Irreverence

I woke up with the song "Head and Heart" in my brain.

In case you don't know, the "hit" was by America, it appeared on their second album, "Homecoming," which contained "Ventura Highway."

But the song was written by John Martyn.

What stunned me was that neither recording sounded like the version in my head. The song had become my own.

And then my brain told me to listen to "Easy to Slip," an unknown Little Feat track that has gained some traction over time with inclusion in greatest hits/repackages, but when it opened the band's second album, "Sailin' Shoes," I didn't know a single soul who knew it, never mind owned the album. It wasn't until the band's third album, in my eyes its best, "Dixie Chicken," appeared that the band had any penetration into the marketplace, which was cemented by the follow-up, which gained airplay with a Billy Payne song, "Oh Atlanta," which was kind of surprising for the Lowell George-led band. But it was "Easy to Slip" I sang skiing the bumps at the 'Bird, and my friend Al started singing it too, in his own way, even though he'd never heard the record.

And I could have written a whole essay about the foregoing. First and foremost about John Martyn, who's dead and gone, who succumbed to the effects of drugs and alcohol according to Wikipedia, which they say is as accurate as an encyclopedia, then again no one buys those anymore since there is Wikipedia. And I'm thinking of all the acts from back then, the late sixties and early seventies, that all dedicated music fans knew, even if they didn't own the record, like the Incredible String Band, and how no one mentions them anymore. They weren't big successes back then, but unlike the tripe of the late seventies and eighties they were original and valid and they're all sitting there on Spotify to be discovered. Then again, go down that rabbit hole and you'll be alone, when today it's all about being a member of the group, it used to be about being an individual.

So while I'm listening to Alexa spew these songs I'm reading the MacKenzie Scott article in the "New York Times," inspired by her philanthropic giving. I found it astounding that she's already given away more than Eli Broad in just a few years. And I'm thinking how admirable Scott is but as I plow into the article, I realize she's a kiss-ass. Never mind her real last name being "Tuttle."

There's a game. I don't know if it's identical from when I went to school, but I can't see how it could have really changed. You do the work, suck up to the teacher and if you continue on this path you get good recommendations and you get into a good college. You don't make any waves, you don't get detention, you're calm and studious, you do what's expected.

I hate those people.

If you've been following the education beat, and I guess I still do, even though I'd never ever want to go back to school, you know that all the colleges are getting rid of standardized tests.

But it was standardized tests that saved us. Those who colored outside the lines, those who were independent thinkers, who questioned authority. Bottom line, we could ace the SATs and get into superior universities based on that. But now it's all soft credits. They say it's to help the underprivileged, but it's killing the originals, the people who change society, for the better. You grade-grub, you get good recommendations from your teachers, and you get into these prestigious schools as an automaton. No wonder the greats drop out. Steve Jobs. Mark Zuckerberg. To be successful, to push the envelope, not to make a lot of money necessarily, but to change the world, you've got to do it your way, a different way, that resonates, that gives people what they want even though they don't know it.

Like Elon Musk.

This guy is insane. His personal life is a travesty. He gets in trouble with the SEC. But he spearheaded Tesla and SpaceX, never mind PayPal.

And just recently he bought a big chunk of Twitter, and a couple of days ago he tweeted..., let me find it:

"Most of these "top" accounts tweet rarely and post very little content.

Is Twitter dying?

TOP 10 most followed Twitter accounts:

1. @BarackObama 131.4M
2. @justinbieber 114.3M
3. @katyperry 108.8M
4. @rihanna 105.9M
5. @Cristiano98.8M
6. @taylorswift13 90.3M
7. @ladygaga 84.5M
8. @elonmusk 81M
9. @narendramodi 77.7M
10. @TheEllenShow 77.5M"

That's the dirty little secret of today's online world. It's all statistics, rankings, no one pierces the surface and asks what the numbers really mean. If someone is rich, you can't question their motives, their intelligence or how they made the money. If someone has a zillion followers or a zillion likes they're perceived to be a big, influential star, you can't pierce the veil and garner the truth.

So Elon Musk is stating the truth. Never mind fake followers, most of the big "stars" with big followings rarely post on Twitter, which is really the only valuable social network, because it's based on information, it's INFORMATIVE!

On Facebook and Instagram you can see what people have done, you can watch them shine, but if you want reality, you need Twitter.

And I'm not gonna try and convince you, it's just that everybody who uses the service knows this. If you post what you're doing on Twitter, no one cares. Add to the conversation, deliver facts, analyze, it's a treasure trove of not only information, but inspiration, Twitter makes you think. The world runs on Twitter, but too many people are out of the loop.

These are questions that need to be addressed. And here we have the largest shareholder in the company asking them. Musk is not a drone. He's revealing, and calling out truth. He wants to improve the service, not have it rest on his laurels. And, ironically, it's his Twitter feed that gets the above info noticed and spread. As in he's got an identity, he's not shaving off his rough edges, and therefore he's interesting to follow.

Like artists.

John Martyn and Lowell George were originals, far from me-too. They were part of the music scene, but they were not compromising, duplicating what the hitmakers did in search of a hit.

You've got to go your own way and blow institutions up. Music was famous for that, but it hasn't really changed in twenty years.

And then we've got SNL... For all the ink you'd think everybody watches it and it affects the culture at large, but nothing could be further from the truth. Now in truth, broadcast TV is irrelevant, but if this were fifty years ago artists would be poking fun at an establishment production, and remaking it in their own hip way. But no, today all the automatons report what was on SNL like it's manna from heaven.

Meanwhile, everybody talks about "Squid Game" and "Tiger King." One thing you can say about both of them is they were originals, you'd never seen them before.

Now I'm not saying to go against the grain just for the sake of going against the grain.

And I'm not talking about holding back the future, trying to restrain people in their activities.

I'm talking about moving forward, cracking jokes... For all the standups out there irreverence has never had a smaller role in our society. God, if you make a joke the media police will come out and get you. Never mind if the joke fails. That's right, you've got to miss a lot to hit.

But in truth, we're all on our own path and no one is paying attention to what we're doing unless we're unique and different. Everybody's fighting for attention doing the same damn thing, and that's what the institutions like. Go to a record label with something that doesn't sound like what's on the radio and they're not going to sign you, never ever.

For all the risk we hear about in Silicon Valley...

Most of that is funded by VCs.

No, true risk is personal. Something that you decide to do as an individual. It's the only way to the top of the heap. The only way not to be a drone. Sure, you can make a ton of bread being a VP at a bank, but money is only one metric, and a far cry from importance from someone's brain.

All these jokes about the liberal arts... English and art majors are derided, but these are the people creating the culture we indulge in. We live for the movies and the music and television, our gadgets, tech is just a tool. Isn't that what Steve Jobs said?

But Steve Jobs is dead.

As is so much of what he represented.

You can have rough edges in pursuit of truth. Single-mindedness is the key to success.

It's great that MacKenzie Scott is giving away all that money.

But I'd rather hang with the dead Lemmy and John Lennon than be a cog in the wheel of a corporation. We venerate those who Think Different. And those who Think Different don't have to convince us they're right, they don't spam for attention, their work speaks for itself.

In order to make a difference you need to be different. You can't be scared. But too many are.

That's it.


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