"E-Book Sales Fall After New Amazon Contracts": http://on.wsj.com/1fXJv3j
Beware of your dream coming true.
For years we've heard that music is undervalued, that people must pay more. But maybe the consumer doesn't want to. That seems to be the case with e-books.
When Amazon launched the Kindle no e-book was over ten bucks. A business burgeoned. Early adopters were ecstatic. But the old guard said they loved paper and the writers and publishers were wary of giving Amazon too much power.
So, after agitating in the press, Amazon gave them some of what they wanted, including the right to set prices.
And then they fell.
Now don't tell me paper is where it's at. If you read the story on backpacks in the "New York Times" you'll see that college students no longer carry books, their courses are online. This is the trend, and to deny the trend is death. ("Backpack Makers Rethink a Student Staple": http://nyti.ms/1Up6jf9)
So CDs are never coming back and track sales are decreasing, -5% for Universal in the last quarter, and streaming adoption is slow.
Why is it slow?
Because tracks are free on YouTube and Apple Music is nearly indecipherable and maybe $9.99 a month is just too much.
Forget about the fans, they'll pay no matter what. But to really succeed you have to get the casual users, the looky-loos. And the larger the barrier, the less they're interested.
Music has completely changed. Used to be tracks were parceled out on the radio with the hope that people would go to the store and buy singles. Now, the track is available instantly online and those who care check it out in droves. Which is how Justin Bieber broke the Spotify record this week. This is a good thing. Monetization comes last in today's marketplace. First comes attention, you want people to check something out, and if it sticks...it's forevermore. Hell, Major Lazer's "Lean On" is still one of Spotify's top tracks. As is One Direction's "Drag Me Down," which held the streaming record before Bieber.
So why is everybody agitating against the new model? Universal Music reported that streaming revenue grew significantly, by 34%, it overcame the decline in physical and downloads, it helped the company's bottom line. But we've got the unwashed uneducated and the marginal protesting that they just can't win in the new world.
Welcome to the twenty first century. That's what I hate about America. No one can move backward, no one can lose. It's like we're dying to become Europe, where jobs are protected. Only they aren't. Industry lays people off in droves and no matter what the musicians say their revenues are not returning, unless they're stars or adjust their model.
We need to get more people paying for streaming.
And first we must expose them to it.
It's hard to get someone to pay $9.99 a month if they don't know what it is, how to use it. And most people still don't. And Apple Music is a bad beginning. I still can't figure it out completely. And if I can't, what about the wannabe?
So freemium must exist. And family plans are a good thing. As is Spotify's reduced student price.
The key is to get people hooked and then raise the price.
Not enough people were hooked on e-books. They're only 24% of the market. Writers and publishers will be healthiest when the physical book dies. I know you're screaming, but I'm right. Physical stores and physical books and physical distribution are an antiquated model that wastes money. And the public knows this, which is why it's balking at paying the same price for an e-book as it does for a hardcover, which is oftentimes the case these days.
Which means the value of an album is no longer ten or fifteen dollars. People think that's a rip-off.
But they'll blindly play the same damn track over and over again for decades, putting cash in the pockets of providers under the new model.
This is what I love about the internet, this is what I love about modern life. The old gatekeepers, the people who had control and thought they still did do not. Turns out the public is in control, the public decides what is of value and what it wants to pay for something. And your only hope is to get ahead of people and corral them into a new system. Trying to take away the goodies they already have, that's death.
So, once again, the enemy is not Google or Amazon or Spotify or Apple. Rather, the enemy is you. You refuse to take a risk. You continue to hold on to the old model, as it dies, dies, dies. I guarantee you the people who won in the past won't necessarily win in the future. But if you don't think people are already winning in today's world you don't know Bieber, who would have been a nonstarter without YouTube, you don't know the Weeknd, who started out giving his music away for free, you don't know Diplo, who's used the internet to spread the word on tracks so infectious that he's getting rich.
There's plenty of money to go around.
Please don't hold back the tide of progress.
Take chances.
Laud streaming.
Keep freemium.
Agitate for Apple to simplify its user interface.
Luxuriate in the new golden age.
Or be left behind.
P.S. If you're frustrated that the above WSJ article is behind a paywall you're testimony to the fact that sometimes the price is too high. The WSJ has decided to leave readers behind, which I believe is a mistake. One thing we know for sure, leaving listeners behind is a huge blunder, obscurity is your enemy in today's world, and it's so easy to achieve.
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Friday, 4 September 2015
Rhinofy-Money Talks
What can I tell you, I didn't start buying every Kinks album until their hits were done. I owned the "Greatest Hits," but with limited cash it wasn't until I was a senior in high school that I purchased "Arthur," I loved hearing "Victoria."
And then I bought every one thereafter, including "Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One" from the cut-out bin. An incredible LP, completely forgotten to the sands of time.
Kind of like "Preservation Act 2."
That's right, when rock became bombastic, when corporate rock was rearing its ugly head, Ray Davies retreated into musical theatre, with concept albums telling stories you had to listen to to understand, and even then it wasn't always so easy. And "Preservation Act 1" was a hitless dud, but its follow-up, "Preservation Act 2," is pure genius. With a story containing English references that will have you running to your dictionary, suddenly "Preservation Act 1" made sense!
Not that the story was completely realistic. But there were bad guys and good guys and right smack dab in the middle of side one of "Preservation Act 2" is a song so accurate, it still rings true today, it's the best expression of the money culture we've been living in for decades.
"Show me a man who says he can live without bread
And I'll show you a man who's a liar and in debt"
Yes, it's always the poor claiming they can live without money. The rich, not so much. It's as if the underclass rationalizes its position, since it's got no direction home to the pot of gold controlled by the richies.
"There's no man alive who can't be purchased or enticed
There's no man alive who wouldn't sell for a price"
Everything's for sale. It's just a matter of the number.
Want that house on the corner? The owner might not be eager to sell, but if you ratchet up the price he starts thinking...with the money he can now buy TWO houses...it's YOURS!
And this is why today's stars do privates for corporations and despicable people, they can't say no to the price. Oftentimes they've spent it before the date's even played. You can pay your alimony and child support and...
"Money talks and we're the living proof
There ain't no limit to what money can do
Money talks, money talks"
It's why we revere the icons. It's why the unsuccessful have contempt for those in the black. Would they hate the popsters so much if they were broke? OF COURSE NOT!
"Money can't breathe and money can't see
But when I pull out a fiver people listen to me"
Try it. My dad taught me this lesson. You've got to grease the skids. The maitre d', the mechanic, the police... That's right, the guy who shuttles my mother around parks right in front of the theatre by dropping a fiver whenever he's told to move on by a blue coat, he says..."I think you dropped something..." Problem solved.
"Money can't run and money can't walk
But when I write out a check I swear to God I hear money talk"
Ah, what doors cash opens.
"Money talks and baby when you've been bought
You pay attention every time money talks
Money talks, money talks"
A few years later Bob Dylan sang that we "gotta serve somebody." Ain't that the truth. We all have a boss, and it all comes down to cash. You're being paid it, you want it, you can't say no. Stuff you'd never do in a million years, choices you abhor, you go down the path when someone is lording money over your head.
"Money talks and there's no doubt about it
Money talks and we can't live without it"
Try it. I did. You can't function. All you can think about is cash. How you're gonna get it, how you're gonna evade the bills. You're just one disaster away from crapping out. If you think you can live without money, you've never tried it.
"What's the point of living unless you've got money
I just couldn't function without money
Money talks, money talks
Money talks, money talks"
Wait a minute. Ray Davies is an artist. He's supposed to be above money, he's supposed to be doing it for the love. But in "Money Talks" he's exposing all the hypocrisy. Joni Mitchell might play if you're a friend of hers, otherwise she needs cold hard cash. The sooner you learn this, the sooner you're on the road to success.
"Show me an upright respected man
And I'll have him licking my boots when I put money in his hand"
Behind every great fortune lies a great crime. If you wanna be rich you've got to throw your morals out the window. It's what's happening in D.C. right now, with the politicians groveling at the feet of the billionaires. Just try getting rid of the puny hedge fund tax rate...can't be done when they donate, when they schlepp you around in their private jets.
"It rots your heart, it gets to your soul
Before you know where you are you're a slave to the green gold"
That idealist who sat next to you at college... He or she is now wearing a multi-thousand dollar suit and working around the clock for nothing other than money, they've barely got time to spend it. They're slaves to the cash.
"Money talks and we're the living proof"
And there you have it.
"There ain't no limit to what money can do"
Want change? Start with a big bank account.
"Money talks you out of your self-respect"
Would you really be friends with that jerk if he weren't rich and throwing you perks? Being a court jester for people whose values you hate?
"The more you crave it the cheaper you get"
Cheap isn't only about refusing to leave a tip, about hoarding cash, it's a whole attitude, and if you're cheap you can never get ahead in this world, you're stuck where you are. Loosen the purse strings if you want progress. But you'll end up a slave to the green gold, because the truth is we're all just rats in the same cage.
"Money buys you time and people listen"
Would anybody be paying attention to Donald Trump if he were broke?
"Money can buy a smile and make life worth living"
Look at the nerdy hedge funders with the babealicious wives, who get smiles from everybody on the payroll. That's the power of money. And we can criticize it all day long, but it's better than living without it.
"If you're ugly money can improve you"
Talk to the plastic surgeons. It's amazing what cash can buy you.
"I just couldn't face the world without mazuma"
The sooner you learn this lesson, the better off you are.
I've learned when someone says money doesn't matter they need to be ignored, they don't understand how the game is played, even worse, they don't understand people. Sure, some people will stand up to money now and again, but that's just until those with cash find their weak point, or these same people go broke.
The truth is money talks. Maybe silently. Maybe impliedly. But it's more vocal and more important than most of the drivel you hear every day, that you see on reality TV and even hear on the news.
Hell, there's not an anchor who won't jump ship for a check.
And networks protect their advertisers.
And if people let go HBO heads roll.
Money makes the world go-round.
And you probably won't learn this at school.
And too often you'll hear that money is dirty.
But if you want power, if you want to get ahead...follow the dollar.
Eventually Ray Davies did. Clive Davis got him to give up the album-length concepts, and go back to cutting individual songs. Clive did this by paying him. And the end result was success, suddenly the Kinks were playing arenas.
So even Ray Davies is a slave to the green gold. But in this one song he points out the truth of society better than anybody else.
That's the job of an artist.
To pursue truth.
But only if someone is paying you.
Only if you're getting rich.
"Money talks, money talks"
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/1UsIb68
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And then I bought every one thereafter, including "Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One" from the cut-out bin. An incredible LP, completely forgotten to the sands of time.
Kind of like "Preservation Act 2."
That's right, when rock became bombastic, when corporate rock was rearing its ugly head, Ray Davies retreated into musical theatre, with concept albums telling stories you had to listen to to understand, and even then it wasn't always so easy. And "Preservation Act 1" was a hitless dud, but its follow-up, "Preservation Act 2," is pure genius. With a story containing English references that will have you running to your dictionary, suddenly "Preservation Act 1" made sense!
Not that the story was completely realistic. But there were bad guys and good guys and right smack dab in the middle of side one of "Preservation Act 2" is a song so accurate, it still rings true today, it's the best expression of the money culture we've been living in for decades.
"Show me a man who says he can live without bread
And I'll show you a man who's a liar and in debt"
Yes, it's always the poor claiming they can live without money. The rich, not so much. It's as if the underclass rationalizes its position, since it's got no direction home to the pot of gold controlled by the richies.
"There's no man alive who can't be purchased or enticed
There's no man alive who wouldn't sell for a price"
Everything's for sale. It's just a matter of the number.
Want that house on the corner? The owner might not be eager to sell, but if you ratchet up the price he starts thinking...with the money he can now buy TWO houses...it's YOURS!
And this is why today's stars do privates for corporations and despicable people, they can't say no to the price. Oftentimes they've spent it before the date's even played. You can pay your alimony and child support and...
"Money talks and we're the living proof
There ain't no limit to what money can do
Money talks, money talks"
It's why we revere the icons. It's why the unsuccessful have contempt for those in the black. Would they hate the popsters so much if they were broke? OF COURSE NOT!
"Money can't breathe and money can't see
But when I pull out a fiver people listen to me"
Try it. My dad taught me this lesson. You've got to grease the skids. The maitre d', the mechanic, the police... That's right, the guy who shuttles my mother around parks right in front of the theatre by dropping a fiver whenever he's told to move on by a blue coat, he says..."I think you dropped something..." Problem solved.
"Money can't run and money can't walk
But when I write out a check I swear to God I hear money talk"
Ah, what doors cash opens.
"Money talks and baby when you've been bought
You pay attention every time money talks
Money talks, money talks"
A few years later Bob Dylan sang that we "gotta serve somebody." Ain't that the truth. We all have a boss, and it all comes down to cash. You're being paid it, you want it, you can't say no. Stuff you'd never do in a million years, choices you abhor, you go down the path when someone is lording money over your head.
"Money talks and there's no doubt about it
Money talks and we can't live without it"
Try it. I did. You can't function. All you can think about is cash. How you're gonna get it, how you're gonna evade the bills. You're just one disaster away from crapping out. If you think you can live without money, you've never tried it.
"What's the point of living unless you've got money
I just couldn't function without money
Money talks, money talks
Money talks, money talks"
Wait a minute. Ray Davies is an artist. He's supposed to be above money, he's supposed to be doing it for the love. But in "Money Talks" he's exposing all the hypocrisy. Joni Mitchell might play if you're a friend of hers, otherwise she needs cold hard cash. The sooner you learn this, the sooner you're on the road to success.
"Show me an upright respected man
And I'll have him licking my boots when I put money in his hand"
Behind every great fortune lies a great crime. If you wanna be rich you've got to throw your morals out the window. It's what's happening in D.C. right now, with the politicians groveling at the feet of the billionaires. Just try getting rid of the puny hedge fund tax rate...can't be done when they donate, when they schlepp you around in their private jets.
"It rots your heart, it gets to your soul
Before you know where you are you're a slave to the green gold"
That idealist who sat next to you at college... He or she is now wearing a multi-thousand dollar suit and working around the clock for nothing other than money, they've barely got time to spend it. They're slaves to the cash.
"Money talks and we're the living proof"
And there you have it.
"There ain't no limit to what money can do"
Want change? Start with a big bank account.
"Money talks you out of your self-respect"
Would you really be friends with that jerk if he weren't rich and throwing you perks? Being a court jester for people whose values you hate?
"The more you crave it the cheaper you get"
Cheap isn't only about refusing to leave a tip, about hoarding cash, it's a whole attitude, and if you're cheap you can never get ahead in this world, you're stuck where you are. Loosen the purse strings if you want progress. But you'll end up a slave to the green gold, because the truth is we're all just rats in the same cage.
"Money buys you time and people listen"
Would anybody be paying attention to Donald Trump if he were broke?
"Money can buy a smile and make life worth living"
Look at the nerdy hedge funders with the babealicious wives, who get smiles from everybody on the payroll. That's the power of money. And we can criticize it all day long, but it's better than living without it.
"If you're ugly money can improve you"
Talk to the plastic surgeons. It's amazing what cash can buy you.
"I just couldn't face the world without mazuma"
The sooner you learn this lesson, the better off you are.
I've learned when someone says money doesn't matter they need to be ignored, they don't understand how the game is played, even worse, they don't understand people. Sure, some people will stand up to money now and again, but that's just until those with cash find their weak point, or these same people go broke.
The truth is money talks. Maybe silently. Maybe impliedly. But it's more vocal and more important than most of the drivel you hear every day, that you see on reality TV and even hear on the news.
Hell, there's not an anchor who won't jump ship for a check.
And networks protect their advertisers.
And if people let go HBO heads roll.
Money makes the world go-round.
And you probably won't learn this at school.
And too often you'll hear that money is dirty.
But if you want power, if you want to get ahead...follow the dollar.
Eventually Ray Davies did. Clive Davis got him to give up the album-length concepts, and go back to cutting individual songs. Clive did this by paying him. And the end result was success, suddenly the Kinks were playing arenas.
So even Ray Davies is a slave to the green gold. But in this one song he points out the truth of society better than anybody else.
That's the job of an artist.
To pursue truth.
But only if someone is paying you.
Only if you're getting rich.
"Money talks, money talks"
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/1UsIb68
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Thursday, 3 September 2015
Beau Willimon Responds
Re: Narcos
Hey Bob,
Great post. It's truly an exciting time for television. Always appreciate when you give HOC a shout-out. Loved how you traced back the last 30 years of TV to where this current era began. And you're right - "Sopranos" was a game-changer. But to give credit where credit is due, Tom Fontana's "Oz" really got the ball rolling. It was the first one-hour drama that HBO ever produced.
Tom is a friend and mentor of mine, so I have to admit some bias, but I think it's fair to objectively state that "Oz" - which aired two years before "Sopranos" in 1997 - paved the way for the "Sopranos" and everything to follow. Tom was a big part of the revolution-before-the-revolution - working on shows like "St. Elsewhere" and "Homicide: Life on the Street" - complex, sophisticated network shows that created an appetite for the premium cables dramas that succeeded them. "Oz" showed what was possible. HBO basically said to Tom: "Here's the resources, make something interesting." And he did. And television changed as a result.
Yes, "Sopranos" took it all mainstream. Its impact is gargantuan. But let's not forget David Simon's "The Wire" either, arguably the best television show in the last half century. Tom Fontana was a mentor to Simon. In Simon's own words from this Salon interview: (http://www.salon.com/2011/07/04/treme_season_2_david_simon_interview/)
"("Homicide: Life on the Street" writer-producer) Tom Fontana took me on when I was looking at television as kind of a lark, as something I might do for a couple of years for money as I finished my second book. I had no intention of making a home in that medium. It was years before I looked up and realized that I had. Tom was incredibly gracious and open about sharing everything he knew about how to make television shows."
"The Wire" may not have had the viewership of "The Sopranos" when it first aired, but its reputation and impact continues to grow. It's sort of like the Velvet Underground of 21st Century TV - only a few thousand people saw it when it first aired, but they all started TV shows. Its influence on the mainstream can't be denied. Tom Fontana and David Simon's contribution to everything all of us are watching is profound and indelible.
All my best,
Beau Willimon
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Hey Bob,
Great post. It's truly an exciting time for television. Always appreciate when you give HOC a shout-out. Loved how you traced back the last 30 years of TV to where this current era began. And you're right - "Sopranos" was a game-changer. But to give credit where credit is due, Tom Fontana's "Oz" really got the ball rolling. It was the first one-hour drama that HBO ever produced.
Tom is a friend and mentor of mine, so I have to admit some bias, but I think it's fair to objectively state that "Oz" - which aired two years before "Sopranos" in 1997 - paved the way for the "Sopranos" and everything to follow. Tom was a big part of the revolution-before-the-revolution - working on shows like "St. Elsewhere" and "Homicide: Life on the Street" - complex, sophisticated network shows that created an appetite for the premium cables dramas that succeeded them. "Oz" showed what was possible. HBO basically said to Tom: "Here's the resources, make something interesting." And he did. And television changed as a result.
Yes, "Sopranos" took it all mainstream. Its impact is gargantuan. But let's not forget David Simon's "The Wire" either, arguably the best television show in the last half century. Tom Fontana was a mentor to Simon. In Simon's own words from this Salon interview: (http://www.salon.com/2011/07/04/treme_season_2_david_simon_interview/)
"("Homicide: Life on the Street" writer-producer) Tom Fontana took me on when I was looking at television as kind of a lark, as something I might do for a couple of years for money as I finished my second book. I had no intention of making a home in that medium. It was years before I looked up and realized that I had. Tom was incredibly gracious and open about sharing everything he knew about how to make television shows."
"The Wire" may not have had the viewership of "The Sopranos" when it first aired, but its reputation and impact continues to grow. It's sort of like the Velvet Underground of 21st Century TV - only a few thousand people saw it when it first aired, but they all started TV shows. Its influence on the mainstream can't be denied. Tom Fontana and David Simon's contribution to everything all of us are watching is profound and indelible.
All my best,
Beau Willimon
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Tuesday, 1 September 2015
Narcos
Are you watching this??
Somehow the TV industry has leveraged the power of the internet to hit a new high in quality. It's as if after Napster we had the Beatles and the Stones, with Yes and Genesis to follow.
That's right, forget the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. That's long after the fact. If you lived in the late sixties and early seventies you were exposed to a cornucopia of experimentation, musicians owned the world and we were whipsawed and whiplashed and we liked it. We couldn't figure out how they came up with this stuff, only that we needed more.
And the whole world was watching.
The whole world is now watching TV.
So Reed Hastings harnesses the power of the internet to create Netflix. And unlike the music industry, he moves one step ahead of his customers, he goes to streaming before the public even knows it wants it. Hastings sees broadband adoption and licenses content and even the content providers have no idea what's going on, they're just happy he's paying them now that the DVD is cratering.
And then Jeff Bezos moves in. Knowing that if you don't crash the party right away, you can't get in later.
Have you watched "Transparent"? Starts off slowly, and then is a weird mish-mash of sitcom and "Seinfeld," mirroring the American family to the point you want to tell everybody about it.
But the granddaddy was "House of Cards."
And the reason "House of Cards" was so good was because of Kevin Spacey and Beau Willimon and Netflix's refusal to meddle. It's as if Mo Ostin was cloned to run TV, knowing that art is best when you let the creatives run free. You see artists want to pierce the sky and leave their mark, and once unrestrained they'll surprise you.
Oh, they'll fail too.
But when they succeed you can only marvel.
Can you say "Sopranos"?
That's where it all began. When suddenly HBO was not only better than network, but better than movies. Anybody with a brain now wanted to stay home as opposed to go out.
Now we're enthralled by the flat screen.
But HBO is no longer alone. If you've got the bona fides, the track record, it's a bidding war out there, multiple outlets want to let you make your dream product. And your dream product could be...ANYTHING!
Before you watch "Narcos," pull up Netflix's show "Chef's Table," the very first one, about Massimo Bottura. I need to do a whole piece about it, it's so riveting. The kind of documentary that used to run in the theatre, before every adult abandoned them.
And loving that so much I pulled up "Narcos"...
WHEW!
How many people are going to become gangsters after watching this series? Yup, those with smarts but no education, who refuse to be held down by society. Like those who revolutionized the music business.
Rules didn't apply to them. Your heroes not only made it up as they went along, they didn't take no for an answer. And there's as much illegality in the history of the music business as there is in "Narcos," with as much sex and drugs and nearly as much money. But music is legal and cocaine is not.
Don't believe the press release. You've got to be in the room to know what's going on. And when you are, the stories will make your hair stand on end.
But that music business book will never be written.
But the story of the Medellin Cartel is public.
Yet despite there being so many books, we live in a visual society. And when you watch "Narcos"...
Some of the dialogue is cheesy. But the story and the lessons...they get you thinking.
Suddenly you understand Miami, how the modern city was built upon a sea of coke. And having been to Bogota, getting to know some residents, I learned that the Florida metropolis is nearly a suburb. People buy houses, they live there...
Colombia. Most are clueless and those who know are too scared to go.
But I did. And it was the most exciting place I've been to in years.
Everybody had a relative who'd been assassinated. I was driven around in a bulletproof car. It's safe, but it's not. And the economy is limited, the currency is challenged, to the point where it's all about lifestyle.
That's right, in America you work all day to get ahead.
In Colombia, you're living your life right away, talking, partying and...
Out of this mix comes people like Pablo Escobar.
Sure, he made it in drugs. But he could have succeeded in real life, in a more regulated country, where it wasn't a free-for-all. Because he knows when to hold 'em and he knows when to fold 'em.
That's what they don't tell you about the winners, that they're charismatic, that they don't extract every last ounce, that they're fun to hang with.
And they're ruthless.
Most people never figure out how the world works. They're drones in society who think they are free but are far from it.
But if you're curious and you want a bit more, you peel back the curtain, you get to know a few people, you put the pieces together, and you realize...
There are two Americas. The one they tell you about, and then the real one, the true underbelly of this country.
And if you watch "House of Cards," you'll learn more lessons than in a year of college.
And if you watch "Narcos," you'll suddenly become aware of the possibilities. Of not only career and wealth, but life. We're so inured to the way it is, our creature comforts, our safety, that we're rarely alive. See the images from the streets of Colombia in "Narcos" and your heart will start to beat, you'll see that everything is up for grabs, and the truth is the sands are constantly shifting, you feel safe, but you're not.
But not everybody wants to be part of the action. Many are observers.
Well, it's never been a better time to watch. Because those in the visual industries are testing limits. Forget the talentless YouTube stars. They're not where the action is. Look to scripted series. Look to what's on pay outlets, where there are no commercials but quality product. There you will find insight, stimulation and knowledge.
Want to get everybody to pay for streaming music services?
Create content as good as Netflix's, cutting edge stuff you can't live without. That which you did not think you needed, but now hold dear.
It's an amazing time to be alive.
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Somehow the TV industry has leveraged the power of the internet to hit a new high in quality. It's as if after Napster we had the Beatles and the Stones, with Yes and Genesis to follow.
That's right, forget the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. That's long after the fact. If you lived in the late sixties and early seventies you were exposed to a cornucopia of experimentation, musicians owned the world and we were whipsawed and whiplashed and we liked it. We couldn't figure out how they came up with this stuff, only that we needed more.
And the whole world was watching.
The whole world is now watching TV.
So Reed Hastings harnesses the power of the internet to create Netflix. And unlike the music industry, he moves one step ahead of his customers, he goes to streaming before the public even knows it wants it. Hastings sees broadband adoption and licenses content and even the content providers have no idea what's going on, they're just happy he's paying them now that the DVD is cratering.
And then Jeff Bezos moves in. Knowing that if you don't crash the party right away, you can't get in later.
Have you watched "Transparent"? Starts off slowly, and then is a weird mish-mash of sitcom and "Seinfeld," mirroring the American family to the point you want to tell everybody about it.
But the granddaddy was "House of Cards."
And the reason "House of Cards" was so good was because of Kevin Spacey and Beau Willimon and Netflix's refusal to meddle. It's as if Mo Ostin was cloned to run TV, knowing that art is best when you let the creatives run free. You see artists want to pierce the sky and leave their mark, and once unrestrained they'll surprise you.
Oh, they'll fail too.
But when they succeed you can only marvel.
Can you say "Sopranos"?
That's where it all began. When suddenly HBO was not only better than network, but better than movies. Anybody with a brain now wanted to stay home as opposed to go out.
Now we're enthralled by the flat screen.
But HBO is no longer alone. If you've got the bona fides, the track record, it's a bidding war out there, multiple outlets want to let you make your dream product. And your dream product could be...ANYTHING!
Before you watch "Narcos," pull up Netflix's show "Chef's Table," the very first one, about Massimo Bottura. I need to do a whole piece about it, it's so riveting. The kind of documentary that used to run in the theatre, before every adult abandoned them.
And loving that so much I pulled up "Narcos"...
WHEW!
How many people are going to become gangsters after watching this series? Yup, those with smarts but no education, who refuse to be held down by society. Like those who revolutionized the music business.
Rules didn't apply to them. Your heroes not only made it up as they went along, they didn't take no for an answer. And there's as much illegality in the history of the music business as there is in "Narcos," with as much sex and drugs and nearly as much money. But music is legal and cocaine is not.
Don't believe the press release. You've got to be in the room to know what's going on. And when you are, the stories will make your hair stand on end.
But that music business book will never be written.
But the story of the Medellin Cartel is public.
Yet despite there being so many books, we live in a visual society. And when you watch "Narcos"...
Some of the dialogue is cheesy. But the story and the lessons...they get you thinking.
Suddenly you understand Miami, how the modern city was built upon a sea of coke. And having been to Bogota, getting to know some residents, I learned that the Florida metropolis is nearly a suburb. People buy houses, they live there...
Colombia. Most are clueless and those who know are too scared to go.
But I did. And it was the most exciting place I've been to in years.
Everybody had a relative who'd been assassinated. I was driven around in a bulletproof car. It's safe, but it's not. And the economy is limited, the currency is challenged, to the point where it's all about lifestyle.
That's right, in America you work all day to get ahead.
In Colombia, you're living your life right away, talking, partying and...
Out of this mix comes people like Pablo Escobar.
Sure, he made it in drugs. But he could have succeeded in real life, in a more regulated country, where it wasn't a free-for-all. Because he knows when to hold 'em and he knows when to fold 'em.
That's what they don't tell you about the winners, that they're charismatic, that they don't extract every last ounce, that they're fun to hang with.
And they're ruthless.
Most people never figure out how the world works. They're drones in society who think they are free but are far from it.
But if you're curious and you want a bit more, you peel back the curtain, you get to know a few people, you put the pieces together, and you realize...
There are two Americas. The one they tell you about, and then the real one, the true underbelly of this country.
And if you watch "House of Cards," you'll learn more lessons than in a year of college.
And if you watch "Narcos," you'll suddenly become aware of the possibilities. Of not only career and wealth, but life. We're so inured to the way it is, our creature comforts, our safety, that we're rarely alive. See the images from the streets of Colombia in "Narcos" and your heart will start to beat, you'll see that everything is up for grabs, and the truth is the sands are constantly shifting, you feel safe, but you're not.
But not everybody wants to be part of the action. Many are observers.
Well, it's never been a better time to watch. Because those in the visual industries are testing limits. Forget the talentless YouTube stars. They're not where the action is. Look to scripted series. Look to what's on pay outlets, where there are no commercials but quality product. There you will find insight, stimulation and knowledge.
Want to get everybody to pay for streaming music services?
Create content as good as Netflix's, cutting edge stuff you can't live without. That which you did not think you needed, but now hold dear.
It's an amazing time to be alive.
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Monday, 31 August 2015
The VMAs
I asked a powerful music PR man why the press never went negative on Taylor Swift.
He said it was about access. As long as she was available, doing interviews, feeding the press stories, coverage would be positive. It's when you clam up that the media goes wild on you.
Which kind of explains why Kanye West is getting a pass.
Not completely. But here we have an egomaniac with little national traction, when it comes to music, being given a faux award and then rambling on for ten minutes nearly incoherently, sticking it to the man for giving him this award, any award at all. I'd say it's hypocritical, but what fascinates me is the press is not full of stories about him being a blowhard. Why?
Because everybody in America is trying to get rich and the young are impressionable and if we can just focus on the antics of the young 'uns we can get ahead.
Meanwhile, ratings for the show go down and one wonders what can be done next, live executions? George Carlin suggested that a while back, that ratings would be killer, but in our short attention span theatre, where everything is plowed under and history is irrelevant, no one seems to know, or get the joke.
Not that you can have a sense of humor these days. Because someone might be offended.
And the way you make hay on the VMAs is to offend. But that concept is so long in the tooth that we laugh when the oldsters get their knickers in a twist, because we know it's just about attention.
Attention...it's hard to get in the internet era.
You could make a record, but even that has a hard time triumphing. Happens every once in a while, with "Blurred Lines," "Royals" and "Uptown Funk," but what the industry thinks is important most of America does not so the way to get ahead is to be featured on this show, which resembles nothing so much as Halloween. That's right, you put on a costume and have a night out and then you forget about the whole enterprise until twelve months hence.
The reason the VMAs are irrelevant is because the station no longer airs videos. I'm not saying they should, I'm just saying that in the heyday of the channel what was hyped on the night was exposed thereafter ad infinitum on the channel, and we were all paying attention. It's a paradigm Beats 1 is trying to resurrect, by banging Halsey. Will it work?
That's not the issue. We know there are anomalies. But the truth is we all don't pay attention to anything other than the Super Bowl, which is why an appearance there is so meaningful and powerful. Prince resurrected his career, he can bloviate ignorantly about the internet but we all still care, because we saw him knock them dead at the game, whose contestants and score elude our memory.
That's the power of music.
But we haven't had "Little Red Corvette" in such a long time. A track that was indelible and so infectious that it didn't matter who made it, what the video was like, we needed more.
So, if we were living in the old days, Miley's manager would have brokered a deal wherein her new tunes would be featured on the outlet, ensuring they were hits. We'd all know them and we'd all talk about them. I give Ms. Cyrus props for dropping her LP right after the show, that's how you do it, strike when the iron is hot, when the eyes are upon you, in a flash, but no one cares.
That's the issue in America today.
It's not that people have a short attention span, it's just that they're overwhelmed with product to the point they don't care about much at all, percentage-wise, and those left out haven't stopped bitching. Hell, it's happening in television, read today's "New York Times."
But what the "Times" has that those appearing on the VMAs do not is a new paper, they're in the pubic eye every day. Whereas you get your shot on the VMAs and if you don't catch fire, you're done.
So what have we learned?
If live shows were so important, a gathering of the tribes, ratings would soar, but they don't. We've seen the trick, the antics, the train-wrecks, and it's no longer new.
But if you're not featured on one of these shows it's even harder to get traction.
And everybody who puts money first plays by the rules. Developing acts that fit the paradigm are hyped this way to the point only the ignorant care.
So what's next?
What I've been telling you all along, a whittling of the culture, a reduction of the offerings. Even fewer tracks are going to be hits. And you may not like what is selected, but popularity is everything in today's culture.
And popularity can be manipulated, but victory truly occurs when the machine melds with quality such that we all care.
We can argue all day long whether "Blurred Lines" rips off Marvin Gaye, but we all agree it's an infectious track.
As was Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." If only Kanye kut one that good.
But he's so busy pursuing his power dream of ubiquity that he's lost focus, he expects us to care, but most don't.
But no one in the game will admit that.
What the internet has taught us is the consumer is king. It's happened over and over again. The consumer gave us file-trading then streaming. Don't blame Spotify, that's long after the fact.
The consumer wants instant access. The consumer wants a low price.
And most consumers don't want what the music industry is giving them. And rather than adjust, the players are just doubling-down. Becoming even more crass.
So, the VMAs are irrelevant unless you were on them. Most people didn't watch them and didn't care. If you say you hate the tracks, join the club. If you wonder what is going on, the media and powers-that-be believe youth drive the culture.
But we've learned the oldsters have the money.
And we all have smartphones.
And we all think we're hip.
And the way you win is by appealing to everybody.
Don't expect people to pay attention if you're niche.
But if you've got a great voice, write melodic material with good changes, employ hooky choruses and a bridge, the world is your oyster.
Start there.
"Soul-Searching in TV Land Over the Challenges of a New Golden Age": http://nyti.ms/1LGE7gi
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He said it was about access. As long as she was available, doing interviews, feeding the press stories, coverage would be positive. It's when you clam up that the media goes wild on you.
Which kind of explains why Kanye West is getting a pass.
Not completely. But here we have an egomaniac with little national traction, when it comes to music, being given a faux award and then rambling on for ten minutes nearly incoherently, sticking it to the man for giving him this award, any award at all. I'd say it's hypocritical, but what fascinates me is the press is not full of stories about him being a blowhard. Why?
Because everybody in America is trying to get rich and the young are impressionable and if we can just focus on the antics of the young 'uns we can get ahead.
Meanwhile, ratings for the show go down and one wonders what can be done next, live executions? George Carlin suggested that a while back, that ratings would be killer, but in our short attention span theatre, where everything is plowed under and history is irrelevant, no one seems to know, or get the joke.
Not that you can have a sense of humor these days. Because someone might be offended.
And the way you make hay on the VMAs is to offend. But that concept is so long in the tooth that we laugh when the oldsters get their knickers in a twist, because we know it's just about attention.
Attention...it's hard to get in the internet era.
You could make a record, but even that has a hard time triumphing. Happens every once in a while, with "Blurred Lines," "Royals" and "Uptown Funk," but what the industry thinks is important most of America does not so the way to get ahead is to be featured on this show, which resembles nothing so much as Halloween. That's right, you put on a costume and have a night out and then you forget about the whole enterprise until twelve months hence.
The reason the VMAs are irrelevant is because the station no longer airs videos. I'm not saying they should, I'm just saying that in the heyday of the channel what was hyped on the night was exposed thereafter ad infinitum on the channel, and we were all paying attention. It's a paradigm Beats 1 is trying to resurrect, by banging Halsey. Will it work?
That's not the issue. We know there are anomalies. But the truth is we all don't pay attention to anything other than the Super Bowl, which is why an appearance there is so meaningful and powerful. Prince resurrected his career, he can bloviate ignorantly about the internet but we all still care, because we saw him knock them dead at the game, whose contestants and score elude our memory.
That's the power of music.
But we haven't had "Little Red Corvette" in such a long time. A track that was indelible and so infectious that it didn't matter who made it, what the video was like, we needed more.
So, if we were living in the old days, Miley's manager would have brokered a deal wherein her new tunes would be featured on the outlet, ensuring they were hits. We'd all know them and we'd all talk about them. I give Ms. Cyrus props for dropping her LP right after the show, that's how you do it, strike when the iron is hot, when the eyes are upon you, in a flash, but no one cares.
That's the issue in America today.
It's not that people have a short attention span, it's just that they're overwhelmed with product to the point they don't care about much at all, percentage-wise, and those left out haven't stopped bitching. Hell, it's happening in television, read today's "New York Times."
But what the "Times" has that those appearing on the VMAs do not is a new paper, they're in the pubic eye every day. Whereas you get your shot on the VMAs and if you don't catch fire, you're done.
So what have we learned?
If live shows were so important, a gathering of the tribes, ratings would soar, but they don't. We've seen the trick, the antics, the train-wrecks, and it's no longer new.
But if you're not featured on one of these shows it's even harder to get traction.
And everybody who puts money first plays by the rules. Developing acts that fit the paradigm are hyped this way to the point only the ignorant care.
So what's next?
What I've been telling you all along, a whittling of the culture, a reduction of the offerings. Even fewer tracks are going to be hits. And you may not like what is selected, but popularity is everything in today's culture.
And popularity can be manipulated, but victory truly occurs when the machine melds with quality such that we all care.
We can argue all day long whether "Blurred Lines" rips off Marvin Gaye, but we all agree it's an infectious track.
As was Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." If only Kanye kut one that good.
But he's so busy pursuing his power dream of ubiquity that he's lost focus, he expects us to care, but most don't.
But no one in the game will admit that.
What the internet has taught us is the consumer is king. It's happened over and over again. The consumer gave us file-trading then streaming. Don't blame Spotify, that's long after the fact.
The consumer wants instant access. The consumer wants a low price.
And most consumers don't want what the music industry is giving them. And rather than adjust, the players are just doubling-down. Becoming even more crass.
So, the VMAs are irrelevant unless you were on them. Most people didn't watch them and didn't care. If you say you hate the tracks, join the club. If you wonder what is going on, the media and powers-that-be believe youth drive the culture.
But we've learned the oldsters have the money.
And we all have smartphones.
And we all think we're hip.
And the way you win is by appealing to everybody.
Don't expect people to pay attention if you're niche.
But if you've got a great voice, write melodic material with good changes, employ hooky choruses and a bridge, the world is your oyster.
Start there.
"Soul-Searching in TV Land Over the Challenges of a New Golden Age": http://nyti.ms/1LGE7gi
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Mailbag-Bobby Brooks, Boston and More...
Re: Bobby Brooks
What Richard Griffiths left out of his, yes he was the manager, but he was also the tour manager...went on every date, loaded gear, settled shows... Bobby and I found the band driving home from a show in Philly, listening to Vin Scelsa at 2 am...when he played that song for the first time... Unfortunately no cell phones then, had to wait to the morning to call the station...power of a great song.
Rob Light
____________________________________
From: Nathan East
Re: Bobby Brooks
Hi Bob,
I just wanted to reach out and say hello and how much I appreciate Rob's words about our beloved friend Bobby Brooks.
It's hard to imagine it's been 25 years, we sat together on the helicopter on the way to Alpine Valley and had a lovely chat to and from the night before as well. He was truly one of the good guys in our industry and gone too soon. I've lost touch with Barbara but hope she is okay.
Bless you sir….
Best from,
Nate
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
Bobby Brooks is the reason I am at CAA and I can't tell you how much he met to me and I loved him!!!!! He was a great guy!!!!!
Rod Essig
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
It was very touching to read about Bobby Brooks who was such a great guy; I was at the memorial service and remember how heartbreaking it was for all of us who loved Bobby, especially Barbara and his brothers and sisters at CAA. He had such great enthusiasm for life, loved being an agent and had a very unique sense of humor. It was my great fortune to have had many great times with Bobby and Barbara and he was taken much too soon and it is a reminder of how blessed we all are to have lived a full life. I was a young manager working with Ron Weisner managing Steve Winwood and other artists at CAA and Bobby was very generous with his wisdom and inside track of the industry. I thought of Bobby last month when I ran into Barbara and a smile thinking of him, what a great guy!
Regards,
Bill Diggins
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
I went to Montclair High School (NJ) with Bobby, and I remember him as a wonderful person from that era. When I moved to Los Angeles to work at KROQ (after WBCN in Boston), I reconnected with him. I spoke to him fairly soon before this sad anniversary, and he and Barbara and I talked about getting together. I was heartbroken when I heard the news back then, and I feel the loss - for so many people - today.
LDG
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
Bobby Brooks was definitely one of those unique individuals who treated everyone the same, irrespective of lot in life, with respect and love.
Thanks Bob and Rob for posting on this anniversary date.
My dear friend and colleague at BMI, Barbara Cane, Bobby's wife, embodies those same qualities.
Their love for each other was immeasurable, and they shared many wonderful times together.
Bobby, we think of you often. I told Barbara just today how I remember the playing of "Our House" at the New Jersey memorial. Y'all had more than a house, you had a home. May more people get to experience that.
Barbara, my family/friend/colleague (and Frances Preston protege), I love you, y'all were definitely made for each other!!!
Alison Smith
BMI NYC
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
Thanks to Rob for his eloquent tribute to one terrific guy. A loss to the industry and I'm sure an irreplaceable friend to many. His personality was magnetic. He at CAA and me at ICM were just getting tuned into each other, I credit him being the likable force that attracted me to do business with him. We easily put together a co-headline tour with Stevie Ray and Jeff Beck. A total win/win. When Leslie West told me she had a couple of Clapton dates in the summer that would be perfect for Stevie, it was an easy call to make with Bobby, no headaches, no aggravation, no posturing, just "wouldn't that be a great show, let's make it happen." I went to the first night and hung out with Bobby all afternoon, bantering back and forth telling funny war stories about clients, managers, promoters etc. Later that night we watched Clapton together from the wings. He smiled the whole set, a genuine smile, the kind that emanates from within. At one point he leaned over and said "isn't this
incredible?" I asked him what he meant. "You and me, two kids from Jersey representing these these acts?" When I left that night I was beaming, yes about the show, that Stevie Ray was poised to move to the next level, that everything in the world seemed exactly as it was suppose to be, but also because I felt Bobby and I had a made one of life's rare connections. I'll never forget him.
Alex Kochan
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
With Rob Light's heartfelt tribute to Bobby Brooks, I would like to add a piece of testimony to his remembrance. After reading the characterization that Rob provided, it would be fair to say that Rob Light drinks from that same fountain of kindness that Bobby Brooks did, and it's obvious he was a major influence on Bobby.
I was a member of one of Rob's CAA bands in the 80s and early 90s (G.Thorogood) and was on the receiving end of his generosity. I had just moved west to enjoy the fruits of the band's success and jolt my career forward, when after 8 years as a touring and recording member of the group I found myself unceremoniously out in the cold...without a job, and without the East coast support and friends that take you through difficult transitions.
With a small number of west coast contacts in my book, and a quick look down into my own personal abyss, I gave Rob a call at his Beverly Hills office. With no hesitation, Rob made me feel welcome, and subsequently invited me to meet with him on the following week at the Peninsula Hotel for breakfast. I was still dedicated to playing music, and wasn't looking for a position at CAA; I was just a journeyman reaching out for some advice going forward in the LA music world. It was not a business call, and I frankly had very little to offer an executive who handled the level of performer that Rob Light has masterfully dealt with over the years.
What I will say, is that the time he took and the support he showed me, gave just enough hope to continue the journey. There was no deal to be cut, or financial gain to be made, but in terms of emotional well being, it was priceless..
These are the mundane things that you rarely hear about..... but Rob Light, in his selfless way, left a large impression, and set the bar for all other music business executives and relationships that I've had over the years.... that to this day, remains unmatched by much lesser and more self absorbed people. Rob, you may have forgotten that moment, but I sure didn't.
Oh....and 2 words in 'caps' from Rob's email - HE CARED! Bout as simply powerful as you can get......
Steve Chrismar
Guitarist
G Thorogood 1985-1993
House of Blues 1994 -1997
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
Bob as always thanks for what you do….
Rob
Thanks. I did not know Bobby, but his, life and personality, actions to others most certainly influenced you. You always have time for me and made me feel that what I said to you was important.
If I read what you wrote and did not know who it was about or who wrote it, it could have been about you.
I feel much the same as Bobby's words. When I got my first "gopher" or stage hand jobs at around 15, there was no where else I wanted to be. Its all I ever wanted to do.
The legacy of all the innovators you mentioned is what has guided me along. I knew many of them,
The story of Bobby Brooks is what I try very hard to live by. I spent so many years being hard on people and it held up my career. Being good at what you do is by no means enough.
My dear departed friend Patrick Stansfield once told me. Be a good guy, thats what people will remember, simple but true as is life.
I do my best to influence the next generation of roadies ( yes still roadies, a proud label to wear)
I would still do this for free, when I send an Artist out on stage and call house lights, man there is no bigger thrill. I bet I have called House lights go, 5000 times and every time I do,
its like the first kiss, Ice cream in the Summer, first snow in the winter..
We are all blessed to be able to "be here" I hope that we are all here for a while to come. More important we guide the next wave of roadies, agents, managers, promoters to honor this industry that brings so many happiness. Man I fucking love what I do.
Thanks Rob for being a good guy.
Bobby Schneider
Director of Touring Roc Nation.
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Delp's words were prophetic for those at the time who would come to choose the corporate life: "Now you're climbin' to the top of the corporate ladder/hope it doesn't take too long/can't you see there'll come a day when it won't matter/ come a day and you'll be gone"
I wrote those words to my dad. He read them and said, "Amen." He'd been a corporate man and then got canned, ended up owning his own business, which left an indelible mark on me: I've been self employed since I graduated from SMU. Great stuff, as always, Bob.
Rick Larson
Fort Worth
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Re: Hitch A Ride
Bob, I had the great pleasure of seeing Brad fronting the tribute band, Beatlejuice in Danvers, MA. What a phenomenal vocalist, singing both Lennon & McCartney parts flawlessly & in between sets, he made the rounds, talking to everyone there (the Holiday Inn. Big time rock star!) & he couldn't have been nicer. What a shock to hear not much later on that he'd taken his life. What a loss for his fans, but of course, the voice lives on.
Jeff Hayward
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
I'm 28 years old (a musician) and I LOVED Boston growing up. Loved them. I have such great memories of listening to their first album with my dad. We always said we were going to go see them together.
When I went to college at Tufts, I worked as a barista at a Starbucks close to campus in Somerville, MA. There was a venue down the street called Johnny D's that was kind of a run-down restaurant with a small stage, leftover from the 80s. Once a month, Brad led a Beatles tribute night called Beatle Juice. The venue was strictly 21+ and I was devastated that as an 18-year-old (and kind of a goody-two-shoes at that - not one to have a fake ID), I had no way of seeing my idol in person. He was so close, yet so far. I was working a late shift at Starbucks when I found out that Brad Delp had died. His suicide note said, "J'ai une ame solitaire. I am a lonely soul." At the time, I didn't understand how someone with so many fans who seemed on the outside to be so adored and embraced by the world could feel so alone.
It's 10 years later. Brad Delp is dead, Johnny Ds is going out of business and my dad is in prison. All I want is to have my peace of mind.
Stephie Coplan
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Thanks for the reminding about this song. It's been too long and now I'm playing it over and over.
I was 19 years old. I had left the Harvard Coop after about 3 years in May of 1976 and began to work in the mail room at the CBS Records Boston branch. Our local Boston Epic promotion man Lenny Collins had given me an advance cassette of the Boston album sometime in early August.
I can remember it like it was yesterday..driving to Cape Cod with some high school pals as we'd rented a house on Craigville Beach. I can see it now, my car doors wide open sitting on the lawn of the beach house way past midnight with the album playing as loud as the car stereo would allow. Laying on beach chair soaking it all in..perfect.
Re-print if you'd like -
All best,
Jeff Jones
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
"Hitch A Ride" is my favorite track on the album as well.
Back in my radio daze, I had an extremely rare opportunity to interview Tom Scholz. He cited his primary influences as Led Zeppelin and the Hollies! If you think about it for a sec, that's pretty much what Boston was originally - an unlikely melding of two disparate influences with the Beatles' melodic sensibilities thrown in.
I asked Tom about the Beatles influence, and he was quick to say that was all Brad Delp. Brad was a huge Beatles fan. You can hear it on this track, as well as "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" and the 2nd album's "Used To Bad News" (both of which Brad wrote).
Bob Levy
Branford, CT
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Re: Hitch A Ride
I will never forget the first time I heard the Boston record. It was at the Columbia Records convention in Century City in 1976. It was on the last night in the middle of a roaring party. Somebody put an acetate on and from the first note it grabbed me and I just sat there and listened to it.
Just an amazing record and so sad about Brad.
Phil Brown
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Great piece about "Hitch a Ride," Bob. What drove keyboard players like myself nuts at the time was that moment at the climax of the organ solo when Scholz holds a chord and it rises in pitch --
something every organist will tell you is impossible to do with a
real Hammond. Years later I learned that the trick was a bit of
studio wizardry, with Tom actually holding that chord as he recorded the solo and simultaneously using his other hand to put pressure on the one-inch tape spool on the recorder to slow down the recording. Later that same chord seemed to bend upward and take off at the perfect instant. It's a small idea, but sounded absolutely magical.
Nowadays that same effect can easily be achieved with a good Hammond sample and a pitch-bend wheel, but this was in the days before samplers. Clever little touch by Tom.
Chris White
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Hi Bob
I grew up with Boston on the radio and I was so excited when "Third Stage" was released. The quality of the songs is amazing - as you say perfect. The songs celebrate life.
Boston (along with Foreigner, Journey, REO Speedwagon...) are, like you say almost forgotten. If they are brought up in conversation the average younger person (and those pretending to be young) curls up their lip in disdain. Oh how that formula AOR pap is beneath contempt. The youth can only extol the virtues of YOR (Youth Oriented Rubbish) that hasn't the artistic power of a Boston outtake (well perhaps excluding that last Boston record).
Irony: Those same people who blood their knives on Boston or Chicago are only too happy to say how well crafted ABBA songs are. Sure ABBA were good, but so were Bucks Fizz (who everyone seems to want to deny existed). The t's are crossed and the i's dotted. Why is it that ABBA are good and Boston bad when Boston?
If ABBA are revered because they were such good craftsmen (yes I know two women too) then how is it that what we hear from the kids today is so far off well crafted and perfect? I don't care if the singer can't sing with the voice of an Angel but I do care that it lifts me up. That is the Art yet that seems to be what the modern audience shuns. I grew up with the idea that R&R was about expressing life. Why does it no longer do that?
:-)
Benedict Roff-Marsh
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Hey Bob,
What a nice piece man! Many people outside of Boston probably don't know that Brad had a Beatles Cover band called Beatlejuice that played all over eastern Mass. Almost every weekend he was playing in clubs and watering holes and packing them in! No frills or costumes just the songs. They always asked for the same reasonable guarantee, no backend or bonus %, always wanted the club to make money too.
As a young promoter I was fortunate to present them every 6-8 weeks for many years. Brad was so nice and personable and the first time I booked them we hung out, talked about life, the Universe and everything. I couldn't believe that I was just shooting the shit with one of my rock n roll heroes and that he would take the time to hang out with this wet behind the ears kid! I wore out his first album on cassette in high school and college and still get my rocks off every time I listen!
I found out from our hangouts at gigs that he made his bones prior to Boston both playing in and booking cover / general business bands, he handled much of the bookings and promo / management for Boston prior to them being signed and getting a real team... and he was just happy to be playing music every weekend in his Beatles Tribute. It was really all he wanted to do. Just play.
The greatest thing, from the moment I met him. He NEVER forgot my name. Thanked me from the stage a few times as well. I don't know if he just took a shine to me or if he was as nice and generous with his time to everyone, don't really care but for the nights he played and the fans that came to the shows, he was ours!
Just a genuine great guy and a truly unique talent. Yes Tom Sholz is a genius no doubt - I learned every lick if every song, but Brad really was the sweetness that glued that music together.
Thanks for this warm tribute!
Peace and Love,
Dan Millen
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Subject: Re: Today's Aphorisms
Bob
A few more that I use in my Intro to Music industry classes:
"Perception is Reality"
"Ask for everything, expect nothing"
And finally, "everything is negotiable, even if it's not negotiable."
These ideas relating to creating and controlling the reality that you want people to see, understanding that you don't get without asking and finally the power of leverage seem to be concepts that resonate with my students sometimes years after they have left my classroom...because they all suggest that you, the creator, can have the control of you really want it. The rest is noise.
Cheers,
Susan Dodes
____________________________________
Subject: Mobile Network Performance in the US: A Special RootMetrics First Half 2015 Summary Report | RootMetrics
since you write about this stuff occasionally -
http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/blog/special-reports/2015-1h-national-us
ross hinkle
los angeles | nola
____________________________________
Subject: THANKS for "Blue Bandana"
Thanks for Blue Bandana!
I am a friend of CJ Solar and recommended him subscribe to your blog when he moved to town to attend Belmont College.
THANKS for your blog on the song as it is all three of the co-writers first major cut.
CJ and Ben are friends of mine, Ben was a roommate of mine for two summers as he attended U of Miami music school and was an intern with BMG in Nashville for those summers and is a great guy that loves writing songs and the music biz.
I met CJ Solar when he first moved to Nashville from Baton Rouge to attend Belmont. CJ has played 100+ shows the past 3 to 4 years with his band, while attending Belmont College.
His internships at Average Joe's label then Sea Gayle Music (who wisely signed him as a writer while he was a senior at Belmont) have done amazing things including his first major cut on a fast rising song. He will be a great success as an artist in the near future. his song, "Tall Boy" is already being played on a couple stations around the country. Kep an eye on CJ Solar!!
Both of these guys are great people - I do not personally know the 3rd writer and have only heard great things about him.
CJ and Ben first met at my house at an event I hosted for 9 and 1/2 years called 3rd Sunday at 3:00, that brought up to 100 songwriters to my home to eat, network and play their songs. The events ended three years ago when I moved to another home that will not work for the events.
It is great to see my friends have success YOUR BLOG about their song is really appreciated and a great part of the journey!
Doak Turner
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From: Leigh Lust
Subject: Re: The Billboard Kerfuffle
What a disappointment your headline was.
I was hoping you would blow the lid off of Billboard's shameless boasting that they had the largest crowds ever at the Jones Beach amphitheatre this weekend for their Billboard Hot 100 fest.
17,000 in attendance and from my investigation 10,000 or more FREE TICKETS were given away. How about the record set for papering a room??? Ask Cold War Kids how they felt playing to 150 in their "side stage." Betty Who fared only ever so slightly better.
A close friend who manages an artist who played told me Billboard was contemplating cancelling the event up to 5 days prior to Showtime.
PATHETIC!!!
Funny how the only outlet I saw crowing about the historic attendance was BILLBOARD themselves.
Oh how excited I was in the early 80's when my parents gifted me a years subscription to the "Music Industry Bible." My how times have changed.
____________________________________
From: Gary Stockdale
Subject: Re: Penn Jillette On Here's The Thing
Hey Bob,
I was Penn and Teller's composer and music director for 20 years. I first did their 1990 NBC special "Don't Try This at Home," then music for their live shows, and TV projects.
After their 1985 off-Broadway smash run, they were the coolest guys around, reinventing magic for the Saturday Night Live generation, killing on that show in its heyday, and then going on Letterman's NBC show and knocking it out of the park. In those days, Letterman loved when the show got out of control, so after the first time they appeared, he told Penn, "I want you to 'hit' me as hard as you can, and don't tell me what you're going to do." So, on their next appearance, they pretended to do a lame rabbit-out-of-a-hat trick, but, instead, released a couple hundred sterile cockroaches on Dave's desk, right in front of him.
In 1998, we did one of the last "variety shows" ever on TV. It was called "Penn and Teller's Sin City Spectacular," an hour-long show, in front of a live Las Vegas audience, done in real time, like the Ed Sullivan show, with a live band. And, like Sullivan, we mixed it up: Davis Gaines singing a song from "Phantom" right after Todd Robbins hammering a real nail up his nose. Our motto was "There's only ONE showbiz: Lap dancer, ballet dancer, it's all the same." We did original musical numbers with guest stars, like French Stewart doing "Hooray Pornography" (with guest appearances by such porn legends as Ron Jeremy, Danni Ashe, Blade Thompson, and Jeanna Fine), and "Dreamgirls" Tony-winner Jennifer Holliday singing a secular gospel number against censoring the internet called "Freedom Dot Com," with a stage-sized computer keyboard, on whose keys our "Seven Deadly Sins" dancers jumped and typed out the First Amendment on to a gigantic computer screen. We got an Emmy nomination for that
song.
Later, they did the first TV show whose title was one of George Carlin's "Seven Words" you can't say on television, "Penn and Teller: BULLSHIT!" In that show, they exposed faith healers, psychics, and all manner of phonies and fakers, including a controversial episode exposing the Catholic Church.
They created for themselves the perfect showbiz job: their own self-contained show, no one telling them how to do what they did, they never had to kiss the ass of anyone to keep their job, and never tried to be anything other than who they were. In the meantime, they brought meaning and real content to a magic show, raising it to the level of art, which, up to that point, was almost unheard of. And they did it with sophisticated humor, never pandering or pulling their punches. They are outspoken atheists and skeptics, and their integrity is, and always has been, unassailable.
The greatest pleasure for me about writing music for them, and with them, as we wrote all the original songs for the variety show, was that they never tried to micro-manage my work as a composer. They hired me to write for them, and they gave me free-reign, trusting me to do what they hired me to do. And, as a result, I wrote some of the best music of my career for them, in just about every genre and style at my command. I never got "Couldn't you make it a little more (fill in the blank)?" They just trusted the people they worked with.
I was very lucky to have worked for such a team, and, after 40 years together, they're more popular than ever, selling out 42 weeks a year at the Rio in Vegas, in their own showroom.
Oh, and they didn't have to sell out to play Vegas either. Vegas changed, they didn't. Blue Man Group and Penn and Teller both began as avant-garde critical successes, and then breathed new life into Sin City.
Thanks,
Gary
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From: Bob Reynolds
Subject: Re: Today's Aphorisms
Hi Bob. I'm the first one featured in that photo essay in the Times.
Side note, I once sat next to you at a Bonnie Raitt concert at the Greek.
"YOU BUILD A FOLLOWING, THEN MONETIZE IT."
This is true. Most musicians just don't want to admit that that means more of the work now falls on their shoulders. The upside is you don't need that audience to be incredibly huge to make something happen.
Am I able to do that with instrumental jazz album sales alone? Hell to the no.
Touring? Nope. Not interested in going broke.
But I love teaching, building websites and video production. So I found my venn diagram, taught myself a lot of new skills, and worked my tail off for 5 years creating something valuable to others.
Oh, and now I can fund my recording habit sans record label or Kickstarter support.
Better than waiting for the phone to ring. ;)
Cheers,
Bob
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From: Bob Ezrin
Subject: Can't WAIT to see what you write about the VMAs!
Dude, did you watch it??? Were you actually there live? I wonder how it came off in the room.
But watching out here in TV land I had an epiphany: the pop music business has officially become professional wrestling. It's like Vince McMahon and his smarmy family have taken over the industry - at least as it appears on MTV and in other national pop media.
We've got Faces and Heels. We've got A-teams and B-teams. Now there's an Angle or Feud for every pair of contenders leading to Revenge. We've got Main Events and Side Shows. Miley is a Repackage. The Weeknd is a Face. Nikki is a Tweener. Kanye is mostly a Heel. We've got Slow Burns - like between him and Taylor (which actually ended in a Payoff). We've got Mouthpieces and Money Marks. We've even got Invasion Storylines - crossing from one genre to another - and Swerves. Hell, we've got all the Heat you need to keep people screaming for blood. The one thing we have almost none of is class. I know it's MTV and not the Grammys. But it's kind of the way it is in the pop world now, isn't it?
One of my best friends as a kid was the son of a huge wrestling star. I learned all this stuff back then. But back then, wrestling was fake and music was real! Now?
After last night's show, all I wanted to do was Tap Out. I don't recognize my industry anymore. You seem to get it much more than I do o maybe you can help me understand. I joined when Bad Boys and Girls ruled supreme in pop and everywhere. But there were also activists, revolutionaries and prophets - oh, and amazing musicians too! A few days ago Jack Ponti sent the world a note announcing his retirement from the music business. I was kind of surprised, as in: Why should I care? And why tell everyone? But after last night, I kind of understand.
By the way, I think we should start a social media campaign to draft Kanye as Trump's running mate. You've got the platform. If we start now, who knows???
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What Richard Griffiths left out of his, yes he was the manager, but he was also the tour manager...went on every date, loaded gear, settled shows... Bobby and I found the band driving home from a show in Philly, listening to Vin Scelsa at 2 am...when he played that song for the first time... Unfortunately no cell phones then, had to wait to the morning to call the station...power of a great song.
Rob Light
____________________________________
From: Nathan East
Re: Bobby Brooks
Hi Bob,
I just wanted to reach out and say hello and how much I appreciate Rob's words about our beloved friend Bobby Brooks.
It's hard to imagine it's been 25 years, we sat together on the helicopter on the way to Alpine Valley and had a lovely chat to and from the night before as well. He was truly one of the good guys in our industry and gone too soon. I've lost touch with Barbara but hope she is okay.
Bless you sir….
Best from,
Nate
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Re: Bobby Brooks
Bobby Brooks is the reason I am at CAA and I can't tell you how much he met to me and I loved him!!!!! He was a great guy!!!!!
Rod Essig
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Re: Bobby Brooks
It was very touching to read about Bobby Brooks who was such a great guy; I was at the memorial service and remember how heartbreaking it was for all of us who loved Bobby, especially Barbara and his brothers and sisters at CAA. He had such great enthusiasm for life, loved being an agent and had a very unique sense of humor. It was my great fortune to have had many great times with Bobby and Barbara and he was taken much too soon and it is a reminder of how blessed we all are to have lived a full life. I was a young manager working with Ron Weisner managing Steve Winwood and other artists at CAA and Bobby was very generous with his wisdom and inside track of the industry. I thought of Bobby last month when I ran into Barbara and a smile thinking of him, what a great guy!
Regards,
Bill Diggins
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
I went to Montclair High School (NJ) with Bobby, and I remember him as a wonderful person from that era. When I moved to Los Angeles to work at KROQ (after WBCN in Boston), I reconnected with him. I spoke to him fairly soon before this sad anniversary, and he and Barbara and I talked about getting together. I was heartbroken when I heard the news back then, and I feel the loss - for so many people - today.
LDG
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
Bobby Brooks was definitely one of those unique individuals who treated everyone the same, irrespective of lot in life, with respect and love.
Thanks Bob and Rob for posting on this anniversary date.
My dear friend and colleague at BMI, Barbara Cane, Bobby's wife, embodies those same qualities.
Their love for each other was immeasurable, and they shared many wonderful times together.
Bobby, we think of you often. I told Barbara just today how I remember the playing of "Our House" at the New Jersey memorial. Y'all had more than a house, you had a home. May more people get to experience that.
Barbara, my family/friend/colleague (and Frances Preston protege), I love you, y'all were definitely made for each other!!!
Alison Smith
BMI NYC
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
Thanks to Rob for his eloquent tribute to one terrific guy. A loss to the industry and I'm sure an irreplaceable friend to many. His personality was magnetic. He at CAA and me at ICM were just getting tuned into each other, I credit him being the likable force that attracted me to do business with him. We easily put together a co-headline tour with Stevie Ray and Jeff Beck. A total win/win. When Leslie West told me she had a couple of Clapton dates in the summer that would be perfect for Stevie, it was an easy call to make with Bobby, no headaches, no aggravation, no posturing, just "wouldn't that be a great show, let's make it happen." I went to the first night and hung out with Bobby all afternoon, bantering back and forth telling funny war stories about clients, managers, promoters etc. Later that night we watched Clapton together from the wings. He smiled the whole set, a genuine smile, the kind that emanates from within. At one point he leaned over and said "isn't this
incredible?" I asked him what he meant. "You and me, two kids from Jersey representing these these acts?" When I left that night I was beaming, yes about the show, that Stevie Ray was poised to move to the next level, that everything in the world seemed exactly as it was suppose to be, but also because I felt Bobby and I had a made one of life's rare connections. I'll never forget him.
Alex Kochan
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Re: Bobby Brooks
With Rob Light's heartfelt tribute to Bobby Brooks, I would like to add a piece of testimony to his remembrance. After reading the characterization that Rob provided, it would be fair to say that Rob Light drinks from that same fountain of kindness that Bobby Brooks did, and it's obvious he was a major influence on Bobby.
I was a member of one of Rob's CAA bands in the 80s and early 90s (G.Thorogood) and was on the receiving end of his generosity. I had just moved west to enjoy the fruits of the band's success and jolt my career forward, when after 8 years as a touring and recording member of the group I found myself unceremoniously out in the cold...without a job, and without the East coast support and friends that take you through difficult transitions.
With a small number of west coast contacts in my book, and a quick look down into my own personal abyss, I gave Rob a call at his Beverly Hills office. With no hesitation, Rob made me feel welcome, and subsequently invited me to meet with him on the following week at the Peninsula Hotel for breakfast. I was still dedicated to playing music, and wasn't looking for a position at CAA; I was just a journeyman reaching out for some advice going forward in the LA music world. It was not a business call, and I frankly had very little to offer an executive who handled the level of performer that Rob Light has masterfully dealt with over the years.
What I will say, is that the time he took and the support he showed me, gave just enough hope to continue the journey. There was no deal to be cut, or financial gain to be made, but in terms of emotional well being, it was priceless..
These are the mundane things that you rarely hear about..... but Rob Light, in his selfless way, left a large impression, and set the bar for all other music business executives and relationships that I've had over the years.... that to this day, remains unmatched by much lesser and more self absorbed people. Rob, you may have forgotten that moment, but I sure didn't.
Oh....and 2 words in 'caps' from Rob's email - HE CARED! Bout as simply powerful as you can get......
Steve Chrismar
Guitarist
G Thorogood 1985-1993
House of Blues 1994 -1997
____________________________________
Re: Bobby Brooks
Bob as always thanks for what you do….
Rob
Thanks. I did not know Bobby, but his, life and personality, actions to others most certainly influenced you. You always have time for me and made me feel that what I said to you was important.
If I read what you wrote and did not know who it was about or who wrote it, it could have been about you.
I feel much the same as Bobby's words. When I got my first "gopher" or stage hand jobs at around 15, there was no where else I wanted to be. Its all I ever wanted to do.
The legacy of all the innovators you mentioned is what has guided me along. I knew many of them,
The story of Bobby Brooks is what I try very hard to live by. I spent so many years being hard on people and it held up my career. Being good at what you do is by no means enough.
My dear departed friend Patrick Stansfield once told me. Be a good guy, thats what people will remember, simple but true as is life.
I do my best to influence the next generation of roadies ( yes still roadies, a proud label to wear)
I would still do this for free, when I send an Artist out on stage and call house lights, man there is no bigger thrill. I bet I have called House lights go, 5000 times and every time I do,
its like the first kiss, Ice cream in the Summer, first snow in the winter..
We are all blessed to be able to "be here" I hope that we are all here for a while to come. More important we guide the next wave of roadies, agents, managers, promoters to honor this industry that brings so many happiness. Man I fucking love what I do.
Thanks Rob for being a good guy.
Bobby Schneider
Director of Touring Roc Nation.
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Delp's words were prophetic for those at the time who would come to choose the corporate life: "Now you're climbin' to the top of the corporate ladder/hope it doesn't take too long/can't you see there'll come a day when it won't matter/ come a day and you'll be gone"
I wrote those words to my dad. He read them and said, "Amen." He'd been a corporate man and then got canned, ended up owning his own business, which left an indelible mark on me: I've been self employed since I graduated from SMU. Great stuff, as always, Bob.
Rick Larson
Fort Worth
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Bob, I had the great pleasure of seeing Brad fronting the tribute band, Beatlejuice in Danvers, MA. What a phenomenal vocalist, singing both Lennon & McCartney parts flawlessly & in between sets, he made the rounds, talking to everyone there (the Holiday Inn. Big time rock star!) & he couldn't have been nicer. What a shock to hear not much later on that he'd taken his life. What a loss for his fans, but of course, the voice lives on.
Jeff Hayward
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
I'm 28 years old (a musician) and I LOVED Boston growing up. Loved them. I have such great memories of listening to their first album with my dad. We always said we were going to go see them together.
When I went to college at Tufts, I worked as a barista at a Starbucks close to campus in Somerville, MA. There was a venue down the street called Johnny D's that was kind of a run-down restaurant with a small stage, leftover from the 80s. Once a month, Brad led a Beatles tribute night called Beatle Juice. The venue was strictly 21+ and I was devastated that as an 18-year-old (and kind of a goody-two-shoes at that - not one to have a fake ID), I had no way of seeing my idol in person. He was so close, yet so far. I was working a late shift at Starbucks when I found out that Brad Delp had died. His suicide note said, "J'ai une ame solitaire. I am a lonely soul." At the time, I didn't understand how someone with so many fans who seemed on the outside to be so adored and embraced by the world could feel so alone.
It's 10 years later. Brad Delp is dead, Johnny Ds is going out of business and my dad is in prison. All I want is to have my peace of mind.
Stephie Coplan
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Thanks for the reminding about this song. It's been too long and now I'm playing it over and over.
I was 19 years old. I had left the Harvard Coop after about 3 years in May of 1976 and began to work in the mail room at the CBS Records Boston branch. Our local Boston Epic promotion man Lenny Collins had given me an advance cassette of the Boston album sometime in early August.
I can remember it like it was yesterday..driving to Cape Cod with some high school pals as we'd rented a house on Craigville Beach. I can see it now, my car doors wide open sitting on the lawn of the beach house way past midnight with the album playing as loud as the car stereo would allow. Laying on beach chair soaking it all in..perfect.
Re-print if you'd like -
All best,
Jeff Jones
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
"Hitch A Ride" is my favorite track on the album as well.
Back in my radio daze, I had an extremely rare opportunity to interview Tom Scholz. He cited his primary influences as Led Zeppelin and the Hollies! If you think about it for a sec, that's pretty much what Boston was originally - an unlikely melding of two disparate influences with the Beatles' melodic sensibilities thrown in.
I asked Tom about the Beatles influence, and he was quick to say that was all Brad Delp. Brad was a huge Beatles fan. You can hear it on this track, as well as "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" and the 2nd album's "Used To Bad News" (both of which Brad wrote).
Bob Levy
Branford, CT
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
I will never forget the first time I heard the Boston record. It was at the Columbia Records convention in Century City in 1976. It was on the last night in the middle of a roaring party. Somebody put an acetate on and from the first note it grabbed me and I just sat there and listened to it.
Just an amazing record and so sad about Brad.
Phil Brown
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Great piece about "Hitch a Ride," Bob. What drove keyboard players like myself nuts at the time was that moment at the climax of the organ solo when Scholz holds a chord and it rises in pitch --
something every organist will tell you is impossible to do with a
real Hammond. Years later I learned that the trick was a bit of
studio wizardry, with Tom actually holding that chord as he recorded the solo and simultaneously using his other hand to put pressure on the one-inch tape spool on the recorder to slow down the recording. Later that same chord seemed to bend upward and take off at the perfect instant. It's a small idea, but sounded absolutely magical.
Nowadays that same effect can easily be achieved with a good Hammond sample and a pitch-bend wheel, but this was in the days before samplers. Clever little touch by Tom.
Chris White
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Hi Bob
I grew up with Boston on the radio and I was so excited when "Third Stage" was released. The quality of the songs is amazing - as you say perfect. The songs celebrate life.
Boston (along with Foreigner, Journey, REO Speedwagon...) are, like you say almost forgotten. If they are brought up in conversation the average younger person (and those pretending to be young) curls up their lip in disdain. Oh how that formula AOR pap is beneath contempt. The youth can only extol the virtues of YOR (Youth Oriented Rubbish) that hasn't the artistic power of a Boston outtake (well perhaps excluding that last Boston record).
Irony: Those same people who blood their knives on Boston or Chicago are only too happy to say how well crafted ABBA songs are. Sure ABBA were good, but so were Bucks Fizz (who everyone seems to want to deny existed). The t's are crossed and the i's dotted. Why is it that ABBA are good and Boston bad when Boston?
If ABBA are revered because they were such good craftsmen (yes I know two women too) then how is it that what we hear from the kids today is so far off well crafted and perfect? I don't care if the singer can't sing with the voice of an Angel but I do care that it lifts me up. That is the Art yet that seems to be what the modern audience shuns. I grew up with the idea that R&R was about expressing life. Why does it no longer do that?
:-)
Benedict Roff-Marsh
____________________________________
Re: Hitch A Ride
Hey Bob,
What a nice piece man! Many people outside of Boston probably don't know that Brad had a Beatles Cover band called Beatlejuice that played all over eastern Mass. Almost every weekend he was playing in clubs and watering holes and packing them in! No frills or costumes just the songs. They always asked for the same reasonable guarantee, no backend or bonus %, always wanted the club to make money too.
As a young promoter I was fortunate to present them every 6-8 weeks for many years. Brad was so nice and personable and the first time I booked them we hung out, talked about life, the Universe and everything. I couldn't believe that I was just shooting the shit with one of my rock n roll heroes and that he would take the time to hang out with this wet behind the ears kid! I wore out his first album on cassette in high school and college and still get my rocks off every time I listen!
I found out from our hangouts at gigs that he made his bones prior to Boston both playing in and booking cover / general business bands, he handled much of the bookings and promo / management for Boston prior to them being signed and getting a real team... and he was just happy to be playing music every weekend in his Beatles Tribute. It was really all he wanted to do. Just play.
The greatest thing, from the moment I met him. He NEVER forgot my name. Thanked me from the stage a few times as well. I don't know if he just took a shine to me or if he was as nice and generous with his time to everyone, don't really care but for the nights he played and the fans that came to the shows, he was ours!
Just a genuine great guy and a truly unique talent. Yes Tom Sholz is a genius no doubt - I learned every lick if every song, but Brad really was the sweetness that glued that music together.
Thanks for this warm tribute!
Peace and Love,
Dan Millen
____________________________________
Subject: Re: Today's Aphorisms
Bob
A few more that I use in my Intro to Music industry classes:
"Perception is Reality"
"Ask for everything, expect nothing"
And finally, "everything is negotiable, even if it's not negotiable."
These ideas relating to creating and controlling the reality that you want people to see, understanding that you don't get without asking and finally the power of leverage seem to be concepts that resonate with my students sometimes years after they have left my classroom...because they all suggest that you, the creator, can have the control of you really want it. The rest is noise.
Cheers,
Susan Dodes
____________________________________
Subject: Mobile Network Performance in the US: A Special RootMetrics First Half 2015 Summary Report | RootMetrics
since you write about this stuff occasionally -
http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/blog/special-reports/2015-1h-national-us
ross hinkle
los angeles | nola
____________________________________
Subject: THANKS for "Blue Bandana"
Thanks for Blue Bandana!
I am a friend of CJ Solar and recommended him subscribe to your blog when he moved to town to attend Belmont College.
THANKS for your blog on the song as it is all three of the co-writers first major cut.
CJ and Ben are friends of mine, Ben was a roommate of mine for two summers as he attended U of Miami music school and was an intern with BMG in Nashville for those summers and is a great guy that loves writing songs and the music biz.
I met CJ Solar when he first moved to Nashville from Baton Rouge to attend Belmont. CJ has played 100+ shows the past 3 to 4 years with his band, while attending Belmont College.
His internships at Average Joe's label then Sea Gayle Music (who wisely signed him as a writer while he was a senior at Belmont) have done amazing things including his first major cut on a fast rising song. He will be a great success as an artist in the near future. his song, "Tall Boy" is already being played on a couple stations around the country. Kep an eye on CJ Solar!!
Both of these guys are great people - I do not personally know the 3rd writer and have only heard great things about him.
CJ and Ben first met at my house at an event I hosted for 9 and 1/2 years called 3rd Sunday at 3:00, that brought up to 100 songwriters to my home to eat, network and play their songs. The events ended three years ago when I moved to another home that will not work for the events.
It is great to see my friends have success YOUR BLOG about their song is really appreciated and a great part of the journey!
Doak Turner
____________________________________
From: Leigh Lust
Subject: Re: The Billboard Kerfuffle
What a disappointment your headline was.
I was hoping you would blow the lid off of Billboard's shameless boasting that they had the largest crowds ever at the Jones Beach amphitheatre this weekend for their Billboard Hot 100 fest.
17,000 in attendance and from my investigation 10,000 or more FREE TICKETS were given away. How about the record set for papering a room??? Ask Cold War Kids how they felt playing to 150 in their "side stage." Betty Who fared only ever so slightly better.
A close friend who manages an artist who played told me Billboard was contemplating cancelling the event up to 5 days prior to Showtime.
PATHETIC!!!
Funny how the only outlet I saw crowing about the historic attendance was BILLBOARD themselves.
Oh how excited I was in the early 80's when my parents gifted me a years subscription to the "Music Industry Bible." My how times have changed.
____________________________________
From: Gary Stockdale
Subject: Re: Penn Jillette On Here's The Thing
Hey Bob,
I was Penn and Teller's composer and music director for 20 years. I first did their 1990 NBC special "Don't Try This at Home," then music for their live shows, and TV projects.
After their 1985 off-Broadway smash run, they were the coolest guys around, reinventing magic for the Saturday Night Live generation, killing on that show in its heyday, and then going on Letterman's NBC show and knocking it out of the park. In those days, Letterman loved when the show got out of control, so after the first time they appeared, he told Penn, "I want you to 'hit' me as hard as you can, and don't tell me what you're going to do." So, on their next appearance, they pretended to do a lame rabbit-out-of-a-hat trick, but, instead, released a couple hundred sterile cockroaches on Dave's desk, right in front of him.
In 1998, we did one of the last "variety shows" ever on TV. It was called "Penn and Teller's Sin City Spectacular," an hour-long show, in front of a live Las Vegas audience, done in real time, like the Ed Sullivan show, with a live band. And, like Sullivan, we mixed it up: Davis Gaines singing a song from "Phantom" right after Todd Robbins hammering a real nail up his nose. Our motto was "There's only ONE showbiz: Lap dancer, ballet dancer, it's all the same." We did original musical numbers with guest stars, like French Stewart doing "Hooray Pornography" (with guest appearances by such porn legends as Ron Jeremy, Danni Ashe, Blade Thompson, and Jeanna Fine), and "Dreamgirls" Tony-winner Jennifer Holliday singing a secular gospel number against censoring the internet called "Freedom Dot Com," with a stage-sized computer keyboard, on whose keys our "Seven Deadly Sins" dancers jumped and typed out the First Amendment on to a gigantic computer screen. We got an Emmy nomination for that
song.
Later, they did the first TV show whose title was one of George Carlin's "Seven Words" you can't say on television, "Penn and Teller: BULLSHIT!" In that show, they exposed faith healers, psychics, and all manner of phonies and fakers, including a controversial episode exposing the Catholic Church.
They created for themselves the perfect showbiz job: their own self-contained show, no one telling them how to do what they did, they never had to kiss the ass of anyone to keep their job, and never tried to be anything other than who they were. In the meantime, they brought meaning and real content to a magic show, raising it to the level of art, which, up to that point, was almost unheard of. And they did it with sophisticated humor, never pandering or pulling their punches. They are outspoken atheists and skeptics, and their integrity is, and always has been, unassailable.
The greatest pleasure for me about writing music for them, and with them, as we wrote all the original songs for the variety show, was that they never tried to micro-manage my work as a composer. They hired me to write for them, and they gave me free-reign, trusting me to do what they hired me to do. And, as a result, I wrote some of the best music of my career for them, in just about every genre and style at my command. I never got "Couldn't you make it a little more (fill in the blank)?" They just trusted the people they worked with.
I was very lucky to have worked for such a team, and, after 40 years together, they're more popular than ever, selling out 42 weeks a year at the Rio in Vegas, in their own showroom.
Oh, and they didn't have to sell out to play Vegas either. Vegas changed, they didn't. Blue Man Group and Penn and Teller both began as avant-garde critical successes, and then breathed new life into Sin City.
Thanks,
Gary
____________________________________
From: Bob Reynolds
Subject: Re: Today's Aphorisms
Hi Bob. I'm the first one featured in that photo essay in the Times.
Side note, I once sat next to you at a Bonnie Raitt concert at the Greek.
"YOU BUILD A FOLLOWING, THEN MONETIZE IT."
This is true. Most musicians just don't want to admit that that means more of the work now falls on their shoulders. The upside is you don't need that audience to be incredibly huge to make something happen.
Am I able to do that with instrumental jazz album sales alone? Hell to the no.
Touring? Nope. Not interested in going broke.
But I love teaching, building websites and video production. So I found my venn diagram, taught myself a lot of new skills, and worked my tail off for 5 years creating something valuable to others.
Oh, and now I can fund my recording habit sans record label or Kickstarter support.
Better than waiting for the phone to ring. ;)
Cheers,
Bob
____________________________________
From: Bob Ezrin
Subject: Can't WAIT to see what you write about the VMAs!
Dude, did you watch it??? Were you actually there live? I wonder how it came off in the room.
But watching out here in TV land I had an epiphany: the pop music business has officially become professional wrestling. It's like Vince McMahon and his smarmy family have taken over the industry - at least as it appears on MTV and in other national pop media.
We've got Faces and Heels. We've got A-teams and B-teams. Now there's an Angle or Feud for every pair of contenders leading to Revenge. We've got Main Events and Side Shows. Miley is a Repackage. The Weeknd is a Face. Nikki is a Tweener. Kanye is mostly a Heel. We've got Slow Burns - like between him and Taylor (which actually ended in a Payoff). We've got Mouthpieces and Money Marks. We've even got Invasion Storylines - crossing from one genre to another - and Swerves. Hell, we've got all the Heat you need to keep people screaming for blood. The one thing we have almost none of is class. I know it's MTV and not the Grammys. But it's kind of the way it is in the pop world now, isn't it?
One of my best friends as a kid was the son of a huge wrestling star. I learned all this stuff back then. But back then, wrestling was fake and music was real! Now?
After last night's show, all I wanted to do was Tap Out. I don't recognize my industry anymore. You seem to get it much more than I do o maybe you can help me understand. I joined when Bad Boys and Girls ruled supreme in pop and everywhere. But there were also activists, revolutionaries and prophets - oh, and amazing musicians too! A few days ago Jack Ponti sent the world a note announcing his retirement from the music business. I was kind of surprised, as in: Why should I care? And why tell everyone? But after last night, I kind of understand.
By the way, I think we should start a social media campaign to draft Kanye as Trump's running mate. You've got the platform. If we start now, who knows???
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Sunday, 30 August 2015
Keith Richards Solo Album
Just put out the damn album.
Do we have to endure a month-long run-up to an LP that'll be over in a week? Testimony to the history of rock's greatest living cockroach who is ultimately irrelevant in today's world?
Yes, Keef surprised us with a successful tome. Supposedly, I found the bio impossible going. Nuggets are irrelevant if they're not told in a comprehensible fashion.
And now he's putting out an album with expectations so low, only the press seems to care.
That's right, that's how far we've sunk, give access and they'll go for it. As Keith trots out some old tales and we all wince as we realize once again that rock and roll is dead.
Maybe if he moved to Nashville and cut a record with someone who could actually sing, with someone who knows how to make hits.
And yes, it is all about hits today. A hit is something that grabs you right away and spreads like wildfire. And if you think otherwise, you probably don't have cable, a smartphone or access to the internet. You're thrilled if someone gives you free music. But even five year olds don't care.
Kind of like the buzz about Wilco giving away its LP for free. Do you believe that was a news story? Music hasn't been inaccessible in this CENTURY! To expect us to salivate over something in the pipeline...is to be a member of the media that believes windowing and previewing matters. The late great Freddie Mercury had it right... I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it NOW!
Well, not all of it, just access to all of it.
Look at Keith's track record, without Mick. It's even worse than Jagger's output. Half-baked riffs with scratchy vocals that unlike the work of hero Robert Johnson is far from memorable. Give Keith credit for taking the X-Pensive Winos on tour, decades ago, but to lead with his music in 2015 is utterly laughable.
Just put the damn thing out. What kind of crazy world do we live in where Beyonce does no hype and puts her music out, years ago, and Keith wants us to get excited in advance.
Creeps me out. Give us a catchy single. Entice us.
But he can't do this. Because the music sucks.
And today everything that is not great sucks. That's what the players don't understand, we don't live in 1975, where mediocre stuff on the radio garners traction and a career. Now it's about the toppermost and then there's everything else. Just check the movie grosses if you doubt me.
While you're complaining about streaming revenue, superstars are rolling in dough. YouTube and Spotify and even Apple Music are gonna pay FOREVER! If you create the desire, we're now able to fill it. Why are musicians so short-sighted? They're not executives. When Lucian Grainge is long gone from Universal, today's hit artists will still be paid by streaming services, and this is a GOOD THING!
But I don't want to waste my time interacting with ignorant people who have little audience to begin with.
And I don't want to waste my time getting excited for a Keith Richards solo album.
Once again, the media masters are out of the loop. That's this year's story, not has-been rocker drops an album nobody cares about, but how the press could get it so wrong, believing we actually care. Donald Trump wipes away convention, shows that the people have a brain, but in entertainment coverage it's the same as it ever was. But now there's even more of it. Over and over again I hear Keith Richards has a new album... AND I DON'T CARE!
And no one else does either.
Check second week streaming numbers.
Hell, CHECK THE FIRST!
Last I looked it was called the MUSIC business! Not the hype business.
You want us to have eager anticipation, have a track record. And Keith Richards's in solo music is close to terrible.
He has to do something to earn our attention. Everybody starts from the same line. Data tells us who wins and loses.
So Keith, stop the interviews, just put out the record. Let us judge. Let us be surprised. Prove us wrong.
But you won't do that.
Because your thinking is just as old as your age. You're surrounded by those who refuse to take a risk.
But the joke is on you.
No one cares.
Your album's a stiff.
AND IT HASN'T EVEN COME OUT YET!
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Do we have to endure a month-long run-up to an LP that'll be over in a week? Testimony to the history of rock's greatest living cockroach who is ultimately irrelevant in today's world?
Yes, Keef surprised us with a successful tome. Supposedly, I found the bio impossible going. Nuggets are irrelevant if they're not told in a comprehensible fashion.
And now he's putting out an album with expectations so low, only the press seems to care.
That's right, that's how far we've sunk, give access and they'll go for it. As Keith trots out some old tales and we all wince as we realize once again that rock and roll is dead.
Maybe if he moved to Nashville and cut a record with someone who could actually sing, with someone who knows how to make hits.
And yes, it is all about hits today. A hit is something that grabs you right away and spreads like wildfire. And if you think otherwise, you probably don't have cable, a smartphone or access to the internet. You're thrilled if someone gives you free music. But even five year olds don't care.
Kind of like the buzz about Wilco giving away its LP for free. Do you believe that was a news story? Music hasn't been inaccessible in this CENTURY! To expect us to salivate over something in the pipeline...is to be a member of the media that believes windowing and previewing matters. The late great Freddie Mercury had it right... I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it NOW!
Well, not all of it, just access to all of it.
Look at Keith's track record, without Mick. It's even worse than Jagger's output. Half-baked riffs with scratchy vocals that unlike the work of hero Robert Johnson is far from memorable. Give Keith credit for taking the X-Pensive Winos on tour, decades ago, but to lead with his music in 2015 is utterly laughable.
Just put the damn thing out. What kind of crazy world do we live in where Beyonce does no hype and puts her music out, years ago, and Keith wants us to get excited in advance.
Creeps me out. Give us a catchy single. Entice us.
But he can't do this. Because the music sucks.
And today everything that is not great sucks. That's what the players don't understand, we don't live in 1975, where mediocre stuff on the radio garners traction and a career. Now it's about the toppermost and then there's everything else. Just check the movie grosses if you doubt me.
While you're complaining about streaming revenue, superstars are rolling in dough. YouTube and Spotify and even Apple Music are gonna pay FOREVER! If you create the desire, we're now able to fill it. Why are musicians so short-sighted? They're not executives. When Lucian Grainge is long gone from Universal, today's hit artists will still be paid by streaming services, and this is a GOOD THING!
But I don't want to waste my time interacting with ignorant people who have little audience to begin with.
And I don't want to waste my time getting excited for a Keith Richards solo album.
Once again, the media masters are out of the loop. That's this year's story, not has-been rocker drops an album nobody cares about, but how the press could get it so wrong, believing we actually care. Donald Trump wipes away convention, shows that the people have a brain, but in entertainment coverage it's the same as it ever was. But now there's even more of it. Over and over again I hear Keith Richards has a new album... AND I DON'T CARE!
And no one else does either.
Check second week streaming numbers.
Hell, CHECK THE FIRST!
Last I looked it was called the MUSIC business! Not the hype business.
You want us to have eager anticipation, have a track record. And Keith Richards's in solo music is close to terrible.
He has to do something to earn our attention. Everybody starts from the same line. Data tells us who wins and loses.
So Keith, stop the interviews, just put out the record. Let us judge. Let us be surprised. Prove us wrong.
But you won't do that.
Because your thinking is just as old as your age. You're surrounded by those who refuse to take a risk.
But the joke is on you.
No one cares.
Your album's a stiff.
AND IT HASN'T EVEN COME OUT YET!
--
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