"NBC Pulls Back 'Tonight Show' to Four Nights Per Week": https://t.ly/mEKsD
Is this more about content or format?
There is no appointment viewing, everything is on demand.
And edge sells.
But baby boomers inured to the old ways control media and they'd like you to believe otherwise.
Fallon loses on both counts, content and format. He's a man out of date. And no one will put us out of our collective misery. The problem isn't that he's still on TV, but the fact that we have to read about him, when he's irrelevant.
Talk to Kimmel and he'll tell you that late night shows are all about creating content for online.
And what sells online? Credibility, honesty, irreverence, novelty, the aforementioned edge.
But if you read the record charts you'd think otherwise.
Not only do we no longer live in a monoculture, that which is thought to be big is small and if you're following the crowd, you're headed towards irrelevance.
But creators don't want to hear this. Because this means there are no rules, that you're on your own. Everybody wants someone who can push a button, make them a star overnight, but that paradigm has evaporated.
The end comes suddenly. We heard for years that people were going to cut the cord. Younger generations never had the cord. Their laptop is their TV, and YouTube is equivalent to cable, never mind Netflix.
Zaslav had to write off billions because of the cratering of cable. And Paramount lost so much value, you'd think it was run by Edgar Bronfman, Jr. (However, Bronfman's sin was to look too far into the future as opposed to being stuck in the past. He bought Vivendi's castle of sand, which turned out to be air.)
Nothing is forever. But when disruption is right in front of our faces, people miss it.
When there's new hardware, like the iPod, people can understand that. But when it's a trend, when it doesn't bang someone over the head, people just see what is in front of them and miss the big trend.
Big trend number one. The customer is in control. And you only succeed by letting people consume on their terms. Streaming outlets may think they're winning by dripping out series episodes every week, but this is antithetical to the way the public wants to watch. Sure, there are oldsters, hanging 'round the water cooler, talking up the show, but youngsters want to work from home, and if you make it hard they'll just default to YouTube, never mind TikTok or Instagram. Max and Apple, et al, are not competing against Netflix, they're competing against YouTube and social media and they're unprepared for this battle.
What is the number one rule of social media influencing?
YOU'VE GOT TO POST CONSTANTLY!
There are too many diversions. Getting someone to come back is nearly impossible. You've got to hook them and keep them hooked. Which is why you need a steady stream of programming, and only Netflix has figured this concept out, even though it's hiding in plain sight. The problem with Apple is very simple, the outlet just doesn't have enough content. Maybe ten or fifteen years from now they'll have enough of a catalog, but right now it's a bad proposition, you just can't figure out why you'd lay out so much dough for such a consumer unfriendly platform. That's right, I'm not paying for a week to week show, and the truth is even after it's completed I usually never go back, because there are so many options.
Jimmy Fallon is a nice guy.
Let's be clear, no one is that nice a guy, it's an image, Jimmy is hiding his real self. But in a world where everybody strips back the layers to reveal their truth Jimmy is out of step. And he doesn't know how to do it differently.
The worst offender here is SNL, lauded by the boomer media, unwatched by younger generations.
SNL's problem is there are just not enough broad tropes to make fun of anymore. People just don't get the references. Meaning a show like SNL can't survive, or must retool. Maybe SNL gets ahead of the audience, goes niche, so that when you see a skit you don't understand you go online to research history. Kids do this all the time, they want to be clued in.
As for the power of late night TV... That ship sailed long ago.
So what have we got?
A brief, flaky monologue and lame celebrity interviews.
Only monologues with edge work. Which is why Jon Stewart is triumphant. He's lost not a step, in talent and consumption. As soon as the show plays on Monday night, there are posts all over social media. What Stewart says is important. Because Stewart doesn't get down into the pit with these people, he laughs at them. He can see the underside. He's saying what we all feel, not broad tropes.
And the aforementioned Kimmel stopped worrying about pissing people off and spoke his truth also. Today appealing to everybody is a fool's errand. No one can reach everybody, because everybody is too different, you go for a niche and grow it.
So they took the band from Seth Meyers... Eventually they'll take everything but the desk, and then they'll take that too. Hopefully, Meyers will wake up first and quit, like Trevor Noah. The future is uncharted and scary, but sticking with the past is death. Start recalibrating now, because it takes a while to figure out your act and for the audience to understand and spread the word on it.
Now there's an audience for train-wreck. It might even scale. But your career is over with the last stunt. Eyeballs are not everything. How do you get people attached to you as opposed to the penumbra?
Being the host is not enough. You must have an identity, that people want to follow forever.
You can't be afraid of offending people and you can't worry about being canceled. And even if you are canceled, chances are there's enough of an audience to sustain you, i.e. Louis C.K. C.K. does boffo business, the only difference is he's no longer the darling of the mainstream press, a press his audience doesn't read/pay attention to anyway. The masses are telling him not to come back the same way they're saying Morgan Wallen has to do penance, maybe remove himself from the action for a while. Yet Morgan sells out stadiums. But I constantly get e-mail from people deriding me for noticing this. You've got to buy the left wing ideal, the northern ideal, the elite ideal... This is shooting yourself in the foot. Just like the sixties, you've got to think for yourself.
That's right. Artists don't choose a side, they lead.
Furthermore, all the goals of yore have disappeared. What comedian would want a sitcom? Who is it who actually listens to terrestrial radio? No wonder it can't break a record.
But the people most dedicated to the old systems are those who are invested in it. There's a guy from a station in Kentucky who claps back every time I write about terrestrial radio. But no matter what he says, I still can't find anybody under twenty who listens.
You've got to be willing to change your spots.
And that's tough for people on both sides of the curtain.
The audience wants to belong to a team, but is this to their detriment, do they write off that which is fulfilling?
Everybody's afraid to change.
And it's those who have changed who lead.
But leading is scary. Because you don't know if people will follow you.
Today you're no longer propped up by the system. YouTube and TikTok don't need your wares to make their numbers. They're free platforms, but you're responsible for the content. And sure, TikTok may give you a boost, a leg up, but ultimately the audience accepts you or not. You can't force people to watch, and you can't force them to listen. I get e-mail from people who've made money from being on a Spotify playlist, but never another penny, and no one wants to see them live, because not enough listeners heard the track and wanted to go deeper.
And when you walk into the woods bring as much money as you can. Because it's going to take a long time before you can refill your wallet, if ever.
There is no insurance. The gatekeepers of yore and the edifices they work for have almost no power. You can be on HBO, that does not mean anybody is going to watch your show. Hell, HBO is just one of the many choices on MAX. Are potential fans going to dig that deep to find you?
Only if their friends tell them to. And friends are dying to tell friends about great, and there's very little great out there.
The whole concept of a TV network is passé.
First they came for the cable channels and then they came for the networks, and the pipe providers, the cable companies themselves, know it's all about providing broadband, TV is in the rearview mirror.
Imagine if Jimmy Fallon swore. Started talking sh*t about Lorne Michaels. Then I'd be interested. To see him dance and play...WHO CARES?
And if I want to know what a celebrity has to say, I'll listen to a podcast. Traditional hype is boring and doesn't work. You've got a new project and it's the best one you've ever been in/created and let me show you pictures of my kids and tell a funny story about falling on the red carpet. REALLY? And it's the same thing, for every appearance.
But actors have been screwed by the internet. Turns out they're two-dimensional vessels, they're anything but heroes, which is why they can no longer open a picture.
And songs written by committee? Give me one out of tune track written in fifteen minutes and cut in an hour. It's about capturing lightning in a bottle, but too often there's no storm in evidence.
The audience knows all of the above, they don't even think about it, it's in their DNA, they've left the past behind. It's just that those being paid big bucks don't want to give up their power, visibility and money.
Whereas with no net, it's those building it online who are interesting.
The consumer is happier than ever before. Unlimited choice of what you want when you want it.
The creator? Keeps bitching about the system. IT'S SPOTIFY'S FAULT!
No, that's wrong, IT'S YOUR FAULT! If people aren't listening, you don't get paid. You got paid in the past, but those days are history. Big record contracts for few people. Stop knocking at an invisible door. Walk through it, adjust to reality.
But too many can't handle it.
The bottom line is Jimmy Fallon is a man out of time appearing on a time-stamped format. Would you invest in that?
OF COURSE NOT! Whether it be your money or your time.
That's not what we're looking for.
We're looking for the new and different, the edge, that which we want to tell everybody about.
And sometimes it takes ten years for the flames you're blowing on to become a conflagration.
If you want a guarantee, go work for the man.
And if you're not new and different, you can work for 20,000 hours and still no one will care. It's that creative spark we're looking for. That je nais se quois. That's nearly impossible to find and create.
But that's what we're hunting for.
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Saturday 7 September 2024
Rebel Ridge
Netflix trailer (but I'd recommend not to watch it, so the plot is fresh): https://t.ly/muWoY
And here's your weekend entertainment. At least two hours and eleven minutes of it anyway.
This is a seventies movie. The kind we used to pay to see on a Saturday night, or maybe a hot Tuesday evening, when we had to get out of the house and into deep air conditioning.
But now we see these flicks at home. And the experience is not the same, but you only go out for superhero movies, the studios are afraid of making something like this, they want insurance, they want sequels. "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice"? Really?
So what we've got here is a vigilante movie. Crossed with some of that deep south stuff we saw in "Deliverance," you know, where you're out of your element, the law does not apply, and the cops rule.
Be afraid, be very afraid. Especially if you're Black, especially if you're vulnerable.
But there's another theme here, that if you work for the man you must go along with the plan. You can't be a clean cop, the rest of the force won't let you be. You've got to kiss your boss's ass, no matter what gig you're doing. And yes, as Bob Dylan sang, we've all got to serve somebody, but the game is different when you're on top of the pyramid. Get married, have a kid or two and you can't help but play the game, you've got to pay the bills. Sure, you could lack moral fiber and walk away, but not only are you going to screw your progeny but you'll pay a price down the line, you can never forget, and this one bad choice leads to a bunch more.
Now this was a trope back in the old days. Northerners in the south. Even "Easy Rider." You want to stick to your territory.
Live in the red south and good luck getting an abortion. And there's a constant disinformation campaign saying California is a hellhole, and you believe it because those in charge wouldn't lie to you, would they? It's a great con, and you're in on it. And you can't break ranks. Because then you'll have to admit you were duped and that you're the schlemiel you truly are.
And you can be on either side of the political fence and still enjoy this movie, but remember everything is political, and when you say to keep politics out of it, you can't.
So at first I thought this was going to be the story of how those rednecks killed that jogger. And there are parallels, but it's not the same story.
What do you do when you're caught up in the vagaries of the system, do you "Yes sir" or "No Ma'am" or stand up for your rights? This is the talk every Black parent has with their child, how to react when driving while Black. Then again, how many Black people even listen to Iron Maiden?
So now you can nitpick. You're Black and your neighborhood is safe, and you love "The Number of the Beast." Congratulations.
And now this is devolving into the anger I feel all day long, with people sending me their lousy self-produced tracks, sending me right wing crap from publications I've never heard of, that all you have to do is Google to find out they're biased. I know, I know, you're reasonable, but the rest of them are ruining it for all of us. Under the rubric of "free speech." Hey, you free speech fanatics, how do you feel about Meta closing out those accounts sponsored by the Russians? Huh? Should we leave those up too? Just because the line is hard to define, that does not mean we should throw it out the window. Only a nincompoop like Elon Musk who knows science but not life would think that.
And there you have my bile.
But in truth so many of us can get along.
Leave your prejudices at the door. But know the system is rigged against you. You're just a pawn in their game. Bob Dylan sang that sixty years ago, but today we have to hear about fake robbers and drug dealers in songs that are fantasies just like the superhero movies.
So, suspend disbelief at the door, when you press play.
When you find out what this is all about...it's not that it's so convoluted, it's just that it's not really that big a deal.
But we've got Snake Plissken to save the day!
Actually, I can't even remember those movies, but in truth Aaron Pierce as Terry Richmond is the great equalizer, he cannot shy away from a fight, he's got to right a wrong, even though at times he wants to leave it all behind, like Al Pacino in "The Godfather."
We used to see A level films at the brand new multiplexes, but we also went to see the AIP and New World pictures too. They were gritty. They showed the true underside of life, not the gussied-up fantasy the major studios purveyed.
So the plot unfolds. It takes you a while to find out what is going on. And then you start to plot ahead in your mind, what if the cash really is drug money and the Chinese restaurant is a front.
And then you've got the classic white woman/black guy formula. Although love is only hinted at here. And that's no longer seen as dangerous. Now all the focus is on gay and trans, but really it's all the same thing, you can't live and let live, and sometimes you've got to live and let die. Is that how this is going to end, with people dying?
And in truth, that was just a B level James Bond flick. Trading on the name, the franchise, as opposed to the plot.
"Rebel Ridge" is more serious, and looks for more gravitas, but you're not going to turn off the TV and be fearful it's going to happen to you.
AnnaSophia Robb reminds me of Mary Stuart Masterson not only in looks but intelligence, radiating a level of truth in an untrue movie.
David Denman as Even Marston is always good. There's just something about his demeanor that bugs you.
Emory Cohen as Seve Lann? You know this guy, a wimp, not the kind who turns into a school shooter, but someone who joins the force to carry a gun with authority.
And then there's Don Johnson as the police chief. So self-satisfied.
And that rings true, that is life, some bureaucrat standing in your way and proud of it. Forcing you to abide by regs that are irrelevant. Loving to see you squirm.
So you're bombarded with incoming all day. It's good to have a respite.
And I can list much better series, most of them foreign with subtitles that you don't want to watch. But if you're looking for good old American entertainment... THIS IS IT!
--
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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And here's your weekend entertainment. At least two hours and eleven minutes of it anyway.
This is a seventies movie. The kind we used to pay to see on a Saturday night, or maybe a hot Tuesday evening, when we had to get out of the house and into deep air conditioning.
But now we see these flicks at home. And the experience is not the same, but you only go out for superhero movies, the studios are afraid of making something like this, they want insurance, they want sequels. "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice"? Really?
So what we've got here is a vigilante movie. Crossed with some of that deep south stuff we saw in "Deliverance," you know, where you're out of your element, the law does not apply, and the cops rule.
Be afraid, be very afraid. Especially if you're Black, especially if you're vulnerable.
But there's another theme here, that if you work for the man you must go along with the plan. You can't be a clean cop, the rest of the force won't let you be. You've got to kiss your boss's ass, no matter what gig you're doing. And yes, as Bob Dylan sang, we've all got to serve somebody, but the game is different when you're on top of the pyramid. Get married, have a kid or two and you can't help but play the game, you've got to pay the bills. Sure, you could lack moral fiber and walk away, but not only are you going to screw your progeny but you'll pay a price down the line, you can never forget, and this one bad choice leads to a bunch more.
Now this was a trope back in the old days. Northerners in the south. Even "Easy Rider." You want to stick to your territory.
Live in the red south and good luck getting an abortion. And there's a constant disinformation campaign saying California is a hellhole, and you believe it because those in charge wouldn't lie to you, would they? It's a great con, and you're in on it. And you can't break ranks. Because then you'll have to admit you were duped and that you're the schlemiel you truly are.
And you can be on either side of the political fence and still enjoy this movie, but remember everything is political, and when you say to keep politics out of it, you can't.
So at first I thought this was going to be the story of how those rednecks killed that jogger. And there are parallels, but it's not the same story.
What do you do when you're caught up in the vagaries of the system, do you "Yes sir" or "No Ma'am" or stand up for your rights? This is the talk every Black parent has with their child, how to react when driving while Black. Then again, how many Black people even listen to Iron Maiden?
So now you can nitpick. You're Black and your neighborhood is safe, and you love "The Number of the Beast." Congratulations.
And now this is devolving into the anger I feel all day long, with people sending me their lousy self-produced tracks, sending me right wing crap from publications I've never heard of, that all you have to do is Google to find out they're biased. I know, I know, you're reasonable, but the rest of them are ruining it for all of us. Under the rubric of "free speech." Hey, you free speech fanatics, how do you feel about Meta closing out those accounts sponsored by the Russians? Huh? Should we leave those up too? Just because the line is hard to define, that does not mean we should throw it out the window. Only a nincompoop like Elon Musk who knows science but not life would think that.
And there you have my bile.
But in truth so many of us can get along.
Leave your prejudices at the door. But know the system is rigged against you. You're just a pawn in their game. Bob Dylan sang that sixty years ago, but today we have to hear about fake robbers and drug dealers in songs that are fantasies just like the superhero movies.
So, suspend disbelief at the door, when you press play.
When you find out what this is all about...it's not that it's so convoluted, it's just that it's not really that big a deal.
But we've got Snake Plissken to save the day!
Actually, I can't even remember those movies, but in truth Aaron Pierce as Terry Richmond is the great equalizer, he cannot shy away from a fight, he's got to right a wrong, even though at times he wants to leave it all behind, like Al Pacino in "The Godfather."
We used to see A level films at the brand new multiplexes, but we also went to see the AIP and New World pictures too. They were gritty. They showed the true underside of life, not the gussied-up fantasy the major studios purveyed.
So the plot unfolds. It takes you a while to find out what is going on. And then you start to plot ahead in your mind, what if the cash really is drug money and the Chinese restaurant is a front.
And then you've got the classic white woman/black guy formula. Although love is only hinted at here. And that's no longer seen as dangerous. Now all the focus is on gay and trans, but really it's all the same thing, you can't live and let live, and sometimes you've got to live and let die. Is that how this is going to end, with people dying?
And in truth, that was just a B level James Bond flick. Trading on the name, the franchise, as opposed to the plot.
"Rebel Ridge" is more serious, and looks for more gravitas, but you're not going to turn off the TV and be fearful it's going to happen to you.
AnnaSophia Robb reminds me of Mary Stuart Masterson not only in looks but intelligence, radiating a level of truth in an untrue movie.
David Denman as Even Marston is always good. There's just something about his demeanor that bugs you.
Emory Cohen as Seve Lann? You know this guy, a wimp, not the kind who turns into a school shooter, but someone who joins the force to carry a gun with authority.
And then there's Don Johnson as the police chief. So self-satisfied.
And that rings true, that is life, some bureaucrat standing in your way and proud of it. Forcing you to abide by regs that are irrelevant. Loving to see you squirm.
So you're bombarded with incoming all day. It's good to have a respite.
And I can list much better series, most of them foreign with subtitles that you don't want to watch. But if you're looking for good old American entertainment... THIS IS 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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Friday 6 September 2024
Oasis-SiriusXM This Week
Tune in Saturday September 7th 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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Phone #: 844-686-5863
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If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz
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New Releases
Spotify playlist: https://rb.gy/8bmrod
Listening to new music takes time. It's not something you can do in the background, you've got to focus, and that's too heavy a lift for many people.
Let me put it differently... Are you BUSY? I am, and I can't slow down. It's one of the many reasons I've stopped going to the movies. I plan it, the lights go down, and I can't turn my mind off, it keeps racing.
But today I was in one of those spaces where nothing was working. I've got reverse jet lag. As in I'm home, but flying half a day in a tube...you're enduring it, and it takes a couple of days for your brain to unclench.
So, I must admit I wasted some time on Instagram Reels and TikTok, and to be honest I saw some very interesting stuff there, but I finally tore myself away, made a quick trip through the news, and then started catching up on "The New Yorker." The only must-read article I'll mention is by William Finnegan, whose "Barbarian Days" is a classic, read it even if you've never surfed and never intend to. Ditto this article about Jock Sutherland:
"A SURF LEGEND'S LONG RIDE - For Jock Sutherland, being hailed as the world's best surfer was just one phase in an unlikely life": https://t.ly/JZx3s
Surfing is just the background, it's about culture, and life.
It's kind of like skiing, you can turn it into a job, but then you give up your freedom, which is number one when I'm on the hill, which is why I've never wanted to be an instructor or a patrolman or work for a ski company, it bastardizes the experience, and the experience is everything.
But in this week's "New Yorker," there's a story about MJ Lenderman, and it was the second one I saw today, so I decided to check him out.
JOKER LIPS
MJ Lenderman
You'll want to turn off the opening track, "Manning Fireworks," it's a slow dirge with a bad vocal and you'll think Mr. Lenderman is exactly what he's billed as, an indie rocker, and do we really need another one of those, haven't we had enough of them in the past? I mean what ever happened to being able to sing? And don't tell me about Dylan, he's the BEST LYRICIST OF ALL TIME.
As for the lyrics... They're vaunted in all these stories, but if you think they're great, you've never listened to "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)." And don't give me sh*t for this ancient reference, that's today's' reality, you've got to compete with the best tracks of all time, they're just a click away, the history of recorded music is at your fingertips, so you've got to be as good or better, and that's a high bar.
But then the album slipped into the second cut, "Joker Lips," and I immediately got it, and it wasn't the lyrics whatsoever, but the groove, the feel, and most especially the guitar work.
I'd like to say the rest of the album is as good as "Joker Lips," but I won't go that far. But the worst track is first on this album entitled "Manning Fireworks." And the last cut, "Bark at the Moon," will bring you out of your stupor, it demands attention.
But if you don't like indie rock, DON'T EVEN START!
Based on the reviews you'd think MJ Lenderman is the second coming, that he's about to be ubiquitous, and that is patently untrue.
NEVER GOING HOME TONIGHT
David Guetta, Alesso, Madison Love
I don't know what I'll get more hate about, Lenderman or this. People hate EDM, think it's too easy to make, mindless, but that is false. Cast aside your prejudices and listen, and you'll find that "Never Going Home Tonight" has the number one criterion for music today, it's HOOKY, you want to listen to it again when it's finished. Don't tell me to play your tune five or six times to get it, I'm not going to, and other than your parents and your girlfriend/boyfriend, no one else will either.
This is not quite Avicii's "Wake Me Up," "Never Going Home Tonight" might not be forever, but it's definitely for right now. I'd much rather listen to this than Chappell Roan.
Your mileage may differ.
And it's not only the deejays, Madison Love's vocal is enticing, more than breathy, more than a whisper, it's not the belting of a TV competition show, but it's just right for this cut.
This is the last hot night of the summer. Staying up way too late. "Coke in the bathroom stall," alcohol in your belly and "one more kiss before last call."
They're never going home tonight, and this is the magic of music, it takes you away to a new place where nothing else matters, AND YOU WANT TO STAY THERE!
CAN WE FIX OUR NATION'S BROKEN HEART
Stevie Wonder
Stevie has been lost for years. He had a run of classic albums in the seventies that seem to be lost to the sands of time, other than "Songs in the Key of Life," which despite all the hosannas is not as good as the three LPs that preceded it. But after you reach the moon, what are you gonna do next?
"Hotter than July" was okay, but then calling to say he loves us... Ecch, dreck. So I wasn't expecting much.
And at first you'll be thrown off by Stevie's voice. It's lost something in the ensuing decades. Not like Mellencamp's oversmoked pipes, it's just that it's not as clear and rich as it once was, not that you would be bothered by this if you'd never heard him before.
So I'm on guard, hesitant, waiting to be disappointed once again, especially considering it's a message song, but...
The intro is rhythmic, melodic, and kind of hooky. And the verse stays with the same groove.
And then there's a bridge, that's a bit less hooky, but then there's this exquisite change, after "humanity," when Stevie sings "We're family," this is the magic Stevie specializes in, it's so subtle, but it's enough, the Beatles specialized in this too. Don't bring in ten writers, don't layer on instrumentation, just put it in the basic song.
And then that change repeats throughout the number, to the point where when it's done you tell yourself, "Hey, that was pretty good!"
And I've got to mention the harmonica solo, which seems anything but superfluous, like too many of Stevie's guest shots recently.
That change, it's enrapturing.
And by time the song is over...you don't think it's going to be a hit single, what is, but you can see "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart" as an album cut somewhere on "Fulfillingness' First Finale."
And irrelevant of the lyrics, if you listen to "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart" you're disarmed, you can't be angry.
That's the power of music.
HOLD OF MY HEART
Joanne Shaw Taylor
This was a surprise, because if I've ever heard of this woman, I've forgotten.
Take Bonnie Raitt and add a bit of edge, amp it up a bit, but really Joanne Shaw Taylor is her own thing.
Research tells me Dave Stewart discovered Taylor twenty years ago, that's how long it takes for acts to develop and catch on these days.
LOOK WHAT GOD CAN DO
Rhett Walker
I heard this before I saw the title, I didn't realize it was a Christian rock song, but if you're looking for something straight out of seventies or eighties rock, this is it. As a matter of fact, there's a section that's a straight rip-off of Tina Turner's "Better Be Good to Me."
This track is extremely palatable, but it's nothing you haven't heard before. But it's the antithesis of what's in the Spotify Top 50. Not that I think you'd ever see it there, this is a retread, the sound is not quite edgy enough, the entire track proves that imitation is a fool's errand, you just can't replicate a sound, you've got to go beyond, which is one of the failures of MJ Lenderman, you've heard that before. Whereas "Never Going Home Tonight" may be genre specific, but it's just different enough to entice. Stevie Wonder has his own sound, and here he's extending it. And Joanne Shaw Taylor evidences that being able to play, sing and write still counts for a lot, add a dose of magic and you've got something.
So there's good music out there. But that does not mean it will run up the chart. And, unfortunately, you can't trust the critics, because they want to promote that which is different, that the mainstream won't like, or will have to endure to understand.
Oh, first I listened to English Teacher, which just won the Mercury Prize. I understand why it won, but I couldn't make it to the end of the tracks, this music works more on an intellectual level than an emotional one. It's indie rock adjacent, it's not bad at all, but first and foremost people have to want to listen to the track. And don't tell me that requires it to be conventional, remember the first time you heard Kraftwerk's "Autobahn"?
Having said that, the second time through I'm getting more into English Teacher, never underestimate the power of repetition. With enough spins I'd probably like "Manning Fireworks" more.
But what we're looking for is not music that we have to work to get, that isn't pleasurable, but something that hits us right away, like "Never Going Home Tonight," or slowly reels us in, like "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart."
But, I was surprised to find such alluring new music today.
I've got to slow down more in the future.
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Listening to new music takes time. It's not something you can do in the background, you've got to focus, and that's too heavy a lift for many people.
Let me put it differently... Are you BUSY? I am, and I can't slow down. It's one of the many reasons I've stopped going to the movies. I plan it, the lights go down, and I can't turn my mind off, it keeps racing.
But today I was in one of those spaces where nothing was working. I've got reverse jet lag. As in I'm home, but flying half a day in a tube...you're enduring it, and it takes a couple of days for your brain to unclench.
So, I must admit I wasted some time on Instagram Reels and TikTok, and to be honest I saw some very interesting stuff there, but I finally tore myself away, made a quick trip through the news, and then started catching up on "The New Yorker." The only must-read article I'll mention is by William Finnegan, whose "Barbarian Days" is a classic, read it even if you've never surfed and never intend to. Ditto this article about Jock Sutherland:
"A SURF LEGEND'S LONG RIDE - For Jock Sutherland, being hailed as the world's best surfer was just one phase in an unlikely life": https://t.ly/JZx3s
Surfing is just the background, it's about culture, and life.
It's kind of like skiing, you can turn it into a job, but then you give up your freedom, which is number one when I'm on the hill, which is why I've never wanted to be an instructor or a patrolman or work for a ski company, it bastardizes the experience, and the experience is everything.
But in this week's "New Yorker," there's a story about MJ Lenderman, and it was the second one I saw today, so I decided to check him out.
JOKER LIPS
MJ Lenderman
You'll want to turn off the opening track, "Manning Fireworks," it's a slow dirge with a bad vocal and you'll think Mr. Lenderman is exactly what he's billed as, an indie rocker, and do we really need another one of those, haven't we had enough of them in the past? I mean what ever happened to being able to sing? And don't tell me about Dylan, he's the BEST LYRICIST OF ALL TIME.
As for the lyrics... They're vaunted in all these stories, but if you think they're great, you've never listened to "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)." And don't give me sh*t for this ancient reference, that's today's' reality, you've got to compete with the best tracks of all time, they're just a click away, the history of recorded music is at your fingertips, so you've got to be as good or better, and that's a high bar.
But then the album slipped into the second cut, "Joker Lips," and I immediately got it, and it wasn't the lyrics whatsoever, but the groove, the feel, and most especially the guitar work.
I'd like to say the rest of the album is as good as "Joker Lips," but I won't go that far. But the worst track is first on this album entitled "Manning Fireworks." And the last cut, "Bark at the Moon," will bring you out of your stupor, it demands attention.
But if you don't like indie rock, DON'T EVEN START!
Based on the reviews you'd think MJ Lenderman is the second coming, that he's about to be ubiquitous, and that is patently untrue.
NEVER GOING HOME TONIGHT
David Guetta, Alesso, Madison Love
I don't know what I'll get more hate about, Lenderman or this. People hate EDM, think it's too easy to make, mindless, but that is false. Cast aside your prejudices and listen, and you'll find that "Never Going Home Tonight" has the number one criterion for music today, it's HOOKY, you want to listen to it again when it's finished. Don't tell me to play your tune five or six times to get it, I'm not going to, and other than your parents and your girlfriend/boyfriend, no one else will either.
This is not quite Avicii's "Wake Me Up," "Never Going Home Tonight" might not be forever, but it's definitely for right now. I'd much rather listen to this than Chappell Roan.
Your mileage may differ.
And it's not only the deejays, Madison Love's vocal is enticing, more than breathy, more than a whisper, it's not the belting of a TV competition show, but it's just right for this cut.
This is the last hot night of the summer. Staying up way too late. "Coke in the bathroom stall," alcohol in your belly and "one more kiss before last call."
They're never going home tonight, and this is the magic of music, it takes you away to a new place where nothing else matters, AND YOU WANT TO STAY THERE!
CAN WE FIX OUR NATION'S BROKEN HEART
Stevie Wonder
Stevie has been lost for years. He had a run of classic albums in the seventies that seem to be lost to the sands of time, other than "Songs in the Key of Life," which despite all the hosannas is not as good as the three LPs that preceded it. But after you reach the moon, what are you gonna do next?
"Hotter than July" was okay, but then calling to say he loves us... Ecch, dreck. So I wasn't expecting much.
And at first you'll be thrown off by Stevie's voice. It's lost something in the ensuing decades. Not like Mellencamp's oversmoked pipes, it's just that it's not as clear and rich as it once was, not that you would be bothered by this if you'd never heard him before.
So I'm on guard, hesitant, waiting to be disappointed once again, especially considering it's a message song, but...
The intro is rhythmic, melodic, and kind of hooky. And the verse stays with the same groove.
And then there's a bridge, that's a bit less hooky, but then there's this exquisite change, after "humanity," when Stevie sings "We're family," this is the magic Stevie specializes in, it's so subtle, but it's enough, the Beatles specialized in this too. Don't bring in ten writers, don't layer on instrumentation, just put it in the basic song.
And then that change repeats throughout the number, to the point where when it's done you tell yourself, "Hey, that was pretty good!"
And I've got to mention the harmonica solo, which seems anything but superfluous, like too many of Stevie's guest shots recently.
That change, it's enrapturing.
And by time the song is over...you don't think it's going to be a hit single, what is, but you can see "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart" as an album cut somewhere on "Fulfillingness' First Finale."
And irrelevant of the lyrics, if you listen to "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart" you're disarmed, you can't be angry.
That's the power of music.
HOLD OF MY HEART
Joanne Shaw Taylor
This was a surprise, because if I've ever heard of this woman, I've forgotten.
Take Bonnie Raitt and add a bit of edge, amp it up a bit, but really Joanne Shaw Taylor is her own thing.
Research tells me Dave Stewart discovered Taylor twenty years ago, that's how long it takes for acts to develop and catch on these days.
LOOK WHAT GOD CAN DO
Rhett Walker
I heard this before I saw the title, I didn't realize it was a Christian rock song, but if you're looking for something straight out of seventies or eighties rock, this is it. As a matter of fact, there's a section that's a straight rip-off of Tina Turner's "Better Be Good to Me."
This track is extremely palatable, but it's nothing you haven't heard before. But it's the antithesis of what's in the Spotify Top 50. Not that I think you'd ever see it there, this is a retread, the sound is not quite edgy enough, the entire track proves that imitation is a fool's errand, you just can't replicate a sound, you've got to go beyond, which is one of the failures of MJ Lenderman, you've heard that before. Whereas "Never Going Home Tonight" may be genre specific, but it's just different enough to entice. Stevie Wonder has his own sound, and here he's extending it. And Joanne Shaw Taylor evidences that being able to play, sing and write still counts for a lot, add a dose of magic and you've got something.
So there's good music out there. But that does not mean it will run up the chart. And, unfortunately, you can't trust the critics, because they want to promote that which is different, that the mainstream won't like, or will have to endure to understand.
Oh, first I listened to English Teacher, which just won the Mercury Prize. I understand why it won, but I couldn't make it to the end of the tracks, this music works more on an intellectual level than an emotional one. It's indie rock adjacent, it's not bad at all, but first and foremost people have to want to listen to the track. And don't tell me that requires it to be conventional, remember the first time you heard Kraftwerk's "Autobahn"?
Having said that, the second time through I'm getting more into English Teacher, never underestimate the power of repetition. With enough spins I'd probably like "Manning Fireworks" more.
But what we're looking for is not music that we have to work to get, that isn't pleasurable, but something that hits us right away, like "Never Going Home Tonight," or slowly reels us in, like "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart."
But, I was surprised to find such alluring new music today.
I've got to slow down more in the future.
--
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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Thursday 5 September 2024
One More Oasis
I'm getting e-mail that this is going to hurt the image of the band.
NO!
That's how much people want to go, that's how much fans believe in these artists.
Billy Squier jumped on a bed in a pink tank top on MTV and it totaled his career.
Taylor Swift gave one of the absolute worst performances in the history of the Grammys and it didn't hurt her career one bit, never mind her fans writing it out of her history.
Remember when we had to endure all that b.s. about the price of Springsteen tickets? Heard anybody complaining recently? And the dirty little secret is the Boss didn't go clean everywhere, you could get a ticket no problem. And the people who saw him before will see him again.
Think of Motley Crue... The band signed in blood that they'd never tour again. And then they reneged. Where's the DOJ on that? Turns out the fans didn't care, they were just thrilled for the opportunity to see the Crue once again when they went back on the road.
You can't use twentieth century metrics and concepts to analyze twenty first century demand and perception.
There is no MTV. No universal outlet we are all paying attention to. So you find the act you're into and you dedicate yourself to it. This blowback on haters was never as intense in the last century. You might judge someone's taste harshly, but you didn't excoriate them, burn them to the ground. Today's fans are overprotective of the objects of their desire. Travis Scott's album almost beat out Sabrina Carpenter's new record for number one this week. And it's a ten year old mixtape! Talk about desire, fandom. This guy eggs on an audience to the point where attendees get crushed to death and...
People still stream R. Kelly!
And HBO might have killed the career and public perception of Woody Allen, but it turns out Michael Jackson is teflon, an icon, people still want to hear his music.
And you've got to know, there are a hundred million more people in America than there were in the seventies. That's a lot of fans to go around.
And there are more shows than ever, but having hits in the past does not guarantee selling tickets today. To sell tickets consistently you must be seen as owned by the fans, or above them. Which is why the Chainsmokers couldn't sell enough tickets and canceled their tour. And the Black Keys... Most people know them from their hits, how many hard core Black Keys fans are there? And almost all of America can't even name a Phish song, never mind sing one, and they play arenas.
As for Oasis... Their image is bad boys/f*ck you. I'm surprised they even apologized and said the kerfuffle wasn't their fault. They should have pulled a Stones and said OUR SHOWS ARE WORTH IT, AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T COME!
Look at Trump. He's a convicted felon. Every time he opens up his mouth he lies. Yet he still could win the election. People are diehard fans. They'll buy stock in Truth Social even though they know they'll lose money. They buy Trump Bibles and other chozzerai and you think the fact that Oasis tickets jumped in price is going to make people not want to go and hate the band forever? WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING!
People are thrilled just to be in the building. They want to be able to tell the story till the end of time that they were there. People are proud of how much they pay for sports tickets and luxury goods, but concert tickets must be priced artificially low because..? You need to be able to sit in the front row for cheap because you listened to the damn album? So did millions of others!
And if you're complaining you're poor...
I believe in a social safety net, you should have a roof over your head and food, water and health care. Are you also entitled to see your favorite band for below fair market value? How about a Mercedes Benz for 25k?
And $350 for a concert ticket? Ever look at Broadway prices?
People want to be attached to the mania, they don't want to be left out. The hysteria over the Eras tour helped sell tickets. Everybody who cared was afraid they'd miss it.
Did everybody care? OF COURSE NOT!
This is not the Stones in the seventies, no act has that much mindshare today, irrelevant of the quality. We've got a smorgasbord of content and you can only dedicate time and attention to a few things. And these things are the bedrock of your identity. Which is why merch sales are through the roof.
So you've invested years in belief and just because concert tickets are more expensive than you delusionally believe they should be you're going to burn your playhouse down, abandon all interest, and start all over from scratch with a brand new band?
You like that Oasis are bad boys, will say the unsayable, come from the working class. Furthermore, Springsteen sailed on Geffen's yacht, sold his rights for half a billion dollars and it didn't hurt his ticket sales at all. The complaint about the flex pricing was about the cost, no one said they didn't want to go. In addition, the multi-thousand dollar prices for Springsteen seats not even close to the stage never even sold. They had to lower them down the line. Because there is a price at which people will say no.
I ain't paying a grand to see anybody. But you'd be surprised how many people are willing to do so. That's their choice!
And just because you think In-N-Out is fantastic, that does not mean people will stop paying to go to Masa, which will cost you a grand, FOR ONE PERSON!
Actually, I ate at Masa Takayama's previous restaurant, Ginza Sushiko, in Beverly Hills, back in the early nineties. Howard Thompson took me and it cost $980 bucks for two people. And I've been telling the tale ever since! We ate fugu, the blowfish that almost killed Homer Simpson!
If you'd asked me to pay five hundred bucks for that meal thirty years ago I'd have said no way, never mind not even having the cash. But in retrospect, IT LOOKS LIKE A BARGAIN!
Are you really going to stay home as a protest to high ticket prices for Oasis? It's not like anybody's going to cheer you on, they'll be lining up to buy the ticket you chose not to purchase.
Or maybe we should insist that food prices come down at the airport. I feel ripped off every time I go there. But the bottom line is rent is sky high and it's a captive audience and you can bring your own food if you want to, but you really want that Wolfgang Puck pizza, fresh out of the oven.
I mean is the DOJ investigating airport restaurants?
Never mind the canard that if Live Nation and Ticketmaster are broken up ticket prices will come down. Explain how that works again? Never mind that there were multiple ticket sellers in the U.K. and prices were still sky high!
Is this the way you run your regular life? One faux pas by a friend and they're history? Do you only go to the movies during the day for the discount?
The product is Oasis. And to many people that's priceless.
It's a once in a lifetime experience. And you're going to not go because the act charged what the tickets are truly worth?
Oh come on, protest something real, that people care about, you're just caught up in the irrelevancies and the real issues are passing you by.
Actually, the business at large loves this Oasis issue. What it means is the public will get used to the flexing of prices, and higher prices, down the line. Remember when the Eagles charged a hundred bucks for you to see Hell Freeze Over? Now a hundred bucks seems cheap! Never mind that even if Oasis tours ad infinitum hereafter, I'm sure there's a song or two or more they will never play after this run of dates, some deep cut. This is the thrill of being a fan, hearing the unhearable, the favorite song that you thought only you knew and loved. What's that worth?
Which is why people pay so much to see bands play legendary albums. These acts play larger buildings and charge more. All because of demand!
Oasis demand is through the roof.
Own it.
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: The Oasis Kerfuffle
Great article Bob!
I have friends who don't even like music contacting me about Oasis tickets… it's full on mania here in the UK! For those unaware of the grip this band had on the nation in the 1990's, it's worth watching the 'Oasis Knebworth 1996' documentary.
They created a similar ticket hysteria back then, but instead of hordes of middle aged men staring at computer screens, it was spotty adolescents on hold using their parent's landlines.
Best wishes,
Isaac Ferry
_____________________________________
From: Anthony Gardiner
Subject: Re: The Oasis Kerfuffle
Hello from New Zealand, where rugby is our national sport, close to being a religion.
In 2011 the rugby World Cup was held here. The New Zealand All Blacks made the final which was held in the city I lived in.
The ticket was $1000. It went on the credit card which then took me two years to pay off.
If I am lucky enough to grow old(er) and am sitting back reflecting on my life, I'll remember that game (we won!) and not the two years of paying off the debt.
People remember and cherish events, holidays, and the people they share them with.
People on their deathbed won't wistfully remember stuff. And yet we pay $300 for a new handbag, $30k for a car, and whinge about ticket prices.
Go and pay for the experience that you'll remember forever. "Life is a great number of small moments, and a small number of great moments."
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NO!
That's how much people want to go, that's how much fans believe in these artists.
Billy Squier jumped on a bed in a pink tank top on MTV and it totaled his career.
Taylor Swift gave one of the absolute worst performances in the history of the Grammys and it didn't hurt her career one bit, never mind her fans writing it out of her history.
Remember when we had to endure all that b.s. about the price of Springsteen tickets? Heard anybody complaining recently? And the dirty little secret is the Boss didn't go clean everywhere, you could get a ticket no problem. And the people who saw him before will see him again.
Think of Motley Crue... The band signed in blood that they'd never tour again. And then they reneged. Where's the DOJ on that? Turns out the fans didn't care, they were just thrilled for the opportunity to see the Crue once again when they went back on the road.
You can't use twentieth century metrics and concepts to analyze twenty first century demand and perception.
There is no MTV. No universal outlet we are all paying attention to. So you find the act you're into and you dedicate yourself to it. This blowback on haters was never as intense in the last century. You might judge someone's taste harshly, but you didn't excoriate them, burn them to the ground. Today's fans are overprotective of the objects of their desire. Travis Scott's album almost beat out Sabrina Carpenter's new record for number one this week. And it's a ten year old mixtape! Talk about desire, fandom. This guy eggs on an audience to the point where attendees get crushed to death and...
People still stream R. Kelly!
And HBO might have killed the career and public perception of Woody Allen, but it turns out Michael Jackson is teflon, an icon, people still want to hear his music.
And you've got to know, there are a hundred million more people in America than there were in the seventies. That's a lot of fans to go around.
And there are more shows than ever, but having hits in the past does not guarantee selling tickets today. To sell tickets consistently you must be seen as owned by the fans, or above them. Which is why the Chainsmokers couldn't sell enough tickets and canceled their tour. And the Black Keys... Most people know them from their hits, how many hard core Black Keys fans are there? And almost all of America can't even name a Phish song, never mind sing one, and they play arenas.
As for Oasis... Their image is bad boys/f*ck you. I'm surprised they even apologized and said the kerfuffle wasn't their fault. They should have pulled a Stones and said OUR SHOWS ARE WORTH IT, AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T COME!
Look at Trump. He's a convicted felon. Every time he opens up his mouth he lies. Yet he still could win the election. People are diehard fans. They'll buy stock in Truth Social even though they know they'll lose money. They buy Trump Bibles and other chozzerai and you think the fact that Oasis tickets jumped in price is going to make people not want to go and hate the band forever? WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING!
People are thrilled just to be in the building. They want to be able to tell the story till the end of time that they were there. People are proud of how much they pay for sports tickets and luxury goods, but concert tickets must be priced artificially low because..? You need to be able to sit in the front row for cheap because you listened to the damn album? So did millions of others!
And if you're complaining you're poor...
I believe in a social safety net, you should have a roof over your head and food, water and health care. Are you also entitled to see your favorite band for below fair market value? How about a Mercedes Benz for 25k?
And $350 for a concert ticket? Ever look at Broadway prices?
People want to be attached to the mania, they don't want to be left out. The hysteria over the Eras tour helped sell tickets. Everybody who cared was afraid they'd miss it.
Did everybody care? OF COURSE NOT!
This is not the Stones in the seventies, no act has that much mindshare today, irrelevant of the quality. We've got a smorgasbord of content and you can only dedicate time and attention to a few things. And these things are the bedrock of your identity. Which is why merch sales are through the roof.
So you've invested years in belief and just because concert tickets are more expensive than you delusionally believe they should be you're going to burn your playhouse down, abandon all interest, and start all over from scratch with a brand new band?
You like that Oasis are bad boys, will say the unsayable, come from the working class. Furthermore, Springsteen sailed on Geffen's yacht, sold his rights for half a billion dollars and it didn't hurt his ticket sales at all. The complaint about the flex pricing was about the cost, no one said they didn't want to go. In addition, the multi-thousand dollar prices for Springsteen seats not even close to the stage never even sold. They had to lower them down the line. Because there is a price at which people will say no.
I ain't paying a grand to see anybody. But you'd be surprised how many people are willing to do so. That's their choice!
And just because you think In-N-Out is fantastic, that does not mean people will stop paying to go to Masa, which will cost you a grand, FOR ONE PERSON!
Actually, I ate at Masa Takayama's previous restaurant, Ginza Sushiko, in Beverly Hills, back in the early nineties. Howard Thompson took me and it cost $980 bucks for two people. And I've been telling the tale ever since! We ate fugu, the blowfish that almost killed Homer Simpson!
If you'd asked me to pay five hundred bucks for that meal thirty years ago I'd have said no way, never mind not even having the cash. But in retrospect, IT LOOKS LIKE A BARGAIN!
Are you really going to stay home as a protest to high ticket prices for Oasis? It's not like anybody's going to cheer you on, they'll be lining up to buy the ticket you chose not to purchase.
Or maybe we should insist that food prices come down at the airport. I feel ripped off every time I go there. But the bottom line is rent is sky high and it's a captive audience and you can bring your own food if you want to, but you really want that Wolfgang Puck pizza, fresh out of the oven.
I mean is the DOJ investigating airport restaurants?
Never mind the canard that if Live Nation and Ticketmaster are broken up ticket prices will come down. Explain how that works again? Never mind that there were multiple ticket sellers in the U.K. and prices were still sky high!
Is this the way you run your regular life? One faux pas by a friend and they're history? Do you only go to the movies during the day for the discount?
The product is Oasis. And to many people that's priceless.
It's a once in a lifetime experience. And you're going to not go because the act charged what the tickets are truly worth?
Oh come on, protest something real, that people care about, you're just caught up in the irrelevancies and the real issues are passing you by.
Actually, the business at large loves this Oasis issue. What it means is the public will get used to the flexing of prices, and higher prices, down the line. Remember when the Eagles charged a hundred bucks for you to see Hell Freeze Over? Now a hundred bucks seems cheap! Never mind that even if Oasis tours ad infinitum hereafter, I'm sure there's a song or two or more they will never play after this run of dates, some deep cut. This is the thrill of being a fan, hearing the unhearable, the favorite song that you thought only you knew and loved. What's that worth?
Which is why people pay so much to see bands play legendary albums. These acts play larger buildings and charge more. All because of demand!
Oasis demand is through the roof.
Own it.
_____________________________________
Subject: Re: The Oasis Kerfuffle
Great article Bob!
I have friends who don't even like music contacting me about Oasis tickets… it's full on mania here in the UK! For those unaware of the grip this band had on the nation in the 1990's, it's worth watching the 'Oasis Knebworth 1996' documentary.
They created a similar ticket hysteria back then, but instead of hordes of middle aged men staring at computer screens, it was spotty adolescents on hold using their parent's landlines.
Best wishes,
Isaac Ferry
_____________________________________
From: Anthony Gardiner
Subject: Re: The Oasis Kerfuffle
Hello from New Zealand, where rugby is our national sport, close to being a religion.
In 2011 the rugby World Cup was held here. The New Zealand All Blacks made the final which was held in the city I lived in.
The ticket was $1000. It went on the credit card which then took me two years to pay off.
If I am lucky enough to grow old(er) and am sitting back reflecting on my life, I'll remember that game (we won!) and not the two years of paying off the debt.
People remember and cherish events, holidays, and the people they share them with.
People on their deathbed won't wistfully remember stuff. And yet we pay $300 for a new handbag, $30k for a car, and whinge about ticket prices.
Go and pay for the experience that you'll remember forever. "Life is a great number of small moments, and a small number of great moments."
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Niall Horan At The O2
I must have been the oldest guy there.
But I was standing on the scaffolding by the sound desk for a better view and...
That's rock and roll.
There's just a vibe, a feeling at a show, that you can't get anywhere else.
After talking to the LIV golfer Tyrrell Hatton in the office, Justin threaded me through the crowd to the aforementioned sound desk and...
It was girls, girls, GIRLS! And they were all singing...
"The Chain."
You know...if you don't love me now, you will never love me again.
Every woman, from teen to twentysomething, maybe a few thirtysomethings, had their head in the air, singing along in euphoria. I've seen this before, but at a Taylor Swift concert.
We didn't do this. We were high on drugs. We sat in the seats the floor of the O2 did not provide. It was all cerebral. A show wasn't a celebration, but an intellectual experience. We took our music very seriously, argued about it, judged others' taste, it was the highest art form.
Not anymore. Music is like sports. And if you're a fan, you want to know EVERYTHING about the act!
So the Niall Horan tour is billed as "The Show," and the stage set had a curtain, it was akin to a movie theatre, and from the very first note the assembled multitude sang along and...
This was rock. I don't mean Lamb of God, I don't mean Metallica, but the big tent of rock we had in the sixties. There were guitars, no hard drives, no dancing. It was about the music, and solely the music.
And it was fun. Even though I didn't know all the material.
That's usually a criterion. If you don't know the songs, you don't have a good experience. But now sound reinforcement is so good, that if an act presents songs with melody and changes...
Look at the Spotify Top 50 and you'd think it's a lost art.
But the truth is the old paradigm is history.
Harry told me they weren't exactly sure how the audience knew the songs. Radio was not a component. Ditto the manager of the opening act, Del Water Gap. Today you go off into the wilderness and...
Opening for a superstar is one way to break through. It worked for Sabrina Carpenter, and then for Chappell Roan. But really, you're on your own.
A lot of the big acts breaking through have been at the game for nearly a decade. And there's nothing a manager can do to shorten the journey. There's a fantasy that there's some big button to push. But all a manager can do is maximize the action you develop. And it's hard. The acts are working so fervently at social media, 24/7, that they burn out, a manager has to convince them to stay at it.
And Niall's band had two women in it. And neither was a bass player! (I'm worried you'll think that's sexist, but if you open your eyes, you'll find that's where you'll find many women in a band.)
Not that there are any bands to begin with.
So after the show I had a long conversation with Emily Kohavi, who plays violin and guitar in the band, as well as sings.
She's looking for representation. Someone to help her. She's holding back her masters. She's put out a couple of albums as part of an indie rock band. She's been on tour with Phoebe Bridgers, but she wants help, she wants it to be a bit easier.
But that's not the way it is anymore.
I told her to put new music online immediately. And constantly. If you're not there, no one can find you.
And if you can sell tickets, agents will come calling. As for a record label... Is that really a thing anymore? You can put your stuff up on Spotify, et al, and make more bread assuming any comes in at all.
You're in charge.
So we went up to the suite, high in the rafters, about two-thirds of the way through and...
I got it.
You can be in the upper deck, and it's considered a shi*tty ticket, but you're in the building, you can see it, you can feel it. This is where I used to sit, I no longer have to, but I realized on some level, it's just as good.
And then we went down by the stage and I looked at the posters...
The girls who had traveled thousands of miles for the show, in excess of 4,000, to be accurate.
And then two women who'd seen the show up north and then had to come down and see it again.
This is not Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls." That band was selling a fantasy. Which you can still view online, today they're influencers on social media. But in truth those people are not real, they never live up to the image, the girls in attendance Tuesday night didn't have to dress up, they were normal, they were thrilled just to be there!
And it was girls. Girls drive the business. Get the girls and you've got something, they bring the boys along. If you've only got the guys, you're limited. And all the guys want to be with the girls...
I mean how many times have I been to an arena show?
It's not like it's a novelty. But I was there and felt the same inner excitement I always have.
And the backstage hang... This wasn't the L.A. insiders, this was friends of the band and there was a joie de vivre. People live to go backstage, thinking it will make them complete. But normally it's dead, the band members are worn out, but the other night...
I mean Niall was normal. We talked about the music, the show, where we live in L.A.
But it wasn't dark. It wasn't edgy.
You're with your tribe and you can have conversations with the people who understand you, who are on your wavelength.
And this better be enough, because there's just not that much money in music anymore.
Let me be clear, there's plenty of money, but unlike in the sixties and seventies, rock stars are not as rich as anybody in the world. That's techies and financiers.
Which means you've got to enjoy it for what it is. An alternative universe.
If you're wearing a suit you don't get it. You're in this world so you can relax, let your freak flag fly, you don't need permission, you just fit right in.
And this has nothing to do with brand extensions. And if you're selling out to the man, you're alienating yourself from your audience and...
Turns out fun is the one thing that money can buy.
Lay down your cash and go to a show, you'll have a blast!
--
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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But I was standing on the scaffolding by the sound desk for a better view and...
That's rock and roll.
There's just a vibe, a feeling at a show, that you can't get anywhere else.
After talking to the LIV golfer Tyrrell Hatton in the office, Justin threaded me through the crowd to the aforementioned sound desk and...
It was girls, girls, GIRLS! And they were all singing...
"The Chain."
You know...if you don't love me now, you will never love me again.
Every woman, from teen to twentysomething, maybe a few thirtysomethings, had their head in the air, singing along in euphoria. I've seen this before, but at a Taylor Swift concert.
We didn't do this. We were high on drugs. We sat in the seats the floor of the O2 did not provide. It was all cerebral. A show wasn't a celebration, but an intellectual experience. We took our music very seriously, argued about it, judged others' taste, it was the highest art form.
Not anymore. Music is like sports. And if you're a fan, you want to know EVERYTHING about the act!
So the Niall Horan tour is billed as "The Show," and the stage set had a curtain, it was akin to a movie theatre, and from the very first note the assembled multitude sang along and...
This was rock. I don't mean Lamb of God, I don't mean Metallica, but the big tent of rock we had in the sixties. There were guitars, no hard drives, no dancing. It was about the music, and solely the music.
And it was fun. Even though I didn't know all the material.
That's usually a criterion. If you don't know the songs, you don't have a good experience. But now sound reinforcement is so good, that if an act presents songs with melody and changes...
Look at the Spotify Top 50 and you'd think it's a lost art.
But the truth is the old paradigm is history.
Harry told me they weren't exactly sure how the audience knew the songs. Radio was not a component. Ditto the manager of the opening act, Del Water Gap. Today you go off into the wilderness and...
Opening for a superstar is one way to break through. It worked for Sabrina Carpenter, and then for Chappell Roan. But really, you're on your own.
A lot of the big acts breaking through have been at the game for nearly a decade. And there's nothing a manager can do to shorten the journey. There's a fantasy that there's some big button to push. But all a manager can do is maximize the action you develop. And it's hard. The acts are working so fervently at social media, 24/7, that they burn out, a manager has to convince them to stay at it.
And Niall's band had two women in it. And neither was a bass player! (I'm worried you'll think that's sexist, but if you open your eyes, you'll find that's where you'll find many women in a band.)
Not that there are any bands to begin with.
So after the show I had a long conversation with Emily Kohavi, who plays violin and guitar in the band, as well as sings.
She's looking for representation. Someone to help her. She's holding back her masters. She's put out a couple of albums as part of an indie rock band. She's been on tour with Phoebe Bridgers, but she wants help, she wants it to be a bit easier.
But that's not the way it is anymore.
I told her to put new music online immediately. And constantly. If you're not there, no one can find you.
And if you can sell tickets, agents will come calling. As for a record label... Is that really a thing anymore? You can put your stuff up on Spotify, et al, and make more bread assuming any comes in at all.
You're in charge.
So we went up to the suite, high in the rafters, about two-thirds of the way through and...
I got it.
You can be in the upper deck, and it's considered a shi*tty ticket, but you're in the building, you can see it, you can feel it. This is where I used to sit, I no longer have to, but I realized on some level, it's just as good.
And then we went down by the stage and I looked at the posters...
The girls who had traveled thousands of miles for the show, in excess of 4,000, to be accurate.
And then two women who'd seen the show up north and then had to come down and see it again.
This is not Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls." That band was selling a fantasy. Which you can still view online, today they're influencers on social media. But in truth those people are not real, they never live up to the image, the girls in attendance Tuesday night didn't have to dress up, they were normal, they were thrilled just to be there!
And it was girls. Girls drive the business. Get the girls and you've got something, they bring the boys along. If you've only got the guys, you're limited. And all the guys want to be with the girls...
I mean how many times have I been to an arena show?
It's not like it's a novelty. But I was there and felt the same inner excitement I always have.
And the backstage hang... This wasn't the L.A. insiders, this was friends of the band and there was a joie de vivre. People live to go backstage, thinking it will make them complete. But normally it's dead, the band members are worn out, but the other night...
I mean Niall was normal. We talked about the music, the show, where we live in L.A.
But it wasn't dark. It wasn't edgy.
You're with your tribe and you can have conversations with the people who understand you, who are on your wavelength.
And this better be enough, because there's just not that much money in music anymore.
Let me be clear, there's plenty of money, but unlike in the sixties and seventies, rock stars are not as rich as anybody in the world. That's techies and financiers.
Which means you've got to enjoy it for what it is. An alternative universe.
If you're wearing a suit you don't get it. You're in this world so you can relax, let your freak flag fly, you don't need permission, you just fit right in.
And this has nothing to do with brand extensions. And if you're selling out to the man, you're alienating yourself from your audience and...
Turns out fun is the one thing that money can buy.
Lay down your cash and go to a show, you'll have a blast!
--
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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The Oasis Kerfuffle
We don't have a band like this in the U.S. Never mind an act that's left money on the table, who live outside the system and sneer at it.
Noel Gallagher is an incredible quote machine. He is almost single-handedly carrying on the rock star ethos.
And if you're in the U.K., this is all anybody wants to talk about. It's palpable. Bigger than Taylor Swift. They're BACK!
And if you were around back then you need to go to relive the experience.
And even if you weren't born yet, you need to be there, you don't want to be left out.
But not everybody can go.
So, what is a ticket worth?
The truth is the fans don't want low prices. Because in that case, they won't be able to get a ticket. When the prices are high, your odds are better.
I know that sounds counterintuitive, but work with me here.
All the tickets are going to evaporate as quickly as Ticketmaster can spew them out, and only Ticketmaster can handle this level of demand. And everybody is buying the maximum, and demand outstrips supply, and chances are you're going to be SOL.
But if every ticket is a grand... They're not going to fill the stadium instantly.
So what's a ticket worth?
WHAT SOMEONE WILL PAY FOR IT!
And the bottom line, no matter what the punters and the government believe, if you don't sell the tickets at fair market value, the scalpers will. And the scalpers will get the entire uplift, and the band will be SOL.
So, the bands want to capture this uplift...
They're afraid of looking bad, charging too much, which is ridiculous, because look at how much these same customers are paying for luxury goods and...
Liam and Noel said they had no idea that prices would be flexed, raised according to demand.
Oh, give me a f*cking break.
There you have it in a nutshell folks. The acts hide behind Ticketmaster, that's what the company is paid for. Ticketmaster makes no music, it's inert, and therefore it can accept all the blame.
But the bottom line is Ticketmaster does nothing that the band does not agree to. NOTHING!
And if you tell me your manager and agent did it behind your back... A. I don't believe you. B. You're doing the tour for the money and you've got no idea what's on the table, how much you can take home?
As for caring about the fans... The fans are going to come anyway.
So what's the fair market value of an Oasis ticket?
NO ONE KNOWS!
Which is why they flex the price. When they encounter the demand.
Now you could keep the price low, and make every ducat paperless, but the customer HATES THIS! The customer wants to be able to scalp the extra tickets they've purchased.
As for the customer waiting hours online only to find the price has changed.
The reason they spend hours online is because Oasis wants to put up all the shows at once, to create mania. Everybody's hyped up, word is you can't get a ticket, and everybody races to buy one. But if there's one stadium show and it doesn't sell out instantly... Good luck selling the tickets to the rest of the gigs instantly, if at all.
So if you think Liam and Noel have clean hands...
This is the problem, the public just won't believe that the acts are greedy. It must be someone else!
And you pay fair market value for everything else, why not for concert tickets?
As for waiting for hours... That's your choice. As far as the price changing... YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY THE TICKETS!
And if you want to blame anyone for the price change, blame the Oasis boys, they're doing it, Ticketmaster is only the order taker.
So look at it this way. You put an ad on Craigslist offering your car for $5,000. And two people arrive at your house. One offers $10,000, the other says they got there one minute before, while you were still in your house, and you must sell them the automobile for $5,000. Watcha gonna do?
I know what you're gonna do.
The only way out of this mess is to do what the Stones do, charge what the tickets are worth, and then they don't sell out instantly. How badly do you want to go, are you willing to pay for it?
And you may not be, but there's a good chance someone else will.
But you think you're entitled to a deal, because...
Exactly why? Turns out the tickets were underpriced, the price was raised and you want an exceptional deal. Why should you benefit and not the act you love so much?
Oh, let's just blame the ticketing company and go home.
And this is exactly what Ticketmaster is paid for.
And even the government can't understand.
NEXT!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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Noel Gallagher is an incredible quote machine. He is almost single-handedly carrying on the rock star ethos.
And if you're in the U.K., this is all anybody wants to talk about. It's palpable. Bigger than Taylor Swift. They're BACK!
And if you were around back then you need to go to relive the experience.
And even if you weren't born yet, you need to be there, you don't want to be left out.
But not everybody can go.
So, what is a ticket worth?
The truth is the fans don't want low prices. Because in that case, they won't be able to get a ticket. When the prices are high, your odds are better.
I know that sounds counterintuitive, but work with me here.
All the tickets are going to evaporate as quickly as Ticketmaster can spew them out, and only Ticketmaster can handle this level of demand. And everybody is buying the maximum, and demand outstrips supply, and chances are you're going to be SOL.
But if every ticket is a grand... They're not going to fill the stadium instantly.
So what's a ticket worth?
WHAT SOMEONE WILL PAY FOR IT!
And the bottom line, no matter what the punters and the government believe, if you don't sell the tickets at fair market value, the scalpers will. And the scalpers will get the entire uplift, and the band will be SOL.
So, the bands want to capture this uplift...
They're afraid of looking bad, charging too much, which is ridiculous, because look at how much these same customers are paying for luxury goods and...
Liam and Noel said they had no idea that prices would be flexed, raised according to demand.
Oh, give me a f*cking break.
There you have it in a nutshell folks. The acts hide behind Ticketmaster, that's what the company is paid for. Ticketmaster makes no music, it's inert, and therefore it can accept all the blame.
But the bottom line is Ticketmaster does nothing that the band does not agree to. NOTHING!
And if you tell me your manager and agent did it behind your back... A. I don't believe you. B. You're doing the tour for the money and you've got no idea what's on the table, how much you can take home?
As for caring about the fans... The fans are going to come anyway.
So what's the fair market value of an Oasis ticket?
NO ONE KNOWS!
Which is why they flex the price. When they encounter the demand.
Now you could keep the price low, and make every ducat paperless, but the customer HATES THIS! The customer wants to be able to scalp the extra tickets they've purchased.
As for the customer waiting hours online only to find the price has changed.
The reason they spend hours online is because Oasis wants to put up all the shows at once, to create mania. Everybody's hyped up, word is you can't get a ticket, and everybody races to buy one. But if there's one stadium show and it doesn't sell out instantly... Good luck selling the tickets to the rest of the gigs instantly, if at all.
So if you think Liam and Noel have clean hands...
This is the problem, the public just won't believe that the acts are greedy. It must be someone else!
And you pay fair market value for everything else, why not for concert tickets?
As for waiting for hours... That's your choice. As far as the price changing... YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY THE TICKETS!
And if you want to blame anyone for the price change, blame the Oasis boys, they're doing it, Ticketmaster is only the order taker.
So look at it this way. You put an ad on Craigslist offering your car for $5,000. And two people arrive at your house. One offers $10,000, the other says they got there one minute before, while you were still in your house, and you must sell them the automobile for $5,000. Watcha gonna do?
I know what you're gonna do.
The only way out of this mess is to do what the Stones do, charge what the tickets are worth, and then they don't sell out instantly. How badly do you want to go, are you willing to pay for it?
And you may not be, but there's a good chance someone else will.
But you think you're entitled to a deal, because...
Exactly why? Turns out the tickets were underpriced, the price was raised and you want an exceptional deal. Why should you benefit and not the act you love so much?
Oh, let's just blame the ticketing company and go home.
And this is exactly what Ticketmaster is paid for.
And even the government can't understand.
NEXT!
--
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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Hanson-This Week's Podcast
The "MMMBop" boys are all grown up with families and they're still making music and touring. This is what they're up to now.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hanson/id1316200737?i=1000668457020
https://open.spotify.com/episode/283K5dCbLeFMozWE8BoX6v?si=sGsPhpyFQw640XmpeGmhSA
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/hanson-212729024/
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/05724894-0d4e-4811-b0c3-286899221d7d/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-hanson
--
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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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hanson/id1316200737?i=1000668457020
https://open.spotify.com/episode/283K5dCbLeFMozWE8BoX6v?si=sGsPhpyFQw640XmpeGmhSA
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/hanson-212729024/
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/05724894-0d4e-4811-b0c3-286899221d7d/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-hanson
--
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 3 September 2024
Stonehenge
One more day.
We're here for Mancini night at the Proms. Well, to be specific, it's entitled "Ultra Lounge - Henry Mancini and Beyond." It's Hank's 100th birthday and there have been events all year long trying to raise awareness and consumption. The ultimate goal is to reach the younger generations, but just like with the major labels, there's no clear way to do that. I guess you just want to be in the world and try to get lucky, like Toto with Weezer's cover of "Africa." You never know when lightning will strike. Which is why you should never sell your assets. Are you following the Manilow/Hipgnosis story? Other than the fact that Merck promised all these services that never arrived, the return is what is fascinating. Barry got $7.5 million, and the records were bringing in about 500k a year. In other words, in fifteen years Hipgnosis would have made its money back and still own the asset! Barry? SCREWED! You have to understand these outfits don't give you the money on a whim. They run the numbers ad infinitum, that's what bankers specialize in. You think you're winning, but money is what they know, they can't write a hit, but they can run circles around you when it comes to income streams and cash.
So now I know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall, but I don't. But being in the building reminded me of the cover of "Sgt. Pepper." As in when you look at the people in the upper deck, they look like the people in the background on the front cover of the album. Hard to explain, so I won't. But I will say we don't have an equivalent building in the U.S. Think of an arena and then shrink it down to a third its size, that's the Albert Hall. Furthermore, this Mancini event was streamed live on BBC3 and will live online for the rest of the year. That's what you get for your annual payment. Seems so very civilized. Anybody who tells you the U.S. and the U.K. are the same hasn't been to both.
And speaking of having been...
We went to Stonehenge. I've seen all the sights in London, at least the biggies, and I'm a big museum-goer/tourist, lifestyle ain't enough for me to be in London. As for London attractions, the two few talk about are the Churchill War Rooms and the Imperial War Museum, truly great.
But anyway, we drove two and a half hours southwest. You get off at the Visitor Centre and then you get in a bus for about a two mile ride and towards the end, over the horizon, you see the stones and are...
Not that impressed. I guess I thought they'd be bigger.
But when you get up close and personal, walk in a circle around them, your feeling changes. You can see the notch on top of the rock that would keep the horizontal stone in place. And sure, you wonder about how they got all these stones in place, but more you're just overwhelmed at the whole thing, that it exists, and you do too, but not for long. Talk about feeling insignificant...
I was under the illusion that Rome may not have been built in a day, but Stonehenge only took a few years. Wrong. And it had something to do with the angles of sunrise and sunset. And I could go on, but you probably wouldn't care. And yes, you think of "Spinal Tap." And I won't say it's a reverential moment, like seeing the Mona Lisa or the Last Supper, I mean you're out in a field with sheep, but...there is absolutely something magical about Stonehenge, it's not like you hang out for hours, once you've seen it you've seen it, but you've got to see it once.
And from there we went to Oxford. And I never want to go back to school, but when you go into Christ Church College and see the dining hall referenced in seemingly every movie, never mind "Harry Potter," it's very cool. And there are so many references, over the ages. Like the door etched with the message for Peel not to come in. That's Robert Peel, of the Bobbies, of why they call the cops the "Peelers." And one famous person after another went there. It doesn't seem like you have to go to Oxford or Cambridge to succeed, but when you read the list of those who've graduated, it seems that way.
And we went to the famous pub, the Turf Tavern, where everybody from Thomas Hardy to Bill Clinton to Steven Hawking has partaken, but it's a bit of a tourist trap, in that the food is not great, but being there you do get a sense of history, the place has been there nearly a century. We think Harvard and Yale are for the ages, but they're no competition to Oxford.
And when we got back to London and I read the news I felt like Joni Mitchell in "Blue." I didn't run into Carey, I've never even been to Greece, never mind an island, and I'm not quite so lonely this very second, but I am traveling, looking for the key to set me free. And the funny thing is I found it. It's the perspective. I was reading the news and it sure looked bad, they certainly won't give peace a chance, that's just a dream some of us had in the sixties and seventies. I saw some doctor on X posting about the absurdity of using Ivermectin for Covid, and the responses... Not only that he was wrong, but that vaccines don't work at all, and they kill people, just made me want to shut off my phone completely, which I did, or at least put it down. All day long there are these petty battles online, you can get caught up in them to the point where you're no longer living, they seem like life, but there's a whole world out there, of people just getting on. We saw them as we Ubered out to Fulham to meet Richard at the River Cafe. The driver took us to the wrong River Cafe! As for the meal, I finished with a great cup of roasted almond ice cream. It reminded me of Good Humor's Toasted Almond ice cream bar, that was the number one seller back in the early sixties, when the truck rang its bell and you ran out of the house with your dime and...this was much better, memorable.
And then to the Royal Albert Hall...
The orchestra played a bunch of Mancini classics, Monica even sang "Moon River," but the funny thing is if you lived through the sixties, you knew every song, whether it be the themes from the "Dating Game" and "Mission Impossible" and even "Casino Royale," never mind "Alfie" and "The Look of Love." And I'm sitting there thinking how it was a different era, we all knew the hits, whereas you probably can't name two songs off the new Taylor Swift album. We were there then, and those days will never return.
Then again, on the bus back from the stones, some guy wanted to give up his seat for me, because I looked...old. Talk about disillusioning.
Then again, "The Pink Panther" is forever, I've yet to find a kid, anybody who doesn't know it. Twentysomethings and thirtysomethings may not know the Mancini catalog, but that's one number they do know, even if they don't know who wrote it.
So I'm going off to see Ralph for lunch. Tonight I'm going to the O2 to see Niall Horan, and tomorrow we take that big bird back to Los Angeles, and it will be like we've never been here, only a few days gone, as opposed to Led Zeppelin's "Ten Years Gone." But our entire identities were built on song. We were addicted to the radio. And going to a show was not expensive, the hardest part was just getting a ticket.
And that's a big brouhaha over here, about flex pricing on Oasis tickets. Seems the industry can never get it right, acts are afraid of charging what the tickets are worth, but they don't want to surrender the upside to the scalpers. And the fans? Each and every one of them believes they deserve to sit in the front row for under a hundred bucks. And nobody truly wants a solution, the bands hide behind Ticketmaster, the politicians grandstand and the public is delusional. And there you have it!
Oh, and then there's the X kerfuffle in Brazil. I'm digging that. Today the tide of the news has changed. Brazil is saying it's just the first government to stand up to Elon Musk, that right wing bully. He's got his army saying free speech is absolute, but nobody really wants that. That's how we got into this mess. Everybody has their own news, everybody is burdened by society, everybody wants it their way, and they don't want anybody in charge but themselves. That's no way to run a country, and Musk is trying to run the world! People have no idea of the power of the pen. "The New York Times" is a lousy business financially, but its worldwide impact is greater than any single politician.
But there's that dreaded "New York Times" again. Derided by the right and the left as biased while everybody is busy playing Wordle.
And you wonder why it's good to disconnect.
But you've got to be forced to.
And then you see there's a whole big world out there and you're only going to be here for a very short time, and that you and your efforts don't really mean that much and won't be remembered, so navigate to the best of your ability, don't work so hard you miss out on life, and if I told you I had the secret of life I'd be lying, but yesterday the silver rain was falling down upon the dirty ground in Paul McCartney's London Town. And I didn't get a tan standing in the English rain, but I could see how not everybody comes to the U.S. and stays there. There's something in the landscape over here. The history. That makes you feel part of something. Knocks down your ego a bit. Makes you realize you'd better enjoy the passage of time.
And there won't be a quiz about all the musical references above, but one thing is for sure, you can't be over here and not sing songs in your head, constantly.
I'm not on the next plane out of London, that will be tomorrow, and I have no idea if it will be on runway number five, but the amazing thing is you can get on a plane on in L.A. and be in a whole different world in a matter of hours. Amazing.
"Prom 57: Ultra Lounge - Henry Mancini and Beyond": https://rb.gy/khrm83
We're here for Mancini night at the Proms. Well, to be specific, it's entitled "Ultra Lounge - Henry Mancini and Beyond." It's Hank's 100th birthday and there have been events all year long trying to raise awareness and consumption. The ultimate goal is to reach the younger generations, but just like with the major labels, there's no clear way to do that. I guess you just want to be in the world and try to get lucky, like Toto with Weezer's cover of "Africa." You never know when lightning will strike. Which is why you should never sell your assets. Are you following the Manilow/Hipgnosis story? Other than the fact that Merck promised all these services that never arrived, the return is what is fascinating. Barry got $7.5 million, and the records were bringing in about 500k a year. In other words, in fifteen years Hipgnosis would have made its money back and still own the asset! Barry? SCREWED! You have to understand these outfits don't give you the money on a whim. They run the numbers ad infinitum, that's what bankers specialize in. You think you're winning, but money is what they know, they can't write a hit, but they can run circles around you when it comes to income streams and cash.
So now I know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall, but I don't. But being in the building reminded me of the cover of "Sgt. Pepper." As in when you look at the people in the upper deck, they look like the people in the background on the front cover of the album. Hard to explain, so I won't. But I will say we don't have an equivalent building in the U.S. Think of an arena and then shrink it down to a third its size, that's the Albert Hall. Furthermore, this Mancini event was streamed live on BBC3 and will live online for the rest of the year. That's what you get for your annual payment. Seems so very civilized. Anybody who tells you the U.S. and the U.K. are the same hasn't been to both.
And speaking of having been...
We went to Stonehenge. I've seen all the sights in London, at least the biggies, and I'm a big museum-goer/tourist, lifestyle ain't enough for me to be in London. As for London attractions, the two few talk about are the Churchill War Rooms and the Imperial War Museum, truly great.
But anyway, we drove two and a half hours southwest. You get off at the Visitor Centre and then you get in a bus for about a two mile ride and towards the end, over the horizon, you see the stones and are...
Not that impressed. I guess I thought they'd be bigger.
But when you get up close and personal, walk in a circle around them, your feeling changes. You can see the notch on top of the rock that would keep the horizontal stone in place. And sure, you wonder about how they got all these stones in place, but more you're just overwhelmed at the whole thing, that it exists, and you do too, but not for long. Talk about feeling insignificant...
I was under the illusion that Rome may not have been built in a day, but Stonehenge only took a few years. Wrong. And it had something to do with the angles of sunrise and sunset. And I could go on, but you probably wouldn't care. And yes, you think of "Spinal Tap." And I won't say it's a reverential moment, like seeing the Mona Lisa or the Last Supper, I mean you're out in a field with sheep, but...there is absolutely something magical about Stonehenge, it's not like you hang out for hours, once you've seen it you've seen it, but you've got to see it once.
And from there we went to Oxford. And I never want to go back to school, but when you go into Christ Church College and see the dining hall referenced in seemingly every movie, never mind "Harry Potter," it's very cool. And there are so many references, over the ages. Like the door etched with the message for Peel not to come in. That's Robert Peel, of the Bobbies, of why they call the cops the "Peelers." And one famous person after another went there. It doesn't seem like you have to go to Oxford or Cambridge to succeed, but when you read the list of those who've graduated, it seems that way.
And we went to the famous pub, the Turf Tavern, where everybody from Thomas Hardy to Bill Clinton to Steven Hawking has partaken, but it's a bit of a tourist trap, in that the food is not great, but being there you do get a sense of history, the place has been there nearly a century. We think Harvard and Yale are for the ages, but they're no competition to Oxford.
And when we got back to London and I read the news I felt like Joni Mitchell in "Blue." I didn't run into Carey, I've never even been to Greece, never mind an island, and I'm not quite so lonely this very second, but I am traveling, looking for the key to set me free. And the funny thing is I found it. It's the perspective. I was reading the news and it sure looked bad, they certainly won't give peace a chance, that's just a dream some of us had in the sixties and seventies. I saw some doctor on X posting about the absurdity of using Ivermectin for Covid, and the responses... Not only that he was wrong, but that vaccines don't work at all, and they kill people, just made me want to shut off my phone completely, which I did, or at least put it down. All day long there are these petty battles online, you can get caught up in them to the point where you're no longer living, they seem like life, but there's a whole world out there, of people just getting on. We saw them as we Ubered out to Fulham to meet Richard at the River Cafe. The driver took us to the wrong River Cafe! As for the meal, I finished with a great cup of roasted almond ice cream. It reminded me of Good Humor's Toasted Almond ice cream bar, that was the number one seller back in the early sixties, when the truck rang its bell and you ran out of the house with your dime and...this was much better, memorable.
And then to the Royal Albert Hall...
The orchestra played a bunch of Mancini classics, Monica even sang "Moon River," but the funny thing is if you lived through the sixties, you knew every song, whether it be the themes from the "Dating Game" and "Mission Impossible" and even "Casino Royale," never mind "Alfie" and "The Look of Love." And I'm sitting there thinking how it was a different era, we all knew the hits, whereas you probably can't name two songs off the new Taylor Swift album. We were there then, and those days will never return.
Then again, on the bus back from the stones, some guy wanted to give up his seat for me, because I looked...old. Talk about disillusioning.
Then again, "The Pink Panther" is forever, I've yet to find a kid, anybody who doesn't know it. Twentysomethings and thirtysomethings may not know the Mancini catalog, but that's one number they do know, even if they don't know who wrote it.
So I'm going off to see Ralph for lunch. Tonight I'm going to the O2 to see Niall Horan, and tomorrow we take that big bird back to Los Angeles, and it will be like we've never been here, only a few days gone, as opposed to Led Zeppelin's "Ten Years Gone." But our entire identities were built on song. We were addicted to the radio. And going to a show was not expensive, the hardest part was just getting a ticket.
And that's a big brouhaha over here, about flex pricing on Oasis tickets. Seems the industry can never get it right, acts are afraid of charging what the tickets are worth, but they don't want to surrender the upside to the scalpers. And the fans? Each and every one of them believes they deserve to sit in the front row for under a hundred bucks. And nobody truly wants a solution, the bands hide behind Ticketmaster, the politicians grandstand and the public is delusional. And there you have it!
Oh, and then there's the X kerfuffle in Brazil. I'm digging that. Today the tide of the news has changed. Brazil is saying it's just the first government to stand up to Elon Musk, that right wing bully. He's got his army saying free speech is absolute, but nobody really wants that. That's how we got into this mess. Everybody has their own news, everybody is burdened by society, everybody wants it their way, and they don't want anybody in charge but themselves. That's no way to run a country, and Musk is trying to run the world! People have no idea of the power of the pen. "The New York Times" is a lousy business financially, but its worldwide impact is greater than any single politician.
But there's that dreaded "New York Times" again. Derided by the right and the left as biased while everybody is busy playing Wordle.
And you wonder why it's good to disconnect.
But you've got to be forced to.
And then you see there's a whole big world out there and you're only going to be here for a very short time, and that you and your efforts don't really mean that much and won't be remembered, so navigate to the best of your ability, don't work so hard you miss out on life, and if I told you I had the secret of life I'd be lying, but yesterday the silver rain was falling down upon the dirty ground in Paul McCartney's London Town. And I didn't get a tan standing in the English rain, but I could see how not everybody comes to the U.S. and stays there. There's something in the landscape over here. The history. That makes you feel part of something. Knocks down your ego a bit. Makes you realize you'd better enjoy the passage of time.
And there won't be a quiz about all the musical references above, but one thing is for sure, you can't be over here and not sing songs in your head, constantly.
I'm not on the next plane out of London, that will be tomorrow, and I have no idea if it will be on runway number five, but the amazing thing is you can get on a plane on in L.A. and be in a whole different world in a matter of hours. Amazing.
"Prom 57: Ultra Lounge - Henry Mancini and Beyond": https://rb.gy/khrm83
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