https://spoti.fi/3h7AslH
"Darkness, Darkness" - Youngbloods
"The Sound of Silence" -Simon & Garfunkel
"Fishing in the Dark" - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
"Fishin' In the Dark" - Refugees
"Lady In the Dark - Valerie Carter
"Deep, Dark and Dreamless" - Souther, Hillman, Furay Band
"Dark Eyed Woman" - Spirit
"My Dark Hour" - Steve Miller Band
"Beware of Darkness" - George Harrison
"Beware of Darkness" - Leon Russell
"Captain for Dark Mornings" - Laura Nyro
"Dark Horse" - Amanda Marshall
"Darkness On the Edge of Town" - Bruce Springsteen
"Dancing In the Dark" - Bruce Springsteen
"Shot in the Dark" - Ozzy Osbourne
"Dark End of the Street" - Flying Burrito Brothers
"Dark Star" - Grateful Dead
On the Dark Side-Eddie & the Cruisers
"Darkside" - Samples
"Power In the Darkness" - Tom Robinson Band
"Dark Is the Night" - Ry Cooder
"Straight Into Darkness" - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Eclipse" - Pink Floyd
"In the Dark" - Billy Squier
"Slippin' Into Darkness" - War
"Promises In the Dark" - Pat Benatar
"Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate" - Jackson Browne
"You Want It Darker" - Leonard Cohen
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Saturday 5 November 2022
Musk
I had dinner last night with a couple who have two Teslas.
They're not sure they'd get another one. They love the cars, they can't stop testifying, but they don't love Elon Musk.
How could we hear commentators bloviate for months over Musk's acquisition of Twitter and none talk about the consequences of him actually owning the service? How come everybody with an expert opinion couldn't see that advertisers would balk and pull their spots?
Musk is in the process of destroying the company, literally, it's on the road to bankruptcy, and it's completely his fault.
And it's all about content moderation.
Talk about clueless, Musk felt he could turn Twitter into a free-for-all. Having never run a business involving advertising, he thought he was all powerful, that his will could trump anything, after all he skirted U.S. law more than once with his statements and investments and got away with it, why couldn't he have his way with Twitter?
And it's not only Elon Musk. It's been a free-for-all for the rich and powerful for decades. Under the rubric of the market taking care of everything, everybody involved did whatever they wanted. And who paid the price? The people supporting these companies with their dollars, i.e. you and me.
What stuns me about voters is they're all emotional about the issues today, what's on the ground, and they can't see what's going to happen in the near future. Believe me, if the country turns right as per predictions, we're going to end up with a bunch of voters saying they had no idea, they couldn't see the consequences, despite the Democrats telling them over and over and over again. As for those who say it can just be fixed in the next election, there might never be another fair election. That's right. But you're concerned about gas prices which are not under the control of Biden and talking about the economy when inflation is running rampant throughout the world, to a great degree as the result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And then there are all those companies with sky high stock valuations, CEOs making high double digit millions, if not triple, who couldn't foresee a crisis happening ever. They made their companies so lean, believed so much in just-in-time production, that when there was a bump in the road, they were thrown off guard and they still haven't recovered and it's been YEARS! I'm talking, of course, about the supply chain crisis. Imagine running your wardrobe on this basis. Instead of having a closet full of clean clothes, every day you were delivered one clean outfit. Works great until there's a weather event. Or the cleaner gets sick. Or... You've got to be prepared. And believe me, the CEOs running these companies are very prepared personally, with their multiple houses and cars, but they don't own the company and Wall Street wants profits at all costs and here we are in a world where you can't even buy a car. Come on, $10,000 over sticker for a HYUNDAI? I kid you not, we were in negotiations. Needless to say, we passed.
So Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster decide to merge. Everybody else gets away with it, why not them? Think of the cost savings! And forget all the books that will never get published. And the government stops them. This hasn't been the case for eons, other than when Trump wielded his power to punish his enemies. But enough is enough.
Usually in Europe. It's the EU that is standing up for the consumer, against the corporations. It's the EU that is advocating for privacy rights. But the delusional Brits decide this is not in their interest, why be beholden to anyone else, and they vote for Brexit and now the country is in the toilet, never ever to recover. Just like the Americans voting for Republicans this cycle, they can't see the big issues or the future. NATIONALISM! They believe in the team so much that they lose the match. But there are a lot more consequences in government than there are in sport.
So Elon Musk says he's a Democrat, and then he says he's a Republican. And believing that social media is an accurate picture of America, he was emboldened by his followers on Twitter. Talk about groupthink... Say something unfavorable to a few and you'll be inundated with hate. Play to the crowd and you'll think you're winning when you're losing. Everyone who plays online knows the right is more vocal than the left. Think otherwise, but I'm in the trenches every day. The right are the gotcha police. You'd think they dominate the country, when they don't even represent 50%. So Musk is hearing from the right and the bros and he has a delusional viewpoint. Yes, the bros. Who can't get laid and in many cases have little economic future yet believe they can win in a professional arena. This is the GameStop story. The AMC story. They thought they could teach the Street. And although they toppled one myopic investment firm, it was the Street that emerged victorious, the bros got wiped out. It'd be like your next door neighbor playing in the PGA. The golf the pros play isn't even the same game. From a distance it looks similar, on TV it looks similar, but what they do with the ball...most people are completely unaware of.
So Musk is so delusional, he's got no idea that there's more to life than business. He doesn't realize that people judge you on your character. The whole "pedo-guy" controversy... Kids are at risk, someone else saves them, and Musk rants. He beat the lawsuit, but in the court of public opinion he lost. And continued to lose, again and again.
Life is nuanced. He beat up the dumb reporters via data on Tesla. Yes, the writers wrote from emotion not knowing that Teslas are essentially computers, and Musk could lay out the facts. But then Elon started believing everything he said was true, especially about autopilot. Musk could never admit he was wrong. And when this is the case, people start rooting AGAINST YOU!
And his personal life is a wreck and...
Yes, you can say this is off point, but really it's not, especially when it comes to Twitter, because it speaks to CHARACTER, and that's what everybody's concerned with.
Despite there being multiple social media monoliths evidencing to the contrary, Musk kept saying he could run Twitter essentially without moderation. He couldn't even see the pitfalls. And on one hand he's got the right and the bros supporting him, the bros will support anything Elon does, like people used to support musicians, and on the other he's got reasonable society and the Fortune 500, who just couldn't fathom a no limits Twitter. Companies don't want their ads next to anti-Semitic tweets. They don't want their ads next to hate speech at all. This can be addressed, but when you throw the baby out with the bathwater, fire half your staff, no one can have confidence you're going to address the issues.
But the right and the bros are VERY vocal. He's ELON, he can do ANYTHING! LOOK AT HIS TRACK RECORD!
Yeah, look at Michael Jordan's baseball stats.
Or all those CEOs who have bands.
Just because you're good at doing one thing does not mean you're good at doing another. And just because you're the world's richest man that does not mean you're omniscient, more powerful than the rest. You're just RICH! Rich doesn't mean you can have a good relationship, or be a good parent, or succeed in any vertical but your own, but in a sold-out world where money is everything people believe this is the case.
So, Musk is trying to run Twitter without fuel. In this case it's not gasoline, but advertisements. And as a last resort he wants to charge the content CREATORS! Yes, I'm responsible for your service, you're just an empty platform unless I post, and you want to charge me for the privilege? What am I getting in return? Look at the benefits of the $8 Twitter Blue, it's laughable.
So in truth Teslas are the most advanced electric automobiles, it really comes down to software, but the interiors are not luxurious and the fit and finish is not up to German or Japanese or even Korean standards. People are just looking for alternatives. And in China, Tesla is being undercut on price.
But Elon Musk is an all-seeing titan who cannot be defeated, it's absolutely impossible.
This is just like Kanye. It's almost too late for a a mea culpa. And Musk is anything but conciliatory. Instead of speaking to Twitter's content moderation issues, he blames activist groups for advertisers' pull-outs. He's like a kid denying he stole the cookies from the jar. He just can't be at fault. When all evidence points to the contrary.
We could call it karma, but it's worse than that. It's bad business. Period. Believe me, if anybody else had purchased Twitter and done what Elon has they'd be excoriated, a pariah. But since he's Elon...
Since he's Elon so what?
This guy isn't even trying to make peace. He thinks he can win by sheer will. That's part of growing up, when you're in your teens you realize that just because you want it, just because you're focused on it, just because you're exerting your will, that does not mean it will go down the way you want it to.
Yes, Elon Musk's development has been arrested. He's an adolescent at best. And the last time I checked, Peter Pan does not run the country. The bros are derided. At some point you've got to become an adult.
Or else you lose.
The clock is running. This game plan is not working. Can Musk pull it out?
It's not looking like it. And even worse, most people who even care don't want him to. This is what happens, the world turns against you, only your hard core fans still believe. I could point to some "musicians" to prove the example, who are all over the news just like Elon, but why waste the time, they don't really count. The train-wreck is more interesting than the substance, assuming there is any.
The Elon/Twitter train-wreck has been fascinating, Twitter itself has just been an afterthought, and now that he's getting down to business... Twitter itself is being sacrificed in the process. And we may need food and water to survive, but we don't need Twitter.
Karma is a bitch.
But once again, this isn't about karma, this is solely about Elon the man and his actions. He's responsible. He can start by owning it, there's no fix without it, but Musk cannot reveal weakness, cannot admit he's wrong.
And it's not about whether Trump is on the service or not. It's about the CONTENT! Can lies and hatred be spread willy-nilly?
Turns out this is what most people in society do not want. They want limits, they want checks and balances, and without the people, the ultimate customer, the true power...
You've got nothing.
Corporations' success is based on people. And they don't want to piss them off and sacrifice their business.
How come Elon can't understand this?
Beats me.
They're not sure they'd get another one. They love the cars, they can't stop testifying, but they don't love Elon Musk.
How could we hear commentators bloviate for months over Musk's acquisition of Twitter and none talk about the consequences of him actually owning the service? How come everybody with an expert opinion couldn't see that advertisers would balk and pull their spots?
Musk is in the process of destroying the company, literally, it's on the road to bankruptcy, and it's completely his fault.
And it's all about content moderation.
Talk about clueless, Musk felt he could turn Twitter into a free-for-all. Having never run a business involving advertising, he thought he was all powerful, that his will could trump anything, after all he skirted U.S. law more than once with his statements and investments and got away with it, why couldn't he have his way with Twitter?
And it's not only Elon Musk. It's been a free-for-all for the rich and powerful for decades. Under the rubric of the market taking care of everything, everybody involved did whatever they wanted. And who paid the price? The people supporting these companies with their dollars, i.e. you and me.
What stuns me about voters is they're all emotional about the issues today, what's on the ground, and they can't see what's going to happen in the near future. Believe me, if the country turns right as per predictions, we're going to end up with a bunch of voters saying they had no idea, they couldn't see the consequences, despite the Democrats telling them over and over and over again. As for those who say it can just be fixed in the next election, there might never be another fair election. That's right. But you're concerned about gas prices which are not under the control of Biden and talking about the economy when inflation is running rampant throughout the world, to a great degree as the result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And then there are all those companies with sky high stock valuations, CEOs making high double digit millions, if not triple, who couldn't foresee a crisis happening ever. They made their companies so lean, believed so much in just-in-time production, that when there was a bump in the road, they were thrown off guard and they still haven't recovered and it's been YEARS! I'm talking, of course, about the supply chain crisis. Imagine running your wardrobe on this basis. Instead of having a closet full of clean clothes, every day you were delivered one clean outfit. Works great until there's a weather event. Or the cleaner gets sick. Or... You've got to be prepared. And believe me, the CEOs running these companies are very prepared personally, with their multiple houses and cars, but they don't own the company and Wall Street wants profits at all costs and here we are in a world where you can't even buy a car. Come on, $10,000 over sticker for a HYUNDAI? I kid you not, we were in negotiations. Needless to say, we passed.
So Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster decide to merge. Everybody else gets away with it, why not them? Think of the cost savings! And forget all the books that will never get published. And the government stops them. This hasn't been the case for eons, other than when Trump wielded his power to punish his enemies. But enough is enough.
Usually in Europe. It's the EU that is standing up for the consumer, against the corporations. It's the EU that is advocating for privacy rights. But the delusional Brits decide this is not in their interest, why be beholden to anyone else, and they vote for Brexit and now the country is in the toilet, never ever to recover. Just like the Americans voting for Republicans this cycle, they can't see the big issues or the future. NATIONALISM! They believe in the team so much that they lose the match. But there are a lot more consequences in government than there are in sport.
So Elon Musk says he's a Democrat, and then he says he's a Republican. And believing that social media is an accurate picture of America, he was emboldened by his followers on Twitter. Talk about groupthink... Say something unfavorable to a few and you'll be inundated with hate. Play to the crowd and you'll think you're winning when you're losing. Everyone who plays online knows the right is more vocal than the left. Think otherwise, but I'm in the trenches every day. The right are the gotcha police. You'd think they dominate the country, when they don't even represent 50%. So Musk is hearing from the right and the bros and he has a delusional viewpoint. Yes, the bros. Who can't get laid and in many cases have little economic future yet believe they can win in a professional arena. This is the GameStop story. The AMC story. They thought they could teach the Street. And although they toppled one myopic investment firm, it was the Street that emerged victorious, the bros got wiped out. It'd be like your next door neighbor playing in the PGA. The golf the pros play isn't even the same game. From a distance it looks similar, on TV it looks similar, but what they do with the ball...most people are completely unaware of.
So Musk is so delusional, he's got no idea that there's more to life than business. He doesn't realize that people judge you on your character. The whole "pedo-guy" controversy... Kids are at risk, someone else saves them, and Musk rants. He beat the lawsuit, but in the court of public opinion he lost. And continued to lose, again and again.
Life is nuanced. He beat up the dumb reporters via data on Tesla. Yes, the writers wrote from emotion not knowing that Teslas are essentially computers, and Musk could lay out the facts. But then Elon started believing everything he said was true, especially about autopilot. Musk could never admit he was wrong. And when this is the case, people start rooting AGAINST YOU!
And his personal life is a wreck and...
Yes, you can say this is off point, but really it's not, especially when it comes to Twitter, because it speaks to CHARACTER, and that's what everybody's concerned with.
Despite there being multiple social media monoliths evidencing to the contrary, Musk kept saying he could run Twitter essentially without moderation. He couldn't even see the pitfalls. And on one hand he's got the right and the bros supporting him, the bros will support anything Elon does, like people used to support musicians, and on the other he's got reasonable society and the Fortune 500, who just couldn't fathom a no limits Twitter. Companies don't want their ads next to anti-Semitic tweets. They don't want their ads next to hate speech at all. This can be addressed, but when you throw the baby out with the bathwater, fire half your staff, no one can have confidence you're going to address the issues.
But the right and the bros are VERY vocal. He's ELON, he can do ANYTHING! LOOK AT HIS TRACK RECORD!
Yeah, look at Michael Jordan's baseball stats.
Or all those CEOs who have bands.
Just because you're good at doing one thing does not mean you're good at doing another. And just because you're the world's richest man that does not mean you're omniscient, more powerful than the rest. You're just RICH! Rich doesn't mean you can have a good relationship, or be a good parent, or succeed in any vertical but your own, but in a sold-out world where money is everything people believe this is the case.
So, Musk is trying to run Twitter without fuel. In this case it's not gasoline, but advertisements. And as a last resort he wants to charge the content CREATORS! Yes, I'm responsible for your service, you're just an empty platform unless I post, and you want to charge me for the privilege? What am I getting in return? Look at the benefits of the $8 Twitter Blue, it's laughable.
So in truth Teslas are the most advanced electric automobiles, it really comes down to software, but the interiors are not luxurious and the fit and finish is not up to German or Japanese or even Korean standards. People are just looking for alternatives. And in China, Tesla is being undercut on price.
But Elon Musk is an all-seeing titan who cannot be defeated, it's absolutely impossible.
This is just like Kanye. It's almost too late for a a mea culpa. And Musk is anything but conciliatory. Instead of speaking to Twitter's content moderation issues, he blames activist groups for advertisers' pull-outs. He's like a kid denying he stole the cookies from the jar. He just can't be at fault. When all evidence points to the contrary.
We could call it karma, but it's worse than that. It's bad business. Period. Believe me, if anybody else had purchased Twitter and done what Elon has they'd be excoriated, a pariah. But since he's Elon...
Since he's Elon so what?
This guy isn't even trying to make peace. He thinks he can win by sheer will. That's part of growing up, when you're in your teens you realize that just because you want it, just because you're focused on it, just because you're exerting your will, that does not mean it will go down the way you want it to.
Yes, Elon Musk's development has been arrested. He's an adolescent at best. And the last time I checked, Peter Pan does not run the country. The bros are derided. At some point you've got to become an adult.
Or else you lose.
The clock is running. This game plan is not working. Can Musk pull it out?
It's not looking like it. And even worse, most people who even care don't want him to. This is what happens, the world turns against you, only your hard core fans still believe. I could point to some "musicians" to prove the example, who are all over the news just like Elon, but why waste the time, they don't really count. The train-wreck is more interesting than the substance, assuming there is any.
The Elon/Twitter train-wreck has been fascinating, Twitter itself has just been an afterthought, and now that he's getting down to business... Twitter itself is being sacrificed in the process. And we may need food and water to survive, but we don't need Twitter.
Karma is a bitch.
But once again, this isn't about karma, this is solely about Elon the man and his actions. He's responsible. He can start by owning it, there's no fix without it, but Musk cannot reveal weakness, cannot admit he's wrong.
And it's not about whether Trump is on the service or not. It's about the CONTENT! Can lies and hatred be spread willy-nilly?
Turns out this is what most people in society do not want. They want limits, they want checks and balances, and without the people, the ultimate customer, the true power...
You've got nothing.
Corporations' success is based on people. And they don't want to piss them off and sacrifice their business.
How come Elon can't understand this?
Beats me.
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"Dark" Songs-SiriusXM This Week
In honor of Daylight Saving Time.
Tune in today, Saturday November 5th, to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.
Phone #: 844-686-5863
Twitter: @lefsetz
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz
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Tune in today, Saturday November 5th, to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.
Phone #: 844-686-5863
Twitter: @lefsetz
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz
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Friday 4 November 2022
Bruce On Howard
He was so NORMAL!
I wasn't expecting much. It's not like the Boss has been holding his cards close to his chest. I mean how much more is there to know?
PLENTY!
But not what I expected it to be.
It was like sitting at the kitchen table with Springsteen. Two buddies connecting, revealing their inner truth with no holding back. And this is anathema to musicians. Forget that mystery is oftentimes key to their image, they've been interviewed so many times, been in the public eye for so long, that they're media-savvy, aware of the pitfalls, always on guard.
And Stern's style is to make you feel so relaxed, have the conversation be so intimate that he can ask the taboo questions, about your sex life, about your inner feelings, and when you walk out of the studio your adrenaline is pumping but soon there's that little voice, did I really want to say that? The phone starts ringing, you start spinning, but it's too late, there's no editing, it's already gone over the air, and even though Howard does his show multiple times per week, you're lucky if you'll be asked back within two or three YEARS!
So I both expected Bruce to be guarded and for Howard to be pushing, but neither was the case. Bruce was game from the get-go. And he wasn't that different from me and you, except he's BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN!
One of the peaks was when Bruce marveled at being on stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction with Mick Jagger at his right and George Harrison at his left...JUST LIKE YOU OR ME! He was aware of how hard he'd worked, how long the odds were, but he'd MADE IT! Not that he thought he didn't deserve it, it's just that he remembered being back in New Jersey infatuated with these blokes and broke, and to come all this way?
It required a ton of perseverance. Which is more important than the idea. The talent, that's just a start. But are you willing to endure the hardships?
I mean Bruce is talking about sleeping in a surf shop. He actually mentioned surfing himself! Yes, can you see him on a board off the Jersey shore, not in black, but with the long-legged colored trunks of the era?
And then there was that aside about Bruce being down at the beach, only this time as an adult, on 9/11. At his house on the shore, right? No, at the beach club. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IS A MEMBER OF A BEACH CLUB?
The celebrities don't stop telling us they're better than we are, that they don't even live in the same world, they fly private and vacation on Richard Branson's private island. But Springsteen is inviting the entire town to his house for Halloween?
And I'm not saying Bruce didn't give some amazing performances on the show, but as good as those were, those were not the highlight.
As to whether his kids knew who he was and came to the show... He said that he and Patty have a pact, not to bring it in the house, and when he starts talking about his work she shuts him down. And we thought he was the boss...
Not that he knew how to have a relationship. He had to learn how, through therapy. When most boomers believe therapy is a sign of weakness, that you must work out your problems by yourself to be a man.
As for his initial marriage... Bruce complimented the woman, but said she was just the wrong person, no amount of therapy could make it work.
And then there was his back surgery story. Yes, his hands started to go numb, so he needed an incision in his throat to attack the discs in his neck to relieve the pressure. Come on, you have these conversations with your buddies on a regular basis, if you're a boomer, but the stars are supposed to be inviolate, and if there's anything truly wrong with them it's a national crisis, the entire nation pays fealty and weeps.
So Bruce is caught by the bug. And unlike too many of today's young wankers, he knows it's a long way to the top of if you want to rock and roll. He talks about all the gigs he played. Ones involving the fire department that I'd never even heard of, we didn't have those where I grew up in Connecticut. Bruce was like a session musician of the sixties or seventies, he'd show up wherever there was a gig, he wanted to PLAY!
As a lead guitarist. That used to be Bruce's ace in the hole. His wailing, his shredding.
As for making it...
His parents moved to Californ-i-a and left him behind, alone and broke, with only his guitar and his wits. And most people don't make it, Bruce said how hard it was.
And he talked about his reverence for Dylan, that "Blinded by the Light" was written on the beach using a rhyming dictionary. And how Bob had contacted him to play at the Kennedy Center Honors. Yes, it's a club, and we're not in it, but Bruce is our representative.
I don't want you to wince. Bruce knows who he is, that he's rich, but somehow you can't shake the Jersey out of him.
Most people want to ascend the ladder and become beautiful. Bruce is laughing, you get the style of his speech, you can see the real person, which is SO different from the edited interviews we've been exposed to over the decades. The reverence for the Boss undercuts him being honest. And most people who do these takes are uninformed. It's all grist for the mill.
Not that the locals don't say he's changed. And Bruce said you've got to change, you can't keep doing the same thing. Howard echoed this. You've got to progress, or you're dead.
And how his entire career is a conversation with his fans. That's what the new albums are about, not topping the chart. Turns out Bruce has a better perspective than those in charge of the machine.
As far as why Jon Landau became his manager... It was because of TRUST! You can't buy trust. And trust is very rare in the music business. Everybody is trying to survive, and if they have to sacrifice you in the process, so be it.
Not that Bruce was a puppy dog, lapping at Howard's feet. When Howard started talking about Patti, and how he wished she was there, Bruce said she had no intention of showing up because Howard had trashed her. She might get over it, but it's going to take a ton of work by Howard. And Bruce ended up looking the bigger man. He didn't even want Howard to hype his new album, that's not what the interview was about.
Of course this appearance engendered awareness. But the listener did not feel manipulated.
As I've always said, I don't hate Bruce Springsteen, I hate his fans. It's a pecking order, how many shows have you seen, how much do you know. That uber-fan litmus test turns people off. I mean how in hell do you prove someone is a bigger fan. And if you show up and enjoy it, how big a fan do you even have to be?
Howard did ask about the sale to Sony for $500 million, but he did not ask about the Ticketmaster debacle. This wasn't a gotcha interview.
And it wasn't a lecture or a show either. It was more real than the recording of the Broadway show on Netflix, because you could feel the INTIMACY!
The Broadway show... So you went for $750-$1000. Good for you. But it wasn't the second coming, nothing is. Get old enough and you realize it's all about the individual, i.e. YOU! Nobody's better than anybody else. It's your life, you make of it what you want to.
And instead of enjoying the fruits of his success, living the fabulous life, Bruce is working every day in his studio. Even though the rock paradigm is dead, he is who he is.
And I'm not gonna get into showing up on David Geffen's yacht... The lines start to blur. You want to maintain your credibility, your integrity, but that does not mean you always have to say no. And sometimes you make mistakes, EVERYBODY DOES, but we play a game of gotcha with our heroes.
So, writing all of "Born to Run" on the Aeolian piano given to him by his grandmother... Bruce was tickling the ivories in the studio, and you could get it, but I never thought of the album that way.
And how the muse comes and goes and he can't control it, how years can go by before he writes another song. It's so different from the Nashville model, you get together with others and pound out a song every day, whereas everybody truly in the game knows that the best work comes from raw inspiration. And you know when it hits, it's a lightning bolt only you can feel, and you have to capture the moment immediately, or else you lose it. And if you're beholden to the muse, that means something else has to be sacrificed. In Bruce's case almost everything before he ultimately settled down and had a family. Turned out stardom was not enough.
Honestly, about ninety minutes in the effect started to wear off. Bruce was just another guy telling his story. You know the law of performance, leave them wanting more. But that's if you're more concerned about your audience than yourself, if you believe in manipulation. The key is to channel others through yourself. And if you remove yourself, if there's too much smoke and too many mirrors, you can't do that.
I'm not saying the interview was too long, it's just that over time Bruce became normalized, he stopped being a star and became just another guy telling his story. And that's how you do it in the twenty first century, you obliterate the line between you and the audience, it's the only thing that truly works.
So Bruce has gone on record that he takes antidepressants. Or did.
And he owned up instantly to wearing hearing aids.
He's getting old, and at some point you have to own it. And how bad is that anyway?
Will Bruce Springsteen be remembered? Unlike Paul McCartney and others, most of his material is unique to him, no one else can cover it, and this oftentimes shortens longevity, when the fans start to go there's nobody, or not many people who are willing to put in the time to get it, and let's be clear, you've got to put in the time to truly get Bruce Springsteen. That's how it used to be with all of the acts, you had to play those albums over and over to get them. And you only wanted to get closer.
And Springsteen brought us closer than we ever were before.
Am I going to say I like the new material as much as the old?
No. Bruce is in a different place and so am I.
But at least he's trying.
But I'm sick and tired of the media machine building up the story with each new release, like it's manna from heaven when it's just music, which at most will soothe your soul, get you through, and anybody truly in the game knows you can't reach the pinnacle every time out, you want to, but 11's are hard to come by, and the longer you've been around, the more you know, and it's even harder.
So there's a ton of stuff about Bruce's dad. How Springsteen is living the life of his father in public, through his songs.
But at the end...
His parents are living in San Francisco. His dad is sitting at the kitchen table drinking a beer. Because some things never change, some people are locked into their ways, many, in fact. And Bruce reaches inside his coat and puts his newly-won Oscar on the table and says nothing.
He's reached the mountaintop. Everybody seems to know it and acknowledge it but his father. He can't get the love from his dad. But now he holds the ultimate trump card.
His father says he'll never tell anybody what to do ever again...
And that feels good, but it's still not enough, it's not an acknowledgement, not love, but it's as much as Bruce can get.
And since he could never get more he became an artist. To explore this pain, look for love, go on a journey of the other, since he was always considered the other anyway.
I didn't listen as a fan, I listened as a person. I got some insight. It made me think. I don't need to compare notes with the posse. I realized Bruce and I never would have been friends in high school. And even though we grew up on the same planet in the same era, his parents instilled completely different hopes and dreams in him than mine did in me. He and Howard talked about their relationship with their parents and...it wasn't mine. Because each of us is different. The key is to be you.
If you love going to see Springsteen, great. Doesn't make you better than the rest.
And the funny thing is the guy on stage, the perpetrator, he knows all this, he's more developed than most of the people listening. He's just doing what he's doing. He's glad you like it. But in truth, you're completely different.
But ultimately the same.
There's the conundrum, there's the magic.
That's rock and roll.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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I wasn't expecting much. It's not like the Boss has been holding his cards close to his chest. I mean how much more is there to know?
PLENTY!
But not what I expected it to be.
It was like sitting at the kitchen table with Springsteen. Two buddies connecting, revealing their inner truth with no holding back. And this is anathema to musicians. Forget that mystery is oftentimes key to their image, they've been interviewed so many times, been in the public eye for so long, that they're media-savvy, aware of the pitfalls, always on guard.
And Stern's style is to make you feel so relaxed, have the conversation be so intimate that he can ask the taboo questions, about your sex life, about your inner feelings, and when you walk out of the studio your adrenaline is pumping but soon there's that little voice, did I really want to say that? The phone starts ringing, you start spinning, but it's too late, there's no editing, it's already gone over the air, and even though Howard does his show multiple times per week, you're lucky if you'll be asked back within two or three YEARS!
So I both expected Bruce to be guarded and for Howard to be pushing, but neither was the case. Bruce was game from the get-go. And he wasn't that different from me and you, except he's BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN!
One of the peaks was when Bruce marveled at being on stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction with Mick Jagger at his right and George Harrison at his left...JUST LIKE YOU OR ME! He was aware of how hard he'd worked, how long the odds were, but he'd MADE IT! Not that he thought he didn't deserve it, it's just that he remembered being back in New Jersey infatuated with these blokes and broke, and to come all this way?
It required a ton of perseverance. Which is more important than the idea. The talent, that's just a start. But are you willing to endure the hardships?
I mean Bruce is talking about sleeping in a surf shop. He actually mentioned surfing himself! Yes, can you see him on a board off the Jersey shore, not in black, but with the long-legged colored trunks of the era?
And then there was that aside about Bruce being down at the beach, only this time as an adult, on 9/11. At his house on the shore, right? No, at the beach club. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN IS A MEMBER OF A BEACH CLUB?
The celebrities don't stop telling us they're better than we are, that they don't even live in the same world, they fly private and vacation on Richard Branson's private island. But Springsteen is inviting the entire town to his house for Halloween?
And I'm not saying Bruce didn't give some amazing performances on the show, but as good as those were, those were not the highlight.
As to whether his kids knew who he was and came to the show... He said that he and Patty have a pact, not to bring it in the house, and when he starts talking about his work she shuts him down. And we thought he was the boss...
Not that he knew how to have a relationship. He had to learn how, through therapy. When most boomers believe therapy is a sign of weakness, that you must work out your problems by yourself to be a man.
As for his initial marriage... Bruce complimented the woman, but said she was just the wrong person, no amount of therapy could make it work.
And then there was his back surgery story. Yes, his hands started to go numb, so he needed an incision in his throat to attack the discs in his neck to relieve the pressure. Come on, you have these conversations with your buddies on a regular basis, if you're a boomer, but the stars are supposed to be inviolate, and if there's anything truly wrong with them it's a national crisis, the entire nation pays fealty and weeps.
So Bruce is caught by the bug. And unlike too many of today's young wankers, he knows it's a long way to the top of if you want to rock and roll. He talks about all the gigs he played. Ones involving the fire department that I'd never even heard of, we didn't have those where I grew up in Connecticut. Bruce was like a session musician of the sixties or seventies, he'd show up wherever there was a gig, he wanted to PLAY!
As a lead guitarist. That used to be Bruce's ace in the hole. His wailing, his shredding.
As for making it...
His parents moved to Californ-i-a and left him behind, alone and broke, with only his guitar and his wits. And most people don't make it, Bruce said how hard it was.
And he talked about his reverence for Dylan, that "Blinded by the Light" was written on the beach using a rhyming dictionary. And how Bob had contacted him to play at the Kennedy Center Honors. Yes, it's a club, and we're not in it, but Bruce is our representative.
I don't want you to wince. Bruce knows who he is, that he's rich, but somehow you can't shake the Jersey out of him.
Most people want to ascend the ladder and become beautiful. Bruce is laughing, you get the style of his speech, you can see the real person, which is SO different from the edited interviews we've been exposed to over the decades. The reverence for the Boss undercuts him being honest. And most people who do these takes are uninformed. It's all grist for the mill.
Not that the locals don't say he's changed. And Bruce said you've got to change, you can't keep doing the same thing. Howard echoed this. You've got to progress, or you're dead.
And how his entire career is a conversation with his fans. That's what the new albums are about, not topping the chart. Turns out Bruce has a better perspective than those in charge of the machine.
As far as why Jon Landau became his manager... It was because of TRUST! You can't buy trust. And trust is very rare in the music business. Everybody is trying to survive, and if they have to sacrifice you in the process, so be it.
Not that Bruce was a puppy dog, lapping at Howard's feet. When Howard started talking about Patti, and how he wished she was there, Bruce said she had no intention of showing up because Howard had trashed her. She might get over it, but it's going to take a ton of work by Howard. And Bruce ended up looking the bigger man. He didn't even want Howard to hype his new album, that's not what the interview was about.
Of course this appearance engendered awareness. But the listener did not feel manipulated.
As I've always said, I don't hate Bruce Springsteen, I hate his fans. It's a pecking order, how many shows have you seen, how much do you know. That uber-fan litmus test turns people off. I mean how in hell do you prove someone is a bigger fan. And if you show up and enjoy it, how big a fan do you even have to be?
Howard did ask about the sale to Sony for $500 million, but he did not ask about the Ticketmaster debacle. This wasn't a gotcha interview.
And it wasn't a lecture or a show either. It was more real than the recording of the Broadway show on Netflix, because you could feel the INTIMACY!
The Broadway show... So you went for $750-$1000. Good for you. But it wasn't the second coming, nothing is. Get old enough and you realize it's all about the individual, i.e. YOU! Nobody's better than anybody else. It's your life, you make of it what you want to.
And instead of enjoying the fruits of his success, living the fabulous life, Bruce is working every day in his studio. Even though the rock paradigm is dead, he is who he is.
And I'm not gonna get into showing up on David Geffen's yacht... The lines start to blur. You want to maintain your credibility, your integrity, but that does not mean you always have to say no. And sometimes you make mistakes, EVERYBODY DOES, but we play a game of gotcha with our heroes.
So, writing all of "Born to Run" on the Aeolian piano given to him by his grandmother... Bruce was tickling the ivories in the studio, and you could get it, but I never thought of the album that way.
And how the muse comes and goes and he can't control it, how years can go by before he writes another song. It's so different from the Nashville model, you get together with others and pound out a song every day, whereas everybody truly in the game knows that the best work comes from raw inspiration. And you know when it hits, it's a lightning bolt only you can feel, and you have to capture the moment immediately, or else you lose it. And if you're beholden to the muse, that means something else has to be sacrificed. In Bruce's case almost everything before he ultimately settled down and had a family. Turned out stardom was not enough.
Honestly, about ninety minutes in the effect started to wear off. Bruce was just another guy telling his story. You know the law of performance, leave them wanting more. But that's if you're more concerned about your audience than yourself, if you believe in manipulation. The key is to channel others through yourself. And if you remove yourself, if there's too much smoke and too many mirrors, you can't do that.
I'm not saying the interview was too long, it's just that over time Bruce became normalized, he stopped being a star and became just another guy telling his story. And that's how you do it in the twenty first century, you obliterate the line between you and the audience, it's the only thing that truly works.
So Bruce has gone on record that he takes antidepressants. Or did.
And he owned up instantly to wearing hearing aids.
He's getting old, and at some point you have to own it. And how bad is that anyway?
Will Bruce Springsteen be remembered? Unlike Paul McCartney and others, most of his material is unique to him, no one else can cover it, and this oftentimes shortens longevity, when the fans start to go there's nobody, or not many people who are willing to put in the time to get it, and let's be clear, you've got to put in the time to truly get Bruce Springsteen. That's how it used to be with all of the acts, you had to play those albums over and over to get them. And you only wanted to get closer.
And Springsteen brought us closer than we ever were before.
Am I going to say I like the new material as much as the old?
No. Bruce is in a different place and so am I.
But at least he's trying.
But I'm sick and tired of the media machine building up the story with each new release, like it's manna from heaven when it's just music, which at most will soothe your soul, get you through, and anybody truly in the game knows you can't reach the pinnacle every time out, you want to, but 11's are hard to come by, and the longer you've been around, the more you know, and it's even harder.
So there's a ton of stuff about Bruce's dad. How Springsteen is living the life of his father in public, through his songs.
But at the end...
His parents are living in San Francisco. His dad is sitting at the kitchen table drinking a beer. Because some things never change, some people are locked into their ways, many, in fact. And Bruce reaches inside his coat and puts his newly-won Oscar on the table and says nothing.
He's reached the mountaintop. Everybody seems to know it and acknowledge it but his father. He can't get the love from his dad. But now he holds the ultimate trump card.
His father says he'll never tell anybody what to do ever again...
And that feels good, but it's still not enough, it's not an acknowledgement, not love, but it's as much as Bruce can get.
And since he could never get more he became an artist. To explore this pain, look for love, go on a journey of the other, since he was always considered the other anyway.
I didn't listen as a fan, I listened as a person. I got some insight. It made me think. I don't need to compare notes with the posse. I realized Bruce and I never would have been friends in high school. And even though we grew up on the same planet in the same era, his parents instilled completely different hopes and dreams in him than mine did in me. He and Howard talked about their relationship with their parents and...it wasn't mine. Because each of us is different. The key is to be you.
If you love going to see Springsteen, great. Doesn't make you better than the rest.
And the funny thing is the guy on stage, the perpetrator, he knows all this, he's more developed than most of the people listening. He's just doing what he's doing. He's glad you like it. But in truth, you're completely different.
But ultimately the same.
There's the conundrum, there's the magic.
That's rock and roll.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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Thursday 3 November 2022
W. David Marx-This Week's Podcast
W. David Marx is the author of the new book: "Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change." He posits the dearth of quality new music comes down to status. We discuss this and other implications of status in society. Put your thinking cap on!
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/w-david-marx-104117089/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w-david-marx/id1316200737?i=1000584913290
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6TApLDJrLWniykXg4hLMPx?si=rVzo4GdsSoyMdiwl6nZOZQ
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/9f7fbc0a-109e-4461-a803-eba0541c874b/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-w-david-marx
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/w-david-marx-208197447
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/w-david-marx-104117089/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w-david-marx/id1316200737?i=1000584913290
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6TApLDJrLWniykXg4hLMPx?si=rVzo4GdsSoyMdiwl6nZOZQ
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/9f7fbc0a-109e-4461-a803-eba0541c874b/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-w-david-marx
https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/w-david-marx-208197447
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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Everything Is A Cult
The casual listener is dead.
The best analogy is television. Boomers will remember when you watched what was on, even changing channels was a big deal, you had to get up off the couch before the remote.
And then came the remote and ultimately cable TV, with its plethora of channels. But recording was still done by VCR, which most people could never figure out, the VCR was mainly a playback device. So people would sit down at night to watch television, and click through the available channels, unless they rented a movie.
Then came the DVR. And the internet. And the ability to pick and choose your content and watch it at a later time. "TiVo" became a verb, remember those days? Ask a member of Gen-Z what a TiVo is and they'll have no idea. They came of age in the on demand era. What you wanted to consume was at your fingertips, you only had to make a choice.
And then there's today, we live in the on demand culture and there's a plethora of choices! In TV, in music... And then there's the internet, with its endless diversions, never mind TikTok, which is the Netflix of the young.
But the point here is there's no more drive-by listening, never mind viewing. You choose what to consume, and if you don't choose it, you never hear it.
No one wants to admit this. Because this means they've lost control, that the lunatics have taken over the asylum, that they no longer control the market.
The record companies had it good. They controlled radio and physical distribution. Most people didn't know about it unless they heard it on the radio. Sure, there were active fans who consumed print publications, but ironically they were the most dedicated radio listeners! And sure, you could learn about an act via an opening slot at a gig, but all the money was in the recordings, the live gig was an advertisement for the record.
Today, terrestrial music radio means little. Because who wants to listen to the same damn station ad infinitum, never mind consuming twenty minutes of commercials per hour. I mean how many music-oriented stations are there even in your market? And they all don't play the genre of music you like. And your car comes with Bluetooth and you can stream from your smartphone. The only people passively listening to music are the same boomers flipping the channels on their TV sets every night. Meanwhile, subscriptions to cable TV keep going down, people have cut the cord, and some never ever were connected, they've picked and chosen their entire lives. You go to college with a laptop, you employ your parents' Netflix account. You borrow passwords for other streaming giants. Other than that, it's the internet.
So how are you going to expose people to new music? YOU CAN'T!
Oh, you can strong-arm the media the same way you used to strong-arm, and probably still strong-arm, terrestrial radio. But the target audience doesn't see it. They get the headlines on social media, they never drill down to your story. They evade it completely. If people can evade hard news, politics, what are the odds they're going to see your promotional campaign, the reviews of records? NEARLY ZILCH!
Then there's the playlist... Never has there been that much concern about something with so little impact. Talk to Spotify, read their screeds, most people pick and choose their music, they don't want to listen to endless playlists with so many tune-outs. Come on, ever try? If you're a music fan it's excruciating! So people make their own playlists. And as far as being turned on to something new, they depend on their friends, they constantly have their ear to the ground taking the temperature of the buzz.
But buzz mostly works for the unknown. People's time is so limited that if they've already sampled and didn't like it, they don't go back. Yes, there's that first impression, and after that good luck!
Having said that, there are rabid cults. But they don't cross over to the general public. I'd say much of the population is aware of K-Pop at this point, they've heard of BTS, but they've got no desire to listen to the act's music. That's for a hard core who live and die, who are invested in BTS. And they punch above their weight. They're so busy talking about BTS, and going to the shows that media and insiders believe it's a widespread phenomenon, but it's not! It's just a very large cult.
The vaunted acts of the past fifteen years, they're all like this. They don't appeal to everybody. They've got a hard core, and that's it. No one's even a casual fan, why bother, why spend the time?
As for those who do listen to playlists, they are the least active consumers, the last one to stream one track ad infinitum and pay for a ticket to the show. These are the people who employ playlists as background music, at home or at work, they may not even be able to recall ever hearing the track, never mind that it played.
There are other cults. Public radio. Rabid fans who follow deejays and then stream what is featured. Like WFMU or KCRW. Listeners know it, but no one else does. So, when the hipster band comes to town an elder audience will show up, but the act will never play arenas on the first tour, the cult is just not that big.
As for all these sellouts...
Let's say you play fifteen stadiums. Let's say you sold out at each, 50,000 seats, never mind many stadiums today hold fewer than that. Sounds impressive, but...
That's 750,000 people in a country of 330 million. It's a drop in the bucket. Apple doesn't even wake up for that number. It's bupkes.
I'm not saying it's not good business, there's a lot of money there, but if you think there's endless demand to see that act, you're wrong. Never mind there being additional acts on the bill to turn it into an event so people show up to begin with.
Festivals? 100,000 a day? Good money, not much impact.
This is very different from being on "Hee-Haw" back in the day. Or even MTV. TRL was a club that moved the needle, there has been no replacement, there can't be, because everybody is no longer on the same page.
And then you've got the history of music competing with the new. And a lot of those acts are still on the road, albeit not that much longer.
Once again, there's plenty of money to be made, but don't confuse this with IMPACT!
So you have a #1 record. Big deal. Most people have never heard it. Morgan Wallen's album "Dangerous" has been in the Top Ten for over a year and I bet most people reading this have never ever heard a single track and couldn't pick Morgan out of a lineup. Sure, they might know about the n-word controversy, but that's part of the cancel culture, gotcha, political sphere...that's the entertainment now, much more interesting than anything anybody is putting down on wax. And don't get me started on the touting of vinyl records. A tempest in a teapot. Many people are never even listening to them, they're a souvenir. And the numbers proffered are not reflective of reality. It's all calculated on suggested retail. And retail for a vinyl record these days can be $40. How much comes back to the record company? Maybe $20, assuming there are no discounts and people actually pay the suggested retail price. And then there are all the costs involved, manufacturing and shipping...the only good thing is vinyl is sold one way, and if you don't know what that means that means you're not burdened by the record company economics of yore, which no longer apply today. When the label gets paid by a streaming company that's NET! And other than the usually de minimis royalties paid to the act, if they're even in the black, it's all profit. As in there are no costs. No manufacturing, no shipping, no returns. So to compare vinyl to streaming is like yes, comparing apples to oranges. I'm not saying there's not money in vinyl, there's a good amount. But it's not as high as they say it is, cut the number in half right away, that cash is going to the retailer, and it's still a fraction of what is made on streaming. People LIKE vinyl. They want to FEEL it's successful. But vinyl itself is just a cult. How many people own record players these days? And many own them as fashion, and you know fashion is evanescent.
But the vinyl story is paraded everywhere. You'd think Tower Records is still open on Sunset and there's a line to get in, but there's not. In many cases, vinyl is positively cottage industry. Small acts sourcing a few records to sell at gigs. Good for them, just don't tell me it's a big deal. Never mind that getting your albums pressed is so difficult because of the lack of capacity. There's almost no capacity because people stopped buying records!
The truly universal acts of yore... They don't exist. Whether they be from the British Invasion or the MTV era. Come on, every boomer and Gen-X'er knows Men Without Hats, AND THEY ONLY HAD ONE HIT. But it was on MTV.
I'm not saying the music business at large is suffering, that's not my point at all. It's just that the music business is built on hype, about saying so and so is the biggest and brightest. NO ONE IS THE BIGGEST AND BRIGHTEST ANYMORE, NO ONE!
So I don't want to hear about your chart numbers, bumped by selling souvenirs. And I'm supposed to applaud you for selling multiple albums to the same customer? That's a grift, that's consumer abuse, it's only youngsters are so immature and myopic that they spend their allowance this way, or get their parents to lay down the cash so they can stop hearing about it. I mean do GM or Ford or Tesla or Toyota try and sell four cars to a single person? No, that's not a perfect analogy. Do these same companies try to sell a car to someone who lives in MANHATTAN? Where there's no parking and in truth you don't even need a car. Yes, people are buying physical product that they can't even play. Quick, look around your house, do you have a CD player? I bet most of you don't. They're no longer in cars... Hell, most people no longer even have a DVD player, WHY?
So the music industry and media keep telling us that there are these monolithic stars, that rule, that everybody knows and pays attention to. WRONG! There are some big cults, that's it. And even worse, if people even know about the act, they often HATE IT! Just because a cult is enamored that does not make it good, never mind not having broad acceptance.
And speaking of acceptance, this is something the aged boomer and Gen-X acts can't get over. Well, I used to make so much money, but Spotify has killed my income stream. No, that's not it whatsoever, Spotify is just a reflection of reality, and in this case a scapegoat, you're competing against everybody who recorded music in history and not that many people want to listen to you. Sorry. Sure, you might have a million streams, but there are acts that have a billion, that are still cults. Come on, sing an Ed Sheeran song, I doubt you can do it. Oh, there are millions who can, but there are many more people who can't! Yet the guy sets all these streaming records...
I won't even judge the quality of the music. Even if you're talented and great at most you will be a cult, if you're as successful as you can be.
It's time to reset our barometers. But no, the music business wasn't built on truth, it's all smoke and mirrors. The industry wants you to believe there are these huge stars that dominate the culture, are bigger than "Stranger Things"... But "Stranger Things" is much bigger and broader, and most people haven't even watched THAT!
So take everything you see and hear with a giant grain of salt. When they start touting numbers, put them in perspective. The devil is in the details, never mind outright lying.
But no one wants their balloon punctured. No one wants the truth. Because then, concomitantly, how powerful are the major labels themselves, never mind the people who run them. The average American has no idea who runs the major labels, and now there are only three! Same deal with the movie studios. Many more people have heard of Ted Sarandos, never mind Reed Hastings, than anybody working in music. The heads of labels were titans! Remember in the "Sopranos" when Christopher called out to Tommy Mottola outside the club? Do you think today's Christophers are going to be calling out to Rob Stringer, head of Sony today, never mind Lucian Grainge?
This is where we are. Acknowledge it. Because it's hard to march forward without knowing and accepting the truth. And once again, everything is a cult today, EVERYTHING!
Case closed.
The best analogy is television. Boomers will remember when you watched what was on, even changing channels was a big deal, you had to get up off the couch before the remote.
And then came the remote and ultimately cable TV, with its plethora of channels. But recording was still done by VCR, which most people could never figure out, the VCR was mainly a playback device. So people would sit down at night to watch television, and click through the available channels, unless they rented a movie.
Then came the DVR. And the internet. And the ability to pick and choose your content and watch it at a later time. "TiVo" became a verb, remember those days? Ask a member of Gen-Z what a TiVo is and they'll have no idea. They came of age in the on demand era. What you wanted to consume was at your fingertips, you only had to make a choice.
And then there's today, we live in the on demand culture and there's a plethora of choices! In TV, in music... And then there's the internet, with its endless diversions, never mind TikTok, which is the Netflix of the young.
But the point here is there's no more drive-by listening, never mind viewing. You choose what to consume, and if you don't choose it, you never hear it.
No one wants to admit this. Because this means they've lost control, that the lunatics have taken over the asylum, that they no longer control the market.
The record companies had it good. They controlled radio and physical distribution. Most people didn't know about it unless they heard it on the radio. Sure, there were active fans who consumed print publications, but ironically they were the most dedicated radio listeners! And sure, you could learn about an act via an opening slot at a gig, but all the money was in the recordings, the live gig was an advertisement for the record.
Today, terrestrial music radio means little. Because who wants to listen to the same damn station ad infinitum, never mind consuming twenty minutes of commercials per hour. I mean how many music-oriented stations are there even in your market? And they all don't play the genre of music you like. And your car comes with Bluetooth and you can stream from your smartphone. The only people passively listening to music are the same boomers flipping the channels on their TV sets every night. Meanwhile, subscriptions to cable TV keep going down, people have cut the cord, and some never ever were connected, they've picked and chosen their entire lives. You go to college with a laptop, you employ your parents' Netflix account. You borrow passwords for other streaming giants. Other than that, it's the internet.
So how are you going to expose people to new music? YOU CAN'T!
Oh, you can strong-arm the media the same way you used to strong-arm, and probably still strong-arm, terrestrial radio. But the target audience doesn't see it. They get the headlines on social media, they never drill down to your story. They evade it completely. If people can evade hard news, politics, what are the odds they're going to see your promotional campaign, the reviews of records? NEARLY ZILCH!
Then there's the playlist... Never has there been that much concern about something with so little impact. Talk to Spotify, read their screeds, most people pick and choose their music, they don't want to listen to endless playlists with so many tune-outs. Come on, ever try? If you're a music fan it's excruciating! So people make their own playlists. And as far as being turned on to something new, they depend on their friends, they constantly have their ear to the ground taking the temperature of the buzz.
But buzz mostly works for the unknown. People's time is so limited that if they've already sampled and didn't like it, they don't go back. Yes, there's that first impression, and after that good luck!
Having said that, there are rabid cults. But they don't cross over to the general public. I'd say much of the population is aware of K-Pop at this point, they've heard of BTS, but they've got no desire to listen to the act's music. That's for a hard core who live and die, who are invested in BTS. And they punch above their weight. They're so busy talking about BTS, and going to the shows that media and insiders believe it's a widespread phenomenon, but it's not! It's just a very large cult.
The vaunted acts of the past fifteen years, they're all like this. They don't appeal to everybody. They've got a hard core, and that's it. No one's even a casual fan, why bother, why spend the time?
As for those who do listen to playlists, they are the least active consumers, the last one to stream one track ad infinitum and pay for a ticket to the show. These are the people who employ playlists as background music, at home or at work, they may not even be able to recall ever hearing the track, never mind that it played.
There are other cults. Public radio. Rabid fans who follow deejays and then stream what is featured. Like WFMU or KCRW. Listeners know it, but no one else does. So, when the hipster band comes to town an elder audience will show up, but the act will never play arenas on the first tour, the cult is just not that big.
As for all these sellouts...
Let's say you play fifteen stadiums. Let's say you sold out at each, 50,000 seats, never mind many stadiums today hold fewer than that. Sounds impressive, but...
That's 750,000 people in a country of 330 million. It's a drop in the bucket. Apple doesn't even wake up for that number. It's bupkes.
I'm not saying it's not good business, there's a lot of money there, but if you think there's endless demand to see that act, you're wrong. Never mind there being additional acts on the bill to turn it into an event so people show up to begin with.
Festivals? 100,000 a day? Good money, not much impact.
This is very different from being on "Hee-Haw" back in the day. Or even MTV. TRL was a club that moved the needle, there has been no replacement, there can't be, because everybody is no longer on the same page.
And then you've got the history of music competing with the new. And a lot of those acts are still on the road, albeit not that much longer.
Once again, there's plenty of money to be made, but don't confuse this with IMPACT!
So you have a #1 record. Big deal. Most people have never heard it. Morgan Wallen's album "Dangerous" has been in the Top Ten for over a year and I bet most people reading this have never ever heard a single track and couldn't pick Morgan out of a lineup. Sure, they might know about the n-word controversy, but that's part of the cancel culture, gotcha, political sphere...that's the entertainment now, much more interesting than anything anybody is putting down on wax. And don't get me started on the touting of vinyl records. A tempest in a teapot. Many people are never even listening to them, they're a souvenir. And the numbers proffered are not reflective of reality. It's all calculated on suggested retail. And retail for a vinyl record these days can be $40. How much comes back to the record company? Maybe $20, assuming there are no discounts and people actually pay the suggested retail price. And then there are all the costs involved, manufacturing and shipping...the only good thing is vinyl is sold one way, and if you don't know what that means that means you're not burdened by the record company economics of yore, which no longer apply today. When the label gets paid by a streaming company that's NET! And other than the usually de minimis royalties paid to the act, if they're even in the black, it's all profit. As in there are no costs. No manufacturing, no shipping, no returns. So to compare vinyl to streaming is like yes, comparing apples to oranges. I'm not saying there's not money in vinyl, there's a good amount. But it's not as high as they say it is, cut the number in half right away, that cash is going to the retailer, and it's still a fraction of what is made on streaming. People LIKE vinyl. They want to FEEL it's successful. But vinyl itself is just a cult. How many people own record players these days? And many own them as fashion, and you know fashion is evanescent.
But the vinyl story is paraded everywhere. You'd think Tower Records is still open on Sunset and there's a line to get in, but there's not. In many cases, vinyl is positively cottage industry. Small acts sourcing a few records to sell at gigs. Good for them, just don't tell me it's a big deal. Never mind that getting your albums pressed is so difficult because of the lack of capacity. There's almost no capacity because people stopped buying records!
The truly universal acts of yore... They don't exist. Whether they be from the British Invasion or the MTV era. Come on, every boomer and Gen-X'er knows Men Without Hats, AND THEY ONLY HAD ONE HIT. But it was on MTV.
I'm not saying the music business at large is suffering, that's not my point at all. It's just that the music business is built on hype, about saying so and so is the biggest and brightest. NO ONE IS THE BIGGEST AND BRIGHTEST ANYMORE, NO ONE!
So I don't want to hear about your chart numbers, bumped by selling souvenirs. And I'm supposed to applaud you for selling multiple albums to the same customer? That's a grift, that's consumer abuse, it's only youngsters are so immature and myopic that they spend their allowance this way, or get their parents to lay down the cash so they can stop hearing about it. I mean do GM or Ford or Tesla or Toyota try and sell four cars to a single person? No, that's not a perfect analogy. Do these same companies try to sell a car to someone who lives in MANHATTAN? Where there's no parking and in truth you don't even need a car. Yes, people are buying physical product that they can't even play. Quick, look around your house, do you have a CD player? I bet most of you don't. They're no longer in cars... Hell, most people no longer even have a DVD player, WHY?
So the music industry and media keep telling us that there are these monolithic stars, that rule, that everybody knows and pays attention to. WRONG! There are some big cults, that's it. And even worse, if people even know about the act, they often HATE IT! Just because a cult is enamored that does not make it good, never mind not having broad acceptance.
And speaking of acceptance, this is something the aged boomer and Gen-X acts can't get over. Well, I used to make so much money, but Spotify has killed my income stream. No, that's not it whatsoever, Spotify is just a reflection of reality, and in this case a scapegoat, you're competing against everybody who recorded music in history and not that many people want to listen to you. Sorry. Sure, you might have a million streams, but there are acts that have a billion, that are still cults. Come on, sing an Ed Sheeran song, I doubt you can do it. Oh, there are millions who can, but there are many more people who can't! Yet the guy sets all these streaming records...
I won't even judge the quality of the music. Even if you're talented and great at most you will be a cult, if you're as successful as you can be.
It's time to reset our barometers. But no, the music business wasn't built on truth, it's all smoke and mirrors. The industry wants you to believe there are these huge stars that dominate the culture, are bigger than "Stranger Things"... But "Stranger Things" is much bigger and broader, and most people haven't even watched THAT!
So take everything you see and hear with a giant grain of salt. When they start touting numbers, put them in perspective. The devil is in the details, never mind outright lying.
But no one wants their balloon punctured. No one wants the truth. Because then, concomitantly, how powerful are the major labels themselves, never mind the people who run them. The average American has no idea who runs the major labels, and now there are only three! Same deal with the movie studios. Many more people have heard of Ted Sarandos, never mind Reed Hastings, than anybody working in music. The heads of labels were titans! Remember in the "Sopranos" when Christopher called out to Tommy Mottola outside the club? Do you think today's Christophers are going to be calling out to Rob Stringer, head of Sony today, never mind Lucian Grainge?
This is where we are. Acknowledge it. Because it's hard to march forward without knowing and accepting the truth. And once again, everything is a cult today, EVERYTHING!
Case closed.
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Wednesday 2 November 2022
It's a blip on the ass of social media. For a self-selecting group who need to keep up on the news, evidence their opinions, and haters who want to undercut anybody who participates.
In other words, the story of Elon Musk BUYING Twitter is more important than the platform itself, because almost no one uses it.
Really, it's all about TikTok. We were told the internet would surface untold number of overlooked musical acts. The concept was right, the genre was wrong. In other words, creativity is on a rampage. And it's coming from the grass roots. But it's not about music.
You see TikTok has unleashed the creativity of America.
This is not Instagram, where you post polished pics to demonstrate how groovy and privileged you are. Nor is it YouTube, with influencers hawking their brand ad infinitum, sans soul.
First and foremost, TikTok is different because you don't have to be a winner to play. You can be no one and your post can be boosted to everyone. I'd say it's like a lottery, but it is not. Because it all comes down to your creativity. And you can't buy it, not like beats online. And you can't fake it. It's all you, from inside your brain, and the less polished it is, the more authentic it is, and authenticity is everything. This boost in the creative side of the brain, in these millions of short clip endeavors, has been overlooked by the mainstream for two reasons... One, they do not fit in a traditional, established, anointed vertical and two, the mainstream decries TikTok, they don't even investigate it, they just pooh-pooh it as a backwater of young amateurs that deserves no attention, like toddlers playing in a sandbox. But that's not what it is.
So the story of Trump on Twitter is purely access. To a large group. Trump played when the staid establishment did not. In an era where all news junkies, most importantly the reporters and commentators, were addicted to Twitter, so that his impact on the short message service was overblown. Believe me, if Trump comes back to Twitter the impact will be minimal, although never underestimate the media's ability to make a small story big, by amplifying it. The media was complicit in the election of Trump in 2016, by giving him all that oxygen. A similar thing is happening with the midterm reporting. The establishment media has decided Republicans are going to win and that's the story, even though the underpinnings of that opinion are slim, just some polls that have been notoriously inaccurate since Trump's election. The media is so fearful of missing a big story outside the liberal domain of its members, that it is overemphasizing stories about the unknown on the right.
So, for the past few months the story hasn't been about Twitter, but Musk. Musk was feeling his oats on Twitter, with his follower count of bros, so he decided to buy it. It'd be like you going to a carnival, riding the Ferris wheel and raving about it and all your friends being enthralled with your experience. MOST PEOPLE DIDN'T EVEN GO TO THE CARNIVAL! MOST PEOPLE WERE NEVER EXPOSED TO IT!
This is the dirty little secret of Twitter, most people never see your tweet. Follower counts are nearly irrelevant. Someone has to either be on Twitter when you tweet, or be so interested in what you say as to go back in time on your feed. Furthermore, most Twitter addicts follow so many people most of the posts are lost in the shuffle.
Which is why I rarely tweet. Let's see, right now I have 66.3k followers on Twitter. Sounds like a lot. But if I tweet it's like pissing in the wind. I can say the same thing to my mailing list and my inbox can go wild. Because it's a direct connection. Twitter is not a direct connection, it's not used that way by most people.
As for the number counts... It was a fad. People signed up and signed off. This is a bigger issue than the bots. The bots are a sideshow for most of the people on the platform, and in truth most people are not on the platform!
And, even if you are using Twitter on a regular basis, it's confusing.
Twitter tried to make it easier by employing an algorithm, like Facebook, which selected posts that most appealed to you. In theory. In practice, the algorithm is so poor, it overemphasizes some people and de-emphasizes others, who you are interested in. And if you miss a post on Facebook about someone's afternoon activity, who cares. But if you're on Twitter for news and you miss a big story, that's a huge loss.
You see people on Twitter base their lives on being informed. And since Twitter is instant, that's where stories break. And, all other reporters are on the service. How many people in America are reporters, or comprehensive news junkies? VERY FEW! If Twitter was a sport it would be Monster trucks. No, that can get TV exposure... Well, Twitter is bigger than backcountry skiing, but it generates less enthusiasm than Pickleball, which is on the way up, whereas Twitter is on the way down. You only get a chance to be brand new once. And the hardest thing is to bring someone back who gave you up, it's nearly impossible, if for no other reason than there are so many other entertainment/information options.
So, what you've got on Twitter is writers with no direct connection with their audience. They've got no mailing list, they don't know who their readers are, so they post to make themselves feel good, by gaining followers and getting a reaction. And then they're stunned when there is evil blowback. Hello, this has been an issue online FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS! It's just a matter of whether you have direct connection with your audience. To complain about this hate today is laughable. You're a muckety-muck, people don't like your status, they don't like your attitude, and they want to bring you down. Period.
The funny thing is these establishment wankers are too stupid to look at the follower count of most of these haters. It's anemic, they reach almost no one. And anybody with any experience knows you never respond, that's exactly what the haters want. And they never back down, if you think you can set them straight you're wrong.
So, what you've got on Twitter is not the hoi polloi, but an elite group, which cries that they're now subjected to all the vagaries of the internet. And the haters keep piling on, because they can reach these people.
And it's a tempest in a teapot, most people don't see it and don't care.
So Musk is forced to buy Twitter. To honor his deal.
He's lost all credibility in the process. He made a deal with no strings attached and then wanted to add strings after the fact, and this don't play when you've got a legal contract, homey won't allow that.
And now Tesla is in trouble in China and everybody knows the automobiles are poorly built and...
In one fell swoop not only has Elon messed with his image, but with Tesla's too. As for rehabilitation... I expect a mea culpa when Kanye gives one, which is NEVER!
Elon thinks he's untouchable, that the rules don't apply to him. And since this story was all over the news for months, the public is aware of it. They're not ON Twitter, but they know the business story. It's better than almost all TV and definitely better than all records. Only streaming television can compete.
So, because he's not on Twitter 24/7, because he has other obligations, Musk doesn't really have a feel for the service. And his lack of knowledge means he's living in a vacuum and is unaware of the issues. You can't let everybody say whatever they want whenever they want, BECAUSE OF THE ADVERTISERS! Advertisers are conservative. They don't want to be where one single customer can be pissed off. And believe me, these companies often make decisions based on very little feedback, it's not like they get a million e-mails, maybe ten or fifteen. But they're scared.
So, Elon has to make money, he's going to charge for verification. WHO CARES! Who is that dedicated to Twitter that they need their identity authenticated? Almost no one. And no one is stealing the identities of the big players anyway, BECAUSE THEY PLAY SO MUCH! And the supposed advantages of a blue check mark are de minimis.
And then there's the right, the Trumpers. They started supporting Musk under the rubric of "free speech," but once Musk gained control of the company he found out there had to be content moderation. So now those free-speechers on the right are mad at him. Musk has succeeded in pissing EVERYBODY off!
And then there are the wankers who talk about competition, a new Twitter. Give me a break, take a look at Truth Social lately?
First and foremost, Twitter is not good business. But the history of the internet tells us new platforms are based on new ideas! I.e. TikTok vs. Instagram. And the thing that is most interesting is Instagram has tried to imitate TikTok, with the same features, AND IT'S NOT WORKING! People have TikTok, why do they need to post videos on Instagram? What is the problem, other than Instagram's waning business, which users couldn't care less about.
And building an audience is almost impossible these days. Everything scales much more slowly, because there's so much in the channel. So you're going to start a new business from scratch when we've already got Twitter?
As for people leaving... Didn't take down Amazon. It never works. There are just not enough people who care enough to go without.
Do you know how many people would have to leave Twitter before it impacted my usage of it? I can't imagine it ever happening.
And then there are those who use the service as a personal megaphone. I don't want your damn opinion, give me INFORMATION! That's what the complaining posters don't realize, we don't want to hear what you have to say, just give us the news, right away. So the service is inundated with endless detritus. My feed has too much b.s. in it. And the more b.s., the less I look at it.
And Lists are just for pros, which is almost nobody.
And as far as what is trending and general news and entertainment...the stuff you click on that is not based on following anybody specific? Idiots create these trends, no one with a brain cares. And there are much better places to get news and entertainment that is not of the moment.
So what happens now?
WHO KNOWS?
Can Musk make the trains run on time, make Twitter a burgeoning business?
Possibly. BUT THAT'S NOT GOING TO AFFECT THE SERVICE!
Once again, users don't care about the profitability of your business. They just want to know about the utility to them. And nothing Elon has said or done in the past year has directly affected the utility of the service, the business story is separate from the utilization of the service!
So no, there won't be a Twitter competitor, not one with any traction.
And no, most people tweeting will not sign off, or if they do, they'll come back on.
And nothing Musk can do with Twitter will turn it into a powerhouse, attracting new users. Sure, he could turn the app into something else, like WeChat... But in truth, that's about building a whole new service, there's not that much there at Twitter to base a new effort upon.
So, Elon tries to clean up the business, bloviates how great it is, then takes the company public once again and GETS OUT!
So far, Musk has not done anything to improve Twitter, not a single thing. So one guy owns a social media outlet that most people never think about? He bought it on impulse, he didn't think it through, which is why he wanted to get out of the deal. This is who Elon is. He demonstrates this over and over again, he shoots from the hip and ignores the law and social mores. It's just that this time there was tens of billions of dollars involved.
Let him pay the price. Not only the cash spent in the acquisition, but the burden of owning this moribund social media service which stumbles along but no one has been able to blow up into boffo business. It's his problem. GOOD LUCK!
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In other words, the story of Elon Musk BUYING Twitter is more important than the platform itself, because almost no one uses it.
Really, it's all about TikTok. We were told the internet would surface untold number of overlooked musical acts. The concept was right, the genre was wrong. In other words, creativity is on a rampage. And it's coming from the grass roots. But it's not about music.
You see TikTok has unleashed the creativity of America.
This is not Instagram, where you post polished pics to demonstrate how groovy and privileged you are. Nor is it YouTube, with influencers hawking their brand ad infinitum, sans soul.
First and foremost, TikTok is different because you don't have to be a winner to play. You can be no one and your post can be boosted to everyone. I'd say it's like a lottery, but it is not. Because it all comes down to your creativity. And you can't buy it, not like beats online. And you can't fake it. It's all you, from inside your brain, and the less polished it is, the more authentic it is, and authenticity is everything. This boost in the creative side of the brain, in these millions of short clip endeavors, has been overlooked by the mainstream for two reasons... One, they do not fit in a traditional, established, anointed vertical and two, the mainstream decries TikTok, they don't even investigate it, they just pooh-pooh it as a backwater of young amateurs that deserves no attention, like toddlers playing in a sandbox. But that's not what it is.
So the story of Trump on Twitter is purely access. To a large group. Trump played when the staid establishment did not. In an era where all news junkies, most importantly the reporters and commentators, were addicted to Twitter, so that his impact on the short message service was overblown. Believe me, if Trump comes back to Twitter the impact will be minimal, although never underestimate the media's ability to make a small story big, by amplifying it. The media was complicit in the election of Trump in 2016, by giving him all that oxygen. A similar thing is happening with the midterm reporting. The establishment media has decided Republicans are going to win and that's the story, even though the underpinnings of that opinion are slim, just some polls that have been notoriously inaccurate since Trump's election. The media is so fearful of missing a big story outside the liberal domain of its members, that it is overemphasizing stories about the unknown on the right.
So, for the past few months the story hasn't been about Twitter, but Musk. Musk was feeling his oats on Twitter, with his follower count of bros, so he decided to buy it. It'd be like you going to a carnival, riding the Ferris wheel and raving about it and all your friends being enthralled with your experience. MOST PEOPLE DIDN'T EVEN GO TO THE CARNIVAL! MOST PEOPLE WERE NEVER EXPOSED TO IT!
This is the dirty little secret of Twitter, most people never see your tweet. Follower counts are nearly irrelevant. Someone has to either be on Twitter when you tweet, or be so interested in what you say as to go back in time on your feed. Furthermore, most Twitter addicts follow so many people most of the posts are lost in the shuffle.
Which is why I rarely tweet. Let's see, right now I have 66.3k followers on Twitter. Sounds like a lot. But if I tweet it's like pissing in the wind. I can say the same thing to my mailing list and my inbox can go wild. Because it's a direct connection. Twitter is not a direct connection, it's not used that way by most people.
As for the number counts... It was a fad. People signed up and signed off. This is a bigger issue than the bots. The bots are a sideshow for most of the people on the platform, and in truth most people are not on the platform!
And, even if you are using Twitter on a regular basis, it's confusing.
Twitter tried to make it easier by employing an algorithm, like Facebook, which selected posts that most appealed to you. In theory. In practice, the algorithm is so poor, it overemphasizes some people and de-emphasizes others, who you are interested in. And if you miss a post on Facebook about someone's afternoon activity, who cares. But if you're on Twitter for news and you miss a big story, that's a huge loss.
You see people on Twitter base their lives on being informed. And since Twitter is instant, that's where stories break. And, all other reporters are on the service. How many people in America are reporters, or comprehensive news junkies? VERY FEW! If Twitter was a sport it would be Monster trucks. No, that can get TV exposure... Well, Twitter is bigger than backcountry skiing, but it generates less enthusiasm than Pickleball, which is on the way up, whereas Twitter is on the way down. You only get a chance to be brand new once. And the hardest thing is to bring someone back who gave you up, it's nearly impossible, if for no other reason than there are so many other entertainment/information options.
So, what you've got on Twitter is writers with no direct connection with their audience. They've got no mailing list, they don't know who their readers are, so they post to make themselves feel good, by gaining followers and getting a reaction. And then they're stunned when there is evil blowback. Hello, this has been an issue online FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS! It's just a matter of whether you have direct connection with your audience. To complain about this hate today is laughable. You're a muckety-muck, people don't like your status, they don't like your attitude, and they want to bring you down. Period.
The funny thing is these establishment wankers are too stupid to look at the follower count of most of these haters. It's anemic, they reach almost no one. And anybody with any experience knows you never respond, that's exactly what the haters want. And they never back down, if you think you can set them straight you're wrong.
So, what you've got on Twitter is not the hoi polloi, but an elite group, which cries that they're now subjected to all the vagaries of the internet. And the haters keep piling on, because they can reach these people.
And it's a tempest in a teapot, most people don't see it and don't care.
So Musk is forced to buy Twitter. To honor his deal.
He's lost all credibility in the process. He made a deal with no strings attached and then wanted to add strings after the fact, and this don't play when you've got a legal contract, homey won't allow that.
And now Tesla is in trouble in China and everybody knows the automobiles are poorly built and...
In one fell swoop not only has Elon messed with his image, but with Tesla's too. As for rehabilitation... I expect a mea culpa when Kanye gives one, which is NEVER!
Elon thinks he's untouchable, that the rules don't apply to him. And since this story was all over the news for months, the public is aware of it. They're not ON Twitter, but they know the business story. It's better than almost all TV and definitely better than all records. Only streaming television can compete.
So, because he's not on Twitter 24/7, because he has other obligations, Musk doesn't really have a feel for the service. And his lack of knowledge means he's living in a vacuum and is unaware of the issues. You can't let everybody say whatever they want whenever they want, BECAUSE OF THE ADVERTISERS! Advertisers are conservative. They don't want to be where one single customer can be pissed off. And believe me, these companies often make decisions based on very little feedback, it's not like they get a million e-mails, maybe ten or fifteen. But they're scared.
So, Elon has to make money, he's going to charge for verification. WHO CARES! Who is that dedicated to Twitter that they need their identity authenticated? Almost no one. And no one is stealing the identities of the big players anyway, BECAUSE THEY PLAY SO MUCH! And the supposed advantages of a blue check mark are de minimis.
And then there's the right, the Trumpers. They started supporting Musk under the rubric of "free speech," but once Musk gained control of the company he found out there had to be content moderation. So now those free-speechers on the right are mad at him. Musk has succeeded in pissing EVERYBODY off!
And then there are the wankers who talk about competition, a new Twitter. Give me a break, take a look at Truth Social lately?
First and foremost, Twitter is not good business. But the history of the internet tells us new platforms are based on new ideas! I.e. TikTok vs. Instagram. And the thing that is most interesting is Instagram has tried to imitate TikTok, with the same features, AND IT'S NOT WORKING! People have TikTok, why do they need to post videos on Instagram? What is the problem, other than Instagram's waning business, which users couldn't care less about.
And building an audience is almost impossible these days. Everything scales much more slowly, because there's so much in the channel. So you're going to start a new business from scratch when we've already got Twitter?
As for people leaving... Didn't take down Amazon. It never works. There are just not enough people who care enough to go without.
Do you know how many people would have to leave Twitter before it impacted my usage of it? I can't imagine it ever happening.
And then there are those who use the service as a personal megaphone. I don't want your damn opinion, give me INFORMATION! That's what the complaining posters don't realize, we don't want to hear what you have to say, just give us the news, right away. So the service is inundated with endless detritus. My feed has too much b.s. in it. And the more b.s., the less I look at it.
And Lists are just for pros, which is almost nobody.
And as far as what is trending and general news and entertainment...the stuff you click on that is not based on following anybody specific? Idiots create these trends, no one with a brain cares. And there are much better places to get news and entertainment that is not of the moment.
So what happens now?
WHO KNOWS?
Can Musk make the trains run on time, make Twitter a burgeoning business?
Possibly. BUT THAT'S NOT GOING TO AFFECT THE SERVICE!
Once again, users don't care about the profitability of your business. They just want to know about the utility to them. And nothing Elon has said or done in the past year has directly affected the utility of the service, the business story is separate from the utilization of the service!
So no, there won't be a Twitter competitor, not one with any traction.
And no, most people tweeting will not sign off, or if they do, they'll come back on.
And nothing Musk can do with Twitter will turn it into a powerhouse, attracting new users. Sure, he could turn the app into something else, like WeChat... But in truth, that's about building a whole new service, there's not that much there at Twitter to base a new effort upon.
So, Elon tries to clean up the business, bloviates how great it is, then takes the company public once again and GETS OUT!
So far, Musk has not done anything to improve Twitter, not a single thing. So one guy owns a social media outlet that most people never think about? He bought it on impulse, he didn't think it through, which is why he wanted to get out of the deal. This is who Elon is. He demonstrates this over and over again, he shoots from the hip and ignores the law and social mores. It's just that this time there was tens of billions of dollars involved.
Let him pay the price. Not only the cash spent in the acquisition, but the burden of owning this moribund social media service which stumbles along but no one has been able to blow up into boffo business. It's his problem. GOOD LUCK!
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Takeoff
If this guy was white...
Most people have no idea what goes on behind the records. Despite the braggadocio, the flash of cash, the actual lives of these rappers are not depicted.
They're in danger.
In an underground economy.
This is rock and roll in the old days. A cash business, but much more dangerous.
Not that I knew that much until I read Joe Coscarelli's book, "Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story": https://amzn.to/3Ns7PMl and talked to him for the podcast: https://bit.ly/3haAadK
First, we've got a huge incarceration problem in America, which targets Black men disproportionately. It's stunning how so many of these ultimately famous rappers go in and out of jail. And if you think racism is passé, you must be on the Supreme Court. There are places in Georgia where the rappers are on guard because of noted white police crackdowns for minor offenses.
As for pay...
Everything seems simple from the outside. There's record company royalties and concerts. But it's much more complicated than that. There are tons of cash gigs, the IRS is not only missing the rich CEOs, but the rappers too, who are sometimes incredibly wealthy themselves as a result of this economy, where you show up at a club to rap to track and...you can do multiple gigs a night. That's another stunning thing in Coscarelli's book, how rich some of these rappers are.
Not that a career is guaranteed. It's one thing to have a hit, quite another to sustain.
And it's not only the underground economy that's involved, but the Fortune 500 too. They know that rappers have the most cred, never mind popularity, with the target audience, so they go into business with them. Used to be you had to have a number of hits before the corporations came calling, but now they're involved from the get-go.
And so many of the acts are disposable. And end up back where they came from. Never mind the fact that many don't make it.
And while rockers and old blowhards are still trying to figure out the internet, it was embraced by the hip-hop community from the advent. The rappers knew you had to give to get, like a dope dealer. They knew it was about going for the big money, not the small. Ergo mixtapes. These recordings endeared them to an audience that became bonded to them. There was plenty of money down the road, if you had fans.
And culture.
And, the culture involves a lot posturing and violence.
And the whites and the mainstream media might report it, but they do not decry it.
It's taken as a given, that rappers get shot. Why?
Well, we could go to the source, and ask why Black people don't have more opportunity. Coscarelli writes about college graduates who end up doing manual labor. But affirmative action is taboo, because someone might gain an advantage that's been baked into a majority group. I mean you have to attack the problem at some point.
And let's be clear, it's not what you learn at Harvard or Yale, it's the people you encounter, who become part of your network. J.D. Vance was a hillbilly until he went to Yale Law School, made connections, went to work with Peter Thiel and ended up writing a distorted book that he used as a platform to run for the Senate in Ohio. Where is the concomitant advantage for Black people?
Believe me, the upper middle class knows all the tricks. But even the middle class is clueless, that the top educational institutions are need blind, and if you can get in and you're broke you don't have to pay a dime.
The American information gap, right there.
So think about all the people profiting off of rap. The labels run by white people, the TV and streaming companies, the aforementioned Fortune 500, but none of them lift a finger to counter the violence in the culture, they don't even bother to decry it.
It's racism incarnate.
As for George Floyd... All the companies who came out in support of Black people...that was then and this is now, the end result is far from major, it's the same as it ever was.
So, if a white rapper had gotten shot, there'd be front page stories on his family, their devastation. And there would be investigative articles in the media asking how this could happen. How this upright citizen from a good family got snuffed out. Yes, they'd candy-coat the deceased's background, ever read an obit where they say the person was an arrogant punk?
And all the governmental leaders would convene and talk about taking action.
Meanwhile, where are the stories about Takeoff's family? Where's the deep dive into his past live?
AND WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE!
We can start with gun control... But that seems to be going in the other direction. I'd think twice about moving to Texas, where everybody can carry a gun without a permit. Rave to me about the supposed economic advantages all day long, they don't mean much when you're dead.
The truth is whites and the mainstream community don't care if another Black person dies. Just one less mouth to feed. Yup, that's the way they see it, that Black people are takers, always wanting more, the government must stop supporting them.
While they're at it, why don't they pull all that money the government disproportionately gives to red states, huh?
And an advanced society looks out for those at the low end of the economic spectrum. In most western countries. But welfare was hobbled during the Clinton administration and the idea that Black women are just having babies and being supported by the government is untrue. You figure someone must be taking your money, that you should pay fewer taxes, but when there's a natural disaster you immediately want federal relief.
Yes, there must be a scapegoat. And the Black people are number one.
Even though their schools are substandard. The right says there should be school choice, to close bad schools, only there's not enough room in good schools for all the disadvantaged to go to! And in truth, this is just a ruse to advance the cause of religious schools, which are not free, and if you're not a believer...
And let's not equate every rapper with Kanye. They're not that rich, and they're not that crazy. They're just trying to survive.
So, we've got to get the guns off the street. Enough of throwing our hands in the air. When your kid gets shot you're going to go bonkers, how about someone else's kid?
And how about a denigration of violence. Why are gangs and violence portrayed as cool? Many kids go into gangs not because they're cool, but just to survive. And since the police are ineffective, the gangs and others take the law into their own hands. And since opportunities are low, kids deal drugs, for that fast cash, I mean how long are they going to live anyway?
This is what stunned me in "Hoop Dreams." They had a big birthday party for the player because living to eighteen is such an achievement. Do we feel the same thing as whites? That just staying alive is something to be celebrated?
And often, they find the perpetrators of this violence and lock them up, but it's not much of a deterrent, because they don't feel they have much of a future to begin with. And honor and image is everything, like we're living in the feudal past.
All these talent agencies and clothing manufacturers can drop Kanye like he's hot, but how about dropping those involved in violence. Believe me, if you take away the few avenues of opportunity it will change the culture.
As for the clubs and the strippers and making it rain...
Everybody gets to choose how they want to live their lives, but we shower these big time athletes with cash they've got no education on how to spend, and then they blow it and end up broke and ultimately dead with CTE. But the players are disposable, just like the rappers. Hell, most of the players in the NFL don't even have guaranteed contracts! Get hurt and you're out. We don't care about you. Life is tough. Meanwhile, the bad actor billionaire owner continues to rape and pillage not only in business, but their personal life.
This is a way you can demonstrate your status, by making money and spending it.
Now in truth, on TikTok, there are all these videos talking about money, about the economics of buying a new car, investing. Maybe up and comers will see them, but we don't even teach economic skills in school, because if we did the sellers wouldn't be able to pull the wool over the eyes of these customers. Dollar stores, payday loans... They're heinous, but if you're broke sometimes you have no choice.
Somehow America has flipped, and it's the whites who are disadvantaged. What's a poor boy to do? Not play in a rock and roll band, BUT BECOME A RAPPER! It's one of the few potentially high paying jobs for a disadvantaged youth, other than dope-dealing.
But we demonize these people, as we profit off their backs.
Come on, Blacks punch way above their weight when it comes to culture. And, unfortunately, this culture of gun violence impacts not only them, but white people too, BECAUSE IT'S SEEN AS COOL!
Let me tell you, when you're dead nothing is cool. Finito. It's over. The challenge is staying alive. Hell, the government should give a million dollars to every rapper that makes it to forty. Even better, a guaranteed income to everybody, including Black people.
But no one wants to PAY FOR IT! I don't get it, do you want to live in Venezuela? I've been there, the wealthy people live in the hills in houses surrounded by concrete walls topped with concertina wire.
You think you're immune, but you're not. We live in one big society. And you're part of it, and you're vulnerable. If you don't take care of your brothers and sisters, lift them up, it's going to negatively impact you.
But then you've got all these execs saying they earned their billions who don't acknowledge that without customers they'd have NOTHING!
Consumers are king. But that's not the way our society sees it. We venerate the rich and criticize the poor, ignoring what is going on in their brains.
And when it comes to hip-hop, it's all about creativity. You don't make it to the top by accident. So why can't we acknowledge this, other than on awards shows that no one watches anyway?
Granted, everything fades almost instantly these days. But in the wake of Takeoff's death, I haven't seen one elected official comment about it. I haven't seen any outcry. At best, there's been a shrug of the shoulders.
And that's not okay.
Something's gotta give. And if you don't address the underlying problem, it's going to affect you.
Come on, isn't anybody outraged that this guy was shot?
I guess not.
--
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-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
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--
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Most people have no idea what goes on behind the records. Despite the braggadocio, the flash of cash, the actual lives of these rappers are not depicted.
They're in danger.
In an underground economy.
This is rock and roll in the old days. A cash business, but much more dangerous.
Not that I knew that much until I read Joe Coscarelli's book, "Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story": https://amzn.to/3Ns7PMl and talked to him for the podcast: https://bit.ly/3haAadK
First, we've got a huge incarceration problem in America, which targets Black men disproportionately. It's stunning how so many of these ultimately famous rappers go in and out of jail. And if you think racism is passé, you must be on the Supreme Court. There are places in Georgia where the rappers are on guard because of noted white police crackdowns for minor offenses.
As for pay...
Everything seems simple from the outside. There's record company royalties and concerts. But it's much more complicated than that. There are tons of cash gigs, the IRS is not only missing the rich CEOs, but the rappers too, who are sometimes incredibly wealthy themselves as a result of this economy, where you show up at a club to rap to track and...you can do multiple gigs a night. That's another stunning thing in Coscarelli's book, how rich some of these rappers are.
Not that a career is guaranteed. It's one thing to have a hit, quite another to sustain.
And it's not only the underground economy that's involved, but the Fortune 500 too. They know that rappers have the most cred, never mind popularity, with the target audience, so they go into business with them. Used to be you had to have a number of hits before the corporations came calling, but now they're involved from the get-go.
And so many of the acts are disposable. And end up back where they came from. Never mind the fact that many don't make it.
And while rockers and old blowhards are still trying to figure out the internet, it was embraced by the hip-hop community from the advent. The rappers knew you had to give to get, like a dope dealer. They knew it was about going for the big money, not the small. Ergo mixtapes. These recordings endeared them to an audience that became bonded to them. There was plenty of money down the road, if you had fans.
And culture.
And, the culture involves a lot posturing and violence.
And the whites and the mainstream media might report it, but they do not decry it.
It's taken as a given, that rappers get shot. Why?
Well, we could go to the source, and ask why Black people don't have more opportunity. Coscarelli writes about college graduates who end up doing manual labor. But affirmative action is taboo, because someone might gain an advantage that's been baked into a majority group. I mean you have to attack the problem at some point.
And let's be clear, it's not what you learn at Harvard or Yale, it's the people you encounter, who become part of your network. J.D. Vance was a hillbilly until he went to Yale Law School, made connections, went to work with Peter Thiel and ended up writing a distorted book that he used as a platform to run for the Senate in Ohio. Where is the concomitant advantage for Black people?
Believe me, the upper middle class knows all the tricks. But even the middle class is clueless, that the top educational institutions are need blind, and if you can get in and you're broke you don't have to pay a dime.
The American information gap, right there.
So think about all the people profiting off of rap. The labels run by white people, the TV and streaming companies, the aforementioned Fortune 500, but none of them lift a finger to counter the violence in the culture, they don't even bother to decry it.
It's racism incarnate.
As for George Floyd... All the companies who came out in support of Black people...that was then and this is now, the end result is far from major, it's the same as it ever was.
So, if a white rapper had gotten shot, there'd be front page stories on his family, their devastation. And there would be investigative articles in the media asking how this could happen. How this upright citizen from a good family got snuffed out. Yes, they'd candy-coat the deceased's background, ever read an obit where they say the person was an arrogant punk?
And all the governmental leaders would convene and talk about taking action.
Meanwhile, where are the stories about Takeoff's family? Where's the deep dive into his past live?
AND WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE!
We can start with gun control... But that seems to be going in the other direction. I'd think twice about moving to Texas, where everybody can carry a gun without a permit. Rave to me about the supposed economic advantages all day long, they don't mean much when you're dead.
The truth is whites and the mainstream community don't care if another Black person dies. Just one less mouth to feed. Yup, that's the way they see it, that Black people are takers, always wanting more, the government must stop supporting them.
While they're at it, why don't they pull all that money the government disproportionately gives to red states, huh?
And an advanced society looks out for those at the low end of the economic spectrum. In most western countries. But welfare was hobbled during the Clinton administration and the idea that Black women are just having babies and being supported by the government is untrue. You figure someone must be taking your money, that you should pay fewer taxes, but when there's a natural disaster you immediately want federal relief.
Yes, there must be a scapegoat. And the Black people are number one.
Even though their schools are substandard. The right says there should be school choice, to close bad schools, only there's not enough room in good schools for all the disadvantaged to go to! And in truth, this is just a ruse to advance the cause of religious schools, which are not free, and if you're not a believer...
And let's not equate every rapper with Kanye. They're not that rich, and they're not that crazy. They're just trying to survive.
So, we've got to get the guns off the street. Enough of throwing our hands in the air. When your kid gets shot you're going to go bonkers, how about someone else's kid?
And how about a denigration of violence. Why are gangs and violence portrayed as cool? Many kids go into gangs not because they're cool, but just to survive. And since the police are ineffective, the gangs and others take the law into their own hands. And since opportunities are low, kids deal drugs, for that fast cash, I mean how long are they going to live anyway?
This is what stunned me in "Hoop Dreams." They had a big birthday party for the player because living to eighteen is such an achievement. Do we feel the same thing as whites? That just staying alive is something to be celebrated?
And often, they find the perpetrators of this violence and lock them up, but it's not much of a deterrent, because they don't feel they have much of a future to begin with. And honor and image is everything, like we're living in the feudal past.
All these talent agencies and clothing manufacturers can drop Kanye like he's hot, but how about dropping those involved in violence. Believe me, if you take away the few avenues of opportunity it will change the culture.
As for the clubs and the strippers and making it rain...
Everybody gets to choose how they want to live their lives, but we shower these big time athletes with cash they've got no education on how to spend, and then they blow it and end up broke and ultimately dead with CTE. But the players are disposable, just like the rappers. Hell, most of the players in the NFL don't even have guaranteed contracts! Get hurt and you're out. We don't care about you. Life is tough. Meanwhile, the bad actor billionaire owner continues to rape and pillage not only in business, but their personal life.
This is a way you can demonstrate your status, by making money and spending it.
Now in truth, on TikTok, there are all these videos talking about money, about the economics of buying a new car, investing. Maybe up and comers will see them, but we don't even teach economic skills in school, because if we did the sellers wouldn't be able to pull the wool over the eyes of these customers. Dollar stores, payday loans... They're heinous, but if you're broke sometimes you have no choice.
Somehow America has flipped, and it's the whites who are disadvantaged. What's a poor boy to do? Not play in a rock and roll band, BUT BECOME A RAPPER! It's one of the few potentially high paying jobs for a disadvantaged youth, other than dope-dealing.
But we demonize these people, as we profit off their backs.
Come on, Blacks punch way above their weight when it comes to culture. And, unfortunately, this culture of gun violence impacts not only them, but white people too, BECAUSE IT'S SEEN AS COOL!
Let me tell you, when you're dead nothing is cool. Finito. It's over. The challenge is staying alive. Hell, the government should give a million dollars to every rapper that makes it to forty. Even better, a guaranteed income to everybody, including Black people.
But no one wants to PAY FOR IT! I don't get it, do you want to live in Venezuela? I've been there, the wealthy people live in the hills in houses surrounded by concrete walls topped with concertina wire.
You think you're immune, but you're not. We live in one big society. And you're part of it, and you're vulnerable. If you don't take care of your brothers and sisters, lift them up, it's going to negatively impact you.
But then you've got all these execs saying they earned their billions who don't acknowledge that without customers they'd have NOTHING!
Consumers are king. But that's not the way our society sees it. We venerate the rich and criticize the poor, ignoring what is going on in their brains.
And when it comes to hip-hop, it's all about creativity. You don't make it to the top by accident. So why can't we acknowledge this, other than on awards shows that no one watches anyway?
Granted, everything fades almost instantly these days. But in the wake of Takeoff's death, I haven't seen one elected official comment about it. I haven't seen any outcry. At best, there's been a shrug of the shoulders.
And that's not okay.
Something's gotta give. And if you don't address the underlying problem, it's going to affect you.
Come on, isn't anybody outraged that this guy was shot?
I guess not.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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--
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Monday 31 October 2022
Re-The Jann Wenner Autobiography
Yep. It's primarily a bunch of unconnected vignettes just factually recounted with a one-line commentary. Jan lived an extraordinary life, meeting extraordinary people creating extraordinary experiences and yet the book feels like the disappointing and fragmented memories of a distant passenger in his own life story.
Olivier Chastain
____________________________________
I wish I had read your review before I bought his book. I finally finished it, only reading it when I went to bed before falling asleep. It took weeks! Each story was only a paragraph & disjointed from the previous paragraph. His description of his drug use was particularly offensive. I'm older than Jann but no angel. What a waste of time!
Pan Oliver
____________________________________
You're absolutely spot on. Never knew he was such a self aggrandizing lordly snob. I did make it about 2/3's of the way through. Much more to gain and be inspired from with your great interview with Bonnie Raitt. Really well done Bob. Thank you.
John C. Yarmo
____________________________________
Chapter 57 (!) "My City In Ruins" encapsulates everything you said about this book. Ostensibly about his recollection of being in NYC during 9/11, he sprinkles antidotes about yatching with Jagger and selling 49% of his gossip rag to Eisner before he actually gets down to the point of the chapter. Which only lasts 2 pages and then he's back to Mick and actually trying to defend his mandated 5 star review of "Goddess In the Doorway". The only revealing thing about this book are the lack of revelations.
Iain Taylor
____________________________________
Yes Bob . You're right.
I felt obligated to read his book. Rolling Stone was my bible growing up.
I felt ripped off when I finished the book. He seems like a spoiled brat. It's that simple.
At the same time I'm forever grateful he started Rolling Stone. Humans, you can't live with them & you can't live without them. Hahahaha
Alan Childs
____________________________________
Should have been titled "Lucky F...y Me" I Audio booked it the only good thing I got my was my basement cleaned. I had hoped for admittance to people and bands that there wrongly maligned through the years.
Lori Baldassi
____________________________________
most bizarre take away is JW thinks the revelation of Yoko needing a wheelchair will be interpreted as a dig? The woman is 89 years old. She turns 90 in February.
Deb Wilker
____________________________________
Re: The Wenner autobiography. Most people don't realize that book writing is way different from writing an article, even a long one. A book needs a "controlling idea" that serves as its backbone. And even if a story ladders back to that OK, it still has to pass the "Who cares?" test. This is especially important in memoir because it helps you decide what can (and should) be left out. Otherwise you get, "What I did on my summer vacation" or to your point, a diary, which is what this reads like. BTW, I poked around and the three other books he wrote have other people associated either as authors or "with" someone and they seem better. In the old days, a developmental editor came with the book contract but no more. Now people have to hire someone like me to advocate for the reader and help save the book from wandering off into the desert. —
Helena Bouchez
____________________________________
I'm trying to murk through it as well. It's very tough to get in half a chapter at a time.
Jon Scott
____________________________________
You probably heard the Jann Wenner interview on Howard. To a nobody like me, Wenner came off uber-pretentious. Skiing with Springsteen and Sting, being serenaded by Mick Jagger at a bonfire with other musical intelligentsia - who gives a f..... Were they just "hanging out" with Jann because a publicist said a positive RS article would sell another 50,000 copies of their latest album?
FC Thornton
Philly, PA
____________________________________
Bob, I heard him on Howard and had to struggle to stay tuned. Even Howard couldn't make this guy interesting and truly he had no ,none, personal insight. Too bad
Cathy Davis
____________________________________
When I heard Jann Wenner was going to be on Howard Stern a couple of weeks ago, I was really looking forward to it. Howard is generally a solid interviewer and Jann has lived quite an interesting life. It has to be good, right? Well, it wasn't. It was boring as hell.
Despite the interview, I thought that I might buy the book and give it a chance. After reading your review, I will take a pass. Sounds like much of the same drivel he spit out during the interview with Howard.
Thanks, Bob! You just saved me $20 and (even more importantly) a ton of time.
Bill Waliewski
____________________________________
I heard Jann interviewed on both Marc Maron's and Joe Rogan's podcasts. He was able to handle himself ok with Maron, but in talking with Rogan, he appeared small and narrow minded. He was dismissive about any ideas that weren't his own and just not very impressive at all. I thought he was a lot more intelligent than he is - the mystique he always maintained was a lot more impressive than the real person!
It's like what they say about meeting your heroes - prepare to be disappointed and I was.
Patrick Whitaker
____________________________________
Hi Bob! I didn't see it the same way at all. I, too, read RS in my younger days when it was good. I loved the retelling of his life from his POV, the good and the bad. Loved the gossip, the bits about famous people.
Honestly, you sound a bit jealous.
Young people won't read this, I don't know why they would want to. There is no trip down memory lane for them. I listened to it on Audible and thoroughly enjoyed stopping and listening to a referenced song on Spotify or Googling a cover to jog my memory.
I hope to read YOUR memoir when it comes out.
Thanks for listening.
Kristine Waldenburg
____________________________________
Wow, that's the harshest review I've read since...
The one of "Led Zeppelin I" in Rolling Stone," lol!
Mark B. Spiegel
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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Olivier Chastain
____________________________________
I wish I had read your review before I bought his book. I finally finished it, only reading it when I went to bed before falling asleep. It took weeks! Each story was only a paragraph & disjointed from the previous paragraph. His description of his drug use was particularly offensive. I'm older than Jann but no angel. What a waste of time!
Pan Oliver
____________________________________
You're absolutely spot on. Never knew he was such a self aggrandizing lordly snob. I did make it about 2/3's of the way through. Much more to gain and be inspired from with your great interview with Bonnie Raitt. Really well done Bob. Thank you.
John C. Yarmo
____________________________________
Chapter 57 (!) "My City In Ruins" encapsulates everything you said about this book. Ostensibly about his recollection of being in NYC during 9/11, he sprinkles antidotes about yatching with Jagger and selling 49% of his gossip rag to Eisner before he actually gets down to the point of the chapter. Which only lasts 2 pages and then he's back to Mick and actually trying to defend his mandated 5 star review of "Goddess In the Doorway". The only revealing thing about this book are the lack of revelations.
Iain Taylor
____________________________________
Yes Bob . You're right.
I felt obligated to read his book. Rolling Stone was my bible growing up.
I felt ripped off when I finished the book. He seems like a spoiled brat. It's that simple.
At the same time I'm forever grateful he started Rolling Stone. Humans, you can't live with them & you can't live without them. Hahahaha
Alan Childs
____________________________________
Should have been titled "Lucky F...y Me" I Audio booked it the only good thing I got my was my basement cleaned. I had hoped for admittance to people and bands that there wrongly maligned through the years.
Lori Baldassi
____________________________________
most bizarre take away is JW thinks the revelation of Yoko needing a wheelchair will be interpreted as a dig? The woman is 89 years old. She turns 90 in February.
Deb Wilker
____________________________________
Re: The Wenner autobiography. Most people don't realize that book writing is way different from writing an article, even a long one. A book needs a "controlling idea" that serves as its backbone. And even if a story ladders back to that OK, it still has to pass the "Who cares?" test. This is especially important in memoir because it helps you decide what can (and should) be left out. Otherwise you get, "What I did on my summer vacation" or to your point, a diary, which is what this reads like. BTW, I poked around and the three other books he wrote have other people associated either as authors or "with" someone and they seem better. In the old days, a developmental editor came with the book contract but no more. Now people have to hire someone like me to advocate for the reader and help save the book from wandering off into the desert. —
Helena Bouchez
____________________________________
I'm trying to murk through it as well. It's very tough to get in half a chapter at a time.
Jon Scott
____________________________________
You probably heard the Jann Wenner interview on Howard. To a nobody like me, Wenner came off uber-pretentious. Skiing with Springsteen and Sting, being serenaded by Mick Jagger at a bonfire with other musical intelligentsia - who gives a f..... Were they just "hanging out" with Jann because a publicist said a positive RS article would sell another 50,000 copies of their latest album?
FC Thornton
Philly, PA
____________________________________
Bob, I heard him on Howard and had to struggle to stay tuned. Even Howard couldn't make this guy interesting and truly he had no ,none, personal insight. Too bad
Cathy Davis
____________________________________
When I heard Jann Wenner was going to be on Howard Stern a couple of weeks ago, I was really looking forward to it. Howard is generally a solid interviewer and Jann has lived quite an interesting life. It has to be good, right? Well, it wasn't. It was boring as hell.
Despite the interview, I thought that I might buy the book and give it a chance. After reading your review, I will take a pass. Sounds like much of the same drivel he spit out during the interview with Howard.
Thanks, Bob! You just saved me $20 and (even more importantly) a ton of time.
Bill Waliewski
____________________________________
I heard Jann interviewed on both Marc Maron's and Joe Rogan's podcasts. He was able to handle himself ok with Maron, but in talking with Rogan, he appeared small and narrow minded. He was dismissive about any ideas that weren't his own and just not very impressive at all. I thought he was a lot more intelligent than he is - the mystique he always maintained was a lot more impressive than the real person!
It's like what they say about meeting your heroes - prepare to be disappointed and I was.
Patrick Whitaker
____________________________________
Hi Bob! I didn't see it the same way at all. I, too, read RS in my younger days when it was good. I loved the retelling of his life from his POV, the good and the bad. Loved the gossip, the bits about famous people.
Honestly, you sound a bit jealous.
Young people won't read this, I don't know why they would want to. There is no trip down memory lane for them. I listened to it on Audible and thoroughly enjoyed stopping and listening to a referenced song on Spotify or Googling a cover to jog my memory.
I hope to read YOUR memoir when it comes out.
Thanks for listening.
Kristine Waldenburg
____________________________________
Wow, that's the harshest review I've read since...
The one of "Led Zeppelin I" in Rolling Stone," lol!
Mark B. Spiegel
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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Sunday 30 October 2022
The Jann Wenner Autobiography
"Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir": https://amzn.to/3DMvofw
This is a terrible book.
At the end, Wenner thanks all his insider readers, you know, the friends that helped him write the book. Didn't a single one raise their hand or blow the whistle and say...THIS BOOK SUCKS!
Sycophancy on parade. Which makes one question the endless relationships Wenner details in this book. I mean how deep were those discussions if no one ever spoke their real, inner truth?
As for self-knowledge... Wenner displays absolutely none, other than referencing about three-quarters through that he's short. I'd say he left the personal insight out, but that couldn't be the case, since he put everything else in. This guy needs to go to therapy.
Now the truth is "Rolling Stone" is the greatest rock magazine in history. Oh, don't rant and rave about "Creem," I had a subscription, and I enjoyed it, but it was a niche product, with attitude. Fun, but not comprehensive. And I'll never forgive the Michigan-based rag for their hype of KISS. Every other reasonable outlet put the band down, but as if their core audience was pre-teens, "Creem" kept putting the band on its cover. It became unreadable.
"Rolling Stone" didn't become unreadable until the 21st century. And even to this day, well, before Jann left, one had hope that it would find the secret sauce and once again reach the Holy Grail.
You see "Rolling Stone" was not only authoritative about music, but so much else. I literally read it from cover to cover. You knew the writers by name, which was not the case with most other publications. You felt the magazine was on your side. True, as time went on too much attention was paid to the dinosaur acts, giving great reviews to mediocre product, then again most of the modern stuff wasn't worth covering, there was no there there. I mean an interview with David Crosby in the early seventies compared to an interview with Justin Bieber, any of today's acts...a comparison of a self-educated, experienced intellectual to an uneducated nitwit. I mean who cares what the acts of today have to say. They're lower class denizens in search of cash. Music is a way out of poverty, the lower class. Always has been, but there was a sprinkle of intelligence, middle class ethos, in the bands before Reagan, who legitimized greed and delivered income inequality.
And "Rolling Stone" commented about all that. Which is one of the reasons I read it. Never mind breaking the Patty Hearst story and writing about Karen Silkwood and nuclear power. As for the vaunted Hunter Thompson, I'm a fan, and there's plenty about Thompson in this book, but I preferred the work of Joe Eszterhas, before he went for money and fame in the movie business, when he dug deep into that which we thought we weren't interested in and made it fascinating. "Rolling Stone" was more interesting and more educational than anything I learned in college. It used to arrive on a Tuesday or Wednesday, I cleared the decks, did all my homework before, just so I could spend hours and hours reading every word.
But you won't want to read every word of Wenner's book.
So why did I?
Well, the reviews were not charitable. They referenced all the name-dropping.
But Bonnie Raitt said she and Jackson were discussing it, and that was truly Jann's life, so I dug in.
Awful.
What we've got here is a man who is afraid of being forgotten, as if "Rolling Stone" itself is not enough of a legacy. He recounts the endless highlights of his life, that's the book, to...achieve exactly what? His "friends" already know him. As for the rest of us, by time you get to the end you're anything but envious, you see Jann as a narcissistic dilettante with low self-esteem, otherwise why write such a self-aggrandizing book?
So why did I read it?
I'm a completist. I stopped a number of times, but I ultimately plowed through for the 1% I didn't know. To fill out my knowledge of the past.
And I'm reading this "testimonial" and I'm telling myself, well, I lived through it, I know so much, what about youngsters? They'd find it completely unreadable! With no frame of reference, just an endless recitation of what some wanker did long ago.
The book does get a bit better three-quarters of the way through when Wenner falls in love with Matt and comes out, but what I'm saying here is he's reveals a few unknown details, as for the rest.
This is not a book. This is a diary.
The mark of a true author? THEY KNOW YOU'VE GOT TO LEAVE SOME OF THE BEST STUFF OUT TO SERVE THE STORY! I'm not saying Wenner didn't leave some stuff out from his half a century career, but everything he considered a highlight is referenced. There is truly no story involved.
What could the story be?
Well, how his insecurity based on being sent to boarding school at twelve and his parents divorcing and his mother being even more narcissistic than he is affected his entire life. But NO, he mentions that stuff, but there's nothing about trying to prove something, needing achievements to fill an unending, deep inner hole, what he was looking for in relationships, was he clingy or did he keep people at a distance, fearful of abandonment...
I don't know this creep personally, so I don't really know what makes him tick. But what he has done here is create a 564 page book telling us he's better than us, led a more full life. And I'll admit he knows more stars than I do, but in truth most of these famous people are self-centered assholes anyway. You've got to be that self-centered and driven to make it. And believe me, I may not know as many as Jann, but I know plenty.
And too many people read books like this and feel inadequate, not knowing you've got to be true to yourself. I've had enough psychotherapy to know that's not who I am. I remember talking with my shrink about an industry golf weekend I was not invited to, and my guy dug in, were these really my people, did I really want to hang with them? NO! Sure, I could put it on my resumé, but in truth I'd rather stay home and read a book.
I'm just not a bro.
And I'll let you in on a little secret, these movers and shakers at the top have no real friends, just a zillion acquaintances. They're always looking over their shoulder, afraid of being vulnerable, losing status, so they can compare dicks with the size of their planes, can vacation together, but being open, honest and real...
Well, it's not in this book.
But maybe some of the conversations delineated were real. But other than Jann telling us so, there's no evidence thereof.
As for the quality of writing, to say it's pedestrian would be charitable. This is the guy who owned and ran a magazine? Who even wrote columns for it?
As for the business... There's none of the story that's detailed in other books on "Rolling Stone," the borrowing of money when in a pinch, almost losing the magazine...Jann just says in one case he didn't need it. But he liked the perks provided by a man with real money.
And the truth is there's always someone with more money. And the competition is like the cocaine years, when you reach the pinnacle you end up in a bathroom all by yourself. Yes, unlike marijuana, people were not generous with their coke. It was expensive. Most people were left out. And it became ever more elitist and if you think drugs are cool...
You're probably a stoner.
I won't go down that path, I don't think drugs should be illegal, but I can tell you that I've never had a drug high as good as a natural high, never ever. And the excitement of life is going through it straight, confronting it knowledgably with all your wits, you've got to feel the anxiety and be sharp at the same time. When I see guys toking and laughing in a circle I look down upon them, they think they're cool but they're losers.
Well, I'll get off my soapbox here. I'll just say that there have been a number of books written about "Rolling Stone" and all are better than this one.
As for details... Jackie O. loved to gossip. So what. Today's kids are not infected with Camelot, the righteousness of the Kennedys. As for being friends with John John... Other than being a Kennedy, what was his redeeming quality? He had a pedigree, that was about it. He was no better than the rest of us, and all these years later one can definitely say he didn't leave a mark. I'm not saying his early death was not tragic, but I'm supposed to feel good about you because you skied with him? Come on.
And the endless lauding of his kids, you'd believe they're angels, when the kids of rich people are the most screwed-up extant. If you know some, you know this. And if money made you happy, Christina Onassis wouldn't have died just shy of her 38th birthday.
So what Wenner has done is a disservice to not only the history of "Rolling Stone," but history period. All the values of the sixties, embodied in the early days, have been cast aside in a quest to be rich and beautiful. Man, this guy needs to be re-educated, he needs an attitude adjustment.
So there's nothing to be learned in this book, certainly nothing that is worth the twelve plus hours my Kindle told me it took me to read it. I wouldn't even recommend an hour. And don't bother to skim it...
Why does the past continue to be trivialized? Why can no one stick to their values? Why is everybody seduced by the money? Why does being rich make you better, smarter and more insightful than everybody else?
Just own who you are.
I guarantee you there are people all over this great country of ours who are married with kids who have fulfilling jobs and happier lives than Wenner has led. But they don't have to tell us all about it. I mean it's like watching the slides of someone's trip to Europe. After a few it's about them, not you, you don't care, you're just sitting there thinking how long until the lights come back on.
You only go around once. And you get to choose how to live your life. I wouldn't use Jann Wenner's book as a blueprint. And so many of the records the magazine touted of the acts Jann didn't hang with have more truth in forty minutes than Jann has had in his entire life.
This is sad.
Wenner was pissed his anointed biographer got it wrong and he decided to set the record straight. He should have gone with the ultimately published book, not only would he have had plausible deniability, he would not have revealed himself to be this guy you wouldn't want to hang with, knowing he'd be looking over your shoulder in search of someone better.
And yes, Wenner does settle some scores, says Yoko is in a wheelchair, takes a poke at David Geffen, but they just make him look small. Because if you know these people you know how they are, and in truth no one else ever will, because of their bogus, polished, public images. Jann is just trying to make himself feel good by association. And that's almost heartbreaking, except it's hard to have any sympathy for Wenner.
In truth almost no one will finish this book. It's just too much of an ordeal. But I'm warning you, stay away, best to keep your memories and fantasies intact.
--
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--
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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--
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This is a terrible book.
At the end, Wenner thanks all his insider readers, you know, the friends that helped him write the book. Didn't a single one raise their hand or blow the whistle and say...THIS BOOK SUCKS!
Sycophancy on parade. Which makes one question the endless relationships Wenner details in this book. I mean how deep were those discussions if no one ever spoke their real, inner truth?
As for self-knowledge... Wenner displays absolutely none, other than referencing about three-quarters through that he's short. I'd say he left the personal insight out, but that couldn't be the case, since he put everything else in. This guy needs to go to therapy.
Now the truth is "Rolling Stone" is the greatest rock magazine in history. Oh, don't rant and rave about "Creem," I had a subscription, and I enjoyed it, but it was a niche product, with attitude. Fun, but not comprehensive. And I'll never forgive the Michigan-based rag for their hype of KISS. Every other reasonable outlet put the band down, but as if their core audience was pre-teens, "Creem" kept putting the band on its cover. It became unreadable.
"Rolling Stone" didn't become unreadable until the 21st century. And even to this day, well, before Jann left, one had hope that it would find the secret sauce and once again reach the Holy Grail.
You see "Rolling Stone" was not only authoritative about music, but so much else. I literally read it from cover to cover. You knew the writers by name, which was not the case with most other publications. You felt the magazine was on your side. True, as time went on too much attention was paid to the dinosaur acts, giving great reviews to mediocre product, then again most of the modern stuff wasn't worth covering, there was no there there. I mean an interview with David Crosby in the early seventies compared to an interview with Justin Bieber, any of today's acts...a comparison of a self-educated, experienced intellectual to an uneducated nitwit. I mean who cares what the acts of today have to say. They're lower class denizens in search of cash. Music is a way out of poverty, the lower class. Always has been, but there was a sprinkle of intelligence, middle class ethos, in the bands before Reagan, who legitimized greed and delivered income inequality.
And "Rolling Stone" commented about all that. Which is one of the reasons I read it. Never mind breaking the Patty Hearst story and writing about Karen Silkwood and nuclear power. As for the vaunted Hunter Thompson, I'm a fan, and there's plenty about Thompson in this book, but I preferred the work of Joe Eszterhas, before he went for money and fame in the movie business, when he dug deep into that which we thought we weren't interested in and made it fascinating. "Rolling Stone" was more interesting and more educational than anything I learned in college. It used to arrive on a Tuesday or Wednesday, I cleared the decks, did all my homework before, just so I could spend hours and hours reading every word.
But you won't want to read every word of Wenner's book.
So why did I?
Well, the reviews were not charitable. They referenced all the name-dropping.
But Bonnie Raitt said she and Jackson were discussing it, and that was truly Jann's life, so I dug in.
Awful.
What we've got here is a man who is afraid of being forgotten, as if "Rolling Stone" itself is not enough of a legacy. He recounts the endless highlights of his life, that's the book, to...achieve exactly what? His "friends" already know him. As for the rest of us, by time you get to the end you're anything but envious, you see Jann as a narcissistic dilettante with low self-esteem, otherwise why write such a self-aggrandizing book?
So why did I read it?
I'm a completist. I stopped a number of times, but I ultimately plowed through for the 1% I didn't know. To fill out my knowledge of the past.
And I'm reading this "testimonial" and I'm telling myself, well, I lived through it, I know so much, what about youngsters? They'd find it completely unreadable! With no frame of reference, just an endless recitation of what some wanker did long ago.
The book does get a bit better three-quarters of the way through when Wenner falls in love with Matt and comes out, but what I'm saying here is he's reveals a few unknown details, as for the rest.
This is not a book. This is a diary.
The mark of a true author? THEY KNOW YOU'VE GOT TO LEAVE SOME OF THE BEST STUFF OUT TO SERVE THE STORY! I'm not saying Wenner didn't leave some stuff out from his half a century career, but everything he considered a highlight is referenced. There is truly no story involved.
What could the story be?
Well, how his insecurity based on being sent to boarding school at twelve and his parents divorcing and his mother being even more narcissistic than he is affected his entire life. But NO, he mentions that stuff, but there's nothing about trying to prove something, needing achievements to fill an unending, deep inner hole, what he was looking for in relationships, was he clingy or did he keep people at a distance, fearful of abandonment...
I don't know this creep personally, so I don't really know what makes him tick. But what he has done here is create a 564 page book telling us he's better than us, led a more full life. And I'll admit he knows more stars than I do, but in truth most of these famous people are self-centered assholes anyway. You've got to be that self-centered and driven to make it. And believe me, I may not know as many as Jann, but I know plenty.
And too many people read books like this and feel inadequate, not knowing you've got to be true to yourself. I've had enough psychotherapy to know that's not who I am. I remember talking with my shrink about an industry golf weekend I was not invited to, and my guy dug in, were these really my people, did I really want to hang with them? NO! Sure, I could put it on my resumé, but in truth I'd rather stay home and read a book.
I'm just not a bro.
And I'll let you in on a little secret, these movers and shakers at the top have no real friends, just a zillion acquaintances. They're always looking over their shoulder, afraid of being vulnerable, losing status, so they can compare dicks with the size of their planes, can vacation together, but being open, honest and real...
Well, it's not in this book.
But maybe some of the conversations delineated were real. But other than Jann telling us so, there's no evidence thereof.
As for the quality of writing, to say it's pedestrian would be charitable. This is the guy who owned and ran a magazine? Who even wrote columns for it?
As for the business... There's none of the story that's detailed in other books on "Rolling Stone," the borrowing of money when in a pinch, almost losing the magazine...Jann just says in one case he didn't need it. But he liked the perks provided by a man with real money.
And the truth is there's always someone with more money. And the competition is like the cocaine years, when you reach the pinnacle you end up in a bathroom all by yourself. Yes, unlike marijuana, people were not generous with their coke. It was expensive. Most people were left out. And it became ever more elitist and if you think drugs are cool...
You're probably a stoner.
I won't go down that path, I don't think drugs should be illegal, but I can tell you that I've never had a drug high as good as a natural high, never ever. And the excitement of life is going through it straight, confronting it knowledgably with all your wits, you've got to feel the anxiety and be sharp at the same time. When I see guys toking and laughing in a circle I look down upon them, they think they're cool but they're losers.
Well, I'll get off my soapbox here. I'll just say that there have been a number of books written about "Rolling Stone" and all are better than this one.
As for details... Jackie O. loved to gossip. So what. Today's kids are not infected with Camelot, the righteousness of the Kennedys. As for being friends with John John... Other than being a Kennedy, what was his redeeming quality? He had a pedigree, that was about it. He was no better than the rest of us, and all these years later one can definitely say he didn't leave a mark. I'm not saying his early death was not tragic, but I'm supposed to feel good about you because you skied with him? Come on.
And the endless lauding of his kids, you'd believe they're angels, when the kids of rich people are the most screwed-up extant. If you know some, you know this. And if money made you happy, Christina Onassis wouldn't have died just shy of her 38th birthday.
So what Wenner has done is a disservice to not only the history of "Rolling Stone," but history period. All the values of the sixties, embodied in the early days, have been cast aside in a quest to be rich and beautiful. Man, this guy needs to be re-educated, he needs an attitude adjustment.
So there's nothing to be learned in this book, certainly nothing that is worth the twelve plus hours my Kindle told me it took me to read it. I wouldn't even recommend an hour. And don't bother to skim it...
Why does the past continue to be trivialized? Why can no one stick to their values? Why is everybody seduced by the money? Why does being rich make you better, smarter and more insightful than everybody else?
Just own who you are.
I guarantee you there are people all over this great country of ours who are married with kids who have fulfilling jobs and happier lives than Wenner has led. But they don't have to tell us all about it. I mean it's like watching the slides of someone's trip to Europe. After a few it's about them, not you, you don't care, you're just sitting there thinking how long until the lights come back on.
You only go around once. And you get to choose how to live your life. I wouldn't use Jann Wenner's book as a blueprint. And so many of the records the magazine touted of the acts Jann didn't hang with have more truth in forty minutes than Jann has had in his entire life.
This is sad.
Wenner was pissed his anointed biographer got it wrong and he decided to set the record straight. He should have gone with the ultimately published book, not only would he have had plausible deniability, he would not have revealed himself to be this guy you wouldn't want to hang with, knowing he'd be looking over your shoulder in search of someone better.
And yes, Wenner does settle some scores, says Yoko is in a wheelchair, takes a poke at David Geffen, but they just make him look small. Because if you know these people you know how they are, and in truth no one else ever will, because of their bogus, polished, public images. Jann is just trying to make himself feel good by association. And that's almost heartbreaking, except it's hard to have any sympathy for Wenner.
In truth almost no one will finish this book. It's just too much of an ordeal. But I'm warning you, stay away, best to keep your memories and fantasies intact.
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