Tune in Saturday June 14th 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 14 June 2024
Thursday 13 June 2024
Jelly Roll-I Am Not Okay
Spotify: https://t.ly/c7AqJ
YouTube: https://shorturl.at/e9cCG
1
So I'm locked in traffic listening to Jelly Roll tell Howard Stern about his new song "I Am Not Okay," a sentiment many feel but do not admit, and then Mr. Roll sings it with the band and I'm blown away. At first I wonder if it's a recording, or whether there are hard drives involved. But there's a full band and with a voice this good, no wonder he's a star.
Mainstream media is picking up on the Balkanization in music. Took too long, but now the truth is evident:
"Why Pop Music Is So 'Meh' Right Now - New releases by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa were supposed to be huge. Instead, they have fallen short of past works."
Free link: https://t.ly/bJo46
In other words, despite the onslaught of hype the acts they tell us are so big, are not. The "Wall Street Journal" is blaming it on quality, but no matter how good your record is, you can't reach everybody:
"But today, with the world awash in content, TikTok rewriting labels' playbooks and listeners burrowing deeper into their own personalized niches, even avid pop fans don't recognize what's in the Billboard top 10. In such a decentralized market, pop stars face fierce competition. Disappointing albums, in turn, can hurt concert sales. It all adds up to music executives across genres seeming to wield less power over the star-making machinery than ever."
Uh-oh, with Lucian Grainge and the rest of the honchos tailoring their businesses for Wall Street this is bad news. They keep telling the Street everything is going up, up, up, but it appears there's a hole in the bucket. Sure, their catalogs are blue chip revenue machines, but having focused on a handful of tentpole artists, they're missing the mark just like the movie studios. Turns out everybody doesn't want the same thing, and despite the constant press hoopla, there isn't even consensus that these "hits" are any good. Furthermore, as we've learned in the past, if you're a hit-based artist, you're dependent upon hits, when they dry up, so do your ticket sales. Turns out in music the tortoise caring most about the music, oftentimes written alone without committee, have hard core fans who will keep them alive through thick and thin, whereas those with the ink do not, at least not in prodigious numbers.
Think about this... Tours are being canceled and now records too. In other words, most of the public is just not interested.
As for the WSJ's argument that the music isn't that good... People have been denying this throughout the twenty first century, but that is the truth. I'm not saying there's not good stuff out there, but that which captures the zeitgeist, that which gets everybody talking, doesn't exist. Not in a major way, at least.
What has happened here is we've lived through the MTV era and the advent of the internet and the post-Covid blip, and now what? Now that people are more discerning, and are leaving the house less immune to hype.
Contrary to what complaining artists are telling us, distribution has been figured out, better than in any other entertainment vertical. It's the software we've got a problem with, i.e. music. The tools of creation are in the hands of the proletariat, distribution costs are de minimis, it's no longer a rigged system, do people really want to listen to your music?
An even bigger question is whether the era of dominant superstars and hits is history. Or whether the new model is something more like Zach Bryan, who bubbled up from the bottom, who made it on songs first and foremost, garnered a core audience and then grew, who performs sans trappings, who is selling authenticity.
And Jelly Roll is selling something similar.
Zach Bryan is a hell of a lot more serious. And Jelly Roll has been caught up in the machine in a way that Bryan, an anti-star, has not. But could it be that Jelly's success is well-deserved? That Mr. Roll has learned something in his thirty nine years that the youngsters populating the hit parade have not? Roll is breaking the rules. And we love nothing more. Older, obese man with a sweet voice sings songs that resonate and...
People rally around him.
2
Let's be clear, Jelly Roll is operating in a controlled market, the last one that means anything, country radio. The playlist is defined and acolytes still listen, which is not the case in other genres. And that gives acts a leg up.
Then again, Morgan Wallen is the biggest act in America.
People hate when I say this. They've got a million beefs. But if you look at the statistics, it's Wallen all the way. Not only does he make albums that stay in the Top Ten for a year, he sells out stadiums and has hit after hit after hit.
Which you can hear if you'd just play the damn record. Yes, he's got that southern accent, but you accepted Tom Petty, didn't you? Yes, he used the "N-word" and threw a chair off the rooftop...as for the latter, my inbox is filled with people calling that rock star behavior, de rigueur in the seventies. My point here is, does Morgan Wallen deserve to be cancelled? There was pushback against DEI, against woke and now they've come for cancellation. We all make mistakes. When did this one strike and you're out culture become dominant? You can't learn a lesson, you can't improve? And those who say no change can be made cause an equal reaction on the other side. Which is why you've got Bill Burr saying there is no more cancellation, and Jerry Seinfeld saying essentially the same thing. It's kind of like the supposed ubiquitous hitmakers in the "Wall Street Journal" article...the press is out of touch with the people.
But my point with Wallen is you can sing along. Good luck singing along with most of the Spotify Top 50. Never mind that so many of those acts can't really sing.
But Jelly Roll can.
"I am not okay
I'm barely gettin' by
I'm losin' track of days
And losin' sleep at night
I am not okay
I'm hangin' on the rails
So if I say I am fine
Just know I've learned to hide it well"
Ain't that America? Certainly male America. Internalize your feelings, don't share weakness, but this guy is speaking his truth, which is yours.
"I know I can't be the only one
Who's holdin' on for dear life"
Bode Miller and filmmaker Brett Rapkin have a new movie, "The Paradise Paradox," about suicide in the mountains: https://t.ly/mcNVw
And the "New York Times" just printed a story about the epidemic of suicides in Montana:
"She's Fighting to Save America's 'Last Best Place' From Suicide - Montana's suicide rate has been the highest in the U.S. for the past three years. Most of the deaths involved firearms. But suicide rarely registers in the national debate over guns."
https://t.ly/FcsFg
Meanwhile, the Spotify Top 50 artists tell us how fabulous their lives are. They focus on petty beefs. You can possibly like these songs, but you can't relate. But you can relate to "I Am Not Okay."
3
So I'm listening to Jelly Roll on Stern and he comes across as likable. With a sense of humor. And not stupid.
He's led a hard life, like the country artists of yore. He's been to jail. And he's putting it all down in song.
Isn't this what we're looking for? Didn't John Lennon tell us to give him some truth? That's what we're all looking for in this phony, sold-out culture. The only antidote is art, but artists have abdicated this power, along with the labels who proffer them. Like the movie studios, they're so busy making and promoting music that supposedly resonates with all that it ultimately resonates with few. What do you expect when the songs are massaged ad infinitum? With rewrites and remixes... So busy trying to make sure they're a hit that if there was ever any lightning in the bottle, it's now been extinguished.
We are now in a new era. And when the media says so before the industry, you know you're in trouble. The old paradigm is dead. The era of ubiquitous hits anointed by few and known by many is done.
This does not mean you can't have a career, even sell out large venues and make a lot of dough. Because what we've got now is passionate fan bases. That's what you want, people who bleed for you, who live for you, and forget the rest. Stay true to your vision.
It's all gone. The multi-single album with tracks spread out over years. The three-four year album cycle. A stiff killing your career (it just gets lost in the miasma of product). There are new rules, the game's been eviscerated, but the players keep on playing, and they're not winning.
Could I use some additional lyrics in Jelly Roll's "I Am Not Okay"? Some more insight? That would be good. But he's not Bob Dylan, who comes along once in a generation. But not only can Jelly Roll sing, he can write changes, he can create a song, a formula that's been lost to many in this one chord world.
You should listen to the Jelly Roll interview on Howard Stern.
And you can see the segment I listened to and referenced above here: https://t.ly/1eUyA
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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--
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YouTube: https://shorturl.at/e9cCG
1
So I'm locked in traffic listening to Jelly Roll tell Howard Stern about his new song "I Am Not Okay," a sentiment many feel but do not admit, and then Mr. Roll sings it with the band and I'm blown away. At first I wonder if it's a recording, or whether there are hard drives involved. But there's a full band and with a voice this good, no wonder he's a star.
Mainstream media is picking up on the Balkanization in music. Took too long, but now the truth is evident:
"Why Pop Music Is So 'Meh' Right Now - New releases by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa were supposed to be huge. Instead, they have fallen short of past works."
Free link: https://t.ly/bJo46
In other words, despite the onslaught of hype the acts they tell us are so big, are not. The "Wall Street Journal" is blaming it on quality, but no matter how good your record is, you can't reach everybody:
"But today, with the world awash in content, TikTok rewriting labels' playbooks and listeners burrowing deeper into their own personalized niches, even avid pop fans don't recognize what's in the Billboard top 10. In such a decentralized market, pop stars face fierce competition. Disappointing albums, in turn, can hurt concert sales. It all adds up to music executives across genres seeming to wield less power over the star-making machinery than ever."
Uh-oh, with Lucian Grainge and the rest of the honchos tailoring their businesses for Wall Street this is bad news. They keep telling the Street everything is going up, up, up, but it appears there's a hole in the bucket. Sure, their catalogs are blue chip revenue machines, but having focused on a handful of tentpole artists, they're missing the mark just like the movie studios. Turns out everybody doesn't want the same thing, and despite the constant press hoopla, there isn't even consensus that these "hits" are any good. Furthermore, as we've learned in the past, if you're a hit-based artist, you're dependent upon hits, when they dry up, so do your ticket sales. Turns out in music the tortoise caring most about the music, oftentimes written alone without committee, have hard core fans who will keep them alive through thick and thin, whereas those with the ink do not, at least not in prodigious numbers.
Think about this... Tours are being canceled and now records too. In other words, most of the public is just not interested.
As for the WSJ's argument that the music isn't that good... People have been denying this throughout the twenty first century, but that is the truth. I'm not saying there's not good stuff out there, but that which captures the zeitgeist, that which gets everybody talking, doesn't exist. Not in a major way, at least.
What has happened here is we've lived through the MTV era and the advent of the internet and the post-Covid blip, and now what? Now that people are more discerning, and are leaving the house less immune to hype.
Contrary to what complaining artists are telling us, distribution has been figured out, better than in any other entertainment vertical. It's the software we've got a problem with, i.e. music. The tools of creation are in the hands of the proletariat, distribution costs are de minimis, it's no longer a rigged system, do people really want to listen to your music?
An even bigger question is whether the era of dominant superstars and hits is history. Or whether the new model is something more like Zach Bryan, who bubbled up from the bottom, who made it on songs first and foremost, garnered a core audience and then grew, who performs sans trappings, who is selling authenticity.
And Jelly Roll is selling something similar.
Zach Bryan is a hell of a lot more serious. And Jelly Roll has been caught up in the machine in a way that Bryan, an anti-star, has not. But could it be that Jelly's success is well-deserved? That Mr. Roll has learned something in his thirty nine years that the youngsters populating the hit parade have not? Roll is breaking the rules. And we love nothing more. Older, obese man with a sweet voice sings songs that resonate and...
People rally around him.
2
Let's be clear, Jelly Roll is operating in a controlled market, the last one that means anything, country radio. The playlist is defined and acolytes still listen, which is not the case in other genres. And that gives acts a leg up.
Then again, Morgan Wallen is the biggest act in America.
People hate when I say this. They've got a million beefs. But if you look at the statistics, it's Wallen all the way. Not only does he make albums that stay in the Top Ten for a year, he sells out stadiums and has hit after hit after hit.
Which you can hear if you'd just play the damn record. Yes, he's got that southern accent, but you accepted Tom Petty, didn't you? Yes, he used the "N-word" and threw a chair off the rooftop...as for the latter, my inbox is filled with people calling that rock star behavior, de rigueur in the seventies. My point here is, does Morgan Wallen deserve to be cancelled? There was pushback against DEI, against woke and now they've come for cancellation. We all make mistakes. When did this one strike and you're out culture become dominant? You can't learn a lesson, you can't improve? And those who say no change can be made cause an equal reaction on the other side. Which is why you've got Bill Burr saying there is no more cancellation, and Jerry Seinfeld saying essentially the same thing. It's kind of like the supposed ubiquitous hitmakers in the "Wall Street Journal" article...the press is out of touch with the people.
But my point with Wallen is you can sing along. Good luck singing along with most of the Spotify Top 50. Never mind that so many of those acts can't really sing.
But Jelly Roll can.
"I am not okay
I'm barely gettin' by
I'm losin' track of days
And losin' sleep at night
I am not okay
I'm hangin' on the rails
So if I say I am fine
Just know I've learned to hide it well"
Ain't that America? Certainly male America. Internalize your feelings, don't share weakness, but this guy is speaking his truth, which is yours.
"I know I can't be the only one
Who's holdin' on for dear life"
Bode Miller and filmmaker Brett Rapkin have a new movie, "The Paradise Paradox," about suicide in the mountains: https://t.ly/mcNVw
And the "New York Times" just printed a story about the epidemic of suicides in Montana:
"She's Fighting to Save America's 'Last Best Place' From Suicide - Montana's suicide rate has been the highest in the U.S. for the past three years. Most of the deaths involved firearms. But suicide rarely registers in the national debate over guns."
https://t.ly/FcsFg
Meanwhile, the Spotify Top 50 artists tell us how fabulous their lives are. They focus on petty beefs. You can possibly like these songs, but you can't relate. But you can relate to "I Am Not Okay."
3
So I'm listening to Jelly Roll on Stern and he comes across as likable. With a sense of humor. And not stupid.
He's led a hard life, like the country artists of yore. He's been to jail. And he's putting it all down in song.
Isn't this what we're looking for? Didn't John Lennon tell us to give him some truth? That's what we're all looking for in this phony, sold-out culture. The only antidote is art, but artists have abdicated this power, along with the labels who proffer them. Like the movie studios, they're so busy making and promoting music that supposedly resonates with all that it ultimately resonates with few. What do you expect when the songs are massaged ad infinitum? With rewrites and remixes... So busy trying to make sure they're a hit that if there was ever any lightning in the bottle, it's now been extinguished.
We are now in a new era. And when the media says so before the industry, you know you're in trouble. The old paradigm is dead. The era of ubiquitous hits anointed by few and known by many is done.
This does not mean you can't have a career, even sell out large venues and make a lot of dough. Because what we've got now is passionate fan bases. That's what you want, people who bleed for you, who live for you, and forget the rest. Stay true to your vision.
It's all gone. The multi-single album with tracks spread out over years. The three-four year album cycle. A stiff killing your career (it just gets lost in the miasma of product). There are new rules, the game's been eviscerated, but the players keep on playing, and they're not winning.
Could I use some additional lyrics in Jelly Roll's "I Am Not Okay"? Some more insight? That would be good. But he's not Bob Dylan, who comes along once in a generation. But not only can Jelly Roll sing, he can write changes, he can create a song, a formula that's been lost to many in this one chord world.
You should listen to the Jelly Roll interview on Howard Stern.
And you can see the segment I listened to and referenced above here: https://t.ly/1eUyA
--
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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Richard Lloyd-This Week's Podcast
Guitarist for Television and solo act. Interesting guy...
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/richard-lloyd/id1316200737?i=1000658893483
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6jXJJ6B03lqWxdy2XmA6IC?si=2IHW5atjSaGJh-70ZbOi7w
Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/9b41ca31-8f0b-4cf1-b193-932c0272ba25/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-richard-lloyd
iheart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/richard-lloyd-185312770/?embed=true
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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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Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/richard-lloyd/id1316200737?i=1000658893483
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6jXJJ6B03lqWxdy2XmA6IC?si=2IHW5atjSaGJh-70ZbOi7w
Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/9b41ca31-8f0b-4cf1-b193-932c0272ba25/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-richard-lloyd
iheart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/richard-lloyd-185312770/?embed=true
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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Wednesday 12 June 2024
The Biden Freeze Video
"President Biden Stupefied During Juneteenth Party... Others Dance, Joe Watches": https://shorturl.at/32gj3
This is why the Democrats are screwed, like the major labels, they still think we're living in the twentieth century, in the pre-internet era.
Did you see that article in "Billboard"?
"A new survey conducted by MIDia Research and Amuse found that only 6% of artists are interested in signing with a major label.
"Connecting to listeners, not making money or signing to a major label, is the most important aspect of success for a musician..."
From: "Artists Want Help Breaking Through the Noise - - Just Not From Major Labels, Survey Finds": https://shorturl.at/zmWUA
The Democrats believe what happens in the three major newspapers counts, what happens on broadcast and cable TV, when the younger generations, from Gen-Z down, all live online. And a lot of their elders do too.
I wasn't looking for this clip. I came across it on Twitter. At first I thought it was one of the endless right wing tropes that would not echo outside the community. But then I decided to Google it, and it was EVERYWHERE!
In other words, you will not be able to avoid it. And try explaining it away. Good luck. You can't.
So if you're an under forty voter, an under FIFTY voter, you see this and ask yourself...how in the hell can we elect an 81 year old President?
There's a good chance we can't.
Meanwhile, all the soft-hearted liberals on the left, the Boomers especially, believe if people from the tribe just stop criticizing Biden and his age the problem will go away.
I just came back from my college reunion, and all those people are ten years younger than Biden. And their mind-set wasn't active, but retired. This is the nature of life, it ends. But not in the minds of Biden or the Democratic Party, for them the road goes on forever, but even musicians can't do it at some point. As for you pointing out that Paul McCartney is the same age as Biden, have you heard him sing recently? When he's alone, sans his exquisite backup group filling in the holes, it's positively execrable, you wince. As for Bob Dylan... I won't go anymore, his voice is a croak, never mind that he rearranges the songs.
But we're told by believers to...still believe. As if sheer will will change reality. This is no different from the religious right believing that prayer will solve all their problems. Can't anybody live in reality?
So let's say you're not sure who to vote for, the very few who will decide this election. You see this video and ask yourself... Is this guy up to the job? And if he dies in office do we want Kamala Harris?
Nobody wants Kamala Harris, which is why she did so poorly in the primaries four years ago. But we keep being told that dropping her now would alienate women and people of color. Says who? And where are they gonna go, to Donald Trump?
Can't anybody live in reality, see what's right in front of their eyes?
This story is building as I write this. To tell you the truth, I thought it was a joke, a wax figure of Biden, he was that immovable. But ultimately he did move and that's when my heart sank and I got angry. Is this what it's come to? Is this the world we live in? Where reality and truth are completely out the window?
The Democrats should go to Biden like the Republicans went to Nixon and tell him he's got to go, leave him no option, tell him they're going to replace him at the convention, that he needs to step down from the race for the good of the country. Oh, he can say for the good of his family, in the wake of his son's conviction. Hell, J.Lo used the excuse to cancel her tour, Biden can use it to cancel his run.
Everybody's online, especially the younger generations. And what do the older generations who won't let go of the strings say? GET OFF THE PHONE!
Like that is going to work. Why don't you tell them to stop having sex while you're at it. Like I'm going to lay down my connection to the world to satisfy some ancient Boomers who are out of touch with the world.
This is an utter disaster. You who spend no time surfing might think that it won't have much impact, that it will fade away, but it's going to change hearts and minds of voters throughout our nation, who just can't fathom voting for a man whose life is being snuffed out.
Oh, don't try to defend Biden. By pointing at how he's run the country. That his mind still works. No one is buying it.
As for Trump... He's not stiff like this. He may be fading too, if you're online you've seen the story of his speech about sharks and electric boats and... Just because one guy is delusional and fading does not mean we too should follow the same path.
This was bound to happen. The Democrats had their fingers crossed that they could make it to Election Day without an event like this. Thank god it happened this soon, with time to scramble and replace Biden.
Get Biden to agree to step down, cancel the debate, get a new candidate or... Risk losing not only the election, but the entire country, i.e. democracy.
Turns out Trump hatred is not enough. Not when you're running with your arms by your side.
This story will impact and never disappear. And lord only knows how the Republicans will make hay. All I can say to the Democrats is, WAKE UP!
--
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 why the Democrats are screwed, like the major labels, they still think we're living in the twentieth century, in the pre-internet era.
Did you see that article in "Billboard"?
"A new survey conducted by MIDia Research and Amuse found that only 6% of artists are interested in signing with a major label.
"Connecting to listeners, not making money or signing to a major label, is the most important aspect of success for a musician..."
From: "Artists Want Help Breaking Through the Noise - - Just Not From Major Labels, Survey Finds": https://shorturl.at/zmWUA
The Democrats believe what happens in the three major newspapers counts, what happens on broadcast and cable TV, when the younger generations, from Gen-Z down, all live online. And a lot of their elders do too.
I wasn't looking for this clip. I came across it on Twitter. At first I thought it was one of the endless right wing tropes that would not echo outside the community. But then I decided to Google it, and it was EVERYWHERE!
In other words, you will not be able to avoid it. And try explaining it away. Good luck. You can't.
So if you're an under forty voter, an under FIFTY voter, you see this and ask yourself...how in the hell can we elect an 81 year old President?
There's a good chance we can't.
Meanwhile, all the soft-hearted liberals on the left, the Boomers especially, believe if people from the tribe just stop criticizing Biden and his age the problem will go away.
I just came back from my college reunion, and all those people are ten years younger than Biden. And their mind-set wasn't active, but retired. This is the nature of life, it ends. But not in the minds of Biden or the Democratic Party, for them the road goes on forever, but even musicians can't do it at some point. As for you pointing out that Paul McCartney is the same age as Biden, have you heard him sing recently? When he's alone, sans his exquisite backup group filling in the holes, it's positively execrable, you wince. As for Bob Dylan... I won't go anymore, his voice is a croak, never mind that he rearranges the songs.
But we're told by believers to...still believe. As if sheer will will change reality. This is no different from the religious right believing that prayer will solve all their problems. Can't anybody live in reality?
So let's say you're not sure who to vote for, the very few who will decide this election. You see this video and ask yourself... Is this guy up to the job? And if he dies in office do we want Kamala Harris?
Nobody wants Kamala Harris, which is why she did so poorly in the primaries four years ago. But we keep being told that dropping her now would alienate women and people of color. Says who? And where are they gonna go, to Donald Trump?
Can't anybody live in reality, see what's right in front of their eyes?
This story is building as I write this. To tell you the truth, I thought it was a joke, a wax figure of Biden, he was that immovable. But ultimately he did move and that's when my heart sank and I got angry. Is this what it's come to? Is this the world we live in? Where reality and truth are completely out the window?
The Democrats should go to Biden like the Republicans went to Nixon and tell him he's got to go, leave him no option, tell him they're going to replace him at the convention, that he needs to step down from the race for the good of the country. Oh, he can say for the good of his family, in the wake of his son's conviction. Hell, J.Lo used the excuse to cancel her tour, Biden can use it to cancel his run.
Everybody's online, especially the younger generations. And what do the older generations who won't let go of the strings say? GET OFF THE PHONE!
Like that is going to work. Why don't you tell them to stop having sex while you're at it. Like I'm going to lay down my connection to the world to satisfy some ancient Boomers who are out of touch with the world.
This is an utter disaster. You who spend no time surfing might think that it won't have much impact, that it will fade away, but it's going to change hearts and minds of voters throughout our nation, who just can't fathom voting for a man whose life is being snuffed out.
Oh, don't try to defend Biden. By pointing at how he's run the country. That his mind still works. No one is buying it.
As for Trump... He's not stiff like this. He may be fading too, if you're online you've seen the story of his speech about sharks and electric boats and... Just because one guy is delusional and fading does not mean we too should follow the same path.
This was bound to happen. The Democrats had their fingers crossed that they could make it to Election Day without an event like this. Thank god it happened this soon, with time to scramble and replace Biden.
Get Biden to agree to step down, cancel the debate, get a new candidate or... Risk losing not only the election, but the entire country, i.e. democracy.
Turns out Trump hatred is not enough. Not when you're running with your arms by your side.
This story will impact and never disappear. And lord only knows how the Republicans will make hay. All I can say to the Democrats is, WAKE UP!
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Tuesday 11 June 2024
Hit Man
What kind of crazy f*cked up world do we live in where the biggest movie of the summer is on Netflix?
One in which the entire movie business's model was stolen, or shall we say abdicated, and the industry had no idea it was happening.
What did we learn from tech? You gain the eyeballs, then you figure out how to monetize. The movie business was so busy trying to make profits that it lost its audience, and then its power was taken by an interloper, a company that was a joke, such a non-threat that said movie studios licensed all their product to them, helping Netflix build its business in plain sight.
Oh, they opened "Hit Man" in theatres first, where it has a worldwide gross of $1,255,568...or about one week of David Zaslav's salary.
Yes, while Zaslav is contracting Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix keeps expanding, taking chances, and winning.
Zaslav is killing pictures for the write-off, he got rid of foreign production, meanwhile Netflix had the Korean super-series "Squid Game" and the biggest hit of the summer with what we now call an "art film."
Yes, back before the days of decreased production, when moviegoing was still a religion, they used to make pictures like "Hit Man," but not anymore. They're not tentpoles, they don't fit the marketing mantra the studios employ to greenlight productions. After all, who would take responsibility for this flick, something that will never gross half a billion dollars, never mind a billion.
But people want to see it.
The hype flew right over me. Yes, I knew Richard Linklater had a new movie, and that some guy I couldn't place named Glen Powell was the star, but there was no way I was going to the theatre to see it, no matter how good it was.
And neither was anybody else.
While the studios are doing their best to prop up the theatrical business, Netflix is the home of viewing in not only America, but the world. If you're a hit on Netflix, you get many more viewers than you would any other way.
Think about that. The goal of a filmmaker is to have their work seen by the most people possible. Studios and their heads care about cash, and maybe the soulless directors of superhero dreck do too, but someone like Linklater, someone like Coppola, who made his last film with his own money, breaking Hollywood's number one rule, put the work above all else. And when they succeed...
On Netflix, to paraphrase Mick Jagger, it's just a click away.
There's too much friction in going to the movies. You've got to look up the time, get in your car, park, pay, sit through a zillion trailers, and maybe commercials, and endure the great unwashed populace.
But on Netflix... It's on demand, ready when you are. To watch straight through, to pause, to see again and again.
This is the modern paradigm. He with the most friction loses. Didn't the music business prove this? God, now the book business is tanking because it killed digital and invested in the antique model of physical sales, with printing and shipping and all kinds of costs not involved with Spotify, et al.
And just imagine if Spotify picked one cut a week, that we all could listen to and have an opinion on. Just because the world is Balkanized, that does not mean we don't want moments of cohesion. We're dying to connect. And now you can do so by watching "Hit Man" on Netflix.
Yes, Netflix shows "Hit Man" right on the home screen, along with its place on the chart, which is #1. And there's no bullet, but your mind is attracted. This is not Taylor Swift manipulating her way to number one every week, you can't fudge the numbers on Netflix, where #1 still means something, unlike in the record business.
Netflix is delivering the multiplex right to your living room...and laptop, even your phone! You can access "Hit Man" anywhere. Sound convenient? IT IS!
I only watched "Hit Man" because of word of mouth, the most powerful marketing method known to man. The old games have been diminished. Which is why the record companies can't break an act. The systems they relied on, like terrestrial radio and controlled distribution, have dwindled in power down to nothing. And the funny thing is...THEY'RE STILL FOCUSED ON RADIO! Yes, the lame labels who see the present as an indefinable miasma are stuck in the past, which the populace abandoned eons ago.
Media tells us the smartphone is the devil. To disconnect. But the only way you can watch "Hit Man" is by connecting, and visual media is now the heart and soul of America!
"Hit Man" is a good movie. I'm not saying your mind will never wander. It's got the feel of a typical Linklater movie, slightly offbeat. But there's a place for Linklater in the filmed entertainment world. Not everyone is shooting for the fences with every production. The essence is in the unexpected, the off-center, which is what Linklater consistently delivers.
So watch "Hit Man," if for no other reason than you can then talk about it.
We don't consume almost any of the same entertainment. But via a stealth attack, "Hit Man" has become the biggest hit of the summer. It's never about money, it's always about eyeballs, because if you have eyeballs, there are plenty of ways to make money.
Netflix doesn't care if you watch "Hit Man," it just cares that you watch SOMETHING, so you continue to subscribe. Which is why the company makes so much.
You're hearing it from me. "Hit Man" is worth your while.
Welcome to the club!
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One in which the entire movie business's model was stolen, or shall we say abdicated, and the industry had no idea it was happening.
What did we learn from tech? You gain the eyeballs, then you figure out how to monetize. The movie business was so busy trying to make profits that it lost its audience, and then its power was taken by an interloper, a company that was a joke, such a non-threat that said movie studios licensed all their product to them, helping Netflix build its business in plain sight.
Oh, they opened "Hit Man" in theatres first, where it has a worldwide gross of $1,255,568...or about one week of David Zaslav's salary.
Yes, while Zaslav is contracting Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix keeps expanding, taking chances, and winning.
Zaslav is killing pictures for the write-off, he got rid of foreign production, meanwhile Netflix had the Korean super-series "Squid Game" and the biggest hit of the summer with what we now call an "art film."
Yes, back before the days of decreased production, when moviegoing was still a religion, they used to make pictures like "Hit Man," but not anymore. They're not tentpoles, they don't fit the marketing mantra the studios employ to greenlight productions. After all, who would take responsibility for this flick, something that will never gross half a billion dollars, never mind a billion.
But people want to see it.
The hype flew right over me. Yes, I knew Richard Linklater had a new movie, and that some guy I couldn't place named Glen Powell was the star, but there was no way I was going to the theatre to see it, no matter how good it was.
And neither was anybody else.
While the studios are doing their best to prop up the theatrical business, Netflix is the home of viewing in not only America, but the world. If you're a hit on Netflix, you get many more viewers than you would any other way.
Think about that. The goal of a filmmaker is to have their work seen by the most people possible. Studios and their heads care about cash, and maybe the soulless directors of superhero dreck do too, but someone like Linklater, someone like Coppola, who made his last film with his own money, breaking Hollywood's number one rule, put the work above all else. And when they succeed...
On Netflix, to paraphrase Mick Jagger, it's just a click away.
There's too much friction in going to the movies. You've got to look up the time, get in your car, park, pay, sit through a zillion trailers, and maybe commercials, and endure the great unwashed populace.
But on Netflix... It's on demand, ready when you are. To watch straight through, to pause, to see again and again.
This is the modern paradigm. He with the most friction loses. Didn't the music business prove this? God, now the book business is tanking because it killed digital and invested in the antique model of physical sales, with printing and shipping and all kinds of costs not involved with Spotify, et al.
And just imagine if Spotify picked one cut a week, that we all could listen to and have an opinion on. Just because the world is Balkanized, that does not mean we don't want moments of cohesion. We're dying to connect. And now you can do so by watching "Hit Man" on Netflix.
Yes, Netflix shows "Hit Man" right on the home screen, along with its place on the chart, which is #1. And there's no bullet, but your mind is attracted. This is not Taylor Swift manipulating her way to number one every week, you can't fudge the numbers on Netflix, where #1 still means something, unlike in the record business.
Netflix is delivering the multiplex right to your living room...and laptop, even your phone! You can access "Hit Man" anywhere. Sound convenient? IT IS!
I only watched "Hit Man" because of word of mouth, the most powerful marketing method known to man. The old games have been diminished. Which is why the record companies can't break an act. The systems they relied on, like terrestrial radio and controlled distribution, have dwindled in power down to nothing. And the funny thing is...THEY'RE STILL FOCUSED ON RADIO! Yes, the lame labels who see the present as an indefinable miasma are stuck in the past, which the populace abandoned eons ago.
Media tells us the smartphone is the devil. To disconnect. But the only way you can watch "Hit Man" is by connecting, and visual media is now the heart and soul of America!
"Hit Man" is a good movie. I'm not saying your mind will never wander. It's got the feel of a typical Linklater movie, slightly offbeat. But there's a place for Linklater in the filmed entertainment world. Not everyone is shooting for the fences with every production. The essence is in the unexpected, the off-center, which is what Linklater consistently delivers.
So watch "Hit Man," if for no other reason than you can then talk about it.
We don't consume almost any of the same entertainment. But via a stealth attack, "Hit Man" has become the biggest hit of the summer. It's never about money, it's always about eyeballs, because if you have eyeballs, there are plenty of ways to make money.
Netflix doesn't care if you watch "Hit Man," it just cares that you watch SOMETHING, so you continue to subscribe. Which is why the company makes so much.
You're hearing it from me. "Hit Man" is worth your while.
Welcome to the club!
--
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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Alex Edelman-Just For Us
Trailer: https://t.ly/5Kq4y
This is incredibly good. I watched it on my iPad coming home from Burlington yesterday and I was amazed how Jewish it was, since Felice, a non-Jew, had told me to watch it again and again and again... You see I was in Vail when she viewed it and...
It's taken this long for me to see it.
This is the creativity we used to see in music. Alex Edelman is an original, and while you're laughing you ask yourself...HOW DID HE COME UP WITH THIS STUFF?
This is not typical observational comedy. This is a story, with digressions, and you'll absolutely laugh out loud at certain times and you'll ride along with it and smile, because here you are experiencing something novel, not just a variation on a riff, you watch it and feel like an insider, even though the show is widely available on MAX, which has the worst interface known to man.
In other words, if you subscribe to HBO, or the umbrella platform MAX, you can pull up "Alex Edelman: Just For Us" on demand, and you should.
Oftentimes when I hear new music I say to myself... Well, that's okay, but it doesn't compare to Joni Mitchell or... I mean in a world where you're competing against everything ever recorded, which is available on YouTube if not Spotify, et al, you've got to be equally good to get our attention, and almost nothing is. Sure, there are hits, but...
I lived through the sixties, I lived through testing limits, and today's concept of bleeding edge and dangerous is to use swear words or to get into a fight at the Waffle House. Everybody's trying to appear hip and almost no one is. Everyone is inside a bubble, which means if you're outside the bubble you stand out, like Alex Edelman.
He's got his own delivery. And he tells stories with you included. You can see yourself in some of the situations, well...some of the situations.
And Alex nails the Jewish perspective. They were afraid of "Seinfeld" being too Jewish, Edelman and HBO were not worried about that here.
However comedy now lives on Netflix, so I wish it were there, the service with the most attention, but at least you can see it.
I'm loath to tell you a single thing about "Alex Edelman: Just For Us," because some of the points are surprises, and oftentimes pay dividends further down the road, but WATCH IT!
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Listen to the podcast:
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This is incredibly good. I watched it on my iPad coming home from Burlington yesterday and I was amazed how Jewish it was, since Felice, a non-Jew, had told me to watch it again and again and again... You see I was in Vail when she viewed it and...
It's taken this long for me to see it.
This is the creativity we used to see in music. Alex Edelman is an original, and while you're laughing you ask yourself...HOW DID HE COME UP WITH THIS STUFF?
This is not typical observational comedy. This is a story, with digressions, and you'll absolutely laugh out loud at certain times and you'll ride along with it and smile, because here you are experiencing something novel, not just a variation on a riff, you watch it and feel like an insider, even though the show is widely available on MAX, which has the worst interface known to man.
In other words, if you subscribe to HBO, or the umbrella platform MAX, you can pull up "Alex Edelman: Just For Us" on demand, and you should.
Oftentimes when I hear new music I say to myself... Well, that's okay, but it doesn't compare to Joni Mitchell or... I mean in a world where you're competing against everything ever recorded, which is available on YouTube if not Spotify, et al, you've got to be equally good to get our attention, and almost nothing is. Sure, there are hits, but...
I lived through the sixties, I lived through testing limits, and today's concept of bleeding edge and dangerous is to use swear words or to get into a fight at the Waffle House. Everybody's trying to appear hip and almost no one is. Everyone is inside a bubble, which means if you're outside the bubble you stand out, like Alex Edelman.
He's got his own delivery. And he tells stories with you included. You can see yourself in some of the situations, well...some of the situations.
And Alex nails the Jewish perspective. They were afraid of "Seinfeld" being too Jewish, Edelman and HBO were not worried about that here.
However comedy now lives on Netflix, so I wish it were there, the service with the most attention, but at least you can see it.
I'm loath to tell you a single thing about "Alex Edelman: Just For Us," because some of the points are surprises, and oftentimes pay dividends further down the road, but WATCH IT!
--
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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Disco Songs I Like-Playlist
Spotify playlist: https://t.ly/wSknG
"Rock Your Baby"
George McCrae
"Rock the Boat"
Hues Corporation
"Love to Love You Baby"
Donna Summer
"Disco Inferno"
Trammps
"Love's Theme"
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
from the top
"Get Down Tonight"
K.C. & the Sunshine Band
"Stayin' Alive"
BeeGees
"If I Can't Have You"
Yvonne Elliman
"Miss You"
Rolling Stones
"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"
Rod Stewart
"Heart of Glass"
Blondie
"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
Michael Jackson
"Dirty Mind"
Prince
"I Was Made For Lovin' You"
KISS
"We Are Family"
Sister Sledge
"I Will Survive"
Gloria Gaynor
"Good Times"
Chic
"Rapper's Delight"
The Sugarhill Gang
"Funkytown"
Lipps Inc.
"Don't Leave Me This Way"
Thelma Houston
"The Hustle"
Van McCoy
"More More More"
Andrea True Connection
"Every 1's a Winner"
Hot Chocolate
"Car Wash"
Rose Royce
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)"
Sylvester
from: :28
"It's Raining Men"
The Weather Girls
from :45
"Do It (Til Your Satisfied)"
B.T. Express
"I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round)"
Alicia Bridges
"Chase"
Giorgio Moroder
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"Rock Your Baby"
George McCrae
"Rock the Boat"
Hues Corporation
"Love to Love You Baby"
Donna Summer
"Disco Inferno"
Trammps
"Love's Theme"
The Love Unlimited Orchestra
from the top
"Get Down Tonight"
K.C. & the Sunshine Band
"Stayin' Alive"
BeeGees
"If I Can't Have You"
Yvonne Elliman
"Miss You"
Rolling Stones
"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"
Rod Stewart
"Heart of Glass"
Blondie
"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
Michael Jackson
"Dirty Mind"
Prince
"I Was Made For Lovin' You"
KISS
"We Are Family"
Sister Sledge
"I Will Survive"
Gloria Gaynor
"Good Times"
Chic
"Rapper's Delight"
The Sugarhill Gang
"Funkytown"
Lipps Inc.
"Don't Leave Me This Way"
Thelma Houston
"The Hustle"
Van McCoy
"More More More"
Andrea True Connection
"Every 1's a Winner"
Hot Chocolate
"Car Wash"
Rose Royce
"You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)"
Sylvester
from: :28
"It's Raining Men"
The Weather Girls
from :45
"Do It (Til Your Satisfied)"
B.T. Express
"I Love the Nightlife (Disco Round)"
Alicia Bridges
"Chase"
Giorgio Moroder
--
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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