The problem is the major labels have all the leverage, as a result of their catalogs. They wield these in negotiations with each and every distributor, and the indies have little power. This is not like tech, where yesterday's wares are useless, in music, the hits of the past continue to generate revenue at almost no cost, especially in these days of digital distribution. Furthermore, copyright terms have been extended on a regular basis, to make sure Disney characters don't fall into the public domain, got to keep the Mouse House happy.
We saw the power of these catalogs with the negotiation of streaming remuneration. Bottom line, the publishers, and therefore the songwriters, got screwed. The labels cared first and foremost about recordings, and if their publishing arms got less...it all added up to the same at the end of the day, it was just a matter of how the pot was divided before being reunited.
But we no longer live in the past. There are only three major label groups, where there used to be six. And new labels are not popping up on a regular basis like they did in the past. Without a catalog, you can't make it.
But even worse, majors are signing fewer acts in fewer genres, hurting not only musicians, but the culture at large.
So...
The bottom line is some of the greatest acts in history are now independent, they don't have record deals. If they make an album, they might license it to a major, but they are not under the pressure of a regular deal, with delivery timetables.
But it's not only the classic rockers, but Lorde... She finished her Universal deal and is now completely unfettered, and happy to be so.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg, you see...
You may have read the Lorde announcement, but like an iceberg, what really counts is what's beneath the surface, not seen by the naked eye.
Yes, over the last year, while indie clubs have been going out of business in the U.K., when it's harder than ever to break a new act, the titans of the past have quietly banded together with the young 'uns to serve independent artists.
It's a who's-who... First and foremost, Paul McCartney. That's why he did those underplays at the Fonda, he was in Hollywood sealing the deal.
Look at it like Tidal. But much better organized.
We've got McCartney, Elton John, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, Chance the Rapper and Lorde on the board. They're going to change the rules of the music business.
First and foremost, if you're a member of the Alliance, you agree to use an indie act as your opener. Whether it's in a theatre or a stadium. Indies need exposure, and the Alliance is going to deliver it. And we all know that everything starts on the road these days.
In addition, Scott Greenstein has agreed to give the Indie Alliance a permanent channel on SiriusXM. Where established acts will give their imprimatur to indies. Introducing them to the public. And when critical mass is hit, there will be a tour, just like with Little Steven's Underground Garage.
And, Spotify has already agreed to put an indie act on its homepage for at least a week a month. The three majors get the other three, righting the balance for the first time in a long time.
Also, there will be an Indie Alliance playlist in every genre.
As for Apple, Amazon and Deezer... They have not put pen to paper yet, but where Spotify goes, the rest follow. As for Tidal...since it was offloaded on to Mr. Square, Jack Dorsey, we've barely heard a peep.
But who is going to run this operation, organize it and make the trains run on time?
Well, Doug Morris is coming out of retirement. Along with Jeff Ayeroff. Morris never wanted to go and Ayeroff has a creative mind absent from today's record world, which will allow the Indie Alliance to triumph.
Let's be clear, this is not a record company. And it's more than a lobbying organization. It's a trade union plus. Whose goal is a fair wage for musicians, but even more, fair marketing and exposure.
And there is an agenda...
Rock has been excised from the frontlines, there will be a concerted effort to bring it back. Melodious stuff, with hooks and changes... Tom Scholz has agreed to mentor acts, the Boston sound continuing to resonate in the culture.
And producers too... The Commander, Mike Chapman, still has his chops. None of the old guys can get gigs, but they're' dying to work. So they're agreeing to mentor indies for free. Consider it a spec deal. They've got upside, but there are no cash down payments.
And Live Nation, always looking to burnish its image, will provide Omar for hands-on advice. And Monday will be indie night at all the amphitheatres. It's a hard night anyway, usually dark. And if Live Nation can sell beer and parking, they're always up for making a deal.
Jimmy Iovine wanted a competition, to see which acts would be pushed, but the success of Beats is overshadowed by his record of failure in innovation...Jimmy & Ted's Farm Club anyone? And having recently dissed streaming outlets, saying they're in their death throes...Spotify said if Jimmy's in, they're out. So Jimmy's on the sidelines.
The Indie Alliance is not a minor league. It's about promoting acts that can sell out arenas if they just get exposure, if people could just see them and hear them.
The goal is to be noticed by Doug and Jeff, or members of the board, to the point where they think you can be bigger. Kind of like a record company of yore. Everybody can't get a deal, everybody can't play, but there are those deserving who need a little push.
Of course there will be lobbying for better terms.
No cuts of merch until the act sells in excess of 5,000 tickets. These acts need every penny to survive.
Elon Musk offered a slew of Tesla driverless trucks for equipment, and some Model 3s for club level acts, but no one wanted to work with him, his karma is too bad.
Not that other companies can't invest, come along. Rumor has it some cannabis companies are about to ink deals to support indie musicians, since they're all running on dope anyway.
And indie values will be promoted. If you want to sell out, be a brand, go with a major. Talk about bringing the value of music back...it's more than money. You can take sponsorship money, but if you're doing brand extensions...perfume, clothing and whiskey...you cannot be promoted by the Indie Alliance.
It's music first. Truly.
That does not mean you can't be flamboyant, wear outfits, have a theatrical act, but the music is paramount. The mission of the Indie Alliance is not only to help the independent musician, but music itself. After all, the majors and the acts they promote are doing a good job of killing it.
There's no lip service involved. If you're an established act, a member, you must let an indie open your show, you must help the indies, otherwise you're out.
As for Jim Dolan's guarantee of an indie residency at the Sphere...
He says he'll do it once the acts are established, when they can sell enough tickets, since the Sphere holds nearly 20,000 people. You can be number one on Spotify, and most people don't know. But if you play the Sphere, everybody knows! So Dolan's offer is blue chip.
It has gone too far, we've got too many cartoon acts, dancing fools mini-corporations, who have dragged down the value of music, made it a sideshow, irrelevant of the number of dollars involved. We need to get back to where we once belonged. That's one of the main reasons the classic acts are involved, because they remember when. Whereas kids today have grown up with vapidity.
Also, this will burnish the image of aged acts, being involved with young 'uns, maybe cowriting with them.
The Indie Alliance is open to all genres, however Nashville is not happy, it doesn't want to give up its stranglehold on country music. And hip-hop already has a thriving independent scene, but a lot of those acts could be bigger.
This is great. Two thumbs up. Kudos!
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Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Sunday, 29 March 2026
E-Mail Of The Day+
I didn't respond because I'm pretty sure someone as fabulous as you will be with us a long time. Keep me posted - I went on Kalshi and placed a bet on your condition - 90% are betting it's an infection.
Thanks,
Gary Hunter
______________________________________
I was the only one of four kids who didn't pursue some sort of medical or scientific field. My dad was a forensic pathologist, Mom an RN. My brother recently retired from being an ER doc. He was discouraged by American medicine and lived in New Zealand for 15 years where he saw patients in the ER. Those folks are way more hearty than we are. Anyway, this was his response:
Bob was probably treated with cephazolin IV (which is essentially IV keflex) and oral cephalexin (generic keflex).
In his age group and general history (lots I don't know, like is he on anticoagulants? aspirin?), the most likely diagnosis is simply a ruptured vessel in the prostatic plexus. They become tangled and tortuous and under more pressure in old men. (Like me.) Most spontaneous nosebleeds are in the same population due to drier and thinner mucosa: blood vessels too thin out and become weaker. Renal or bladder stones (and bladder stones won't show up) are the #2 cause. Infection is #3. Anything else is a distant #4. The CT is the appropriate test, along with various blood items and a urine culture. If the patient is not obstructed, there is no way in hell any urologist will give a damn and none anywhere will consult at night on almost any issue. I doubt a urologist came in even when I asked once per year in my career. (Testicular torsion, torn urethra with obstruction, really bad obstruction from clots or an infected stone in a diabetic or some such: that's about it.)
450 mls of urine with 30 mls of blood looks like 100% blood. Only once or twice did I see significant blood loss from a urinary source and that was over days. Scary for sure.
Patient should have been set up for a follow up visit with a urologist in coming days and they would have likely scheduled cystography. The shaking can easily come from the stress of pushing out an obstructing clot (also being faint, nauseated, dizzy). Rigors should certainly have been considered and infection carefully evaluated, though. Having no urinary obstruction is very important. I would have used a different Antibiotic these days, though cephazolin is not unreasonable. And I would have called the guy or had someone call him the next day to make sure he was feeling Ok and we were getting follow-up organized as planned.
Sounds more reasonable now, doesn't it? Letting people know why things are done and where they are heading, as well as fail-safes are appropriate management.
Page
OK, hope that helps & that you're doing well!
Galen Hudson
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Thanks,
Gary Hunter
______________________________________
I was the only one of four kids who didn't pursue some sort of medical or scientific field. My dad was a forensic pathologist, Mom an RN. My brother recently retired from being an ER doc. He was discouraged by American medicine and lived in New Zealand for 15 years where he saw patients in the ER. Those folks are way more hearty than we are. Anyway, this was his response:
Bob was probably treated with cephazolin IV (which is essentially IV keflex) and oral cephalexin (generic keflex).
In his age group and general history (lots I don't know, like is he on anticoagulants? aspirin?), the most likely diagnosis is simply a ruptured vessel in the prostatic plexus. They become tangled and tortuous and under more pressure in old men. (Like me.) Most spontaneous nosebleeds are in the same population due to drier and thinner mucosa: blood vessels too thin out and become weaker. Renal or bladder stones (and bladder stones won't show up) are the #2 cause. Infection is #3. Anything else is a distant #4. The CT is the appropriate test, along with various blood items and a urine culture. If the patient is not obstructed, there is no way in hell any urologist will give a damn and none anywhere will consult at night on almost any issue. I doubt a urologist came in even when I asked once per year in my career. (Testicular torsion, torn urethra with obstruction, really bad obstruction from clots or an infected stone in a diabetic or some such: that's about it.)
450 mls of urine with 30 mls of blood looks like 100% blood. Only once or twice did I see significant blood loss from a urinary source and that was over days. Scary for sure.
Patient should have been set up for a follow up visit with a urologist in coming days and they would have likely scheduled cystography. The shaking can easily come from the stress of pushing out an obstructing clot (also being faint, nauseated, dizzy). Rigors should certainly have been considered and infection carefully evaluated, though. Having no urinary obstruction is very important. I would have used a different Antibiotic these days, though cephazolin is not unreasonable. And I would have called the guy or had someone call him the next day to make sure he was feeling Ok and we were getting follow-up organized as planned.
Sounds more reasonable now, doesn't it? Letting people know why things are done and where they are heading, as well as fail-safes are appropriate management.
Page
OK, hope that helps & that you're doing well!
Galen Hudson
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Update
I want to thank everybody for their e-mails and texts of concern, I really appreciate it. I am now back in Los Angeles and will get on the case re getting a scope when business resumes tomorrow, Monday morning.
Until then...
Let me say that other than lack of sleep due to anxiety, I'm fine. Truly.
As for symptoms, unfortunately at 9 PM last evening they resumed. I.e. blood in the urine. Why it happened at that exact time three nights in a row, I've got no idea.
It tapered off before I went to sleep, and all night when I got up to go to the bathroom I had no problem. And then first thing this morning, voila, it happened again.
To say the least, I was disheartened when the problem returned, but since my initial pee this morning, everything's been clear.
My latest theory is...
It happens when I expel a clot. Then the river of blood continues for hours until it stops. Seemingly when the clot is gone and the backup has been released over a number of urination episodes...the problem evaporates. What is causing the clots, I have no idea.
So, I'm going to return to business as usual. When I get a further diagnosis, I will let you know.
Thanks.
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Until then...
Let me say that other than lack of sleep due to anxiety, I'm fine. Truly.
As for symptoms, unfortunately at 9 PM last evening they resumed. I.e. blood in the urine. Why it happened at that exact time three nights in a row, I've got no idea.
It tapered off before I went to sleep, and all night when I got up to go to the bathroom I had no problem. And then first thing this morning, voila, it happened again.
To say the least, I was disheartened when the problem returned, but since my initial pee this morning, everything's been clear.
My latest theory is...
It happens when I expel a clot. Then the river of blood continues for hours until it stops. Seemingly when the clot is gone and the backup has been released over a number of urination episodes...the problem evaporates. What is causing the clots, I have no idea.
So, I'm going to return to business as usual. When I get a further diagnosis, I will let you know.
Thanks.
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Saturday, 28 March 2026
The ER
I was pissing blood.
No, that's not entirely accurate...I was EXPLODING blood!
I was lying on the couch reading David Pogue's Apple book, minding my own business, when I realized I finally had to get up to pee. The urgency has disappeared since Skip prescribed the cocktail, of Avodart and Flomax. Being old and having an enlarged prostate is no picnic. They tell you to start taking medication when you can no longer sit through a movie. Then again, men never admit they've got a problem, at least not to each other. They say they're fine, while being no longer able to hear their family...they don't need no stinkin' hearing aids!
So I stride in front of the commode...and nothing comes out.
This is kind of weird, I mean the drugs can give you a delayed start, but I feel like I have to go and nothing is coming out.
Okay...
And then it's like someone ignited a missile, blast-off is imminent. I feel the pressure in my penis and then...FIREWORKS! Not only in the bowl, but all over the toilet, all over the rim, all over the floor.
And it's very red and very bloody.
So I methodically start to clean the premises, and that's when I notice a clot. I haven't seen a clot like this since I had surgery to remove a kidney stone twenty five years ago. What exactly is going on?
I've had a bunch of kidney stones. But they're preceded by ungodly flank pain. I was feeling nothing, I got no advance warning sign. Was this a result of masturbation? Mama told me not to come...
And then there's another major event, just after I've cleaned up the environment.
And then I hang my dick around waiting for more and when it's finally all said and done I go back to the couch and consult Dr. Google.
I'm not an alarmist. I'm not looking to find out I'm dying of cancer. I know how to read between the lines. Sure, I look at the AI result, but also the Mayo and Cleveland clinics and others and they all said...
No big deal. If I wasn't in pain, had no burning sensation, which I did not possess.
Okay...
Maybe it was a passing thing.
But NO!
An hour later I have the same experience. But with anticipation, I'm better at directing the spurt. And the hours keep passing and it keeps happening and...
I ain't gonna go to the emergency room, Google didn't tell me to do so.
Then again, no one lives forever, and when they say there will be blood, they didn't expect this much!
Finally, I decide to try and sleep. I can't, and I get up to pee a couple of times and still have blood, but I figure I'm gonna be okay.
But THEN!
All of a sudden I have this incredible pain in my legs. In the muscles. And I don't want to get up and put on Traumeel S, I'm in twilight and I'm too cold for that.
But then the pain becomes too much. I get up and put on the miracle anti-inflammatory, and it WORKS! Voila!
Well, then I start to shiver. And it ain't that cold. But I am freezing. Once again, I don't want to get up, leave the covers behind, find clothing, but I do!
I put on sweatpants, and not only a shirt but a fleece over it. And just as I'm about to get back into bed, I realized I'd better don socks too.
But I'm still cold, and good luck falling asleep, I end up looking at my phone, keeping it right by me in the bed, to help me in my moment of need.
And then, after a couple of hours of near sleep, I get up to pee...
AND IT'S CLEAR! The crisis is history! And I'm so damn hot, I remove all my clothing, everything is groovy.
The calamity is behind me.
And I don't feel a hundred percent during the day yesterday, but I didn't get that much sleep.
But the crisis is behind me.
But Felice is bugging me to go to the ER... Why? Dr. Google said it was unnecessary, and the crisis is in the rearview mirror, I'm peeing regular urine...
So she calms down. Actually, she's a couple of thousand miles away, but that's another story.
So now it's last night, the next night. And I'm in the exact same position, lying on the couch reading the Pogue book. And I get the urge to pee at the identical time, 9 PM, so I go to the bathroom and once again...
Nothing comes out, and then...It's like I'm fighting a war, spraying bullets at the enemy. It's endless.
And let me tell you, this ain't no pink urine, this is crimson red, this is the real thing, blood.
Okay, now this is too much. This was unexpected.
So I go back to Dr. Google and parsing the information, I realize I should go to the emergency room.
Now I've got to tell you, growing up in my house it was illegal to be ill. Couldn't happen. You had to go to school unless your symptoms were palpable and excessive. As for going to the doctor...WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' DOCTOR!
Yup, that was my mother's philosophy. And it bit her in the ass in the end. She had a visible infection, but she kept telling everybody surrounding here she was just fine. But ultimately she went into the hospital and never came out. It was treatable, if she'd been on it weeks before, when it first manifested itself, but she figured she could will it away, that bacteria was no match for Muggs Lefsetz. Hell, she truly thought that if she kept dragging my dad around, remained upbeat, stayed in denial, he wouldn't die of cancer, but he did!
So I've got a long history of not going to the doctor until it's too late. Lost a body part in the process. I've improved, but...
Who the hell wants to go to the ER? At ten o'clock at night?
But I've got no idea what is going on, so... I take a shower, get dressed, go over there, and I'm told they're too busy, to wait on the couch.
But then the nurse comes out and says he doesn't like the way I look, and he's going to give me a room right away.
Now THAT'S good!
And they hook me up with the blood pressure monitor and the oxygen sensor. And they take blood and...
They need a urine sample.
REALLY? You want a blood sample?
And I'll be honest, I'm afraid I'm going to pee and my urine will be clear. It's like taking your car to the repair shop, the problem doesn't manifest itself when you're there.
So at first the new nurse wants me to pee in bed. And gives me one of those giant plastic bottles, if you've been in the hospital you know what I'm talking about.
But then she thinks better of that. Says I should go to the bathroom and use one of the little cups in there.
OH NO! I need the big bottle, she's got no idea what she's up against here. I need room, for the volume I'm going to emit.
So, I go to the bathroom, I've got my dick in the bottle...and nothing comes out.
And then, the gunpowder ignites and a clot comes flying out and the bottle starts filling up... It's a deep red, almost brown. THERE! You think I was lying?
Of course they didn't think that. But I've got my mother's voice in the back of my head, that I don't deserve medical treatment.
So I lie there, but then the doctor comes in. Discusses the possibilities. But first, he wants to take some pictures.
So not long thereafter, by ER standards, a guy comes in alone, he's going to drive me to the theatre. This is the highlight of being in the hospital, the trip through the halls on the bed. Usually there are two people to get you started, to align and get the bed rolling properly, but this guy was doing it all by himself.
Ultimately we got to the CT room. Yup, they gave me the contrast, you know, the one that makes you feel hot. They took a slew of pictures, then the tech wheeled me back to my room and said the doctor would be with me in thirty or forty minutes.
Well, almost two hours later...
He's got no answers. Could be a kidney stone, but if it was, he'd see it traveling down from the kidney, and nothing was there. And I didn't have pain. But I know my kidneys are riddled with stones... You get this old and you know your complete medical history. Like the guy starts spewing stats, saying he's got nothing to compare them to, my hemoglobin and creatinine, but I've got those numbers stored in my brain, I don't even have to look them up.
Now, of course it could be bladder cancer. The wall of my uterus was a bit thick. And it's hard to diagnose, so therefore he wants me to have it checked out and... Anything can happen. I know a couple of people who've had bladder cancer.
And he can dial the urologist on call and get an opinion, but it might take a while for the doctor to get back to him, and it's doubtful the physician will render a definitive opinion over the line so...
I can be transferred to another hospital where there's a urologist in the building...
You know modern medicine, unless you're literally dying, they won't give you a definitive opinion. They give you the facts and you have to decide. So, in my case, I ask a plethora of questions, trying to reveal nuance, and then I get the guy to admit that really, I don't need to have a camera stuck up my penis immediately. But there is the issue, what if I can't pee?
That's what he's most worried about. Because if you can't pee, you need a catheter.
And that's when I realize he's going to discharge me, send me home while I'm still spewing blood. REALLY?
But he says that my counts are pretty good, and that you've got a lot of blood in your body. And if I'm not dizzy, which I am not... He says if I get dizzy and pass out to come back. REALLY? I mean I could pass out and DIE! But he says if I pass out, I will wake up, so...
What exactly is going on here?
Well, it could be an infection, so he's going to prescribe an antibiotic. And I ask him which one and first he says Keflex, which I've had before, and I'm thinking for a minute that my opinion seems to matter, since I know a little he thinks I have expertise, and then he asks me if I want the first dose intravenously right now. OF COURSE! That's what he thought I'd say. I mean after all, I'm THERE!
And the nurse starts preparing the injection and then I think about the shivering...so I have her call the doctor back and I ask him, wouldn't this be evidence of an infection?
But he won't go on record.
As for the drug? It's not Keflex, it's something completely different, and the pills I'm going to retrieve the following day, which is now today, will be something yet again and...
Now I'm gonna go home?
And then he emphasizes, if I can't pee...
So they give me a printout, I go to the bathroom and leave my mark once again, the red devil, and then I walk out of the place.
And when I get home, my pee is clear. No trace of blood at all.
Huh.
And it's been clear now ever since, but I was just lying on said couch reading the Pogue book and I must say, I was afraid to go to the bathroom. Then again, it's not nine o'clock yet!
So what have we learned...
My initial instincts were right, to ride the tiger, to let it all play out, or hang out.
Then again, you never really know. I mean when you get old enough, the thought creeps into your brain that this could be the END! Or the beginning of the end.
I'm thinking it was an infection. I'll get the scope re bladder cancer, but the odds of that being the case are very low, even the doc said so...
But it's all kind of mysterious.
So I live another day. Just hoping I'm not going to explode again.
I still don't have a definitive answer, then again, your body tells you if you need treatment. But oftentimes when it gets to that point, it's too late.
So, I just don't know.
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No, that's not entirely accurate...I was EXPLODING blood!
I was lying on the couch reading David Pogue's Apple book, minding my own business, when I realized I finally had to get up to pee. The urgency has disappeared since Skip prescribed the cocktail, of Avodart and Flomax. Being old and having an enlarged prostate is no picnic. They tell you to start taking medication when you can no longer sit through a movie. Then again, men never admit they've got a problem, at least not to each other. They say they're fine, while being no longer able to hear their family...they don't need no stinkin' hearing aids!
So I stride in front of the commode...and nothing comes out.
This is kind of weird, I mean the drugs can give you a delayed start, but I feel like I have to go and nothing is coming out.
Okay...
And then it's like someone ignited a missile, blast-off is imminent. I feel the pressure in my penis and then...FIREWORKS! Not only in the bowl, but all over the toilet, all over the rim, all over the floor.
And it's very red and very bloody.
So I methodically start to clean the premises, and that's when I notice a clot. I haven't seen a clot like this since I had surgery to remove a kidney stone twenty five years ago. What exactly is going on?
I've had a bunch of kidney stones. But they're preceded by ungodly flank pain. I was feeling nothing, I got no advance warning sign. Was this a result of masturbation? Mama told me not to come...
And then there's another major event, just after I've cleaned up the environment.
And then I hang my dick around waiting for more and when it's finally all said and done I go back to the couch and consult Dr. Google.
I'm not an alarmist. I'm not looking to find out I'm dying of cancer. I know how to read between the lines. Sure, I look at the AI result, but also the Mayo and Cleveland clinics and others and they all said...
No big deal. If I wasn't in pain, had no burning sensation, which I did not possess.
Okay...
Maybe it was a passing thing.
But NO!
An hour later I have the same experience. But with anticipation, I'm better at directing the spurt. And the hours keep passing and it keeps happening and...
I ain't gonna go to the emergency room, Google didn't tell me to do so.
Then again, no one lives forever, and when they say there will be blood, they didn't expect this much!
Finally, I decide to try and sleep. I can't, and I get up to pee a couple of times and still have blood, but I figure I'm gonna be okay.
But THEN!
All of a sudden I have this incredible pain in my legs. In the muscles. And I don't want to get up and put on Traumeel S, I'm in twilight and I'm too cold for that.
But then the pain becomes too much. I get up and put on the miracle anti-inflammatory, and it WORKS! Voila!
Well, then I start to shiver. And it ain't that cold. But I am freezing. Once again, I don't want to get up, leave the covers behind, find clothing, but I do!
I put on sweatpants, and not only a shirt but a fleece over it. And just as I'm about to get back into bed, I realized I'd better don socks too.
But I'm still cold, and good luck falling asleep, I end up looking at my phone, keeping it right by me in the bed, to help me in my moment of need.
And then, after a couple of hours of near sleep, I get up to pee...
AND IT'S CLEAR! The crisis is history! And I'm so damn hot, I remove all my clothing, everything is groovy.
The calamity is behind me.
And I don't feel a hundred percent during the day yesterday, but I didn't get that much sleep.
But the crisis is behind me.
But Felice is bugging me to go to the ER... Why? Dr. Google said it was unnecessary, and the crisis is in the rearview mirror, I'm peeing regular urine...
So she calms down. Actually, she's a couple of thousand miles away, but that's another story.
So now it's last night, the next night. And I'm in the exact same position, lying on the couch reading the Pogue book. And I get the urge to pee at the identical time, 9 PM, so I go to the bathroom and once again...
Nothing comes out, and then...It's like I'm fighting a war, spraying bullets at the enemy. It's endless.
And let me tell you, this ain't no pink urine, this is crimson red, this is the real thing, blood.
Okay, now this is too much. This was unexpected.
So I go back to Dr. Google and parsing the information, I realize I should go to the emergency room.
Now I've got to tell you, growing up in my house it was illegal to be ill. Couldn't happen. You had to go to school unless your symptoms were palpable and excessive. As for going to the doctor...WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' DOCTOR!
Yup, that was my mother's philosophy. And it bit her in the ass in the end. She had a visible infection, but she kept telling everybody surrounding here she was just fine. But ultimately she went into the hospital and never came out. It was treatable, if she'd been on it weeks before, when it first manifested itself, but she figured she could will it away, that bacteria was no match for Muggs Lefsetz. Hell, she truly thought that if she kept dragging my dad around, remained upbeat, stayed in denial, he wouldn't die of cancer, but he did!
So I've got a long history of not going to the doctor until it's too late. Lost a body part in the process. I've improved, but...
Who the hell wants to go to the ER? At ten o'clock at night?
But I've got no idea what is going on, so... I take a shower, get dressed, go over there, and I'm told they're too busy, to wait on the couch.
But then the nurse comes out and says he doesn't like the way I look, and he's going to give me a room right away.
Now THAT'S good!
And they hook me up with the blood pressure monitor and the oxygen sensor. And they take blood and...
They need a urine sample.
REALLY? You want a blood sample?
And I'll be honest, I'm afraid I'm going to pee and my urine will be clear. It's like taking your car to the repair shop, the problem doesn't manifest itself when you're there.
So at first the new nurse wants me to pee in bed. And gives me one of those giant plastic bottles, if you've been in the hospital you know what I'm talking about.
But then she thinks better of that. Says I should go to the bathroom and use one of the little cups in there.
OH NO! I need the big bottle, she's got no idea what she's up against here. I need room, for the volume I'm going to emit.
So, I go to the bathroom, I've got my dick in the bottle...and nothing comes out.
And then, the gunpowder ignites and a clot comes flying out and the bottle starts filling up... It's a deep red, almost brown. THERE! You think I was lying?
Of course they didn't think that. But I've got my mother's voice in the back of my head, that I don't deserve medical treatment.
So I lie there, but then the doctor comes in. Discusses the possibilities. But first, he wants to take some pictures.
So not long thereafter, by ER standards, a guy comes in alone, he's going to drive me to the theatre. This is the highlight of being in the hospital, the trip through the halls on the bed. Usually there are two people to get you started, to align and get the bed rolling properly, but this guy was doing it all by himself.
Ultimately we got to the CT room. Yup, they gave me the contrast, you know, the one that makes you feel hot. They took a slew of pictures, then the tech wheeled me back to my room and said the doctor would be with me in thirty or forty minutes.
Well, almost two hours later...
He's got no answers. Could be a kidney stone, but if it was, he'd see it traveling down from the kidney, and nothing was there. And I didn't have pain. But I know my kidneys are riddled with stones... You get this old and you know your complete medical history. Like the guy starts spewing stats, saying he's got nothing to compare them to, my hemoglobin and creatinine, but I've got those numbers stored in my brain, I don't even have to look them up.
Now, of course it could be bladder cancer. The wall of my uterus was a bit thick. And it's hard to diagnose, so therefore he wants me to have it checked out and... Anything can happen. I know a couple of people who've had bladder cancer.
And he can dial the urologist on call and get an opinion, but it might take a while for the doctor to get back to him, and it's doubtful the physician will render a definitive opinion over the line so...
I can be transferred to another hospital where there's a urologist in the building...
You know modern medicine, unless you're literally dying, they won't give you a definitive opinion. They give you the facts and you have to decide. So, in my case, I ask a plethora of questions, trying to reveal nuance, and then I get the guy to admit that really, I don't need to have a camera stuck up my penis immediately. But there is the issue, what if I can't pee?
That's what he's most worried about. Because if you can't pee, you need a catheter.
And that's when I realize he's going to discharge me, send me home while I'm still spewing blood. REALLY?
But he says that my counts are pretty good, and that you've got a lot of blood in your body. And if I'm not dizzy, which I am not... He says if I get dizzy and pass out to come back. REALLY? I mean I could pass out and DIE! But he says if I pass out, I will wake up, so...
What exactly is going on here?
Well, it could be an infection, so he's going to prescribe an antibiotic. And I ask him which one and first he says Keflex, which I've had before, and I'm thinking for a minute that my opinion seems to matter, since I know a little he thinks I have expertise, and then he asks me if I want the first dose intravenously right now. OF COURSE! That's what he thought I'd say. I mean after all, I'm THERE!
And the nurse starts preparing the injection and then I think about the shivering...so I have her call the doctor back and I ask him, wouldn't this be evidence of an infection?
But he won't go on record.
As for the drug? It's not Keflex, it's something completely different, and the pills I'm going to retrieve the following day, which is now today, will be something yet again and...
Now I'm gonna go home?
And then he emphasizes, if I can't pee...
So they give me a printout, I go to the bathroom and leave my mark once again, the red devil, and then I walk out of the place.
And when I get home, my pee is clear. No trace of blood at all.
Huh.
And it's been clear now ever since, but I was just lying on said couch reading the Pogue book and I must say, I was afraid to go to the bathroom. Then again, it's not nine o'clock yet!
So what have we learned...
My initial instincts were right, to ride the tiger, to let it all play out, or hang out.
Then again, you never really know. I mean when you get old enough, the thought creeps into your brain that this could be the END! Or the beginning of the end.
I'm thinking it was an infection. I'll get the scope re bladder cancer, but the odds of that being the case are very low, even the doc said so...
But it's all kind of mysterious.
So I live another day. Just hoping I'm not going to explode again.
I still don't have a definitive answer, then again, your body tells you if you need treatment. But oftentimes when it gets to that point, it's too late.
So, I just don't know.
--
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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Summer Breeze
Will we ever have hits like this again?
U2 released its "Days of Ash" EP on February 18th. The publicity had more impact than the music. There are six songs. Two have barely broken three million streams on Spotify, four are in the one million range, and one doesn't even break the seven figure threshold. It's like it doesn't even exist. U2, one of the biggest bands in the world, with more name recognition than almost all of the acts in the Spotify Top 50, can't get its music listened to. However the act can sell tickets. Based on its hits of yore and a reputation for unique, dynamic, stage shows.
Is this the future?
I was talking to Pat Monahan of Train. He's a humble guy, but I told him that more people probably know "Drops of Jupiter" than any Taylor Swift song.
Of course the Swifties are going to go nuclear. But that's not my point. The point is you just can't reach everybody anymore.
Then again, does the music deserve that attention?
Sure, there are mediocre classic rock hits. Stuff that a youngster might listen to once and then shrug their shoulders. However, there is "Stairway to Heaven" and "Sweet Home Alabama," time bombs just waiting to explode in future generations' brains.
Then again, today's music has changed. It's harder, busier, reflective of the age we live in, which is hard. The American Dream has never been less achievable in my lifetime. People are frustrated, they need music that mimics their feelings, or is complete escapism. The younger generation loves to dance, DJs and EDM are a culture unto themselves, a significant one, that can draw more people to a live show than most of the aforementioned Spotify Top 50. But the thing about classic rock is it killed dancing. That went out with the twist and the swim and the hully gully. Classic rock demanded respect, attention, you bought the best stereo you could afford to get closer to the tunes, you wanted to get inside them. Today you listen to bass-heavy dreck via tiny earphones, a far cry from the holy grail of yesteryear, when sound was important.
So what changed?
First and foremost there was money. MTV made you famous around the world and double the price CDs threw off more cash. And with visibility you could now have brand extensions. Used to be the cash from being an artist was enough, more than enough. But it's not that remuneration went down, it's just that other verticals paid better, finance and tech, and the best and the brightest pursued those. Leaving us with lower common denominator creators in popular music.
People hate when I put anything from today's scene down. Because they're such believers.
Despite all the hype about the return of BTS, the dirty little secret is the passion, the mania, is not as big as they'd have you think:
"Why the BTS Comeback Concert Was a 'Disaster' for Some Businesses - The turnout for the K-pop titans' show was much lower than projected by officials, hitting the bottom line of some restaurants. Shares in the group's management company also fell."
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/world/asia/bts-concert-seoul-turnout-hybe-shares.html
It's in the news, but there is too much news. Such that the truth frequently doesn't reach the public...it's not only politics, but popular culture too.
As for BTS... Wouldn't Frank Zappa call them "dancing fools"? I've got nothing against the act, but please don't tell me to take them seriously, it's pablum for a subset of the public, a twist on New Kids on the Block.
But I was going to write about "Summer Breeze."
Do today's younger generations know "Summer Breeze"?
Now if we go back to Spotify, we see that "Summe Breeze" has 321 million streams. Which is prodigious, but not close to the multi-billion numbers of young acts. But are these numbers distortions? Are the same people listening to this new material over and over again, bumping up the totals?
I mean would people listen to "Summer Breeze" on endless repeat?
Probably not. They'd get a hankering to hear it and pull it up on Spotify.
However, "Summer Breeze" is in the ether, unlike so much of the billion stream club. Meaning it is played on radio, in restaurants, you hear it. "Summer Breeze" is forever, almost all of today's music is transient.
Of course, of course, a lot of the old stuff was banged into our heads on terrestrial radio, and not all of it was superior. I mean "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!"?
Now Seals and Crofts was not a highly respected act, with rock roots and gravitas. Then again, they did peak in the singer-songwriter/soft rock seventies, which were led by James Tayalor and Carole King. People were open to this sound.
But Seals and Crofts were journeymen. And Bahá?ís. I knew this not only because I followed the rock press like it was delivered from God, but because the people in the next dorm room over were into the band, and exploring that faith.
But never forget, Seals and Crofts were on Warner Brothers. And if it was on Warner Brothers, it deserved attention, there was a reason the band was signed.
And then came "Summer Breeze."
This was not one of today's numbers built on one chord, based on a beat, there was a lot going on in the track. The haunting guitar intro, drawing you in, telling you this was serious. And once you were paying attention, there was a melodic construct and...
"See the curtains hangin' in the window
In the evening on a Friday night
A little light a-shinin' through the window
Lets me know everything's all right"
These were not nonsense lyrics filling up space, rather the words set a place, you had a vision, you knew exactly what they were singing about, you were THERE!
And then comes the piece-de-resistance:
"Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind"
And the stinging guitar after the chorus, that's the special sauce, that's what puts the record over the top, embeds it in your brain.
In other words, there's a lot going on in the song. Because the song was everything. There was no dancing, no perfume...
So as soon as you hear "Summer Breeze," it takes you away. You could be in a group of hundreds, thousands, and you'd be having a personal experience. What I remember most is driving in Westport, CT just before Christmas in the eighties and hearing it on the radio. It was one of those days where the weather vacillated between snow and rain, quite gray, but that song, it took me away, to a place of gentleness, possibilities.
Now Dash Crofts died, and I used to be able to tell them apart, but that was a long time ago... I couldn't have told you which one he was until I saw the pictures in the obits.
But what truly stunned me was how old he was. He was born in 1938. Almost all of our rock heroes were born in the forties. The Beatles in the early forties. Crofts had been around.
And you read about his peripatetic life in said obits, leaving Texas to play with the Champs, but it is all superseded by "Summer Breeze."
I hear "Diamond Girl" too much on SiriusXM's Bridge, it was always B-material to me, I mean how do you reach the heights of "Summer Breeze" once again?
Seals and Crofts couldn't. But I did like "Get Closer" and "We May Never Pass This Way (Again)." And they never did pass this way again. By 1980, the act was over, expired. But as hard as Elton John tries to stay atop the mountain, most people burn out. They get there once, and it doesn't have the same meaning thereafter... Being rich and famous doesn't make most people happy, that comes down to people...family, friends.
But they had this song. And even though I've just written about it for paragraphs, truly it is not something you can describe. "Summer Breeze" makes you feel something, an entire movie unspools in your brain, it makes you remember when. I'm not even sure these are the goals of today's music.
We lived through a peak. At least I did. But these songs remain, some of them are forever.
And one of them is "Summer Breeze."
The men who made it...the song has transcended them. Now they're both gone. You could study their history, but it's not that interesting or unique. But the song is. How did they come up with it? How did they lay it down in the studio? Well, we're never really gonna know, because the principals are all dead. Except for Louie Shelton, a legendary studio guitarist who became a producer and masterminded the creation of "Summer Breeze."
But still, online you can see videos of people telling you how they did it, but really no one can articulate it. It was inspiration, something they felt, running on instinct. And you couldn't reach this peak on a regular basis, but when you did...
It makes you feel fine...
Blowin' through the jasmine in your mind.
--
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,
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U2 released its "Days of Ash" EP on February 18th. The publicity had more impact than the music. There are six songs. Two have barely broken three million streams on Spotify, four are in the one million range, and one doesn't even break the seven figure threshold. It's like it doesn't even exist. U2, one of the biggest bands in the world, with more name recognition than almost all of the acts in the Spotify Top 50, can't get its music listened to. However the act can sell tickets. Based on its hits of yore and a reputation for unique, dynamic, stage shows.
Is this the future?
I was talking to Pat Monahan of Train. He's a humble guy, but I told him that more people probably know "Drops of Jupiter" than any Taylor Swift song.
Of course the Swifties are going to go nuclear. But that's not my point. The point is you just can't reach everybody anymore.
Then again, does the music deserve that attention?
Sure, there are mediocre classic rock hits. Stuff that a youngster might listen to once and then shrug their shoulders. However, there is "Stairway to Heaven" and "Sweet Home Alabama," time bombs just waiting to explode in future generations' brains.
Then again, today's music has changed. It's harder, busier, reflective of the age we live in, which is hard. The American Dream has never been less achievable in my lifetime. People are frustrated, they need music that mimics their feelings, or is complete escapism. The younger generation loves to dance, DJs and EDM are a culture unto themselves, a significant one, that can draw more people to a live show than most of the aforementioned Spotify Top 50. But the thing about classic rock is it killed dancing. That went out with the twist and the swim and the hully gully. Classic rock demanded respect, attention, you bought the best stereo you could afford to get closer to the tunes, you wanted to get inside them. Today you listen to bass-heavy dreck via tiny earphones, a far cry from the holy grail of yesteryear, when sound was important.
So what changed?
First and foremost there was money. MTV made you famous around the world and double the price CDs threw off more cash. And with visibility you could now have brand extensions. Used to be the cash from being an artist was enough, more than enough. But it's not that remuneration went down, it's just that other verticals paid better, finance and tech, and the best and the brightest pursued those. Leaving us with lower common denominator creators in popular music.
People hate when I put anything from today's scene down. Because they're such believers.
Despite all the hype about the return of BTS, the dirty little secret is the passion, the mania, is not as big as they'd have you think:
"Why the BTS Comeback Concert Was a 'Disaster' for Some Businesses - The turnout for the K-pop titans' show was much lower than projected by officials, hitting the bottom line of some restaurants. Shares in the group's management company also fell."
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/world/asia/bts-concert-seoul-turnout-hybe-shares.html
It's in the news, but there is too much news. Such that the truth frequently doesn't reach the public...it's not only politics, but popular culture too.
As for BTS... Wouldn't Frank Zappa call them "dancing fools"? I've got nothing against the act, but please don't tell me to take them seriously, it's pablum for a subset of the public, a twist on New Kids on the Block.
But I was going to write about "Summer Breeze."
Do today's younger generations know "Summer Breeze"?
Now if we go back to Spotify, we see that "Summe Breeze" has 321 million streams. Which is prodigious, but not close to the multi-billion numbers of young acts. But are these numbers distortions? Are the same people listening to this new material over and over again, bumping up the totals?
I mean would people listen to "Summer Breeze" on endless repeat?
Probably not. They'd get a hankering to hear it and pull it up on Spotify.
However, "Summer Breeze" is in the ether, unlike so much of the billion stream club. Meaning it is played on radio, in restaurants, you hear it. "Summer Breeze" is forever, almost all of today's music is transient.
Of course, of course, a lot of the old stuff was banged into our heads on terrestrial radio, and not all of it was superior. I mean "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!"?
Now Seals and Crofts was not a highly respected act, with rock roots and gravitas. Then again, they did peak in the singer-songwriter/soft rock seventies, which were led by James Tayalor and Carole King. People were open to this sound.
But Seals and Crofts were journeymen. And Bahá?ís. I knew this not only because I followed the rock press like it was delivered from God, but because the people in the next dorm room over were into the band, and exploring that faith.
But never forget, Seals and Crofts were on Warner Brothers. And if it was on Warner Brothers, it deserved attention, there was a reason the band was signed.
And then came "Summer Breeze."
This was not one of today's numbers built on one chord, based on a beat, there was a lot going on in the track. The haunting guitar intro, drawing you in, telling you this was serious. And once you were paying attention, there was a melodic construct and...
"See the curtains hangin' in the window
In the evening on a Friday night
A little light a-shinin' through the window
Lets me know everything's all right"
These were not nonsense lyrics filling up space, rather the words set a place, you had a vision, you knew exactly what they were singing about, you were THERE!
And then comes the piece-de-resistance:
"Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind"
And the stinging guitar after the chorus, that's the special sauce, that's what puts the record over the top, embeds it in your brain.
In other words, there's a lot going on in the song. Because the song was everything. There was no dancing, no perfume...
So as soon as you hear "Summer Breeze," it takes you away. You could be in a group of hundreds, thousands, and you'd be having a personal experience. What I remember most is driving in Westport, CT just before Christmas in the eighties and hearing it on the radio. It was one of those days where the weather vacillated between snow and rain, quite gray, but that song, it took me away, to a place of gentleness, possibilities.
Now Dash Crofts died, and I used to be able to tell them apart, but that was a long time ago... I couldn't have told you which one he was until I saw the pictures in the obits.
But what truly stunned me was how old he was. He was born in 1938. Almost all of our rock heroes were born in the forties. The Beatles in the early forties. Crofts had been around.
And you read about his peripatetic life in said obits, leaving Texas to play with the Champs, but it is all superseded by "Summer Breeze."
I hear "Diamond Girl" too much on SiriusXM's Bridge, it was always B-material to me, I mean how do you reach the heights of "Summer Breeze" once again?
Seals and Crofts couldn't. But I did like "Get Closer" and "We May Never Pass This Way (Again)." And they never did pass this way again. By 1980, the act was over, expired. But as hard as Elton John tries to stay atop the mountain, most people burn out. They get there once, and it doesn't have the same meaning thereafter... Being rich and famous doesn't make most people happy, that comes down to people...family, friends.
But they had this song. And even though I've just written about it for paragraphs, truly it is not something you can describe. "Summer Breeze" makes you feel something, an entire movie unspools in your brain, it makes you remember when. I'm not even sure these are the goals of today's music.
We lived through a peak. At least I did. But these songs remain, some of them are forever.
And one of them is "Summer Breeze."
The men who made it...the song has transcended them. Now they're both gone. You could study their history, but it's not that interesting or unique. But the song is. How did they come up with it? How did they lay it down in the studio? Well, we're never really gonna know, because the principals are all dead. Except for Louie Shelton, a legendary studio guitarist who became a producer and masterminded the creation of "Summer Breeze."
But still, online you can see videos of people telling you how they did it, but really no one can articulate it. It was inspiration, something they felt, running on instinct. And you couldn't reach this peak on a regular basis, but when you did...
It makes you feel fine...
Blowin' through the jasmine in your mind.
--
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,
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Friday, 27 March 2026
Alongside The British Invasion-4-SiriusXM This Week
The records that were hits at the same time as the British Invasion.
Tune in Saturday March 28th 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
--
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
Tune in Saturday March 28th 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
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
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Thursday, 26 March 2026
Mike Vernon
I couldn't have a conversation with Seymour Stein without him mentioning Mike Vernon.
Oh, that's a little extreme, but Seymour mentioned Mike all the time, just like he mentioned Syd Nathan and King Records...that's where he got his start. And once he started he made a deal with Mike Vernon to put out his Blue Horizon records in America.
But now Seymour is dead and there's no one left to testify.
I'd never heard of Mike Vernon, but it turns out I know his music. I learned that from the few obits I found. Turns out Mike Vernon produced the legendary John Mayall album "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton."
Do young people know this record?
Keith Relf was the frontman of the Yardbirds, and their catchy hit tunes were written by Graham Gouldman. Sure, "Over Under Sideways Down" featured the fretwork of Jimmy Page, but unless you'd seen "Blow Up," chances are you didn't know Jeff Beck was in the group, or Eric Clapton before him.
Most people didn't know who Clapton was until "Disraeli Gears," the 1967 album that featured his guitar work on "Sunshine of Your Love." People bought that, some went back to buy "Fresh Cream," "Wheels of Fire" was gigantic and then it was "Goodbye."
And back then, when you discovered an act, you investigated their roots, you wanted more. There were people who already owned the "Blues Breakers" album, but what truly blew it up was Eric's success in Cream.
And it wasn't only Eric who got a boost in status, it was Mayall himself too, he was now seen as a fountain of great guitar players, a veritable farm team. Mick Taylor played with Mayall before he was snatched by the Stones. And before all that, you had Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, who ultimately formed Fleetwood Mac, whose first two albums were produced by Vernon and came out on his label to boot! It was Vernon who produced the single "Albatross"... Never a hit, it has sustained longer than the hits of its era.
Turns out Mike and his brother Richard owned Chipping Norton Recording, which I only knew because there's a famous photo of Gerry Rafferty wearing a sweater with the studio's name embroidered on it. "Baker Street" was cut there.
Mike Vernon produced David Bowie, Ten Years After, Savoy Brown...even the legendary "Christine Perfect" album which was released to crickets, but when Fleetwood Mac blew up with her now in it, the album was stocked in every record store...once again, people wanted, NEEDED, more.
Vernon was even a performer. He was in Rocky Sharpe and the Replays...I never knew that.
Oh, I forgot to mention that Mike produced "Hocus Pocus" by Focus!
But not a single person e-mailed me about his passing. Whereas if Seymour was still alive, he would have waxed rhapsodic, sent a lengthy e-mail I could have shared with my readers.
Now in one of the obits Vernon said that it was a time and place, the blues revival...but we're only a motion away from another wave, this music has feeling, it's forever.
And there were obits in the English papers, and I was stunned to find one in the "New York Times":
"Mike Vernon, Who Helped Spark the British Blues Boom, Dies at 81 - He produced albums — by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, with Eric Clapton, and the early Fleetwood Mac — that defined 1960s blues rock. He also shepherded David Bowie's debut album.
Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/arts/music/mike-vernon-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WFA.EUPE.5T6FFTGj-fyy&smid=url-share
But there were no hosannas, never mind a victory lap while he was still alive. Even worse, he died on March 2nd, weeks ago, we're only finding out now!
I don't know if Mike Vernon belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but one thing is for sure, he belongs there a lot more than Whitney Houston and the popsters now being inducted. Vernon's work was bedrock.
But no one seems to care.
We used to. That was our passion, our lives...we needed to know all the players. And I knew the songs, but didn't happen to buy the albums Mike produced, so I didn't know...whereas today all this information is at our fingertips and people know nothing.
Then again, are the people worth knowing about? Are the acts worth knowing about? They might have hits, but they're usually not the single vision of yore, written by the act itself. And money and fame lead, whereas before they were after-effects.
But what really weirds me out is everybody who knew Vernon, and it's not only Vernon, is passing and not only are these people forgotten, but the stories too.
It's extremely weird.
But the music remains.
How much of today's music will remain?
"Albatross" is forever... The Spotify Top 50?
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Oh, that's a little extreme, but Seymour mentioned Mike all the time, just like he mentioned Syd Nathan and King Records...that's where he got his start. And once he started he made a deal with Mike Vernon to put out his Blue Horizon records in America.
But now Seymour is dead and there's no one left to testify.
I'd never heard of Mike Vernon, but it turns out I know his music. I learned that from the few obits I found. Turns out Mike Vernon produced the legendary John Mayall album "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton."
Do young people know this record?
Keith Relf was the frontman of the Yardbirds, and their catchy hit tunes were written by Graham Gouldman. Sure, "Over Under Sideways Down" featured the fretwork of Jimmy Page, but unless you'd seen "Blow Up," chances are you didn't know Jeff Beck was in the group, or Eric Clapton before him.
Most people didn't know who Clapton was until "Disraeli Gears," the 1967 album that featured his guitar work on "Sunshine of Your Love." People bought that, some went back to buy "Fresh Cream," "Wheels of Fire" was gigantic and then it was "Goodbye."
And back then, when you discovered an act, you investigated their roots, you wanted more. There were people who already owned the "Blues Breakers" album, but what truly blew it up was Eric's success in Cream.
And it wasn't only Eric who got a boost in status, it was Mayall himself too, he was now seen as a fountain of great guitar players, a veritable farm team. Mick Taylor played with Mayall before he was snatched by the Stones. And before all that, you had Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, who ultimately formed Fleetwood Mac, whose first two albums were produced by Vernon and came out on his label to boot! It was Vernon who produced the single "Albatross"... Never a hit, it has sustained longer than the hits of its era.
Turns out Mike and his brother Richard owned Chipping Norton Recording, which I only knew because there's a famous photo of Gerry Rafferty wearing a sweater with the studio's name embroidered on it. "Baker Street" was cut there.
Mike Vernon produced David Bowie, Ten Years After, Savoy Brown...even the legendary "Christine Perfect" album which was released to crickets, but when Fleetwood Mac blew up with her now in it, the album was stocked in every record store...once again, people wanted, NEEDED, more.
Vernon was even a performer. He was in Rocky Sharpe and the Replays...I never knew that.
Oh, I forgot to mention that Mike produced "Hocus Pocus" by Focus!
But not a single person e-mailed me about his passing. Whereas if Seymour was still alive, he would have waxed rhapsodic, sent a lengthy e-mail I could have shared with my readers.
Now in one of the obits Vernon said that it was a time and place, the blues revival...but we're only a motion away from another wave, this music has feeling, it's forever.
And there were obits in the English papers, and I was stunned to find one in the "New York Times":
"Mike Vernon, Who Helped Spark the British Blues Boom, Dies at 81 - He produced albums — by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, with Eric Clapton, and the early Fleetwood Mac — that defined 1960s blues rock. He also shepherded David Bowie's debut album.
Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/arts/music/mike-vernon-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WFA.EUPE.5T6FFTGj-fyy&smid=url-share
But there were no hosannas, never mind a victory lap while he was still alive. Even worse, he died on March 2nd, weeks ago, we're only finding out now!
I don't know if Mike Vernon belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but one thing is for sure, he belongs there a lot more than Whitney Houston and the popsters now being inducted. Vernon's work was bedrock.
But no one seems to care.
We used to. That was our passion, our lives...we needed to know all the players. And I knew the songs, but didn't happen to buy the albums Mike produced, so I didn't know...whereas today all this information is at our fingertips and people know nothing.
Then again, are the people worth knowing about? Are the acts worth knowing about? They might have hits, but they're usually not the single vision of yore, written by the act itself. And money and fame lead, whereas before they were after-effects.
But what really weirds me out is everybody who knew Vernon, and it's not only Vernon, is passing and not only are these people forgotten, but the stories too.
It's extremely weird.
But the music remains.
How much of today's music will remain?
"Albatross" is forever... The Spotify Top 50?
--
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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Who I Am
I don't need someone to root for in order to enjoy a TV series or movie.
Good is not good enough for me. I want the best, which often doesn't even cost more. Not so I can show it off, but so I can USE IT! All those features...I explore and use them.
I read the manual. Always. When I buy a car, before I set up a piece of electronic gear...
I don't care how much violence there is, that won't prevent me from watching a series or film.
I'm not into entertainment. What they call "popcorn movies." I've never read a comic book in my life. Well, other than "Archie" and "Casper the Friendly Ghost." Marvel means nothing to me.
I hate fantasy. If there are ghosts, demons, anything that doesn't happen in real life, I'm out.
And I'm not a big fan of sci-fi either...
I want to go deep. If I like a song, I can literally play it thirty times in a row. Much more than once, I've played one album and one album only for an entire week..."Led Zeppelin II." Nik Kershaw's "15 Minutes." As for singles... Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and Paula Cole's "14" and Paul McCartney's "Big Barn Bed"... I put the song on endless repeat and revel in the mood.
I hate groupthink. I don't want to disagree for the sake of disagreeing, but I don't want to hold back my opinion for fear of blowback.
I like a nice house, but it's far down the list of what's important to me. What's in my mind is what counts.
I hate shopping for clothes. Mostly I just go to the Polo outlet store and stock up when I'm in need.
I don't take almost anybody's opinion as the truth, because people are so uniformed. Unless they're at the center of what they're talking about, I go online and do research. Yes, my own research, but at trusted sites... I hate when people send me info from blogs that a quick look at Wikipedia will tell you are biased. It just shows how uninformed they are.
I love the news. I love reading the physical paper because I see stories I don't find online. Having said that, I'm checking the news apps all day long. For breaking stories. NYT, WSJ, LAT, Apple News+, even X...but only the tweets of those people I follow, the "For you" feed is trash.
If I find something great I want to tell everybody about it.
I love to argue a point. Wrestle with the issues. Get into the minutiae and tease out the truth. Sure, a song may be good, but if it had this or that it would be SPECTACULAR!
I'm susceptible to bullies, but I've learned over time that my reaction, my cowering, is unfounded. The people who respond negatively first?/ They're the most invested in putting you down.
I hate when someone reads a missive of mine and then in a derogatory way says I missed this or that, when if they just read what I wrote they'd see I mentioned it!
Also, I hate when people criticize me for not mentioning a minor player when writing about a major one... What I do is not comprehensive, go to the encyclopedia for that...or maybe today, Wikipedia.
I hate nitpickers.
I believe intellect trumps money, you just have to know how to use it.
I hate sour grapes. From unsuccessful people and people who tell me how hard they're working. Too many don't know what sacrifice truly is.
If I'm your friend you can count on me, and I hope I can count on you.
When I find someone is on the same page as me, I buzz on the inside.
I'm an alienated f*ck. I'm the one who refuses to call the teacher "professor," I'm the one who puts their feet on the desk, I'm not saying there should be no rules, but you've got to earn my respect, your title is not enough.
When I was twenty one I knew everything, now I realize how much I don't know.
If you have a deformity, get plastic surgery...but if you're doing it to stay young, I don't get it. Charlotte Rampling has had nothing done and she's more beautiful than the nipped and tucked.
Okay, you don't eat and you're stick thin... You might be impressing other women, but I'm turned off and most men are too. Eat something. And just wait until osteoporosis hits.
Everybody's got a story...their life, and I want to hear it.
I accept almost nothing at face value.
I'm susceptible to people judging me, but I do what I want anyway.
Bugs me that college is now seen as a glorified trade school. Then again, the real learning in college happens outside class, hanging with people in the dorm.
I love living in LA. because the only person who ever asked me my SAT scores was a Boston Brahmin.
My two favorite flavors of ice cream are Phish Food and Chunky Monkey.
I refuse to save money on that which is cheap to begin with. I don't want Chips Ahoy, I want Entenmann's, or even better.
There are exceptions to all of the above.
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Good is not good enough for me. I want the best, which often doesn't even cost more. Not so I can show it off, but so I can USE IT! All those features...I explore and use them.
I read the manual. Always. When I buy a car, before I set up a piece of electronic gear...
I don't care how much violence there is, that won't prevent me from watching a series or film.
I'm not into entertainment. What they call "popcorn movies." I've never read a comic book in my life. Well, other than "Archie" and "Casper the Friendly Ghost." Marvel means nothing to me.
I hate fantasy. If there are ghosts, demons, anything that doesn't happen in real life, I'm out.
And I'm not a big fan of sci-fi either...
I want to go deep. If I like a song, I can literally play it thirty times in a row. Much more than once, I've played one album and one album only for an entire week..."Led Zeppelin II." Nik Kershaw's "15 Minutes." As for singles... Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and Paula Cole's "14" and Paul McCartney's "Big Barn Bed"... I put the song on endless repeat and revel in the mood.
I hate groupthink. I don't want to disagree for the sake of disagreeing, but I don't want to hold back my opinion for fear of blowback.
I like a nice house, but it's far down the list of what's important to me. What's in my mind is what counts.
I hate shopping for clothes. Mostly I just go to the Polo outlet store and stock up when I'm in need.
I don't take almost anybody's opinion as the truth, because people are so uniformed. Unless they're at the center of what they're talking about, I go online and do research. Yes, my own research, but at trusted sites... I hate when people send me info from blogs that a quick look at Wikipedia will tell you are biased. It just shows how uninformed they are.
I love the news. I love reading the physical paper because I see stories I don't find online. Having said that, I'm checking the news apps all day long. For breaking stories. NYT, WSJ, LAT, Apple News+, even X...but only the tweets of those people I follow, the "For you" feed is trash.
If I find something great I want to tell everybody about it.
I love to argue a point. Wrestle with the issues. Get into the minutiae and tease out the truth. Sure, a song may be good, but if it had this or that it would be SPECTACULAR!
I'm susceptible to bullies, but I've learned over time that my reaction, my cowering, is unfounded. The people who respond negatively first?/ They're the most invested in putting you down.
I hate when someone reads a missive of mine and then in a derogatory way says I missed this or that, when if they just read what I wrote they'd see I mentioned it!
Also, I hate when people criticize me for not mentioning a minor player when writing about a major one... What I do is not comprehensive, go to the encyclopedia for that...or maybe today, Wikipedia.
I hate nitpickers.
I believe intellect trumps money, you just have to know how to use it.
I hate sour grapes. From unsuccessful people and people who tell me how hard they're working. Too many don't know what sacrifice truly is.
If I'm your friend you can count on me, and I hope I can count on you.
When I find someone is on the same page as me, I buzz on the inside.
I'm an alienated f*ck. I'm the one who refuses to call the teacher "professor," I'm the one who puts their feet on the desk, I'm not saying there should be no rules, but you've got to earn my respect, your title is not enough.
When I was twenty one I knew everything, now I realize how much I don't know.
If you have a deformity, get plastic surgery...but if you're doing it to stay young, I don't get it. Charlotte Rampling has had nothing done and she's more beautiful than the nipped and tucked.
Okay, you don't eat and you're stick thin... You might be impressing other women, but I'm turned off and most men are too. Eat something. And just wait until osteoporosis hits.
Everybody's got a story...their life, and I want to hear it.
I accept almost nothing at face value.
I'm susceptible to people judging me, but I do what I want anyway.
Bugs me that college is now seen as a glorified trade school. Then again, the real learning in college happens outside class, hanging with people in the dorm.
I love living in LA. because the only person who ever asked me my SAT scores was a Boston Brahmin.
My two favorite flavors of ice cream are Phish Food and Chunky Monkey.
I refuse to save money on that which is cheap to begin with. I don't want Chips Ahoy, I want Entenmann's, or even better.
There are exceptions to all of the above.
--
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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Dan Clancy-This Week's Podcast
Dan Clancy is the CEO of Twitch. This is a must-listen.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dan-clancy/id1316200737?i=1000757533142
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vhhVOiEZTVU4P7QqFUkZX?si=lcSjkUTFRSCmXnNYUfZYXg
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/dan-clancy-328150231?app=listen
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/e2f676e0-03c9-406b-8eb4-bfcb81c3701c/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-dan-clancy
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dan-clancy/id1316200737?i=1000757533142
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vhhVOiEZTVU4P7QqFUkZX?si=lcSjkUTFRSCmXnNYUfZYXg
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/dan-clancy-328150231?app=listen
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/e2f676e0-03c9-406b-8eb4-bfcb81c3701c/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-dan-clancy
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Sunday, 22 March 2026
U.S./Iran
"When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose"
"Like a Rolling Stone"
Bob Dylan
1
Back in the MySpace days, when I still responded to complete unknowns, which I no longer do, a guy sent me his music and...
I'm never going to lie. I'm never going to give false hope. But I'm also not going to slam you to the wall. So...I told him it was interesting, and to keep at it.
Fine, case closed.
Only it wasn't.
About a month later, this same guy sent me an e-mail telling me to tell my entire list to vote for him in some MySpace music competition. Yeah, right. I didn't respond. But he kept e-mailing me, and after the fourth time...that's when I made my big mistake, that's when I crossed the line and ultimately learned my lesson, this interaction proved to me that ten percent of the public is crazy, and you don't know which ten percent it is, so unless you know someone, or they're famous, or established in the firmament, DON'T RESPOND!
Yes, after the fourth missive, because I'm a f*cking idiot, I sent an e-mail to the guy saying if he didn't stop, if he kept telling me to send a missive to my list telling people to vote for him, I'd send a missive to my people telling them NOT TO VOTE FOR HIM!
There, done, problem solved.
I got up, went out for an appointment...this was in the days before ubiquitous smartphones...and when I came back to my computer...
My e-mail was rolling. I mean seventy or a hundred e-mails were downloading every few seconds. What the hell? I consider my inbox inviolate, I don't want junk in it. But this was worse, how could I find the good stuff, I couldn't just delete it all, I'd lose the important stuff too.
So diving into one of the e-mails, it turned out that this guy went on MySpace, gave people my e-mail address, told them what a prick I was and got them all to e-mail me telling me off.
Wow.
So, I'm not the average bear, right? I got ahold of MySpace and had his account frozen, because this was a gross violation of the terms of service.
Whew, problem taken care of.
NO!
This guy just started all over again under a new address. Of course this too was a violation of the terms of service, but what did he care, what were they going to do to him, he had nothing to sacrifice, he was nobody, and he knew it and was weaponizing it.
2
That's what you get from playing online. You see how the world really works. Whenever I write something positive about social media my inbox goes berserk, people tell me about Jonathan Chait's book, say that social media is the ill that is killing society, and they wouldn't give TikTok or Instagram Reels a minute of their time, they wouldn't go on the services, because just like Spotify, THEY'RE THE DEVIL!
There.
Only that's where all the people are. This is how both Republicans and Democrats missed the affordability crisis. Because they don't interact with the general public, they have no idea what people think. The same way the so-called "Greatest Generation" missed rock music. You think there's hatred against hip-hop? You've got no idea how much an entire generation decried the Beatles and what came after. Dylan might be lionized for going electric today, they even made a movie about it, but back then it wasn't only the folkies who hated him.
So the oldsters missed "Like a Rolling Stone." They didn't know you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. That an entire generation was enthralled by rock and roll and there would be an upheaval, which some called a "youthquake," and society would ultimately be changed forever. Free love? Well, it might not have been so easy to get, but having sex before marriage became de rigueur, divorce became rampant, the social fabric was ruptured and rebuilt.
And the oldsters missed it.
Just like Trump missed Iran,.
3
You could come up with a plethora of reasons why Iran should be neutered. But Iran isn't America, just like Vietnam was not America. These people don't have the same values as Americans, they don't see the world the same way, they're willing to sacrifice, just about everything, to maintain power.
We've seen this over and over. Even with the Taliban. We think they're fighting by our rules. They're not.
So life is all about reading the room. And Trump failed to do this. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has always been a big swinging dick, a bully... Fly commercial? He ain't got a little Gulfstream, he's got a 757. He got Qatar to give him an entire plane. (Just know, a gift is never free...you learn this in business, get a favor, owe a favor.) He's got no idea how the "little people" live. Nor does he want to.
And it's not only Trump, it's the billionaires.
Okay, you made all this money on the backs of the public, not that you believe that, you think it's all you. And the people are pissed not only that you have all this money, but that you pay little or no taxes. And they want not only a level playing field, but retribution. And what do you do? YOU FIGHT!
How f*cking ignorant are these people? They don't understand this is a bad look, that will haunt them? Moving to Florida... As if there's any respite, as if there aren't agitated people everywhere. You STFU. Maybe pay a few dollars more. It's not going to affect your lifestyle. But these people are so removed from the general public, and want to be, that they're unaware of how people think. And if there's a big problem, they figure they can pull some strings and fix it via their relationships. This is why they all hung with Epstein, not for his money, but for the relationships he yielded, and that's where you truly gain money and power.
And now it's not only California, but Washington. And New York City. We can debate the efficacy of wealth taxes all day long, but this is now a movement.
4
So the Strait of Hormuz is closed and Trump looks over his shoulder, looking for reinforcement from the little people, all the countries he's dissed, and what does he hear? CRICKETS!
So now he tells Iran if they don't open the Strait, he's going to bomb their electrical plants. And not only does the nation's powers not care, they double down, saying if Trump does this:
"Iran dismissed the ultimatum as it launched a new round of attacks on Israel and issued its own warning. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, an Iranian military spokesman, vowed on Sunday that if Iranian energy sites were attacked, it would strike more infrastructure in the region used by Israel, the United States and American allies, such as fuel depots and desalination plants."
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/22/world/iran-war-oil-trump
There, take THAT!
There's nothing Trump can do to stop them. As for regime change, unless he puts boots on the ground and invades the country, it ain't gonna happen. We can say it should happen, that what is going on now, the stranglehold of a theocracy, is terrible for the world and the nation's people, but these clerics, these powers, they don't give a f*ck, they're willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING!
5
And you can extrapolate this concept into other areas. Live Nation went behind the court's, even the litigators' back. But this ain't gonna satiate the public, which is incredibly pissed. And will continue to be pissed. And you can only piss off the public for so long.
Live Nation is just a headline,, because it directly interacts with the public on a sexy issue, music. But it's all these corporations ripping off the public in an era where the masses are hurting. But they've got flat panel TVs and smartphones, even SUVs. They've got it better than they've ever had in history, they should be happy!
Keep telling them that. See how that works out.
Remember Napster? And who saved the recording industry, not anybody in it, but a techie from Sweden.
These are immutable rules of life. We all live together in a society, we've got to get along, and it's a delicate balance, and you can only push so far.
Used to be you learned this via records.
Today, despite preaching fealty to their fans, the acts are brands, mini-corporations, selling not only t-shirts, but perfume and...
Don't listen to a musician if you want to know which way the wind blows.
But they grew up in a mercenary society. They want what the rich have. To fly private, to separate themselves from the general public. They want to WIN! Art? SCHMART!
Society never changes. A strongman, a dictator, can maybe keep the lid on it for a while, but only a while.
At some point you have to accept the opposition's values, you've got to start from there. Make fun of them at your peril. Believe they're going to act like you at your peril. BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT COMING FROM WHERE YOU ARE!
You've got so much to protect, they're willing to burn the house down.
Amazing how so many people in power don't know this, they believe the system will save them.
The system couldn't save me at MySpace. Well, eventually. And then MySpace died. But I know contracts are just a starting point. You can sue, even win, yet good luck trying to collect. And some people are judgment-proof. If I had all the money people owed me...
But I had to leave it on the table, as a cost of doing business.
How come I know this and the people running the country don't?
Because they've been getting their way for so long they're oblivious, they think the rules don't apply to them.
But they do.
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"Like a Rolling Stone"
Bob Dylan
1
Back in the MySpace days, when I still responded to complete unknowns, which I no longer do, a guy sent me his music and...
I'm never going to lie. I'm never going to give false hope. But I'm also not going to slam you to the wall. So...I told him it was interesting, and to keep at it.
Fine, case closed.
Only it wasn't.
About a month later, this same guy sent me an e-mail telling me to tell my entire list to vote for him in some MySpace music competition. Yeah, right. I didn't respond. But he kept e-mailing me, and after the fourth time...that's when I made my big mistake, that's when I crossed the line and ultimately learned my lesson, this interaction proved to me that ten percent of the public is crazy, and you don't know which ten percent it is, so unless you know someone, or they're famous, or established in the firmament, DON'T RESPOND!
Yes, after the fourth missive, because I'm a f*cking idiot, I sent an e-mail to the guy saying if he didn't stop, if he kept telling me to send a missive to my list telling people to vote for him, I'd send a missive to my people telling them NOT TO VOTE FOR HIM!
There, done, problem solved.
I got up, went out for an appointment...this was in the days before ubiquitous smartphones...and when I came back to my computer...
My e-mail was rolling. I mean seventy or a hundred e-mails were downloading every few seconds. What the hell? I consider my inbox inviolate, I don't want junk in it. But this was worse, how could I find the good stuff, I couldn't just delete it all, I'd lose the important stuff too.
So diving into one of the e-mails, it turned out that this guy went on MySpace, gave people my e-mail address, told them what a prick I was and got them all to e-mail me telling me off.
Wow.
So, I'm not the average bear, right? I got ahold of MySpace and had his account frozen, because this was a gross violation of the terms of service.
Whew, problem taken care of.
NO!
This guy just started all over again under a new address. Of course this too was a violation of the terms of service, but what did he care, what were they going to do to him, he had nothing to sacrifice, he was nobody, and he knew it and was weaponizing it.
2
That's what you get from playing online. You see how the world really works. Whenever I write something positive about social media my inbox goes berserk, people tell me about Jonathan Chait's book, say that social media is the ill that is killing society, and they wouldn't give TikTok or Instagram Reels a minute of their time, they wouldn't go on the services, because just like Spotify, THEY'RE THE DEVIL!
There.
Only that's where all the people are. This is how both Republicans and Democrats missed the affordability crisis. Because they don't interact with the general public, they have no idea what people think. The same way the so-called "Greatest Generation" missed rock music. You think there's hatred against hip-hop? You've got no idea how much an entire generation decried the Beatles and what came after. Dylan might be lionized for going electric today, they even made a movie about it, but back then it wasn't only the folkies who hated him.
So the oldsters missed "Like a Rolling Stone." They didn't know you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. That an entire generation was enthralled by rock and roll and there would be an upheaval, which some called a "youthquake," and society would ultimately be changed forever. Free love? Well, it might not have been so easy to get, but having sex before marriage became de rigueur, divorce became rampant, the social fabric was ruptured and rebuilt.
And the oldsters missed it.
Just like Trump missed Iran,.
3
You could come up with a plethora of reasons why Iran should be neutered. But Iran isn't America, just like Vietnam was not America. These people don't have the same values as Americans, they don't see the world the same way, they're willing to sacrifice, just about everything, to maintain power.
We've seen this over and over. Even with the Taliban. We think they're fighting by our rules. They're not.
So life is all about reading the room. And Trump failed to do this. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has always been a big swinging dick, a bully... Fly commercial? He ain't got a little Gulfstream, he's got a 757. He got Qatar to give him an entire plane. (Just know, a gift is never free...you learn this in business, get a favor, owe a favor.) He's got no idea how the "little people" live. Nor does he want to.
And it's not only Trump, it's the billionaires.
Okay, you made all this money on the backs of the public, not that you believe that, you think it's all you. And the people are pissed not only that you have all this money, but that you pay little or no taxes. And they want not only a level playing field, but retribution. And what do you do? YOU FIGHT!
How f*cking ignorant are these people? They don't understand this is a bad look, that will haunt them? Moving to Florida... As if there's any respite, as if there aren't agitated people everywhere. You STFU. Maybe pay a few dollars more. It's not going to affect your lifestyle. But these people are so removed from the general public, and want to be, that they're unaware of how people think. And if there's a big problem, they figure they can pull some strings and fix it via their relationships. This is why they all hung with Epstein, not for his money, but for the relationships he yielded, and that's where you truly gain money and power.
And now it's not only California, but Washington. And New York City. We can debate the efficacy of wealth taxes all day long, but this is now a movement.
4
So the Strait of Hormuz is closed and Trump looks over his shoulder, looking for reinforcement from the little people, all the countries he's dissed, and what does he hear? CRICKETS!
So now he tells Iran if they don't open the Strait, he's going to bomb their electrical plants. And not only does the nation's powers not care, they double down, saying if Trump does this:
"Iran dismissed the ultimatum as it launched a new round of attacks on Israel and issued its own warning. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, an Iranian military spokesman, vowed on Sunday that if Iranian energy sites were attacked, it would strike more infrastructure in the region used by Israel, the United States and American allies, such as fuel depots and desalination plants."
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03/22/world/iran-war-oil-trump
There, take THAT!
There's nothing Trump can do to stop them. As for regime change, unless he puts boots on the ground and invades the country, it ain't gonna happen. We can say it should happen, that what is going on now, the stranglehold of a theocracy, is terrible for the world and the nation's people, but these clerics, these powers, they don't give a f*ck, they're willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING!
5
And you can extrapolate this concept into other areas. Live Nation went behind the court's, even the litigators' back. But this ain't gonna satiate the public, which is incredibly pissed. And will continue to be pissed. And you can only piss off the public for so long.
Live Nation is just a headline,, because it directly interacts with the public on a sexy issue, music. But it's all these corporations ripping off the public in an era where the masses are hurting. But they've got flat panel TVs and smartphones, even SUVs. They've got it better than they've ever had in history, they should be happy!
Keep telling them that. See how that works out.
Remember Napster? And who saved the recording industry, not anybody in it, but a techie from Sweden.
These are immutable rules of life. We all live together in a society, we've got to get along, and it's a delicate balance, and you can only push so far.
Used to be you learned this via records.
Today, despite preaching fealty to their fans, the acts are brands, mini-corporations, selling not only t-shirts, but perfume and...
Don't listen to a musician if you want to know which way the wind blows.
But they grew up in a mercenary society. They want what the rich have. To fly private, to separate themselves from the general public. They want to WIN! Art? SCHMART!
Society never changes. A strongman, a dictator, can maybe keep the lid on it for a while, but only a while.
At some point you have to accept the opposition's values, you've got to start from there. Make fun of them at your peril. Believe they're going to act like you at your peril. BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT COMING FROM WHERE YOU ARE!
You've got so much to protect, they're willing to burn the house down.
Amazing how so many people in power don't know this, they believe the system will save them.
The system couldn't save me at MySpace. Well, eventually. And then MySpace died. But I know contracts are just a starting point. You can sue, even win, yet good luck trying to collect. And some people are judgment-proof. If I had all the money people owed me...
But I had to leave it on the table, as a cost of doing business.
How come I know this and the people running the country don't?
Because they've been getting their way for so long they're oblivious, they think the rules don't apply to them.
But they do.
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Friday, 20 March 2026
Must-Read Article
"The Threats and Bare-Knuckle Tactics of MAGA's Top Antitrust Fixer - Mike Davis pushed DOJ officials to approve his deals—and went over their heads if they pushed back"
Free link: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/lobbyists-antitrust-trump-davis-f6a02e04?st=HbDgTW&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Apple News: https://apple.news/AX8kAqCnUQlOyghTpggdLTQ
This will make your head spin.
It's been flying around the internets all day. And you should read it, at least part of it. Because it explains how Live Nation came to a settlement with the government, but much more than that.
Remember, this is in the right wing paper of record, "The Wall Street Journal."
I'll leave it at that.
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Free link: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/lobbyists-antitrust-trump-davis-f6a02e04?st=HbDgTW&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Apple News: https://apple.news/AX8kAqCnUQlOyghTpggdLTQ
This will make your head spin.
It's been flying around the internets all day. And you should read it, at least part of it. Because it explains how Live Nation came to a settlement with the government, but much more than that.
Remember, this is in the right wing paper of record, "The Wall Street Journal."
I'll leave it at that.
--
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Alongside The British Invasion-3-SiriusXM This Week
The records that were hits at the same time as the British Invasion.
Tune in Saturday March 21st 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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Tune in Saturday March 21st 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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Life During Wartime
I was just having lunch with a bunch of buddies, we know each other from Jim Lewi's Aspen conference. And it's a free-ranging conversation, concentrating primarily on travel. Peter and Barb just took a five week trip to Asia. Nichol said she had no desire to go to Japan. And as we're eating our ribs and burgers, it occurs to me, there's a war going on.
The most impactful article I read in the past month, that I keep telling people about, was in the "New York Times," how during the Second World War, life went on as normal in Germany. Of course you didn't want to be a Jew, but assuming you were Aryan...
"Almost until the last stages of the war, when the Soviet Army conquered Berlin in a devastating battle that reduced the city to rubble, the cinemas were full, the dance revues were in full swing, the soccer competition went on, and people visited the zoo and sunbathed on the Wannsee opposite the infamous villa where the logistics of the Holocaust were worked out over glasses of brandy."
Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/opinion/history-hope-delusion.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UlA.06Hc.H2MgIqTlyAO6&smid=url-share
This was a wake-up call. I assumed everybody was hunkered down, after all, the Allies were raining bombs down upon them and...
Life went on as normal.
Now if you read the linked piece, which I recommend, you'll find out it has a lot to do with authoritarianism, how people are complicit, believing things will get better. And that's interesting, but that was not what I was feeling at lunch.
What I was feeling was we were jocular, without a care in the world, and not quite halfway around the world, people not only were losing their homes, they were losing their lives.
Now when it comes to the Iran war... I'm numb. You could call it overload. From DOGE to ICE to so much more, and now there's a war?
If you're a boomer, you consider war anathema. We couldn't understand it. Yes, World War II happened, before we were born, but that set the record straight. Of course there was the cold war, but that was no reason for people to lose their lives.
Yet that was what was happening, on both sides in Vietnam. We had to stand up against the Domino Theory, which proved to be completely false.
The seventies were about licking our wounds, recovering from the turmoil of the sixties.
The eighties were about an economic run-up, the boomers cashing in.
The nineties were about the fall of communism.
And the twenty first century has been about tech and income inequality.
But, for a while there, we were convinced there would be no more wars.
You've got to know, the boomers had nuclear paranoia. We crouched under desks to protect ourself from fallout. The bomb couldn't be dropped. And then we were convinced it never would be...we even had SALT treaties. We felt that the stalemate would go on forever.
But the wars that did exist... It was all old school, sans nuclear bombs. But North Vietnam did introduce us to guerilla warfare, turns out big bad America could not compete with hearts and minds, that's how strong belief systems are. And then we got Ukraine... I expected Russia to run over the country in a matter of weeks, if not days, and so did Putin. But it turns out that drones not made in sleek factories, but basements, could keep the Russians at bay.
But we still could not understand the war in Ukraine...in that in a first world country, that had come so far, that such destruction could take place. As for Russia, it has sustained 1.2 million casualties, with somewhere between 190,000 and 480,000 killed.
That's a lot of people. Losing their lives for exactly what?
This is another thing that bugged us in the sixties, the fat cats and their children did not have to fight, it was the underclass who had no other financial options and the youth of America, that was being drafted in droves.
And the big discussion today is about the perils of social media. Well, when I was a teenager, your biggest fear was being drafted and KILLED! It could happen, to many it did.
So how did we get here, to this era of bellicosity? We truly thought this was behind us, no matter how delusional we were.
Now on 9/11 America was targeted. A good portion of the public wasn't even alive back then, certainly not aware. But the anger and hysteria in the wake of those attacks... You see, we believed it couldn't happen here, that we were inviolate. But then it did.
And now you've got Newt Gingrich saying to drop atomic bombs in Iran to win the war. And he wasn't joking.
But this isn't really about the war. It's about life. I'm living a normal life.
Sure, my assets have taken a hit. As for gas... My car requires premium, but it's nearly twenty one years old and paid for, it's not an F-150 or giant SUV that I'm paying a grand a month for that costs a fortune to fill.
People are dying.
And, of course, when the Jews killed people in Gaza, there were mass protests on college campuses. But when thousands of protesters were killed in Iran? Crickets. Almost as bad as Trump saying "help is on its way," and then not showing up. Yes, these people were EXECUTED!
But I'm not going to debate Trump with you. I'm not even going to thread the needle with the Israelis, other than to say whatever rationalization Netanyahu has for his actions, the consequence has been increased antisemitism, and it was already high.
But I go skiing. I talk at lunch about my bucket list. Before that we were discussing financial advisors. It's like the rest of the world doesn't exist. Then again, what exactly can we do?
I, for one, no longer believe in the system. The useless Democrats and the press tell us it's all about elections...if only it were.
But, once again, I don't want to get into the nitty-gritty, but I do want to talk about the cognitive dissonance. People are losing their lives, innocent people, and for most Americans it's like it doesn't even matter, if they think about it at all. Sure, it's happening far away, but the internet has shrunk the world, we're not as isolated as we once were.
Never mind that we all have our own news sources, and you can't convince anyone their opinion is wrong.
Meanwhile, the goal is to create your own personal brand...
Like I said, I can't wrap my head around the war. It's far from static, the morning's newspaper is already out of date. And the apps online...there's information there, but there's also a lot else. Like the Oscars, baseball...life is going on like normal.
Like it did in Germany in the thirties and forties.
I could ask how that turned out, but that's not even my point.
I guess my point is that everybody's going along with their everyday business. Planning for tomorrow like we're still living in the nineties.
And will that continue?
Will the AI bubble burst?
There are big issues in the world, and you'll see them being addressed, but we're all so overwhelmed...we can't keep tabs on everything.
So we continue to live our lives, oblivious.
It's very weird.
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The most impactful article I read in the past month, that I keep telling people about, was in the "New York Times," how during the Second World War, life went on as normal in Germany. Of course you didn't want to be a Jew, but assuming you were Aryan...
"Almost until the last stages of the war, when the Soviet Army conquered Berlin in a devastating battle that reduced the city to rubble, the cinemas were full, the dance revues were in full swing, the soccer competition went on, and people visited the zoo and sunbathed on the Wannsee opposite the infamous villa where the logistics of the Holocaust were worked out over glasses of brandy."
Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/opinion/history-hope-delusion.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UlA.06Hc.H2MgIqTlyAO6&smid=url-share
This was a wake-up call. I assumed everybody was hunkered down, after all, the Allies were raining bombs down upon them and...
Life went on as normal.
Now if you read the linked piece, which I recommend, you'll find out it has a lot to do with authoritarianism, how people are complicit, believing things will get better. And that's interesting, but that was not what I was feeling at lunch.
What I was feeling was we were jocular, without a care in the world, and not quite halfway around the world, people not only were losing their homes, they were losing their lives.
Now when it comes to the Iran war... I'm numb. You could call it overload. From DOGE to ICE to so much more, and now there's a war?
If you're a boomer, you consider war anathema. We couldn't understand it. Yes, World War II happened, before we were born, but that set the record straight. Of course there was the cold war, but that was no reason for people to lose their lives.
Yet that was what was happening, on both sides in Vietnam. We had to stand up against the Domino Theory, which proved to be completely false.
The seventies were about licking our wounds, recovering from the turmoil of the sixties.
The eighties were about an economic run-up, the boomers cashing in.
The nineties were about the fall of communism.
And the twenty first century has been about tech and income inequality.
But, for a while there, we were convinced there would be no more wars.
You've got to know, the boomers had nuclear paranoia. We crouched under desks to protect ourself from fallout. The bomb couldn't be dropped. And then we were convinced it never would be...we even had SALT treaties. We felt that the stalemate would go on forever.
But the wars that did exist... It was all old school, sans nuclear bombs. But North Vietnam did introduce us to guerilla warfare, turns out big bad America could not compete with hearts and minds, that's how strong belief systems are. And then we got Ukraine... I expected Russia to run over the country in a matter of weeks, if not days, and so did Putin. But it turns out that drones not made in sleek factories, but basements, could keep the Russians at bay.
But we still could not understand the war in Ukraine...in that in a first world country, that had come so far, that such destruction could take place. As for Russia, it has sustained 1.2 million casualties, with somewhere between 190,000 and 480,000 killed.
That's a lot of people. Losing their lives for exactly what?
This is another thing that bugged us in the sixties, the fat cats and their children did not have to fight, it was the underclass who had no other financial options and the youth of America, that was being drafted in droves.
And the big discussion today is about the perils of social media. Well, when I was a teenager, your biggest fear was being drafted and KILLED! It could happen, to many it did.
So how did we get here, to this era of bellicosity? We truly thought this was behind us, no matter how delusional we were.
Now on 9/11 America was targeted. A good portion of the public wasn't even alive back then, certainly not aware. But the anger and hysteria in the wake of those attacks... You see, we believed it couldn't happen here, that we were inviolate. But then it did.
And now you've got Newt Gingrich saying to drop atomic bombs in Iran to win the war. And he wasn't joking.
But this isn't really about the war. It's about life. I'm living a normal life.
Sure, my assets have taken a hit. As for gas... My car requires premium, but it's nearly twenty one years old and paid for, it's not an F-150 or giant SUV that I'm paying a grand a month for that costs a fortune to fill.
People are dying.
And, of course, when the Jews killed people in Gaza, there were mass protests on college campuses. But when thousands of protesters were killed in Iran? Crickets. Almost as bad as Trump saying "help is on its way," and then not showing up. Yes, these people were EXECUTED!
But I'm not going to debate Trump with you. I'm not even going to thread the needle with the Israelis, other than to say whatever rationalization Netanyahu has for his actions, the consequence has been increased antisemitism, and it was already high.
But I go skiing. I talk at lunch about my bucket list. Before that we were discussing financial advisors. It's like the rest of the world doesn't exist. Then again, what exactly can we do?
I, for one, no longer believe in the system. The useless Democrats and the press tell us it's all about elections...if only it were.
But, once again, I don't want to get into the nitty-gritty, but I do want to talk about the cognitive dissonance. People are losing their lives, innocent people, and for most Americans it's like it doesn't even matter, if they think about it at all. Sure, it's happening far away, but the internet has shrunk the world, we're not as isolated as we once were.
Never mind that we all have our own news sources, and you can't convince anyone their opinion is wrong.
Meanwhile, the goal is to create your own personal brand...
Like I said, I can't wrap my head around the war. It's far from static, the morning's newspaper is already out of date. And the apps online...there's information there, but there's also a lot else. Like the Oscars, baseball...life is going on like normal.
Like it did in Germany in the thirties and forties.
I could ask how that turned out, but that's not even my point.
I guess my point is that everybody's going along with their everyday business. Planning for tomorrow like we're still living in the nineties.
And will that continue?
Will the AI bubble burst?
There are big issues in the world, and you'll see them being addressed, but we're all so overwhelmed...we can't keep tabs on everything.
So we continue to live our lives, oblivious.
It's very weird.
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Thursday, 19 March 2026
Julio Santo Domingo-This Week's Podcast
Julio Santo Domingo is the founder of the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival, which starts today, Thursday March 19th.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/julio-santo-domingo/id1316200737?i=1000756119481
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3nq5wRFbhakCZMi1ifWZva?si=vrkWmA59T3OLdAHLXwNWUw
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/julio-santo-domingo-327415469?app=listen
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/9d5a48a8-4b32-41c2-be73-26053a82184b/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-julio-santo-domingo
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https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/julio-santo-domingo/id1316200737?i=1000756119481
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3nq5wRFbhakCZMi1ifWZva?si=vrkWmA59T3OLdAHLXwNWUw
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/episode/julio-santo-domingo-327415469?app=listen
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/9d5a48a8-4b32-41c2-be73-26053a82184b/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-julio-santo-domingo
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The Live Nation Trial
The only question left is the remedy.
Of course the jury is going to hold for the states against Live Nation. Because of the TRIFECTA!
Yup, the testimony re Barclays and the arena in Minneapolis. The Slack conversation between Live Nation employees gleefully deriding the consumer, talking about how people are so dumb they can be easily ripped-off. And today's testimony by Michael Rapino that they didn't allow chairs on the lawn because it affected the view and experience of other patrons and then bragging to investors about the millions made renting chairs at these same amphitheatres.
Doesn't matter that Rapino said the number was different. It's a bad look. If you hear all this are you really going to find for Live Nation? OF COURSE NOT!
Then again, juries are legendarily unpredictable. You truly never know what the verdict will be. But one thing is for sure, despite trials being about facts, juries run on emotion, and how can you side with Live Nation in this case? If this were a murder trial, it would be a slam dunk, Live Nation was found to have its hand in the cookie jar, making sure that cookies were expensive and no one else could provide access to the jar.
So...
The federal government and Live Nation mistreated the judge. Coming to a settlement agreement and not only not informing the magistrate but letting the trial CONTINUE! Talk about heinous. But Subramanian is fair, he agreed with Live Nation's counsel that Rapino's compensation should not be introduced at trial, that it was not material.
So we don't have a rogue judge here.
But we do have a rogue government and a corporation playing into its hands.
Trump pardons people willy-nilly. One thing is for sure, you have to kiss the ring, treat him nicely. So Live Nation puts Trump crony Richard Grenell on its board, you know, the guy who ran the Kennedy Center up until just now. Grenell has never crossed Trump. Furthermore, Live Nation hired Ms. Alternative Facts, Kellyanne Conway, to lobby on its behalf. Talk about a Trump loyalist... This is all a bad look, then again, so much of what Trump has done has been a bad look. But Ticketmaster is the most hated company in America. And even MAGA people go to concerts. So will Live Nation be hurt in the long run if for some insane reason the jury sides with the company?
That's what we want to know, we're waiting for the other shoe to drop regarding Trump. One judge just kicked RFK, Jr.'s non-scientific vaccine policy to the curb and another brought back the VOA. Not that I'm holding my breath that the legal system will rein Trump in, but no one skates free forever. Unless they're a dictator, maybe.
So the head person at the government's antitrust division is excised and then a deal is made. Now let's be clear, that's been Live Nation's goal all along, to make a deal, to settle. But the Biden administration wouldn't and until very recently, neither would the Trump. Why? Because the government thought its case was just that damn good.
But having been kept out of the loop, f*cked in the ass, many of the states decided to continue the fight. A week went by, two jurors retired, but the states got it together with a new lawyer to continue the trial. Will the jurors forget the earlier testimony? I doubt it, it's black and white.
And this new lawyer, Kessler, is more savvy than the ones he replaced. First and foremost, he knows it's about winning the case, in court, not playing to the public. This is what was done wrong in the O.J. case... The government was so busy proving its case, ad infinitum, that everybody got bored and checked out. No, Kessler believes there's enough evidence to deliver victory, so he's closing it all down next week. Smart, because the more witnesses you call, not only do you risk boring the jury, you open yourself up to contradictory opinions. Now that the jury is convinced Live Nation is guilty, don't grandstand, don't play to the public, be strategic, close it down while you're winning.
So after the jury holds against Live Nation, Subramanian has to come up with a remedy. And what will that be...
Well, could be some mumbo-jumbo akin to the federal settlement, but stiffer, then again, does Live Nation have clean hands here? It broke previous consent decrees, the only way to seemingly keep the company in line is to have a trial, which is what we're now getting. So is Subramanian going to risk this behavior and these shenanigans once again? If that happens, it reflects badly upon him.
Can there be a remedy that has no nuance, shy of a breakup, that is cut and dried, that will satisfy the states? That's possible. But right now, it's looking like dismemberment, detaching Ticketmaster from Live Nation.
Now all the "experts," the inside baseball people, think this won't happen. Because the way it normally works is... You hire attorneys who charge thousands per hour, who are not only know the government attorneys, but are much better than them. And they argue your case on the facts and you get most of what you want. The government is reluctant to have a trial, it's expensive and unless it's a slam dunk, they don't want to start.
That's how this merger was approved in the first place. Experts in law threading the needle and saying it was okay and convincing the government of such. And everything was groovy until...
Fees went up, other promoters couldn't compete... People have bitched about concert ticket prices from time immemorial. But never has it been a topic of mainstream conversation. It was always a sideshow.
Once again, will concert ticket prices, costs of going to the show, go down dramatically as a result of a breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster? Absolutely not. But it will allow other players to compete on a more level playing field. And will the benefit ultimately trickle down to the public? That's the theory.
All problems will not be solved. This trial is the music business's worst nightmare, it doesn't want its dirty laundry aired in public, because believe me, it's dirty. You sign a deal for a national tour, with any promoter, and after you get your fee...don't ask how they make a profit. Some promoters have been known to scalp their own tickets to make their money.
And I'm not going to delineate every bad action behind the scenes. But the truth is it's a constant fight between acts and promoters. And especially today, with acts getting so much of the face price of the ticket...the promoter has to make it up somewhere.
So, once again, a separation of Live Nation and Ticketmaster will not solve all problems, nowhere close. But one thing it would be is a perceived victory by the public. In a world where citizens are screwed daily and told everything is fantastic. Does Donald Trump even go to a grocery store? And not only him... The Democrats didn't realize there was an affordability problem until the results of the last election.
Tell me to leave Trump out of it, but I can't. This is just one Trumpian endeavor the public can comprehend, that it has a vested interested in, that is palpable, that they believe directly affects them. War in Iran? That's hard to wrap your head around, especially because it's transpiring thousands of miles away. Not being able to get tickets not only for yourself, but for your kids' favorite act, that's emotional, that might sit with you forever... If you go you might have the experience of a lifetime, and if you don't, you might feel left out.
So... It will be in Subramanian's hands. And when the remedy is delivered...
You can't appeal every decision. You must make the case there were errors. Now big corporations try this. Or they settle. But settlement didn't seem to work here. So, there will be appeals, that could last years.
Or, Subramanian could not employ the nuclear option, and not only will the states have to pay the price, but the people too. This will leave a sour taste in their mouth. People like options, and they feel like they've got none, that Live Nation is lording it over them, laughing whilst making millions. Even if the company survives, it will be forever tarnished. Unlike record companies, if it does survive it won't be superseded, the lift is too heavy, the risk is too gargantuan. And it's Live Nation's ownership of buildings, ownership of Ticketmaster and sponsorship, that allows them to pay acts more.
It always comes down to the acts. But the public considers the acts to be inviolate. Ticketmaster has taken the heat for the acts since its inception. But the public neither understands nor accepts that. So Live Nation has to pay. Not the acts that make your favorite tunes, the little guy against the machine.
The dirty little secret is so many of today's acts ARE the machine!
And that hurts business.
But honesty, trustworthiness and credibility are out the window in today's America, just look at our lying chief executive. So who pays the price? The public...and they're mad as hell and ain't gonna take it anymore! Even if Live Nation wins, this fight will not be over. The public will never lay down their arms and accept it. Is the judge on their side? I'd bet he is.
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Of course the jury is going to hold for the states against Live Nation. Because of the TRIFECTA!
Yup, the testimony re Barclays and the arena in Minneapolis. The Slack conversation between Live Nation employees gleefully deriding the consumer, talking about how people are so dumb they can be easily ripped-off. And today's testimony by Michael Rapino that they didn't allow chairs on the lawn because it affected the view and experience of other patrons and then bragging to investors about the millions made renting chairs at these same amphitheatres.
Doesn't matter that Rapino said the number was different. It's a bad look. If you hear all this are you really going to find for Live Nation? OF COURSE NOT!
Then again, juries are legendarily unpredictable. You truly never know what the verdict will be. But one thing is for sure, despite trials being about facts, juries run on emotion, and how can you side with Live Nation in this case? If this were a murder trial, it would be a slam dunk, Live Nation was found to have its hand in the cookie jar, making sure that cookies were expensive and no one else could provide access to the jar.
So...
The federal government and Live Nation mistreated the judge. Coming to a settlement agreement and not only not informing the magistrate but letting the trial CONTINUE! Talk about heinous. But Subramanian is fair, he agreed with Live Nation's counsel that Rapino's compensation should not be introduced at trial, that it was not material.
So we don't have a rogue judge here.
But we do have a rogue government and a corporation playing into its hands.
Trump pardons people willy-nilly. One thing is for sure, you have to kiss the ring, treat him nicely. So Live Nation puts Trump crony Richard Grenell on its board, you know, the guy who ran the Kennedy Center up until just now. Grenell has never crossed Trump. Furthermore, Live Nation hired Ms. Alternative Facts, Kellyanne Conway, to lobby on its behalf. Talk about a Trump loyalist... This is all a bad look, then again, so much of what Trump has done has been a bad look. But Ticketmaster is the most hated company in America. And even MAGA people go to concerts. So will Live Nation be hurt in the long run if for some insane reason the jury sides with the company?
That's what we want to know, we're waiting for the other shoe to drop regarding Trump. One judge just kicked RFK, Jr.'s non-scientific vaccine policy to the curb and another brought back the VOA. Not that I'm holding my breath that the legal system will rein Trump in, but no one skates free forever. Unless they're a dictator, maybe.
So the head person at the government's antitrust division is excised and then a deal is made. Now let's be clear, that's been Live Nation's goal all along, to make a deal, to settle. But the Biden administration wouldn't and until very recently, neither would the Trump. Why? Because the government thought its case was just that damn good.
But having been kept out of the loop, f*cked in the ass, many of the states decided to continue the fight. A week went by, two jurors retired, but the states got it together with a new lawyer to continue the trial. Will the jurors forget the earlier testimony? I doubt it, it's black and white.
And this new lawyer, Kessler, is more savvy than the ones he replaced. First and foremost, he knows it's about winning the case, in court, not playing to the public. This is what was done wrong in the O.J. case... The government was so busy proving its case, ad infinitum, that everybody got bored and checked out. No, Kessler believes there's enough evidence to deliver victory, so he's closing it all down next week. Smart, because the more witnesses you call, not only do you risk boring the jury, you open yourself up to contradictory opinions. Now that the jury is convinced Live Nation is guilty, don't grandstand, don't play to the public, be strategic, close it down while you're winning.
So after the jury holds against Live Nation, Subramanian has to come up with a remedy. And what will that be...
Well, could be some mumbo-jumbo akin to the federal settlement, but stiffer, then again, does Live Nation have clean hands here? It broke previous consent decrees, the only way to seemingly keep the company in line is to have a trial, which is what we're now getting. So is Subramanian going to risk this behavior and these shenanigans once again? If that happens, it reflects badly upon him.
Can there be a remedy that has no nuance, shy of a breakup, that is cut and dried, that will satisfy the states? That's possible. But right now, it's looking like dismemberment, detaching Ticketmaster from Live Nation.
Now all the "experts," the inside baseball people, think this won't happen. Because the way it normally works is... You hire attorneys who charge thousands per hour, who are not only know the government attorneys, but are much better than them. And they argue your case on the facts and you get most of what you want. The government is reluctant to have a trial, it's expensive and unless it's a slam dunk, they don't want to start.
That's how this merger was approved in the first place. Experts in law threading the needle and saying it was okay and convincing the government of such. And everything was groovy until...
Fees went up, other promoters couldn't compete... People have bitched about concert ticket prices from time immemorial. But never has it been a topic of mainstream conversation. It was always a sideshow.
Once again, will concert ticket prices, costs of going to the show, go down dramatically as a result of a breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster? Absolutely not. But it will allow other players to compete on a more level playing field. And will the benefit ultimately trickle down to the public? That's the theory.
All problems will not be solved. This trial is the music business's worst nightmare, it doesn't want its dirty laundry aired in public, because believe me, it's dirty. You sign a deal for a national tour, with any promoter, and after you get your fee...don't ask how they make a profit. Some promoters have been known to scalp their own tickets to make their money.
And I'm not going to delineate every bad action behind the scenes. But the truth is it's a constant fight between acts and promoters. And especially today, with acts getting so much of the face price of the ticket...the promoter has to make it up somewhere.
So, once again, a separation of Live Nation and Ticketmaster will not solve all problems, nowhere close. But one thing it would be is a perceived victory by the public. In a world where citizens are screwed daily and told everything is fantastic. Does Donald Trump even go to a grocery store? And not only him... The Democrats didn't realize there was an affordability problem until the results of the last election.
Tell me to leave Trump out of it, but I can't. This is just one Trumpian endeavor the public can comprehend, that it has a vested interested in, that is palpable, that they believe directly affects them. War in Iran? That's hard to wrap your head around, especially because it's transpiring thousands of miles away. Not being able to get tickets not only for yourself, but for your kids' favorite act, that's emotional, that might sit with you forever... If you go you might have the experience of a lifetime, and if you don't, you might feel left out.
So... It will be in Subramanian's hands. And when the remedy is delivered...
You can't appeal every decision. You must make the case there were errors. Now big corporations try this. Or they settle. But settlement didn't seem to work here. So, there will be appeals, that could last years.
Or, Subramanian could not employ the nuclear option, and not only will the states have to pay the price, but the people too. This will leave a sour taste in their mouth. People like options, and they feel like they've got none, that Live Nation is lording it over them, laughing whilst making millions. Even if the company survives, it will be forever tarnished. Unlike record companies, if it does survive it won't be superseded, the lift is too heavy, the risk is too gargantuan. And it's Live Nation's ownership of buildings, ownership of Ticketmaster and sponsorship, that allows them to pay acts more.
It always comes down to the acts. But the public considers the acts to be inviolate. Ticketmaster has taken the heat for the acts since its inception. But the public neither understands nor accepts that. So Live Nation has to pay. Not the acts that make your favorite tunes, the little guy against the machine.
The dirty little secret is so many of today's acts ARE the machine!
And that hurts business.
But honesty, trustworthiness and credibility are out the window in today's America, just look at our lying chief executive. So who pays the price? The public...and they're mad as hell and ain't gonna take it anymore! Even if Live Nation wins, this fight will not be over. The public will never lay down their arms and accept it. Is the judge on their side? I'd bet he is.
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Sunday, 15 March 2026
The Oscars
The movies lost touch with the populace two decades or so ago. One can point to "'The Sopranos" as the true beginning of the end. This series was better than any film in the theatre, and in addition it had many episodes a season and had many seasons. This is what fans are truly looking for, depth. They want to find something and marinate in it. There's this myth that today's generations have short attention spans when nothing could be further from the truth. Which is that they have incredible sh*t detectors, they will not settle for mediocre, and when they find excellence, they have unlimited time for it.
But you cannot convince the older generations otherwise.
I remember when "The Sopranos" debuted in 1999, I told everybody I knew about it, but they pooh-poohed it, because how good could television be? Well, now we know that television is where you go to see human stories, the basis of the great films of yore. Big studio movies are spectacles. Often detached from reality. And I won't say they can't be enjoyable, but rarely do they move the needle culturally. In fact, few people see them in the theatre, if they see them at all. Sure, they end up streaming on TV, but a while after the initial hype. There's a tsunami of product that buries them, there's always something new.
Which is why Netflix drops all series episodes at once. It knows the paradigm has changed. If you can bother to get anyone's attention at all, you want to keep it. To let people disappear for a week? There's this thought about building audience over the water cooler, week by week, but that's a construct that is about as dead as the double feature. Yet media keeps on trumpeting that which is done the old way, not only one episode per week, but the Oscars themselves.
Unlike the Grammys, the Oscars theoretically appeal to all demos. Music is seen as something for the youth...made by and consumed by if not adolescents, those with arrested development. Whereas movies...
Don't forget the history. Long before television. It was a cultural rite, going to the theatre. And this was even the case for boomers, with the classics of the late sixties and seventies. But once "Jaws" and "Star Wars" showed how much money could be made, there was a rush to the dollar, and you ended up with homogenized products, or train-wrecks. And it's not much different in music.
But what has happened as a result of the internet is the cost of production has gone down, the means are in everybody's hands, and distribution is free...on YouTube...or close to free on Spotify, et al. And what has happened is the channel has become clogged, overwhelmed. Not only is there more product, but you've got people endlessly hyping their wares, looking for attention.
And there are new kinds of productions, by the so-called "influencers." Dismissed by the oldsters, these creators have audiences larger than movies and their fans adore them in a way they no longer pay fealty to movie stars. Movie stars are inherently fake, they're playing a role, whereas influencers, the others posting online, are evidencing their true identities, that's the core of their productions, and that's what the public can relate to.
But I'm not going to convince people who believe otherwise, even if I quote statistics, because for this to be true...means they must question their entire identity, re-evaluate what is true and false. And what is true is...
We are looking to belong. Ergo MAGA. It's more than that, but it's a club, with like-minded people, you can discuss your opinions, but you all agree on bedrock.
We used to be moviegoers, debating film. That's been gone for years now. And most of the films are not worth it, they do not engender conversation, you see them and move on.
So...
The world has changed and those in power don't want to admit it, although the cracks are appearing.
YouTube videos can reach more people than cable news. As for television news...it has now finally woken up, the audience is anemic, so the salaries of the presenters are going down, down, down.
The newspapers have already cratered. There are only two left, the "New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal." And they're not so much about reach as influence.
In other words, everybody gets their news and information from their own source. Could be Facebook, could be TikTok, could be friends... As for commonality, good luck. The Tower of Babel society is here.
So they trump up the Oscars. It's a veritable plethora of stories and bits and...
I stopped watching about a decade ago. I had a schedule conflict. After maybe forty years straight of appointment viewing. And what I found after the fact is I'd missed nothing, I didn't feel hollow, I felt fine.
That's the cultural rite. As for the pictures... I can't remember the last time I went to a theatre. And I know people who still go on the weekend, as a religious experience, which I don't get, I'd rather sit home and read a book or watch what I want when I want, on demand, on my television screen or my iPad or even my phone! I don't want to waste any time.
As for the vaunted pictures this year, "Sinners" and "One Battle After Another"...the most glaring fact is how few have seen them. This is not "The Godfather," never mind "Pulp Fiction"... It's just like music, we keep hearing about Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan and Bruno Mars and the truth is never have the hits and the people who make them been smaller, had less impact.
But media can't adjust for this. Because then it has to question itself. Furthermore, traditional media is about starting at the bottom and paying your dues. So journalism programs are wilting, but those who have a hankering, who want to get into this business, do it themselves.
But there's no traditional chart, no traditional box office, none of the traditional markers of success. Other than in some cases view count. But influence? It's nearly impossible to measure.
This is the world we live in. What makes people think if we can't even agree on the facts politically, if everybody gets their information from a different source, that there is commonality re the movies. There's not.
So we'll see all these stories about fashion, faux-pas, we'll see pictures of partiers, however...
These are no longer America's heroes. They are two-dimensional vessels. To be derided as much as admired.
No, the heroes oftentimes are people most have never heard of. We've all got our own icons, our own people we spend time with. And to try to convince us to pay attention to the main event...that won't work when we haven't seen the films and we don't care about the people in them or those who made them.
You could say I'm raining on their parade. People hate change. But the truth is it's already happened. I'm not saying you can't have the Oscars, I'm just saying that if you believe it has broad cultural impact in the way it did previously, you're dreaming. And it's not only the Balkanization of attention, it's also the abdication of power. Movies have always been entertainment, but the best have touched your soul. And I'm not saying none of the nominees did this, it's just that movies are no longer where people go for this feeling, this identification. Oftentimes what people are attracted to isn't even mass at all.
It's nearly impossible to get someone's attention today, never mind hold it. Remember when all the film companies used to advertise on TV on Thursday to get people into the theatre on Friday? Who even watches linear TV anymore, other than old people, the same ones who are into and defending the importance of the Oscars.
And then there are the complaints about RottenTomatoes... No, if word of mouth, statistics, are bad, people don't want to waste their time and money, they don't want to take the risk. Just like they won't buy a product with a low rating on Amazon.
It's fine if you watch the Oscars. Have a good time, it's cool with me. But don't believe the hype, never has the cultural impact been lower.
And it ain't gonna change. The movies are not coming back. The action has moved to television, and short form creations online. You can accept this, or you can live in the past.
Too much of our media/industrial complex is living in the past.
No wonder it is not trusted. You trust that which you can identify with that is speaking truth. Does a twenty or thirtysomething have a deep desire to waste four hours watching the Oscars?
Of course not.
And this is not a problem to be fixed, rather the past needs to be junked as we move into the future. Which is always coming. What did they call it, digital disruption? That's not the only thing that killed film and the Oscars, the purveyors did a good job of tanking their industry, but change happens at an accelerated rate in today's society, and it's not top-down, but bottom-up, and most people are not aware of it until it has taken over.
The Oscars are like CDs, nostalgia. Or even vinyl.
I could go on, but I think you get the point, or you don't.
We live in a knee-jerk society, people are baked in their ideas and feelings and won't change them. But the joke is on them. And I won't quite say the pageantry and fake gravitas of the Oscars is a joke, but it's close. It's akin to the Emperor's New Clothes. But people just don't want to give up on the past, it's too upsetting. But the ship has sailed, movies will never recapture their glory. However, the desire for visual entertainment? That's never been stronger. It's just that the productions take a different form. And if one takes the time to investigate, one will experience cutting edge creativity. But that's too hard for many people to accept.
TikTok is not the devil, nor is YouTube. They're reality, iconic. Bigger than movies. You can have your awards show, but it's futile to deny the truth. The cheese has been moved. The landscape is different. But it's new and exciting, in some cases worse, but in others far better.
Don't be stuck in your ways. Participate online. I know, I know, it's frustrating, there are no instructions, there's a learning curve. But the younger generations are used to this, video games don't come with a manual...you forage, you flail, you figure it out. You're on your own, looking for the rewards. That's the world we live in today, it's all grass roots, it's all cottage industry, and that's confusing, but it's also very exciting.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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But you cannot convince the older generations otherwise.
I remember when "The Sopranos" debuted in 1999, I told everybody I knew about it, but they pooh-poohed it, because how good could television be? Well, now we know that television is where you go to see human stories, the basis of the great films of yore. Big studio movies are spectacles. Often detached from reality. And I won't say they can't be enjoyable, but rarely do they move the needle culturally. In fact, few people see them in the theatre, if they see them at all. Sure, they end up streaming on TV, but a while after the initial hype. There's a tsunami of product that buries them, there's always something new.
Which is why Netflix drops all series episodes at once. It knows the paradigm has changed. If you can bother to get anyone's attention at all, you want to keep it. To let people disappear for a week? There's this thought about building audience over the water cooler, week by week, but that's a construct that is about as dead as the double feature. Yet media keeps on trumpeting that which is done the old way, not only one episode per week, but the Oscars themselves.
Unlike the Grammys, the Oscars theoretically appeal to all demos. Music is seen as something for the youth...made by and consumed by if not adolescents, those with arrested development. Whereas movies...
Don't forget the history. Long before television. It was a cultural rite, going to the theatre. And this was even the case for boomers, with the classics of the late sixties and seventies. But once "Jaws" and "Star Wars" showed how much money could be made, there was a rush to the dollar, and you ended up with homogenized products, or train-wrecks. And it's not much different in music.
But what has happened as a result of the internet is the cost of production has gone down, the means are in everybody's hands, and distribution is free...on YouTube...or close to free on Spotify, et al. And what has happened is the channel has become clogged, overwhelmed. Not only is there more product, but you've got people endlessly hyping their wares, looking for attention.
And there are new kinds of productions, by the so-called "influencers." Dismissed by the oldsters, these creators have audiences larger than movies and their fans adore them in a way they no longer pay fealty to movie stars. Movie stars are inherently fake, they're playing a role, whereas influencers, the others posting online, are evidencing their true identities, that's the core of their productions, and that's what the public can relate to.
But I'm not going to convince people who believe otherwise, even if I quote statistics, because for this to be true...means they must question their entire identity, re-evaluate what is true and false. And what is true is...
We are looking to belong. Ergo MAGA. It's more than that, but it's a club, with like-minded people, you can discuss your opinions, but you all agree on bedrock.
We used to be moviegoers, debating film. That's been gone for years now. And most of the films are not worth it, they do not engender conversation, you see them and move on.
So...
The world has changed and those in power don't want to admit it, although the cracks are appearing.
YouTube videos can reach more people than cable news. As for television news...it has now finally woken up, the audience is anemic, so the salaries of the presenters are going down, down, down.
The newspapers have already cratered. There are only two left, the "New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal." And they're not so much about reach as influence.
In other words, everybody gets their news and information from their own source. Could be Facebook, could be TikTok, could be friends... As for commonality, good luck. The Tower of Babel society is here.
So they trump up the Oscars. It's a veritable plethora of stories and bits and...
I stopped watching about a decade ago. I had a schedule conflict. After maybe forty years straight of appointment viewing. And what I found after the fact is I'd missed nothing, I didn't feel hollow, I felt fine.
That's the cultural rite. As for the pictures... I can't remember the last time I went to a theatre. And I know people who still go on the weekend, as a religious experience, which I don't get, I'd rather sit home and read a book or watch what I want when I want, on demand, on my television screen or my iPad or even my phone! I don't want to waste any time.
As for the vaunted pictures this year, "Sinners" and "One Battle After Another"...the most glaring fact is how few have seen them. This is not "The Godfather," never mind "Pulp Fiction"... It's just like music, we keep hearing about Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan and Bruno Mars and the truth is never have the hits and the people who make them been smaller, had less impact.
But media can't adjust for this. Because then it has to question itself. Furthermore, traditional media is about starting at the bottom and paying your dues. So journalism programs are wilting, but those who have a hankering, who want to get into this business, do it themselves.
But there's no traditional chart, no traditional box office, none of the traditional markers of success. Other than in some cases view count. But influence? It's nearly impossible to measure.
This is the world we live in. What makes people think if we can't even agree on the facts politically, if everybody gets their information from a different source, that there is commonality re the movies. There's not.
So we'll see all these stories about fashion, faux-pas, we'll see pictures of partiers, however...
These are no longer America's heroes. They are two-dimensional vessels. To be derided as much as admired.
No, the heroes oftentimes are people most have never heard of. We've all got our own icons, our own people we spend time with. And to try to convince us to pay attention to the main event...that won't work when we haven't seen the films and we don't care about the people in them or those who made them.
You could say I'm raining on their parade. People hate change. But the truth is it's already happened. I'm not saying you can't have the Oscars, I'm just saying that if you believe it has broad cultural impact in the way it did previously, you're dreaming. And it's not only the Balkanization of attention, it's also the abdication of power. Movies have always been entertainment, but the best have touched your soul. And I'm not saying none of the nominees did this, it's just that movies are no longer where people go for this feeling, this identification. Oftentimes what people are attracted to isn't even mass at all.
It's nearly impossible to get someone's attention today, never mind hold it. Remember when all the film companies used to advertise on TV on Thursday to get people into the theatre on Friday? Who even watches linear TV anymore, other than old people, the same ones who are into and defending the importance of the Oscars.
And then there are the complaints about RottenTomatoes... No, if word of mouth, statistics, are bad, people don't want to waste their time and money, they don't want to take the risk. Just like they won't buy a product with a low rating on Amazon.
It's fine if you watch the Oscars. Have a good time, it's cool with me. But don't believe the hype, never has the cultural impact been lower.
And it ain't gonna change. The movies are not coming back. The action has moved to television, and short form creations online. You can accept this, or you can live in the past.
Too much of our media/industrial complex is living in the past.
No wonder it is not trusted. You trust that which you can identify with that is speaking truth. Does a twenty or thirtysomething have a deep desire to waste four hours watching the Oscars?
Of course not.
And this is not a problem to be fixed, rather the past needs to be junked as we move into the future. Which is always coming. What did they call it, digital disruption? That's not the only thing that killed film and the Oscars, the purveyors did a good job of tanking their industry, but change happens at an accelerated rate in today's society, and it's not top-down, but bottom-up, and most people are not aware of it until it has taken over.
The Oscars are like CDs, nostalgia. Or even vinyl.
I could go on, but I think you get the point, or you don't.
We live in a knee-jerk society, people are baked in their ideas and feelings and won't change them. But the joke is on them. And I won't quite say the pageantry and fake gravitas of the Oscars is a joke, but it's close. It's akin to the Emperor's New Clothes. But people just don't want to give up on the past, it's too upsetting. But the ship has sailed, movies will never recapture their glory. However, the desire for visual entertainment? That's never been stronger. It's just that the productions take a different form. And if one takes the time to investigate, one will experience cutting edge creativity. But that's too hard for many people to accept.
TikTok is not the devil, nor is YouTube. They're reality, iconic. Bigger than movies. You can have your awards show, but it's futile to deny the truth. The cheese has been moved. The landscape is different. But it's new and exciting, in some cases worse, but in others far better.
Don't be stuck in your ways. Participate online. I know, I know, it's frustrating, there are no instructions, there's a learning curve. But the younger generations are used to this, video games don't come with a manual...you forage, you flail, you figure it out. You're on your own, looking for the rewards. That's the world we live in today, it's all grass roots, it's all cottage industry, and that's confusing, but it's also very exciting.
--
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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