basic precepts of this audience?
In the old pre-internet days, never mind the pre-cable days, we would all consume the same material and then weigh in on it. Not that I want to go back to those days, I prefer the cornucopia of content. But society has suffered, we're no longer in it together, the truth cannot reach everybody.
Like there's no way in hell Chappelle should be canceled for this special.
But, Netflix could have done a much better job of defending him.
And then there's the issue of the trans protests. I get it, woke society, everybody's got to lay off. But, once again, there is a line, where is it? It's obviously not at Chappelle in this special, but elsewhere transphobia is rampant, and it's not the benign transphobia Chappelle labels himself with.
So what we've got is a discussion point.
And informed and uninformed.
And a lack of sunshine on the underlying product.
It's a microcosm of America in general.
And I was honest in saying I hadn't watched the special. But no one caught that point, they equated me with the rest of the bloviators who comment on that which they're unaware of. THAT WAS EXACTLY MY POINT! That didn't make me right, but no one could set aside their biases for a minute and look at the issue from my perspective. If they disagreed thereafter, fine with me. But no, I've got scores and scores of e-mails saying WATCH THE SPECIAL! That doesn't convince antivaxxers to get the jab, they just dig in deeper.
I won't dig in deeper. I'll try to crawl out of the hole I dug. I was wrong, full stop.
But the issues remain.
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Which is what Dave Chappelle is trying to address here, the society we live in.
I watched it.
But first I started listening in the car on my drive back from Santa Monica, starting around the recommended 55:00, when Chappelle goes deep, focusing on the trans comedian. And what did I think? WHAT IS ALL THE HOOPLA ABOUT! I mean this has been in the news for days and no one has actually written what Chappelle actually said?
Of course there is cherry-picking. Just like they do on the right. But in context, Chappelle gets a pass. The fact that trans people want him canceled is ridiculous.
Not that I think Chappelle needs to be applauded, to a great degree he's appealing to a dumbed-down public that believes it's oppressed when it is reaping the fruits, like white men. Then again, affirmative action is anathema, unless it is for white people!
So I got home and I started watching from the beginning. I was cruising along and then Chappelle made a very funny but quite offensive joke about Jews and Israel. And I found it funny that there was no blowback about this. I mean usually the ADL is on this stuff. So I'm thinking, Sarah Silverman made that absolutely brilliant joke about Asian people, that got her blowback, and it was years ago. It was an intellectual twist couched in stupidity and when you thought about it you couldn't stop laughing, it's still hilarious today. Then again, Silverman wasn't putting down Asians.
So the longer I watched "The Closer," the less funny and interesting it became. I mean the man doth protest too much. That's the nature of being a celebrity, the online hate. And the fact that he admits it gets to him, does that help the problem at all? A slew of articles in "The Wall Street Journal" have had a much greater effect. But there is no celebrity involved in that story, except for Mark Zuckerberg, and people want his money, maybe even his power, but they don't want to hang out with him and have sex, which is the essence of a big time celebrity. They radiate a charisma that draws you to them.
So the e-mail is flowing and suddenly I'm confronted with the issue confronting the antivaxxers. Do I double down on my position or am I open to saying I'm wrong.
I WAS WRONG!
Not about everything, but about the trans brouhaha re the special. I'll stand by a lot of peripheral things I said, but I don't want to muddy the water, I was wrong, plain and simple.
And that's the most important thing, but even more interesting was the feeling of belonging. Seemed like everybody had seen the special, I wanted to be a member of the club, so I could talk about it further. And I've learned seemingly better than Chappelle that you can't pay attention to the feedback, the rabble-rousers. I mean come on, you're Dave Chappelle and they're..?
As for Twitter not being a real place. Oh yes it is, it may be virtual but it's patently real. The news media keeps saying it's a self-selecting society whilst addicted and quoting from it. That's the world we now live in, where what happens online is seemingly always more interesting than real life. After all you can cater your online time to your interests. So why in hell did Netflix not use the online tools to spread the message?
It would have been very simple. Post an excerpt of the special on YouTube. It would have quieted people, put the protesters in perspective. But so worried about putting stuff outside the paywall, it didn't. Meanwhile, HBO posted John Oliver's complete episodes on YouTube and Bill Maher's show is available as a free podcast moments after it finishes airing. Want to clear the air? Put a little sunlight on the issue.
And I will say if you're a minority it's frustrating to be talked down to by white males time and time again, it's like you don't even count. It's kind of like Killer Mike on "Real Time" a couple of weeks ago. Mike said Blacks got Biden elected, they performed their magic and leveled the playing field in the Senate. But everything they were promised in return never arrived. Free community college, free child care... No, those must be secondary to the white issues, they've got to take one for the team. Huh? The Blacks vote time and again for Democrats and then they're told to get in the back of the bus.
Which is kind of Chappelle's point re the women's movement. He's got sympathy for Black people first. But he also understands the women's plight better than they do. He says celebrities should fire their agents and enable the woman in the mailroom, who can't get ahead. Look at LeBron James, he's got a team of Blacks from his hometown, led by his childhood friend Maverick Carter, and he seems to be doing better than all his contemporaries. Carter wasn't born into the business, but he was willing to learn, after all celebrity/Hollywood business is not rocket science. Oftentimes, it's just a matter of leverage, albeit with bullying.
So Chappelle's ultimate point, that the minority groups are too strident and they're doing their cause a disservice? I hear it. He's right about the trans people at Netflix. But why is the kerfuffle being kept alive in the press. Where people who don't watch the special spend their time and get a misimpression. Are these scribes just reporting, or is there an underlying issue...do they really just want to preach to their subscribers?
Can we never talk about trans people again, is the whole topic taboo?
OF COURSE NOT!
Then again, the suits are scared of the talent, if the talent is big enough, it has huge leverage and opportunity. Then again, Chappelle should make more money than most of the suits, he's the one drawing eyeballs. I mean Reed Hastings came up with the concept of Netflix, but why do the suits with little creativity end up richer than the talent, always?
Do I recommend you watch the Chappelle special?
You don't need to. Unless you want to weigh in on this subject, i.e. the trans debate, whether Chappelle should be canceled.
And Chappelle really saves himself with his ending bit, about the trans comedian, but before that you'll wince at times. Not that he should not be able to say what he does, but to a degree he's fanning the flames of biased people. First and foremost the Chappelle fans, who believe he can do no wrong. I think it's fine to blow back, and people should. I mean this is his whole routine, talking about how hard it is to be a comedian and speak your truth? Not that there aren't great observations contained therein, but the ultimate spin...this is my last special for a while, but I've just got to tell you how I've been burdened and... It's like the special doesn't exist in context, it's just for the people who watch it.
And that would be fine, except what are the basic precepts of this audience?
In the old pre-internet days, never mind the pre-cable days, we would all consume the same material and then weigh in on it. Not that I want to go back to those days, I prefer the cornucopia of content. But society has suffered, we're no longer in it together, the truth cannot reach everybody.
Like there's no way in hell Chappelle should be canceled for this special.
But, Netflix could have done a much better job of defending him.
And then there's the issue of the trans protests. I get it, woke society, everybody's got to lay off. But, once again, there is a line, where is it? It's obviously not at Chappelle in this special, but elsewhere transphobia is rampant, and it's not the benign transphobia Chappelle labels himself with.
So what we've got is a discussion point.
And informed and uninformed.
And a lack of sunshine on the underlying product.
It's a microcosm of America in general.
And I was honest in saying I hadn't watched the special. But no one caught that point, they equated me with the rest of the bloviators who comment on that which they're unaware of. THAT WAS EXACTLY MY POINT! That didn't make me right, but no one could set aside their biases for a minute and look at the issue from my perspective. If they disagreed thereafter, fine with me. But no, I've got scores and scores of e-mails saying WATCH THE SPECIAL! That doesn't convince antivaxxers to get the jab, they just dig in deeper.
I won't dig in deeper. I'll try to crawl out of the hole I dug. I was wrong, full stop.
But the issues remain.
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The Chappelle Kerfuffle
It's not going to hurt Netflix.
Netflix is too big, too desirable, too embedded in people's lives to be abandoned, to be canceled. In this way it's like Amazon or Walmart or Facebook. We constantly hear about their deleterious effects, boycotts are initiated, but the enterprise is just too good, it fulfills a need that the public can't get satisfied elsewhere.
Not that I've seen Chappelle's special.
Reminds me of Republicans testifying about records and movies that they have not heard or seen. So I've been delaying weighing in until I watched the special. But I just cannot do it, I just don't find Chappelle that funny anymore, I don't get it. So he stands on stage and riffs, sounding like he's making it up as he goes. There are few laugh out loud punch lines. And it's not like it's uber-intellectual, it's not like you're laughing in your head, albeit silently. Chappelle is neither George Carlin nor Richard Pryor, the two best comedians of my lifetime. Then again, he created a beloved TV show, that I also didn't watch, and then gave the middle finger to the man, becoming a cultural icon.
Hmm...
Do I have a problem with Chappelle's success? Of course not. Do I think he should be censored? Of course not. But then it gets more complicated.
If Netflix fires Chappelle he'll just go somewhere else, for more money. Chappelle is a cornerstone of the outlet's programming, the linchpin of its comedy division, a halo that brings other comedians into the fold. Remember when all comedy was on HBO? Now it's on Netflix. And it could go somewhere else, assuming someone was willing to pay. And when you're building a company if you're cheap, you're doomed.
So for months we had to hear prognosticators say that Netflix was doomed, it was losing market share, the engine was starting to sputter. And then yesterday it exceeds projections, adds 4.4 million subscribers. Proving that if you want to know what is going on in a company, talk to those in the field, especially when it's a new field. Too often general reporters weigh in and their opinions are worthless. Bottom line? It's about hit product. Sure, Netflix lost "The Office." And "Friends." They're blue chips, the "Bonanza" and "Seinfeld" of their era. But "Bonanza" eventually faded and "Seinfeld" is now on Netflix and anybody in the visual entertainment medium knows that it's about new product, new hit product, ergo "Squid Game," the most talked about show on the flat screen for months. Ultimately the most viewed show on Netflix ever. People signed up to watch it. How many will sign off? Of course there are professional cancelers, but the truth is most people forget to cancel until they're confronted with the bill, if then, then again, many people find they like the service and stay. And you keep them with more new product. Something that HBO Max and Disney+ fall down on, never mind the emaciated Apple TV+.
So, Chappelle makes anti-trans comments.
Well the truth is trans people are not a majority of the public, which you might think based on the attention they receive. Then again, that does not mean they don't deserve protection. How many handicapped people are there? But we still have cutouts in sidewalks and bars in bathroom stalls and that's what a good society does, take care of all of its citizens.
But that does not mean Chappelle's words have no influence.
It's been established that homophobia is rampant in the Black community. By putting down, making fun of trans people, you're playing into people's biases. How can it be that Morgan Wallen is canceled for unconsciously using the N-word and Chappelle is quite consciously beating up on minorities and goes scot-free?
Wallen's penalty was too tough.
Chappelle is not penalized at all.
Heroes. Who are they?
Well, they're certainly not our politicians, seen as phony and sold-out.
And almost nobody with a brain looks up to today's "musicians," fungible, two-dimensional mini-brands who'll do anything for the money as they demonstrate their ignorance ad infinitum.
Then there's Kanye. Or "Ye," as we're now supposed to call him. This guy is bipolar and the public just sits by and watches the train-wreck. It's akin to Chris Farley, but at least Chris Farley went to rehab. So Kanye holds listening parties for his new album and brings on stage pariahs Da Baby and Marilyn Manson. What is the message here? It's hard not to see this as support. So, homophobia and abuse of women are okay? Da Baby has made his comments in public. Manson has only been convicted in the court of public opinion, we don't know the truth. Then again, ever since O.J. people no longer have respect for the opinion of legal courts. People don't only believe in alternative facts, they construct their own list of winners and losers, they have their own morals, the national fabric has unraveled.
So Chappelle is pouring gas on the fire. And the Netflix brass are clueless. This is what happens when you hang in the ivory tower too long, you don't know how people outside it think. Never mind not knowing what the people in your own damn building think. I can see saying Chappelle's show has a right to be aired, but I cannot see defending the position, saying that it will cause no harm. OF COURSE IT WILL CAUSE HARM! His work legitimizes heinous viewpoints. And we know society evolves slowly, one can't imagine gay marriage being legal in the twentieth century, never mind marijuana. People have to be informed. The message has to spread from the inside to the outside. And as John Gruden's e-mails proved, what people say in public is one thing, in private another. Come on, MeToo? The only difference is men now shut up publicly, they still say this stuff privately, and if you don't know it you're not a man. Same deal with homophobic comments. They're rampant amongst men. We've got so much further to go. Forward instead of backward.
So, Netflix can't let Chappelle go, it would be an horrific business decision, like Warner Music caving to blowback and allowing Interscope to walk, ultimately aligning itself with Universal, which helped Universal become the overwhelmingly dominant record label when it used to be an also-ran.
But that does not mean Netflix is powerless.
What should Netflix do?
I'm not exactly sure.
But there is a continuum. Between letting Chappelle's special air unfettered and canceling it. Maybe a warning in front. That's a cliché at this point, but we need to remind people that although this is comedy, these are serious issues, just don't buy the opinion lock, stock and barrel.
You have to remind people of the dangers, the pitfalls. You should be able to make fun of anything, but the truth is Chappelle's opinions are beyond jokes.
Then again, I didn't see the show. But reading about it, which is a poor substitute, I know that Chappelle is defending himself against being potentially canceled. But don't compare Chappelle with Lenny Bruce. Chappelle is actively putting down a segment of our population, whereas Bruce was testing limits, and sacrificed his career in the process.
But it's a different time. Without Lenny Bruce there is no modern comedy, just like without Curt Flood, there is no modern Major League Baseball.
So, we just can't let Chappelle skate completely. It's not like he's saying it's just a joke, that it's meaningless, this is what he truly believes. And do we want everybody to be able to amplify heinous beliefs unrestricted?
Of course not.
This is what is happening with Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham. And Donald Trump. Let's see, Colin Powell not a hero? Vaccines don't work because he died after getting inoculated? Of course the issue is much more complicated than that if you have a blood cancer like multiple myeloma, are immune-compromised. But people with these underlying conditions, LIKE MYSELF, don't deserve attention because a huge slew of people don't want their "freedom" impinged upon. The antivax message is so loud that we don't realize how few people actually hold this position.
I point you to the latest e-mail from John Dick, majordomo of polling company CivicScience:
"Americans aren't 'divided' over the COVID vaccine.
They're divided over Friends (50%) versus Seinfeld (50%).
Or beer (51%) versus wine (49%).
Or tucking in their top bed sheet (43%) or not (41%).
But not the vaccine.
By our latest count, 81% of U.S. adults have either received the COVID jab or plan to in the immediate future. Six percent remain on the fence. Just 13% are steadfastly against it (or can't receive it).
With over 300,000 different questions in our database, I'll venture this ranks as one of the LEAST divided things we've ever studied. I can't even tell you how rare it is when 67% of Republicans agree with 91% of Democrats. It's top-percentile kind of stuff.
The 13% of Americans who are anti-vax are equal to the percentage who don't own a smartphone. It's barely half the number who believe Bigfoot is real (26%) and nearly 50% smaller than the number who don't believe in God (19%). It's less common than brushing your teeth in the shower (17%) or not putting a top sheet on your bed at all (16%).
If you subtract the people who have legitimate health reasons for not getting vaccinated, the number of conscientious anti-vaxxers dips below the percentage of Americans who don't wear deodorant (11%).
I'm not judging any of these things (at least not out loud), but, make no mistake, they are outlying, fringe, possibly even extreme behaviors – statistically speaking."
https://civicscience.com/weeklyemails/10-16-2021/
If someone is unvaccinated, it affects the population at large. If someone is trans... How does this affect your everyday life? You don't like it conceptually? I mean what exactly is the problem? That trans people are going to turn other people trans? What next, Black people are going to make White people BLACK? Then again, ignorance knows no bounds.
Like the people pointing to Netflix firing a trans employee in the wake of the Chappelle fracas. THE EMPLOYEE LEAKED CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION! And if you follow the company, you've been stunned at what has been leaked, previously unknown facts, like how many people watched a show, what the show cost, the profit... But most people never get past the headline.
Ted Sarandos and Reed Hastings have to admit that visual content has consequences. Just like smoking onscreen does. They can also say that they don't want to censor their talent. But this blanket, knee-jerk defense, is offensive. These two should have taken the side of the trans people, seen their viewpoint and said they don't agree with what Chappelle said. But being SO fearful of pissing off the prickly Chappelle, they immediately defended him. The way families defend a criminal in their midst.
The solution is not black and white.
But the offense is.
Everybody is vulnerable in some way. We don't want to have language police, we don't want to make people afraid to express a cornucopia of viewpoints. But that does not mean we let everybody's utterances skate by, uncommented upon.
Isn't the measure of a great society that it takes care of its most vulnerable, its most defenseless, however few in number?
And yes, it is a slippery slope. Trigger warnings for classic books. The cancellation of Abraham Lincoln. The woke police can and often do get completely out of hand. But that does not mean there are no issues. They are thorny, we need to learn how to deal with them. And Netflix did a bad job here. As for Chappelle... This is the kind of guy you want to lionize? Isn't this the problem in America today? That outliers are considered mainstream, like Tucker Carlson above? Just because a subject is hot, just because there is money involved, that does not mean you've got to be hands-off...the brave dive in! It's easy to sit on the sidelines like a politician. It's much harder to work for solutions. What would you do?
Netflix is too big, too desirable, too embedded in people's lives to be abandoned, to be canceled. In this way it's like Amazon or Walmart or Facebook. We constantly hear about their deleterious effects, boycotts are initiated, but the enterprise is just too good, it fulfills a need that the public can't get satisfied elsewhere.
Not that I've seen Chappelle's special.
Reminds me of Republicans testifying about records and movies that they have not heard or seen. So I've been delaying weighing in until I watched the special. But I just cannot do it, I just don't find Chappelle that funny anymore, I don't get it. So he stands on stage and riffs, sounding like he's making it up as he goes. There are few laugh out loud punch lines. And it's not like it's uber-intellectual, it's not like you're laughing in your head, albeit silently. Chappelle is neither George Carlin nor Richard Pryor, the two best comedians of my lifetime. Then again, he created a beloved TV show, that I also didn't watch, and then gave the middle finger to the man, becoming a cultural icon.
Hmm...
Do I have a problem with Chappelle's success? Of course not. Do I think he should be censored? Of course not. But then it gets more complicated.
If Netflix fires Chappelle he'll just go somewhere else, for more money. Chappelle is a cornerstone of the outlet's programming, the linchpin of its comedy division, a halo that brings other comedians into the fold. Remember when all comedy was on HBO? Now it's on Netflix. And it could go somewhere else, assuming someone was willing to pay. And when you're building a company if you're cheap, you're doomed.
So for months we had to hear prognosticators say that Netflix was doomed, it was losing market share, the engine was starting to sputter. And then yesterday it exceeds projections, adds 4.4 million subscribers. Proving that if you want to know what is going on in a company, talk to those in the field, especially when it's a new field. Too often general reporters weigh in and their opinions are worthless. Bottom line? It's about hit product. Sure, Netflix lost "The Office." And "Friends." They're blue chips, the "Bonanza" and "Seinfeld" of their era. But "Bonanza" eventually faded and "Seinfeld" is now on Netflix and anybody in the visual entertainment medium knows that it's about new product, new hit product, ergo "Squid Game," the most talked about show on the flat screen for months. Ultimately the most viewed show on Netflix ever. People signed up to watch it. How many will sign off? Of course there are professional cancelers, but the truth is most people forget to cancel until they're confronted with the bill, if then, then again, many people find they like the service and stay. And you keep them with more new product. Something that HBO Max and Disney+ fall down on, never mind the emaciated Apple TV+.
So, Chappelle makes anti-trans comments.
Well the truth is trans people are not a majority of the public, which you might think based on the attention they receive. Then again, that does not mean they don't deserve protection. How many handicapped people are there? But we still have cutouts in sidewalks and bars in bathroom stalls and that's what a good society does, take care of all of its citizens.
But that does not mean Chappelle's words have no influence.
It's been established that homophobia is rampant in the Black community. By putting down, making fun of trans people, you're playing into people's biases. How can it be that Morgan Wallen is canceled for unconsciously using the N-word and Chappelle is quite consciously beating up on minorities and goes scot-free?
Wallen's penalty was too tough.
Chappelle is not penalized at all.
Heroes. Who are they?
Well, they're certainly not our politicians, seen as phony and sold-out.
And almost nobody with a brain looks up to today's "musicians," fungible, two-dimensional mini-brands who'll do anything for the money as they demonstrate their ignorance ad infinitum.
Then there's Kanye. Or "Ye," as we're now supposed to call him. This guy is bipolar and the public just sits by and watches the train-wreck. It's akin to Chris Farley, but at least Chris Farley went to rehab. So Kanye holds listening parties for his new album and brings on stage pariahs Da Baby and Marilyn Manson. What is the message here? It's hard not to see this as support. So, homophobia and abuse of women are okay? Da Baby has made his comments in public. Manson has only been convicted in the court of public opinion, we don't know the truth. Then again, ever since O.J. people no longer have respect for the opinion of legal courts. People don't only believe in alternative facts, they construct their own list of winners and losers, they have their own morals, the national fabric has unraveled.
So Chappelle is pouring gas on the fire. And the Netflix brass are clueless. This is what happens when you hang in the ivory tower too long, you don't know how people outside it think. Never mind not knowing what the people in your own damn building think. I can see saying Chappelle's show has a right to be aired, but I cannot see defending the position, saying that it will cause no harm. OF COURSE IT WILL CAUSE HARM! His work legitimizes heinous viewpoints. And we know society evolves slowly, one can't imagine gay marriage being legal in the twentieth century, never mind marijuana. People have to be informed. The message has to spread from the inside to the outside. And as John Gruden's e-mails proved, what people say in public is one thing, in private another. Come on, MeToo? The only difference is men now shut up publicly, they still say this stuff privately, and if you don't know it you're not a man. Same deal with homophobic comments. They're rampant amongst men. We've got so much further to go. Forward instead of backward.
So, Netflix can't let Chappelle go, it would be an horrific business decision, like Warner Music caving to blowback and allowing Interscope to walk, ultimately aligning itself with Universal, which helped Universal become the overwhelmingly dominant record label when it used to be an also-ran.
But that does not mean Netflix is powerless.
What should Netflix do?
I'm not exactly sure.
But there is a continuum. Between letting Chappelle's special air unfettered and canceling it. Maybe a warning in front. That's a cliché at this point, but we need to remind people that although this is comedy, these are serious issues, just don't buy the opinion lock, stock and barrel.
You have to remind people of the dangers, the pitfalls. You should be able to make fun of anything, but the truth is Chappelle's opinions are beyond jokes.
Then again, I didn't see the show. But reading about it, which is a poor substitute, I know that Chappelle is defending himself against being potentially canceled. But don't compare Chappelle with Lenny Bruce. Chappelle is actively putting down a segment of our population, whereas Bruce was testing limits, and sacrificed his career in the process.
But it's a different time. Without Lenny Bruce there is no modern comedy, just like without Curt Flood, there is no modern Major League Baseball.
So, we just can't let Chappelle skate completely. It's not like he's saying it's just a joke, that it's meaningless, this is what he truly believes. And do we want everybody to be able to amplify heinous beliefs unrestricted?
Of course not.
This is what is happening with Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham. And Donald Trump. Let's see, Colin Powell not a hero? Vaccines don't work because he died after getting inoculated? Of course the issue is much more complicated than that if you have a blood cancer like multiple myeloma, are immune-compromised. But people with these underlying conditions, LIKE MYSELF, don't deserve attention because a huge slew of people don't want their "freedom" impinged upon. The antivax message is so loud that we don't realize how few people actually hold this position.
I point you to the latest e-mail from John Dick, majordomo of polling company CivicScience:
"Americans aren't 'divided' over the COVID vaccine.
They're divided over Friends (50%) versus Seinfeld (50%).
Or beer (51%) versus wine (49%).
Or tucking in their top bed sheet (43%) or not (41%).
But not the vaccine.
By our latest count, 81% of U.S. adults have either received the COVID jab or plan to in the immediate future. Six percent remain on the fence. Just 13% are steadfastly against it (or can't receive it).
With over 300,000 different questions in our database, I'll venture this ranks as one of the LEAST divided things we've ever studied. I can't even tell you how rare it is when 67% of Republicans agree with 91% of Democrats. It's top-percentile kind of stuff.
The 13% of Americans who are anti-vax are equal to the percentage who don't own a smartphone. It's barely half the number who believe Bigfoot is real (26%) and nearly 50% smaller than the number who don't believe in God (19%). It's less common than brushing your teeth in the shower (17%) or not putting a top sheet on your bed at all (16%).
If you subtract the people who have legitimate health reasons for not getting vaccinated, the number of conscientious anti-vaxxers dips below the percentage of Americans who don't wear deodorant (11%).
I'm not judging any of these things (at least not out loud), but, make no mistake, they are outlying, fringe, possibly even extreme behaviors – statistically speaking."
https://civicscience.com/weeklyemails/10-16-2021/
If someone is unvaccinated, it affects the population at large. If someone is trans... How does this affect your everyday life? You don't like it conceptually? I mean what exactly is the problem? That trans people are going to turn other people trans? What next, Black people are going to make White people BLACK? Then again, ignorance knows no bounds.
Like the people pointing to Netflix firing a trans employee in the wake of the Chappelle fracas. THE EMPLOYEE LEAKED CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION! And if you follow the company, you've been stunned at what has been leaked, previously unknown facts, like how many people watched a show, what the show cost, the profit... But most people never get past the headline.
Ted Sarandos and Reed Hastings have to admit that visual content has consequences. Just like smoking onscreen does. They can also say that they don't want to censor their talent. But this blanket, knee-jerk defense, is offensive. These two should have taken the side of the trans people, seen their viewpoint and said they don't agree with what Chappelle said. But being SO fearful of pissing off the prickly Chappelle, they immediately defended him. The way families defend a criminal in their midst.
The solution is not black and white.
But the offense is.
Everybody is vulnerable in some way. We don't want to have language police, we don't want to make people afraid to express a cornucopia of viewpoints. But that does not mean we let everybody's utterances skate by, uncommented upon.
Isn't the measure of a great society that it takes care of its most vulnerable, its most defenseless, however few in number?
And yes, it is a slippery slope. Trigger warnings for classic books. The cancellation of Abraham Lincoln. The woke police can and often do get completely out of hand. But that does not mean there are no issues. They are thorny, we need to learn how to deal with them. And Netflix did a bad job here. As for Chappelle... This is the kind of guy you want to lionize? Isn't this the problem in America today? That outliers are considered mainstream, like Tucker Carlson above? Just because a subject is hot, just because there is money involved, that does not mean you've got to be hands-off...the brave dive in! It's easy to sit on the sidelines like a politician. It's much harder to work for solutions. What would you do?
--
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--
Listen to the podcast:
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--
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Tuesday 19 October 2021
The Franzen Book
"Crossroads": https://amzn.to/30LsLK5
This is an incredible piece of work.
But not everybody will enjoy it. Because it's written for a small coterie of industry insiders and Iowa Workshop believers and this makes it a bit difficult to read and is the case with all of the works lauded by these cliques, plot is secondary.
But the interior dialogue is AMAZING!
Yes, what sells best is genre fiction. Crime, mystery, romance. People read for plot. That is not "Crossroads."
What you've got is a family outside Chicago in the early seventies. The father is a minister and there are four children and...what is everybody thinking?
The father is unhappy in his marriage and fixated on a young widow, who trades on her looks to get men's attention but folds in the process. This is the nature of life, everybody has a wandering eye. How do you cope with it? After your marriage has miles, after you've fallen into a rut, you see someone who titillates you, you interact in the breezy way you once did with your significant other, and can you resist the pull?
I'm of a mind that you should. You've got history with your partner. To get this far you've worked through so much, made so many compromises, the new person who looks great on the surface almost never is once you peel back the layers and get close.
And the people from your past. Do you have one relationship that haunts you? That you think if you only had gone back in time and taken a different path your life would have turned out differently and you'd have ended up much happier?
And how happy are you with yourself now? You've gained a few pounds, you've lost some hair, you were just going through life and then suddenly you found you were outside the mainstream. You were doing your job, raising your children, and were less concerned with yourself and now what?
Never mind those who are so narcissistic that the focus is always them, those who never fully integrate, never mind grow up.
And just because you're young that doesn't mean you don't have the equivalent interior dialogue. It's running 24/7 through everybody. You can't depict it in movies or TV, you can touch it in songs, but it lives most in books, assuming you decide to go there, most people don't, some do, but almost no one as deep as Jonathan Franzen.
The best thing he ever did was reject Oprah. At the time it seemed ridiculous, a stand for nothing. Who doesn't want to increase their audience? Well, Franzen was standing up against a system. That commoditizes books and thought. This month it's his book, next month it's someone else's, aren't we all happy together in the book group. And I'm sure book groups will assign "Crossroads" in droves, but the truth is it's very personal. It's nearly raw. You think about your choices, your feelings, you feel human in a world that wants to deny humanity. Humanity is for suckers, it's all about the dollars. It's all surface, all the time. Nitwits on parade. The uninformed denying facts. But the truth is even the lowliest laborer has an interior dialogue, it's the essence of life.
So on one level "Crossroads" is the best book this year. Assuming you make plot secondary. If you focus on plot, read "The Great Circle," it's the best. But the truth is Franzen is operating on a higher plane than everybody ese. He's reaching for the Holy Grail. He's walking the tightrope. You have a visceral experience reading "Crossroads" that you cannot get anywhere else. He's heads and shoulders above everybody else, and except for some of the language, Franzen is not talking down to you, he's just relating a story.
But the word choices.
I'm an educated guy, but there were so many words I did not know. Thank god I was reading on my Kindle, so I could highlight the words and get their definitions. It's almost akin to reading "Ulysses." You've got a choice, you can skim over what you do not understand, what is not clear on the surface, to get the general feeling, to get the plot, or you can try to understand every word and have the process of reading at times slowed down to a crawl.
Which is why I believe most people won't enjoy "Crossroads," why even if they try they'll stop.
There is absolutely no way these words are part of Franzen's lexicon. I'm sure he combed the dictionary, the thesaurus, to find million dollar words to replace plain English. Why? To impress his compatriots, the industry referenced above. The truth is there's not much money in writing novels. You read about the junk writers like James Patterson making millions, but most writers of literary fiction get by by teaching. The goal is less money than respect from their peers. It's an insiders game that too often resembles a circle jerk. Even worse, the ever-proliferating graduate writing schools are perpetuating this syndrome. It's all about rewriting, making the prose as dense as can be, making it less readable to appeal to a high court of readers that represents a tiny fraction of the public.
But most other writers are not even going there.
Today everybody writes a book, just like everybody makes a record. The barriers to entry are so low that everybody can play, but even worse, everybody believes they deserve attention. Writing is a skill. It's not just words. It's a calling, with a steep learning curve. It's not for everybody. So thank god Franzen is attempting to climb the mountain.
But I wish he wrote a book with more plot.
For a minute there, based on the statistics at the bottom of my Kindle, I thought the final segment of the book would be an update, where everybody was today. That would have been interesting.
Instead, the period of time is quite compact. Oh, there are extended accounts of history, but just to set up what happens in this one family for a very brief period of time, a matter of months, actually.
And not all choices ring true. Certainly not those of Clem.
Then there are those touches...
You're just walking through life a nerd, out of the mainstream, and a desirable person comes up to you and tells you you're attractive.
Or you're wandering through your life and someone who offends you suddenly becomes desirable and you end up in a sexual relationship that's so fulfilling you end up questioning all your choices.
And some of the plot points are out of time and out of touch. Let me see...a sixteen year old deep into cocaine in the very early seventies?
But like I said, plot is secondary to the point being made.
And then there are the family dynamics. Who has power, who is overlooked. Does the person in trouble always get the most attention, leaving those hewing the line to sacrifice?
And in the end, no one ends up where they predicted.
That's life.
And "Crossroads" is the greatest depiction of it this year. Nothing comes close. No other book, no movie, no song. "Crossroads" is life in a world where the public people are two-dimensional making insane comments with no regard for the truth. Public life is a play. An unbelievable comedy with tragic circumstances. Meanwhile, you're sitting at home, watching the circus go by, feeling detached, like there's no one on your wavelength, no one who sees the world like you, no one who feels like you, never mind feeling all the time.
But then you read "Crossroads" and find you're not alone.
You'll have no desire to hang with Franzen, he's not a rock star. He's prickly and opinionated, everything he has to say is in his words in the book. And that's enough.
You'll start "Crossroads" and either immediately put it down or look forward to it night after night until you unfortunately finish it. That's right, you'd like it to continue, to see what happens to these people, how it plays out. But even more you'd like to have this literary companion, this book, to keep you rooted and warm day after day. So you'd feel less alone.
Today's novels must be under 300 pages. Or maybe just a tad more. "Crossroads" stretches out to 681. And there's no filler. Franzen wanted to make his statement, he didn't want to hew to conventional wisdom re length. And it works to the book's advantage, it's endless, with twists and turns, just like life.
The hype has been incessant. Turning off so many of those who are paying attention. That's right, "Crossroads" is not "The Mandalorian." And there's not another single in the wings, the story will not continue, the media will move on to something else imminently. But "Crossroads" will stick with those who read it. They'll be yearning for more. But the truth is there is none. No one else is playing at this level. Never mind most people not playing at all, focusing on giving the people what they want if they're creating at all. Franzen is giving people what they need. Too bad most people won't read "Crossroads," but you should. Because you'll be touched in a way that will make you feel fully alive, and the member of a tribe. It's not what happens on the playing field, it's what happens inside yourself and your own personal interactions. Franzen gets that right. It's quite an achievement.
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This is an incredible piece of work.
But not everybody will enjoy it. Because it's written for a small coterie of industry insiders and Iowa Workshop believers and this makes it a bit difficult to read and is the case with all of the works lauded by these cliques, plot is secondary.
But the interior dialogue is AMAZING!
Yes, what sells best is genre fiction. Crime, mystery, romance. People read for plot. That is not "Crossroads."
What you've got is a family outside Chicago in the early seventies. The father is a minister and there are four children and...what is everybody thinking?
The father is unhappy in his marriage and fixated on a young widow, who trades on her looks to get men's attention but folds in the process. This is the nature of life, everybody has a wandering eye. How do you cope with it? After your marriage has miles, after you've fallen into a rut, you see someone who titillates you, you interact in the breezy way you once did with your significant other, and can you resist the pull?
I'm of a mind that you should. You've got history with your partner. To get this far you've worked through so much, made so many compromises, the new person who looks great on the surface almost never is once you peel back the layers and get close.
And the people from your past. Do you have one relationship that haunts you? That you think if you only had gone back in time and taken a different path your life would have turned out differently and you'd have ended up much happier?
And how happy are you with yourself now? You've gained a few pounds, you've lost some hair, you were just going through life and then suddenly you found you were outside the mainstream. You were doing your job, raising your children, and were less concerned with yourself and now what?
Never mind those who are so narcissistic that the focus is always them, those who never fully integrate, never mind grow up.
And just because you're young that doesn't mean you don't have the equivalent interior dialogue. It's running 24/7 through everybody. You can't depict it in movies or TV, you can touch it in songs, but it lives most in books, assuming you decide to go there, most people don't, some do, but almost no one as deep as Jonathan Franzen.
The best thing he ever did was reject Oprah. At the time it seemed ridiculous, a stand for nothing. Who doesn't want to increase their audience? Well, Franzen was standing up against a system. That commoditizes books and thought. This month it's his book, next month it's someone else's, aren't we all happy together in the book group. And I'm sure book groups will assign "Crossroads" in droves, but the truth is it's very personal. It's nearly raw. You think about your choices, your feelings, you feel human in a world that wants to deny humanity. Humanity is for suckers, it's all about the dollars. It's all surface, all the time. Nitwits on parade. The uninformed denying facts. But the truth is even the lowliest laborer has an interior dialogue, it's the essence of life.
So on one level "Crossroads" is the best book this year. Assuming you make plot secondary. If you focus on plot, read "The Great Circle," it's the best. But the truth is Franzen is operating on a higher plane than everybody ese. He's reaching for the Holy Grail. He's walking the tightrope. You have a visceral experience reading "Crossroads" that you cannot get anywhere else. He's heads and shoulders above everybody else, and except for some of the language, Franzen is not talking down to you, he's just relating a story.
But the word choices.
I'm an educated guy, but there were so many words I did not know. Thank god I was reading on my Kindle, so I could highlight the words and get their definitions. It's almost akin to reading "Ulysses." You've got a choice, you can skim over what you do not understand, what is not clear on the surface, to get the general feeling, to get the plot, or you can try to understand every word and have the process of reading at times slowed down to a crawl.
Which is why I believe most people won't enjoy "Crossroads," why even if they try they'll stop.
There is absolutely no way these words are part of Franzen's lexicon. I'm sure he combed the dictionary, the thesaurus, to find million dollar words to replace plain English. Why? To impress his compatriots, the industry referenced above. The truth is there's not much money in writing novels. You read about the junk writers like James Patterson making millions, but most writers of literary fiction get by by teaching. The goal is less money than respect from their peers. It's an insiders game that too often resembles a circle jerk. Even worse, the ever-proliferating graduate writing schools are perpetuating this syndrome. It's all about rewriting, making the prose as dense as can be, making it less readable to appeal to a high court of readers that represents a tiny fraction of the public.
But most other writers are not even going there.
Today everybody writes a book, just like everybody makes a record. The barriers to entry are so low that everybody can play, but even worse, everybody believes they deserve attention. Writing is a skill. It's not just words. It's a calling, with a steep learning curve. It's not for everybody. So thank god Franzen is attempting to climb the mountain.
But I wish he wrote a book with more plot.
For a minute there, based on the statistics at the bottom of my Kindle, I thought the final segment of the book would be an update, where everybody was today. That would have been interesting.
Instead, the period of time is quite compact. Oh, there are extended accounts of history, but just to set up what happens in this one family for a very brief period of time, a matter of months, actually.
And not all choices ring true. Certainly not those of Clem.
Then there are those touches...
You're just walking through life a nerd, out of the mainstream, and a desirable person comes up to you and tells you you're attractive.
Or you're wandering through your life and someone who offends you suddenly becomes desirable and you end up in a sexual relationship that's so fulfilling you end up questioning all your choices.
And some of the plot points are out of time and out of touch. Let me see...a sixteen year old deep into cocaine in the very early seventies?
But like I said, plot is secondary to the point being made.
And then there are the family dynamics. Who has power, who is overlooked. Does the person in trouble always get the most attention, leaving those hewing the line to sacrifice?
And in the end, no one ends up where they predicted.
That's life.
And "Crossroads" is the greatest depiction of it this year. Nothing comes close. No other book, no movie, no song. "Crossroads" is life in a world where the public people are two-dimensional making insane comments with no regard for the truth. Public life is a play. An unbelievable comedy with tragic circumstances. Meanwhile, you're sitting at home, watching the circus go by, feeling detached, like there's no one on your wavelength, no one who sees the world like you, no one who feels like you, never mind feeling all the time.
But then you read "Crossroads" and find you're not alone.
You'll have no desire to hang with Franzen, he's not a rock star. He's prickly and opinionated, everything he has to say is in his words in the book. And that's enough.
You'll start "Crossroads" and either immediately put it down or look forward to it night after night until you unfortunately finish it. That's right, you'd like it to continue, to see what happens to these people, how it plays out. But even more you'd like to have this literary companion, this book, to keep you rooted and warm day after day. So you'd feel less alone.
Today's novels must be under 300 pages. Or maybe just a tad more. "Crossroads" stretches out to 681. And there's no filler. Franzen wanted to make his statement, he didn't want to hew to conventional wisdom re length. And it works to the book's advantage, it's endless, with twists and turns, just like life.
The hype has been incessant. Turning off so many of those who are paying attention. That's right, "Crossroads" is not "The Mandalorian." And there's not another single in the wings, the story will not continue, the media will move on to something else imminently. But "Crossroads" will stick with those who read it. They'll be yearning for more. But the truth is there is none. No one else is playing at this level. Never mind most people not playing at all, focusing on giving the people what they want if they're creating at all. Franzen is giving people what they need. Too bad most people won't read "Crossroads," but you should. Because you'll be touched in a way that will make you feel fully alive, and the member of a tribe. It's not what happens on the playing field, it's what happens inside yourself and your own personal interactions. Franzen gets that right. It's quite an achievement.
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Fantasy Band-Lead Singer-This Week On SiriusXM
Who would you pick to be the lead singer of your fantasy band?
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Monday 18 October 2021
Mailbag
From: Tom Rush
Subject: Re: More Covid Attendance
I just played Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch in Pomeroy, OH. It was the only one of my 5-in-a-row Midwest shows that was sold out, and I think it had to do with a very smart policy: you buy a ticket, you have a seat, but if you opt not to come to the theater they will live-stream it to your home. Not posted anywhere for any length of time — live only. AND they were requiring proof of vaccination and masks while indoors. It worked!!
Tom Rush
_____________________________________
From: David Fishof
Subject: Dennis Arfa podcast
Dear Bob ,
I just finished listening to the Dennis Arfa podcast. Knowing Dennis for over 40 years we partnered the Dirty Dancing Live Tour in 88.
What was missing from the podcast is in addition to to being one of the top agents in the music agency business is his creative ideas and marketing knowledge that he brings to an artist.
As he said in the podcast we sold out 8 Radio City shows in 24 hours based on one NY Times ad he negotiated with Radio City. I've seen his creative brilliance starting with Billy Joel and all his other clients. He's been very modest over the years of his ideas which have been winners.
I also have to say many of the lessons he taught me are part of my daily thoughts.
My favorite is before I make any business decision I ask myself…..What's the Win!
David Fishof
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: Brandi Carlile Sings Madman Across The Water On Howard Stern
These are musicians playing real instruments very well - and more important, playing a song that caught their attention enough to give it this beautiful treatment. Brandi's rendition is so great. When we play this song in concert it's a work of art - a performance - and yes of course Elton is just incredible.
It never fails to grab and hold you. It's not a song you will doze off on no matter how many times it's played. You have to be in it all the way. Dynamics. It's a joy and an honor to play - wish we did it more often (-:
I love Brandi's choice and I tell all the "youngsters" getting into music don't be afraid to listen and play what you like - even if it's not in the Top 40, hip hop tip etc… Follow your bliss - not someone else's just to be cool.
Thanks for that Bob.
John Mahon - The Elton John Band.
_____________________________________
From: Marty Simon
Subject: Spedding on the original Madman Across The Water
That Brandi Carlile version is worthy, not only honouring the Song, but the Record (sound of that track).
My friend Chris Spedding was called into Elton's session and played that rich strat low note riff.. I sent Chris your piece yesterday and he wrote back.
"I was only on that one track on that album. The rest was Elton's regular guys. I think the reason was that Paul Buckmaster had booked a live orchestra and he needed someone who could read a chart! Moi."
Back when Chris and had a band, I once asked him about Madman and for him it was just a regular morning London recording session…. But what a great legacy to be a part of.
Marty Simon
Toronto
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: Brandi Carlile Sings Madman Across The Water On Howard Stern
I was in college, assisting my roommate in booking shows into C.W. Post, when we were sent an early pressing of the Elton John album containing "Your Song." Suffice it to say that the album that followed with his live album "11/17/70" amounted to a one-two punch of emotional reaction. It had such a visceral impact that I left school to pursue a music industry career. My trajectory wouldn't have happened without Elton's befriending me. I wrote a freelance article comparing him to Leon Russell (little did I know that Leon was EJ's idol) that led to a backstage introduction a few months later in Glassboro, New Jersey. It was Elton's introduction of me to his music publisher that began a path that would soon lead to my becoming the first American publisher of ATV Music (later the Worldwide EVP), which owned the Lennon-McCartney catalogue.
So, I was intent on meeting Gus Dudgeon and Paul Buckmaster, who were so important to those first few albums. The collaboration with EJ was magical and created music that touched to the core! Years later, when I was working with Barry Mann (of Mann & Weil songwriting fame), I made a deal for him with Lenny Waronker at Warner Bros. Records and brought in Gus to produce.
Bob, you are so right about the Brandi Carlile cover of "Madman Across The Water." Her creativity and those strings replicate the original with distinction. The music reminded me of an emotional quotient that rarely occurs with today's music. Your point about authenticity is so important in an age of fabricated tracks, beats and twenty "writers" on yet another unremarkable recording.
To this day, Elton's genius continues to be a primary motivation to my aspirations as a music executive with a mission to develop creators of new, powerful, socially poignant music.
Stephen Love
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: Brandi Carlile Sings Madman Across The Water On Howard Stern
Bob -
Sorry for the long email first of all. Like millions around the world I'm an absurd Elton John fan and, as a musician and engineer, was obsessed by the incredible sound of these early albums. Not that I cracked the code but it is interesting to see how things magically aligned for him:
Elton - Listen to the demos. The songwriting is so good that all the riffs, hooks, melodies, intonations, phrases, etc are already there. No need to bring a "topline" writer here… ;-) I don't think we need to say anything else. The catalog, the music, the mind blowing piano playing - it all speaks for itself. You mentioned his voice. I know that Elton likes to say that he prefers his post 1987 baritone voice following his operation after the ragged Australian orchestral tour. I'm definitely not with him on this one.
The EJ band - They are incredible and underrated. These albums are beautifully played and the musicians were literally hardwired to Elton's brain, voice, hands, etc.
Gus - Brilliant producer who knew when to step in and when to let the band self-arrange. Elton kept him for most of his career and when it did not, the difference was pretty clear (not a stab at Chris Thomas who is equally brilliant but did not get the best version of Elton in the late 70s to mid 80s.
Robin Cable - Completely lost to history. It was before everyone and their mother was asking for credits on albums, movies, etc. Robin worked at Trident, one of the great British recording studio (more about that below) and worked for EVERYBODY: Carly Simon, T Rex, Queen, Genesis, Harry Nilsson, Leonard Cohen, and on and on.
Paul Buckmaster - Gorgeous arrangements and always very creative. "Come Down In Time" (which you mention) is stunning in its simplicity and creativity. Mainly a double bass played in pizzicato and a harp to support this song, then waves of strings. Buckmaster was able to find the right balance between restraint when needed and a very cinematic or theatrical approach to his arrangement (listen to the first EJ album for the latter part).
Trident Studio - Now we get to the most important part. Trident was an oddity and announced a gigantic shift in sound. Olympic Studios, Abbey Road, Decca and the classic studios were all big orchestral rooms. They were built for film scoring, classic music, opera, etc. Trident was totally different. It was the first room with barely any reverberation. It prefigured the classic mid 70s sound that The Record Plant (Sausalito and NY), Producer's Workshop and my former home Sound City all shared. The sound is not dead but very controlled. It does not breathe as much. Trident was basically announcing this. Listen to Elton's early albums recorded at Trident. It's open, it's clean, it's precise but it's not Who's Next. It does not have as much "air" but it works beautifully. The band is there, Elton's voice is very present. The engineering was perfect as mentioned above but that should not surprise anyone who is familiar with the rigorous military training that engineers received at that time. Think that Robin's colleague was no one else than the genius Ken Scott who recorded Bowie (Hunky, Ziggy, etc), Supertramp (Crime of the Century), Lou Reed, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and yes many of Elton's album including mixing Madman even though he never got credited.
The Equipment - Trident had the best. The Bechstein piano is now famous for having served many masters (Queen, Supertramp, The Stones, etc). I was so obsessed with the sound of that piano that I ended up buying a string of Bechstein until I got close enough that I outfitted one in the main room at Sound City (I still have the piano). All the gear used to record was top notch obviously from Neumann mics down to the legendary Sound Techniques console (I bought the last one in existence and also installed it at Sound City but was sadly too big for studio B at Sound City).
The Label - I know that Elton had his fights and disputes with Dick James but let's not forget him. Maybe he was lucky but Dick signed The Beatles (for publishing on the recommendation of George Martin) and then signed Elton to who he also give a record deal. Elton may have been resentful in his later years but DJM took a chance when no one else would and they left him alone for the most. You can listen to Captain Fantastic and learn the whole story of the early years through Bernie's lyrics. It's all there. If you're lazy, buy one of the vinyl with the cartoon which tells you the story - it's fabulous.
Bernie Taupin - 50% of the publishing and 50% of the magic. Yes Elton has incredible talent but Bernie provided the outlet, the excuse, the reason, the path to channel all this boundless talent. It legitimized the songwriting. Let's never forget that Elton John's catalog is primarily about Bernie, his life, his emotions, his dreams.
Now, I started my note by saying that things magically aligned themselves for Elton but the truth is that exceptional talent tends to be like an unstoppable vortex. It attracts, sucks and keeps equally talented persons in its orbit until it either exhausts them or exhausts itself. In the case of Elton, it moved in ebbs and flows but, God, when he hits, it just floors you. As he sung: "Harmony and me, we're pretty good company" Pretty fucking true in EJ's case.
Olivier Chastan
Iconoclast
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: Credibility
?Hey Bob-
Great piece. You're right.
These days, it's hard to find artists who stand for something or who will stand up for their beliefs despite what anyone thinks.
However, there are a few left.
One such artist—still—is Patti Smith. If you read about or attend her current performances, she continues to speak her mind and pay tribute to other artists who share her artistic values.
And she has always been like this.
I have a couple of good stories that will give some insight about her—she is totally for real—no pretense.
I had the pleasure of being her marketing person at Columbia Records when she released "Trampin."
We had been offered some opportunity for exposure on MTV—I think maybe Patti was to be interviewed—I forget the exact promo details.
Patti had no manager, so I had to speak directly to her about everything.
Record execs typically hate when an artist has no manager, but for me it was amazing.
After all, Patti is a treasure—having that time with her was a fantastic experience that I will never forget.
Anyway, back to the story.
I spoke to Patti about this offer from MTV and she turned it down immediately.
"Why?" I asked.
Patti replied, "Because I don't like the way women are portrayed on MTV; they're objectified."
She went on to tell me that she didn't let her daughter Jesse watch MTV, so therefore how could she justify going on the channel to promote her record?
She didn't like what MTV stood for.
Another example was when Patti got mad at me for ordering a car service to take us to a radio interview.
"I don't need a limo. Let's take the subway."
And that's what we did. We walked to the West 4th Street subway station and rode the subway up to Q104.
Me and Patti Smith, riding the subway together; what a trip. I'll never forget it.
Anyway—the point is—there are still some good ones left…
Regards,
Mark Feldman
NYC
_____________________________________
From: drmrsdad
Subject: Re: Covid Attendance
Went to my first Live Concert since the March 10th 2020, Celebrating 50 Years of The Allman Brothers Band, 2 weeks ago in Nashville at The Ryman.
At 60 years old, this is the only band since my Deadhead Days that I will travel to go see. I've seen them 14 times since 2016. Travelled to Nashville twice, before this recent show, Kentucky, Detroit, LA, PA and locally in NYC. The VIP Offer which I paid extra for was cancelled right before the show due to COVID protocols which I had no problem with, and they refunded the difference between the cost of my seated ticket and the VIP package. Proof of vax or Positive Test 48 hours before the show were required. I've been fully vaxxed since April. I have another ticket to see them in NYC next week. I have been diligent with my approach to life in COVID times. I have no problem wearing my mask when required and even wear my mask at a concert that has all the requirements above. I do this for all the "moral" reasons, but I do this because, God Damn it I want the concert industry to come back, because more than listening to my LP's I fuckin love the live experience! The rush of preparing to head out to a show, I get to see my friends from all over the country who I haven't seen in over two years, feeling the pulse of the crowd when the music is searing through our bodies, and reeling after the show with friends, mulling around before we say our goodbyes and return to our "normal" lives.
After the Ryman show a member of the band tested positive. I saw him before the show heading to the Gift Shop, No Mask. I was with a friend who asked to take a pic, he said, "I can't be next to you, you know COVID and all". Now I can't be 100% sure, but based on some social postings by he and his family members I think this band member wasn't vaxxed. He's posted videos of himself saying he's feeling better, 8 days later, various symptoms each day, blah blah blah... During his "quarantine" he was replaced by his tech for the next couple of shows. Now two other members have tested positive and the rest of the Tour is in jeopardy. Like WTF! I didn't pay to see your tech play. How jipped must those fans who attended those shows have felt? You want us to be loyal, you want us back at the show, giving you our hard earned cash for tickets, travel expenses/lodging and swag... and you can't even keep yourself safe! This is your livelihood and you risked it for some fool idea that you're not going to get vaxxed!!! It baffles my mind how stupid and idiotic people can be.
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: The Kacey Musgraves Kerfuffle
A few years back, before I stepped aside from assisting the process after 8 years, I once whole-heartedly suggested, in a core-room meeting, that there could be Bronze, Silver & Gold Grammy awards (3rd, 2nd & 1st like the Olympics) given in every category to be more INCLUSIVE and encourage more artist participation to the entire program - but was instantly laughed at. Then one year we found that a major record company's British CEO had planted a ringer in our process room to 'ensure' one of 'his' artists got pushed forward (they didn't, they got rooted out) and then the next year our 'room' was taken over by a member who had been trying to get one of his artists a Grammy by lobbying other members in the room, was misguidedly given adjudicating control (and yes his artist did then get 'his' Grammy and cake too) plus so many other shenanigans that are too long to go on about. At the end of the day the 'Chief's real vision is that all the Tribes are paying the Chief's mortgage, pension and expenses plus the serious overhead of the offices on Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica. The real artistic and music process is secondary or even third to the self glorifying. Shame, as the core idea of the Grammy's in its real principle is a good one, just poorly fulfilled.
Eddie Gordon
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: The Twitch Leak
Hi Bob,
I'm a long-time fan of your letter and as a fellow member of the tribe, I appreciate your perspective on life, tech, politics & the music industry.
I run a music production school in San Francisco and have been actively producing music & sound for video games for many years now.
Many who come to us to study music production know full well the state of our industry. It's for that very reason that I pushed us into video games over twenty years ago and we provide a comprehensive training program for sound for games. As a result, we have seen many of our graduates who originally came to us for their passion for music go on to pursue very successful careers in game audio for companies like Sony, Microsoft, Facebook, Blizzard Entertainment, and many more. We've even had a long-standing association with The Game Audio Network Guild with whom we have created a scholarship program.
There's no doubt that making a living as a recording artist can be challenging at best but, those who have the bug, know that making music is not an option, it's who you are. It's a driving force and a raison d'etre that you can't escape so ultimately your passion drives you. Fortunately between the tech world and video games a massive industry has been born that creates tons of opportunity for those brave enough (and smart enough) to venture forward. It's definitely not a cakewalk and requires a deep understanding of a multitude of sound design and software skills that most musicians and artists are completely unaware of, but for those brave enough to take the plunge the rewards can be great and very fulfilling.
Stay well and keep doing what you do!
Thanks,
Greg Gordon
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: Easy On Me
Bob,
Will be interesting to see the 30 album presale figures. I expected the 1st pressing black vinyl, the "limited edition" cassette single, the limited edition retail white and clear vinyl, to sell out. Like me, I expect many fans bought one of each. Going into fourth day, no sellouts. They must have a massive number of pressings. Or people are waiting to hear more of the album. Those who keep close watch know an artist may add signed copies to their store. It has become industry standard for artists to push sales with signed items. But, Adele having to do this?
John Kauchick
Subject: Re: More Covid Attendance
I just played Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch in Pomeroy, OH. It was the only one of my 5-in-a-row Midwest shows that was sold out, and I think it had to do with a very smart policy: you buy a ticket, you have a seat, but if you opt not to come to the theater they will live-stream it to your home. Not posted anywhere for any length of time — live only. AND they were requiring proof of vaccination and masks while indoors. It worked!!
Tom Rush
_____________________________________
From: David Fishof
Subject: Dennis Arfa podcast
Dear Bob ,
I just finished listening to the Dennis Arfa podcast. Knowing Dennis for over 40 years we partnered the Dirty Dancing Live Tour in 88.
What was missing from the podcast is in addition to to being one of the top agents in the music agency business is his creative ideas and marketing knowledge that he brings to an artist.
As he said in the podcast we sold out 8 Radio City shows in 24 hours based on one NY Times ad he negotiated with Radio City. I've seen his creative brilliance starting with Billy Joel and all his other clients. He's been very modest over the years of his ideas which have been winners.
I also have to say many of the lessons he taught me are part of my daily thoughts.
My favorite is before I make any business decision I ask myself…..What's the Win!
David Fishof
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: Brandi Carlile Sings Madman Across The Water On Howard Stern
These are musicians playing real instruments very well - and more important, playing a song that caught their attention enough to give it this beautiful treatment. Brandi's rendition is so great. When we play this song in concert it's a work of art - a performance - and yes of course Elton is just incredible.
It never fails to grab and hold you. It's not a song you will doze off on no matter how many times it's played. You have to be in it all the way. Dynamics. It's a joy and an honor to play - wish we did it more often (-:
I love Brandi's choice and I tell all the "youngsters" getting into music don't be afraid to listen and play what you like - even if it's not in the Top 40, hip hop tip etc… Follow your bliss - not someone else's just to be cool.
Thanks for that Bob.
John Mahon - The Elton John Band.
_____________________________________
From: Marty Simon
Subject: Spedding on the original Madman Across The Water
That Brandi Carlile version is worthy, not only honouring the Song, but the Record (sound of that track).
My friend Chris Spedding was called into Elton's session and played that rich strat low note riff.. I sent Chris your piece yesterday and he wrote back.
"I was only on that one track on that album. The rest was Elton's regular guys. I think the reason was that Paul Buckmaster had booked a live orchestra and he needed someone who could read a chart! Moi."
Back when Chris and had a band, I once asked him about Madman and for him it was just a regular morning London recording session…. But what a great legacy to be a part of.
Marty Simon
Toronto
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: Brandi Carlile Sings Madman Across The Water On Howard Stern
I was in college, assisting my roommate in booking shows into C.W. Post, when we were sent an early pressing of the Elton John album containing "Your Song." Suffice it to say that the album that followed with his live album "11/17/70" amounted to a one-two punch of emotional reaction. It had such a visceral impact that I left school to pursue a music industry career. My trajectory wouldn't have happened without Elton's befriending me. I wrote a freelance article comparing him to Leon Russell (little did I know that Leon was EJ's idol) that led to a backstage introduction a few months later in Glassboro, New Jersey. It was Elton's introduction of me to his music publisher that began a path that would soon lead to my becoming the first American publisher of ATV Music (later the Worldwide EVP), which owned the Lennon-McCartney catalogue.
So, I was intent on meeting Gus Dudgeon and Paul Buckmaster, who were so important to those first few albums. The collaboration with EJ was magical and created music that touched to the core! Years later, when I was working with Barry Mann (of Mann & Weil songwriting fame), I made a deal for him with Lenny Waronker at Warner Bros. Records and brought in Gus to produce.
Bob, you are so right about the Brandi Carlile cover of "Madman Across The Water." Her creativity and those strings replicate the original with distinction. The music reminded me of an emotional quotient that rarely occurs with today's music. Your point about authenticity is so important in an age of fabricated tracks, beats and twenty "writers" on yet another unremarkable recording.
To this day, Elton's genius continues to be a primary motivation to my aspirations as a music executive with a mission to develop creators of new, powerful, socially poignant music.
Stephen Love
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: Brandi Carlile Sings Madman Across The Water On Howard Stern
Bob -
Sorry for the long email first of all. Like millions around the world I'm an absurd Elton John fan and, as a musician and engineer, was obsessed by the incredible sound of these early albums. Not that I cracked the code but it is interesting to see how things magically aligned for him:
Elton - Listen to the demos. The songwriting is so good that all the riffs, hooks, melodies, intonations, phrases, etc are already there. No need to bring a "topline" writer here… ;-) I don't think we need to say anything else. The catalog, the music, the mind blowing piano playing - it all speaks for itself. You mentioned his voice. I know that Elton likes to say that he prefers his post 1987 baritone voice following his operation after the ragged Australian orchestral tour. I'm definitely not with him on this one.
The EJ band - They are incredible and underrated. These albums are beautifully played and the musicians were literally hardwired to Elton's brain, voice, hands, etc.
Gus - Brilliant producer who knew when to step in and when to let the band self-arrange. Elton kept him for most of his career and when it did not, the difference was pretty clear (not a stab at Chris Thomas who is equally brilliant but did not get the best version of Elton in the late 70s to mid 80s.
Robin Cable - Completely lost to history. It was before everyone and their mother was asking for credits on albums, movies, etc. Robin worked at Trident, one of the great British recording studio (more about that below) and worked for EVERYBODY: Carly Simon, T Rex, Queen, Genesis, Harry Nilsson, Leonard Cohen, and on and on.
Paul Buckmaster - Gorgeous arrangements and always very creative. "Come Down In Time" (which you mention) is stunning in its simplicity and creativity. Mainly a double bass played in pizzicato and a harp to support this song, then waves of strings. Buckmaster was able to find the right balance between restraint when needed and a very cinematic or theatrical approach to his arrangement (listen to the first EJ album for the latter part).
Trident Studio - Now we get to the most important part. Trident was an oddity and announced a gigantic shift in sound. Olympic Studios, Abbey Road, Decca and the classic studios were all big orchestral rooms. They were built for film scoring, classic music, opera, etc. Trident was totally different. It was the first room with barely any reverberation. It prefigured the classic mid 70s sound that The Record Plant (Sausalito and NY), Producer's Workshop and my former home Sound City all shared. The sound is not dead but very controlled. It does not breathe as much. Trident was basically announcing this. Listen to Elton's early albums recorded at Trident. It's open, it's clean, it's precise but it's not Who's Next. It does not have as much "air" but it works beautifully. The band is there, Elton's voice is very present. The engineering was perfect as mentioned above but that should not surprise anyone who is familiar with the rigorous military training that engineers received at that time. Think that Robin's colleague was no one else than the genius Ken Scott who recorded Bowie (Hunky, Ziggy, etc), Supertramp (Crime of the Century), Lou Reed, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and yes many of Elton's album including mixing Madman even though he never got credited.
The Equipment - Trident had the best. The Bechstein piano is now famous for having served many masters (Queen, Supertramp, The Stones, etc). I was so obsessed with the sound of that piano that I ended up buying a string of Bechstein until I got close enough that I outfitted one in the main room at Sound City (I still have the piano). All the gear used to record was top notch obviously from Neumann mics down to the legendary Sound Techniques console (I bought the last one in existence and also installed it at Sound City but was sadly too big for studio B at Sound City).
The Label - I know that Elton had his fights and disputes with Dick James but let's not forget him. Maybe he was lucky but Dick signed The Beatles (for publishing on the recommendation of George Martin) and then signed Elton to who he also give a record deal. Elton may have been resentful in his later years but DJM took a chance when no one else would and they left him alone for the most. You can listen to Captain Fantastic and learn the whole story of the early years through Bernie's lyrics. It's all there. If you're lazy, buy one of the vinyl with the cartoon which tells you the story - it's fabulous.
Bernie Taupin - 50% of the publishing and 50% of the magic. Yes Elton has incredible talent but Bernie provided the outlet, the excuse, the reason, the path to channel all this boundless talent. It legitimized the songwriting. Let's never forget that Elton John's catalog is primarily about Bernie, his life, his emotions, his dreams.
Now, I started my note by saying that things magically aligned themselves for Elton but the truth is that exceptional talent tends to be like an unstoppable vortex. It attracts, sucks and keeps equally talented persons in its orbit until it either exhausts them or exhausts itself. In the case of Elton, it moved in ebbs and flows but, God, when he hits, it just floors you. As he sung: "Harmony and me, we're pretty good company" Pretty fucking true in EJ's case.
Olivier Chastan
Iconoclast
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: Credibility
?Hey Bob-
Great piece. You're right.
These days, it's hard to find artists who stand for something or who will stand up for their beliefs despite what anyone thinks.
However, there are a few left.
One such artist—still—is Patti Smith. If you read about or attend her current performances, she continues to speak her mind and pay tribute to other artists who share her artistic values.
And she has always been like this.
I have a couple of good stories that will give some insight about her—she is totally for real—no pretense.
I had the pleasure of being her marketing person at Columbia Records when she released "Trampin."
We had been offered some opportunity for exposure on MTV—I think maybe Patti was to be interviewed—I forget the exact promo details.
Patti had no manager, so I had to speak directly to her about everything.
Record execs typically hate when an artist has no manager, but for me it was amazing.
After all, Patti is a treasure—having that time with her was a fantastic experience that I will never forget.
Anyway, back to the story.
I spoke to Patti about this offer from MTV and she turned it down immediately.
"Why?" I asked.
Patti replied, "Because I don't like the way women are portrayed on MTV; they're objectified."
She went on to tell me that she didn't let her daughter Jesse watch MTV, so therefore how could she justify going on the channel to promote her record?
She didn't like what MTV stood for.
Another example was when Patti got mad at me for ordering a car service to take us to a radio interview.
"I don't need a limo. Let's take the subway."
And that's what we did. We walked to the West 4th Street subway station and rode the subway up to Q104.
Me and Patti Smith, riding the subway together; what a trip. I'll never forget it.
Anyway—the point is—there are still some good ones left…
Regards,
Mark Feldman
NYC
_____________________________________
From: drmrsdad
Subject: Re: Covid Attendance
Went to my first Live Concert since the March 10th 2020, Celebrating 50 Years of The Allman Brothers Band, 2 weeks ago in Nashville at The Ryman.
At 60 years old, this is the only band since my Deadhead Days that I will travel to go see. I've seen them 14 times since 2016. Travelled to Nashville twice, before this recent show, Kentucky, Detroit, LA, PA and locally in NYC. The VIP Offer which I paid extra for was cancelled right before the show due to COVID protocols which I had no problem with, and they refunded the difference between the cost of my seated ticket and the VIP package. Proof of vax or Positive Test 48 hours before the show were required. I've been fully vaxxed since April. I have another ticket to see them in NYC next week. I have been diligent with my approach to life in COVID times. I have no problem wearing my mask when required and even wear my mask at a concert that has all the requirements above. I do this for all the "moral" reasons, but I do this because, God Damn it I want the concert industry to come back, because more than listening to my LP's I fuckin love the live experience! The rush of preparing to head out to a show, I get to see my friends from all over the country who I haven't seen in over two years, feeling the pulse of the crowd when the music is searing through our bodies, and reeling after the show with friends, mulling around before we say our goodbyes and return to our "normal" lives.
After the Ryman show a member of the band tested positive. I saw him before the show heading to the Gift Shop, No Mask. I was with a friend who asked to take a pic, he said, "I can't be next to you, you know COVID and all". Now I can't be 100% sure, but based on some social postings by he and his family members I think this band member wasn't vaxxed. He's posted videos of himself saying he's feeling better, 8 days later, various symptoms each day, blah blah blah... During his "quarantine" he was replaced by his tech for the next couple of shows. Now two other members have tested positive and the rest of the Tour is in jeopardy. Like WTF! I didn't pay to see your tech play. How jipped must those fans who attended those shows have felt? You want us to be loyal, you want us back at the show, giving you our hard earned cash for tickets, travel expenses/lodging and swag... and you can't even keep yourself safe! This is your livelihood and you risked it for some fool idea that you're not going to get vaxxed!!! It baffles my mind how stupid and idiotic people can be.
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: The Kacey Musgraves Kerfuffle
A few years back, before I stepped aside from assisting the process after 8 years, I once whole-heartedly suggested, in a core-room meeting, that there could be Bronze, Silver & Gold Grammy awards (3rd, 2nd & 1st like the Olympics) given in every category to be more INCLUSIVE and encourage more artist participation to the entire program - but was instantly laughed at. Then one year we found that a major record company's British CEO had planted a ringer in our process room to 'ensure' one of 'his' artists got pushed forward (they didn't, they got rooted out) and then the next year our 'room' was taken over by a member who had been trying to get one of his artists a Grammy by lobbying other members in the room, was misguidedly given adjudicating control (and yes his artist did then get 'his' Grammy and cake too) plus so many other shenanigans that are too long to go on about. At the end of the day the 'Chief's real vision is that all the Tribes are paying the Chief's mortgage, pension and expenses plus the serious overhead of the offices on Olympic Boulevard, Santa Monica. The real artistic and music process is secondary or even third to the self glorifying. Shame, as the core idea of the Grammy's in its real principle is a good one, just poorly fulfilled.
Eddie Gordon
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: The Twitch Leak
Hi Bob,
I'm a long-time fan of your letter and as a fellow member of the tribe, I appreciate your perspective on life, tech, politics & the music industry.
I run a music production school in San Francisco and have been actively producing music & sound for video games for many years now.
Many who come to us to study music production know full well the state of our industry. It's for that very reason that I pushed us into video games over twenty years ago and we provide a comprehensive training program for sound for games. As a result, we have seen many of our graduates who originally came to us for their passion for music go on to pursue very successful careers in game audio for companies like Sony, Microsoft, Facebook, Blizzard Entertainment, and many more. We've even had a long-standing association with The Game Audio Network Guild with whom we have created a scholarship program.
There's no doubt that making a living as a recording artist can be challenging at best but, those who have the bug, know that making music is not an option, it's who you are. It's a driving force and a raison d'etre that you can't escape so ultimately your passion drives you. Fortunately between the tech world and video games a massive industry has been born that creates tons of opportunity for those brave enough (and smart enough) to venture forward. It's definitely not a cakewalk and requires a deep understanding of a multitude of sound design and software skills that most musicians and artists are completely unaware of, but for those brave enough to take the plunge the rewards can be great and very fulfilling.
Stay well and keep doing what you do!
Thanks,
Greg Gordon
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: Easy On Me
Bob,
Will be interesting to see the 30 album presale figures. I expected the 1st pressing black vinyl, the "limited edition" cassette single, the limited edition retail white and clear vinyl, to sell out. Like me, I expect many fans bought one of each. Going into fourth day, no sellouts. They must have a massive number of pressings. Or people are waiting to hear more of the album. Those who keep close watch know an artist may add signed copies to their store. It has become industry standard for artists to push sales with signed items. But, Adele having to do this?
John Kauchick
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Sunday 17 October 2021
Easy On Me
It's an album track.
Expect very short legs. There must be a hit single on "30," but this isn't it. This is a setup, Adele coming out with her viewpoint, prefacing the tone of the album, I can see it from an artistic standpoint, but not a commercial one.
Adele's success was amongst oldsters who were infected by the radio when CDs were still a thing. End result? Adele sold three times as many copies of "21" as any of her competitors, an achievement akin to Michael Jackson's with "Thriller," but there was that original infectious track, "Rolling in the Deep," which begged to be replayed, it burst with energy, albeit somewhat controlled, generating a tension that's the essence of a hit.
But there was more. "Rumour Has It," "Set Fire to the Rain"... "21" was an album, a heartfelt work in an era representing a turning point that the mainstream media was unaware of. Not only were we switching from CDs and downloads to streaming, social media was growing, our country was fracturing, yet somehow Adele seemed to unite everybody. Selling classic music with melody and slick production in an era of hip-hop beats, selling the songs in a way none of the miasma plastic people who focused on pipes as opposed to meaning could ever do. "21" was a breath of fresh air, because it hearkened back to what once was, a world where the single was just a sales tool for the album, where the body of work was more important than any single track.
The single track dominates today. Oh, big names release new albums and seemingly all of the tracks show up in the Spotify Top 50, but soon the focus is whittled down to one. And, if the act is lucky, another one replaces it, and then another one. The most successful at this paradigm today is the excoriated Morgan Wallen, who stepped in deep doo-doo. He put out a double album which was eminently LISTENABLE! With changes and hooks and not too much of the pandering Nashville is known for. But most acts are lucky if one track sticks, and it can stick for over a year, can you say "Blinding Lights"?
So in popular music, in hit music, it's about the track. And most people only go that far, why go deeper when the rest is endless filler and there's so much more to investigate? Of course, every successful act has a fan base, which will go to see them live, but even if you go on a stadium tour, you only reach a small fraction of listeners. And then there are those with hits who can't sell a ticket, and today it's all about the tickets. Ticket sales have been the metric for this entire century, even though the mainstream hasn't caught up. Want to see who's a star? Check the ticket counts. As for the "Billboard" chart? It's manipulative and unrepresentative. And furthermore, if you don't make hip-hop or pop you'll be guaranteed to almost never make the Spotify Top 50, even though you might be doing boffo at the b.o.
That's the metric for recordings, Spotify. You can see how many times each track is played. The demand.
And the truth is the younger the act skews, the more plays it has on Spotify. Now as of this writing, "Easy on Me" has 40 million streams on Spotify already, quite a feat in three days, but will it sustain? I highly doubt it, because it's not a hit single. Which is okay if hit singles follow it, and having worked with Max Martin I've got to believe there are hits on "30," but once again "Easy On Me" isn't one.
Then again, failure in the marketplace doesn't stain your career the way it once did. As long as you follow up with a hit, the public is ready to embrace it. The old days of a calculated battle plan are history. If you're a major act and you've got a hit song on your album it will surface. Fans will find it and then radio will react and...
Radio built Adele. But don't expect much airplay on "Easy on Me" two weeks hence. It's a snooze, it's a tune-out. It's a statement, but a statement isn't necessarily a hit, just ask Bob Dylan.
And the truth is "25" was nowhere near as successful as "21." There was pent-up demand in the marketplace, there was a tour with many fewer seats than buyers, but that was more than half a decade ago. In the interim, the music marketplace has fractured even more, everything big is smaller, universal mindshare is impossible to achieve.
But Adele achieved universal mindshare before the nichification of music. She's really the only act everybody knows, other than the young listeners who only came of age in the past few years.
And the media has been appealing to that mindshare. There have been stories EVERYWHERE! People have asked me about Adele who don't seem to follow popular music whatsoever. Their interest is piqued. Adele represents inclusion in an era of exclusion.
But media means almost nothing these days. All the traction happens online. To the degree radio matters, it always follows in the footsteps of what is happening online. And you can't fake a hit online, not of multiple hundred millions of streams. The public either embraces it or rejects it.
Notice that all the talk of Billie Eilish is now about personal appearances, live, on screens. The truth is her new music resonated with a hard core but then stopped. The public has moved on. The public is only interested in hits. How many hits do you need to sustain a touring career? That's being debated right now. Used to be pop stars' ticket counts rose and fell with hit singles, but today it appears if you have enough hit singles people still want to see you.
So, the truth is Adele's music is out of step with the Spotify Top 50. But that was to her advantage in the past, will it work for her today?
Maybe.
But in the CD world, it was sales, not spins. How many times did those oldsters play those CDs? And one thing we've never been able to conquer, the fact that youngsters listen to music more than oldsters. They'll play the track dozens of times, whereas ten times would be nearly unheard of for many oldsters.
So, Adele's Spotify numbers...can they compete with those of the hit acts?
You can see the conundrum. Everything has been quantified. CDs are history, as are track sales. In a streaming world only, can Adele maintain her status atop the heap? In a world where you have to compete with the 850 million streams of Justin Bieber's inane "Peaches"?
It's nearly impossible to follow up a phenomenon. Michael Jackson kept trying and it ultimately killed him. The Eagles made one more album and then broke up. Carole King had a few more hits and faded away. Alanis Morissette is still touring on one album, without "Jagged Little Pill," no one wants to see her.
And with "Easy on Me" Adele is posturing "30" as an adult "Jagged Little Pill." Raw and reflective in its own way.
But no one could live up to "21," NO ONE! And so far Adele hasn't either.
And the truth is Adele gives one of the best performances extant. She's one of the great performers in history. Her patter and banter with the audience pulls at your heartstrings, it's undeniable. But when it comes to hit music...
We'll get another rush of publicity when "30" comes out on November 19th. Stories about "Easy On Me" will fade away, because with so much in the marketplace, media moves on. As for word of mouth? We've never ever figured out how to measure it. But one thing is for sure, it's faster the younger you are.
So, "Easy on Me" might be forgotten, seen as a set-up after the big hits arrive. But "Easy on Me" is neither a one listen wonder or a track that demands repeatability, as a matter of fact you might have a hard time making it through the entire thing.
But one thing is for sure, Adele will sell tickets. Forever. Maybe the new albums don't have to be that great, maybe she can continue to experiment. Time will tell, but so far what we've got here is a disappointment, despite the mega streaming numbers reflecting pent-up demand. Everybody's hungry, foaming at the mouth, and then they move on unless the new project is so interesting, so rewarding, that it is irresistible. "Easy on Me" is not.
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Expect very short legs. There must be a hit single on "30," but this isn't it. This is a setup, Adele coming out with her viewpoint, prefacing the tone of the album, I can see it from an artistic standpoint, but not a commercial one.
Adele's success was amongst oldsters who were infected by the radio when CDs were still a thing. End result? Adele sold three times as many copies of "21" as any of her competitors, an achievement akin to Michael Jackson's with "Thriller," but there was that original infectious track, "Rolling in the Deep," which begged to be replayed, it burst with energy, albeit somewhat controlled, generating a tension that's the essence of a hit.
But there was more. "Rumour Has It," "Set Fire to the Rain"... "21" was an album, a heartfelt work in an era representing a turning point that the mainstream media was unaware of. Not only were we switching from CDs and downloads to streaming, social media was growing, our country was fracturing, yet somehow Adele seemed to unite everybody. Selling classic music with melody and slick production in an era of hip-hop beats, selling the songs in a way none of the miasma plastic people who focused on pipes as opposed to meaning could ever do. "21" was a breath of fresh air, because it hearkened back to what once was, a world where the single was just a sales tool for the album, where the body of work was more important than any single track.
The single track dominates today. Oh, big names release new albums and seemingly all of the tracks show up in the Spotify Top 50, but soon the focus is whittled down to one. And, if the act is lucky, another one replaces it, and then another one. The most successful at this paradigm today is the excoriated Morgan Wallen, who stepped in deep doo-doo. He put out a double album which was eminently LISTENABLE! With changes and hooks and not too much of the pandering Nashville is known for. But most acts are lucky if one track sticks, and it can stick for over a year, can you say "Blinding Lights"?
So in popular music, in hit music, it's about the track. And most people only go that far, why go deeper when the rest is endless filler and there's so much more to investigate? Of course, every successful act has a fan base, which will go to see them live, but even if you go on a stadium tour, you only reach a small fraction of listeners. And then there are those with hits who can't sell a ticket, and today it's all about the tickets. Ticket sales have been the metric for this entire century, even though the mainstream hasn't caught up. Want to see who's a star? Check the ticket counts. As for the "Billboard" chart? It's manipulative and unrepresentative. And furthermore, if you don't make hip-hop or pop you'll be guaranteed to almost never make the Spotify Top 50, even though you might be doing boffo at the b.o.
That's the metric for recordings, Spotify. You can see how many times each track is played. The demand.
And the truth is the younger the act skews, the more plays it has on Spotify. Now as of this writing, "Easy on Me" has 40 million streams on Spotify already, quite a feat in three days, but will it sustain? I highly doubt it, because it's not a hit single. Which is okay if hit singles follow it, and having worked with Max Martin I've got to believe there are hits on "30," but once again "Easy On Me" isn't one.
Then again, failure in the marketplace doesn't stain your career the way it once did. As long as you follow up with a hit, the public is ready to embrace it. The old days of a calculated battle plan are history. If you're a major act and you've got a hit song on your album it will surface. Fans will find it and then radio will react and...
Radio built Adele. But don't expect much airplay on "Easy on Me" two weeks hence. It's a snooze, it's a tune-out. It's a statement, but a statement isn't necessarily a hit, just ask Bob Dylan.
And the truth is "25" was nowhere near as successful as "21." There was pent-up demand in the marketplace, there was a tour with many fewer seats than buyers, but that was more than half a decade ago. In the interim, the music marketplace has fractured even more, everything big is smaller, universal mindshare is impossible to achieve.
But Adele achieved universal mindshare before the nichification of music. She's really the only act everybody knows, other than the young listeners who only came of age in the past few years.
And the media has been appealing to that mindshare. There have been stories EVERYWHERE! People have asked me about Adele who don't seem to follow popular music whatsoever. Their interest is piqued. Adele represents inclusion in an era of exclusion.
But media means almost nothing these days. All the traction happens online. To the degree radio matters, it always follows in the footsteps of what is happening online. And you can't fake a hit online, not of multiple hundred millions of streams. The public either embraces it or rejects it.
Notice that all the talk of Billie Eilish is now about personal appearances, live, on screens. The truth is her new music resonated with a hard core but then stopped. The public has moved on. The public is only interested in hits. How many hits do you need to sustain a touring career? That's being debated right now. Used to be pop stars' ticket counts rose and fell with hit singles, but today it appears if you have enough hit singles people still want to see you.
So, the truth is Adele's music is out of step with the Spotify Top 50. But that was to her advantage in the past, will it work for her today?
Maybe.
But in the CD world, it was sales, not spins. How many times did those oldsters play those CDs? And one thing we've never been able to conquer, the fact that youngsters listen to music more than oldsters. They'll play the track dozens of times, whereas ten times would be nearly unheard of for many oldsters.
So, Adele's Spotify numbers...can they compete with those of the hit acts?
You can see the conundrum. Everything has been quantified. CDs are history, as are track sales. In a streaming world only, can Adele maintain her status atop the heap? In a world where you have to compete with the 850 million streams of Justin Bieber's inane "Peaches"?
It's nearly impossible to follow up a phenomenon. Michael Jackson kept trying and it ultimately killed him. The Eagles made one more album and then broke up. Carole King had a few more hits and faded away. Alanis Morissette is still touring on one album, without "Jagged Little Pill," no one wants to see her.
And with "Easy on Me" Adele is posturing "30" as an adult "Jagged Little Pill." Raw and reflective in its own way.
But no one could live up to "21," NO ONE! And so far Adele hasn't either.
And the truth is Adele gives one of the best performances extant. She's one of the great performers in history. Her patter and banter with the audience pulls at your heartstrings, it's undeniable. But when it comes to hit music...
We'll get another rush of publicity when "30" comes out on November 19th. Stories about "Easy On Me" will fade away, because with so much in the marketplace, media moves on. As for word of mouth? We've never ever figured out how to measure it. But one thing is for sure, it's faster the younger you are.
So, "Easy on Me" might be forgotten, seen as a set-up after the big hits arrive. But "Easy on Me" is neither a one listen wonder or a track that demands repeatability, as a matter of fact you might have a hard time making it through the entire thing.
But one thing is for sure, Adele will sell tickets. Forever. Maybe the new albums don't have to be that great, maybe she can continue to experiment. Time will tell, but so far what we've got here is a disappointment, despite the mega streaming numbers reflecting pent-up demand. Everybody's hungry, foaming at the mouth, and then they move on unless the new project is so interesting, so rewarding, that it is irresistible. "Easy on Me" is not.
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