And there used to be music. No longer.
In just the last few generations, we have witnessed the complete devolution of the mainstream of music from the intricacies and demands of jazz, swing and modern "classical"; the subtleties and finesse of the best of popular song writing; the mastery of "folk" instruments and vocal performance in the best of folk and rock; the singular high-mindedness of the greatest singer songwriters; and the hard-won craft of playing and writing and creating meaningful work, to four bar grids of "cut and paste" monotony over which someone writes shallow nursery rhymes about partying, trucks and beer or bitches and bling, or whines in hardly rhyming verse about their sad little white boy or girl life.
There are occasional exceptions, of course. But where are the anthems, the protest songs, the songs to march to or the ideas to fight for, the truths to believe in. Instead it's all about "me".
"Glory" from the film "Selma" is the great current exception - as is Kendrick Lamarr's work. And - yes - let's not forget the valiant Dixie Chicks!! But mostly there's little more than a bit of catchy ear candy and nice beats.
All that talk about the "me generation" turns out to be true. We lost "us" in the 80's and since then we only care about ourselves and our personal gain; we only want the money.
The rhetoric endures - as it does in politics. There's not a single human working in the "music industry" who doesn't say that they're in it for the music, for the art form. Just like there's no politician who doesn't claim to be doing it to serve their country or community. But the reality is, we're all in everything for the pay off. Period.
There used to be meaning. No more.
With our music and words, we used to fight for freedom; we used to incite change; we used to elevate each other; we used to speak for all of us and literally move mountains.
No more.
Thanks for reminding us of this, Bob.
Bob Ezrin
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Saturday, 25 April 2015
Music First, Stardom Second
I can't get an Apple Watch, but every celebrity known to man has been seeded one to make them look cool. Who's using who? And if you think it's the musicians who are coming out ahead, you own no Apple stock.
Used to be different. Players weren't rich. They were in it for the dope, the sex, the hang and the music. It was a lifestyle. What did Donald Fagen sing in "Deacon Blues"..."I cried when I wrote this song, sue me if I play too long"? There are no blues in popular music today. No one's crying, unless it's about the loss of recorded music revenue as they charge a zillion dollars for a ticket.
Once again, watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEsJqtiU-2A
In it you'll see how rich Jay Z and Madonna and the rest of the Tidalites truly are. Turns your stomach, makes you lose sympathy.
Ever know any bluebloods?
I certainly did. Back in Connecticut. They wore chinos and Topsiders and drove old Fords, they didn't flaunt their wealth, it was unseemly. Now it's all about showing how rich you are. Then again, a lot of the techies don't. Zuck wears a hoodie and doesn't brag about flying private, that's for the "artists."
No wonder no one believes in them.
That's the Tidal story. It's got nothing to do with streaming and everything to do with income inequality. Once upon a time it was about forming a tribe, a fan base, people who heard your music and followed you everywhere. No one wanted to follow anybody to Tidal. Why?
The story was completely missed by the media. Because the goal is to write a book and go on a lecture tour. Used to be writers were outsiders who were in it for the alcohol and the truth. Now they're wannabe stars themselves, who don't want to offend anyone on their way up.
Once the artist is divorced from his fan base, he's screwed.
Your fans are all you've got. Life is long. You want them in your pocket after your hits dry up. And they will. No one has ever sustained.
But the players play on.
The classic rockers didn't know there was that much money in it. Go back and read the interviews. Ringo figured he'd become a hairdresser, everybody was out on a lark, having fun before their real lives began. No one thought being a rock musician was a role you could play to the end of your days.
But today Ringo hypes Skechers.
Explain this to me Mr. Starkey... Do you want to buy a baseball team? Don't you have enough cash? Or are we supposed to believe you just want the rest of the world to be turned on to a great product.
But that's food. Something evanescent that everybody's talking about. Remember chefs? The unheralded nobodies? Then they were in the right place at the right time and they became rich and famous. The stardom comes AFTER!
But today everybody believes it comes before.
They want to be famous, they want to be rich.
They don't want to be musicians.
A musician is someone who practices, ALONE! Explain that to today's social media darlings.
And a musician is someone who is oftentimes ignored. Sometimes for his entire career. And a musician never bitches he can't get paid, he's privileged to be playing.
But not today! Today everybody with a YouTube clip feels entitled to be wealthy. They'll spam you to watch and complain if you don't. As if everybody could make it. What, are we living in Lake Wobegon?
How about saying no. How about ending the fashion parade and the ghost writes and sitting down and hammering it out yourself. How about testing limits and blowing our minds.
But that can't happen. That's too hard. It might piss somebody off. Remember the Dixie Chicks?
AT LEAST WE DO!
Most of their contemporaries have faded in the rearview mirror. Because if you don't stand for something, you stand for nothing.
We want people who stand for something. We're a nation of followers looking for leaders.
They used to be musicians.
No longer.
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Used to be different. Players weren't rich. They were in it for the dope, the sex, the hang and the music. It was a lifestyle. What did Donald Fagen sing in "Deacon Blues"..."I cried when I wrote this song, sue me if I play too long"? There are no blues in popular music today. No one's crying, unless it's about the loss of recorded music revenue as they charge a zillion dollars for a ticket.
Once again, watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEsJqtiU-2A
In it you'll see how rich Jay Z and Madonna and the rest of the Tidalites truly are. Turns your stomach, makes you lose sympathy.
Ever know any bluebloods?
I certainly did. Back in Connecticut. They wore chinos and Topsiders and drove old Fords, they didn't flaunt their wealth, it was unseemly. Now it's all about showing how rich you are. Then again, a lot of the techies don't. Zuck wears a hoodie and doesn't brag about flying private, that's for the "artists."
No wonder no one believes in them.
That's the Tidal story. It's got nothing to do with streaming and everything to do with income inequality. Once upon a time it was about forming a tribe, a fan base, people who heard your music and followed you everywhere. No one wanted to follow anybody to Tidal. Why?
The story was completely missed by the media. Because the goal is to write a book and go on a lecture tour. Used to be writers were outsiders who were in it for the alcohol and the truth. Now they're wannabe stars themselves, who don't want to offend anyone on their way up.
Once the artist is divorced from his fan base, he's screwed.
Your fans are all you've got. Life is long. You want them in your pocket after your hits dry up. And they will. No one has ever sustained.
But the players play on.
The classic rockers didn't know there was that much money in it. Go back and read the interviews. Ringo figured he'd become a hairdresser, everybody was out on a lark, having fun before their real lives began. No one thought being a rock musician was a role you could play to the end of your days.
But today Ringo hypes Skechers.
Explain this to me Mr. Starkey... Do you want to buy a baseball team? Don't you have enough cash? Or are we supposed to believe you just want the rest of the world to be turned on to a great product.
But that's food. Something evanescent that everybody's talking about. Remember chefs? The unheralded nobodies? Then they were in the right place at the right time and they became rich and famous. The stardom comes AFTER!
But today everybody believes it comes before.
They want to be famous, they want to be rich.
They don't want to be musicians.
A musician is someone who practices, ALONE! Explain that to today's social media darlings.
And a musician is someone who is oftentimes ignored. Sometimes for his entire career. And a musician never bitches he can't get paid, he's privileged to be playing.
But not today! Today everybody with a YouTube clip feels entitled to be wealthy. They'll spam you to watch and complain if you don't. As if everybody could make it. What, are we living in Lake Wobegon?
How about saying no. How about ending the fashion parade and the ghost writes and sitting down and hammering it out yourself. How about testing limits and blowing our minds.
But that can't happen. That's too hard. It might piss somebody off. Remember the Dixie Chicks?
AT LEAST WE DO!
Most of their contemporaries have faded in the rearview mirror. Because if you don't stand for something, you stand for nothing.
We want people who stand for something. We're a nation of followers looking for leaders.
They used to be musicians.
No longer.
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Friday, 24 April 2015
Rhinofy-WABC Top Ten-2/24/65
1. "This Diamond Ring"
Gary Lewis & the Playboys
Cowritten by our Lefsetz favorite, Al Kooper. However, Al was horrified by this take until the royalty checks started piling in. Al saw it as a soul number. And I'm including Al's take from his 1977 album "Act Like Nothing's Wrong," check it out.
But Gary Lewis's version was different. Haunting, very sixties.
Let's see, February 1965. We were one year into the British Invasion, long enough for the hysteria to die down and allow American acts onto the chart.
And this week I spent with my parents at the Concord, in Kiamesha Lake, New York. Sick from a rained-out Christmas in Vermont, they wanted to take no chances, the Concord had a ski area, however minimal.
It also had entertainment. That week Neil Sedaka. I was too young to know "Calendar Girl" when it was a hit, but I remember hearing Neil perform it that evening, and banging the knockers on the table instead of clapping...that's what you did.
"Who wants to buy this diamond ring
She took it off her finger now it doesn't mean a thing"
How different from today, where everybody's a winner, not only in rap but pop. What did Pink sing...that the party could finally start because she arrived? Make me puke.
Life is full of losses. Big ones and little ones. And when you experience discomfort, you turn to the tunes.
And you saved them up for when they were necessary. I'm not sure I'd been rejected when I first heard "This Diamond Ring," but I certainly have been since!
2. "Downtown"
Petula Clark
How did you pronounce it? "Pet" like the animal or "Petch"? I'm still not sure. But I'm absolutely positive this was a huge smash that winter. My little sister bought the single.
Although British, this was a respite from the usual male stuff. We had no idea that Petula had been at it for years, was not brand new, this was back before the internet provided all the answers.
Brings you right back. This track was made for the listener only, even if you were listening in a group.
So GO DOWNTOWN
Where all the lights are bright
DOWNTOWN
Waiting for you tonight
DOWNTOWN
You're gonna be all right now...
3. "Eight Days A Week"
The Beatles
You know it by heart, doesn't everybody?
Obviously not on Spotify, but just click the chip in your brain and you'll hear it.
From my favorite Beatles album, "Beatles For Sale," but I didn't know that until the CDs came out in America in their proper form decades later.
The way the song comes over the hill, the way it gets louder, John Lennon's vocal, the handclaps, the bridge...a stone cold smash. Then, now and forevermore.
4. "My Girl"
The Temptations
I was just too young.
I'd had my first girlfriend. I even looked her up online, took me years, positively horrifying, never mess with your memories.
But, I hadn't had enough love experience to fully understand "My Girl." Of course it's a masterpiece, but I've recognized this more as the years have gone by, sometimes you hear something so many times it seems less than special, but in this case that is wrong, it doesn't get much better than this.
5. "The Name Game"
Shirley Ellis
Okay, let's do CHUCK!
The funny thing is this song gets little airplay, but every baby boomer can sing its complicated lyrics.
Come on...
"Arnold!
Arnold, Arnold bo Barnold Bonana fanna fo Farnold
Fee fy mo Marnold, Arnold!"
6. "Goldfinger"
Shirley Bassey
Remember when they flipped over the pool table and there was a model of Fort Knox?!
"Goldfinger" was the movie that ensconced James Bond in the public consciousness, it was the one with the tricked-out Aston Martin they exhibited at the New York World's Fair.
One can argue the film's predecessor, "From Russia With Love," was superior, but "Goldfinger" was in your face, it had Pussy Galore, it had this track.
The girl was literally painted gold. Story was they left part of her skin unpainted, otherwise she would have died.
Nothing like the British Invasion numbers, this was still from the island nation and its bombast was foreign enough to stop us in our tracks and mesmerize us.
7. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"
The Righteous Brothers
Nearly Phil Spector's last hurrah. A throwback to what had come before...before the Beatles, who ultimately used Spector themselves.
To say this was overplayed... It was ubiquitous, it made me yearn for more British Invasion stuff on the radio. Like "My Girl," I've come to love it as time has gone by. You know what turned me? Bill Medley's duet with Jennifer Warnes on "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" from the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack.
There used to be movies like this, that the whole nation rallied around because they captured the zeitgeist from years gone by. Stuff like "American Graffiti" and "Dirty Dancing." It wasn't real, but in some way it was. I refused to see "Dirty Dancing" in the theatre, but my then wife and I rented the videotape and couldn't stop watching it for the twenty four hours until we returned it. And hearing Bill Medley's voice connected me to this classic track from '64 and I came to love it, just like everybody else.
8. "Stop! In The Name Of Love"
The Supremes
My favorite is "Come See About Me," but I always loved this.
Imagine, there were two camps competing for our attention, England and Michigan. Two different sounds, that came from the same roots but were oh-so-different.
And the Wrecking Crew in L.A., creating the Brian Wilson classics.
It was a golden era.
9. "The Boy From New York City"
The Ad Libs
This is why I'm writing this list... I heard this on Sirius XM this afternoon and it made my day.
I disliked this way back when... It seemed like a cheesy throwback. But all these years later, it's just COOL!
Do kids know this? Does Kidz Bop do a cover?
They should, it's infectious in any incarnation.
10. "Hurt So Bad"
Little Anthony and the Imperials
My favorite is "Goin' Out Of My Head," but this ethereal number resonates too.
A winter song, no one is this depressed, no one is this interior during the summer.
That's one great thing about living on the east coast, the miserable weather, having you playing board games and listening to the radio and your records daydreaming...about both the pitfalls and the way life can be.
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/1Jjm9S8
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Gary Lewis & the Playboys
Cowritten by our Lefsetz favorite, Al Kooper. However, Al was horrified by this take until the royalty checks started piling in. Al saw it as a soul number. And I'm including Al's take from his 1977 album "Act Like Nothing's Wrong," check it out.
But Gary Lewis's version was different. Haunting, very sixties.
Let's see, February 1965. We were one year into the British Invasion, long enough for the hysteria to die down and allow American acts onto the chart.
And this week I spent with my parents at the Concord, in Kiamesha Lake, New York. Sick from a rained-out Christmas in Vermont, they wanted to take no chances, the Concord had a ski area, however minimal.
It also had entertainment. That week Neil Sedaka. I was too young to know "Calendar Girl" when it was a hit, but I remember hearing Neil perform it that evening, and banging the knockers on the table instead of clapping...that's what you did.
"Who wants to buy this diamond ring
She took it off her finger now it doesn't mean a thing"
How different from today, where everybody's a winner, not only in rap but pop. What did Pink sing...that the party could finally start because she arrived? Make me puke.
Life is full of losses. Big ones and little ones. And when you experience discomfort, you turn to the tunes.
And you saved them up for when they were necessary. I'm not sure I'd been rejected when I first heard "This Diamond Ring," but I certainly have been since!
2. "Downtown"
Petula Clark
How did you pronounce it? "Pet" like the animal or "Petch"? I'm still not sure. But I'm absolutely positive this was a huge smash that winter. My little sister bought the single.
Although British, this was a respite from the usual male stuff. We had no idea that Petula had been at it for years, was not brand new, this was back before the internet provided all the answers.
Brings you right back. This track was made for the listener only, even if you were listening in a group.
So GO DOWNTOWN
Where all the lights are bright
DOWNTOWN
Waiting for you tonight
DOWNTOWN
You're gonna be all right now...
3. "Eight Days A Week"
The Beatles
You know it by heart, doesn't everybody?
Obviously not on Spotify, but just click the chip in your brain and you'll hear it.
From my favorite Beatles album, "Beatles For Sale," but I didn't know that until the CDs came out in America in their proper form decades later.
The way the song comes over the hill, the way it gets louder, John Lennon's vocal, the handclaps, the bridge...a stone cold smash. Then, now and forevermore.
4. "My Girl"
The Temptations
I was just too young.
I'd had my first girlfriend. I even looked her up online, took me years, positively horrifying, never mess with your memories.
But, I hadn't had enough love experience to fully understand "My Girl." Of course it's a masterpiece, but I've recognized this more as the years have gone by, sometimes you hear something so many times it seems less than special, but in this case that is wrong, it doesn't get much better than this.
5. "The Name Game"
Shirley Ellis
Okay, let's do CHUCK!
The funny thing is this song gets little airplay, but every baby boomer can sing its complicated lyrics.
Come on...
"Arnold!
Arnold, Arnold bo Barnold Bonana fanna fo Farnold
Fee fy mo Marnold, Arnold!"
6. "Goldfinger"
Shirley Bassey
Remember when they flipped over the pool table and there was a model of Fort Knox?!
"Goldfinger" was the movie that ensconced James Bond in the public consciousness, it was the one with the tricked-out Aston Martin they exhibited at the New York World's Fair.
One can argue the film's predecessor, "From Russia With Love," was superior, but "Goldfinger" was in your face, it had Pussy Galore, it had this track.
The girl was literally painted gold. Story was they left part of her skin unpainted, otherwise she would have died.
Nothing like the British Invasion numbers, this was still from the island nation and its bombast was foreign enough to stop us in our tracks and mesmerize us.
7. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"
The Righteous Brothers
Nearly Phil Spector's last hurrah. A throwback to what had come before...before the Beatles, who ultimately used Spector themselves.
To say this was overplayed... It was ubiquitous, it made me yearn for more British Invasion stuff on the radio. Like "My Girl," I've come to love it as time has gone by. You know what turned me? Bill Medley's duet with Jennifer Warnes on "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" from the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack.
There used to be movies like this, that the whole nation rallied around because they captured the zeitgeist from years gone by. Stuff like "American Graffiti" and "Dirty Dancing." It wasn't real, but in some way it was. I refused to see "Dirty Dancing" in the theatre, but my then wife and I rented the videotape and couldn't stop watching it for the twenty four hours until we returned it. And hearing Bill Medley's voice connected me to this classic track from '64 and I came to love it, just like everybody else.
8. "Stop! In The Name Of Love"
The Supremes
My favorite is "Come See About Me," but I always loved this.
Imagine, there were two camps competing for our attention, England and Michigan. Two different sounds, that came from the same roots but were oh-so-different.
And the Wrecking Crew in L.A., creating the Brian Wilson classics.
It was a golden era.
9. "The Boy From New York City"
The Ad Libs
This is why I'm writing this list... I heard this on Sirius XM this afternoon and it made my day.
I disliked this way back when... It seemed like a cheesy throwback. But all these years later, it's just COOL!
Do kids know this? Does Kidz Bop do a cover?
They should, it's infectious in any incarnation.
10. "Hurt So Bad"
Little Anthony and the Imperials
My favorite is "Goin' Out Of My Head," but this ethereal number resonates too.
A winter song, no one is this depressed, no one is this interior during the summer.
That's one great thing about living on the east coast, the miserable weather, having you playing board games and listening to the radio and your records daydreaming...about both the pitfalls and the way life can be.
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/1Jjm9S8
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Thursday, 23 April 2015
Re-Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Bob
Ha ha! Right on. The music business keep recycling what went before, except they don't know about melody, or want to know about it. Is it still possible to write a compelling melody? Absolutely. But we get recycled simplistic non-melody songs, for the most part, or the same few melodies (see Nashville output).
Rock is now 60 years old! In the 70's big band had only been out of style for 20 years. Now, today's teenagers are still be forced to listen to their grandparents' or even great-grandparents' music.
Yes, music ruled the world, briefly, as it turned out. Now, it's back to selling soap, but maybe, just maybe, there's a kid in a little club somewhere........
bernie leadon
________________________________________________
Perfect!
Peter Noone
________________________________________________
Bob ... I do not believe Steve will ever be inducted into the R&RHOF as long as he lives, nor do I expect him to win a Grammy. Steve has treated music industry executives with disdain his entire career and most of them really dislike him intensely.
I remember Dick Hodge and I negotiating Steve's contract with Doovid Barskin of Capitol Records ... Steve rejected every counter offer Capitol made and kept asking for more until we got the highest royalty rate in the industry. Glen Campbell had the best rate at that time, and we topped his by a few cents more, and obtained total artistic control for Steve. Steve was obtaining a true measure of success at this time, and he was in a real position to leverage
what he wanted, Capitol could not recover any advanced royalties, and had a limited time period to press and distribute Steve's music. Steve had retained all of his publishing rights as well.
Steve is known throughout the industry as not putting up with any Bull Shit from record companies or promoters, and has pretty much operated as his own manager over the years. He has, however, retained an excellent business relationship that has made him a very wealthy man.
For all these reasons Steve and his band are scarcely recognized in "politically" controlled music industry awards and events. I agree with you that the R&RHOF was a well intentioned concept, but has, unfortunately, turned into a misguided joke.
Again, thanks again for being so kind to acknowledge Steve and his contribution to the real Rock and Roll.
At 71, Steve and his band are touring almost continuously performing to sold out venues throughout the World. Remarkably, he seems to be at the peak of his abilities.
Bud Miller
________________________________________________
Can you explain why my brothers band Chicago is not in the RRHF? 46 years and 30+ records. So strange how thy run that club.
Lauren Scheff
________________________________________________
a joke. no joe cocker, chicago, yes, todd r, sting etc. but the e street band is honored even though they're essentially a backing band that has never written a song and were fired by their boss in the 80's (oh....sorry, certainly bruce's wife deserves this over other viable candidates). in fairness, induct tom petty's heartbreakers who at least contribute to the music and have been by his side for an entire career. what started as honoring great artists who represented a true american art form has disintegrated into another vapid tv awards show. what a shame.
Michael Leon
________________________________________________
Bob-
You want the Hall of Fame to be relevant? Put photographers in it.
And I am NOT lobbying for myself - far from it.
People like Jim Marshall, Gered Mankowitz, David Gahr, David Bailey... and later on Ethan Russell, and others ....those were my heroes growing up. They were the people that brought the music to life on every album cover and on the pages of the handful of magazines that ran rock photos back then.
They deserve to be recognized and honored as much as any band or artist you can think of.
Neal Preston
Ps
Emerson Lake and Palmer!
________________________________________________
normally i don't chime in on your commentary
in this instance I feel compelled to
The Rock and Rock Hall of Fame has been reduced to Jann Wenner's personal toy anda feeble excuse for a HBO Special.
Oddly enough the recent I Heart Radio special on NBC was a better reflection of music television than the Hall of Fame show
or for that matter this years Grammys
John Beug
________________________________________________
Right on the money, Bob. No Steve Miller? That is a joke. Soon artists will start to think about asking for their names to be removed. Watch it happen.
Guy McCreery
________________________________________________
Amen from a good friend of Steve's. I just asked him about that the other night after a show in Austin.
Watt Casey, Jr.
________________________________________________
Is King Crimson in?
What about our friend Steve Lukather's band Toto?( I'm serious Bob)
These groups made incredible records and sonically in their era were the master records
Maybe they should do this every 4 years like they used to do the Olympics
For that matter what about Mariah? Didn't she assist in the biggest era in the industry....
I mean no disrespect to Ringo as I love him and his band is all our close friends in a revolving door
Doobie Brothers/ Chicago?
Who knew
Chris Apostle
________________________________________________
ELO / Jeff Lynne
Chicago
Cheap Trick
Yes
Harry Nilsson
Joan Jett
Deep Purple...
Never mind. I give up. This makes my soul hurt.
Trey Callaway
________________________________________________
Hi Bob,
Thanks for this. I'm not so upset about Ringo getting in as I am the class with him: Green Day and Joan Jett do NOT belong in the Hall before Steve Miller, Todd Rundgren, Yes, the Monkees, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and especially Chicago, who'd been a top-selling band for more than 30 years.
Peace,
Tony Pizza
________________________________________________
Don't forget to add Chicago not being nominated, you should write about the politics between them and RS. Jokingly adding maybe it had something to do with naming their albums as numbers instead of titles (except one or two I recall).
long time fan (of yours of course)
Frankie Ball
________________________________________________
What can the criteria be if it took Hall and Oates this long and Chicago
still aren't in? Forget Todd Rundgren or Little Feat.
Hall of Fames should follow some chronology (older bands first) not hop
around in time with no apparent rhyme or reason.
But while the induction process may be a frustrating head scratcher, the
exhibits and artifacts resonate with any music lover. Lennon's
hand-written lyrics, Beck's Fender Broadcaster from "Having A Rave Up",
Janis' Porsche, the Temps gold-plated mic stand, a piece of Otis' plane,
John Cipollina's amp and guitar, Rod Argent's electric piano, etc.
The R&R HOF+M is absolutely a great place to visit if you happen to find
yourself in Cleveland.
A lot of these pieces are real goose bump material and the beauty is
everyone experiences them in their way. Neither Jann Wenner nor politics
can screw that up.
William Nollman
________________________________________________
And how about the ACM Awards being in a 75k Seat venue if that's not about money than I don't m ow what is...
Matt Gaines
________________________________________________
Bob, the rock 'n roll Hall of Fame has been a piece of shit for a long time. They are people who don't know good music. It's a joke.
Nick Wegener
________________________________________________
Happy to see Rush, SRV & Bill Withers get in .... Besides Yes, what about Deep Purple, Journey, Bad Company, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, UFO, Judas Priest, Boston, Foreigner, and , Pearl Jam?
Shawn Kilmurray
________________________________________________
It's all about the numbers on the telly! Like last night with one of the Jonas' Spawn on the ACMs. Country, my foot! They were there for the viewing numbers, not the Country rep. And, anyway, most country nowadays is second-rate classic rock. Dregs.
And that troublesome HOF...we'll never see deserving artists like Paul Revere and the Raiders, Procol Harum, Warren Zevon or Poco in there. What a joke.
-Sean Anglum / Colorado Springs, CO
________________________________________________
Glad you mentioned Yes as that's a good example
Roger Maltby
________________________________________________
Bob;
I agree with you 100%; however a much better example of your Yes point would be Procol Harum ,who were always a far better live band (I saw both in concert in the early 70's), recorded more accomplished and innovative albums and leave a far more dynamic legacy than Yes ever can.
Stephen Dessau
________________________________________________
It's interesting that you mentioned the band "Yes". Yeah that is a real head scratcher. They basically invented a genre.
An outstanding band and they certainly should be in there.
Peter A. Barker
________________________________________________
Bob,
R&RHOF…A bunch of Music luminaries getting together to pat each other on the back telling each other how great & rich they are.
RS
________________________________________________
My two biggest complaints about this year's class: Joan Jett and Bill Withers. I like Bill Withers music a lot. Soulful voice, great melodies. Good enough to be among the "elite?" Not a chance. And don't get me started on Joan Jett. I went nuts on her on my podcast, Top 5 Records, because she is terrible. All of her hits are covers. Hate Myself... isn't a cover but it's a fucking horrible song! If she is getting credit for The Runaways, why not induct Lita Ford? Did her solo music really influence anyone? Did it bring us Miley Cyrus? Thanks for nothing!
Pete Guzik
________________________________________________
Bob,
I am not disagreeing with you (I don't think, I'm not sure), but if the Hall of Fame were simply called the "Music Hall of Fame" would you feel any better? I would because the RRHF includes some amazing inductees...who have nothing to do with Rock, the genre.
How do you deny a true artist like Bill Withers, who is in all ways qualified for the kudos--except that he's not Rock? You don't. You include him--you make sure that future generations know his name by virtue of a permanent account. But you don't call the damned building in which his memory resides the RRHF.
Kyle Osborne
________________________________________________
I dearly wish that what you've written here is somehow not true. I really do.
But everyone who has lived a life of music knows that it is.
And they thought the Hindenburg was a disaster....
Dave Dalzell
________________________________________________
Steve Perry hasn't been inducted so RRHOF is irrelevant.
Lisa Gregory
________________________________________________
The RRHOF is a business. It has no true relevance to the music.
Frank Gagliano
________________________________________________
Bob,
The R&RHOF reminds me a lot of the Hollywood walk of Fame. Used to be you had to be one of the classic bona fide Stars. Now you just cough up the dough.
Kaley Cuoco is getting a star?? Clint fricken Eastwood doesn't have one??!!
I think Kiss and Rush deserve to be in, but Madonna and NOT Deep Purple??!! And of course a band like Yes, can the committee NOT recognize the talent in that band??!! I also love Steve Miller's early work
All other genres can get their own HoF, leave Rock n' Roll the hell alone.
Cheers
Mitch Nixon
________________________________________________
Bob,
I hope I won't live for the day when Skrillex is inducted before Tommy Bolin.
Great post.
Rob Penland
________________________________________________
Chicago, Grand Funk
RR, J Geils, YES, Moody Blues!!!
Why us one hit wonder Percy Sledge in RR HOF and other one or two hit wonders ?
Poetics of dancing when rappers and one hit wonders are in it BS!
Thanks
Doak Turner
________________________________________________
Hi Bob,
I love your blog and never responded before, but I think I can go one better. When Jim Henke was curating for the opening of the museum, I spoke to him about Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's incredible collection of historical memorabilia. This included the 78 of Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" with the actual Cash Box race charts from 1953, the Hound Dog contract co-signed by their mothers...they were only 19 when they wrote it, a 78 of "K C Lovin," the original Kansas City by Little Willie Littlefield, etc etc. There were boxes that included rare session photos of the Robins, Coasters, Drifters, Brill Building shots, young Mike and Jerry with Elvis. Tom Dowd, Nesuhi and Ahmet Ertigun. Mike and Jerry were the very first independent Music Producers when hired by Atlantic -a title that Ahmet deemed appropriate and it then became a thing.
I say this because after logging for a month and shipping these treasure boxes, just a very few of these items went on display, along with one or two things from Doc Pomus and a few others in a small case in the back of a room. Michael's glove, rock star costumes were in full regalia.
Decisions were out of Jim's hands and politics ruled before the museum even opened.
Bobbi Marcus
________________________________________________
You know what killed Rock N' Roll? No one is writing to survive. There were times when the only route they had off of the streets was through their music. Now suburbia kids are playing like they're the Ramones and it ain't workin'. Desperation fuels creativity.
Hip Hop boomed because of the same thing. Rappers literally had to write hit songs or die or starve. Now that industry is also falling to kids of comfort.
Folk on the other hand is exploding. You know why? Go to Folk Alliance International or the Folk Music Ontario Conference in Canada and you'll see why. Most of these artists are gypsy's. They have to write to survive. They go from Folk Festival to Folk Festival in the summer bumming rides or scrounging bus fair. They have to write their way out. Just a few years ago main streamers would frown at the very word 'Folk'...now the stuff is all over HOT radio and the big stars are trying to add acoustic guitars just to fit in.
Give me desperation again...great art comes from great pain.
largemanagement
________________________________________________
The one thing I find baffling is how Hip-Hop and Rap still looks and sounds exactly the same since its emergence into the main stream back in the late 80's/early 90's. I'm not talking about Ice T or Ice Cube or Wu Tang Clan of old but seriously the look hasn't changed, the attitude hasn't changed and it's all about the bling, bitches and ho's. I don't get it, that's like the industry churning out the same big hair 80's bands to this day. That would be laughable but Hip-Hop and Rap continue today with the same look and crap and it's considered hip/current and they're still making a ton of money doing it.
Will it ever go away like rock did? I doubt it and that about sums up the attitude of the listening public today. EDM will continue albeit without innovation there will be this Generation Me listening and breaking hips in the old folks homes when it's there time to be put out to pasture.....
This is what's wrong with music today, people listen to what they are told to listen to and if there is a star involved and they worship the hype, they'll always be the mindless sheeple who will follow it.
mmpoppa1
________________________________________________
Hi Bob
I agree with so much of what you said.
I never pay attention to the Hall of Fame. But this year it had my attention.
I was 17, lived in Montreal and discovered a little club / coffee house called the New Penelope. I went there like an acolyte going to the alter of music. Didn't matter what it was called. But it was all damn good at the Penelope.
I saw many blues and roots legends. And I was introduced to the sounds of south side Chicago by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. On multiple occasions I sat about 10 feet away from them in this little gem of a club. They changed my life. I've never forgotten those days. I had never experienced anything like it. A club that held probably no more than 150 people. No liquor. Didn't need it. We had killer music. And I was being baptized at the fountain of music.
So when I heard that the Paul Butterfield Blues Band were being honoured, I was very very happy.
I wasn't in Cleveland last night. I couldn't watch it on TV. Didn't matter. I was, in my head back at the New Penelope in the kind of venue I love watching and listening to the best electric blues band I have ever heard. Yeah and I was only 10 feet from the stage. No one screaming. Just digging it.
Good for Paul, Michael, Elvin, Mark, Jerome, Sam et al.
Regards
Bob Bisnett
________________________________________________
Back in the mid-90s, I was a rising young gun in the advertising industry. One of my shop's clients was the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame + Museum. We were their first agency, as I recall. Oddly dull and uncreative client to work on. The decisionmakkers LOVED Elvis, the Beatles, Buddy Holly and 70s rock. They had little regard for Blues, electric blues which birthed rock and roll. Hell, even the phrase "rock n roll" was old Black Blues jukejoint slang for sex/raucous times—not that anyone connected with the rock hall then knew or cared. They'd jump through hoops courting white artists they dug/thought would be draws to loan them memorabilia/make appearances. Some even got compensated for loaning their stuff out. But the Black artists? Not so much. If you gave the hall something, it was an honor to be asked and you'd better have obliged The Hall's requests - for free. If you didn't play ball, then screw you. (ask around, you find that that was their m.o. for more than a few years.)
When we started on the account we had to go visit the place as it was being built/renovated - in Cleveland, which had as much rock n roll authenticity as Iggy Azaela has hiphop. My first trip to the place it didn't just look like a museum, it looked like a set piece out of the Bonfire of the Vanities - stale, sterile, white, glass, metal... Nothing "rock" or "roll" about it.
The story we got from a couple board members was originally the RRHOF was gonna be in New York which supposedly beat out Chicago and Memphis; but Ohio came thru with a bid at the last minute. And since was OH was already home to more hall of fame's than anywhere else in the US (mostly sports related ones) and they had connections and a system in place for building more HOFs, not to mention a ton more open land to work with than New York, so their bid won.
In short, the Rock Hall was literally built on politics, cash and connections from the jump.
So what you're seeing today is what you've seen for decades... just the RRHOF being the RRHOF. It is what it is now, because that's what it was always meant to be.
such is life.
Hadji Williams
________________________________________________
Bob,
You make some very good points about the lack of innovation and envelope-stretching on the current rock scene. That's like shooting fish in a barrel.
And of course there is a lot of controversy and probably a somewhat flawed process of how artists get inducted into the Hall of Fame.
But from my perspective I just have to say that there are a lot of artists who see being inducted into the Hall as a career validation -- a reward for giving so much music to so many people for so many years. An honor from a group of folks, many of whom are peers (all inductees vote in subsequent years).
I don't think that's unfair or necessarily a bad thing.
Sure there are probably a number of artists who maybe shouldn't have been inducted. And sure, we all have a list of artists we believe should be inducted.
That's not a whole lot different than the Baseball Hall of Fame, or probably most, if not all, Hall of Fame institutions across the board.
OK, so we all could have done without Fallout Boy doing the induction welcome speech for Green Day -- I would have though they could have come up with any number of intriguing better choices there. But that was really the only "false" note last night.
I, like you, celebrate music every day of my life. Sometimes in the privacy of my own home, sometimes at a concert, sometimes in my car, and sometimes at events like the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies or a MusiCares tribute event, etc.
The main thing is that we all celebrate the music and the people who have made the music that we love and has meant so much to us.
Toby Mamis
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Ha ha! Right on. The music business keep recycling what went before, except they don't know about melody, or want to know about it. Is it still possible to write a compelling melody? Absolutely. But we get recycled simplistic non-melody songs, for the most part, or the same few melodies (see Nashville output).
Rock is now 60 years old! In the 70's big band had only been out of style for 20 years. Now, today's teenagers are still be forced to listen to their grandparents' or even great-grandparents' music.
Yes, music ruled the world, briefly, as it turned out. Now, it's back to selling soap, but maybe, just maybe, there's a kid in a little club somewhere........
bernie leadon
________________________________________________
Perfect!
Peter Noone
________________________________________________
Bob ... I do not believe Steve will ever be inducted into the R&RHOF as long as he lives, nor do I expect him to win a Grammy. Steve has treated music industry executives with disdain his entire career and most of them really dislike him intensely.
I remember Dick Hodge and I negotiating Steve's contract with Doovid Barskin of Capitol Records ... Steve rejected every counter offer Capitol made and kept asking for more until we got the highest royalty rate in the industry. Glen Campbell had the best rate at that time, and we topped his by a few cents more, and obtained total artistic control for Steve. Steve was obtaining a true measure of success at this time, and he was in a real position to leverage
what he wanted, Capitol could not recover any advanced royalties, and had a limited time period to press and distribute Steve's music. Steve had retained all of his publishing rights as well.
Steve is known throughout the industry as not putting up with any Bull Shit from record companies or promoters, and has pretty much operated as his own manager over the years. He has, however, retained an excellent business relationship that has made him a very wealthy man.
For all these reasons Steve and his band are scarcely recognized in "politically" controlled music industry awards and events. I agree with you that the R&RHOF was a well intentioned concept, but has, unfortunately, turned into a misguided joke.
Again, thanks again for being so kind to acknowledge Steve and his contribution to the real Rock and Roll.
At 71, Steve and his band are touring almost continuously performing to sold out venues throughout the World. Remarkably, he seems to be at the peak of his abilities.
Bud Miller
________________________________________________
Can you explain why my brothers band Chicago is not in the RRHF? 46 years and 30+ records. So strange how thy run that club.
Lauren Scheff
________________________________________________
a joke. no joe cocker, chicago, yes, todd r, sting etc. but the e street band is honored even though they're essentially a backing band that has never written a song and were fired by their boss in the 80's (oh....sorry, certainly bruce's wife deserves this over other viable candidates). in fairness, induct tom petty's heartbreakers who at least contribute to the music and have been by his side for an entire career. what started as honoring great artists who represented a true american art form has disintegrated into another vapid tv awards show. what a shame.
Michael Leon
________________________________________________
Bob-
You want the Hall of Fame to be relevant? Put photographers in it.
And I am NOT lobbying for myself - far from it.
People like Jim Marshall, Gered Mankowitz, David Gahr, David Bailey... and later on Ethan Russell, and others ....those were my heroes growing up. They were the people that brought the music to life on every album cover and on the pages of the handful of magazines that ran rock photos back then.
They deserve to be recognized and honored as much as any band or artist you can think of.
Neal Preston
Ps
Emerson Lake and Palmer!
________________________________________________
normally i don't chime in on your commentary
in this instance I feel compelled to
The Rock and Rock Hall of Fame has been reduced to Jann Wenner's personal toy anda feeble excuse for a HBO Special.
Oddly enough the recent I Heart Radio special on NBC was a better reflection of music television than the Hall of Fame show
or for that matter this years Grammys
John Beug
________________________________________________
Right on the money, Bob. No Steve Miller? That is a joke. Soon artists will start to think about asking for their names to be removed. Watch it happen.
Guy McCreery
________________________________________________
Amen from a good friend of Steve's. I just asked him about that the other night after a show in Austin.
Watt Casey, Jr.
________________________________________________
Is King Crimson in?
What about our friend Steve Lukather's band Toto?( I'm serious Bob)
These groups made incredible records and sonically in their era were the master records
Maybe they should do this every 4 years like they used to do the Olympics
For that matter what about Mariah? Didn't she assist in the biggest era in the industry....
I mean no disrespect to Ringo as I love him and his band is all our close friends in a revolving door
Doobie Brothers/ Chicago?
Who knew
Chris Apostle
________________________________________________
ELO / Jeff Lynne
Chicago
Cheap Trick
Yes
Harry Nilsson
Joan Jett
Deep Purple...
Never mind. I give up. This makes my soul hurt.
Trey Callaway
________________________________________________
Hi Bob,
Thanks for this. I'm not so upset about Ringo getting in as I am the class with him: Green Day and Joan Jett do NOT belong in the Hall before Steve Miller, Todd Rundgren, Yes, the Monkees, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and especially Chicago, who'd been a top-selling band for more than 30 years.
Peace,
Tony Pizza
________________________________________________
Don't forget to add Chicago not being nominated, you should write about the politics between them and RS. Jokingly adding maybe it had something to do with naming their albums as numbers instead of titles (except one or two I recall).
long time fan (of yours of course)
Frankie Ball
________________________________________________
What can the criteria be if it took Hall and Oates this long and Chicago
still aren't in? Forget Todd Rundgren or Little Feat.
Hall of Fames should follow some chronology (older bands first) not hop
around in time with no apparent rhyme or reason.
But while the induction process may be a frustrating head scratcher, the
exhibits and artifacts resonate with any music lover. Lennon's
hand-written lyrics, Beck's Fender Broadcaster from "Having A Rave Up",
Janis' Porsche, the Temps gold-plated mic stand, a piece of Otis' plane,
John Cipollina's amp and guitar, Rod Argent's electric piano, etc.
The R&R HOF+M is absolutely a great place to visit if you happen to find
yourself in Cleveland.
A lot of these pieces are real goose bump material and the beauty is
everyone experiences them in their way. Neither Jann Wenner nor politics
can screw that up.
William Nollman
________________________________________________
And how about the ACM Awards being in a 75k Seat venue if that's not about money than I don't m ow what is...
Matt Gaines
________________________________________________
Bob, the rock 'n roll Hall of Fame has been a piece of shit for a long time. They are people who don't know good music. It's a joke.
Nick Wegener
________________________________________________
Happy to see Rush, SRV & Bill Withers get in .... Besides Yes, what about Deep Purple, Journey, Bad Company, Iron Maiden, Scorpions, UFO, Judas Priest, Boston, Foreigner, and , Pearl Jam?
Shawn Kilmurray
________________________________________________
It's all about the numbers on the telly! Like last night with one of the Jonas' Spawn on the ACMs. Country, my foot! They were there for the viewing numbers, not the Country rep. And, anyway, most country nowadays is second-rate classic rock. Dregs.
And that troublesome HOF...we'll never see deserving artists like Paul Revere and the Raiders, Procol Harum, Warren Zevon or Poco in there. What a joke.
-Sean Anglum / Colorado Springs, CO
________________________________________________
Glad you mentioned Yes as that's a good example
Roger Maltby
________________________________________________
Bob;
I agree with you 100%; however a much better example of your Yes point would be Procol Harum ,who were always a far better live band (I saw both in concert in the early 70's), recorded more accomplished and innovative albums and leave a far more dynamic legacy than Yes ever can.
Stephen Dessau
________________________________________________
It's interesting that you mentioned the band "Yes". Yeah that is a real head scratcher. They basically invented a genre.
An outstanding band and they certainly should be in there.
Peter A. Barker
________________________________________________
Bob,
R&RHOF…A bunch of Music luminaries getting together to pat each other on the back telling each other how great & rich they are.
RS
________________________________________________
My two biggest complaints about this year's class: Joan Jett and Bill Withers. I like Bill Withers music a lot. Soulful voice, great melodies. Good enough to be among the "elite?" Not a chance. And don't get me started on Joan Jett. I went nuts on her on my podcast, Top 5 Records, because she is terrible. All of her hits are covers. Hate Myself... isn't a cover but it's a fucking horrible song! If she is getting credit for The Runaways, why not induct Lita Ford? Did her solo music really influence anyone? Did it bring us Miley Cyrus? Thanks for nothing!
Pete Guzik
________________________________________________
Bob,
I am not disagreeing with you (I don't think, I'm not sure), but if the Hall of Fame were simply called the "Music Hall of Fame" would you feel any better? I would because the RRHF includes some amazing inductees...who have nothing to do with Rock, the genre.
How do you deny a true artist like Bill Withers, who is in all ways qualified for the kudos--except that he's not Rock? You don't. You include him--you make sure that future generations know his name by virtue of a permanent account. But you don't call the damned building in which his memory resides the RRHF.
Kyle Osborne
________________________________________________
I dearly wish that what you've written here is somehow not true. I really do.
But everyone who has lived a life of music knows that it is.
And they thought the Hindenburg was a disaster....
Dave Dalzell
________________________________________________
Steve Perry hasn't been inducted so RRHOF is irrelevant.
Lisa Gregory
________________________________________________
The RRHOF is a business. It has no true relevance to the music.
Frank Gagliano
________________________________________________
Bob,
The R&RHOF reminds me a lot of the Hollywood walk of Fame. Used to be you had to be one of the classic bona fide Stars. Now you just cough up the dough.
Kaley Cuoco is getting a star?? Clint fricken Eastwood doesn't have one??!!
I think Kiss and Rush deserve to be in, but Madonna and NOT Deep Purple??!! And of course a band like Yes, can the committee NOT recognize the talent in that band??!! I also love Steve Miller's early work
All other genres can get their own HoF, leave Rock n' Roll the hell alone.
Cheers
Mitch Nixon
________________________________________________
Bob,
I hope I won't live for the day when Skrillex is inducted before Tommy Bolin.
Great post.
Rob Penland
________________________________________________
Chicago, Grand Funk
RR, J Geils, YES, Moody Blues!!!
Why us one hit wonder Percy Sledge in RR HOF and other one or two hit wonders ?
Poetics of dancing when rappers and one hit wonders are in it BS!
Thanks
Doak Turner
________________________________________________
Hi Bob,
I love your blog and never responded before, but I think I can go one better. When Jim Henke was curating for the opening of the museum, I spoke to him about Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's incredible collection of historical memorabilia. This included the 78 of Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" with the actual Cash Box race charts from 1953, the Hound Dog contract co-signed by their mothers...they were only 19 when they wrote it, a 78 of "K C Lovin," the original Kansas City by Little Willie Littlefield, etc etc. There were boxes that included rare session photos of the Robins, Coasters, Drifters, Brill Building shots, young Mike and Jerry with Elvis. Tom Dowd, Nesuhi and Ahmet Ertigun. Mike and Jerry were the very first independent Music Producers when hired by Atlantic -a title that Ahmet deemed appropriate and it then became a thing.
I say this because after logging for a month and shipping these treasure boxes, just a very few of these items went on display, along with one or two things from Doc Pomus and a few others in a small case in the back of a room. Michael's glove, rock star costumes were in full regalia.
Decisions were out of Jim's hands and politics ruled before the museum even opened.
Bobbi Marcus
________________________________________________
You know what killed Rock N' Roll? No one is writing to survive. There were times when the only route they had off of the streets was through their music. Now suburbia kids are playing like they're the Ramones and it ain't workin'. Desperation fuels creativity.
Hip Hop boomed because of the same thing. Rappers literally had to write hit songs or die or starve. Now that industry is also falling to kids of comfort.
Folk on the other hand is exploding. You know why? Go to Folk Alliance International or the Folk Music Ontario Conference in Canada and you'll see why. Most of these artists are gypsy's. They have to write to survive. They go from Folk Festival to Folk Festival in the summer bumming rides or scrounging bus fair. They have to write their way out. Just a few years ago main streamers would frown at the very word 'Folk'...now the stuff is all over HOT radio and the big stars are trying to add acoustic guitars just to fit in.
Give me desperation again...great art comes from great pain.
largemanagement
________________________________________________
The one thing I find baffling is how Hip-Hop and Rap still looks and sounds exactly the same since its emergence into the main stream back in the late 80's/early 90's. I'm not talking about Ice T or Ice Cube or Wu Tang Clan of old but seriously the look hasn't changed, the attitude hasn't changed and it's all about the bling, bitches and ho's. I don't get it, that's like the industry churning out the same big hair 80's bands to this day. That would be laughable but Hip-Hop and Rap continue today with the same look and crap and it's considered hip/current and they're still making a ton of money doing it.
Will it ever go away like rock did? I doubt it and that about sums up the attitude of the listening public today. EDM will continue albeit without innovation there will be this Generation Me listening and breaking hips in the old folks homes when it's there time to be put out to pasture.....
This is what's wrong with music today, people listen to what they are told to listen to and if there is a star involved and they worship the hype, they'll always be the mindless sheeple who will follow it.
mmpoppa1
________________________________________________
Hi Bob
I agree with so much of what you said.
I never pay attention to the Hall of Fame. But this year it had my attention.
I was 17, lived in Montreal and discovered a little club / coffee house called the New Penelope. I went there like an acolyte going to the alter of music. Didn't matter what it was called. But it was all damn good at the Penelope.
I saw many blues and roots legends. And I was introduced to the sounds of south side Chicago by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. On multiple occasions I sat about 10 feet away from them in this little gem of a club. They changed my life. I've never forgotten those days. I had never experienced anything like it. A club that held probably no more than 150 people. No liquor. Didn't need it. We had killer music. And I was being baptized at the fountain of music.
So when I heard that the Paul Butterfield Blues Band were being honoured, I was very very happy.
I wasn't in Cleveland last night. I couldn't watch it on TV. Didn't matter. I was, in my head back at the New Penelope in the kind of venue I love watching and listening to the best electric blues band I have ever heard. Yeah and I was only 10 feet from the stage. No one screaming. Just digging it.
Good for Paul, Michael, Elvin, Mark, Jerome, Sam et al.
Regards
Bob Bisnett
________________________________________________
Back in the mid-90s, I was a rising young gun in the advertising industry. One of my shop's clients was the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame + Museum. We were their first agency, as I recall. Oddly dull and uncreative client to work on. The decisionmakkers LOVED Elvis, the Beatles, Buddy Holly and 70s rock. They had little regard for Blues, electric blues which birthed rock and roll. Hell, even the phrase "rock n roll" was old Black Blues jukejoint slang for sex/raucous times—not that anyone connected with the rock hall then knew or cared. They'd jump through hoops courting white artists they dug/thought would be draws to loan them memorabilia/make appearances. Some even got compensated for loaning their stuff out. But the Black artists? Not so much. If you gave the hall something, it was an honor to be asked and you'd better have obliged The Hall's requests - for free. If you didn't play ball, then screw you. (ask around, you find that that was their m.o. for more than a few years.)
When we started on the account we had to go visit the place as it was being built/renovated - in Cleveland, which had as much rock n roll authenticity as Iggy Azaela has hiphop. My first trip to the place it didn't just look like a museum, it looked like a set piece out of the Bonfire of the Vanities - stale, sterile, white, glass, metal... Nothing "rock" or "roll" about it.
The story we got from a couple board members was originally the RRHOF was gonna be in New York which supposedly beat out Chicago and Memphis; but Ohio came thru with a bid at the last minute. And since was OH was already home to more hall of fame's than anywhere else in the US (mostly sports related ones) and they had connections and a system in place for building more HOFs, not to mention a ton more open land to work with than New York, so their bid won.
In short, the Rock Hall was literally built on politics, cash and connections from the jump.
So what you're seeing today is what you've seen for decades... just the RRHOF being the RRHOF. It is what it is now, because that's what it was always meant to be.
such is life.
Hadji Williams
________________________________________________
Bob,
You make some very good points about the lack of innovation and envelope-stretching on the current rock scene. That's like shooting fish in a barrel.
And of course there is a lot of controversy and probably a somewhat flawed process of how artists get inducted into the Hall of Fame.
But from my perspective I just have to say that there are a lot of artists who see being inducted into the Hall as a career validation -- a reward for giving so much music to so many people for so many years. An honor from a group of folks, many of whom are peers (all inductees vote in subsequent years).
I don't think that's unfair or necessarily a bad thing.
Sure there are probably a number of artists who maybe shouldn't have been inducted. And sure, we all have a list of artists we believe should be inducted.
That's not a whole lot different than the Baseball Hall of Fame, or probably most, if not all, Hall of Fame institutions across the board.
OK, so we all could have done without Fallout Boy doing the induction welcome speech for Green Day -- I would have though they could have come up with any number of intriguing better choices there. But that was really the only "false" note last night.
I, like you, celebrate music every day of my life. Sometimes in the privacy of my own home, sometimes at a concert, sometimes in my car, and sometimes at events like the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies or a MusiCares tribute event, etc.
The main thing is that we all celebrate the music and the people who have made the music that we love and has meant so much to us.
Toby Mamis
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My Birthday
Reality or the myth, take your pick!
Greetings from my birthday, wherein I hit the trifecta, a pastrami sandwich at Langer's, a movie (two, actually) and a hot fudge sundae. The tradition was established back in '77, when it all came together by accident. My girlfriend introduced me to Langer's. I introduced her to C.C. Brown's. And we went to see "Annie Hall" on the day it opened. Pretty memorable, and I've been trying to touch all the bases ever since.
But not last year, last year I spent getting a root canal.
But this year?
I was worried Langer's was going to go out of business. We went early, I had to get back to the Westside to see my shrink, and I was shocked to see ropes outside, to handle the crowd. Made me smile, as did my number #19, their legendary sandwich. That's pastrami, Swiss cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing piled high between two slices of warm, corn rye bread. I know, I know, sounds like too much. I used to be a purist, I used to go for only the meat and the bread and some mustard. Swiss cheese is not such a stretch, but cole slaw? That's what puts the concoction over the top. The Russian dressing glues it all together, but it's the cole slaw that adds zest. I recommend it.
And after my doctor's appointment we went to the Apple Store, so I could check out the watches.
Talk about confusing.
But what's even worse is the clerk was clueless. They didn't know who they were dealing with. I'd done my research, I knew more than she did. And I'd like to tell you I'm down with the help, but when I schlepp all the way out there and my appointment is winding down I get frustrated, I can't hold back my feelings.
I got a new clerk. Pete. And he made sense of it all to me.
And it's all pretty senseless. The media focuses on functionality, but Apple is focusing on style. My instincts tell me to buy the cheapest one, knowing it will be superseded in a year, at most, but the Sport only comes with an elastomer band, and the leather one is so much more comfortable. The Milanese strap is cool. But now the price is stratospheric. So, do I buy the middle model, called the "Watch," so I can get a good band or do I go with the Sport... I'm gonna have to do more research.
And then we drove to Beverly Hills to see "Gett," the highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes. My mother hipped me to it, she lives to go to the movies. And I'd like to recommend the flick but I cannot do so. It's a courtroom drama that's only in the courtroom. About a gett, which is basically a divorce for the non-Jews out there. And some amazing stuff comes out, and it's stunning that Israelis focus on the intellectual while we Americans applaud comic books, but the truth is if it was on TV, you'd turn it off.
And then to the Landmark.
That's right, a second movie on the same day. It's only the second movie I've seen in a theatre this year, but I used to do this all the time. Three on a Saturday was not exceptional. Four was done now and again. Back when movies drove the culture and when the lights went down I was transported to a world where feelings were king and I was feeling all right.
The movie we went to see was "While We're Young."
I was interested because of its writer/director, Noah Baumbach. "The Squid and the Whale" was fantastic. "Greenberg" missed the mark, but I'm a believer.
And this film turned out to be everything the hype said it was not.
The hype was all about the Adams, Horovitz and Driver.
If you didn't watch the credits, you'd have never known it was a Beastie Boy.
As for Adam Driver... He's a star. He's off-putting on "Girls" at first, but he's got this weird charisma. And there's even more of it in evidence here.
So the set-up is Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts are fortysomething and childless. And they become friends with the twentysomething couple of Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried. Ben and Naomi become intrigued by the carefree lifestyle of the married young 'uns.
And that's a theme of the picture. Aging. Done quite well. It resonated on my birthday.
But not so much as the business lesson.
Ben is a documentary filmmaker. He had some early success, but he's been stuck on the same flick for ten years now.
Adam Driver is a wannabe.
And Naomi Watts produces the films of her father, legendary documentarian Charles Grodin. It's creepy to see Grodin so old when he was so young and vibrant in the "Heartbreak Kid."
But we all age. But will our dreams come true?
You remember dreams.
They used to be a house in the suburbs, two cars and three kids.
That dream is gone, even though some still believe that manual labor and service work will get you close. Good luck with that.
And then there are those of us who are searching for something more.
We're students of the game. We read the newspapers. Even the self-help books. We think we know what's going on.
But we don't.
Because success has got nothing to do with the facts and everything to do with the edges.
That's right. Are you willing to bend the truth, are you willing to lie, cheat and steal because everybody else does it and that's what you need to do to make it?
Don't argue with me. Your band may be incredible, but without a great manager you'll never succeed. David Krebs made Aerosmith. Not better, but rich and famous.
Truth is for pussies. Facebook is constantly changing the rules, getting in trouble for experiments, doing things you'd never do. Kind of like the government. If you don't think Edward Snowden is a hero, you think the government is trustworthy. And isn't it funny that the people saying Snowden is a traitor are the same people saying there's got to be less government? Head-spinning, I know, but so is life.
That's what separates the winners from the losers. Those who know how to bend the rules, or employ someone who does. Those who know expedience trumps legality every day of the week. Those who know some get caught breaking the code, but few do, and usually it's those further down the food chain who are poor and unconnected.
And Ben Stiller realizes all this.
Maybe there are exceptions, Bob Dylan said to live outside the law you've got to be honest. But are you really living outside the law, speaking truth to power? And never forget Dylan had Albert Grossman, and without him you'd probably have never heard of the bard from Hibbing, Minnesota.
Stiller can't believe it when his fantasy is dashed. He's judging himself for being too selfish, too narcissistic, and this is just what the winners want you to do, to be self-effacing about irrelevant crap while they run rampant all over you. Stiller exposes the truth, but no one cares.
And there's more than that. The manipulations of Driver. The younger generation's disrespect for intellectual property rights.
But what "While We're Young" is really about is...
You've got to cheat to win.
There, I said it.
And if you're arguing with me, you're a loser.
P.S. After the flick we went to Baskin-Robbins, where the parking spaces were limited to 31 minutes, get it?
P.P.S. When I was broke in 1975, I used my birthday coupons to eat dinner at the Reno Baskin-Robbins. That's right, my little sister sent me five bucks worth, I was in town to exchange Hart Freestyle skis.
P.P.P.S. Got back home and pulled up "Silicon Valley" on HBO. You'd think it was L.A. in the seventies. All the money and excitement. Only this time it was tech and then it was music. They still make music, but tech rules, because it impacts everybody. The show is so well done... The superfluous spending, the VC rats who glom on to the coders. It's just like the record business, only there are a lot more zeros and it counts. Also, Mike Judge is poking fun. No one pokes fun in music anymore, they're too busy drinking the kool-aid.
P.P.P.P.S. After turning off "Silicon Valley", Jon Stewart was on. He was comparing the Atlanta cheating scandal to Wall Street. He played it out so well... The difference was the teachers had remorse and went to jail. The financial firms paid small fines, admitted no responsibility and one person went to jail. Proving once again, cheaters win.
P.P.P.P.P.S. You've got to watch this YouTube video, it's the funniest thing I've seen this week (thanks Larry!) And like the greatest humor, it's funny because of the core truth... "Tidal - End The Suffering": http://bit.ly/1EUeIz5
P.P.P.P.P.P.S. What you read in books and papers is the myth. Insiders don't want you to know the truth, then you might horn in on their game. But you probably won't, your conscience won't allow you to. But you don't get to complain when others win and you don't. Never forget that.
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Everything worth learning happens in life, not school. If you don't know anybody, you'll never make it. People don't get MBAs for the education, but the connection. You go to the Ivys for the better class of people you get to meet. Winners don't whine and winners have no time. Mentor, schmentor. Identify the winners and try to get closer. Abandon those without the killer instinct, who are not climbing the ladder. Time is ticking. Careers are war, but unlike in the Middle East, they're time-stamped. Use every "friend," take no time off unless it's to recharge your batteries. Or be resigned to middle management.
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Family trumps business. Have a couple of kids who call you "Pa" and you'll probably be happier than the business titans. Who might have children but don't go to the Little League games. That's right, you cannot have it all. It's your choice. The game of life is hard. Hopefully you've got someone telling you the truth. My father always did. But he was a lone wolf who believed no one in business was his friend. And he was right, they weren't.
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Greetings from my birthday, wherein I hit the trifecta, a pastrami sandwich at Langer's, a movie (two, actually) and a hot fudge sundae. The tradition was established back in '77, when it all came together by accident. My girlfriend introduced me to Langer's. I introduced her to C.C. Brown's. And we went to see "Annie Hall" on the day it opened. Pretty memorable, and I've been trying to touch all the bases ever since.
But not last year, last year I spent getting a root canal.
But this year?
I was worried Langer's was going to go out of business. We went early, I had to get back to the Westside to see my shrink, and I was shocked to see ropes outside, to handle the crowd. Made me smile, as did my number #19, their legendary sandwich. That's pastrami, Swiss cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing piled high between two slices of warm, corn rye bread. I know, I know, sounds like too much. I used to be a purist, I used to go for only the meat and the bread and some mustard. Swiss cheese is not such a stretch, but cole slaw? That's what puts the concoction over the top. The Russian dressing glues it all together, but it's the cole slaw that adds zest. I recommend it.
And after my doctor's appointment we went to the Apple Store, so I could check out the watches.
Talk about confusing.
But what's even worse is the clerk was clueless. They didn't know who they were dealing with. I'd done my research, I knew more than she did. And I'd like to tell you I'm down with the help, but when I schlepp all the way out there and my appointment is winding down I get frustrated, I can't hold back my feelings.
I got a new clerk. Pete. And he made sense of it all to me.
And it's all pretty senseless. The media focuses on functionality, but Apple is focusing on style. My instincts tell me to buy the cheapest one, knowing it will be superseded in a year, at most, but the Sport only comes with an elastomer band, and the leather one is so much more comfortable. The Milanese strap is cool. But now the price is stratospheric. So, do I buy the middle model, called the "Watch," so I can get a good band or do I go with the Sport... I'm gonna have to do more research.
And then we drove to Beverly Hills to see "Gett," the highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes. My mother hipped me to it, she lives to go to the movies. And I'd like to recommend the flick but I cannot do so. It's a courtroom drama that's only in the courtroom. About a gett, which is basically a divorce for the non-Jews out there. And some amazing stuff comes out, and it's stunning that Israelis focus on the intellectual while we Americans applaud comic books, but the truth is if it was on TV, you'd turn it off.
And then to the Landmark.
That's right, a second movie on the same day. It's only the second movie I've seen in a theatre this year, but I used to do this all the time. Three on a Saturday was not exceptional. Four was done now and again. Back when movies drove the culture and when the lights went down I was transported to a world where feelings were king and I was feeling all right.
The movie we went to see was "While We're Young."
I was interested because of its writer/director, Noah Baumbach. "The Squid and the Whale" was fantastic. "Greenberg" missed the mark, but I'm a believer.
And this film turned out to be everything the hype said it was not.
The hype was all about the Adams, Horovitz and Driver.
If you didn't watch the credits, you'd have never known it was a Beastie Boy.
As for Adam Driver... He's a star. He's off-putting on "Girls" at first, but he's got this weird charisma. And there's even more of it in evidence here.
So the set-up is Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts are fortysomething and childless. And they become friends with the twentysomething couple of Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried. Ben and Naomi become intrigued by the carefree lifestyle of the married young 'uns.
And that's a theme of the picture. Aging. Done quite well. It resonated on my birthday.
But not so much as the business lesson.
Ben is a documentary filmmaker. He had some early success, but he's been stuck on the same flick for ten years now.
Adam Driver is a wannabe.
And Naomi Watts produces the films of her father, legendary documentarian Charles Grodin. It's creepy to see Grodin so old when he was so young and vibrant in the "Heartbreak Kid."
But we all age. But will our dreams come true?
You remember dreams.
They used to be a house in the suburbs, two cars and three kids.
That dream is gone, even though some still believe that manual labor and service work will get you close. Good luck with that.
And then there are those of us who are searching for something more.
We're students of the game. We read the newspapers. Even the self-help books. We think we know what's going on.
But we don't.
Because success has got nothing to do with the facts and everything to do with the edges.
That's right. Are you willing to bend the truth, are you willing to lie, cheat and steal because everybody else does it and that's what you need to do to make it?
Don't argue with me. Your band may be incredible, but without a great manager you'll never succeed. David Krebs made Aerosmith. Not better, but rich and famous.
Truth is for pussies. Facebook is constantly changing the rules, getting in trouble for experiments, doing things you'd never do. Kind of like the government. If you don't think Edward Snowden is a hero, you think the government is trustworthy. And isn't it funny that the people saying Snowden is a traitor are the same people saying there's got to be less government? Head-spinning, I know, but so is life.
That's what separates the winners from the losers. Those who know how to bend the rules, or employ someone who does. Those who know expedience trumps legality every day of the week. Those who know some get caught breaking the code, but few do, and usually it's those further down the food chain who are poor and unconnected.
And Ben Stiller realizes all this.
Maybe there are exceptions, Bob Dylan said to live outside the law you've got to be honest. But are you really living outside the law, speaking truth to power? And never forget Dylan had Albert Grossman, and without him you'd probably have never heard of the bard from Hibbing, Minnesota.
Stiller can't believe it when his fantasy is dashed. He's judging himself for being too selfish, too narcissistic, and this is just what the winners want you to do, to be self-effacing about irrelevant crap while they run rampant all over you. Stiller exposes the truth, but no one cares.
And there's more than that. The manipulations of Driver. The younger generation's disrespect for intellectual property rights.
But what "While We're Young" is really about is...
You've got to cheat to win.
There, I said it.
And if you're arguing with me, you're a loser.
P.S. After the flick we went to Baskin-Robbins, where the parking spaces were limited to 31 minutes, get it?
P.P.S. When I was broke in 1975, I used my birthday coupons to eat dinner at the Reno Baskin-Robbins. That's right, my little sister sent me five bucks worth, I was in town to exchange Hart Freestyle skis.
P.P.P.S. Got back home and pulled up "Silicon Valley" on HBO. You'd think it was L.A. in the seventies. All the money and excitement. Only this time it was tech and then it was music. They still make music, but tech rules, because it impacts everybody. The show is so well done... The superfluous spending, the VC rats who glom on to the coders. It's just like the record business, only there are a lot more zeros and it counts. Also, Mike Judge is poking fun. No one pokes fun in music anymore, they're too busy drinking the kool-aid.
P.P.P.P.S. After turning off "Silicon Valley", Jon Stewart was on. He was comparing the Atlanta cheating scandal to Wall Street. He played it out so well... The difference was the teachers had remorse and went to jail. The financial firms paid small fines, admitted no responsibility and one person went to jail. Proving once again, cheaters win.
P.P.P.P.P.S. You've got to watch this YouTube video, it's the funniest thing I've seen this week (thanks Larry!) And like the greatest humor, it's funny because of the core truth... "Tidal - End The Suffering": http://bit.ly/1EUeIz5
P.P.P.P.P.P.S. What you read in books and papers is the myth. Insiders don't want you to know the truth, then you might horn in on their game. But you probably won't, your conscience won't allow you to. But you don't get to complain when others win and you don't. Never forget that.
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Everything worth learning happens in life, not school. If you don't know anybody, you'll never make it. People don't get MBAs for the education, but the connection. You go to the Ivys for the better class of people you get to meet. Winners don't whine and winners have no time. Mentor, schmentor. Identify the winners and try to get closer. Abandon those without the killer instinct, who are not climbing the ladder. Time is ticking. Careers are war, but unlike in the Middle East, they're time-stamped. Use every "friend," take no time off unless it's to recharge your batteries. Or be resigned to middle management.
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Family trumps business. Have a couple of kids who call you "Pa" and you'll probably be happier than the business titans. Who might have children but don't go to the Little League games. That's right, you cannot have it all. It's your choice. The game of life is hard. Hopefully you've got someone telling you the truth. My father always did. But he was a lone wolf who believed no one in business was his friend. And he was right, they weren't.
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Tuesday, 21 April 2015
Hausfrau
I'm an alienated person. I feel too much and I don't fit in.
I'm not sure when I recognized this. Probably sometime in elementary school. When I thought doing well would result in happiness, when I couldn't handle being the most popular kid in class. And when you fall from the throne you end up in the abyss. And the funny thing about life is it's nearly impossible to get back to where you once belonged, to recover and be who you once were, who you desire to be again.
The literature tells us otherwise. The rags to riches story has been replaced by one of failure. That's today's mantra, that you must fail to succeed, that your losses make you stronger. But what if you can't recover from your losses? Or what if you lose and you never grasp the brass ring. All the stories are about the winners. And the rest of us are not losers, but somewhere in the middle, living our lives with a few laughs and unsure direction, confounded by the length of life before it gets too short.
I just finished reading "Hausfrau." The review intrigued me. An expat wife living in Switzerland who sees a psychiatrist and keeps having affairs.
I see a psychiatrist. You're not supposed to admit that. It means you're crazy. Especially if you're male. You're supposed to buck up and solve your own problems, and certainly not announce them.
But Anna won't tell her shrink the truth. She's completely isolated.
Or maybe she's not, maybe it's just viewpoint.
That's what I love about great art, it speaks to my alienation, it makes me feel like I belong. I can relate to the song, book or movie with no other human beings involved. Suddenly, the world make sense. I fit in. Someone else feels like I do.
Isn't that what we're all looking for? Someone who feels what we do? Who's been there? Who understands us?
Cheryl Strayed says we're all outsiders. We all feel less than. But I don't see that in popular culture, where the essence is to belong.
I was never good at belonging.
Belonging means compromise. Of not only your identity, but your values.
Want to belong as a guy?
Make fun of others. For their bodies, for their names, for their behavior.
I'm never gonna do that. I've been made fun of too much to behave that way. I've got sympathy for those who don't fit in. But the guy with the broken glasses, the girl who's twenty five pounds overweight with the ill-fitting clothes...is my sympathy for them justified? Do they feel persecuted or am I just reading myself into their appearance. Life is a struggle. I want to hug them, but maybe unlike me they're fine.
Or maybe they're not.
And life is about hoops.
But I stopped jumping through those long ago.
But once you stop jumping, you end up in a backwater from which you can never recover. There are no kids to show up when you're aged and ill. You suddenly find yourself without enough money to retire. You look back and you see you got off track and you didn't even realize it. Life passed you by. You're on a spur when everybody else is coursing to the destination on the main line.
But I was never one to have a job, a home and a wife. I would say I didn't deserve them, but I know that is untrue. Everybody deserves them, everybody is entitled to them. But I wanted to pursue that feeling I get when I bond with art.
"Hausfrau" is not a perfect book. For a minute there, I thought I was reading "Fifty Shades Of Gray." Or a tome by a poet angry that a newbie writer could make so much dough writing a bad, smutty book.
But "Hausfrau" is not that. It's the story of someone who jumped through the hoops and then realized they didn't work for her, did not make her happy. She flailed, she despaired...
I've done that.
Ever called an old friend at four in the morning after a night of imbibing, believing they're the only one who will understand you, make you feel all right?
I've done that. Don't. It doesn't work. It's more about you than them, they don't get your mood or your situation. You're not in college anymore. And even though you and she might have shared a bed and she even thinks about you now and again she's in bed with someone else right now.
Don't read "Hausfrau" if you're a guy with more answers than questions. You won't get it.
And don't read "Hausfrau" if you're a woman who believes in having it all. Anna will just piss you off.
But read "Hausfrau" if you wonder if you have a best friend, if anybody really understands you.
Read "Hausfrau" if you find being alone more comfortable than attending social functions.
Read "Hausfrau" if you've experienced despair. If people think you have it all but you think you don't. If you read books and watch movies and listen to music and think that the creators know your story and if you could just meet them your life would work.
That is untrue.
You're on your own.
But the conundrum is we are all in it together.
And deep down inside we're all a little bit alienated. We all feel inadequate. And we need someone to shine a light on this subject.
The best art does.
Jill Alexander Essbaum has here.
P.S. The book struggles with the denouement. The interweaving of the German lessons becomes tiresome. Ultimately the book is a failure. But so is life. We live, we die. And if there's a beacon of truth we cling to it. There are beacons in "Hausfrau."
http://www.amazon.com/Hausfrau-Novel-Jill-Alexander-Essbaum/dp/0812997530
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I'm not sure when I recognized this. Probably sometime in elementary school. When I thought doing well would result in happiness, when I couldn't handle being the most popular kid in class. And when you fall from the throne you end up in the abyss. And the funny thing about life is it's nearly impossible to get back to where you once belonged, to recover and be who you once were, who you desire to be again.
The literature tells us otherwise. The rags to riches story has been replaced by one of failure. That's today's mantra, that you must fail to succeed, that your losses make you stronger. But what if you can't recover from your losses? Or what if you lose and you never grasp the brass ring. All the stories are about the winners. And the rest of us are not losers, but somewhere in the middle, living our lives with a few laughs and unsure direction, confounded by the length of life before it gets too short.
I just finished reading "Hausfrau." The review intrigued me. An expat wife living in Switzerland who sees a psychiatrist and keeps having affairs.
I see a psychiatrist. You're not supposed to admit that. It means you're crazy. Especially if you're male. You're supposed to buck up and solve your own problems, and certainly not announce them.
But Anna won't tell her shrink the truth. She's completely isolated.
Or maybe she's not, maybe it's just viewpoint.
That's what I love about great art, it speaks to my alienation, it makes me feel like I belong. I can relate to the song, book or movie with no other human beings involved. Suddenly, the world make sense. I fit in. Someone else feels like I do.
Isn't that what we're all looking for? Someone who feels what we do? Who's been there? Who understands us?
Cheryl Strayed says we're all outsiders. We all feel less than. But I don't see that in popular culture, where the essence is to belong.
I was never good at belonging.
Belonging means compromise. Of not only your identity, but your values.
Want to belong as a guy?
Make fun of others. For their bodies, for their names, for their behavior.
I'm never gonna do that. I've been made fun of too much to behave that way. I've got sympathy for those who don't fit in. But the guy with the broken glasses, the girl who's twenty five pounds overweight with the ill-fitting clothes...is my sympathy for them justified? Do they feel persecuted or am I just reading myself into their appearance. Life is a struggle. I want to hug them, but maybe unlike me they're fine.
Or maybe they're not.
And life is about hoops.
But I stopped jumping through those long ago.
But once you stop jumping, you end up in a backwater from which you can never recover. There are no kids to show up when you're aged and ill. You suddenly find yourself without enough money to retire. You look back and you see you got off track and you didn't even realize it. Life passed you by. You're on a spur when everybody else is coursing to the destination on the main line.
But I was never one to have a job, a home and a wife. I would say I didn't deserve them, but I know that is untrue. Everybody deserves them, everybody is entitled to them. But I wanted to pursue that feeling I get when I bond with art.
"Hausfrau" is not a perfect book. For a minute there, I thought I was reading "Fifty Shades Of Gray." Or a tome by a poet angry that a newbie writer could make so much dough writing a bad, smutty book.
But "Hausfrau" is not that. It's the story of someone who jumped through the hoops and then realized they didn't work for her, did not make her happy. She flailed, she despaired...
I've done that.
Ever called an old friend at four in the morning after a night of imbibing, believing they're the only one who will understand you, make you feel all right?
I've done that. Don't. It doesn't work. It's more about you than them, they don't get your mood or your situation. You're not in college anymore. And even though you and she might have shared a bed and she even thinks about you now and again she's in bed with someone else right now.
Don't read "Hausfrau" if you're a guy with more answers than questions. You won't get it.
And don't read "Hausfrau" if you're a woman who believes in having it all. Anna will just piss you off.
But read "Hausfrau" if you wonder if you have a best friend, if anybody really understands you.
Read "Hausfrau" if you find being alone more comfortable than attending social functions.
Read "Hausfrau" if you've experienced despair. If people think you have it all but you think you don't. If you read books and watch movies and listen to music and think that the creators know your story and if you could just meet them your life would work.
That is untrue.
You're on your own.
But the conundrum is we are all in it together.
And deep down inside we're all a little bit alienated. We all feel inadequate. And we need someone to shine a light on this subject.
The best art does.
Jill Alexander Essbaum has here.
P.S. The book struggles with the denouement. The interweaving of the German lessons becomes tiresome. Ultimately the book is a failure. But so is life. We live, we die. And if there's a beacon of truth we cling to it. There are beacons in "Hausfrau."
http://www.amazon.com/Hausfrau-Novel-Jill-Alexander-Essbaum/dp/0812997530
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Data Kills Tidal
"The numbers don't lie: Jay-Z's Tidal music service is already a spectacular flop": http://bit.ly/1DJTkJY
Live by the data, die by the data.
In other words, Jay Z's not so smart. He may have been able to extract cash from Samsung, but he's living in the last decade, if not the last century.
You remember the 1990's, don't you? When the music business was controlled by labels and you couldn't play without radio, money and MTV, when acts were invulnerable and there was a clear distinction between them and us.
No more.
Once again, Guy Oseary screws up. I wonder if anybody at Artist Nation has a clue. Bring back Paul McGuinness. There were never these missteps when he was involved. He knew it was about hustle more than the big idea. I say dissolve the organization and make these managers sink or float on their own, because they've positively lost track, if they were ever on it at all.
The days of hype are through. You can throw it against the wall, but it's never gonna stick. It only sticks through hard work, a ground effort wherein you bond with your fans in mutual respect as opposed to bitching that you're poor and you're gonna save the music business when all you're really interested in is saving yourself.
When you read the above article, you'll learn that the Tidal app fell out of the top 700 on the download chart. If you had a number that low on SoundScan, you'd be selling enough copies of your LP to keep you in Coke. And I mean the drink, not the drug. Today opinions don't matter, facts do. And the fact is the public is not embracing Tidal. Jay Z's army is composed of those on stage with him, there are limits to his power, despite a fawning press eating up all his prognostications. As for the brain dead "artists" in business with him, their image has taken a hit. Whereas Marcus Mumford looks good by pooh-poohing the moribund music service:
"Mumford & Sons Diss Jay Z's Tidal": http://thebea.st/1FCfsnJ
We're at an inflection point. Where you have to decide if you're a musician, or a business...man.
Turns out musicians have to love the music. Have to do it for the experience, not the cash. Because they just can't make as much as their heroes, the corporate fat cats who rain down a couple of dollars in sponsorship money now and again. The artists' power is in their believability, their credibility, pop may be heading for the cash register, but now is the time for real artists to grab the reins and head off into the stratosphere with their fanbase intact.
You know your fanbase... The people who go to your shows, who stream your music, who follow you online.
That's all that matters when we discuss winners and losers, the data. Don't complain about your Spotify payouts, trumpet how many people have actually listened to your music. Enough do and you'll have a career. You'll have enough dough to eat, sleep and drink. And if you're looking for more, you're in the wrong business. The Beatles didn't get into it to be rich, the English musicians who created classic rock were just desirous of avoiding a life of drudgery in the factory. Stop complaining that someone stole your income and start creating. When did the United States become a nation of whiners? Bitching that someone not only moved their cheese, but stole it too. Music burgeoned when we were all in it together, an alternative to the crass corporations, the establishment, the man. Now Jay Z is the man, and that's not very appealing to the populace.
Nor is the prospect of viewing exclusive content behind a paywall. When you're used to seeing it for free on YouTube. You mean I pay a hundred bucks for a lousy ticket in the back and you've got to dun me for more? I'm struggling too!
And you've got to struggle to make it. You don't get a million YouTube views overnight. You've got to find your groove, flesh out your act, maybe music is not your metier.
But once you've broken through you cannot break the bond with those who put you there. And the bond is not with the press, but the paying audience. We can see the smoke behind the mirrors, and we can see whether you're real or not.
And Tidal is not real.
What if you gave a press conference and the press gave you a pass, doing no analysis, and the public rejected your offering?
Then you'd be living in the modern world where the media is in bed with politicians, corporations and the famous and the public is alienated.
Once upon a time, the public relied on the artists to salve their wounds, to point the way. Now they rely on each other.
That's right, it's more entertaining to correspond on Snapchat or Instagram than to listen to the words of blowhards. And even if we're talking about you, you may not know we're laughing behind your back.
No one wanted to do the hard work at Tidal, no one wanted to do the heavy lifting.
Spotify was in the States for three plus years before Taylor Swift blinked, before most people even knew what it was. But Tidal thinks it can jump-start success?
Apple's got a head start because it's got a platform already, that people are visiting, and it's got everybody's credit card number. That's the heavy lifting.
Spotify is trying to convince people to pay for music.
What is Tidal doing? TRYING TO MAKE ITS OWNERS RICHER!
Saving the pocketbooks of the artists. Who cares about that.
Fans are already giving artists tons of money. What is up with the wealth transfer? It's no wonder the public rejected Tidal. Just like they reject everybody who talks down to them. Can you hear me Mitt Romney, chiding the 47%?
It's a new world baby. To last you need a foundation. And that foundation is quantifiable. Either you're gaining streams and views and fans or you're not. And if you're not, it's your fault. You don't make mainstream music. That's cool. BUT YOU DON'T GET TO BITCH THAT YOU CAN'T GET PAID!
And if you're lucky enough to have made it, know that your artistic capital is not forever. You've got to think about your audience first. Instead of ripping people off, figure out a way to get the true fans in the good seats. A fan will pay for decades, and without fans you're nothing.
So the curtain has been pulled back.
And what we've found out is the music business is populated by greedy artists and business people who care not a whit about those propping up their culture.
Yes, Guy Oseary can get Apple to push U2's new album to everybody, but he can't even get the band to sell out arenas:
"Can U2 Reach Me Now? Ticket Sales, Radio Airplay Down In U.S.": http://bit.ly/1Db09k7
And sure, not many tickets are left. But this story broke because the data's freely available, you can search Ticketmaster and StubHub and LivingSocial. We know what's hot.
And you know what isn't?
TIDAL!
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Live by the data, die by the data.
In other words, Jay Z's not so smart. He may have been able to extract cash from Samsung, but he's living in the last decade, if not the last century.
You remember the 1990's, don't you? When the music business was controlled by labels and you couldn't play without radio, money and MTV, when acts were invulnerable and there was a clear distinction between them and us.
No more.
Once again, Guy Oseary screws up. I wonder if anybody at Artist Nation has a clue. Bring back Paul McGuinness. There were never these missteps when he was involved. He knew it was about hustle more than the big idea. I say dissolve the organization and make these managers sink or float on their own, because they've positively lost track, if they were ever on it at all.
The days of hype are through. You can throw it against the wall, but it's never gonna stick. It only sticks through hard work, a ground effort wherein you bond with your fans in mutual respect as opposed to bitching that you're poor and you're gonna save the music business when all you're really interested in is saving yourself.
When you read the above article, you'll learn that the Tidal app fell out of the top 700 on the download chart. If you had a number that low on SoundScan, you'd be selling enough copies of your LP to keep you in Coke. And I mean the drink, not the drug. Today opinions don't matter, facts do. And the fact is the public is not embracing Tidal. Jay Z's army is composed of those on stage with him, there are limits to his power, despite a fawning press eating up all his prognostications. As for the brain dead "artists" in business with him, their image has taken a hit. Whereas Marcus Mumford looks good by pooh-poohing the moribund music service:
"Mumford & Sons Diss Jay Z's Tidal": http://thebea.st/1FCfsnJ
We're at an inflection point. Where you have to decide if you're a musician, or a business...man.
Turns out musicians have to love the music. Have to do it for the experience, not the cash. Because they just can't make as much as their heroes, the corporate fat cats who rain down a couple of dollars in sponsorship money now and again. The artists' power is in their believability, their credibility, pop may be heading for the cash register, but now is the time for real artists to grab the reins and head off into the stratosphere with their fanbase intact.
You know your fanbase... The people who go to your shows, who stream your music, who follow you online.
That's all that matters when we discuss winners and losers, the data. Don't complain about your Spotify payouts, trumpet how many people have actually listened to your music. Enough do and you'll have a career. You'll have enough dough to eat, sleep and drink. And if you're looking for more, you're in the wrong business. The Beatles didn't get into it to be rich, the English musicians who created classic rock were just desirous of avoiding a life of drudgery in the factory. Stop complaining that someone stole your income and start creating. When did the United States become a nation of whiners? Bitching that someone not only moved their cheese, but stole it too. Music burgeoned when we were all in it together, an alternative to the crass corporations, the establishment, the man. Now Jay Z is the man, and that's not very appealing to the populace.
Nor is the prospect of viewing exclusive content behind a paywall. When you're used to seeing it for free on YouTube. You mean I pay a hundred bucks for a lousy ticket in the back and you've got to dun me for more? I'm struggling too!
And you've got to struggle to make it. You don't get a million YouTube views overnight. You've got to find your groove, flesh out your act, maybe music is not your metier.
But once you've broken through you cannot break the bond with those who put you there. And the bond is not with the press, but the paying audience. We can see the smoke behind the mirrors, and we can see whether you're real or not.
And Tidal is not real.
What if you gave a press conference and the press gave you a pass, doing no analysis, and the public rejected your offering?
Then you'd be living in the modern world where the media is in bed with politicians, corporations and the famous and the public is alienated.
Once upon a time, the public relied on the artists to salve their wounds, to point the way. Now they rely on each other.
That's right, it's more entertaining to correspond on Snapchat or Instagram than to listen to the words of blowhards. And even if we're talking about you, you may not know we're laughing behind your back.
No one wanted to do the hard work at Tidal, no one wanted to do the heavy lifting.
Spotify was in the States for three plus years before Taylor Swift blinked, before most people even knew what it was. But Tidal thinks it can jump-start success?
Apple's got a head start because it's got a platform already, that people are visiting, and it's got everybody's credit card number. That's the heavy lifting.
Spotify is trying to convince people to pay for music.
What is Tidal doing? TRYING TO MAKE ITS OWNERS RICHER!
Saving the pocketbooks of the artists. Who cares about that.
Fans are already giving artists tons of money. What is up with the wealth transfer? It's no wonder the public rejected Tidal. Just like they reject everybody who talks down to them. Can you hear me Mitt Romney, chiding the 47%?
It's a new world baby. To last you need a foundation. And that foundation is quantifiable. Either you're gaining streams and views and fans or you're not. And if you're not, it's your fault. You don't make mainstream music. That's cool. BUT YOU DON'T GET TO BITCH THAT YOU CAN'T GET PAID!
And if you're lucky enough to have made it, know that your artistic capital is not forever. You've got to think about your audience first. Instead of ripping people off, figure out a way to get the true fans in the good seats. A fan will pay for decades, and without fans you're nothing.
So the curtain has been pulled back.
And what we've found out is the music business is populated by greedy artists and business people who care not a whit about those propping up their culture.
Yes, Guy Oseary can get Apple to push U2's new album to everybody, but he can't even get the band to sell out arenas:
"Can U2 Reach Me Now? Ticket Sales, Radio Airplay Down In U.S.": http://bit.ly/1Db09k7
And sure, not many tickets are left. But this story broke because the data's freely available, you can search Ticketmaster and StubHub and LivingSocial. We know what's hot.
And you know what isn't?
TIDAL!
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Sunday, 19 April 2015
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees
How did we get here? Where the only people who seem to care are those desirous of getting third-rate talent inducted and the old men who are on the nominating committee?
Once upon a time rock and roll ruled the world. They said it would never die.
But it did.
The problem with rock is innovation has stopped. There are some good bands, but they barely test the limits, stretch the dynamics, of those who've come before. It's endless repeats of an old formula. And if you think that's interesting, you're probably addicted to your Nintendo 64.
Whereas music has twisted and turned, completely mutated since the core members were inducted.
Now the R&RHOF is all politics. Getting people in. And if you think Ringo Starr deserves to be in as a solo act, you've never heard Yes. "Roundabout" means more than all of Ringo's solo hits combined. But for some reason, prog rock is sorely underrepresented in the R&RHOF.
We've all got deserving admittees who are not.
But we've given up hope. When KISS and Rush are in before Steve Miller and Kraftwerk, never mind Deep Purple, those who truly care throw their hands in the air and ignore the whole process. They know it's flawed. That it's not about artistry, but connections.
And the R&RHOF lumbers on ignorant of the country's feelings. Making the ceremony bigger, including youngsters for the telecast the same way the Grammys include TV stars. This has got nothing to do with rock and roll.
Once again, rock is dead.
It was killed by greed. Michael Jackson put a stake in its heart with "Thriller." And everything good dies out. Or how did Billy Joel put it, "only the good die young"?
So close the doors. Throw away the key. The Museum of Modern Art doesn't include antiquities to broaden its appeal.
Let them have a Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame.
And if we're lucky, an EDM HOF right next to it.
And while you're at it, include a POP HOF. With a special one hit wonders exhibit that will draw throngs.
Just like Jann Wenner screwed up his magazine by shrinking its size and then publishing the unsubstantiated UVA rape story, he's ruined the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Through myopia, by wielding tight-fisted control, by being so inside the bubble as to not know what's going on.
The R&RHOF is the kind of institution people would rather not be a member of. Madonna's got nothing to do with rock and some inductees are so far from luminaries, it's laughable.
Rock ruled the baby boomers.
And since the baby boomers have political power and money, they think they can foist their viewpoint upon the country and it will stick. Just like the Koch Brothers believe by spending enough money they can control the narrative, never mind Congress.
"Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'"
See that the biggest venue in America is the smartphone. And its stars are Snapchat and Facebook and they're all about getting people to connect and communicate. It's no longer about top down, but bottom up. The public rules. To see young and old farts blowing smoke at the R&RHOF ceremony is to witness something irrelevant, assuming we're paying attention at all.
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Once upon a time rock and roll ruled the world. They said it would never die.
But it did.
The problem with rock is innovation has stopped. There are some good bands, but they barely test the limits, stretch the dynamics, of those who've come before. It's endless repeats of an old formula. And if you think that's interesting, you're probably addicted to your Nintendo 64.
Whereas music has twisted and turned, completely mutated since the core members were inducted.
Now the R&RHOF is all politics. Getting people in. And if you think Ringo Starr deserves to be in as a solo act, you've never heard Yes. "Roundabout" means more than all of Ringo's solo hits combined. But for some reason, prog rock is sorely underrepresented in the R&RHOF.
We've all got deserving admittees who are not.
But we've given up hope. When KISS and Rush are in before Steve Miller and Kraftwerk, never mind Deep Purple, those who truly care throw their hands in the air and ignore the whole process. They know it's flawed. That it's not about artistry, but connections.
And the R&RHOF lumbers on ignorant of the country's feelings. Making the ceremony bigger, including youngsters for the telecast the same way the Grammys include TV stars. This has got nothing to do with rock and roll.
Once again, rock is dead.
It was killed by greed. Michael Jackson put a stake in its heart with "Thriller." And everything good dies out. Or how did Billy Joel put it, "only the good die young"?
So close the doors. Throw away the key. The Museum of Modern Art doesn't include antiquities to broaden its appeal.
Let them have a Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame.
And if we're lucky, an EDM HOF right next to it.
And while you're at it, include a POP HOF. With a special one hit wonders exhibit that will draw throngs.
Just like Jann Wenner screwed up his magazine by shrinking its size and then publishing the unsubstantiated UVA rape story, he's ruined the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Through myopia, by wielding tight-fisted control, by being so inside the bubble as to not know what's going on.
The R&RHOF is the kind of institution people would rather not be a member of. Madonna's got nothing to do with rock and some inductees are so far from luminaries, it's laughable.
Rock ruled the baby boomers.
And since the baby boomers have political power and money, they think they can foist their viewpoint upon the country and it will stick. Just like the Koch Brothers believe by spending enough money they can control the narrative, never mind Congress.
"Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'"
See that the biggest venue in America is the smartphone. And its stars are Snapchat and Facebook and they're all about getting people to connect and communicate. It's no longer about top down, but bottom up. The public rules. To see young and old farts blowing smoke at the R&RHOF ceremony is to witness something irrelevant, assuming we're paying attention at all.
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