Music Industry News: 2022-05-29

Thursday 2 June 2022

Borgen-Season 4-Episode 1

They don't make television like this in the United States.

And they certainly don't make movies. Hollywood is patting itself on the back over the success of "Top Gun: Maverick." I haven't seen it, but I did see the original, because back then movies still mattered, the stars weren't on TV, they were shooting for something more. I hear it's a special effects movie that's a tribute to the military. More serious reviewers have panned it, even in the L.A. "Times," but the public loves it. On RottenTomatoes it's got a score of 97/99, the first being the critics and the second being the public, not that there's a cadre of trusted critics anymore, both Siskel and Ebert are dead. Movie criticism barely means anything more than music criticism, and since there's no longer the advantage of free records, and anybody can express their opinion online, music criticism means nothing these days. It, like movie criticism, especially on front line, highly touted product, is essentially cheerleading. The critics don't want to lose their access. And money trumps art. Our national standards have dropped. Say something sucks and the blowback on social media is that you suck. To a great degree people don't even know what great is anymore, they don't have contact with it.

Great doesn't play to the audience. When all the hit records are done by the same producers and songwriters, with the acts essentially buying insurance, why should the audience care? It truly is product, with no lasting effect. A great record, a transcendent record, exists in its own atmosphere, you find a slit in the globe, step in and are amazed. You can't wait to tell people about the experience, one you've never had before. But that's not what drives the business today.

You know why TikTok is so powerful? Because it's new and different, it's tapping the talent of the hoi polloi, with essentially no restrictions. The gatekeepers have rules, the gatekeepers say no, whereas the creators of the app say yes, they're delivering tools for you to create. It's the humanity that is attractive in TikTok, something that's certainly been squeezed out of mainstream music, and a whole hell of a lot of television too. As for movies with that element, the studios don't even release stuff like that anymore, the risk is big and the payback odds are extremely low.

But the numbers were never this big in foreign countries. Actors were part of the fabric of society, not held high above the regular citizens.

Now before watching the first episode of "Borgen," we finished off this season of "Hacks," which ends leaving you believing the series is over, done with, but doing research online one finds out that's far from the case. They get the Hollywood pitch meetings right, Jean Smart is better than the rest of the cast put together, she's a marvel, and ultra-believable in the role, but everybody else is essentially a cartoon. The production values are great, but so much of the rest is predictable, two-dimensional cardboard.

But not "Borgen."

I'm waiting for the innovation on the other streaming services. Disney giving us another "Star Wars"? What next, more "Hello Kitty"? This is evidence of brain dead profiteering. Sequelitis. Without the original "Top Gun" the new one would have done a lot less at the box office. But in a world where so much is unsatisfying, where it's hard to build from scratch, the purveyors keep going back to the well, again and again and again. And believe me, it's about innovation, especially in tech, where there is no catalog, which is keeping the major labels alive.

You must read this article from Bloomberg:

"Mark Zuckerberg Is Blowing Up Instagram to Try and Catch TikTok - The CEO of Meta Platforms needs Reels—his short-form video feature—to fund his metaverse, and you can smell his desperation from Beijing.": https://bloom.bg/3aDxBhj

And you should take the time to click through, even if you don't use social media. Because this is about more than advertising to young people. Turns out Zuckerberg was a one trick pony. Facebook, which even he didn't come up with. He bought WhatsApp and Instagram, brilliant moves, but this can't happen again, just like content creators are wary of making deals with Apple, they don't want to give up control of the game. All Zuckerberg seems able to do is copy, in most cases poorly. Which means his metaverse play...will probably fail. Because if someone talks about something ad infinitum, it seems to never happen in tech. It's always some left field nobody who twists the concept and delivers what people want. Yes, there will be a metaverse. But will it be about owning land and buying clothes and tchotchkes? Probably not.

So let's see, supposedly declining to death Netflix has the latest "Stranger Things," TV sequelitis, that I gave up on with season two. And it's got "Squid Game"... The other outlets have nothing similar. And we keep hearing it's about their catalog. When in truth, catalog is important, but it's front line, new product that creates all the buzz and the sales, that drives your business.

And now Netflix has the new season of "Borgen."

Maybe you never watched the original. Your loss. The Israelis and the Danes make the best television, and "Borgen" is Danish. And in truth, I spent two years watching the cream of the crop on TV and now am mostly subjected to B level material. Like the people listening to the umpteenth track by the Weeknd produced by Max Martin, or one of the albums Jack Antonoff is involved in, their sights are lowered, they don't expect revolutionary, but you know it when you hear or see it.

Like "The Bureau." The French "CIA" show. It's got more tension than the movies in the theatre, and with your giant OLED TV the image is just as good. You're involved, you're invested.

But you won't get hooked right away.

There's all this crap about people's short attention spans. But we know that everybody's got time for great, that's what bingeing is all about, which is why HBO and Apple are so stupid releasing their product week by week. It's the experience, the immersion that turns us on, that gets us to testify. Watching one of these series dripped out week by week is like taking a break after foreplay, and then after you go to the bathroom, there is penetration. And just when you're getting into it, there's a break for dinner... Would you ever get off under these circumstances? Of course not. As for you offended by sex analogies, the whole world runs on sex. As does TV. You can be puritanical, like a politician standing up for morality and then stepping out on his wife, or you can stop pooh-poohing sex, after all it's human nature.

So Netflix has dropped all eight episodes of season 4 of "Borgen" right away, today. And if people didn't know I was a fan of the show and tell me, I might not have known it came back. Because it's impossible to reach people. And hype is so twentieth century. No, today the product stands on its own, and the goal is to make something so good that it sells itself.

Like "Borgen."

So I'm not going to tell you the new season of "Borgen" is immediately riveting. You're playing mental games trying to remember where the last season left off, after all it was years ago. But Sidse Babett Knudsen is so serious, so involved, not wanting us to look at her, but doing her job, that we're drawn right in.

Everybody's just doing their job on "Borgen." It's not movie stars saying LOOK AT ME! And the amazing thing is they make being in government, and media, look exciting, like legal TV shows. But the law moves slowly and media moves fast and the government is somewhere in between.

It's a career. Forget the stunting, the election of the unseasoned, inexperienced, most people in government are lifers, especially the non-elected. And you've got to choose your path wisely. Say no to one gig and yes to another. Playing the game is half of the job.

So, do you yell or treat everybody nicely.

This is one of the reasons American business is messed up. Executives are so busy being nice to their workers that they lose focus on the ultimate goal. I'm not talking about sexism, I'm not talking about abuse, what I'm really talking about is competence. An executive wants to believe everybody can do their job, is dedicated to their job, knows what they're doing, and if they criticize someone for being substandard it's not the ultimate faux pas. When you're responsible, you care. And when an underling screws up, I'm not talking a mistake, everybody makes those, but is unprepared or does a lousy job or...it makes you go nuts. Which is why founders are replaced by managers with MBAs that know how to run the company, but just can't innovate. A founder is riding on the edge, he or she wants their team to ride on the edge with them.

Oh, you think I'm touching the third rail here.

But let me put it this way. Some people take their jobs very seriously, it's life and death, and for all the b.s. that we should take time off, disconnect, it's oftentimes this game, this work, that gives meaning in life. Try not working, it's depressing. And a lot of people want to make a difference with their job, like Sidse/Birgitte Norberg.

As I referenced with Ari Emanuel, all these big shots have PR teams, they see the press as a tool. And that is evidenced in "Borgen." A truth not in American TV.

And the issues are real and up to date. Climate change. Putin invading Ukraine. These are the issues of our day, not the Mandalorian.

So I'm watching and I'm involved. The rest of the world falls away. You have to pay attention or you miss it. And I don't want to miss anything. That's how you get ahead in life, not missing anything. As for those smoking dope, which is for some ridiculous reason seen as cool, try remembering what happened while you were stoned. Hell, half of the game is just observing, you've got to know the landscape, where the bodies are buried, people's weakness, to even play the game.

It's not a great continuum from the everyday to the elite. There's a huge gap between the two. Which is why regular folk revere and criticize, gossip about the elite. They have no access. But at the top of every company/organization, there's a game. And the people playing it are smart. And it's hard to stay in. And if you're asleep, you lose. You've got to not only play, but think ahead.

This is all in "Borgen."

It was palpable, the experience of watching "Borgen" as opposed to the rest of the dreck I've been consuming recently. I could feel it immediately. Not only was it a good ride, there were lessons to be learned.

Americans are fed bread and circuses. So they're not even aware of situations, never mind the truth. But "Borgen" does a better job of delineating the issues behind climate change than the media in America. It's simplified, but not simple. This is the power of the visual image. To send a message. The images bring you in, you get hooked on the story, and while you're on the ride you're picking up all kinds of information.

That is not in a Marvel movie, irrelevant of its grosses.

It's not on the gossip sites.

This is real life.

And in "Borgen" everybody is not beautiful, as everybody in government is not not only in Denmark, but the USA.

"Borgen" is what it's all about. When they started teaching film in universities they were thinking about stuff like "Borgen," not the crap in theatres today. This is serious business. Which causes you to take it seriously.

This is what I live for.

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Re-Billy Strings

Hey Bob

I don't think you'll be surprised that we've been fortunate enough to have hosted Billy several times at Newport Folk. Hell, we even had him play two different sets/days last year coming out of covid. One where he played a "traditional" set dedicated to the bluegrass masters before him and one where he completely lit the stage afire with originals. In my 15 years I've only given 7 encores and let's just say if I hadn't given Billy and the boys another song last summer I wouldn't have made it out of the fort alive. To all who bore witness it was clearly one for the books and for Newport that's truly saying something.

But here's the thing that needs to be said. Why Billy Strings is who he is and why he's come to your attention in the most organic way is not simply attributable to his indisputable mastery of instrument and craft, which at his tender age is truly remarkable; it's because of the people he keeps in his corner.

Billy Strings team is as close a tight knit crew as I've ever witnessed. Akin to the road crews of yore that ate, slept, shit and breathed for their artist, Billy's team set out to build their tribe one show, one fan and one mind blow at a time. I know because six years ago in 2016 I walked out of a music industry panel I was speaking at during one of the major conferences after a sardonic, swear laden rant about the bastardization of the word "independent" and "music". I suddenly realized Newport Folk & Jazz didn't really fit into the festival paradigm they literally birthed and thus there was no point in trying to convince anyone of anything anymore. I was done, so I put down my mic and walked off the stage and out of the conference all together.

On the way back to the hotel, Billy's manager, Bill Orner ran me down and walked the ten blocks explaining his and Billy's ethos and stratagem, which he professed mirrored what the Newport family has been striving to rebuild for over the last decade and a half. In short, we clicked and ever since I'm constantly impressed but not shocked that Billy, Bill, Patrick, Allyson and their entire karass have stayed tried and true to their collective vision. When boiled down it's pretty simple: there is no higher purpose than serving the music and the community; everything else is just noise.

While actions speak louder than words, music can save your soul. Four years after we first met, right before we had to officially cancel Newport Folk in March 2020 we pulled together the meager resources we had left in our annual budget as a non-profit and created a musicians relief fund to help our artist friends who were in mounting difficulty due to the spread of the virus. It was quickly evident the pandemic was going to last more than "a few weeks". We opened up the simple grant process and blew through our funds in 72 hours. We thought we knew how dire it was for artists, but in truth we had no clue. We faced the gut wrenching reality that we'd have to shut it down before helping all those who needed it.

As if on cue Bill Orner called me out of the blue saying he heard what we were trying to do and the Billy Strings crew wanted to do an online campaign to give a third of all merch sales to the relief fund until we could get on our feet. The amazing amount of money raised in an incredibly short time allowed us to keep the fund going until we could regroup. Soon after countless other Newport Folk alum started pitching in and for good and bad it's still functioning today as the relief is still needed for many. But the first artist to reach out and offer help .... Well, there is a reason Billy and crew epitomize what we call Folk Family. It's pretty simple, there is no higher purpose than serving the music and the community; everything else is just noise.

-Rock Steady

Jay Sweet
Executive Producer / Executive Director
Newport Folk & Newport Jazz / Newport Festivals Foundation

_____________________________________________

Billy and his band are wonderfully talented, we've had them through the Cap numerous times for sold out, multi-night runs. One key aspect to Billy's development over the past few years you didn't cover has been the overwhelming support he's received from the Jam Band community and all the fandom that entails. This demo has a tight network of its own, and its stamp of approval still holds a strong, collective weight across multiple generations.

A Billy show comes with many of the tenets a Grateful Dead show carried in it's day or a Widespread Panic .moe or Phish show carries today: fans traveling to multiple shows in multiple cities, early-entry rail riders, tapers, exclusive merch and posters for sale, set list scrutiny, lots of tie-dye and good vibes.

Billy surely pulls his fan base from all over the spectrum, but based on what I see when he's here live the Jam Banders have embraced this guy and play a foundational role in his success.

Bruce Wheeler
GM
The Capitol Theatre
Port Chester, NY

_____________________________________________

We've been working with Billy for 2-3 years now at Seated and I can say his touring success is largely due to Pat, Liz, Bill, and the amazing team surrounding him. Since day 1, that team has truly understood the value of capturing first party data on their ticket buyers.

Before every show goes up, they capture email & phone numbers from fans who may be interested in attending. Every presale launch then gives fans the chance to share their email & phone for early access to tickets. Additionally, every single one of the sold out shows that you mentioned has a long waitlist of emails & phone numbers that they can then retarget with the 2nd show (or the next time he comes to town).

In a world where all your streaming data is owned by the DSPs and all of your ticket buyer data is owned by the ticketing companies and promoters, Billy's team has spent years growing their own list and understanding their fans.

Oh and his music is pretty damn good too.

"Who is the next Strings? Someone who's been doing it for years, practicing in the shadows, not spamming the labels to sign them for an instant hit."
We're seeing the same momentum with Goose. They played Bowery Ballroom the month before the pandemic in 2020. This month, they sold out Radio City and just put up a 2nd show. Not all success stories can be found on the Spotify charts.

-David McKay

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Billy's agent is Pat May, co-founder of Crossover Touring. You will never meet anyone who has met Pat that wouldn't say he's one of their favorite people. He's the sweetest man on the planet. Pat has been an agent for over 20 years, representing folks like David Grisman and Del McCoury, and Pat is always looking for new artists that he can take on the slow and righteous path to success. Everything you said about Billy's career arc is the intentional artist development Pat has been building with Billy for years. He wanted people to discover this kid out of a shared love for music, not because some jockey, or playlist, or algorithm pointed them there. Every aspect of this kid's rise is as real as it comes.

Adam King

_____________________________________________

I'm a regular reader, and I've never written to you. But because Billy Strings is a bluegrass artist, and I'm a lifelong bluegrass pro who served 15 years as president of the International Bluegrass Music Association, I thought I'd contribute some perspective about what makes Billy special. Several things:

* He is a for-real guitar virtuoso. Having studied Doc Watson deeply for years, his clarity and tone are a close match to Doc's and just sounds really good even at high speeds. He's the reigning kind of the flatpicked acoustic guitar sith technique as awesome and as flawless as they come.

* He is 100% authentic, not an easy thing to pull off in today's big music biz. He sings and writes from the heart, and fully believes in what he's doing. He grew up on bluegrass (as well as a high interest in metal). There's a great YouTube of a concert of just him and his dad -- an old-fashioned no-mistaking-it bluegrass guy. It's great to see them interact.

* His band is excellent, no-b.s. bluegrass hounds, and they sing really well. At a Billy Strings show you get to hear first rate banjo picking and mandolin picking, scarcely heard on big stages since the heydays of masters like Earl Scruggs and Bill Monroe.

* His music is fully accessible, easy to follow even at high speeds, and his writing is about real things, not mindless pap.

* His life story as detailed in a big NYT article is compelling, growing up in a meth household and getting into trouble while finding his own path. A very unlikely success story considering his troubled start. This helps make him interesting and an object of admiration by young and old alike. It's natural to root for him.

* He slides easily between honest traditional bluegrass and open-ended experimental jam-grass a la Phish. Combines the clear virtuosity of bluegrass with a style that appeals to Dead types. Being invited onto shows with Bill Kreutzman has helped him widen his appeal.

* His easy facility on the guitar and his body language as he shreds is exciting to watch and is for-real, not concocted or overblown.

* Bluegrass has an honesty about it and a depth of tradition that takes exceptional skill to sell to a wide audience -- and Billy's steeped in that tradition and can fully communicate it to people who may have no idea what bluegrass is. They just can tell it's good and different and authentic.

There's a YouTube of the full version of what they showed for 8 seconds on the Grammys. Great stuff. Check it out.

Bluegrass has never seen the likes of him in its 75 year history, and still in his 20s he'll be a force for a long time to come.

Pete Wernick
"Dr. Banjo"
Bluegrass Grammy nominee
Niwot, Colorado

_____________________________________________

Billy is a phenomenon. Pure and simple. Playing with passion every day for years and then finding an audience from the ground up that just wants to experience something as a community around music. I met him and his manager a couple of years ago when they first visited Honolulu. I had reached out to his manager about possibly recording with an artist that i manage for a collaborative album with artists from various decades and styles. They said yes and were excited to stop their vacation for a few hours to play and record. First of all Billy, his girlfriend, now fiance, and his manager were wonderful people from the first second we all met. Watching Billy and Jake meet and subsequently compose and record a new song over a couple of hours was a beautiful experience. We have kept in touch and Billy invited Jake to play with him in Wilkes Barre last fall as we were in the same state touring together. Watching them on stage together play 1 then 2 songs and Billy asking Jake to play the entire second set with his incredible band was inspiring and amazing. I have seen a lot in over 55 years of concerts and 41 years in the biz but this evening was one of a kind as a fan of live music. And i have a feeling most of Billy and his bands live shows feel like one of a kind to his fans. I appreciate you writing about him and spreading the word to your readers. Everyone that follows you should check out a show. You do not have to know one song and may not but I promise you that you will absolutely love the concert experience Billy, his band, and his team bring to the stage.

Thank you Bob!

Van Fletcher
Manager-Jake Shimabukuro

_____________________________________________

Indeed, Billy's music has always been a celebration!
We were fortunate to know him when he was still a young guy in a small town. He played our wedding! And just a few months later put his nose to the grindstone, quit drinking, and the rest is history.

Colleen? Wares

_____________________________________________

Yessir Bob! So amped to see the Billy Strings wave cresting wider. Here at SiriusXM we've been huge supporters from the beginning.

Before the Grammys and Post Malone collabs, he was in heavy rotation on Jam On and Bluegrass Junction.

We also broadcasted the Cincinnati show you mentioned live, as our first 'Concert of the Week' on our newest live music channel, nugsnet radio (search for it on the SXM app).

Billy's music has been resonating for many years now, and the data we use reflected it very early on.

He's one of the most streamed artists on nugsnet, a live music platform that also has music from Metallica, RHCP, Dead & Company, Pearl Jam, Springsteen, etc etc.

Thanks for spreading the good word.

Ari Fink
SiriusXM

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We've been rocking to Billy Strings here in Michigan for about 15 years now. The first time I saw him was in my friend's living room. EVERYONE in that room (all 25 of us) were like......fuck! who IS this kid!? He was about 17-18 at the time. Just a matter of time. A lot of it, but it was inevitable. Love to see a kid who has continuously worked his butt off get some well-deserved recognition. And he's NEVER told anyone how great he is. Super refreshing. We've got a great roots scene here with a number of great writers/players. I've had the pleasure of working with many of them as a producer here in Grand Rapids. And Billy, while he's been at it a while...he's just getting started. Cheers!

-Michael Crittenden
Mackinaw Harvest Studios

PS: and re: Billy Strings....hats off to John Strohm at Rounder. He truly believes in the careers of the artists he gets behind.

_____________________________________________

HI Bob
Definitely something in the water with artists doing things on their own terms. Another act that should be on your radar if not already is Turnpike Troubadours.   Their recent tour numbers:

   All headline hard ticket shows have sold out within hours (if not minutes) of the on sale:
   May 14/15 - Morrison, CO (Red Rocks) - 2 nights - 18,560 - 100% sold out - Grossed $1,049,462.00
   April 8/9 -Tulsa, ok - 100% sold out - 2 shows- 3400 tickets - Grossed $166,040.
   April 21/22/23 - Ft. Worth , TX - 15,000 tickets - 100% sold out - Grossed - $1,320,000
   May 6 - Helotes, TX - 4000 tickets - 100% sold out - grossed - $239,000
   May 7 - Houston, TX - 5000 tickets - 100% sold out - grossed - $267,650

   A few of their Current headline (hard ticket) shows that have yet to play (not including headline festivals)
   June 10 - Council Bluff, IA - currently at 8,652 tickets sold
   June 11- Waite Park, MN - sold out on on sale date- 5500 tickets
   July 29,30 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium - both dates sold out day of on sale - 4,724 tickets
   Aug 19 - St. Louis, MO - sold out within minutes - 3400 tickets
   Aug 20 - Bonner Springs, KS - current ticket count at 11,500 tickets sold

   This is an artist that has never had a "radio hit".    With that said, they realistically have a 90 min set full of hits if you if you judge "a hit" by every single person at every show singing EVERY SINGLE SONG IN THE SET, WORD FOR WORD, AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE!

   Random video a fan posted from Red Rocks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spjNKU7vsF4 - the top row is as engaged as the front row.

   Another random video from a fan - undeniable hit : The Bird Hunters

   This band is real and their overnight stardom has taken over 10 years. Open invitation for you to come to any show.

   Cheers!

   JON FOLK
   RED11MUSIC
   As Agent for Turnpike Troubadours
   Nashville, TN
   www.Red11Music.com

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I asked a friend of mine who owns a guitar shop how did the pandemic affect you. He said, "We sold three times as many guitars to ALL sexes as we did pre-pandemic." Which means that we are going to have a lot of warm guitar players in the next few years.

Michael Des Barres.

More Blackwell

I was island EVP/General Manger for Chris for two years and while the comments talk about his A&R expertise and his tremendous ability to foresee the way music was going, I'll write about Chris as a label chief. He gave the staff extraordinary freedom to market and promote, never interfering or second-guessing what we did. I never had such freedom at any major labels where I was worked. This led to successes with U2, Melissa Etheridge, Anthrax and others. If he trusted you and your ability, you were home free.

Bill Berger

_______________________________________

I worked for CB (as he was known to us) when I was 20. He gave me my first proper industry job - The University of CB as I call it.

Obsessed by Island Records & the man who had signed so many artists I heard and loved growing up, I had travelled to NY - crashing on the sofa of a friend - expressly to try and meet & work for Chris.

Like so many people who have worked for, or with Chris, we have numerous anecdotes that shaped the executives and people we are today - I have literally dozens & I owe him so much.

What always struck me about Chris - and indeed this is a trait of almost every successful individual I have ever encountered - was his remarkable and indefatigable curiosity. What did you do at the weekend? Where did you go out? What records were getting a reaction? Who produced it? What's the best film you've seen in the last week? Who directed and who wrote it?

Chris is a visionary entrepreneur who is able to connect with and enable creatives in a way that is unsurpassed - always with dignity and class. Never compromising integrity. His instincts are ungodly and when he's got a plan…. get with it, or get the fuck out the way!

I asked Chris on a number of occasions when I was with him why he hadn't written a book - he shrugged it off. It wasn't his style.

It was always about the artists and their art, and I guess the idea of a book felt incongruous. But I'm so glad he finally did it - his story is important. I can't wait to read it.
Legend.

Will Bloomfield

_______________________________________

Reading the other folks' Chris Blackwell stories, I recalled that I have a few of my own. First one was when I was doing a cover story on him for Gavin. He's an easy interview. You just go down the list of all the amazing artists he worked with, and just check off the list. When we got to Marianne Faithful, he asked if I could hold one a few seconds, he had to take a quick call. I was on hold for 45 minutes, and when he popped back on the line, he dove right into a Marianne story. He didn't miss a beat. When I got to Bob Marley, I told him that I'd seen the Wailers at the Boarding House in SF, July 4th, 1975. He remembered one amazing thing about that tour, that the band would come out and Bob with sing with his back to the audience and would only turn around once the band was cooking. Sure enough, he was right! When I got to asking about Steve Winwood, he told me nicely that he just couldn't reply. Winwood had left the label, and he frankly told me he was unable to talk about it. We did a few events with him for Gavin, and he was always elegantly informal. A friend of mine, drummer David Beal who I met through another great drummer, Michael Shrieve, ended up working with Chris on some early music film DVD projects in New York. So when David hit San Francisco, he gave me a call, asking if I wanted to meet up for a drink. We met at a little dive bar in the Mission, and there sat fucking Chris Blackwell, as informal as ever, the most under-dressed dude in the room, flip flops, etc. I recall he wore a dark hoodie with Havana written across the front. I was amused that the other folks in the bar, mostly kids, probably had no idea they were in the midst of such greatness. When I left Gavin to go to a startup, we talked again...can't remember the circumstances. But I do remember him asking me if I knew of any hotels for sale. As a matter of fact, I told him that the grand old Claremont Hotel in Berkeley was said to be on the block. I wonder if he checked into it. I still have his email address. I wonder if it's still valid...

Kent Zimmerman

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when I was doing A & R for colorblind A&M in the early 90s , we were trying to sign Tracy Bonham. At her showcase at the knitting factory in ny ny, nearly everybody was there
Al Cafaro , showed up last minute wearing a big black cowboy hat. It was already too late. Chris had already given Tracy a beautiful 50s Gretsch guitar as a party favor. The rest is history . she went on to have her big hit "mother mother " shortly Thereafter.

Anthony J. Resta

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Hi Bob -- I never met Chris and have no stories to add, except these two: when I worked at CBS Records during the 1970's, in the Epic Records group, we shared the 13th floor of Black Rock with CBS Records International. CBS Records International distributed Island in parts of the world and Island releases were always available if you knew who to ask from the International promotion and PR staff. Those Jamaican albums were wonderful. U-Roy, Mighty Diamonds, I-Roy, in particular, truly fueled my love for the music.

We got Stanley Clark on the bill when Bob Marley & the Wailers played Madison Square Garden. I still say that was the greatest show I have ever had the pleasure of attending. The entire social and ethnic fabric of New York together that night in the Garden, from babes in arms to the elderly, grandmas and grandpas, all swaying together in harmony to Marley. It was an absolutely magical evening.

Jim Charne

_______________________________________

Chris was the first record company person I met. It was 1969 and he along with legendary manager John Gaydon (King Crimson, Roxy Music and other British greats ) came to Beverly Hills mansion I shared with my boss Jerry Goldstein. Chris had a cool and laid back style. He was with his elegant black girl friend named Esther. We all have great memories, the lists of artists he discovered and how great a 'record man' he is.

I love his style… I remember his desk always had a bowl of pistachios, fresh fruit and a huge poster behind him that said in enormous letters.."WHEN YOU DON'T PROMOTE A TERRIBLE THING HAPPENS', and in tiny type below was the word 'nothing'. Cool running, jeans, black leather motorcycle jacket, and sandals. Always gracious and interested in music. I have kept in touch over the years and will be sending my edition to Jamaica for his signature.

Bruce Garfield

Haven't read the book, but will soon. I know many of the stories and made a few with the legend himself albeit briefly, but as much as anyone I've encountered on my music journey, Chris Blackwell was the coolest, and shrewdest I was lucky enough to learn from and smoke many a phat joints with. (How many people can say Chris picked them up in a helicopter in Kingston, flew to his hotel home at Golden Eye and then jumped on individual jet skis and raced him around the island? I did!) Chris was James Bond with a spliff sans the gun.

I met Chris in 1988 through Marty Schwartz, who was working at Island Pictures. He had hired my partner Matt Dike to DJ a party he was throwing for a movie premiere. Matt had told Marty about a label he was starting and Marty was eager to please Chris (as anyone who worked for Chris would know could lead to bigger and better things) and set up a meeting for us to meet him. We had been shopping a tape of rappers we were producing at the time for our one year old indie label Delicious Vinyl. We had already self distributed 12" records on Tone Loc, Young MC, Mellow Man Ace and Def Jef and was hoping it was just a matter of time we would start getting some interest from majors, as we were running low on money and muscle, but getting lots of airplay on KDAY here in LA.

Well thanks to Marty, Chris took a meeting with us and as much as he may have liked what he heard, I got the impression he saw something in us that may have reminded him of starting Island 28 yrs earlier. He respected the fact we were doing it all ourselves, and he also knew hip hop was here to stay, as he had just had a taste of it with Eric B and Rakim on his 4th and Broadway label.

Anyway, long story short, he gave us a 50k advance, which was 10 times what we started the label with and a 16 point royalty. I remember sitting with him in his backyard above the Chateau Marmont, 26 yrs old, wet behind the ears, high on his weed, with a lawyer I had hired from the yellow pages, negotiating with him on things I knew nothing about regarding packaging deductions and 75% on sales of CD's and shit that would cost us a ton of bread when we delivered our first album Tone Loc "Loc'ed After Dark". Who knew? Chris knew. lol.

But, he also was quick to let us renegotiate that horrible deal less than a year later, (with our new lawyer, the great Peter Paterno) before we dropped our second album, Young MC's "Stone Cold Rhymin". I remember telling him I wish I knew then what I knew now, and he just laughed. It was like, welcome to the record business kid.

Being in biz with Chris as we were starting to have success just made the process so much easier for a couple of young cocky DJ's turned hip hop producers who thought are shit didn't stink. He spoke our language and was as excited about music as we were. How lucky were we? We didn't even know at the time.

He would put us up at the legendary Essex House in NYC, which I only knew about through SNL commercials as a kid. Lol. (He had a fly penthouse there ) We had access to his houses for videos and anyone on the Island roster for features or collaborations. We got to work with the legendary Etta James for a feature on the Def Jef underground classic "Dropping Rhymes on Drums" He flew us to DC to work and produce tracks with our Go Go idols, Trouble Funk. He basically gave us the keys to his castle so we could flex and make a name for our label. Who does that these days?

Unfortunately, Camelot with Blackwell ended as quickly as it started. Unbeknownst to us, he was about to sell Island to Polygram for like 300 million bucks.

We went from being the young hot label at Island, working with the great Chris Blackwell as our boss to being thrown into a corporate shit show of labels consolidated under an umbrella called PLG. Talk about a buzz kill. I won't go into that tragedy, but let's just say it was never the same again. Yes, records were made and sold, but it became a lot harder, much more cut throat, and a lot less fun.

I always wonder what would have happened if we could have had a 10 year run with Chris instead of those 18 months. Who knows, but I'm grateful I got to know the man and learn from him and chase his wake on that jet ski going full throttle!

Mike Ross
Delicious Vinyl

Richie Furay-This Week's Podcast

Richie Furay was a member of Buffalo Springfield, Poco and the Souther, Hillman, Furay Band and has a new album of country covers produced by Val Garay. Richie is open and honest and tells a good story. You're gonna dig the insider truth.

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/richie-furay-97808929/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/richie-furay/id1316200737?i=1000564949441

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6zbLJcPo6zedtfRxmDxqZw?si=JyMRe2a-T2a20Xyb1kl2Kg

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/5dfe49ad-da21-465c-a151-d70b52db04ce/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-richie-furay

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/richie-furay-203695341

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Wednesday 1 June 2022

Billy Strings

He's big everywhere but Texas. And maybe Santa Barbara. But in the rest of America HE SELLS OUT!

This is the artist development story of the year, and it's been growing for the last half decade. Strings is finally breaking through.

You might have seen him briefly during the Grammy telecast, then again he was on that outdoor stage playing during commercial, so if you blinked, you missed him. And nobody watched the Grammy telecast anyway, at least no one on the cutting edge, who believes in music as opposed to stardom.

You won't find Billy Strings in the Spotify Top 50. His success is not hit-based.

Used to be success of this magnitude was impossible without a ton of radio play on a specific track. But the recordings are not selling Billy Strings tickets, it's the experience. As opposed to going out with production, hard drives, click tracks...his performances are organic, they evidence humanity, and that's the essence of attraction. Machines are cold, blood is warm.

Now if you read through the concert grosses you'll notice that they don't align with the aforementioned Spotify Top 50. That's a different game. Of course Olivia Rodrigo is doing well, but almost all of the big sellers are heritage acts. However, these numbers can be skewed, by virtue of who is on tour, the venues they're playing, what they're charging for tickets, was the gross even reported... But in truth, most of today's hit music is not live-based, it's recording-based, and the two worlds don't necessarily align.

So Billy Strings sold an average of 4,457 tickets per show. For a gross of $251,545 per gig. Selling 94% of the tickets available.

Strings went clean at Red Rocks. 18,650 tickets for a gross of $1,78,178. Tickets were only $55 to $60, and Red Rocks is like the Hollywood Bowl, stuff sells out there that doesn't elsewhere, but notice this is a different ethos from the touring dinosaurs. Tickets are cheap because music is the draw, as opposed to image. Yes, there was an article about Strings in "Relix," but you won't find him on the gossip sites, you don't know who he's dating, you don't see him in TV commercials. Strings is the antithesis of the twenty first century paradigm, which is you maximize your income right away, because you may not last.

Strings only did 98% in Saint Augustine, Florida. But there were three shows. 13,637 tickets were sold. The gross was $720,261. Tickets were $39.50 to $74.50.

Like I said, Strings couldn't sell every ticket in Santa Barbara, he only sold 80% of two gigs. Then again, the second was on Sunday, and it's always harder to move tickets on that day as opposed to Friday and Saturday. But Strings grossed $518,755 on 7,859 tickets priced from $39.50 to $84.50.

Strings sold out two shows in Cincinnati $8,653 for a gross of $376,783. And tickets were under a hundred dollars, as they were for all of the Strings shows.

Strings went clean in Austin, which is almost a separate state from the rest of Texas, 4,374 tickets sold for a gross of $275,423.

Clean in San Diego: 4,370 sold for a gross of $220,235.

Clean in Denver at the Mission Ballroom: 3,803/$212,940.

But Strings was "soft" in Irving, TX, 84% sold: 3,641/$196,849.

Clean in Boston: 3,500/$176,086.

Clean in Cleveland: 3,119/$169,105.

54% in Houston: 2,512/$138,831. But that was a Thursday night in April. And that's the last gig/gross Billy Strings has on the chart.

Now if you've been paying attention, you know that Kate Bush has a #1 record with "Running Up That Hill" as a result of the track being featured in the new season of "Stranger Things." Most of the talk is about the value of a synch. But really, that's not what I think is important. I believe this is an INTERNET story. Used to be product had to be manufactured, labels would have to promote it to radio, there was an inherent delay, momentum was lost and therefore most companies didn't even try to amplify the use of a catalog cut. But with everything available online instantly, if you hear something you like you can immediately play it.

And anyone around back then, in 1985 when the track was originally released, knows "Running Up That Hill" is both different and better than what's being sold today. Come on, compare it to the rest of the Spotify Top 50, it's not even in the LEAGUE!

And we've seen this story again and again with the internet. The most famous example being that Fleetwood Mac song being featured in that TikTok clip.

You see greatness never fades, it's just waiting for the light to shine on it once again, for new generations to be exposed.

Now "Running Up That Hill" went to #3 in the U.K. back in the eighties, but nowhere close in the U.S. They say it went to #30, but I don't know a single person who got turned on to Kate Bush by Top 40 radio. There must have been some sales. But there was MTV airplay. But the video was not ubiquitous. But Kate Bush is an entire ethos, outside the mainstream, I remember buying "The Kick Inside" and being stunned at her voice and loving "Wuthering Heights." Bush wasn't even mainstream back then.

But all the gatekeepers have changed.

And in truth it is the public that is the gatekeeper.

So youngsters drive fresh product made for them up the chart, and this is promoted, but it's only a small part of the music world today, many never listen to these "hits" at all. They're foraging for something different, heartfelt songs. With melodies. Which is one of the reasons Morgan Wallen's double album "Dangerous" is still Top Ten eighteen months in.

And there's the whole player community. Keeping the music stores alive. People who marvel at playing. And that's very different from the hit parade. Where it's computer beats or some nitwit singing a song written by committee selected by their handlers and released in a gussied-up, overproduced final version.

We are going to see more examples of the Billy Strings paradigm.

And I'm not saying it's going to dominate the business. It takes years to get the word out, to permeate every community, but that's where the internet helps. And you don't need radio AT ALL! And since the shows live and breathe, are different each time, you want to go back and experience it again.

I don't think you'll get it if you pull up Strings's songs on Spotify. It's not like he's got a transcendent voice. But you will hear the picking. But it's all refined, aligned in the studio. Whereas live, it's a CELEBRATION!

And we all know you can only get this hit at the show. Web streams can't compete, they're a poor facsimile.

Strings is gonna get bigger. But who is the next Strings? Someone who's been doing it for years, practicing in the shadows, not spamming the labels to sign them for an instant hit.

This is a great story, I can't wait for more!

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Tuesday 31 May 2022

Re-Chris Blackwell

Bob, I worked with Chris for almost 11 years. From 1989 to 2000. He is a true legend, a true entrepreneur and truly loved by almost everyone who's lives he touched. He was literally the James Bond of the music business. A style of doing business and dealing with artists that was simply unique. Her thought global when most thought local. Almost everything I've learned in the music and any meager success I may have had I owe to Chris Blackwell and his tutelage.

Larry Mestel

___________________________________________

Chris Blackwell. there is absolutely nothing to say, other then he was the true essence of what some call a "record man". the artists ALWAYS mattered more then the money. a great song or album (on anyone's label) excites him more then how much money he or they were making.

what he did at Island, was true magnificence! the label was all about the talent and it revolved around his core beliefs and loves as a human being within the world as he saw it. he taught us that music is a universal language and sent me on my path of discovering that alternative music was not about charts, but about feelings. those that spoke languages we did not understand, but made us groove and dance and laugh and cry.

sure, we all remember him bringing Bob Marley and U2 to the world, but it was so much more. Traffic, King Sunny Ade, Ali Farka Toure, Nick Drake, John Martyn, the B-52's, Fairport Convention, Jimmy Cliff, Sly & Robbie, Toots and the Maytals, Joe Cocker, Tom Tom Club as well as the aforementioned Free, Cat Stevens, Marianne Faithful, Grace Jones, Tom Waits and so many, many more.

genius is a word that gets thrown around so casually and i am not sure what it's true meaning is anymore, but i believe it is held up for those that reach higher and deeper then us mere mortals and therefore affect change in the world. Chris Blackwell is a all of that and more. he has always been my guiding light and i am forever in his debt in more ways then he will ever know.

long may he run…

Gary Gersh

___________________________________________

It was 86-88 when Chris Blackwell offered me a job at Island Pictures. I had just completed the Rock of the 80's TV Series for Paramount, then TV development for Pierre Cossette Prod. I had one hand in music the other in TV/film. Having written a few screenplays I was trying to sell ideas…always a tough call in LA.

Chris saw that and gave me an office at Island Pics.

I met Matt Dike who had a club….Power Tools in downtown LA, where few traveled at that time.

I hired Matt to DJ a Island film release party for Mondo New York.

To this day Power Tools was the coolest club ever, Matt had GO GO cages hanging from the 30' ceilings.

Studio 54, Limelight, etc could not compare to Power Tools.

Later, Matt played me tracks he made at his loft on Santa Monica.

Tone Loc's WildThing, Young MC's Bust a Move… among the tracks.

I called Chris and asked if he would sign these guys, Delicious Vinyl.

He did on the spot, I called friends at KROQ, had lunch with Lee Masters Prez MTV at the Sunset Marquee.

A few days later Wild Thing went on power rotation at KROQ and MTV.

The rest is history.

That is Chris Blackwell, he had what all great record guys have..gut instincts, great ears, and the will to move on it.

They don't make em like that anymore.

Chris is eternal as is the music he championed.

Marty Schwartz,

___________________________________________

Hey Bob,
thanks for the heads up, can't wait to read it.

Even though I've only met the man once, it was a memorable encounter and hands down one of those magic nights that only seem to happen in New York or LA. It was September 10, 2010, Fashion's Night Out (a questionable but very fun attempt to get people spending again after 2008/09) when all the major stores in NYC were open late, full with special events and appearances all over town.

Chris Blackwell had a book signing for the just released The Story of Island Records: Keep On Running at Barneys, and I went with my friend Lori who had been Branson's right-hand for 25 years and knew him that way. As we get there, I see Chris signing and chatting with the admirers standing in line, but as I turn around, another one of my heroes, Harry Belafonte, is casually browsing the cashmere sweaters on the shelf. Of course, he was there to support his friend Chris, so I respectfully kept my distance and just enjoyed the scenery. My friend Lori comes back from talking to Chris and says he's inviting us to come to his house after, would I like to go? Hmm, let me check my schedule and have my people call your people… OF COURSE I want to go. This night is getting better by the minute.

We get to Blackwell's penthouse on the Upper West Side, which stretches across the whole building, filled with amazing photos from many of the Island acts, especially those of Marley. It's a small gathering, and there's a dreadlocked dude working the iTunes in Chris' living room, where a few fine ladies are eager to dance. But… this must be the only Jamaican in New York who doesn't know how to rock a crowd, I mean I was shocked how bad his music selection was, and this at Chris friggin' Blackwell's house?! No way will these lovely dancehall queens be deprived! Long story short, the guy let me, the white boy, take over, I plug in my iPhone and start DJ'ing (it helped that I had a DJ residency at Lenny Kravitz & Denzel Washington's Bowery lounge at the time, so I had jams on standby), and we're off to the races, everybody startin' to get down.

Now, and you can't make this up, as if on cue, in STRUTS Grace Jones in a hoodie, miniskirt, and high heels, and starts to "breakdance"!!! in the middle of the floor. In high heels. Needless to say, I was in total bliss mode, you couldn't wipe off that grin on my face, even more so afterward when she came up to me, we hugged it out and ended up talking for a good half an hour.

As the night progresses, I make my way into the kitchen, where Chris is holding court with pals, among them our mutual friend Tommy Silverman, legendary label founder of Tommy Boy Records in his own right. I'm thinking, but of course Tommy is here, it all makes sense, movers and shakers always stay within close proximity to each other, game recognizes game.

Chris, ever the cool gentleman, then sits me down at his kitchen island and we start to chat after he pours me a big glass of his own Blackwell Rum punch while his Jamaican chef is whipping up delicious food for everyone. For a music fanboy like myself, that night was a slice of heaven.

Fredrick Weiss

PS: I did run into Harry Belafonte at a movie screening a couple of years later and got the chance to meet that legend then, as well.

___________________________________________

Jim was VP of sales at Island from 84 to 87. I was running Tower 4th&Broadway for part of that time. Upstairs/Downstairs. Chris traveled light; same white leather jeans which he'd pair with a t-shirt from whatever airport gift shop(s) he happened to depart from that day.
That was indeed, the High Life.

Randi Swindel

___________________________________________

One of the highlights of my 15 year stint in the music business was sharing a spliff which Blackwell rolled from one of my cigarettes in the Chelsea offices of Kurfirst-Blackwell Entertainment and Palm Pictures where I was an intern back in 2004. The truth was that even Blackwell still got nervous before interviews and needed the calming effect of cannabis to get through it. Reading your perception that you didn't truly know him after 320 pages makes me wonder if revealing too much of himself in the interview was part of the anxiety.

-Stu Walker

___________________________________________

You are right on U2, Bob
I remember listen to The Fly the first time in the car with me dad. He pulled over so we could listen to the song. We didn't understand the song, it was so far behind of everything else you heard those dats on the radio.
It was indeed spectacular!

I bought Achting Baby and it was so great.

Kris Keijser

___________________________________________

Hey Bob,
I know exactly how it was.
I worked through all of it.
So I'm really looking forward to reading "The Islander".
Great review.
Thanks.
Michael Wright

___________________________________________

I LOVE Chris Blackwell. Before I could sign my contract with Island Records in 1988 I had to go meet Chris at his house.
I was getting the biggest deal Island had ever given a new artist so I thought I was special but I really wasn't.
Turns out Chris wanted to talk to me about my weird blend of Hendrix meets James Brown guitar funk rock and to maybe get me into a Latin Rock thing.
He said he thought the world was ready for a new young Carlos Santana on guitar.
I was like Huh??? Then I explained that I was not Mexican but I was a Native American Apache and I did not speak Spanish.
I could tell he was a little bugged that I wasn't into it but he was cool and I signed the contract.
When he would be in the Island office in London, NYC or Hollywood people would all be nervous but I would just walk in and talk to him about all the amazing music he had been responsible for that I loved like Blind Faith, Nick Drake and the amazing My Boy Lollipop which I loved as a kid. He was amazing to talk to about music history.
Chris would walk into a semi formal room of ballers with a pair of sandals and a Hawaiian print shirt and sometimes get asked to leave when people thought he was a bum.
I LOVED that and I really loved that I got to work with him.

Stevie Salas

___________________________________________

Ref:Chris Blackwell
Looking forward to this book.
In the UK Island was VERY well known to music nerds in the 70's.
The label logo, either the pink one or the cartoon palm tree one, was a signifier of quality, of something different, exciting, bold.
The first Roxy Music album, mind bending, like something beamed in from Mars, Free - how could they be so authentically gritty, they were teenagers, King Crimson - reinvented and unrecognizable with every release, Sparks - deranged subversive pop with a smile and a bite, Marley - spreading the gospel of Jamaica to the world, and of course,THAT voice - with Spencer Davis, then with Traffic and then solo, that VOICE - undeniable.
If it was on Island, I went out and bought it - simple as that.

Mark Hudson

___________________________________________

Thanks, Bob, for this piece on Chris Blackwell - his story needs more telling. I've got a little-known story about him that may surprise some people. In 1986, before Chris asked Lou Maglia to be the president of Island Records, Lou was casting about between gigs and finding himself in a moment of, shall we say, 'personal reflection'. Somehow, through a network of music biz connections too byzantine to recount, Lou decided to take an interest in helping a small indie label I was working at in Sacramento called Exit Records. The twist here is that the label was run by a somewhat radical group of evangelical Christian musicians who also had a desire to do some rather hip and artistic music at a time when neither of those terms were associated with the church and/or pop music in general. However, after Amy Grant broke through on A&M Records, Exit was able to glom onto that association and managed to get secular distribution on A&M for a time, but we wanted more. Much more. And it was at that time when Lou stepped in and actually began trying to help us turn our big dumb thoughts on 'changing the world for God' with our music into a reality.

It wasn't long into that relationship that Lou got the call from Chris Blackwell to come and manage Island Records. Lou agreed to the gig, with one caveat -- that he be allowed to bring our little indie label with a handful of artists (including Charlie Peacock, The 77s and others) into the deal. We knew this was an insane move on Lou's part (and we begged him to leave out the religious aspect of our work), but since Chris had already planned a trip to Japan shortly before calling Lou, Chris agreed to fly to Sacramento to come check out our artists and do an "in person" audition at the church we were doing all this at. We didn't tell him it was a church, though, for fear of spooking him out, so we tried "sanitizing" the church by removing all manner of anything that would give us away. Fortunately, since we met in an industrial warehouse space, this wasn't too difficult to do, but I am beyond confident that Chris saw through the whole silly ruse.

Chris arrived in his characteristic flip flops, shorts and Hawaiin shirt and sat through the auditions one by one. Suitably impressed, he made his way to the pastor's office (the pastor's wife was running the label) to 'talk business'. I sat there spellbound, taking in this decidedly worldly man and his calm and relaxed demeanor. He was most definitely a man of leisure, yet so coolly and calmly passionate about music. He gave my band a lot of encouragement and told us to get out on the road and start playing lots of clubs (good advice that we took to heart). Then, surprisingly, he decided to cancel his trip to Japan and fly back to New York to ink a "P&D" deal for our label with Island, a situation that was thrilling for all of us.

Unfortunately, shortly after bringing our little label into Island, U2 came out with The Joshua Tree and the entire 30 member staff had to go gonzo 24/7 in order to barely keep up with that level of success. We got a lot of good press and other perks from Island, but, in point of fact, even other artists who were signed around the same time we were (like our idols The Comsat Angels) were not able to gain much ground sales-wise, given the momentous task it was for a comparatively 'boutique' label to keep up with a monster album like The Joshua Tree. Indeed, it would take the entire Atlantic/Atco/Warners machinery to handle it and Island was hanging onto their wigs and keys just trying to keep up. I'll bet that U2 would have sold tons more copies of Joshua had it come out on CBS or one of the other majors, but the band remained loyal to Chris, which says a lot.

The only reason I'm telling you all this is that Chris did something for us that he didn't have to do, and he did it at personal inconvenience to himself simply to please his new label president who happened to take an interest in a ragtag group of musicians trying to do something different. I have never forgotten his kindness, and I learned a hell of a lot about the music business that I would have never known otherwise.

MICHAEL ROE

___________________________________________

I've Been following your posts for many years now. Always an interesting read. Our band is still making music and touring (thanks to our loyal fans as there is no radio that supports new music from vintage artists unfortunately). Look forward to checking out the Chris Blackwell book.

There is a direct connection with Glass Tiger and Island Records. They were the first record label to show interest in the band and helped us cut our early demos. Chris even flew to Canada to see us at a small local pub in Bradford Ontario called "The Village Inn". We were convinced we would be the next act to get signed by Island in 1986 however as soon as Chris shook our hand we knew it wasn't in the cards. Our early songs had a tinge of the U2 sound and I guess that was too close for him.

His right hand guy, Doug Chappell here in Canada was our first music industry "believer" and worked hard to get us across the finish line with Island. He sat in on our rehearsals and studio sessions but Chris didn't hear it so he passed on us. Doug would later leave Island because of that issue. Wasn't the first time that Doug would find a cool new band and Chris would put the boots to it.

Thankfully we also had Capitol Records interested at the time and because of Island's interest they pushed harder to sign us. We played the Island deal against the Capitol deal and the rest is history - signed with Capitol in 1985 and released our "Thin Red Line" debut album in 1986.

I remember being super nervous that Chris Blackwell was in the audience for that showcase, he represented some super cool bands and I loved the diversity in acts that Island had on their roster. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened to Glass Tiger if we signed with Island. Hard to say! We had an awesome run and are coming up to our 40th year together so no complaints!

Thanks Bob,
Sam Reid (Glass Tiger)

___________________________________________

In the early 1990s I stayed at the Marlin Hotel in Miami Beach at a time when Blackwell was intermittently living in the hotel in his own suite. He owned a number of properties in the area but the Marlin was his favorite. It was still during the Art Deco Miami revival, and everything about the hotel was hip. Everyone was beautiful. I remember the restaurant was Jamaican-themed and served great authentic jerk chicken.

During our stay I hoped we'd bump into him as we heard he liked to party with guests on occasion. But it was not to be. Nevertheless, my stay was a memorable one, and for someone who was on the road living in hotels at least 100 nights a year for a few decades, that's saying a lot.

Barry K. Herman, MD, MMM

___________________________________________

Hi Bob,
One of the many reasons I'm happy to have grown up as a kid in the UK. We had Island Records, we had "pirate" radio, who played Island Records, and we had bands -on- Island records that toured the UK regularly. This was "normal life" for us, and we reveled in the luxury of a massively diverse musical culture played in disparate venues. The Oval cricket ground? Yep. The Big Apple in Brighton with the bouncing floor? Absolutely. Rock, reggae, punk, you name it, we had it, and didn't realize that we had an "edge" on the world of music back then. Blackwell was a music god when I was probably too young to understand what that meant and was dancing at the "youth club" to Monkey Man by Toots and the Maytals. It took years for the US to catch up.. by which time the UK had lost its edge and become corporate junk.
Still miss those days. Thanks for your insightful articles.. :-)
Jill Henley- now a grandmother, but still a rock chick at heart.

___________________________________________

Maestro,

Love your review of the Blackwell book.

Chris Blackwell is a National Treasure of Jamaica.
Jamaica is a blessed place to have produced so many geniuses. The Greatest Black leader in history, Marcus Garvey who had 6 million followers in the 1930s, long before the internet and social networks!!!
Bob Marley the most important musician of our times. Usain Bolt the greatest runner of all time.

So let's add to that list, the greatest record man of all time, Chris Blackwell. He created the most progressive and coolest record company in history, Island Records. But with all off this he is still totally unassuming and humble.

There are only 2 pictures of Chris and Bob Marley together as Chris didnt want to appear to be a svengali as Bob didn't need any help as he was already a genius!!

When Bob was stranded in London in the early 70s, Chris gave Bob US$8000 on a handshake with no contract. No other human would have done this and the executives as Island Records gave Chris hell for this and said he would never see this money again as these were crazy Jamaicans who were going back to Jamaica with his money !! If Chris didn't own Island Records but had done this at another record company, he would have been fired and put in prison!! But because he owned the company he could take this chance and that is what built the trust and bond between him and Bob.

Another brilliant thing that Chris did for Bob is to tell Bob that he had no chance of getting on black radio in America but should form a black rock band. Chris then took the original Catch a Fire tapes and added the rock element. Wayne Perkins opening guitar intro to Concrete Jungle is one of the greatest openings in music history!! And Rabbit Bundrick from the Who put on the keyboard spin that turned it into a rock masterpiece!!

When Peter Tosh left the Wailers he said some unsavory things about Chris. But instead of Chris being angry, he helped Peter to get a record deal!! Peter was going to sign with a small record label, but instead, Chris got the heavyweight Gary Kurfirst to get Peter a record deal with Columbia the biggest record company in the world!! Now Columbia and Peter Tosh could crush little Island Records and Bob Marley, so this would look like a terrible move. But Chris knew that Columbia would spend a lot of money on reggae and so "All boats rise with the tide". No other human would have done this for Peter after having just been slagged. But Chris always says "Its just business, dont let personal things affect it"

Native Wayne Jobson
Ocho Rios
Jamaica

Streaming Statistics

HITS ARE GETTING SMALLER

There's an article by Anne Steele in today's "Wall Street Journal" about the lack of new tracks in the hit parade.

"The Song of the Summer Could Be Harry Styles, Jack Harlow, or Even Something From 2020 - The popularity of older songs, due to nostalgic listeners or TikTok trends, makes the ubiquitous summer jam harder to break through": https://on.wsj.com/3M8sUsO

No, you can't read it for free, you get what you pay for, and there are two tiers of people in music, insiders and outsiders, and they've got two completely different viewpoints based on information. I'll get to that below.

But as far as tracks taking longer to make it, and staying longer once they do, that's been well-known for years in the music industry.

But it's the statistics that caught my eye here.

2019's most streamed act, Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," garnered in excess of one billion streams.

"Roddy Ricch's "The Box" was the biggest streaming track of 2020, with 920 million streams.

As for last year's biggest smash, Dua Lipa's "Levitating," it was streamed a grand total of 627 million times.

And:

"In 2018, the top 200 songs were responsible for nearly one in 10 of all streams; in 2021, that metric fell to less than 1 in 20, according to Luminate. Last year, 95,000 songs hit one million streams, a 36% increase over 2018."

Sure, there's more money in hits, both in actual streaming payments and possibly the penumbra, i.e. touring, merch, sponsorships, etc. But music streaming is turning into television streaming, there's so much product that nothing is as big as it used to be.

In other words, what the press tells you is ubiquitous is far from it, or at least has less impact than ever before.

But it gets even worse. Because the above are the raw streaming numbers, the chart numbers are manipulated, they include "sales." But there are almost no sales. Sales might generate revenue, but they do not generate impact. It'd be like including DVD sales in a chart of what is the most popular movie... Almost all of the consumption is on television, streaming. So you get a skewed impression.

And the dirty little secret is some of the "biggest" acts in the business are not. You see they manipulate sales, with multiple versions of the same album and more to go to number one, and then their label spams the brain dead world of entertainment media, which repeats these numbers with no investigation whatsoever, giving a completely inaccurate view of what are the biggest acts out there, at least in terms of consumption, and that's the world we now live in, actually it's the world we always lived in, that which is listened to most delivers the most in return. Think of all the albums that went to number one the first week out and then straight into the dumper. There were no hit singles, the act might have even canceled its tour because of low demand.

But that's what it's like living in the disinformation society.

THERE IS NO FIXED PER TRACK PAYMENT ON STREAMING

Why this falsehood persists amongst the hoi polloi is completely confounding. It's very simple. You divide the total amount of distributable income by the total number of streams. You end up with a rate per stream, and then you multiply by the number of streams a track gets. But the numbers are continually changing, the pool of income and the pool of streams, and therefore the rate per stream constantly changes, it's temporary. (Of course there are different payments for on demand streaming and streaming radio, but let's not confuse the issue.) So, if more people are subscribed to one service and listen more, the ultimate per track payment, which constantly fluctuates, could be low whereas a less popular service, one with fewer subscribers who listen less, might pay more. But if you think that's where you want to be, that the less popular service is the one that should be championed, you're just plain wrong. It's essentially impossible to get the same number of streams on the less popular service with the less active subscribers.

It's math, and musicians tend not to be good with it.

But it's also evidence of today's gotcha society, where someone must be at fault, there must be a bogeyman.

And the truth is Spotify has the most subscribers, and they are the most active. So that's where you want to be. Because the aggregate is more important than the individual. I.e. a hundred streams at a penny are worth more than ten at a nickel.

But, once again, there is no per stream number, whatsoever. Sure, you can calculate it for a certain payment cycle, but it's a factor of how many subscribers there were and what they were listening to.

Today there's a lengthy story in the "Los Angeles Times" about how social media scares pregnant women with incorrect information:

"How Instagram and TikTok prey on pregnant women's worst fears": https://lat.ms/3t8oF9U

But it gets worse, the same people propagating this false information tell you not to trust mainstream media because it's inherently biased and inaccurate. And the truth is the big three, the NYT, WSJ and WaPo, sometimes get it wrong. But they are light years more accurate than what you're reading on social media. And if they get it wrong, intentionally, they're liable to be sued.

So chances are what you believe is totally wrong, based on online spin/nonsense.

But those on the inside know the score.

History Of Cream-This Week On SiriusXM

Tune in today, May 31st, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive

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Sunday 29 May 2022

Ari Emanuel's Wedding

"Page Six": https://pge.sx/3wZFeqQ

"People": https://bit.ly/3z5We05

TMZ: https://bit.ly/3aoj1tP

This is just plain ugly.

Did Ari not consider the optics on this?

You may be unaware, but everybody who follows gossip and WME's clients are, and now you know too.

So what we've got here is an exponent of the Reagan years, when it became all about money and you were proud to be rich. As for the little people...SCREW 'EM!

In case you haven't been following the game, the talent agencies have all taken private equity money, not only to grow their assets in a changing entertainment world, but to deliver a handsome payout for the execs.

I mean how do you feel about this if you're a rank and file WME employee? How do you feel if you're a client?

WME has fought the writers. Yup, the agency waned to triple-dip, represent the talent, take a packaging fee and own the production too. There have been concessions there, but one thing is for sure, these big talent agencies are no longer talent friendly, BECAUSE THAT'S NOT WHERE THEY MAKE ALL THEIR MONEY!

Yes, the UFC is WME's cash cow, not movie stars.

And as a manager in Blackwell's book told his bands...don't smile in photos, no one has sympathy for a self-satisfied moneyed rock star. You're supposed to be a man (or woman) of the people. When you lord your status above others...you've got today's music business, uneducated nincompoops who are court jesters to the corporations who pay their bills. They think they're ripping off the Fortune 500 when just the opposite is true, the Fortune 500 are using their names to make bank and depleting the credibility and lifespan of these acts, which are too stupid to understand this. As for their handlers? They don't think long term, acts come and go, they want to get paid NOW!

Dig in a bit and you find out the wedding took place at the end of the Cannes Film Festival. But does Ari usually deign to attend these minor events? He's got people for that. And even if he did go, you know that Larry David, Diddy, Elon Musk, Emily Ratajkowski and so many of the others did not. No, they all flew in. And if you think they flew in the back of the plane on a commercial airline...I guess you've never flown private.

Yes, if you own your own plane, or have access to one, you save so much time. I mean who wants to get to the airport hours in advance to go through security when you can just walk up and get on and take off?

But it gets even worse, the 61 year old Ari married a 32 year old. You're not going to find a woman over thirty who approves of this, and if they're older...they can't get cast in productions unless they've had plastic surgery to look decades younger.

And we know this isn't going to last. I mean what do you talk about to a woman who is thirty years younger. Oh Sarah, do you remember "The Brady Bunch," never mind "All in the Family"? And MTV? MTV stopped playing videos by time Sarah Staudinger gained consciousness.

And Ms. Staudinger is a clothing designer. Remember when Henry Kravis married designer Carolyne Roehm? That didn't last. Kravis is now married to economist Marie-Josée Drouin, someone who understands what he's talking about, who he can bounce ideas off of, who is only six years younger. What is Ari going to ask Sarah about, the Kardashians?

But this is Ari's trophy. He thinks the rest of the guys are envious. When the truth is the rest of his cabal are so narcissistic they don't care who Ari is married to, they just care about themselves. So the joke is on Ari.

And what about Ari's children? Kids have a hard time accepting new parents who are their contemporaries.

So what you do here if you're smart, if you can see the landscape (which theoretically is what Ari is paid to do), is you get married by a judge, in his chambers, or in your house or backyard, and if you invite anybody, it's a very small group of friends at most.

Or you don't get married at all. I mean why? To have more children at 61? To give Sarah some security? Marriage is not the only way to do this, and I'm sure the prenup took months to negotiate.

I mean how detached can you be?

Sure, Ari may not have asked for this publicity, but at the end of Cannes in St. Tropez? The paparazzi live for events like this.

Used to be you got rich and you hid your wealth. Now you show off. Why? It doesn't endear you to your customers. Hey Ari! Your agents better take a haircut, I'll pay you less than 5% as opposed to the usual 10, you don't need the money.

I mean Emanuel could have utilized the money and publicity for good. Like agitating for eliminating smoking from movies and TV shows, and assault rifles from the same productions. But no one cares about others today, they just care about themselves.

And you've got to realize times change. Trump's moment is passing. I don't care if you're a MAGA believer, he can't sell out a building, even if he's giving the tickets away, and the candidates he endorses are no longer sure shots. Ari was cool when he was an unknown, when people found out the Jeremy Piven character in "Entourage" was based on him. But now Ari's been in "The New Yorker"...his publicity people, and believe me, all of these big execs have one, if not a team, have gotten him in all these outlets, to impress...I'm not sure, maybe Wall Street, investors, but now the average person knows who Ari is and this wedding is just laughable on all counts.

Ari should just be glad people's memories are short.

And he's already got the $308 million he banked when WME went public.

Ari is what's wrong with America.

Unfortunately, he's not the only one.

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The Chris Blackwell Book

"The Islander: My Live in Music and Beyond": https://amzn.to/3wV6iI0

1

He's no Clive Davis...

But that's a good thing!

As a matter of fact, when most people were being influenced by the music Blackwell brought to the world, they had no idea who he was. After all, in the U.S. Island records were distributed by a cornucopia of labels, and if the company's logo appeared on the label, it was tiny.

Did you know that "Back in the High Life" was an Island record?

You have no idea how big that album was unless you were conscious back in '86 when it hit the airwaves, when oldsters became uncomfortable watching Steve Winwood "dance" in the ubiquitous video for "Higher Love." But today when I hear that John Robinson intro I start to smile. Actually when I think of the song I hear that drum intro in my head. Do you know who JR is? Check him out: https://bit.ly/3POEYCD

That was the difference between "Back in the High Life" and the two Winwood solo albums that came before, which he essentially did all by himself.

1977's "Steve Winwood," was unjustly ignored when it was released, then again at that time the music scene was inundated with sounds, and FM had become playlisted, the equivalent of Top 40. And Winwood even rapped in "Time Is Running Out," not that he gets any credit.

After licking the wounds of this commercial failure, Winwood returned with "Arc of a Diver" in 1980, which yielded a hit single, "While You See a Chance," and prodigious sales and I play "Night Train" all the time, to this day.

But the follow-up, "Talking Back to the Night," yielded a minor hit with "Valerie," but was considered to be a disappointment after the huge success of "Arc of a Diver," and his albums now being released through Warner Brothers he could work with Russ Titelman who freshened the sound, brought in all the New York players, and turned Steve Winwood into a superstar, when that meant everybody in the world knew your name, at this point Tom Freston had brought MTV around the globe. Today you can reach everybody via the internet, but getting them to listen, to pay attention? That's nearly impossible.

And then having had this huge success, Winwood ankled Island for Virgin, where he proceeded to release ever less successful albums, both artistically and commercially. Maybe he needed Chris Blackwell.

Yes, Chris Blackwell signed Steve Winwood, as part of the Spencer Davis Group. And it's not like other labels were clamoring to make a deal, like there was a big bidding war, the band was hiding in plain sight, you just had to find them. And Blackwell did, when the major labels were to a great degree asleep at the wheel, at least in the U.K.

Forget "Gimme Some Lovin'"...

Then again you can't forget it, that's just the point. Clive Davis keeps telling us how great he is, the promo is endless, he's got to have his party at the Grammys, as if the cutting edge was ever recognized by that male-driven out of touch organization, but as far as remembering all the music he released, when he had total control at Arista and J? Well, there's Whitney Houston... And maybe those Patti Smith records in the initial days. You see Clive specialized in hit singles, Blackwell specialized in albums. And a great number of those albums are part of the classic rock canon and are still listened to today.

It all started with "My Boy Lollipop." Then again you don't get to the Millie Small smash until about sixty pages in. There's a good overview of the scene in Chris's homeland of Jamaica first, almost all of which is unknown by the average person.

As for "My Boy Lollipop"... We had that single. I didn't know Chris was responsible for years!

But this was a different Chris, a svengali, like Clive, and he realized that was a fool's errand, better to focus on the music than the image, because the hit singles business was always an uphill climb.

So who did Blackwell sign?

Well, there was Cat Stevens, and King Crimson, Roxy Music, Free, Grace Jones, Robert Palmer, Melissa Etheridge and that underrated band from Ireland, U2. And you have heard of Bob Marley and the Wailers, haven't you?

Clive may have had singles in the hit parade, but usually that's not where the action was. Do you remember Marianne Faithfull's "Broken English"? What a surprise that was, angelic beauty returns as hard-edged croaker with an undeniable cut that was anything but me-too, I can remember roller-skating to it at Flipper's. You can't listen without nodding your head, yet it's anything but mindless dance music.

Oh, did I say that Blackwell produced a good amount of this music? He had no technical training, he just tried to steer the artists to deliver their essence. Oftentimes he said nothing, just sat there in the control room smoking a spliff. Then again, he was the one who toughened up the Wailers' sound, to appeal to the rock world.

And unlike Clive, Blackwell gives credit to others. Dave Robinson for turning Marley into the cultural icon he ultimately became, Nick Stewart for U2. That's right, Blackwell believed in people. They generated the music, not him. Blackwell enabled artists to go on a journey, as opposed to demanding instant hits.

2

Oldsters are constantly complaining that young sports stars know nothing about history, especially in baseball.

It's even worse in the music business. Today's hitmakers believe the business began with Napster, disrupting what once was so new acts could flourish on the internet.

But if you were conscious before this...

The music business was a haven of scrappy individualists who proffered hit singles. Sure, there were majors, but like I referenced above, they were often behind the times, and anything but nimble. The business didn't really enter the future, really blow up, become solidified, until Steve Ross purchased Elektra and Atlantic at the end of the sixties and then created Warner's own distribution arm, WEA, in 1972. Back then music made more than movies and was uber-profitable. You see music scales like no other entertainment medium. You make the record and thereafter your costs are de minimis. Sure, most of the records stiff, but there are ones that sell millions, that rain down cash, which is why Steve Ross wanted in.

And it was clear that the artists were in charge. You made a deal, they delivered your record, oftentimes without interference, and then you had to put it out. And successful artists made more than almost anybody at the label. Today it's reversed.

But then in 1979 it all started to crumble, but MTV and CDs caused a renaissance with untold riches, music was raining dough. You didn't seek endorsements, you didn't have to! You were making so much money!

Today there are only three major label groups.

There used to be six.

Just like there are two major concert promoters. You see the business is mature, consolidated. And therefore the excitement is elsewhere.

But back in the sixties...

And in the eighties, with all that new money, there were endless expansions, endless new labels, you had too many records to promote, you might as well create a new imprint, which labels constantly did.

But the seismic shock came when A&M and Island were sold to PolyGram. That's over thirty years ago. Seems like a footnote, but back then it was unthinkable, incomprehensible, as were the payments to the owners of said indies, for Island $300 million.

But that was the beginning of the end for Blackwell. He chafed under the corporate umbrella and started anew at too big a level and failed, which he admits, and then became a real estate baron, renovating hotels in South Beach before selling them for money to build back in his homeland, Jamaica.

3

Blackwell literally says he's a member of the lucky sperm club. And he delineates all of the above, in-depth. As for the man himself? You read all 320 pages of the book and he's still a cipher.

Sure, he talks about his mother's relationship with Ian Fleming, but we get even fewer details about his love life. He mentions wives, girlfriends, but you're still not sure whether he's got biological or step-kids.

Blackwell tells you what he did, and how he did it, but you don't really get to know who he is.

Oh, he goes everywhere in his flip-flops. And shorts. Sans tie. That used to be the rock and roll ethos, the music spoke for you, if you made it you could dress however you wanted to, that was one of the privileges of making it outside the mainstream, being rich. Yet today, all the musicians want to sell clothes, and the execs are all dressed up.

And he has relationships with one babe after another. He's a good-looking dude, but you don't quite get his charm in this book. And you've got to be charming to be uber-successful as an entrepreneur, that's what outsiders don't understand, that's one of Irving Azoff's superpowers.

There's talk of building Compass Point Studios, and creating a house band.

And there's also reference to the label's financial issues. Not having the cash to pay U2 royalties and giving them 10% of the label instead.

The business stories are all here. And a lot of the creative ones too. But who Chris is and what makes him tick? You can only infer.

And the money...

An independent doesn't have deep pockets. Blackwell was selling himself, not attracting acts with cash. And like Winwood, Robert Palmer walked to EMI after Blackwell coddled and built him up, but like Winwood without Chris it wasn't the same.

Yet then there's the reference to buying property whenever he had a win. Well, how much money did Chris take out of Island? WHO KNOWS!

But what we do know is the Island story is ancient history.

But if you were there, you will enjoy getting an inside peek at the creation and workings of Island. And remember when a gig at the label was your heart's desire. Just to be closer to the music.

Blackwell is an icon because the buck stopped with him, he could make a decision, he needed no approval, and he gave you enough money, room and time to do it your way, to find yourself.

And there are amazing insights. Free was wary of releasing "All Right Now," for fear it would ruin the band. And it did!

U2 insisted on using Eno, a man Chris knew and had made many records with but was reluctant to agree to, after "War" because they were fearful of getting pigeonholed as a hit singles act. And it was "The Joshua Tree" that made them legends, and "Achtung Baby" delivered their bona fides. First time through you didn't understand "Achtung Baby," didn't get it, and then like "Exile on Main Street" you realized it was one step beyond, SPECTACULAR!

And Asylum wouldn't let Tom Waits release what became "Swordfishtrombones," it was too out there, but he signed with Chris and became the revered Tom Waits he is today, before that he was just an out there singer-songwriter with a ragged voice, after signing with Island he became a cultural icon.

They don't make them like Chris Blackwell anymore. Not in music anyway. Then again, you can make much more money in tech. And the heart and soul evidenced in the records is absent. It's been commercialized. Funny how the further Chris and his brethren got from commerciality, from delivering me-too stuff that was expected, the more successful they became.

Blackwell is 84. Actually, he'll be 85 next month. He survived, many did not.

And he got a longer run than most in this business, until just past 60.

You see the music business chews you up and spits you out. You're hungry to have a seat at the table, you prove yourself, become inured to the benefits and then you get squeezed out without even realizing it.

And the man is in charge, the corporations, they're publicly traded.

But it used to be different, and if you want to know how it was...

Read "The Islander."

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