Tune in Saturday July 5th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz
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Friday, 4 July 2025
The Convict
This is my streaming tip of the weekend.
There are four seasons and last night we only finished the first, but I want to tell you about the show because I couldn't wait to watch it last night. That's what I'm looking for in a series, the same thing I'm looking for in a book, something that calls out to me throughout the day, that I just can't wait to get back to. That's the experience I had with "The Convict."
It's a Polish prison drama on MAX. Turned off yet? The funny thing about watching something with subtitles is after a while, you're convinced the actors are speaking English.
Anyway, "The Convict" is a women's prison drama. But this ain't no "Orange Is the New Black," with elements of levity, no, this is much darker, much more real, more akin to "Oz." However "Oz," although intense, never really escaped from the screen into your heart. You knew you were watching a show. And you could tell that they were making the show for you. This is American television. Whereas "The Convict"? It plays that much more real.
Then again, "The Convict" is based on a true story. How true? It's very rare that a movie or series is faithful to the source material, the truth, but it does add a level of gravitas, the far-fetched premise doesn't seem so far-fetched.
So at first you're concentrated on the workings of the prison.
It's all the things you've heard about, are familiar with, the cellmate who dictates, the clique that's in charge, but the inmates are much more believable, and much more malleable. Instead of being baked into their identities, they waver and then change.
And the warden...he's in control. The outer world doesn't matter much.
But then the outer world starts to intrude. This is what makes the series so great. What exactly IS happening outside the prison walls, what is the truth behind the surface? There's a tension between these two locales, these two stories, that raises the show above the traditional prison drama.
They've made them since the dawn of movies. Usually broad and titillating, in the Howard Stern adolescent way. But not "The Conflict." These are definitely women.
There's so much more... One thing that struck me is how much someone in regular life can change while you're incarcerated. It's kind of like when you break up with someone and then reconnect, even months later, especially years. They're different. They've had different experiences, it's changed them, they're no longer on your path. You meet at a moment in time and merge your pasts and enter the future together, bonded. But you can't recreate that moment in time once it has passed and there's been a period of time away from each other...this series demonstrates this concept better than most, it stimulated my thinking, let my mind wander into the past and the future, pondering the puzzle of my life.
Now this couldn't be further from July 4th or politics. Doesn't matter if you're a Trumper or not. You can dig in and enjoy "The Convict."
How did I know it worked? Because I was suddenly wary of opening our front door, wondering what would be outside, whether I should trust the person ringing the bell.
And since you don't know the actors, they seem to be the people in a way they are not in American productions. We see Meryl Streep in that role. Even Sydney Sweeney. But in "The Convict," that's really them, right?
Feels like it.
"The Convict" is entertainment. At times intense, never boring. I don't know what the following three seasons will bring, but this one...like I said, how great is it to be almost unable to wait 'til the end of the day so you can turn on the TV? That's the feeling "The Convict" inspired.
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There are four seasons and last night we only finished the first, but I want to tell you about the show because I couldn't wait to watch it last night. That's what I'm looking for in a series, the same thing I'm looking for in a book, something that calls out to me throughout the day, that I just can't wait to get back to. That's the experience I had with "The Convict."
It's a Polish prison drama on MAX. Turned off yet? The funny thing about watching something with subtitles is after a while, you're convinced the actors are speaking English.
Anyway, "The Convict" is a women's prison drama. But this ain't no "Orange Is the New Black," with elements of levity, no, this is much darker, much more real, more akin to "Oz." However "Oz," although intense, never really escaped from the screen into your heart. You knew you were watching a show. And you could tell that they were making the show for you. This is American television. Whereas "The Convict"? It plays that much more real.
Then again, "The Convict" is based on a true story. How true? It's very rare that a movie or series is faithful to the source material, the truth, but it does add a level of gravitas, the far-fetched premise doesn't seem so far-fetched.
So at first you're concentrated on the workings of the prison.
It's all the things you've heard about, are familiar with, the cellmate who dictates, the clique that's in charge, but the inmates are much more believable, and much more malleable. Instead of being baked into their identities, they waver and then change.
And the warden...he's in control. The outer world doesn't matter much.
But then the outer world starts to intrude. This is what makes the series so great. What exactly IS happening outside the prison walls, what is the truth behind the surface? There's a tension between these two locales, these two stories, that raises the show above the traditional prison drama.
They've made them since the dawn of movies. Usually broad and titillating, in the Howard Stern adolescent way. But not "The Conflict." These are definitely women.
There's so much more... One thing that struck me is how much someone in regular life can change while you're incarcerated. It's kind of like when you break up with someone and then reconnect, even months later, especially years. They're different. They've had different experiences, it's changed them, they're no longer on your path. You meet at a moment in time and merge your pasts and enter the future together, bonded. But you can't recreate that moment in time once it has passed and there's been a period of time away from each other...this series demonstrates this concept better than most, it stimulated my thinking, let my mind wander into the past and the future, pondering the puzzle of my life.
Now this couldn't be further from July 4th or politics. Doesn't matter if you're a Trumper or not. You can dig in and enjoy "The Convict."
How did I know it worked? Because I was suddenly wary of opening our front door, wondering what would be outside, whether I should trust the person ringing the bell.
And since you don't know the actors, they seem to be the people in a way they are not in American productions. We see Meryl Streep in that role. Even Sydney Sweeney. But in "The Convict," that's really them, right?
Feels like it.
"The Convict" is entertainment. At times intense, never boring. I don't know what the following three seasons will bring, but this one...like I said, how great is it to be almost unable to wait 'til the end of the day so you can turn on the TV? That's the feeling "The Convict" inspired.
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
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Thursday, 3 July 2025
Exile On Main Street-In My Order
Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4DYC2n93YFV4EX5nqckmQl?si=ef5a13d808cf491f
I came across this article earlier today:
"We've ranked the 15 greatest albums of 1972 - perhaps the most significant year in rock history"
https://www.classical-music.com/features/recordings/best-albums-1972
I wouldn't agree that 1972 was the best year, there were a lot of great years, but how could you forget 1973, with Paul Simon's "There Goes Rhymin' Simon," which has been completely forgotten, lost to the sands of time, eclipsed by Simon's world music explorations in the following decades.
But I was perusing this list, and was stunned to find "Talking Book" only number 5, even eclipsed by Yes's "Close to the Edge" (huh, I like Yes, but this is not even their best album). But I'm scrolling down the list to see what is #1 and it's "Exile On Main Street." I thought it was hard to argue with that, however "Talking Book" is really damn good.
Now "Exile on Main Street" was released to coincide with the Stones' 1972 tour. It was the biggest, most hyped tour in rock history, with coverage in straight magazines as well as the rock press. Probably because of the incredible success of "Sticky Fingers"...the weekend didn't begin until you'd played "Brown Sugar." There's been nothing like this jaunt across America until Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. But the vibe was different. The Stones were selling danger and debauchery, and SEX! I'll let you come up with the descriptors for Eras, but they won't be those three.
Ironically, Stevie Wonder opened for the Stones on the '72 tour. But he was supporting his first truly independent creative work, "Music of My Mind," and "Talking Book" didn't come out until October.
I knew "Superwoman," but I bought "Music of My Mind" anyway, to familiarize myself with the music before the show. This was a regular thing, buying the album of the opening act that you were not so familiar with. I remember buying Fairport Convention's "Full House" when they were supporting Traffic at the Fillmore. And a year later I bought Humble Pie's album of the time, "Rock On," so I knew the material when they opened for Lee Michaels. This was the last tour with Peter Frampton, these are the shows that ultimately became "Rockin' the Fillmore," Humble Pie's commercial breakthrough.
But I also bought "Exile on Main Street" so I would know the new material when I heard it live. That was not the only album I bought that day and although I immediately played it, I found it hard to get into. People forget the original mix, wherein Jagger's vocals were so low, part of the wash of sound, that you could not make out the words, subsequent remasterings have changed the EQ and the words are more discernible. Also, there was so much material. A double album's worth. The sum total of the tracks was an hour and seven minutes, and ultimately many CDs had just this much music on a single disc! Yes, the double albums of yore became the single albums of the CD era. And they were even more incomprehensible. With vinyl you knew the act put their best songs at the beginning and end of each side, so you knew there were eight tracks that deserved initial attention on "Exile," whereas with a CD, the albums of today? Talk about incomprehensible.
But I knew I was flying to Kansas City to visit my college buddy John Hughes and see the band, so I had to make a dedicated effort. So I stayed up all night listening to "Exile on Main Street" on headphones, to the point where it finally revealed itself to me.
The following...
Sometimes it's in the order of how I got into the tracks, sometimes in order of favorites...
Here we go.
1. "Soul Survivor"
This was the very first song on "Exile" that resonated with me. Interestingly, it's the very last song on the album. Yes, I waded through all three sides and then my ears perked up for "Soul Survivor."
There's the tone of the intro guitar, the way Mick slurs his words, the pre-chorus, but most of all, it's the staccato guitar
2. "I Just Want to See His Face"
Speaking of the CD era...
"Exile" was short enough to fit on one disc, whereas some double albums of the pre-CD era had tracks cut to fit on one CD. And I bought the "Exile" CD in the eighties, but it wasn't until this century that I got hooked on this track. It's so otherworldly. How did they come up with this?
"You don't want to walk and talk about Jesus
You just want to see his face"
Is this really about religion, believing, or more of a dare or more of the Stones being equal to God or..?
The magic is in the electric piano played by Keith Richards.
Play "I Just Want to See His Face" when you're alone. Preferably after dark. You won't exactly be spooked, but something close.
3. "Ventilator Blues"
"When your spine is CRACKING!"
This is the second track I got into on "Exile."
Having loved "Soul Survivor," I played the fourth side a bunch. But then loving "Ventilator Blues," I played the third side over and over.
It's the groove, you ultimately settle into it with the band. And then there's Mick Taylor's resonator guitar...
And then there are the horns and Nicky Hopkins's tickling of the ivories, a thin sound that sticks out, not like an organ that blends in.
"Exile" is the peak of Mick Taylor's work with the band. Taylor added a lyricism...and his solos were ethereal and far different from Keith's. The final statement is "Time Waits for No One" on the "It's Only Rock 'n Roll" album. And then he was gone.
Now I loved "Ventilator Blues" so much I'd drop the needle on it again and again to the point where ultimately it was no longer one of my absolute favorites on the album. I love it when I hear it, but I don't search it out, don't get a hankering to hear it.
4. "Casino Boogie"
Funny how only three tracks on "Exile" don't have their own Wikipedia page, and two of them are my favorites, "Soul Survivor" and this ("Turd on the Run" is the third).
As for the lyrics, they aren't so special, then again we couldn't hear them on the original vinyl. Words would stick out... I always thought Mick sang "protest music," but the internet tells me it's "grotesque music." Who knew?
Once again, it's the groove, the sound of the guitars, the horns.
I taught a for credit course during winter term of 1973 at Middlebury. The final was...you had to choose one of the five proffered songs and write about it. One was "Casino Boogie."
5. "Let It Loose"
There was a letter to the editor in "Rolling Stone" that said the writer wanted to marry the woman who sang the vocal at the end of this song.
At this point this is a well known number, but it didn't used to be. No one ever talked about it. Today I think about "Let It Loose" a lot, I sing it in my head, it's embedded in there.
6. "Loving Cup"
Ends side two like "Let It Loose" ends side three. I see them as a pair.
I went to see Phish at the Forum twenty years ago, and I'd be lying if I said I knew most of their material, but I'm standing on the floor and all of a sudden I hear something, I ask myself, ARE THEY PLAYING LOVING CUP?
They were and they regularly do. When you find someone else likes an album track that no one ever talks about like you do, it warms your heart.
7. "Stop Breaking Down"
I heard it over and over as I played side four after getting into "Soul Survivor" but it's only become a favorite of mine in the last couple of years.
"Stop Breaking Down" is a Robert Johnson song, not that I knew it at the time, the Johnson revival in America truly didn't start until 1990, when Columbia released "The Complete Recordings." But the English acts were STEEPED in the blues, they changed 'em up a bit and served them to white teenagers in the U.S. who'd missed the memo.
It's the slide guitar that makes this so great. But it's not the only great thing in this number. Throughout "Exile" Jagger's vocals are not mannered in the way they sometimes became. And although there was the international coverage of his marriage to Bianca, Mick was still just a rock star, not a playboy, but someone who'd been arrested for drugs and...the Stones were always the flip side to the Beatles and were seen that way. The Beatles warm and fuzzy, the Stones dark and dangerous...stay away. Jagger was not Bono. He wasn't interested in saving the world, never mind being embraced by world leaders. But ultimately the Stones made so much money it allowed them to hang with the richest people in the world. Today musicians are nowhere near as rich as so many people, they can hang and entertain the billionaires, but despite hefty paydays for privates, in truth they're just court jesters. So that guy you see in your mind's eye when you hear Jagger today...he wasn't that guy back in 1972.
8. "Shine a Light"
It's the organ, like a whisper, that hooked me.
Once again, I played the fourth side a bunch after getting into "Soul Survivor," so I was very familiar with "Shine a Light" and as the years have gone by I haven't reached out to it...
The fourth side is more in your face, it's less subtle, it's like a live show, the band is amping up to close the show. There are none of the quiet songs of the first three sides, those are behind you.
And then there's the piano, starting in the middle of the song, played by Billy Preston (like the organ earlier).
And then there's Mick Taylor's solo guitar... You don't get this lyrical playing in the eras before him or after. He added a distinct flavor that was more Bluesbreakers than Stones. But more rock than the blues of Eric Clapton.
But "Shine a Light" is not about any specific player, it's definitely a group effort, everybody shining.
It's the fourth most played song from "Exile" on Spotify, which is surprising, not that it doesn't deserve the play.
9. "Happy"
This starts side three. You dropped the needle and it took off. This was (and still is!) rock and roll.
This is also Keith's breakthrough vocal. It's so surely him. And not subtle, like "You Got the Silver."
And then there are the lyrics. Once again, in the original EQ you only heard snippets.
"Always took candy from strangers"
The Stones were the other, this was not the pandering of "artists" today. Hell, today parents don't want kids to even TALK to strangers! We'd been told our entire lives how we had to do it, and then the Stones came along and said we didn't have to do it that way...in a jocular way, like anybody who was hip rejected the status quo.
Once again, this was and still is Keith's signature song.
HOWEVER, if you don't know it, and you probably don't, or you haven't listened to it recently, you've got to listen to "Slipping Away," the closer on "Steel Wheels," the outro after the change will drive you insane, in a way that burns from the inside out, that is not exterior, but interior.
"Steel Wheels" was a comeback album, the Stones were not sure they meant as much as they once did. Turns out they did. But there seems to have been an extra effort put into this album.
The single was "Mixed Emotions," and it got a lot of attention yet is not a staple today, but it should be. In this case, the lyrics resonate.
And one more from "Steel Wheels," "Hearts for Sale."
The funny thing is "Slipping Away" is the second most streamed song from "Steel Wheels" on Spotify. Only "Mixed Emotions" has more, and it's not even a million more.
10. "All Down the Line"
A tear. Hold on to your hat. The train is leaving the station. This is the band firing on all cylinders.
Once again, I got into this after getting into "Soul Survivor" and playing the fourth side again and again.
Really, what puts "All Down the Line" over the top is the outro. It's not run of the mill before that, but it's not pure magic until:
"Won't you be my little baby for a while
Won't you be my little baby for a while
Won't you be my little baby for a while
Won't you be my little baby"
This alone will make you want to run away and join the rock and roll circus. You too want to be on stage singing with the assembled multitude at the top of your lungs.
And don't forget Mick Taylor's slide guitar dancing all over the track, oftentimes without being in the forefront, just a flavor in the cut.
11. "Tumbling Dice"
Was the single, released in advance of the album. Got immediate airplay, but it didn't last.
In retrospect, this is not the definitive version of this song, not that there's a recording that is better, however...
I went to see the '75 tour at the Forum, you know, with the flower petal stage and...
The Stones were like the Grateful Dead, as in they were not great throughout, it took them a while to find their groove, but about half an hour into the show, after being kind of disappointed with what had come before, the band played "Tumbling Dice" and I GOT IT! It had more soul, extra dynamics, I've loved the song since.
Yet, the person who really made "Tumbling Dice" a standard was Linda Ronstadt. Who performed the song on "Simple Dreams," the follow-up to her solo commercial breakthrough, "Heart Like a Wheel."
Sure, it seemed like Linda was doing somewhat of a caricature of Mick, but unlike the Stones' version the vocal was up front and center, WAY UP FRONT AND CENTER! And she and the band got the refrain right, even better than the Stones' original. When she sings and they play "tumbling dice..." And her outro, where there's air between the instruments and vocal...it out-Stones the Stones' recording.
But if you listen to the music today, Linda's take does not have the punch of the Stones' original. Does it need a remaster or was this the way it was cut?
12. "Shake Your Hips"
Sounds like it was cut in a basement in the south of France way after dark. This is not west coast rock and roll, this has got...what you never saw on TV. Believers, rock and rollers, were in this club as the day was waning, the lights were low, bodies were in motion, you could feel sex in the air, this feels and sounds like the fantasy people at home had when they listened to this music, they just wanted to be INCLUDED! Throw off the constraints and let loose!
A Slim Harpo original.
13. "Torn and Frayed"
Ultimately an hypnotic groove, albeit with a country feel.
It's definitely Stones, and that's why it works. It's in they're oeuvre, in a way "Sweet Virginia" is not.
Side three is relatively slow, leading up to the genius "Loving Cup."
Meanwhile, "Torn and Frayed" was the ethos of rock and roll, as in rough around the edges.
14. "Sweet Black Angel"
Supposedly about Angela Davis, who we read about occasionally in the west coast press in a "Where are they now?" way, she was an educated revolutionary back then. We've got left and right today, but we don't have an Angela Davis. Then again, the conservative white establishment couldn't handle her friendship with John and George Jackson...
"Sweet Black Angel" creates a mood, it's nearly a 180 from "Torn and Frayed," which comes before it. And "Sweet Black Angel" isn't even three minutes long. It's here and it's gone. But it stuck out. If you knew "Exile on Main Street," you knew it...I'm not so sure people know it today.
15. "Sweet Virginia"
The Stones had a rep for doing this countrified stuff.
This started side two, so it got a lot of attention, it stuck out, it was not embedded into the middle of a side, you dropped the needle and heard it. HOWEVER, it was that classic line that drew attention:
"Got to scrape that sh*t right off your shoes"
You couldn't say the s-word on a record back then. And I can't spell it out completely in this screed otherwise it won't break through the spam filters of corporations. So the execs can swear like stevedores, but the patina of puritanism still holds.
I mean "Sweet Viriginia" is not offensive, it's kinda good, but nowhere near as good as the peaks on "Exile."
16. "Rip This Joint"
A good change of pace after "Rocks Off," whatever you thought of that track, you forgot about that now, you were swept onto the dance floor in something that hearkened back to the fifties.
"Wham, bam, Birmingham
Alabama don't give a damn"
Sounded a little too much like Bowie's "Wham bam thank you ma'am" in "Suffragette City" from "Ziggy Stardust," which came out the following month, in June of '72.
I'm not saying the Stones copied Bowie, not whatsoever, but what I am saying here is...
I cringed when I heard those words in the Bowie song. He was selling a level of sophistication, intelligence, this was so obvious and base. I mean really?
I thought I heard the same thing in the Stones' song, because the phrase was part of the vernacular, and the lyrics were so indecipherable...turns out I was wrong, not that I was sure back then, but somehow I associated this hackneyed phrase with the song and...
I've got nothing against "Rip This Joint," except it's not on the high level of the rest of the record. This is a song for the fourth side, something to be buried deep (and in this case, the fourth side was so fast!)
17. "Turd on the Run"
The title is almost a stunt, the word "turd" is not in the song.
The track is almost impenetrable. Like whatever they were doing in the studio, where their heads were at, we can't really figure it out.
Still, the guitar was striking, but never changed, I won't say it verged on monotony, but it was one of the causes of the track being hard to penetrate.
However, there was that one line that stuck out:
"Well I lost a lot of love over you"
He was not the winner here.
18. "Rocks Off"
It's not that bad, but...
The Stones were legendary for killer openers. "Sympathy for the Devil"? "Gimmie Shelter"? "Brown Sugar"? And "Rocks Off"????
"Rocks Off"...it sounds like something constructed on paper, to be an opener, and it misses the mark by so much. If it had been on the fourth side... But the OPENER???
There's no magic. If you can find it, you've got a much lower bar than I do.
It's not that it's bad, it's just not that good, certainly not great!
I never ever have a hankering to hear "Rocks Off."
And a low blow scatological title... I expected something a bit better, a little less in your face and obvious from the Stones.
What a disappointment.
In conclusion, I must mention that "Exile on Main Street" was produced by Jimmy Miller. He added a special sauce, not only to the Stones, but Traffic and...
Now when everybody was talking about "Sticky Fingers," which penetrated society at large in a way that no previous Stones album ever had, I maintained that their best work was "Let It Bleed." I mean that's got the all time greatest intro track, the haunting at first and then bleating "Gimmie Shelter" (it's spelled with that extra "i" on the original album, and I'm sticking with it).
At the time, the cognoscenti all said "Beggars Banquet" was the best, and that sold not only less than "Sticky Fingers," but less than "Let It Bleed."
"Beggars Banquet"...
Let's not forget this was the follow-up, a reaction to the poorly received "Satanic Majesties," and just like that album was bombastic, "Beggars Banquet" was more quiet, more introspective, more "Americana" than what had come before. And there are so many great songs on "Beggars," from "No Expectations" to "Stray Cat Blues" with its legendary intro to "Salt of the Earth" (and "Factory Girl" too!) But the whole thing feels more personal, more licking one's wounds than the confidence of the in your face "Let It Bleed."
Of course "Beggars" had "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man" but they almost stood apart, and didn't have the same feel as the rest of the record, and "Street Fighting Man" came out long before the album...
So...
I must say I play "Beggars" a lot today. It works in 2025, as in there's so much going on that if you play for victory, for domination, it doesn't work, you can only look inward, which "Beggars" does, and it resonates.
So...
I hate to abandon "Let It Bleed," but...
Is "Exile on Main Street" the best Stones album?
You've got to know, NOBODY said so until about ten years after it came out, it was seen as a disappointment, an indulgent wrong turn prior to that. When the tour was over, it fell off the charts and didn't last in the culture.
Then again, not only does "Let It Bleed" have "Gimmie Shelter," but "You Can't Always Get What You Want," never mind "Midnight Rambler," and as good as "Exile" is, not one song can match the first two, or even the third, so...
I guess I'm just trying to bring attention to "Exile." It's not like there's one song you hear on the radio, at parties, in the background, no...you have to make an effort, you have to sit down and let it penetrate, and that does not happen fast, it is not hit and run.
Is "Exile on Main Street" the best album of 1972? How in the hell do you compare? And "Talking Book" was a revolution and a revelation. Stevie Wonder was seen as a Motown singles artist and you rarely heard him on rock radio, but now... "Superstition" had been written for Jeff Beck, and that clavinet!! And "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" is an absolute standard. And I ADORE "Big Brother."
But the Stones were selling something different. It was a dented up Oldsmobile, not a flashy Cadillac. And there's no sense of the band playing to the audience except for "Rocks Off." "Exile" is a peek into another world. Sure, "Sunshine of My Life" might be a standard, but "Exile on Main Street" itself is a standard! You take it as a whole, it hangs together, you can only cherry-pick after you know the whole album.
So...
I came across this article earlier today:
"We've ranked the 15 greatest albums of 1972 - perhaps the most significant year in rock history"
https://www.classical-music.com/features/recordings/best-albums-1972
I wouldn't agree that 1972 was the best year, there were a lot of great years, but how could you forget 1973, with Paul Simon's "There Goes Rhymin' Simon," which has been completely forgotten, lost to the sands of time, eclipsed by Simon's world music explorations in the following decades.
But I was perusing this list, and was stunned to find "Talking Book" only number 5, even eclipsed by Yes's "Close to the Edge" (huh, I like Yes, but this is not even their best album). But I'm scrolling down the list to see what is #1 and it's "Exile On Main Street." I thought it was hard to argue with that, however "Talking Book" is really damn good.
Now "Exile on Main Street" was released to coincide with the Stones' 1972 tour. It was the biggest, most hyped tour in rock history, with coverage in straight magazines as well as the rock press. Probably because of the incredible success of "Sticky Fingers"...the weekend didn't begin until you'd played "Brown Sugar." There's been nothing like this jaunt across America until Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. But the vibe was different. The Stones were selling danger and debauchery, and SEX! I'll let you come up with the descriptors for Eras, but they won't be those three.
Ironically, Stevie Wonder opened for the Stones on the '72 tour. But he was supporting his first truly independent creative work, "Music of My Mind," and "Talking Book" didn't come out until October.
I knew "Superwoman," but I bought "Music of My Mind" anyway, to familiarize myself with the music before the show. This was a regular thing, buying the album of the opening act that you were not so familiar with. I remember buying Fairport Convention's "Full House" when they were supporting Traffic at the Fillmore. And a year later I bought Humble Pie's album of the time, "Rock On," so I knew the material when they opened for Lee Michaels. This was the last tour with Peter Frampton, these are the shows that ultimately became "Rockin' the Fillmore," Humble Pie's commercial breakthrough.
But I also bought "Exile on Main Street" so I would know the new material when I heard it live. That was not the only album I bought that day and although I immediately played it, I found it hard to get into. People forget the original mix, wherein Jagger's vocals were so low, part of the wash of sound, that you could not make out the words, subsequent remasterings have changed the EQ and the words are more discernible. Also, there was so much material. A double album's worth. The sum total of the tracks was an hour and seven minutes, and ultimately many CDs had just this much music on a single disc! Yes, the double albums of yore became the single albums of the CD era. And they were even more incomprehensible. With vinyl you knew the act put their best songs at the beginning and end of each side, so you knew there were eight tracks that deserved initial attention on "Exile," whereas with a CD, the albums of today? Talk about incomprehensible.
But I knew I was flying to Kansas City to visit my college buddy John Hughes and see the band, so I had to make a dedicated effort. So I stayed up all night listening to "Exile on Main Street" on headphones, to the point where it finally revealed itself to me.
The following...
Sometimes it's in the order of how I got into the tracks, sometimes in order of favorites...
Here we go.
1. "Soul Survivor"
This was the very first song on "Exile" that resonated with me. Interestingly, it's the very last song on the album. Yes, I waded through all three sides and then my ears perked up for "Soul Survivor."
There's the tone of the intro guitar, the way Mick slurs his words, the pre-chorus, but most of all, it's the staccato guitar
2. "I Just Want to See His Face"
Speaking of the CD era...
"Exile" was short enough to fit on one disc, whereas some double albums of the pre-CD era had tracks cut to fit on one CD. And I bought the "Exile" CD in the eighties, but it wasn't until this century that I got hooked on this track. It's so otherworldly. How did they come up with this?
"You don't want to walk and talk about Jesus
You just want to see his face"
Is this really about religion, believing, or more of a dare or more of the Stones being equal to God or..?
The magic is in the electric piano played by Keith Richards.
Play "I Just Want to See His Face" when you're alone. Preferably after dark. You won't exactly be spooked, but something close.
3. "Ventilator Blues"
"When your spine is CRACKING!"
This is the second track I got into on "Exile."
Having loved "Soul Survivor," I played the fourth side a bunch. But then loving "Ventilator Blues," I played the third side over and over.
It's the groove, you ultimately settle into it with the band. And then there's Mick Taylor's resonator guitar...
And then there are the horns and Nicky Hopkins's tickling of the ivories, a thin sound that sticks out, not like an organ that blends in.
"Exile" is the peak of Mick Taylor's work with the band. Taylor added a lyricism...and his solos were ethereal and far different from Keith's. The final statement is "Time Waits for No One" on the "It's Only Rock 'n Roll" album. And then he was gone.
Now I loved "Ventilator Blues" so much I'd drop the needle on it again and again to the point where ultimately it was no longer one of my absolute favorites on the album. I love it when I hear it, but I don't search it out, don't get a hankering to hear it.
4. "Casino Boogie"
Funny how only three tracks on "Exile" don't have their own Wikipedia page, and two of them are my favorites, "Soul Survivor" and this ("Turd on the Run" is the third).
As for the lyrics, they aren't so special, then again we couldn't hear them on the original vinyl. Words would stick out... I always thought Mick sang "protest music," but the internet tells me it's "grotesque music." Who knew?
Once again, it's the groove, the sound of the guitars, the horns.
I taught a for credit course during winter term of 1973 at Middlebury. The final was...you had to choose one of the five proffered songs and write about it. One was "Casino Boogie."
5. "Let It Loose"
There was a letter to the editor in "Rolling Stone" that said the writer wanted to marry the woman who sang the vocal at the end of this song.
At this point this is a well known number, but it didn't used to be. No one ever talked about it. Today I think about "Let It Loose" a lot, I sing it in my head, it's embedded in there.
6. "Loving Cup"
Ends side two like "Let It Loose" ends side three. I see them as a pair.
I went to see Phish at the Forum twenty years ago, and I'd be lying if I said I knew most of their material, but I'm standing on the floor and all of a sudden I hear something, I ask myself, ARE THEY PLAYING LOVING CUP?
They were and they regularly do. When you find someone else likes an album track that no one ever talks about like you do, it warms your heart.
7. "Stop Breaking Down"
I heard it over and over as I played side four after getting into "Soul Survivor" but it's only become a favorite of mine in the last couple of years.
"Stop Breaking Down" is a Robert Johnson song, not that I knew it at the time, the Johnson revival in America truly didn't start until 1990, when Columbia released "The Complete Recordings." But the English acts were STEEPED in the blues, they changed 'em up a bit and served them to white teenagers in the U.S. who'd missed the memo.
It's the slide guitar that makes this so great. But it's not the only great thing in this number. Throughout "Exile" Jagger's vocals are not mannered in the way they sometimes became. And although there was the international coverage of his marriage to Bianca, Mick was still just a rock star, not a playboy, but someone who'd been arrested for drugs and...the Stones were always the flip side to the Beatles and were seen that way. The Beatles warm and fuzzy, the Stones dark and dangerous...stay away. Jagger was not Bono. He wasn't interested in saving the world, never mind being embraced by world leaders. But ultimately the Stones made so much money it allowed them to hang with the richest people in the world. Today musicians are nowhere near as rich as so many people, they can hang and entertain the billionaires, but despite hefty paydays for privates, in truth they're just court jesters. So that guy you see in your mind's eye when you hear Jagger today...he wasn't that guy back in 1972.
8. "Shine a Light"
It's the organ, like a whisper, that hooked me.
Once again, I played the fourth side a bunch after getting into "Soul Survivor," so I was very familiar with "Shine a Light" and as the years have gone by I haven't reached out to it...
The fourth side is more in your face, it's less subtle, it's like a live show, the band is amping up to close the show. There are none of the quiet songs of the first three sides, those are behind you.
And then there's the piano, starting in the middle of the song, played by Billy Preston (like the organ earlier).
And then there's Mick Taylor's solo guitar... You don't get this lyrical playing in the eras before him or after. He added a distinct flavor that was more Bluesbreakers than Stones. But more rock than the blues of Eric Clapton.
But "Shine a Light" is not about any specific player, it's definitely a group effort, everybody shining.
It's the fourth most played song from "Exile" on Spotify, which is surprising, not that it doesn't deserve the play.
9. "Happy"
This starts side three. You dropped the needle and it took off. This was (and still is!) rock and roll.
This is also Keith's breakthrough vocal. It's so surely him. And not subtle, like "You Got the Silver."
And then there are the lyrics. Once again, in the original EQ you only heard snippets.
"Always took candy from strangers"
The Stones were the other, this was not the pandering of "artists" today. Hell, today parents don't want kids to even TALK to strangers! We'd been told our entire lives how we had to do it, and then the Stones came along and said we didn't have to do it that way...in a jocular way, like anybody who was hip rejected the status quo.
Once again, this was and still is Keith's signature song.
HOWEVER, if you don't know it, and you probably don't, or you haven't listened to it recently, you've got to listen to "Slipping Away," the closer on "Steel Wheels," the outro after the change will drive you insane, in a way that burns from the inside out, that is not exterior, but interior.
"Steel Wheels" was a comeback album, the Stones were not sure they meant as much as they once did. Turns out they did. But there seems to have been an extra effort put into this album.
The single was "Mixed Emotions," and it got a lot of attention yet is not a staple today, but it should be. In this case, the lyrics resonate.
And one more from "Steel Wheels," "Hearts for Sale."
The funny thing is "Slipping Away" is the second most streamed song from "Steel Wheels" on Spotify. Only "Mixed Emotions" has more, and it's not even a million more.
10. "All Down the Line"
A tear. Hold on to your hat. The train is leaving the station. This is the band firing on all cylinders.
Once again, I got into this after getting into "Soul Survivor" and playing the fourth side again and again.
Really, what puts "All Down the Line" over the top is the outro. It's not run of the mill before that, but it's not pure magic until:
"Won't you be my little baby for a while
Won't you be my little baby for a while
Won't you be my little baby for a while
Won't you be my little baby"
This alone will make you want to run away and join the rock and roll circus. You too want to be on stage singing with the assembled multitude at the top of your lungs.
And don't forget Mick Taylor's slide guitar dancing all over the track, oftentimes without being in the forefront, just a flavor in the cut.
11. "Tumbling Dice"
Was the single, released in advance of the album. Got immediate airplay, but it didn't last.
In retrospect, this is not the definitive version of this song, not that there's a recording that is better, however...
I went to see the '75 tour at the Forum, you know, with the flower petal stage and...
The Stones were like the Grateful Dead, as in they were not great throughout, it took them a while to find their groove, but about half an hour into the show, after being kind of disappointed with what had come before, the band played "Tumbling Dice" and I GOT IT! It had more soul, extra dynamics, I've loved the song since.
Yet, the person who really made "Tumbling Dice" a standard was Linda Ronstadt. Who performed the song on "Simple Dreams," the follow-up to her solo commercial breakthrough, "Heart Like a Wheel."
Sure, it seemed like Linda was doing somewhat of a caricature of Mick, but unlike the Stones' version the vocal was up front and center, WAY UP FRONT AND CENTER! And she and the band got the refrain right, even better than the Stones' original. When she sings and they play "tumbling dice..." And her outro, where there's air between the instruments and vocal...it out-Stones the Stones' recording.
But if you listen to the music today, Linda's take does not have the punch of the Stones' original. Does it need a remaster or was this the way it was cut?
12. "Shake Your Hips"
Sounds like it was cut in a basement in the south of France way after dark. This is not west coast rock and roll, this has got...what you never saw on TV. Believers, rock and rollers, were in this club as the day was waning, the lights were low, bodies were in motion, you could feel sex in the air, this feels and sounds like the fantasy people at home had when they listened to this music, they just wanted to be INCLUDED! Throw off the constraints and let loose!
A Slim Harpo original.
13. "Torn and Frayed"
Ultimately an hypnotic groove, albeit with a country feel.
It's definitely Stones, and that's why it works. It's in they're oeuvre, in a way "Sweet Virginia" is not.
Side three is relatively slow, leading up to the genius "Loving Cup."
Meanwhile, "Torn and Frayed" was the ethos of rock and roll, as in rough around the edges.
14. "Sweet Black Angel"
Supposedly about Angela Davis, who we read about occasionally in the west coast press in a "Where are they now?" way, she was an educated revolutionary back then. We've got left and right today, but we don't have an Angela Davis. Then again, the conservative white establishment couldn't handle her friendship with John and George Jackson...
"Sweet Black Angel" creates a mood, it's nearly a 180 from "Torn and Frayed," which comes before it. And "Sweet Black Angel" isn't even three minutes long. It's here and it's gone. But it stuck out. If you knew "Exile on Main Street," you knew it...I'm not so sure people know it today.
15. "Sweet Virginia"
The Stones had a rep for doing this countrified stuff.
This started side two, so it got a lot of attention, it stuck out, it was not embedded into the middle of a side, you dropped the needle and heard it. HOWEVER, it was that classic line that drew attention:
"Got to scrape that sh*t right off your shoes"
You couldn't say the s-word on a record back then. And I can't spell it out completely in this screed otherwise it won't break through the spam filters of corporations. So the execs can swear like stevedores, but the patina of puritanism still holds.
I mean "Sweet Viriginia" is not offensive, it's kinda good, but nowhere near as good as the peaks on "Exile."
16. "Rip This Joint"
A good change of pace after "Rocks Off," whatever you thought of that track, you forgot about that now, you were swept onto the dance floor in something that hearkened back to the fifties.
"Wham, bam, Birmingham
Alabama don't give a damn"
Sounded a little too much like Bowie's "Wham bam thank you ma'am" in "Suffragette City" from "Ziggy Stardust," which came out the following month, in June of '72.
I'm not saying the Stones copied Bowie, not whatsoever, but what I am saying here is...
I cringed when I heard those words in the Bowie song. He was selling a level of sophistication, intelligence, this was so obvious and base. I mean really?
I thought I heard the same thing in the Stones' song, because the phrase was part of the vernacular, and the lyrics were so indecipherable...turns out I was wrong, not that I was sure back then, but somehow I associated this hackneyed phrase with the song and...
I've got nothing against "Rip This Joint," except it's not on the high level of the rest of the record. This is a song for the fourth side, something to be buried deep (and in this case, the fourth side was so fast!)
17. "Turd on the Run"
The title is almost a stunt, the word "turd" is not in the song.
The track is almost impenetrable. Like whatever they were doing in the studio, where their heads were at, we can't really figure it out.
Still, the guitar was striking, but never changed, I won't say it verged on monotony, but it was one of the causes of the track being hard to penetrate.
However, there was that one line that stuck out:
"Well I lost a lot of love over you"
He was not the winner here.
18. "Rocks Off"
It's not that bad, but...
The Stones were legendary for killer openers. "Sympathy for the Devil"? "Gimmie Shelter"? "Brown Sugar"? And "Rocks Off"????
"Rocks Off"...it sounds like something constructed on paper, to be an opener, and it misses the mark by so much. If it had been on the fourth side... But the OPENER???
There's no magic. If you can find it, you've got a much lower bar than I do.
It's not that it's bad, it's just not that good, certainly not great!
I never ever have a hankering to hear "Rocks Off."
And a low blow scatological title... I expected something a bit better, a little less in your face and obvious from the Stones.
What a disappointment.
In conclusion, I must mention that "Exile on Main Street" was produced by Jimmy Miller. He added a special sauce, not only to the Stones, but Traffic and...
Now when everybody was talking about "Sticky Fingers," which penetrated society at large in a way that no previous Stones album ever had, I maintained that their best work was "Let It Bleed." I mean that's got the all time greatest intro track, the haunting at first and then bleating "Gimmie Shelter" (it's spelled with that extra "i" on the original album, and I'm sticking with it).
At the time, the cognoscenti all said "Beggars Banquet" was the best, and that sold not only less than "Sticky Fingers," but less than "Let It Bleed."
"Beggars Banquet"...
Let's not forget this was the follow-up, a reaction to the poorly received "Satanic Majesties," and just like that album was bombastic, "Beggars Banquet" was more quiet, more introspective, more "Americana" than what had come before. And there are so many great songs on "Beggars," from "No Expectations" to "Stray Cat Blues" with its legendary intro to "Salt of the Earth" (and "Factory Girl" too!) But the whole thing feels more personal, more licking one's wounds than the confidence of the in your face "Let It Bleed."
Of course "Beggars" had "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man" but they almost stood apart, and didn't have the same feel as the rest of the record, and "Street Fighting Man" came out long before the album...
So...
I must say I play "Beggars" a lot today. It works in 2025, as in there's so much going on that if you play for victory, for domination, it doesn't work, you can only look inward, which "Beggars" does, and it resonates.
So...
I hate to abandon "Let It Bleed," but...
Is "Exile on Main Street" the best Stones album?
You've got to know, NOBODY said so until about ten years after it came out, it was seen as a disappointment, an indulgent wrong turn prior to that. When the tour was over, it fell off the charts and didn't last in the culture.
Then again, not only does "Let It Bleed" have "Gimmie Shelter," but "You Can't Always Get What You Want," never mind "Midnight Rambler," and as good as "Exile" is, not one song can match the first two, or even the third, so...
I guess I'm just trying to bring attention to "Exile." It's not like there's one song you hear on the radio, at parties, in the background, no...you have to make an effort, you have to sit down and let it penetrate, and that does not happen fast, it is not hit and run.
Is "Exile on Main Street" the best album of 1972? How in the hell do you compare? And "Talking Book" was a revolution and a revelation. Stevie Wonder was seen as a Motown singles artist and you rarely heard him on rock radio, but now... "Superstition" had been written for Jeff Beck, and that clavinet!! And "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" is an absolute standard. And I ADORE "Big Brother."
But the Stones were selling something different. It was a dented up Oldsmobile, not a flashy Cadillac. And there's no sense of the band playing to the audience except for "Rocks Off." "Exile" is a peek into another world. Sure, "Sunshine of My Life" might be a standard, but "Exile on Main Street" itself is a standard! You take it as a whole, it hangs together, you can only cherry-pick after you know the whole album.
So...
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Gloria Gaynor-This Week's Podcast
She survives!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gloria-gaynor/id1316200737?i=1000715608955
https://open.spotify.com/episode/79A6gAri4muOaF013ZB4HJ?si=oA8JxQq_RPyFn1j1PJuVsg
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/gloria-gaynor-284091787/
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/066665fc-e814-48a2-a23f-9b2e27c6e188/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-gloria-gaynor
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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gloria-gaynor/id1316200737?i=1000715608955
https://open.spotify.com/episode/79A6gAri4muOaF013ZB4HJ?si=oA8JxQq_RPyFn1j1PJuVsg
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/gloria-gaynor-284091787/
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/066665fc-e814-48a2-a23f-9b2e27c6e188/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-gloria-gaynor
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Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Mailbag
Subject: Re: Velvet Sundown
Look up the artist "Nick Hustles" on Spotify. This is clearly AI too. This person is using a 60-70's Soul sound, but using lyrical content from today's world. Pretty creative. 220k monthly listeners and 100k+ subscribers on YouTube.
Why are people bitching? They feel they deserve to know if it's AI before they begin listening? Did they deserve to know Marshmello's identity before listening to his music? There's still a human behind all these AI creations and it takes creativity + managing several AI tools to connect everything together.
Eddie Laureno
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From: Stephen Knill
Subject: Re: One Step Ahead
After playing bass on Eric Carmen's first solo album and realizing I wasn't best equipped for the touring life (at 22) I went to work for PIKS Corporation who not only distributed Arista (Carmen's label) but also Chrysalis, Splitz Enz label As the junior promo man, I was given the tertiary markets. So I wandered off to secondary Ohio towns, western PA and and upstate NY.
What a great education. People there played new records. Tommy Nast in Syracuse, Bernie Kimble in Rochester (RIP) Tom Teuber in Buffalo, Ted Utz in Utica and Garret Hart in Erie all played the first Split Enz album for me. Like WMMS in Cleveland, they decided what went on the air.
I also got to work the Alan Parsons I Robot album for Arista. After the promising response to his previous album, Arista came up with a cool tastemaker event. They hosted listening parties with Alan and his songwriting partner, Eric Woolfsen, in small venues The album was played back in quad, (which was pretty new at the time,) to show off the album's marvelous production. Not many people had those systems. But Eric Carmen did. So we hosted the event at his Cleveland apartment overlooking Lake Erie. The night was perfect. The sun was setting, the catering immaculate, libations flowed and the album was declared a hit. That was 49 years ago. 50 for Carmen's first solo album.
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From: Trevor de Brauw
Subject: Re: The Pixar Flop
Both my six year old and my twelve year old have wanted to see this movie since we first saw the trailer over two years ago - but I had no idea the movie was out yet until I saw your newsletter. In fact, my eldest mentioned it just a couple of days ago saying that it feels like they've been advertising the movie forever now - and that's a huge part of the issue here. The modern world moves too fast for endless marketing campaigns - when potential audiences are marketed the same project for that long it either causes burnout and/or creates the psychic effect that the release is never really coming. Whereas a film like Sinners, which I only heard about in the month leading up to release, I saw in the theater first week.
Word of mouth will always be the most powerful driver, but marketing can work with a shorter runway since it approximates the feel of word of mouth.
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From: John Hyman
Subject: Re: The Titan Documentary
Hi Bob,
You have reminded me of a day in early September, 1974. My folks offloaded me into Battelle and we said our goodbyes. I was sort of stumped about what to do next, knowing that I knew absolutely no one.
I found myself in a line -- maybe by Old Chapel? -- to acquire sheets and towels from (do I have this right?) Foley's Linens.
Anyway, a perfectly friendly fellow in line behind me tapped me on the shoulder and introduced himself: "Hi, I'm Court." I had never heard of such a name. I thought to myself: "I don't think I'm in Meriden anymore."
John
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Subject: Re: Lightnin' Strikes
?Bob, Thank you for writing about Lou. I had the pleasure of playing a bunch of shows with him. I was the drummer in Jay Traynor and the Americans . Jay was the first Jay . We did a summer of oldies revival shows and we were the house band for all the acts . Lou Christie , Little Anthony , The Drifters etc. I was 19 and I have to say Lou Christie was a trip . He would do his Karate kicks and sing falsetto like nobody's business. When I ended up moving from Albany to NYC I first lived on 48th and 9th in Hells Kitchen. I ran into Lou on the street on day only to find out he lived on the same block . I stayed in touch with him over the years and he always wanted to know about new up and coming singers and bands . He was a very interesting person. I hope all is wellBob and hope you are healthy and happy .
All the best,
Dan McCarroll
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Subject: Mike Garson podcast
Bob,
I just had the chance to listed to your podcast with Mike Garson as the guest. I enjoy the one's you do with people who I know but really like the ones with people I don't. Despite having Bowie records and reading liner notes back in the day I didn't remember his name though I had to have read it.
What an interesting story. Great job as always not asking the rote questions interviewers ask. There was so much there from his childhood to the roundtrip travel for a 10 minute piano lesson.
This should be a must listen for anyone who wants to be a musician or artist. It's a lesson in the hardships of following a dream – the guy played with so many stars and bands and yet was forced to refinance his home to survive at times. True commitment to his art.
People like him make the world a more interesting place. Good work.
Neal H. Bookspan
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From: Kevin Korchinski
Subject: Re: Tyler Childers At The Hollywood Bowl
Bob,
First off, I'm a Childers fan - honest writing, great songs.
I live in Saskatchewan, Canada's ultimate flyover province. I was listening to a Childers Playlist last summer - yes Spotify - and noticed he was playing Calgary. I checked and the Saddledome was sold out already - 16,000 plus. I had heard zero and there was no Canadian tour, even just the usual suspects.
I checked in with an ex-label colleague in Calgary and she commented it sold very fast.
I wish Canadian promoters would pay more attention - there are a lot of these "Americana" type artists that could so well here - at least soft seaters - rather than a bar in Billings. Maybe once the Canadian dollar gets more normal...
Kevin
Regina, SK
________________________________________
From: John Hartmann
Subject: Re: Brian Wilson
Bob; Genius is not task specific. If Brian had chosen to be a cobbler, Lady Ga Ga would be sporting his boots today. I was The Beach Boys television agent, at the Morris office, from '63 - '66. If they did TV I would be there as part of the team. Brian was at the height of his musical skills. He was very warm, fuzzy and huggable.
He invited me to visit him and Marilyn at their home. It was during the piano in the sandbox and Brian in the bed era. He came alive in the studio. I watched in awe as he cut a single note out of "Help Me Rhonda," by eye with a razor blade. Computers have a hard time doing that.
We will forever bear the weight of his absence, and luckily we will have the music to soothe the pain.
As ever, Hartmann
________________________________________
Subject: Re: Brian Wilson
Wonderful tribute Bob...thank you. I followed the same path through that era, and the BEACH BOYS music that you describe so well. As an Air Force family in late 1962, my Dad was stationed at Vandenburg AFB on the coast near Lompoc, CA, after living 3 years in Omaha. I remember kids in Omaha saying "You're gonna see the Ocean!" when we left. I got a transistor radio that Christmas, and California did have that something! At some point I borrowed a neighbor kid's old acoustic guitar and began picking out single-note instrumental surf music we heard on local radio from the likes of Dick Dale and The Del-Tones and The Ventures and The Surfaris, but the BEACH BOYS were the top, and I loved those records along with all the other kids in Junior High! We had our own music to listen to now, beyond the Johnny Mathis, Della Reese & Patsy Cline music my folks were into, let alone Elvis and the "Frankies"! We experienced the Kennedy assassination there in California and watched Jack Ruby kill Oswald on live TV, and listened on the radio as "Cassius Clay" defeated Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight Title. And then we watched the BEATLES on the Ed Sullivan Show! These are intense memories all connected to our "life in California" at the time!
I could never have predicted that 2 years later we would be stationed in London England and I would go on to meet Gerry & Dan, who loved the BEACH BOYS as well, at an American high school and forming a band together. Graduating in 1969, our band morphed into AMERICA with vocal harmony being a key element and ultimately meeting the BEACH BOYS in person for the first time when they performed in London, including Brian who was not performing with the Boys by then, but he did travel to Holland for a short time while the Boys were recording the album "Holland" and we performed with them along with new members Blondie Chaplin & Ricky Fataar...Dennis was there but Ricky was helping out on drums as I recall. Brian was very withdrawn and shy on that first meeting, but we got closer over the years.
We returned to the U.S. in 1972 with a hit single and album, settling in California, and began a long history of touring and bonding with the Beach Boys over the next 50 years! During those decades, Brian was active of course but reclusive. We loved Carl and he and Mike kept things on track in the ensuing years with Al always being solid, along with Bruce and the fantastic band mates they put together. We had a great time with all of them, band and crew, over the years. Then when Brian did eventually return to performing with the Boys and doing his solo tours we would have some good times with everyone! The last time was a successful tour of Australia in 2016. The stories are limitless...
And at the center of that music was always the inspired mind of Brian Wilson, and we were awe-struck and privileged to be around him and that body of work during those times...and still are! Rest in Peace dear Brian. Thanks Bob...Dewey Bunnell
________________________________________
From: Laurel Fishman
Subject: You probably already know about this, re: Velvet Sundown
https://aicommission.org/2025/07/ai-band-the-velvet-sundown-used-suno-is-an-art-hoax-spokesperson-admits/
Look up the artist "Nick Hustles" on Spotify. This is clearly AI too. This person is using a 60-70's Soul sound, but using lyrical content from today's world. Pretty creative. 220k monthly listeners and 100k+ subscribers on YouTube.
Why are people bitching? They feel they deserve to know if it's AI before they begin listening? Did they deserve to know Marshmello's identity before listening to his music? There's still a human behind all these AI creations and it takes creativity + managing several AI tools to connect everything together.
Eddie Laureno
________________________________________
From: Stephen Knill
Subject: Re: One Step Ahead
After playing bass on Eric Carmen's first solo album and realizing I wasn't best equipped for the touring life (at 22) I went to work for PIKS Corporation who not only distributed Arista (Carmen's label) but also Chrysalis, Splitz Enz label As the junior promo man, I was given the tertiary markets. So I wandered off to secondary Ohio towns, western PA and and upstate NY.
What a great education. People there played new records. Tommy Nast in Syracuse, Bernie Kimble in Rochester (RIP) Tom Teuber in Buffalo, Ted Utz in Utica and Garret Hart in Erie all played the first Split Enz album for me. Like WMMS in Cleveland, they decided what went on the air.
I also got to work the Alan Parsons I Robot album for Arista. After the promising response to his previous album, Arista came up with a cool tastemaker event. They hosted listening parties with Alan and his songwriting partner, Eric Woolfsen, in small venues The album was played back in quad, (which was pretty new at the time,) to show off the album's marvelous production. Not many people had those systems. But Eric Carmen did. So we hosted the event at his Cleveland apartment overlooking Lake Erie. The night was perfect. The sun was setting, the catering immaculate, libations flowed and the album was declared a hit. That was 49 years ago. 50 for Carmen's first solo album.
________________________________________
From: Trevor de Brauw
Subject: Re: The Pixar Flop
Both my six year old and my twelve year old have wanted to see this movie since we first saw the trailer over two years ago - but I had no idea the movie was out yet until I saw your newsletter. In fact, my eldest mentioned it just a couple of days ago saying that it feels like they've been advertising the movie forever now - and that's a huge part of the issue here. The modern world moves too fast for endless marketing campaigns - when potential audiences are marketed the same project for that long it either causes burnout and/or creates the psychic effect that the release is never really coming. Whereas a film like Sinners, which I only heard about in the month leading up to release, I saw in the theater first week.
Word of mouth will always be the most powerful driver, but marketing can work with a shorter runway since it approximates the feel of word of mouth.
________________________________________
From: John Hyman
Subject: Re: The Titan Documentary
Hi Bob,
You have reminded me of a day in early September, 1974. My folks offloaded me into Battelle and we said our goodbyes. I was sort of stumped about what to do next, knowing that I knew absolutely no one.
I found myself in a line -- maybe by Old Chapel? -- to acquire sheets and towels from (do I have this right?) Foley's Linens.
Anyway, a perfectly friendly fellow in line behind me tapped me on the shoulder and introduced himself: "Hi, I'm Court." I had never heard of such a name. I thought to myself: "I don't think I'm in Meriden anymore."
John
________________________________________
Subject: Re: Lightnin' Strikes
?Bob, Thank you for writing about Lou. I had the pleasure of playing a bunch of shows with him. I was the drummer in Jay Traynor and the Americans . Jay was the first Jay . We did a summer of oldies revival shows and we were the house band for all the acts . Lou Christie , Little Anthony , The Drifters etc. I was 19 and I have to say Lou Christie was a trip . He would do his Karate kicks and sing falsetto like nobody's business. When I ended up moving from Albany to NYC I first lived on 48th and 9th in Hells Kitchen. I ran into Lou on the street on day only to find out he lived on the same block . I stayed in touch with him over the years and he always wanted to know about new up and coming singers and bands . He was a very interesting person. I hope all is wellBob and hope you are healthy and happy .
All the best,
Dan McCarroll
________________________________________
Subject: Mike Garson podcast
Bob,
I just had the chance to listed to your podcast with Mike Garson as the guest. I enjoy the one's you do with people who I know but really like the ones with people I don't. Despite having Bowie records and reading liner notes back in the day I didn't remember his name though I had to have read it.
What an interesting story. Great job as always not asking the rote questions interviewers ask. There was so much there from his childhood to the roundtrip travel for a 10 minute piano lesson.
This should be a must listen for anyone who wants to be a musician or artist. It's a lesson in the hardships of following a dream – the guy played with so many stars and bands and yet was forced to refinance his home to survive at times. True commitment to his art.
People like him make the world a more interesting place. Good work.
Neal H. Bookspan
________________________________________
From: Kevin Korchinski
Subject: Re: Tyler Childers At The Hollywood Bowl
Bob,
First off, I'm a Childers fan - honest writing, great songs.
I live in Saskatchewan, Canada's ultimate flyover province. I was listening to a Childers Playlist last summer - yes Spotify - and noticed he was playing Calgary. I checked and the Saddledome was sold out already - 16,000 plus. I had heard zero and there was no Canadian tour, even just the usual suspects.
I checked in with an ex-label colleague in Calgary and she commented it sold very fast.
I wish Canadian promoters would pay more attention - there are a lot of these "Americana" type artists that could so well here - at least soft seaters - rather than a bar in Billings. Maybe once the Canadian dollar gets more normal...
Kevin
Regina, SK
________________________________________
From: John Hartmann
Subject: Re: Brian Wilson
Bob; Genius is not task specific. If Brian had chosen to be a cobbler, Lady Ga Ga would be sporting his boots today. I was The Beach Boys television agent, at the Morris office, from '63 - '66. If they did TV I would be there as part of the team. Brian was at the height of his musical skills. He was very warm, fuzzy and huggable.
He invited me to visit him and Marilyn at their home. It was during the piano in the sandbox and Brian in the bed era. He came alive in the studio. I watched in awe as he cut a single note out of "Help Me Rhonda," by eye with a razor blade. Computers have a hard time doing that.
We will forever bear the weight of his absence, and luckily we will have the music to soothe the pain.
As ever, Hartmann
________________________________________
Subject: Re: Brian Wilson
Wonderful tribute Bob...thank you. I followed the same path through that era, and the BEACH BOYS music that you describe so well. As an Air Force family in late 1962, my Dad was stationed at Vandenburg AFB on the coast near Lompoc, CA, after living 3 years in Omaha. I remember kids in Omaha saying "You're gonna see the Ocean!" when we left. I got a transistor radio that Christmas, and California did have that something! At some point I borrowed a neighbor kid's old acoustic guitar and began picking out single-note instrumental surf music we heard on local radio from the likes of Dick Dale and The Del-Tones and The Ventures and The Surfaris, but the BEACH BOYS were the top, and I loved those records along with all the other kids in Junior High! We had our own music to listen to now, beyond the Johnny Mathis, Della Reese & Patsy Cline music my folks were into, let alone Elvis and the "Frankies"! We experienced the Kennedy assassination there in California and watched Jack Ruby kill Oswald on live TV, and listened on the radio as "Cassius Clay" defeated Sonny Liston for the Heavyweight Title. And then we watched the BEATLES on the Ed Sullivan Show! These are intense memories all connected to our "life in California" at the time!
I could never have predicted that 2 years later we would be stationed in London England and I would go on to meet Gerry & Dan, who loved the BEACH BOYS as well, at an American high school and forming a band together. Graduating in 1969, our band morphed into AMERICA with vocal harmony being a key element and ultimately meeting the BEACH BOYS in person for the first time when they performed in London, including Brian who was not performing with the Boys by then, but he did travel to Holland for a short time while the Boys were recording the album "Holland" and we performed with them along with new members Blondie Chaplin & Ricky Fataar...Dennis was there but Ricky was helping out on drums as I recall. Brian was very withdrawn and shy on that first meeting, but we got closer over the years.
We returned to the U.S. in 1972 with a hit single and album, settling in California, and began a long history of touring and bonding with the Beach Boys over the next 50 years! During those decades, Brian was active of course but reclusive. We loved Carl and he and Mike kept things on track in the ensuing years with Al always being solid, along with Bruce and the fantastic band mates they put together. We had a great time with all of them, band and crew, over the years. Then when Brian did eventually return to performing with the Boys and doing his solo tours we would have some good times with everyone! The last time was a successful tour of Australia in 2016. The stories are limitless...
And at the center of that music was always the inspired mind of Brian Wilson, and we were awe-struck and privileged to be around him and that body of work during those times...and still are! Rest in Peace dear Brian. Thanks Bob...Dewey Bunnell
________________________________________
From: Laurel Fishman
Subject: You probably already know about this, re: Velvet Sundown
https://aicommission.org/2025/07/ai-band-the-velvet-sundown-used-suno-is-an-art-hoax-spokesperson-admits/
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News You Should Know
I'm reading the news all day. I get up and check my phone for twenty to forty minutes, then I read three physical newspapers and throughout the day I surf the apps and the sites.
Now in truth, there's less and less in the physical newspaper that has not already been published online. However, you see articles in the physical paper you glance over/don't see online. Because the layout is different and it's easier to see what is important. The physical paper is on its last legs, yet I'm willing to sacrifice print because online news is so much better, it can accommodate more and be posted as it happens.
The first article I want to hip you to I found in today's wakeup ritual on my phone:
"The Problematic Politics of Trump's Bill: More Lower-Income Americans Are Voting GOP - The class inversion of the two parties is making it harder for Republicans to cut the social safety net"
Free link: https://www.wsj.com/politics/the-problematic-politics-of-trumps-bill-more-lower-income-americans-are-voting-gop-0b6288d0?st=aPWk4r&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
On one level, the title says it all. But if you click through you'll see bar graphs and other information.
If you're a boomer, if you were conscious in the last century, this is utterly amazing. The script has flipped, the Democrats are the party of the rich elite. But it seems that only now is anybody acknowledging it.
Republican representatives are wary of voting against the wishes of their constituents, but if they don't support Trump they will be primaried and...
If the Republicans don't come through for their lower income voters will they switch to voting for Democrats in 2026? This is an interesting question, read the article for more.
The second article I want to hip you to I found in the print version of today's "New York Times":
"How Republican E.V. Cuts Could Put U.S. Carmakers Behind China - China's lead in electric vehicle technology, which is already huge, could become insurmountable if incentive programs are slashed, auto experts and environmentalists say."
Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/business/ev-cars-us-china-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.TU8.wA3q._SL5X6wNJr02&smid=url-share
Once again, the headline tells it all, but if you dig deeper, America's isolationist policies could come back to bite it in the ass.
Unfortunately, the above information is not contained in the rabble-rousing news on social media and other sites that are all opinion, this is what we depend on paid professionals/the derided old media for.
But you should know this information.
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Now in truth, there's less and less in the physical newspaper that has not already been published online. However, you see articles in the physical paper you glance over/don't see online. Because the layout is different and it's easier to see what is important. The physical paper is on its last legs, yet I'm willing to sacrifice print because online news is so much better, it can accommodate more and be posted as it happens.
The first article I want to hip you to I found in today's wakeup ritual on my phone:
"The Problematic Politics of Trump's Bill: More Lower-Income Americans Are Voting GOP - The class inversion of the two parties is making it harder for Republicans to cut the social safety net"
Free link: https://www.wsj.com/politics/the-problematic-politics-of-trumps-bill-more-lower-income-americans-are-voting-gop-0b6288d0?st=aPWk4r&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
On one level, the title says it all. But if you click through you'll see bar graphs and other information.
If you're a boomer, if you were conscious in the last century, this is utterly amazing. The script has flipped, the Democrats are the party of the rich elite. But it seems that only now is anybody acknowledging it.
Republican representatives are wary of voting against the wishes of their constituents, but if they don't support Trump they will be primaried and...
If the Republicans don't come through for their lower income voters will they switch to voting for Democrats in 2026? This is an interesting question, read the article for more.
The second article I want to hip you to I found in the print version of today's "New York Times":
"How Republican E.V. Cuts Could Put U.S. Carmakers Behind China - China's lead in electric vehicle technology, which is already huge, could become insurmountable if incentive programs are slashed, auto experts and environmentalists say."
Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/business/ev-cars-us-china-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.TU8.wA3q._SL5X6wNJr02&smid=url-share
Once again, the headline tells it all, but if you dig deeper, America's isolationist policies could come back to bite it in the ass.
Unfortunately, the above information is not contained in the rabble-rousing news on social media and other sites that are all opinion, this is what we depend on paid professionals/the derided old media for.
But you should know this information.
--
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, 1 July 2025
Velvet Sundown
Has anybody listened to the music?
In case you've been living under a rock for the past week, this is the biggest controversy in the music business, is Velvet Sundown a fake band whose music is created by AI?
I won't drag you through the litany of stories but I will say that at this point it appears so. Now that the media is on the "band"'s trail there have been denials and obfuscation. And tweeting from an account that is not the band's own.
So the story is very sexy. After all, isn't AI the devil?
But if you listen to the music, it's the antithesis of what the major labels are selling, it's even different from conventional Active Rock, it sounds like nothing so much as seventies and eighties rock and roll, which major purveyors have decided no longer has mainstream appeal, even though it dominates the country charts.
But country has twangy vocals and banal, inoffensive lyrics, no self-respecting air guitar player is going to cotton to today's country.
But Velvet Sundown?
There is nothing original about these songs, NOTHING in genre, but in terms of song construction, this is new stuff, and although it is not tearing up the streaming charts it does have a presence, people are listening to the Velvet Sundown, or are they?
Certainly no one writing about the band seems to be, they're caught up in the discussion of AI. But if you pull up the music you will not want to immediately turn it off, it's not like nails on a chalkboard, the singer can...actually sing, which is more than I can say for many acts plying the boards today. And the band can play. Right now I'm listening to an instrumental and I won't say the playing is in the league of Jeff Beck, but it is catchy:
"Interlude": https://open.spotify.com/track/5nKHziy9tcaFzLEuowQ9KX?si=77daa7ff02a1493e
So how was this music created? Obviously by scraping the greatest hits of all time. If you're looking for something that pushes the envelope, Velvet Sundown is not it. But if you're looking for something to tap your toe to, to put you in a mood, Velvet Sundown does the job, certainly better than any TV vocal competition.
I'm all for AI companies paying for use of original recordings. The courts are deciding whether they can scrape the music for free. Last week's Anthropic decision said that if books are purchased, they can utilize them to train their models, if not... So, basically, that's the same thing. They've got to pay. But expect more clarifying decisions to come. And certainly, if you're making new Beatles or Beach Boys or whomever tracks you've got to pay a fee, but if you're creating Velvet Sundown?
Yes, we are competing against the robots, but don't be scared. You can beat them, you've just go to be original, which is too tough for many in this me-too world. Otherwise, the public is going to vote with their ears. As for me, I don't need to hear Velvet Sundown, but I'd rather listen to their numbers than so much of the paint-by-numbers Spotify Top 50.
Now if you actually take the time to listen to this stuff, which most bloviators won't, many of you will blow back. I'll hear from the musicians, who've spent years honing their skills. And the hip-hop and punk fans will puke all over their keyboards. But this sound used to DOMINATE the airwaves, give credit to the creators of Velvet Sundown for delving into an untapped market, which is what all innovators/disrupters/those who want to make bread do.
Why is everybody such a Luddite? Why is everybody so afraid of the future? AI is here, it's a tool. As for restricting it, the Chinese are not going to, so we probably shouldn't.
And AI doesn't create willy-nilly, you have to prompt it.
Listen to Velvet Sundown's "Dust and Silence," let it play, see what you think.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2uwFIEB6E7KYnxRXe0zRLs?si=BmmroECjQcqFyD12jChDvA
Or check out their previous album, "Floating on Echoes," whose "Dust on the Wind has 562,897 streams...or does it?
https://open.spotify.com/album/2luxbfZ6WrZf81utRhcW7j?si=J3xW1OqkQjCLfa62SI-lig
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--
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In case you've been living under a rock for the past week, this is the biggest controversy in the music business, is Velvet Sundown a fake band whose music is created by AI?
I won't drag you through the litany of stories but I will say that at this point it appears so. Now that the media is on the "band"'s trail there have been denials and obfuscation. And tweeting from an account that is not the band's own.
So the story is very sexy. After all, isn't AI the devil?
But if you listen to the music, it's the antithesis of what the major labels are selling, it's even different from conventional Active Rock, it sounds like nothing so much as seventies and eighties rock and roll, which major purveyors have decided no longer has mainstream appeal, even though it dominates the country charts.
But country has twangy vocals and banal, inoffensive lyrics, no self-respecting air guitar player is going to cotton to today's country.
But Velvet Sundown?
There is nothing original about these songs, NOTHING in genre, but in terms of song construction, this is new stuff, and although it is not tearing up the streaming charts it does have a presence, people are listening to the Velvet Sundown, or are they?
Certainly no one writing about the band seems to be, they're caught up in the discussion of AI. But if you pull up the music you will not want to immediately turn it off, it's not like nails on a chalkboard, the singer can...actually sing, which is more than I can say for many acts plying the boards today. And the band can play. Right now I'm listening to an instrumental and I won't say the playing is in the league of Jeff Beck, but it is catchy:
"Interlude": https://open.spotify.com/track/5nKHziy9tcaFzLEuowQ9KX?si=77daa7ff02a1493e
So how was this music created? Obviously by scraping the greatest hits of all time. If you're looking for something that pushes the envelope, Velvet Sundown is not it. But if you're looking for something to tap your toe to, to put you in a mood, Velvet Sundown does the job, certainly better than any TV vocal competition.
I'm all for AI companies paying for use of original recordings. The courts are deciding whether they can scrape the music for free. Last week's Anthropic decision said that if books are purchased, they can utilize them to train their models, if not... So, basically, that's the same thing. They've got to pay. But expect more clarifying decisions to come. And certainly, if you're making new Beatles or Beach Boys or whomever tracks you've got to pay a fee, but if you're creating Velvet Sundown?
Yes, we are competing against the robots, but don't be scared. You can beat them, you've just go to be original, which is too tough for many in this me-too world. Otherwise, the public is going to vote with their ears. As for me, I don't need to hear Velvet Sundown, but I'd rather listen to their numbers than so much of the paint-by-numbers Spotify Top 50.
Now if you actually take the time to listen to this stuff, which most bloviators won't, many of you will blow back. I'll hear from the musicians, who've spent years honing their skills. And the hip-hop and punk fans will puke all over their keyboards. But this sound used to DOMINATE the airwaves, give credit to the creators of Velvet Sundown for delving into an untapped market, which is what all innovators/disrupters/those who want to make bread do.
Why is everybody such a Luddite? Why is everybody so afraid of the future? AI is here, it's a tool. As for restricting it, the Chinese are not going to, so we probably shouldn't.
And AI doesn't create willy-nilly, you have to prompt it.
Listen to Velvet Sundown's "Dust and Silence," let it play, see what you think.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2uwFIEB6E7KYnxRXe0zRLs?si=BmmroECjQcqFyD12jChDvA
Or check out their previous album, "Floating on Echoes," whose "Dust on the Wind has 562,897 streams...or does it?
https://open.spotify.com/album/2luxbfZ6WrZf81utRhcW7j?si=J3xW1OqkQjCLfa62SI-lig
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--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
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Monday, 30 June 2025
You Can't Reach Everybody
And everybody does not know.
If everybody in the U.S. watched Sunday night's John Oliver show, the Big Beautiful Bill would be dead on arrival.
But almost no one does.
In case you're not a viewer of this HBO institution, once or twice a season John Oliver pulls a stunt. Recently, he offered to rebrand and market a minor league baseball team. Sunday they announced the winner. And the team took a camera into the dugout to get the players' reactions. NO ONE WATCHES JOHN OLIVER, ONLY ONE PERSON HAD EVEN HEARD OF HIM, AND EVEN HE WASN'T SURE HE KNEW WHO HE WAS!
Now let's get this straight. John Oliver has a show on HBO every Sunday night, which can be pulled up on demand.
But it gets better, the show is subsequently posted on YouTube, where you can watch it for free, and still "Last Week Tonight" has minimal impact.
You should watch last night's episode here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/vjFL-cBcjKc
You'll find it impossible to poke holes in what it says, because unlike the bloviators on social media who shoot from the hip, "Last Week Tonight" is meticulously fact-checked, for fear it will get sued. Warner Bros. Discovery has got deep pockets, and the Trump administration has sued many media companies.
The arguments are very convincing, the truth is self-evident, but it doesn't make a difference, BECAUSE ALMOST NO ONE HAS SEEN IT!
It's not like John Oliver and "Last Week Tonight" are unknown quantities, the show has won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Talk Series EIGHT TIMES STRAIGHT! But still, it's just a drop in the bucket of the endless miasma we call the modern world of information.
Now in the old days, there were only three networks, all of which reached tens of millions of people and if something was said, it penetrated the entire public. Forget that the news was more accurate back then, because of the Fairness Doctrine and the fear of lawsuits, everybody started from the same point, with the same facts, that ship sailed decades ago with Fox News and it's far worse today.
But this is not solely about politics, this is much broader, this is about all news, especially entertainment!
If John Oliver can't reach the majority of Americans, nowhere close, what are the odds that your little ditty in the Spotify Top 50 has nationwide penetration? NIL! But the record companies and the media keep telling us these streaming hits are ubiquitous, when nothing could be further from the truth.
As for appearances on radio and TV... Talk about narrowcasting.
John Oliver exists in his own world. He's got no casual viewers, you either buy into his show or you don't, there's a plethora of alternatives, no one watches a show they don't want to anymore and no one listens to a record they don't want to anymore. But the machine keeps operating like they do!
Never mind not every person loves every record. That's what we learned with cable and then streaming TV. Those network shows with astronomical ratings? Once people had options, they stopped watching those shows, their ratings cratered, their ratings were only high because viewers had no other choices.
Look at how much content Netflix makes. What are major labels doing? Putting out fewer records in fewer genres. They're not throwing anything against the wall, they are not interested in niches, they're interested in broad, and there is an appeal for that but the niches added up far exceed what the theoretically broad does.
As for ones and twos... This is how an industry gets disrupted. A business is crude and generates little income, then it grows and kills you. This is why the major labels buying all the indie distributors is so scary, they want to eliminate this possibility of competition, this is why IMPALA is agitating to stop Universal's acquisition of Downtown, but even this purchase is unknown by many, because of the John Oliver problem.
But if you are selling, if you are marketing, just know that your product/message reaches a small sliver of people, don't delude yourself otherwise. If your economics depend upon reaching everybody, give up, the economics must work with small numbers. You've got to readjust your vision, but despite saying how hip they are, the major labels as well as the movie studios are still executing on the same paradigm they employed in the pre-internet era, badly. If it weren't for their catalogs/libraries, they'd be out of business.
I mean if a show on HBO every Sunday night can't even reach most people, what are the odds your product/message will?
We're never going back to the old days, this is the world we now live in. Endless niches. But no one in entertainment or politics or media is willing to admit this. They're all playing by the old rules, because it's too scary to operate in this new world. But the public is already living in this new world, and it must be catered to if you want success.
Netflix makes shows for everyone.
Universal, Sony and Warner make records for very few.
Think about that, they're ceding so much of the market whilst telling us they dominate, which is patently untrue. Never mind all the people who would become customers if they were just catered to.
Once again, everybody is not going to like everything, and in every field today there are zillions of options, so you'd better give them to people, or else the joke is on you.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
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If everybody in the U.S. watched Sunday night's John Oliver show, the Big Beautiful Bill would be dead on arrival.
But almost no one does.
In case you're not a viewer of this HBO institution, once or twice a season John Oliver pulls a stunt. Recently, he offered to rebrand and market a minor league baseball team. Sunday they announced the winner. And the team took a camera into the dugout to get the players' reactions. NO ONE WATCHES JOHN OLIVER, ONLY ONE PERSON HAD EVEN HEARD OF HIM, AND EVEN HE WASN'T SURE HE KNEW WHO HE WAS!
Now let's get this straight. John Oliver has a show on HBO every Sunday night, which can be pulled up on demand.
But it gets better, the show is subsequently posted on YouTube, where you can watch it for free, and still "Last Week Tonight" has minimal impact.
You should watch last night's episode here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/vjFL-cBcjKc
You'll find it impossible to poke holes in what it says, because unlike the bloviators on social media who shoot from the hip, "Last Week Tonight" is meticulously fact-checked, for fear it will get sued. Warner Bros. Discovery has got deep pockets, and the Trump administration has sued many media companies.
The arguments are very convincing, the truth is self-evident, but it doesn't make a difference, BECAUSE ALMOST NO ONE HAS SEEN IT!
It's not like John Oliver and "Last Week Tonight" are unknown quantities, the show has won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Talk Series EIGHT TIMES STRAIGHT! But still, it's just a drop in the bucket of the endless miasma we call the modern world of information.
Now in the old days, there were only three networks, all of which reached tens of millions of people and if something was said, it penetrated the entire public. Forget that the news was more accurate back then, because of the Fairness Doctrine and the fear of lawsuits, everybody started from the same point, with the same facts, that ship sailed decades ago with Fox News and it's far worse today.
But this is not solely about politics, this is much broader, this is about all news, especially entertainment!
If John Oliver can't reach the majority of Americans, nowhere close, what are the odds that your little ditty in the Spotify Top 50 has nationwide penetration? NIL! But the record companies and the media keep telling us these streaming hits are ubiquitous, when nothing could be further from the truth.
As for appearances on radio and TV... Talk about narrowcasting.
John Oliver exists in his own world. He's got no casual viewers, you either buy into his show or you don't, there's a plethora of alternatives, no one watches a show they don't want to anymore and no one listens to a record they don't want to anymore. But the machine keeps operating like they do!
Never mind not every person loves every record. That's what we learned with cable and then streaming TV. Those network shows with astronomical ratings? Once people had options, they stopped watching those shows, their ratings cratered, their ratings were only high because viewers had no other choices.
Look at how much content Netflix makes. What are major labels doing? Putting out fewer records in fewer genres. They're not throwing anything against the wall, they are not interested in niches, they're interested in broad, and there is an appeal for that but the niches added up far exceed what the theoretically broad does.
As for ones and twos... This is how an industry gets disrupted. A business is crude and generates little income, then it grows and kills you. This is why the major labels buying all the indie distributors is so scary, they want to eliminate this possibility of competition, this is why IMPALA is agitating to stop Universal's acquisition of Downtown, but even this purchase is unknown by many, because of the John Oliver problem.
But if you are selling, if you are marketing, just know that your product/message reaches a small sliver of people, don't delude yourself otherwise. If your economics depend upon reaching everybody, give up, the economics must work with small numbers. You've got to readjust your vision, but despite saying how hip they are, the major labels as well as the movie studios are still executing on the same paradigm they employed in the pre-internet era, badly. If it weren't for their catalogs/libraries, they'd be out of business.
I mean if a show on HBO every Sunday night can't even reach most people, what are the odds your product/message will?
We're never going back to the old days, this is the world we now live in. Endless niches. But no one in entertainment or politics or media is willing to admit this. They're all playing by the old rules, because it's too scary to operate in this new world. But the public is already living in this new world, and it must be catered to if you want success.
Netflix makes shows for everyone.
Universal, Sony and Warner make records for very few.
Think about that, they're ceding so much of the market whilst telling us they dominate, which is patently untrue. Never mind all the people who would become customers if they were just catered to.
Once again, everybody is not going to like everything, and in every field today there are zillions of options, so you'd better give them to people, or else the joke is on you.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
Mamdani
The people want change.
That's been the story of the past three decades, rapid upheaval, great leaps forward with some getting ahead and some left behind and those on the left want to deny it as much as those on the right want to rewrite the history of the sixties.
So now we've got overanalysis of Mamdani's victory. The Democratic party and the media are deep in the weeds, meanwhile the right is salivating, believing the left...has moved too far left. But they are wrong. The left finally have a candidate who looks like them, thinks like them and acts like them.
We live in a multiracial world. Which was established by MTV, the dominant cultural outlet which put people of color into homes around the globe and made rappers icons. But we've got old people who want to deny this. They believe in the old tropes. They're stunned that Black men voted for Trump. Just because they were Democrats before? Can't they see that times change?
Like this endless excoriation of smartphones and social media. Sounds like nothing so much as our parents calling the television the idiot box, imploring us to turn it off and go outside.
Forget that no one goes outside anymore, inside being too exciting, but the idiot box is no longer such, it's where the best visual entertainment lives. But you've still got the oldsters talking about the movies, which have been dying. What next, bringing back the iPod?
If you're a young person... Your parents want to dress like you, act like you, but it's all exterior, they didn't get the memo, they're not in the flow. They don't go to school and get hip to trends, they're out of the loop. But you can't tell them so.
Meanwhile, we heard from the Democrats over and over again to send them money so they could advertise Kamala on TV. Who exactly is watching TV, with commercials no less, the ancient set in their beliefs who vote in greater proportions anyway? AOC told the party back in 2022 to stop advertising on TV and to give her all the money so she could reach the public online, which is how she won. What did they say in return? STFU! They've been running from AOC since she got elected. But one thing is for sure, when you watch and listen to AOC...you see a young, educated person who is unfiltered, who doesn't hesitate before she speaks, fearful of alienating some donor or special interest group.
The younger generation has tuned out of politics. And when they get a toehold, they get squeezed out. Look at David Hogg, saying he was going to primary old people. THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE! These old farts didn't grow up digitally native and are clueless as to what is really going on in these United States, time to turn the page.
Oh, don't talk to me about Mamdani's platform... It' simple, he was speaking to the issues that resonate with the youth. How in the hell are you going to live in New York City if you're not rich? All we hear about is the Met Gala, the entitled. As for the Met Gala, Anna Wintour is stepping down from "Vogue" and almost all of the Condé Nast titles have folded. You know what is keeping the company alive? ITS INVESTMENT IN REDDIT! Which oldsters never use. I have never had a single person over sixty tell me they saw something on Reddit.
Oh, don't tell me you're on the service. If you do, you're part of the problem. Everybody nitpicking, wanting acknowledgement that they're different. If you are doing this you're as narcissistic as the titans running this country. You're not interested in the common good, you're interested in personal aggrandizement.
As for Mamdani and the Jews... What we've learned is this is no longer a litmus test. Which is what we learned a decade ago with Trump, as in you can be divorced and use profanity and the public shrugs. People want that which reflects their reality, which the Democrats have had a hard time putting forth.
You can dig deep into Mamdani's success and come up with some cockamamie theories, but you'd be missing the point. The point is this guy is young and fresh and representative of the culture he comes from. The boomers are afraid of Muslims, not the average youngster on the street. And I've got an issue regarding some things he said about Israel, but I'm not about to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Everything with the Democrats is a purity test, you've got to agree with everything or you're excommunicated. Trans kids must be able to play in women's sports. Kamala lost because of racism. Men can have babies... Where is common sense? Got to give Gavin Newsom credit, he's tuned into the new reality and has pivoted on a dime. He complained about meetings starting with the announcement of everybody's pronouns. Talk about giving the opposition ammunition.
But I don't want to make this about 2028 or 2026. That's what the chattering classes do, plug the new reality into an old form. The issue isn't elections in the future, it's about authoritarianism today. How are we going to fight it? Well, elected officials have done almost nothing, it all comes down to the people.
Karen Bass did not tell the public to protest against ICE in downtown L.A., rather people reached their boiling point and took action. And this works both ways. Hell, the Republicans were going to sell public land in the west and then their constituents went wild, REPUBLICAN CONSTITUENTS! At least they listened to the public and pivoted, the Democratic elite don't listen and don't pivot.
As for Andrew Cuomo... He has the experience, but... He didn't lose because of the sex scandal, he lost because he's 67 years old and ran a campaign no different from the ones run by his father back in the last century.
Every business, every walk of life has to be reoriented towards the young. They've been disillusioned, but they were motivated to come out to give the finger to the man in this primary.
All corporations... I'm not in favor or mandatory retirement ages, but can we get rid of the dead wood and get new perspectives? Look at entertainment... The major labels are run by the old and out of touch. The movie studios too. They've adapted poorly to the modern era. The labels keep reducing headcount while they're categorically unable to break an act. The studios are flummoxed that we'd rather stay at home and watch streaming TV than pay too much to see an overpriced piece of dreck in a theatre. The studios are like the purveyors of vinyl, believing it's truly coming back and will dominate. The percentage of music consumption that vinyl represents is TINY! Nearly infinitesimal! But every story tells us how it's burgeoning and everybody is into it when in truth most of the younger generation buys discs as souvenirs, they barely listen to them. If vinyl was such a big thing the stereo/audio business would be burgeoning, but it's not!
I won't say everything you read in the paper is wrong, but they play a game established long ago. When all the action happens quickly online. It's hard to win in the modern era if you're out of touch. But the oldsters refuse to change, it's anathema.
Is Mamdani ready to run New York? Almost no one has been able to do it, so I'm not confident, but we're ready for a fresh take, even if he has to learn on the job.
This is not Trump. Trump was about people sick and tired of the status quo. That's a factor in the Mamdani victory, but the real story is his AGE! People want government by people who look like them act/like them and have the same background/influences.
Change can happen in an instant.
It just did.
Expect more.
Start with the youth and what they're into. And stop criticizing, just learn.
As I always say...my inbox is full of old people hating on TikTok, and in response I continually ask one simple question, ARE YOU ON IT? And to a person, they always say no.
And that's all you have to know.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
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That's been the story of the past three decades, rapid upheaval, great leaps forward with some getting ahead and some left behind and those on the left want to deny it as much as those on the right want to rewrite the history of the sixties.
So now we've got overanalysis of Mamdani's victory. The Democratic party and the media are deep in the weeds, meanwhile the right is salivating, believing the left...has moved too far left. But they are wrong. The left finally have a candidate who looks like them, thinks like them and acts like them.
We live in a multiracial world. Which was established by MTV, the dominant cultural outlet which put people of color into homes around the globe and made rappers icons. But we've got old people who want to deny this. They believe in the old tropes. They're stunned that Black men voted for Trump. Just because they were Democrats before? Can't they see that times change?
Like this endless excoriation of smartphones and social media. Sounds like nothing so much as our parents calling the television the idiot box, imploring us to turn it off and go outside.
Forget that no one goes outside anymore, inside being too exciting, but the idiot box is no longer such, it's where the best visual entertainment lives. But you've still got the oldsters talking about the movies, which have been dying. What next, bringing back the iPod?
If you're a young person... Your parents want to dress like you, act like you, but it's all exterior, they didn't get the memo, they're not in the flow. They don't go to school and get hip to trends, they're out of the loop. But you can't tell them so.
Meanwhile, we heard from the Democrats over and over again to send them money so they could advertise Kamala on TV. Who exactly is watching TV, with commercials no less, the ancient set in their beliefs who vote in greater proportions anyway? AOC told the party back in 2022 to stop advertising on TV and to give her all the money so she could reach the public online, which is how she won. What did they say in return? STFU! They've been running from AOC since she got elected. But one thing is for sure, when you watch and listen to AOC...you see a young, educated person who is unfiltered, who doesn't hesitate before she speaks, fearful of alienating some donor or special interest group.
The younger generation has tuned out of politics. And when they get a toehold, they get squeezed out. Look at David Hogg, saying he was going to primary old people. THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE! These old farts didn't grow up digitally native and are clueless as to what is really going on in these United States, time to turn the page.
Oh, don't talk to me about Mamdani's platform... It' simple, he was speaking to the issues that resonate with the youth. How in the hell are you going to live in New York City if you're not rich? All we hear about is the Met Gala, the entitled. As for the Met Gala, Anna Wintour is stepping down from "Vogue" and almost all of the Condé Nast titles have folded. You know what is keeping the company alive? ITS INVESTMENT IN REDDIT! Which oldsters never use. I have never had a single person over sixty tell me they saw something on Reddit.
Oh, don't tell me you're on the service. If you do, you're part of the problem. Everybody nitpicking, wanting acknowledgement that they're different. If you are doing this you're as narcissistic as the titans running this country. You're not interested in the common good, you're interested in personal aggrandizement.
As for Mamdani and the Jews... What we've learned is this is no longer a litmus test. Which is what we learned a decade ago with Trump, as in you can be divorced and use profanity and the public shrugs. People want that which reflects their reality, which the Democrats have had a hard time putting forth.
You can dig deep into Mamdani's success and come up with some cockamamie theories, but you'd be missing the point. The point is this guy is young and fresh and representative of the culture he comes from. The boomers are afraid of Muslims, not the average youngster on the street. And I've got an issue regarding some things he said about Israel, but I'm not about to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Everything with the Democrats is a purity test, you've got to agree with everything or you're excommunicated. Trans kids must be able to play in women's sports. Kamala lost because of racism. Men can have babies... Where is common sense? Got to give Gavin Newsom credit, he's tuned into the new reality and has pivoted on a dime. He complained about meetings starting with the announcement of everybody's pronouns. Talk about giving the opposition ammunition.
But I don't want to make this about 2028 or 2026. That's what the chattering classes do, plug the new reality into an old form. The issue isn't elections in the future, it's about authoritarianism today. How are we going to fight it? Well, elected officials have done almost nothing, it all comes down to the people.
Karen Bass did not tell the public to protest against ICE in downtown L.A., rather people reached their boiling point and took action. And this works both ways. Hell, the Republicans were going to sell public land in the west and then their constituents went wild, REPUBLICAN CONSTITUENTS! At least they listened to the public and pivoted, the Democratic elite don't listen and don't pivot.
As for Andrew Cuomo... He has the experience, but... He didn't lose because of the sex scandal, he lost because he's 67 years old and ran a campaign no different from the ones run by his father back in the last century.
Every business, every walk of life has to be reoriented towards the young. They've been disillusioned, but they were motivated to come out to give the finger to the man in this primary.
All corporations... I'm not in favor or mandatory retirement ages, but can we get rid of the dead wood and get new perspectives? Look at entertainment... The major labels are run by the old and out of touch. The movie studios too. They've adapted poorly to the modern era. The labels keep reducing headcount while they're categorically unable to break an act. The studios are flummoxed that we'd rather stay at home and watch streaming TV than pay too much to see an overpriced piece of dreck in a theatre. The studios are like the purveyors of vinyl, believing it's truly coming back and will dominate. The percentage of music consumption that vinyl represents is TINY! Nearly infinitesimal! But every story tells us how it's burgeoning and everybody is into it when in truth most of the younger generation buys discs as souvenirs, they barely listen to them. If vinyl was such a big thing the stereo/audio business would be burgeoning, but it's not!
I won't say everything you read in the paper is wrong, but they play a game established long ago. When all the action happens quickly online. It's hard to win in the modern era if you're out of touch. But the oldsters refuse to change, it's anathema.
Is Mamdani ready to run New York? Almost no one has been able to do it, so I'm not confident, but we're ready for a fresh take, even if he has to learn on the job.
This is not Trump. Trump was about people sick and tired of the status quo. That's a factor in the Mamdani victory, but the real story is his AGE! People want government by people who look like them act/like them and have the same background/influences.
Change can happen in an instant.
It just did.
Expect more.
Start with the youth and what they're into. And stop criticizing, just learn.
As I always say...my inbox is full of old people hating on TikTok, and in response I continually ask one simple question, ARE YOU ON IT? And to a person, they always say no.
And that's all you have to know.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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Sunday, 29 June 2025
One Step Ahead
Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/13JONCNdFs29FCFylgC0ou?si=3f0f2b8c90ab4577
1
The first Split Enz album I bought was their very first, "Mental Notes." I found it in the promo bin at Rhino Records in Westwood. I'd heard of the band, but I ultimately didn't like it.
But that was the nature of promo records. They cost half or two-thirds the price and you took a risk, you never knew what might be good. I remember purchasing a promo of Alan Parsons's "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," loving it and buying more copies for more people. That's an album that's been lost to the sands of time, but the first side is incredible, the best work Alan Parsons ever did. He brought Arthur Brown back from the dead, and "The Tell-Tale Heart" was not the equal of "Fire," but it was pretty damn good. And looking at the track listing I now know I have to mention every cut on that first side, except for the brief opening instrumental, "A Dream Within a Dream."
Parsons himself and Leonard Whiting share vocals on "The Raven." NEVERMORE! They don't make records like this anymore, they take money and time and most people have neither. These were professional productions, not something you could replicate in your bedroom, even to this day.
"The Raven" built and built, but "The Cask of Amontillado" was softer and less intense. And featured John Miles as the vocalist. I ended up buying two of his albums as a result, can't say they were great and now Miles is dead. He had a moment in the U.K., but never meant anything in the U.S.
But the most accessible cut on "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is "(The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather," which closes the first side and also features Miles as vocalist. It was a perfect fit for the AOR radio of the day but was not played because the album came out on the completely lame 20th Century Records, which didn't have the muscle to squeeze it on to the airwaves. Then again, the previous year the label had a hit with Ambrosia's "Holdin' On to Yesterday," but that track was undeniable, you only had to hear it once. You should check out Ambrosia's debut, it was much more edgy and innovative than the ultimate Warner Brothers records that have been placed in the soft rock bin.
But I paid full price for "True Colours," Split Enz's A&M breakthrough, the album in which Neil Finn emerged from the shadow of his older brother Tim and made a dent on the American airwaves with "I Got You." I won't say you only had to hear it once, but that's close. And KROQ played it, that's how I got turned on to the record, before the Pasadena outlet became the Roq of the 80s and the playlist was tightened dramatically and it was new wave 24/7. Before that KROQ was the last free format rock station in Los Angeles. KMET and KLOS were playing the meat and potatoes hits, KROQ was playing stuff that was not tied to the past yet was oftentimes better than the more famous stuff, like Split Enz.
Now "True Colours" was not a commercial smash, but more of a cult item. And one of the marketing hooks was that the vinyl itself was etched into a pattern via laser. It really was. If you just tilted the album at an angle you could see it... Otherwise it looked like the record has been mishandled by someone who didn't respect the music, with scratches.
And "True Colours" is the best work Split Enz ever did. It's two tracks on the second side that seal the deal, Neil Finn's "Missing Person" and Tim Finn's ethereal "Poor Boy." I saw the band at the Whisky, back when bands played their initial gigs there, even if their albums were on the radio, seemingly everybody started there, I saw not only Split Enz but Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson...all before they broke wide, although the latter two broke much wider than the Enz.
So now with the momentum of "True Colours" under their belt, Split Enz released the follow-up "Waiata" to a good amount of press, there was eager anticipation, but expectations were not quite met. This was still the hodgepodge of Tim and Neil tracks, ultimately Neil had to break away and form the trio Crowded House to truly break through to mass success. However, there are a couple of great song on "Waiata," both Neil Finn's.
2
Now the album started out with "Hard Act to Follow," a typically raucous Tim Finn number. It was good, but fast and chaotic, reinforcing the band's reputation as whirling dervishes, exhibiting sped-up intensity live and on record. "History Never Repeats" was also relatively speedy, but it was not edgy, and Neil's vocal is more mellifluous.
"History never repeats
I tell myself before I go to sleep"
This song started going through my head while watching the Hitler documentary, thinking how we're doomed to repeat the past, thinking today everything is different when usually it is not, people don't change, despite all the technological advances.
But "History Never Repeats" is personal, it's about a girl.
"There was a girl I used to know
She dealt my love a savage blow
I was so young, too blind to see
But anyway that's history"
Now, more than ever, we're used to bombast. Men are considered to be loud and untrustworthy. And there are certainly some like that, but there are many who are introspective and sensitive and they bought records like this and resonated.
It's hard to get over a breakup, especially when it wasn't your choice, and it's never mutual, no matter what anybody tells you. So you lie with your head on the pillow in the dark, unable to fall asleep, running scenarios through your head, both past and future, hoping that what's coming down the pike is different, and better, and that the problem is not you.
"Deep in the night it's all so clear
I lie awake with great ideas
Lurking about in no-man's land
I think at last I understand"
I'm not saying you don't get insights alone in the dark, but taking action is quite another thing.
"You say I always play the fool
I can't go on if that's the rule
Better to jump than hesitate
I need a change and I can't wait"
It's all about jumping, doing, and I know it's a cliché, but that's the hardest part and most people can't do it, they can't take a risk, they sit on the sideline waiting for something to happen to them, and sometimes something does, but usually not, and you've got no choice in the matter.
But you try to stay optimistic, after all, history doesn't repeat, right?
The singer keeps trying to convince himself in this tear of a number, so fast and energetic that it amps you up and squeezes out your doubts.
But, unfortunately, although attitude helps, history definitely repeats.
3
But my mind only focused on "History Never Repeats for a short while, then it switched to "One Step Ahead," the best song on "Waiata."
I'm going to get into the lyrics, but really "One Step Ahead" is all about feel. Like the tracks from "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," "One Step Ahead" exists in its own universe, so many of our favorite tracks back then did. That's one of the reasons we admired the musicians so, how did they come up with this stuff that fed ourselves back to us while at the same time pushing past limits and teaching us lessons? "One Step Ahead" could never be a hit on the Top Forty, but it's better than almost all of them. The record creates a private universe that you are privy to. You're peering into Neil Finn's brain as well as his relationship. But what puts the track over the top is the changes, when it goes up from the first verse to the second there's a layer of intensity as well as gravitas added.
"One step ahead of you
Stay in motion, keep an open mind
Love is a race won by two
Your emotion, my solitude"
He's afraid to slow down, to stop, he's got a further destination in his mind's eye, things are pretty good now, but what lies over the horizon?
And then there's that modulation up and...
"If I stop, I could lose my head
So I'm losing you instead
Either way I'm confused
You slow me down, what can I do
There's one particular way I have to choose"
People have no idea of the drive, the commitment it takes to be successful, not a single hit here or there, but a career. Not famous for nothing, not an influencer, but an artist. Your art has to come first and those surrounding you can't understand your drive, your state of mind.
"One step ahead of you
Always someone makes it hard to move
She says 'Boy I want you to stay'
But I save it all for another day
He understands where she's at, he's calm, he knows what's going on, but, the song modulates up again and...
"If I stop I could lose my head
But I'm ready for romance
Either way I'm confused
I don't know what I'm supposed to do
I can only stay one step ahead of you"
It's not like he wants to be alone, he wants romance, to what degree he desires intimacy is unclear, but we know he likes what he's got but he's afraid if he slows down it will hurt him in his pursuit of his personal destination and as good as this is, is there something better in the future?
And then the song quiets down, almost becomes downbeat, certainly introspective, with a section of "Da, da, da, da." This is his personal contemplation of the future, he's flummoxed, he's afraid to give it all up for what's behind curtain number three, and there may not be a curtain at all!
And then this denouement is trashed, thrown aside, and the intense emotionality is back.
"Stop, I confess sometimes
I don't know where I'm going
Part of me stays with you"
The future is obscure, this is not like working for the man, being a doctor or a lawyer, you're making it up as you go, by the seat of your pants, and there are no guarantees, but if you stop now you'll regret it forever.
"I'm slowing down, what can I do
It's hard to stay one step ahead of you"
The more he talks, the more he tells his story, the less he can stay separate, ahead of her, he's becoming enmeshed and he knows this will make it harder to stay one step ahead and move on. There's so much good where he is, but the future calls out.
"One step ahead of you
Time is running out, catching up with you"
She's not going to be open forever, it's now or never.
"One step ahead of you
When I hold you close can I really lose"
That's the question, is this as good as it's going to get? And even if there's something potentially better out there, this is real and feels good and maybe it's not worth the risk.
And then there's the closer.
"One step ahead
Only one step ahead
She's one step ahead of you"
This is a record, this is oblique, songs are open to interpretation, but I think Neil is singing about a future woman, who is one step ahead of him, he's in control of the situation now, but in the future will the roles be reversed and will he not be able to catch up with her?
This is not a simple ditty. Nor is it belabored. Sure, "One Step Ahead" has elements of heaviness, but there are no flashing lights imploring you to pay attention, rather it's some guy who's in a band from New Zealand telling his story, honestly, and it's the combination of words, vocal and music that draws you in. There's magic in this track, and it's always one step away, Neil is not only one step ahead of the woman, but he's one step ahead of you, our greatest artists always were and still are, they're looking inside and to the future, just like the singer in this song, and all we know is we're all-in, we're not jumping from this ship, no matter how leaky the boat might get, we need more. And we get it two LPs later with "Message to My Girl":
"I don't want to say 'I love you'
That would give away too much
It's hip to be detached and precious"
That's the image of men in society, be wary, they're hard to tie down, hard to get to commit, they might kick you to the curb.
But as good as it is, as honest as he is, as into it as he is, as unencumbered by inhibition he is, the roles are now reversed, he's the one bucking up, trying to rationalize his position, saying he won't get wrapped up in her tomb, but the reality is...
"No, I don't care, I don't care why you've gone now"
But he does. He can't forget her. She haunts his dreams. This is his message to the girl he hopes is listening but has moved on and is probably not.
It hurts.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
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1
The first Split Enz album I bought was their very first, "Mental Notes." I found it in the promo bin at Rhino Records in Westwood. I'd heard of the band, but I ultimately didn't like it.
But that was the nature of promo records. They cost half or two-thirds the price and you took a risk, you never knew what might be good. I remember purchasing a promo of Alan Parsons's "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," loving it and buying more copies for more people. That's an album that's been lost to the sands of time, but the first side is incredible, the best work Alan Parsons ever did. He brought Arthur Brown back from the dead, and "The Tell-Tale Heart" was not the equal of "Fire," but it was pretty damn good. And looking at the track listing I now know I have to mention every cut on that first side, except for the brief opening instrumental, "A Dream Within a Dream."
Parsons himself and Leonard Whiting share vocals on "The Raven." NEVERMORE! They don't make records like this anymore, they take money and time and most people have neither. These were professional productions, not something you could replicate in your bedroom, even to this day.
"The Raven" built and built, but "The Cask of Amontillado" was softer and less intense. And featured John Miles as the vocalist. I ended up buying two of his albums as a result, can't say they were great and now Miles is dead. He had a moment in the U.K., but never meant anything in the U.S.
But the most accessible cut on "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" is "(The System of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather," which closes the first side and also features Miles as vocalist. It was a perfect fit for the AOR radio of the day but was not played because the album came out on the completely lame 20th Century Records, which didn't have the muscle to squeeze it on to the airwaves. Then again, the previous year the label had a hit with Ambrosia's "Holdin' On to Yesterday," but that track was undeniable, you only had to hear it once. You should check out Ambrosia's debut, it was much more edgy and innovative than the ultimate Warner Brothers records that have been placed in the soft rock bin.
But I paid full price for "True Colours," Split Enz's A&M breakthrough, the album in which Neil Finn emerged from the shadow of his older brother Tim and made a dent on the American airwaves with "I Got You." I won't say you only had to hear it once, but that's close. And KROQ played it, that's how I got turned on to the record, before the Pasadena outlet became the Roq of the 80s and the playlist was tightened dramatically and it was new wave 24/7. Before that KROQ was the last free format rock station in Los Angeles. KMET and KLOS were playing the meat and potatoes hits, KROQ was playing stuff that was not tied to the past yet was oftentimes better than the more famous stuff, like Split Enz.
Now "True Colours" was not a commercial smash, but more of a cult item. And one of the marketing hooks was that the vinyl itself was etched into a pattern via laser. It really was. If you just tilted the album at an angle you could see it... Otherwise it looked like the record has been mishandled by someone who didn't respect the music, with scratches.
And "True Colours" is the best work Split Enz ever did. It's two tracks on the second side that seal the deal, Neil Finn's "Missing Person" and Tim Finn's ethereal "Poor Boy." I saw the band at the Whisky, back when bands played their initial gigs there, even if their albums were on the radio, seemingly everybody started there, I saw not only Split Enz but Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson...all before they broke wide, although the latter two broke much wider than the Enz.
So now with the momentum of "True Colours" under their belt, Split Enz released the follow-up "Waiata" to a good amount of press, there was eager anticipation, but expectations were not quite met. This was still the hodgepodge of Tim and Neil tracks, ultimately Neil had to break away and form the trio Crowded House to truly break through to mass success. However, there are a couple of great song on "Waiata," both Neil Finn's.
2
Now the album started out with "Hard Act to Follow," a typically raucous Tim Finn number. It was good, but fast and chaotic, reinforcing the band's reputation as whirling dervishes, exhibiting sped-up intensity live and on record. "History Never Repeats" was also relatively speedy, but it was not edgy, and Neil's vocal is more mellifluous.
"History never repeats
I tell myself before I go to sleep"
This song started going through my head while watching the Hitler documentary, thinking how we're doomed to repeat the past, thinking today everything is different when usually it is not, people don't change, despite all the technological advances.
But "History Never Repeats" is personal, it's about a girl.
"There was a girl I used to know
She dealt my love a savage blow
I was so young, too blind to see
But anyway that's history"
Now, more than ever, we're used to bombast. Men are considered to be loud and untrustworthy. And there are certainly some like that, but there are many who are introspective and sensitive and they bought records like this and resonated.
It's hard to get over a breakup, especially when it wasn't your choice, and it's never mutual, no matter what anybody tells you. So you lie with your head on the pillow in the dark, unable to fall asleep, running scenarios through your head, both past and future, hoping that what's coming down the pike is different, and better, and that the problem is not you.
"Deep in the night it's all so clear
I lie awake with great ideas
Lurking about in no-man's land
I think at last I understand"
I'm not saying you don't get insights alone in the dark, but taking action is quite another thing.
"You say I always play the fool
I can't go on if that's the rule
Better to jump than hesitate
I need a change and I can't wait"
It's all about jumping, doing, and I know it's a cliché, but that's the hardest part and most people can't do it, they can't take a risk, they sit on the sideline waiting for something to happen to them, and sometimes something does, but usually not, and you've got no choice in the matter.
But you try to stay optimistic, after all, history doesn't repeat, right?
The singer keeps trying to convince himself in this tear of a number, so fast and energetic that it amps you up and squeezes out your doubts.
But, unfortunately, although attitude helps, history definitely repeats.
3
But my mind only focused on "History Never Repeats for a short while, then it switched to "One Step Ahead," the best song on "Waiata."
I'm going to get into the lyrics, but really "One Step Ahead" is all about feel. Like the tracks from "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," "One Step Ahead" exists in its own universe, so many of our favorite tracks back then did. That's one of the reasons we admired the musicians so, how did they come up with this stuff that fed ourselves back to us while at the same time pushing past limits and teaching us lessons? "One Step Ahead" could never be a hit on the Top Forty, but it's better than almost all of them. The record creates a private universe that you are privy to. You're peering into Neil Finn's brain as well as his relationship. But what puts the track over the top is the changes, when it goes up from the first verse to the second there's a layer of intensity as well as gravitas added.
"One step ahead of you
Stay in motion, keep an open mind
Love is a race won by two
Your emotion, my solitude"
He's afraid to slow down, to stop, he's got a further destination in his mind's eye, things are pretty good now, but what lies over the horizon?
And then there's that modulation up and...
"If I stop, I could lose my head
So I'm losing you instead
Either way I'm confused
You slow me down, what can I do
There's one particular way I have to choose"
People have no idea of the drive, the commitment it takes to be successful, not a single hit here or there, but a career. Not famous for nothing, not an influencer, but an artist. Your art has to come first and those surrounding you can't understand your drive, your state of mind.
"One step ahead of you
Always someone makes it hard to move
She says 'Boy I want you to stay'
But I save it all for another day
He understands where she's at, he's calm, he knows what's going on, but, the song modulates up again and...
"If I stop I could lose my head
But I'm ready for romance
Either way I'm confused
I don't know what I'm supposed to do
I can only stay one step ahead of you"
It's not like he wants to be alone, he wants romance, to what degree he desires intimacy is unclear, but we know he likes what he's got but he's afraid if he slows down it will hurt him in his pursuit of his personal destination and as good as this is, is there something better in the future?
And then the song quiets down, almost becomes downbeat, certainly introspective, with a section of "Da, da, da, da." This is his personal contemplation of the future, he's flummoxed, he's afraid to give it all up for what's behind curtain number three, and there may not be a curtain at all!
And then this denouement is trashed, thrown aside, and the intense emotionality is back.
"Stop, I confess sometimes
I don't know where I'm going
Part of me stays with you"
The future is obscure, this is not like working for the man, being a doctor or a lawyer, you're making it up as you go, by the seat of your pants, and there are no guarantees, but if you stop now you'll regret it forever.
"I'm slowing down, what can I do
It's hard to stay one step ahead of you"
The more he talks, the more he tells his story, the less he can stay separate, ahead of her, he's becoming enmeshed and he knows this will make it harder to stay one step ahead and move on. There's so much good where he is, but the future calls out.
"One step ahead of you
Time is running out, catching up with you"
She's not going to be open forever, it's now or never.
"One step ahead of you
When I hold you close can I really lose"
That's the question, is this as good as it's going to get? And even if there's something potentially better out there, this is real and feels good and maybe it's not worth the risk.
And then there's the closer.
"One step ahead
Only one step ahead
She's one step ahead of you"
This is a record, this is oblique, songs are open to interpretation, but I think Neil is singing about a future woman, who is one step ahead of him, he's in control of the situation now, but in the future will the roles be reversed and will he not be able to catch up with her?
This is not a simple ditty. Nor is it belabored. Sure, "One Step Ahead" has elements of heaviness, but there are no flashing lights imploring you to pay attention, rather it's some guy who's in a band from New Zealand telling his story, honestly, and it's the combination of words, vocal and music that draws you in. There's magic in this track, and it's always one step away, Neil is not only one step ahead of the woman, but he's one step ahead of you, our greatest artists always were and still are, they're looking inside and to the future, just like the singer in this song, and all we know is we're all-in, we're not jumping from this ship, no matter how leaky the boat might get, we need more. And we get it two LPs later with "Message to My Girl":
"I don't want to say 'I love you'
That would give away too much
It's hip to be detached and precious"
That's the image of men in society, be wary, they're hard to tie down, hard to get to commit, they might kick you to the curb.
But as good as it is, as honest as he is, as into it as he is, as unencumbered by inhibition he is, the roles are now reversed, he's the one bucking up, trying to rationalize his position, saying he won't get wrapped up in her tomb, but the reality is...
"No, I don't care, I don't care why you've gone now"
But he does. He can't forget her. She haunts his dreams. This is his message to the girl he hopes is listening but has moved on and is probably not.
It hurts.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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