Q's 90th At The Bowl

1

The absolute highlight was Stevie Wonder singing "You've Got It Bad Girl" from "Talking Book."

History is wrong, "Songs In the Key of Life" is not Stevie Wonder's best album, not even close, that's "Talking Book."

The first step in the new Wonder paradigm, wherein he had total control over his albums, was 1972's "Music of My Mind." Despite opening for the Rolling Stones on the biggest rock tour in history, and including the track "Superwoman," "Music of My Mind" had minor commercial impact. People still perceived Stevland Morris as Little Stevie Wonder, not an auteur who could do it all by himself, competing not only with Paul McCartney and Todd Rundgren, but every rock and roll titan.

"Talking Book" changed that. But not everybody was buying albums at that point, many still saw Stevie Wonder as a singles artist.

But then Stevie doubled-down with "Innervisions" and "Living For the City" and "Higher Ground." But it was more than that, it was "Too High," "Golden Lady," "All in Love is Fair," "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" and "He's Misstra Know-It-All," the final cut an engaging masterpiece that seems to have been lost to the sands of time.

And then came "Fulfillingness' First Finale," a more subtle work that took time to seep in. The hit was "Boogie On Reggae Woman," but the killers were quieter, and penetrated further, cuts like the magical "Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away and "Creepin" and "They Won't Go When I Go." If you were on the trip, you were fully satisfied, in the same way you were with the two previous LPs.

And then came "Songs in the Key of Life." What a difference a few years make. The systems were streamlined, albums could be promoted in a heretofore unknown fashion. And the press finally caught up. But so did the public. We live in a racist nation, it wasn't until "Songs in the Key of Life" was released that everybody embraced Stevie Wonder. But he'd been fantastic for years, even better.

Look at the track listing for "Talking Book." It opens with "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," a song my modern music hating father could sing along with just as well as me. Then the subtle "Maybe Your Baby." The jaunty yet not slight "Tuesday Heartbreak." The second side opened with "Superstition," a track you only had to hear once to get, the sound of that clavinet alone was enough to close you. Then my favorite at the time, "Big Brother," which was more akin to a singer-songwriter number than anything on the R&B chart. Then the killer "Blame It on the Sun," followed by "Lookin' for Another Pure Love." And then the piece-de-resistance, a modern classic which many people first heard performed by Peter Frampton on his second LP, the one with the group, Frampton's Camel, "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)." Which leaves us with "You and I (We Can Conquer the World)," recorded by everyone from Barbra Streisand to Joe Cocker to Mariah Carey, which is the worst song on the album. That's right, this near standard is the worst song on the LP! And then there's "You've Got It Bad Girl."

"Yes, you know the plans I am making are intended to capture you
So you practice false reaction
To delay the things I do, the things I do, things I do
Oh, foolish you"

She's got it bad girl, so bad that Quincy Jones covered the song on his 1982 album and used it as the title of the LP, which is why Stevie played it last night.

But, but, but... These moments are becoming rare. Stevie is not on the road constantly, he's not playing the deep cuts, what are the odds I'll hear this again? Almost nil. It was a thrill.

2

And there was a plethora of name talent opening the first half of the show, but it was the backup singers taking solo turns who put the show over the top in the second half, as well as Siedah Garrett, who came out looking like a space alien and took us out of this world with her rendition of her song "Man in the Mirror."

The show was somewhat chronological. I was hoping for a nod to Q's venture with Donna Summer, her Geffen debut that ultimately stiffed, before she delivered her next LP to Mercury and came back with "She Works Hard for the Money." But that Geffen LP...

The single was "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)." Anything but a conventional melody, a conventional song, and if you listen to it enough you get it. But the absolute killer is the sultry "The Woman in Me," the aural equivalent of the movie "Body Heat," you can feel the sweat. And then Jon and Vangelis's "State of Independence," that would have been a great number for the assembled multitude. But it was not to be. What we got was Michael Jackson.

Who's been dead for fourteen years. His personality, his identity has been picked over, and he looks anything but pretty. But the music, that remains. It's still standing. Untarnished. Superseding the tabloid drama.

Michael hadn't put out an album for four and a half years. Can't say the audience was waiting with bated breath. Childhood singer who came up at the same time as Donny Osmond, a lightweight trifle, and then came "Off the Wall."

This was no longer Motown, this was Epic, a machine, that could ship product and bring success home. But still... "Off the Wall" started in the Black market, took a while to cross over. Its success was subtle, anything but what came thereafter. It didn't sound quite like anything else, and nothing sounded quite like it. "Off the Wall" was ethereal and unique. Otherworldly. And you might not have heard it upon release, but it was only a matter of time before you were at a party and someone dropped the needle on "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough."

I'm as white as can be. But when the orchestra started playing the notes, I jumped to my feet and started contorting my body in ways I didn't know possible, it was like I was infected. Politics fell into the rearview mirror. This was the power of music, to take you completely away, sans consciousness, just feeling.

"Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" is not a ditty. It's a six plus minute journey. It locks into a groove and never lets go. You can't resist it. It doesn't beat you over the head, rather it penetrates you somewhere deep inside and then it doesn't let go.

They wanted to be startin' somethin', and they most certainly were. This was not a rock crowd, this was mostly a white crowd. An aged white crowd. But if you surveyed the boxes, the benches, you saw these people in their seventies grooving, it was nearly unfathomable that they had it in them.

And then there was "Billie Jean," the song that started it all, that turned Michael Jackson into a superstar. All it took was one television special. The world saw the moonwalk and people never recovered, Michael Jackson ascended into the pantheon in a matter of minutes. "Off the Wall" was still private, not ubiquitous, but suddenly "Thriller" was "Frampton Comes Alive," and beyond.

And I'm standing in the crowd realizing that we will never see this again. No one will have this ubiquity. No one will make music that we all know. Oh, it's possible, and I hope so, but no one's even playing on this level, no one's creating music that is transcendent, that crosses all ages and demos. And Michael may have had incredible moves, but it was all in the grooves.

Michael ultimately lost the plot, labeling himself the King of Pop, needing to top himself when the only alternative might have been to go smaller, but that wasn't his style. Michael ultimately became a cartoon, and then a train-wreck, but that music, it's set in stone. I'm there realizing why he could sell out all those shows in London at the same time thinking there was no way he could have ever performed them. If for no other reason than there was not enough of him to go around, people wanted everything, but he was only one person, he was crushed by the pressure.

And credit goes to Walter Yetnikoff, who has been nearly completely forgotten. But it was this substance abuser, ultimately more powerful and memorable than the self-aggrandizing Clive Davis, who told MTV that either they played Michael Jackson's video or he'd pull all of CBS's product. MTV didn't want to, but when it did the course of history was immediately changed, turned out that there was a huge untapped market for the music video channel, and Michael Jackson was the perfect person to bring people in.

Oh, Michael was rolling. He was already the biggest star on earth. But then...

He decided to spend an astronomical sum with the movie director John Landis to create the "Thriller" music video, which was even longer than the six minute song.

MTV treated the "Thriller" video as a tablet from God. With the premiere and subsequent airings. It was an event. The VJ would announce it was coming. You'd make a mental note to turn the TV on, or to leave it on.

I really didn't think they'd play it last night. But Avery Wilson strode to the front of the stage and... Avery Wilson? Who is that?

Turns out he was a contestant on season 3 of "The Voice." And Avery's doing a credible job as my mind is flashing on that red jacket and then during the break...

Wilson moves to the front of the stage and starts making Michael's moves. Throwing his arms. It was like 1983 was yesterday. We all know this choreography by heart. We may not think about it on a regular basis, but it's there, buried inside our brains.

Whew!

WHEW!

Michael's exclamations were in full force. And it was not like the man himself was in the house, but the music was an excellent stand-in. A remembrance of what once was. When a musician could stand with world leaders, could be as rich and powerful as anybody on the planet. When in studios across Hollywood there were people working long after dark, in the dark, trying to get it exactly right, wanting to please, wanting to titillate the audience, wanting to THRILL the audience!

Money didn't matter. Spend away, because if you got it right the return would pay for the expenditure many times ever.

The music was built block by block. By Michael, by Q, by writers, by studio musicians. And when you do it this way it's easy to lose the plot, to get so deep inside that you miss the target. But for a moment in time it was bullseye after bullseye.

It was thriller night. FOR YEARS!

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Sinéad O'Connor/Randy Meisner-SiriusXM This Week

Tune in Saturday July 29th 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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Re-Randy Meisner

I will never forget Randy. Randy came into my life in 1986. Art Ford who came to LA, from Eugene Oregon with me, put us in touch. I wanted to move from jazz and R/B to rock. Randy was low key and willing to listen to an idea I had, for a young artist. Richard Marx had a song called Don't Mean Nothing. 

Randy loved his voice and lyrics. I had put featured musicians on the records of jazz artists I managed in Eugene. Chick Corea with Jeff Lorber, and Lee Ritenour with Dan Siegle.  Both albums went gold. However, as headliners they were theater artists. 

I wanted a bigger house. So Randy meets with David Cole, the producer of the Richard Marx album. Introduces us to Timothy Schmit, and Joe Walsh. He really wanted to give both Richard and me our break. That he certainly did. He agreed to do press, and an MTV special introducing Richard, to the audience globally, with Timothy and Joe. 

Don't Mean Nothing, became the most added rock song at the time with 140 radio stations, the first week. Those were the days when rock radio could sell records and tickets. Richard became a global arena artist. On his debut record. I got my house upgrade and Richard agreed with me to return the favor. He wrote and produced a song for a reunited Poco, I put together, that became a hit. 

Based on the success of Richard and Poco, I received calls from Meatloaf, The Bee Gees, Duran Duran, Luther, ….

RIP Randy, you were kind and generous. You gave two up and comers their break. I will forever be grateful. 

Allen Kovac 

____________________________________

Bob: Thanks for remembering Randy so well. He was a kind and gentle soul. When the Eagles first made money they were a little shocked after struggling for so long. Randy came by the office one day to show me his new car. I expected to see a Porsche or a Cadillac. Instead it was a car I had never heard of. He proceeded to explain to me the thrifty and practical aspects of owning a Subaru. Rest in peace music man. 

Hartmann

____________________________________

I thought the 2 tracks from his solo record I produced were rather good. The co-write with Eric Kaz, "Hearts On Fire" and " Deep Inside My Heart" w/Kim Carnes. And Wendy Waldman doing BG vocals. 

Val Garay

____________________________________

Hi Bob, thank you for writing about Randy. His solo record was one of the first albums I ever worked on. And to this day probably one of the most memorable. Randy was truly kind. To me he cared about everybody, and seemed to have trust in everyone.

Thanks always. Neeks

Niko Bolas

____________________________________

Bob, thanks so much for singling out "Is It True," one of the greatest deep album cuts of all-time. Never understood why that one didn't get more love. It was pure Randy-that high lonesome perfection. RIP Randy Meisner. He wasn't cut out for fame, but his immense talent was transcendent, and that voice will live on. Hell of a bass player too. 

Joel Amsterdam

____________________________________

Lest we forget (all singing bass players) Randy, Timothy B Schmitt, and yes Chris Hillman were the schematic-blueprint for all of us experimenting with country, country rock, and bluegrass. I was 22 (1974) when I joined the Bluegrass Hall of Fame band The New Grass Revival. I had played in Rock & Roll and R & B bands in Kentucky, but my only frame of references for my new job were Randy, Tim, Chris, Chris Etheridge etc. Thank God I had listened to these guys. What I'm saying here is that Randy and Timothy are/were such phenomenal singers that most people missed how gifted and inventive they were/are as bassist.

Randy & Timothy both have inventive, melodic and funky bass tracks all over both the Eagles and Poco records.

Thank you gentlemen for not only busting down the doors but holding them open for us.

John Cowan

____________________________________

Randy's vocal performance from the 1977 Capital Centre show is one of the most amazing vocal performances I have ever heard. It sends shivers up my spine, and now watching it, I want to cry. I don't think anyone else will be able to equal this performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxO6-FRJCeo

Joe Sherfy

____________________________________

Great post, Bob. I was in an eagles tribute band for the last 12 or 13 years. We worked hard to make everything sound like it did on the records.
I just retired a couple months ago. I'm amazed at the popularity of their music. We have many many folks who have seen the show multiple times. Honestly I never got tired of the music. I think it's because the songs are so well written and arranged.
We have 5 guitar players/singers besides bass drums and keys so we can cover all the bases.
I think my favorite, and most under appreciated, album
Is  On the Border.
It had room for all their styles--country, Folk, and The rock tunes.

Bill Live from MN.

____________________________________

When Randy left the Eagles he used to stop by this club in Toluca Lake called "Jasons" and sit in with the band. He would sing and take the house down. A bunch of us would hang after the club closed and Randy was there hanging out, super personable and the nicest unaffected rock star you could ever meet. What a talent he was. 

RIP Randy

Marty Wals

____________________________________

About ten years ago, I was searching YouTube for songs from 1982. I was 13 that year and as I've grown older, 1982 became my favorite year in music. I came across Randy's "Never Been in Love". When I heard it on YouTube, I hadn't heard it in 30 years but I remembered it. Even though he didn't write it, Craig Bickhardt did, it's the best song he did and my favorite. Perfect 1982 pop. Driving rock verse leading up to the soaring chorus. And that sound. That warm pop sound. 

RIP Randy. Without you, the Eagles would never be as big.

Ryan Taylor

____________________________________

Great piece about my favorite Eagle… thank you! 

You didn't mention his best song, though:  Try and Love Again off of Hotel California. So damn good! 

RIP Randy 

sean michael dargan 

____________________________________

Thanks Bob. 

Randy was the high harmony voice in the Eagles vocal mix and nobody ever did it better! His vocal on "Try And Love Again" is classic and one of my favorites among the Eagles catalog. RIP to the humble legend. 

Pat Whitaker

____________________________________

This?

"A compilation of lead-singing performances by Randy Meisner":

https://randymeisnerretrospective.com/performances/#certain

Richard Pachter

____________________________________

I was so heartened that you cited "A Certain Kind of Fool" in your letter. That was a serious high point of Randy's work for me, my personal favorite, even more than the irrefutable "Take It to the Limit".

I'm guessing the video you cited was the live BBC broadcast from 1973, where they open with "Train Leaves Here This Morning". Eagles at their early best, tight, clean, and fresh, and the broadcast direct and unadorned. US TV could never get it right back then, but the Beeb did. "Certain Kind of Fool" appears at 12:30 into the video. Utterly live.

https://youtu.be/Tq7XxwIsgbU

The lines to "Certain Kind of Fool"  that actually got under my skin were the few you did not quote...

"He saw it in window
The mark of a new kind of man
He kind of like the feeling
So shiny and smooth in his hand
He took it to the country
And practiced for days without rest
And then one day he found it
He knew he could stand with the best"

Of course, back then I hung on every note. To me Desperado was a triumph, not a disappointment, a perfect album I simply wore out. "Outlaw Man", "Out of Control", "Whatever Happened to Saturday Night", "Bitter Creek", never mind "Doolin-Dalton", the title track. and of course "Certain Kind of Fool". My coming of age album.

In 1973, I was in my third year at UCLA, and had been playing guitar two years and writing for one year. I got turned on to my roommate Wilkie Cheong's killer record collection two years earlier, and mainlined Matthews' Southern Comfort, Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo, Flying Burrito Brothers, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty, Neil Young solo stuff I had missed, Fred Neil, stuff that never made it down to my AM radio driven hometown of Calexico, CA. 

I been a Ronstadt fan since 1967, got turned on to Jackson Browne in 1971, Bonnie Raitt the same year, my pal Dan Carlson snuck a reel-to-reel into Royce hall for Neil Young solo in 1971 (with all the Harvest songs long before the album came out , which we learned and became the coolest guys in the dorms for a while there).

I was hipped to the coming Eagles in 1972 by my college friend Sara Rutenberg, who had been a "band aid" to Randy's pre-Rick Nelson band, The Poor, which also featured Pat Shanahan and Alan Kemp, also in the Stone Canyon Band. With no reference enough to be cynical to the Eagles' slickness compared to Gram Parsons and the Burritos, or even Poco, and feeling the California sound congealing around me in real time, I ate it up whole. To me it was the coolest.

I saw them repeatedly -- a free taping of ABC's "In Concert" at UCLA's Royce Hall in 1973 (where Tequila Sunrise had an extra bridge that never appeared on the album, "Guess I'll go to Mexico / Down to where the pace of life is slow / There's no one there I know"), and in 1974, Golden Hall in San Diego (where Joe Walsh made an unannounced guest appearance on Chuck Berry's "Carol"), and notably, Robertson Gym at UC Santa Barbara with Poco and Jesse Colin Young, $6, with my new music-savvy girlfriend (who turned me on to Iain Matthews's version of "Seven Bridges Road" that the Eagles copped note for note) and we were tripping. Good times.

And one night, 1973 or 1974, after they played the Santa Monica Civic, Sara and I hung out at stage door so she could introduce me to Randy. He emerged from the hall, saw Sara, smiled and called her name, and we were introduced. My first rock star meeting.

It's 50 years later now, the mystique as hardened as my guitar calluses and long replaced by the realities of the gig and the vagaries of career. But that feeling embodied in Randy's song, well, that never quite wore off, did it? That, and Take it to the Limit sort of became the source material of my fully formed adult mantra -- put me on a highway, show me a sign, and it's a certain kind of fool that likes to hear the sound of his own name. Hell yeah.

RIP Randy Meisner. Thanks for everything.

dn
Dan Navarro


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The Bud Light Boycott

How come this worked?

Well, more interesting is how come this sustained. Modelo is now the number one beer in America, and Bud Light's sales have not returned to anywhere near their previous level. Meanwhile, every boycott on the left, proposed or actualized, never sustains.

Like Facebook. Remember when you were supposed to delete that? And Amazon?

Now in truth, there are no alternatives to those, not viable ones. So it's not exactly apples to apples. Then again it's very difficult to get beer drinkers to switch brands. Their preferred brand is part of their identity.

But not as strong as their allegiance to the Republican party.

I read a tweet yesterday that people have already forgotten the sexual assault verdict in the E. Jean Carroll trial, and that just happened in May. That's testimony to how fast the world moves these days. If the bad behavior of an ex-President is forgotten, what else is forgotten? Nearly everything. So, if you're resting on your laurels, on what you've done, you may remember, but most others do not, there's just too much in the channel. Which is why...

You should never fight back. You just amplify the situation. If someone attacks you on social media, stay silent. Unless it's truly heinous behavior and you are innocent. If you don't respond chances are the story will fade away. And you must know, there's a plethora of people out there whose only goal is to get you to react, unlike you they've got nothing to lose. Beware of these trolls, they exist in every vertical and if you've got any status at all, they play. Also, before you pull your hair trigger, look at their follower count. Especially on Twitter, er, X. The people attacking you most viciously frequently have no followers at all! The accounts were just set up to hassle you. Or they have very few. What they write has no traction until you respond.

However, that's different from the Bud Light situation.

It turns out the right, the Republicans, the Trumpers, are just more dedicated than the Democrats, much more passionate. And this pays dividends. The right plays offense and the left plays defense. The right is cooking up grievances and causes of action 24/7, the left is somnambulant and surprised when the right attacks it. Who knows how good Kamala Harris actually is, but one thing is for sure, she's been defined negatively by the right, and she should not be on the 2024 ticket. These are the same people who negatively defined Hillary Clinton. How many times do you have to see this movie to get it? Well, the DNC almost never gets it.

But there's so much we could boycott on the left that we never do. We can start with MyPillow. But even when states enact heinous legislation... Tours reroute once, movie companies pull production once, and then they go right back to the usual behavior. They feel that they're out there alone, that no one is supporting them. On the right there's constant cheerleading, on the left there's crickets.

And the media is complicit, on the left as well as the right. It's a story, that everyone can react to. No different from all the ink about Taylor Swift and the Korean boy/girl groups. You'd think there is no other act on the road. When in truth there are multiple acts selling out stadiums, never mind arenas, but it's not quite as sexy or controversial, so it goes unreported.

There are more people on the left than the right. If they came together for the cause... But they don't. They're always told to hold back, to settle it at the ballot box. This is a piss-poor way of motivating your constituents. People want to do something, give them ammunition.

Maybe start with one right wing product a month. Or just one product. Get everybody to stop using it and put out constant press releases, have MSNBC continue to hammer the story. It's not a difficult path, the right has already established it. But instead we get wimps, our supposed leaders, like Schumer, who is afraid to raise his voice and keeps telling us his hands are tied, that he doesn't have the votes. Well, this does not stop the right. Look at the Freedom Caucus in the House, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who's been excised. They don't care about the vote, they don't lay down their arms, they agitate, and even spew falsehoods, to bond their constituents to them. They're doing something, even though in truth their agenda is to do nothing. But if we want someone to root for on the left? The only person I can think of is Newsom. Maybe Whitmer. Everybody else seems to be a professional, part of the problem, or has been neutered, like AOC.

How come the left can't be organized?

Oh, don't tell me about phone banks and canvassing. That doesn't excite people. They want to be part of something. Give them something to do. They'll do it, but the left just rests on its laurels, which aren't looking so good.

And I don't need another musician to come out against the right wing, I need another musician to do something, to lead as opposed to react. Motivate their fans.

I was out last night and an agent asked me what we can do, someone who put together a tour last time around to get out the vote. But the vote is a year and a half away. We're not going to do anything until then? Just let Joe and Kamala sit at home, waiting for the election? Hell, there aren't even debates on the left, there's no theater. It'd be like asking people to believe in the movie business with no flicks at the multiplex. Baseball went on strike and canceled games and it took years for attendance to recover. But the Democrats are sitting on the sidelines. And baseball realized it was losing its fans and this year modernized, to make the game faster and more palatable.

We need an equal shake-up on the left.

Go on TikTok. The Trumpers are radicalized, they're emotionally invested. Talk to someone about Biden... At best you'll get grudging support. And I'm gonna scare you here. If the Republicans run anyone but Trump or DeSantis against Biden they're going to win, hands-down. Biden has a record as president, he's been excoriated by the right for four years, whereas someone without a track record, anybody without a track record, has an advantage.

Don't tell us to trust you, you and Biden. Don't tell us you've got this. Don't tell us about the women who are going to come out as a reaction to the reduction of the availability of abortion. Motivate us. Get us involved.

But no.


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Randy Meisner

Spotify playlist: https://tinyurl.com/2mnuj67y

He deserves to be remembered as more than that guy in the Eagles documentary, the one who incurred Glenn Frey's wrath. Hell, he deserves to be remembered for more than "Take It to the Limit."

It was fifty one years ago today, not that Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play, but that "Take It Easy" dominated the airwaves. It was an instant hit single. On AM. When that still mattered, because of the car.

But this was different. Because usually records started on FM and then crossed over to AM. They got a start on the quieter band, the act gained fans, and after they'd embraced them then the group was ready for mainstream consumption. The Eagles did it backward. And as a result were not warmly embraced by the cognoscenti. Sure, it was an amazing hit single, but really was this act any better than the Starland Vocal Band, which had its one monster smash?

Well, if you bought the album you found out. The group emerged fully-formed. But if you didn't buy the album, you didn't know this. FM itself was becoming codified, less deep, less the bastion of album tracks. And since the Eagles hadn't paid their dues they were not all over the radio.

But if you bought the album...

The big surprise was "Witchy Woman," which followed the first side opener "Take It Easy." "Witchy Woman" was as dark and brooding as "Take It Easy" was breezy and uplifting. This was our introduction to Don Henley. The drummer. He only sang two songs on the LP.

So, the Eagles were Linda Ronstadt's backup band, experienced musicians, who'd been in groups previously, who were not wet behind the ears, they all had history, it was a minor league supergroup.

And not the group most people talk about today.

There are two Eagles periods, and they are quite different. Don Felder joined the band for the fourth album, "On the Border," and the band rocked harder. Then Joe Walsh joined for "Hotel California" and there was no confusing what was happening then with what happened before. When the Dude criticized the Eagles, he was talking about the earlier period.

Not that it matters, not with fifty years of hindsight.

Randy Meisner was the bassist in the earlier period of the band.

And unlike Bernie Leadon, he never came back. Then again, Meisner was sick, had been for eons. At Glenn Frey's memorial service he was using oxygen and...it's not a complete surprise Randy passed.

And Randy did make a solo album after he left the band, 1978's eponymous effort. I bought it, it was not memorable. And then...

He was akin to Jason Newsted. Then again, Jason was not an original member of Metallica.

So back to the narrative.

Well, let's start before that. With Poco. A previous supergroup that was supposed to rival Crosby, Stills & Nash on the chart, but didn't. Randy Meisner was the bass player, but he quit before the album came out.

Then Randy played with Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band, an outfit that was gaining credibility, rejecting Ricky's early hits for something deeper, meatier and more soulful.

And then Randy was in the Eagles.

Oh, he went back to Nebraska and went straight for a moment in between, but that brings us back to 1972, and the Eagles debut.

The songs left off the greatest hits albums have faded away. But when there was only one album, I was deeply enamored of the closing track, Randy Meisner's "Tryin'."

"I'm just arriving in the city
And there's music on my mind
Lookin' for my destination and
My home is far behind"

That's what they all did. Came from disparate burgs across this great nation of ours to Los Angeles, to make it. They'd outgrown the local scene, they wanted more, they believed they deserved more.

"'Cause it's a long road ahead
And you can make it in the end
I'm gonna make it with my friends
And I'm tryin'"

Was it Glenn Frey who called a band a gang? They're in the trenches together, slugging it out, friends until...the band doesn't make it and breaks up or it does and friendships fracture.

And the funny thing about Meisner's voice is it's somewhere between Henley and Frey's, it fits right in, and did as part of the harmonies. He too sounded like an Eagle. To hear Randy sing was not jarring.

So "Tryin'" is a tear. And optimistic.

"And it's a lonely way to live
You gotta take it, you gotta give
If you mistake it just try again
And I'm trying"

Everybody in L.A. was tryin', but very few were makin' it.

And the sound is a road trip with the top down, the band locked in with Randy's vocal on top and then, AND THEN!

"Ah-ha-ha, we've got to keep on tryin'
Ah-ha-ha, we got to keep on tryin'
Ah-ha-ha, we got to keep on tryin'
Ah-ha-ha, we got to keep on tryin'
Whoa I'm tryin'"

Talk about magical...

It's nearly a-cappella. The Eagles singing together. The smooth, developed sound that pushed the band to the top. Crosby, Stills & Nash could never get the harmonies right live, either in their heyday or the latter day, but the Eagles? They nailed it every time.

And Randy didn't sing "Earlybird," but he did write it with Bernie Leadon. This more country-influenced sound was ultimately dropped by the latter day band, but it was a feature of the first edition.

These two unheralded cuts from the first LP are two of my favorites, once you could pick and choose with the advent of the CD I played them plenty, I know them by heart.

Randy had even fewer writing credits on "Desperado," but it is his song that opens the second side of this legendary concept album that was a stiff upon release. But you can't keep greatness down, "Desperado" is now the absolute highlight of the live show.

"He was a poor boy, raised in a small family
He kinda had a cravin' for somethin' no one else could see"

That's it, the essence. You know. You need to leave town, be more, or you're satisfied where you are. Some of us are incomplete and want more. That's the story of rock and roll.

"They say that he was crazy
The kind that no lady should meet"

The rock and roll outlaw. That was the theme of the LP, the melding, the comparing and contrasting of yesterday's cowboys and today's.

"He ran out to the city and wandered around in the street
He wants to dance, oh yeah
He wants to sing, oh yeah
He wants to see the lights a-flashin'
And listen to the thundering"

You've got to be able to cut loose to rock and roll. Let go. Cross the lines, throw away the rule book. Most people don't have the guts, the chutzpah.

"He knew he could stand with the best
They got respect, oh yeah
He wants the same, oh yeah
And it's a certain kind of fool
That likes to hear the sound of his own name"

You've got to be a certain kind of fool to play this game, the odds are just too long.

"A poster on a storefront, the picture of a wanted man
He had a reputation spreading like fire through the land
It wasn't for the money, at least it didn't start that way
It wasn't for the runnin', but now he's runnin' every day"

That's the story of the bank robbers of the west, but it's also the story of seventies rockers. You were lucky if you got a poster in the storefront. And it doesn't start out about the money, but when you gain a certain amount of success... And you keep runnin' every day, you're on tour, keeping the starmaking machinery alive.

There used to be an amazing video on YouTube of the Eagles performing "Certain Kind of Fool" on TV. Only four members, but they got it exactly right, including Randy Meisner's vocal. They weren't jumping around the stage, there were no antics, they were letting the music speak for itself.

1974's "On the Border" was the commercial breakthrough, suddenly the Eagles were everywhere.

My favorite cut is the title song, a Henley/Leadon/Frey number. And Henley's vocal stands out, but Randy Meisner is there singing too.

And Randy also sings "Midnight Flyer," which Paul Craft wrote. And he wrote and sang "Is It True?," and I like his vocal, and it fits in the album perfectly, but it's a minor cut.

And then came "One of These Nights." It's this album that made the Eagles superstars. "Hotel California" was the cherry on top, an unexpected great leap forward, but in a summer competing with James Taylor's "Gorilla" and Paul McCartney and Wings's "Venus and Mars" and Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks," it was "One of These Nights" which was dominant. Everywhere in a way no album is today, none. Pouring out of every window. Talk about the soundtrack of the summer.

And of course "One of These Nights" contains "Take It to the Limit," which actually is not one of my favorites, I prefer "Too Many Hands," from the first side, a number Randy cowrote with Don Felder, which Randy sings himself.

"Too Many Hands" has the intensity of "Certain Kind of Fool." A stinging guitar. And Randy singing like someone's squeezing his balls, like every word is important and counts, imploring you to listen.

But it was a different era. The album era. When it was a rare record that exceeded forty minutes and you knew what you bought by heart. These Randy Meisner cuts may not have been radio hits, but they were personal hits, I know them just as well as the songs that floated over the airwaves. You see our albums were religious texts, we studied them, they were more important than television or movies, they were more important than us, we couldn't compete with the musicians, they were gods, we bowed at their feet, and Randy Meisner was one of them, and once you reach this level, once you're in the pantheon, you're never forgotten.

So it wasn't a complete shock that Randy Meisner passed today. He'd been ill and off the radar screen for so long. But still, it affects us. He was talented, a member of a group that won the World Series, ultimately the Eagles are the Yankees, in that they triumphed again and again, more than anybody else, they sit above the rest, you don't own the best-selling album of all time by accident, that's not something you can fake.

And you might say that the Eagles haven't had a hit in decades, but I'll say the Yankees haven't been the Yankees for decades, maybe since George Steinbrenner came along and laid down all that cash.

Randy Meisner was there, he was part of it.

Some may not know, but I will never forget.


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Tim Leiweke-This Week's Podcast

Tim Leiweke is Chairman and CEO of the Oak View Group, which builds and owns arenas and manages venues for others. We discuss the status of buildings and shows around the world, as well as Tim's history, from sports to concerts, hockey to basketball to Springsteen and Henley, from St. Louis to Los Angeles and AEG and then Toronto and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to OVG. No one is building more arenas than OVG. Which also has its hands in food, security, diversity and more. Tim and OVG represent the cutting edge of live entertainment, this is the guy.

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/tim-leiweke-119685725/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tim-leiweke/id1316200737?i=1000622504656

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5oQdnvp8Mjdtm5VmSTp410?si=FEnq1NdITtS90m7Fgp-mzQ

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/c11740ed-fa16-483c-a0d8-088d52f62d97/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-tim-leiweke

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/tim-leiweke-305620952


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Aldean Hits #2

"Jason Aldean, Decrying 'Cancel Culture,' Has a No. 2 Hit - 'Try That in a Small Town' went from overlooked to almost topping the charts after a week of controversy.": https://tinyurl.com/d9pptvfw

What a crock of shit.

Who knew the crooked music charts would impact the political scene.

That's right, the music charts are manipulated and phony, made to serve the labels, not the public. They're inaccurate and should never be trusted. There are many ways to game the charts.

Leading me back to what I wrote last week. Which is find some way you can win, can say you're #1, have done something dramatic, there must be some category in which you qualify. How about iTunes sales? About as relevant as vinyl. Then again, they tell us who is #1 in vinyl too! In a world where little is released on vinyl, you can't get pressing time, and big stars load up product and drop it in a week so they can go #1 and hype it ad infinitum, just like Jason Aldean and his supporters re "Try That in a Small Town."

Do you remember 2003? That's when the iTunes Store launched. Twenty years ago. When you still rushed out to buy an iPod, a device that Apple has completely stopped making. Because music is an on demand item, you don't need to own anything, it's all at your fingertips, when you want it!

So why buy?

Almost nobody does. It makes no sense. Why buy a compromised file when you can listen in full fidelity on Apple Music and other platforms, in many cases in better than CD quality.

But wait, if you can still sell CDs... You go to the top of the chart!

You see sales are unjustly weighted on the charts. It would be like singles being worth more than home runs when it comes to baseball. It'd be like sales of the VCR in a DVR world... And DVRs have been eclipsed by on demand!

How far can I take this...

It's like the sale of cassette decks. Or Walkmen. Dated products that have little to no use in today's world. Let's say the sale of one cassette is worth a million streams. No, let's be realistic... Let's start with the truth. One sale is worth 1,500 streams in the Luminate, chart-making world. Think about that, one sale at the iTunes Store is worth 1,500 listens on a streaming platform. I'll bet my life that no one will listen to the iTunes file of "Try That in a Small Town" 1500 times. Man, I doubt anybody will listen five hundred times. How many will listen even ten times. HOW MANY WILL LISTEN AT ALL!

The purchase of iTunes files is evidence of support, of solidarity, it's got nothing to do with listening to the song. Because not that many people are listening to the song. How do I know? I checked the Spotify Top 50 and "Try That in a Small Town" is not in it! Nowhere to be found.

And don't tell me it's a country thing. Luke Combs's version of "Fast Car" is number 7. It got 6,324,853 streams yesterday. "Try That in a Small Town" got 11.6 million streams last week, on all platforms! Sure, Spotify punches above its weight, but it is not all of the market. I'm not saying 11.6 million streams in a week is nothing, but it's not a whole hell of a lot. It won't put much gas in either the plane or the bus. But somehow, in the topsy-turvy world called the music business, "Try That in a Small Town" charts higher than "Fast Car."

Morgan Wallen's "Wasted on You" is #16, with 4,825,150 streams on Spotify yesterday. But in bizarroland, it doesn't hold a candle to "Try That in a Small Town.

Never mind all the non-country hits in the Spotify Top 50, they can't compete with "Try That in a Small Town," no way, Jason Aldean is #2!

And if this hogwash is printed in the "New York Times," you've got to believe that it's being repeated by other news outlets, especially on the right wing. Jason Aldean won! But he didn't. But if you say that you're a naysayer, someone who can't handle the truth.

This is not so different from Donald Trump saying he won the election. Well, he was leading in certain states before the mail-in vote was counted. Well, that means you win, right?

Of course not. But you can't convince many of his supporters otherwise. And you can't convince Aldean supporters otherwise.

I mean at least level the playing field. Tell us how many paid streams a song gets, create the chart from that. But it can't be done, because the labels find that nearly impossible to manipulate!

This is how it works. A has-been star wants a number one album. So the label cooks up some vinyl, pushes iTunes Store sales, games the crooked system so they can get something to publicize. And the following week the album is nowhere to be found, because in truth no one is listening to it. I mean it is music, it's about listens, isn't it?

OF COURSE NOT!

Wow, I could go on and on. You've got the artists who don't understand the difference between an on demand stream and a radio stream. Not complicated, but when you get a low royalty check someone must be at fault, it can't be you. But radio pays so much less! And there's radio on Spotify. You put in the name of an act and a bunch of tracks are spewed out and the pay rate is different, because the listener has no control.

I won't even go into who owns the publishing or how many writers there are, if the complainer even owns any of the publishing.

And if the people involved can't understand it, what are the odds that people uninvolved can understand it? Almost nonexistent!

But it feels good to say. Those right wing red people from the rural states are showing the nasty blue people something. You can't keep a heinous view down. We are incredibly strong. Hell, we learned our skills while we were enslaved!

That's another right wing trope. Uttered by a candidate for President.

So in truth, the Jason Aldean kerfuffle is minor in the scheme of things. But falsehood, obfuscation, manipulation goes to the bedrock of our system. Everybody's got their own facts, everybody's #1 somewhere.

No wonder we can't come together and move ahead. We're not even starting from the same line, we don't even believe the same things.

And if you think this screed will change the charts...

The people who pay Luminate like it this way. We can't even get rid of the carried-interest rule, what are the odds we can have an honest music chart?

I hate when this happens. Because if the news will print tripe like this, what will they print about something more important?

Scary.


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Re-Tammo/Snowbird/Mirbeau

From Snowbird to many:

Thank you for reaching out about this matter. Tammo Goudsmit does not, and has not worked for Snowbird for several months, and in no way represents Snowbird or its viewpoints. We do not tolerate hate or discrimination of any kind at our resort. You can learn more about Snowbird's values, here: https://www.snowbird.com/values/

Snowbird Communications Team

_______________________________

From Snowbird to me:

Hi Bob,
 
We are sorry to hear of the hateful remarks you received. While we cannot and do not publicly share information regarding the status of former employees, as previously stated, Tammo does not currently work at Snowbird and he has not for several months. That is all of the information we can share. 

Snowbird has a zero-tolerance rule for any type of hate speech in our organization. We were upset to read the remarks as well. 
 
In regard to his personal LinkedIn site – we do not have control over how he represents himself on that account, however, we are hopeful he will update it very soon. 

While I cannot share any further information regarding his employment at Snowbird, please let me know if you feel it would be helpful to hop on a call to further discuss Snowbird, our policies and values. My number is listed, below. 

We wish you the very best and hope this message of hate does not continue. 

Sarah Sherman

_______________________________

From Mirbeau HR to many:

Tammo Goudsmit has not worked for Mirbeau for a number of years now. The email address that he appears to be using is a personal account and is not affiliated with our company in any way. We are disgusted by his comments. In no way do his sentiments reflect the values or culture of our company. We are exploring all avenues to remove our name from his platforms.
 
Thank you
 
Mirbeau Hospitality Services


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Sinéad O'Connor

Would this have happened if she wasn't in the public eye?

At this writing the cause of death has not been revealed, but I am not optimistic it was natural causes.

They don't make stars like Sinéad O'Connor anymore. There's nowhere to project a unique talent to everybody simultaneously, to deliver to the public a unique voice that blows them away. That was the power of MTV. And FM rock before that. And, of course, AM radio before that.

You only had to see the video once. You know, the Prince song, "Nothing Compares 2 U." He's gone now too. Which is hard to fathom, since he said he was fine, talked about rumors of his supposed imminent death just before he did die. And Sinéad and Prince were similar in that they came up in an era where they wanted you to do it their way, as opposed to the way the artist wanted to do it, their way.

So this was a different era, one of a plethora of record labels. Chrysalis was now a standalone company, after being an imprint whose records were distributed by others. It started just before the turn of the decade, from the seventies to the eighties, with Blondie. And then Pat Benatar and Huey Lewis. Somehow, Chrysalis could make stick what previous companies had been unable to break through.

So by time we hit 1990, MTV ruled the world. It had been around for nine years, was now established all over the world, and radio, which still mattered, was in lockstep with the music video channel. Such that "Nothing Compares 2 U" was instantly everywhere.

And this was not Chumbawamba. There was not only one good track and a plethora of dreck on "I Do Not Want What I Have Not Got." It was deep and sparing throughout, just like the hit. It stuck with you. It was personal. Not done by committee. And it was a huge hit.

And then Sinéad ripped up the picture of the Pope on SNL and it was all over. That's America, don't fight with God. And those who don't care are afraid of those who stand up to God.

Then again, most Americans didn't grow up in Ireland, still haven't been to Ireland, don't comprehend Ireland. There's a long history of literature exposing the Irish condition, but America doesn't read, it's got to be delivered easy, via moving pictures. Hopefully like "Ted Lasso," upbeat. We don't want to be reminded of the underbelly, but Sinéad was all underbelly.

O'Connor never had another hit. And we can argue whether her material deserved presence at the top of the pops or not, but one thing is for sure, she was silently blackballed. Because she was dangerous, because she was uncontrollable. And this is what record labels and radio abhor. They don't care how talented you are, if you're a loose cannon, if you don't play it their way, they want nothing to do with you. You're trouble.

And Sinéad O'Connor was perceived as trouble.

Now the funny thing is O'Connor continued to have some success overseas after her stock crumbled in the U.S., but eventually that faded away too. Sinéad was a has-been. Seen by many as a one hit wonder. Even though she was never about the hits, meaning her work delivered, she was an artist, who had something to say, who was in pain.

And suddenly that pain was everywhere.

Radio and records might not want to touch you, but the press loves famous people who act irrationally, who make crazy statements, who behave wildly. They've got to fill the pages. And that's where O'Connor started to appear.

There were marriages and babies, a religious conversion, an institutionalization, Oprah and Dr. Phil. O'Connor was self-destructing in front of our very eyes. And the weird thing is these people don't get help, they're seen as entertainment. Until they die.

So... Would all of this have happened to Sinéad O'Connor if she hadn't had a hit record and become recognizable around the world?

Well, O'Connor came out and said she was bipolar. And if this is true, and unmedicated, bad behavior, weird behavior, is part of the diagnosis.

Then again, fame is a drug that once experienced is hard to give up. Knowing that everything you say will be fodder for the news, distributed around the globe.

Then again, there are mentally ill people living desperate lives around the globe who go unnoticed, because they are not famous.

Was Sinéad O'Connor destined for this path, or was the world complicit?

Now the bipolar are some of our greatest artists. Today everyone is seen as a possible musical star. How do you look? We can put you together with a team, we can build a monolith. But you used to need something extra, we called that talent, and it had nothing to do with self-promotion, but raw musical creation. Our artists had insight, they were beacons. Sinéad was constantly pushing the envelope, warning others of the ills of the music industry, but her statements fell on deaf ears. Seen any real repercussions of #MeToo in the music business? No. It's an independent contractor enterprise run by men. Of course there are women, but oftentimes they have the values of men. Criticize me all you want, but this is frequently true, because you have to have that killer instinct to survive.

The machine needs music. It thrives when there are artists. And artists are not about breaking records, but breaking hearts and minds, getting us to question ourselves and the world. Artists are not concerned with what the prepubescent think, not that they'll turn away their business, artists are speaking to those who've grown up, who've experienced, and it's not only their fans but society at large. Don't forget, they attacked John Lennon for saying the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Back in an era when "Time" asked if religion was dead.

Actually, religion is dying in America. But politically it's more powerful than ever. Sinéad O'Connor was standing up to the ills of religion, but this message went unheeded, never mind being from a girl.

But unlike so many of those with success in the past, Sinéad O'Connor won't be forgotten, because she had it, what most people don't possess, and she delivered it.

And what she delivered...

Of course there was "Nothing Compares 2 U."

But on that same album, there's "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance." And "The Emperor's New Clothes." And "Black Boys on Mopeds." And "I Am Stretched on Your Grave."

I was at the Lilith Fair at the Rose Bowl, outside the Bowl, watching Special K and Billie Myers, and then I heard this sound floating over the stands, I had to run inside to listen.

"I am stretched on your grave
And I'll lie here forever"

That voice! Pure and powerful. Natural. Not aided by studio trickery.

And then there was that moment on Letterman. Sinéad singing "You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart." It's disappeared from YouTube, because of some rights issue, but not only did it slay me the first time through, I kept it on VHS tape, so I could watch it again and again.

Sinéad was possessed by the music. She felt the music. She was the music. It was transcendent. It's one thing to take the stage, it's another to lift the entire auditorium.

The song was from the film "In the Name of the Father." If they even make those films anymore, they go nearly unseen. This is not what Universal, the film's distributor, or the rest of the majors put out these days. They want cartoons, not truth. Because most people can't handle the truth. And the truth is life is now so hard that people don't want to be reminded of the fact that there is no upside, that they're stuck. Which is why people believe in falsehoods, conspiracy theories, because the truth is just too scary.

But Sinéad O'Connor was all about the truth. Directly from her heart to ours. She looked us in the eye and delivered. Like the rock stars of yore. She might not have died at 27, but she shares the lineage of those who do. She just wasn't made for these times.

"Oh, you lost
Oh, you lost all
You lost all
You lost all"


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Alcohol/Drinking Songs Playlist

Spotify playlist: https://tinyurl.com/484muvrf
____________

"Alcohol" - The Kinks

"Have a Drink On Me" - AC/DC

"Cold Gin" - Kiss

"Elderberry Wine" - Elton John

"Margaritaville" - Jimmy Buffett

"One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" - George Thorogood & the Destroyers

"I Drink Alone" - George Thorogood

"Red Red Wine" - Neil Diamond

"Whiskey Rock-A- Roller" - Lynyrd Skynyrd

"Gin and Juice" - Snoop Dogg

"Tequila" - The Champs

"Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) " - The Doors

"Bottle of Wine" - The Fireballs

"Nighttrain" - Guns N' Roses

"Roadhouse Blues" - The Doors

"Same Old Wine" - Loggins & Messina

"Hey Nineteen" - Steely Dan

"That Smell" - Lynyrd Skynyrd

"Tubthumping" - Chumbawamba

"Send Me No Wine" - Moody Blues

"Why Don't We Get Drunk" - Jimmy Buffett

"Spill the Wine" - Eric Burdon & War

"Beer In Mexico" - Kenny Chesney

"Closing Time" - Semisonic

"John Barleycorn" - Traffic

"Tennessee Whiskey" - Chris Stapleton

"However Much I Booze" - The Who

"Tequila Sunrise" - Eagles

"Mas Tequil" - Sammy Hagar

"Sweeet Cherry Wine" - Tommy James

"Cold One" - Eric Church

"Cigarettes and Alcohol" - Oasis

"Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes

"Whiskey Glasses" - Morgan Wallen

"You and Tequila" - Kenny Chesney & Grace Potter

"Take Your Whiskey Home" - Van Halen

"Drunk On a Plane" - Dierks Bentley

"Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) " - Elton John

"Piano Man" - Billy Joel

"Whisky Train" - Procol Harum

"You're Not Drinking Enough" - Don Henley

"Days of Wine and Roses" - Andy Williams

"Drinking Song" - Loudon Wainwright


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Barbenheimer

"Barbie" is pop. "Oppenheimer" is rock and roll.

Sure, "Barbie's gross exceeded that of "Oppenheimer," $162 million to $82.4 million, but "Oppenheimer" will have longer legs in the public consciousness, because when you go deep, that's when people resonate.

Now if you weren't aware of "Barbie," you were living disconnected in Ted Kaczynski's old shack in Montana. The story was everywhere. This is the carpet bomb publicity that's been employed to almost no effect throughout the 21st century. You can't reach everybody and they don't care anyway. And I was getting overwhelmed with the "Barbie" hype until I saw the movie was directed by Greta Gerwig, from a script she wrote with her significant other Noah Baumbach. I have respect for both of them.

Greta Gerwig was the queen of mumblecore, a film movement from a few decades back that only film aficionados are aware of. You might go to the movies today, but are you aware of their history, can you place those films in context? Probably not, you're a fan of what is called "popcorn movies," high concept blockbusters that are entertainment as opposed to art. But I caught the bug as a result of the buzz and checked out some of that genre's flicks and Greta Gerwig was phenomenal in them, as an actress. And then she did "Frances Ha" with Baumbach. It was a financial blockbuster. Well, no, it grossed a grand total of $11.3 million, on a budget of $3 million. But if you saw it, you'll never forget it. Oh, it's not that good, it's subtle, but so is your life.

And Baumbach did "The Squid and the Whale" and while everybody is going to USC to become a director, Noah graduated from liberal arts enclave Vassar. That's right, avoid the liberal arts, they'll kill your earnings potential. And that's statistically untrue, in the long run liberal arts majors can and frequently do make more, because they're more nimble, but one thing is for sure, your horizons will be widened, you'll have something to say if you get a liberal arts education.

And then Gerwig became a director herself, with the indie success "Lady Bird," and then the general public became aware of her with her mainstream success "Little Women."

In other words, Gerwig had a track record. She'd paid her dues, developed her so-called "craft." Had experience. Furthermore, the audience was aware of her as a high quality filmmaker who delivered, there was eager anticipation for "Barbie." Then again, the main driver was that title, because it's hard to start from square one like with "Oppenheimer."

Christopher Nolan has a similar career arc to that of Gerwig. He too started off in indies, although not quite so far down the food chain as mumblecore. Nolan made his bones with "Memento"...talk about innovative. And sealed the deal with "Insomnia," wherein Al Pacino and others wander in Alaska during the midnight sun...Pacino's inability to sleep is palpable. And then Nolan dove completely into the mainstream with Batman movies.

Now stars might not mean much anymore in the movie business, but writers and directors still do, and just like with Gerwig, but even more, the general public is aware of Nolan, and waits in anticipation of his next release.

And although Nolan did make two "Batman" movies, both he and Gerwig do not repeat themselves, every film is a new adventure.

Contrast this with the music business, where the goal is to blow up someone young with no experience, someone the public has never heard of. Experience works against you in the big time music business, because if you've got it you're too old to play the game, they don't even want you. However, you can kill on the road. That's the story of the twenty first century, the older people on the road playing music that sounds not a whit like what is ensconced in the Spotify Top 50, never mind played on terrestrial radio.

So... If the movie was called "Barbie" and Gerwig and Baumbach were not involved it would have been an uphill climb, been seen as a dash for cash. But the imprimatur of those two along with good word of mouth and ultimately great reviews put gasoline in the engine and there was great success.

But that's "Barbie," what about "Oppenheimer"?

The "Oppenheimer" buzz didn't reach me until a couple of weeks before release. And the story was primarily about it opening on the same day as "Barbie." In addition, "Oppenheimer" is not sexy and light, it's anything but "Barbie." I mean really, a three hour epic about the advent of nuclear weapons?

But the public hungers for deep and serious. This is what the mainstream gets so wrong. All we hear is about the younger generations' short attention spans, meanwhile they'll burn through a Netflix series in a day. The younger generations reject crap.

But crap is what they're fed all day long.

So the theatrical movie business is on the decline, it certainly took a hit during the pandemic, and no matter what anybody says, it will never fully recover. Theatrical is for event movies. It takes too much time and too much money to attend, it had better be worth it, and most stuff is not. The old boomer days of going to a flick on a whim are history, furthermore you've got A+ entertainment in 4k at your fingertips at home. However...

Turns out if you deliver what people hunger for, high quality fare, they're interested, they'll show up. But the studios started focusing on dumbed-down product that can play around the world. Meanwhile, Hollywood movies are now tanking in China. Time to get back to the garden. But the opportunity cost and the number of dollars are such... Well, it's worse than that, the people running the studios don't even remember the good old days, the last time film burgeoned, in the seventies. They've got no point of reference. As for indies... That market is dead. You can make it, but it won't be distributed and no one will see it. Even worse, the streamers no longer want to pick it up.

Which means the public is looking for fare that is available to all, that is unifying, that is seen as something we can all relate to.

And the lessons for the music business are...

Legion.

Where is the unique product proffered by the major labels? Nonexistent. They just shift the same old stuff, new stuff just like the old stuff, written by committee and remixed ad infinitum, with the human element shaved off. Such when something truthful shows up, it dominates. This is the story of Chris Stapleton.

But how many Chris Stapletons are there? I don't see another on the country charts. As for the wannabe Americanans... Chris is 45 and has paid his dues. He can write, sing and play, all at a high level, whereas his imitators cannot. I mean if you haven't got a palatable voice, you'd better be one of the best lyricists of all time.

But all we get in rock is the Foo Fighters, who were retrograde to begin with. The Foos are comic book movies. Seen one, you've seen them all. Where is the innovation?

People want something new and different that challenges them. And one hit record can lift the entire business, never mind inspire others to follow in the creator's path.

But we haven't got that hit anymore. Nothing that everybody in America is talking about, that they want to check out. What we promote is niche, no matter what the media says. Drake? Taylor Swift? They're doing incredible business, but you can ignore them and feel just fine about it, it's not like the music of either is inescapable, like the Beatles with "Sgt. Pepper."

Yes, "Sgt. Pepper" was a great leap forward, and never forget there were no singles. And it was embraced by the public.

But "Oppenheimer" is more like the White Album. Longer and darker. Leaving you with more questions than answers. If it's all there on the screen or in the grooves, if you can stop and forget about it, it's not going to last.

We've got so many complaining that they've got the goods. But they haven't paid their dues like Greta Gerwig and Chris Nolan, never mind not being as talented. They believe they're entitled. TikTok is their market, where you live and die on your creativity, where it's all inherently niche. But as far as something more mainstream...

Mainstream doesn't necessarily mean compromised. Look at "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer." Mainstream means most people are aware and care. The music business lost this formula decades ago. It's not even looking to recapture the essence. It's like everybody at the labels is brain dead and compromised, which is why you no longer know their names. The legends took risks, affected the culture at large, the newbies are playing a role.

So ultimately "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" are good for America. They have created rallying points. You can say you went to see a Tom Cruise movie, but there's nothing to talk about when it's over. He did his own stunts? See if that gets you into Harvard. It won't. It comes down to what you've got between the ears.

It's all about pushing the envelope. But that's too hard for most people. They want a safety net, a guaranteed return. But it's always the outside that breaks rules and sets trends, always. I mean what can you learn from a new "Avengers" movie, or "Mission Impossible"? It's like the latest pop confection. There is a market for it, but the rest of the public shrugs its shoulders, if it's aware and cares whatsoever.

And this does not only apply to art. Tech is all about breaking boundaries. When did everyone in America decide to play it safe?

In politics we keep hearing about what we can't do, when we used to hear about what we could do. And we hear from politicians that their hands are tied, that certain people won't go for it. But that doesn't mean you should stop, but push harder.

The opportunity for the lone warrior is always there. One person can make a difference. And it's not about money, but message. If people are only talking about the gross, you've missed the point. Quick, tell me what the biggest selling Bob Dylan record was! Hell, he never reached the sales pinnacle of even the nineties has-beens, he's never had a diamond record.

Money changes everything.

But what people don't realize is if you listen to your inner tuning fork and go your own way there's plenty of money to be made. But even more cultural impact. Bill Gates made more money than Steve Jobs, does that make him Jobs's equal? No.

Refocus.

And you've got to do it yourself because the overlords don't want you to, they want business as usual, they want predictable. Unfortunately, this is not what the public wants, and the public always wins in the end.


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Unbelievable

Read to the very very end, after Tammo's screed below.

___________

From: tammo.goudsmit.mirbeau

It's funny that kikes like you say "That's what got us Trump"

Trump was amazing! Restored much needed balls in this country. 

Specially vs China and that filth of a Country Israel who mooches off the US in the most conniving Jew way. 

Israel is the basis of many problems in the last 70 years and is an evil state. Wish Palastine would blow that sh*thole Israel up. 

And what about many MANY CONNIVING DIRTY EVIL Jews LIKE  Bernie Madoff that f*cking kike who ruined hundreds of families as a typical Jew THIEF ??? Hmmmmmmmm. Jews are genetically dispositioned to connive !!

They should have hung that dirty Jew by his STAINED ball sack.  

Only a kike can be that disgusting and filthy!!

I've always enjoyed putting kikes in their place. 

Hitler was a genius!!!  He'd be on my list to have dinner. One of the all time greats!!

you should read Mein Kampf sometime.  

All the kikes in the media should be lynched! All weasels. 

And once you see one kike you see a pack of them. 

Like rats !!!!!

_______________________________
_______________________________

From:
Subject: Response from Snowbird Comms Director

Bob,
See her response to his first email, I also sent her and the team the second email you posted today. Hopefully that guy will be toast, since he only started at Snowbird end of last year.

From: Sarah Sherman SSherman@snowbird.com
Subject: Re: Tammo Goudsmit Antisemitic Rant
Date: July 23, 2023 at 4:03:33 PM EDT

Thank you very much for bringing this incident to our attention. We do not tolerate hate of any kind at Snowbird and we are currently investigating this incident. 

Best,

Sarah Sherman
Communications Manager 


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One More From Tammo

Re: E-Mail Of The Day

I stand by my comments. 
I've lived in every region in America. 
Interacting with every breed in the East Coast too.  

I call it how it is.

tammo.goudsmit.mirbeau


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