Tune in Saturday October 28th 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 27 October 2023
Thursday 26 October 2023
The Joan Baez Movie
"I Am a Noise": https://tinyurl.com/3bc92h2m
She's so f*cked up.
Then again, aren't we all?
The guys will say they're not, the women trying to compete with men by mimicking their styles will not, but generally women are much more open, in touch with their emotions and willing to talk about them. Which is why conversation with women is almost always more satisfying than with men. Men will tell you where they've been, who they met, what they did, they'll regale you with their tales, whereas women will tell you how they feel, the stories will illuminate how they felt, humanity will be evidenced, it's much more rewarding.
Now Joan Baez was before my time. She was the thing, the rage, at the turn of the decade, from the fifties to the sixties, and I was seven. But as the folk scene picked up steam I certainly knew who she was, I remember hearing her albums, but then the Beatles came along and wiped both Baez and the folk scene from the map. Newport and his fans may have hated Bob Dylan for going electric, but he sustained whereas his contemporaries did not, they fell by the wayside, relics of the era. There are a lot of lessons here, but most people don't want to learn them, but I'll put it simply, using Dylan's words, "He not busy being born is busy dying." And there are so many ways to be born. But they all require venturing into the unknown, being uncomfortable, being unskilled. That does not mean you have to leave the past completely behind, you just can't become calcified, lost in the past to the degree you become irrelevant.
Now one of the debates back then was how you pronounced Joan's last name, many said "Baise," like "maize." Funny to younger generations, the lack of information we had. Information was scarce, you hunted for it, and oftentimes you had it wrong before you had it right.
Joan Baez was the queen of the folk scene, and her influence spread beyond her music. She inspired long hair. Yes, that was attributed to Joan back then, girls all grew their hair long to be like her. And many picked up the guitar to boot. Folk guitars, with wide necks, with gut strings, it wasn't about picking the notes but playing the chords. And one thing is for sure, it was about singing the songs, along with everybody else.
So Joan is instantly famous. And admits she likes it, likes being the center of attention. And she admits that's who she is, put a group together and it will end up focusing on her. These are the people who end up succeeding, whose names we know, it's a certain charisma, a certain otherness, but this does not necessarily equate with happiness.
That's the story of this movie. Joan's unhappiness. Her depression, her panic attacks, her entry into therapy in her teenage years and her continuation thereof as she aged.
Growing up is so daunting. Joan is connected, but isolated. And she prefers the isolation, but it's not ultimately fulfilling, it doesn't make her happy. And she tells all this to her parents, to her family... If I told my mother I was feeling down she'd tell me to buck up, to go outside and play, that there was no reason to be unhappy. That made me feel more isolated. As for panic attacks, I had 'em before they were big, when no one knew what they were. I took medication when needed, but then I read a book and I was cured, which is pretty amazing. The book was written by one of the founders of cognitive therapy. You can go to the cognitive therapist and cure your panic attacks, get your OCD under control, but most people don't want to do this. Therapy is evil, for weaklings, and people consider their failings to be features. But if you've ever been in an endless OCD loop you know this is not true, it's torture. And to walk around thinking you might have a panic attack at any time... There are people who take Ativan or Valium or Xanax 24/7 for fear of having a panic attack. They're all from the same family, known as benzodiazepines, and Stevie Nicks took Klonopin for years, and although one can argue that Xanax has the fewest side effects, they all have effects, quite noticeable ones, and you don't want to be taking them on a regular basis, because they are habituating to boot.
Now I may be going too deep for you, but quiz your friends, see how many have benzos in their medicine cabinet. All the talk is about opioids, and they're a problem, but the nation's mental health is a problem too.
But all this is to say that Baez is not completely rooted, not completely stable, and she knows it.
As for relationships? She's not good at them. She admits that outright. She blames her breakup with David Harris on herself, not him. As for what went down with Bobby Dylan... They shared a closeness, Dylan wouldn't admit they were in a love relationship, and Joan got caught in the maelstrom and excised herself.
She invested herself in the civil rights movement, in the "revolution." Hard to believe we used that term back then, but we did, and to a great degree believed in it, Joan certainly did. And she was there, with Martin Luther King in D.C. and she was in Montgomery and this film does a great service of education to those who were not there, it illustrates the struggle, the successes, much of which has been papered over, or completely forgotten.
And then in the seventies it's over. She's past her peak. The attention is not on meaning, this is the AOR era, loud rock and sensitive singer-songwriters and changing the world is secondary to making money, if changing the world is even important at all.
But Joan writes the story of her time with Dylan in a song entitled "Diamonds and Rust," and it's a surprise hit and the money is coming in and she fires her manager in favor of a drug-addicted road guy.
Yes, having a career means you make mistakes, everybody does, it's part of being a musician. They can sing and play, which the business people cannot, but they can't do what the business people can do.
Yet the artist gains fame. But they are still the other. And the audience is fickle, they adore you today, and then a lot fewer will show up to support you tomorrow. You haven't changed, but something new has come down the pike, the audience itself has changed, moved on, and it's disheartening.
Now as a result of the cheap means of production and distribution, everybody's got a documentary these days. And almost all are hagiography. The subject is an overlooked star who is as good as any on the planet. Like that inane Bee Gees documentary equating them with the Beatles. That's positively laughable if you were around in the sixties. The Bee Gees were a singles band, with hits, oftentimes wimpy, and they certainly didn't change the culture, but if you have final cut, you can say whatever you want.
So at this point when someone tells me there's a documentary about this or that musician I usually roll my eyes, and do my best not to watch it. Ditto on their books. It's so sad, everybody who can't gain attention anymore, who's got time on their hands, is writing a book. Now the truth is if they'd written these books during their heyday, they would have been a big deal, but now, decades after the fact, almost no one cares.
Now the truth is "I Am Noise" is a cut above the usual fare. You can see the money on the screen. It plays like a real movie, as opposed to something shot on an iPhone and put together in iMovie. Soderbergh can do that, but almost no one else can. You need money, and talent.
I was surprised I was riveted by "I Am Noise." The fact that Baez reveals her warts, her questions, says she doesn't have answers, makes her very appealing. Her character ends up different from the public image. She's strong, but vulnerable, and distraught and sometimes lost, and it's not like you watch this movie and think you can be her best friend, but you understand her, as a person, she's much more than a star.
But she still is a star, that's the conundrum.
Even weirder, she's the last person standing. Her two sisters died of cancer, her parents are gone, even David Harris has passed. So many of her memories...there's no one to share them with, no one who was there, and that is weird, but she's happier than ever, because...
According to her it's therapy. Focusing on family trauma. But in truth, most people get happier as they get older. When you're young, you don't know who you are. You're trying to figure out where you're going. And then you age and you accept who you are, you've seen the world, you know much better how to play the game. The only downside is there is not much time left.
Joan Baez is 82. Fewer and fewer people were there with her, during the heyday. Interestingly, Dylan still is. But the rest?
But with this movie you can see how it was.
The sixties and the civil rights movement and Vietnam and...have been recast, been denigrated when they're not seen through rose-colored glasses. But if you were alive back then you know the truth. It was a vivid era. Everything was up for grabs. And underpinning the entire decade was the music. Joan Baez was there. You'll be fascinated by what she has to say.
She's so f*cked up.
Then again, aren't we all?
The guys will say they're not, the women trying to compete with men by mimicking their styles will not, but generally women are much more open, in touch with their emotions and willing to talk about them. Which is why conversation with women is almost always more satisfying than with men. Men will tell you where they've been, who they met, what they did, they'll regale you with their tales, whereas women will tell you how they feel, the stories will illuminate how they felt, humanity will be evidenced, it's much more rewarding.
Now Joan Baez was before my time. She was the thing, the rage, at the turn of the decade, from the fifties to the sixties, and I was seven. But as the folk scene picked up steam I certainly knew who she was, I remember hearing her albums, but then the Beatles came along and wiped both Baez and the folk scene from the map. Newport and his fans may have hated Bob Dylan for going electric, but he sustained whereas his contemporaries did not, they fell by the wayside, relics of the era. There are a lot of lessons here, but most people don't want to learn them, but I'll put it simply, using Dylan's words, "He not busy being born is busy dying." And there are so many ways to be born. But they all require venturing into the unknown, being uncomfortable, being unskilled. That does not mean you have to leave the past completely behind, you just can't become calcified, lost in the past to the degree you become irrelevant.
Now one of the debates back then was how you pronounced Joan's last name, many said "Baise," like "maize." Funny to younger generations, the lack of information we had. Information was scarce, you hunted for it, and oftentimes you had it wrong before you had it right.
Joan Baez was the queen of the folk scene, and her influence spread beyond her music. She inspired long hair. Yes, that was attributed to Joan back then, girls all grew their hair long to be like her. And many picked up the guitar to boot. Folk guitars, with wide necks, with gut strings, it wasn't about picking the notes but playing the chords. And one thing is for sure, it was about singing the songs, along with everybody else.
So Joan is instantly famous. And admits she likes it, likes being the center of attention. And she admits that's who she is, put a group together and it will end up focusing on her. These are the people who end up succeeding, whose names we know, it's a certain charisma, a certain otherness, but this does not necessarily equate with happiness.
That's the story of this movie. Joan's unhappiness. Her depression, her panic attacks, her entry into therapy in her teenage years and her continuation thereof as she aged.
Growing up is so daunting. Joan is connected, but isolated. And she prefers the isolation, but it's not ultimately fulfilling, it doesn't make her happy. And she tells all this to her parents, to her family... If I told my mother I was feeling down she'd tell me to buck up, to go outside and play, that there was no reason to be unhappy. That made me feel more isolated. As for panic attacks, I had 'em before they were big, when no one knew what they were. I took medication when needed, but then I read a book and I was cured, which is pretty amazing. The book was written by one of the founders of cognitive therapy. You can go to the cognitive therapist and cure your panic attacks, get your OCD under control, but most people don't want to do this. Therapy is evil, for weaklings, and people consider their failings to be features. But if you've ever been in an endless OCD loop you know this is not true, it's torture. And to walk around thinking you might have a panic attack at any time... There are people who take Ativan or Valium or Xanax 24/7 for fear of having a panic attack. They're all from the same family, known as benzodiazepines, and Stevie Nicks took Klonopin for years, and although one can argue that Xanax has the fewest side effects, they all have effects, quite noticeable ones, and you don't want to be taking them on a regular basis, because they are habituating to boot.
Now I may be going too deep for you, but quiz your friends, see how many have benzos in their medicine cabinet. All the talk is about opioids, and they're a problem, but the nation's mental health is a problem too.
But all this is to say that Baez is not completely rooted, not completely stable, and she knows it.
As for relationships? She's not good at them. She admits that outright. She blames her breakup with David Harris on herself, not him. As for what went down with Bobby Dylan... They shared a closeness, Dylan wouldn't admit they were in a love relationship, and Joan got caught in the maelstrom and excised herself.
She invested herself in the civil rights movement, in the "revolution." Hard to believe we used that term back then, but we did, and to a great degree believed in it, Joan certainly did. And she was there, with Martin Luther King in D.C. and she was in Montgomery and this film does a great service of education to those who were not there, it illustrates the struggle, the successes, much of which has been papered over, or completely forgotten.
And then in the seventies it's over. She's past her peak. The attention is not on meaning, this is the AOR era, loud rock and sensitive singer-songwriters and changing the world is secondary to making money, if changing the world is even important at all.
But Joan writes the story of her time with Dylan in a song entitled "Diamonds and Rust," and it's a surprise hit and the money is coming in and she fires her manager in favor of a drug-addicted road guy.
Yes, having a career means you make mistakes, everybody does, it's part of being a musician. They can sing and play, which the business people cannot, but they can't do what the business people can do.
Yet the artist gains fame. But they are still the other. And the audience is fickle, they adore you today, and then a lot fewer will show up to support you tomorrow. You haven't changed, but something new has come down the pike, the audience itself has changed, moved on, and it's disheartening.
Now as a result of the cheap means of production and distribution, everybody's got a documentary these days. And almost all are hagiography. The subject is an overlooked star who is as good as any on the planet. Like that inane Bee Gees documentary equating them with the Beatles. That's positively laughable if you were around in the sixties. The Bee Gees were a singles band, with hits, oftentimes wimpy, and they certainly didn't change the culture, but if you have final cut, you can say whatever you want.
So at this point when someone tells me there's a documentary about this or that musician I usually roll my eyes, and do my best not to watch it. Ditto on their books. It's so sad, everybody who can't gain attention anymore, who's got time on their hands, is writing a book. Now the truth is if they'd written these books during their heyday, they would have been a big deal, but now, decades after the fact, almost no one cares.
Now the truth is "I Am Noise" is a cut above the usual fare. You can see the money on the screen. It plays like a real movie, as opposed to something shot on an iPhone and put together in iMovie. Soderbergh can do that, but almost no one else can. You need money, and talent.
I was surprised I was riveted by "I Am Noise." The fact that Baez reveals her warts, her questions, says she doesn't have answers, makes her very appealing. Her character ends up different from the public image. She's strong, but vulnerable, and distraught and sometimes lost, and it's not like you watch this movie and think you can be her best friend, but you understand her, as a person, she's much more than a star.
But she still is a star, that's the conundrum.
Even weirder, she's the last person standing. Her two sisters died of cancer, her parents are gone, even David Harris has passed. So many of her memories...there's no one to share them with, no one who was there, and that is weird, but she's happier than ever, because...
According to her it's therapy. Focusing on family trauma. But in truth, most people get happier as they get older. When you're young, you don't know who you are. You're trying to figure out where you're going. And then you age and you accept who you are, you've seen the world, you know much better how to play the game. The only downside is there is not much time left.
Joan Baez is 82. Fewer and fewer people were there with her, during the heyday. Interestingly, Dylan still is. But the rest?
But with this movie you can see how it was.
The sixties and the civil rights movement and Vietnam and...have been recast, been denigrated when they're not seen through rose-colored glasses. But if you were alive back then you know the truth. It was a vivid era. Everything was up for grabs. And underpinning the entire decade was the music. Joan Baez was there. You'll be fascinated by what she has to say.
--
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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Lynn Goldsmith-This Week's Podcast
Photographer Lynn Goldsmith has a new book about the E Street Band. We discuss Bruce and so much more!
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/lynn-goldsmith-126681016/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lynn-goldsmith/id1316200737?i=1000632683044
https://open.spotify.com/episode/11oraag99q7jEjQoH65B4i?si=_27KWgpFQka-I-SZZnIE8w
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/81e82a40-ea9c-4939-8e9a-9a794eee9a3c/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-lynn-goldsmith
--
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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If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/lynn-goldsmith-126681016/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lynn-goldsmith/id1316200737?i=1000632683044
https://open.spotify.com/episode/11oraag99q7jEjQoH65B4i?si=_27KWgpFQka-I-SZZnIE8w
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/81e82a40-ea9c-4939-8e9a-9a794eee9a3c/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-lynn-goldsmith
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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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Tuesday 24 October 2023
The Sixth Commandment
Trailer: https://tinyurl.com/2r2u2use
This is the BritBox show I told you we were watching. And it's A-level. In the pantheon. Oh, there are series I like better, but "The Sixth Commandment" is what I'm looking for in a viewing experience. That is once the show starts to play, it's all I can think about, my mind does not wander. It's not like it's action-filled, it's not like it's even fast-paced, but the first two episodes are so creepy...
No, it is not a horror show. Then again, what is your definition of horror? Two people died here, what happened?
Yes, this is a true story. And the series is not inspired by a true story, it's not the kind of show that when you look up the truth it's completely different. Hell, the actors even look like the real people. You can tell they tried to be as faithful as possible.
And in truth, even though you think all the people surrounding you are reasonable, a small subset are not. The only problem is you don't know who they are. And sometimes the most endearing and pleasant are the most devious and the most evil.
What we've got here is lonely people. Looking for connection, believing they're not entitled, that it will never happen, and...
You know when your dreams are fulfilled? When the impossible becomes possible, actually happens, you know how good you feel, elated, like the rest of the world does not matter? That's what happens to these two and...
You're gonna get what is going on pretty soon. But you don't know exactly how it will play out. And, once again, if you know you're going to watch it, don't watch the trailer, it's best to be fresh.
So the first two episodes are the facts, the story, and the next two are procedural, the ins-and-outs of the legal process.
And there are only four episodes, an hour each. And it's not a big commitment. But you'll think about "The Sixth Commandment," you'll want to finish it, you'll want to see how it plays out. But you're just not hanging in there for the end, the entire series is satisfying.
Yes, it's on BritBox. And that may be too much of a lift for many. But having said that, if you've got BritBox you can see "Line of Duty," a great show. And "Sherwood" and... There are more. So, it's worth it.
The great thing about the internet and streaming music is everything is available, so if I write about something you can check it out easily, usually I can just provide a link. This is not the way it is in visual entertainment, in streaming. It's all Balkanized, and it doesn't look like it will ever come together, that we'll ever be able to see everything for one price. That's what I say, just quote me a price for everything, I want access, but that's an impossibility. Even if you subscribe to every service there's stuff that's never been available, and then stuff that comes and goes, and it's frustrating.
But if you're a dedicated follower of streaming, I highly advise you take the plunge and watch "The Sixth Commandment." You may not love it as much as me, but you definitely won't hate it, won't want to turn it off.
And the fact that it's real, and the performances ring true...
Check it out.
--
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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This is the BritBox show I told you we were watching. And it's A-level. In the pantheon. Oh, there are series I like better, but "The Sixth Commandment" is what I'm looking for in a viewing experience. That is once the show starts to play, it's all I can think about, my mind does not wander. It's not like it's action-filled, it's not like it's even fast-paced, but the first two episodes are so creepy...
No, it is not a horror show. Then again, what is your definition of horror? Two people died here, what happened?
Yes, this is a true story. And the series is not inspired by a true story, it's not the kind of show that when you look up the truth it's completely different. Hell, the actors even look like the real people. You can tell they tried to be as faithful as possible.
And in truth, even though you think all the people surrounding you are reasonable, a small subset are not. The only problem is you don't know who they are. And sometimes the most endearing and pleasant are the most devious and the most evil.
What we've got here is lonely people. Looking for connection, believing they're not entitled, that it will never happen, and...
You know when your dreams are fulfilled? When the impossible becomes possible, actually happens, you know how good you feel, elated, like the rest of the world does not matter? That's what happens to these two and...
You're gonna get what is going on pretty soon. But you don't know exactly how it will play out. And, once again, if you know you're going to watch it, don't watch the trailer, it's best to be fresh.
So the first two episodes are the facts, the story, and the next two are procedural, the ins-and-outs of the legal process.
And there are only four episodes, an hour each. And it's not a big commitment. But you'll think about "The Sixth Commandment," you'll want to finish it, you'll want to see how it plays out. But you're just not hanging in there for the end, the entire series is satisfying.
Yes, it's on BritBox. And that may be too much of a lift for many. But having said that, if you've got BritBox you can see "Line of Duty," a great show. And "Sherwood" and... There are more. So, it's worth it.
The great thing about the internet and streaming music is everything is available, so if I write about something you can check it out easily, usually I can just provide a link. This is not the way it is in visual entertainment, in streaming. It's all Balkanized, and it doesn't look like it will ever come together, that we'll ever be able to see everything for one price. That's what I say, just quote me a price for everything, I want access, but that's an impossibility. Even if you subscribe to every service there's stuff that's never been available, and then stuff that comes and goes, and it's frustrating.
But if you're a dedicated follower of streaming, I highly advise you take the plunge and watch "The Sixth Commandment." You may not love it as much as me, but you definitely won't hate it, won't want to turn it off.
And the fact that it's real, and the performances ring true...
Check it out.
--
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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Wellness
https://tinyurl.com/mpradk6n
I want to tell you about this book. But I can't recommend you read it.
It's called "Wellness," and it's by Nathan Hill. Reviews have been excellent, Oprah has even endorsed it, but the main reason I got it from the library, the main reason I dug in, was because I positively loved Hill's previous book "The Nix."
"Wellness"? Not as much.
My queue is backed up, I've got so many books I want to read, and "Wellness" is a tome, 689 pages. And the style is kind of funny, in that not that much happens, a lot is backstory or interior monologue and it's off-putting, you want to put the book down. But then you pick it back up again and it resonates and then it doesn't... That's right, you're hot and cold.
Well, I should be saying I'm hot and cold on the book. And the worst thing about it is it does not call out to me, or hasn't until this point, I've got a couple of hours left, I'm about 80% in, it's hard to commit to. My main reading time is after eleven, after Felice goes to bed, when it's dark out and incoming slows down. And I can usually only read if I turn my phone off. But sometimes I'm addicted to my phone and there goes the rest of the evening. Oh, I don't usually go to bed until two, used to be four, and you can judge me all you want, but as they said about Yogi Bear..."He will sleep 'til noon, but before it's dark, he'll have every picnic basket that's in Jellystone Park." Anyway, I don't care. I'm separate from you anyway. The other. I don't fit in, can't be a bro, and I've made peace with that. Not that there are not people on my wavelength... But usually they're musicians, artists.
So, it's taking me even longer to read this long book, because I have trouble dedicating the time to it. But then...
Hill starts depicting these suburbanites, upscale suburbanites, who are into their affirmations, their positive beliefs, you know, the kind when you're ill will talk to you about natural medicine, tell you to see a naturopath rather than an MD. And you can't convince them otherwise, because it's now part of their being, and they don't want you to rain on their parade, they just can't hear anything negative. Actually, I get that a lot, people telling me to stop being negative. So let me get this straight, I'm supposed to give up my filter, just be the pretender, a smiling idiot who professes to love everything? No, I'm looking for excellence, and when I find it... That's why I'm writing this entire screed now.
So you've got two people in college who find each other, ultimately at a rock club, and one is from nowhere Kansas and the other comes from a long line of...what turns out to be robber barons. And over time the money has been washed, people see the family as established, and forget the heinous activities they took part in, or instigated themselves. And Elizabeth wants no part of this. But Hill goes on for pages about Elizabeth's family's backstory, and it's so well done, so on it, that I almost believed that it was real. It was history, it's just the names and the faces were changed, this is how so many made their fortune.
But there's also endless waxing on the prairie, how easterners don't understand it. This goes on for pages, it's all part of Jack's backstory.
And there is a story. Not of Jack and Diane, but Jack and Elizabeth. In the nineties, in Chicago, when the indie scene was flourishing. But this is not a rock book, do not read it expecting so, that's just an element. And then the book jumps to modern times...
There's so much social commentary. There's the issue of relationships. And so much more, seemingly every hot button issue in society, from Big Pharma to sex to...
And then, about two-thirds of the way through, there's an explanation of the algorithm, actually seven algorithms, the ones that Facebook and Google employ.
It's kind of an aside. Kind of like the political stuff in "Anna Karenina." There's an overlay of story, of Jack's father, but what we've got here is... The best explanation of algorithms I've ever seen.
Oh, we all know everything's run by algorithm online, but we don't know the thought behind them, how they work on a granular level, how they're tweaked, and this book explains it. In your mind you can literally see Mark Zuckerberg and his troops coding. All the games these companies play, to hook you and then drop you, to play with your emotions... If everybody read "Wellness" there'd be revolution. Truly. Forget Cambridge Analytica, that's a sideshow compared to this. And it's all made up, not exactly true, but therefore even more true.
That's why you read fiction.
The bottom line is these companies are manipulating us in ways we can't even conceive. It's a giant game and we're just the players, just rats in a cage that they're trying to get us to stay in, so they can make more money.
I know, it sounds simple, and you know all this, but really you don't. It's much more nefarious than that.
And then Hill goes into how people get convinced of falsehoods and then they Google these falsehoods and since the falsehood is linked to more than the truth it's the number one hit and the searcher feels they've got reinforcement. They go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole, they're convinced. QAnon may be laughable to you, but when you read this section of "Wellness" you'll understand exactly how it happened. You'll almost have sympathy for these people, who've been sold a bill of goods. The mainstream media is the enemy, I'd bet more than half of Americans decry it, so it's a free-for-all online and...
God, every issue in society is in this book, and it's so well done and researched. Like placebos and NIMBYS and...
I just can't recommend the entire book. And to be honest, the part about the algorithms is a little dry. But when Hill is on he's a master, you'll marvel. That he did all this research and is laying it out. Poking fun at our society while part of it.
What can a poor boy do?
These are the questions of our society. Who we are and how we interact. This is one reason music does not define the zeitgeist, because it's somehow foreign to what really matters to us. We've got these devices in our hands, that are tailored just to us, everybody's got a different feed, and although the companies do their best to make the experience addictive, it's inherently addictive. And you know why, first and foremost? Because of the people. Meeting people, making friends, is harder the older you get. But on the internet everybody's laying it on the line. You feel an intimacy, it's visceral, something that music does not deliver. It's not about numbers, it's not about grosses, it's about a feeling, an opening, a way to look into life, both yours and others', that's what the music lacks, because it's not honest.
And when you say to put the phone down... Well, don't go to the movies, don't watch television, don't read books... Online is another medium, but even more enticing. There's so much to learn, so much to see...
It starts on page 492, under the heading "The Needy Users - A Drama in Seven Algorithms."
Hell, I'll list them:
1. The EdgeRank Algorithm
2. The Needy User Algorithm
3. The Pattern Recognition Algorithm
4. The Page Rank Algorithm
5. The Deep Learning Artificial Neural Network
6. The Screen Interaction Algorithm
7. The Chatbot
Hill, or his publisher Doubleday, should do a public service and put this section of the book online, for free. And everybody in America should be forced to read it, those in Congress and those in school and those at home who think they know what is going on and don't. Very few know what is really going on.
But you're gonna have to pay attention, if your mind drifts you've got to go back and concentrate. And...
I'm in on a secret. That's what "Wellness" delivered. That's why you read, not only for the fulfillment, but the advantage.
Enough.
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I want to tell you about this book. But I can't recommend you read it.
It's called "Wellness," and it's by Nathan Hill. Reviews have been excellent, Oprah has even endorsed it, but the main reason I got it from the library, the main reason I dug in, was because I positively loved Hill's previous book "The Nix."
"Wellness"? Not as much.
My queue is backed up, I've got so many books I want to read, and "Wellness" is a tome, 689 pages. And the style is kind of funny, in that not that much happens, a lot is backstory or interior monologue and it's off-putting, you want to put the book down. But then you pick it back up again and it resonates and then it doesn't... That's right, you're hot and cold.
Well, I should be saying I'm hot and cold on the book. And the worst thing about it is it does not call out to me, or hasn't until this point, I've got a couple of hours left, I'm about 80% in, it's hard to commit to. My main reading time is after eleven, after Felice goes to bed, when it's dark out and incoming slows down. And I can usually only read if I turn my phone off. But sometimes I'm addicted to my phone and there goes the rest of the evening. Oh, I don't usually go to bed until two, used to be four, and you can judge me all you want, but as they said about Yogi Bear..."He will sleep 'til noon, but before it's dark, he'll have every picnic basket that's in Jellystone Park." Anyway, I don't care. I'm separate from you anyway. The other. I don't fit in, can't be a bro, and I've made peace with that. Not that there are not people on my wavelength... But usually they're musicians, artists.
So, it's taking me even longer to read this long book, because I have trouble dedicating the time to it. But then...
Hill starts depicting these suburbanites, upscale suburbanites, who are into their affirmations, their positive beliefs, you know, the kind when you're ill will talk to you about natural medicine, tell you to see a naturopath rather than an MD. And you can't convince them otherwise, because it's now part of their being, and they don't want you to rain on their parade, they just can't hear anything negative. Actually, I get that a lot, people telling me to stop being negative. So let me get this straight, I'm supposed to give up my filter, just be the pretender, a smiling idiot who professes to love everything? No, I'm looking for excellence, and when I find it... That's why I'm writing this entire screed now.
So you've got two people in college who find each other, ultimately at a rock club, and one is from nowhere Kansas and the other comes from a long line of...what turns out to be robber barons. And over time the money has been washed, people see the family as established, and forget the heinous activities they took part in, or instigated themselves. And Elizabeth wants no part of this. But Hill goes on for pages about Elizabeth's family's backstory, and it's so well done, so on it, that I almost believed that it was real. It was history, it's just the names and the faces were changed, this is how so many made their fortune.
But there's also endless waxing on the prairie, how easterners don't understand it. This goes on for pages, it's all part of Jack's backstory.
And there is a story. Not of Jack and Diane, but Jack and Elizabeth. In the nineties, in Chicago, when the indie scene was flourishing. But this is not a rock book, do not read it expecting so, that's just an element. And then the book jumps to modern times...
There's so much social commentary. There's the issue of relationships. And so much more, seemingly every hot button issue in society, from Big Pharma to sex to...
And then, about two-thirds of the way through, there's an explanation of the algorithm, actually seven algorithms, the ones that Facebook and Google employ.
It's kind of an aside. Kind of like the political stuff in "Anna Karenina." There's an overlay of story, of Jack's father, but what we've got here is... The best explanation of algorithms I've ever seen.
Oh, we all know everything's run by algorithm online, but we don't know the thought behind them, how they work on a granular level, how they're tweaked, and this book explains it. In your mind you can literally see Mark Zuckerberg and his troops coding. All the games these companies play, to hook you and then drop you, to play with your emotions... If everybody read "Wellness" there'd be revolution. Truly. Forget Cambridge Analytica, that's a sideshow compared to this. And it's all made up, not exactly true, but therefore even more true.
That's why you read fiction.
The bottom line is these companies are manipulating us in ways we can't even conceive. It's a giant game and we're just the players, just rats in a cage that they're trying to get us to stay in, so they can make more money.
I know, it sounds simple, and you know all this, but really you don't. It's much more nefarious than that.
And then Hill goes into how people get convinced of falsehoods and then they Google these falsehoods and since the falsehood is linked to more than the truth it's the number one hit and the searcher feels they've got reinforcement. They go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole, they're convinced. QAnon may be laughable to you, but when you read this section of "Wellness" you'll understand exactly how it happened. You'll almost have sympathy for these people, who've been sold a bill of goods. The mainstream media is the enemy, I'd bet more than half of Americans decry it, so it's a free-for-all online and...
God, every issue in society is in this book, and it's so well done and researched. Like placebos and NIMBYS and...
I just can't recommend the entire book. And to be honest, the part about the algorithms is a little dry. But when Hill is on he's a master, you'll marvel. That he did all this research and is laying it out. Poking fun at our society while part of it.
What can a poor boy do?
These are the questions of our society. Who we are and how we interact. This is one reason music does not define the zeitgeist, because it's somehow foreign to what really matters to us. We've got these devices in our hands, that are tailored just to us, everybody's got a different feed, and although the companies do their best to make the experience addictive, it's inherently addictive. And you know why, first and foremost? Because of the people. Meeting people, making friends, is harder the older you get. But on the internet everybody's laying it on the line. You feel an intimacy, it's visceral, something that music does not deliver. It's not about numbers, it's not about grosses, it's about a feeling, an opening, a way to look into life, both yours and others', that's what the music lacks, because it's not honest.
And when you say to put the phone down... Well, don't go to the movies, don't watch television, don't read books... Online is another medium, but even more enticing. There's so much to learn, so much to see...
It starts on page 492, under the heading "The Needy Users - A Drama in Seven Algorithms."
Hell, I'll list them:
1. The EdgeRank Algorithm
2. The Needy User Algorithm
3. The Pattern Recognition Algorithm
4. The Page Rank Algorithm
5. The Deep Learning Artificial Neural Network
6. The Screen Interaction Algorithm
7. The Chatbot
Hill, or his publisher Doubleday, should do a public service and put this section of the book online, for free. And everybody in America should be forced to read it, those in Congress and those in school and those at home who think they know what is going on and don't. Very few know what is really going on.
But you're gonna have to pay attention, if your mind drifts you've got to go back and concentrate. And...
I'm in on a secret. That's what "Wellness" delivered. That's why you read, not only for the fulfillment, but the advantage.
Enough.
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Robin Green Responds
Re: The Only Girl
Well holy fucking sh*t! Hi, it's Robin. A couple business associates sent me what you wrote and you can't imagine - or maybe you can - what it means to me.
The book was such a commercial flop (though it did better in Great Britain) that it wrecked me in a way. I never found out - or asked - what happened. The publisher seemed hot on it then all of a sudden a small run, no book tour, little publicity. Ghosted. My editor went on vacation (later someone told me they heard she had breast cancer) and my publicist moved to another house.
So maybe just bad luck. But I really think the answer lies somewhere in your having written "you may not like Robin Green…". They must have done a focus group and no one did. I know when the proposal went out one New York male editor who didn't like it gave it to his female editors to check his instinct and all their comments registered a definite distaste for me. They thought I was bragging on myself. One guy on Amazon complained I hadn't been a drug addict or been sexually molested so what's the point of a memoir? F*ck them all.
But own husband didn't like it. It put us in couples therapy. I haven't written a word since.
And then your letter. It is some kind of miracle to have found such a reader. I loved the book now here was someone, widely read and respected I'm told, who loved it too. I can't thank you enough. Maybe I shouldn't even be trying, but as you may surmise, even with the wisdom of age, restraint is not my strong suit.
Okay, I'll stop. But just one more thing, okay? What you wrote made we want to think about writing again, and I thank you very much for that.
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Well holy fucking sh*t! Hi, it's Robin. A couple business associates sent me what you wrote and you can't imagine - or maybe you can - what it means to me.
The book was such a commercial flop (though it did better in Great Britain) that it wrecked me in a way. I never found out - or asked - what happened. The publisher seemed hot on it then all of a sudden a small run, no book tour, little publicity. Ghosted. My editor went on vacation (later someone told me they heard she had breast cancer) and my publicist moved to another house.
So maybe just bad luck. But I really think the answer lies somewhere in your having written "you may not like Robin Green…". They must have done a focus group and no one did. I know when the proposal went out one New York male editor who didn't like it gave it to his female editors to check his instinct and all their comments registered a definite distaste for me. They thought I was bragging on myself. One guy on Amazon complained I hadn't been a drug addict or been sexually molested so what's the point of a memoir? F*ck them all.
But own husband didn't like it. It put us in couples therapy. I haven't written a word since.
And then your letter. It is some kind of miracle to have found such a reader. I loved the book now here was someone, widely read and respected I'm told, who loved it too. I can't thank you enough. Maybe I shouldn't even be trying, but as you may surmise, even with the wisdom of age, restraint is not my strong suit.
Okay, I'll stop. But just one more thing, okay? What you wrote made we want to think about writing again, and I thank you very much for that.
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Monday 23 October 2023
Re-The Stones
My inbox is full of people defending the Stones, and that's just sad.
First and foremost, my article wasn't really about the Stones, it was about hype/publicity in general, although I did employ the Stones as an example. But they're not the only ones, only the most egregious, especially because they used to be considered dangerous, as the other. Don't let your daughter sleep with a Rolling Stone? Now your grandmother wants to sleep with a Stone and youngsters don't care.
But the reason I'm writing this is I'm always stunned when fans defend their ancient heroes. You can't say a single negative thing about them, they're inviolate, based on what they've produced previously. Not only is that insane, it disappoints me that these people haven't grown up, can't think for themselves, still need to put others on a pedestal to make their lives complete. Because if their heroes had clay feet, where would they be?
We were young once, and oftentimes stupid and naïve. The goal in life is to experience, to take chances, to develop, to progress. But too many can't do this, they can't let go of who they once were, furthermore they're afraid of the future. And I'll place all this b.s. about the digital age in this box too. The smartphone is here, everyone's now connected, it's exciting, but you keep telling us to go on a digital detox while you still use your flip phone... The joke is on you.
But it gets even broader. Did you see the story in the news about electric cars being a political issue, that the right is against them? What, you want to preserve the dominance of fossil fuels and pollution?
"Electric Cars Were Already Having Issues. Then Things Got Political. The 2024 race for the White House reignites debate over EVs": https://tinyurl.com/2z8kdrn3
But it's even worse, because the Chinese are paragons of electric car excellence. They're gonna eat up the market. Warren Buffett got the message, he invested in BYD, and he's probably older than you are, but you're inured to the past, you can't let go. And not everything is us vs. them.
The most interesting story I read in the past two weeks was this:
"China's E.V. Threat: A Carmaker That Loses $35,000 a Car - Chinese electric vehicle companies like Nio are pulling ever further ahead, partly through government support but also through rapid technological advances.": https://tinyurl.com/3vxkz5uj
That's really all you have to know, the headline is enough. I'll make it quite simple, in China the GOVERNMENT is underwriting, subsidizing, electric car development. In the U.S. we can't even have a working government, never mind subsidize industry for the future. Hell, someone just wrote a whole book about it, excerpted in yesterday's "New York Times Magazine":
"Longer Commutes, Shorter Lives: The Costs of Not Investing in America - For decades, spending on the future put the nation ahead of all others. What would it take to revive that spirit?": https://tinyurl.com/2t8scj62
It's simple, St. Reagan declared the government the enemy and the goal of the right is to eliminate federal spending, and on the left many want lower taxes too, the narrative has gone off course, far from the right direction, because it's government investment that has made America what it is today, can you say INTERNET?
Yes, that was a government defense program.
Our government is gridlocked and we're falling behind. We used to spend a ton on R&D, on fixing, on improving America. But no longer, because you earned that damn money and you're entitled to keep it and the government wastes bucks. But this book makes it clear, if you spend you waste, not every investment pays off, just ask a venture capitalist. But no, we must not invest in anything.
This is not the country I grew up in.
But my generation, I'm disappointed in it. The Gen-X'ers too. Because they've refused to grow up.
You know, like the rock writers who still have long hair and wear a motorcycle jacket. Don't you know the rest of us are laughing at you? You're anything but cool, you're frozen in time, and you never even rode a motorcycle, never mind never played in a band.
It's bad enough that the bands are frozen in time, but do you have to be too?
That's one weird thing about growing up, you realize these musicians are just people. Some stayed artists, kept exploring, like David Bowie, but most just rested on their laurels, once they made it they were afraid to risk.
These bands don't care about you. Not whatsoever. In truth, most successful people, the rich you adore, never mind the musicians, don't want to hang with you, they don't want to be friends with you, they just want your money to support their lifestyle. They want to live behind gates, never fly commercial and vacation on private islands. They want nothing to do with the hoi polloi, despite constantly praising their fans. It's a joke. But it's on you.
I mean you're in your fifties, sixties and seventies and you're still looking to Mick and Keith for guidance? Mick, a man who loves money and the fabulous lifestyle much more than you. And Keith is a bit more admirable, but he seems to be the only drinker and drugger who survived, the rest of them succumbed to their vices.
But maybe you're drinking and drugging yourself, thinking you're cool. They call marijuana (or its bogus highfalutin' name "cannabis") dope for a reason, because it makes you stupid. Come on, that's one of the amazing things about growing older, all the stoners of the past, they've gone straight. And so many drinkers are now sober. And you know why? Because they realized these substances were impairing their lives, killing them. But you still revere the rock and roll lifestyle. I get it if you're a teenager or a twentysomething, but at this age? You've got to be kidding.
You see these people grew up and you didn't. I mean if you want to go to the show to hear your favorites, be my guest. But don't tell me about the deeper meaning. It's a show, that's it. There are people to believe in today, but they're not musicians.
And then the inane e-mail about how Spotify killed the music business, it's the devil! Now let me get this straight, the physical world of twelve songs for more than ten bucks on a plastic disc was going to survive? The iPod didn't survive, and it was launched in the twenty first century! The landline has been superseded by the cellphone. But no, music must remain static, the way it used to be, because... Nothing stays the same except you!
It's one thing if you're in one of these bands and you blow back after I diss you, I completely understand that, although I'd never do it, that's rule number one of the internet, you never respond, never fight back, it just pours gasoline on the fire. But it's the people not mentioned, who aren't in the band, who never worked for the band, never worked anywhere near the music business who defend these musicians so prodigiously.
You can't say anything negative about a star of the past because..?
You can say negative stuff about a politician, or a movie star, but since a musician once spoke from their heart, impacted the culture, they get a pass for all time?
Believe me, it's scary growing up, maturing. Talk about satisfaction, I can name a bunch of streaming series that deliver more than the work of any musician. Because music has changed. As the world has changed. Musicians used to be as rich as anybody in America, that's no longer the case. And to make money they're whoring themselves out, which was my point to begin with, which is damn sad, assuming unlike them you grew up.
Are you really that immature? Are you really wearing blinders?
Let's see, you have aches and pains. You can't run as fast, if at all. But in your brain you're still twenty years old, living under a paradigm that evaporated half a century ago.
That was my point. We live in a new world, and you must adjust for a new world. But the key thing if you're an artist is not to sacrifice your values, assuming you had any at all to begin with. Those are the bedrock, the attitudes, the beliefs, who you are at the core. I mean the Stones hanging with Jimmy Fallon? Make me puke.
What did John Lennon sing?
"I just believe in me, Yoko, and me, and that's reality"
Lennon was in the biggest band in the land, in the entire world, and he could see the emptiness at the core. That it's all about the individual, that the mania is bogus.
"And so, dear friends
You'll just have to carry on
The dream is over"
Don't you get it? You were told to think for yourself (by George Harrison too!) and you just couldn't do it. It was too heavy a lift, too much responsibility.
Now Joe Walsh once said that the challenge wasn't dying at twenty seven, but living. Who knows what John Lennon would be like at eighty. He's lucky, his image is frozen in the past. But Walsh was a serious alcoholic and cleaned up. I once sat in a bar with him in Vancouver and he was drunk and nasty, but that's not the sober Joe at all, and he can still play, even better.
And Don Henley cut his hair. But you're still wearing it long. Why?
I'll make this simple...
GROW UP!
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First and foremost, my article wasn't really about the Stones, it was about hype/publicity in general, although I did employ the Stones as an example. But they're not the only ones, only the most egregious, especially because they used to be considered dangerous, as the other. Don't let your daughter sleep with a Rolling Stone? Now your grandmother wants to sleep with a Stone and youngsters don't care.
But the reason I'm writing this is I'm always stunned when fans defend their ancient heroes. You can't say a single negative thing about them, they're inviolate, based on what they've produced previously. Not only is that insane, it disappoints me that these people haven't grown up, can't think for themselves, still need to put others on a pedestal to make their lives complete. Because if their heroes had clay feet, where would they be?
We were young once, and oftentimes stupid and naïve. The goal in life is to experience, to take chances, to develop, to progress. But too many can't do this, they can't let go of who they once were, furthermore they're afraid of the future. And I'll place all this b.s. about the digital age in this box too. The smartphone is here, everyone's now connected, it's exciting, but you keep telling us to go on a digital detox while you still use your flip phone... The joke is on you.
But it gets even broader. Did you see the story in the news about electric cars being a political issue, that the right is against them? What, you want to preserve the dominance of fossil fuels and pollution?
"Electric Cars Were Already Having Issues. Then Things Got Political. The 2024 race for the White House reignites debate over EVs": https://tinyurl.com/2z8kdrn3
But it's even worse, because the Chinese are paragons of electric car excellence. They're gonna eat up the market. Warren Buffett got the message, he invested in BYD, and he's probably older than you are, but you're inured to the past, you can't let go. And not everything is us vs. them.
The most interesting story I read in the past two weeks was this:
"China's E.V. Threat: A Carmaker That Loses $35,000 a Car - Chinese electric vehicle companies like Nio are pulling ever further ahead, partly through government support but also through rapid technological advances.": https://tinyurl.com/3vxkz5uj
That's really all you have to know, the headline is enough. I'll make it quite simple, in China the GOVERNMENT is underwriting, subsidizing, electric car development. In the U.S. we can't even have a working government, never mind subsidize industry for the future. Hell, someone just wrote a whole book about it, excerpted in yesterday's "New York Times Magazine":
"Longer Commutes, Shorter Lives: The Costs of Not Investing in America - For decades, spending on the future put the nation ahead of all others. What would it take to revive that spirit?": https://tinyurl.com/2t8scj62
It's simple, St. Reagan declared the government the enemy and the goal of the right is to eliminate federal spending, and on the left many want lower taxes too, the narrative has gone off course, far from the right direction, because it's government investment that has made America what it is today, can you say INTERNET?
Yes, that was a government defense program.
Our government is gridlocked and we're falling behind. We used to spend a ton on R&D, on fixing, on improving America. But no longer, because you earned that damn money and you're entitled to keep it and the government wastes bucks. But this book makes it clear, if you spend you waste, not every investment pays off, just ask a venture capitalist. But no, we must not invest in anything.
This is not the country I grew up in.
But my generation, I'm disappointed in it. The Gen-X'ers too. Because they've refused to grow up.
You know, like the rock writers who still have long hair and wear a motorcycle jacket. Don't you know the rest of us are laughing at you? You're anything but cool, you're frozen in time, and you never even rode a motorcycle, never mind never played in a band.
It's bad enough that the bands are frozen in time, but do you have to be too?
That's one weird thing about growing up, you realize these musicians are just people. Some stayed artists, kept exploring, like David Bowie, but most just rested on their laurels, once they made it they were afraid to risk.
These bands don't care about you. Not whatsoever. In truth, most successful people, the rich you adore, never mind the musicians, don't want to hang with you, they don't want to be friends with you, they just want your money to support their lifestyle. They want to live behind gates, never fly commercial and vacation on private islands. They want nothing to do with the hoi polloi, despite constantly praising their fans. It's a joke. But it's on you.
I mean you're in your fifties, sixties and seventies and you're still looking to Mick and Keith for guidance? Mick, a man who loves money and the fabulous lifestyle much more than you. And Keith is a bit more admirable, but he seems to be the only drinker and drugger who survived, the rest of them succumbed to their vices.
But maybe you're drinking and drugging yourself, thinking you're cool. They call marijuana (or its bogus highfalutin' name "cannabis") dope for a reason, because it makes you stupid. Come on, that's one of the amazing things about growing older, all the stoners of the past, they've gone straight. And so many drinkers are now sober. And you know why? Because they realized these substances were impairing their lives, killing them. But you still revere the rock and roll lifestyle. I get it if you're a teenager or a twentysomething, but at this age? You've got to be kidding.
You see these people grew up and you didn't. I mean if you want to go to the show to hear your favorites, be my guest. But don't tell me about the deeper meaning. It's a show, that's it. There are people to believe in today, but they're not musicians.
And then the inane e-mail about how Spotify killed the music business, it's the devil! Now let me get this straight, the physical world of twelve songs for more than ten bucks on a plastic disc was going to survive? The iPod didn't survive, and it was launched in the twenty first century! The landline has been superseded by the cellphone. But no, music must remain static, the way it used to be, because... Nothing stays the same except you!
It's one thing if you're in one of these bands and you blow back after I diss you, I completely understand that, although I'd never do it, that's rule number one of the internet, you never respond, never fight back, it just pours gasoline on the fire. But it's the people not mentioned, who aren't in the band, who never worked for the band, never worked anywhere near the music business who defend these musicians so prodigiously.
You can't say anything negative about a star of the past because..?
You can say negative stuff about a politician, or a movie star, but since a musician once spoke from their heart, impacted the culture, they get a pass for all time?
Believe me, it's scary growing up, maturing. Talk about satisfaction, I can name a bunch of streaming series that deliver more than the work of any musician. Because music has changed. As the world has changed. Musicians used to be as rich as anybody in America, that's no longer the case. And to make money they're whoring themselves out, which was my point to begin with, which is damn sad, assuming unlike them you grew up.
Are you really that immature? Are you really wearing blinders?
Let's see, you have aches and pains. You can't run as fast, if at all. But in your brain you're still twenty years old, living under a paradigm that evaporated half a century ago.
That was my point. We live in a new world, and you must adjust for a new world. But the key thing if you're an artist is not to sacrifice your values, assuming you had any at all to begin with. Those are the bedrock, the attitudes, the beliefs, who you are at the core. I mean the Stones hanging with Jimmy Fallon? Make me puke.
What did John Lennon sing?
"I just believe in me, Yoko, and me, and that's reality"
Lennon was in the biggest band in the land, in the entire world, and he could see the emptiness at the core. That it's all about the individual, that the mania is bogus.
"And so, dear friends
You'll just have to carry on
The dream is over"
Don't you get it? You were told to think for yourself (by George Harrison too!) and you just couldn't do it. It was too heavy a lift, too much responsibility.
Now Joe Walsh once said that the challenge wasn't dying at twenty seven, but living. Who knows what John Lennon would be like at eighty. He's lucky, his image is frozen in the past. But Walsh was a serious alcoholic and cleaned up. I once sat in a bar with him in Vancouver and he was drunk and nasty, but that's not the sober Joe at all, and he can still play, even better.
And Don Henley cut his hair. But you're still wearing it long. Why?
I'll make this simple...
GROW UP!
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Fall Freshman Year Playlist
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/48bk7zfw
"Space Captain":
Joe Cocker - "Mad Dogs & Englishmen"
"To Cry You a Song"
Jethro Tull - "Benefit"
"Don't Let It Bring You Down"
Neil Young - "After the Gold Rush"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVy1h2FcRiM
"Fire and Water"
Free - "Fire & Water"
"Brand New Day"
Al Kooper - "Easy Does It"
"Gallows Pole"
Led Zeppelin - "Led Zeppelin III"
"The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show"
The Band - "Stage Fright"
"Stray Cat Blues"
Rolling Stones - "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out"
"Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers"
Firesign Theatre
"Hollywood #1"
Thunderclap Newman - "Hollywood Dream"
"What Now America"
Lee Michaels - "Barrel"
"Mother's Daughter"
Santana - "Abraxas"
"Box of Rain"
Grateful Dead - "American Beauty"
"Do For the Others"
Stephen Stills - "Stephen Stills"
"Gasoline Alley"
Rod Stewart - "Gasoline Alley"
"Domino"
Van Morrison - "His Band and the Street Choir"
"Have You Seen the Stars Tonight"
Jefferson Starship - "Blows Against the Empire"
"Superstar"
"Jesus Christ Superstar"
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"Space Captain":
Joe Cocker - "Mad Dogs & Englishmen"
"To Cry You a Song"
Jethro Tull - "Benefit"
"Don't Let It Bring You Down"
Neil Young - "After the Gold Rush"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVy1h2FcRiM
"Fire and Water"
Free - "Fire & Water"
"Brand New Day"
Al Kooper - "Easy Does It"
"Gallows Pole"
Led Zeppelin - "Led Zeppelin III"
"The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show"
The Band - "Stage Fright"
"Stray Cat Blues"
Rolling Stones - "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out"
"Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers"
Firesign Theatre
"Hollywood #1"
Thunderclap Newman - "Hollywood Dream"
"What Now America"
Lee Michaels - "Barrel"
"Mother's Daughter"
Santana - "Abraxas"
"Box of Rain"
Grateful Dead - "American Beauty"
"Do For the Others"
Stephen Stills - "Stephen Stills"
"Gasoline Alley"
Rod Stewart - "Gasoline Alley"
"Domino"
Van Morrison - "His Band and the Street Choir"
"Have You Seen the Stars Tonight"
Jefferson Starship - "Blows Against the Empire"
"Superstar"
"Jesus Christ Superstar"
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The Other
Rock stars are just like you and me. They beg for publicity and will do anything to get attention. Even worse, it usually doesn't work.
Do you know the Rolling Stones have a new album? You probably do, Mick and Keith have been everywhere. But despite the hype, you probably haven't bothered to listen to "Hackney Diamonds," of its twelve songs, only five have more than one million streams on Spotify, three just breaking that number, and "Angry" and "Sweet Sounds of Heaven," released weeks previously, have ten million and four million respectively.
Now compare this to the Spotify Top 50, the Global Daily Top 50, wherein the number one cut, "Seven," by Jung Kook and Latto, got five million plus streams and number 50, "Ella Baila Sola," by Eslabon Armado and Peso Puma, got nearly one point seven million streams. Once again, these are in one day! It's like "Hackney Diamonds" doesn't exist.
Except in the publicity world. The three remaining original Stones, which are really only two, have been featured everywhere, and it makes me wince, because once upon a time the Stones were considered dangerous.
Now, not everybody has taken this path. Robert Plant has been on a crusade to undercut his golden god image from Led Zeppelin and create a new, more credible one as a roots singer. And Paul McCartney... Well, he was always considered somewhat lightweight, personality-wise, and he's continuing in the same role. Then again, he needs to be everywhere, he needs to remind us he's a Beatle, but the Fab Four made it on mania, the Stones were the anti, maybe even the Antichrist.
This is what rock was based on. This was part of its draw, what made it classic. The hitmakers existed in their own world, separate from the rest of us. The rules did not apply to them. They tore up hotel rooms and their handlers whipped off hundred dollar bills to pay for the damage. They bedded women ad infinitum, just being a star seemed to make everyone desire them, and they slept 'til noon and did drugs and now...
They're just like you and me. And it's creepy.
They don't lead with their music, they lead with the hype. They're little different from the social media influencers, except these online denizens do it better.
Yes, the influencers know the game, don't show up every few years, but every day. They know who their audience is and they play to it and no one else. Furthermore, when they try to cross over to the mainstream, they almost always fail. Because most people don't care. But most people don't care about anything! This is why I want you to read Taylor Lorenz's book, because you probably won't know almost anybody in it but they're making a ton more dough than all those wankers bitching about Spotify payments. They're young, they're not burdened by legacy constructs, they're inventing and doing it their way. Whereas...
Mick Jagger is on SNL. And my one takeaway was that he's got bad teeth. Keith fixed his, albeit with too-white veneers or caps. I knew it was him at the Hollywood Bowl because when he came out on stage his teeth beamed. Somewhere in between the two is truth, is reality.
And even fiction is more truthful than reality. In "Nada," the surprise star is Robert DeNiro, yes, in an Argentinian TV series. And up close and personal you can see that he hasn't whitened his teeth. His hair is gray on the verge of white and DeNiro looks like a real person, unlike all the old musicians who get plastic surgery to look the same age as they did when they had their hits, decades ago. DeNiro has authenticity, these rockers do not. The rockers with surgery, and you can always tell (the only two people who ever got plastic surgery and still looked like themselves were Susan Sarandon and Christie Brinkley, and now the latter has crossed that threshold with too much work), don't seem to exist in the real world, they seem frozen in time. Ultimately it's the songs that are the stars, which is why Journey can still do such great business sans Steve Perry. Then again, if Perry was in the band it would be different, because Perry hasn't whored himself out left and right.
Then again, Perry's new album, he had one a few years back, don't you know, stiffed. And the Stones are fearful that their album will do so as well. Then again, Perry did not put his out under the moniker "Journey" and it did not get good reviews, unlike "Hackney Diamonds," which is perceived as a return to form, the best Stones work in decades.
And either you care or you don't.
But it seems that the Stones care more than the audience.
Kind of like Van Morrison. He constantly puts out new music to near crickets, but it doesn't bother him, he still does prodigious business on the road. And you've got to give credit to Van the Man for being a unique individual, going his own way, with inane statements about the coronavirus and more.
Oh, don't tell me you agree, believe me the aged audience that still cares all got the jab, they do their best to rationalize Morrison's ramblings in order to go to the show. As for Clapton... He played a show for RFK, Jr. I didn't go to his Crossroads guitar festival as as a result. I don't want to give him a dime. This guy has lost the plot and is using his pulpit to spew false information, we must protest this in a world where truth is elusive. Even worse, Clapton keeps doubling down. Eric looks like a doddering old madman, whereas that's part of Van's personality, he was always seen as difficult and crazy.
To make it even more complicated, let's venture into the hip-hop world, where boasting and getting paid is part of the ethos. Unfortunately, this has rendered so much of the oeuvre a cartoon. And think about it, the most successful rapper is Drake, who appeared on "DeGrassi," he's cuddly and safe and that's all right, but if you think it's the way it used to be, you've got memory problems.
Now in truth a lot of the hip-hop world is still dangerous. You wonder how these people live in mansions and have a number of exotic automobiles? Because a lot of their income flies under the radar, they show up at a club to rap to tape and... And then there's the sponsorship, the endorsements, they've figured out a new way to get paid, read "Rap Capital" by the "New York Times"'s Joe Coscarelli, your eyes might bug out. Then again, "Rap Capital" is a tome that isn't that easy to read, and you'd rather rag on influencers and hate on Taylor Lorenz than listen to what she has to say. Ain't that America, where you decry the other side and don't even investigate what they have to say.
So what's a poor boy to do?
Certainly not play in a rock and roll band. Odds are you won't be heard and if money is your thing, there are so many better, easier ways to make bank, like at the bank itself! As for getting laid... With smartphone cameras everywhere, you can't do what you used to. The old lifestyle doesn't exist anymore.
So what do the Stones do? Become all warm and cuddly. So you'll like them, so you'll go see them. Whereas most people go to see them because they're afraid this will be the last tour, and they want to relive their memories. It's positively calcified, but they've got a new album!
In a world where there's so much music you don't even bother to listen to it. Come on, in the old days you would have bought "Hackney Diamonds" on Friday and played it incessantly thereafter, waiting for it to reveal itself.
Now?
Why bother. I mean a record isn't going to change the world. And the musicians are sold-out whores who will do anything for a buck. There are people standing up for their beliefs everywhere, but the Stones have neutered their personalities and...
Maybe this is who they always were, maybe the image is a fiction. Then again, they did have to cleanse Keith Richards's blood in order for him to go on tour.
Yes, what a long strange trip it's been. If you died early, your image is intact. But if you continue to live, you can't make new music that matters, you're in limbo, so what do you do?
Let's be clear, Don Henley gets it. The Eagles don't put out new music, he admits what the band is, him and a bunch of sidemen, and they go on the road and render perfect renditions of their hits. They don't need to be in your face constantly, because they know the people will show up at the gig anyway, that all the hype and publicity has got nothing to do with it.
And they'll show up at the Stones shows too, no one will listen to "Hackney Diamonds" and decide now's the time to lay down triple digits to see the band, they decided whether to go or not years back.
And as perfect as the Eagles are, that's how rough the Stones are. But that's what the Stones are selling live, and it works, they're better than they've been in years. So if you haven't gone in a while, I implore you to, if you care.
But as for the belief that these are bad boys aligned with the devil, doing drugs in dungeons, that ship sailed long ago.
Meanwhile, you've got people living on fumes, trying to emulate the lifestyle, still with long hair and leather and that's creepy too.
You must live, you must evolve, but that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your identity.
And you don't need to beg for attention. I saw the three remaining Stones on the cover of "Hits," which most people are unaware exists, never mind in print. And if you're on the cover that means Dennis and Lenny are getting paid. I mean do you really need to stoop that low? Oh, someone said they were connected at radio, which doesn't even break records anymore anyway, that happens online.
Which means if you're going to promote your record at all, you figure out who your fans are and market directly to them. This shotgun approach, trying to reach everyone, banging us over the head with your new project, just angers us. We get it, you've got new music, next!
The Stones could have been true to form, to identity, could have been dangerous, but they were afraid, so they blinked.
Maybe you don't care. Then again, you're not listening to "Hackney Diamonds."
But my point is not about the Stones anyway, they're just the latest exponent. My point is the old paradigm is dead. Which is one reason today's music is not as good as yesterday's. Bill Graham complained that every time the Jefferson Airplane got paid they wanted to stay at home and smoke dope, they didn't want to work. Which is why whatever I write here people will respond by saying look at the money! Whenever I analyze the nuances that's the response. Look at how much they're making! Which is exactly the problem. When you put money first, you lose your soul. And if you're doing it right there's enough money for everyone anyway, never mind that oftentimes it's not that much, you can't buy a private jet, you can't even fly private!
The records are inviolate. You can hear "Sympathy for the Devil" and still remember the danger. Ditto seeing the band on stage doing "Midnight Rambler" in '69 or '72. Your memories are frozen in time.
But everyone grew up. You're no longer in thrall to the rockers, they're just entertainment. Something to do on a Saturday night. Your lifestyle is pretty good itself, otherwise you wouldn't be able to pay the sky high ticket prices. Yes, you're just as good as Mick and Keith. An equal.
And that's not the way it used to be.
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Do you know the Rolling Stones have a new album? You probably do, Mick and Keith have been everywhere. But despite the hype, you probably haven't bothered to listen to "Hackney Diamonds," of its twelve songs, only five have more than one million streams on Spotify, three just breaking that number, and "Angry" and "Sweet Sounds of Heaven," released weeks previously, have ten million and four million respectively.
Now compare this to the Spotify Top 50, the Global Daily Top 50, wherein the number one cut, "Seven," by Jung Kook and Latto, got five million plus streams and number 50, "Ella Baila Sola," by Eslabon Armado and Peso Puma, got nearly one point seven million streams. Once again, these are in one day! It's like "Hackney Diamonds" doesn't exist.
Except in the publicity world. The three remaining original Stones, which are really only two, have been featured everywhere, and it makes me wince, because once upon a time the Stones were considered dangerous.
Now, not everybody has taken this path. Robert Plant has been on a crusade to undercut his golden god image from Led Zeppelin and create a new, more credible one as a roots singer. And Paul McCartney... Well, he was always considered somewhat lightweight, personality-wise, and he's continuing in the same role. Then again, he needs to be everywhere, he needs to remind us he's a Beatle, but the Fab Four made it on mania, the Stones were the anti, maybe even the Antichrist.
This is what rock was based on. This was part of its draw, what made it classic. The hitmakers existed in their own world, separate from the rest of us. The rules did not apply to them. They tore up hotel rooms and their handlers whipped off hundred dollar bills to pay for the damage. They bedded women ad infinitum, just being a star seemed to make everyone desire them, and they slept 'til noon and did drugs and now...
They're just like you and me. And it's creepy.
They don't lead with their music, they lead with the hype. They're little different from the social media influencers, except these online denizens do it better.
Yes, the influencers know the game, don't show up every few years, but every day. They know who their audience is and they play to it and no one else. Furthermore, when they try to cross over to the mainstream, they almost always fail. Because most people don't care. But most people don't care about anything! This is why I want you to read Taylor Lorenz's book, because you probably won't know almost anybody in it but they're making a ton more dough than all those wankers bitching about Spotify payments. They're young, they're not burdened by legacy constructs, they're inventing and doing it their way. Whereas...
Mick Jagger is on SNL. And my one takeaway was that he's got bad teeth. Keith fixed his, albeit with too-white veneers or caps. I knew it was him at the Hollywood Bowl because when he came out on stage his teeth beamed. Somewhere in between the two is truth, is reality.
And even fiction is more truthful than reality. In "Nada," the surprise star is Robert DeNiro, yes, in an Argentinian TV series. And up close and personal you can see that he hasn't whitened his teeth. His hair is gray on the verge of white and DeNiro looks like a real person, unlike all the old musicians who get plastic surgery to look the same age as they did when they had their hits, decades ago. DeNiro has authenticity, these rockers do not. The rockers with surgery, and you can always tell (the only two people who ever got plastic surgery and still looked like themselves were Susan Sarandon and Christie Brinkley, and now the latter has crossed that threshold with too much work), don't seem to exist in the real world, they seem frozen in time. Ultimately it's the songs that are the stars, which is why Journey can still do such great business sans Steve Perry. Then again, if Perry was in the band it would be different, because Perry hasn't whored himself out left and right.
Then again, Perry's new album, he had one a few years back, don't you know, stiffed. And the Stones are fearful that their album will do so as well. Then again, Perry did not put his out under the moniker "Journey" and it did not get good reviews, unlike "Hackney Diamonds," which is perceived as a return to form, the best Stones work in decades.
And either you care or you don't.
But it seems that the Stones care more than the audience.
Kind of like Van Morrison. He constantly puts out new music to near crickets, but it doesn't bother him, he still does prodigious business on the road. And you've got to give credit to Van the Man for being a unique individual, going his own way, with inane statements about the coronavirus and more.
Oh, don't tell me you agree, believe me the aged audience that still cares all got the jab, they do their best to rationalize Morrison's ramblings in order to go to the show. As for Clapton... He played a show for RFK, Jr. I didn't go to his Crossroads guitar festival as as a result. I don't want to give him a dime. This guy has lost the plot and is using his pulpit to spew false information, we must protest this in a world where truth is elusive. Even worse, Clapton keeps doubling down. Eric looks like a doddering old madman, whereas that's part of Van's personality, he was always seen as difficult and crazy.
To make it even more complicated, let's venture into the hip-hop world, where boasting and getting paid is part of the ethos. Unfortunately, this has rendered so much of the oeuvre a cartoon. And think about it, the most successful rapper is Drake, who appeared on "DeGrassi," he's cuddly and safe and that's all right, but if you think it's the way it used to be, you've got memory problems.
Now in truth a lot of the hip-hop world is still dangerous. You wonder how these people live in mansions and have a number of exotic automobiles? Because a lot of their income flies under the radar, they show up at a club to rap to tape and... And then there's the sponsorship, the endorsements, they've figured out a new way to get paid, read "Rap Capital" by the "New York Times"'s Joe Coscarelli, your eyes might bug out. Then again, "Rap Capital" is a tome that isn't that easy to read, and you'd rather rag on influencers and hate on Taylor Lorenz than listen to what she has to say. Ain't that America, where you decry the other side and don't even investigate what they have to say.
So what's a poor boy to do?
Certainly not play in a rock and roll band. Odds are you won't be heard and if money is your thing, there are so many better, easier ways to make bank, like at the bank itself! As for getting laid... With smartphone cameras everywhere, you can't do what you used to. The old lifestyle doesn't exist anymore.
So what do the Stones do? Become all warm and cuddly. So you'll like them, so you'll go see them. Whereas most people go to see them because they're afraid this will be the last tour, and they want to relive their memories. It's positively calcified, but they've got a new album!
In a world where there's so much music you don't even bother to listen to it. Come on, in the old days you would have bought "Hackney Diamonds" on Friday and played it incessantly thereafter, waiting for it to reveal itself.
Now?
Why bother. I mean a record isn't going to change the world. And the musicians are sold-out whores who will do anything for a buck. There are people standing up for their beliefs everywhere, but the Stones have neutered their personalities and...
Maybe this is who they always were, maybe the image is a fiction. Then again, they did have to cleanse Keith Richards's blood in order for him to go on tour.
Yes, what a long strange trip it's been. If you died early, your image is intact. But if you continue to live, you can't make new music that matters, you're in limbo, so what do you do?
Let's be clear, Don Henley gets it. The Eagles don't put out new music, he admits what the band is, him and a bunch of sidemen, and they go on the road and render perfect renditions of their hits. They don't need to be in your face constantly, because they know the people will show up at the gig anyway, that all the hype and publicity has got nothing to do with it.
And they'll show up at the Stones shows too, no one will listen to "Hackney Diamonds" and decide now's the time to lay down triple digits to see the band, they decided whether to go or not years back.
And as perfect as the Eagles are, that's how rough the Stones are. But that's what the Stones are selling live, and it works, they're better than they've been in years. So if you haven't gone in a while, I implore you to, if you care.
But as for the belief that these are bad boys aligned with the devil, doing drugs in dungeons, that ship sailed long ago.
Meanwhile, you've got people living on fumes, trying to emulate the lifestyle, still with long hair and leather and that's creepy too.
You must live, you must evolve, but that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your identity.
And you don't need to beg for attention. I saw the three remaining Stones on the cover of "Hits," which most people are unaware exists, never mind in print. And if you're on the cover that means Dennis and Lenny are getting paid. I mean do you really need to stoop that low? Oh, someone said they were connected at radio, which doesn't even break records anymore anyway, that happens online.
Which means if you're going to promote your record at all, you figure out who your fans are and market directly to them. This shotgun approach, trying to reach everyone, banging us over the head with your new project, just angers us. We get it, you've got new music, next!
The Stones could have been true to form, to identity, could have been dangerous, but they were afraid, so they blinked.
Maybe you don't care. Then again, you're not listening to "Hackney Diamonds."
But my point is not about the Stones anyway, they're just the latest exponent. My point is the old paradigm is dead. Which is one reason today's music is not as good as yesterday's. Bill Graham complained that every time the Jefferson Airplane got paid they wanted to stay at home and smoke dope, they didn't want to work. Which is why whatever I write here people will respond by saying look at the money! Whenever I analyze the nuances that's the response. Look at how much they're making! Which is exactly the problem. When you put money first, you lose your soul. And if you're doing it right there's enough money for everyone anyway, never mind that oftentimes it's not that much, you can't buy a private jet, you can't even fly private!
The records are inviolate. You can hear "Sympathy for the Devil" and still remember the danger. Ditto seeing the band on stage doing "Midnight Rambler" in '69 or '72. Your memories are frozen in time.
But everyone grew up. You're no longer in thrall to the rockers, they're just entertainment. Something to do on a Saturday night. Your lifestyle is pretty good itself, otherwise you wouldn't be able to pay the sky high ticket prices. Yes, you're just as good as Mick and Keith. An equal.
And that's not the way it used to be.
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