SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR
"So you want to be a rock 'n' roll star
Then listen now to what I say
Just get an electric guitar
Then take some time
And learn how to play"
We all took lessons.
First it was Peter, Paul & Mary, the folkies, suddenly acoustics were everywhere, not only was "Hootenanny" on TV, we all sat in a circle singing the songs... Wanna know a great song? You can sing it yourself, in your head, with no accompaniment. Your own voice is enough!
And then came the Beatles.
Not only did we buy electric guitars, we went completely gear crazy, we could name every Fender amp, we knew the difference between a Strat and an ES-335 and could hear the difference.
Some wore it out, some stuck with it, like Mike Campbell and Tom Petty... They had so much gear on stage! It wasn't an affectation, it was a lifetime of collecting, to get the right feel and sound.
And boy the sound!
This was the anti-Stones, they could hit every note, with feeling, and the venue was so small you could HEAR IT! Each and every player. Whether it be Steve Ferrone pounding the drums or Scott Thurston singing backups or Benmont tickling the ivories, never mind Ron Blair's bass. There were no hard drives, no aftereffects, no tweaking, just a rock and roll band, America's greatest today, keeping up the tradition.
LOVE IS A LONG ROAD
ISN'T IT!
"There was a girl I knew
She said she cared about me
The way she thought it should be
Yeah, we were desperate then
To have each other to hold
But love is a long, long road"
I had this relationship. You know, where you're so intertwined, you become one person. But your significant other...she wants you to be somebody you're not. Still, you hang in there...
"Yeah it was hard to give up
Some things are hard to let go
Some things are never enough
I guess I only can hope
For maybe one more chance
To try and save my soul"
The only thing that can save your soul is rock and roll. Those records are cast in amber, they never change, you can rely on them. And when you go to the show and hear them live... Your body starts to tingle, you thrust your arms in the air, you sing along at the top of your lungs...because this is your life, this is YOU!
DON'T DO ME LIKE THAT
It's Benmont's keyboards.
When you're this close, you can hear every note, every instrument breathes and is fully alive.
Usually you're in the big hall and it all runs together.
But Thursday night there was no noise, just individual sounds on separate parts of the stage coming together to produce the whole.
Your dream is to see your favorite band in a club?
I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Whisky. The summer of 1977, after "American Girl" had finally caught fire, a year after release, and they were seasoned and self-confident and it was wondrous, but this was just as intimate, just as magical, just as good.
WHEN THE TIME COMES
The surprises. The album cuts.
That was what this gig was all about, the unexpected, the songs that you know by heart but believe you'll never hear live again. Like this, the opening cut of the second album, "You're Gonna Get It."
There was no hit, but everything on the LP sounded so great.
"Will you stand by me when the time comes?"
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will.
My friends? WE'LL SEE!
GREEN ONIONS
I doubt Booker T. and Steve Cropper could do it any better.
Roots, we all have them. And the key is to never forget them. And nothing feels better than to hearken back to those days when you were excited by what was on the radio, when it seemed impossible to play, but you tried so hard to do so.
This is a driving song. A groove. And when the band was playing it it was like the audience wasn't even there. There was no mugging, it's like they'd locked on and elevated above us, or were pulsing down the highway in that new Cadillac with that fine fox in front and three mo' in the back...
This is what makes a gig. When you hear the unexpected.
It makes the night special.
TAKIN' MY TIME
From "Mojo." Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are still trying, they're still making albums, they're not like their brethren who've given up, they're gonna keep recording whether you listen or not, because this is what they do, this is their job.
BORN IN CHICAGO
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band never had a hit. But they possessed one of the best guitarists in rock and roll history. One Mike Bloomfield. Who got a bit of recognition with Dylan and got some face time with Al Kooper before expiring.
Funny thing about those Butterfield albums... They were seminal. All the alternative acts of the eighties and nineties might have bought the Velvet Underground, but if you're a baby boomer, if you played music instead of sports, if you stayed at it, then you owned that initial Butterfield album, and "East West."
A WOMAN IN LOVE (IT'S NOT ME)
Now if you're a fan, you know the song from the intro.
I'd listened to this, my absolute favorite Petty track, ad infinitum, especially on the "Live Anthology" album, so when Benmont was rolling his fingers over the keys my whole body sighed, my whole life came complete, this was what I was waiting for.
So it's 1981. I've just broken up with my live-in girlfriend. I stay up all night in my new apartment thinking about her and then decide to wait until it's late enough to call her.
Which I do.
You know how you get a notion in your head...it feels so right, nothing can stop you from taking action.
So I dialed her number. She picked up. And was hesitant and distant.
I can work through this. We're in love.
So I keep at it.
Until she tells me...she's in bed with her new boyfriend.
"She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't wanna see
She's a woman in love, but it's not me"
I quickly got off the phone. And played this track again and again and again.
HAVE LOVE, WILL TRAVEL
Bands cut the new records, but refuse to play them live, they're afraid everyone's gonna go to the bathroom, everyone with a career is afraid of losing their audience, which is pure death.
This is from "The Last DJ." Petty even said so, just in case we were clueless.
TWEETER AND THE MONKEY MAN
You know this one, from the initial Wilburys album.
Dylan sings the lead on the original. And I'm sitting there thinking how lucky Tom Petty was. Scratch that, what he earned, from staying in the game, being great. Being able to play with Bob and George and Roy. Being made a member of the club. Pinching himself. You never know where the rock and roll road will lead you. In Tom's case, from his producer Jeff Lynne to where it all began. Yes, they're just people...but their music came out of the dashboard, it shaped our lives, how did we get from there to here? From Florida to L.A?
And Petty commented about Hollywood...
They lifted up the country and all the loose nuts and bolts fell to California. We're all here because we just didn't fit in back there. But out here...we found people JUST LIKE US!
REBELS
"Southern Accents" brought Petty back to the mainstream, made him an MTV staple, but it was never one of my favorites, and I don't love the original recording, but this was a highlight. Hang in there long enough and songs surprise you.
WILDFLOWERS
Usually people go solo and no one cares.
Tom Petty went solo and went nuclear, reinvigorated his and his band's career. To hear the notes strummed on an acoustic was so intimate...it was like we were in Tom's living room.
CRAWLING BACK TO YOU
Also from "Wildflowers." Another cut you'd never hear at the festival, in the arena. That's what made this night so special, this whole run... Contrary to what classic rock radio thinks, these artists created a whole body of work, we don't only know the hits, the album tracks are our friends, sometimes the best ones.
I'VE GOT A WOMAN
The Ray Charles song. Like I said, it's all about roots. From an era when you could like and appreciate everything, and hear it all on the radio.
WILLIN'
Everybody does Linda Rondstadt's version. Or Seatrain's. No one does the Little Feat original. Wherein Lowell George, who possessed one of the most mellifluous voices of all time, basically speaks the verses. It's about the lyrics more than the sound... Except for that magical chorus, with its rock and roll anthem words:
"And if you give me weeds, whites and wine
And you show me a sign
I'll be willin', to keep on movin'"
You've got to be willin'. Despite the roadblocks. You've got to get up in the morning and get going even if you've got no desire, because once you stop, you die.
And when I first heard this song, I knew where Tucson was, but I'd never heard of Tehachapi, Tonopah or Tucumcari.
That's how you know you've left home... When you're running down the road and you see that sign... For an outpost you only know from a record.
This was so good...it was like Lowell was in the balcony smiling down at the proceedings.
MELINDA
Talk about deep cuts!
You'd only know this from the "Live Anthology," you had to be a fan to know this...but not to enjoy it.
I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN IT
Another one from "Mojo." As Donald Fagen so eloquently sang...
"I cried when I wrote this song
Sue me if I play too long"
If you're not doing it for yourself, you're not gonna enjoy it.
This was the too loud, work it out number for anybody who had the notion the band had gotten soft. If you're not willing to turn it up to 11 and noodle, you should hang it up.
REFUGEE
Yes, there are some classic hits in every show. Tom doesn't want to insult you, but carry you along into the nooks and crannies. But the classics cannot be denied, they glue us all together.
And there was a time when "Refugee" was so popular, you could not turn on the radio without hearing it.
And the funny thing about this number is it means more to me now than it did then. Back then, I had it all together, I thought the future was smooth sailing.
Whew, how wrong you can be.
To a degree I still live like a refugee. I owe not a single dollar. I live beneath my means. I've got money in the bank. Because I know...you can lose it all. Your woman, your house and your health.
You do have to fight to be free.
But you get so tired of punching air.
I don't know how you get through.
I hit rock bottom. Was saved by psychotherapy.
Laugh all you want.
But stoics tend not to last, they're the ones who commit suicide, they're the ones who are not here anymore.
RUNNIN' DOWN A DREAM
Another number from "Full Moon Fever." And this deep in the set, the band was truly on cruise control...at a hundred miles an hour.
You can still hear Del sing "Runaway" on the radio.
But not live. Del didn't make it.
But you can.
YOU WRECK ME
I rarely play it, but this was one of the highlights. Maybe because at this point Petty and the Heartbreakers were that band in the bar when everybody is inebriated and the musicians have amped it up and are spewing it out not caring what anybody thinks, because they're having such a good time.
AROUND AND AROUND
I've seen it done better. By DAVID BOWIE! At the end of the Ziggy Stardust show. It was the encore. With all the lights on. Bowie spread his arms. His charisma was in full-force. He would not be denied.
And I love the Stones' version.
But Petty still knocked it out of the park.
I don't think youngsters know this number.
But everybody over fifty does.
The joint was truly rockin'. We were out of our seats. Dancin' 'round.
That's the power of music.
That's the power of this classic Chuck Berry tune.
It's basic.
That's what Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers know, you don't need too much, just enough.
AMERICAN GIRL
The song that started it all.
On a bad label.
In England.
Because a great track cannot be denied.
Wanna make my night complete? Play "Luna" and "The Wild One, Forever." No one does that introspective stuff anymore, that hot summer night stuff. But I guess I'll have to wait another five or ten years until the band does the complete album shows.
And a great concert always leaves you wanting more.
But we got quite a lot.
We got real players, infected by rock and roll. Who had to follow the muse, despite having no cash, no fallback plan. It was a dream. But theirs came true.
And that's what we need in society. More dreamers and fewer bankers.
Because when the dreamers succeed, they're a beacon to us all.
What do they say, EVEN THE LOSERS GET LUCKY SOMETIMES?
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Saturday, 8 June 2013
Friday, 7 June 2013
The Santa Monica Shooter(s)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/08/us/santa-monica-college-shooting.html
It's weird when it happens in your own damn neighborhood.
I'm not much for local news, I like to scale to a bigger platform with the limited time I've got in this overburdening world, but when I awoke this morning the number one topic of conversation was...
Obama.
Just like Santa Claus, he was coming to town.
Why?
To lunch at Peter Chernin's house. The entertainment bigwig. To raise money.
And that's what's wrong with America. The money in politics. As well as the firearms in the hands of nitwits, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
There were tweets warning me, expressing sympathy that I lived in the neighborhood.
Oh, not where Obama was lunching. But by Santa Monica Airport. Where he was landing. Right near my house.
At least that's what I thought at first. Until it occurred to me that Air Force One couldn't land in Santa Monica.
Turns out Obama was landing at LAX. But did he take a helicopter from there?
Not sure. But there were Sikorskys all over town. You know, those two rotor helicopters you see in the Vietnam movies. Maybe he was flying to Chernin's backyard.
But a cursory search of the Internet showed...
The streets by my house were gonna be closed.
Huh? I'm just trying to get home. And now I can't because the chief executive, instead of doing his job, is hobnobbing with Chernin and his folk, as if these bigwigs are entitled to an opinion, and be sure that that's what they're getting with their donations. You haven't got a chance. To paraphrase George Carlin, vote if you want to, I hope it makes you feel good, but it's the owners who run this country, and you're not one of them.
But they say the streets will be clear by 11:30 AM. And I'm not exiting my appointment until just before noon. It should be cool.
But as I'm driving down 20th Street, just by the freeway, a cop car comes speeding by. And then another.
And I'm thinking to myself that someone's gonna get hurt. They've got the gumballs on, but they're going really fast, and this is a pretty sleepy area.
But then came a copper on two wheels. And then an unmarked car going so fast...I was worried he was gonna hit me.
So when I got to Pico, I went through the alley to 21st. To get away from the fray. My original plan had been to shoot down 20th. To either go through Pearl to Ocean Park or cut through SMC to Bob's Market, where I wanted to buy some yogurt... It's always a minor endeavor when something bad happens. You're going out for ice cream. You're picking up your dry cleaning. Buckle your seat belt, most accidents happen close to home.
And now I'm driving down 21st and I get to Pearl.
I could draw you a map, but...
The north south streets increase in number as you go east from the beach.
And Pearl is the east west street parallel to and in between Pico and Ocean Park. And Santa Monica College, SMC, is at Pearl and 20th, on the northwest corner of the intersection.
So I'm now at 21st and Pearl. A hundred or so feet from 20th. And at 20th, by the college, all the cop cars have congregated. Maybe something serious is going on. I don't think too much about it. I go to Bob's Market and go home. To my life. To the Internet.
And my homepage is the Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com I used to use Google, but the computer curation missed stories, gave the wrong impression, so I switched to Yahoo and am staying there, even though Google now has human beings involved...it's hard to get someone to break a habit.
And I surf with multiple windows. I could have twenty open at a time, I rarely have fewer than five. So I'm home for about half an hour, and I open a new window, which means I'm confronted with the Yahoo News, and I see a breaking story. Three shot at Santa Monica College.
Huh?
There's very little information. The L.A. "Times" has a story. Every other site is copying it.
So I go to Twitter. Which is positively freaky. Because I'm seeing tweets from those at the school. They're right there right now.
For the uninitiated, I searched on "smc" and "santa monica college." Try it: https://twitter.com/search-home
And then I go back to the web, where I find a site that's posted a cornucopia of Twitter pics. Blood and everything.
And I'm searching madly for more info. And now they say they got the shooter in the library, and the three injured people were in a car.
Okay, domestic dispute, an argument amongst friends.
Your goal in tragedy is to make sense of it, to remove yourself, to make yourself feel safe. You try to explain it away.
But then comes the story that he fired shots on 21st Street.
Oh boy. That could have been me. That was my detour.
And then it comes out that the shooter was wearing body armor. And he stopped a car, shot out all the windows and...
Little details keep coming through. Is there a second shooter? I mean I don't feel scared in my house, but this is literally happening in my neighborhood!
They're still not sure if there's a second shooter. They've got somebody in custody.
And my mother calls, and I tell her what's going on. I tell her she's gonna read all about it in tomorrow's newspaper, she's addicted to the "New York Times." But as time goes by, I think not. It's a minor story on the "Times" homepage. Three people get shot and live, that's not big news. Then again, ever since Newtown any shooting gets airtime, as it should...we Americans should stop hiding our problems and confront them.
And as the afternoon wears on...
Obama's team is imitating Freddie Prinze, who not so ironically took his own life with a gun, saying EES NOT MY JOB! Yup, that's literally what they said, it's a LOCAL MATTER!
That's the best you could come up with? You couldn't even express sympathy? They went on to say this had nothing to do with Obama. Yup, it's got nothing to do with anybody until suddenly...you're right there!
Kind of like the '94 earthquake. I still haven't recovered. But if you didn't experience it, it's like it didn't happen. Kind of like Sandy. Kind of like...
Boston.
Those people were minding their own business.
And then you've got the press conference. It was a Yahoo headline. I clicked through to see a doctor saying nothing.
And then... There's a story about two people being dead in a house the shooter tried to burn down. There's an address. I look it up. That's a bad neighborhood.
Yup, you might think Santa Monica is tony, but in between Pico and the freeway... You wouldn't walk alone at night, you wouldn't even stop your car.
And the guy drove down Pico shooting away.
Huh?
And now there are six dead.
Strike that.
I just refreshed the link at the top. It's now seven.
And the helicopter is hovering, my house is shaking...
Oh, not Obama, he's long gone. The news. The vultures. There's nothing to see, but they've got to stay up there, disturbing the locals, so the bubble-headed bleach blondes can titillate the television viewers.
And I always think it's nuts when parents are afraid to send their kids to school after there's a shooting half a continent away, but I'm a bit numb.
But I decide to venture outside.
And I come across this:
pic.twitter.com/pFr0mADb6O
The mobile command center.
And there are orange cones in the middle of the street. And the gumballs are still going by Santa Monica College seven hours later. And I ask myself, what is wrong with us, how far have we come that these random shootings happen seemingly every week and there's nothing we can do about it because the gun makers need to do business and the rednecks need to shoot stuff.
Oh, I know it's a thorny issue.
But the cops don't have guns in the U.K.
It's America with the culture of violence.
And really, I'm less worried about random shootings. I'm more worried about the suicides, of people who bought guns for protection and then turned them upon themselves when they reached the limits of despair, or shot their loved ones in anger or by mistake.
So Obama's filling his coffers, innocent people are dead, and the rest of us shrug our shoulders and move on.
But not me, not tonight, because I WAS RIGHT THERE!
Where it happened the flash of light is by Santa Monica College. http://t.co/db9prl7Hf2
Orange cones in the middle of Ocean Park Boulevard. http://t.co/zhTjlDbkqQ
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It's weird when it happens in your own damn neighborhood.
I'm not much for local news, I like to scale to a bigger platform with the limited time I've got in this overburdening world, but when I awoke this morning the number one topic of conversation was...
Obama.
Just like Santa Claus, he was coming to town.
Why?
To lunch at Peter Chernin's house. The entertainment bigwig. To raise money.
And that's what's wrong with America. The money in politics. As well as the firearms in the hands of nitwits, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
There were tweets warning me, expressing sympathy that I lived in the neighborhood.
Oh, not where Obama was lunching. But by Santa Monica Airport. Where he was landing. Right near my house.
At least that's what I thought at first. Until it occurred to me that Air Force One couldn't land in Santa Monica.
Turns out Obama was landing at LAX. But did he take a helicopter from there?
Not sure. But there were Sikorskys all over town. You know, those two rotor helicopters you see in the Vietnam movies. Maybe he was flying to Chernin's backyard.
But a cursory search of the Internet showed...
The streets by my house were gonna be closed.
Huh? I'm just trying to get home. And now I can't because the chief executive, instead of doing his job, is hobnobbing with Chernin and his folk, as if these bigwigs are entitled to an opinion, and be sure that that's what they're getting with their donations. You haven't got a chance. To paraphrase George Carlin, vote if you want to, I hope it makes you feel good, but it's the owners who run this country, and you're not one of them.
But they say the streets will be clear by 11:30 AM. And I'm not exiting my appointment until just before noon. It should be cool.
But as I'm driving down 20th Street, just by the freeway, a cop car comes speeding by. And then another.
And I'm thinking to myself that someone's gonna get hurt. They've got the gumballs on, but they're going really fast, and this is a pretty sleepy area.
But then came a copper on two wheels. And then an unmarked car going so fast...I was worried he was gonna hit me.
So when I got to Pico, I went through the alley to 21st. To get away from the fray. My original plan had been to shoot down 20th. To either go through Pearl to Ocean Park or cut through SMC to Bob's Market, where I wanted to buy some yogurt... It's always a minor endeavor when something bad happens. You're going out for ice cream. You're picking up your dry cleaning. Buckle your seat belt, most accidents happen close to home.
And now I'm driving down 21st and I get to Pearl.
I could draw you a map, but...
The north south streets increase in number as you go east from the beach.
And Pearl is the east west street parallel to and in between Pico and Ocean Park. And Santa Monica College, SMC, is at Pearl and 20th, on the northwest corner of the intersection.
So I'm now at 21st and Pearl. A hundred or so feet from 20th. And at 20th, by the college, all the cop cars have congregated. Maybe something serious is going on. I don't think too much about it. I go to Bob's Market and go home. To my life. To the Internet.
And my homepage is the Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com I used to use Google, but the computer curation missed stories, gave the wrong impression, so I switched to Yahoo and am staying there, even though Google now has human beings involved...it's hard to get someone to break a habit.
And I surf with multiple windows. I could have twenty open at a time, I rarely have fewer than five. So I'm home for about half an hour, and I open a new window, which means I'm confronted with the Yahoo News, and I see a breaking story. Three shot at Santa Monica College.
Huh?
There's very little information. The L.A. "Times" has a story. Every other site is copying it.
So I go to Twitter. Which is positively freaky. Because I'm seeing tweets from those at the school. They're right there right now.
For the uninitiated, I searched on "smc" and "santa monica college." Try it: https://twitter.com/search-home
And then I go back to the web, where I find a site that's posted a cornucopia of Twitter pics. Blood and everything.
And I'm searching madly for more info. And now they say they got the shooter in the library, and the three injured people were in a car.
Okay, domestic dispute, an argument amongst friends.
Your goal in tragedy is to make sense of it, to remove yourself, to make yourself feel safe. You try to explain it away.
But then comes the story that he fired shots on 21st Street.
Oh boy. That could have been me. That was my detour.
And then it comes out that the shooter was wearing body armor. And he stopped a car, shot out all the windows and...
Little details keep coming through. Is there a second shooter? I mean I don't feel scared in my house, but this is literally happening in my neighborhood!
They're still not sure if there's a second shooter. They've got somebody in custody.
And my mother calls, and I tell her what's going on. I tell her she's gonna read all about it in tomorrow's newspaper, she's addicted to the "New York Times." But as time goes by, I think not. It's a minor story on the "Times" homepage. Three people get shot and live, that's not big news. Then again, ever since Newtown any shooting gets airtime, as it should...we Americans should stop hiding our problems and confront them.
And as the afternoon wears on...
Obama's team is imitating Freddie Prinze, who not so ironically took his own life with a gun, saying EES NOT MY JOB! Yup, that's literally what they said, it's a LOCAL MATTER!
That's the best you could come up with? You couldn't even express sympathy? They went on to say this had nothing to do with Obama. Yup, it's got nothing to do with anybody until suddenly...you're right there!
Kind of like the '94 earthquake. I still haven't recovered. But if you didn't experience it, it's like it didn't happen. Kind of like Sandy. Kind of like...
Boston.
Those people were minding their own business.
And then you've got the press conference. It was a Yahoo headline. I clicked through to see a doctor saying nothing.
And then... There's a story about two people being dead in a house the shooter tried to burn down. There's an address. I look it up. That's a bad neighborhood.
Yup, you might think Santa Monica is tony, but in between Pico and the freeway... You wouldn't walk alone at night, you wouldn't even stop your car.
And the guy drove down Pico shooting away.
Huh?
And now there are six dead.
Strike that.
I just refreshed the link at the top. It's now seven.
And the helicopter is hovering, my house is shaking...
Oh, not Obama, he's long gone. The news. The vultures. There's nothing to see, but they've got to stay up there, disturbing the locals, so the bubble-headed bleach blondes can titillate the television viewers.
And I always think it's nuts when parents are afraid to send their kids to school after there's a shooting half a continent away, but I'm a bit numb.
But I decide to venture outside.
And I come across this:
pic.twitter.com/pFr0mADb6O
The mobile command center.
And there are orange cones in the middle of the street. And the gumballs are still going by Santa Monica College seven hours later. And I ask myself, what is wrong with us, how far have we come that these random shootings happen seemingly every week and there's nothing we can do about it because the gun makers need to do business and the rednecks need to shoot stuff.
Oh, I know it's a thorny issue.
But the cops don't have guns in the U.K.
It's America with the culture of violence.
And really, I'm less worried about random shootings. I'm more worried about the suicides, of people who bought guns for protection and then turned them upon themselves when they reached the limits of despair, or shot their loved ones in anger or by mistake.
So Obama's filling his coffers, innocent people are dead, and the rest of us shrug our shoulders and move on.
But not me, not tonight, because I WAS RIGHT THERE!
Where it happened the flash of light is by Santa Monica College. http://t.co/db9prl7Hf2
Orange cones in the middle of Ocean Park Boulevard. http://t.co/zhTjlDbkqQ
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Rhinofy-Into The Gap
I don't know why the Thompson Twins have been forgotten.
They emerged on to the American scene with the exquisite "In The Name Of Love"...
We've got to stop right here. This was a KROQ staple. Long before the Pasadena station was on its victory lap, which still sustains despite the outlet being far from number one. Rick Carroll had shaken up the playlist, he took a free format station with a weak signal into the eighties by turning it into a Top Forty alternative outlet. Its bones were made on two records, "Don't You Want Me" and "Tainted Love." Yup, credit KROQ, the station was on these records first. And these were the records that killed AOR, because AOR refused to play them, oh how wrong they were.
And there were so many great follow-ups, like Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough."
And the Thompson Twins' "In The Name Of Love."
It's been years since I've heard it on the radio... And stunningly, it sounds as fresh and innovative as it did thirty years ago. This sound has been gone so long, it would react with the kids...if they only heard it!
"In the name of love...
Yeah
IN THE NAME OF LOVE!"
It was about the horn intro flourish, the sounds, the groove, "In The Name Of Love" is one of those songs you hear and have to hear again, that you have to own!
And some KROQ/alternative hits followed. "Lies." And "Love On Your Side." But we were unprepared for "Hold Me Now."
The Thompson Twins were alternative, left of center, quirky...whereas "Hold Me Now" was positively MAINSTREAM! Kind of like 10cc with "The Things We Do For Love," a left field band was suddenly front and center, the Top Forty stations started playing it, it became ubiquitous, kind of like Oasis with "Wonderwall"...a left of center band suddenly hits a mainstream bullseye.
"Hold Me Now" starts off quiet and introspective. Then there's that bass, underpinning the track. And then Tom Bailey's vocal. The anti-TV show effort. The way he wraps himself around the lyrics.
But the magic is in the backup vocals. You can't help but sing along. Especially when, towards the end of the song, you get the echoes in the chorus:
"Hold me now
HOLD ME IN YOUR LOVING ARMS
Warm my heart
WARM MY COLD AND TIRED HEART
Stay with me
COME ON AND STAY WITH ME
Let lovin' start
Let lovin' start"
It's pure magic. So magical, in fact, that I had to run out and buy the album, back when there was a belief that the single was just an advertisement, the tip of the iceberg of the long player.
And "Into The Gap" is one of those albums that's playable throughout. I couldn't stop. And I'm not revising my opinion today.
The best song on the album is the opener, "Doctor! Doctor!"
It's the synth intro. And the dynamics.
"Doctor! Doctor!" is not one of those tracks you listen to passively, rather your whole body becomes involved, your head nods, your arms thrust, your fingers animate, there's just that much in the track, that much that intrigues you. It's positively modern sounds, but there's a humanity percolating throughout. It's dark without being cold. Whew!
"You Take Me Up," with its harmonica intro, is a strange combo of Beatles quirkiness and "Working In A Coal Mine." It's an album track, but it's hooky! Remember when the album cuts were as magical as the radio hits?
And then there's the second side opener, "The Gap," with its middle eastern bazaar feel without being off-putting. You can't believe it's the same album!
And only an English act could cut "Sisters Of Mercy," Americans don't make tracks with this same dreamy feel.
And "Who Can Stop The Rain" sounds like a conclusion... Like you're nearing the end. And when the needle lifts off the LP you can't help but...flip it over and play it again!
I'd like to say the follow-up, "Here's To Future Days," was as good, but it wasn't close. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't have the aforementioned magic.
Then the band got worse, further off the mark, it splintered, it reemerged as something completely different, Babble, but then Tom Bailey was done.
Yes, he was the genius. Maybe too much so. And the greats shine bright and burn out. When tedium sets in, when they realize music might save the lives of their audience, but not their own.
But I did see them at the Greek, during that summer of '84, and it was everything I wanted it to be, back when you knew the album by heart and you hoped and prayed they'd play the favorites you thought only you knew...and they did!
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz
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They emerged on to the American scene with the exquisite "In The Name Of Love"...
We've got to stop right here. This was a KROQ staple. Long before the Pasadena station was on its victory lap, which still sustains despite the outlet being far from number one. Rick Carroll had shaken up the playlist, he took a free format station with a weak signal into the eighties by turning it into a Top Forty alternative outlet. Its bones were made on two records, "Don't You Want Me" and "Tainted Love." Yup, credit KROQ, the station was on these records first. And these were the records that killed AOR, because AOR refused to play them, oh how wrong they were.
And there were so many great follow-ups, like Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough."
And the Thompson Twins' "In The Name Of Love."
It's been years since I've heard it on the radio... And stunningly, it sounds as fresh and innovative as it did thirty years ago. This sound has been gone so long, it would react with the kids...if they only heard it!
"In the name of love...
Yeah
IN THE NAME OF LOVE!"
It was about the horn intro flourish, the sounds, the groove, "In The Name Of Love" is one of those songs you hear and have to hear again, that you have to own!
And some KROQ/alternative hits followed. "Lies." And "Love On Your Side." But we were unprepared for "Hold Me Now."
The Thompson Twins were alternative, left of center, quirky...whereas "Hold Me Now" was positively MAINSTREAM! Kind of like 10cc with "The Things We Do For Love," a left field band was suddenly front and center, the Top Forty stations started playing it, it became ubiquitous, kind of like Oasis with "Wonderwall"...a left of center band suddenly hits a mainstream bullseye.
"Hold Me Now" starts off quiet and introspective. Then there's that bass, underpinning the track. And then Tom Bailey's vocal. The anti-TV show effort. The way he wraps himself around the lyrics.
But the magic is in the backup vocals. You can't help but sing along. Especially when, towards the end of the song, you get the echoes in the chorus:
"Hold me now
HOLD ME IN YOUR LOVING ARMS
Warm my heart
WARM MY COLD AND TIRED HEART
Stay with me
COME ON AND STAY WITH ME
Let lovin' start
Let lovin' start"
It's pure magic. So magical, in fact, that I had to run out and buy the album, back when there was a belief that the single was just an advertisement, the tip of the iceberg of the long player.
And "Into The Gap" is one of those albums that's playable throughout. I couldn't stop. And I'm not revising my opinion today.
The best song on the album is the opener, "Doctor! Doctor!"
It's the synth intro. And the dynamics.
"Doctor! Doctor!" is not one of those tracks you listen to passively, rather your whole body becomes involved, your head nods, your arms thrust, your fingers animate, there's just that much in the track, that much that intrigues you. It's positively modern sounds, but there's a humanity percolating throughout. It's dark without being cold. Whew!
"You Take Me Up," with its harmonica intro, is a strange combo of Beatles quirkiness and "Working In A Coal Mine." It's an album track, but it's hooky! Remember when the album cuts were as magical as the radio hits?
And then there's the second side opener, "The Gap," with its middle eastern bazaar feel without being off-putting. You can't believe it's the same album!
And only an English act could cut "Sisters Of Mercy," Americans don't make tracks with this same dreamy feel.
And "Who Can Stop The Rain" sounds like a conclusion... Like you're nearing the end. And when the needle lifts off the LP you can't help but...flip it over and play it again!
I'd like to say the follow-up, "Here's To Future Days," was as good, but it wasn't close. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't have the aforementioned magic.
Then the band got worse, further off the mark, it splintered, it reemerged as something completely different, Babble, but then Tom Bailey was done.
Yes, he was the genius. Maybe too much so. And the greats shine bright and burn out. When tedium sets in, when they realize music might save the lives of their audience, but not their own.
But I did see them at the Greek, during that summer of '84, and it was everything I wanted it to be, back when you knew the album by heart and you hoped and prayed they'd play the favorites you thought only you knew...and they did!
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz
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Thursday, 6 June 2013
E-Mail Of The Day+-reboot (read to the end and be sure to click on the link & watch the video)
Subject: Queens of the Stone Age first week sales.
Interscope only manages to move 52,000 copies first week of their last album (2007). How much have record sales decreased since 2007?
Now they're with Matador and their new record appears on track to sell 85,000 first week.
How does that happen? Have the major labels just completely forgotten how to sell alternative rock?
MSL
_________
Subject: Re: Persistence
Hi Bob,
I am curious what your thoughts are on the new Queens of the Stone Age album and release campaign. I am a lifelong fan, saw when they had an almost-hit with Songs For The Deaf, watched them sell a bunch and then fade right back out of the public conscious, and then nothing. Them Crooked Vultures was an awesome record, but the kids (understandably) didn't get it, perhaps too jammy, or insular.
Now fast forward to 2013, they are back, announcing a new album on an 'indie' label. They roll out a bunch of visually striking/disturbing videos showcasing a complete unknown's work, and now the album. I honestly didn't know how I was going to feel coming into it because of my feelings towards the last album, "Era Vulgaris". Meh at best. Upon my first listen of "...Like Clockwork", I was hesitant to get it, wondering where Josh Homme was going, but upon further listening, its beauty and craftsmanship completely reveal themselves. The lyrics are vulnerable and exposed, and the music is extraordinary. 10 songs, concise, and part of me wonders if the big names Homme has played with in the past/present (JPJ, Elton, Grohl, etc) has influenced his songwriting. It is a MAJOR step up from all of their prior work. I read things on message boards and it's clear they are one of the most polarizing rock bands out there.
They are on pace to debut at #1 and sell roughly 25,000-30,000 more first week than their last album, released by Interscope in 2007. So do you think this comes from the marketing campaign (indie signing, videos, performances on NPE, Letterman, etc) a rabid fan base who has come back around, the guest stars (but none actually credited anywhere on the album or sticker on front), or a combination of all?
I hope you dig the album too, they are a rare breed, and I'm glad to see the people are agreeing. Quality music sells. Hopefully it hangs around. They have a wonderful single ready in "I Sat By The Ocean", great breakup tune.
I'm a fanboy. Cheers and hope all is well on your side of the screen.
Billy Martin
Rochester, NY
__________________________________________________
Subject: Check out Dangerous Minds - The Rolling Stones continue their long march toward self-annihilation
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_rolling_stones_continue_their_long_march_toward_self_annihilation
Hi Bob,
Thought you might like this!
Mike Tobin
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Interscope only manages to move 52,000 copies first week of their last album (2007). How much have record sales decreased since 2007?
Now they're with Matador and their new record appears on track to sell 85,000 first week.
How does that happen? Have the major labels just completely forgotten how to sell alternative rock?
MSL
_________
Subject: Re: Persistence
Hi Bob,
I am curious what your thoughts are on the new Queens of the Stone Age album and release campaign. I am a lifelong fan, saw when they had an almost-hit with Songs For The Deaf, watched them sell a bunch and then fade right back out of the public conscious, and then nothing. Them Crooked Vultures was an awesome record, but the kids (understandably) didn't get it, perhaps too jammy, or insular.
Now fast forward to 2013, they are back, announcing a new album on an 'indie' label. They roll out a bunch of visually striking/disturbing videos showcasing a complete unknown's work, and now the album. I honestly didn't know how I was going to feel coming into it because of my feelings towards the last album, "Era Vulgaris". Meh at best. Upon my first listen of "...Like Clockwork", I was hesitant to get it, wondering where Josh Homme was going, but upon further listening, its beauty and craftsmanship completely reveal themselves. The lyrics are vulnerable and exposed, and the music is extraordinary. 10 songs, concise, and part of me wonders if the big names Homme has played with in the past/present (JPJ, Elton, Grohl, etc) has influenced his songwriting. It is a MAJOR step up from all of their prior work. I read things on message boards and it's clear they are one of the most polarizing rock bands out there.
They are on pace to debut at #1 and sell roughly 25,000-30,000 more first week than their last album, released by Interscope in 2007. So do you think this comes from the marketing campaign (indie signing, videos, performances on NPE, Letterman, etc) a rabid fan base who has come back around, the guest stars (but none actually credited anywhere on the album or sticker on front), or a combination of all?
I hope you dig the album too, they are a rare breed, and I'm glad to see the people are agreeing. Quality music sells. Hopefully it hangs around. They have a wonderful single ready in "I Sat By The Ocean", great breakup tune.
I'm a fanboy. Cheers and hope all is well on your side of the screen.
Billy Martin
Rochester, NY
__________________________________________________
Subject: Check out Dangerous Minds - The Rolling Stones continue their long march toward self-annihilation
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_rolling_stones_continue_their_long_march_toward_self_annihilation
Hi Bob,
Thought you might like this!
Mike Tobin
--
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Tell Me What You Want, And I'll Give You What You Need
Yes, that's a twist on the Doobie Brothers' number.
But this has nothing to do with that Northern California band.
That's what separates artists from everybody else. They don't give people what they want, they give people what they NEED!
If you think you know what people want, you're dreaming. They can't articulate it. Hell, talk to the dating pros. The women say they want tall dark and handsome but they end up marrying short blond and...looks-challenged. Even more so for the guys. They're not settling when they don't marry supermodels, they're finding their niche, they're finding what's right. That's what the statistics indicate, people choose contrary to what they say they want. So when you're playing to people's expectations, you're missing out.
Kind of like all those surveys saying how much kids will pay for albums... They always say albums are worth ten bucks, but then you dig deeper and they haven't bought one in eons.
I learned this long ago...
Want someone to be happy? Give them your all, deliver what you do best, not what they say they want.
Kind of like in Ibiza... They wanted me to give a closing speech, articulating the highlights of the conference. Huh? I'd already written about them and that would be boring.
So I ignored their request. Completely.
And I told the story of how I got into EDM.
Hell, I'll tell it to you now!
So I'm standing upstairs at the Whisky, with Robin Zander, and he starts telling me a joke...
A musician comes home to find his house burned down and his wife gone. He asks his next door neighbor what happened.
"Well, your manager's been coming over every day to screw your wife and he fell asleep with a lit cigarette and the house burned down and now he's in the Bahamas with your significant other and all the cash from your joint account."
MY MANAGER CAME TO MY HOUSE?
The newspaper was full of stories about an underage girl who died at the Electric Daisy Carnival in the summer of 2011. Sad story, she was only fifteen. But that was not what impressed me... They did 230,000 people in three days?
NO ONE CAN DO THAT!
There are only three stadium acts out there. U2 took all the money out, if they went on a stadium tour tomorrow, there'd be a ton of unsold seats, certainly in the U.S. As for Kenny Chesney...he had to take a year off because of soft demand, he did a bunch of papering just before that. And Taylor Swift can go clean... Maybe she could match these numbers... But she's only one act. These EDM events go wild everywhere!
EDM... The IMS people hate that term.
I chided them.
Yup, you can't be afraid of alienating people. The truth is more powerful than any ass-kissing or b.s. Kind of like Robert Gottlieb's review of Clive Davis's tome in the "New York Review Of Books." Yes, this pedigreed member of the New York publishing industry said exactly what I did, that Clive left nothing out... That it was about hagiography as opposed to readability.
But you didn't see that in a single review elsewhere.
And has anybody talked about this book for months?
Has anybody even finished it?
As for Clive, he's done. He aged out.
But Gottlieb even attacks Clive's vaunted Grammy party... WHO CARES?
Truth.
I can't tell you how much negative feedback I got for pissing on Clive's book. Hell, I wanted to like it, you just can't.
Kind of like your record. It's just not different enough, it just doesn't break new ground.
And one can argue strongly that Daft Punk's record has retread elements, but it's quite definitely not what people wanted, but it's certainly what they need.
The fans wanted something closer to Kraftwerk, something made completely with machines.
But Daft Punk surprised them. And has its biggest seller ever as a result.
EDM? Who cares what they call it. Truth is, everybody complaining about this term has been in the dance/deejay business for decades, they don't like all the newcomers. But without the newcomers, it's niche. GET OVER IT!
This rule is rampant on TV. Cable gives people what they need, deep dramas, not always with sympathetic characters. Network tries to give people what they want, and continues to fade.
And the labels just try to copy Rihanna. They go to the usual suspects to make the records. Leaving too many of the audience tuned out. Radio is even worse. Once upon a time it led, now it's a dying rearview carcass.
Apple is giving people downloads. Which they now want.
But Spotify is giving them streams, which they need.
Oh, the public says they'll never pay for access.
The same public which rented videotapes, then bought them, then bought DVDs, then rented them and now streams via Netflix.
The public has no idea what it wants.
But it's wide open to what it needs.
Robert Gottlieb "At The Top Of Pop": http://bit.ly/10TNx2E
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But this has nothing to do with that Northern California band.
That's what separates artists from everybody else. They don't give people what they want, they give people what they NEED!
If you think you know what people want, you're dreaming. They can't articulate it. Hell, talk to the dating pros. The women say they want tall dark and handsome but they end up marrying short blond and...looks-challenged. Even more so for the guys. They're not settling when they don't marry supermodels, they're finding their niche, they're finding what's right. That's what the statistics indicate, people choose contrary to what they say they want. So when you're playing to people's expectations, you're missing out.
Kind of like all those surveys saying how much kids will pay for albums... They always say albums are worth ten bucks, but then you dig deeper and they haven't bought one in eons.
I learned this long ago...
Want someone to be happy? Give them your all, deliver what you do best, not what they say they want.
Kind of like in Ibiza... They wanted me to give a closing speech, articulating the highlights of the conference. Huh? I'd already written about them and that would be boring.
So I ignored their request. Completely.
And I told the story of how I got into EDM.
Hell, I'll tell it to you now!
So I'm standing upstairs at the Whisky, with Robin Zander, and he starts telling me a joke...
A musician comes home to find his house burned down and his wife gone. He asks his next door neighbor what happened.
"Well, your manager's been coming over every day to screw your wife and he fell asleep with a lit cigarette and the house burned down and now he's in the Bahamas with your significant other and all the cash from your joint account."
MY MANAGER CAME TO MY HOUSE?
The newspaper was full of stories about an underage girl who died at the Electric Daisy Carnival in the summer of 2011. Sad story, she was only fifteen. But that was not what impressed me... They did 230,000 people in three days?
NO ONE CAN DO THAT!
There are only three stadium acts out there. U2 took all the money out, if they went on a stadium tour tomorrow, there'd be a ton of unsold seats, certainly in the U.S. As for Kenny Chesney...he had to take a year off because of soft demand, he did a bunch of papering just before that. And Taylor Swift can go clean... Maybe she could match these numbers... But she's only one act. These EDM events go wild everywhere!
EDM... The IMS people hate that term.
I chided them.
Yup, you can't be afraid of alienating people. The truth is more powerful than any ass-kissing or b.s. Kind of like Robert Gottlieb's review of Clive Davis's tome in the "New York Review Of Books." Yes, this pedigreed member of the New York publishing industry said exactly what I did, that Clive left nothing out... That it was about hagiography as opposed to readability.
But you didn't see that in a single review elsewhere.
And has anybody talked about this book for months?
Has anybody even finished it?
As for Clive, he's done. He aged out.
But Gottlieb even attacks Clive's vaunted Grammy party... WHO CARES?
Truth.
I can't tell you how much negative feedback I got for pissing on Clive's book. Hell, I wanted to like it, you just can't.
Kind of like your record. It's just not different enough, it just doesn't break new ground.
And one can argue strongly that Daft Punk's record has retread elements, but it's quite definitely not what people wanted, but it's certainly what they need.
The fans wanted something closer to Kraftwerk, something made completely with machines.
But Daft Punk surprised them. And has its biggest seller ever as a result.
EDM? Who cares what they call it. Truth is, everybody complaining about this term has been in the dance/deejay business for decades, they don't like all the newcomers. But without the newcomers, it's niche. GET OVER IT!
This rule is rampant on TV. Cable gives people what they need, deep dramas, not always with sympathetic characters. Network tries to give people what they want, and continues to fade.
And the labels just try to copy Rihanna. They go to the usual suspects to make the records. Leaving too many of the audience tuned out. Radio is even worse. Once upon a time it led, now it's a dying rearview carcass.
Apple is giving people downloads. Which they now want.
But Spotify is giving them streams, which they need.
Oh, the public says they'll never pay for access.
The same public which rented videotapes, then bought them, then bought DVDs, then rented them and now streams via Netflix.
The public has no idea what it wants.
But it's wide open to what it needs.
Robert Gottlieb "At The Top Of Pop": http://bit.ly/10TNx2E
--
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Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Persistence
That's the key today. To stay in the public eye. Constantly.
An album is released on a single date, all at once, and then it either gains traction or dies. The people who make them still think we're living in the eighties, or maybe even the seventies, when their artwork would slowly penetrate public consciousness, after being anointed by the press and made a hit by radio. Yup, radio continued to play the hits of the day. Hell, it still does! Classic Rock radio, with its Two-Fer Tuesdays and endless repetition of the same damn hits is still prominent, it's the new stuff that has trouble lasting.
That's what Facebook has right. And Twitter. And Tumblr. And Pinterest. All the social networks.
You've got to check back in.
That's what you want people to do, check back in.
How are you going to achieve this? How are you going to stay in the public eye?
First you're going to have to be really damn good. And that takes a long time to achieve. Sure, Kelly Clarkson made it, as did Carrie Underwood, but all those bitching about TV shows don't realize that the singers featured...have no career. Hell, the winner of the UK "Voice" sold fewer than 1,000 copies of her debut release (http://dailym.ai/11j4akC). It's a TV show, it's got nothing to do with music. It's about ogling stars and drama, that's it. Furthermore, both Clarkson and especially Underwood had paid their dues, they'd been trying to make it for eons. So if you're twelve and you think you're entitled to lifelong stardom, you haven't seen the Justin Bieber movie, wherein the audience boos him and he's done overnight and his manager, lauded as uber-brilliant, suddenly wakes up and realizes he's got no acts with ongoing careers. That's what you want, an ongoing career.
Second, you start small. Not because you want to, but because at first almost nobody is interested. When you're small, you work out the kinks. You get a feel for the game. And if you're great, as per above, you'll gain fans, who will spread the word. The idea of press making you a star is toast. Read the paper, go back a few years, the publicists got stories planted and the acts disappeared, because they weren't good and had no fans. It's slow to start at the bottom, making fans one by one, but it's the only way to go.
Third, you've got to satiate these fans constantly. The old paradigm of an album every three years, with an attendant worldwide tour, are done. Because today the audience has choice, not only other music, but Netflix and video games and... Once you've got your relationship, you've got to sustain it. The Major League season doesn't last a month. Nor does that of the NFL. It's about getting fans hooked, engaged, invested in the drama.
How are you going to achieve this?
I'll let you decide.
But you've got a few options...
You can constantly release new music. And it doesn't have to be perfect studio recordings, it can be YouTube covers... You want your audience thinking about you.
You can tweet and use other social media. Which is about the engagement. Artistry, when done right, defines the human condition. People fantasize and look up to artists. Artists complete them. In the old days, mystery would help. But now mystery just leaves you out of the game. Today, you've got to feed the fantasy. Round out your life for these people. So they can attach themselves to you!
You know why you hate the movies?
BECAUSE OF SEQUELMANIA! The same old tent poles. But the reason studios make them is because you're already invested, you're already hooked.
But movies are now secondary to television. And what's the breakthrough in TV? Short, straight seasons. Ten to fifteen episodes run every week until the season is done, whereupon a new series fills the block. What networks discovered was that not only did reruns alienate the core audience, it left them searching for new stuff and abandoning their shows! You never want someone to leave. You want an ongoing relationship.
And speaking of television, the front-loaded rarely lasts. "New Girl," the breakout hit of two seasons ago, is nearly toast, but "Big Bang Theory," an ancient production, has now risen to the top.
It's done all wrong in music.
You ramp up the publicity, all targeted for the album release date. All trying to drive up first week sales, so radio and retail will be impressed, even though radio and physical retail are on the decline. And any student of the chart knows it's a new album every week. That most productions enter high and then fall right down. And that the Top Ten always features unknowns...who one week later continue to be unknown. If you're thrilled you entered high you're delusional. Tell me where you are two or three or four months down the line, never mind a year!
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An album is released on a single date, all at once, and then it either gains traction or dies. The people who make them still think we're living in the eighties, or maybe even the seventies, when their artwork would slowly penetrate public consciousness, after being anointed by the press and made a hit by radio. Yup, radio continued to play the hits of the day. Hell, it still does! Classic Rock radio, with its Two-Fer Tuesdays and endless repetition of the same damn hits is still prominent, it's the new stuff that has trouble lasting.
That's what Facebook has right. And Twitter. And Tumblr. And Pinterest. All the social networks.
You've got to check back in.
That's what you want people to do, check back in.
How are you going to achieve this? How are you going to stay in the public eye?
First you're going to have to be really damn good. And that takes a long time to achieve. Sure, Kelly Clarkson made it, as did Carrie Underwood, but all those bitching about TV shows don't realize that the singers featured...have no career. Hell, the winner of the UK "Voice" sold fewer than 1,000 copies of her debut release (http://dailym.ai/11j4akC). It's a TV show, it's got nothing to do with music. It's about ogling stars and drama, that's it. Furthermore, both Clarkson and especially Underwood had paid their dues, they'd been trying to make it for eons. So if you're twelve and you think you're entitled to lifelong stardom, you haven't seen the Justin Bieber movie, wherein the audience boos him and he's done overnight and his manager, lauded as uber-brilliant, suddenly wakes up and realizes he's got no acts with ongoing careers. That's what you want, an ongoing career.
Second, you start small. Not because you want to, but because at first almost nobody is interested. When you're small, you work out the kinks. You get a feel for the game. And if you're great, as per above, you'll gain fans, who will spread the word. The idea of press making you a star is toast. Read the paper, go back a few years, the publicists got stories planted and the acts disappeared, because they weren't good and had no fans. It's slow to start at the bottom, making fans one by one, but it's the only way to go.
Third, you've got to satiate these fans constantly. The old paradigm of an album every three years, with an attendant worldwide tour, are done. Because today the audience has choice, not only other music, but Netflix and video games and... Once you've got your relationship, you've got to sustain it. The Major League season doesn't last a month. Nor does that of the NFL. It's about getting fans hooked, engaged, invested in the drama.
How are you going to achieve this?
I'll let you decide.
But you've got a few options...
You can constantly release new music. And it doesn't have to be perfect studio recordings, it can be YouTube covers... You want your audience thinking about you.
You can tweet and use other social media. Which is about the engagement. Artistry, when done right, defines the human condition. People fantasize and look up to artists. Artists complete them. In the old days, mystery would help. But now mystery just leaves you out of the game. Today, you've got to feed the fantasy. Round out your life for these people. So they can attach themselves to you!
You know why you hate the movies?
BECAUSE OF SEQUELMANIA! The same old tent poles. But the reason studios make them is because you're already invested, you're already hooked.
But movies are now secondary to television. And what's the breakthrough in TV? Short, straight seasons. Ten to fifteen episodes run every week until the season is done, whereupon a new series fills the block. What networks discovered was that not only did reruns alienate the core audience, it left them searching for new stuff and abandoning their shows! You never want someone to leave. You want an ongoing relationship.
And speaking of television, the front-loaded rarely lasts. "New Girl," the breakout hit of two seasons ago, is nearly toast, but "Big Bang Theory," an ancient production, has now risen to the top.
It's done all wrong in music.
You ramp up the publicity, all targeted for the album release date. All trying to drive up first week sales, so radio and retail will be impressed, even though radio and physical retail are on the decline. And any student of the chart knows it's a new album every week. That most productions enter high and then fall right down. And that the Top Ten always features unknowns...who one week later continue to be unknown. If you're thrilled you entered high you're delusional. Tell me where you are two or three or four months down the line, never mind a year!
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Tuesday, 4 June 2013
How I Made Something Go Viral
"Facebook Is For Old People": http://bit.ly/11fieeS
INSPIRATION
So my girlfriend points out a picture on Facebook of a rich friend on a plane with her dog and I'm reading the comments...and I see that of the wife of a famous movie producer, whose story was told in "Vanity Fair."
That's when it hit. If these people are all over Facebook, it's toast, the oldsters have taken over and the young people have left. It'd be like seeing your parents at Pacha, or the Electric Daisy Carnival, you wouldn't be interested in going anymore.
EXPERIENCE
The above inspiration didn't take place in a vacuum. All day long I'm reading about Facebook and using social media. If you think you can write a hit song with no prior experience, you're dreaming. Oh, a monkey could type "War and Peace"...but the odds are low.
Your whole life is useful information. Be ready to mine it.
EXPERIENCE 2
It was 6:35 PM and I had to leave for dinner at 7:30 and I hadn't yet taken a shower. I had to be finished writing by 7, 7:05 at the latest, otherwise my girlfriend would not be happy.
Yes, I can write that fast. And reread that quickly. I reread everything twice, first for content, second for minutiae, like spelling errors. I change almost nothing. Because I've learned over time that whenever I do this, I screw it up. Like Fleetwood Mac sang, trust your first initial feeling. Give it to us unvarnished. Don't be coy, don't understate, go full bore.
Furthermore, I can write this fast and this cogently because I've been doing it for so long. Experience counts.
INITIAL FEEDBACK
Was minimal. It was Saturday night, but...
Don't judge the success of your project instantly. Success is always a beat behind, it takes a while to percolate.
Furthermore, don't honor the initial feedback, which tends to be knee-jerk. The sycophants and the cranks respond first. Most reasonable people never respond. An artist is in the eye of the hurricane, he's clueless as to what's really going on. Just do your best work and...
THE NEXT MORNING
Sign-ups to my mailing list were growing in leaps and bounds. I couldn't figure it out, hell, I wasn't even sure which article triggered it!
Then I read my Twitter feed. Barry Ritholtz had reposted my e-mail.
Barry's a prominent Wall Street guru. You can see him on TV, read his books, read his blog. We've never met in real life, never talked on the phone, he reposted my piece because...you'll have to ask him!
And Barry's audience is different from mine. Suddenly, I wasn't in the echo chamber any longer, I'd crossed over.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING
The Boy Genius Report posted my e-mail. I know no one there. I'm not a religious reader. I found out about it by Googling myself (doesn't everybody?) And then as the hours went by, I saw the link tweeted over and over again.
TODAY
Allthingsd.com posted a quote from the article. Allthingsd is the most credible tech website out there. I wouldn't say Kara Swisher, one of its partners, sees eye to eye with me, so she certainly wasn't reposting as a favor, hell, she might still take it down!
I also got, and this was not the first time re this Facebook article, a request to reprint it on a site I'd never heard of.
CHATTER
Most of the chatter is happening outside my traditional loop. But I've also gotten e-mail hipping me to this virality. You see people are on my team. Instead of playing to those who don't care, satiate those who do.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
The article was really damn good. Yup, I'm owning it. That's why it went viral.
And also because it was about Facebook.
But was any of this in my mind when I concocted it, when I wrote it?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
I almost didn't put fingers to keyboard. Time was too tight. I was burned out. I felt whatever I did would have little effect. But I was overcome with inspiration, and I just had to lay it down.
So...
Want success?
Work hard and don't plan for it. Woodshed, but be attuned to inspiration. Do your best to ring the bell and know you have no control over what spreads and what doesn't.
CONCLUSION
I'm thrilled to have all these new subscribers. But do I think they'll stick? Doubtful. Some may be intrigued by my act, but others just aren't interested in music or skiing or the other myriad subjects I write about.
But I'm not changing for them, that's death.
I'm gonna keep playing to you!
Nah, I'm gonna keep playing to me! Because if I get lucky and nail it...the personal is universal.
"Facebook Is For Old People": http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/06/facebook-is-for-old-people/
"Acclaimed critic says 'Facebook is for old people'": http://bgr.com/2013/06/03/facebook-demographics-analysis-lefsetz/
"Don't Trust Anyone On Facebook": http://allthingsd.com/20130603/dont-trust-anyone-on-facebook/
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INSPIRATION
So my girlfriend points out a picture on Facebook of a rich friend on a plane with her dog and I'm reading the comments...and I see that of the wife of a famous movie producer, whose story was told in "Vanity Fair."
That's when it hit. If these people are all over Facebook, it's toast, the oldsters have taken over and the young people have left. It'd be like seeing your parents at Pacha, or the Electric Daisy Carnival, you wouldn't be interested in going anymore.
EXPERIENCE
The above inspiration didn't take place in a vacuum. All day long I'm reading about Facebook and using social media. If you think you can write a hit song with no prior experience, you're dreaming. Oh, a monkey could type "War and Peace"...but the odds are low.
Your whole life is useful information. Be ready to mine it.
EXPERIENCE 2
It was 6:35 PM and I had to leave for dinner at 7:30 and I hadn't yet taken a shower. I had to be finished writing by 7, 7:05 at the latest, otherwise my girlfriend would not be happy.
Yes, I can write that fast. And reread that quickly. I reread everything twice, first for content, second for minutiae, like spelling errors. I change almost nothing. Because I've learned over time that whenever I do this, I screw it up. Like Fleetwood Mac sang, trust your first initial feeling. Give it to us unvarnished. Don't be coy, don't understate, go full bore.
Furthermore, I can write this fast and this cogently because I've been doing it for so long. Experience counts.
INITIAL FEEDBACK
Was minimal. It was Saturday night, but...
Don't judge the success of your project instantly. Success is always a beat behind, it takes a while to percolate.
Furthermore, don't honor the initial feedback, which tends to be knee-jerk. The sycophants and the cranks respond first. Most reasonable people never respond. An artist is in the eye of the hurricane, he's clueless as to what's really going on. Just do your best work and...
THE NEXT MORNING
Sign-ups to my mailing list were growing in leaps and bounds. I couldn't figure it out, hell, I wasn't even sure which article triggered it!
Then I read my Twitter feed. Barry Ritholtz had reposted my e-mail.
Barry's a prominent Wall Street guru. You can see him on TV, read his books, read his blog. We've never met in real life, never talked on the phone, he reposted my piece because...you'll have to ask him!
And Barry's audience is different from mine. Suddenly, I wasn't in the echo chamber any longer, I'd crossed over.
THE FOLLOWING MORNING
The Boy Genius Report posted my e-mail. I know no one there. I'm not a religious reader. I found out about it by Googling myself (doesn't everybody?) And then as the hours went by, I saw the link tweeted over and over again.
TODAY
Allthingsd.com posted a quote from the article. Allthingsd is the most credible tech website out there. I wouldn't say Kara Swisher, one of its partners, sees eye to eye with me, so she certainly wasn't reposting as a favor, hell, she might still take it down!
I also got, and this was not the first time re this Facebook article, a request to reprint it on a site I'd never heard of.
CHATTER
Most of the chatter is happening outside my traditional loop. But I've also gotten e-mail hipping me to this virality. You see people are on my team. Instead of playing to those who don't care, satiate those who do.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
The article was really damn good. Yup, I'm owning it. That's why it went viral.
And also because it was about Facebook.
But was any of this in my mind when I concocted it, when I wrote it?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
I almost didn't put fingers to keyboard. Time was too tight. I was burned out. I felt whatever I did would have little effect. But I was overcome with inspiration, and I just had to lay it down.
So...
Want success?
Work hard and don't plan for it. Woodshed, but be attuned to inspiration. Do your best to ring the bell and know you have no control over what spreads and what doesn't.
CONCLUSION
I'm thrilled to have all these new subscribers. But do I think they'll stick? Doubtful. Some may be intrigued by my act, but others just aren't interested in music or skiing or the other myriad subjects I write about.
But I'm not changing for them, that's death.
I'm gonna keep playing to you!
Nah, I'm gonna keep playing to me! Because if I get lucky and nail it...the personal is universal.
"Facebook Is For Old People": http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/06/facebook-is-for-old-people/
"Acclaimed critic says 'Facebook is for old people'": http://bgr.com/2013/06/03/facebook-demographics-analysis-lefsetz/
"Don't Trust Anyone On Facebook": http://allthingsd.com/20130603/dont-trust-anyone-on-facebook/
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Monday, 3 June 2013
The Way John Fogerty Should Have Done It
1. E-Mail Addresses
If you're gonna sell anything, you've got to know who your audience is. Not generally, but specifically, i.e. their names, their addresses.
In the old days it was important to know the gatekeepers.
Now, whatever gatekeepers are left are less powerful than ever before.
The Internet allows you to go direct. Why do you want to use a middle man?
Apple knows this. That's why they built their own online store. And burnished it with free help at the Genius Bar in the retail establishment.
You want everybody to rally around you.
Used to be everybody rallied around the label. Yes, the gatekeepers, especially retail, had a relationship with the label. The acts didn't especially matter, as long as something sold. Now you've got to step up and establish relationships yourself, which hopefully will last forever. As for retail, anybody can get on iTunes and Spotify. And if you're not on Spotify, you're reducing the chance of your music being sampled.
If you're a heritage artist, you've got to start early, way in advance of the release of new material.
a. E-mail addresses... You need a clipboard at every gig. You need a song giveaway on your website in exchange for an e-mail address. You don't need to employ your list on a regular basis, the addresses are land mines ready to be deployed when you've got something to sell. If you want to interact on a regular basis, do so, but it's not necessary if you've already got a profile. But you must be able to push the button and reach your people when you're ready.
b. Facebook... Have a presence there, especially if you're an old act. People go to your website and Facebook, keep updating them with content, which will bring people back, so that when you do have something new to sell, they'll see it, because they're visiting.
c. Twitter... You want a high count. You can buy a starter base, so you don't look like you're nowhere, but the key is to grow it. Easiest way if you're a star? Announce you're going on Twitter and tweet up a storm for a week. You can lay off then, after you've gained all your followers. Almost nobody unfollows on Twitter. When you finally have something to say, your audience will see it...well, at least part of your audience, no one sees everything on Twitter. And if you want to tweet on a regular basis, go for it! But it must be you and it must be personal. If you're not evidencing your personality online, don't participate. We may not be interested in what a friend had for breakfast, but we love finding out you hate eggs and drink beer first thing in the morning.
2. ONE TRACK!
Since no one is interested in your new material, don't overload us. An album is for hard core fans anyway. But since your fans are antiques, and barely buy any new material, you're gonna sell bupkes. Furthermore, it's all about ticket sales anyway. You want your number to go up. So you want some new excitement, which motivates the oldsters to go and take their kids.
So you need one certifiable hit.
This may require you to write and record ten or twenty. It might be necessary to cowrite. You might have to humble yourself, let other people hear your music and tell you what's wrong with it, how it can be improved. If what you release isn't a one listen smash, don't even bother.
Since Fogerty came back once with "Centerfield," he could probably do it again.
3. Target
If you're going for radio...
The only thing that counts, that sells tonnage, is Top Forty. (And of course country, but that's something wholly different, and they hate intruders, Hootie made it, but Bon Jovi's been frozen out...you've got to be humble, play the game, call Doc McGhee to find out how he did it with Darius Rucker, or else hire him if this is your game! Sheryl Crow is laying the groundwork for a country crossover right now. She's almost off the radar, which is rare for her. She knows country is a club, and the members decide if you get in.)
As for Top Forty, you're lucky, the spectrum of music the format is playing is expanding, it's not solely beat-driven drivel. If you want to be on Top Forty, call the people who win there, maybe even use them. Whether it be Dr. Luke or Max Martin.
If you don't want to play the Top Forty game, you've got to find the niche where your new music applies...
Maybe it's television. Your new track has to be the signature sound of a station, not only featured in an episode of a drama. Make it the summer anthem of ESPN, even the bumper music for HBO, be creative.
And don't be afraid to think small, as long as it's not TOO small...
You can be the NASCAR theme. The NHL theme. All those people talk, if you deliver, they will spread the word.
4. From The Bottom Up
Your success depends upon the people. They're gonna break your record, not the press. Press is a baby boomer circle jerk. The writers love you and you love showing your oldster friends the ink, but it doesn't move the needle. Otherwise the biggest stars in music would be Kacey Musgraves and Jason Isbell, with loving pieces in the "New York Times Magazine" that barely moved the needle.
You're better off doing reddit than the "Times."
Then again, Fogerty did this. And he did Marc Maron too.
But Maron's crappy with musicians, they're not in his wheelhouse.
You're better off doing Alec Baldwin, who at least asks intelligent questions.
And there are other podcasts to be on. All of them may have small audiences, but their listeners are PASSIONATE! They don't stop talking about their favorites. They can get the buzz going if you've got something that delivers.
5. Delivering
If Fogerty's smart, he'll use this covers album as a set-up. And release that one new song...soon. I'd say July 1st, while there's still some heat from the promo. Certainly no later than September 1st.
Then we'd be blown away.
P.S. Regarding Jason Isbell... I got a bunch of e-mail about the piece in the "Times." Turning me on to a great artist? No, making sure I saw his inane comments about Spotify! Not one person e-mailed me about his music! It doesn't matter what your musician friends, oftentimes out of touch and ignorant, have to say, but the public, the audience, the people who spend their hard-earned cash to keep you alive.
"He used a single word, 'evil,' to describe Spotify, the online music-streaming service. 'I think Spotify is honestly just another one of Sean Parker's ways of ripping musicians off,' Isbell said, referring to the Napster co-founder who has a stake in Spotify. His comic mini-rant about Parker was so expletive-filled that, to paraphrase Mary McCarthy, even the words 'and' and 'the' from it are not printable here. But the gist of his complaint is this: 'People can listen to your album over and over on Spotify, and you don’t really make anything on it.'"
http://nyti.ms/18EirO0
a. Mr. Isbell may know something about music, but he knows nothing about business. Spotify gives a minimum of 70% of revenues to rightsholders. And when the service scales, a lot of money rains down, this is already happening overseas. I guess Jason wouldn't invest in a wireless company, seeing all that upfront expense...to make BILLIONS later! And sure, Spotify revenues in the U.S. are low now, and the service is being built upon the backs of artists, but it's better than THEFT, which Spotify reduces.
b. If not on Spotify, where is someone to hear Mr. Isbell's music? You've got to allow people to sample for free. If you think they're going to purchase your album without hearing it first, you're still buying CDs at the record shop and missed out on the entire twenty first century. It's a privilege to have your music heard. In today's market, it's almost an impossibility. There's plenty of money to be made if you have fans. And the way you grow fans is by having them hear your music, you've got to make it EASY!
c. Wanna know how I know the "Times" article had little impact, no virality? By utilizing the link-shortening service bitly. The Isbell article in the "Times" was only clicked on 16 times. The data's all here: https://bitly.com/18EirO0+ Furthermore, notice that the sharing was on Friday, when the article was online, not on Sunday, when it hit the street in print form.
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If you're gonna sell anything, you've got to know who your audience is. Not generally, but specifically, i.e. their names, their addresses.
In the old days it was important to know the gatekeepers.
Now, whatever gatekeepers are left are less powerful than ever before.
The Internet allows you to go direct. Why do you want to use a middle man?
Apple knows this. That's why they built their own online store. And burnished it with free help at the Genius Bar in the retail establishment.
You want everybody to rally around you.
Used to be everybody rallied around the label. Yes, the gatekeepers, especially retail, had a relationship with the label. The acts didn't especially matter, as long as something sold. Now you've got to step up and establish relationships yourself, which hopefully will last forever. As for retail, anybody can get on iTunes and Spotify. And if you're not on Spotify, you're reducing the chance of your music being sampled.
If you're a heritage artist, you've got to start early, way in advance of the release of new material.
a. E-mail addresses... You need a clipboard at every gig. You need a song giveaway on your website in exchange for an e-mail address. You don't need to employ your list on a regular basis, the addresses are land mines ready to be deployed when you've got something to sell. If you want to interact on a regular basis, do so, but it's not necessary if you've already got a profile. But you must be able to push the button and reach your people when you're ready.
b. Facebook... Have a presence there, especially if you're an old act. People go to your website and Facebook, keep updating them with content, which will bring people back, so that when you do have something new to sell, they'll see it, because they're visiting.
c. Twitter... You want a high count. You can buy a starter base, so you don't look like you're nowhere, but the key is to grow it. Easiest way if you're a star? Announce you're going on Twitter and tweet up a storm for a week. You can lay off then, after you've gained all your followers. Almost nobody unfollows on Twitter. When you finally have something to say, your audience will see it...well, at least part of your audience, no one sees everything on Twitter. And if you want to tweet on a regular basis, go for it! But it must be you and it must be personal. If you're not evidencing your personality online, don't participate. We may not be interested in what a friend had for breakfast, but we love finding out you hate eggs and drink beer first thing in the morning.
2. ONE TRACK!
Since no one is interested in your new material, don't overload us. An album is for hard core fans anyway. But since your fans are antiques, and barely buy any new material, you're gonna sell bupkes. Furthermore, it's all about ticket sales anyway. You want your number to go up. So you want some new excitement, which motivates the oldsters to go and take their kids.
So you need one certifiable hit.
This may require you to write and record ten or twenty. It might be necessary to cowrite. You might have to humble yourself, let other people hear your music and tell you what's wrong with it, how it can be improved. If what you release isn't a one listen smash, don't even bother.
Since Fogerty came back once with "Centerfield," he could probably do it again.
3. Target
If you're going for radio...
The only thing that counts, that sells tonnage, is Top Forty. (And of course country, but that's something wholly different, and they hate intruders, Hootie made it, but Bon Jovi's been frozen out...you've got to be humble, play the game, call Doc McGhee to find out how he did it with Darius Rucker, or else hire him if this is your game! Sheryl Crow is laying the groundwork for a country crossover right now. She's almost off the radar, which is rare for her. She knows country is a club, and the members decide if you get in.)
As for Top Forty, you're lucky, the spectrum of music the format is playing is expanding, it's not solely beat-driven drivel. If you want to be on Top Forty, call the people who win there, maybe even use them. Whether it be Dr. Luke or Max Martin.
If you don't want to play the Top Forty game, you've got to find the niche where your new music applies...
Maybe it's television. Your new track has to be the signature sound of a station, not only featured in an episode of a drama. Make it the summer anthem of ESPN, even the bumper music for HBO, be creative.
And don't be afraid to think small, as long as it's not TOO small...
You can be the NASCAR theme. The NHL theme. All those people talk, if you deliver, they will spread the word.
4. From The Bottom Up
Your success depends upon the people. They're gonna break your record, not the press. Press is a baby boomer circle jerk. The writers love you and you love showing your oldster friends the ink, but it doesn't move the needle. Otherwise the biggest stars in music would be Kacey Musgraves and Jason Isbell, with loving pieces in the "New York Times Magazine" that barely moved the needle.
You're better off doing reddit than the "Times."
Then again, Fogerty did this. And he did Marc Maron too.
But Maron's crappy with musicians, they're not in his wheelhouse.
You're better off doing Alec Baldwin, who at least asks intelligent questions.
And there are other podcasts to be on. All of them may have small audiences, but their listeners are PASSIONATE! They don't stop talking about their favorites. They can get the buzz going if you've got something that delivers.
5. Delivering
If Fogerty's smart, he'll use this covers album as a set-up. And release that one new song...soon. I'd say July 1st, while there's still some heat from the promo. Certainly no later than September 1st.
Then we'd be blown away.
P.S. Regarding Jason Isbell... I got a bunch of e-mail about the piece in the "Times." Turning me on to a great artist? No, making sure I saw his inane comments about Spotify! Not one person e-mailed me about his music! It doesn't matter what your musician friends, oftentimes out of touch and ignorant, have to say, but the public, the audience, the people who spend their hard-earned cash to keep you alive.
"He used a single word, 'evil,' to describe Spotify, the online music-streaming service. 'I think Spotify is honestly just another one of Sean Parker's ways of ripping musicians off,' Isbell said, referring to the Napster co-founder who has a stake in Spotify. His comic mini-rant about Parker was so expletive-filled that, to paraphrase Mary McCarthy, even the words 'and' and 'the' from it are not printable here. But the gist of his complaint is this: 'People can listen to your album over and over on Spotify, and you don’t really make anything on it.'"
http://nyti.ms/18EirO0
a. Mr. Isbell may know something about music, but he knows nothing about business. Spotify gives a minimum of 70% of revenues to rightsholders. And when the service scales, a lot of money rains down, this is already happening overseas. I guess Jason wouldn't invest in a wireless company, seeing all that upfront expense...to make BILLIONS later! And sure, Spotify revenues in the U.S. are low now, and the service is being built upon the backs of artists, but it's better than THEFT, which Spotify reduces.
b. If not on Spotify, where is someone to hear Mr. Isbell's music? You've got to allow people to sample for free. If you think they're going to purchase your album without hearing it first, you're still buying CDs at the record shop and missed out on the entire twenty first century. It's a privilege to have your music heard. In today's market, it's almost an impossibility. There's plenty of money to be made if you have fans. And the way you grow fans is by having them hear your music, you've got to make it EASY!
c. Wanna know how I know the "Times" article had little impact, no virality? By utilizing the link-shortening service bitly. The Isbell article in the "Times" was only clicked on 16 times. The data's all here: https://bitly.com/18EirO0+ Furthermore, notice that the sharing was on Friday, when the article was online, not on Sunday, when it hit the street in print form.
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Mailbag
Subject: Re: Rhinofy-Higher Love- from Philippe Saisse
Mr Lefsetz:
It is both humbling and an honor to be mentioned in your blog which I have been following for years now (my partner in crime Simon Phillilps has turned me on to you years ago). It is REALLY nice to be mentioned in the same breath as my other friends and colleagues.
However, Jimmy Bralower should be acknowledged for having programmed those killer drums and that wacky intro timbale groove.
Stevie actually deserves all the credit for that bass line which I have only augmented in parts. The truth is, you are SO COMPLETELY RIGHT about the cost of that particular record (or any other records made in those days and that I have had the privilege of working on as a NY studio musician working with Arif Mardin, Nile Rodgers, Russ Titelman, Phil Ramone, Mick Jagger etc...).
Russ hired me to fly with him to the UK and we stayed at Winwood’s home in the suburbs of London for weeks preparing demos, writing charts and lead sheets and working on the arrangements of the new songs in his home studio. Russ and Stevie meticulously chose and tweaked the songs so that when sessions started at then Power Station studios, everything was ready to go and we all fell into place. Costly? You bet, but as you can attest, there is a reason why that record sounds like that: Stevie and Russ were connected and on top of their game.
I also have fond memories of the music video shoot for Higher Love with Nile and Chaka. Having been part of her “I Feel For You†smash (my first NY session!) and Nile’s then frequent collaborator (Outloud, Chic, Al Jarreau etc...) it also just happened that my parents were visiting NYC at that time and sat in at the video shoot. Stevie, Chaka and Nile were gracious enough to take pictures which them and those are still on the wall at my parents home and I will never forget my late father (then an executive at Columbia France) telling me with such exuberance: "THIS song is a SMASH HIT!!!! I TELL YOU"...;)
Thank you Mr. Lefsetz for this most inspiring and hopeful article.
Yours truly,
Philippe Saisse
Calabasas, CA
_______________________________________
From: TOM LIPUMA
Subject: Re: Mailbag
Hi Bob,
I'm pleased that your readers enjoyed the "Alone Together" stories.,
In regard to the gentleman whose album was black vinyl, and whose wife had the multi-colored disk, we had those pressed at the Columbia records plant in Santa Maria Calif.
Great story about that: Bob Krasnow and I drove there to meet the person who ran the plant, and see if we could do business with him for our fledgling label. As it turns out, it was a state of the art pressing plant that had just installed automated machines that used vinyl pellets that were fed automatically into a machine that squirted the melted vinyl right on to the press, instead of someone having to manually place the lump of vinyl onto the press, thus saving time when you were pressing thousands an hour. After a tour of the plant, we retired to his office and took a seat in front of his desk, which had about ten clear plastic containers with different colored pellets in them. Of course being the days of "living better through chemistry" was our motto, we had taken some owsley acid on the drive up, so we were definitely in the right frame of mind to ask him if they could press our record in one of those colors. He said of course, and we asked if we could take some samples back to Barry Feinstein who was designing the album package for us, and get his input. Barry loved the idea, but asked if they could mix all the colors together to get the tie-dye effect. They said yes they could, so back up to Santa Maria we went, except this time with Barry, to pick what colors to use to make the right color swirl for the disc. And then off we were, except the problem was, every time they finished pressing up an order for us, they had to break down the press and clean it out so they could resume using it for other orders with black vinyl. Being more creative minded than practical, we kept that going for awhile, until our accountant advised us that our profit was going down the rabbit hole. Thus just a limited amount were pressed.
Just one other thing, in regard to Bob Zimmerman's e-mail. Delaney and Bonnie did record "Only You Know And I Know" before we did, but as far as my memory serves me, Delaney didn't do anything on the album other than sing backgrounds along with Bonnie, Rita Coolidge, Graham Nash and a few other singers' whose names evade me at this time' on a cut called "Waitin On You"
By the way, I went to see Dave about two months ago in Port Washington (Long Island) and he blew me and the crowd away. For your readers who asked, He sounds better than ever. I think the years of living have seasoned his voice for the better, and his guitar playing is superb.
Please send my best regards to Wendy Waldman, I haven't seen her since the A&M days.
My best,
Tommy
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Mr Lefsetz:
It is both humbling and an honor to be mentioned in your blog which I have been following for years now (my partner in crime Simon Phillilps has turned me on to you years ago). It is REALLY nice to be mentioned in the same breath as my other friends and colleagues.
However, Jimmy Bralower should be acknowledged for having programmed those killer drums and that wacky intro timbale groove.
Stevie actually deserves all the credit for that bass line which I have only augmented in parts. The truth is, you are SO COMPLETELY RIGHT about the cost of that particular record (or any other records made in those days and that I have had the privilege of working on as a NY studio musician working with Arif Mardin, Nile Rodgers, Russ Titelman, Phil Ramone, Mick Jagger etc...).
Russ hired me to fly with him to the UK and we stayed at Winwood’s home in the suburbs of London for weeks preparing demos, writing charts and lead sheets and working on the arrangements of the new songs in his home studio. Russ and Stevie meticulously chose and tweaked the songs so that when sessions started at then Power Station studios, everything was ready to go and we all fell into place. Costly? You bet, but as you can attest, there is a reason why that record sounds like that: Stevie and Russ were connected and on top of their game.
I also have fond memories of the music video shoot for Higher Love with Nile and Chaka. Having been part of her “I Feel For You†smash (my first NY session!) and Nile’s then frequent collaborator (Outloud, Chic, Al Jarreau etc...) it also just happened that my parents were visiting NYC at that time and sat in at the video shoot. Stevie, Chaka and Nile were gracious enough to take pictures which them and those are still on the wall at my parents home and I will never forget my late father (then an executive at Columbia France) telling me with such exuberance: "THIS song is a SMASH HIT!!!! I TELL YOU"...;)
Thank you Mr. Lefsetz for this most inspiring and hopeful article.
Yours truly,
Philippe Saisse
Calabasas, CA
_______________________________________
From: TOM LIPUMA
Subject: Re: Mailbag
Hi Bob,
I'm pleased that your readers enjoyed the "Alone Together" stories.,
In regard to the gentleman whose album was black vinyl, and whose wife had the multi-colored disk, we had those pressed at the Columbia records plant in Santa Maria Calif.
Great story about that: Bob Krasnow and I drove there to meet the person who ran the plant, and see if we could do business with him for our fledgling label. As it turns out, it was a state of the art pressing plant that had just installed automated machines that used vinyl pellets that were fed automatically into a machine that squirted the melted vinyl right on to the press, instead of someone having to manually place the lump of vinyl onto the press, thus saving time when you were pressing thousands an hour. After a tour of the plant, we retired to his office and took a seat in front of his desk, which had about ten clear plastic containers with different colored pellets in them. Of course being the days of "living better through chemistry" was our motto, we had taken some owsley acid on the drive up, so we were definitely in the right frame of mind to ask him if they could press our record in one of those colors. He said of course, and we asked if we could take some samples back to Barry Feinstein who was designing the album package for us, and get his input. Barry loved the idea, but asked if they could mix all the colors together to get the tie-dye effect. They said yes they could, so back up to Santa Maria we went, except this time with Barry, to pick what colors to use to make the right color swirl for the disc. And then off we were, except the problem was, every time they finished pressing up an order for us, they had to break down the press and clean it out so they could resume using it for other orders with black vinyl. Being more creative minded than practical, we kept that going for awhile, until our accountant advised us that our profit was going down the rabbit hole. Thus just a limited amount were pressed.
Just one other thing, in regard to Bob Zimmerman's e-mail. Delaney and Bonnie did record "Only You Know And I Know" before we did, but as far as my memory serves me, Delaney didn't do anything on the album other than sing backgrounds along with Bonnie, Rita Coolidge, Graham Nash and a few other singers' whose names evade me at this time' on a cut called "Waitin On You"
By the way, I went to see Dave about two months ago in Port Washington (Long Island) and he blew me and the crowd away. For your readers who asked, He sounds better than ever. I think the years of living have seasoned his voice for the better, and his guitar playing is superb.
Please send my best regards to Wendy Waldman, I haven't seen her since the A&M days.
My best,
Tommy
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